Dear friends,
Here are three things that I thought were going to be an issue, cruising in the Caribbean, and so far they turned out to be no issues at all:
1: Custom clearance, immigration.
In most places a simple procedure (just have all the boat papers and passports with you). In most French Islands, it is like a do it yourself operation. The best was St Barth, as they keep all the data current on their computer system, so next time you check in, all data is there. It was in Tobago where things took more time and paperwork. Especially if you go to Trinidad afterwards. I thought of complicated, hours consuming bureaucratic mazes, but so far things have been very smooth.
2: Crime and Safety
Knock on wood, but did not come across, nor experienced any level of crime, theft and things like that. It probably is a mixture of: using common sense (not leaving stuff around outside the boat that are of any value), good luck, a solid guardian angel, locking up the dinghy (including its gas tank), and at night, I just store the dinghy in its usual position (hanging of the davits), high and dry. You would be surprised to see how many fellow yachties leave their dinghy in the water, just tied to the boat… That is making it extra easy for those thugs. And of course, having a lean-mean-can-i-have-a-cookie-now-machine named Lucky in da house (=boat), nobody can come close (unless you would have a cookie on you..)
3: Navigation
Prior to cruising around here, I have to admit that some times I would wake up at night, a bad dream, Onda Boa being crushed and banged into and onto coral reefs and rocks…Again, so far so good… Using good maps, reading (prior to arrival is by the far the best) the cruising guides (Chris Doyle's for instance) and again, common sense has kept the Onda Boa free of any unwanted crashes. The navigation with regards weather, currents etc, is another story: Easterlies are not always Easterlies, and currents are sometimes allies some times foes and go in mysterious ways….
Tomorrow I have scheduled a mini Island tour on Dominica. Can’t wait to see what that will bring…
Meanwhile, stay safe and enjoy what you do…
Pieter
