We left Gustavia and headed back to the Colombier Park (free mooring) and another hike. This time it seemed to take us straight uphill. We saw and heard a blue macaw - not native to the area - so it must have either escaped or been set free. It has a loud squawk. Michael tried to get it to talk - starting first in English and then switching to French - figuring we're on a French island. The bird simply squawked.
On Saturday, we left about 0830 in nice weather, put the main and headsail up with reefs and started sailing soon after we were clear of the mooring ball. Astarte loves to sail. We headed between Statia (St. Eustatius) and St. Kitts (St. Christopher) on a nice beam reach. This group of islands, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat and Guadeloupe are quite different in their topography. They are volcanic mountains (some still active like Montserrat) and their high elevation is lost in the clouds (thus the title of this entry). We never saw the top of the islands as we cruised past. They are quite lush and green and have many rivers and waterfalls. Many are agricultural and we saw cows and rich vegetation.
As we headed towards the cut between St. Kitts and Statia - the yell "fish on" went out. Michael instinctively went for the gear shift to slow the boat down - but we were sailing. So we headed into the wind a bit, let out the main and brought in a nice mahi. Not a huge one - but a four meal (8 serving) mahi. We're getting better at landing these - gaffing and tail looping it on board, Michael cleaned it and the line went back in. No further joy - but we were grateful for some free protein in the fridge!
We sailed through the night - passing Montserrat at night - and it may have had a dust plume - as there was a strong sulfur smell as we went by and a "squall" like disturbance on the radar. We did hit several squalls through the night - washing the decks and "freshening" the wind to mid-twenties. But we sailed! This was the first passage that we didn't turn the motor on the entire time and we pretty much had two tacks.
As daybreak came, we were near Deshaies (pronounced Day-hay) on the tip of Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe is a French island - and on our 2001 cruise - we never stopped here - so it was on our list this year. One of the toughest things to do is pick where to stop and what to skip. You can't see it all so choices have to be made. We thought of making the stop at St. Kitts - but the anchorage isn't great and there were storms predicted. Antigua and Barbuda are supposed to be gorgeous - but would require more easting and frankly, we're tired of crashing into seas and motoring. So we picked Guadeloupe as our "new" island to explore.
Guadeloupe is actually two islands, shaped like a lopsided butterfly. A river separates the two "wings." Whoever named the islands either was terribly confused or had a great wit. "Basse Terre" (low land) is actually the larger and most mountainous of the two. "Grande Terre" (large land) is smaller, flatter island. Grande Terre is the older island so perhaps the mountains eroded through time and the younger, more recently active Basse Terre may someday look like Grande Terre.
Agriculture (sugar cane), rum and tourism are the island's industries. The native Carib Indians called this island "Karukera" - Island of Pretty Waters. And with all the rivers, waterfalls and coastline - it's easy to see why. The island boasts the tallest waterfalls in the eastern Caribbean - hopefully we'll get to see them.
Deshaies is a picture postcard town. Nestled in the hills, with mist covered lush mountains surrounding it - it's a working fishing village It has good holding and we're anchored near the side of a hill - covered with trees, some rocks and lots of croaking frogs and birds. It's been a rainy, misty day all day long and as I'm writing this - a good rain shower is outside. We're collecting rain and should have two full containers by morning. There are about 20 boats in the anchorage. The Deshaies River comes into the bay and tomorrow - weather permitting we'll hike along the river to some waterfalls and perhaps stop at the Botanical Gardens which are supposed to be quite spectacular. We first have to find the gendarmes to clear into the country.
We also have a small mechanical issue. The centerboard on the boat is hydraulic and it seems to have a hose that's sprung a leak. When Michael put the board down for sailing, he thought he noticed something not feeling quite right. We anchored in deep enough water to have an issue - and when he checked it - sure enough - hydraulic fluid had leaked. So the board is stuck down and we'll have to find a mechanic to come to bleed the system as Michael doesn't have the spares (can you believe that???)or the experience to the job. More boat units!! (Remember the definition of cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations).
Turtles identified: the turtles we saw in St. Bart's are "Green Turtles." We stopped at the National Park office in Gustavia and got some great information.
Another country - more miles under the keel and best of all, we are sailing again.
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