THE GORGEOUS GUADELOUPE

 

 

I think I've just found my new favourite place.....Guadeloupe!!! We had no idea what to expect before we arrived, our thoughts were that it would probably be another typical Caribbean island and we couldn't have been more wrong! Not a Rasta in sight and no Reggae music....it's a quaint French island with the most beautiful rainforest, incredible diving, calm anchorages and what has made it so special, swimming with dolphins!

 

We had a great sail from Nevis, via the active volcano on Monserrat. What a sad sight it was to see the devastation the Soufriere Hills volcano caused. The entire town of Plymouth has been destroyed by the lava flow, one can see houses, a church and businesses, half covered in covered in debris and a ghost town left behind after everyone was evacuated. One can trace the path of the lava flow on either side of the volcano, which last erupted in 1999. It is still smoking and as one sails past you get a strong sulphur smell and dust and ash landed on the boat.

SMOKE FROM THE VOLCANO AND THE DESTROYED TOWN OF PLYMOUTH

THE PATH OF THE LAVA FLOW

 

This is the first passage I have actually enjoyed because we sailed just about all the way, with 16 knots of wind and a flat sea. It took us 12 hours to do 75 miles.

3 BARACUDA'S CAUGHT ON THE PASSAGE

ARRIVING IN GUADELOUPE

 

ANCHORAGE IN DESHAIES

We arrived in the anchorage of Deshaies in Guadeloupe to a beautiful sunset and the chiming of church bells. We were so surprised to see a beautiful village and anchorage tucked into the mountains.

 

We cleared in the following day, on the computer at the local curio shop, no formalities, no customs officials and only a cost of 4 Euros. What a treat, we're so tired of "Customs and Irritation" at this stage of our travels!

 

FISHING AROUND OUR BOAT

We hired a car for 2 days and drove around the island to the local dive spots and went hiking in the rainforest, high in the mountains. This was spectacular, walking along well marked paths through thick forests and ending up swimming under a waterfall. It was great swimming in fresh water for a change, it was pretty cold but so invigorating.

 

DIVE SCHOOLS AT PIGEON ISLAND

The next day was one this family will cherish forever. We woke up to find a pod of dolphins around our boat. Michaela and Tayne jumped into the water to swim with them and then Stephen and I joined in. What an absolutely surreal experience.....they were so friendly and interactive, 11 in all, with moms and babies, playing and swimming with us. I will never forget the moment when I was swimming on the outside of the group and one dolphin swam right next to me for a while with his eyes closed, he then opened his eyes and looked right at me and came a little closer. We swam like that for a while and I felt such a special connection, I feel emotional when I think about it, even now. They were around our boat for the entire day, attracting people from all over the anchorage. It is amazing how happy these dolphins made people feel. We sat on our boat listening to the the shrieks and laughter coming from everyone who came into contact with them. Michaela and Tayne spent most of the day in the water, Michaela taking some beautiful underwater photos. We celebrated the day over a glass of wine at sunset and watched them swim out of the bay as the sun disappeared below the horizon. What special times, we're so blessed to have experienced this day with these gentle creatures.

A DAY WITH THE DOLPHINS

 

We're still in the same anchorage, 5 days later, and are reluctant to move on. There is a Spar (yes, like home, but a whole lot more expensive), a great bakery selling the most amazing pastries and baguettes, and we have good Internet.....what more could we ask for???? Could I live here forever.......absolutely YES!!!!!

HUGH HEF!!

 

 

 

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ST KITTS AND NEVIS

 

 

We had a bit of a shake, rattle and roll, 48 mile, 8 hour sail from St Barth to St Kitts. I'm really not keen on the longer passages, but they have to get done! It was a pretty sight to see the mountains of St Kitts looming in the distance and we hugged the coastline until we reached our anchorage in White Bay, passing pretty rural villages under the mountain along the way.

ARRIVING IN ST KITTS

OUR BUDDY BOAT, ZANSHIN

RURAL ST KITTS

BASSATERRE

 

There was absolutely nothing on the barren shore in White Bay, but it was a calm bay to spend the night before clearing in. We did get Internet which was a bonus! We motored to Bassaterre to clear in the following morning, with Arnd on our boat. There were 2 cruise ships in port so needless to say, the place was teaming with tourists and guides and one felt you were being ripped off around every corner. Clearing in is also expensive here, it cost us the equivalent of R360. We have calculated that we have spent in the region of R2000 in the last month, just clearing in and out of islands, such a waste of time and money!

