New Years
When you live outside, your life is constantly affected by the weather and wind. Thus, flexibility becomes the name of the game. The best laid plans could go awry quickly when the weather/wind changed. It looked like this might be a pattern for us this new year—make plans, then change them.
Whitney from Maford House Café on Dominica decided to join us for a few days on our sail to Guadeloupe (Gwada). We had planned to spend a few days in Iles Des Saintes and then go on to Pointe a Pitre. However, by New Year’s Eve, we had to change those plans as the wind direction would make the Saintes uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, Whitney was ready for a short holiday and boarded the boat on New Year’s Eve. We had a float in the water and a delicious dinner, but I must admit that none of us saw midnight as we wanted to head out early in the morning for Gwada.
On New Year’s Day we had a beautiful sail to Gwada without having to dodge too many fish balls. Since the Saintes was off the table, we sailed to Le Gosier for the first time. Our friend John Moore had told us about this fun anchorage 3 years ago, but every time we had come into Pointe a Pitre we were on a mission: get the refrigerator fixed or run from a west swell, and never had a chance to stop. However, today was the day!
We found a perfect anchor spot among the many boats and decided to spend the afternoon relaxing in the water. So out came the noodles, a line and cocktails. We were set to unwind and start our fun weekend.
For dinner we ate pork chops, salad, bread and of course, obligatory black-eyed peas for luck!
Thursday
We had driven through Le Gosier several times, but as it was a cute little beach resort town, we had never found a parking place so we could walk around. Today we took the dingy into the protected breakwater and tied up to a dock by the ferry. The Ilet du Gosier is just off the coast and the ferry runs back and forth from the mainland to the island’s beach and blue waters.
We walked through the narrow streets of Le Gosier until we found one going down to the beach and I mean “going down.” It was steep! The beach was full of locals and tourists enjoying the beautiful water and white sand. We strolled down the beach until we found a little beachside restaurant and bar, Bliss. It was a perfect name for this little spot. We decided to partake in some fish acras, beer and French champagne. It was a fun place to relax and watch the people of all shapes, sizes and dress. The French definitely have their own style!
Back on the boat we floated in the protected waters, showered on the transom and decided to make burgers for dinner as Whitney had provided some angus beef patties. We don’t often get that in the Caribbean. Of course we had Whitney’s homemade buns to go with it! The cabbage apple coleslaw (see recipe link) was a perfect compliment. Yum!
The sunset wasn’t too shabby either!
Friday
We took the boat around to the anchorage outside Pointe a Pitre marina. It took us a bit to find a suitable spot among the crowed anchorage, but we finally got set. This was a good place for us to spend the night as we were entering the marina tomorrow morning. The wind was always lighter in the mornings which made backing into a tight slip for a med-moor easier. (back in and tie up to balls from the bow and stern lines to the dock). Ben and Whitney took the dinghy in and touched base with the marina and rented us a car for Saturday.
For dinner we made Amy’s famous fish tacos with the tilapia that Whitney had provided. So amazingly good!
Saturday
Bright and early, we made our way into the marina. Whitney was nervous as we had given her the job of “throwing” or handing the stern line off to someone on the dock. However, she did a great job and with the Captainaire’s assistance in tying the bow lines to mooring balls, we successfully secured Daggers Down. We immediately met some folks next to us from Maine. They were very helpful in getting the stern lines attached to the dock cleats.
Ben checked us into the marina before we took off in the rental car to the grocery store. Whitney wanted to buy some goodies from a French supermarket which was much larger than any store in Dominica. After taking our loot back to the boat and storing it, we decided to find the large sporting goods store, Decathlon, where we could get some shorts and tops. The highway system in Pointe a Pitre worked pretty well, but there was soooo much more traffic than on the other islands!
When checking out at the store, it was interesting because we simply dropped each article of clothing into a tray and the scanner read the bar code without swiping it or anything! We just dropped it in the bin. How cool was that? The computer even had a tab where it translated the site into English. Wow that was amazing and very user friendly!
Next, we drove to Pointe a Pitre to check out the ferry location as Whitney had to go back to Dominica tomorrow. Boo Hiss! We found the ferry terminal easily enough, but were amazed at how dilapidated the city looked which was covered with graffiti EVERYWHERE. Since it was afternoon on a Saturday, most shops had their rolling doors closed and locked. It was not a place I would walk around at night, and I wasn’t even sure about walking around it in the daytime. Ug!
Whitney treated us to dinner at the La Route du Rhum restaurant on the waterfront of the marina bay. Ben’s and my food were nice, but Whitney thought that the Carbonara was lacking. It didn’t matter though, because we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and were sad that Whitney had to rush off tomorrow, but she is a businesswoman who needed to get back to her café.
