Les Saintes

After leaving Deshaies we stopped and had a nice swim at Pigeon Island. Brad got some cool footage on his GoPro of the schools of fish along the shoreline. Not sure how to embed that in the blog. I might try later with better internet.

We stayed the night at the foot of Guadeloupe to stage for our 7 mile run over to Les Saintes. It can be a real bitch getting over there and we didn't want to do it later in the day only to find that the mooring balls were all taken.

So we set out in the morning and it wasn't terrible. It wasn't great either but we didn't get soaked - thanks to Janina's new side curtains and we got there early enough to have our pick of the mooring balls. Went ashore to reserve a scooter for the next day so Brad and Kim could explore the island.

Brad's sunset art shot from Basse Terre

Swabbie at the helm

Les Saintes church

View from our anchorage

Another sunset anchorage - at Les Saintes

Next day we launched the scooterists and then did a little provisioning. There have been frequent squalls during the day and so we were wondering how the bike gang was doing. Turned out they had been able to avoid most of the bad stuff and just parked in bars when things got wet.

Picked them up around 3 and checked out to be ready for Dominica the next day.

Brad and Kim took this shot from a place I'd never climb. See the airport on the right?

Swabbie enjoying his Accras on their island tour

Looking over Les Saintes

Who's having fun?

From the fort

Cute couple at Le Chameau - see the airport over Brad's left shoulder?   

These two are good company. AND, they actually can read their novels as we bounce through the waves. Pisses Pam off. 

See you in Dominica!!!

France!

Well, we're in France. Deshaies, Guadeloupe to be exact.

Nice to be here - but getting here was like riding in a washing machine.

Since my last post we had a few nice Antigua anchorage days. We spent 2 nights at Hermitage Bay, visiting Deep Bay for a hike and some beach time. Had some time to do some shelling and explore the Hermitage Bay Resort beach before checking out at Jolly and heading over to Carlisle Bay to stage for our trip down.

Unscheduled time

Murphy and us from Brad's vantage in Deep Bay

The people on this yacht have been staring enviously at us

Out exploring Carlisle

Charming couple on Carlisle beach

Beauty boat at sunset

A photo of me taking a photo of them

We've been experiencing some not-normal weather. Lots of clouds, one completely rainy day, squalls and then blazing sun. Some extra wind, too, which adds to our stress level when contemplating a day of sailing.

So we crossed our fingers and set out from Carlisle at about 8:30. We made good time (6.5 hours) doing the 41 miles - but it was crazy sailing. Reefs in both sails, then no reefs 'cause the wind disappeared. Then reefs again 'cause we were getting knocked over. Otto the autopilot decided to go on strike so that meant someone at the wheel the whole time. Our new side curtains from JustCanvas in Antigua (Yay Janina!!!) kept us mostly dry but the helms person got soaked.

So we got here kind of beaten up but happy to be in Deshaies. And... we got a nice squall just when we got in so the caked salt got all washed off. Bonus!

When you get squalls you get rainbows.

Swabby at the helm

Didn't catch a mahi on the way so...

Leffe beer!

Ouassous au lait de coco 

Mmmmmmm.

Tomorrow we'll head south to swim at Pigeon Island and overnight at Basse Terre. Then onto funky Les Saintes. Definitely need to rent a scooter there to tour the tiny tourist island. After too much fun here in France we'll head down to Dominica for a brief visit before Kim and Brad head back home.

More later! Thanks for reading.

Brad and Kim explore the Leeward Islands

Happy New Year!

Last we chatted, John and I had put the boat in the water... more or less functional and then left it at Jolly Harbour Marina for a 2 week trip home for Christmas.

Well, Christmas is over, my belt is out one notch and we're back on  Blue Pearl. Pam loves the new canvas and gave me a C- on boat preparation... so I'm pretty pleased. Didn't expect such high praise.

We've emptied out 2 maxed out suitcases but after 4 days there is still a lot to put away. I'm not sure how long we can continue bringing down all kinds of crap and still not have everything we need on the boat.

The trip down is a root-canal-like ordeal. No fun. You know it will eventually end but you get numb-butt on 2 relatively long flights... and arrive sleep deprived. Kim warned us that she doesn't work well without her beauty rest but so far she hasn't bitten anyone's head off. Still a little worried, though.

We did a little shopping at the Epicurian after our arrival on Sunday. Sure is great to just walk over from the dock. Got some dinner, wine, ice to cool down the fridge and then retired to an early evening on the boat.

