4 Countries, 5 Days (this is not the princess's cruise lines)

Volver tried to like Martinique, really, she did.  She sampled 6 anchorages.  St. Anne was lovely, though apart from the beautiful beach, there was little to do.  Our guidebook mentioned trails and trail maps but tourist information was closed on Saturday and Sunday and we reckoned they wouldn't speak English and our French never seems to get us to hiking trails, so we left.  Went to Anse Mitan, where we could only find a spot to anchor near the ferry dock.  The ferry frequently shortcut through the anchorage and slowed just feet away from the dock, causing Volver to rock so hard we thought we were still at sea.  Cooking: out of the question!   Pretty, with a view of the city of Fort de France across the Bay, but again, little to do apart from sit and sip drinks in the Marina bar.  

Hence, we weighed anchor in the morning and headed over to the Fort de France anchorage.  This anchorage is quite nice for an urban area.  It is very small given this is the only city on the island, likely only holding 35 boats.  It is protected from the prevailing East winds by an old Fort, and has a promenade and a park on its shoreside.  The city was not lovely, but was lively enough, with people who live and work there, and little to amuse the many cruise ship passengers.  With great effort, we found a nice bistro with a large TV, and were joined by Roman from Barcelona, who also searched the internet to find a place to watch the Barca v. Man City Champions League game.  We ended up huddled around a table watching the game on his iphone, as the Bistro was playing the Paris St-Germain Game, of course!  Fort de France has a beautiful library, a musee d' ethnographie (en Francais, of course), and good shopping, but not enough to keep us in the city for long.  We returned to St. Pierre, very early this time, to a deserted anchorage, which was packed by evening with boats who were either jumping off to the North, like us, or arriving from there.  On our way in to St. Pierre the first time, we saw a big jumper, a whale's tail, and a boat stopped ahead of us.  On our return approach, we saw 7 boats huddled in a circle, clearly enjoying the whale watching, but they dispersed by the time we got there.  Hopefully, we'll have some true whale's tales in the future.

Perhaps the first mate was grumpy, but the only pictures of Martinique are very industrial scenes, grey, smokestacks, and not worth publishing.  She forgot her camera on the boat whilst going ashore in St. Pierre, which had potential to be photogenic.  St. Pierre is a city that was wiped out by the fire caused by volcanic eruption in 1902, just two years after completion of some major civic projects, including the theatre, completed in 1900.  Sadly, the government of the time wished to avoid panic and mass evacuation, so it failed to inform the citizens of the imminent danger of volcanic eruption, and 30,000 people died.  There are 5 sites of ruins, comprised of burned stone foundations, including the theatre and the prison beside it, that grace the hillside, and make for a nice walk.  There was also allegedly a hiking trail up to a butterfly garden, but we could not do more than get a map of the city out of the French speaking tourist information staff member.  We had a heck of a time finding the customs office/tourist info (one and the same!), as it had moved since our guidebook was written, and we asked 4 people along the way, each sending us in a different direction, if they knew at all, so we did not bother trying the local knowledge route.

We arose before the crack of dawn and crept out of the anchorage in the dark, dashing off to Dominica, where we knew we could head to Bala's Bar at the Fort Young Hotel and catch the Canada-US womens hockey Olympic final.  The first mate only watches one hockey game every 4 years with intention, and this is the game!   We had an exhilarating ride, going through squall after squall, hitting 8.5 knots on the GPS speedometer (accurate!) while overpowered (too much sail up, making the boat less easy to control (stay upright and on course), but we ended up making great time with a third reef, a hankerchief of a jib, doing 6.5 comfortable knots in steady 20 knot winds, gusting to 30 in the squalls, beam reaching.  We completed our 35 nm journey, tidied the boat, launched the dinghy, and made our way to town in time for the 1 pm start of the game.  The Canadian women did not disappoint!  The goaltender for the US team successfully fended off (we think) 26 shots on goal and the Canadians were down 0-2 when they scored their first goal with 3 minutes on the clock in the 3rd period.  They scored again, tying the game and earning a sudden death overtime period.  Another goal and they won the gold.  This game is a good example of why one should never give up hope!

