Guadeloupe

On the tenth of May we left St. Pierre, Martinique at 0400 and sailed past Dominica to Iles Des Saintes, Guadeloupe arriving around 1500 (3PM) after a trip of 75 nautical miles.

You can click on any picture to get a larger version.

We first anchored off the town Bourg Des Saintes before moving over to an anchorage near the Pain A Sucre (Sugar Loaf) mini piton.











Nearby is Le Chameau Lookout Tower (1036 feet). Iles Des Saintes has many fortifications set up by the French. The naval battle off The Saintes in 1782 established England's supremacy of the seas. More than 6000 men perished and the French fleet was decimated. We decided we needed to climb to Le Chameau for our own lookout.

Nearing the top we had a wonderful view of Bourge Des Saintes.













Le Chameau lookout tower had impressive views south to Dominica and north the main island of Guadeloupe.

We met more goats than people on the trail.























Unlike many other islands we visited, the goats on Terre D'en Haut were unconcerned about our presence.













Our next trip took us to the large and mountainous island of Basse Terre.







We stopped at Pigeon Island home of the Cousteau Underwater Park which some claim is one of the 10 best diving areas in the world. We saw fish there we had no seen elsewhere in the Caribbean and the colors of the fish and coral seemed somehow brighter.

We picked up a dive mooring uncomfortably close to the rocky shore but decided to stay overnight nonetheless.









Our last port of call in Guadeloupe was Deshaies, a small fishing port on the Northwest coast of Basse Terre.

October 2008 Hurricane Omar, a late season storm spawned in the Caribbean and headed East causing extensive damage to many exposed anchorages on the west side of the islands. We believe the damaged boat in this picture was a victim as well as the small dock that used to be immediately to the left.