The Leeward Islands

The islands from Dominica in the south to Anguilla in the north comprise the group called the Leeward Islands. They are called "leeward" because the prevailing (trade) winds in the area blow from the east. Thus these islands are downwind from, or leeward of, the Windwards.

(The Virgins are officially included in the Leewards, but for my purposes I am treating them separately.)





28 March 2003

We stopped only one night on the island of Dominica, at the interestingly named Castaway Bay. It was a pleasant anchorage but as we’d decided against checking in to Dominica we didn’t even go ashore. The next morning we sailed to Guadeloupe, making our first stop at the delightful little group of islands, Les Saintes. We anchored in a bay called ‘Pain de Sucre’ (Sugar Loaf) and did some great snorkelling. Then Mike hauled me, in the heat of the day, (huffing and puffing, whingeing and whining all the way) 309 metres up Le Chameau – great views at the top however.




















Further on, on the main island of Guadeloupe we stopped at the dear little village of Deshaies, saw some circus animals (incongruously) and took a long walk in a forest where Mike scavenged a rucksack full of delicious mangoes. Guadeloupe, once again, was beautiful, green and fertile.

Leaving Guadeloupe on the 2nd of April we sailed past Montserrat which was erupting rather spectacularly. Deeply impressed at the time, we found out later that it is more or less continuously erupting. This started out as a great sail and then went all pear shaped when the wind changed, with me gybing the boat accidentally, snarling up Mike’s fishing line. Then he lost his hat overboard. Real dog’s breakfast and Mike was livid – all my fault as usual. Ha ha. I figured it was a good opportunity for a ‘man overboard’ manoeuvre, so we did and successfully managed to retrieve the hat. Next stop, very briefly, was a disastrous stay in Jolly Harbour in Antigua. We anchored and then a nasty swell set in making it very uncomfortable for the night and we had to put down two anchors. Next morning we moved and tied up to a buoy which they wanted to charge US$10 per day for – the marina was $18 per day. We bought fuel and wanted to get water but their charge was ludicrously high, so we did without.

Not so 'Jolly' Harbour at Antigua

Water was a problem throughout the Caribbean actually, difficult to find and almost always expensive. This was a bit of a shock to us as prior to this water had always been free and we resented paying for it. We never bought drinking water either (till we got to Thailand), always making do, with no ill effects, with tap or rain water. Whenever it rained we hung bits of canvas all over the deck with down funnels into our rubber buckets in an attempt to catch water. Unfortunately rain was invariably accompanied by a stiff wind so these attempts were not always successful.

Thoroughly fed up with Antigua, we headed north, leaving the island group of Nevis, St Kitts and Statia to port and sailed directly for St Barthelemy, another French island like Martinique and Guadeloupe. Once again, we started out with a good sail, hurtling along in a strong wind with big following waves but, predictably, it got too feisty. Foolishly we were trailing our dinghy behind the boat and it flipped right over. Real bugger to straighten but we eventually managed, giving it a good clean in the process - there had been a lot of horrid grey mud back at Deshaies.

Trying to get into the port of Gustavia at St Barts was a nightmare. We arrived late in the evening, very dark with only a small sliver of moon, the leading lights into the harbour weren’t working (though we didn’t know that at the time) and the harbour was full of large yachts with red lights running up their masts; we found out the next day there was a regatta that weekend – the St Barts Bucket. Unable to figure out where the entrance to the port was, we took the safe option and anchored outside that night. The holding was good and we spent a quiet night, but it was a long dinghy ride into town so the next morning, we moved the boat into the crowded harbour.

Gustavia Port at St Barts (photo from Google)

That night we dined with Frank and Virginnie, friends of some French friends in Martinique and they were friendly and encouraging about work prospects. Later on there was a horrible storm and we spent most of the night on deck worrying about our anchor – shouting commiserations to Frank and Virginnie on the deck of their boat across the waves – and the next day we moved back out of the harbour. Not only was it too crowded, particularly in a storm, but also very expensive – just to drop an anchor in the harbour!

Mike and I both loved St Barts, a tiny little island, sophisticated and cosmopolitan which boasted no crime. We were told they have no prison; if someone acted in a manner considered unsociable or criminal they were simply thrown off the island. We didn’t see any celebrities but were later told that the island is a haven for the rich, famous and beautiful. Though French, many of the people spoke English so it wouldn’t have been difficult for us to live there.

Mike’s dream to sail right around world remained undimmed, but we were both actively looking for an alternative place to settle, either temporarily or permanently. Whichever way it happened, we were keen to find some kind of paid work as our already very limited funds were diminishing fast. We gave St Barts some serious consideration but finally discarded it as a possibility, mostly because it is right in the middle of the hurricane zone and the season loomed only a few months away. If we did manage to find work in the next few weeks, or months, we would have to either move the boat, probably down to Trinidad (and we didn’t fancy making that trip against the wind – coming upwards had been hard enough!) then leave the boat there and fly back or stay ourselves in Trinidad for the season, or sell the boat which we weren’t keen to do just yet. It was all too complicated. Then there was the celebrity status of the island which didn’t appeal, and to be frank it was just too small. Everyone knew everyone else (and their business too!) and newcomers like us would probably never quite fit in.

So after one more night anchored outside Port Gustavia, we day sailed to the northern tip of the island and took a free mooring buoy (an almost unheard of luxury in this part of the world) at Anse Colombier, and then day sailed over to the island of St. Maarten/St Martin. Though the wind was not always ideal and the sailing could be hard in the Caribbean, I did like this business of day sailing. You could usually see the next island you were heading for, or you could hop up an island in day sails and then see the next one. I never really got to like the night sailing.

Sint Maarten is the Dutch southern half and Saint Martin the French northern half of this island and both are duty free ports. We anchored in Simpsons Lagoon on the Dutch side where everyone spoke English and, delightfully, we bumped into our old friends Dirk and Linda on Jade who we’d last seen in Trinidad.

Simpsons Lagoon at St Maarten

St Maarten was sociable, pleasant and bustling but less beautiful, less charming somehow than the islands we’d already visited and we didn’t like it as much. However, the lagoon was comfortable and well protected so we stayed five days and managed to stock up on water. And then we headed for the Virgins.