We were so excited to be reunited with our first sailing buddy boat!! On our first day there we had a lovely snorkel at the park. There were lots of schools of tropical fish and beautiful coral
The sun setting on Pigeon Island Guadaloupe
Pigeon Bay had some decent shops for provisions and a pretty nice beach.
Sailing the coast of Guadaloupe with our friends on Remora
After a few days we sailed up the east coast to Deshaies (pronounced days ays). One of my favorite BBC shows, Death In Paradise, is filmed in Deshaies and of course seeing some of the locations was fun. After clearing out at customs, always a breeze in the French islands, we had an amazing sail to Antigua.
All the sails up – headed to Antigua
Full main and foresail up, the wind and waves were just right and at one point we saw the water spouts of three whales. Unfortunately we were not close enough to see the whales themselves but exciting none the less.
When we got close to Antigua with plenty of time to moor and clear customs and immigration, we turned into the wind to take down the mainsail. It gave us a very hard time. Randy put it back up and then down again at least three times and was very tired and frustrated before it finally went reluctantly into the in-boom furler. That’s it! Time for newer lighter sails! Once we caught up to Remora it was too late to clear customs so we hoisted the yellow flag and anchored in Five Island Bay.
Five Island Bay Antigua
Five Island Bay is a beautiful bay with a nice upscale resort nearby (that means good wifi). The bay had lots of room for us and most of the boats were flying Canadian Flags! The next day the first mates got a dingy ride into the beach and hoofed it to the Customs and Immigration offices to get the officialdom over with. Then back to the boat to raise the Antigua and Barbuda flag, go for a refreshing swim and cocktails later in the day. Yeah, life is good.
After a few days of relaxing in the anchorage it was time to move to the marina, get fuel and a slip to leave Moorahme while we travel home for Christmas. Fuel is expensive here!
The view of the abandoned casino at Jolly Harbour Marina
The slips are med mooring, which means tight and stern in. Were not great at backing up but Captain Randy the marina staff made it look like child’s play. We are docked beside another Stevens 47!
Next up the challenge to pack to go home for Christmas. We wanted to have only carry-on luggage. Good Luck with that!
Trying to get it all in two carry-ones and two personal items
Nailed it!
Moorahme 