BASSATERRE PORT

 

We took a walk around the old town of Bassaterre, it had a more authentic Caribbean feel than we've experienced here before. The roads are bad and the vendors and taxi's reminded us of home. The difference is that it is clean, the people are warm and friendly and one feels safe walking the streets.

OLD TOWN BASSATERRE

 

The following day saw us doing the short passage to the island of Nevis, with Katz and Zanshin having an epic sailing contest to see who could get there first....the race was on and we had a really fun sail!! Boys with their toys!!

 

MICHAELA TRIMMING THE SAILS

We anchored along Pinney's Beach for 2 nights and had sundowners at the infamous Sunshine Beach Bar which is renowned for it's Killer Bee cocktail. We had one.....and only ONE! They were so strong and absolutely delicious, the best cocktail we've had in the Caribbean so far! It is made from rum, passion fruit, lime, club soda and angostura bitters, we'll have to try and make it ourselves sometime. We met Sunshine, the owner, and encountered a very strange man who came to sit at our table with his pet monkey.

KILLER BEE COCKTAILS

 

SUNSHINES BEACH BAR

We fell asleep with reggae music pumping from all the beach bars along the shore and it was still going at 5am the following morning. These people can party!!

BOBOTIE BY THE SEA

Stephen woke up in the morning to find a yacht bumping up against our hull, a neighboring yacht had come off it's mooring ball and headed into us. Luckily there was no wind, so no damage was done. From now on we'll dive down to check the mooring balls, some of them haven't been maintained for years.

We needed to get a few provisions so Stephen and I took the dinghy into Charlestown the following morning, which was quite an experience. We arrived at the town square where a preacher was spreading the word, extremely passionately into his microphone for the whole town to hear. Then the music played and everyone clapped and threw their hands in the air, and then he got himself a guitar and he sang like a rock star!! We so enjoyed watching all of this, there were no tourists around and we felt we were experiencing the true Caribbean spirit.

 

We found a small take-away, Boddie Cafe, which sold the most delicious roti's I have ever had, we bought fruit and veg at the market and shopped at a little local supermarket for our supplies.

 

THE BEST ROTI'S EVER IN CHARLESTOWN

We got the true laid back island feel in this little town, and walking down a side alley, I saw an old clapped out car, driven by a rasta, with a sticker across the back window saying, "TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED". That says it all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ST BARTH

 

 

We sailed 17 miles (3.5 hours) from St Martin with our friend Arnd on Zanshin, to the island of Fourchue to do some diving. It is a beautiful untouched island and really great anchorage. It is a marine reserve and the kids and Arnd did 2 scuba dives while Stephen and I snorkeled. There were amazing drop offs and the water was crystal clear. We saw the biggest crayfish we have ever seen, it was about a meter long.....but no chance of catching it in the reserve! Arnd has his own compressor on board so it was fantastic to be able to re-fill our tanks as we needed. We spent 2 nights here, enjoying the diving, before heading on to St Barths.

 

The island of Fourchue

Clearing in at St Barths, a French island, is pretty easy, just a matter a filling your details in on the computer, they don't even stamp your passport. After clearing, we took a walk through the picturesque village and then walked to the airport to watch aeroplanes land. They approach extremely low, literally above one's head, and then land on a very short runway leading straight into the ocean. Taking off is equally as hairy and quite something to see.

 

Watching aeroplanes land

The town of Gustavia is beautiful with designer stores, restaurants and coffee shops in quaint alleys, all with a distinctive French feel. Needless to say, with everything priced in euros we couldn't afford to enjoy much on offer, but bought some yummy baguettes and cheese that we enjoyed with some great wine on the yacht.

 

St Barth

The following day we went to Anse du Columbier, a lovely bay adjacent to St Barths. We had a great time here, with lots of other yachts moored around us, a great beach and a nice vibe. There were parties on a few boats and we were all shining laser pointers on to the surrounding cliffs in the evening, which was quite fun!

Anse de Colombier

 

Arnd, Michaela and I did a strenuous 3 hour early morning hike from Columbier to the top of the mountain, through some magnificent scenery. It was great to exercise again and we were exhausted for the rest of the day!

Hiking around Colombier

 

We were so happy to see Mary A, with Jazzy and Sean on board, coming into the same anchorage. We didn't see them because they had guests on board but Sean was able to come say goodbye before we left. We felt really sad saying goodbye, they feel like family and we don't know when we will see them again.

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