Antigua

We arrived in Antigua on a Friday evening after the finish of the yacht race RORC 600. Friends had invited us to a party on this mega yacht owned by someone from Microsoft. That was fantastic sooo much food and drink and all free. After the food we went to the yacht club where a fantastic band played and everybody was dancing. We had a great time. Antigua is the place for the mega yachts though. It all seems a bit over the top. Mick jagger's yacht 'Cinderella' was in the harbour. Our friends had seen him but he told them not to take a photo.
We hiked up Shirley Heights and got hopelessly lost. We did get to the top though and had a fantastic view. I preferred to coconut crush drink to the view though. It is a mixture of coconut water, coconut cream, pineapple and ice.
Wonderful concoction a bit like piña colada without the rum I suppose.
We spend a bit of time with Graham and Gina from Curlew and also met up with our Dutch friends Loud and Marlene from Rafiki. We sailed around the island to Nonsuch bay where we anchored out behind a reef. Ah the tranquility (lol) but this one for real. We snorkelled and generally just relaxed.
After that we sailed around the island again to Jolly Harbour. Lovely place with a great supermarket. That is as long as you hang on to your docket because the security is there to look at your docket if you get something like a carton of beer. Grant actually left his docket on the counter and the checkout girl put it in the bin. Gail asked if she could look in the bin but the girl said it would not be there and she did not remember Grant. We had a great time looking at security camera finally spotting Grant and then they still had to go through the bin to find the offending docket. Anyway 'when in Rome' so now we keep our dockets.
We go to the pub with a big pool every afternoon happy hour 2 for one cocktails and Grant his bucket of beer.
Today we went to St John (capital) on the bus. I don't know how people would like to hear gospel songs through loudspeakers in the mall in Perth, but here it sounds divine. I have twisted my knee and had strapped it up to walk. While I sat somewhere this guy comes to me selling aloe vera plants for burns. Except he did not want to sell it to me he told me to take the bandage off because you can not do that in this hot climate. 'That is why your foot is swollen. I had actually thought that my strap was getting tight of my fit flops. Good advise and my foot went straight away back to normal.
On the way home home the bus driver said that with the lords help he would deliver us safely to Jolly Harbour. Well The Lord must be with him because we are now safely sitting on the yacht with a cup of tea.

Walk to the waterfall Deshaies

In Deshaies you can follow the river up the mountain to a waterfall. The book says about 3 hours climbing through the river over rocks and then you can get back in 15 minutes via the road. Well the 3 hours there was about right. It was a huge climb over big boulders where you often had to pull yourself up. You come across beautiful ponds. It was very arduous but also very beautiful. When we went back via the road after about 15 minutes I started having horrible cramps in my shimmer came past a convent and a quaint little graveyard. We could see the bay way in the distance down below. I did not think I could walk all that way with these cramps. Then this ute drove past and reversed. It was a priest who had noticed my limp. He took me in the car and the others in the back down. It was still 20 minutes by car so so much for 15 minutes walk.

Deshaies

We had a easy sail along Guadeloupe coast to the northern fishing village Deshaies. We went there because very high seas and wind were predicted for 4 days. Just crazy the weather here. We already had a night and a day here with a lot of wind when last night it started to become like a storm. Just as we were going to bed Rocky noticed the boat in front of us coming closer. And yes it was dragging. Grant and Gail were in bed already but grant got up when he heard us taking out fenders. By then the boat was very close and it seemed like everyone on it was asleep. In the end a guy got up and started telling us that we had come forward (like against the wind). He insisted that he was in the same spot as he swayed from next to us by now to right in front so Rocky had to push him off by his solar panels. He told us that he was on his own and we should leave. We had already let out more chain while he was still asleep (as much as possible without getting too close to the boats behind us). Anyway he kept reanchoring and at one stage ran over our chain and snapped the snubber (this is rope lifting the chain to keep weight of the windlass machine to take up and drop anchor). After about 6 goes he finally left at 4.30 this morning.
Besides that everything is sweet.

