December 19:

We began our visit to Barbados anchored on the northwest side of the island, in the bay by Port St. Charles and Heywoods Beach. This provided easy access to check into the country. We also had easy access to a restaurant with a Santa Claus (as seen in pictures in our last post).

But first, we needed to start the dinghy motor. It started but it wouldn’t rev up at all. So we made an exceptionally slow trip to land to check in. Then we took an exceptionally slow trip back to Seahike. In the meantime, we had a lovely (albeit, very expensive) lunch at the little restaurant with Santa Claus.

Steffan and Michael did some brainstorming about the outboard motor. Steffan checked the spark plugs but said they looked good. If I recall correctly, he also replaced a filter. I know that Steffan removed, disassembled and cleaned the carburetor. And Michael posited that perhaps we’d gotten some bad gas the last time we bought it. So we emptied out the old gas (into one of our empty jerry cans) and took another slow trip to the fuel dock with our empty jerry can to get some brand new gas. The combination of new (good) gas and a clean carburetor (with none of the bad gas left on it), did the trick. We now had our dinghy motor back at full speed!

And we could now take the dinghy to a nearby dock, which gave us access to Speightstown. Vicki, Steffan and I took the dinghy to go shopping in Speightstown. We were on the lookout for some groceries but Steffan suggested we also try to find a cable with a lock to lock up the dinghy since they tend to get stolen in the Caribbean. We couldn’t find a cable/lock combo so we bought the parts for making one. Then we purchased our groceries and headed back to Seahike.

December 20:

Vicki, one of our crew members, learned about a fish fry that happened on Friday nights in Oistins, on the southern end of Barbados. That, and the fact that there wasn’t much to do where we were currently anchored, prompted us to move to Carlisle Bay the next day (Friday, the 20th). The upside to the new bay was that it was gorgeous! The other upside was that we could catch a bus from Bridgetown (the town by Carlisle Bay) to Oistins. The down side was that the only dinghy dock was about a mile away. But of course that didn’t deter us. We took off to visit Bridgetown.

Bridgetown was decorated for Christmas. Each of the trees seemed to have been “adopted” by a group, who was responsible for decorating it.

We walked around a bit and decided to head over to the bus station. We’d heard that the buses have no schedule. You read that right. NO SCHEDULE. You figure out which bus you want to take to get from Point A to Point B, then you stand in line for said bus. And you wait until it decides to show up. That’s how it works.

We waited about an hour and a half. While we were in line, we chatted with various people. One woman recommended a tour through Island Safari. So we signed up for that for the next day.

So the bus came. It then took 50 minutes to travel the 10.2 kilometers to Oistins. I suggested at one point that we could have walked just as fast. 🙂

The fish fry was good. . . and LOUD! This is the only picture we have, compliments of Vicki (note that there is a drummer right behind us):

It was, of course, dark when we got back to Bridgetown (this time we traveled via taxi). I am glad we got to see it at night, as the lights were very festive. We then took the dinghy back to Seahike. There was enough ambient light to make our way – and we stayed pretty far out to avoid any lines in the water.

December 21:

It was Island Safari day! And it was actually kind of like a safari. We were glad to have cushy seats and seatbelts as the driver drove through extremely bumpy terrain. There was lots of laughter in the back of the truck!

But first we had to get picked up. We asked them to pick us up at a hotel near where we were anchored. We all took the dinghy ashore, then Steffan took it back to Seahike and swam ashore. (Remember, we couldn’t park the dinghy near where we were anchored.) When Andre, our fantastic guide, showed up in this, I thought it was just for looks. But, no, he needed that vehicle!

We couldn’t usually take pictures while we were moving due to the bumpy surface or, just cuz we were moving. But we tried nonetheless.

And sometimes we stopped. For example, we stopped to take pictures of The Lion at Gun Hill, a statue of a white lion carved from a single piece of coral limestone in Barbados. Facts:

— Location: Located at the entrance to the Gun Hill Signal Station, overlooking the St. George Valley 
— Carver: Captain Henry John Wilkinson carved the lion in 1868 with the help of four military laborers 
— Symbolism: The lion represents the British Empire and was erected to honor the soldiers who served in the area. It was also meant to symbolize Britain’s power and control over the world. 
— Size: The lion is over six feet tall
— Features: The lion has a red sphere under its paw

We saw quite a few of these Dutch ovens along the road. They were used by the slaves. I am afraid I don’t remember any other details. Information overload.

Pictured below is Molasses Bridge, also known as Blackmans Bridge. It is a historic bridge in Barbados that was built in the 1600s. It’s located in Saint Joseph Parish, overlooking Blackmans Gully. 

What it’s made from: 

— Egg whites: A key ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— Eggshells: A key ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— Molasses: A key ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— Limestone: A key ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— Sand: Another ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— White lime: Another ingredient in the bridge’s construction
— Coral stone: Helps strengthen the bridge

We went to a high point in the island to get a bird’s-eye view of the western coast.

The area had a lot of interesting trees. I mean a kind of palm, so that’s normal, but they had seed branches on them that I hadn’t seen (or noticed) before (but have since).

And a pretty bush:

Time to view the ocean from sea level! The trade winds come from the west here, so the surf is pretty good on the western coast.

Andre took us to a fish market and gave us suggestions of what we might want to order. We waited a good bit and it was worth it. There were people cutting up fish all over the place. Andre can be found in the left-hand picture below. He is the guy facing away from the counter. He was such a fine guide!! Very kind and funny. And he knew the answers to every question posed to him.

The meal Michael and I shared (it was SO good!):

That was it for the tour.

We got dropped off at the hotel again. This time, I swam to Seahike to get the dinghy and pick up the other three. Then Steffan, Vicki and I went snorkeling. We didn’t see any sea turtles (which were supposed to be in this bay), but we did see a guy that looks like this (we didn’t have cameras, so these are from the web):

That is what it looks like when it is happy. When it feels threatened, it does this:

And we saw it do that a few times. I didn’t know anything about this fish so it made me nervous when it did that. I didn’t know if it was poisonous.

I can tell you now that it is a flying gurnard. But it doesn’t fly. The flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans), also known as the helmet gurnard, is a bottom-dwelling fish of tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic. They reach up to 50 cm (20 in) in length and 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) in weight. This fish is variable in coloration, being brownish or greenish with reddish or yellowish patches. When excited, the fish spreads its “wings,” which are semi transparent, with a phosphorescent, bright-blue coloration at their tips. Though the expanded pectoral fins might look like they would help the gurnard to “fly” through the water, they are not particularly useful in a fast getaway. To swim quickly, the flying gurnard pulls in the large rays and vigorously uses its dorsal and anal fins to flee.

And here’s the answer as to whether it could have hurt us: Although armed with many long spines on its fins, the Flying Gurnard does not possess any venomous glands and is therefor not considered as a venomous fish.

There is your tutorial for the day!

December 22:

Our friends/crew members flew home to the USA today. It was tough to say goodbye to them. We had a great crossing and we got along very well. We weren’t happy to see them go, but we supported their desire to be home for Christmas!

I was in a bit down in the dumps for a day. I was wishing we’d gone home for Christmas, but Barbados doesn’t have a marina and there was no time to make other arrangements on another island. (I should note that Steffan and Vicki made their airline reservations a few days before we reached Barbados. You can’t plan far ahead when crossing the ocean!)

We all took the dinghy ashore the day they left. As Steffan said, they had a “turtle-y sendoff” in Bridgetown. How lovely!