Our daily bread in Guadeloupe

After a treacherous walk back to Les Jardins (straight up hill on a winding road with no sidewalk) to exchange the size for a dress I bought for one of my granddaughters, realizing she would have outgrown it by the next time I see her, I joined my friend, Bob from Pandora, on a milder hike up the creek to a freshwater pond. The water was cold but very refreshing. Later that evening, we watched the sunset and enjoyed cocktails with fresh baked baguette & cheese, with my hiking buddy, his wife Brenda and our new friends and hosts, Mary and Kevin on Pisces.

The next day, both breakfast and lunch were purchased at the local bakery, which has become a daily stop for us in Guadeloupe. We were headed out for Pigeon Island, an excellent snorkeling venue ~ 10 miles down island from Deshaies. After a 2 hour motor sail, we arrived at Bouillante, a touristy beach resort across from the island, bubbling with snorkelers, paddle boards, kayakers and swimmers enjoying the water. I could jump off our boat and find many varieties of fish and coral just 20 feet away.

Later, we went on a dinghy ride to find the laundromat but to no avail. We decided to try the next day and headed back to the boat to get ready for a lovely dinner at Le Rocher de Malendure, an excellent restaurant situated on top the rocks with a great view of the harbor, if it were daytime!

The next morning, we loaded our laundry bags into the dingy and went off to find this mysterious place that we must have passed at least twice the day before. It was behind a rock wall and had a very small entrance so the fishing boat marina inside was easily missed. We attached our dinghy line to a post jammed into the rocks and clamored up with our bags to the parking lot of a strip mall where the ‘laverie’ awaited. We were quite proud of ourselves for figuring out the coin operated system with instructions in French and rewarded our effort with croissants from the nearby bakery.

That evening, we had dinner on board and carefully watched the catamaran of Frenchmen that had anchored way too close to us. Neither of us slept too well with the rocking and rolling so we treated ourselves to a breakfast of French toast, prepared from day old baguette the next morning. What a great use of old bread! Later that day, we left for Basse Terre, where we had hoped to leave the boat in a marina slip and rent a car to tour the island. This was not meant to be when we found the marina too crowded and narrow for us to get into and the car we had reserved was not working. After grabbing some sandwiches at, you guessed it, the local bakery, we spent the night on a mooring and decided to head for Iles des Saintes the following day. I’m told they have bakeries!!

Le Jardin Boutanique de Deshaies

A visit to the botanical garden in Deshaies requires it’s own post because of all the great photo opportunities it provided. So here goes with pictures that speak clearer than any words I could muster:

And a view of the harbor where Billy Ruff’n is in Deshaies:

Bienvenue a Guadeloupe!

After completing few boat projects in Antigua, and meeting some nice slip neighbors from outside Boston (owners of Ted Hood’s former “Robin”, a Little Harbor 46), we finally set off from Jolly Harbor on 1/24. As the Gods of bureaucracy & process would have it however, we only made it 8 miles to Falmouth Harbor. It took a few hours to fill our fuel and water tanks so it was 10:30 before we got to checking out. After waiting for the Customs officer for 20 minutes, he told us we needed to start with the Port Authority. After meeting with the Port Authority officer, she told us we needed to go back to Customs. After completing the paperwork with Customs, we had to check out with Immigrations, etc. etc., thus we didn’t have time to make the 35 mile trip to Guadeloupe before dark.

Adopting the island mantra of ‘No worries’, we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon and evening anchored in Falmouth Harbor, a few boats away from Maiden (the infamous all female crewed boat that raced in the Whitebread around the world race). Later that night, we basked in view of a virtual city of mast lights from dozens of super yachts.

On 1/25, we set off around 8:15 am for an uneventful 6 hour motor sail to Deshaies, Guadeloupe, a quaint fishing town on the north western side of the island. To our surprise, we found ourselves anchored one boat away from our friends from the Salty Dawg rally, Bob and Brenda on Pandora. After an hour or so of unpacking the dinghy, pumping it up, and finding the dinghy equipment, we finally launched her and went in town to check in. Finding an appropriate place to land the dinghy was interesting in that the town dock had been proactively dismantled to prevent it from breaking apart in the surge so we had to find our way up a canal I happened to read about in my cruising guides.

