To Antigua and back

On Monday we sailed north to Deshaies. We caught two barracudas, and all the boys, big and small, were very happy.

The big one was luckily not over 1m in length, so there was no danger of ciguatera poisoning and we could keep it.

After second barracuda there was a ban on fishing - we had enough fish for two days, so captain invented new plan to keep the kids happy.

We reached Deshaies just in time to get some fresh baguettes, and to get cleared out, before the sun plunged into the sea. Heron was one of only three boats in the bay.

Next day we sailed to Antigua to Jolly Harbour, where we stayed at the buoy for the first night. The swell outside was the biggest we've ever seen, with waves breaking on the shallow at the entrance, and making the anchorage unsuitable for the night.

Next day we sailed to Carlisle bay, after some shopping of course. 

From Carlisle bay we sailed to Falmouth Harbour. We stayed there for a day and had a great meal in Trappas. 

Next day we sailed to Nonsuch bay. By then the boys were already accomplished sailors, helping out with anchoring, sailing dinghy etc.

This is how empty Falmouth Harbour looked on our departure.

We picked up a buoy next to the Green island and had really good time in Nonsuch bay.

From Nonsuch bay we sailed around Antigua to St John and to Deep bay. We had some bad luck, the swell has brought a lot of moon jellyfish into the bay and swimming was very unpleasant.

On Tuesday we headed back to Guadeloupe. We had a nice sailing, good wind and not much waves. And also no fish.

Next day the guys did the hike up the river (not me, of course). They brought back a huge bunch of bananas, that they "found" in the jungle. Bananas are still green, hopefully they will get ripe.

Instead I did some snorkeling. 

On Thursday it was time to bring our friends to the airport. We were all sad to say goodbye.

Next  two days we were lazying in Deshaies, cleaning, doing small things around the boat, watching turtles and snorkeling. On Sunday the wind was suitable for sailing to Antigua. Sailing was pretty wild, with plenty of dark clouds and showers around us, and some quite strong gusts of wind. So we had plenty of work with the sails. At the evening both of us were pretty tired.

So here we are again, in Jolly Harbour. Taking advantage of free Internet. We plan to sail to Barbuda in a couple of days, and stay there for a while.