It seems the further south we go, the more relaxed the vibe. Maybe because the cruising season was winding down and everyone was heading south to their hurricane homes. Maybe its just always like this. As much as I enjoyed the beauty of the BVIs I think I have to say that this part of the Caribbean is by far my favourite. We are now at the very southern end of the St Vincent Grenadines. Further south lies the islands of Grenada and well beyond that Trinidad and Tobago, the latter not to be confused with... The wild, uninhabited islets and reefs of the fabled Tobago Cays are known among cruisers as some of the most spectacular in the Caribbean. Seasoned cruisers often list this idyllic anchorage as their most treasured, citing dreamy crowdless beaches, dazzling reefs and vivid aquamarine seas. OK dear reader, you probably realised those were not my words, however Tobago Cays is a really special place and is now on our list of Caribbean favourites. Located in the southern St Vincent Grenadine islands, the Tobago Cays are an archipelago comprised of five small uninhabited islands: Petit Rameau, Petit Bateau, Baradal, Petit Tobac and Jamesby. Together, these islands are the main attraction at the Tobago Cays Marine Park, a national park and wildlife reserve. Much of the park consists of a massive 1,400-acre lagoon, surrounded by a horseshoe reef. Just imagine shallow, sand-bottomed, crystal clear lagoons teeming with green turtles and colourful fish, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by coral reefs and fringed with small, white-sand beaches (ok with a bit of sargassum). It’s quite a short distance from Canouan Island so we pull out a headsail for the sail across. As we reach the islands we motor through “the cut”, between Petit Rameau & Petit Bateau. There are mooring buoys here and it's possible to anchor as well, but we continue on into the lagoon. One “boat boy” comes to say hi and see if we want a buoy, but we choose to anchor in the south of the lagoon with everyone else. It is relatively shallow, sandy bottomed and well protected from the swell but we still get the full force of the Atlantic wind. There is a small National Parks fee of EC$10 (AU$5) per day and they come around to collect it at varying times of the day, to keep you on your toes. There are so many turtles it’s really amazing! I snorkelled just around the boat to check the anchor and chased after a few of them in different directions, they are totally oblivious to humans and just go about their business, munching on sea grass and ignoring you. There is also a funny puffer type fish blowing at the sand around our anchor, perhaps he is trying to dislodge it, or to see his reflection. We end up spending a week around Tobago Cays, snorkelling, swimming and checking out the small islands and the wildlife. ![]() Dinghied across to Baradal Island one afternoon and walked up to the top, which was really not that far, but a great view of the other islands in the Cay, out to the Atlantic and across to Mayreau Island. Saw a couple of pretty large iguanas hanging out in the trees, as well as some nesting birds. Keith got swooped by one being over protective. We also snorkelled off the south end of the island which was really special, not so much in the way of coral but lots of sea grass and turtles feeding that let you get pretty close. I followed a medium sized ray whilst thinking of Steve Irwin – definitely no sting in his tail though. ![]() The rainy season is living up to its name and dark clouds gather most days. We had some light rain one day it was full of Saharan dust so ITIKI is filthy again. The only good news about that is it means the risk of hurricane is low as the weather off the coast of Africa is a little cooler. Rather than wait for some clean rain we spent some time cleaning the windows and getting some of the dust off the boat. It is a never ending task! Went over to Petite Bateau in the dinghy and the motor cut out just as we reached the shallows – groan.... Fortunately it was only the fuel line that had come loose at the engine so we could quickly fix it. We walked up over the top of the island through the bushes and down to the beach on the other side. This is where the beach BBQs are as well as the popular, and more protected anchorage, called The Cut that we passed on the way in. Walked back around the much shorter and flatter end of the island. Bamboozle II has arrived so we dropped by to say hello to them. Andy and Brenda from Whispering Winds drop by as well, they are friends with Mark and Myra who came aboard on St Martin, having bought their Helia sight unseen. We have been told of a couple of great snorkelling spots but they are on the outside of the horseshoe reef. We tried to check it out one afternoon, you have to go through the “dinghy cut”, a small opening in the reef, but finding it is quite difficult. It is marked by small buoys but they are hard to see from low down. We finally spot them and make it through the cut, tying up to the outer most buoy, but it is really quite rough so we decide to come back another day. Instead we popped across to Jamesby Island and walked along one of the "crowdless beaches". Sadly it has quite a thick coating of Sargassum weed, that is not mentioned in the tourist brochures! I think they must just photoshop it out! One of the must do activities in Tobago Cays is the beach BBQ. There is a group of 10 of us and we join Romeo and his team for a great night! Sadly lobster season is over but we have a fantastic feast of Lambi (conch), freshly caught fish, pork ribs (I passed on those) plantains, veggies and salads. Coincidentally