The check-in process was very different from Antigua’s formalities in that the ‘Customs’ office is a computer in a souvenir shop. The nice French shopkeeper helped us through the all French on screen instructions and we were done in about 20 minutes. We explored town a bit and then stopped for a drink at L’Amer, a breezy cafe on the water, with a view of Billy Ruff’n, and the accompanying surf crashing and rumbling on the rocks beneath. We stayed long enough for a beautiful sunset and then bought a small baguette and some spiny lobster to cook up on board for dinner. It was a very good day!

The next day, we took the dinghy in town early to get fresh croissant from Le Boulanger when it opened. Right after we got there, a line of at least a dozen churchgoers and others formed to buy their baguettes for the day. Not much else was going on this Sunday in Deshaies so we went back to the boat to get the paddle board deployed. That evening, we met up for drinks and dinner at Le Madras with Bob & Brenda and some new Salty Dawg friends, Kevin and Mary on Pisces.

We’re back!

After a nice, but extended holiday break in Philadelphia, we are now back in Antigua with a mostly restored back for Andrew and all kinds of unfinished boat projects. We decided to rent an Airbnb in the Jolly Castle Hotel for a few nights so we didn’t have to climb up and down a ladder every time we wanted to get on or off the boat, since it was still out of the water. But, despite comfortable and inexpensive lodging, we’ve been quickly immersed in the world of ‘nothing is easy on a boat’.

Our first morning back, we enjoyed a homemade Antiguan breakfast (scrambled eggs, beans, mackerel and dumplings... that tasted like fresh baked doughnuts without the sugar) at Joseph’s right below our apartment in Jolly Castle. The apartment is comfortable, clean and supported by a very friendly and responsive staff. Arlene, who owns the place, arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the airport and met us at the hotel when we arrived. It is very convenient to the beach, restaurants, grocery store as well as the boatyard and the kitchen makes a nice place for Andrew to make Painkillers to reward us for our challenges.

When we got to the boat, we found the electricity was unplugged so all of the refrigerated and frozen foods we were trying to keep, were spoiled. Cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer were two of our boat projects on the first day back. In addition, Andrew removed 250 feet of chain from the anchor locker in order to inspect both and we had to flake it back into place. We had left a few folks from the boatyard with instructions for a handful of projects, half of which were done, so we spent the rest of the day supervising what was left to do.

We splashed the boat on Monday (1/20) and after a few days for provisioning and waiting for a weather window, we plan to head ~35 miles south of Antigua to Guadeloupe.

Fixing boats in exotic places

A Salty Dawg once said to me that cruising was just another term for fixing boats in exotic places. I would add ‘eating’ in exotic places! And, it certainly is nice to be in Jolly Harbor Marina with all of the conveniences that a cruiser needs (good chandlery and grocery store, clean bathrooms w/ showers) and some nice amenities (good security, a selection of decent restaurants/bars, fresh food markets and boat services nearby).

Since arriving from Saba, we’ve had some nice meals on shore (pizza & California salad at Melini’s, Mousaka and Fish Platter at Acropolis and we’ve prepared some nice meals on board (Andrew’s wahoo in a buttery peach chutney sauce and Mahi/Grouper served over a bed of cabbage salad) but we’ve also done a lot of cleaning and fixing. We’ve washed the boat inside and out, treated rust stains, replaced the missing screws on the spinnaker pole, re-flaked the main, washed & dried lines, etc.

With Andrew’s back and leg still an issue, we have decided to haul the boat, get some needed work done and extend our visit home over Christmas/New Year’s to schedule doctors appointments etc. So, don’t expect to hear much from me over the next month, however let me know if you’re in the Philadelphia area and want to get together!

