Island Hopping: Isles deSaintes, Guadeloupe, Antigua/Barbuda

Stef leading a science class on the beach. Cocoa Point, Barbuda

We hopped up the islands from the Saintes, Guadeloupe, to Antigua/Barbuda. The Saintes are full of mooring balls, so we sailed by and headed on up to Pigeon island, off of Guadeloupe. This is one of Jacque Cousteau's underwater parks. The snorkeling area is better in deeper water, as any shallow areas were destroyed in the hurricanes.
We met up with some friends in Deshaies for a fun night out exploring the town and stocking up on a few fresh provisions. Next morning found us setting sail for Antigua.

Antigua

Approaching Antigua treats the eyes to beautiful shades of blue water. We entered Jolly Harbor and dropped the hook in about 2 meters. It's a bright shade of turquoise, but murky.

Kids playing in the water, Jolly Harbor.

Keep in mind there are A LOT of boats in this harbor, but the check in/out is easiest here. There is a large grocery store that has a pretty good selection. Shop like a local to avoid a huge bill. Chicken was the cheapest we've seen since the states.

Grocery shopping in Antigua (Jolly Harbor)

Check in was a simple process. The first part is completed online via Sailclear, and then the rest in person at the customs office. We spent about a week sailing around Antigua and moved on to Barbuda. This island, by far, was our favorite!

At anchor of Barbuda.

The anchorage at Cocoa Point is protected, lovely, and not crowded at all! Wild horses and donkeys roam the beach. The sand is pinkish and so soft! It's quite a long stretch of sand, so there's plenty of room for the kids to run and play. We had sundowners on the beach with friends each night. One afternoon, Stef lead a science class on the beach and later on that evening, we had a BBQ. The kids also built their own little fire to make s'mores.

Beach BBQ with our buddy boats.

The area is now under development, with multi-million dollar lots up for sale. We were glad we got to see it before this construction begins. Such a shame that future generations will not get to enjoy the wild beauty that Barbuda offers.

Roundabout at anchor, with Hermes (our trusty dinghy) anchored off the beach.

We moved to the other end of the island near the town for a night, just to check it out and explore a new place. There's a cool sand spit you can walk out on, adjacent to the lagoon. Lots of conch shells, hermit crabs, and turtles hang out here.

Morning walk along the beach on the coast of Barbuda.

Checking out of Antigua (Barbuda does not have a customs office yet, as they are still in recovery after the hurricanes): you need to clear out online and then visit customs. Any crew under the age of 12 has to pay 75EC (this was unexpected). After customs, visit immigration and then back to customs.


We hoisted the sails and set our course for St. Bart's.

Crete

We left Santorini for Crete around 7:30am. It was an all day downwind sail, flying the spinnaker and just lounging around on the trampoline. The water was like glass as we scooted along, and we had the pleasure of dolphins paying a visit. 

We arrived to Spinalonga lagoon around 5:30pm and dropped the hook in a nice calm bay, across from the town of Elounda. We didn’t know it at the time, but that would become our home base over the next few weeks.

There wasn’t much wind the following day, but we needed to provision and pick up parts in Agios Nikolaos. We were told that it had the best grocery store and deliveries come right to the boat. 

This was about an hour motor-sail away. We tied up to the transient dock and set off to explore the town. After packing away our provisions, we took the kids to play at the beach. Jared and I sat in a cafe and enjoyed a coffee, our toes in the sand, while the kids ran and splashed in the sea. We returned to our home base in the lagoon and settled in for schoolwork, getting the washing done, and an overall clean up of the boat.

Over the next week, we explored the lagoon, town of Elounda (there is a large chandlery there), and spending time on various beaches. Our favorite was what we named Sea Turtle beach (Almyros beach). There is a salt water marsh and a river that runs out to the sea. This place had a fine sandy beach that was shallow halfway out to the boat, water toys, and a pool nearby the beach bar. We spent quite a few afternoons here. 

Beach bonfire with s'mores.

Spinalonga is famous for first being a Venetian fortress turned leper colony. At a time when leprosy was an epidemic, patients were moved to the island in an attempt to control the disease. The ill were separated from family and friends for the rest of their lives, so it was not a happy place. Supplies were received through donations, though there was a small bit of farming, by those who were healthy enough to work the soil. A preacher and doctor lived on the opposite side of the island and made visits as necessary. While Mother Nature has taken over, many of the structures still exist and one can imagine what it must have been like to live here.

Hermes parked on the island; exploring the former fortress-turned-leper colony.

We spent a long morning exploring this place, and found it full of interesting history. In addition to the structures, old fortress ruminants, there is a museum consisting of a few small buildings. 

A short dinghy ride from RoundAbout, we left Hermes (our dinghy—named after the Greek messenger god—we are after all in Greece, and Hermes takes us everywhere) on the beach, paid the fee (kids were free, and it was 4 euro for adults), and set off exploring. We were fortunate to have arrived before all of the day tripper boats, as we had the place to ourselves for most of our visit. 

For awhile now, I have been searching for a sewing machine. In addition to mending, I wanted to get one robust enough to make repairs to thick fabric, should we ever need to repair a sail. I found a store in Heraklion, about 1.5 hour’s bus ride away. Zach and I got up early one morning to catch the bus and made our way to the big city. The sewing store was about a 30 minute’s walk from the bus station. We stopped at Starbucks for a cold drink and stocked up on ground coffee for our press (we haven’t been too fond of the coffee in Greece—we’ve tried quite a few). 

Exploring a bit of Heraklion, Crete.

We arrived at the shop and were greeted by the shop owner’s daughter. I already knew the exact machine I wanted (a Pfaff 160s, which can sew through thick layers and has a variety of options). She was happy to sit with me while I tried it out and loaded me up with lots of free accessories for the machine. About 2 hours later, we found ourselves back in the city center at a fabric shop to score some meters of fabric for a few projects I had in mind and made the return trip on the bus.

The fun really began when we met up with another sailing family, No Plans Just Options. They sailed all night to get to the lagoon and we hit it off right away! Such a sweet and awesome family! The kids jumped in the water to swim, kayak, and play legos. They needed provisions and we needed fuel, so we invited them to sail with us to Agios Nikolaos. Many happy days were spent together. We toured the Palace of Knossos, taught them how to make s’mores, had a beach bonfire and cookout, watched movies, and just had a blast! Then came the time when we had to head north and they needed to go east to Turkey. We enjoyed spending time with this family and hope to reunite on our path west or in the Caribbean (miss you guys!). 

Crews of Roundabout and No Plans Just Options

Overall, we really enjoyed our time on Crete and in Spinalonga lagoon. There were fire pits on the beach near the boat, so we had a few beach bonfires with s’mores and bbq dinners. In the evenings, we would listen to the sheep and goats returning to their pasture, led by the nice shepherd, with whom we met on several occasions. There were quite a few newborn lambs, which were so adorable to watch, as they clambered around the rocks and played amongst the bushes. A spectacular show was to be had at night, when we could see the bioluminescence sparkle in the water. Definitely, one of our favorite places!

Torpedo ray the kids found in the lagoon. They thought it was injured, due to the way it was swimming loop-de-loops. A marine scientist friend said it was feeding and not to touch it, as it has electric organs!