We arrived back in the Carribean on Thursday 7th January. We were pretty busy, arrived late Antigua, went to collect the kite-surfing gear and then an early (5.30am) flight out of Antigua to join Panos on Cookelu meu in Fort de France, Martinique. The Liat route took us via St Lucia and Barbados, but we arrived 180m south some 4 1/2 hours later. Who says air travel is slow??
A day of getting to know the boat and plan our route, and a day of provisioning, meant we left Fort de France for a short sail to St Pierre, Martinique on Sunday 10th. On Monday 11th, we headed further north sailing past Dominica - note to self - find some time to come back and do some serious walking in the rain forests.
Arrived late night into Terre de Haut, Iles des Saintes - part of Guadeloupe. A beautiful place.
From Isle Des Saintes -
13/01/2016 - Old Road Bay, Monserrat. A short distance from Plymouth, which was evacuated in 1995 and then destroyed by the volcano in 1997. The following morning gave us a good view of the remains of the town....power of nature.
14/01/2016 - Charlestown, Nevis. Beautiful bay near the Four Seasons resort. Took a buoy about 1 mile from town. Regretted that the following day, when the dinghy motor decided to give up. Knock out rum punch at Sunshines Bar on the beach. Vervet Monkeys being chased away by the bar staff.
15/01/2016 - Potato Bay, St Kitts. Not too far off shore. Local bars rocked until 4am. Should have joined them.
16/01/2016 - Sandy Point, St Kitts. Travelled to Basseterre for a quick visit - walk around town and importantly, buy ingredients for rum punch. Then on to Sandy Point. Great anchorage overlooked by Brimstone Hill Fortress.
17/01/2016 - 19/2016 Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. Buoyed just outside town. On way we caught a Mahi Mahi 4/5 kilos, so dinner sorted. Main provisioning point for Cuba Trip. Dinghy propellor is a little sick - Panos using a 'glue & bake it' repair method. Mid afternoon set off for Tortola B.V.I. At 2230 we were treated to a fireworks display by the Disney Fantasy cruise ship - pretty impressive in the middle of our passage to Tortola.
20/01/2016 Village Cay Marina, Road Town, Tortala. Dinghy propellor 'glue & bake it' method didn't work, so it's a marina for the first time in the trip. Road Town very friendly.
We'll do final provisioning in Tortola and then head across to Cuba, stopping in Dominican Republic along the way.
Cookelu meu does have AIS - not transmitting all the time - but you can drop in and see where we are from time to time.