The Saintes, Guadeloupe, December 2015

12/17/2015 We had left Martinique, overnighted at Dominica and then left Dominica this morning at 0750 to head to Les Saintes, Guadeloupe. We had flukey winds along the northwestern side of Dominica and had to motor-sail until we got into the Dominica channel. In the channel we had 18 to 19 knots of wind and were sailing along at 6.8 to 7.2 knots with the jib and reefed main. We sailed into Les Saintes along the southern entrance and picked up a mooring ball at Terre d’en Haute. We’ve anchored here before but it is quite deep, there is usually a swell and a good bit of wind and the holding is not that great so we prefer to take a ball here. Mythago, Lequesteau, Tehani and several of the “kid” boats from Grenada were there or came soon after we did: Proud Mary, Ally Cat, Daystar, Day Dreamer, and Three Little Birds.

Sherry from Mythago celebrated her 60^th birthday on December 18th.We had lunch at La Saladerie for her birthday.

Harbor at Terre dé Haute from our walk to La Saladerie

Sherry's birthday lunch

This little guy was watching us eat. Think he wanted some of our salad.

Looking out at the harbor from the restaurant

Greg and I walked to Baie de Pompierre on the eastern side of the island and spent a nice afternoon exploring the beach and walked across the bay in a shallow area to climb the headland on a little island that almost encloses the bay. No boats are allowed to enter this little bay and it is a very nice, quiet place to spend the afternoon on the beach or along the cliff areas. 

Baie de Pompierre

 

The little island that encloses the southeastern edge of the bay. We walked to the top right hand edge.

Waves were crashing constantly on the rocks but the water in the bay is calm.

We waded across the bay to go up the hill. The rock formations and colorations at the base of the hill were pretty.

Looking down from the top of the hill at the cut between the little island and the main island of Terre dé Haute

The cut where the water comes into the bay

Waves crashing on the rocks below

The peak to which we climbed

 

Sea urchins in the water as we waded back across the bay in the shallows

Thankfully we had our sandals on and didn't step on any of these

These two roosters looked so regal in their yards

Never knew roosters could actually be pretty

We also walked with Caroline and Greig and Dave and Sherry to Grande Anse (Anse = beach) on the Eastern Shore. It is a really big beach with very rough surf and swimming is not advisable. There were some large, pretty homes along this area overlooking the Atlantic. We walked on around the southeastern corner to Anse Rodriguez where we spent a few hours on the beach and then walked back to town.

One of the sailing cruise ships that pulled into Les Saintes

Grande Anse beach

Very rough seas

View from our spot on the beach at Anse Rodriguez

Local home decorated for Christmas

Our Christmas tree

We rented a scooter one day and went to every beach on Terre dé Haute including Baie de Marigot and Pain de Sucre. We still liked Pompierre the best.

Spotted this goat on our way to Baie de Marigot

This iguana was at Pompierre

Our Christmas card from Figuier Beach

We took a dinghy ride over to Pain de Sucre beach with the crews from Mythago, Lequesteau and Tehani one day and had a picnic lunch and spent a leisurely afternoon on this very narrow beach with way too many other people. It made for some interesting people watching.

12/24/2015 We spent much time preparing food for communal Christmas dinner and then spent a nice evening on Lequesteau with our five boat crews together. Greg and I left the party and went to Christmas eve Mass at the little church here. Even though we arrived early, it was packed and we had to cram in at the back just to get inside. Some people had to stand outside for all of Mass. Of course, it was in French so we didn’t understand anything except the words, “Gloria” in the song. There was a procession of children up the aisle with the priest. All the kids were in white with white masks on. We couldn’t really figure out the significance of this but they all stayed around the altar for Mass. After a long, hot evening in church (there is no air conditioning), we walked back to the dinghy dock, passing a surprising number of people still out and restaurants open on Christmas eve evening.

12/25/2015 Christmas day we decided not to go to shore for potluck with many other cruisers because it was rainy and there really wasn’t a place to set things up. We had a great Christmas dinner on Tehani with our usual four boat crews and new friends we met from Skitter Skamp, Brian and Maggie from Vancouver. Everyone brought wonderful food and we had a feast.  

Christmas on Tehani

12/26/2015 Greg spent the day making Turkey and Sausage Gumbo with leftovers.  Even made a pot that was gluten free and it came out pretty darn good too.  We had the usual crowd over for dinner.  This boat is really too small for 8 people to eat dinner.  We managed to squeeze everyone into the cockpit and still have enough elbow room to eat.  We had hoped to have leftovers for the passage the next day but both pots were scraped clean. 