We enjoyed being able to speak English in Dominica, and unlike the first, lengthier visit to Roseau, the Reggae museum/gallery/cafe/bar was open.  The menu was extensive and a little expensive and the food was only okay, but the music was great!  They were selling prints of Marley and Tosh and Sellasie and there were some framed CD covers:  we didn't learn anything in the museum (did we mention the music was great?).  They don't make places like this in the French islands.  Capt'n says that Dominica does not have a very Caribbean feel:  the first mate thinks this is because they are too poor for fripperies like colourful paint and house trim and plaid tablecloths and such.  

Another early morning, another inter-island passage and we were back in Guadeloupe, at the Pidgeon Island anchorage, where we were once more enchanted and delighted.   We'd missed turtles (our taxi driver/tour guide told us they eat them in Dominica) and found them here in droves.  The north also saw the return of Pelicans.   We did not wish to leave, but sadly, we were not yet in the country legally, and hence, we apprehensively returned to Deshaies, our memory for our last two windy nights there still acute.   Fortunately, we experienced a calm night without any complication of dragging boats.

Battery Park at Deshaies

In Deshaies, we did our duty at customs and again fell in love with this charming place!  We walked up to the battery, for we had forgot the camera the first time, and took pictures of the anchorage.  Our guidebook mentioned there was a trail to the Beach to the North of Deshaies, and a nice police officer directed us by road.  Once there, we walked the beautiful beach and found the trailhead, which we took home.  Now, our guidebook failed to mention:  1) the trail is straight up the mountain, although there is sometimes a choice of switchback or straight up, so bring a bottle of water (consider nitroglycerine); 2) sensible shoes only!  no flip flops; 3) ensure you have adequate time before sunset, and consider taking your spot tracking device, as the trail is longer than you imagine and not always well marked; 4) by all means, do not let it rain once you hit the summit, as the trail, the tree roots, and the rocks all become so slippery that you have to navigate your way down the hill by running and grabbing trees along the way.  Do not mistake the odd cacti along the way for a handhold!  Finally, consider leaving the 2 kg pineapple at home.  The capt'n remarked that he was glad to know the trail ended at the town cematery, just in case one of us needed to take a very long rest after this walk!  

Above Ground Cemetary at Deshaies

Despite being completely unprepared, we enjoyed ourselves and were unscathed at trails end.  We came upon a guy and his guitar, playing the blues in the cemetary.  Beauty.  Guadeloupe is truly a special corner of the world!

The Beast (Gros Morne) we conquered

The forecast was for 10-15 knots of east winds with 4-6 foot seas:  more than acceptable for our journey to Antigua.   We chose not to wait for another day (today), when the wind forecast had some south in it, which would have made for a perfect sail.  We suspect this anomolous forecast had something to do with the rest of the weather, for today we are socked in with rain, continuous for hours!  So we made a good choice, had a couple of early squalls and reefed down (we're getting good at this!), but made the 42 nm journey to English Harbour by 1330 hours, under clear blue skies.  We averaged 6.5 knots in 17-18 knots of apparent wind, wind angle of 60-70 degrees, with double reef main and a single reef jib.  An excellent sail.  

Leaving Guadeloupe at sunrise

English Harbour is small, crowded, and so well protected there is no wind, and the boats swing in a disorganized fashion:  leading to a risk of collision unless you leave lots of room around you.  Fortunately, a large Cat was leaving shortly after we pulled in and we took his spot, nestled against the shore, quickly rigged up a spare anchor and set it astern (first time for using every sailing technique you read about!), which keeps the boat from swinging.  It works like a charm!  Anchorage is gorgeous, and we are ready for the next chapter of our adventure!      

Our Antiguan Backyard

Green Flash

Got your attention with that title didn't we!  There are several websites that claim these green rays of light are real rather than illusory, and can occur just at the time of either sunrise or sunset.  We still think this is a myth but patiently assess the conditions and wait at each sunset for a glimpse.  The first mate also was convinced the wild turkeys on the trans-Canada highway that Cap'n kept seeing between Toronto and Ottawa were a myth, until she sighted them.

 Cap'n has a fanciful imagination and likes to pull the wool over first mates eyes.  

Volver has had a busy few days and plans to spend today on the beach with a floating noodle and a novel!  Our last two days in Dominica were action packed.  We did a day long tour of the South Island, hitting Victoria Falls and the Emerald Pool, and dining in Moses's "Rastaraunt" with the crews from Fabuloso, Meridian, and Moon River (Eight adults and six kids).  Since the rainy season is over, Victoria Falls was less overflowing than it would have been two months earlier, making the approach less challenging. 

