Guadeloupe to Martinique

After a short stay in Guadeloupe we headed South toward Martinique. We stopped at Dominica for a couple of nights. Here's a short video we made sailing along the way.

Guadeloupe

Part of the reason we decided to head South was because Jens back has been hurting a lot and the best place to get it checked is the French Islands. We had planned on getting an MRI at Guadeloupe but the 2 month waiting list means we will try get one in Martinique instead, along with some Doctors appointments. By far the highlight of returning to Guadeloupe was swimming with the dolphins in Deshais. We woke to hear Balrog squeaking excitedly and realised a pod of dolphins had come into the bay to chase fish and play. Minutes later we were swimming with them. It was really amazing to play with them up close and listen to them talking to each other in the water. squueeeek squuueeeaqqq eeeekkk trrrrrrrrrllrrr.
Jenijane made a nice video compilation of the swim.

Backtracking

After making the decision to head South again we headed for Guadeloupe, stopping briefly at Saba and Nevis along the way. Almost to Guadeloupe the wind veered to the SE, dead on the nose and picked up to 30kn. One option was to continue and arrive at midnight, or bear away and head back to Antigua again. We loved Antigua the first time around so that made the choice easy. A few hours later we were checking back into Jolly Harbour and headed North back to Nonsuch bay for another week or so relaxing and kitesurfing.

Jen entertaining the locals

BVI’s

Another nice overnight downwind sail from St Maartin to the BVI’s. A little over 80M door to door. We left at sunset and arrived a bit before sunrise and wanted to slow down so we dropped the parasailor and drifted with the current as the sun rose before making our way along the Virgin Sound Channel before dropping the anchor off the small island of Eustatia. Richard Bransons Island ‘Necker’ is in sight and we manage to share his WiFi signal. A nice anchorage but still the trade winds are blowing through at 20K or so, so we up anchor and head into Gorda sound which is slightly better.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI’s) are a group of 10 or so larger islands, and a lot of smaller islands. All have good anchorages, some better than others.
Here’s our tracks around some of the Islands.

We really enjoyed the BVI’s and ended up staying 5 weeks there. Sailing between anchorages was easy and conditions always good. Sunny every day and warm water for snorkelling and diving. We did a few land trips, hired a scooter for a day to explore Virgin Gorda, Dived on the wreck of the Rhone with Stefan and Anne (friends we met during the Atlantic Odyssey) Snorkelled the Indians (a great rock formation with deep drop offs, clear water and lots of sealife), Spent a couple of days around the main town of Tortolla, picked up a buoy at Cooper island for a couple of nights and had some tasty meals at the restaurant there.
Our favourite anchorage was Little Harbour on Peter island. It was really the only one we found that was out of the consistent trade winds so swimming every day was great. We had a pet Barracuda living under Sephina named ‘Jack’
Little Harbour is the kind of place you can stay a week and just relax. Tortola is just a 45 minute sail away for supplies when you need to restock.
So while exploring the other places around the BVI’s we found ourselves continually returning to Little Harbour. We met some old friends there, made some new friends and had a great time in general.
To be honest, a large part of the reason for staying in the BVI’s for so long was because we had no idea where we would go to from there. We felt like we were at a crossroad with four or more choices and unsure which route to take.
Option A
Our original plan was to head to the Bahamas from the BVIs and make our way to the US mainland where we would haul out Sephina and do a US road trip for four or five months over hurricane season. The hurricane season runs between July and November and our insurance means if we want to be covered for damage from named storms (we do! ) we need to be out of the region which covers most of the Caribbean, from Grenada to Carolina. As we headed North we have noticed the weather and water being a bit cooler and looking at the Bahamas, the weather doesn’t warm up for another month, and then you need to leave before the stormy season (before June) and returning to the Caribbean next year is a bit of a mission as well. You need to leave the US mainland after hurricane season finishes (Nov) but before its getting too cold (Oct). Aside from that we would also need to apply for visas. All doable but we decided against the USA this year. We can do a road trip there anytime and now didn’t feel like the right time.
Option B
Head to Panama and cross the Pacific this year with friends we have made along the way. This was a nice thought, but again we felt like we can do that at anytime and once we leave the Caribbean its virtually impossible to come back without continuing around the world first. Unsure if we were ready to leave and also undertake the 8000M passage from Panama to Australia this year, we decided on option C
Option C
Spend the hurricane season in Grenada or Martinique. If in Martinique Sephina would have to be hauled out to comply with our insurance. In Grenada was can change insurance from Pantaenius to Topsail and keep Sephina in the water. Either way we have decided to head back toward Martinique and make up the rest along the way. Jens back has been hurting her lately as well and a visit to the doctor here has confirmed she needs an MRI to investigate closer. Her health care on the French islands is a better option so another good reason to head South.
We will probably take the opportunity to fly home for a quick visit during the hurricane season as well as we are missing our family a lot.
We will also have time to make plans for next year, which will possibly be the ABCs in December, Columbia in January, San Blas in Feb and Panama in March to prepare for the Pacific, or possibly another year in the Caribbean and a sail to the USA as we had planned for this year.

