November 11, 2009
Saba and Montserrat – Hidden Treasures
The longer we sail, the more we realize that some of our most treasured cruising experiences are often in places that are a challenge to get to or stay at. It seems that if a destination is tricky to reach navigationally, has few harbours with good all around protection or is off the main cruising route because of distance or prevailing winds then often that place is really special – quiet and undeveloped and people, unscathed by massive tourism, friendly and welcoming.
November 11, 2009
Guadeloupe’s Northern Anchorages and the Rivière Salée
You wouldn’t exactly say that the French island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean is “off the beaten path”. With a population of 406,000 and an area of 1,780 sq. km., it’s among the largest of the islands in the Leeward Islands. There is a major international airport there where thousands of tourists from around the world flood in daily to enjoy the sun and sea and French ambience.
November 11, 2009
Grenada
Come winter – when I can’t sleep at night and February grabs me by the throat – I conjure up a view of the falls. But my falls is no mere Niagara. This is Concord, a cascade coursing down the side of a mountain in Grenada. A nation of three islands less than three hundred kilometres from the coast of South America, Grenada is crown jewel of the Windward Islands.
November 11, 2009
Becoming a Belonger in the British Virgin Islands
In Tortola’s far eastern reaches a causeway crosses a strait etched by the Caribbean. It leads to Beef Island, one member of the forty-island archipelago called the British Virgin Islands. Two hundred years ago cattle grazed here. Today it is home to the airport.
November 11, 2009
Anchored in Anguilla
Sometime before dawn this morning a snare drum roll of rain beat out a tattoo on the coach roof of our Gibsea 42′, chartered from Sunsail in Sint Maarten. Thunder growled through the night. Rain cascaded from black cumulus clouds swirling over a cacti-studded ridge. A medley of line squalls passed overhead, each ending as soon as it began.
November 11, 2009
Croatia is Calling
Having spent most of my holidays in the Caribbean over the past two decades of holidays, the Adriatic was a distant destination ‘to do someday’. I knew basically nothing about the Adriatic and what it had to offer but the lure was apparent. We – Mango Yacht Charters – decided a to expand our business and add the Mediterranean to our repertoire of destinations.
November 11, 2009
Baltic Odyssey
“Did you sail all the way … from Canada?” My husband, David, and I were asked that question dozens of times as we circumnavigated the Baltic Sea during the summer of 2005. As people strolled by to see our port of origin, they’d spy the maple-leaf ensign and immediately strike up a conversation. Canada is popular in the Baltic; being Canadian is a first-class calling card.
November 10, 2009
Galley Guys on the Malty Seas of Scotland
It started with an Internet search on malts and ended with an invitation that was too good to be true for any decent Galley Guy not to accept: fly to Scotland, drive peacefully through the Scottish countryside and come to rest at the end of a single-lane road on the Isle of Skye (along side the Cuillin mountain range in the Village of Carbost beside Loch Harport) only to witness a flotilla of eighty yachts which we were joining. This, and we were right in front of the Talisker Distillery which we would tour the following day.
November 10, 2009
Sailing on Turkey’s Turquoise Seas
The term “turquoise seas” is an expression I equate with idyllic cruising so when my mate, Paul, proposed a cruise along the Turquoise Coast I just knew it was going to be a great experience. The Turquoise Coast is located on the southern shore of Turkey (Turquia in Spanish, Türkiye in Turkish) that embraces the Mediterranean Sea for nearly 1600 km or 994 miles.