BASSE TERRE, GUADELOUPE- FWI

We awoke to church bells chiming “six heure,” smelled the distinct aroma of something chocolaty wafting from shore, and peeked out of the hatch in time to see two fishing boat puttering nearby to fill their nets with ample bait for the day. As lovely as it all seemed, once ashore, we were soon sorely frustrated. Finding someone in this little fishing village who could “parlez englais” or was willing to speak English was next to impossible until we went for dinner and, thankfully, our waitress spoke English.  I kept our French phrasebook in hand as we walked about . However, a few nights later, at a different bistro, Dan mistakenly ate BOTH our entrees due to the language barrier! 

Who is that dude?

Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly and we explored part of the larger wing known as Basse Terre first.  The terrain is mountainous with rolling hills at the shoreline. We did a walking tour of Deshaies and also trekked to a long beautiful quiet beach just to the north over the hill called Plage de Grande Anse.  Our anchorage at Pigeon was peaceful and filled with sea turtles, as well as quite a few fishing vessels.  From there it was a short dinghy ride to the Jacques Cousteau National Underwater Park which we thoroughly enjoyed snorkeling. 

I had Pigeon Island & the Cousteau National Park
in the palm of my hand.

Guadeloupe is very agriculturally rich, so we’ve benefited from being able to buy a wide variety of fresh food and seafood at reasonable prices.  Trying to identify and buy cuts of beef or pork in the markets is a whole other story…

It's All about the VOLCANO

Exit Strategy at anchor in Little Bay, Montserrat

The first draft of our float plan did not include Montserrat because the description in our cruising guide was minimal and, at best, depressing.  In the summer of 1995, the Soufriere Hills Volcano erupted repeatedly, destroying much of Plymouth, the island's capital that was located at its foot. The island's population went from about 11,000 to 4,500 people when many residents of Plymouth accepted Britain's (their mother country) offer to relocate them to England rather than rebuild in a safe zone on Montserrat. The rumblings and eruptions continued in 1996, '97, '03, '06, '07, '08. '09, with the most recent occurring in February of 2010.  The activity of the Soufriere Hills Volcano has rendered the island two-thirds uninhabitable, leaving only one-third of the land in the safe zone.

Plymouth as it looks today; many buildings were buried.

So why did we stop in Montserrat after all?  Some of our cruising friends said it was a "must see" during our island hopping, so we took them at their word.  We were not disappointed thanks to a superb 4-hour tour of the island given by Joe Phillip (avalonstours@live.com).  Joe was born and raised on Montserrat and decided to stay and rebuild a home for his family in the safe zone.  His tour was comprehensive, complete with "before" photos he collected over the years to show the extreme changes causes by the volcano.  Joe made it real for us, taking us into some select abandoned buildings, walking in the ashy sand where the rains washed huge boulders and rock down the valleys covering golf courses, roads and bridges,houses and everything in its path.

This 3-story home sat at the edge of the golf course.

Today, the island of Montserrat is looking strong and beautiful.  The tour with Joe Phillip was awesome and obviously given with much heart.  We'd encourage you to visit Montserrat and witness the resilient nature of its people for yourself. 

Standing in a resort's pool with volcano in background.

Excellent snorkeling here in Rendezvous Bay.

ST. KITTS and NEVIS

Looking south on St. Kitts with the Atlantic on the left and the Caribbean on the right.
Nevis can be seen in the background.

Our 136 mile crossing from the BVI to St. Kitts culminated just as the day was dawning.  In the gray morning light,  St. Kitts' main port of Basseterre looked rather industrial with its many two and three story buildings lining the waterfront.  The beach looked like regular dirt and we could not see the anchor hit the bottom at a depth of 16 feet.  As the sun rose overhead, we were able to read the bottom clearly and were utterly surprised to find it dotted with sea stars in every shade of orange and loads of white sand dollars!  We learned that the beaches on the island were not dirt, but soft dark sand that resulted when fine bits of volcanic ash washed down the mountainsides during heavy rains.    The volcanic ash enriches the soil and much of St. Kitts and Nevis is lush with growth. 

Original Caribelle Batiks hung out to dry

The week we were there, St. Kitts' radio reported that they were expecting 31,000 tourists on 15 different cruise ships.  And from what we witnessed around the shopping mall squares of Port Zante and The Circus, the Kitticians really know how to capitalize on tourism!  You couldn’t walk six steps without someone trying to stop you to explain why you shouldn’t miss their tour of the island.  We had planned on hopping on the local bus to get a cheap feel for the lay of the land, but finally succumbed to a polite young man who introduced himself as “BRYAN” but wore a name tag that read “ALEX.” 