we met the new owners of a boat named Jace (Jeff and Lynne) - we knew the previous Aussie owners from Ragusa. It must have been a good night as I completely forgot to take any photos! The only downside is the trip back in the dinghy - its a dark night and we are motoring into the wind and waves, but we make it back and find our own boat without getting too wet. ![]() Outside of the lagoon, on the eastern side, there is a small island called Petit Tabac. Its possible to get over there in the dinghy if it is calm enough, but one morning we decide to head over there in ITIKI (to empty tanks on the way and make water as well). Switched the instruments on nothing happened, everything was blank. No lights, no action! Went through a bit of trouble shooting but no luck at all. Seems they are not getting power, which may have been related to them cutting out intermittently. I called Garmin but they just sent the trouble shooting guide that didn’t really help. Keith took off around the anchorage to ask for assistance from fellow cruisers. Jeff from Jace comes over to take a look and spends 3 hours running the multi-meter over the boat with a fine tooth comb. Finally he found a voltage drop which turns out to be due to a chafed wire that has been pulled through a roughly hacked hole during installation. It has probably been there since the beginning and possibly been responsible to our continued electrical problems. Jeff cut and re-crimped the wire and we had power back to the instruments. Wow! Thank goodness for helpful (and persistent) cruisers! We invited Jeff and Lynn over for dinner to say thank you and had a lovely evening chatting. ![]() The following day we realised it was quite calm and the wind was lighter than usual so we took the dinghy over to the cut and went snorkelling to the northern side, outside of the reef. It is quite a big reef but as with other Caribbean reefs, nothing special coral wise. Plenty of fish though and we saw a fairly large barracuda - fortunately he didn’t seem to recognise us… We are on the outside of the reef so the swell is rolling in and a couple of times it caught me and I got a little too close to the shallows. Went back to the boat and decided to head over to Petit Tabac. Jeff and Lynne and Brenda and Andrew have come over on the RIBs so we swim ashore to say hi. Bad move as it is coral and rock right up to the beach on the Western side. I try to swim around the end of the reef, which is nice enough but starting to get tired looking for a gap. Keith is ashore and directs me in. Andrew has a metal detector and they have found some coins which they think are props from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie which was filmed here. We decide to wash the boat and do a couple of loads of washing - housework in the most exotic of locations! Keith gets some fantastic drone shots though. After lunch we head back inside the reef as it is getting pretty rolly out here. We anchor in the shallow sand a little further south than where we were before. The sun comes out briefly and the drone goes up again. We are in very shallow water and it’s a rolly night. MAYREAU![]() In the morning we decide to head across to Mayreau after more drone flying and a bit of hull scrubbing. It’s such a short distance so we are motoring, avoiding a few reefs as we come into the bay. We anchor in Saline Bay and go ashore for a walk. There is not much here at all, a very quiet island with a small population, a school and a couple of small resorts. Great views from the top of the hill and we can see down to Salt Whistle Bay anchorage which looks pretty crowded. Not much in the way of supplies available here, can't even find bananas! There are quite a few goats wandering around - haven't seen it on the menu though so not sure what they do with them. Some local kids from the sailing school have been around the anchorage in their dinghy looking for donations of equipment, lines, fibreglass, resin etc. We promise to take a look at what we have and would suit them. A couple of dudes come around in wooden boats touting for business for restaurants. It’s so quiet here now it must be tough with tourist numbers dwindling. The next morning we take the RIB to the next bay north and pop into the resort to see if they might have the football on (UEFA cup final). No good but it looks like a lovely spot. We continue on to Salt Whistle Bay and have a walk ashore here. It is a small, shallow bay with not much room so no real reason to bring ITIKI here. Back in town Keith finds that the D View cafe/bar/restaurant has a TV and apparently the football will be on. When we get there though they don’t seem to have the correct channel. We have a very ordinary lunch and the crew from Wild Thing 2 arrive and we manage to get the football on German TV on my computer - Liverpool lost so not a happy afternoon. There was a massive dump of rain whilst we were out and unfortunately we left the hatch above the table open so everything is wet! At least it is clean rain. ,After breakfast we head ashore to walk across to the windward side. There is some interesting signage along the way, installed by the beach bar on the other side. We feed the goats and untangle them from their tethers which are wrapped around trees and their own limbs. Not the brightest of creatures. The local power station here is a solar farm. On the southern end of the island is a large salt lagoon (without flamingos). We get great views across to Tobago Cays as we walk over the ridge to the windward side. When we get to the windward beach it is, well, windy. There is a fringing reef providing some protection