Guadeloupe

Buddy boating is not everyone's cup of tea. But it is nice to know that someone is looking out for you whilst you are underway. And they sometimes take a good pic of your boat under sail, which is something you could not do yourself. Andrew also liked discussing weather, sea state and wind with Ian.

Gumbar

Calypso: Life on the lean

The local fishermen like putting fish traps down on the shallow contours making navigation a nightmare for us. We have to keep a beady eye out all the time when we are entering a bay as well as in any shallow water along the way.

Fish Pots

It was so calm that we could put Dishy out and hook up with Starlink while we motorsailed.

Starlink aka Dishy

We arrived in Bouillante at around 14:30, dropped anchor and switched off Donk! It is always a relief to have the blessed silence after hour upon hour of the engine noise. Although there were a few other boats anchored there already there was plenty of room for us. 

Guadeloupe is beautiful

I had some repairs to do. This is the cover that goes over Laura's hatch. We had some hectic winds recently and one of the tabs came off. Laura can't do without it, so I had to fix it quickly. While I was doing that we heard a hissing sound and smelt gas! Not good. So Andrew opened the gas locker to find the issue. We weren't really sure what the problem was, but he took everything out, tightened everything and it seems to be fine.

Sewing

The sunsets further south seem to be very quick without the lingering light. Here the sunsets are beautiful with the sky turning a burnt orange as the sun sets below the horizon. I must have thousands of sunset photos but I can't resist taking another when the sky is this beautiful!

The following morning this super yacht anchored near us. Andrew spent the day watching the crew putting out all the toys and then packing the toys away. To be fair, there were kids on board and they had lots of fun sliding down the water slide.

Ian was worried about noise from the shore, especially party music in the evening as it was Christmas, so he anchored Gumbar miles away from us. 

Not that far, you think?

THAT is Gumbar

And then this huge boat came and anchored near him. 😂

Not too close now

Bouillante means boiling in French. There are several hot springs which stem from volcanic activity on the island. A hot river runs down one side of the bay into the sea. They use the steam to generate electricity.

Hot river

One morning, Faye, Andrew, Laura and I went ashore to have a swim in the boiling hot sea. And it is truly very hot, like a hot bath.

Hot water

We had a very quiet Christmas morning. We phoned home and had a much needed video call with Matt. We didn't exchange gifts but Laura did get some new earrings.

Christmas Earrings

We had to take several pics before we got one we liked!

We had a wonderful Christmas afternoon on Gumbar. We swam, paddled on the SUP, played Mexican Train, and ate the most delicious dinner that we were able to put together. I bought a leg of lamb in Martinique before we left, which was reasonably priced considering that you don't often find lamb in the islands. Andrew cooked it on the braai and it was delicious.

Yummy Lamb

Faye had bought a ham which she cooked on Gumbar. Together with salads, a beautifully laid table, a few beers and wine, and fruit crumble for pudding we had a lovely Christmas celebration.

Merry Christmas

After a day of rest, Boxing Day, we upped anchor and puttered around to Pointe Pigeon where we anchored for a couple of days.

We took the dinghy across to Pigeon Island and had a snorkel. The area around Pigeon Island is a national park called Cousteau Reserve. It is a protected underwater reserve with beautiful coral reefs and lots of fish. There is a bust of Jacques Cousteau on the seabed. If Ian and Faye hadn’t pointed it out I would never have seen it. It is quite deep and looks like a dark blob of rock. It really doesn't look very impressive from above, but Ian was able to go down and take GoPro footage of the statue for us. Have a look at the video on our YouTube channel. 

Faye and I took the opportunity to use the laundry. I usually do the washing off the back of the boat, but it is back breaking and uses a lot of water. So when we can, we use a machine.

We knew that after Christmas we would want to sail to Saint Martin as soon as possible. So we 

sailed up to Deshaies which is at the top of the island, ready to make the crossing to Montserrat. However, once again our plans changed. Faye and Ian on Gumbar had decided that this is as far as they will go up the island chain. We put our plans on hold for a few days so that we could spend New Year’s Eve with them.

Deshaies is a quaint little town, but the seabed is rocky and the bay is quite narrow. The wind swirls around making the boats on anchor drift in all directions. We generally don't like anchoring there, especially overnight. We decided that seeing as though we were going to be staying a bit longer, we would find a quieter bay to anchor in.

 

So we motored 2nm south of Deshaies to a lovely bay called Petite Anse. It is a beautiful bay with a beach and wonderful places to snorkel. We were the only two boats which meant it was quiet and peaceful. We have snorkelled and paddled on the SUP.

Anchor beer

There is always something to fix on a boat. Andrew is amazing at what he has managed to fix on Calypso. Google is his friend if he can't work it out himself. Our radar has not been working since the crossing. It worked and then just stopped. So Andrew spent the better part of a day trying to work out what was wrong. Sadly, he didn't manage to get to the bottom of it. 

No radar output

New Year was celebrated on Gumbar. We decided to have a prawn and chicken curry which Faye made. It was delicious! We played Cranium which is a wonderful, fun game for all to play. 

Trying to figure out "contact lens" being moulded with clay

Cranium: the game for everyone

Did you know that cruiser's have their own midnight? It is well known that 9pm is actually midnight for us. We managed to stay up a bit later than that, and heard the actual midnight fireworks from our cabin.

Ask any cruiser for two of the hardest things we have to get through - apart from squalls, and awful sea and no wind, and too much wind - and they will say that one is missing friends and family back home, and missing birthdays and Christmas, and the other is saying goodbye to friends we have made along the way. It doesn't get any easier, no matter how many times you have to say goodbye!

We left Gumbar in Guadeloupe on 1st January 2024. We are not sure when our paths will cross again, but when they do there will be games and laughter and fun!

 

So, instead of au revoir, it will be à bientôt.

Leaving Guadeloupe

We decided to do an overnight passage straight to Saint Martin. In the next blog post, read about our bumpy start and beautiful welcome on entering Marigot the following morning.

I leave you with a series of picture of the full moon rising that I took one evening.