The island of Antigua was discovered by Columbus in 1493, but never settled by the Spanish as it has no natural source of water. It was only in French hands for 1 year in the 1660s and for the rest of the time has been decidedly British. The British used it as a base for 3 centuries making it the stronghold for their squadrons on the Leeward islands. With the ships of Admiral Rodney and the great Horatio Nelson the British could control the whole of the Antilles from English Harbour. The island, especially English and Falmouth Harbours maintain a very British feel.
 
We set out from Deshaies in Guadelope at 8:30am for the 43nm journey north. Ella of Stockholm was up earlier than us and we spot them on AIS a bit later. We have full sails initially but then the wind builds as we pass the end of the island and get into open water. The significant swell is beam on and slapping us about a bit. The wind is easterly as forecast (70o TWD) but as usual is somewhat higher in speed than expected -  high teens & low 20s. We put in a single reef and we are also able to foot off a bit. We seem to manage to work our way between two rain squalls, one passes behind us, the other in front, arriving in English Harbour at 13h45. On our starboard side as we enter the bay are the Pillars of Hercules, a rock formation which looks like a badly made set of false teeth.

Ella has already anchored in Freeman's Bay and we stalk the crowded anchorage, snagging a spot as another catamaran leaves. Now comes the process of checking in which is notoriously bureaucratic here (a British legacy). We called the Harbourmaster on VHF 12 and listen to other boats doing the same as we all wait for a call back. This came about an hour later and triggers an almost comical race as everyone in the anchorage quickly jumps into their dinghies and head ashore to Nelson's Dockyard. Keith ran into Mitch Booth (who runs the race yacht Comanche) and then I had to drag him away to go and to fill in some forms. There was only cursory interest in our Covid tests and none in our vaccine status - just self-reported the latter. The skippers have to do the formalities whilst us gals hang around chatting. It took them while with visits back and forth to several counters before money was exchanged for a number of obscure reasons and we were allowed to stay. The marina and port complex here is really quite charming, a couple of red phone booths of course and the old stone buildings, including the old Arsenal, have been renovated and the grounds are immaculate. There are several restaurants and shops here as well as a small maritime museum. The whole area is know as Nelsons Dockyard and after checking in we stop for a drink at The Pillars’ bar before heading back to the boat to lower the Q flag and put the anchor light on!

English harbour in the south and Falmouth harbour to the north west are separated by a narrow spit so it’s easy to walk across between the two and we did so mid-morning to check out the marinas and stores. Here we find the famous Antigua Yacht Club which runs the annual Antigua Race Week. Found Comanche on the dock but Triple Lindy (who is managed by an Australian couple) was too far around the bay to walk around it. Back in the anchorage the wind has dropped out and we find ourselves swinging side to side a fair bit and circling around on our anchor, so we decide to reset in a little closer so we can put more chain out and give ourselves more room. Got it sorted and held through a rain squall, but decided to skip the regular Shirley Heights BBQ rather than get drenched heading up the hill. Keith spent the afternoon cursing over the shower sump which died in Deshaies, and he finally managed to swap it for the one in the port side.
 
The next morning we took an early morning walk ashore, up to the Fort Berkeley on the western side of the harbour. Walked around the ruins and up over the headland know as Middle Ground and down into Falmouth Harbour. The anchorage is much larger and there are some places near Pigeon Beach that look good if and when we return. Ran into Brad and Tori Kellet on the way back to English Harbour. They have been spending a fair bit of time here running the race yacht Triple Lindy and doing some racing as well.

​Took the SUPs for a spin after lunch but looks like Keith’s has a slow leak so he had to turn back. Walked along the beach and ran in to Matts and Helena from Ella, who had just walked up to Shirley Heights. They invited us over for a drink aboard Ella later on, and we paddled over later which was lovely.

After breakfast we took the RIB ashore and walked up to Shirley Heights, to the east of our anchorage. There is a restaurant at the top, some ruins and spectacular views over English and Falmouth Harbours. They have a BBQ on Thursday and Sunday nights, but we missed last one due to the rain squalls. There are some more ruins up here from the days of English occupation.

After the walk we left to head a few miles north with just the headsail out. The breeze was behind us and up to 17kts. Put the fishing line out but yet again, no fish were willing to sacrifice themselves for our eating pleasure. Anchored at Carlisle Bay, it’s a wide bay with a resort ashore and nice enough but lacking in ambience. We stopped for morning tea and decided to move on. 

We continue on to Jolly Harbour anchorage which is only 12nm from English Harbour. The anchorage stretches along the northern headland leading into the large main harbour & marina complex. We cruised along from west to east and ended up anchoring in the NE corner of the of the anchorage, not far from the harbour entrance. It’s very shallow but good holding. Went ashore after lunch and did some provisioning. The harbour is quite large with some canals branching off on either side and these are lined with housing complexes, with as their own docks of course, as well as marine workshops. The main marina at the head of the bay. It’s well maintained and with nice grounds and a few cafes etc. The anchorage is blissfully calm overnight.

