Gorgeous Guadaloupe

I'm catching up with the blog at last and can't go on without a blog entry about our lovely time in gorgeous Guadeloupe in February (2nd to 16th February 2019).

On board sv Breeze - Polaroid Pic

We anchored firstly in Deshailes in the north of the island. It's the village where the TV series death in paradise is filmed - I've never actually seen it but many people love it. It's a picture perfect caribbean village, wooden shuttered houses painted in lovely pastels, lush green mountains framing it behind and palm trees and a stunning white sand beach coax you into shore. We had no idea that Moonlight Serenade, Loon and Escapade - 3 of our Buccaneer friends from our sail down from the US would be in the bay. It was so great to see them all.

Deshailes Church as seen on TV

Life in Paradise - perfect!

Deshailes - so pretty

Dinghy Dock arrival Deshailes

Deshailes

Oh the croissants!

This boat anchored on top of Loon - Bonjour are you coming for coffee the french Captain says in his full length robe!

Richard and Julie on Escapade had also arrived that day so we agreed to rent a car together and go exploring with a mission to find waterfalls. What an amazing day they planned, we drove right across the island to find a stunning national park area where there were supposed to be three waterfalls, unfortunately there was only one open but it was lovely and then we found an off the beaten track hike. It might have been a bit harder than we planned but wow it was fun, even though Richard got attacked by a fern. After the hike we drove to another set of falls for a dip to ease our aching muscles. Julie and I got to swim right under the fall - with the sunlight peeking through the rainforest canopy above it was just magical. We finished the day with a beer and a crepe on a lovely chilled out of the way beach full of locals relaxing after work.

Getting muddy with Julie and Richard

Waterfall tour of Guadeloupe

Seriously jungly

We made it!

To swim in the rain forest - what a treat!

Crepes at the Beach

So chilled in Guadeloupe

The following day Andrew and I went for a pretty nice dive in the bay and shared a cocktail with our neighbours Shaun and Shannon on sv Breeze - these guys have just started a you tube sailing channel and one of their things is making up cocktails. Along with their very soppy, toothless rescue Pit Bull Terrier- Batman, we enjoyed the 'Gualdoupe Sloop'. The following evening we came up with our own 'The Guadalito' - a bit like a mojito but with guadeloupe sugar cane rum and a little chilli. With the 'Breezers' we hatched a plan to head down the coast to the Jacques Cousteau Marine Park for some more diving. We said our goodbyes to Escapade who are now on their way back to the UK and headed south.

Guadalito's and sunset

We anchored south of Pigeon Island where the park is as the swell was a little fierce. We found a lovely quiet spot near to the town of Bouillante and were soon joined by Breeze and Alkemi. The three boats spent a few lovely days here. We did a lot of diving in the park, we went on one Scuba with Shaun and Shannon but sadly one of their tanks was leaking. We all went on a spear fishing mission another day but the fish won, however we then discovered a hot bath on the beach and why the town is called Bouillante which means 'boiling'. A hot spring was feeding this old tiled bath, big enough for us all including Nellie the Alkemi dog, although she really didn't like it. That night we partied on Breeze and enjoyed a game made up by Shaun, a bit like taboo.

Our anchorage at Bouillante

Askari's big sister dropped by - Oyster 125 (I think six Askari's fit inside her)

Alkemi and Breeze

Cruiser bath time

Nellie didn't like the hot water

Next stop was going to be the south end of Guadeloupe, but we didn't fancy that and headed directly to Les Saintes. This beautiful group of islands is about 20 miles from the mainland but has a really sophisticated holiday feel. The bay is full of moorings and their are restrictions on where you can anchor, all of which is pretty deep. We were lucky enough to snag the last mooring ball of the day - woohooo! We had been here with ReVision II 15 years ago and it had been one of our favourite spots so we quickly paid up for a week. We did a bit of diving and some lovely walks, including one to the top of the mountain with the Breezers, that ended up with a much needed swim and a few beers at the end. We had a lovely meal out on a date night and some lovely relaxing days.

Welcome to Les Saintes

They call these Tete Anglais - englishman's head!

Out out in Les Saintes

Top of the hill with the Breezer's

Beach hair don't care - love this warm smiling girl

check out the geckhos

Beer time on the beach - how perfect 

Far away from normal

This season has been full of highs and we were certainly having some amazing experiences in Guadeloupe, we met up again with the Buccaneers in Deshailes, hiked and swam in waterfalls with Julie and Richard, did a week of diving around the Cousteau Park and shared some really fun times with our new friends on Breeze and reconnected with Alkemi again; then we all went together to Les Saintes. We even got to feature in Sv Breeze new YouTube channel with our custom cocktails. Yeah this is really what cruising life if all about..... then you get a call, and this amazing crazy life becomes the hardest life ever because you are so very far away from normal.