Maintaining stable footing on the Ascent to Victoria Falls

Stu, our guide, helping the children

There is a long walk up the sides of the riverbed, hopping from stone to stone, carefully avoiding the mossy, slippery ones, and sometimes using your whole body to wedge yourself between two stones to ascend boulders that are taller than you are! 

Now where do we go?

There were many beautiful pools on the way to Victoria Falls

 The path crossed the river several times, and we formed a human chain to get across some of the times. 

Forming a Human Chain for one of the river crossings

 The reward at the end was a dip in Fresh! water.  The catch:  much colder than your average bath, and the falls created a 40 knot wind:  the water hurt your face!

Finally, Glorious Victoria Falls

Moses lives on a rasta farm at the entry to an unofficial path to the falls.  There is a commune-like atmosphere, and many families live and work the farm.  The "Rastaraunt" has only one menu item, the "one pot" and this is a stew made from farm grown foods, with a coconut-based broth.  It was overpriced (and the kids were not amused), but hey you can't blame the guy for exploiting a captive market.  Apparently, a tour of the farm is allegedly included, although not offered to our group.  

The more profitable crop, a sign from a nearby community

They were apparently quite laissez-faire about their most famous crop, when one of our group walked upon them.  From Moses's, we moved on to catch the Emerald Pool before dark.  There was a paved path: hence, and a much less challenging approach.  Still very cold, and beautiful.

The Emerald Pool

The next morning we got up early to replenish fuel and water and made a quick trip to the fish market, where we filled up the freezer with fresh marlin, mahi-mahi, and small tunas for $3-4 a pound!  Freshest fish we have ever purchased and very tasty.  They were also selling Lionfish, which is a predator fish, and is endangering the reefs around the Caribbean.  In the USVI, one is to call environmental services if one is sighted, and there is a bounty offered in the Bahamas for them.  In Dominica, they eat them, and in fact, these scuba divers are allowed to use spear guns in the marine park strictly for catching Lionfish. Desmond says they are tasty, and they are certainly beautiful but sadly destructive, and we did not purchase them.

Lionfish Hunting

In the afternoon,  Desmond from Sea-Cat Yacht Services took us by water taxi to snorkel the Champagne Reef, arriving just as the last of the cruise ship guests were leaving.  The Champagne Reef has vents where volcanic gases are released, and bubbles like champagne.

Champagne reef, Dominica

  There were many fish: in fact, we caught a feeding frenzy, but still no turtles, rays, or octapus close up.  

Nice Coral

Feeding Frenzy

 Then Desmond took us over to the little village of Souffriere, where there is a natural hot springs in red rock/sand, that is sitting by the sea, surrounded by a breakwater!  Nice, mostly fresh water, almost a bath!

Beautiful Church, Soufriere, Dominica

We got a bit of a late start the next day for our 35 nm passage to Martinique, but had a fairly good sail, pretty well the same conditions as our last jaunt between the islands.  Made decent time, and arrived in St. Pierre around 1530 hours.  Sadly, this pretty town is very popular, and there is a very narrow shelf of 25 feet depth for anchoring.  We could only find spots of 50 feet depth or more, and could not get our anchor to set after 4 tries (we pulled up small trees worth of weeds each time), and we decided to move on to Case Pilot, about 10 miles south.  We were following a catamaran who was doing the same thing.  He pulled in, scouted around, and left, so we did not even bother doing so.  The anchorage was very small and exposed, and was sure to be very rolly.  So, we were really racing the clock now, deciding to try to get to Schoeler, an anchorage that is another 10 miles down the coast, by sunset.  We were successful, and found a nice spot right beside the cat we'd been following, set the hook on the first try.  By this time, we were tired, hungry, and a little grumpy, when a fisherman came up and advised, loudly, in French, that we could not anchor there.  First mate was of a mind to tell him we'll move when asked to by the police or coast guard, as we had two charts telling us we were clearly in an acceptable anchorage.  Cap'n says the charts are out of date by the time they are published, so up comes the hook.  It took at least 4 times to get our anchor set, and it was dark, so hand signals were not working, and there was a lot of yelling, which I'm sure our neighbor the cat did not enjoy.  It was 1930 when the first mate rustled up a box of soup and a chunk of brie and 2030 was lights out.  This was not a fun day.  Oh, did we mention than the anchorage was so rolly the cap'n barely slept a wink?

