It’s been more than a week since Brenda and I left St Lucia, and returned to Antigua and we will be flying out on Sunday.
Normally, I would stay behind and wait for crew to arrive but this year I decided to make the trip back to the US to help Brenda prepare for the remodeling of our kitchen, a job that is expected to take several months. However, it’s not looking great for a timely start for the job as our tile guy just bowed out of the job due to some sort of family issue. That’s a real setback so it’s doubly important for me to spend a few weeks trying to get things back on track.
One of the reasons that we hustled back to Antigua was with the hope that I’d be able to get aboard Columbia a reproduction of a classic fishing schooner for the Classic Yacht Regatta, an event that brings beautiful yachts from all over. There are plenty of great boats that would be racing but she was the one that I wanted to be aboard.
My friend Franklyn had spent a lot of time aboard Columbia and put in a good word for me with the captain, Seth. At first it didn’t seem too promising but when I showed up on the first day of racing as directed by the Captain, he waved me aboard. After we all went below and signed in and were issued shirts, we assembled on deck for a briefing.
Captain Seth is very focused on safety and while he wants to win and expects a lot from his crew, he made a point that we were supposed to have fun and, of course, stay aboard Columbia. At the end of his daily briefing, he led the crew in a rousing chant of “hail Columbia”, a great way to begin a day of racing. 
It was awesome to be aboard such a spectacular yacht for three days of racing. The wind was forecast to be breezy and that’s exactly what we got.
Even getting her underway from the dock is a sight to behold. 
Each day we had different colored shirts, including those donated by Carib beer. I love that brand and to have a bright yellow shirt and hat to match was great fun. 
What a thrill to be aboard and underway. 
The “crew” from Carib beer.
The crew thought nothing of climbing, no make that scampering, up the mast to untangle whatever. 
To sail on Columbia in “sporty” conditions is nothing short of spectacular! Blasting along in 25-30kts of wind made for a pretty wet ride. At the end of this short video, watch someone be swept down the deck by a boarding wave. My primary job was to tail the port foremast runner. Split second timing was needed to secure the line during a tack. It took three of us to manage the lines. The next three images compliments of Ed Gifford, a great guy, who was onboard as one of the photographers. 
This is what happens if you get the timing off, heading to the leeward rail too early. When we were preparing to tack, the three of us would get into position just before the tack. The captain would bear off a bit to gain speed and nd blue water piled up over the rail. I was swept off of my feet once before I learned better. Sometimes, it wasn’t possible to stay out of the maelstrom.
One of the other visiting crew was swept down the side of the boat and while he stayed aboard, his pants came down, underwear and all, to his ankles. Good thing that he was able to keep them from being swept over the side. I doubt that he had a spare pair of shorts handy. “Excuse me, do you have a spare pair of drawers? Mine went over the side. I’d really rather you didn’t stare, or laugh, thankyou very much.”
The amount of water that swept aboard was remarkable. What a view of Ashanti IV, a 110′ schooner that we were racing against. 
When I saw these waves sweep the decks, I could only imagine what it must have been like to be in the North Atlantic in the winter fishing for cod when boats like Columbia were the norm. These waves were pretty big and it was just a lovely day for sailing. Imagine a storm…
Captain Seth was recognized by the race committee with the overall prize of a beautiful new Locman watch from Italy. They were an official sponsor of the race. 
With my birthday coming up soon, Brenda insisted that I get one too. This photo is probably the coolest that I will ever look. As much as I try, I am just not a particularly cool guy. 
It is a really spectacular piece. 
The regatta was put on by the Antigua Yacht Club. They are very supportive of the Salty Dawg Rally and are the center of the sailing community in Antigua.
Of course, where there is Carib beer, there are Carib girls.
And a lot of spectacular yachts including Aquijo. She is huge, at nearly 300′ long and billed as the world’s largest performance sailing yacht. Check out her specs and photos. To get a feel for her scale, notice the kayak on the water just behind the forward mast.
Columbia is less than half of her length and is still a really huge yacht herself. Yes, I realize it’s tough to see so here’s a closeup. 
Everything about her is enormous. Note the size of the main boom with a member of the crew walking along the top
And, she is as shiny as she is huge. 
Of course, what would a visit to Antigua be without spending time with our friends at the Antigua and Barbuda Royal Naval Tot Club, and we did just that. Of course, we had some “Tots” on the lawn in Nelson’s Dockyard. 
And even a Tot aboard the lovely 110′ schooner Aschanti IV. 
