Les Saintes - A Little Piece of Paradise

We set out on an overcast, windy morning on a reach with seas that were fortunately calm due to the protection of Guadelope.  Our destination, Les Saintes, was about an hour's sail south of the main island Basse Terre in Guadelope.  As we reached the lighthouse at the southernmost point, the winds clocked south and the waves grew.  We were soon sailing upwind to our destination with a double reefed main and full jib.  Adventure I handled the conditions beautifully and as you can see below, Roger enjoyed the 24-28 knots of breeze. This is what most would call a rather "salty" sail. 

We arrived in Les Saintes and found our friends Deb and Tony on their boat 'Exit Stage Left', which had been moored in front of the picturesque little town of Bourg des Saintes for the past 5 days.   

We noticed that the anchorage was quite rolly, which makes sleeping uncomfortable, but we were hoping to moor near Deb and Tony.  Unfortunately all the moorings were taken, so we headed to Ilet a Cabrit, a small island which is a short dinghy ride away.  We found a perfect mooring in a nice calm anchorage with beautiful, clear water.  By the time we had a quick swim and had our dinghy in the water, Tony, Deb and their little Westie, named Barley, dropped by for a visit and an invitation out to dinner. 

We went to town a bit early and did a walkabout to get a feeling for the place. Bourg des Saintes is a very cute French town with a Caribbean vibe.  We had a fun dinner, and the next day when we took the dinghy back into town, there were people in brightly coloured costumes and men with huge drums coming off the ferry. Apparently it was  Caribbean Carnival day and the various parishes were competing. Who knew? Yes once again we wandered into another crazy experience.  Apparently, a parade Caribbean style is not a spectator sport; it is all about participation. Basically the entire town (parish) comes out to follow, cheer on and dance behind their town band. The band itself is made up mostly of drummers playing brightly painted milk jugs, huge hand made wooden drums and steel pans. Some bands did have a brass section and one had a keyboard perched on a rickety truck which was festooned with oversized speakers that were cranked to 11. The two things every band had in common was they were very enthusiastic and very loud.  Women danced with the bands in colourful costumes, and all of them were painted with sparkles and beads. 

Our quiet anchorage provided us the opportunity to go snorkelling and hiking, and we took advantage of both.  The snorkelling was good and we were fortunate enough to see a Spotted Scorpionfish.  This particular fish is poisonous and it blends in completely with the bottom as it is covered in what appears to be moss.  We also saw a Bearded Fireworm crawling along some coral, a Ballonfish with long spines that stick out of it, and a Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber sitting in the turtle grass on the bottom - I kid you not, that is the name, and I think you can imagine what it looks like 😆 

Our hike provided some pretty vantage points and a great opportunity for Pirate to get some land time more similar to what she is used to. In addition she got some face time with some youngsters from the local goat herd....I KID you not. 

However, our time in Guadelope had come to an end, because so had our propane....