The next day, we were underway by 0630, and arrived in Marin, a yachting town at the south of Martinique, after a long motorsail to windward.  Marin is the only city in Martinique with a large marina (in fact there are only 2 other small marinas in the whole country (population:  400,000 people, zillions of boats!):  750 berths, 200 visitor slips, is the official word, but we could not get one of them, and in fact, the office staff told us the marina is full and there are no transient slips!  We wanted on the dock for two reasons:  one, to have a surge-free sleep, and two, to access shore power, as our batteries have not been holding their charge well, and the manual suggests giving them a 24 hour charge before calling in a technician.  Fortunately, the long motor sail seems to have helped this problem (cleaned off the plates?), and cap'n is no longer worried.

Marin has little to recommend it except it has every service a yachtsperson could need.  There must be 2000 boats in the anchorage.  We plopped our anchor down away from the town in a nook called the "Baie de Cyclone," which is essentially surge free.  The first night, the boat did not move at all.  It was silent.  No wind in the rigging, no lapping of the waves as they hit the dinghy, no beach bars blaring music, no sound of the surf hitting the beach (no beach, there were mangroves), nothing.  Bizarre, especially, when you look around and see a forest of masts!  Each time we went to get a picture it was a bit hazy and grey, so no photographic evidence was obtained.

We did a mega provision.  The French islands are the place to buy cheese, baguettes, olives, coffee, sparkling water, chocolate, those little biscuits with chocolate on top, as well as crisps with weird flavours, like carbonara or poulet roti (thought this would be curry flavoured but roti is french for "roast").  Our theory is that the french love to snack, or alternatively, that they have more money to spend on snack foods than people on the english islands.

Then, we moved around the corner to St. Anne, which is a quaint village, surrounded by beaches.  We can hear the activities at the nearby Club Med at times.  This is a fantastic anchorage.  At least 300 boats here: we counted 16 abreast on one point, as there is a very generous shelf of 10-15 feet depth.  There is a big local spice market.  There are supposed to be trails leading to surrounding beaches, but this far, we have not found them, and tourist info is not open on the weekends, so no maps.

We have not fallen in love with Martinique.  I guess that happens sometimes.  

The good news is we have come as far south as we intend, and we should be nearly done with sailing to windward!  We look forward to some downwind sailing!

Dominica

Dominican Flag

Volver finally had a pleasant sail!    Even though the route from Ile Des Saintes to Dominica appeared to be dead South and the wind is allegedly due East (this should be a 90 degree vector and a beam reach, yes?), the wind was still forward of the beam at about 60 degrees, seas were still 6-8 feet (good deck wash!) but it was relatively comfortable with winds of 15-20 knots.  With a double reefed main and a reefed jib, we were still doing 6.5-7.5 knots (the latter number being pretty close to our our hull speed, above which we'd need to be on a plane!), and made good time.  

The Cabrits (two hills), Douglas Bay to the right, Prince Rupert Bay (the Portsmouth Anchorage) to the left

We got to Portsmouth and went to town to find customs and immigration.  The town is more than a little rough around the edges, and the first mate just about said, let's just keep going south!  But there were things we wanted to do and so we stayed and found it not so bad.  The service people are mostly friendly, and people in town are fine if you greet them first.  But the atmosphere is more like a French island, where people will walk by you as though you are invisible.  This would never happen in the BVI or on Nevis, where a civilized and friendly, Good Morning! or some such greeting is the norm.  In fact, Erla, our tour guide in Nevis, advised that when she was growing up, her mother would smack her if she failed to greet a passer-by!  Portsmouth is the first town where we lifted our dinghy at night (lift it or lose it) and we used the interior latch we had installed to lock us inside the boat!  There have been two murders and one very violent assault requiring surgery involving cruisers in the Eastern Caribbean this year, so a little prudence is in order.  

There is also a fairly rigid system of Yacht Services boats who are quite assertive about getting your business.  A boat will greet you as you are coming into harbour and will take you to a mooring ball and thread your line through the eye of the pennant, or take you to a good site for anchoring (most people don't need help with this).  After doing so, they have staked their claim on you and expect you to take tours with them, pay them for mooring ball, use them as water taxi, etc.   They call themselves PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security) and they provide valuable services, reasonable prices, and also host a twice weekly Beach BBQ, which is a great opportunity to meet other cruisers (we went, it was fun!).   We prefer the anchor, but pay for a mooring ball, in order to contribute to the local economy and support these entrepreneurs.

