Jamaica

When we last left we were headed off for Jamaica…Well we made it!! After 3 nights we arrived the morning of the 4Th day. The weather was changeable to say the least as when we left we had wind fairly light out of the west and when we entered the cut to Port Antonio we had NE winds 20k gusting to 25k, heavy rain squalls and waves 7-10’ talk about surfing your way in!! During the trip we did catch 2 nice Dorado’s which we ended up eating some and freezing the rest. The days were mostly sunny and the weather was warm.

Jamaica…Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect….that is what they say!! So Far... we have had both good and not so good experiences here. The good…The country is beautiful, lush and abundant with many fruits and vegetables. The colors here are beautiful!!

The exchange rate is fairly decent, 82.64 Jamaican dollars to every $1.00 US. In Port Antonio, so far it is fairly safe and protected by the port authority. We were treated very nice by Customs, Immigration and Agriculture even though the Agriculture officer stressed several times, even though the Admiral did here best to charm him, that she is NOT allowed off the boat for any reason…if she is caught off the boat she will be put down - no questions asked - along with a $500.00 fine!! She has been pouting ever since and we can’t blame her!!
The people, ah the people, for the most part are nice... kids especially, seem the most curious and genuinely friendly most just want to part you with your money by trying to sell you whatever they can, coffee, trinkets, ganga, sightseeing tours, work needed on your boat, cd’s and just about anything you can think of. Being American and a bit rusty in cruising the areas where hawkers and higglers are present it has been a bit of a re-learning curve to be polite but firm with the NO Thank-You’s !! You have to agree on a price - whether it is a taxi ride or a meal before you purchase it. The market is an experience all of its own as negotiation is the name of the game - which after you get used to it can be quite entertaining. I think what gets to you most is when you are trying to eat a meal, have a beer or even trying to place an order you constantly have someone poking you in the ribs trying to get your attention and another person speaking in your ear trying to sell you their stuff, it is enough to make you want to scream “RESPECT MON”!! Plus we have not seen the sun for any length of time since we left the Bahamas to say it rains a lot in Jamaica is an understatement!!

Ok nuff said about the negatives!! While we were in Port Antonio we met "WeJon" and loaded up on fresh bananas and Plantains...we won't need these for awhile!! Port Antonio was the perfect place to leave the boat and take some side trips...one was a trip to Boston Bay to sample some "jerk" and watch the surfers!!

Another was to go rafting on the Rio Grande, Which I must say was SPECTACULAR!! This was made famous by Errol Flynn when he fell in love with Jamaica!! The drive up to the Rio Grande was beautiful with the Blue Mountains (Blue Mountain Coffee) as the back drop!! We finally had a sunny day and had a great time!! The trip down the river was 8 miles long, I would not like to be the one to have to get the rafts back up river, as we went through some rapids and strong currents!!

We decided to move up the North coast so we did a short overnighter to Montego Bay, affectionately known as MoBay by the locals. The sun shines aplenty in MoBay, we have reached the sunny end of the Island!! Jamaica was stunning at night we are glad we got a chance to view her this way!! We will probably be here for about a week while we await the right weather window so we can cross over to the Bay of Islands in Honduras. We do have one more trip planned here as our friends on Sam the Skull would like to go visit Bob Marley's Grave, so we are going to take a route taxi up to Nine Mile in St. Annes Parrish. We will keep you posted!! Peace, Love, Unity and Respect, Mon!!