Passages: Week 37 August 25

It is official, Mel is in love with another woman!

We were sailing between Iles de Saintes and Pointe A Pitre, when Mel said to me “She is just so great! I am so in love with Passages! She tracks so well!” I think I can live with the idea that Mel has another “woman” in his life – she is not of the two legged, human variety, so my ego is still in tack. I replied “Of course you love her, she does exactly as you ask of her, she doesn’t talk back to you BUT oh boy is she high maintenance!”

Back to Monday – we went back into Bourg De Saintes (the main town of Iles de Saintes) to find free Wi– Fi as we were concerned about a tropical storm brewing in the Atlantic that could affect us. It is the never ending saga of sailing – finding Wi– Fi to download the all-important weather.

Afterwards we walked around town, killing time as we needed some provisions from the local Carreforre supermarket, which was only opening at 3.30pm! We went for a swim amongst the many fishing boats moored off the beach – the water was rather hot and not as refreshing as we would have liked it to have been.

We bought some of the local delicacies called “Tourment d’amour”. They come in a variety of flavours – guava, coconut, passion fruit and pineapple. It is a small tart with pie crust pastry,

jam and covered with sponge cake.

Tuesday morning our anchor was up by 6.30am and we were sailing to Guadeloupe’s biggest city – Pointe A Pitre. It was an enjoyable sail except for all the sea grass that got caught in our fishing line and the effort it took to retrieve the line and lure as a result. We anchored off in a large area quite close to the main commercial port.

The main waterfront market area

Pointe A Pitre is the largest city in Guadeloupe – it is full of historical significance as in the huge Place de la Victoire (Victory Square) – there was once a guillotine used here during the French Revolution. In front of the Place de la Victoire are many fishing boats selling their catch and street vendors selling fresh produce. In another square close by (can’t remember its name) there are many vendors selling all different spices. The smells are quite intoxicating.

As usual, once we have set the anchor, the dinghy goes down and it is time to explore. We went to

The Spice Market

the main marina to find out if there was anyone who could help us with solar panels – well no such luck as it would take over a month to get the panels if we ordered them now. Oh dear, we will just have to wait until we get down to Grenada or Trinidad.

We made our way back to the boat and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing on the boat.

Wednesday morning we went to KFC as we had been told by Fata Morgana that they had free Wi-Fi. We wanted to check on the tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa, to see how it was developing and how it would affect us. We knew that during the evening (Wednesday evening) we would experience winds of over 25knots maybe gusting to 35knots.

The fish market

After downloading the weather (the tropical wave had disappeared – we had good sailing days ahead) and checking our emails, we walked around the square mentioned earlier where all the spices were being sold, bought some fruit from one of the local vendors and walked down a few of the streets to see what was there. Just lots of shops full of the usual commercial goodies.

We went passed Fata Morgana to see if they were keen on seeing the waterfalls that are in the Parc Nationale de la Guadeloupe – the most impressive and highest one being the Les Chutes Du Carbet that sits on the east slope of La Soufriere volcano ( the one we climbed to the very top last week!).

We knew we would have to hire a car and since Mira can speak French, Mel was keen to take her with when he was organising the hiring of a car for Thursday.

Later that afternoon Mel, Mira and Ivo went to arrange a car for us for Thursday. While they were

gone a bit of excitement happened in the harbour channel, when one of the many ferries that go between Iles de Saintes and Marie Galante, experienced engine trouble. They were drifting towards the coral reef when luckily another ferry came to their rescue. No sooner had both ferries docked, when the winds started howling. I was a bit concerned for Mel as he had to make his way back to the boat in windy, rainy and choppy seas conditions.

Wednesday evening, the heavens opened and the wind blew hard and strong as predicted. We had just finished our dinner when we heard on the radio from another boat close by that another boat closer to them had started to drag. Thank goodness the anchor rest itself as it could have easily landed on a reef or on the small island close by.

Wednesday night was an interrupted night as the wind gusts were incredible and thankfully our anchor held strong and fast.

Early Thursday morning, as planned, we were at the hired car place when they opened at 8.00am and we were in the little car we had for the day by 9.00am heading for the waterfalls.

There are three waterfalls – they vary on height and in accessibility. The smallest one is closed. The middle sized one (110m) is the most popular because of its “easy” accessibility and the largest one Les Chutes Du Carbet (115m) is the highest and the most difficult to climb to.

We started walking at about 10.00am – you go down into the valley passed the entrance to the middle waterfalls and then up another valley, down then up, then down and up once again. It was exhausting!!! Part of the way has stairs and walk ways but there are parts that you just have to climb, sometimes climbing on all fours.

It was well worth it! Mel had a swim under the waterfalls in the main rock pool. I was just grateful to put my very tired legs and feet in the very cold water.

On our way back to the car park, we stopped off at the middle waterfalls. You can’t get very close to it as with the big waterfall, although we did see people climbing over the “Do Not Enter” fence and gate and going to the bottom of the waterfalls.

When we reached the car, we all had a great sense of achievement as we now had seen and climbed to all of the main waterfalls found in Guadeloupe AND we had climbed to the top of the volcano (highest point in the eastern Caribbean)!

Friday we decided to sail to Marie Galante – another island belonging to Guadeloupe but south – almost halfway to Dominica.

St Louis beachfront

We had a great sail to St Louis which is in the NW corner of Marie Galante.

It is said Christopher Columbus ran out of names of saints so named the island after one of his boats.

Marie Galante produces mainly sugar for the local rum industry and seventy three of the original windmills can be found around the island.

After putting down the anchor, the usual procedure happened – the dinghy goes down and we go on land to explore. Well it was a bit of a disappointment as nothing seemed to be open! Yes it was a Friday afternoon but it was 3.30pm when most shops are meant to be open!

Our plan was to sail to the main town of Marie Galante, Grand Bourg which was where we could clear out of Guadeloupe before sailing to Dominica on Monday.

We knew that there wasn’t sufficient space at the inner anchorage in Grand Bourg (Fata Morgana and Bev, were already there so we knew what was going on) and that if we sailed down to Grand Bourg, we would have to anchor outside the main anchoring area and be subjected to an uncomfortable swell. Mel and I decided to stay an extra day – Saturday, anchored off at St Louis and to catch up with the inevitable boat chores.

The main town square in Grand Bourg

Sunday morning we had a very comfortable sail to Grand Bourg and anchored in the very small anchorage within the harbour walls. The ferries come and go in this harbour as well and seem to come up very close to the yachts. We spent the afternoon going for a walk to the rum distillery which unfortunately was closed by the time we arrived there.

While we were relaxing on the yacht, Mel looked around with a smile on his face – I asked what he was smiling about – he said “I am quite content as I have the two most important women in my life with me”. Oh dear!!!

On that note I will leave you for this week… we are off to Dominica tomorrow which promises to be another place full of challenges – physically!

Until next time – take care.

Love

Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx