Antigua- Guadeloupe

While in at Nelsons Dockyard Marina, we had North Sails come and take the main sail and the sail bag away for repairs. The Leech cord on the Main had broken and there was also some chaffing damage on the Battern Holders from the Atlantic crossing to attend to. The sail bag was also starting to look a bit shabby so thought it was a good time to get that fixed up as well. I got them to modify the reefing Line exits as they were never properly in line with the points on the sail. I was a bit worried about the cost of these repairs, especially being on a small Island and the lack of options here in getting sails repaired, but I needn’t of. They were very professional and friendly and they came and helped take the sail and bag away, did the repairs and helped put it back on for $700, which we thought was pretty reasonable, considering they had gone over the whole sail and checked/repaired everything. We have done nearly 8000 Nautical miles by now, so like me it was starting to show a bit of age!

                   In at Nelsons Dock with the sad sail bag

We met a couple of Kiwis here as well. One guy who called himself ‘Stretch’ was a Volunteer Crewman on a tall ship named ‘Lord Nelson’ The ship travels around the world taking underprivileged/handicapped kids and people on its journeys.

I take my hat of to the whole set up and the dedication people like ‘Stretch’ put into this activity. The only trouble I had was keeping up with him in the Beer drinking, the guy drank like a fish!

The other guy we met whilst at anchor out on the entrance to the Harbour. We heard someone yell out ‘KiaOra!’ at the top of his voice and after inviting him over, we were introduced to Bob who was actually an ex pat Brit but had lived in NZ for a lot of his life. He sailed his 60 ft ketch ‘Vero’ on his own, which must have been no easy task. When in the wheelhouse you couldn’t see either the Stern or the Bow, God knows how he got it into a Marina. Whilst small in stature, he was larger than life and his exploits made what were doing pale in comparison.

We were at anchor one day and were both down below reading, sheltering from the odd rain squall that was coming through. ‘Little Falshator’ our tender was tethered to the stern. The rain stopped and I came up to have a swim. I noticed the tender had a different look to it, more streamline on top. On closer inspection, I realized it was upside down with the outboard under water! A wind gust had come along and lifted her out of the water and flipped her over.

We lost both oars as well, (never leave your oars sitting loose in the tender John)

found one floating, but the other was gone. After various attempts to breathe life back into the outboard, I gave up and we had to go back to the marina to get hold of the local Outboard mechanic. He took it away and had it back running in no time, even pulling the whole power head off and freeing up the gearshift that had always been a bit stiff since we bought it.  So over all we were happy with the local service guys at English Harbour and the work they did there.

                Veiw from the boat of the Old Port Buildings

       A sober reminder of the consequences when things go wrong

We spent a couple of days in at Jolly Harbour, which is a great harbour for shelter and must be a favourite to hide in around here in the Hurricane season, even with the care that has to be taken on the approaches to the harbor which are pretty shallow in parts. And the good thing about it, is they had a proper Supermarket-even a deli!

     Jolly Harbour, complete with Water edge Apartments with dock parking outside

We left Antigua and headed for Guadeloupe with the Gennaker  up, but with light winds(4-5 knts), it took all day to cover the 45 miles.

We went through the immigration process at Deshaies, which was a pleasant surprise. Unlike some of the over the top authorities we have dealt with in the past, you simply walk into a craft shop and enter your details into a Computer, print off the form and sign it. Job done.

It has been good to get back to a place with European Influence and the price of things on Guadeloupe are a lot cheaper than some of the other Islands of the Caribbean we have been to where things like Fuel, food and drinks had been  pretty expensive.

In the main Harbour in Guadeloupe, we were anchored in front of another Yacht and as you do frequently, ended up meeting the owners who just happened to be passing by in their tender. Barbara and Stuart Hart were from Maine in the States and after selling every thing up, had been out on their boat for quite a few years. Along with Ken and Lyn, who were from Canada, we caught a bus into the town of Basse Terre one day and spent the day wandering around there taking in the local atmosphere. We ended up having Barbara and Stuart on board two nights in a row and they were great company.

We are at present in at Les Saints, which is on a little island off the bottom end of the main Island of Guadeloupe. Les Saints is a beautiful spot and with clear water, plenty of snorkeling areas, (we are right now on a buoy with a sunken boat behind us about 4 meters away!) The weathers hot and we are spending a fair bit of time in the water here trying to keep the body temps in check. 

                 Les Saints and its quaint streets

      Our local Internet cafe, you have to purchase Beer here to get the Wifi, bugger!

                     Fishing boats on the shore, looking out to the Mooring Buoys

   We actually saw a tender that was smaller than ours! (Little Falsahtor is in front) note the one oar :)

            Banished to the smokers deck

We intend to spend a bit of time here before we depart for the ABC Islands off the coast of Venezuela around the 5^th February, on route to Panama. Looking forward to Bonaire especially, as its rated one of the top three Dive Spots in the world, hopefully get this old body into the wet suit again and experience some great dives there!