Sunday
We took Whitney to the ferry and left her talking to new acquaintances in the departure line. We had a relaxing day napping and determining what we would do for next two days until our new guests arrived on Wednesday.
Monday
Since we had a car, we decided to get off the boat today and do some exploring. We had never driven around the south side of the island of Basse-Terre. Gwada is made up of several islands, two that are very close together divided by a river.
To read more about four of the five islands that make up the Archipelago of Guadeloupe see links below:
- Basse Terre (see Guadeloupe: Deshaies a Darling Spot for mid and north information)
- Grand Terre (see Guadeloupe and its Glorious Diversity)
- Marie Galante (see Guadeloupe and its Glorious Diversity)
- Les Saintes (see Guadeloupe: Exploring with Friends, Shelley and Don)
- La Desirade (have not visited)
We took the freeway across the river that divided the two islands of Grande-Terre (where the marina was located) and Basse-Terre. Then turned south along the east coast of Basse-Terre. We traveled to the House of Kassaverie in Capesterre-Belle-Eau where they make pastries from cassava roots. The cassava must be boiled at least 15 minutes before eating to rid it of the naturally occurring toxin, cyanide. We tried the chocolate cassava bread and the coconut. The coconut was better, but I probably wouldn’t buy either again. Good to try new things though because you never know. The pastry was very different than the cassava bread made in St. Lucia.
When we arrived at Grande Anse Beach on the southern side of the island, the rollers were coming in but that did not deter the locals from swimming and surfing the waves.
As we drove up the west side towards the capital city of Basse-Terre, we got a good look at the marina and anchorage. The anchorage looked like it might be a good place in a pinch, but the marina was tight—I mean really tight!
Also, as we rounded the west side, we noticed the hillsides became more wooded rather than jungle like.
We were pleasantly surprised with the quaintness of the capital city as compared to the “war zone” looking town of Pointe a Pitre. Basse-Terre had a totally different vibe.
Our drive back through the mountains was beautiful as the island of Basse-Terre had tall mountains which were covered in rainforest, unlike Grande-Terre which consisted mainly of rolling hills and agriculture.
Tuesday
Ben spent the morning going to the chandlery for supplies and cleaning the outside of the boat.
I, on the other hand, spent the day food prepping as we were planning to make a few passages over the next week. I cooked taco meat and sausage on the stove and used to instant pot to cook chicken, hard boiled eggs, and a small ham. I also made potato salad and corn/black bean salad as I anticipated that when our friends arrived, they might be tired and hungry. So, I wanted an easy dinner for tomorrow.
Wednesday—Mary Beth and Jim arrive
After getting up early and going to the laundry and sprucing up a few more things, we were ready for Mary Beth and Jim to arrive. We picked them up at the airport and headed back to the boat. Following a boat tour and briefing, we had ham, potato salad, corn and black bean salad and, of course, fresh bread for dinner.
Thursday
We spent most of the day doing boat chores so that we would be ready to head to St. Kitts on Saturday when our marina stay would come to an end. We took Mary Beth to a large French supermarket where we picked up the rest of our provisions. Upon our return from the store, Mary Beth volunteered (crazy girl) to go up the mast and retrieve our courtesy flag line that had broken. The guys got her all strapped in, and she went up like champ! She snagged the line and quickly brought it back down. It was perfect!
After that, the rest of the day quickly passed so we decided to eat out for dinner. The first restaurant we went to did not start serving dinner until 1900. As it was only 1800, we went back to La Route du Rhum to eat.
Friday
Today was our last day in the marina with the car. So, we decided to get out and explore Grande-Terre. We drove through the narrow streets of the beach towns of Sainte Anne and Saint Francois on our way to Pointe Des Chateaux, a peninsula which is the furthest point east on the island. We were happy to find that the lady who makes wonderful homemade coconut ice cream was still there churning it out. So refreshing!
Next, we went to a boutique rum distillery, but we forgot that most places close for lunch. They were very sweet to let us use their toilets and buy a bottle of rum, but we didn’t hang around for the tour as we realized we were starving too.
We drove back to a roadside grill stand where take out was available. We met a lady from California who lived in Guadeloupe. She advised us about the food and assisted us in ordering. We bought rotisserie chicken, ribs and fries. We devoured the scrumptious food in the car with the AC running! It was wonderful and filled our tanks!
At the marina, we turned in the rental car and got ready to check out of the marina in the morning.
Best Laid Plans Go Awry!
When discussing the trip with Mary Beth and Jim, we had planned to leave the marina and go to the Saintes for a few days, then on to Pigeon Island and leave for St. Kitts from there. If we had time, we would then make our way to St. Croix.
