Report from the Appalachian Trail

OK, we are not aboard the Charlotte D at this time. Sorry if you came here to read about cruising in the Caribbean.

Instead, we are CLODs (Cruisers Living on Dirt) now that the Charlotte D is laid up for the approaching hurricane season. And, we are gradually making our way back to Nova Scotia.

We report here on a few days in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.

The focus of these few days was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Click on the video below to relish the South River Falls.

This is late spring/early summer here in the mountains.

 

The earliest wildflowers are in profusion.

Snakes are making their first forays to sun-warmed rocks.

Bear are active.

The trail huts of the Appalachian Trail are scenic, and surely welcome on a rainy night. 





However, the log book entries of hikers in transit tell the story of the discomforts and limitations of hut living. Imagine such tight overnight quarters with 5 or 6 fellow hikers sans showers for a week or more.

The rustic cabins (below) of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) are far more luxurious.

We enjoyed several day hikes along segments of the AT, and, being softies, spent evenings on mattresses in fully-equipped cabins.

We certainly agree with John Muir!

Peter and Catherine, CLODs

Report from S/V Charlotte D enroute to Grenada

This is our ninth posting about the 2011-2012 winter cruising season.

There will be one more posting to follow; focused on fishing.

On March 13 we departed Martinique to begin our return trip to Grenada for haul out and summer storage. The return to Grenada consisted of a series of day sails with short layovers.


Our first leg was from Martinique across to the windward side of St. Lucia. This was a magnificent close to beam reach with near idea conditions of 15-18 knots of east wind and 1.5 to 2 m seas.


Click on the video clip below to get an impression of the sailing conditions.





Peter played with his new fishing toy. 

And, when exhausted from that effort, had a short nap in the cockpit. 



This day sail took us to the south side of St. Lucia where we anchored for the night behind Maria Island. This is a scenic, fair weather anchorage.

The next morning we continued south on the windward side of the island chain; crossed the channel from St. Lucia to St. Vincent and passed to windward of Bequia on a gorgeous beam reach.




We stayed 4 days secured in the mooring field of Mustique and enjoyed it very much.











We rented an ATV, locally known as “mules”, for an exploration of the island.






They charge per driver and Catherine won the toss to drive.  Check out this video clip for a sample of the Mustique roads.

 

Mustique has lovely beaches, nearly deserted.   We need to come back to give them each the time they deserve.

The interior is also quite attractive; mostly dry forest but also some mangrove and ponds.

 On March 18 we departed Mustique for a delightful broad reach through the Grenadines to Union Island. Check out the video clip below.

 

In Chatham Bay we were pleased to be greeted and entertained by Vanessa and Seckie at their “Sun, Beach and Eat”.


As expected, they served us a delicious meal of grilled lobster, breadfruit salad, washed down with beer and rum punch.








We  brought them a windsock with Maple Leaf to further decorate their eatery.



The final sail for this season was from Union Island down the windward coast of Grenada to the anchorage at St. David's.


At St. David's we began the decommissioning of the Charlotte D, and rewarded our labours with daily Happy Hours at the Marina Bar where we made some new acquaintances among the cruising community there.

After several days we moved a few miles along the coast of Grenada to anchor in Prickly Bay and completed the in-water parts of the annual decommissioning before our haul out for the summer on March 26.   Before we flew away from Grenada on April 2, much additional maintenance was done ashore to prepare for next winter's cruising season.

Book of the week, “The Ursula Franklin Reader, Pacifism as a Map”, Ursula M. Franklin.

Peter and Catherine, aboard S/V Charlotte D.