St Barts and St Maartin

 

We left Antigua at dusk and sailed overnight under parasailor and arrived early at St Barts after an easy 72M saili. A quick stop to check in, check out the town and we headed to Anse Columbier for a night. After a good rest we set sail for St Maartin, just 12M downwind. St Maartin has a dutch and French side. We stopped inside the Lagoon on the French side. Fun going in through the opening bridge which is wider than it looks as you enter, worrying about touching the sides. St Maartin is a popular anchorage, partly because the lagoon is totally protected, and partly because there are a ton of large supermarkets, chandlers, bars and restaurants. We planned to stock up and continue our sail West. The trade winds gave up for a day or two and we had wind from every direction. It was easy to get stuck in St Maartin, a lot of sailors and a lot of yachts are floating around the lagoon in various states of disrepair, of half sunk. We stayed a little longer than we wanted, waiting on weather, and were glad to leave after 2 weeks. A nice place to visit, but…

We did try make the most of our time, hired a jeep to take a look around the island, which was fun.

We also met quite a few cruisers and friends we have met along the way which almost made up for the amount of cleaning we would have to do later to Sephinas hull after a thick coating of slime and barnacles attached themselves.

Antigua

We left Guadeloupe on Jan 23rd and sailed 40M North to Antigua. A good sail, arriving in English Harbour. A classic old natural harbour and an icon of sailing and the Caribbean. Lots of big classic yachts in the marina. We anchored out in the outer harbour and sorted out the formalities at customs. Check in isn’t as easy as the French islands but at least all the offices are in one building. Head to customs, paperwork, head to immigration, paperwork, head to vessel clearing, paperwork, call the vet, more paperwork and another $50. Next morning we wandered around looking to do some laundry and provisioning but there wasn't much going on. Laundry was too busy and they wanted $20 a load!, supermarket to limited and expensive. We were hungry and a bit annoyed that the only place we found for breakfast was expensive, but we ordered a $5 muffin, and $10 egg on toast and coffee and juice. It was pretty light on and we were eating and complaining to each other about what a rip off it was, until we paid the bill and realised the menu was in EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) which are about $2.65 USD…So it was actually pretty cheap! Pity we didn’t realise soon enough to enjoy the meal!

We weighed anchor around lunchtime to head North to Nonsuch Bay as it was recommended as a nice anchorage and good place to kite surf. Sailing East in the Caribbean guarantees headwinds and opposing currents but we had a nice sail up there and picked up a free mooring for the night. Next day we moved to a more protected mooring just off the beach at Green Island. Great place! We could have stayed longer but after a week we ran out of food for Balrog. After a few days of him eating our food we thought we better head off to reprovision, so we sailed to Jolly Harbour on the West coast. Nonsuch Bay was close to a perfect anchorage. Not much civilization around. A couple of resort restaurants a 10 minute dinghy ride away. Great kitesurfing spot. It would have been nice to stay longer but maybe we will return sometime..

Great food and surroundings at Nonsuch Bay resort, as well as Harmony Hall. Nice to treat ourselves to someone else's cooking occasionally, especially when the food is great !

Pretty close to Paradise!

Jolly Harbour was good for provisioning although a bit pricey, We took the local bus to the main town, St Johns and had a look around while we were there. Jen met some schoolgirls that looked like they should be in a girl band!

Dominica–The Saintes–Guadeloupe

From Domonica it was off to Guadeloupe via The Saintes. We checked in at The Saintes and spent a few days there. Lovely little island group. We explored on the land, had a few nice walks around the main Island and dropped Ben and Karl at the ferry as they had to head back to Martinique for work.After the Saintes we sailed North to Pigeon Island in Guadeloupe.
We miss you Mina (especially Balrog!)

A really nice anchorage between the mainland and island with clear water and lots of turtles/ While there we did a couple of dives at the Jjacques Cousteau marine park. Very cool. As we were leaving we picked up a buoy and did another dive on the Japanese Garden. We also said goodbye to Fritze, Heidi and Mina here who are heading toward the BVIs for a visit from Heidis Mum. Hopefully we will meet up with them along the way. Till then we are keeping track of their travels at http://www.alytes.de/
From Pigeon Island, a short hop up to Deshais on the NW tip of Guadeloupe. A nice little town with solid free mooring buoys. We stopped a couple of days, Hired a car and had a look around Guadeloupe, shopped, visited the doc and the vet and shaved Balrog. He was getting pretty hot and taking a long time to dry at night and between swims. He’s much happier now!



Jen had a trim too

Dominica–Portsmouth

Our friends Ben and Karl joined us in Roseau to spend a week or so sailing North. We picked them up at the local ferry terminal and set sail toward Portsmouth.

Sailing to the Northern end of Dominica we arrived at Portsmouth and picked up a mooring buoy. Fritze, Heida and Mina had already arrived in Alytes and organised for a river tour in the morning so we jumped aboard with them to explore up the Indian river. No motors are allowed in the river so our guide slowly rowed up and explained the wildlife and landscape as we drifted along.

Next day we had a dive at the next bay around and also snorkelled the pier where there were lots of fish and clear water.