West Indies/Caribbean Islands
December 20th, 2008
If you have not traveled extensively in the Caribbean or don’t have a clear picture in your mind of which islands belong to the Windward, Leeward, Lesser or Greater Antilles I hope this map and the following explanation will help you orient yourself to where we are and where we are going.

The West Indies, synonymous with the eastern portion of the Caribbean Islands, sweep in a huge arc, making a bridge of giant-sized stepping stones from Florida to Venezuela. These islands are called the West Indies because when Christopher Columbus landed here (actually in San Salvador of The Bahamas) in 1492 he believed that he had reached the Indies, in Asia. Once his error was realized, Spain renamed the chain of islands from the Indies to West Indies, delineating them from East Indies of the Far East.
The West Indies separate the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean and are comprised of 3 main groups: the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. The Greater Antilles include Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti/ The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles are the much smaller islands to the southeast, where we currently are, and are divided into two groups: the Windward, and the Leeward Islands.
The Windward Islands make up the southeastern end of the chain, from Martinique in the north to Grenada in the south. Windward and Leeward are names given to the chain of islands by the British. They had two concepts in mind: The Windward’s because they are located more windward to the sailing ships arriving in the New World, given that the prevailing trade winds across the Atlantic Ocean blow east to west and, in order for them to get to these southeastern islands from their currently owned Leeward Islands, they had to sail, often beating into the wind.
We are currently in St. Lucia, near the northern most area of the Windward’s. These islands are mere tips of a volcanic mountain range that developed along a rift in the Earth’s crust where the Atlantic and Caribbean tectonic plates collided. The Atlantic side of the islands rises steep and sheer with pounding surf while the Caribbean side has gentle seas and beautiful beaches.
St Lucia is a lush tropical volcanic rainforest island complete with hot sulphur springs venting from two stunning Pitons which erupt skyward straight out of the sea. The Pitons are in the southwestern end of the island, the opposite end of the high density tourist destinations along the northwestern portion of the island. The Pitons and surrounding costal region are part of a marine preserve rich in coral gardens and reef fish.
Anchoring is not permitted, but mooring balls are provided in a variety of locations allowing cruising boats controlled access to the preserve. We have been anchored in front of an old converted (to beach resort) sugar mill plantation dripping with elegant charm, towering coconut palms and a pristine white sandy beach. While here we met and spent time with a lovely British family on holiday. The “kids” Rebecca and Neal, spent an afternoon sailing and snorkeling with us on Aphrodite while their parents remained on land with their darling little 7 month old baby. This is one of the pleasures of our lifestyle. We often meet people on land and end up having them join us for a day on Aphrodite, or in one case, in the dinghy, searching for the famous Blue Cave on the Greek island of Kastellorizon.
Our entire family visited St. Lucia 17 years ago, staying predominately in the northern end of the island. 4 of the group who were completing their open water portion of the scuba training made the drive along the coast and through the rainforest every day for a nearly a week. Upon their completion, the rest of us who were already certified divers joined them for several spectacular dives in the marine preserve along the Piton’s underwater walls. I remember it being some of the best diving I have ever done anywhere, vibrant colors, dramatic steep to sheer walls alive with coral and sea life.
We have not done any diving this trip. Sometimes it is better to realize “that you just can’t go back”. We have done lots of snorkeling though, WITH THE DOGS! We are quite a site… imagine 2 dogs swimming along side of us, Brisa dunking Costa’s head showing her dominance, him coming up with the look of terror on his face and trying to climb up one of our backs, Michael tossing him back into the dinghy, which is tethered to one of us, trailing along behind us, but he doesn’t like being alone in the dinghy so he cries and then jumps back into the water and the whole thing repeats itself. We learned the dunking trick from Brisa, who used to climb up our backs. Now we dunk her once and she leaves us alone. Once Costa is a confident swimmer we will have to do the same with him I imagine.
Tomorrow we will make our way back to the northern tip of the island, Rodney Bay, crisscrossing our previous tracks along this gentle side of the island. From here we will cross the passage to Martinique, the French island just north of St. Lucia. Our plan is to take giant steps north along the stepping stones leading to Florida. Which islands we shall stop at are as yet undetermined.
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