15 April 2009 17:00.37N 61:46.02W
We had already decided to carry on North through the Rivière
Salée which runs between the two halves of the butterfly-shaped Guadeloupe. This involves going past two bridges which
open at around 05:00 so we set off in plenty of time, arrived early and circled
around in the pitch black night waiting for the first one to open. When finally
it did open, in the limited space, I lined up a bit too late and Milano Blanco
carried on sideways enough to bump the (luckily timber) base of the bridge. A
small mark on the hull, but no damage, then through the second bridge with the
operator shouting dépêchez vous (I
was being quite cautious by this time) and on down the river. The river is well
marked, with mangroves on each bank, and looked like mosquito paradise, but was
OK. It was flat calm, with white egrets flying low over the black water, and
then dawn and soon out into the Cul de Sac Marin (a large bay) which was
shallow, the channels poorly marked, and of course we ran aground. Luckily with
a bit of Yanmar heaving & puffing we came free, and found our way out to
sea.
Once out at sea the wind picked up and we had an
increasingly windy sail over to Antigua on a
glorious day, a good Force 6 as we neared the coast. We entered English Harbour
and anchored at 13:15 at the very end of Tank Bay.
50 miles
