Iles des Saints

We left Pigeon Islands for the 23-mile sail down to Iles des Saints, a small group of islands lying off the southeast coast of Guadeloupe. Our friends on SeaShell had raved about these islands so we wanted to check them out for ourselves.

It was an interesting sail, to say the least. The weather was very squally when we left Pigeon Island and it went downhill from there. As we approached the south end of Guadeloupe all hell broke loose as a 30+ knot squall came over the mountain top and nailed us. We were already under a reefed main, reefed genoa, and staysail. We struggled to get the genoa in since we had previously (three times) broken the furling line and it was now too short to reach the winch. After a heroic struggle, I pulled enough in to get the line on one of the big winches (it shouldn't be that hard to bring in a reefed genoa). Meryl was yelling at me (it was really noisy with the wind) that the loose 5/8" genoa sheets were flailing around (this is typically how dodger windows get broken) and I was trying to winch it in as fast as possible.

Once we got it in things calmed down a little and we decided we'd try the technique of heaving-to where you tack the boat but leave the staysail cleated on the other side. We ended up in more of a "forereaching" mode where we were going forward, but very slowly, and the boat became very manageable. We'll need to try heaving-to without the mainsail and see how the boat responds.
We headed into shore (it was a leeward shore so it was safe since the wind was blowing us away from the land) and hid under the lee for a while until the squall passed through.

There was a 40 ft. catamaran sailing alongside us who went out, then came back in, then went out again with us as we rounded the southern point, but went back in after about 10 minutes of being bashed in the waves. Since it was such a short passage across to Iles des Saints (pronounced "ill day saants") we decided to continue on.

With the reefed main and staysail the boat was close hauled into 6 - 7 foot waves but was handling OK. Our only concern was a large freighter we had picked up on our AIS navigation system. It was very tough to pick him up on radar because of the heavy rain squalls that degrade the radar image. He was about four miles away but doing about 14 knots straight towards us. The name on the AIS was UBC Stavanger and I hailed him on VHF channel 16. I told him our boat name and position and asked if he could see us on radar. I got back a faint response with a heavy foreign accent that was almost unintelligible. Tried a few more times with no luck. Well, we could see him visually so we decided he probably would change course as he got closer.

AIS readout from the navigation computer screen of UBC Stavanger passing Flying Cloud.

As we were discussing our options about Stavanger a heavy squall came up behind him and engulfed us in 30+ winds and visibility of about 40 ft. I went down below to check the computer and saw that we were definitely on a collision course with the time of contact in about 4 minutes. Got on the radio again and repeated: "Stavanger, please alter course to past astern of sailboat." Got the same unintelligible response so we began to take evasive action, except at 6 knots of speed there's much we can do to get out of the way of a ship going 14 knots.

This may not look that close in the photo but in stormy weather, it is close enough.

Just then the squall cleared enough that we could see him steering astern of us. I'm not sure he ever saw us since all of a sudden there was a fast 50 ft. catamaran ferry just below us paralleling our course and doing about 20 knots. I think Stavanger probably saw the ferry coming and altered course for him. Oh well, another boring day on the water.

Approaching Iles des Saints we came under the protection of the mountainous islands and things calmed down a little. Dodged around a couple of reefs and entered a picturesque little harbor with about 40 sailboats at anchor or on mooring balls. We decided we'd had enough excitement for the day and simply tied up to a mooring ball. These balls were very well designed and had a 2-ft. stainless steel pole with a large ring at the top to run your line through. Great design that made tying up to the ball very easy and safe. Why can't everyone design mooring balls like these?

Colorful local boats anchored off Terre De Haut in Iles des Saints.

Iles des Saints certainly lived up to its reputation. There are three islands in the group, Terre De Haut, Terre De Bas, and Marie Gallant. We were staying at Terre De Haut, which had more services, shops, etc. for cruisers.

Checking in with French Customs at a local Internet bar. We later met the French woman who wrote the computer program.

We cleared French Customs on the computer at a little cybercafé (love the laid-back approach to Customs that French has in the islands). I even filled the forms out in record time now that I understand the system a little better. Meryl dropped off our laundry at the café where they did two loads for $21, not bad considering there are no self-service laundromats in many of the islands.

We loved walking down the main street of Terre de Haut with all neat little shops and restaurants.

We walked the length of the small seaside village several times, stopping at many small boutiques and restaurants. Found one café that served probably the best French ham and cheese on a baguette I've had outside of Paris.

Meryl has never met a vegetable market she didn't fall in love with.

Meryl found an open air market and reveled in the large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. This island caters to tourists from Europe who fly into Guadeloupe and take fast ferries across from the mainland. Since it was offseason things were somewhat slow and quiet.

Sara and Meryl had a special girls shopping trip.

Potential crew for Flying Cloud.

The next day Field Trip arrived and in the afternoon the girls went in shopping and Mark, Elizabeth (the human fish) and I took Mark's Brownies SNUBA rig out to a reef in the middle of the harbor. The SNUBA rig is essentially a small gas-powered compressor that sits on an inner tube that is towed by the divers. Sixty-foot-long air hoses with regulators are provided for up to four divers. It gives you great freedom since you don't have to wear all the cumbersome SCUBA equipment.

Seven-year-old Elizabeth is a natural in the water. Mark held on to her weight belt as we descended and she was completely at ease in the 20 ft. depths. She has perfected the ability to talk underwater and at one point I heard a "Walter" scream and looked over as she pointed out the first moray eel I've seen in the Caribbean. It was wonderful to be back underwater again. I've always had a hard time clearing my ears but going slower with the SNUBA gear seemed to help a lot. Saw lots of colorful reef fish, basket corals, bottles of wine encrusted with coral, and other underwater life. One that intrigued me looked like slivery pearls about the side of a quarter. Mark thinks they may be eggs of some type. Will have to look it up in our fish books.

On the last day we went out to dinner at a small seaside café with Field Trip. I gave in and ordered veal with a wine/mushroom sauce under the conclusion that there are no bad French restaurants. I was right. We even had some ice cream (glaces) for dessert, a real treat when you are cruising. We decided Iles des Saints was definitely in our top 5 list and would garner a longer visit next season.