 Langstone shore walk gave us space to breath again and England in the sunshine is so pretty

We were lazing in bed in the beautiful Isles de Saintes, talking about what next, when the phone went and it was our close family friend Sam - 'your Dad is fine but he's in hospital' - heart sinking moment. My parents were just out with us in Antigua and he was laughing and being his usual self, just a few weeks before the blood clot that had now caused him to collapse outside the hospital. Sam carefully explained what had happened and I then chatted to Mum who was desperately worried, then a few words with Dad all bandaged up. They had been told he could still fly in a month - they were emigrating to Australia after years of planning and visa processing. After we came away from the call, this life felt instantly frivolous and I thought how much had to be done before their flight and how this would be so hard having gone through such a shock. So Andrew and I quickly agreed I should fly to the UK. I booked a flight from Antigua, he rushed ashore to clear us out for Antigua and I readied Askari for the ocean passage north, 200 miles.

As we sailed out of Les Saintes, another call came, the clot reducing drugs had caused a brain haemorrhage I needed to get to the UK as a priority. We had the worse phone signal ever but Andrew managed to see there was a flight from Guadeloupe that night, but we had no way to book it online and no phone booking service. We had to try it, so Andrew got us across the ocean pass to Guadeloupe while I packed a few things - not knowing what was happening in my head, still wearing shorts we pulled into the very rolly bay at Base Terre, the wind was blowing 30knts and we managed to spot a boat with a dinghy - French. Oh gosh why is my french so bad..... "monsieur, votre petite bateau" - lots of arms waving. He finally understood and brought the very small, wobbly floored dingy alongside Askari pitching in the swell, I jumped in and held my bag over my head and directed him to take me to the small port. I looked back at Andrew he watched on, us both in shock, as the frenchman stalled the outboard and my arse got soaked in the choppy seas - yes I love our AB rib. By the time we reached the port I had managed to explain I needed to get to the airport. In the port, this amazing guy wouldn't leave me until I was on my way. He found a group of divers on the dock - amazingly one guy Alex was heading home and agreed to take me to the airport - I didn't know it was 70km away! Just so very kind - these complete strangers, who I could barely communicate with took me under their wings. Words cannot explain my gratitude although I barely remember a thing.

With my wet arse, still in shorts and sailor bun head I ran into the airport and found the customer service desk for Air France - when the lovely lady at the desk gave me a warm caribbean smile and said of course I could buy a ticket I nearly melted, but of course couldn't remember the pin for my credit card. She fixed it all and I was booked. Now I just needed to tell Andrew I was okay and he should carry on to Antigua - the plan was for him to wait offshore to the north of Guadeloupe until I was safely on the plane, in case we needed to revert to plan A with the flight from Antigua the next day. There is another problem, we share a sim card and phone in the islands, which I took with me- he said he would figure the communications out somehow..... The somehow meant using our SSB radio email - which is a little convoluted and he's solo sailing in the dark now, but at least he knew I was on my way to Paris. He carried on sailing north all on his own - no easy feat across a big swell, so very tired and emotional too.  Arriving in Antigua the following morning Andrew was detained by customs who wanted to know where the missing passenger was from the crew list.  Of course I had landed without clearance in Guadeloupe the day before and left by plane.

I landed at Paris Orly after what felt like the longest flight and had to get the most expensive taxi across to Charles De Gaule for a flight to London - I had at least changed out of my wet shorts now. In London, Sam's Brother Phil met me - we hadn't seen each other for years but he came with a sign and snacks and drove me straight to the hospital. My Brother arrived from Sydney on Monday as did Andrew after leaving Askari in Antigua - I'm sure Dad knew we were there, but so very sadly he died a week later.

We can't believe you're not here. 

His funeral was a simple beautiful gathering of a cast of thousands; he had touched so many peoples lives and he will be missed so much. I'm so lucky we got to share that week together in Antigua and wish desperately it had been longer. At the end of March we flew back to Askari to be met with a freezer full of maggots - the joy of boats!!!

It's been a hard couple of months trying to get back to normal, 'a new normal' a good friend told me. I haven't felt very sociable or confident which doesn't really fit with this life, however we have done some lovely hiking and exploring in Dominica and now Martinique. It's very hard being so far away and leading such an unconventional life, but equally it cannot be unwound easily as it's a commitment to life, your partner, the boat and the dream. The boat jobs go on (the maggot infested freezer took 3 weeks to fix) and we need to get Askari south before the hurricane season plus more adventures that hopefully Mum will share some of with us too.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me and the family such kind messages and to all the cruising friends that offered support when they spotted Askari where she was not supposed to be. One friend knew something was up as she had sand on her anchor - of course we would never normally leave her like that.

