It is all about Respec here in Jamaica.
We left Ile A Vache early Wednesday
morning as planned. We were leaving Sans Peur behind as they are not on a
schedule – Mel and I are. One of us must go back to work!
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| Sunset just before the dolphins arrived. |
Most of our sail to Jamaica went
according to plan, except for the swells that we experienced during the night –
3 metres with 6 second intervals. We hardly slept as we were being thrown
around our bed or seat. The only bit of comfort I had was seeing a whole pod of
dolphins playing in our wake for at least 15 mins just after sunset. We passed
the US island of Navassa on our starboard at about 7.00pm. We thought we may
have a visit from the U.S. coast guard, but we knew full well that they had us
clearly on their radar.
We were heading for the NE of Jamaica to
Port Antonio to the Errol Flynn Marina. We were advised to stay in a marina in
Jamaica for security reasons, also Port Antonio is a very sheltered bay which
we were extremely grateful for after visiting Kingston and seeing the wind and
the conditions in Kingston harbour.
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| Errol Flynn Marina |
We arrived in Port Antonio mid Thursday
morning as planned. We had to tie up against the marina dock for easy access to
our boat for immigrations, customs, agricultural and police officials. Jamaica
is an ex British colony so there are still quite a few British formalities to
adhere to. For example, we had been warned that our yellow quarantine flag MUST
be hoisted before arriving as, if we did not have it flying on the starboard side,
it would be bad sailing/maritime etiquette.
A little bit of history….. Jamaica was
once occupied by the Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus in 1494 and then
captured by the British in 1655. Before the Spanish relinquished control over
the island, they freed all the slaves working on the sugar plantations. This
led to quite a few horrendous uprisings and campaigns against the British
forces by the freed slaves, known as the Maroons. A peace treaty was eventually
signed but life remained harsh for the African population and revolts continued
against the British. The situation only started to improve after the
Emancipation Act of 1833. Jamaica gained its independence from Britain in 1962.
Since then Jamaica has had a few turbulent times. Economically, at one time
Jamaica relied heavily on it’s nascent bananas and sugar industry, however due
to the South American mechanization of sugar farms, the tourist industry is now
their number one earner along with coffee production. Most of Jamaica’s coffee
is exported to Japan (85 %) with the rest being sent to the U.K., U.S.A. and
other countries. The tourist industry is mainly located along the north coast,
the main areas being Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril. (Information taken from
D.K. Eyewitness Travel, Caribbean, pg 132/133, 2013)
All the officials came on board and the
necessary forms were filled out – well to be honest, there were so many, it was
quite ridiculous but that’s the way it is so what can one do. By mid afternoon
we were legal and able to relax after an extremely tiring sail.
Port Antonio was once a favourite tourist
spot back in the 1950’s largely due to the actor Errol Flynn, who ran aground
here on his private yacht. He enjoyed the spot so much he bought the land in
what is known as the Portland Parish. This included the land where the marina
is and Navy Island, which is directly opposite the marina.
In the marina was a yacht flying the
Australian flag, Ocean Diamond II. We introduced ourselves – Derrick, Lianne
and Steve were on board waiting for a good weather window to head down to
Panama. We met up with them for a drink at the restaurant at the marina later
that afternoon.
They, like us, were keen to explore a bit
more of the island so we arranged to hire a car together to travel to Kingston
on Saturday. We were eager to see Usain Bolt’s restaurant and Bob Marley’s
home, plus Mel was keen to go to the chandlery (closest one was in Kingston) to
buy a replacement sheet (rope) for our genoa as one of the sheets looks fragile
and we didn’t want to be in a remote part of Cuba if/when the sheet snapped.
We arranged to meet up the next morning,
Saturday 19 May 2018, to organise the hiring of a car
and to drive to Kingston
which would take approximately 3 hours. However, I got up rather early to watch
the royal wedding. Jamaican local T.V. was only viewing an hour of the event –
better than nothing, although I would have loved to have watched more of it.
Anyway, back to the road trip to Kingston……. We were told that for part of the
way, the road is fine and well maintained but for a long section of the road it
was a narrow hilly and windy road.
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| Bob Marley's house - Kingston. |
It sure was – there were pot holes
everywhere and the recent rains did not make the roads any better, as they were
muddy. Anyway, we eventually arrived in Kingston or part of Kingston where the
chandlery was. We thought we had the wrong address or that our phones were
giving us the wrong information as we were in the middle of suburbia. However,
we were in the correct place as the chandlery was in our house.
What started
off as a hobby for the owner became a business and what a wonderful treasure
trove of marine related equipment, parts and accessories. We not only found
what we were looking for but a few more bits of the never ending parts that are
needed on a boat. Derrick, Steve and Lianne were also extremely excited as they
thought they would have to wait until they arrive in Panama to find a part for
their boat but found it in this magical shop. Each room of the house was
designated for an area/type of equipment for a boat. For example: all things
related to anchoring in one room, electrical in another room of the house.
Before we left, the owner poured each of us a very strong rum drink.
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| Bob Marley's house. |
We were all hungry, so we went in search
of Usain Bolt’s restaurant called ‘Tracks and Records’. It’s a sports bar with
HUGE T.V. screens playing various live sporting events. The food section was
pretty good and at a reasonable price. Naturally one must have one’s photograph
taken doing the Usain Bolt, lightning bolt.
