In preparation for Chris coming back after 2weeks away, Tom & I moved the good ship north to Rodney Bay from Marigot bay St.Lucia. The captain returned for a surf just off Pigeon Island while the kids & I did a small hike around the historical fort.
We then left St.Lucia behind and skipped 4 hours north across to Martinique for the night. This gave us an opportunity to stock up on our favourite French treats and hook up with Party of 5 and Nomadica. We wish Cheryl & Morgan all love on the arrival of their baby boy Gael Kai!!
A shitty problem delayed departure. We tried to source a part for our French cat in the French marina surrounded by a whole lot of other French cats. It wasn’t to be, but the loo needs fixing before we stink out next months guests, including Chris’s parents…
In a very cruisy 12-18knts and moderate sea we set off round the south east tip & north up the windward side of Martinique dodging lobster pots as we went. Beating up past Dominica we had to motor some of the way, but we did make 181nm in a little over 25hrs & got the chute up for the last hour and a half as our angle into port freed off. Would you believe we even caught a few fish!! But the Barry barracudas lived to swim another day as we aren’t keen to risk ciguatera.
We headed @ to Port Louis in Guadeloupe. It’s a slow fishing village with a long boardwalk perfectly poised on the beach to see the sand bottomed right hand point breaks which littered the coast. Surfers heaven! A place we’d stay for a month if we had the chance. We squeezed in a run, dawn surf and showers before heading out to Antigua. Chris had a evening flight to catch…
Another glamour sail, we reached across with gennaker in 10-18knts which felt like my idea of proper cruising! Falmouth harbour awaited us & the kids were fizzing to see friends from our hurricane camp and get their fish on!
Harry was over the moon to see his friends after 6 months anticipating his return here. He was rewarded by talking Ollie into taking him dirt biking followed by the best food we’ve eaten in 6 months.
Lily was equally thrilled to see her buddy Cade after a few years, & I his gorgeous Mum. Not forgetting cruising friends on Pierina who we outsourced maths homework to & generally keep mini- Draper’s highly entertained.
Having never visited Antigua in season, it’s a little bit of a culture shock & this is apparently a slow week….But it’s so good to be back here & I can’t tell you how good it is to see familiar faces. Despite a few rolly nights on anchor with an odd westerly, we’re hoping we’ll avoid a hurricane this time.
After a fantastic 10 days Tom headed back to the UK. So now we are 3 again. If you are @ in Antigua we’d love to catch up. For now I’m hoping I might swing a ride for race week somehow or other!
Misadventure:
-Someone pee’d the bed which meant full clean & dry of the 2 mattresses on the bed. Whilst re-anchoring 1 mattress flew off resulting in impromptu man-overboard practice…
-Is sharpening pencils some weird skill reserved for 5 yr olds??!
Adventures on Fille de Joie 