We are now anchored in English Harbor, Antigua, a beautiful spot whose facilities are housed in a restored 18th century British Royal Navy dockyard.
After our arrival in Barbados on April 27, 2010, we spent a few days there doing all the errands needed after a month at sea, such as replenishing our stock of fresh fruit and vegetables, and doing many loads of laundry. We departed Barbados on the afternoon of May 1, bound for Martinique, 110 nautical miles NW. We had fairly strong breeze out of the NE and about one knot of favorable current, so we made the passage more quickly than expected: 15 hours, averaging about 7.5 knots. After spending two months in the comparatively deserted South Atlantic, it was a bit of a shock to return to the constant traffic in the Caribbean Sea. Neither of us had a watch without seeing the lights from multiple cruise ships and fishing boats.
Martinique’s volcanic topography was beautiful after the flat and much-developed Barbados, but our port of entry, Le Marin, was a zoo of private and charter yachts. We soon found several beautiful and quiet anchorages, however, by sailing 25 miles up the windward side. We were lucky with the weather; the trades were light and very southerly so our anchorages were pleasant and protected. We snorkeled a few reefs, and hiked around a coastal national park with excellent views. When it was time to leave, our new friends Daniel and Anne-Marie, living aboard their boat Hiva Oa in Martinique, took us under their wing and drove us to the big supermarket. We were very grateful since there were no stores within walking distance.
On May 11 we had a beautiful daysail 60 miles north to Dominica. After so many long passages in the last few months, it is a new and pleasant phenomenon for us to look at interesting land while sailing. Dominica has a small agrarian population so the island is very lush and undeveloped. Its mountains are dramatic, especially at the southern end. Upon our arrival at Prince Rupert Bay, at the north end of Dominica, one of the local guides, Martin, came out to greet us. The Dominicans have a tour guide association, and the guide who greets you is your guide for the time you are there. The association also works as an unofficial coast guard/ security service, doing nightly patrols to ensure the safety of yachts and their crews. Martin was very helpful and knowledgeable, especially about the island’s botany. Our first day on Dominica we spent doing an island tour with Martin, which began with a trip up the Indian River where we spotted many birds. He took us to the “Cold Volcano,” a sulfur spring that boils away at room temperature, and showed us some stunning views. We came away with a bag full of mangoes and spices he had showed us in the forest, including fresh cinnamon. We spent the rest of our time on Dominica hiking, and did two dives on which we saw pretty coral, sponges, reef fish, and many little shrimp.
We sailed for Les Saints, an island group south of Guadeloupe, the afternoon of May 16 and encountered unsettled squally weather. We entered the anchorage in a torrential downpour, but managed to find space not too far away from the town. The town was small and walkable, and our customs clearance was probably the easiest so far. We anchored for two nights at a little island off the town, where we did a dive, and hiked up to a ruin of a Napoleonic fort. The first night we had the anchorage almost to ourselves, but the second night we had a slightly unpleasant experience when a large charter catamaran anchored within a boat length of us. Fortunately the night passed uneventfully, and we left early the next morning for a 25 mile sail up to Guadeloupe proper. We spent a day and a half at the Cousteau Underwater Park there and did three dives, the best in the Eastern Caribbean so far. The coral was more pristine than anywhere else we’d seen, and we saw several schools of reef fish and trevally as well as a few turtles.
May 21 we sailed for Antigua and had a fairly pleasant 40 mile daysail. We had light winds at the beginning, but it picked up to 15-20 knots out of the east for the last few hours. We’ve now been in English Harbor two nights, and will be for another few days. We have a few boat projects to do here: tightening our forestay, changing the engine oil, and repairing the solar panel regulator which stopped working unexpectedly. From here we shall spend a few days at Barbuda, a low island just north of Antigua, and then make the 1000 mile passage to Bermuda in the beginning of June.