BUT this system works very awkwardly.   We can think of very few other industries where our freedom to choose is so rigidly determined by others.  We had a very strong recommendation to do business with a particular provider.  In most professions, whether you are a lawyer, a dentist, a doctor, or a yacht service provider, people develop a reputation and receive referrals.  The exception is in the cases of crises or perhaps poverty, when people need a legal aid clinic, a free dental clinic, or an emergency ward: in these cases, the service provider is on a first come, first served basis.  And this is how PAYS is running their organization, like a crisis situation!  But most of the customers are not in crisis.  Here is my unasked for recommendation:  Pool some cash for administration (Cobra already has an office and admin staff):  create a brochure, offer different tours, let people sign up for the ones they are interested in.  Then the service providers can focus on developing their services and building their reputations rather than hustling for business.  The market is there, the services are great but the delivery model needs fine tuning.  We would have spent more money if it was easier to access tours.

Going up the Indian River

Martin, of Providence Yacht Services, providing us with a fresh coconut

Tree Roots like sculptures, Indian River

Enough of my rant.  So, we got off to a slow start, but Martin of Providence Yacht Services was able to come through for us.  We enjoyed his Indian River Tour, along with Arnaud and Amiee from France, and were able to work on our French.  Martin is bilingual, and we told him he did not always need to translate for us!  The national park system forbids use of engines on this stretch of the river, so this was a truly relaxing tour, under the canopy of the jungle, by rowboat.  Martin was very knowledgeable about birds and plantlife.  There are many plants used for medicinal purposes (there was a special plant for low back pain:  I hope this means there is no Oxycontin problem here!  Still in mourning over the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman).  

Two crabs eating a mushroom on the banks of the Indian River

We could not find anyone to drop us off in the Cabrits national park to snorkel (again, system not working) and you are not allowed to tie up yourselves to any moorings.  Capt'n stayed in boat while first mate drifted around to the tip of the neighbouring bay/national marine park, Douglas Bay (and she saw new and unidentifiable fish, and Angel fish!) and it was a good thing he did, as the current was so strong she would have drifted to Mexico!  

Nice Brain Coral, Prince Rupert Bay (Portsmouth)

We really enjoyed the walk around Cabrits peak.  Our guidebook makes little mention of Fort Shirley, which is a restored Fort, never used in battle, with beautiful views and an interesting history of having changed hands multiple times between the British and the French.  There were trails to an unrestored battery on the Douglas Bay side of the peak:  nice!

Battery at Fort Shirley, overlooking Prince Rupert Bay

Unrestored!  Fort on Douglas Bay side of Cabrits

We went for a land tour with Martin's colleague, Paul Honore:   this time we went with 8 German speakers, who had to get by in English.  Like Martin, Paul was very knowledgeable about plants and took us to some very off the beaten track places.  We visited Joe the Jazz musician, who serenaded us,  picked fresh ginger from his garden, and gave us purple yams, grapefruit, bananas, sour oranges, guavas, and gooseberries to sample and take home with us. 

Joe, a more colorful character than this picture suggests

 The countryside is one hill and valley after the other.  One minute you are on a hill overlooking the tops of coconuts palms and the next you are at sea level, looking at the beach where Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 was filmed (a matter of pride, it seems, this put Dominica on the tourist map?).  

Overlooking the beach where Johnny Depp walked

We hiked down a very muddy path to the islands only cold souffriere (volcano:  apparently this one is so deep the bubbling water is cold by the time it makes it to the surface).  There are 9 volcanos on the island, 8 of which are active.  

Paul introduced us to many crops that were being cultivated or were growing wild, including cacao, vanilla, coffee, and castor oil (as an aside, most stores have a very large portion of a stack of shelves devoted to castor oil (is this childhood punishment?), but nary a diet coke in sight).

Vanilla plant:  a saprophyte, which lives symbiotically on other plants and requires human pollination to produce vanilla pods

We brought home ginger, bay leaves, lemon grass, banana leaves, and "boisbody" (Wood body), the bark that is known as nature's Viagra (just soak it in rum!).

