The end of planning for Guadeloupe - the fun begins tomorrow!

So, the main reason we came back to the Eastern Caribbean this year is because our dear friend, Roel, volunteered us to organize a Guadeloupe Cruise for the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and the Cruising Club of America (CCA). Our entire sail plan has been focussed on 1) getting as many friends and family to join us in these islands (that we have enjoyed so much going on 5 years now) and 2) getting to Guadeloupe by mid March. We’ve succeeded on most counts!

After leaving our buddy boat friend in Isles des Saintes, we motor-sailed to Pointe a Pitre, in order to get a mechanic to look at our ongoing engines issues. We were lucky enough to get a slip at bas du Fort Marina, where Fred’s Marine shop is located and we were able to get an appointment with Fred. The Harbor master helped us med moor where we were squeezed (literally with inches between boats) next to our friend, Mark on s/v Tonic. We had to deploy the big ball fenders in order to maintain our friendship!

The marina has two marine shops, a variety of other technicians, lots of restaurants, a grocery store, a pastry shop and some retail shops, most with very reasonable prices. I took pictures of all the menus so we could choose what to eat from the boat. We had some excellent pizza-to-go that first evening. 

The next morning Fred arrived and within a couple hours he had put new seals in the generators’ leaky water pump, replaced bad gaskets in the fuel system, and tested & confirmed that our main engine charging voltage was appropriate. The low readings we are getting from the panel may still be an issue but all of the engines systems are running well. Here’s Fred, a very nice and capable guy, with cool looking glasses (that, if you look closely, you’ll see they have one circular lens and one square)!

The next day, Andrew picked up a new EPIRB that was being programmed for us (since the old one’s battery died) and I picked up breakfast from the boulangerie for the second day in a row! We washed the boat, filled the tanks with water and Andrew got his hair cut (using Google translate to provide instructions in French), so that we would be prepared to leave for our next destination.

Sailing the next day was mostly downwind, not our favorite angle unless we can get the chute out but there was too much wind for that. Instead of going to Basse Terre, as originally planned, we anchored in Bouliante, as a possible alternative when our cruise visits Pigeon Island nearby. It was a well protected anchorage with a hot springs generated by a geothermal plant, but otherwise, unspectacular if it weren’t for the double rainbow hovering over it!

On March 14th, we arrived around 9:30 in Deshaies, to check out the venue at our first stop for the NYYC/CCA Cruise. There were 5 mooring balls available and plenty of anchoring room. By the afternoon, all the balls were taken and there was less anchor room. The next day, we cleaned the inside and backside of the boat and prepared the quarters for our guests that will be joining us on the cruise. Tomorrow, 13 boats, with 60 cruisers altogether, will converge on this place and we are hoping & praying for some turnover!!

 

Buddy boating with Jay/Joe

Our new buddy boating friend, Jay (on s/v Hurah), will now and forever more be known as Jay/Joe! Since our friend, Dana on Pathfinder, introduced him as Joe, I couldn’t get it right even when Jay introduced himself as “J, as in the letter, ya know”. We are working closely on the Guadeloupe Cruise with another Jay, the Commodore of CCA, so it’s been convenient to have a nick name for the new Jay! Andrew suggested J/J, which is convenient for blog writing.

In any event, we continued to discuss plans with Jay/Joe as we are working our way north, but he decided not to go when we were ready to head off to Dominica. We prefer to sail in 15-20 knots (even if the seas is a little rougher) to motoring in a calm seas, so we left J/J (who is single handling, by the way) in St. Pierre for the 5 1/2 hour sail to Roseau. It was sporty at first (20-25 knot winds, 6-8 foot seas), until we got past Martinique and then it settled into a rather nice sail on the beam. When we got into the lee of Dominica, the wind dropped out entirely and we motored in to pick up a mooring from Sea Cat and stayed overnite; leaving the next morning.

