GoogleEarth KAP Library Update 2

Hi everyone,

It has only been a few months since we updated our KAP Library of GoogleEarth images.  The library provides satellite images translated into 'charts', primarily for use in OpenCPN and SEAiq.  The library is publicly accessible on Dropbox.

The library and its use are described here.

The full set of blog posts relating to the KAP library is here.

Additions mostly to West Caribbean

The additions and updates to the library include KAP files in the following countries:

• Caribbean
• ABCs
• AntiguaBarbuda
• Belize
• CaymanIslands
• Columbia
• CostaRica
• Cuba
• DominicanRepublic
• Guadeloupe
• Guatamala
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• StMartin
• Venezuela

There are about 900 new 'charts'.  The largest of the files is less than 160MB in size.

Here are some screenshots from OpenCPN showing the coverage in some of the countries...

ABCs

Belize

Cayman Islands

Columbia

Dominican Republic

Guatemala (Rio Dulce)

Honduras (Bay Islands)

Jamaica

Panama (Bocas del Toro & San Blas)

The new files were created using VentureFarther's OpenCPN plugin 'vfkaps'.  The plugin makes it easy to create new KAP files.

Your collection of KAP files is welcome in our library.  Get in touch if you can fill some gaps in our coverage!

Les Saintes to Portsmouth

Hi everyone,

Today we sailed from Les Saintes in Guadeloupe to Portsmouth in Dominica.  Twas a 21nm blast!  15 to 25 knot winds with stronger gusts, mostly from the E.  Dominica is a little SSE of Les Saintes so we initially 'put a bit in the bank' sailing almost close hauled.  Then gradually we bore off onto a close reach and finished on a beam reach in the lee of Dominica.

Once again we were in company with Cerulean.  They still have engine problems so we followed them out of Les Saintes then tried to catch them.  We sailed with a reef in the main and 2 to 3 furls in the yankee.  Heavy showers with gusty winds came over several times which washed off some of the salt we were constantly shipping.

Here's our track and graphs...

Track

Arrival Detail

Graphs

Our average boat speed was 6.4 knots which is fast for us.  The graphs show we were pushing into a 1 knot current at least.  Once cracked off Zen Again was romping along at over 7 knots boat speed.  Initially we held on to Cerulean, but as we both bore away she gained about 1nm on us - we're happy with that given she's a 43 footer!

Following Cerulean past Pain de Sucre on Les Saintes

As we got into the lee of Dominica the seas calmed and the wind eased a little.  Once around Prince Rupert Bluff we motored into the bay to give the batteries a bit of a lift.  Daniel of PAYS came out to welcome us and directed us to the quarantine area where we anchored. 

Approaching Prince Rupert Bluff, beyond which lies Portsmouth

I went for a swim and the bottom appeared to be coral rubble with a little weed.  After a couple of hours the anchor started dragging to we weighed it (STILL heavy) and picked up a mooring.  The moorings here have no pickup line or metal eye, rather an rope eye sits in the middle of the mooring buoy.  One simply grabs the eye, lifts it up to feed a line through it, and takes the tail of the line back aboard.

On a mooring in Prince Rupert Bay

It's great to be back in Dominica.  We really enjoyed our brief stay in 2016.  Looking forward to clearing in tomorrow morning then doing some exploring with sv Cerulean and sv Ruffian of Amble.

Trust all's well where you are!

Les Saintes

Hi everyone,

We've now been in Terre de Haut, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe for six nights.  Tonight will be our last and we're now preparing to depart.  We've had a great time here with Helen and Steve of sv Cerulean.  We spent most of our time exploring the very pretty town of Le Bourg and walking up and down hills around the island.

Even the postboxes are pretty!

Le Bourg is a popular tourist town with ferries coming in and out regularly.  It's best exploring the town before the first morning ferry when it's much 'sleepier'.  Only the locals and a few tourists are out getting their daily bagettes.

Pretty town hall

Pretty church (the congregation overflows onto the steps on Sundays)

Not so pretty but still picturesque!

Posh houses on the edge of town

Extremely well-kept cemetary

One day Nic and I walked up Le Chameau, a 320m hill overlooking the anchorage and Le Bourg.  The path is pretty steep in places!  But it's well worth the effort for the view at the top.

Onward and Upward

Spectacular flowers on the hill

We made it!

And it was worth it!

Fortified lookout tower on the top

View over the anchorage, Le Bourg and the airport (RHS)

We did several other walks, most with the Ceruleans.  We visited Marigot Bay, Pains de Sucre, Fort Napoleon, Grand Anse and Anse Rodrigue.

Pain de Sucre (Sugerloaf)

View over the bay from Fort Napoleon

Grande Anse

More flora

The prettiest goat on Terre de Haut (there are many)

The airport on Terre de Haut is interesting.  Le Chameau is almost directly downwind of the runway.  So all aircraft fly their final approach immediately north of Terre de Haut, only turning onto the runway heading on short finals at about 200' agl.

