Legs now firing on all cylinders. Skipper called for another midnight start from Martinique to make the Saintes by sunset. No wind ! Ended motoring all the way and going up the leeward side of Dominica it was like a mill pond.

It was very hot with no wind and deck showers were enjoyed by all. Suddenly joy oh joy – a mother and baby humpback whale surfaced nearby which raised everybody’s spirits no end.

The anchor went down 12 minutes before sunset – plan came together nicely.

The Saintes are a small group of tiny islands belonging to Guadeloupe.

We cooked on board that night and were greeted by a brilliant sun rise the next morning.

The Saintes are very pretty but besieged by day trippers from Guadeloupe who arrive en masse on frequent ferries. Consequently everything is overpriced and service can be very take it or leave it.

We decided to visit Fort Napoleon that overlooks the islands. Just as well all legs were now behaving.

The view kept on getting better as we climbed higher

We stopped to chat to some of the locals on the way up.

Finally we got to the top – Fort Napoleon

And then it was back to the boat for a lazy afternoon. Or so we thought. Skipper suddenly noticed a catamaran that looked like it was trying to back its way between two other boats. There were two people on board who didn’t look as if they knew what they were doing. It rapidly became clear that the catamaran had dragged its anchor and was drifting in the strengthening wind. It collided with another boat that also had nobody on board. Pat and Paul jumped in the dinghy and went across to offer help. It turned out the catamaran was all locked up and the crew were ashore. The couple on board had seen it drifting and had gone to help. Another guy had also boarded from a third boat by the time we got there.. Because the catamaran was locked up nobody could start the engines and the electric windlass would not operate to reset the anchor. None of the others knew how to operate the windlass manually.

Fortunately I did - and with a lot of grunting managed to raise the anchor sufficiently to release the snubber. I then dumped all of the rest of the chain. The anchor grabbed hold and the drifting stopped shortly before it would have run aground on a reef. We put the snubber back on and went back to our own boats.

A couple of hours later the crew returned from their long lunch ashore wondering why their boat wasn’t where they left it. They looked a bit sheepish when I explained what had happened. But they did the right thing and went to see the owner of the boat they hit while drifting.

There but for the grace of God …… It could happen to anyone.

Too much excitement for us  – so we headed back to dear old Antigua to pick up Louise and Helen Thornley