Saturday 19 februari 2005.
 Tired but happy atlantic sailors. |
Hello again!
We have moved around a bit since the last letter, not so many miles but through several different countries. It's not more than a day sail to the next country!
We are glad we went to Barbados first. We were there for 2 weeks and had time to look around the island. The transport is mainly done by minibuses and there is no limit to how many passengers are let onboard. We were 21 persons once and everyone was happy to be on but maybe more for getting off. The toughest bit was to get a good night sleep at the anchorage in Carlisle Bay because the disco's on land starts in the afternoon and they keep on that music till late. On Fridays the volume is pumped up and they didn't stop till 4.00am so we left Friday morning to escape another sleepless night...It is better to have 3-hour shifts at sea and manage to sleep at least then!
 Our lagoon Le Marin, Martinique. |
The next island, Martinique, was 110 nautical miles away so we made an overnight passage and we got there just in time for breakfast. We anchored in a wonderful lagoon where the water stood so still it felt like living in a house again! Mangroves lined the water and we were accompanied by birdsongs, crickets and toads instead of the disco music, wonderful! The island is French, the currency is Euro and they are part of the EC! It was carnival times and we took part in some"pre-parades" in Fort-de-France. Very festive and you can tell the people are proud over their tradition.
 Carneval time in Fort-de France, Martinique. |
Our friend Alison on Shadowfax has a hike book covering the Caribbean and we were happy to join two outings. Martinique has a rainforest that is fantastic to explore by foot. We saw pretty flowers, trees and little insects. One day the hike took us downhill for 2½ hours only to go uphill for just as long! We thought we were in a worse condition than we were so we were able to keep up with the others. In fact some of the cruisers had a harder time but with a lot of stops everyone made it back.
 Krilla at a mahogany tree, Martinique. |
Another day the hike turned out to be a tough climb up a steep muddy path along a mountain ridge. It was a lot of arms and legs, technique more than a good shape was needed and the reward was a great view over Martinique and we could also see St Lucia in the distance. We had mud up to our elbows and after coming down we also had very muddy shorts... The next hike that day took us to a river where we could cool off in 17 degree C water and we could scrub off the mud. Freshwater mind you but it was cold... The muscle pains the next day were terrible so next time we go on a"straw-hat-tour" we'll check the difficulty level before we are half way up a mountain!
 The sailorteam during the clibing. |
 We are up only have to get down again. |
We liked Martinique very much but it was time to make a decision: should we go north or south? After a lot of thinking we decided to go north. Krilla sent an application for a carpentry job in Antigua and they wanted him, as soon as possible! So we got going and sailed to Dominica where we only stopped for the night flying a yellow flag. If you just "yellowflag" there is no need to clear in but you are not allowed to go ashore either.
The next morning we continued on to the Saints, a group of islands south, and part, of Guadeloupe. The windward passages can be rough with the waves from the Atlantic on the beam and a lot of wind as it accelerates between the islands. We had a very bumpy ride from Dominica. It was nice to go ashore on the Saints after 3 days on board. We thought we could clear in at the Saints but during Carnival everything is closed!
From the Saints we went on to the main island of Guadeloupe but we only stayed one night because our friends on Horai and Reflection were going to go through the canal that divides the island in two halves and it is good to have company for that trip. There are 2 bridges to go under and the first one opens at 5.00am and the second 20 minutes after. Add some very shallow parts and darkness and you see why it's good with friends around... Everything went well and we anchored after the second bridge to have breakfast and wait for the light to come. We got surprised by the number of bugs though, millions of them!! We couldn't sit out in the cockpit but went down and put the nets up as soon as we could. We tried to kill as many as possible inside but it took us 3 days to get rid of them and we had to use mosquito coils to smoke them out. How much we itched you don't want to know...
The sail from Guadeloupe to Antigua was like a dream. Ten knots from the beam, nice seas and the sun shone from a clear blue sky. It was Elvina wind and we sailed passed Horai (Cheoy Lee 41) and a French catamaran and it was great! We left the Cape Verdes at the same time as Horai and they took 16 days to Barbados where we used 20 so it felt extra good...
 Masquerade party in Antigua. |
Elvina is now anchored in English Harbour in Antigua and Krilla is working! Gunilla is currently a housewife but hopes to find something to do beside the boat chores... This is a historical place and very beautiful. There are plenty of big boats here, nowadays referred to as giga-yachts, mega-yachts are smaller...Antigua can also take pride in having 365 different beaches, one for each day of the year! We don't know how long we'll be here but at least a few months. Then we have to make a new decision of where to head for the hurricane season which is considered to be from 1 June to 1 December.
Have fun! All the best from Gunilla och Krilla