We had an easy 3 hour trip in the lee of Dominica to Portsmouth, the next day. Arriving before noon, we were assisted with the mooring by Alexis from PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services) and rigged the dinghy to take our papers into customs. The really friendly, multi-lingual and helpful gal (Val) at the PAYS office said they could check in for us for $100 EC (or $30 USD, which is probably 10x what it would cost us to do it ourselves), but gave us time to go to the outdoor market and grocery store for some desperately needed supplies. We didn’t find half of what we were looking for so when we got back to the boat and Danny came by in his kyack, we were happy to purchase some fresh papaya, apricot and bananas. 

While running the generator the day prior, we had heard a ticking noise that didn’t sound good so we were using the motor 2x per day to recharge our weak batteries. Fortunately, we were able to get the very able (and one armed) mechanic named Igna, to come look at it our first day in Portsmouth. Igna was delivered to our boat by a helpful friend, hopped aboard more adroitly than many I know with four limbs, and after a quick listen and inspection, told us we were either 1) low on oil, 2) had a clog in the oil system or 3) had a more serious problem. Andrew had checked the oil and knew we were a half quart low, so he filled it up and that seemed to have fixed the problem. Phew!

The best new discovery about Portsmouth this year was Whitney at Maford House Cafe. After paying one of the PAYS guys to take us to a better grocery store and 2 unsuccessful visits to ATM’s before we found one that worked, we found Whitney. She is a refreshingly friendly, Canadian who has had various restaurants in Dominica for 27 years. At the Cafe, she makes fresh bread, cheese cake, etc. and she promises the best fish & chips on the island, which she delivered to us in the pleasantly shaded beer garden out back.

As mentioned, our buddy Jay/Joe chose to make a long trip in one day from St. Pierre, Martinique to Portsmouth, Dominica, in order to avoid the forecasted heavy seas but as the sailing gods would have it, he had a rougher sail than we did. Fortunately, he arrived safely on our second day. We went over for coffee on his boat the next morning and discussed plans for moving on to Guadeloupe, while he generously allowed me to use his Starlink; internet capabilities I have sorely missed since our Wi-Fi puck hasn’t worked since Martinique.

That afternoon, Jay/Joe joined us on the Indian River Tour, where we were rowed by Alexis past the Pirates of Caribbean movie set, through the jungle like vegetation to the rum bar at the end, where Alexis showed us the local crab and made a bird out of fronds for me. That evening, we caught up with friends we’ve been chasing all over the Caribbean (Sue & Denny and their crew Linda & Bob on s/v Evening Star) at Madiba’s for dinner.

The day before we were to leave for Guadeloupe, Jay/Joe did an island tour, Andrew cleaned the boat and I went over to Jay’s boat to use Starlink for a Medicare enrollment conference call. Yes folks, I’m that old! That evening, we enjoyed a PAYS barbeque, where we ran into friends from Trinidad and sat with a sailing couple from Philadelphia (of all places).

On March 8, we were off to Isles des Saintes, Guadeloupe and actually buddy boating with our new found friend, Jay/Joe. After a bit of motoring, we had a great sail with 15-20 knots of wind, 2-4 foot seas and best of all, we caught a yellow fin tuna! 

We arrived in Les Saintes before noon and surprisingly found four moorings available. After we picked up our mooring ball, we launched our dinghy and helped Jay/Joe pick up his ball. He was close enough for us to use his Starlink from our boat!

That afternoon, we took Jay/Joe to town and showed him where to find the grocery store, boulangerie and the butcher, all the key ingredients for a stay in the French islands. We all bought supplies and went back to our respective boats for a quiet evening. 

The next day, we took Jay/Joe to Isle de Cabri for a hike to the top of the fort for the view of the harbor. It was a bit overcast and we couldn’t see the mainland like you would on a clear day but it was magnificent anyway. Afterward, we snorkeled nearby and saw lots of pretty little fish, coral and sea fans.