12/27/2015 We checked out of Guadeloupe on the 26^th for the next day, said goodbye to all of our friends who weren’t leaving yet and left Isle des Saintes at 0722 to head north. We needed to be in St. Thomas before January 9 to meet Connor and we wanted to spend some time in Antigua so we took our first opportunity to head north although the conditions weren’t ideal. Skitter Skamp also left the same day we did, also headed to Antigua. We made 7+ knots sailing from Les Saintes past Vieux Fort with a reefed main, staysail and jib. We dropped the staysail later and hit several squalls along the coast. We then had to motor the last 5 to 6 miles because we lost most of the wind. We hit another squall just as we entered Des Haies. It cleared as we got in the harbor and we managed to anchor in 25 feet of water near friends on Dea Latis. No moorings were available. Des Haies is known for the winds howling through the valleys and into the harbor and we certainly had some the night we spent there. We yellow flagged it as we had already checked out in Les Saintes so we wouldn’t have to put the dinghy in again. 

And then off to Antigua......

St. Lucia to Martinique 2015

11/21/2015 We left Bequia at 0155 along with Baidarka and Lequesteau to head to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. Unfortunately, along the way Baidarka got a fishing net wrapped around their prop and with not much wind they could not sail very fast and couldn’t motor. Lequesteau and we decided to go into the Pitons area of St. Lucia and take a mooring ball to wait for Baidarka so we could help them get the prop free and then continue on to Rodney Bay. As Baidarka could only make a couple of knots, it took them about 2.5 hours to get to the Pitons and get on a mooring. Of course, it was also raining during this time. As soon as they did, Greig from Lequesteau dove on their prop and after much cutting, managed to free the net. There are boat boys who come out and want to help you tie up to the moorings in the Pitons. We had told the guy we did not need his help and that we were only staying there to wait for a friend.  The moorings are managed by the park service and they collect the fees for them. However, these boat boys want you to pay them for “helping tie you to the mooring.” Last time we stopped here it was for overnight and the boat boy was very nice and was in an inflatable that did not damage our boat. We did use his help then because it was very windy, making it difficult to tie to the ball. This time was a totally different story. We repeatedly told the guy we would do it ourselves and did not need his help. He wouldn’t move off the mooring line until we were almost on top of him. He was in a wooden boat that would scratch our hull and we had to yell at him to get him to move out of the way. He then had the nerve to ask us for “a little something to make him happy.” He suggested $20. I told him that would not make me happy especially since he had done nothing for us but get in the way. He complained that he needed to buy petrol. I told him that was not our problem.  He finally left us and tried the same thing with Lequesteau. He then tried to get $50 from Bill on Baidarka (I guess his price went up to make up for us not paying him) and Bill called him a thief and refused to give him anything. After we got Baidarka fully functioning again, we dropped the moorings and continued on our way. However, we realized we would not make it to Rodney Bay before dark and decided to stop in Marigot Bay about 10 miles to the south of Rodney Bay. We made it there about 1730, a total of 15.5 hours that day!

Marigot Bay Resort has a small marina and some mooring balls in their little bay. You can get a mooring ball for $30 US per night and can raft up to 3 boats on a mooring. Baidarka anchored in the outer bay but Lequesteau and us took a mooring together. This gave us guest privileges at the resort, allowing us to use their pools and showers at the marina. The resort was beautiful and the pools were very nice with a swim up bar in one and an infinity pool in the other one. We stayed 2 days and used a different pool each day. The marina staff was very friendly and helped us raft up on the ball. The only downside was that we had to check in on a weekend so we had to pay overtime charges of $100EC which is about $40US. Oh well, we enjoyed the pools and relaxed. Had sundowners with Lequesteau each night and “limed” the days away. “Limin’” is a West Indies term for “chilling out or hanging out.” When the British sailors were plying the waters of the Caribbean they became known as Limeys because they had to eat limes to prevent scurvy. As they seemed to have much free time when not at sea, they just hung around and that became known as ‘limin’.” 

Much of the original Dr. Doolittle movie was filmed here in Marigot Bay and there is a Dooolittle's restaurant on the beach.