Members of the Tot Club, including the owner of Ashanti IV, can fly the official burgee of the club, the White Pennant. 
I have been saying for years that Antigua is the best place to begin and end the cruising season and being back here, our last stop before I begin running Pandora north and home. We decided to treat ourselves to a few days on the docks in Nelson’s Dockyard, a wonderful end to a great season of sailing in the Caribbean.
So, here I am, finishing up on what is likely my last post before heading home to the US until I return in a few weeks to begin my run home.
It’s been a wonderful season, and a lot different than we expected back in the fall when Covid was raging around the world.
All I can say is “Hail Columbia”, and Antigua. It’s been a great season and I can’t wait until next fall to come back again.
As Pandora cuts through the waves, we scare up a lot of flying fish and the seabirds have learned to fly over the waves just in front of our bow to catch the fish that jump out of the water, as they scurry out of our way. This is a brown booby, an impressive bird that lives just about all of it’s life offshore, only going to land to lay eggs. 
This may be another shot of a booby but I am not sure. I could not find a photo that matched but I think it’s another species. 
We also passed a large school of very enthusiastic dolphins that leapt from the water, but they are notoriously difficult to photograph. Sorry, no images.
And, speaking of schooners. Ashanti, at over 100′ long, is a beauty and I was aboard her as well back in 2018 for a 
It is rare to see so many wonderful boats in one place and the Classics is one that draws them. I walked the docks today for a gander.
The yachts that pack the marina are certainly not all classics and there are quite a few that are so huge that they dwarf even the biggest sailboats. One of the largest is the Mayan Queen at 306′ long. Her “beach club”, as the sunning area on the stern of yachts is referred to, gives a good feel for her scale. Imagine how large the interior space is?
It is fitting that this one is called Alpha Nero, as the is “alpha” in every way and no slouch at 270′. She is reported to belong to a Russian. Not surprisingly, nearly all of the yachts owned by Russians have fled the area as of weeks ago as sanctions have been levied on many of them in reprisal for the invasion of Ukraine. 
An anchor and chain is a huge weight on a boat and one way to address this is to store your yacht’s anchor on a tender. This boat is designed to carry the anchor for a maxi race boat. They deploy the anchor and pass the chain to the “mother ship”. 
And, they won’t have to wait long for the anchor to be delivered with over 1,000 hp. Yup, another Russian owns this boat. The boat that they tender is Scorpios, a 125′ racing yacht, one of the fastest in the world, launched in 2021. Impressive graphics.
She belongs to Limitless, which is what your bank account would need to look like if you owned a yacht like this. She is 315′ long, again, huge. Her owner is Leslie Wexner, the founder of The Limited. He acquired a number of other iconic brands including Abercrombie and Fitch and Victoria’s Secret. Note the open area on the starboard quarter. That is the “garage” for the tender pictured above. 
A huge amount of work goes into keeping a yacht in, well, “yachting trim”. These guys were washing the side of a huge sailing yacht today. This tender carries it’s own water supply, kept full from the dock by a large hose. I guess that by carrying their own water they can have an adequate supply even if the pressure from shore isn’t enough to spray high on the hull. Why didn’t I think of that?
And, with a large yacht, you need large fenders, and lots of them. Notice the ones laying sideways on the dock. A rigger is working on one of their forestays and roller furler that is really, really long. 
Most of the yachts here have been built fairly recently but not this beauty, Talitha, 271′ long, built in 1930 for the founder of Packard Cars. She is currently owned Mark Getty, the son of JP Getty. Interestingly, Mark Getty founded Getty Images, a clearinghouse for professional photographs used worldwide. It is clear that Mark has fabulous taste. Boy, would I love to get aboard her for a tour. 
Ok, one more photo of a sailing yacht that is a big contrast to all the ladies that are in town for the Classic Yacht Regatta. She is the maxi racer named “Controlling The Animal, L4”, a mouthful of a name, launched in 2021. She is one of the fastest racing yachts in the world and she really looks the part. 
It’s great to be back in Antigua again, where I made landfall back in November. There is no shortage of magnificent yachts to look at, that’s for sure.
Tonight Brenda and I will be attending a meeting of the Tot Club and it will be fun to reconnect with friends. Perhaps I can get a replacement membership card to put in my new wallet, when I finally get it. Remember that lost wallet, the one I lost when I was in Martinique? So far, nobody has tried to use any of the credit cards that I lost. Fingers crossed that they won’t…
It was wonderful to watch the fiery sunsets every evening. 
