Bareboat carribean

Just reporting back from my bare boat hols in Guadeloupe.  Very pleasant and laid back. 

Clickandboat.com worked out fine; the company itself was good and helpful, though their website isn't the easiest to use (you have to chose a boat and see if it is available rather than state your dates and see what is free ...).  Most boats are only available Friday to Friday, but some of the owners are happy to lease for a few days mid week or across a weekend.

A 34fter is quite sufficient, for Guadeloupe's windward side; you just don't go very fast, so getting further than Les Saintes and Marie Gallant is probably not going to happen very easily.  To get from Saintes to Marie Gallant let alone out to Desirade and Petite Isles is a long beat against the prevailing wind - with few options for easy anchorage part way along if you don't make it.

In the end the boat owner looked at my itinerary and suggested we go first from Point a Pitre to Marie Gallant rather than to Les Saintes ("full of tourists anyway") to avoid the beat out to Marie Gallant ... then the wind changed and we ended up beating most of the way to Marie Gallant anyway.  Could then easily have broad reached across to Les Saintes and beam-reached back to Pointe a Pitre; but "the crew" liked Marie Gallant so much we stayed there!  Great anchorage off Saint Louis, couple of nice bars / restaurants and lovely bays and beaches in both directions for day trips.  Oh, and 50o proof RUM in 5 litre boxes!

Constant 26oC, surprisingly variable F3 to F6, but mostly sat around the top of F4.   Local 1m waves crossing 2m ocean swell makes for a bouncy ride.  Navigation is basically line of site;  though look out for blocks of coral when close to shore (the chart might say 2m depth, but the rocks are BIG).