We spent the morning going over cruising knowledge that we needed for the ASA standard and learning some knots. Bob was doing some very strange things with rope and sometimes it looked like prestidigitation. Meanwhile the Sunsail people replaced the two electric pumps and the furler cleat. Then we sailed to Islêt Gosier, a tiny […]

Going back north we were on starboard tack. On the passage from Dominica to Les Saintes I had noticed a little water under the cabin sole, but we’d assumed it was normal bilge water that was appearing because of the extreme heel. Today we again saw water and at first dismissed it, but after a […]

We spent another day in the Saints, buying a few provisions and practicing picking up a mooring.  Going ashore was like stepping into mainland France, everything was so much the same.  The supermarkets were franchises of French chains, containing the exact same products as mainland shops, and the bars had the exact same drinks.  For […]

On the passage back from Dominica to Les Saintes in Guadeloupe we decided to take in a reef because of the strong winds. First we hove to, and in the process the rope clutch that controlled the jib furler line disintegrated. On a learning cruise this was great experience in learning to handle the unexpected.

We spent the day with the boat anchored off the coast while we took a land tour. We saw the Emerald Falls, some handicrafts, a restaurant with a great view, and, of course, we rode around in the magic minibus.

Sailing down the coast of Dominica I felt that we were in real Pirates of the Caribbean territory with many caves along the coast where you could hide your treasure. There were also some tranquil little coves that would be perfect for a lunch stop. The water was an amazingly deep blue.

On day three we snorkeled near the Pigeon islets, then as boat after boat of scuba divers swarmed in we moved away and spent some time learning to drive the boat in tight circles. We then sailed down to Rivière Sens near Basse Terre to change boats. It seems that Sunsail did send us a […]

Ilêt Pigeon consists of two little specks off of Pigeon on the West coast of Guadeloupe. The islands and the immediately surrounding waters form a national park of France, therefore fishing and anchoring are prohibited. We passed the night anchored off the mainland and assumed we were waiting for the replacement boat. Bob led a […]

Our second day, we spent the morning on the boat trying to get the engine started. After much tinkering we came to the conclusion that the battery was no good, so we went ashore for lunch and to recharge the battery or to buy a new one. We ended up buying a new battery which […]

We took a shared taxi to Nelson’s Dockyard, our driver was a mad fellow who sang along to the radio completely atonally but with great gusto.