but not really much of a swimming spot as there are lots of rocks and plenty of sargasso. The Beach Bar is not open yet. We walk along the beach and back and then head back to town. I decided to swim back to the boat. Later that evening we enjoyed sundowners on Mai Tai with Ollie, who is a keen ex professional fisherman and he gives us a few tips and lots of encouragement! Union IslandOllie (Mai Tai) came over for morning tea and to have a look at our tweakers (no that is not a euphemism!) We then head off for Union island and decide to go the long way around so we can make water. Inspired by Ollie, we put the fishing line out and after reeling it in half a dozen times to remove the seaweed it suddenly zings! I grab it but it goes slack. Dang! The one that got away. Reeled the line in and the €30 lure is completely gone. There are some serious teeth marks in the trace line, must have been a Wahoo. We passed the Chatham Bay and Frigate Island anchorages before arriving in Clifton Harbour and anchored between Bamboozle and Mai Tai, the latter obviously went the more direct route. We head ashore for provisioning, which is quite reasonable. There are plenty of stray dogs and a few stray people as well... The dinghy dock is quite special - it’s like a mini Venice as you have to go under a bridge into a little pond, but there is only room for a handful of boats. ![]() Head ashore in the morning and Keith goes in search of a hairdresser. He gets what is probably the best haircut since we left home! The simple pleasures of life on the run! I also manage to post a postcard (that’s the last one Pam!) Walked along the shoreline of the bay to the kite surfing beach which is inside the reef on the western end of the bay we are anchored in. Lovely location. Dropped by to say hi to some fellow cruisers on our way back to the boat before motoring down to Chatham Bay. It’s a lovely anchorage with a long beach and a couple of bars and we decide to stay a few days. We are greeted by Philip on his wooden boat to tell us about the beach bar/restaurant. Keith swims the anchor and sees a weird hand fish (Triglidae, Gurnards) aka Sea Robins under the boat. ![]() We spent 10 days at Chatham Bay, with a couple of trips out to empty tanks and provision. Some of the highlights include:
Daring Dinghy oddessy to Clifton & back |
From Antigua we took a “side trip” north to the island of Barbuda. Barbuda, along with another island called Redonda, is part of Antigua. The island is quite low (highest point is 59m!) and about a quarter of its area is taken up with a shallow lagoon. The main town of Codrington is on the leeward side, and inside the lagoon and has little in the way of facilities. The Southern coast is the most visited area and here we can find luxury private resorts and (apparently) Robert de Niro’s house. We left Antigua just after breakfast, 1 reef in the main and full genoa to traverse the 31nm to Coco Point at the southern end of Barbuda. Sea was flat at first but it got bumpier as we got past the end of the Antigua. Copped a fair few waves including one that drenched us both at the helm. Reefed the genoa when we started seeing over 22kts apparent wind speed. As the island is low we dont see it until we are very close, We arrived around 1pm. |
The sand on the beach is blindingly white and water a beautiful turquoise. Quite a few rocks around but they are easy to see and we have already spotted plenty of turtles by the time we are settled into our anchorage. Went for a look around in the RIB, there is a private resort occupying the eastern end of the beach. Apparently this was Princess Diana’s favourite beach and has been (officially or unofficially) named Princess Diana Beach. The anchorage is well protected from the swell and good holding but it’s quite windy.
We spent a few days here exploring on the SUPs, walking along the beautiful, long beach. Past the end of Cocoa point is where the exclusive resort is. This is a popular spot for kite surfing, flat water and plenty of wind. There is another anchorage around this side of the island further east but looks much more exposed to the wind and swell, plus there are a lot of reefs and shoals. Walked back along the beach and chatted to French couple (Arthur and Ann-Sophie) from Pearly (a little orange trimaran that we admired in Jolly Harbour). Arthur was kite surfing and explained to Keith how it works. They came over for drinks later. A very adventurous young couple who have travelled up from Martinique in their tiny boat.

It’s been quite gusty in the anchorage, making going ashore on the SUPs, into the wind, pretty challenging. You paddle like crazy just to stay in the same spot! It’s very quick coming back to the boat but you have to have very good aim and steering to make sure you don’t go flying past it! We have booked in to have a lobster BBQ at the famous Shack A Kai on Princess Diana Beach. We checked in with Inoch to confirm our booking tonight and its lucky we did as he advised us to bring our own plates and cutlery as well as sides. We returned in the RIB just before 6pm and Inoch helped us bring it up the beach, quite a long way considering the small tides. We watched the sunset from the swings at the bar sipping rum cocktails. Keith reckons he saw the green flash, but it must have been very tiny! Or maybe I blinked! A couple of donkeys were frolicking around on the beach as well. Fantastic BBQ lobster and a nice white wine. Inoch is an interesting character. We talked about cricket, dreams and life in general. Left about 8 and got back to the boat in the dark without incident. Good to leave those blue lights on!
