B”H

Rodney Bay

Saint Lucia

January 8. 2018

My Dear Friend,

A Rainbow! 

HaShem sent a rainbow yesterday as we departed Mayreau on our return to Bequia.

The sail was smooth and colorful.  Many lovely yachts about.  Best of all, HaShem sent a rainbow to inspire our final voyage.

Today our course is North. 

From Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia, the course is North.

10:00 On the morning of our planned departure from Bequia, the wind comes from the North.  The route will be upwind, or directly against the wind, and not the most pleasant situation for a 45’ sailboat. 

“We’ll wait until the afternoon,” Captain Bill decides, “because if the wind shifts from the North to the Northeast, the sailing will be a little more favorable.  Regardless, it will be a lively sail.”

Saltwhistle Bay

Mayreau

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

January 5, 2018

A Kite.  That’s how I describe St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  An archipelago that looks like a Kite.

At the head of the Kite is the main island of St. Vincent.  The smaller islands form the Tail.

We "fly down" the "tail" to Mayreau.

Mayreau is the smallest inhabited island of the kite-like archipelago.   Only 1.5 square miles and a population of 271.

And yet, Saltwhistle Bay is a delightful anchorage with a bar and restaurant and a good WiFi connection.

Bequia (“Island of the Clouds”)

13°0′N 61°14′W

7 sq mi (18 km2) 

Pop 4300

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

January 1, 2018

Happy New Year!           

With his head of windblown hair and his beard of whitecaps and waves, we are greeted at the dock with his welcoming smile and his tee shirt that reads, “Livin’ the Dream.”

Here in Bequia locals “Live the Dream.” 

And since there is no convenient way to travel here except on a boat, Bequia is one of those places in the world known only to sailors.  Sailors and their crew and passengers also “Live the Dream.”

December 30, 2017

Fill the fuel tanks, cast off the lines, and motor out of the harbor at Rodney Bay and into the Caribbean Sea.

Captain Bill and I are sailing south.   My first trip on a sailboat.

The prevailing northeast winds are behind us.  Main sail raised.  Head sail raised.  Destination plotted.  Auto pilot engaged.  Motor disengaged.  We “fly” south along the west coast of St. Lucia, past the mountains and the Pitons on the southern tip of the island.

Tashkurgan

Tajik Autonomous County

Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region

People’s Republic of China

July 6, 2017

My Dear Friends,

What a splendid, albeit cloudy and misty, ride along the Karakorum Highway to Tashkurgan and an equally splendid, sunny and clear, ride back to Kashgar the following day.

The last town in China before the border of Pakistan, Tashkurgan Town has a long history as a major stop on the ancient Silk Road along the Karakorum Highway.  The Highway runs from Kashgar, China in the north to Islamabad, Pakistan in the west.

Kashgar (Kashi)

Xinjiang – Uyghur Autonomous Region

People’s Republic of China

July 2, 2017

My Dear Carnivorous Friends,

Kashgar is “The End of the Line” for man and beast.  (Mostly beast.)

Unless and until I venture further south and west, towards Tashkurgan and the Pakistan border, Kashgar is “the end of the line” for me and for other Silk Road travelers in China.  

But for most of the four-legged domesticated creatures here at the Sunday Livestock Market, Kashgar truly is “the end of the line.”