Marie Galante (Guadeloupe)

We have tried to sail to the island Marie Galante of Guadeloupe in other seasons, but the winds have not been favorable. Now the winds were perfect and after we had cleared out of Portsmouth, Kish joined us on the six-hour smooth sail to Marie Galante. There were quite a few boats in the anchorage, so it was easy to find a spot to pull down the anchor and take the dinghy ashore. It was four in the evening, but the souvenir shop, where we could clear in was closed until the next day.

We managed to rent a car for the next day and drove around the little island, flat as a pancake with giant sugar cane fields. The cane is used to produce one of the world’s best rums, which we also got to taste. We can recommend both distilleries; Bielle and Bellevue. A friend recommended the restaurant Dantana on the east coast and we were pampered with delicious seafood and a beautiful beach. We might have been to Marie Galante out of season because the island was very quiet even though it was a weekend.

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Guadeloupe

On Sunday morning we sailed for three hours with a beam reach to Point a Pitre in Guadeloupe. We said farewell to Kish, who took the ferry back to Dominica and planned the upcoming festive season when family was about to join. Marina bas du fort had a nice space for us, it was the first time Yaghan was docked in a harbor since Mindelo in Cape Verde. We were welcomed by the Swedish sailing vessel Celeste from Långedrag in Gothenburg with Captain Svante and friends.

Early Monday morning we rented a car and made all wishes come true in carrefour. We had a lot to stock up for a crew of ten. Now it was also time to check the rigg, especially our whisker pole, that got some scratches on the Atlantic crossing.

Chute du Carbet

Nillas brother Johan came bye on a short stopover from New York to Finland. Together we went to see Chutes du Carbet, the place where Nilla had a severe accident two years ago, flushed down two waterfall, lost in the rainforest and saved 20 hours later, thanks God, alive! (for more information see: https://wavelength.nu/the-miracle-at-chutes-du-carbet-guadeloupe/ 

It was an emotional moment to be there together. The personnel of the national parc  were very happy to meet us.

Good friends on Guadeloupe

Family Joining

On Wednesday the 20^th of December Anders and  Nilla motorsailed to the west side of Guadeloupe and anchored in Plage de Malendure. In the evening all children with spouses and beloved grandchildren. We stayed and snorkeled in the nature reserve of Costeau to nights before we moved on to Deshaies to check out of Guadeloupe and sail to Antigua.

Antigua

On the crossing we were so lucky to spot a pilot whale, coming eally close to the boat. It passed us on the bow and turned to look at us on the side. All on board, young and old were so amazed and happy fo this encounter.

We had booked a berth at Nelsons dockyard in English harbour, wich is a the historical UNESCO world heritage, and kept it as a base for Christmas celebrations, nice snorkelling and beautiful hikes.

With the help of readymade dough from Ikea on the Canaries, we baked some Christmas ginger breads in the Antigua heat. The smell was delicious and gave a special Christmas feeling.

We also recorded a sailing song on Antigua, soon to be released.

And of course there were some work to do on deck and great with helpful hands.

Barbuda

Harbour masters  Que and Sherwin kept a place for us when we sailed to Barbuda. With long white sand beaches, Barbuda is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. It is also the nesting habitat for the frigate birds.

The New Year of 2024 began with spectacular fireworks and a big party in English Harbor. Being together on a boat gives a lot of bonding time as a family. We are really thankful that we got the time together. After some days we sailed back to Guadeloupe to say farewell.

Early  December it was time for us to sail west and return to the Caribbean Islands that we had visited in 2021 on our first Atlantic crossing with our previous boat, Ydalir II (www.wavelength.nu).  We had a good sail to Carriacou and anchored in the welcoming harbour of Tyrell Bay.

It was great to find some marine equipment at the well equipped marine store. One reason to return to Carriacou was to meet up with John at Xpert Studio to record some new songs. Stay tuned!

We moved our anchorage to the beautiful Sandy Island and  Paradise Beach Club we are enjoying delicious food and also painting our new name tag for Yaghan.

There was also time to renew our dive training and dive around the Sisters Rocks west of  Carriacou.

Finally Birk had to fly back to Europe and we gave him a dinghy ride to the small airport on Carriacou.

We continue tto sail to Union Island where we clear in and continue to Salt Whistle Bay and Bequia where we meet Scandinavian sailors.

We are happy to be back , but also curious to continue  north. So we sail with around 8-10 knots for two days to Dominica and the Bay of Portsmouth.