Windward end of the airport at Grande Anse

We spent our stay here on a mooring since the 'anchorage' is full of them.  And they're only E11/night for a 10.4m boat which is pretty good.  The alternative was a much longer and wetter dinghy ride in and out.  The lady at the LSM office was very helpful despite her limited English - patience personified.  LSM manages the moorings, the fresh water supply, rubbish disposal, laundry and clearance services.  They also accept mail/parcels and can order from Budget Marine on your behalf.

Zen Again in Les Saintes

We regularly visited Cafe de la Marina, located at the foot of the dinghy dock.  Excellent coffee, wonderful food and marvellous Guadeloupe microbrewery beer.  The Gwada Amber ale is highly recommended.

Next stop Dominica!

Bouillante to Les Saintes

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we sailed in company with sv Cerulean from Bouillante to Le Bourge on Les Saintes, a small group of islands south of Guadeloupe.  It was an interesting 22nm sail in a light coastal sea breeze, then becalmed and then beating into light trade winds.

Livin' the Dream

Here are the usual tracks and graphs...

Overall Track - love that arc

Arrival Track

Graphs

We initially accompanied Cerulean closely since they have a drive train problem.  They needed to avoid using their motor so we waited for the sea breeze to come in before departing.  Like them we sailed off the anchor which was good practice.

The sea breeze held down the W coast of Guadeloupe, giving us a very nice sail in 4-8 knots of breeze.  As we approached the southern tip of the Basse Terre the wind gradually died and we closed with Cerulean.  Happily we'd both entered a 1 knot S current.  So we both bobbed around becalmed and let the current carry us south and into the channel between Guadeloupe and Dominica.

Light wind sail down the spectaclar coast of Guadeloupe

Once into the trade wind in the channel we were close hauled on port tack with 22 knots over the deck.  Zen Again loved it and so did her crew.  We hand steered all the way to Les Saintes, gradually being lifted as we beat clear of the point.  Once away from the point the wind moderated to 15 knots.  We tacked twice to work into the bay, having left Cerulean behind.  Our tacking angles were amazingly good considering there was a 0.5knot W current in the channel.

Cerulean over a silver sea

We motored the last half mile to give the engine a run.  We picked up a mooring since the main anchorage here is full of them,  They're E14/night which is reasonable.  We dinghied over to a vacant mooring to stand by in case Cerulean needed assistance.  Of course they didn't but we handed them a mooring strop anyway.

We expect to spend a few days here exploring ashore and visiting a few anchorages around the islands.  We'll probably move on to Dominica after Easter.

Happy Easter everyone!

Bouillante

Hi everyone,

We spent five nights in Bouillante on the west coast of Guadeloupe.  The first couple of days were windy with rain showers.  The rest were quieter with a light sea breeze coming in each day.  Bouillante's a nice little town and a good base for touring the central west coast.

No Mask No Chocolate!

The anchorage in Bouillante has a sand over rock bottom.  We dragged a couple of times before finding a thicker area of sand.  The main dinghy dock is a substantial structure in aluminium (see below).  There's a second small dock on the southern side of the bay with a water tap.

We explored the hinterland using the local busses.  The main bus routes run north to Pointe Noire (= La Maison Du Cafe), north then east over the hills to Pointe a Pitre, and south to Basse Terre (stopping at the Musee de Cafe).  There is rumoured to be a bus from Pointe Noire to Dehaies but we didn't see one. The busses are minibusses as shown below or coaches - both air-conditioned.  Rates varied from E2.50 to E4.50 for our rides.

Busses go north and south from Bouillante

We first rode the bus south to the Musee de Cafe.  It's an interesting museum with placards and displays of the history of coffee generally and in Guadeloupe.  The local coffee plantations were destroyed by hurricanes in the 1920s and production halted in the 1970s.  Coffee is being re-introduced as a boutique industry.

Musee de Cafe - tres posh!

Musee de Cafe

Who knew coffee originated in Yemen!

Double-edged sword

Coffee grinder

Bagging and boxing

Chocolate shop in the Musee de Cafe

Later the same morning we bussed north to Pointe Noire.  The bus terminates 100m short of La Maison de Cacao.  English language presentations generally happen around mid-day, but check on the web site.

We spent half an hour exploring the gardens before the English language presentation.  Who knew chocolate production went back beyond the Mayans to 1500BC?  The presentation was very good, with tasting of raw, crushed and paste cacau, then mixtures of cacau with suger (= chocolate).  Yum!

Visit & Taste!

Cacao heritage in La Maison du Cacau gardens

Cacao & chocolate tasting

Back in Bouillante we visited the L'Eddy's Papillon (tripadvisor) restaurant.  Awesome place with great food and atmosphere.  There's also a good Patisserie.  Bouillante is best known for its geothermal energy power station, and the outfall into the bay where swimming is very popular.  Water in the bay was 30C during our stay.  Zen Again's hull is now nice & clean!

Our friends on sv Cerulean arrived during our stay.  Twas great to spend some time with them, including trying out a couple of the more local-style cafes and eateries as well as another treat at D'Eddy's.

Main dinghy dock

Desserted at D'Eddy's

Trust all's well where you are!