That evening, Jay/Joe, Andrew and I had dinner at Au Bon Vivre on Terre den Haut to celebrate our buddy boating venture. We all ordered the chef’s surprise, which was 4 courses including a dorado sushi served with gazpacho, tuna in a yogurt soup, red snapper with mashed potatoes & candy onion and a lastly, Carmel flan with a cookie for dessert, that I ate too fast to get a pic! The flavors and portions were perfect and I’d have to say, it was the best meal I’ve had in the Caribbean this season; a fitting finale to our buddy boating venture with Jay/Joe.

The next morning, as we were leaving for Pointe a Pitre, where we’ll begin preparations for the NYYC/CCA Guadeloupe Cruise, Jay/Joe sent over this lovely picture of Billy Ruff’n at the end of a rainbow!

Catching up with friends in Martinique

The sail from St. Lucia to St. Anne, Martinique, must have been classically good or uneventful because I have no notes from it. I would have to check Andrew’s log. In any event, we arrived in St. Anne on 2/24 to hundreds of boats in the harbor, some said between here and nearby Le Marin, there were thousands! (All those little white sticks in the picture above are masts!!) We checked in at Bou Bou bar, which couldn’t have been easier, except that the computer program is all in French, and my French is getting better, but still a challenge. At least we got to have drinks while checking in and the bar tender was super helpful and friendly.

We discovered our friends, Edwin & Karen (s/v Frog’s Leap), were in Le Marin and met them for lunch (raw meat cooked on a stone at L’Annex), and afterward helped them bend their mainsail back on the mast. That’s what sailors do for fun!

The next day, we took the dinghy back on a wet 3 mile ride back to Le Marin to find a Digicel store where we could get a SIM card for our Wi-Fi puck (our version of internet access while trying to avoid the expense of Starlink)! Apparently, the French islands no longer support this technology and we are running out of data on our phones every other day. Looks like Starlink may be in our future!! 

After stops at the boulangerie (for quiche) and the grocery store, we swung by Frog’s Leap at the dock. Edwin was up the mast trying to get his tricolor working and Karen was on a headset below keeping an eye on him.

The following day, we took the dinghy into St. Anne for a visit to another boulangerie (this time for sausage croissant and a baguette) and a stroll through the outdoor market, where we bought shrimp, spinach & fish fritters from one vendor and some passion fruit jam from another. We also made reservations at La Dunnette for dinner that evening with Lawrence & Cindi (s/v Bermudian Escape). Lawrence is from the well known Trimingham family of Bermuda and has signed up for the Guadeloupe cruise we are organizing in March. We hadn’t met them yet and had a really enjoyable evening hearing about Lawrence’s family history in the islands and other sailing stories.

On Feb 28th, Karen & Edwin rented a car and invited us to join them on a road trip to Jardin de Balata and Habitation Clement. The first stop was the botanical garden, which was really nice (but not the best we’ve seen in the islands). The pictures speak for themselves:

The second stop was a rum distillery, which includes a 16 hectare sculpture garden and the former private residence (now open to the public) of the proprietor, who is best known for having hosted Presidents Bush and Mitterrand on this property in the 1990’s. Some more pics to tell that story:

On 2/29, we left St. Anne for Anse du Ford, a small bay about 15 miles up the western coast of Martinique. We had planned to buddy boat with a solo sailor and Salty Dawg named Jay, on s/v Hurah, but his anchor got stuck and we had to proceed without him. The bay had room for about 4 boats due to all the snorkelers and swimmers coming from the busy beach on shore. We settled in to the only remaining spot and after snorkeling to check the anchor, we rowed the dinghy in for lunch.

That evening, we were one of two boats remaining in the bay and with the recent assault on two sailors, we decided to practice one of our safety measures and locked ourselves in the boat. 