NOT our tour guide;there were multiple mannequins like this around the malls;
 each was missing at least one appendage.

Nevis, on the other hand, was quite a different story.  This island is much smaller and more rural, in a kinder and gentler sort of way, with more sea stars and sand dollars.  No hard sells for tours and trinkets were experienced.  We did take the local bus to see what the island was like and when the rest of the passengers got off, our driver gave us a little guided tour along his route, even offering to stop at some places to let us get out & look around.  The high light of our brief stay in Nevis was having dinner at SUNSHINE’S on Pinney’s Beach.  Dan likened it to “Foxy’s ” on Jost Van Dyke-BVI. 

The meal at SUNSHINE'S was DEElicious!

"...then home again, home again, jiggety jig!"

My Captain- He Dah Man!

A typical day with no lines.

The Captain skillfully led his First & Last Mate along Road Town's winding waterfront street toward the Customs and Immigration Office which is housed at the Ferry Dock.  He side-stepped right into the street or left into parking lots to pass hoards of tourists who sauntered along the walk to escape the cruise ship for the day.  The Captain & Mate finally rounded the last bar adjacent to the office  and what they beheld was a staggering sight.  A surprisingly huge crowd of vacationers were there preparing to leave Tortola by ferry in order to catch a flight in St. Thomas.  One line ran the length of the building; the other had people terraced down the main entryway steps and nearly onto the driveway.  Everyone looked hot and tired. 

The Captain calmly and matter-of-factly said, "I'm going in the back door."

10:04 am- The First & Last mate noted the time.  She knew that her presence was not required in the office and that the captain had her passport.  Her decision to stay out of the process was two-fold: first, she thought it prudent to distance herself from any possible embarrassing scene that might occur; second, someone needed to be free to arrange for an attorney, bail, or a donation to a BVI program of the officer's choice.  The Mate sat down to make herself comfortable and passed the time by people watching as still more arrived at the terminal.

10:12 am- The Captain exited the front entrance unscathed and with the proper departure papers in hand.    He dah MAN!

Waiting on the Weather

We filed our float plan with our family and said our "good-byes" to friends in the USVI  over a WEEK ago.  On Wednesday, we left the homey surroundings of Honeymoon Bay-Water Island and spent the night in Round Bay on the far eastern end of St. John to get a good night's rest before our jump off into the deep for our 134 mile or so journey to St. Kitts. The next morning-Thursday, the predicted winds were brisk, but sailable- so we thought.  However, after two and a half hours of being pounded by 6-8 foot waves, we came about and headed northwesterly toward Spanish Town,Virgin Gorda- BVI.  Once ashore, the weather reports indicated that the winds would be a bit calmer the next day (Friday).

So the following morning, we weighed anchor and headed out along the southeastern coast of Virgin Gorda, past the Baths and through the pass between Round Rock and Ginger Island.  Everything seemed fine.  I was at the helm and Dan was adjusting the sails.  The headsail was lufting noisily which thoroughly annoyed the Captain.  As he stood studying the genoa, I noticed that the sail was slowly falling down along the headfoil!  I immediately alerted Dan and he scurried forward, reaching it just as the bulk of the sail blew over the starboard side into the sea.

Dan was using all his might to pull the sail back on board, with seemingly minute results. Still at the helm, I maneuvered the vessel to head more into the wind and reduce the speed.  I set the auto pilot and carefully worked my way to the foredeck to help.  It seemed we'd pull some sail up onto the deck and then the water would pull that and more back under.  It was an exasperating experience and the whole time we both kept checking our position to make sure that Exit Strategy was not about to kiss the rocky shores of Round Rock or Ginger Island. 

At last, the sail was completely out of the water and Dan lashed it to the lifelines.  As he did, we saw that it was torn near the top along a horizontal seam and vertically near the UV panel along the leech. It had come down when the knot that fastened it to the halyard came undone. We jibed to sail back to Road Town, Tortola where we anticipated that we could get the sail repair done, clear into Customs/Immigration, and access the internet to monitor the weather and communicate with family.

The repair was easily accomplished, although we had to deal with waiting until the following Tuesday for some things because Monday was a local BVI holiday. We kept a watch on the weather; the winds and the waves only got worse.  Today- nine days later- they have calmed down considerably and tomorrow we will once again attempt to set sail for St. Kitts, hoping that the third time is a charm.