Not a fan of food photos, but this was made from the spoils of our tour:  grouper with fresh ginger, lemon grass, coconut milk, and thai green curry in banana leaves, beautifully executed by the captain.  Just add BBQ and rice!

  

Finally, we visted the "red rocks," which are the remains of a remote Volcanic eruption.  We had to hide in a stand of vegetation when a squall roared in off the Atlantic, as the rain came sideways and with a vengeance!  We were soaked anyway! 

The Red Rocks, just before the squall hit

After four nights, we made our way to Roseau, capital city of Dominica, and feel much more at home here. We had contacted a yacht service provider in advance, but no one is aggressively fighting for our business anyway.  We were able to catch the first day of Carnival and there was no missing it this week:  there was quite a spectacular parade!  We noted loud music at 6 am and this was the sound check for the street party, heard right across the coast!  

The CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) Steel Pan Band at work

There were many princesses and beauty queens followed by Mas bands and Dancers.  The main street was closed, and was lined by bar tents and street food vendors (Cap'n says best bakes ever).  They know how to throw a party before getting down to the serious business of Lent, here in Roseau!

Many, many princesses on floats opened the parade

Dancers in Dominican colours

Sure wish we knew the significance of these very heavy and likely hot costumes!

Isn't Carnival a real Scream?

Too hot to even finish the parade!

Today is Sunday and Roseau is closed up tighter than a drum.  We did a walk through town and declare the finest music to be coming from the Catholic church.  They were rocking, with drums and guitars and everything.  Not so common in Canada!  We wandered through the botanical garden, which is more like a big park, it is open to the public, and largely abandoned.  There are some aviaries and we could see some parrots, but not up close.  Dominica is home to 2 kinds of parrots that are not found elsewhere:  the Sisserou parrot (aka Imperial Amazon), which is found on the national flag, and the Jaco parrot (this has been spelled many ways and is also called the Red-Necked Amazon).  We did see some of these parrots flying when we were on tour with Paul in the Northern part of the country.  Then we climbed the Jack's Walk Trail to the top of Bruce Morne, where we found amazing views of the city, and much to our surprise, Jesus was looking over the city too.  

Surprise at the top of Bruce Morne

The view from Bruce Morne, overlooking Roseau and the Cricket Ground

We could not find a resto that was open for lunch, so we walked back to the boat.  It is a quiet, grey day, and we may have to make our way back to the bar at the only fancy hotel in town and see about watching the futball game:  we were there at 0845 yesterday to watch the Arsenal get humiliated by Liverpool.  First time in weeks we have found a place to watch a game. 

Next up:  we hope to join Fabuloso for a land tour, do a snorkel tour around Scott's Head then dash off to Martinique.  Sadly, our batteries are not holding a charge as we might hope, so we may have to start at the bottom of the country and make our way north, so we can plug into a dock and access services of a boatyard if necessary.  Later!

Iles Des Saintes

Volver left Deshaies after yet another challenging night of winds that sent boats dragging, which came after a day of dead calm winds!  Fortunately, the high winds started at 1900, and we were able to get some sleep after things settled somewhat by 2200 hours.  We got an early start and were rewarded with a brief encounter with a large pod of dolphins who were unfortunately travelling the other way and hence, did not stop to play in our bow wake.  It is starting to be whale watching season, and we plan to keep our eyes peeled.

We were disinclined to stop at Pidgeon Island, just 6 nm south of Deshaies, as our guidebook mentioned the potential need for setting two anchors or a stern anchor, and also seemed to rave about it as a diving site rather than as a snorkelling site.  However, Zack from the South African boat Vagabund was very convincing:  "you must, you MUST! snorkel Pidgeon Island!"  He had just left when we met him, so it was very fresh in his memory and we listened.  

Interesting peice of coral at Pidgeon Island reef

We anchored on the mainland and dinghied over to Pidgeon island, which comprises the Jacques Cousteau Marine Reserve.  We are glad we did.  We found ourselves surrounded by a school of Sergent Majors the minute we jumped off our dinghy, and it just got better.  There are actually two islands, and you can snorkel between them.  The first mate managed to get a few shots of interesting coral, but between the surging waves and the fast swimming, her shots of fish are only less spectacular than hoped for.  After the snorkel, we walked the beach until we walked into Le Touna, and enjoyed the best meal of the trip thus far:  Asian, Creole, and French fusion, all at once!