We are leaving our lovely anchorage to go and take a look at the Western side of the island. We had a rain squall follow us west along the coast, saw up to 33kts TWS, thankfully from behind. Just had the genoa out and we were making 8.5kts at one stage. We turned right and headed up the west coast to anchor just south of the gap in the narrow sandbar at Low Bay, which is the entrance to the lagoon. It’s about half way up the windward coast of this long, narrow island. Conditions are still very gusty and we are jerking around on the anchor bridle. Just like being back in Greece in the Meltemi! From the top of the boat we can see over the sandspit to the lagoon and across to the town. There is surf breaking across the entrance and it looks like it could be quite a spectacular ride to get in! We watched one couple head over there but turn around and come back again. After lunch we took the paddle boards ashore which was no mean feat in a 20kts headwind. Walked north along the sandspit to the gap, it looks fairly rough so we won’t be going in there today either. There is an abandoned beach bar here with piles of conch shells, wooden furniture and what looks like some brick structure that is almost sinking into the water. There is a frigate bird sanctuary inside the lagoon, but looks like we won’t be able to visit that either. The beach along here is supposed to be pink but you have to try really hard to see it without the rose coloured glasses.
We are leaving our lovely anchorage to go and take a look at the Western side of the island. We had a rain squall follow us west along the coast, saw up to 33kts TWS, thankfully from behind. Just had the genoa out and we were making 8.5kts at one stage. We turned right and headed up the west coast to anchor just south of the gap in the narrow sandbar at Low Bay, which is the entrance to the lagoon. It’s about half way up the windward coast of this long, narrow island. Conditions are still very gusty and we are jerking around on the anchor bridle. Just like being back in Greece in the Meltemi! From the top of the boat we can see over the sandspit to the lagoon and across to the town. There is surf breaking across the entrance and it looks like it could be quite a spectacular ride to get in! We watched one couple head over there but turn around and come back again. After lunch we took the paddle boards ashore which was no mean feat in a 20kts headwind. Walked north along the sandspit to the gap, it looks fairly rough so we won’t be going in there today either. There is an abandoned beach bar here with piles of conch shells, wooden furniture and what looks like some brick structure that is almost sinking into the water. There is a frigate bird sanctuary inside the lagoon, but looks like we won’t be able to visit that either. The beach along here is supposed to be pink but you have to try really hard to see it without the rose coloured glasses.
The next day conditions had settled a bit so we decided to try and go through into the lagoon. Checked out the ruined hotel on the northern side of the spit first, either a victim of a hurricane or coastal erosion as it is now sliding into the sea. We got pretty wet going back and forth across the entrance until we spotted the marker buoy (ie a couple of dark coloured 20L containers) and found the gap to go through the channel. It was a bumpy ride across the shallow lagoon and it is quite far to Codrington. There is not much in the town, and nothing to see so after a short walk around we came back to the boat for lunch. Quite a few boats have left today and many use this as a jumping off point to head to St Barts, although it is a hassle to check out from here. Meanwhile the surge in anchorage is doing our heads in. The swell hits the shore and then bounces back almost throwing you off your feet. We are getting a bit over this wind too, it is supposed to back off tomorrow so we will head south again.
We are keen to see the windward side of Antigua as there are apparently some lovely anchorages, protected by reefs. So we took off after breakfast with a forecast of 15-17kts to cover the 34nm back to the NE of the island. Got a nasty surprise when raising the anchor, the clip on the bridle (actually a stainless steel carabiner) had opened right up and fell off the shackle when I clipped it onto the boat! It does have a huge amount of pressure on it but really… That was so close to failing it was not funny, only the pressure on the chain was keeping it in place. We put one reef in the main and full genoa but we had mid 20s and gusting up to 30s (so much for the forecast) so we reefed the genoa and put a second reef in the main. Swell was 2-2.5m, short and on the beam. Copped quite a few waves over the deck. We are both feeling worn out by this heavy weather and BS forecasts. Its good to be back in Antigua in a sheltered anchorage.

The Island of Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly, and the butterfly is the often used symbol of the island, gracing the much of “We love Gwada” street art around the island. Once we dragged ourselves away from the lovely Les Saintes islands we spent some time cruising the “West Wing” of the Guadeloupe butterfly. We revisited this lovely part of the world on our way south again and enjoyed touring inland as well.