After lunch we went in search of Bob
Marley’s home which was close by in Hope Road. We passed Devon House which was
built by the first Jamaican black millionaire – it has lovely gardens with an
abundance of shady trees. Bob Marley’s house was not difficult to find and could
not be missed either, as there were lots of Rasta flags and murals painted on
the walls. We were all keen to see where Bob Marley had once lived, but there
is also a limit to the price one is willing to pay. We decided to just walk
around the gardens taking photos of the outside of his home.
Some information about Bob Marley: He was
born on 6 February 1945. His mother’s name was Cedella Malcolm, a 17-year-old
farmer’s daughter. His father was a 51-year-old white Jamaican former soldier –
Norval Marley. Bob moved to Kingston with his mother after the marriage broke
up and they lived in the government yard where Marley met Peter Tosh and Bunny
Livingston. Together they formed the Wailers. He was diagnosed with cancer in
1980 and died on 11 May 1981, from a melanoma at the young age of 36 years old.
It was time to start heading back to Port
Antonio long the steep windy and extremely badly maintained roads.
The rest of our time in Jamaica was
preparing and planning for Cuba, although we did take some time off to drive
along the northern coast of Jamaica to Montego Bay. We knew in Cuba we would be
‘off the grid’ for quite a while, away from Wi-Fi, shops and basic civilisation,
so we needed to make sure we were prepared.
The weather looked good for us to sail
north to Santiago de Cuba on Thursday 24 May 2018. I was keen for the swells to
be low as I was not keen on having to experience the type of swells we had
sailing to Jamaica.
After spending time preparing for Cuba,
on Tuesday 22 May 2018, we hired a car to drive to Montego Bay and decided to
spend a night there as well. The north coast of Jamaica is the main tourist
area and where you will find places of interest. For example:
·
Firefly where the
famous English actor and songwriter, Noel Coward (1899 – 1973) and his partner,
Graham Payn (1918 – 2005) both lived until Noel Coward’s death.
·
Oracabessa - famous
because Ian Fleming built a house and wrote most of his James Bond novels there.
There is also a James Bond Beach close by.
·
Ocho Rios – a very
tourist cruise ship area. We stopped here for a cup of coffee and cake at
incredibly high tourist prices.
·
Rose Hall – this is
about 16 kms from Montego Bay and is a place with a very dark and sinister
history. It was once the home of the ‘White Witch’ - Annie Palmer. She was
married to the owner of Rose Hall, John Rose Palmer. It is believed that she
was responsible for some horrendous acts against the plantation workers and
there is some speculation that she ordered three of her husbands to be
murdered.
All information taken from DK Eyewitness
Travel – Caribbean pg.137/148.
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| The Blue Lagoon. |
Unlike the road to Kingston, the road to
Montego Bay was well maintained and despite taking almost 5 hours to drive to
Montego Bay from Port Antonio, it was scenic and pleasurable.
Montego Bay is a tourist area with many
hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. There is also a HUGE cruise ship terminal.
As always, we went to have a look at the marina and area where boats can
anchor. We drove through the busy and crowded streets of downtown Montego Bay
where the statue of Sam Sharpe can be found.
Sam Sharpe is famous for the Christmas
rebellion in 1831 which many would say was the most significant uprising of
African slaves in the history of Jamaica.
Information taken from DK Eyewitness Travel
– Caribbean pg.137
The slave trade had been outlawed in
1807, however, many of the African workers were unaware of the changes in
legislation. It was in the interests of the plantation owners to keep the
African workers in the ‘dark’ so the planation’s could continue being
productive. However, Sam Sharpe, a house slave working in Montego Bay, taught
himself to read, as he was a deacon of a Baptist church. He learnt of the
activities of abolitionists in Britain and in his sermons preached that freedom
was close.
‘The news spread like wildfire and talk
of insurrection intensified as Christmas approached. By December 27,
non-violent protests had developed into full scale rebellion with western
Jamaica ablaze as some 160 estates were razed to the ground. The British
response was brutal, with 1000 slaves shot dead and another 300 hanged by the
neck, Sam Sharpe included. This was the first step on the road to complete
abolition in 1838.
We enjoyed our time in Montego Bay but
were keen to get back to Port Antonio as there were a
few places around there
that we wanted to have a look at and enjoy. For example, Frenchman’s Cove, the
Blue Lagoon – made famous by the 1980 movie starring Brooker Shields and
Christopher Atkins ‘The Blue Lagoon’, San San Beach, Winnifred Beach and Long
Bay. All very beautiful and inviting.
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| Winnifred Beach. |
We left Port Antonio, Jamaica as planned
mid-morning Thursday 24 May 2018 for Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. This was an
overnight sail – all went according to plan.
So, until next time when we will be writing
from Cuba. Not sure what the internet will be like, so the blog entries might
be sparse until they can be uploaded, but I will keep writing.
Keep well and safe.
Bye for now.
Mel and Caryn
sv Passages
If you want to see where we are – go to:
top right corner – search for Passages
with the Australian flag – that’s us!
