We were pretty sure that Guadeloupe would be the Northern most island we would reach this season, and we were right. We are officially back in French territory again, and it should make for a perfect destination to do our provisioning before heading off to our next stop, Venezuela.
Guadeloupe consists of five inhabitated islands, Basse Terre and Grande Terre making up the main island, La Desirade to its East, Marie Galante to its Southeast and Les Saintes to its Southwest.
We landed on Les Saintes, just a short sail about 16nm North of Dominica. It is a quaint, little island, with just about 1,500 inhabitants. There are lots of small, local shops, cafes and restaurants, and it is easy to make your way around the island in one day.
And, that seems to be what people are doing. Many come from the main island with ferry in the morning, explore the island via a rented e-bike or golf cart, and return back at night. It can get somewhat crowded in the little town right around the ferry times mornings and evenings. And, the anchorage gets really rolly from the ferries on these times as well.
We ended up spending three nights at the anchorage, exploring town, the captain had a few snorkeling expeditions, and the admiral got a haircut.
We also celebrated the Norwegian Independence Day there, and due to our new Starlink, we could stream the events from back home. Definitely one of those days you wish you could be home for a day celebrating with family and friends…
Our next stop ended up to be quite an industrial anchorage right by the biggest city, Pointe-a-Pitre on the junction of the two main islands. We used this stop to provision, as well as renting a car and explore both of the main islands. As the captain’s ankle still is swollen, we did not do any hikes or visit places off the beaten path.
Our next stop was an anchorage at the Southern coast of Grand Terre, called Petit Havre. We had received a tip that there might be some lobsters to be found at this particular anchorage. We ended up spending two nights there, found one lobster – the first one since we entered the Caribbean.
We had the anchorage to ourselves, and it was quite spectacular. You have the ocean coming straight in, and are only protected by a reef, which we were tucked behind. It was also a fairly shallow anchorage, and quite windy. We tried a couple of times before we found our spot.
Unfortunately, the admiral got a little unlucky while we were here, and got her wrist caught in between the anchor chain and the boat. Painful as h…! Due to our headphones, which we communicate via when one is on deck, she was able to let the captain know quickly, and he maneuvered in a way that solved the situation. Lesson learned on how quickly things can happen, and things shift – even on a big boat.
Guadeloupe has the shape of a butterfly, where the two main islands are separated by a canal. One used to be able to sail the canal, and easily reach the North shore. This is no longer the case, unfortunately, as one of the bridges crossing the canal no longer opens to let boats pass. Otherwise, we probably would have planned to explore this side of the island as well, but we did not have enough time to go all the way around.
We considered going to a deserted island with a marine park close by for a couple of nights. The admiral was no longer in an adventurous mood after her little accident, and wanted to select a calmer anchorage for a few days. As the season clearly is coming to an end, and we have to head South to get out of hurricane territory, we decided to spend our last days on the leeward side of the island, where we expected it to be quite calm.
And, we were right. On the leeward side of Basse Terre is a protected marine park, which has awesome dive and snorkel sites. It is called Cousteau Underwater Reserve, named after the famous French diver, Jacques Cousteau. We had some really nice, quiet days there, with lots of beautiful underwater experiences.
We would have loved to explore Guadeloupe a little more, but our first Caribbean season has come to an end. We now have to make sure we are in a hurricane safe area, which means preferably going South of 11 degrees North.
During our first season here, we have visited seven countries, 39 different anchorages and spent a total of 124 days here in the South Eastern part of the Caribbean. Next stop is going to be some islands off the coast of Venezuela, which originally were not on our list. Turns out it comes highly recommended, and is supposed to be safe as well. An adventure awaits!