Oh if you were one of the cruisers in Antigua that got to share the contents of our fridge that Andrew gave away we really hope you enjoyed the Foie Gras and Camembert!

At home in Antigua

Aussie Day Beers at Jolly Beach

Life aboard when cruising is generally all about new - new places, new friends, new adventures and new experiences. We spend a lot of time researching our next destinations, what to do when we get there as well as ensuring we have all the formalities taken care of, on top of making sure that Askari is ship shape. So the last couple of months have been like a holiday and coming back to Antigua with it's protected anchorages, friendly people, great bus service and old friends made us feel pretty relaxed. On top of that my Mum and Dad came to visit.

After Anguilla we heading to St Barth's for a couple of days to eat great french food in Gustavia and enjoy a couple of our favourite anchorages at Ile Fourchue and Colombier. Then we decided to skip St Marteen/St Martin and take a weather window to head east to Antigua where we had decided we wanted to spend Christmas. Having all that 'Easting' behind us made us pretty happy as it should all be off the wind sailing for the rest of the season plus pulling into Jolly Harbour just felt like coming home. Knowing the Antiguan clearance system, we had it all done online before we arrived at the customs dock which made that super speedy and before we knew it we were legal, had filled up with fuel and were anchored in the bay that really is so beautiful. Now to get ready for Christmas.

Always so many cruise ships in at St Johns

VC Bird Memorial St Johns

Our friends Paul and Bab's on Lyra Magna had already been in Antigua for a few weeks and had entrenched themselves with the Jolly Harbour Yacht Club, so we all got invited to a fabulous beach BBQ which of course involved a few drinkies and a lot of fun,  Lionel and Elsie on Ruby Tuesday sailed in from Bermuda just in time to join us too. Jolly Harbour has a real community feel and we shared lots of drinks and great nights watching music and socialising. When it all got a bit 'peoplie' we snuck off to some of the quite anchorages at North Sound.

Xmas Rashies out again!

Xmas BBQ - Andrew and Paul in charge of cooking

We had arranged with Raymarine to have our navigation instruments replaced under warranty; this all happened with a little bit of help from our friends at Oyster. I'm not sure Raymarine would have been so obliging for just us - all four screens had delaminated but still worked. The Signal Locker at Nelsons Dockyard ordered them in and when we got the call we went and collected 'Mr William' to install them - although I think Andrew did most of the work. Sadly one of the supplied instruments was the wrong type so we had to go back and repeat the process a second time. It was all good though as we got to enjoy a fun Sunday night with Jo, Steve and Freddie from Moana at Shirley Heights and a few drinks after....

Stunning View at Sunset from Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights Steel Pan Band

Jo, Freddie, Steve (Moana) and Andrew at Shirley Heights

New Year however we decided that we would join the massive party at Nelsons Dockyard for fireworks and music. We had a fun night with the crews of Vela, Delos and Endless Playtime - all of which have You Tube channels - luckily the cameras were mostly away but the rum definitely flowed. I think we got back to Askari in Falmouth Harbour about 3am and the Antiguan's were still partying. One of the things that has certainly changed since our first sailing trip 15 years ago is younger sailers making money as they travel the world making interesting videos posted distributed through social media - good on them I say.

Me with Brady from Delos

New Year Fireworks at Dockyard

Me with the Delos girls - Alex & Karin

Delos and Askari Skippers

After New Year we definitely needed to dry out so we headed around to Non-Such Bay with Vela and had a few lovely days snorkelling and watching kite boarding; however it gets a bit much when they get too close to the boat so we decided to go and explore Emerald Cove. This is a cute little mangrove anchorage we took Revision II into on our first time in Antigua and I saw fireflies for the first time. We cautiously squeezed Askari into this small spot and it was heavenly to be all on our own. Then Devon arrived and offered us Lobster - yay this really was perfect. We took the chance to explore this side of the island with a hike to Devils Bridge and Long Bay - Devils Bridge was named that as slaves from nearby plantations were known to use this spot to take their own lives; there definitely isn't any going back if you jumped in here with the swell rolling straight in from the Atlantic.

Behind the Reef at Green Island - wow!