Guadeloupe Les Saintes

We had an ok crossing from Martinique to Les Saintes. When I say that it means quite a lot of wind from a not so favourable angle and high waves. However we sailed and used the motor only to charge the batteries for a bit. It was very crowded in Les Saintes but we managed to find a mooring ball not too far from the dinghy dock. The first day we saw lots of children chasing a mother and baby dolphin around the bay. These dolphins were truly playing with them Leaping out of the water and staying just in front. The kids had been doing this for hours and some had to rest holding on to our dinghy.
These dolphins were there every day. We hired scooters for a day and cruised around the island. It is a totally enchanting island. On our last day there Dan and Debbie from Lady Hawk were next to us. It was lovely to see them again. We had exchanged emails but had not seen them since Puerto Rico last year. This is the lovely thing people cruise around here for years so you keep meeting up. Many island have a cruisers net on the VHF radio and people tune in in the morning get to hear who has arrived or who is leaving. They supply weather information and buy and sell things. It is great.
Anyway we very much enjoyed our stay in Les Saintes which is part of Guadeloupe. After 3 days there we set sail for Deshaies in Guadeloupe.

Martinique

Our sail to Martinique was uneventful. The seas were quite choppy. We sailed into Le Marin too late to go ashore to check in so we stayed on the boat. It was very quiet in Le Marin as far as the ocean was concerned. Martinique has very good French wine and cheeses and what is more they are cheap. So we had a hard time eating baguettes cheese and drinking wine. We went with the dinghy up a river and lost an oar. This was a costly experience. We managed to get a new one for about $ 70.
Today we sailed around the island to Ford the France. We caught a 10 kg wahoo. What a fish. It did put up a fight. Grant let it run, then pulled it in and rocky and Grant eventually pulled it up. Hooked it with the gaff hook and it is lots of nice steaks in the freezer now. It took a while to clean the boat but we are on anchor at ford the France and just finished a nice chicken and salad lunch. This weekend is carnival in Martinique and I can see the festivities starting.

Moving around the Caribbean

Gail and Grant did not arrive till the Sunday. They missed their flight from LA because the time changed and they were not notified. They finally arrived Sunday morning via Barbados. We stayed for a week in Port Louis marina and then sailed to the statues just outside St George's. we moored and snorkelled the under water statues. Gail did not feel the best but managed.
The next day we sailed to Carriacou where we had lunch ashore and cleared out of Grenada. Gail stayed below in bed for the sail there and was quite ill. The day after that we sailed to Petite Saint Vincent where we had a delightful day. Petite Saint Vincent is privately owned and very pretty. The resort is supposedly the best in the Southern Caribbean.
We had a beautiful quiet night there and the next morning sailed to Union Island to Clear in to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Clifton is a very colourful city with quaint little alleys. From there a small trip to Salt Whisle bay. This is a beautiful bay where you see the ocean on the other side of a strip of white sandy beach with palm trees. We climbed up the hill to have a look over Tobago Keys.
From there we sailed to Bequia and although it was quite rough Gail managed. Here we had our canvas repaired and a piece for between the dodger and Bimini made. From Bequia we went to Wallilabou on St Vincent. This is where most of the pirates of the Caribbean is filmed. Part of the set is still there and the filming schedules are still up.
We walked about a mile a waterfall.
From St Vincent we sailed straight to Rodney bay in St Lucia where we had to clear in again. In St Lucia you can clear in and out at the same time which is very convenient. We are now in the marina so we could have the fridge and freezer looked at. Also our single side band radio has been looked at. We have the boat so we see all the restaurants in the marina and enjoy the lively music at night. Last night we walked to a little village where every Friday the close the main street and people cook up a storm under loud reggae music, lots of laughter and dancing. It was a great experience. Today Gail and Grant have gone to the sulphur springs while we arrange more on the boat. We have been there before so we are not missing out. On Monday we will anchor out in the bay and on Tuesdaythe winds should be ok to sail to Martinique

Friday 11 Januay 2013

We are finally back on our boat. Arrived in Grenada 9th and spend the night on the hard. Not too bad. The next day was hard work till lunch time putting up the sails. Turns out the first sail we put up did not fit anymore and had to go back to the sailmaker who had fixed it up. That set us back a bit but we were in the water that afternoon. When we turned on the electronics we found it said error 12 so that took a while again. Anyway by night time that was working and we were tired. We never got time to clean a lot. Also with people coming past who remembered us. By this time we were anchored out in a bay. Next day (today) we sailed around the island the capital St Georges to a marina. Got there by lunch time and settled in the 'slip' by 1 pm. So we have worked since then cleaning the boat so we can receive Gail and Grant tonight.