After breakfast Helena from Ella of Stockholm came over to do a load of washing. I made a lemon cake so they both came back for morning tea a little later. Went ashore again and checked out the chandlery to see if they have a Whale Gulper pump for the shower (no) and get a couple more things in the supermarket. Decided to up anchor and head around to Hermitage Bay , which is just around the corner. It’s a small indentation in the headland roughly on the other side of Jolly harbour where we were anchored last night, a whole 3nm away! There is a white sand beach and an upmarket resort with bungalows nesting discreetly in the hill above the beach. Cheryl and Richie (Serenity Now, who we met in Gibraltar) are anchored here and they drop over as we are eating lunch so beers are opened. Got some great tips for fishing and seeing Antigua. While they were aboard, Double Shot II, our dock mates from La Rochelle, who are from Brisbane, randomly turned up and dropped anchor behind us. Haven’t seen them since Lipari in Italy. They are heading to Barbuda tomorrow. The kids had harvested a heap of Lambi (or conch shells) and Mel will cook them for dinner.

Our tour of Antigua continued after a side trip to Barbuda, which you can read more about below. As we arrived back at the NE corner of Antigua, we checked out a couple of anchorages on Long Island and Jumby Bay, but they are just in front of private beach resorts and you can’t even go ashore. Water-skiers and Hobie cats around too so no thanks. Went over to Maiden Island just opposite and dropped anchor for lunch and to take stock, but then decided to stay. There is one power boat on a mooring and another cat in the next bay. Nothing ashore on the island, and we are under the flight path. But we are out of the wind and the gusts and it is nice to have a “rest” from that. Keith sorted out the bridle clip situation and hopefully this solution will hold well. After dark a large, unlit RIB came and took a look at us, sitting behind the boat for a few minutes. Possibly Coastguard checking we had paid our cruising tax. It didn’t even have nav lights.

  

The next morning we took the RIB ashore to Maiden Island to go for a walk. Not much here except some old ruined buildings and piles of Lambi shells scattered about next to old BBQ fires. It’s still blowing some and the thought of heading down the windward coast to unprotected anchorages just doesn’t appeal, no matter how amazing they may be, so we decide to head back to the west coast for a couple more days before crossing to St Barts on the weekend. We came into Deep Bay just 12nm away. The bay is a lovely, with a long white beach and there is a luxury resort with over-water bungalows that have their own plunge pool. We take the SUPs ashore just as the wind picks up so it’s really hard work. There is just no let up! Walked up to see the fort at the northern end of the bay. Behind the beach there is a lagoon with a narrow opening to the sea.  We are just south of St John’s harbour which is the main industrial port on the island, we won’t be heading in there. We watched from the fort as a Coastguard RIB come in and do a cruise around the bay.

The following morning we have some strong squalls with heavy rain and gusts getting up into the high 20s. Not much fun. We don’t feel like doing much, but manage some boat cleaning. After lunch we decide to head back over to Hermitage to annoy Cheryl and Richie again and use the free internet from the resort. It’s a bit more protected here but still getting the strong gusts coming through. Invited Cheryl and Richie over for dinner and had a lovely evening. Great to be social for a change. Richie put us through our paces on an Aussie quiz he has put together. Very funny.

The weekend is approaching and we are getting ready to leave Antigua so we walked into Jolly Harbour to formally check-out of Antigua. Google took us through a private golf resort to reach the Port Authority offices... I think we did a reasonable job of looking like we belonged as we passed the various security guards. After doing the formalities, the usual to-ing and fro-ing between officials with the associated paper-fest, we walked into the town. The supermarket was closed due to an electrical error so we stopped for lunch and to wait for it to open. 1hr and 1 soaking rain squall later we finally got served! Bought a little bit of fruit and veg from one of the vendors opposite the still closed supermarket before heading back to the anchorage.
 
Friday morning we went ashore in the RIB to one of the smaller beaches to the south of us and walked up to the road and around Pearns Bay. Looks like a bit of development going on here. Plots for sale going up over the hills, reminiscent of Mount Whitsunday. We swing by Cheryl and Richie to say farewell and after lunch we head up to Dickenson Bay, 10nm north, which will be our departure point for the St Barts. It’s a long beach with numerous resorts including Sandals but we tuck in to the north west away from it all. It turns out to be the calmest night we have had in a long time, although with an early start tomorrow and an alarm set we don’t sleep as well as we should have. Next stop? Another French island – St Barthelemy, or St Barts as it is more commonly known. Coming soon….

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.  

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.

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:

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.