Guadeloupe, Dominica and Z’Abricot, Martinique

After waiting for a weather window for what seemed like ages, we identified one that looked like the best we would get. Should the Caribbean be like this, the mate asked, I thought we could sail anywhere, most days. Ahem I replied.

We left Antigua on the 9^th May leaving our chums Trev, Sarah and Dan who were waiting to cross the Atlantic back to Europe. Looking at their weather, I suspected that they might have a long wait…

Our first sail was over to Guadeloupe, The weather itself was OK, but the swells were large, again, much larger than forecast (I’ll come to that later). We covered the 57NM to Malendure in Guadeloupe in about 9 hours. We chose Malendure as we’d been before and if you arrive at dusk (it goes dark early here) it’s always best to have been there before. En route, although the mate wasn’t happy with the swells she was cheered by the sight of two Humpback whales maybe about 100m from our port side. It was an impressive sight, seeing these massive creatures slapping their fins on the water. The mate explained that they fed at high latitudes and breed at low latitudes so clearly they were ‘excited’. I was more concerned about them hitting Stargazer but as they went astern we were able to watch them without worry. Just before arriving in Guadeloupe a pod of over 20 dolphins headed our way. Dolphins seem to love Stargazer and since, in folklore, they are viewed as a lucky omen, I’m happy with that.

One night only in Guadeloupe and we were off again, this time to Portsmouth, Dominica. This passage was relatively uneventful, although swells were higher than expected. We did see a lone Cuvier’s Beaked whale. The mate tells me that these are shy and keep out of the way generally, so I felt that we were very lucky to see one.

Arriving in Portsmouth, Dominica we were greeted by a boat person (I can’t call him a boy, as he looked about as old as me). We told him we just wanted to anchor for the night, which was no problem, and settled into our spot about 1740, some 8 hours or so after leaving Guadeloupe.

The following day was another long-ish sail down to St Pierre at the northern tip of Martinique. In rain and more rain, we weighed anchor and expecting a bit of a bash, set two reefs in the sails. We encountered quite a strong current against us as we approached the southern tip of Dominica and as we left the lee of the land, the swells and waves were something else – serious waves of 3.5m plus on a period sometimes as low as 4 seconds! Stargazer belted along with her reefs perfectly set and both sails properly balanced, water was often pouring over the deck and many times into the cockpit - this was a tough, pounding of a ride. I steered the whole channel and the mate played the mainsheet to suit the gusts. Despite the conditions we were able to watch Stargazer plough on and take the seas as a good boat should, taking the force of the waves in her stride. I wondered how a modern wide stern boat would deal with this. I had sailed many of those in my instructor life and my conclusion was that I was glad we hadn’t got one.

After a bruising sail of 58NM and 9 hours we arrived in St Pierre. This anchorage is steeply shelved along a small beach line. The authorities had buoyed the rest of it so room was limited. We eventually found a spot and settled into the evening – seriously deserving a rest…

The next day was a gentle sail (or so we thought) down to Anse A‘lan in the Baie de Forte de France. We’d kept the two reefs in as most times crossing the Baie the wind pipes up. This was no exception – just off Case Pilot we had gusts of over 30 knots which then settled into a constant wind of 30 knots. Great, said the mate!

It wasn’t far to Anse A’lan but on arrival I decided that it was untenable due to the swell so we headed for the more sheltered Anse Mitan, where we had rolled our heads off before. This time though, the French ferries were on strike and there was no wash at all. In fact it was very peaceful – keep up the strike is what I say!!

Two nights in Anse Mitan led to our heading over to Z’Abricot marina which is where we are now (I write at 1050 local and 18^th May). This marina is a great find, it’s clean, organised and cheap with plentiful water, electricity that works and very good local Carrefour supermarket; being France there is also the bakery and laundrette etc etc. We like it here. It’s not picturesque, it is functional, but it works. More importantly, it’s where my sister in law will be joining us in a few days’ time. You might notice that mate’s absence in this blog – she’s getting ready for her sister to arrive. We’ve already cleaned the boat which is now looking more and more like the splendid yacht that she is, but the mate wants everything done before her sister arrives, this means laundry, polishing the interior etc etc – all good with me – we’ve been out at anchor for months; so much so that the Caribbean sea has claimed every bit of galvanising the anchor chain once had and left us with a load of external rust – yes we’ll have to factor in new chain, but that’s not yet…

We’ll report in, in two or three weeks with all the happenings of Vicky’s visit, We’re trying to book a mooring in Le Marin, but having no luck yet – so who knows where we’ll get to J

On a final note, we keep saying that the swells are not as forecast. We use a global forecasting model/app, which lots of people use and, if you read the small print, ‘at the bottom of page Z’, it  says effects of land are not included in forecasts for wind, swell or waves and that you need to look at the sky and make your own assessment. You tell me! Is it me?