However, Ben and I had been looking at the weather for two days trying to decide if our plan was viable. A west swell was supposed to come in that would make the Saintes untenable and then the wind would be extremely light before becoming quite brisk—35 knots with gusts. Uhmmmmm what to do…? When we went to bed Friday night, we had decided to stay one night at Le Gosier to avoid the west swell and then head on to the Saintes for a few days. Then we would be back on track.
But wait….
Saturday—best laid plans….
We talked to Parker, our weather guy, on Saturday morning and he advised if we wanted to go to St. Kitts, we should head there tomorrow. We could not wait until Wednesday as we had planned. However, he also was predicting big Christmas winds to begin shortly after we would arrive in St. Kitts. Dang, we were not sure that would be the best place to anchor during a big blow.
What to do??? Where could we go to ride out the weather and not have to just sit on the boat hunkered down for days on end???? Uhmmmmm!
As much as I had said I wanted to skip Antiqua this year, it looked like it was our best option. It had several protected bays. The dinghy docks were not exposed to the waves or swells. In addition, we could rent a car and explore. However, we had to go on Sunday! So, the Saintes was out, AGAIN! Dang it!
We left the marina around 0930 to make our way around the south end of Basse-Terre to the anchorage at Pigeon Bay.
The swell was really rolling in. So instead of anchoring by the beach as usual, we tucked in on the north side of the bay where it was less rolly. It was too late to go snorkeling. Thus, we grilled some of Whitney’s delicious hamburgers and went to bed early. Tomorrow would be a long 8-10 hour day as we needed to leave no later than 0700.
Antigua
We were able to sail more than we thought we might in the light air. Ben worked hard, but kept the boat moving between 5-8 knots. Mary Beth and Jim scouted for fish balls while I worked on the blog. The day was sunny, but not hot and we all enjoyed the cool breeze. We arrived in Jolly Harbour around 1630 and found our favorite anchorage location just in time to watch the sunset.
Making Lemonade from Lemons
Mary Beth and Jim were disappointed we were not going to make it to St. Kitts anytime soon but being sailors they understood when living on the boat flexibility was the name of the game. Thus, we all decided we would rent a car and explore the unique island of Antigua. Antigua is not as mountainous as some of the other islands, but it has its own charm. For more information regarding Antigua check out these previous blog posts:
Antigua: Adorable and Historical
Antigua and Its Beautiful Bays
Antigua: Round 2, January 2024
We rented a car from Pineapple Car Rentals at Jolly Harbour and began our tour of the island. Our first stop was at Devil’s Bridge. You never know if the water will be blasting through the blow hole or not because it depends on the direction of the wind. Today it was somewhat benign, but a beautiful site to behold anyway. The bay next to Devil’s Bridge is always calm no matter the conditions because it is protected by a large reef at the mouth of the bay. The water’s colors are amazing!
Our next stop was Long Beach. This is a beautiful calm beach where Mary Beth could try out the snorkel gear. We swam a bit and then ate a wonderful lunch at the new restaurant on the beach. The food was good as well as the service. It was a win, win for us! Mary Beth and I got beach time, and the guys got their tummies full!
The following day we went over to the south side of the island to Falmouth and English Harbours. We drove up the hillside to Shirley Heights Lookout which is a restored military base and gun battery. The Lookout is a high point (about 490 ft.) that affords magnificent views of both English and Falmouth Harbours. It is a great place to look at all the super yachts moored below. (By the way, English spell harbor with a “u”—harbours.)
Today the hillsides of the ruins were covered with goats of various colors and sizes. The babies were having a blast running around the hills. They were so cute to watch!
We stopped at Bumpkins Beach Bar and Restaurant on the beach below for burgers and fish sandwiches. We had a chance to catch up with SV Rhythm’s crew, Jeff and Carrie while we were there. In addition, we watched boats of every size navigating the bay. It was a delightful place to visit with friends.
We had hoped to snorkel at Deep Bay but when we awoke the following day it was cloudy and somewhat rainy. Nevertheless, we had a fun day visiting Betty’s Hope Plantation, a preserved sugar cane plantation from the 1650’s.
Then, we traversed the island to Half Moon Bay for lunch. The bay has an idyllic beach with a cute restaurant, Beach Bum Bar and Café. The guys had some amazing lobster rolls while Mary Beth and I split a delicious Mahi Mahi sandwich and sweet potato fries.
After a stroll on the white sand beach and wading through the surf, it was time to head back to the boat so that Jim and Mary Beth could pack up as tomorrow they would fly back to the States. Though the trip was not what we had planned, who could complain—we are still in Paradise!
We even made the most of our snapper leftovers with a scrumptious snapper, bacon and parmesan salad! No complaints! We will hang in Antigua until the wind and waves cooperate for us to move—where will we go—who knows—stay tuned!
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