And see the colors change with the minutes. It’s amazing how quickly it gets dark every night. 
Yesterday, Brenda and I sailed less than ten miles north from Marigot to Rodney Bay where we went into yet another marina to spend two days with our friends Bill and Maureen of Kalunamoo, marking the beginning of our run north and the beginning of the end of our season in the Caribbean. The marina staff was nice enough to put us next to each other on the dock. 
You may recall that Bill and Maureen were our mentors back in 2012 when we made our first trip down the ICW on our way to the Bahamas. They proceeded us in the Caribbean by a few years, but ultimately we followed them again, so here we are.
As the wind is nearly always from the east, we have spent the entire season as we have headed south on a port tack and now that we are turning to the north, we will be on a starboard tack. This will also be the case for the 200 mile from Antigua to the USVI where I will join the Homeward Bound Rally in May.
If you prefer a small plunge pool with a water feature, this is for you.
They also have a steam room so you can get all hot and then jump into the nearby pool. And, all of this is available to folks on the docks and moorings. Such a deal.
I understand that the venting steam is a near permanent fixture of the area. 
The island has been volcanically active for millions of years. In past millenniums, violently so as evidenced by the pitons, the cones of long extinct volcanos. These formations are all that is left after the softer outer parts of the structure weathered away and left the hard igneous rock. This view from an overlook along the winding, switchback road. 
Of course, what’s an overlook without a couples photo?
We visited a chocolate factory and store. What a variety, including chocolate infused gin. And Brenda, being a gin girl, had to get a bottle. 
The product displays were in very cleverly modified steel shipping containers. Below, in their restaurant, we had coffee and a snack. 
Later, we had lunch at 
The view of the few yachts on moorings, in more than 100′ of water, far below. 
Zoom in on the one big yacht and you can see that it is Excellence, owned by an American, Herb Chambers. He owns a slew of automobile dealerships in the North East, US. 
She is a spectacular yacht, one of two that he owns. This one was built in Germany a few years ago. 
Brenda and Stephanie enjoy each other’s company. 
Just down stream from the falls are a series of mineral bath pools. We all donned bathing suits and enjoyed time soaking. It was nice to be there alone as the crowds in past visits were pretty large. Interestingly, the water in the pool was clear during this visit and last time, a coco brown. 
So ends the southbound journey of Pandora for this season. Even though we are thousands of miles from home, it still feels like the end.
So much for that, it’s starboard tack from now on. Well, mostly…
We are spending about two weeks here at the Marigot Bay Resort, tied up at the dock, AC cranking away while we waste water with, sort of, long showers aboard. Actually, compared to folks on shore, our normal water consumption aboard Pandora is about 15 gallons per day and now on the dock a whopping 30 gallons per day, I’d guess.
The view from our cockpit is, well, tropical.
And while we are spending about $70/day on the dock, the visitors in the hotel are paying about $500/night. Such a deal! 
To be able to enjoy the pool while paying about the same cost as a mooring in Martha’s Vineyard is pretty appealing. Brenda has actually been doing a bit of weaving poolside. 
Not a bad spot to spend an afternoon. 
We have met some really interesting folks here including the crew of a nearby mega yacht, a huge catamaran, the third largest in the world. 
We have enjoyed some fun evenings aboard Pandora and their digs. How about a singalong? Her cockpit is wider than Pandora is long. Big frigging boat. 
Just to prove that the visitor is really aboard Pandora with our dink “HOPE” in the background, a sort of “proof of life” shot. 
No wait, this is even better. He made himself at home in our cabin. Brenda wasn’t happy about that. Alas, gone pre-poop. GO AWAY! This is just so BULLFINCH. 
The harbor is a very popular spot for party boats to tour. They come in with music blaring and well lubricated passengers. I wonder if they have enough life jackets aboard. Hmm…
In the interest of full reporting, chill though I may be, life aboard Pandora here isn’t without it’s mishaps. The most recent “insult” was compliments of some sloppy docking by a 40′ Sunsail charter boat that tied up near us for one night. He did a pretty good job of coming in but his inexperience showed when he left and clipped one of my stanchions with his grill. Fortunately, the damage was limited to the single one. I was able to bend it, sort of, back in place but it’s clear I’ll need to source a new one when I get home as the top is a full 2″ out of plumb. And, it should be fun to find a part that was sourced in Finland in 2006 or so.
When I return home I will only be there for about three weeks before I head back to Antigua with my friend Craig. We will spend about ten days working our way north to the USVI and then will join the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound rally to the US and make landfall in VA where she will receive her lithium battery., house bank, upgrade.
