Guadeloupe, Caribbean (6th to 24th February 2016)
We decided to go to Guadeloupe on a bit of a whim, Michael had been looking at CrewSeekers.com and FindACrew.com for months and we were trying to figure out how we were going to bridge the gap between our current U.S. Trip and the flights we had booked from Miami to Lima, Peru (see earlier blog for detailed explanations) but we were finding our budget skyrocketing out of control in the U.S. so we needed to find a solution.
Option 1: Roatan, Mexico to Honduras - with a guy who had a three day passage and the rest chilling out in and wanted US$150 for a couple per day. He had been sailing the world since the mid 90's and was in his 60's now and still enjoying living the cruising lifestyle.
Option 2: Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe return via Le Gosier and Les Saintes Island - with the Gomes family (Joao from Portugal, his wife Nae from Thailand, their daughter Maria aged 3 and their French Bulldog, Noél). They have been in the Caribbean for 3 years living on board their yacht and aim to cross the Pacific in the next season heading towards Thailand over the next two years. Asking US$100 per couple, per day.
Our decision was based on two things, economics and enjoyment. We decided to go with the second option, The Gomes Family - primarily because it was the cheapest option with flights, board and additional costs and also we felt that we would learn a lot from them and have a more relaxed time. To our great delight, it was a wonderful choice to have made.
We booked return flights from Miami to Guadeloupe with Air France, they were an amazing airline with very good service and great food, would definitely fly with them again. There were no direct flights to Guadeloupe from Miami so we flew via Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to our suprise they didn't let us off the plane and just boarded the new passengers heading to Pointe-à-Pitre. More food and drinks happened and then we arrived to Guadeloupe with a very relaxed immigration whom didn't even stamp our passports!
We arrived at Bas du fort Marina and just a few seconds later we were yarning to a group of your sailors looking for crew on really nice motor yacht who were heading towards Saint Martin, with the boats owner and they offered us positions on their yacht but we had to leave the country the following day.... we were super keen but as we had already organised to catch up with the Gomes. We met Joao at the Marina, and headed out on our adventure. We were so surprised that you could just rock up to a marina with all your bags and hop on a boat, minimal questions asked shows how friendly the sailing community is.... maybe next time we can just jump on the next friendly yacht!
Bas du Fort Marina, near the capital city of Pointe-à-Pitre, a very sheltered marina with an incredibly busy port and cruise ship terminal
On board S/V Dee with the Gomes Family (Nae (front left), Maria (middle left) and Joao (back left) and Shahn on the right) enjoying the huge dinners that the Gomes put on in the galley of their boat, we were fed SO WELL!
We were given our comfortable cabin in the bow of the boat, settled in and after our huge dinner we had an excellent night sleep aboard S/V (sailing vessel) Dee. We spent the following morning in the small seaside town of Darboussier, as it was a Sunday there was very little open. We found a supermarket and stocked up on supplies as we intended to leave Bas du Fort Marina bound for Le Gosier, dodging the rain we headed back to the boat via a little music museum that was open - a group were practicing a traditional songs in creole which the teacher was giving them a drilling on their harmony.
Like most safety concious sailors, there is the old superstition of not sailing on a Friday. The Gomes Family plan their journeys surrounded by two things, weather and the day of the week. We completely support and agree with those things, sailing should be firstly about having a good time and not shrouded in having a time limit on where to be at a certain time. We have read enough books about seasoned sailors whom have had catastrophic issues because they have too strict time lines, push safety limits, ignore weather patterns and predictions and coincidentally or not, sail on a Friday. Michael, being the safety conscious one in the relationship, was checking the weather everyday, downloading grib files and generally trying to support Joao with his decisions as he was trying to learn as much as possible in the process.
Like most safety concious sailors, there is the old superstition of not sailing on a Friday. The Gomes Family plan their journeys surrounded by two things, weather and the day of the week. We completely support and agree with those things, sailing should be firstly about having a good time and not shrouded in having a time limit on where to be at a certain time. We have read enough books about seasoned sailors whom have had catastrophic issues because they have too strict time lines, push safety limits, ignore weather patterns and predictions and coincidentally or not, sail on a Friday. Michael, being the safety conscious one in the relationship, was checking the weather everyday, downloading grib files and generally trying to support Joao with his decisions as he was trying to learn as much as possible in the process.
