2nd March

Pigeon island 

We would have loved to linger in this beautiful little spot where we were anchored in Malendure Bay with the dramatic luscious green peaks of Guadeloupe bearing down on us and the pretty little island "Pigeon" reputedly providing some incredible snorkelling opportunities. However, lingering was not an option as we needed to obtain our own health checks and get to Antigua before Meep's veterinary checks expired so we resigned ourselves to moving on.

Before leaving we took our dinghy ashore where we tied up inside an incredibly quaint little fishing harbour which was hidden from view by a dog-legged channel and sheltered a fleet of tiny brightly coloured fishing boats. As we maneuvered ourselves to a free spot and tied up out of the way alongside a grassy bank two local fisherman were casting their net into the harbour and hauling out catches of small fish which I presumed were to be used as bait. It was very impressive watching how easy they made it look as one gently maneuvered their small dinghy around the cramped harbour and the second cast out a net and hauled it in - wriggling with fish - by hand.

We were very lucky to find two excellent supermarkets within a few paces of the harbour and we loaded ourselves up with provisions from sacks of cat litter to French delicacies that we might not see again for the next few weeks.

With our dinghy loaded to the gunwhales we set off back to stow everything on-board and set sail for our final stop in the French islands for the time being... the small town of Deshaies right at the top of the island.