Enormous peice of coral at Pidgeon Rock reef

Then we anchored overnight without any complications outside the marina at Basse Terre, on the southern tip of the leward side of Guadeloupe.  Turns out the whole area closes on Wednesday afternoon, including the marina and the telephone store, so no water or SIM card for us.   That rare and revered commodity, the launderette, was open, and we were grateful for that.

Pidgeon Island Sunset

After a fairly unpleasant motorsail straight into heavy winds and seas, Volver (and Cap'n/First Mate) find themselves in yet another place they never dreamed they would be:  Iles Des Saintes, which is a group of 7 islands/rock formations off the south of Guadeloupe, only 4 of which have anchorages or habitation.   We took a mooring ball on the biggest island, Terre D'en Haut, off of the only town in the Saintes, Bourge Des Saintes.  It is a charming and colorful village.  One could do a study of the gingerbread trim:  we saw geckos (the best), doves, butterflies, and many geometrics trimming the houses and stores.  

Butterfly gingerbread house trim in Bourg de Saint

Colourful church in Bourg de Saint

Typical architecture:  this is the liquor store, closed on Sunday

Very shortly after settling in, we were happy to spot Happy Chaos arriving, and were able to help them find and tie up to the unusual mooring buoys without pennants here.  It was nice to catch up with them, as we had not seen them since Christmas Day!   We tried to enjoy the Carnival celebrations on Saturday night, but we saw no evidence of a parade:  we thought we missed it as our dinner went on later than the predicted start time of the Carnival.  We did hear a brief spurt of loud music later, once we were back on the boat:  perhaps they were on Caribbean time.

Dinner at La Fringale

The beautiful indoor garden, including waterfall, at La Fringale

The Salty boat Rum Runner had greeted us and helped us onto a mooring ball upon our arrival to the Saintes, and we joined them for a delicious French dinner at Au Bon Vivant later that evening.  We enjoyed getting to know Phil and Judy and picked their brains, as they have a lot of experience sailing the caribbean for the last 5 seasons.   The weather settled and they left early the next morning, but not before telling us about a lovely walking path, which we enjoyed.  We found the gorgeous beach of the Baie de Pompierre.  Ah, this is where all the tourists who arrive each morning by ferry and leave each afternoon go!  They walk, rent scooters, and taxi in droves to this secluded bay, which is isolated from the view of Guadeloupe by two large rocky islands, and the beach is shaded by rows of palm trees.  We walked to the Baie du Marigot (there seems to be one of these on every island!) but found it less charming.  

Beautiful Baie de Pompierre

Ever since we arrived at our first French island, Capt'n has been waxing on about his love of/desire for pain au chocolate.  Yet, the morning lassitude has been pronounced until this morning, when we made it to the patisserie in time for the last two!   Back at Volver, with a fresh cup of Gwada coffee in hand, Cap'n asks: "Why wouldn't you want to eat one of these every morning?"  "Because it would likely kill you in short order!" answers the first mate!  Can't begrudge an occasional indulgence, and that was the fulfillment of a good month of anticipatory yearning!  You have got to be an early bird in this town:  we waited in line at the fish market while the fishmonger filleted 3 Bourse for the guy ahead of us, and when we got to the front of the line we were advised that all the rest of the fish was for restaurant orders.  This was before 8 am.  Doubtful we'll ever get into town earlier than that! 

The view of the anchorage of Bourg de Sainte from Fort Josephine (Fort Napolean is at the top of the hill and cut off in the photo)

Given the proximity of Forts Napolean and Josephine, we named this goat the Count du Pompierre (Capt'n insists he looks just like Brad Pitt)

The islands had lots of trails to explore.  We dinghied over to Ilet a Cabrit and climbed up to Fort Josephine, where there were fabulous views of the Saints, Marie Galante (another Gwada Island), mainland Guadeloupe, and even Dominica was visible in the distance.  After our hike, we cooled off and snorkelled the reef south of the island.  

A local artist sells his clay masks/planter on Ile de Cabrit

Ruins at Fort Josephine (plus the king of the mountain)

Next up:  Volver heads to Dominica, one of the poorest (and therefore presenting a little more security concern) but possibly one of the most beautiful islands of our trip.  The island is all about inland exploration:  boasting rivers, waterfalls and a boiling lake, bountiful birds and butterflies, and terrific hiking in many national parks.  We'll need to hire guides to get the most benefit, as well as address safety concerns.