April 28, 2010 - Barbados

We've really enjoyed some aspects of being anchored in Carlisle Bay. The water is so clear and warm that we swim every day. So do the locals. Every morning we wake to the sound of Bajans coming down to the beach for a swim before work. The jockeys from the local track bring the horses down for a sea bath at dawn as well. All of this would be more charming if the nightclubs that line the beach hadn't been going until 4:00 am. But even so, this is an uncommonly nice white sand beach.

Unfortunately, it is not such a great anchorage for a monohull. We spend all day and night rolling in the swell. If we had come to Barbados from a flat anchorage, we wouldn't have stayed more than a day or two with these conditions. But since we've either been underway or anchored in open roadsteads for the past two months, we're quite acclimated to the motion. But when the swell built to the point where the waves crashing into the beach became surfable, it was time to go.

If the swell hadn't gotten to us, the dismal selection of staples and produce at the central grocery store in Bridgetown would have forced us to move on. Our provisions are running low and Barbados is an obscenely expensive place to restock. As one expat told us, by way of explanation, "It's Barbados, Old Boy!"

Since the fishing was so unproductive during the two months it took us to travel up from South Africa, we've decimated our frozen meat supplies. With no chicken and only two steaks left, we turned to harvesting the local fruits of the sea. We're pretty sure it is legal to take conch here, but just in case, we're not posting any incriminating photos.

With visions of deli cases filled with pate and French cheese, we are headed to Martinique. The 112 mile trip is too long to do in a day, so we'll overnight it.

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