We took advantage of a southerly wind and headed up to Guadeloupe with a very comfortable point of sail. Since we spent a bit of time here on our way south, we wanted to go to different spots than we did on the first pass. It was a great plan, and with one unfortunate incident, pretty solid execution.
Marie-Galante
Our first stop was at the small, flat island of Marie-Galante. Southbound, we stopped at the islands just west of here but did not make it over this way. The island felt a bit run-down and was quite flat. We ate a nice meal ashore and strolled around the small town of St Louis. We checked out the small church in town, which was appropriately sized and decorated given the unassuming attitude of the island.
Since it is quite flat and un-forested, it makes for good cattle land, so we saw many cows and their friends, the poop birds.
We had a beautiful view of les Îles des Saintes at sunset, so Fira decided to take her dolls up topside to enjoy the view with us.
Pointe-à-Pitre
Next stop was the capital. We drove through here with our rental car last time we were on the island, but decided to anchor here for a few nights this time. We had heard good things about the slavery museum and the wind was predicted to switch from south to north and back with gusts in the low thirties, so the protection was ideal…at least so we thought.
When we got there, it was right around the time of Carnival parades and parties in town. Coupled with the expected wind disruptions, the anchorage in Point-à-Pitre was overfull. We anchored where we could fit safely and were told to move by a pilot boat. We moved to another spot that didn’t seem to bother them and we were good.
The slavery museum is open until 6pm, so we headed to shore and walked over one afternoon. We arrived at about 2:45 and waited in line for just over two hours. Once inside, we started going through the museum, and I was concerned that we wouldn’t have enough time. But since they had stopped letting people get in the line at about 3:15 or so, we figured we would be OK.
Nope. At 6pm, we were just about halfway through the audio-guided tour and they came and kicked everybody out. It sucked to have to leave because the museum was one of the best museums I have ever been to. The descriptions, videos, art, and immersive audio tour were world-class.
No pictures were allowed in the museum, but the outside of the building is pretty cool too.
The town was pretty neat and had lots of really cool graffiti.
On our walk back to the boat it started pouring rain and the wind picked up quite a bit, as expected. It made the frantic walk back to the boat and dinghy ride so cold and miserable, but it was nothing compared to what was coming.
Right around 9pm, the wind gusts were getting more intense so I went topside just to make sure that things were OK. There was a boat driving backwards through the anchorage a few boats away from us with their anchor still hanging down in the water. They were headed in our general direction, but it just seemed like something that would be interesting to observe from a safe distance. Then, they just kept coming. And kept coming. Then they were close so I started our engine and told Grete to come topside because it seemed like something bad was about to happen. Since they had already been moving around in the anchorage without incident, it seemed like we would probably be safe from getting hit, but the anchor in the water seemed likely to snag our anchor and chain and that could be very bad, which is why I had our engine warming up and getting ready for action.
Somehow, they never did catch the anchor chain, but not for lack of trying because they went back and forth a few times just ahead of us. We were screaming at them to pull up their anchor and to get away from us. They did neither. After a few back and forth passes, they smashed into our bow, breaking our navigation lights and bending our 15-month-old pulpit. This is the second time we’ve been hit since the new pulpit was installed and I gave the fabricator in Pensacola a hard time for apparently installing boat magnets in it.
The next hit was on our port side, which bent a few lifeline stanchions, and scraped the metal on them as well. Grete and I were not happy, as can be evidenced in this video where we were trying to figure out the boat’s info so that we could find them the next day.
The next morning, the owner came over to apologize and give us his insurance information, etc. He seemed very sorry and like a really decent person, which was such a nice change from the last boat owner that hit us back in Georgetown. We already have plans to haul out in Saint Martin and have a few things done, so I guess we’ll have to add these repairs to the list. It turns out that the other people on the boat with him who stared blankly at me and Grete telling them to pull up the anchor and get away were in town visiting him for the weekend and were on a boat for the first time. They were visiting from Spain and spoke neither English nor French, which explains why they were motionless and confused.
West Coast
We took several small hops to work around the west wing of Guadeloupe. A couple stops had interesting characteristics and all of them had stunning scenery in the anchorage. We stopped at Basse-Terre, Petite Anse, Bouillante and Pigeon Island before heading up to Deshaies to clear out of the country.
It was really nice only going a few miles a day and taking in a full day relaxing before another easy, sheltered underway to the next anchorage.
Bouillante (French for ‘boiling’) was especially neat. There is a boiling hot river that pours into the bay and several underwater thermal vents as well. The town has a geothermal power plant that takes advantage of the volcanic activity and tourists come from all over to swim at the mouth of the river where the hot water mixes with the cool water of the bay. We went over there and had a good time sloshing around in the hot tub temperature water with twenty or so other tourists.
I had to dive on our boat and anchor and the water around the boat was alternating between cold and clear, and hot and blurry as the Hoss swung back and forth over various vents.
The town itself was small but had a cute little church and small shops.
We wanted to stop near Pigeon Island because we had heard that the snorkeling was good and there is an underwater statue of Jaques Cousteau.
We did not ever find the statue, and the snorkeling was a bit disappointing, but we did find a few interesting bits of life at the overcrowded spot.
Deshaies
Our last stop was supposed to be Deshaies to clear out. Too many people had the same plan though, so after circling the anchorage a few times we headed a mile or two south and anchored in a small bay nearby.
The next day we dinghied over to Deshaies and did our customs clearance before heading over to the botanical garden.
It was a small, slightly overpriced affair, but there were some beautiful trees and the kids had fun feeding the fish, birds and goats.
The flamingos were healthier looking than the ones we saw in Martinique.
They had these little pots attached to the trees all over the garden with orchids in them, that added some unique flair to the place.
Before we left for Antigua, Fira and I got one more little bit of snorkeling in, and I tossed a pinch of my dad’s ashes in as well.
Now, northbound to Antigua and Barbuda!