Kookaburra

A Winter in the Caribbean

Kookaburra’s Atlantic crossing by the numbers? 2,200 nautical miles sailed, 188 flying fish washed up on deck, 68 night watches completed, 26 hours under engine, 25 beers downed, 17 days at sea, 4 successful gybes, 5 squalls that hit us head-on, 3 schools of dolphins encountered, and… 0 fish caught! The crew made landfall at Les Saintes, off Guadeloupe. Arriving in the early hours of the morning in an idyllic bay, Pierre and Sylvie are delighted with this beautiful crossing and the adventure that began last July from Arcachon, on France’s Atlantic coast. And it’s safe to say they’re making the most of their catamaran to explore the islands of the Caribbean! Next stop Colombia and then on to transit the Panama Canal…

Kookaburra

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Published 03/04/2026

By Mary Nicholas

Issue: 207

Published: may / june 2026

Discover this issue

Who: Pierre and Sylvie
Where: Atlantic Ocean
Multihull: Venezia 42
Blog: www.polarsteps.com/PierreGry/11465680-kookaburra-met-les-voiles

Time has flown by since our arrival in Les Saintes. We’ve sailed to Marie-Galante twice… first with Bobo and Dan [who did the Atlantic crossing with Pierre and Sylvie - Ed.], then with friends who joined us late November. This authentic and rural island has charmed us all with its beaches, its laid-back lifestyle, and the kindness of its people. Marie-Galante consists of just three small villages and 10,000 inhabitants, not to mention its sugarcane fields that produce excellent rum... We explored Ilet Cabri, Anse du Pain de Sucre, and Pompierre Beach, taking in all the sights, doing some short trails, and stopping in anchorages we could dream of, and without too many people!
Kookaburra spent several stays in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (alongside or on a mooring ball or at anchor - everything was great!). A good starting point for visiting the lush Basse-Terre and the other wing of the butterfly, Grande-Terre. Crew members were joining us one after another until December 9... Then it came time for Sylvie and me to take a break together in Pointe-à-Pitre. There we discovered the chanté nwel, a very popular holiday tradition of singing religious Christmas carols set to Caribbean music.
A few days later, here we are in Martinique! A stop in Le Marin and a nostalgic moment for Pierre, who adopted Kookaburra right here back in January 2021. The marina has become huge, the charter catamarans countless…
We celebrated Christmas at the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines: everything is blue, blue, so blue! We were obviously not alone - there were plenty of boats - but by some miracle, we found a mooring ball that was pretty quiet. The seabed, devastated by Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, is slowly recovering. It’s a kingdom of turtles and leopard rays in crystal-clear waters! We enjoyed delicious grilled lobsters on the beach on the evening of Christmas Day - not bad…
After spending the festive season in the Grenadines, we settled in for two weeks in Martinique to welcome, with immense joy and great emotion, Claude, Sylvie’s 91-year-old mother, and François, Sylvie’s brother - the only visitor to have joined us twice already on this adventure! I took advantage of the fact that Kookaburra was at anchor to do some essential maintenance - cleaning the watermaker, electrical repairs, replacing a water pump on one of the engines, etc. We explored Martinique: visits to distilleries (with tastings, of course!), the Banana Museum (very interesting), Fort-de-France, and Saint-Pierre. Also on the agenda: swimming and walks in the beautiful waters of the southern beaches, discovering the excellent planteurs and Creole cuisine... In short, time flew by.
After a second stop in the Grenadines, we moored Kookaburra at a buoy in the port of Le Marin in Martinique and set off with our new crew on the ferry to Dominica. With its mountains, lush vegetation, and beautiful waterfalls, the island is full of stunning hiking trails. Unfortunately, Kookaburra didn’t handle our week-long absence well. She broke both her mooring lines thirty minutes before we returned to the buoy, due to strong winds and premature wear on the lines caused by a rusty buoy ring. She got tangled in mooring lines of the neighboring sailboat, which brought her to a halt! No damage - more of a scare than anything. We explained to Kookaburra that we hadn’t abandoned her and assured her we’d double the lines next time! Then it was time for us to prepare for the next leg of the journey, heading to Colombia. Three days of calm sailing and peaceful watches took us, on a direct route, to the Dutch island of Bonaire, which has a marine park renowned for its underwater scenery. Equipped with our masks and fins, we saw turtles, rays, lots of fish, and beautiful corals at several dive sites. Our next passage will take us to Cartagena in Colombia.

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