When we arrived to the Carribean last year, we went from St Martin to Antigua and skipped the small island group to the west...this time around, we decided to have a look at them, beginning with Nevis. It took quite a while to do the check in with Customs, Immigration and Port Authority as two of the individuals were not available at the time of our arrival. We explored town, went to the tourism Office (staff of 8!), and then were finally successfull doing the clearance. Everybody was courteous and nice but they are a bit "penible" about formalities here...Nevis has a definite British flair with its old stone buildings and quaint squares.

This stone alley used to be the site where slaves arrived in Nevis, a "shipment" could be as high as 7,000 people! The actual island population is 12,000...

The nature trail of the plantation offered an easy stroll in a verdoyant forest...

We motored almost all the way from Guadeloupe to Antigua...at least we know now that our engine is doing well! There were not too many boats in English Harbour ..then this mega yacht arrived! Wow, it looked like one of James' (Bond) gadget...only in Antigua!

Nous aimons Antigua ...avec ses grands yachts classiques...quand celui-la s'est montre dans le mouillage, tout le monde s'est exclame!!! On se croyait dans un film de James Bond!!!! Quel specimen!

Lindsay and Karen enjoyed this tour of the island very much and were amazed at how much they saw in these 6 days...we could not have them come with us to Pointe A Pitre on Saturday morning as they left early in the morning. We were amazed at the activity and ambiance of the Guadeloupe metropole and loved the market and the drummers! We had a beer at one cafe of the Place de la Victoire ...great visit guys! We drank that Corsaire beer to your health!!!!

We had a great sail from Les Saintes to Pointe-a-Pitre with a south easterly blowing 20 to 15 ...we witnessed the unfortunate landing of a large catamaran on the breaking reefs of the entrance of the Petit-cul-de Sac marin...sad to see.

On the last day with Lindsay and Karen, we rented a car and toured Basse-Terre...it enabled us to see the Soufriere volcano, other tropical parks, and villages and towns of the west coast. It has rained very little in Guadeloupe and the landscapes with many yeloowed leaves covering the ground was a bit reminiscent of our fall!

We enjoyed the drive and the walk to the volcano. Guadeloupe has great parks and all the hiking paths are "deluxe"...compared to outher islands...well marked, well groomed...

Lindsay and Karen were amazed at the beauty of the anchorage! And so were we…last year, we discovered Terre de Haut and it was our first French island…we were charmed! This year, I was not sure if we would have the same impression as we have seen so many islands in the mean time..but yes, Les Saintes remains a very special place, with its beautiful creeks, wild beaches (Grande Anse), its colourful “cases” and its “tourments d’amour” …exquisite pastries typical for the island. We visited Fort Napoleon and enjoyed the views, the cactus and succulent gardens and its expositions of the tales of battles between France and England.


C’est avec plaisir et encore un certain émerveillement que nous avons retrouvés Les Saintes…leurs paysages sauvages, leurs “cases” aux couleurs brillantes, leur atmosphère…on agrimpé jusuq’au Fort Napoléon d’où nous avons eu de merveilleuses vistas sur les baies environnantes. Les jardins du fort étaient intriguants, le fort impressionant et les expositions relatant la vie des saintois, leurs us et coutumes, ainsi que les batailles qui ont eu lieu dans ses eaux tres intéressantes.

As planned, we sailed to Pointe-a-Pitre in order to welcome back Lindsay and Karen to the islands...it’s their third trip in a year!!! There were several boats in the anchorage which is now free…no more 10 euros charge for anchoring there like it was the case last year. After a major shopping spray at the Champion supermarket of the marina complex, we sailed towards Les Saintes…when we were the least expecting it, we saw a humpback whale breaching about ½ mile ahead of us!!! Oh! We were so excited!!! We were looking for the rest of the pod but we saw only one…Nevertheless, it was something unforgettable!

Marie Galante is an island belonging to Guadeloupe and it has an aura of mystery and exotism to it that draws people to its shores, at least Francophones …we were somewhat disappointed as its towns are really not pretty with their dilapidated buildings. Ther was nothing really drawing us to Saint-Louis and we stayed on the boat, swimming and reading, recovering from the Domenica swells!

Marie-Galante ou la “grande galette” parce que forcée la surface au cours d’une poussée volcanique à l’ère quaternaire..a des bourgs qui semble aussi dater de cette époque la avec les murs dilapidés de ses habitations! Cà c’était surprenant et décevant car jsutement, ce nom évoque, en tout cas pour nous francophones, les horizons lointains, la mer, le mystère! Mais bon, nous avons fait une promenade dans les environs, au milieu des paysages de cannes à sucre et nous avons passé le plus clair du temps à nager et à nous reposer (Ne riez pas!!!! Les nuits de Portsmouth nous avaient fatigués!).

Karen and Lindsay arrived - Guadeloupe!

Our friends arrived again - 3rd time in a year! They must like their ship's "crew"!

We are currently in Ile des Saintes, and had a wonderfull walk across to the North and East end of the island to walk along the beach. What a great hike, followed by much needed cold beers at the waterfront.

More later, we currently enjoy a couple of glasses of red wine, together with French cheeses and salamies.

'til later ...

Leaving Dominica …at last, we had had a quiet night for our last day in Portsmouth. It is definitely not a quiet anchorage when the SE winds are blowing…NEVER have we had such rolly conditions since we left in 2008! On our last night, we moved the boat to the Coconut Beach anchorage – which we had not dared to do before because of safety issues. But there are priorities! We just could not stand it anymore and moving was a necessity. Luckily, the security patrol moved with us and the other many boats to this part of the anchorage! Ellen and Jim of s/y Boldly Go joined us on La Buena Vida where Ellen treated us to delicious pizza on pita bread. It was a great evening and we left early morning for Marie Galante island!

