GHOST

Come 9am we met up with the Boundless crew and Gordon our guide from Sea Cat (an enterprising local that can organise anything and everything). He drove us around the south of the island stopping to look at various things (including a huge boa constrictor on the side of the road that had lost a fight with a car) and taste various fruits growing on the way. We had opted for the tour of the less travelled route to Victoria Falls, the largest on the island. We were told it was a 45min one way walk but they forgot to mention the 11 waist deep river crossings until we got there! So off we set through the lush rainforest crossing backwards and forwards through a river until we reached the falls. It certainly was spectacular but was falling pretty heavily after recent rain so getting close was like being punched by a rainstorm, luckily not too much of a problem as we were already soaked from walking through the river! So after a swim and a couple of jumps off high ledges we made it back to the car park where Moses had cooked us lunch in his kitchen (actually the car park is on his farm) - a local rasta, he cooked us Ital (vegetarian food) with all of the vegetables grown in his garden and eaten with hollowed out coconut implements, accompanied by starfruit juice. All completely delicious but as we were eating we were surprised at the size of his "rasta sacrament"! A very articulate bloke we quizzed him on what it meant to be Rasta. Essentially you eat vegan, never cut your hair, believe in what you know (no mention of a higher being) and relax, generally with the assistance of a 4 inch long 1 inch wide joint, oh and a bit of Bob Marley in the back ground helps too. We then headed off round the island for a quick local beer, a tour of the government building and a drive through the capital town, Roseau. All in all a great day and an instant cure for marina/harbour-itis which is rife in the cruising community around these parts!

The following morning we continued the voyage north stopping off in Les Saintes - the small and idyllic islands just south of Guadaloupe which are renown for being beautiful. Apparently the site where in 1782 the British admiral Rodney (pronounced RRRRODney in these parts!![bit of an ARC joke]) defeated the French Squadron marking the beginning of the British's navel dominance. We were particularly excited to have caught OUR FIRST TUNA!!!! It was a bluefin tuna (called Tim apparently as Kat like to name every fish before I kill it!) small enough to fit in the washing up bowel (around 30cm) but nice and fat and it made sushi to feed both Boundless and us (ie. 7 people!). Culturally Les Saintes is very different from the rest of the Caribbean as the soil was poor which meant no farming so in turn no slaves were imported to work here. The result is a manicured and pretty village atmosphere, and clean both in and out of the water. Appreciating the change we stayed 2 nights swimming and chilling out before heading north to cross the short distance to Guadaloupe.

During our sail across the winds were really picking up in the channel between the islands and we had a cracking pace at 9-10 knots even catching Boundless up a bit! We headed to the north of the island to Deshaies, a well protected anchorage next to a small village renown for the number of restaurants and on the way we caught our 2nd tuna (apparently he had smile that lent him to the name - Tom) so I killed him! We had hoped to hire a car and look around the island as the sail up the coast was stunning and really set the imagination running. Alas, the facilities in Deshaies weren't forthcoming but we stayed a 2nd night so that we could hire a dive tank and use Jay's dive kit to give the hull a thorough clean and replace one of the sacrificial anodes. Then spent the afternoon gradually crossing various jobs off the list. That night we met a boat called Tosca there who Meander had introduced us to back on Martinique and they asked us for drinks so we headed over to find the crew from Toboggan (a Canadian boat we had met on Menorca) on board as well. A merry evening ensued and we all enjoyed eating Tom marinated in local Creole spices and plenty of booze till 1am.

After a sluggish start we then set off to Antigua and were again lucky with the fishing line. This time it was a renovated lure that I added some strips of silver tetra pack wine bag to and for the first time we caught a fish we were not sure about - we can only identify it as some type of jack, a predatory fish that is supposed to be very tasty but too risky in terms of Ciguatera poisoning which is increasingly prevalent north of Dominica, so with regret we put it back. Of course with Kat's accounting background she was interested in seeing how much our catches were saving us - around here you can buy fresh mahi mahi at EUR 8 per kilo and tuna at EUR 10 per kilo. So our fishing efforts are definitely worthwhile, might even be in the black now as compared to the cost of all the fishing equipment!

Boundless were waiting for us in Falmouth harbour so we anchored up beside them and decided to have a farewell dinner on shore to say goodbye to Sue's daughters Meg and Kate and Meg's boyfriend Tom. After drinking a couple of sunset beers in Shirley Heights - the hill overlooking both English and Falmouth harbours (the best view in the Caribbean to date) we had a great feed at Cloggy's in Falmouth harbour.

We are due back in Antigua in early February when Kat's folks are coming out for a visit so the next morning we headed into town to organise various bits of work for the boat (a sail check over, some Raymarine warranty work and we have already organised Hanse to replace the rest of the portlights - one in particular is very loose) as we prepare the boat for the Pacific crossing. Antigua is certainly a different place than the rest of the Caribbean and we are enjoying the civilisation with a welcome dash of British! We are just trying to decide when to head north to St Martin for cheap yacht parts followed by a dive on Sab (reputedly one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean).... but today it is forecast to rain heavily so we may camp out inside the boat and watch movies. Yesterday we were hungover after yet another boozy night with Boundless and Sojourn is due to arrive here today so leaving may be postponed till tomorrow, or the day after!!!!

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