Wednesday, May 14, 2008
click here for a slideshow
We are now in Guadeloupe, in a group of islands called Les Saintes. It's been a wonderful stay, with some great hikes to see magnificent views. The anchorage here at Terre de Haut is quiet, peaceful, flat as a pancake, protected, and has a small reef to snorkel on. The only downside is jellyfish - Debby has suffered three jellyfish strikes in as many weeks, and is now wearing a wetsuit to swim.
The town here has a very French flavor, with no fast food or chain stores. We have been enjoying fresh French bread every day, hot from the oven in the morning, along with fresh fruits and vegetables grown in Guadeloupe. The weather has been perfect, every day about 80 degrees with light trade winds.
We'll be taking advantage of the light trades and sailing for Dominica at sunrise tomorrow.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Can you see our boat down there? We hiked up to the old fort in English harbor (every island seems to have its own fort, lots of fighting over the island real estate amongst the European powers a couple of hundred years ago). At English Harbor they have preserved and restored the old dockyard where Horatio Nelson was in command.
We moved on from English Harbor, Antigua, on Friday May 2, and anchored in Des Haies, Guadeloupe. The highlight of Guadeloupe so far was Pigeon Island, on the west coast, where we took a mooring for the day to snorkel and swim in the Cousteau National Underwater Park. Lots of coral and more reef fish than we have seen for a while.
We stopped in Basse Terre, where we spent two miserable rolly nights, trying this and that to stop the roll. A whole day on anchoring, re-anchoring, setting a stern anchor, trying a swell bridle, and it still rolled so we couldn't sleep well.
We gave up and sailed over to the Saintes, a lovely group of islands south of Guadeloupe with a wonderful protected harbor. And, yet another fort to explore!
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