I had recently contacted an old sailing friend and work colleague of mine, Sandra, whom I had heard had a boat down in Antigua for a few years now and spent much of the last couple of winters sailing the islands. I was invited to join her and her partner Roman for two weeks in November. Yes! From the airport we drove to the boat yard where her 40' Bénéteau "Caramba" had just been put back into the water for the season. They had arrived a week earlier to work on her (always work to be done on a boat) and to put another coat of paint on her hull.
We set sail the next day for the southern coast of Antigua to the picturesque bay of Falmouth Harbour. A gorgeous day, nice wind without rolling swells, perfect for a "shake down" as they say in sailing circles, to get the sails out and get the boat working after a long stay out of the water.
I had a cabin to myself in the aft quarter of the boat but I preferred sleeping outside in the cockpit area as the wind was warm and the stars were bright. I quickly became buddies with Tiga, their dog that they picked up as a stray skinny puppy on the neighbouring island of Barbuda the year before.
Falmouth Harbour, along side English Harbour are the most popular anchorage spots on the island. It is home to the Antigua Yacht Club which hosts the annual boat show that was only a week away. There were already several mega-yachts arriving into the harbour, a popular destination for the 1 percenters to show off their 'toys'. As Roman said however, we were sharing the same waters they were.
We then met up with Paul, a friend of Sandra's who had a sailboat in Vancouver and with whom she raced with. His hometown friend Chris was also there and together, they got on Caramba and we set sail for Guadeloupe, where we would spend a week.
The next morning we pulled up the anchor and had another amazing day of about 8 hours sailing to the north western tip of the much bigger French island.
The town of Deshaies is a small hamlet at the end of a small bay with lush tropical mountains rising up above. The routine of dropping and setting the anchor, getting the dinghy off the davits and then piling into it to motor to shore reminded me of the daily routine I had whilst sailing in the South Pacific (a difficult life indeed!).
Being on a French island meant excellent croissants and baguettes for breakfast. Chris, who lived in Europe for several years, is quite the foodie and he picked up some really nice cheese and meats that you could only dream of getting on Antigua. We stocked up on a some beer and wine as well. It's a quaint town with a mix of locals and France proper émigrés. Walking around, I heard that sweet sounding tunes that is 'zouk' the French Antilles créole music.
When at anchor, you inevitably see quite a few other sailboats, sometimes meeting their owners and swapping a few stories. It's always interesting seeing the really nice boats. I noticed that the standard size of sailboats in the Caribbean was about 40 feet. Also, I would say that it was about 60% catamarans, the majority of those most likely chartered boats.
The sailing guide for the Caribbean mentions that Deshaies is a windy harbour. It was certainly windy our second and last night, enough that it dragged our anchor and we were all up in the wee hours hoisting and re-setting it so as not to come too close to neighbouring boats.
It was another excellent full day of sailing to a group of small islands off the south-eastern tip of the main one called Les Saintes. Sandra and Roman said that this was one of their favourite spots in the Caribbean and we could easily see why. Nice protected bays, beaches, coral reefs The harbour and houses that dotted the hillside look like a tropical version of the Mediterranean.
On our second day we rented scooters and drove around Haute Terre, the main island in the group. The old fort high on the hill is an excellent museum detailing several naval battles between the French and the British as well as local examples of traditional fishing boats and daily life of the islands' natives. We stopped at several different beaches and had what was probably the best gelato I have had outside of Florence.
After three gorgeous days at Les Saintes, we sailed back north to Deshaies. Another evening at anchor there before checking out from customs the next morning and sailing back to Antigua. It was an overcast day, nice winds for the first half then the rain came down in violent sheets. We had to motor the rest of the time and made it back just after night fall. We were unlucky at fishing every time we sailed but then Paul finally caught a perfect sized 5 lb tuna on Sandra's old school hand held coil of line. Once at anchor, we had tuna tataki for appies and I then cooked the rest in a coconut curry. We definitely ate well on the boat and whenever in town. The guys left the next day to fly home and we sailed to yet another stellar bay on the western side of the island called Jolly Harbour where I stayed two more days before flying home. It was my first time on smaller Caribbean islands and there could not have been a better way to explore them then on the water and on a sailboat.