Devil's Bridge

Service with a smile - Devon with our dinner

Tucked in the Mangroves at Emerald Cove

The route between Falmouth Harbour and Jolly Harbour takes you inside two bands of reef, with a gap in the middle. We had dived this area a couple of years ago but hadn't taken Askari there. This season has so far provided many calm days; great for exploring. On the way back to Jolly it looked too good to be true, so we went into full 'bombie' spotting mode and ventured in between the reefs and found a great anchorage out of the ocean swell. There was a narrow gap in the reef so we gathered our dive gear and worked our way out onto the ocean side. We've been getting braver with our independent diving but never anchored in the open ocean outside of the reef before; the swell was manageable and we anchored our dinghy and then went for a fantastic dive where we spotted several sharks, lots of rays and heaps of fish even if the coral wasn't that great.

Sailing the West Coast is always such fun

Jolly Harbour Saturday racing out of the harbour

Fun night out with Pieter and Teresa from Leyna to watch Asher Otto at Flatties

Back in Jolly we met up with Lyra Magna again and plotted a trip together to North Sound, they nearly didn't make it when their engine broke down as they got into the reef zone. But ever the fix it man Paul replaced a hose and they made it in time for sundowners and dinner on Askari. The next day we explored the reef and bird island together before being joined in the anchorage by Passport who scheduled an OCC rendezvous.

Boys exploring Great Bird Island

Great Bird Island with Paul & Babs

OCC Rendezvous on Passport

Lyra Magna in Barbuda - double rainbow treat

Sundowners in Barbuda with Moana and Lyra Magna

Lyra Magna and Askari headed up to Barbuda the next day - perfect sailing conditions meant a bit of a race and we even got our spinnaker out until it didn't go so well and ended up in the water. Anchored in Low Bay we were able to see some of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, including washing away a whole section of the peninsular giving access to the lagoon and allowing us to dinghy to the town of Codrington. We had a great evening ashore, with our own beach and the Moana crew joined us too. Barbuda is still spectacular with the most amazing beaches - but get there quick as after the hurricane it is fast being sold off for development which was not possible before due to historic legislation which the locals have now changed to get funding to rebuild. We had very mixed emotions exploring Codrington the next day - it was great to see some rebuilding, however there's still a lot of ruined properties and the development may now change this rare unspoilt island forever.

New businesses starting up in Barbuda

Still signs of disaster in Condrington

After Barbuda we weren't done with North Sound so went back for a few more days of reef time and took another trip down memory lane with a visit to the very Antiguan village of Parham. A place that sees few tourists and mainly fishermen. We had a great time and a very cheap lunch - chicken and chips for EC$10.

Parham Church

Pretty Houses in Parham

Stunning English Harbour hike

Jolly Beach with Mum & Dad

Shirley Heights with Mum and Dad

A last minute decision by my parents to fly out and join us kept us busy as tour guides for a week and we managed to get them to quite a few of our favourite Antiguan spots, including Nelsons Dockyard, Shirley Heights, North Sound and Deep bay to snorkel on a wreck, plus of course Jolly Harbour. Their last day was Australia Day so we treated them to a traditional aussie day treat of snags on the BBQ followed by a beer at the beach!

Exploring English Harbour and Nelsons Dockyard

Aussie Day Breakie

We even let them sail Askari

After Mum and Dad left we quickly whizzed back around to Falmouth Harbour and watched the arrival of the Antiguan girls rowing team, with other cruisers and the thousands of other spectators. The team of four became the first black female team to row across the Atlantic Ocean which they did in about 40 days. It was just amazing, although the politicians speeches were a bit long!

Just a few people waiting for the girls

Yay they made it - the whole nation was ecstatic 

It was one thing after another as then the cricket started - we had tickets for the first day of the Test between West Indies and England. It was a great atmosphere but England were hopeless and the game very one sided so we decided not to go to the next day but went for a great hike to Rendezvous Bay where we had a whole beach to ourselves. We took the bus to Swetes and walked to Fig Tree Drive, the hike then takes you up to a dam, through the rain forest and down to the beach. At the beach we met a dog - apparently a famous dog known for walking with anyone. His name is Shadow - he walked all the way back to Falmouth Harbour with us.

Meanwhile back in Falmouth

Cricket - great seats and atmosphere

Renezvous Beach

Jonathan and Gabbie on Aqualuna had finally returned to Antigua, so we had a couple of great evenings out including a visit to the Royal Navy Tot Club and a final farewell at Catherines Cafe. Sadly this year they are going to travel West as we go South - we hope to see them again next year.

Deep Bay - Hike to the fort

Cocktails with Gabbie on Aqualuna

After 6 weeks in Antigua, we decided it was time for pastures new again. So we cleared out went for a lovely last drink at the beach with Steve and Nellie dawg from Alkemi and Robyn and Larry from Serafina and then set sail to Guadaloupe the next morning.

Chilled last afternoon with Alkemi and Serafina