The group was going to break up for a couple of days, with Talitha heading to Pointe à Pitre for a technical stop and Wind4Life to the small harbor of Rivière Sens on the West coast of Basse Terre. Les Têtus (the “hard headed”), as we are now known, were finally going to see Les Saintes in daylight.
Les Saintes was discovered by Colon on All Saints Day. It was not until 1648 that the area became of interest for the colonizing powers, and the French sent settlers from Guadeloupe to prevent the English from doing the same. Les Saintes was cause for a famous naval battle when in 1782 the British launched Admiral Rodney’s fleet from their base in (now named) Rodney Bay north of St. Lucia against the French fleet. The “Battle of the Saints” was won by the English, and ended French domination in the Caribbean. The Treaty of Paris handed control back to the French, which built two forts (Fort Joséphine and Fort Napoléon). Peace reigned however, and the forts never saw a bullet fired.
From Marie Galante it was a 15-20nm sail downwind, with a beautiful 25kn breeze and following seas. One gybe was all it took to get us through the Passe de la Baleine, which we had not attempted at night a few days ago.
We had been a bit laid back and had left Marie Galante mid morning. By the time we arrived to Les Saintes it was packed. There are mooring buoys on each side of the ferry channel for Le Bourg, but they were all taken and after about half hour zigzagging around we opted for anchoring E of Pain de Sucre, on 15m of water. Surprisingly the anchorage was comfortable enough, and next morning we headed early to seek a buoy nearby le Bourg.
I was not enthusiastic as the “race for the buoy” conveyed a “Calvi in August” feeling, with more than one boat ready to use the full 3000rpm to get ahead of you to the next free buoy….Not a problem if you are in Calvi in August, but not our cup of tea here. Anyway, after about 1h we secured a buoy and dinghied to Le Bourg. Walking up and down the main street a couple of times we could understand the charm this place casts. It must be very pleasant in quieter times, but it was carnival, the ferries kept coming, as well as passengers of a large cruise ship, and it was all so different from Marie Galante’s simplicity, or the natural roughness of some spots in the Grenadines (which I was starting to miss).
We enjoyed watching the carnival wagon through the narrow main street though, and had a good time playing freesbie in the public park, after which we slowly headed home.
In spite of being nearby Le Bourg and surrounded by islands the night was rolly. So much that in the morning one of the two mooring lines was cut due to shaft against the anchor. I was conscious of this risk under heavy roll, although it had never happened in 20 years. We had kept the lines tight to give them a vertical angle to the buoy and thus clearing the anchor, but the roll was such that the top line still got in contact. Low risk as we strictly use 2 lines when moored to a buoy and we had our anchor alarm on as well, but unpleasant nevertheless.
We had planned the Fort Napoléon visit that morning, but nature was sending signals since we approached les Saintes first: dinghy, cut line, gusts, roll…. we all agreed to head for Basse Terre’s lee and look for a quieter place, namely Anse Malendure – Ilet Pigeon, which is the center of the Cousteau National Park.
Our friends from Switzerland savored a downwind sale with 30-35kn breeze up until the southwest tip of Basse Terre, Keraban showing off with surfs at 13 knots. Not a complaint, sturdy people these Swiss from Ticino. The sale along the west coast was with more variable winds, but still enjoyable, and we gobbled up the 22 nm to Malendure in under 2h30.
I used to watch the Cousteau series as a kid, fond memories of weekend afternoons sitting on the floor with a bowl full of fruit and some biscuits while Cousteau was diving. There is a statue of him placed in about 10m depths at Ilet à Pigeon, two large rocks surrounded by reefs about half mile from the anchorage.
We took our dinghy (the new one. The original is with a couple that will leave it in St. Martin for me to pick up on our way back) and went to snorkel to Ilet à Pigeon. Not only is the marine life rich, it is also very accessible, as waters are shallow. Fish are used to constant human presence and will allow you to hoover close. The kids spent much time being constantly excited by the shapes and colors, until the chill caught up (yes, even in 26 degree waters) and it was time to return for a warm sun bath. Wind4Life also arrived from Rivière Sens, and that same evening they took me to dive on a nearby wreck. It was my first dive with them and my 2nd wreck. Always captivating to see the shape of a sunken boat appear before your eyes.
Although the anchorage, Anse Malendure, is also a busy diving spot the atmosphere is quiet. The beach was crowded, but in a pleasant way. A typical judgement of the world seen from offshore, but it does become one’s reality. Anyway, we did spend a full afternoon there sipping our drinks under the trees of the local bar, watching our kids playing. Another place we would have stayed for a couple more days, especially to visit inland.
After two nights at Malendure we headed north to Deshaies, which on the map looks as a very protected anchorage. It was going to be the last spot for our friends onboard, as their flight was taking off on the 5th. “Time flies when you are drinking rum” as our black flag says (and yes, it is still flying, and although not strictly a pirate flag, we are advised that one of two crimes for which you still get death by pendaison in British territory is flying the black flag).
We anchored close to Talitha and Wind4Life, and headed to visit Deshaies.
It is a very quiet fishermen village, with a small harbor for shallow drafters and its main street. It is visited by many yachtsmen as it is both a good place to leave the boat unattended and visit the island, and a departure point towards Antigua to the North.
The main attraction, other than the calm inherent to this village, are the botanical gardens (and the supermarket). The last morning in Deshaies we split, the family and friends having decided to spend the morning at the gardens and I taking care of basic maintenance and and planning the sailing to Antigua the next morning. It was soon time to bring our guests back to land, who we trust shared good moments of sailing, snorkeling, sipping and just enjoying the company in such a peculiar environment. Thanks for the very nice company, and for having taken all the time and effort to come over.