Looking out from Marigot Bay

Jah Come sells fruit and veggies

 

The lower level infinity pool with waterfall

The upper level pool with cabanas, fountains and a swim-up bar

One of the private cabanas and dining areas near the lower pool

 

Pretty seating area looking out over the harbor

 

Another veggie boatman

Lagniappe and Lequesteau rafted up in Marigot Bay

Doolitttle's Restaurant

Caroline, Greig, Liz Ann and Greg at the swim-up bar

Marigot Bay at night

11/23/2015 We left Marigot Bay to sail the 10 miles to Rodney Bay in light winds, motorsailing with just the staysail up to steady the boat. Initially, we took a mooring in the inner bay but realized we couldn’t get to shore or the marina very easily with the outboard not working on the dinghy so we took a slip in the marina. Baidarka had gotten a slip to do some work on their boat and we were right next to them. We spent the next few days re-provisioning at the groceries in Rodney Bay and doing a few boat projects ourselves. Bill on Baidarka had mentioned that our exhaust water flow looked minimal when we sailed from Bequia up to St. Lucia so we checked the impeller and found one of the blades had broken off. It took us 4 hours and the cost of a new Impeller puller tool ($175) to get it off. But we finally got it off and replaced it with a spare we had. Checked the water flow with the engine running and now it was good. At least one thing got fixed!

Our great new impeller puller!

We had to wait until 11/27 for the outboard CDI unit to arrive and when it did, Greg installed it and the outboard still didn’t work! We had to get another local mechanic to look at it and he replaced the coil and crank position sensor. His labor was reasonable but the parts were expensive. So after about $600 all total for the parts we ordered and the labor and parts in St. Lucia, we finally had a working outboard again. Then we had to turn our attention to a leak in our water lines. We spent hours going through the lines and trying to find the source of the leak. We had to replace some of the tubing which had a tiny pinhole and some connectors. We flushed the watermaker and ran the air conditioner to make sure it still worked after having it serviced in Grenada after Carnival. We also let out all 300 feet of our anchor chain on the dock and unkinked it and then stowed it back in the anchor locker.

Meanwhile, we managed to have some fun. We had dinner one night at a Mexican restaurant and also had a Thanksgiving dinner potluck. One of the restaurants along the boardwalk at the marina let us use two of their big tables and we hauled them over to a grassy area and set up our dinner. We had a great feast and watched the J-24 race in the harbor. 

J-24 race in the harbor

Setting up the Thanksgiving potluck

We had quite a feast

We spent a couple of evenings on S/V Livin’ Life (Janice and Dave) a large catamaran with a great cockpit for company. We had cribbage tournaments and also learned a new card game called Wizard.  There was lots of accompanying rum, wine and popcorn. A good time. While playing cards on their boat we watched the ARC boats coming in from their Atlantic crossing and cheered them on. Some were huge yachts with crew and others were in the 40 foot range. 
We took the dinghy over to Pigeon Island and hiked to the old fort and lookout. They are on opposite peaks on the island and we hiked up to both. We also got to watch some local fishermen put out their nets and catch fish just off the beach on Pigeon Island. It was fascinating and looked like a LOT of work.

Beautiful grounds in the park on Pigeon Island

Thankfully, we didn't need the medicinal benefits of this tree!

Rodney Bay from Pigeon Island

Greg on a cannon in the old British fort

Looking back at the fort from the peak of the lookout

Liz Ann, Greg, Nancy, Greig and Caroline at the lookout peak

Remains of the old fort

The old cellar turned into a pub

 

Local fishermen at Pigeon Island

Some in the water, beating the water to make the fish go in the net

They caught lots of small silvery fish

12/1/2015 We checked out of St. Lucia then went to the fuel dock. If you have checked out, you get the fuel duty free. We then set sail for St. Anne, Martinique, about 20 miles away. We sailed with the main and jib but had 6 foot rollers hitting us on the starboard quarter which made for a very rolly trip. We anchored in St. Anne and found Mythago was already here. We really like St. Anne and spent several days swimming, took a bus trip to Fort de France and stocked up at the Hyper U and Decathlon sporting goods and more provisioning in Le Marin. When the 8 of us took the bus to Fort de France, we intended to get the bus back to St. Anne. However, after waiting at the bus stop for over an hour for the right bus, we finally asked one of the other bus operators about the St. Anne bus. He called the dispatcher and they could not figure out why the bus had not come and now it was the end of the bus time. The bus driver called a friend with a van taxi and he came and took us back to St. Anne for only $2 euro more than the bus. Otherwise we would have been stuck in Fort de France overnight. A group of 12 of us had dinner one night in a little Italian restaurant. The waiter was shocked when we showed up and we had to wait for him to officially open and set up the tables. He made dinner very enjoyable and we had a wonderful meal.

One of our favorite things about Martinique: Greg brings a fresh baguette back for lunch

the crew at the Italian restaurant

Our antipasti appetizer

Each plate was beautifully prepared

One day we walked up a way-of-the-cross path up the hill beside the church. We had nice views of the harbor from there too. Then we went to the beach for the afternoon. 