The next day, we coordinated our sail to St. Pierre with Jay (s/v Hurah), who had found a diver to unwind his anchor chain and help him raise his anchor. He got an early start and caught up with us just outside our anchorage. We had a nice sail, in sight of each other, and arrived in St. Pierre at roughly the same time. We happened to anchor in front of our friends Dana & Lisa (s/v Pathfinder), who Jay also knew, so that evening we had everyone over for drinks on Billy Ruff’n. 

Andrew and I went to town to make reservations for the gang at our favorite restaurant the next day, and found not only was it permanently closed but nothing was open for dinner that evening (a Saturday night)! Since there were cruise ships in the harbor, we figured all the shops and restaurants open up in the daytime and close at night when the ships leave. Instead, Lisa & Dana were our hosts for drinks on Pathfinder that night, where we took this pic:

Since Andrew and I have another island to go, provisioning to do and a generator to fix before we get to Guadeloupe for our cruise, we left Martinique the next day to continue our way north.

Revisiting our COVID home in St. Lucia

On Feb 15th, we sailed from St.Vincent to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. It took ~ 7 hrs in 15-20 knots of wind with 3-5 foot seas, averaging 7.5 knots. Good sail until we got in the lee of the island and had to turn the motor on. Arrived too late to check in so we anchored off the beach and put our yellow Q flag up. The Q flag is an old tradition still used today to represent a ‘quarantined’ ship that isn’t approved for entry yet. 

Andrew checked in the next day and we brought the boat into a slip in Rodney Bay Marina, a place we considered home for 3 months in March 2020 when COVID hit the island. We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat and catching up with Vision, the Rastafarian fellow that looked after our boat when we left it here for hurricane season in 2020. 

We learned that Vision, who was to do some varnish work for us, had been attacked by a guy with a machete the week prior and got his thumb chopped off! He would need some help getting all the work done and we wanted to support him, so the next day, he showed up with his buddy, Kennedy, dragging a paddle board to use in cleaning the hull of the boat.

Andrew and I were commenting on how not much had changed since 2020, except that everything was open and busy. The floating vegetable guy, Gregory, still visits every day. Our favorite restaurants were all still there; including Elena’s for pizza and ice cream, Bosun’s for curry, Cafe Ole for protein bowls & smoothies, Rituals for sushi and Sea Salt for fish. The one thing that was different was that Elena’s had a new ice cream shop (next to the pizza restaurant) that had bathing suited kids lined up all day, everyday. Since we were having part of the galley varnished, I took a break from cooking and we revisited all of the restaurants at least once.

In the few days we were there at the dock we filed our taxes, finished most of the planning for the upcoming Guadeloupe Cruise that we are organizing and I enjoyed swimming, yoga and kijong with Susie at the pool. 

We met up with our friends, Wendy & Darrell (s/v Siroccho) for pizza one night and enjoyed after dinner drinks and fireworks from the deck of our boat to celebrate St.lucia’s independence, afterwards. We began preparations for our trip to Martinique, when we heard the horrible news about the sailing couple, whose boat was hijacked by escaped convicts off Grande Anse beach in Grenada (a place we have anchored many times recently). The bloodied boat was recovered in St. Vincent, the convicts were recaptured but our fellow Salty Dawg sailors, Kathy & Ralph, were never found. It has shaken the entire sailing community!

We moved off the dock on 2/23 and back out to the Bay for departure the next morning. Wendy & Darrell were still anchored there and invited us to their Tayana 55 for sundowners. It was very similar to our good friends’ (Mike and Mary’s) Hylas 49, Dream Weaver, which made us miss our old boating buddies even more.

The next day, we were to get fuel and head off to St. Anne, Martinique at first light but apparently the sailing Gods had other plans. When we were maneuvering around the gas dock, we heard a bad knock in the engine. After filling up, we went back out to the anchorage so that Andrew could open up the engine compartment and have a look. He found 3 of the 4 bolts that hold the shaft in place had loosened and one was missing! Luckily, he could tighten things up and found replacements so we could get underway only a few hours behind schedule. Good bye for now, St. Lucia!