wow, what an island… such a cool place. we had such a beautiful time to explore this magical place with our friends from sy wind of change, tina & werner. they were so kind to invite us to join them for the day while they had a rental car. we explored the rich country side, friendly people, climbed up to gorgeous waterfalls, tasted the exquisite and famous blue mountain coffee. enjoyed the epic view over kingston with a nice lunch. we were delighted to be able to explore the eastern part of jamaica – so the locals say – the true jamaica.
we also checked the weather on a regular basis and discussed a potential next passage with tina & werner. two really experienced sailors. we saw that the 25.12. might be a good day to attempt the passage across and past haiti to the dominican repulic. we decided to leave together. the preparation for the next passage started again. paperwork, immigration, shopping and christmas evening preparations…
while doing so we found the best – yes, you wont believe it – vegan restaurant in town. Im pretty sure they probably serve the best vegan food in jamaica, if not in the entire caribbean. I was in heaven on a daily basis! it was so nice not having to cook for a bit and yet not having to worry about turning the menu upside down for a change.
below the gorgeous errol flynn marina, and busy port antonio on a regular business day.
christmas has come and we decided to celebrate together with sy wind of change with a little christmas afternoon tea. this beacause as we had to go to bed early, to be fresh for our next sailing adventure. they had a little christmas tree and we brought the decoration. tina brought out her guitar and we sang some christmas songs as well as one of her favourite songs – i love it too, hear it yourself.
as we heard that in port antonio they had a tradition of a casual running market, to get last minute christmas presents. we decided to join the crowd. it was super beautiful to see young and old out and about. joy of life and happiness accompanied by loud raggae music, drinks, food and a loud chatter. we had a ball submerging into this happening. I was so sad though that we would miss the christmas service on the 25th, which we initially wanted to attend. we had the idea due to the chorus we heard from the church on the previous sunday – wow, I pictured it so vivid, colourful and beautiful. maybe on my next visit to see the rest of this gorgeous island…
the 25th arrived and we set sail 1.5 hours after sy wind of change. the first day we had beautiful weather to sail across to haiti. perfect conditions, smooth sailing. we lost contact with tina & werner soon after their departure as they were flying across the sea with their bigger and faster boat. despite this fact, we were able to really enjoy the first leg. we cooked, we ate, we sang, we chilled, we listened to music, we watched the sunset from the roof, we star gazed the millions of stars during our shifts, we slept. what a bliss, this is how I pictured sailing to be.
the second day along the haitian coast was a bit louder, as we needed the motor to keep moving while motor sailing. there was barley any wind, at least no waves, but at times current against us. we fell back behind our estimated schedule. we really needed to pass the cape before the weather window would close on us with stronger winds and waves… time was ticking and we unfortunately didnt manage to sail faster. stay tuned for the second part of our leg, where the madness began…