SERENITY NOW

  We’re anchored under the gaze of Napoleon and Josephine, who stare down at us from two of the hills that surround us here at ‘the saints’ (les iles des saintes - a small group of islands just South of Guadeloupe) Napoleon and Josephine are the names of the two fortresses which used to guard the bay here. Our plan for the morning is to take a look at the town, and give our legs a workout by heading up to Fort Napoleon to take in the views. On the way over to shore the outboard splutters and dies a few times - I’m able to start it again each time, but it’s a little worrying and will need to be looked at later.. hope it gets us back to the boat as it’s a long way to row. The town is quaint/posh/shanty with a decidedly French style, lots of wooden shutters and rusted corrugated iron roofs. It’s more tailored to tourists than the last few places we’ve visited, and the narrow main street has a mix of upmarket clothes shops, small bistros and bars, all quite tastefully decorated and do...

Having developed a strong addiction for fresh baguettes in Pigeon Bay, we decide it’s time once again to move on. We motor the two miles down the coast to the little town of Boulliante whose claim to fame are the hot bubbling springs which empty into the sea there. This gives the place a mildly sulphurous odour, it’s only a hint though, so we’ll hopefully accustom to it soon (we do). I always like to dive on the anchor at a new location to make sure the blades have dug in properly to ensure we won’t be dragged onto rocks in the middle of the night. Jumping in from the bow, the water has a top layer of lukewarm bath temperature water with colder water below - strange to swim in, but far from unpleasant. The anchor is well set. Returning to the boat, I begin to take in the town. It’s a hotch-potch of shacks, tin roofed barns, and some industrial works around the source of the hot water, the overall look has an almost Wild West frontier town feel. The buildings are easily outnumbered by t...

We remain, for now, anchored in the bay at Deshaies (pronounced Dayhay) on the North West corner of the butterfly shaped island of Guadeloupe - home, as I’ve previously mentioned to the TV show ‘Death in Paradise’. We had dinner out in the small town two nights ago - hunting for a restaurant that: A) Catered to our culinary requirements B) Had wifi... The first one we visited gave us our first taste of local Gallic rudeness.. We opened with: “Bonjour!” This was greeted with a look of utter distain, the unsmiling waitress advised: “Bonsoir actually” and turned away. After taking a seat, we are ignored until we eventually go and ask for menus. She points to a QR code on the wall - the menu apparently being online. For this we obviously need wifi. “Do you have wifi?” “Non!” Replies Miss No-Smiles. We are glad to depart. Before I go on, I should point out that this is by no means representative of the people here - smiles are warmly returned on the street, and the town generally has a warm...

We left Antigua at dawn heading South to French Guadeloupe. We’re hoping for a slightly better crossing than our previous attempt; trying to head North to St. Barts the previous night. That journey had us turning around amid fierce moonlit squalls. This trip began well - My trailed lure caught a large Cero (looks like a cross between a pike and a salmon). This is supposedly one of the tastiest fish in the Caribbean. It was good - firstly in sushi, then with mash and veggies, and finally in a white wine and tomato concoction. As we headed South we had a good strong wind from the East, which we sailed with cautiously reefed sails. The large swell, which unlike the day before is now at least visible, is still of sufficient size for us both to don life jackets without much debate. After a couple of admittedly quite intense squalls - the deck moving so much you can barely stand, ferocious wind and waves crashing over the side - Chez tearfully came to the conclusion that she really has had e...

  As the sun begins it’s pre-dawn glow in the East we find ourselves gently motoring towards the lush outlined hills of Antigua... Sounds nice doesn’t it? Well it’s not...but I’m getting ahead of myself. When I Iast left off we’d been enjoying the cricket - it turned out to be an evenly matched, if perhaps somewhat lacklustre game. Both sides will be kicking themselves for not taking the win. A draw - not a game to instill excitement in a first time spectator, but a good to and fro battle non the less. It fizzled out on day five with the pitch doing little to help the tired English bowlers finish the job. Happily the next test is due to start any day now, so the fun and games can begin again. I spent days 4 and 5 listening to the radio commentary, and fishing from the back of the boat. Day 4’s catch: A Reef Cod A Trevally A Blue Striped Grunt and a Squirrelfish. All but the tasty little trevally were returned to the deep. ...day 5’s catch: absolutely nothing! Despite using the same...

  There are a few bucket list items which from time to time occupy the back of my mind... Cheese rolling down a hill in Gloucestershire (which probably won’t do my back any good), Playing poker with friends in Hong Kong, and until a few days ago watching England play cricket in the West Indies - which happily is a box now ticked. Day 1, we took the tender ashore at Jolly Harbour and met our taxi driver for the day, the ever smiling Glen (Glenmoore Junior to give him his full title). After picking up 3 young lads from Nottingham, we headed into our first view of the Antiguan interior. There’s an abundance of lush vegetation, fruit laden trees and lots of roadside wooden shacks. Shacks is a bit harsh, they’re nice wooden slatted houses with tin roofs. Possibly built with an attitude of: ‘we’ll have to build this again after the next hurricane’, so not many architectural flourishes other than a shady balcony up front. There’s a fair few goats and cattle around. The cows, almost all ac...

  We left simply wonderful Barbuda and headed back to Jumby Bay for an overnight wifi catch up. It was good to sleep in a familiar calm anchorage. Next morning we continued along on our Antiguan circumnavigation - apparently passing Oprah Winfrey’s beach house as we left Long Island - I didn’t actually see it, but the internet assures me it’s there. The plan for the day is to complete the full circle back to our post Atlantic crossing arrival spot: Falmouth. We arrive in the early afternoon into the welcoming bay having had very little assistance from the wind along the way. Dropped anchor just outside the channel markers, and soon headed ashore. It was less than a month ago that we first stretched our legs here after the ocean crossing. It’s good to be back. That said, the next three days follow a sad pattern - I’ve somehow picked up a bad back from some forgotten over exertion along the way. My only relief comes from laying flat on the bed... so in between lay ins, curative rests...