Rowan did an extra long shift, he had lots to sort out with plotting a new route to get us to Martinique, hundreds of messages to download, and getting the sails adjusted as the winds were quite flukey around the islands. 3:30am I took over and the morning sped by as I read all my messages and replied to a few before we lost signal again. I just managed to down load my paper which was very interesting to see if much had changed in the 7 days without any news. Rowan and I have been trying to guess what the news will be when we finally get it, not too surprising, nothing seems to have changed……….had been hoping for a miracle Covid 19 vaccine at least.
We passed Antigua in the dark, just saw the lights of towns. A lovely sunrise which reflected a pink glow on the slopes of Monserrat. Quite spectacular as you could see the lava flow into the sea and for a little while you could see the steam from the vents at the top of the volcano. Then we passed Guadeloupe, so sad to be passing straight by. Very gentle easy sailing in the lee of the islands.
Passing Monserrat
Brown lava flow into the sea
Dominica
Next island to pass was Dominica and Rowan had read on the blogs that there is a bit of an issue with officials apprehending passing yachts and demanding transiting fees (clearly lining their pockets), so we kept well away from land and appreciated it from far. The write ups sound like it is a very interesting island to visit as it is the least touristy…maybe for good reason. We sped past and during the whole day saw two sailing yachts and an enormous tanker called Gas Flawless which Rowan said we passed earlier near Barbuda. Amazing how fast those tankers can move.
Early to bed for Rowan as we have worked out we will get into Martinique between 3 and 4 am, not at all ideal for anchoring. We have 3 places earmarked so plan to go and look at all of them at first light before anchoring. Typically with the new moon it is pitch dark at the moment.
We had the engines running as the wind was pretty light in the lee of Dominica and we needed to boost our batteries, as our bilge pumps were working over time and chewing through power. Rowan warned me that the wind would pick up between the islands, and I should switch the engines off once we got decent wind again. By 10 pm I noticed the wind was picking up and up, so I went to switch the engines off at the helm. So glad I did as the wind just got stronger and stronger, and although it maxed at about 26 knots the boat was going like a rocket, up to 9.8 knots. I have to say I was pretty terrified as the waves were choppy and for a good while we were leaning like a monohull, and me in my pessimistic paranoia thought we were going to blow over. Polepole is definitely a bit of a speed queen, she is incredibly light and sits quite high, and we were screaming through the pitch darkness, on choppy waves. I knew Rowan was in desperate need of sleep so I resolved to only call him if Polepole got to 10 knots, and thankfully we didn’t. It certainly kept me wide awake and on the ball, unlike other nights where you struggle to keep awake. By the time Rowan surfaced we were getting into the lee of Martinique and things calmed right down thank god. Fortuitously for me I headed off to bed in very calm waters.
Tonight’s sunset
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