Saturday, January 27, 2024

Barbados and a day at sea



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 January 27


We arrived in Barbados late on January 25. We spent Saturday morning looking for birds (of course) on our hotel grounds.  Recent eBird data suggested that very few species have been seen recently, only five, but we saw 14, including 9 that are new to us. We also explored Fort Charles, named for Charles II of England. The fort (originally named Fort Needham) in 1650 to protect against attack by forces of Oliver Cromwell, as Barbados remained royalist during the English Civil War. As far fetched as it sounds to send troops 
to Barbados, Cromwell actually did, and the militia repulsed them in 1651. In 1652, a peace treaty formally ended the hostilities between the English Commonwealth and Barbados (who knew?). We also learned that George Washington visited Barbados when he was 16, the only overseas trip he ever took. 

Friday afternoon we joined our group and boarded the Sea Cloud. On our arrival evening we saw the ship illuminated and in the harbor. By morning the ship had docked, but then two Very Large cruise ships docked in front and behind, effectively trapping our ship. We 
could not leave port until one of the other ships left to give us room to maneuver. It was actually quite interesting to watch that process. The big cruise ships have side thrusters so they can essentially move sideways of the pier. But the Sea Cloud has old fashioned engines — so we had to be pulled away from the pier and turned around by two tugboats. 

The Sea Cloud is a 100-meter-long, 4-masted prIvate sailing yacht built in 1931. It has had several iterations but retains teak and gold plated fixtures and amazing carved molding in the dining room. Overnight we motored about about 80 miles. Saturday morning we watched the crew set and raise the sails (manually with a couple of winches to help) and we covered another 80 miles under sail. Tonight we will be back on engine power for the final 80 miles to Dominica.  We saw very few sea birds, though one, the White-tailed Tropicbird, was new to us.  We also got a quick viewing of a pod of dolphins, and enjoyed watching Brown Boobies diving to catch flying fish. 

Photos: Sea Cloud at night, Brown Booby taking off, Green-throated Carib 

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