Finally we can meet up with our dear friend Kish again!

She takes us on a tour to the Organic Farm, a non profit project where all the delicious tropical fruits are grown fully organic.

Rubbertree

Finally Nilla has a chance to perform her song `Mountain Island` about the nature island Dominica live on stage  at Pays.

https://youtu.be/pchukdI5XbY?si=fLQ9Y8UsRKUElUJb

Barbados

Bridgetown

On November the 23rd at 8AM we drop our anchor in Carlisle Bay.  We are advised to go with our dinghy to the big commercial port to clear in to customs and immigration.  We call the port officer on VHF and ask for permission to drive in to the great port and, once there we try to find a way up on the quay.  Between giant cruise ships we sneak to find a ladder and we really feel like Liliputians.  Finally  a ladder is found  where we climb up and lock our dinghy.

Clearing in to Barbados was a longer procedure than expected. We were greeted by a very nice health control officer and he, like most of the people we meet on Barbados, is very surprised that we have crossed the Atlantic in our own sailing boat. Barbados is  a Cruise ship friendly port, with the slogan to be the best cruise ship port in the world. Sailors on the other hand, are almost invisible and the clearance take about two hours, mainly because the personnel is not used to clearing in smaller boats. 

Nevertheless we want to give Barbados a fair chance and take the dinghy up the  Careenage channel  to the centre of Bridgetown.  We find a good spot to tie it up and quickly we are in the busy centre of Bridgetown. The mixture of historical buildings, modern glass department stores  and long forgotten shacks is overwhelming .  You quickly feel the British history infused by modern times vivid Caribbean vibe. 

On Sunday we are searching for a church, ending up taking a taxi drive to see Rihannas dive and the tiny church where she sung when her voice got discovered. She grew up in the township of St. Michael, close to the cemetery, where, according to our taxi driver ” a lot of people are dying to get to”.We see several nice beaches, super exclusive hotels on St. James coast. The service in the church has already started, so we just sneak in shortly.It’s a peaceful place. We learn that the best way to find the way back is to look at the bus stop signs. If it says ”to the city” you are on the right way, if it says ”out of town”, you have to turn.

The currency in Barbados is Barbadian dollars, but the most practical currency is US dollars. We rent a car and drive around the Island. Barbados is the most densely populated island of the Caribbean with 656 people per square kilometer. Still we find wide sugar cane plantations and beautiful nature. The cane is cut with big machines, but also by hand. We visit the Rhum distillery, St. Nicholas Abbey and enjoy a ride in the steam train. (This must be the Island Lummerland, where the protagonist in the German writer Michael Endes story ”Jim Knopf” drove around in his Emma-train.) The Georgian style house is a museum and tells the 350 years story of one of the oldest surviving plantations on the island. 

The Georgian style house is a museum that tells the 350 years story of one of the oldest surviving plantations on the island. Here we find precious examples of the Sailor’s Valentine, a  souvenir of beautifully arranged shells, popular in the 1860s .

The anchorage in Carlisle Bay is calm and it is easy to snorkel to the nearby wrecks and dive into a colourful world of corals and turtles, only a stone throw distance from the boat. We drive to the fishing harbour to get some gasoline. All fishermen are genuinely helpful and show us where to dock our dinghy and where to gp to find some fuel. The three of us also need some more substantial fuel and order Coucou with fried fish. Ooh, it’s so fresh and delicious, worthwhile crossing the Atlantic for it. The national dish is flying fish, which is way more tasty than you think when you see the fish land on your deck. 

Barbados has beautiful beaches and we enjoy having lunch or dinner at the Barbados Yacht club. We got a membership for a week and take part in life music and BBQ. Our British sailing buddy boat (we met in Santa Cruz and sailed almost  parallell to Mindelo) Ellen with Julie and Malcolm, arrive to Barbados some days after us and it is wonderful to share the experience of a new crossing.

 We take the dinghy in to Bridgetown to celebrate and what a big party there is. Barbados is celebrating the inauguration of the new monument in the center of the town.

Some years ago the statue of Nelson was removed and now it was time for the peaceful monument ”the Barbadian Family”, symbolising the family’s role in producing national heroes  who fought for freedom and independence. The Prime Minister, Mia Mottley and the Bishop are present while unveiling the monument and the celebration continues for hours with many skilled singers and groovy music. Blue and Yellow are the colours of the day and we should have brought the Swedish flag! We are happy to be back in the Caribbean vibe and carefully dinghy back under the shine of the full moon, hoping an outlook for turtles.

