Pestel, Goave, Mole, back to Grand Goave

Not much I can say as a lot of that time was spent working with the Haitian government, first to try and organize again a Festival of the Sea in Pestel on March 19, 2013, but also to try and use the festival as a launching pad to promote nautical tourism in Haiti and place the country again on the cruising map as a destination.

Mole St Nicolas though was a surprise to me. First of all, there are people there trying to set up welcoming bars, restaurants and hotels for tourists. Second, we found an ideal spot where a few cruising boats could safely stay provided we installed a few moorings. The ground is grassy sand and the anchor finds it very difficult to dig in. Once safely anchored, and although the wind during the day remained at 20 to 30 knots, the protection from the sea is excellent and the boat did not move one inch.

On the way back, I felt that I should have gone west of Gonave island rather then east. The winds were highly unpredictable and changing suddenly from 0 to 30 knots and from following winds to head winds. However, we got safely into Grand Goave shortly before sunrise, in time to get ready for the Friday morning meeting.

Those meetings being at government level, I can't say much about them until it becomes public information.