We set out from Les Saintes about 9ish thinking we would head to Marie-Gallante, the round, and less visited island to the east of us, but the wind was stronger than forecast (when will we learn…) and we were banging into short chop so we changed our minds and headed to Pointe a Pitre, the main town of Guadeloupe. It’s in the centre of the two parts of this butterfly shaped island. We are still going to windward but on Starboard tack initially the swell is not so bad. On port tack we had negative 3kts VMG at one stage, but we kept pace with a couple of monos, one of which gave up and put the motors on. We end up doing several tacks to make course into to our destination but it’s a good exercise in sailing to windward and it took us about 5 hours, in total to make the 21nm passage. The anchorage is outside the marina in a very sheltered, enclosed bay although the surrounds are quite industrial with views of the cargo port and dockyards. We go ashore in the afternoon and walk into town but it is very seedy, dirty and nothing much open. There is a lot of very colourful street art though, a vain attempt to distract from the scruffiness.
We set out from Les Saintes about 9ish thinking we would head to Marie-Gallante, the round, and less visited island to the east of us, but the wind was stronger than forecast (when will we learn…) and we were banging into short chop so we changed our minds and headed to Pointe a Pitre, the main town of Guadeloupe. It’s in the centre of the two parts of this butterfly shaped island. We are still going to windward but on Starboard tack initially the swell is not so bad. On port tack we had negative 3kts VMG at one stage, but we kept pace with a couple of monos, one of which gave up and put the motors on. We end up doing several tacks to make course into to our destination but it’s a good exercise in sailing to windward and it took us about 5 hours, in total to make the 21nm passage. The anchorage is outside the marina in a very sheltered, enclosed bay although the surrounds are quite industrial with views of the cargo port and dockyards. We go ashore in the afternoon and walk into town but it is very seedy, dirty and nothing much open. There is a lot of very colourful street art though, a vain attempt to distract from the scruffiness.

The next morning we do the obligatory supermarket run - only cruisers truly understand the need to take advantage of a large supermarket to stock up on those items you just can’t get in small island village markets. As a bonus I managed to get a quite reasonable haircut while Keith loaded us up for the walk back – we really must get a “nanna trolley”! Rather than heading straight for the west coast we diverted to a small anchorage 3nm east. Islet Gosier is a tiny island with a reef either side and not much ashore, just a lighthouse, some abandoned buildings and a small bar. It is popular with day trippers and school excursions too! We took the dinghy in, walked the island and had a swim at the beach. A good call to come here and a lovely relaxing spot for a night.
We dragged ourselves away the next morning, expecting to be sailing to the southern tip of the west wing, but had to motor to the corner, where we can see a large white lighthouse. We had shifty breezes, increasing and decreasing as we made our way north along the west coast. Passing Riviere Sens we see how amazingly green this part of the island is. There is a large and active volcano here and we find out later that it attracts some 15m of rain per year! There is a large fort that we can see from the shore and the rather drab anchorage, where we stopped briefly on our return, which is overlooked by a quarry…

Our next anchorage is in the north of the bay near a town aptly named Bouillante, 33nm from Ilet Gosier. After lunch we took the RIB across to the very high dinghy dock and had to tie fore-and-aft in the corner of the T to avoid getting bounced under the dock by the swell - not to mention scrambling up to the dock from the dinghy. From here it was a short walk along the black sand beach to the “Hot River”, where steaming hot water enters the sea. Ashore there is a geothermal station which uses this water, as a natural thermal stream runs through the town and meets the surf at the beach. And it really is VERY HOT! Boiling in fact! Surges of hot water come out of the rivulet and mix with the sea water. The current is quite strong, pushing you back in to the cooler water. It was lovely and novel to have a hot bath in the surf, but it did leave a bit of a sulphury smell on the skin.

We were up and away fairly early the next morning and motored the 2nm north to Anse Malendure, opposite Pigeon Island, part of the Jacques Cousteau nature reserve. We heard snorkelling was great here so we took the RIB across and had a look underwater. We could not find the underwater Jacques Cousteau statue that is supposed to be here but the water was lovely and clear and saw quite a few fish. Nothing spectacular coral wise though and quite a strong current running as well, making it hard work. We stopped here again on our way south for a provisioning run as there are a couple of good supermarkets ashore. We took the opportunity to walk along the shore to the beach, which is a black sand one. Nowhere near as attractive as the beautiful white sand beaches in the north, but people are enjoying themselves in the beach bars that line the shore.
In the afternoon we continued on north to the town of Deshaies, motoring as there was not enough breeze intially and then it was on the nose with quite a chop wrapping around the top of the island. The bay is pretty crowded but we manage to find a spot. Boats are swinging all directions and a number of them get too close to each other and have to move. It all seems very amicable though. We end up with a big steel boat near us but put out plenty of fenders.

