Next up, a short sail from the Tobago Cays to Union Island, known as the Tahiti of the West Indies due to its volcanic silhouette (and possibly also because of the eye-wateringly expensive fruit and veg?). Here we hiked Mount Taboi, the island’s highest peak, had regular bonfire and marshmallow binges with all the boat kids on Chatham beach, and ate a lot of rotis (the pasty of the Caribbean).

We fell in love with two very special local dogs who joined us on epic hikes around the island, and who later tried swimming out to us at anchor.

In Clifton Harbour, we joined SV Gambler and SV Amani on Happy Island, a man-made island built entirely of conch shells, for rum and a spot of limin’.

From Union Island we hopped over to Palm Island and on to Mopion Island, the smallest island in the Caribbean measuring just 20m x 8m and composed of brilliant white sand and surrounded by reefs full of tropical fish – the place of castaway fantasies.

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From Mayreau, it was a short sail to the Tobago Cays, an archipelago comprising five small, uninhabited islands and extensive coral reefs. Here we spent a week snorkelling and exploring with our kid boat friends from SV Amani, SV Cinnamon and SV Gambler.

Much like swimming in an aquarium with crystal clear water, we encountered turtles everywhere, as well as sting rays, spotted eagle rays, nurse sharks, lemon sharks, white tip reef sharks, and even had a very memorable interaction with a friendly octopus.

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Barnaby and Zennor were thrilled to be able to dinghy to the outer island of Petit Tabac, the setting for the famous rum burning scene from Pirates of the Caribbean.

A great video, by our friends on SV Gambler, about our stay at Tobago Cays can be accessed here.

We also put together our own very short video of some of the marine life we spotted here.

Next up was Mayreau, the smallest of the inhabited Grenadine Islands which measures less than 0.5 square miles and has a population of less than 300 people (and many, many more goats). Here Barnaby and Zennor, with their SV Amani & SV Gambler boat kid friends, had a dinghy sailing lesson with the Mayreau Junior Sailing club.

We also hiked around the perimeter of the island, and happened upon a deserted and uber swanky hotel with multiple, stunning, empty pools. We couldn’t locate any staff anywhere. What would you have done…?

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As we continued our journey southwards through the Windward Islands, our next anchorage was in Admiralty Bay, Bequia.

Here we hung out with the crews of our favourite buddy boats, SV Amani and SV Gambler. Bequia highlights included snorkelling the wreck of the Stratmann off Port Elizabeth, den building and burning completed maths workbooks on Lower Beach Bay, getting to know some local kids at Bequia Reading Club, touring the Firefly plantation and visiting the Maritime Museum where we learnt about Bequia’s whaling heritage.

Our Friends on SV Gambler put together a video of our time together in Bequia which can be found here .

A COVID related hiccough led to us visiting St Lucia for a few days on our way South from Martinique.

In St Lucia we explored Rodney Bay, Soufriere, and Pitons Bay. Highlights included belated birthday celebrations for the boys aboard SV Gambler, the Maximum Chill eco-tour with Baby Shark, wandering the streets of Soufriere, and cocktails with Blaze on Sugar Beach.

Our friends on SV Gambler created a video of our time together in St Lucia which you can find here.

Dense, lush rainforest, Sisserou parrots, Trafalgar waterfalls, the Indian river tour, film sets, the 18th century Fort Shirley, tropical fruits and flowers, Rastafarian veggie street food in Roseau, wild swimming in the immense Chaudiere pools, visiting the Pointe Baptiste chocolate factory, the Waitukubuli jungle trail, stunning sunsets, beach BBQs and dogs, lots and lots of beach dogs. We Dominica.

Indian River

Indian River, with the legendary, and super knowledgeable guide Titus Moses. We spotted kingfishers, frigate birds, pelicans, herons, hummingbirds, some enormous iguanas, and the film set from scene in Pirates of the Caribbean. Titus shared with us this plate of amazing fruit picked along the way.

Waitukubuli National Trail

The 115 mile Waitukubuli National Trail spans the length and breadth of Dominica, taking in rainforests, National Parks, farmland and through island communities. We embarked on one segment of the trail, taking in 17km around the Portsmouth area. The route had not been maintained for a couple of years, due to COVID, making for a trickier hike than we had anticipated. Mercifully, we found ourselves back at the Coco Hole, close to the Indian River, where we were able to rehydrate on Dynamite!