Barbados is busy, especially when cruise ships arrive. We get up early to check out, this time we take a taxi to the harbour. We have got the information , that we have to pay 50 USD to an office, before we can clear out. Finding this office takes us over two hours. We are told to go to a big blue shack, which we do, but underway we ask for the direction. We follow the advise and walk all the way to the other side of the cruise ship terminal. Only to find out that we are completely wrong. The personnel are friendly and shows us the way back and we are gently directed outside of the Terminal. Half an hour later we come back. Nobody had heard about the office and we got the information that it moves now and then, so nobody knows for shure. The clock ticks and the office will soon close and we are running around in circles. It’s good with some exercise, but our patience is strongly tested. Finally we find the office and another very friendly man on the place which we had passed by five meters four times. This odyssey really makes us want to leave this maze asap. Which we do and sail to Carriacou.

We are so happy to witness Yaghans seaworthiness under her 11th Atlantic crossing. Yaghan is happily romping along in the steady following winds, behaving just like a horse livening up when smelling the green grass on the fresh spring field. Yaghan knows her way on the Atlantic and we just have to adjust the course some degrees optimise the angle of the winds into the sails.

Quite seldom  our night watches were enlivened by passing vessels. The day after we caught a Mahimahi, we saw three big fishing ships from South Korea. Otherwise, the surface of the Atlantic was totally empty. We take turns during the night whiteout a scheme, just seeing who needs some sleep and then change when we feel its time to switch. Only waves until the horizon, until Nilla spots two finns of what could have been pilot whales. One day we catch a mahimahi, but it jumps off the hook in the last second, avoiding being heaved on deck. We learned that this will bring us a bigger fish one day.

On the 16th of November, we only have 1000 nm to go and celebrate half way. We have now been on the Atlantic for six and a half day. A Cidre from Santander ( a gift from Joaquin) to a meal with tournedos, salad and potato gratin is the perfekt treat. A cheesecake baked by captain Anders has never tasted better than on the middle on the ocean and Birk brought delicious chocolate from Bruxelles as a surprise.  We still have a lot of fresh food and fruit as papaya and mango and we feel that we can continue to sail for several weeks.

The waves, ande especially the swell is growing up to 3 meters and when we get closer to Barbados, we see a squall on the horizon or the radar now and then, but not too close. On our whole crossing, the waves vary from 1.9 to 2.8 metres height and the swell, mostly from NNE with 1-2.7 metres.

On the 20.11 we have to gybe for the first time and 24 hours later the wind goes down tho 6knots and we start the engine. We still have 4500 metres under the keel when we stop the engine and decide to take a short swim in the deep blue ocean. We stay close to the boat all the time and hold a line, not getting lost. Now we now for sure, that there are not many boats to help in case something happens. The quick dip is really refreshing and it’s a lifetime experience to swim and be surrounded by the special clear blue water of the ocean.

When we set the sail again in mild 11 knots wind, Nilla and Birk go on the deck to put the whisker pole in the right position and Birk spots a really big whale around 200 metres in the direction of Barbados! We see the big fin slowly go up, before it dives! Size wise it might even be a blue whale. This is such an emotional encountering and we are happy to share the water, or more so, be a guest in the territory of this giants.

As the sun arise on Thursday morning,  November the 23rd 2023, we see the lights of Bridgetown, Barbados. We are welcomed with a short soothing sweet rain, washing off all the ocean salt after 13 days on the Atlantic. It´s a truly amazing feeling to see land again after having been surrounded by water and colours of blue 360 degrees around us for almost two weeks. At 7:45 we ask for permission to drop the anchor in Carlisle Bay and we anchor in the white sand, close down all systems, jumps in the dinghy and drive to the cruise ship marina, where we visit the health department, customs and immigration. Now we learn to live in island time. Everything works a little bit more relaxed. After two hours we can finally drive back to the boat and sleep for some hours before we drive into Careenage in the centre of busy Bridgetown for a local beer. The Bajans (local name for Barbadians) are friendly and Bridgetown is a funny colourful mix of houses from different epochs and cultures.

Yaghans eleventh crossing took 314,5 hours and the distance was 2088.5 nm with an average speed of 6.4 knots. We are so happy for having such fair winds during the whole crossing.