Le Gosier
After a day of preparation and restocking, we awoke early and stored things away safely for the short passage to Le Gosier, where we spent four comfortable nights. Unfortunately the wind, tide and current were against us so we couldn't sail so it was a long motor of three hours to do the couple of nautical miles.
Sunset snack and beers on S/V Dee with the Gomes Family.
All of a sudden Shahn's front tooth cap came loose and broke off, the glue was almost 10 years old so really it had done well. Though because the natural tooth underneath had been unexposed for 9 years it was incredibly sensitive and quite painful. Also it was the weekend, absolutely nothing was open so she had to wait two days to see a dentist. Fortunately, Joao came with us and liased with the Dentist in French to ease Shahn's fear of getting Hepatitis or worse, especially since a local anesthetic was required.
View from the Dentist office.
View of the little island that SV Dee was anchored in front of.
Once that drama was completed, we went snorkelling and swam over to the island, Îlet du Gosier, where we were sheltering the boat behind. Quite an effort to swim there as it had a good deal of current between the island and the mainland.
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| Shahn relaxing in our sleeping quarters after a big day snorkelling and having her face assaulted by the dentist. |
Shahn trying her luck at some fishing after doing the washing and making poor SV Dee looking like a laundry house.
Shahn on her way to the markets, the bay with the yachts in the background.
The Le Gosier markets are held in the carpark of the main jetty. There was so much good food, rums mixed with different flavours and fruits (which were incredibly strong in flavour and had a very high percentage alcohol content) as well as many baked & fried goods, fresh fruit & vege - very good market.
Shahn holding "the" cake. Joao decided he wanted a cake as a treat, and bought this giant pineapple & cinnamon butter cake which weighed probably 2-3kgs! Took us almost a week to eat it!!!
The extensive market options
We got on a local bus with the Gomes Family to head east towards Saint François for the day, the bus was quite slow but it was interesting countryside to see. We wanted to go to Pointe des Chåteaux as we were told it was beautiful there but we ran out of time, we could have biked there but we couldn't find anyone open despite the insistence of the information center lady. So we wandered around the town, got some beautiful French bakery snacks and went for a swim.
The forever restless Eak, decided he would try his hand at an hour of windsurfing. He found the cross breeze blowing the wrong way and had to get himself rescued because he couldn't get back. Bloody hard work!! The bus was meant to leave at 4pm but left early so luckily we left the beach a bit earlier and made the bus JUST in time!
Another wonderful dinner prepared by the Gomes Family, we were never ever hungry!
Day trip on Basse Terre and Grande Terre Islands
We went back to Pointe-á-Pitre due to the weather forecast showing a deterioration, we also needed to restock with food, fuel and water. We took the opportunity to hire a vehicle for two days to better explore the island and to do some hiking. We hired the shittiest car we could find for €25/day from a local company which was far cheaper than Budget and Hertz who were asking €75/day.
The budget car we had hired, looks better in the picture than it actually was!
We went on a mission on the eastern side of the Basse Terre island, the larger island which has the active volcano, Le Grande Soufrière, which last erupted in 1976 and is 1,467m in elevation. We drove south and Shahn navigated only using a paper map we got from the tourist information centre. It was quite difficult especially since the names and signs were in French. We ventured towards the winding hills of Basse Terre, in the National Park of Guadeloupe. We visited Chutes du Carbet (Carbet Falls) and began the paved hike to the main waterfalls.
We had a pretty basic map of the Chutes du Carbet area, so didn't have much of an idea of how long it would take to do the hike, three hours later and sweaty as, we made it to the waterfall and it was beautiful. It was a great hike to start wearing our new hiking boots in.
Chute du Carbet, from the main hiking route took about 30-40 minutes to get to.
Feeling pretty hot and sweaty as we were not sure exactly how long the hike would take, luckily we had quite a bit of water and food with us.
Looking quite chipper in the rainforest, it was very warm. Also note the new hiking boots which had their first walk - NO BLISTERS! Happy days!
Première Chute du Carbet, the waterfall stands at 115 meters in height.