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Incredible, empty beaches on the island of Barbuda. Intensely blue seas and the finest, white/pink sand. Sadly, the devastation following the 2017 hurricane Irma is still very evident. Our visit to see the frigate birds sanctuary was like being immersed in a David Attenborough documentary – definitely one of our highlights so far.

Frigate Bird Sanctuary 17th February

An incredible day visiting the frigate birds on Barbuda with our guide George and the crews of SV Walrus & SV Clifford. We were lucky to be there during their mating season and so got to see their striking, red gular sacs and lots of babies.

We had an awesome time in Antigua; hanging out with some of our favourite kid boats, watching the super powerful racing yachts in the Caribbean 600, epic snorkelling with Stingrays, Spotted Eagle Rays and enormous turtles; being inspired by the incredible trans-Atlantic rowers; enjoying the historic English Harbour & Nelson’s Dockyard, and the magnificent views from Shirley Heights. Next stop, Barbuda….

Guadeloupe, another gorgeous French overseas territory, composed of a number of islands, blending influences of French, African and Caribbean culture – think hibiscus flowers, croissants, long luscious beaches, free range goats, reggae, carnival, and cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

Here we spent a few magical days in the glorious Isles des Saints, a cluster of tiny islands to the South of mainland Guadeloupe. Highlights included climbing to the summit of Le Chameau with our friends on SV Barataria;  exploring the 19^th century Fort Napoleon with its mega views and enormous iguanas;  the gorgeous Notre Dame de l’Assomption church; and resumption of our dawn ‘run club’ with Kate and Alex on SV Nethermead.

An abundance of kid boats made for fun evenings, gathered at the seaside playground, where our international troupe of feral children shared scooters and skateboards whilst their parents’ shared beers and plotted future nautical adventures.

From Les Saints, we sailed North along the West coast stopping overnight to visit the hot springs in Bourg de Bouilliante (‘Bouilliante’ translates as ‘boiling’ and they really were). Next stop, was the incredible Cousteau reserve, a protected marine reserve surrounding Pigeon Island with its insanely diverse and abundant marine life. Here we had so much fun snorkelling and had incredible encounters with enormous, docile turtles. Some crazy local wind effects here lead to sleepless nights and on one evening, an unmanned boat breaking its mooring and dragging through the anchorage, narrowly missing Mowzer. Much drama ensued, but thankfully, along with some neighbouring boats, we were able to secure its anchor before it drifted into the rocks off Pigeon Island. Sadly no salvage reward was forthcoming!

Our final destination in Guadeloupe was the pretty town of Deshaies, the paradise in the Death in Paradise series. Another picturesque community, all colourful, beachside buildings surrounded by sheer cliffs, with pelicans fishing in the anchorage. Here we hung out with our friends on SV Walrus, SV Blake and SV Clifford before checking out, ready for our passage to Antigua.

On leaving Deshaies, we had a bit of drama when our engine overheated on motoring out of the anchorage. We were very grateful to David on SV Walrus who towed us back to the anchorage where we discovered that our hot water heat exchanger had failed, haemorrhaging coolant into the engine bilge. Two hours later, heat exchanger bypassed and coolant refilled, we were able to once again, up anchor and head for our next destination, English Harbour, Antigua, just over 40nm to the North. 

We have used Martinique as our base for exploring the Caribbean for over 4 months now and our anchorage has begun to feel like home. In Sainte Anne we have caught up with old sailing friends from 20 years ago, and have met many new, international kid boats, some of whom will remain lifelong buddies. Here, the boys have grown so much in confidence; they’ve mastered navigating the dinghy solo, swinging from the rigging, freediving to the seabed and have become demon boogie boarders. We’ve had some epic hikes; up volcanos, along an old canal with vertiginous views and following wild Atlantic coastlines that remind us of Cornwall, though considerably sunnier! We’ve all made a real effort to work on our French, and are now practically fluent in the lexicon of les boulangeries. In Martinique, we’ve seen in Christmas, New Year, Mother’s Day, Easter, Barnaby and Zennor’s 9th birthday and even survived a team bout of COVID.

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Jardin de Balata -23rd December

Gorgeous botanical gardens with spectacular views, lots of hummingbirds and a fab treetop aerial walkway.

