June 22nd. We set sail around 6:50 AM for Guadeloupe. Wow what a beautiful day sailing, we were flying and the waves were comfortable. We were cruising from 7.0 to 8.4 knots at times, riding a couple of waves. I had a fishing line out but no bites at all. We were bound for Deshaies but since we got there early decided to add another 9 miles to Pigeon Island where Jacques Cousteau has an underwater park. There is a lot of sea life. We will visit again on our back next winter, in the meantime we have to head south. The anchorage was very rolly for Picaro and Cap't George decided to move, since the anchorage is bad. It's not worth having a bad night's sleep. So we went to Anse de la Barque (boat anchorage) about 5 miles further south. It was much better. I went kayaking and snorkeled a little. The sun was going down so the light was not so great. I saw Iguanas, a beautiful, multi colored crab on the side of a rock, too bad my picture doesn't show it well. Very nice cool evening. The cooler winds from up high in the mountains came down into our little bay during the night to make it very cool and comfortable.


June 23rd. We were up early and decided to get to Les Saintes. A group of small islands south of Guadeloupe. These islands were never used for sugar plantations, so there's a history of fishing and simple farming. There's lots of goats here. The best part are the patisseries that make fresh bread all day long. Walking the quaint seaside streets you can't help but smell the bread baking. The winds along the Guadeloupe west coast are gusty, shifty, blustery and dead!!! So that makes it hard to sail smoothly. The coast was beautiful, green, quaint little cities, beautiful cemetery facing the ocean, high mountains, just very stunning but for sailors not many good anchorages. At the end there was a beautiful lighthouse, I must have taken 20 pictures to get probably 3 good ones, with the ocean bouncing me around. When we got to crossings that 6 miles to Les Saintes, wow... what a Cape effect. It was blowing like stink, George had to helm to avoid the boat falling of the big waves. Some of those waves were pretty big. We had to tack to go between Terre d'En Bas, Le Pate et Ilet a Cabrit and also you have to watch for the crabpots with plastic jugs. I just love the name of some islands like: Pain de Sucre (sugar bread), Grand Cul de Sac Marin (Marine Dead end). Let me tell you, it sounds so much more romantic in French..lol!!! We went to town at Bourg des Saintes, a very charming place. Off season, a lot of businesses and restaurants are closed. We checked with customs and immigration at Cyber Café, all electronic do it yourself. Amazing how the French don't concern themselves very much with travelers. Talk about open borders. We met new friends, Monica and Jonathan on Journey and Cathy and Bill on Dream Maker. We met up with Journey for the Soccer Cup match, Go Brazil (Monica is Brazilian). Cavu, our buddy boat, caught up to us late in the day as they had stayed at Cousteau park overnight. The afternoon was really hot, but the evening was nice and cool. We can only expect to get much hotter and steamy since we are getting lower in the latitudes. Right now we're at 15"52'30. Thinking of all of you...


June 24th. Joyeuse St-Jean Baptiste to my fellow Quebecois. Enjoy the short work week, I just hope the weather will cooperate for the festivities. We caught up with the blog, and organized Picaro. Mr Arthur, an old salty dog from Moncton, with that wonderful Acadian accent stopped by to introduced himself. He's been on the water for many years and living in the Grenadines forever. He told us wonderful stories of the leeward islands and very interesting information. Ms Rachel, his wife, is working on finishing her doctorate from their trawler motor boat. We went to town got some Euros then a little bit of groceries, nothing special just some good fresh bread and cheese....and well you get the idea. Oh yeah I forgot to mention the French wine is very inexpensive so we're stocking up. It's a very quaint town. The church rang its bells every hour and ½ hour too, we walked by at noon and it was singing to us. It reminded George of when we were in Greece last summer on Lesvos in Yiaosos that it was noon too. You can imagine us walking back with our baguette, and acting like a little mouse by eating the tip of the baguette. Yummi. I went kayaking and snorkeling near the boat, a lot of little fish, nice Elkhorn and brain corals. We had a cocktail party with Dream Maker (Bill and Cathy) and Cavu ( Mark and Noelle). Very nice evening!!!


June 25th. Early start, we walked across the island to the Pompierre Beach. It was nice to see all the goats and sheep, you can tell by their tails because the sheep have very short hair due to the heat so they look like goats from a distance. The sheep have their tail down and the goats their tail up. They were everywhere even on the beach. They are the best lawnmowers you can find for cheap too. The little babies are so cute and all different colors. It was a beautiful walk up the mountain and then down. We came back and went to Grande Anse Beach near the small airstrip. The cliffs and the waves were big. Too bad you're not allowed to swim there; the rip current was really strong. We stopped for a drink at the Resto "Les Pieds dans l'eau", then stopped by the old church too. We have to check out soon because when you get to Dominica or other English islands they asked for your clearance out papers from your last port. Not as easy going as the French. I cleaned the scum off the waterline, it cooled me off. The boat is sitting low in the water due to all the stuff we have on board so the waterline sits just above the saltwater. Next haul out, George will raise the waterline (put antifoul paint higher up the hull by a couple of inches) so that we won't get the algae growing on the white gel coat. Then got ready to go to dinner with Jonathan and Monica from Journey, and Sherryl and Ian from Alabama. It was nice at le resto " Le Genois". George lost the kill switch key for the dinghy; looks like it fell out of his pocket somewhere. We had to rig something to get back. RRRRR!!!! Great company, new friends that we will cross paths with again in the near future...since we're all ending up in Grenada.