One issue, if I put it in the cockpit locker, is how I will transfer the fuel, up hill, into my fuel tanks. If it’s on deck, gravity will do the trick but below I will need a pump. After checking a number of sources, 
I have submitted a number of photos this season and most were rejected. However, I learned a few weeks ago that they will be sending out one of my images next Sunday, my second. When you consider how many members there are and they can only use 365 photos a year, getting mine chosen is a pretty big deal.
We also hope head a bit farther south to Bequia (pronounced Bekway) for a bit and then return to Marigot in early April where we will leave Pandora for a few weeks. At that point, both Brenda and I will head back home, open up the house and get the kitchen stuff moved to prepare for the renovation to begin. New floors, counter tops and painted cabinets are on the list. It’s going to take a few months to complete the job so we want to get going in early May with the hope that it doesn’t take the entire summer to complete the job.
They moved aboard last May and will be sailing the southern Caribbean this coming summer, south of the Hurricane belt and expect to be back in Antigua next November when the fall Rally fleet returns. Me too…
As you wander, you pass a reflecting pond. 
The sculptures that are placed on the grounds are quite large, like this 8′ tall mask beautifully sited on the edge of the pond. 
From across the way, the “mask”, in the distance, is framed by this piece. 
I thought that the siting for this trio was perfect. I understand that the crops in the distance are rotated between bananas and sugar cane to keep yields high. 
Another dramatic view was these two 12-15′ high wire pieces.
Thinking about that ficus plant you left in your office at the beginning of the pandemic? I expect that it didn’t fare as well as this one. 
And, speaking of “house plants gone wild”, how about this strangling fig? It’s certainly living up to it’s name. 
A display garden, with sugar cane and an old narrow gauge steam engine once used to move freshly cut cane to the factory. It’s always a rush to process cane as it begins to ferment within hours of being cut. 
And, speaking of the factory, this equipment has been long abandoned with production now in nearby modern buildings. The old steam machinery and distillery are still open for viewing. These gears once connected a huge steam engine to the cane crushers and other equipment connected by long belts that snaked through the building.
A riot of pipes and pulleys. 
The huge fermentation vats, each a dozen feet across. 
Below the building displaying the old factory equipment, a tasting room. Try all you like at no charge but be prepared to elbow your way to the bar. Not a lot of social distancing. 
And some huge warehouses with giant wood barrels for the early aging of the rum. I have no idea how many barrels one of these holds but they were perhaps 20′ tall. That’s a lot of rum.
Later the rum is transferred into smaller barrels where the rum ages for years and sometimes decades. 
A lot of rum being prepared for market. 
As you can imagine, this sort of production was a source of great wealth and the Clement family was quite well off. This was the family home up until the middle of of the 20th century. 
The place is a picture of elegant tropical living. 
With beautiful plantings all around. Of course, their home was up-wind from the factory. 
We purchased a good stash to share with friends. “would you care for a tot of rum, imported to the US aboard SV Pandora?”
Well maintained cement pathways winding through a variety of bananas from all over. 
The views were really beautiful and very lush.
On the nearby hillside, many, many bananas. 
Bananas that set their fruit in a remarkable spiral. 
I was struck by the way the fruit grew on this variety. Sort of like an upside down layer cake. 
Many bananas that are only eaten cooked. Actually, that’s the bulk of the types. Not sweet. The type we see in our markets is plantain. They look like the sweet ones but taste like a raw potato unless cooked.
The type that is most commonly grown and the vast bulk sold worldwide are Cavendish. They are actually clones, all genetically identical and set fruit asexually meaning that they do not need to be pollinated and never develop seeds.
Along with the Marigot Bay Resort, we are looking forward to touring St Lucia and again visiting a restaurant that has arguably among the best views anywhere. 
It overlooks the Pitons, long extinct volcanic cones that rise up dramatically, dominating the landscape. 
It’s been great visiting Martinique but it’s time to move on.
To call it a “town” perhaps overstates things a bit. This is just about all of it and after dark, it’s even smaller when many of the businesses close. 
Saturday, yesterday, is market day, with all sorts of vendors showing their wares. 
The Caribbean is known as the “spice islands” and the vendors do not disappoint with a huge variety to choose from. 
