On leaving St Lucia we managed to sail up the coast of Martinique before we lost the wind. We had to press on because we needed to be in Antigua to meet our guest arriving on 19th April. After a night of motoring we dropped anchor in the Saintes, islands just south of Guadaloupe. We only had a short time in Terre d’En Haut but loved it. The water was fantastically clear in our anchorage at Pain de Sucre and we had a hot but interesting walk into Bourg des Saintes, the pretty “town”. We left wanting to return and spend some more time exploring these islands.
Since the winds were still either non-existent or against us, we decided to head up to Pointe A Pitre in Guadaloupe and traverse the island via the Riviere Salee, a saltwater mangrove channel through the centre of the island. We had to anchor near the first bridge ready for its only daily opening at 5am. The dark and early start was not improved by heavy rain showers which severely limited our visibility and made the short transit somewhat unpleasant. Dawn broke as we left the last bridge and made our way towards the north of Guadaloupe where it was impossible to eyeball navigate through the reefs to our chosen anchorage at Ilet a Fajou. We had instead to rely on our chart software, never a comfortable feeling but as we monitored it for accuracy through the buoyed channel we decided it was worth the risk.
The anchorage was stunning despite the grey skies and continuing rain. We stayed overnight waiting for some more favourable winds and were ready to sail up to Antigua the next morning. It was a fast passage and we arrived in time to anchor and head in to the Yacht Club party for Classic Week. It was a night to catch up with many friends all there to participate or watch the racing.
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