Left for Falmouth on Monday so we could be there for New Year's Eve. We actually made it to midnight local time. There is little photographic evidence of our party... but it involved heavy drinking, lots of bubbly, goofy hats and noise makers. At one stage someone (might have been me) thought it would be a good idea to try our conch horns. Turns out we are all bad... Brad is the least bad at conch horns.

Leaving Jolly

New Years Eve Sunset in Falmouth

Happeeeee Neeeeew Yearrrrrrr!

Whoop whoop

Brad and Kim did the Middle Ground hike today from Falmouth to English Harbour and we had a great lunch at the Copper and Lumber Restaurant when we met up after their hike.

Blue Pearl down there somewhere

Art shot - Carl the Cactus with Freeman Bay in the background

Brad and Kim and blurry Freeman Bay

Freeman Bay

Fortifications

Larry Lizard

We're back at Five Islands tonight for internet... looking forward to a couple of quiet beach days before heading south to Guadeloupe.

Such fun!!!

Cruising with Burnsie

Sailing the Trade Winds on a well found boat in the Caribbean is heaven on earth. Living on your boat on the hard in the Caribbean with no power, no water and worst of all no ice... is not.

When Burnsie said he wanted to come down with me to splash the boat I was beside myself. Big strong guy with skills... we'll get the boat in the water right away and then off we'll go to the French Islands to buy some French wine, cheese and kangaroo pate.

We were hoping for Friday... even though we weren't really ready. That didn't work. They work hard here on Saturday but it wasn't to be... even though we were really ready.  Church on Sunday so not much going on. And now we find out that Monday is VC Bird Day. So, "NO LAUNCH FOR YOU."

We've done a ton of boat jobs. Removing and replacing our Airmar/Garmin depth sounder was a bear. The adhesive holding the old one in was really good. Which I suppose is a good thing. But not when you are taking it out.

Ripping the place apart to install the new transduce

Looks so elegant from the outside

Cruising Dining

Chillin'

Painted up and ready to go

Our chariot awaits.

"The Lady at the Market" restaurant in Parham

Hiking to Deep Bay

But it's out and the new one is in. Over the past few days we've wired up the new one along with the new GPS antenna. We've replaced some door hardware.

Janini from Just Canvas is replacing our dodger and connecting parts. Hoping that she will be done soon. What she has done so far looks fantastic.

We are really hopeful that we are in the water tomorrow. We can cool down the fridge, load up with beer, get the sails on and make sure all is sea-worthy. We'll only have a few days to check out our favorite Antigua Anchorages.

Blue Pearl Inc will have to offer up a compensatory cruise for Burnsie sometime when we don't have to do boat maintenance.

Anyway, I guess this is cruising... fixing your boat in places where parts and services are not ideal.

OK... Late breaking next day update... WE ARE FLOATING!!!

Checking us out!

Careful...

Ready for the lift

Splashing

And we're in at the dock... with power!!!

More excitement to follow!!!

Heading South... Again!

It's blogging time again!!! I'm testing out the process with my new Chromebook. It feels awkward but I'll get used to it.

I told friends that I was going to head down to the boat in Antigua for a couple of weeks in December. Down December 4 and back home December 17. The idea was that I could get lots of chores done so when Pam and I head down after Christmas we can just splash and go. Sleeping on the boat while on the hard is not great... but it's do-able and it would allow me to get lots of things done.

So when Burnsie heard there was an adventure to be had he came over and asked if he could come. BIG change of plans!!! Having someone with trades skills with me to get stuff done will be awesome. Plus Burnsie is great fun to spend time with and he knows the words to every song ever written.

So now, the plan is to get out-of-water jobs (bottom paint, through-hulls, etc) done right away, splash and then cruise and fix for the rest of our trip... eight or nine days. I'm stoked!

We've got crap all over the house and have gone through various stages of packing it into suitcases. Depth sounders, tv, tv mounts, wind direction indicator parts, through-hulls, varnish brushes, GPS antenna and more and more and more.

Christmas gifts for locals, insulation, bed sheets

AC pump, hat, space for my shaving kit

Duffel full of stuff for Dominican family

New TV - Captain Ron in HD

Docklines, sheets, water hose, depth sounder mount and a whole lot a stuff!

After a good cruise around, we'll put the boat at the dock somewhere. Then, 2 weeks later Pam and I come back down with Brad and Kim. The plan is to cruise them down to Dominica and then fly them home. Hoping for good sailing/cruising weather.

Whoop whoop. Antigua here we come!