Guadaloupe

Now everyone who knows John will know that at times he can display a touch of Francophobia....so it was with some trepidation that we sailed into Deshaises in Guadaloupe ! We had a good sail and it was good to get back on the water. We dropped anchor in the Bay and blew up our little dinghy that we use as a spare. We bought this in Rubicon,Lanzarote as it was very good value small enough to fit on our stern and it meant in the event of something 'happening' to the Portabote we would not be stranded afloat. It does seem weird to drive though compared to the Portabote and seems to have a mind of its own. We wandered ashore to find the customs computer which was at the back of shop called the Pelican. It was fairly easy and straight forward after all it should be as Guadaloupe is part of France. We then picked a bar to have a beer... It was here I noticed the first difference the lady who came to serve me ...there was no smile ... No 'how ya doing?' Just a loud tut as she told me if I was only drinking I would have to stay inside. Welcome to Guadaloupe! However I persevered and the waiter came along to serve John and I with our second drink, a very tasty Belgian beer ...Leffe. He had a big smile on his face a big difference! He was even smiling when he gave us a bill €29 for three not quite full pints. Ouch!

We were hoping for a quiet night at anchor ...this was not to be as it blew hard that night and the boat was rolling quite a bit so early the next morning we set sail for the Saintes. It was another excellent sail and we sailed in to Terrestrial de Haut in the Saintes and picked up a bouy without any trouble. We decided to stay for a couple of nights and went ashore in the dinghy and found a nice little bar that also sold Leffe beer and but did very good food as well. Finding the Customs computer was not quite as easy as the Chris Doyle guide was slightly out of date and the computer have now moved to the cybercafe up the stairs down the street from the Marie. We had hoped for a quiet night again but unfortunately the bouy we picked up had other ideas .....banging against the side of the boat waking us both up but John got out of bed to sort it out ... well done John!
So after two nights of limited sleep we were both a little jaded as we set sail for Dominica...not a long sail but long enough.

It's not all relaxation and fun!

This past month has been very frustrating!! We were ready to leave when our friends left but the day before they did I discovered that someone had been trying to access my bank account. The bank alerted me and I was able to ensure my account was not emptied but they cancelled my debit card... What an inconvenience ! John wanted to check his account but found that his card reader would not recognise his card and blocked him out of his account! Even more of a ballache! Both banks refused to send cards out here so our friends said that they would courier them here when the replacement cards arrived. This turned into a major hassle and DHL completely screwed up and the cards arrived back in Port Sunlight 6 days later..... We decided that we would go for international express post from Royal Mail, they would be tracked and signed for... Well it has now been two weeks and still no sign so enough is enough....John and I are leaving on Friday with or without the cards. If they don't arrive then we will cancel both re order them and leave them waiting for someone to come out or for one of us to go back!
PostScript:talking to the marina they suggested we go to the Post Office in St.Johns to see if the letter was there.John hopped onto a bus and got himself to the Post Office. The woman behind the desk after lots of deliberation told him yes the letter was there but she said' why hasn't it been delivered to the address on the envelope?' Well we were kind of wondering that to!!! Fifteen minutes later John finally walked out of the Post Office cards in hands....Whooppee we are on our way!
John then got a stinker of a cold which he gave to me and to cap it all we have found the source of a fresh water leak that has been puzzling us for sometime. So John is the grease monkey again taking off the oil filter and trying to get a repair to the cover to the cylinder head rear end. We think that Carl at the boatyard here is able to weld a fix so hopefully it should not stop us leaving!
We are heading South as indeed are most people who are staying out here for the hurricane season. It has surprised me how many yachts haul out for the hurricane season here in Antigua. The yard in Jolly Harbour is teaming with boats.
We plan to haul out for a month in Trindad and replace anodes ,sort out the bottom and perhaps get one or two jobs done. We have installed a Bad Boy - full metal jacket - unleashed which has been great it means we can access wi if and indeed our neighbours have been using the internet from the hotspot we have created. It has saved us money as inevitably we used to have to wander to a local bar  to get the internet ... While we were there we had to have drink it would have been rude not to!