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Joyeux Noel

Christmas morning was spent snorkelling on the reef off Point Le Marin, visiting our incredible octopus friend who lives in a sunken breeze block, surrounded by broken shells, the remnants of his recent meals. After a sushi lunch (no octopus), we bounced around the water park on Pirate’s Beach, followed by fire making on the beach with an international crew of feral boat kids. One of the big draws of Martinique is the glut of kid boats. Here, the boys have made friends from Portugal, France, the USA, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and even some from as far away as Lymington!

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Pirates of the Caribbean -12th January 2022

Celebrating Billy and Vital’s 7th birthdays with SV Quickstep, SV Aldivi, SV Barataria, SV Nethermead & SV Tropic Bird.

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Mount Pelee – 24th January 2022

An epic hike up Mount Pelee, an active volcano that, in 1902, destroyed the town of St Pierre, killing 30,000 people. Our most ambitious hike yet with 7 hours of walking, topping out at 1397m and in very un-Caribbean-like weather conditions. Good to have the company of Marjolein and Oebele of SV Noorderzon to encourage us all up and up through the mizzle.

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After a few weeks away, exploring Guadeloupe, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, we returned to Martinique for further exploration before heading Southwards.

Canal des Esclaves – 10th March 2022

A 17km, exhilarating and VERY wet hike from St Pierre along the Canal des Esclaves. The canal, which follows a narrow and vertiginous path around the hills of northern Martinique, was built by slaves in the 1770s to carry freshwater to the plantations and rum distilleries around St Pierre. We dried out and refuelled mid-way at the Relais de la Maison Rousse, a gorgeous restaurant, hidden in the middle of the jungle, and home to the friendliest cats and chickens.

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Our favourite ice cream spot

Behind the Notre Dame de la Salette, a church in the centre of Saint Anne, is a short and very steep zig-zag path up to our favourite view, and ice cream spot in Martinique. The climb is apparently a favourite amongst Christian pilgrims who visit the site to worship every year on 19th September. We like it as it has the best view of the anchorage and is the site of a Geocache!

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Dinghy concert – 15th April

Party night in the Sainte Anne anchorage with SV Kapasa

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JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE A NOS MAGNIFIQUES FILS! 22nd April 2022

What a year it’s been for the intrepid duo! Barnaby and Zennor have sailed 6000nm, crossed an ocean, tackled epic jungle hikes, watched volcanos erupt, learnt to free dive, swum beneath waterfalls, made new lifelong friendships, and have eaten many, many ice creams. We are so proud of our boys and can’t wait to have more adventures together.

They say that cruisers plans are written in the sand at low tide, forever changing with the tides. And so it was to be with the boys’ 9th birthday celebrations. We were looking forward to heading South with our friends aboard SV Gambler, and to have a St Lucian birthday party together with their girls, Megan and Sophie. And then we all got COVID. Their birthday was instead spent isolating aboard in the St Anne anchorage, just the four of us, all feverish and a bit fragile. In spite of contagion, we had a splendid, if low-key day, eating pancakes, chatting with family, and with Barnaby thrashing us all at Sleeping Queens.

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The best running route in the world?

We have the perfect running route here in St Anne, which takes us from the dinghy dock, past empty sandy beaches, along mangrove forests, and through dense mahogany woodlands. The route towards Salines beach combines steep climbs; enormous knotty roots; sheer steps cut into the cliffside; soft, slippy sand; and after the rain, often thick, sticky mud that clings to our trainers. Along the way we spot mongooses, possums, crabs galore, jumping lizards, pelicans, frigate birds, hummingbirds, bananaquits, king birds and egrets. It is such a joy to run here. We even created our own dawn running club with members recruited from the parents of our neighbouring kid boat families. New friendships have been forged as we pound our way along the track, jumping over roots and crabs, talking about nothing and everything. Best of all, the route ends at the boulangerie, where I am such a familiar presence that I no longer need to place my order, they likely know me as the sweaty, deux-baguettes-deux-croissants-etrangere. Post run coffee and croissants have become a daily ritual that we will miss.

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Our hull is busy growing weed and we have our own mini ecosystem developing below the waterline, a sure sign that it is time to up anchor, to head South for new islands, new sunsets, new wildlife, hopefully new running routes and new friendships. Merci beaucoup Martinique, on a passe un sejour merveilleux. x