While in Roseau, we were not very successful at gathering information regarding hikes in Dominica. Information is geered to the cruise ships passengers and guided tours! But........we met our friends Ellen and Jim on Boldly Go who had managed to find a good map...(expensive too!) and thanks to our sense of adventure and the good map, we found a path leading along the famous Indian River from Portsmouth. Wow, we were amazed by the beauty of this forest! Enchanted forest ...we finished our 4 hours tour with drinks at the Bush Bar!

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We are in Dominica since Sunday..unfortunately, the winds are from the south- southeast and the anchorage is very rolly...very rolly. We have set our Danforth to keep us facing the waves and it has made it more comfortable...We went to Roseau on Monday and we were very surprised by the charm of this town: so many old houses, all over town!

There are places that one never tires of seeing...we have been often in Saint-Pierre and almost as often to its Despaz Distillery. The setting of this Rum Distillery at the feet of Mount Pelee is breathtaking and we love sitting under the giant rubber tree to sip sugar cane juice....fresh from the mills. The collecting of sugar cane began last week, with Lent..and will last 5 months...there was intense activity at our last visit. 25,000 of rum are produced every day!

Nous revenons avec tellement de plaisir a Saint-Pierre, a cause de son marche du samedi, de son poulet boucane, de la gentillesse des Saint-Pierrois, et de la Distillerie Despaz! Cette Distillerie aux pieds de la Pelée est tout simplement enchanteresse et invite aux rêveries malgré l’intensité des travaux puisque la récolte de la canne a débuté le jour du commencement du Carême! Elle durera encore 5 mois...et chaque jour, 25,000 litres de rhum y seront produits! Comme dans nos visites précédentes, nous avons deguste du jus de canne frais avant d’aller goûter les ti-punchs offerts aux visiteurs!

The King is dead! Vaval is being burned on that day..Ash Wednesday!Le Roi est mort! Vive le Roi!

We moved from Fort De France to Saint-Pierre, north end of Martinique and joined the crowds here for the burning of Vaval!

Red and Black...just imagine streets crowded with EVERYBODY dressed in red and black! And paraders in red and black...it was just amazing! The best of parades!

Stendhal avait bien raison...le rouge et le noir, couleurs passion! Quelle parade...quand tous et toutes sont habilles de ces couleurs, l`effet est incroyable!

Hike to the Canal de Beauregard, also called Canal des esclaves. Last time we were in Martinique, I read about it in my guidebook and we were sorry not to have had time to do it. This in addition to a short article published in a Fort De France magazine really motivated us to do the hike. Jay, despite her fear of heigths, nevertheless joined us: indeed, all guidebooks or articles related to that canal hike warn people with fear of heights to abstain!

This canal was probably built at the end of the 18th century. Its construction was a major endeavour for the time and necessitated the labour of numerous slaves and good money capital! The water of this canal fed 5 water mills used in the sugar industry. Today, it is still useful as it brings water to cultivated fields and plantations. The canal consists of a stone wall of about 30 to 40 cm width and sinuates among the tropical forest...at times bordering precipices of 400 feet deep. It was an amazing experience to follow it to its end, in a peaceful and lush setting with only birds to disturb the silence. We were warned to be careful of snakes: Martinique is home to a venomous trigonocephalic snake ...whose bites cause the death of several people each year. But we did not see any...nor did we see the venomous spider referred to as Matoutou!

(We took the bus from Saint-Pierre to Fonds Mascret and were let out at the entrance of the canal at the maison rousse for 2 euros per person. On the way back, we walked on a small road through banana and sugar cane plantations to Anse Turin and then Saint-Pierre.)

Dans un article paru dans une revue de Fort de France le week-end auparavant, la randonnée longeant le Canal de Beauregard dit des Esclaves nous a donne envie d’en faire autant. Nous n’avions pas eu le temps d’y aller au printemps dernier...cette fois, nous étions déterminés et notre jeune amie Jay a décidé de se joindre a nous malgré sa peur des hauteurs. En effet, chaque fois que cette randonnée est mentionnée, il y a une mise en garde pour ceux qui souffrent de vertige!! Et avec raison...Ce canal de 4 km de long est fait de murets de 30 a 40 cm de largeur et longe des gouffres qui peuvent avoir 400 pieds de profondeur!

Ce canal fût construit vers 1777 par de riches propriétaires et par des centaines d’esclaves! C’était tout un projet de construire ce canal au milieu de la foret tropicale et a des hauteurs vertigineuses. Mais heureusement, il aura bien servi...des la fin des travaux, ses eaux alimentent pas moins de 5 moulins de l’industrie sucrière de la région. Même encore, il sert a irriguer des maraîchers et des cultures fruitières...C’est le seul canal de la Martinique qui est encore utilisable, les autres n’ayant pas été bien entretenus ou tout simplement détruits par les ouragans. Cette randonnée fut sûrement un de nos coup de coeur martiniquais, je dirais même antillais!

The next theme of the carnaval was the marriage burlesque...inverse roles and powers, men and women change places!!!! Our friend Jay, the 15 years old girl on Seawarrior,had a Masterplan for costumes! Her dad Scott and Heinz went along...as for Jay's mom and myself, we drew a moustache and kept our old cruising shorts on...not much of a costume! But the guys were a hit!!!! As we came back to the boat, Heinz and I let a bit of chain out and cruisers around us, Laurie and Dawn from Cat tales, took a picture of the two of us on deck!!! Still to come...
Le prochain theme des parades du carnaval etait le mariage burlesque..hommes et femmes devaient se travestir...et notre amie Jay du bateau Seawarrior avait envie de costumer les 2 captiaines! Son pere, scott et Heinz se sont promenes dans les rues de Fort de France et furent l'objet de plusieurs photos!!!