We woke the next morning to see the deck covered in tiny dead insects and took some time to clean them off. We took a walk up hill to the local Jardin Botanique. Great views over the anchorage and the garden was nice enough, but the highlight by far was the flock of rather orange looking flamingos!!! As we have never managed to see any in the wild, this was indeed a bonus. It’s our last day in Guadeloupe on our trip north so we treated ourselves to lunch at Chez Lelette down on the beach in Deshaies. Lovely food and a great atmosphere. It’s time to check out of Guadeloupe, and we do this at The Pelican, a small souvenir shop, where we ran in to Matts and Helena from Ella of Stockholm. They are also leaving tomorrow to Antiqua so they come over to ITIKI for drinks, happily brandishing their negative Covid test results! These are needed to check in to Antigua. I am in the shower and just as they arrive and Keith is taking their dinghy line the shower malfunctions – Great timing!
We returned to Deshaies two months later on our way south, arriving in the morning after a 2-day, 220nm windward sail from the BVIs. Thats a story for another blog... After 2 days of bouncing around on our windward crossing, the remote control on the windlass has packed it in so we had to work from the helm station. This means Keith has multi-task and steer the boat and lower the anchor chain at the same time. It was then time for a long overdue kip, but as there was very little breeze in the bay we ended up swinging in the opposite directions to a nearby boat, and got a little too close for comfort. Anchorage etiquette dictates that the more recent arrival (ITIKI in this case) has to move so Keith’s nap was short-lived. The water was clear enough to see the anchor chain which had cleverly wrapped itself around a rock while we had been turning in circles so with Keith again working the controls from the helm and me directing from the foredeck we had some interesting manoeuvring to do to get it free. We anchored further out but then the wind picked up considerably so we reset the anchor putting out some more scope. Spent the rest of the day chilling out and cleaning the boat, which of course was covered in salt from our crossing. Fortunately we had a few heavy rain showers over the next few days to give us a really good rinse. We also get some really strong gusts through the anchorage, up to 30kts at times! The anchor is holding well though and we are quite comfortable with our new bridle snubbers that went on in St Martin – that’s also a story for another time...

Deshaies (which is apparently pronounced “de-aye”) is famous as the location for filming the BBC series “Death in Paradise”. We have never seen an episode of this but we learn that it is about to start filing its 12th season and so it is clearly very popular. I quickly google it so that I can take some pictures of what would be familiar scenes to those that enjoy the show. The arrival of the film crew and actors in May brings welcome income and employment just as the tourist season is starting to wane.
We took a hike over to Gros Morne (=big hill) and down to Grand Anse (=big beach) to the north of us. It is supposed to be an easy walk but it’s quite steep and stoney and we are only in sandals. At least it is in shade but that means there is not much of a view along the way. The beach is indeed quite big, a long white stretch of sand in contrast to the black sand beaches in the southern part of the island. We stop for a drink at the rather derelict looking Chez Samy as we are too knackered to walk further. Fortunately we can walk back into Deshaies along the road, which is much shorter and flatter. We pop back to the boat to freshen up and then go in search of lunch ashore, which is a bit of an adventure. Places are full or run out of food! We find a place by the dinghy dock and narrowly avoid ordering black pudding (boudin) which is a local Creole delicacy. Opted for Accras (a kind of spicy donut) and a lovely grilled snapper with too many frites! An afternoon nap was in order and no dinner! The wind has backed off significantly, which is a relief after several days blowing dogs off chains. It’s a much different and more pleasant place now.
The next day we take 4 x 4 tour of the north of the “west wing” with Pelican Safaris, as we did not have a chance to see much of the inland on our initial visit. We head south and take the traversing road inland towards Pointe a Pitre. The road winds up hill and down dale, through very dense rainforest. This part of the island clearly gets plenty of rain. We stop at a river with a waterfall and a popular swimming hole but its quite crowded. Across the road there is another small rivulet with a swimming hole and waterfall which is harder to get to so a lot less crowded. The water here is not so warm but it's novel swim in fresh water and very refreshing. Next stop is a short rainforest walk, the jungle is quite thick and very diverse flora.
Scenes from our tour of the island:
The next day we take 4 x 4 tour of the north of the “west wing” with Pelican Safaris, as we did not have a chance to see much of the inland on our initial visit. We head south and take the traversing road inland towards Pointe a Pitre. The road winds up hill and down dale, through very dense rainforest. This part of the island clearly gets plenty of rain. We stop at a river with a waterfall and a popular swimming hole but its quite crowded. Across the road there is another small rivulet with a swimming hole and waterfall which is harder to get to so a lot less crowded. The water here is not so warm but it's novel swim in fresh water and very refreshing. Next stop is a short rainforest walk, the jungle is quite thick and very diverse flora.
