Caribbean Two-Step

Simpson Bay Lagoon Bridge (an escape hatch)

On a very quiet Sunday morning in Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, and with a ready source of wi-fi, it seems an appropriate time to write up our trip from St Martin.  Although we had great plans, this crazy summer weather put paid to all that.  Will those trades (winds) ever ease?  After our release from Simpson Bay Lagoon, first stop was back to Marigot Bay (French side) offering better protection to (hopefully) raise the main sail, bagged since Turks Caicos, back into its rightful position.

The following morning, an early rise gave us sufficiently settled conditions to achieve our task.  And was it so good to have that powerful main back in use!  (Lack of it, we realised, explained our feeble crossing effort from Turks Caicos! )  Hey ho!  And round the north side of St Martin we go – something we’ve not done before.  The north side is much drier and home to many beautiful sandy beaches and a jumble of seaside resorts.  The little island of Tintamarie looked like a parking lot.  It was Sunday after all and locals were certainly out & about in their boats.

Ile Fourchu ahead, Cap'n

Rounding St Martin to the north gave us a good heading on our planned stop at Ile Fourchue, a tiny private island and wildlife reserve with moorings.  The Cap’n had plans to snorkel over reefs and brush up his fish-speak.  It was not to be.  The bay was filled to the brim with vast catamarans.  Is it compulsory for all catamarans to be over 50 feet these days?  Miffed, we moved on to St Barts and settled in at the very protected but equally busy Anse de Colombier.  Here, the beach is clothing optional, so you’ll be pleased to know, that bino’s in hand, the Cap’n viewed and discussed the architecture of avant-garde cliff top dwellings with GS.  (Oh, sure!!)

Oh look, Mike Nelson's found St Barts!

We left with the birds early next morning for the longer trip to Nevis, where we’d planned to stay for a couple of days.  From St Barts we had a good run down but couldn’t maintain our course for the north side of St Kitts, so floated into the passage between St Kitts and Statia, marvelling at the green and pleasant fields surrounding the high peak of Mt Liamiuga, wearing as it regularly does, a quaint cloud cap with obvious Caribbean panache.  

Near St Kitt’s southern salt ponds, we made a brief stop at White House Bay, to check the weather.  We were expecting a nasty front with high winds, forecast for about Thursday-ish, and wanted to check on the system’s position in relation to our own.  A decision was quickly reached to skip Nevis and make for much better protection offered in Deshaies, Guadeloupe.   

Looking back at St Kitts

Accompanied by a family of Brown Noddy’s and pods of dolphins, sliding behind the islands wasn’t too much of a challenge, however by now, the seas were well up and rolling through the passages between them.  We were also obliged to stay clear of Montserrat as its volcanic state imposes an exclusion zone extending on land and off shore. This pushed us out into some mean seas.  Deshaies then “welcomed” us with a rather nasty front, offering squalls over 30kts.  After settling onto a mooring in the harbour and calming down with a shot of something sustaining, we both agreed that the conditions between Montserrat and Guadeloupe were very similar to the gale we experienced mid-Atlantic on the way to the Azores in 2011. 

Windjammer then remained on her mooring, strengthened with additional lines, to ride out this coming system.  Katabatic winds regularly rolled down the steep hills surrounding our little harbour hide-away, so if it wasn’t for the rolling swell, we would hardly have noticed any increased wind state when it did eventually strike.  Deshaies township itself was in “off season” mode so finding anything other than a rather nice pâtisserie open and rationed internet, we cut short our stay. Besides, we had no working knowledge of the French language and no euros.  (It should be noted here that the Marina manager and the Customs/Immigration official were both exceptionally friendly and very helpful.)

Deshaies under rain & cloud cover

On a bright sunny morning we slipped our (€25 a night - eek!) mooring and headed for Pointe-à-Pitre.  The seas were calm and turtles came out to play as we chugged our way south.  The island appeared green and very lush, plenty of cultivated farms sat amidst rugged peaks – all a picture, oh so tropical!  Carefully, we picked our way into the main harbour; a busy shipping port indeed and it seemed like half the cruising community were in town and on anchor.  The old mooring field has been moved and expanded, however the Cap’n considered it too exposed, so we snuggled in with “the regulars” in a spot just off the rather flash new Museum.  Now we really could talk architecture. 

Still, it was good to be safe and sound and much further south, as the end of June loomed closer and hurricane season swings in.  The old rhyme goes: June too soon, July stand by.  So, now we are seriously keeping out a weather eye. 

Modern Museum in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe