We're now in Guadeloupe. We have several posts form Martinique that are in draft form somewhere on this computer that we'll be polishing off and posting over the next few days. Here's a copy of an email to another cruising family that we've made friends with to give you an update on where we're at and what the last few days have been like.
Hi there. Just got hooked up with wifi now. We arrived in Guadeloupe about 30 hours ago. The anchorage at Pt-a-Pitre didn't look very nice so we elected to stay in the marina. It's not as nice as Rodney Bay (it's no IGY) but for fun we're squeezed in between a couple mega yachts (on the smaller side though). We walked into town tonight to watch the parades. Very cool!!
This place has a different feel but we're starting to get in the groove. Spending today in town in all the fun and celebrations helped a lot. So did walking home in the dark through the seediest part of town getting nothing but "bonsoir" and smiles from the ladies of the night (the kids had no clue) :)
Our crossing on the windward side of Dominica was a breeze (though I wasn't feeling well from about 1am until sunrise). We rounded the N end of Martinique at sundown in light wind. By 2000 it was up to about 8-10 knots and still enough E that we were able to make the windward side of Dominica. The wind backed and strengthened throughout the night. We sailed a close reach the whole way through the night and ended up a little SE of Marie-Galante by sunrise so we finished on a nice reach. We were even (slightly) broad reaching for a little while. We decided to skip Grand Bourg as we passed around 10am and anchored for the afternoon at Anse Ballet. *Very* nice and we were the only boat there (can you say skinny dipping snorkelling?) We spent the night in St. Louis. Again, *very* nice, calm and quiet. We left in the AM and had a beauty of a sail to Pt-a-P. We even had dolphins surfing off our bow for a little while! That was pretty much one of our best sailing days ever. Sunny, dodged all the squalls, beam reaching all the way, seas around 4 ft most of the way and dolphins! We loved what little we saw of MG and would love to go back there some time (we're saying that too much ... it's sad, 1 yr is not enough time down here for sure).
Not sure how long we'll stay in Pt-a-P. The party today was great. We'll see if the aquarium is open tomorrow. And if the chandlery is open I need to replace our starter battery (it died in St. Louis so we're starting off the house batteries right now ... yuck). But if they are closed then we'll probably head to Les Saints in a day or two as they look just amazing! Or we'll see what's on the menu for more carnival stuff and stick around if it's different from today. Typical cruiser's plan :)
Cheers,
Singing Slugs!
Not stopping at Dominica? I thought that would be your kind of island . . . a little wild and wooly with lots of hikes. While on the plane from Grenada to Barbados, I read an article about Dominica and saw pictures of Anne V. --- she claims it's her favorite island for hiking over the hills and valleys. Another day, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are phenomenal, Skye & Carla! I look forward to them everyday. Your pics are always worth waiting for . . .. unfortunately they create a huge desire for me to return to the Caribbean. . . soon.
We're so sad to miss Dominica but a good weather window presented itself and we needed to get closer to St. Maarten so that we'd be in a good position to get there before the 21st to get Iain. And we didn't want to miss Carnival on one of the French islands. There have been a few places now were we've decided to give them a miss or spend not enough time there. We'd love to find a way to come back some day. Maybe on a charter holiday?
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