DOWN the CHAIN

St. Martin, a 2 nation Island, was a great shopping pit stop. The French and Dutch seem to live quite happily together in a pragmatic way, a tax free heaven without a frontier where the Euro, NAF (Dutch Antilles Florin) and US$ reign. We stocked up with French and Dutch fayre, french wines (3 times cheaper than Puerto Rico) and treated Scorch to many new things including a new Dinghy. By the time Caroline arrived 5 days later the water line was well down.

Meanwhile we entertained ourselves at the Carnival.
Unfortunately the weather, which has been very peculiar this year, was playing up and we had to wait another 5 days for the wind to subside before moving on.
St. Barts is a pretty and sophisticated French Island with its sharply contoured rocky hills, gorgeous beaches. It has become a world famous chic destination. Gustavia, its Capital, is a smart Port, usually full of super yachts but a little thin on the ground this year.

We swan with a baby turtle

                                                  Nice motor yacht!

Next was St. Kitts, a green and pleasant Island with its dramatically steep central mountain rising to 3.750 feet high, much of it covered in rainforest. The Custom Officer was a young lad, full of fun. A real entertainer, a change from the dour type we often have to deal with.
The weather window allowed us to go straight across to Antigua. An unusual event, normally ones has to go to Guadeloupe and back up.

We had a wonderful time in the Northern part of the Island. We anchored on Long Island, a private resort, where for the measly sum of US$ 4.500 per night, you can rent a 2 bedrooms villa. We were refused access to the restaurant, whatever our footwear, but allowed to use the beach!
A Tropic Bird

Baby Pelicans




We saw Stingrays jumping out of the water. We gather it is a courtship ritual. We saw baby Pelicans in Rabbit Island. Great bird Island is the home of the Antigua Racer, the most endangered snake in the world (it can reached up to 2 m).We did not see one, but others did minutes before we arrived.

Caroline’s 3 weeks came to an end. We moored in Jolly Harbour, where one’s of Chris’ College friend lives 6 months of the year. They had a wonderful time down memory lane. She provided us with an excellent Pontoon.

Humming Bird YC














Eve introduced us to Antiguan Society.
Antigua Classic week was fun. Chris was a volunteer giving us an opportunity to be at the centre of things.

Pretty local boat




















Whilst Eve was away for 4 days, we house sat and looked after her two mischievous lovable cats.

                                                        Mitsy plucked a tune!

It gave us a chance to do many jobs whilst on Terra Firma. Eve’s car gave us the opportunity to visit the whole Island. Nelson’s Dock yard has been beautifully restored. It is an outstanding historic monument. We enjoyed the many beaches. We had a great time and it was hard to leave.


Our next stop was Barbuda, a little heaven on earth. It has miles of brilliant Turquoise shoal water with miles of creamy-pink beaches.

Amazing deserted beaches










We spent our 10 days snorkelling, lazing about, hiking and cycling. We visited the Frigatebirds colony.

They migrate yearly from the Galapagos to breed in Barbuda. They have the greatest wing area in proportion of their weight of any bird. Beside its birds, the island has many wild donkeys.

Guadeloupe, our next stop, is an Island, shaped like a butterfly. We visited Deshaies but did not have time to walk around their Botanical gardens, created by Napoleon. We will hopefully do that next year.
South of Guadeloupe lay Iles des Saintes, a delightful group of Islands, where we walked Basse Terre.

We hope to spend a more leisurely time next time around.

Dominica, the poorest of all the islands, is an unspoiled country of spectacular natural beauty. Where tourism is low-key due to the lack of an International Airport and survives mostly on agriculture. Greenery erupts everywhere. There are such unusual natural phenomena as a boiling lake and hot waterfalls. The people are friendly and enjoy meeting outsiders. The island attracts frequent rain the like of which we had not seen since the Amazon. 24hrs of blinding downpour, which turned the sea muddy brown and floating debris of all sort.

Unbelievable rain...











Martin Carriere turned out a first class guide.

                                                                He was good and happy!

We went on the Indian River trip

                                                           An Impressionist’s delight!

We toured of the North part of the Island, visiting the waterfalls and tropical forest.

                                                                 A cold volcanic sulphur vent

We plan a much longer stay next year and will try to walk a hiking trail from South to North.

From there on we revisited Islands we have been to in previoous years, mooring in our favourite spots, spending time seeing old friends.

Time was running out as we have a flight booked from Grenada on the 30th.May
We are currently in Mount Hartman Bay, Grenada on the mooring where Scorch is going to spend the next 5 months whilst we return to Europe.

We are experiencing the hottest and most settled weather since last October but of course we are 650 miles more South and much nearer the Equator.