Sailing solo up the Caribbean - S4 E11 Martinique to Dominica and Guadeloupe

Name: Sailing solo up the Caribbean - S4 E11 Martinique to Dominica and Guadeloupe
Uploaded: 2025-10-20T19:50:43.000Z
Duration: 20 min 58 s
Description: Heavy Sargassum weed in the Caribbean forces a transition from wind vane steering to tiller autopilot.

20. oktober 2025 · 20 min · 2K visninger · Dominica

Sailing toward Dominica’s cloud-capped mountains under blue sky

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A solo sailor transiting the Caribbean from Martinique to Guadeloupe reports frequent encounters with heavy Sargassum weed, which necessitates switching from a Pacific Wind Pilot wind vane to a tiller autopilot during passages.8:33 The route includes stops in Dominica and the Saints, where the sailor notes that protected anchorages often require moorings rather than anchoring.9:18 In Dominica, the sailor highlights an efficient customs process in Rousseau that allows for simultaneous check-in and check-out within a 14-day window.1:41 While anchored in Deshaies, Guadeloupe, the sailor experiences anchor drag due to strong winds and notes the presence of a local botanical garden.17:36 The sailor uses iSailor for navigation and PredictWind for tracking, though the latter experienced GPS glitches during the trip.0:20 Heavy Sargassum mats frequently fouled the wind vane rudder, forcing the use of a boat hook for manual clearing or reliance on the tiller pilot in light winds.12:16 The sailor concludes that anchoring in the Saints and parts of Guadeloupe can be challenging due to shallow sand or restricted mooring-only zones.10:08