We were absolutely knackered from the hike and were keen to see more of the island so we finished the day by heading further south to see the town of Basse Terre, where they had a huge fort called Fort Louis Delgrès, which was a free admission. We spent an hour walking around. Fort Louis Delgrès was built in 1650 and was used during throughout Napoleons escapades in the early 1800's, the buildings have had some restoration but the fort sits on a high point of the town and is a good vantage point of the land and ocean.
Michael having a thorough look at the fort
We were so impressed with the history in the French Islands of Guadeloupe. They have had an incredibly tough history with many invasions, slavery and general unrest but the history is amazing for such a small section of the Caribbean.
Three levels of the fort walls. Michael was impressed by the elaborate fort.
Another late lunch of French pastries and fruit, while driving back towards Bas du Fort Marina trying to make it back before dark, which we didn't do, so poor Joao had to pick us up in the dinghy in the dark. Another awesome dinner, made in the boat.
Cruise ship full of tourists, they would come in late at night or very early morning for the guests to explore Pointe-a-Pitre and would leave at dark. So massive when you are sitting in a 45ft yacht!
The following day, we left early as we wanted to see as much of both island as we could. We went back to Basse Terre, starting north and the making our way to the west of the island, stopping at many little towns along the way. The weather was beautiful and warm so we went for a swim and a snorkel at Pointe-Noire then drove south along the western coast, had a very expensive lunch at Bouillante.
Nice little bay we stopped at along the way on our drive around the north western part of Basse Terre island in the morning
Couple of people having a dip, the snorkelling was not that good here but did see some rocks and a few fish.
Having a pretty hard day at the office....
Bouillante is a touristy town where a lot of the sail boats stop along the way past or around Guadeloupe. We stopped to have some lunch.
Bouillante, lunchtime view.
We headed back north to see the Rhum Museum, at Sainte-Rose which was a great place with the history of the area as well as a very extensive insect collextion. It was in French and English and worth a stop. Eak bought two bottles of rum because almost all of Guadeloupes' rum is consumed within the country with very little exported.
Shahn being a pirate at the Rum Museum.
Afterward we made a massive mission to Grande-Terre island so we could see the remainder of the island. In a mad rush as we only had four hours until we needed to be back near the boat, we first stopped at Anse-Bertrand and watched some surfers. For some reason there was a very strong police presence, the heavily armed military police were on the main street corners along the low traffic roads in the northern end of Grande-Terre island.
Michael at Anse-Bertrand beachfront.
We went to the northern most point of the island, Pointe de la Grande Vigie, and it was very windswept and rugged.
The northern point of the island, Pointe de la Grande Vigie. Right on the channel of the Atlantic Ocean, the stunted and wind warped trees were taking a battering.
Shahn bought some coconut sorbet (popular in the markets and delicious!) and some caramelized fresh coconut which was pretty good too.
Shahn & Michael at Pointe de la Grande Vigie viewpoint, after the sun set here we barreled back to Bas du Fort as fast as we could down the traffic jammed highways for another pickup in the dark for Joao, but it was an awesome way to see the island.
Our shitty rental car being guarded by a stray cat, picture taken especially for Bethanne!
The crazy rental car hours mean that you have 24 hours of hiring but only within their limited office hours. So we had to pick up at 8am and then two days later drop it back off at 8am. We were preparing to leave for Les Saintes that morning, so Michael drive the car back to the rental car company and was picked up by Joao from the village. They were both back and ready to pick up the anchor all before 9.30am.
Passage from Bas du Fort to Les Saintes
We got up early and packed everything away as the passage from Pointe-à-Pitre to Les Saintes was almost a full day, as the wind was against us as well as the current. The sails were hoisted which helped significantly with the rocking and rolling of the boat.
Shahn can read anywhere, a rocking sail boat, bus, car. Clearly not helping anyone though!!
Michael loving the wind in his hair, Les Saintes in the distance. Shortly after this picture was taken, we caught some local fishermans' buoys and lines around the propeller forcing Joao and Michael to go for swim in the channel between Basse Terre and Les Saintes islands. The current was very strong and not an ideal situation to be in.
Arriving at Les Saintes, setting anchor and trying to avoid collisions with the very busy anchorage of the main bay of Terre-du-Haut.