We’ll never forget Saba!

The cruising guide says that you must visit Saba for the unforgettable forested cliffs, flora & fauna as well as it’s friendly people. We will never forget Saba, not for those reasons, but the unpredictable localized weather! With Andrew’s leg/back still bothering him, it was a blessing that we had Nicola from a boat named Saorsa, joining us on this passage.

Nicola needed a ride to Antigua by the 15th and was willing to join us on our plan to go via Saba and potentially Nevis. On Tuesday (12/10), we picked her up at customs in our dinghy and loaded two very large bags of gear that she was flying out of Antigua for the boat she was meeting in St. Lucia. It was wonderful to have her company and hear her tales about sailing the Mediterranean, Thailand and elsewhere. She is a very accomplished sailor and incredibly helpful crew, not to mention a God-send on this particular voyage. On the morning of 12/11, we hoisted the dinghy motor onboard and set sail for Saba in 10-15 knots of wind with moderate swells. It was great sailing and left us time for checking weather and navigating by cell phone.

At first site of Saba, we saw the telltale clouds topping the island but they were a little more ominous than we expected As we got closer, we were hit by squalls that gusted to 35 mph and prevented us from seeing the moorings through the driving rain, so we hove to for a bit to ride it out. When it cleared enough to see, we picked up a mooring and proceeded to lower the dinghy motor in 3-4 foot swells, so that we could check-in at Fort Bay. On our way into the customs dock, another rain downpour hit us and we got soaked. We jumped over muddy puddles and flooded docks to splash into the customs office, looking like drowned rats, only to have the officer on duty say he didn’t have time to process us... could we come back tomorrow!!

Cold and wet, we went back to the rolling boat on it’s mooring to take hot showers and make dinner. We had our first Saba Stew made from leftover chicken, shrimp, rice, broccoli and cheese that night and set up 2 hour anchor watches starting at 8pm, with a plan to explore Saba the next day. It was pretty uncomfortable and no one really slept so when I woke up on Nicola’s 2am watch to find that we had twisted the lines, were spinning around the mooring and laying perpendicular to the waves, we decided to try to find a better mooring on the west side of the island. Searching with our high powered flashlight, we found one in much calmer seas and tied up with only one line so that the two lines wouldn’t get twisted again. At around 9am, we were greeted with a 50 knot rain squall that broke our line even as we powered into the mooring, so we decided to leave Saba and head for Antigua or Nevis, depending on which provided the most favorable tack. We deployed a stronger line on the mooring and took a nap to rest up for the longer journey.

That afternoon, we got the dinghy out of the water and deflated it before Nicole volunteered to go up the mast to retrieve the quarantine flag that was stuck on it’s halyard. We dropped the mooring and poked around the north end of the island to assess conditions and wind direction and decided to do an overnight voyage to Antigua. It was blowing 20 - 30 with 6-8 ft seas, so we knew it wasn’t going to be comfortable but we saw some sunshine in the direction we were going and it was better than hanging off the mooring. We set out around 5pm and since no one felt much like eating, let alone cooking, we had pretzels and peanut butter for dinner. We tried to steer around the continuing squalls, which got worse over night. I was singing hymns on my 2am watch, when we had thunder and lightening directly overhead. On Andrew’s 4am watch, he discovered the spinnaker pole had broken lose and called all hands on deck. By some miracle, the pole was kept on board by the trip line that releases the jaws. He and Nicola secured it to the boat while I tried to steer in the pitching seas.

After 22 hours, we finally completed the 90 mile trip to Jolly Harbor, Antigua on (guess what day!) Friday the 13th!! I consider it our lucky day, as we were all grateful to be tied up securely to a dock. None of us will ever forget Saba, but for a different set of reasons!!!!

Not according to plan

We weren’t able to leave St. Bart’s until 12/3 because we had to wait for our laundry to come back. We didn’t get to rent a Moke to take a tour of the island but instead motored around the corner to Anse de Colombier in order to get a head start toward St. Martin. We wanted to walk on shore but couldn’t find a place to land the dinghy, so we swam and started cocktail hour early. Basically, I am learning that things don’t always go according to plan when you live on a boat!

A couple we met in St. Bart’s, Brian & Cindy from Galavant, had anchored in the same bay, and came by in their dinghy. Later, the evening entertainment turned out to be two Germans trying to pick up a mooring. They circled it multiple times, tried to pick it up off the bow, then from midships, then off the stern and by the 7 or 8th try, Andrew took the dinghy out to hand the line to them. I prepared chicken & dumplings in the pressure cooker for dinner and think I’m getting pretty proficient with this mode of cooking.

The next day, we left for St. Martin. To use up the bread that was getting stale, we had French toast underway and arrived in Marigot Bay around 1pm. The island is divided by two countries, France and the Netherlands. We were anchored on the French side because it is supposed to be less expensive and less touristy. We ended up right behind our friends on Aladdin and prepared to lower the dinghy motor onto the dinghy. As the theme of this post is ‘not according to plan’, we were delayed by a line that got stuck in the shive of the lift that lowers the 115 lbs motor onto the dinghy. An hour or so later, we went in to check-in at the local Chandlery. The process was relatively quick and easy so we proceeded into the lagoon in the middle of the island that is shared by both countries. We were surprised to see dozens, if not hundreds, of sunken and otherwise wrecked boats from Irma in 2017, still in the middle of the harbors. Again, it was sad to see debris piled up on the shores and ravaged businesses trying to recover. A few restaurants were open so we enjoyed wahoo tartar and a burger for lunch at Le Petite Auberge. Fortunately for St. Martin, there are people working to bring back the island.

Later that day, we discovered that we were out of water again. Something is not working with our water pump so the next day was devoted to troubleshooting that problem. We took the dinghy through the lagoon to Budget Marine on the Dutch side for supplies and met with someone from ElecTec to discuss the water issue, while enjoying the Christmas decorations juxtaposed with the palm trees on shore. That evening, we enjoyed cocktails on board with Aladdin and met two new Salty Dawgs from the rally, Glen & Arlene on Wahoo.

On 12/6 we were planning to head to Anguilla but instead we slept off the prior night’s party and Andrew woke up with some severe back pain. Andrew barely left the boat that day while I picked up some groceries and Xmas presents in the town of Marigot. The following day, he was still hurting so we revised the plan to find a doctor. The bartender at Le Wine Bar called us a cab and Chery drove us over to Galis Bay, where we met with Dr. Gibbs, a kindly, older gentleman, who clearly wanted to help. He gave Andrew a shot in the butt and some muscle relaxants/pain meds for $50. When Andrew woke up still hurting the next day, we headed for the hospital on the Dutch side. Another nice & competent sounding doctor, two more shots in the butt and some better pain meds and for $350, we were out the door. Andrew seemed much better that afternoon.

On Monday (12/9), we ventured into the dock for fresh water. It was uneventful but the kind and generous crew of Aladdin joined us just to make sure we had all the help we needed. Later that day, we had massages with Brian and his associate from A Touch a Handz, whom we found on the internet with a 5 star rating. He is a big, strong, good looking black fellow, who picked us up in a van that didn’t have a back seat so I had to squeeze in the front between Andrew and the emergency brake. Brian drove us to a run down hotel that was under renovation and after touring the nice pool and bar area, took us to a room with two massage tables and a nice & strong looking Spanish girl with beautiful, friendly blues eyes. It all seemed a little awkward but it was just a guy trying to make a go of his business. Turns out he was a professional soccer player before becoming certified in massage and working on a cruise ship.

So, not quite according to plan, we have been in St. Martin for almost a week now. We are hoping to leave tomorrow and may have some Salty Dawg crew to help us since Andrew isn’t quite 100%. Our new plan is to get back to Antigua (via Saba and Nevis) by mid next week, in order to catch our flights home on 12/22 for Christmas! Wish us luck!!