Liv Sailing

Date: Sunday 20 February 2022

Position: 15° 52.424’ N 61° 35.812’ W

SOG: 11 kn

Location: Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe

Distance Sailed during the week: 141 NM

Distance Sailed total: 6671 NM

Weather: (bild sol och regn), 28°

Most popular on the menu: Sushi

Animals spotted: Big iguanas, whales: humpback or spermwhale, we don’t know , a hummingbird

Comment of the week: “Will the squall hit us?”

We started this week with two days of sailing from Martinique to Guadeloupe. On our way there we just had one night at anchor in Dominica as a yacht-in-transit, this means you have to stay onboard and cannot go ashore. It was two days of wonderful sailing, even though the first two hours just as we left Martinique were quite hard with big choppy waves from two directions (that gave us flashbacks to the crossing!), but after that we had nice and enjoyable sailing.

Until now Atle has been afraid when we are heeling (the fear came during the Atlantic crossing), so we have really been taking it easy. But slowly he is getting used to having the boat heeling going upwind, and is not afraid any more. Another thing that we are used to is the squalls, and the heavy rain that usually come with them. Moste often it’s Jonas who’s left alone outside in the rain, like a drenched cat, but sometimes Sanna takes the hit – or shall we say shower?

It’s sad that we didn’t get the chance to explore Dominica – we would have loved the nature, doing hikes and exploring the land. But we thought it was far too cumbersome and expensive with all the COVID-tests and paperwork to be allowed onto the island, so we simply opted out of visiting. This is really the only thing that have affected us negatively during our trip, that we just can’t go to all the countries and islands without COVID-tests, health declarations etc.

Since we stayed in a marina in Rodney Bay, directly after the crossing, we haven’t stayed at a another one. So it felt really strange to stay at a dock and have direct access to land. Yes, it was nice with a real indoor shower! Our package with spareparts arrived, we did a lot of shopping, did laundry and bought sushi for dinner, things we take for granted at home, but you can only do when you are staying in a marina here!

After some very warm days in the marina, without the possibility to just jump into the water for a swim, it was a relief when we finally headed out to an anchorage again. We found two really pleasant anchorages, first Ilet du Gosier and then Ile de Saintes. But here in Guadeloupe, as in Martinique, there are a lot more tourists and sailing boats than what we got used to in St Vincent.

Next week – we will try to find a dive center where Alma can complete her Junior Open Water dive certificate.

Written by Susanna Edholm, edited by Hanna Ericksson