A couple of days ago we decided to make a move and headed down the coast
to Falmouth Harbour, a familiar place to us and home to the Antigua Racing
Weeks which will be hosted again in April. Susie was my guest at the evening
'Tot' in the Life Bar and we enjoyed the rest of the evening socialising
with other members before turning in for an early night ready to sail onward to
Guadeloupe in the morning.

 

We arrived in Deshaies (pronounced Dayhay) late afternoon after making the
43 mile crossing in excellent time considering the big seas and near gale force
gusts. I went ashore in the dinghy and cleared in with Customs while Susie prepared
us a lovely dinner after which we enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a cocktail.

 

In the morning we went ashore and had a foray through the little town, of
course it's very French and completely French speaking with the Euro as
currency....they won't accept the Eastern Caribbean Dollar at all but we had enough
Euros a yummy breakfast of quiche followed by a fabulous Patisserie and the
obligatory baguette.

 

 

Once back aboard we wasted no time in upping the anchor
and continuing down the lee side of Guadeloupe. No fishing line deployed due
to the profusion of fish trap floats which was a shame but the coastline here
is a sight to behold with high mountain peaks adorned in rainforest which covers
the land right down to the sea. Small harbours, occasional dive boats, many
yachts passing north and south then up ahead we can make out islands off the south
of Guadeloupe and our next destination....Iles Des Saintes.

 

As we cleared Guadeloupe's last headland we entered a boiling sea of white
horses and big waves with a constant 30knt wind. It's only eight miles through the
pass so only about ninety minutes and we're into the lee of a little island called
Ile a Cabrit which looked so inviting we decided to stop and take a mooring.

 

 

The following morning we dinghied ashore and had a hike up through the wooded

slopes to the top of the island where a great view was had of the surrounding islands

and passing boats of all kind.

 

 

We were greeted by goats at the summit...

 

 

Also at the top of the hill were Hermit Crabs (Soldier Crabs) in abundance, not in the

slightest bit shy they'll happily crawl about on your hand. They habitually gather

together (called a 'Bungalow') then make load squeaking sounds!

 

 

 

 

 

After that we made our way the mile or so to the
anchorage off the main Island Terre D'en Haut which we know well and is one of our
favourite islands in the Caribbean. It's very much like 'Toy Town'! you kind of half
expect a parade of tin soldiers to come around a corner at any moment! a bit like
Portmerion or the like. We had delicious Panini's just off the square and watched
the locals and tourists buzz about on scooters weaving through the pedestrians.

 

We did the internet thing, checked the weather etc then chose a delightful
restaurant in which to have dinner later. Last time we were here we explored every
corner on scooter, visited the really good museum at Fort Napoleon atop the hill
overlooking he harbour so we just relaxed and walked around the alleyways taking in the
sights.

 

We've had messages from Bruce and Connie (who Ross and I towed back from
Montserrat). They're at Portsmouth, Dominica, the next island south. They
said that there's a big beach party with BBQ tomorrow evening so we've decided to sail
down there tomorrow.
So today we're gonna chill out, snorkel and sunbathe. Some friends called
over to the boat this morning and have invited us to join them and others for
sundowners ashore later this afternoon. We'll catch up with the blog again in a week or
so.

Bye for now, John & Susie xx

 

PS  Here's a fish I caught just before Christmas off west Antigua....Great eating!

 

PPS. I've been exchanging emails with Mark & Suzie Hicks, they're only a day away from

their Barbados landfall!!. What an awesome achievement to have sailed from Tenby in

the boat they built themselves from scratch....Hats off to them.
They've battled through big seas all the way from the Canary Islands with winds
seldom below 25knts....we're very much looking forward to meeting up with
them down island somewhere soon!