(Caribbean Star) Royal Clipper Tall Ship, which is an absolutely beautiful 134 meter ship. The "cruise" ship does a tour of the islands heading north from Barbados to St Kitts & Les Saintes, then doing a loop back Martinique.
Les Saintes
The following morning we all went ashore, the Gomes family wanted to restock on more food and we decided that we would head out to explore the small-ish island on foot, there are a few vehicles there but mainly the traffic is scooters and golf carts for hire.
We arrived at Terre-de-Haut mooring which have mooring buoys to attach to for a daily fee, due to it being a Thursday there were many people/boats there in preparation for the weekend. We spent two nights at the mooring, we went for a hike each day around the northern section of the island while there.
A green throated carib hummingbird (Eulampis holosericeus) we spotted while walking up to Fort Napoleon
Our first day was a walk up to Fort Napolean, they have a good museum up there with some English, though we managed to get the general idea of the maps and the content of the museum. So many battles from huge ships occurred just off Les Saintes and between Guadeloupe and the islands, pretty amazing history.
Fort Napoleon, checking out the moats
View from the top of Fort Napoleon, looking down on the bay
Also looking down towards the township of Terre-du-Haut from Fort Napoleon
Shahn sweating up a storm in the heat of the day before they closed the museum at midday.
The second day, we walked the northern section of the island which had Fort Caroline. We only had a very basic map and the trail was not signposted well, we walked up through some houses and goat farms to the track which we found after about 30 minutes of searching by one faintly painted arrow on a rock. There is a very bad wild goat problem on the Les Saintes islands, the goats are eating everything and really stripping the island of all vegetation. We walked to Pointe Morel and from Fort Caroline could view the bay of Roches Percées. We were only 136m up but it was a very warm day, we were quickly running out of water so walked back to the main center for lunch and at 3pm got hold of Joao to pick us up on the dinghy.
Shahn at Fort Caroline - a picture for our friend Caroline :)
Michael at Fort Caroline, near Point Morel. Michael is standing where the cannon would have been attached and the arc of stones is where the wheels would have run when aiming.
We swam almost every day either for getting to land for a walk or snorkelling, we had the opportunity to investigate a sunken ferry in the harbour in Les Saintes, when I get some time I will put together a movie with all the cool videos....
Joao in his dinghy picking us up from the docks after another day trip off the boat.
As soon as we got back to the boat we got our togs on and kayaked over to the sunken ferry and went snorkelling for an hour. The ferry is 5-10 meters in depth so after some practicing we managed to dive down to the helm. The fish were quite friendly and we got some Go Pro video from there too.
We spent two nights at the anchorage near the Pain de Sucre (Sugar Loaf Island), a short 30minute motor from the mooring, under the 300m high hill of Le Chameau, still on the Terre-du-Haut island of Les Saintes.
From on top of Le Chameau, looking down at the yachts below at our anchorage.
The fort on top of Le Chameau
View back towards Terre-du-Haut mooring and Fort Napolean, you can also see the airport!
Yet another shot of the fort on top of Le Chameau
Shahn as we were leaving Les Saintes
Michael and Joao putting up the main sheet. (Photo credit: Gomes Family)
Shahn and Michael dropping the main sheet (Photo credit: Gomes Family)
Another reason we chose the Gomes Family to spend a fortnight with was to learn how a family with a young child functions, the roles required and support system needed to live aboard a 45ft boat long-term. It will be no surprise to anyone that knows Michael well, that he has a dream of owning a 40ft boat and sailing the world. From Shahn's point of view, she is happy to support this dream but was dubious about how a young family would cope, the isolation from family and the security of the family on board said boat. Happily, the Gomes family made it look quite easy. Maria, is a bright three year old girl who is very at ease in the boat as its all she's known. She speaks and understands English as well as Thai & Portuguese. Joao and Nae both spend time with her doing exercises in all three languages, writing, counting, reading etc. We found it incredibly interesting to watch their family dynamics, the integral part of the process is being united in discipline, communication and boundaries from both parents, essential for all parents really but when the threat of the open ocean is present on top of that, it adds an extra element. We learnt a lot from the experience and thoroughly enjoyed our time with the family.
Our last night going out for dessert. (Photo credit: Gomes Family).
Thank you to Joao, Nae, Maria & Noël for having us onboard your family home, we enjoyed our stay!!
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