Finally, after three days of procrastination, we set off for Guadeloupe today. The weather reports said 20 knots of wind and 1 metre swells, so of course it was gusting 35 and peeing with rain. Our new addition to our wish list is a rocna anchor after realising that we pretty much drag wherever we are - we clearly don't have a big enough anchor. So that is our highest priority. Down to number 2 on the list is the water filter which would mean an end to horrible plastic water bottles. I can't call myself green, using solar showers and wind power one minute and buying 20 5 litre water bottles the next. Then, moving down the list to number three is the holding tank, as we are starting to do a very good job of coordinating bowel movements with shore trips (no mean feat with 4 of us!) wonder why we bother with bowel retention however, when the water taxi man suggested the kids didn't paddle in English Harbour yesterday as they had just pumped the town's sewage out into the bay and it had just stopped bubbling black. Mmm. Nice.
So, back to our trip out of Antigua. Peeing down with rain as we take all the mooring lines off the mangroves, Mark takes in the 2nd anchor before we take up the 1st anchor (see, I said our anchor doesn't hold - belts and braces approach!) I said to Mark that we needed to leave at 10.30am at the latest if we are to make Guadeloupe in daylight. We finally leave at 11.30am. Luckily, with the strong winds, we make it JUST as the sun sets and the fog that has covered Guadeloupe for the whole trip lifts. Mia very excited to see a Jersey registered boat that actually looks like it might be from Jersey (i.e. not 100 foot super yacht tax dodge) so we row over to meet Steve and Julie Ferreira on Dos Tintos who ARE from Jersey - yippee - invited for coffee tomorrow morning.
The trip itself was wet, swelly. Mia felt sick and Lochy read Harry Potter for 4 hours before feeling sick himself. So, glad that one is over. Lochy excited to add Brown Boobies onto his tick list from his Caribbean Bird Book. We have decided to stay at least tomorrow to explore and make the boat more ship shape, before leaving for Martinique.
Cath x