The diminutive scale of the town is not proportional to the size of the harbor, perhaps the largest anchorage in the Caribbean, about 1.5 miles long and a half mile wide. Without a panorama to show all the boats, perhaps a shot of the town dock gives a feel for how many boats there are. You can’t see the other side, but it’s just as packed. In the distance, part of the fleet, several hundred strong. I’d guess that this view is about 10% of the total. 
Nearby, perhaps a 30 minute run in a dink at high speed, is La Marin, home to a huge marina with more than 1,000 slips. The number of charter boats is daunting. 
Just one of many piers lined with dozens, no hundreds, of cats and monohulls, standing by and ready for you to jump on board and head out on holiday.
Don’t like the idea of a black umbrella in the tropical heat? There are other colors to choose from. Problem solved, or as some local T shirts advertise, “Pani Pwoblem”. I am trying to imagine what happens if the grill won’t light. “Roberto, just squirt more lighter fluid on those, sort of smoldering coals. ” Wooosh!!!! Run away! Run? On second thought, SWIM AWAYYYYY!
Anyway, St Anne is a nice place to hang out in a less commercial environment and yet still close enough to La Marin to be able to buy most anything you might need.
Note how they are steered. No fancy rudder, just an oar sticking way out the back. With all that sail way up in the bow, I expect that the boat has a lot of weather helm so having the long oar way out back will give it a lot of leverage. 
Better yet, check out this brief video that gives a pretty good feel for how exciting the races are.And finally, to the topic of this post…
For now, we are making the best of what we have and are enjoying sharing video calls with family, especially our three grandchildren Tori, Rhette and Emme.
Our time in Fort de France was punctuated by constant rolling by passing ferries so it’s nice to be away from that.
A particular highlight of this area is that there are loads of turtles. Yesterday I was swimming under Pandora and saw one, perhaps 20′ in diameter, munching away on grass under the boat in about 15′ of water. I swam down and was able to touch, more like pet him on his/her shell. He didn’t seem to be particularly alarmed by my attention and slowly swam away. It was quite thrilling, I’ll admit.
There are also a number of pretty amazing boats here, including two restored French fishing boats. Biche, is the last surviving traditional tuna boat. She was brought back from an abandoned hulk a number of years ago when she was restored in France. She’s quite impressive with her unusual yawl rig. 
We had seen her sailing in Les Saintes a few weeks ago. 
She is accompanied by a smaller and not quite as well maintained cousin, on a nearby mooring. 
Of course, Pandora looks ok herself, framed by trees on the beach. 
There are a lot of folks snorkeling in the bay with dive boats heading out multiple times a day. Some are heading far afield with others just bringing folks to nearby rocky beaches. Yesterday, when I was talking photos of those two classics, I saw a group on the beach nearby, waving wildly to a dive boat and. A short time later a rescue chopper appeared. 
They hovered over the beach and dropped two EMTs while an inflatable launch ran up on the beach at high speed, delivering a patient.
The chopper continued to circle around the area, kicking up sand and spray before landing in a nearby field.
The took the stricken swimmer up under some trees and for what seemed like way too long, they worked aggressively to revive him with a series of techs applying CPR.
Eventually, an ambulance arrived but there didn’t seem to be any urgency at that point to transport the patient to the hospital. I am guessing that the outcome wasn’t good.
And, with Carnival beginning later this week, it’s getting busier every day. Most nights there are local groups practicing drumming, the constant beat that is so much a part of the celebrations. 
Brenda and I went out on Sunday evening for a drink and watched as a truck holding dozens of huge speakers made it’s way past us. 
I thought that this building had some interesting details. Note the contrast of the modern office building in the distance.
There is also a large daily green market, likely where I lost my wallet. I could have purchased a lot of bananas with all the money in that I was carrying. I sure hope whoever picked up the cash had a lot of trouble converting those US dollars.
As of today we aren’t sure if we plan on staying here in Ft de France for Carnival but I’ll admit that it is tempting. I guess that depends on how confident we are that our two vaccine doses and booster will be in keeping us safe.
No wait, is it here aboard, at the end of the rainbow?
There you go again Bob, betting on leprechauns. Don’t forget, you are in France, not Ireland so it’s not likely.
Of course, as Brenda and I sit in the cockpit or up on deck with a glass of wine, we wonder if we will see the elusive green flash, a momentary pulse of bright green as the sun sets below the horizon. This phenomenon only happens when the horizon is perfectly clear and lasts less than a second. Last night was one of those nights and while I sort of missed the “flash” by a fraction of a second, we got it, a green flash! If you don’t see it in this image, I guess you just had to be there, and we were.
