Significant Update. The wildlife tally has soared over the last two days! Whilst in Jolly Harbour we came across two mongoose (or is it geese?) searching for food. They were introduced to the island some years back to get rid of the snake population and, having completed that task they set about recolonising the place and have been overwhelmingly successful!!
Even more exciting is that when we set of in the early hours heading for Guadeloupe we had just cleared Antigua when a very frightened pigeon (later identified as a scaly-naped pigeon) flew into the cockpit and in hot pursuit was a Sharp-shinned hawk. The hawk came no closer but Percy hung around for about half an hour until the coast was clear. He became quite relaxed and cocked his head from side to side whilst we talked. He was warned that there should be NO poohing but alas he couldn’t help himself - the skipper reckons he was scared sh*tless! There should be a photo but in all the excitement I must have turned the camera off! We then had our fair share of flying fish but still no dolphins or whales.
We are now at the north end of Guadeloupe and tomorrow we shall sail to the south end for the night. This is a French Island and the influence can be felt everywhere - good bread, wine, euros and of course the language.
It does appear that we are rushing through these islands but because of the delay at the start we are in a mad dash to get to St Lucia before John, Fi and Vic arrive for Christmas. Even at this pace we will only be three days ahead of them and we have some sorting out to do as soon as we arrive, like buy a car so we can pick them up from the airport!
At the beginning of this expedition a lot of places we sailed to had WIFI connections but they seem to have all petered out so goodness knows when we will Skype people again. I think it won’t be until Marigot Bay.
Today has been the first really good sail, on a reach doing 7kts for 46 miles. The sea was just as lumpy but approached from the port quarter so at least we were not crashing into it.
This will hopefully be sent at the other end of Guadeloupe if we can find a café. After that it is Dominica and by all accounts that is the back of beyond!

We are adding to this as we had such a fast sail to the bottom of Guadeloupe we thought we would just carry on to the north end of Dominica and now we are here there is no such thing as an internet café. This means we shall add to our story daily until we are able to upload it to the blog.

It was a mixed day, some great sailing, some lumpy sailing, and some boring motoring. There were lots of squalls around, most of which we managed to avoid but inevitably they got us in the end. They are really quite scary, the clouds get very dark, and the wind howls and changes direction and the rain blatters down and then it all eases off and the sailing gets back to normal.

As we neared Dominica we were welcomed by a school of dolphins that played for a short time only, around the bow of the boat. Then a guy called Albert, a Dominican came in his small power boat to ask us if we wanted any guided tours or any other service. We declined but he said he would catch us later. As we got into the bay it was very difficult to see where anything was, even with a sketch of the town. We dropped anchor where we thought customs might be. Then the heavens opened and the wind got up. Albert appeared back on the scene and said for $20 EC he would take Jeff over to customs and bring him back. Great idea! I was left in charge of the boat. It wasn’t long before another boat boy arrived and I bought some bananas from him. Soon after he had gone I realised that the anchor was dragging. It went from a gentle drag into a ‘oh my God moment’ I was going back at a rate of knots, fast running out of sea room and was now onto plan D or E! As I was closing on an old rust bucket I saw some men, who I think realised I was having difficulties and they said they would be over in a minute..they never came! I was controlling the direction I was travelling in with a bit of reverse then a bit of forward. I couldn’t leave the wheel to get the anchor up, as there were too many obstacles in the way. Eventually I saw my trusty skipper in the distance whizzing towards me - and then pass me as he returned to where the boat should have been. I called him a few pet names! Once he realised where I was he jumped aboard, took the wheel and I got the anchor up very swiftly. Nightmare over we motored to a quiet corner of the bay, set the anchor properly and I had a swim to cool me down followed by our nightly sundowners

Tomorrow we are off to the south end of Dominica but, like today, if all is well we may head over to Martinique. Watch this space!

Well we sailed right passed the end of Dominica and had the best yet sail over to Martinique. Uncle Jeffrey’s note: For the sailors - 22 miles of motor sailing on a flat calm sea along the entire coast of Dominica. When we hit the Dominica/Martinique passage we had 18-22 knots, 45 degrees off the bow in 8-12 foot seas. With a full genoa and half main we were making 6.8 knots with a 7.8 in a gust of 29 knots. Total distance today 55.8 nms in 6hrs 5mins. It’s the first time Wine Down has seen such conditions and she coped wonderfully. The mate performed excellently as well and all this in nothing but shorts and a life jacket - and cold beer and tawny skinned, scantily clad ladies all speaking with Geneva volmet accents to finish off the day! There is a heaven after all. Back to Jan.

On the approach to Martinique we were once again treated to a school of dolphins. They were very playful and stayed around the boat for a long time. It really is a privilege to see them in their natural habitat obviously enjoying the company of humans and their boats.

We are now in St Pierre at the top of Martinique. It is an old city rebuilt after a volcano eruption in 1902. There are still the remains if old walls, even the public loos are built around ruins with sea views.

We have just had a chat to a crew on a brand new boat that was dismasted during this years ARC. They are on their way to St Martin for repairs.

So tomorrow we are off to the bottom of Martinique, as we want to do some provisioning there in a supermarket that we have been to before. It has a very convenient dinghy dock and the trolleys are parked right there as well. Then on Sunday morning it is just the short hop to St Lucia and time to relax for a few days before the young ‘uns arrive on Thursday. Still no internet facilities but we are hopeful about tomorrow.

Its another day and another sail. This time we are at the bottom of Martinique. As we sailed in we counted 5 boats nearing the end of their ARC race in the Martinique passage. Jeff knew just how they were feeling and remembered how long those last 10 miles took.

This is a good place to stop, we were here in February and liked it then. We have done the beer shopping and bought some fishing gear so we are just about ready for the kids arrival. Tomorrow morning it is the passage to St Lucia; we are both getting excited about the prospect of meeting up with old friends and starting our new life. The next shopping will be for machetes to start clearing our plot!