Scenes from our tour of the island:
There are no snakes on Guadeloupe as mongoose were introduced by settlers, who also shot all of the larger birds, including native parrots. Nice! We head back to the coast and Pointe Noire to stop to look for iguanas before a lunch stop at Hibiscus restaurant, Grand Anse. Lunch was lovely but 2.5hrs was way too long in the middle of a tour. Next we headed up into the hills to a sugar cane plantation and could see a fantastic view over the Grand Cul de Sac which is the middle of the top of the butterfly. Here there are extensive reefs making navigation pretty challenging, and mangroves line the shores. It used to be possible to go by yacht through the middle of the island from Point a Pitre to the Grand Cul de Sac but the bridge no longer opens. We take a very bumpy stone road which was built by slaves, through thick sugar cane which lines either side. We stop at the top to try some sugar cane and check out the view. There are a few wind turbines up here as well. From there we head down to the coast and through Saint Rose where there are dozens of tour operators to doing mangrove tours. We stop in at a rhum museum but it is now so late that it is closed so we check out some of the unusual plants around the garden. Our final stop is the north-western-most point of Guadeloupe - Pointe Allegre. It’s a pretty wild place and the orientation of the trees leaves you in no doubt of the direction of the prevailing wind! There is a also tree here which is really deadly. When it rains it drips acid onto you. Also the fruit is deadly to eat. These are marked with a red band, not sure why they don’t cut them down but I guess they are protected… From there it is back to Deshaies, its getting late and we just make it back to the boat before sunset.

And so our time with the Guadeloupe butterfly is coming to an end and we are winging our way south. Although it's not yet officially rainy season, the weather is becoming unsettled and we are starting to see rain squalls come through. Sometimes these are short-lived and are over by the time you have closed the hatches or brought the cushions in from the cocktail deck. They can be quite heavy though although we don’t complain about the boat getting a free freshwater wash. Unlike the rains in the Med they are not laden with Saharan dust. As we sail down the coast we experience an interesting phenomenon. Despite the trade winds blowing consistently from the east, we find ourselves heading south on starboard tack! Yes a westerly! With the trade winds wrapping around the top and the bottom of the island there must be some sort of back eddy. As we continue south towards Les Saintes the wind inevitably eventually comes onto the nose. As we pick up a mooring ball the heavens open, but we are in our happy place at Ilet Cabrits, Les Saintes and celebrate with a BBQ in the rain.
Les Saintes is a small group of islands just to the south of the main island of Guadaloupe. It’s a lovely, peaceful and charming place that is easy to be in. We visited it twice for a few days each time, once on our way north and again on our way south. There are some places its nice to come back to, and this is one of them.

The first time we arrived at the end of a 65nm sail and a 6am departure from Martinique, bypassing Domenica. The moon was almost full and providing good light as the sun started to come up. We hoisted the main with one reef and one in the genoa as well. The wind and swell were on the beam of course as we are heading due north. We have 18-22kts with some stronger gusts and a few rain squalls. Once we get into the lee of Dominica we get some relief from the swell but eventually we get a wind shadow as well. We motor for a while and then sail a little more with the reefs shaken out, getting some pressure coming through one of the bays. That was short lived so the motors went back on again. Out of the lee of Dominica and the breeze returned, hitting the high teens again as we approach Les Saints. We check out Anse Fideling for our first night. It is on the less developed island of Basse Terre so it sounded like our sort of thing, but it is not particularly nice. The water doesn’t look really clean, its crowded with older boats that probably don’t have holding tanks and think they own the place - we are getting the death stare so we move on. We pick up a mooring ball at Anse Cointe, €14 per night, which is reasonable. The anchorages here are deep and the bottom is weedy so mooring balls help protect sea grass for fish and turtles to enjoy. It’s a really pretty spot with a couple of small beach resorts ashore and overlooked by a headland called Pain du Sucre (literally sweet bread).

nWe head ashore to check in the next morning. It’s a really pretty town but very touristy and as it’s a weekend, there are a lot of day trippers. Plenty of shops and bars too. We can use the internet for a while at the LSM office as part of the mooring ball fee. After lunch we go looking for “No Worries” some fellow Aussies who we heard were here and find them over at Ilet a Cabrits. We have a few mutual cruising friends - such a small world but there are always Aussies out there!
