bigbadblog

My photo album Antigua to Panama

For photos relevant to this section of the adventure please look at the blog entry posted previously with a link to my online album Antigua and Guadeloupe. It was with a little trepidation that we approached the transition from having four to eight people aboard, three of whom are under ten. After the initial settling in of the new crew and as one or two small teething troubles ('I want to go home' being one!) were overcome, every one has enjoyed the sun sand and swimming we have found on our sojourn around Antigua and then back to Guadeloupe and specifically the Ille-des -Saintes which you may have gathered,if you follow my Twitter account (@Ampthillmark), I regard as the closest thing to heaven on earth! We made a few exploratory sails between Falmouth bay and English harbour, including visits to Pigeon beach and a sail round to a reef to snorkel during which some crew members found that they had yet to find their sea legs and others saw spotted eagle Rays! Antigua, or at lea

Here is a link to photos from our Cape Verde week  Cape Verde

Use this link to see my photos of. Guadeloupe and Antigua ...  I'll add more in here as and when I can!  

Having decided, at Kyle and Niall's suggestion, to divert from an Antiguan landfall and head for a few days of exploring around Guadeloupe, we arrived in Pointe-a-Pitre and anchored mat midnight of the 2nd Jan. We celebrated with a shot of 'Paul's Punch' and the 1st mate presented medals all round to mark the completion of the Atlantic crossing, 1st time for 3 of us and the 2nd for Paul. The stats for the crossing were as follows, 2252 nm, in 13 days 11 hrs giving an average speed through the water of 6.97knts. We woke on the 3rd to find a mangrove fringed island behind us, 3 wrecked yachts and about 10 other yachts at anchor around us. After our first steady breakfast for two weeks we set off in the tender to complete customs and immigration formalities at the marina office opposite our anchorage before motoring round the bay to the centre of town. We tied up the tender next to a vegetable market crammed with colourful produce, and then went for a wander in search of