And, that iconic flash that, I almost, caught. I’ve done better but you can sort of see the change of color. 
It was beautiful and a perfect way to end the day.
A bit later, a full rainbow. This photo doesn’t really give a sense of the scale. It was really huge. 
And the colors looked brighter in “real life”. This close up gives a better feel for how bright it was. 
The streets in St Pierre, once the capital of Martinique, are a mix of old and really old. In 1902, Mt Pele, in the distance, capped in clouds, exploded with little warning, leveling the city and killing some 30,000 in a brief moment as superheated gas and ash, in excess of 1,000 degrees, rushed down the mountain.
In the aftermath of destruction, not a building was standing, only charred ruins. Some of the remains of these ruined buildings are left as a memorial to that fateful day. 
The destruction was total, leaving not a single building standing. 
Every person in the city perished except a single very lucky guy who happened to be in jail when Pele exploded, and survived. Check out this three minute video of the story of the destruction of St Pierre and one man’s very lucky day.Following the eruption, the capital was moved south to Ft de France, which remains the capital to this day. We will be heading there, I expect, within the next few days so stay tuned on that front.
There are many spots in the ruins in the city that offer a juxtaposition of old and older like this lovely courtyard. Notice the sleeping dog near the back wall. Happy Rover.
I particularly liked the way that this home was built into a stretch of old stone wall. Nicely done. 
And, a view of the water over the rooftop. I love steel roofs. 
A few days ago we visited what has become our favorite distillery, Depaz, built into the foothills of Pele. The facility is the only steam powered distillery, I think in the Caribbean if not the world. It sits on the edge of thousands of acres of cane fields. 
Heavy machinery is used to move the ground up cane into the crusher which extracts the juice. 
After the cane is crushed and juice extracted, the remainder is set aside and fed into the boiler that provides steam to the engine that powers the plant. 
If a picture is worth a thousand words, nothing can do justice to this wonderful steam engine like this little video that I shot of the machine at work. At less than 30 seconds, it gives a real sense of this wonderful piece of engineering in action. Enjoy…After extracting the sugar juice it is fermented for two days and then put into a distillation tower that gasses off and then collects the alcohol.
Then the distilled alcohol is put into oak barrels and aged, in some cases for a decade before being bottled. Each year about 10% of the rum evaporates from the barrels, an amount called “the angel’s share”. As a result of this, a bit more is added each year to top up the barrel. So, if you purchase a rum that has been aged for a number of years, some of the rum has been added on a yearly basis to keep the barrel full. In some cases, the barrels that the rum is aged in are discarded Port barrels or other types from the US and Europe. The use of old barrels gives rums a special taste.
The rum business has always been profitable as witnessed by this impressive manor home, once the home of the owners of Depaz. 
Nice view. I can imagine Mr Depaz sitting on the front porch, perhaps sipping an old fashioned rum punch, feeling pretty proud of himself, master of all he can see and such. The manor homes on these estates are always sited upwind from the factory. As you can imagine, boiling sugar water and the near constant crushing of the cane gives off a sickly sweet smell of molasses. Not something that you’d want wafting into your home, day and night. 
Following lunch at the Depaz restaurant with some friends, Brenda and I opted to walk the 1.5 miles back to town. Down hill all the way and rain showers kept us from getting too hot. It was a very nice walk. 
Brenda has a new straw hat that she has decorated with a lovely scarf. I finished the ensemble with some fresh flowers plucked along the side of the road.
It’s always a treat to see what grows in people’s gardens and long the roadside. How about a mix of orchids and bougainvillea?
Ok, so back to the fisherman I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
Also in the market, a huge variety of local vegetables. We are particularly fond of the tomatoes, very different from the bio-engineered tasteless variety that are available in the US during the winter. 
So, these small boats head out to fish, early in the morning, often very close to where we are anchored. The boats generally have two fisherman on board. First they toss bits of palm fronds onto the water which will bring the fish to the surface.
This boat did their work right in front of anchored Pandora. 
After securing both ends of the long net together, they pull on the draw string that closes up the bottom of the next, trapping their catch. Notice the guy on the left who is beating the water with an oar, to scare the fish back into the middle of the net to keep them from escaping under their boat before the net is fully secured. 
They then pull one end of the net back aboard, slowly closing in on the school.
The net gets smaller and smaller as they draw it aboard.
As the net is brought back aboard they carefully pull the individual fish and toss them into a basket.
It is an amazing process to watch these fisherman pursue their craft. I expect that with the exception of using outboard motors, not much has changed for generations.