On Sunday we hired a 50cc scooter and toured around the island of Terre de Haut. It was a bit like riding around on a lawn mower, particularly interesting going up the steep hills. First stop was Fort Napoleon just after opening time. Great views from the top and a lovely garden area with many different cacti and some iguanas hiding in the bushes. We visited the various beaches around the island. Marigot Bay looked like it could have been good to anchor in but having seen it from above, it looks a bit nothing. Lots of weed. We stop at Plage de Pompier but again huge piles of weed (Sargasso) on the shore and along most of the beach. It has been a huge problem in this area and when it blooms, large volumes end up rotting on the beaches which is very bad for tourism. We watch a pair of pelicans doing synchronised diving for a while, before moving on.
On Sunday we hired a 50cc scooter and toured around the island of Terre de Haut. It was a bit like riding around on a lawn mower, particularly interesting going up the steep hills. First stop was Fort Napoleon just after opening time. Great views from the top and a lovely garden area with many different cacti and some iguanas hiding in the bushes. We visited the various beaches around the island. Marigot Bay looked like it could have been good to anchor in but having seen it from above, it looks a bit nothing. Lots of weed. We stop at Plage de Pompier but again huge piles of weed (Sargasso) on the shore and along most of the beach. It has been a huge problem in this area and when it blooms, large volumes end up rotting on the beaches which is very bad for tourism. We watch a pair of pelicans doing synchronised diving for a while, before moving on.
Grand Anse is a long beach on the windward side of the island, which is too rough for swimming and again has lots of weed. We take a quick look at the tiny Anse Roderique, which looks a bit like Little Bay at South West Rocks. Each time we try to go to another bay we seem to have to drive back into town and get stuck in the one way street system trying to find the next turn off. We swing by Anse Figuier and then back into town again to drive down to the western end of the island, near to where we are anchored. We stop along the way for some scenic photos back to our anchorage, you can never have too many pictures of your boat! Anse Crawen on the southwest tip is the last beach we visit and probably the nicest, although the cloud has come over and we don’t feel like a swim. We visit to the colourful cemetery, where a number of graves are decorated with huge conch shells. It looks like rain so we decide to grab a baguette and head back to the boat for a late lunch. We have pretty much done the island so we return the bike early. We departed the next morning to Pointe a Pitre on Guadeloupe but returned to Les Saintes 2 months later on our way south.

Our second visit we picked up a buoy at Ilet Cabrits (or Goat Island) having arrived from “Mainland” Guadeloupe which is just a short distance away. The skies are getting dark and menacing as we arrived and we had some heavy rain just after we picked up the mooring ball. There are a lot less boats here this time than when we were on our way north. Dinner is a BBQ on board and we put out lots of buckets out to catch the rainwater that drips off the back of the boat. We use that the next morning to have a big boat washing session, tackling the cockpit area with soapy rain water. We don’t just sit around drinking cocktails in exotic locations you know!
Mid-morning we went ashore to Ilet a Cabrits and walked up to Fort Josephine. It was abandoned in 1903 and now is just a collection of ruins, inhabited by goats. From the top we can see across to Terre de Haut and Fort Napoleon that we visited before. After lunch I go into town (on my own in the dinghy, out of sight of ITIKI!) and try to connect to the internet, however they have changed the password since our last visit and as its Sunday the office is closed! Anyway some good practice in the dinghy and I have booked a restaurant for tomorrow.
We go ashore mid-morning to spend some time at the internet café but it is frustratingly slow! We also check out as we are leaving tomorrow. Our anniversary lunch (its Anzac Day!) is at Au Bon Vivre and it was the best meal we have had in a long time. French with a Creole twist and a lovely bottle of Rose. Just perfect! And a lovely way to finish our time in Les Saintes & Guadeloupe, as we head to Dominica tomorrow.
Mid-morning we went ashore to Ilet a Cabrits and walked up to Fort Josephine. It was abandoned in 1903 and now is just a collection of ruins, inhabited by goats. From the top we can see across to Terre de Haut and Fort Napoleon that we visited before. After lunch I go into town (on my own in the dinghy, out of sight of ITIKI!) and try to connect to the internet, however they have changed the password since our last visit and as its Sunday the office is closed! Anyway some good practice in the dinghy and I have booked a restaurant for tomorrow.
We go ashore mid-morning to spend some time at the internet café but it is frustratingly slow! We also check out as we are leaving tomorrow. Our anniversary lunch (its Anzac Day!) is at Au Bon Vivre and it was the best meal we have had in a long time. French with a Creole twist and a lovely bottle of Rose. Just perfect! And a lovely way to finish our time in Les Saintes & Guadeloupe, as we head to Dominica tomorrow.
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Lynda is slowly getting used to the transition from working to not working and racing to cruising.
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