I had a cabin to myself in the aft quarter of the boat but I preferred sleeping outside in the cockpit area as the wind was warm and the stars were bright. I quickly became buddies with Tiga, their dog that they picked up as a stray skinny puppy on the neighbouring island of Barbuda the year before.Falmouth Harbour, along side English Harbour are the most popular anchorage spots on the island. It is home to the Antigua Yacht Club which hosts the annual boat show that was only a week away. There were already several mega-yachts arriving into the harbour, a popular destination for the 1 percenters to show off their 'toys'. As Roman said however, we were sharing the same waters they were.
We then met up with Paul, a friend of Sandra's who had a sailboat in Vancouver and with whom she raced with. His hometown friend Chris was also there and together, they got on Caramba and we set sail for Guadeloupe, where we would spend a week.
The next morning we pulled up the anchor and had another amazing day of about 8 hours sailing to the north western tip of the much bigger French island.
The town of Deshaies is a small hamlet at the end of a small bay with lush tropical mountains rising up above. The routine of dropping and setting the anchor, getting the dinghy off the davits and then piling into it to motor to shore reminded me of the daily routine I had whilst sailing in the South Pacific (a difficult life indeed!).
Being on a French island meant excellent croissants and baguettes for breakfast. Chris, who lived in Europe for several years, is quite the foodie and he picked up some really nice cheese and meats that you could only dream of getting on Antigua. We stocked up on a some beer and wine as well. It's a quaint town with a mix of locals and France proper émigrés. Walking around, I heard that sweet sounding tunes that is 'zouk' the French Antilles créole music.
When at anchor, you inevitably see quite a few other sailboats, sometimes meeting their owners and swapping a few stories. It's always interesting seeing the really nice boats. I noticed that the standard size of sailboats in the Caribbean was about 40 feet. Also, I would say that it was about 60% catamarans, the majority of those most likely chartered boats.
The sailing guide for the Caribbean mentions that Deshaies is a windy harbour. It was certainly windy our second and last night, enough that it dragged our anchor and we were all up in the wee hours hoisting and re-setting it so as not to come too close to neighbouring boats.
It was another excellent full day of sailing to a group of small islands off the south-eastern tip of the main one called Les Saintes. Sandra and Roman said that this was one of their favourite spots in the Caribbean and we could easily see why. Nice protected bays, beaches, coral reefs The harbour and houses that dotted the hillside look like a tropical version of the Mediterranean.
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| "Son of a son of a sailor" |
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| Roman's 'Dark & Stormy' packed a sweet strong punch |
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| charcuterie and drinks on deck |
On our second day we rented scooters and drove around Haute Terre, the main island in the group. The old fort high on the hill is an excellent museum detailing several naval battles between the French and the British as well as local examples of traditional fishing boats and daily life of the islands' natives. We stopped at several different beaches and had what was probably the best gelato I have had outside of Florence.
After three gorgeous days at Les Saintes, we sailed back north to Deshaies. Another evening at anchor there before checking out from customs the next morning and sailing back to Antigua. It was an overcast day, nice winds for the first half then the rain came down in violent sheets. We had to motor the rest of the time and made it back just after night fall. We were unlucky at fishing every time we sailed but then Paul finally caught a perfect sized 5 lb tuna on Sandra's old school hand held coil of line. Once at anchor, we had tuna tataki for appies and I then cooked the rest in a coconut curry. We definitely ate well on the boat and whenever in town. The guys left the next day to fly home and we sailed to yet another stellar bay on the western side of the island called Jolly Harbour where I stayed two more days before flying home. It was my first time on smaller Caribbean islands and there could not have been a better way to explore them then on the water and on a sailboat.
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