Looking out at theanchorage in St. Anne from the way of the Cross path

One of the Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross path going up the hill in St. Anne

Inside the church in St. Anne

 

Sunset in St. Anne

12/9/2015 Mythago, Lequesteau and we sailed about 4 hours on a very rolly broad reach from St. Anne to Petit Anse DÁrlet, Martinique. As we were coming into the anchorage at Anse Chaudiere, we turned the engine on and noticed no water was coming out of the engine exhaust. We had just replaced the impeller and didn’t think that was the problem. Greg opened the engine room and found the hose had come off the heat exchanger and he managed to get it back on. We had to anchor twice to get hooked in well. The sea bed was very grassy which our Bruce anchor doesn’t do well in. We snorkeled in the bay that afternoon.

Sailing out past Diamond Rock in St. Anne

Trying to catch dinner, but no luck

Snorkeling in Anse Chaudiere

A few fish in the mouth of this coral

 The next day we hiked around the headland to Grande Anse DÁrlet. The trail was not marked and we got lost a couple of times and had to turn around and retrace our steps. We finally made it to Grande Anse and walked through the town, had something to drink and then headed back to Petit Anse by road.

Pretty church and waterfront in Petit Anse DÁrlet

Hiking around Morne Champagne to Grande Anse

Looking at the Harbor in Grande Anse

12/11/2015 Lequesteau, Mythago and us sailed up the coast to St. Pierre, having a great sail making 7+ knots as we passed Fort de France. Tehani joined us a day or two later. We anchored at Anse Turin, just south of St. Pierre. There is a nice beach here and better holding and less crowded than in St. Pierre proper. It is only a 5 minute dinghy ride to the town and the dinghy dock.  We hit 10,000 miles on our knotlog on the way here. Hard to believe we have sailed that far in the 2 years and 10 days since we left home! We celebrated with a nice dinner at Le Tamaya in St. Pierre. We had tried to go there for our anniversary dinner on our way south but they were closed then. We had a wonderful dinner and ran into Bob and Lynn from S/V Ile Jeudi there.

Le Tamaya in St. Pierre

A great dinner

2 years and 10,000 miles since we left home in December 2013

We spent several days in St. Pierre, swimming and enjoying the beach and taking the hike to the Canal de Beauregard which funnels water from the mountains to the farming areas. The canal is about 4 kilometers long and was built by slaves. It is not a hike for those afraid of heights. Once you get to the actual canal, you walk along its edge sometimes with sheer drop-offs. But there are beautiful vistas and it is generally shaded once you get to the canal part. There is a restaurant near the top end at which we had planned to have lunch. However, they were closed for renovations but managed to serve us drinks. We then walked back around a mountain, through St. Denis and down to St. Pierre, hoping to get some BBQ at a restaurant there that Caroline and Greig had a few days before and said was wonderful. Again, no luck. They were also closed that day. We walked back to the south end of town and thru the tunnel to Anse Turin to our dinghies. We figured out we had walked about 20 kilometers that day. And we felt it for several days!

View of the volcano from Beauregard plantation

Arched entrance to the banana plantation

Martiniqque has many cultivated fields

The "trail map"

View from the Canal de Beauregard

Walking along the irrigation canal with a sheer drop to one side

Greg and Greig

This tree had wierd spikes growing from the trunk

Greg, Greig, Caroline, Sherry and Dave on the Canal de Beauregard

Greg takes a break

A little shrine along the canal

This guy was checking us out

 

Another "local

Church in Fond St. Denis

Statue in the town square

Never found out the name of these flowers but I really liked them

Fond St. Denis

Pink flowering vines covering trees

We all had lunch one day at a restaurant in town where Greg had a grouper that he thought was superb. We stocked up on fresh veggies at the Saturday market. Their selection is fantastic and the prices can’t be beat.
12/16/2015 Before we knew it, it was time to head on to the Saintes in Guadeloupe. We left St. Pierre at 0430 andhad a great sail across the Dominica channel, making 6.5 to 7 knots. Once in the lee of Dominica, the winds wer less reliable and we had to motor-sail. We tried fishing again but didn't catch anything. We made it to Portsmouth, Dominica at 1515 and got a mooring from Martin on Providence. Dominica was ravaged with flooding and mudslides last August in Tropical Storm Erika. Martin's boat sank from the rains but he managed to salvage it and got a new motor. So many road and bridges were washed out, and peoples homes were washed away. We didn't go ashore and didn't check in because we were just spending the one night. So we yellow-flagged it and took off again the next morning for Terre d' Haute, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe.