Les Saintes and Cousteau Marine Park

18 February

We moved briskly from Prince Rupert Bay to Les Saintes in 18-20kts of wind, but with a nice angle, and entered the small French archipelago south of Guadeloupe from the back, in the Passe de Grand Ilet, where nature still looks (apart from some windmills producing the local electricity) just as Columbus saw it during his second voyage. The anchorage vas very busy and the mooring field full, so we anchored in 42 feet, seeing parts of our anchor chain that had not seen the light of the day in over a year. 

We enjoyed the local restaurants, including the excellent Au Bon Vivre for a couple of days, rented an electric car and visited the old fort from Napoleon III years, complete with exhibits of the 1782 Battle of Les Saintes where Admiral Rodney defeated the French, including some geocaching.  

We watered by ferrying jerrycans with the dinghy to avoid the local dock, forever busy with ferries, tour boats and tendering cruise ships. 

Both our bilge pumps had stopped working and we embarked on a full scale electrical analysis of the circuits, before Susan hit on the idea to look at the boat manual. The boat has been so heavily modified in the last 14 years that it is mostly of historical interest, but it mentioned a Bilge Pump and Shower Sump Reset Button. Button pressed, problem solved....read the stupid manual! We had not seen the button in 11 years....

23 February

Again a fast two-reefed crossing from Les Saintes to Ile Pigeon and the Cousteau Marine Park that sits on the upper west coast of Guadeloupe. We circled the island and anchored about one mile away. 

The anchorage is deep and the shelf rather narrow, so every afternoon arrival is watched carefully. We were joined by a German boat, S/V Homer, that checked that we were OK with the close quarters and invited us for cocktails. The skipper Marcus, a professional captain, and Wolfgang and Marek were full of funny stories. 

The next morning we went snorkeling at Pigeon Island with our dinghy. What a sight! This is possibly the best snorkeling in the Caribbean and compares in my mind only to Warderick Wells. It is like swimming in a giant aquarium with perfectly clear water and seeing hundreds of varieties of fish and coral, including the most magnificent Elkhorn coral trees we have beheld. 

We circled the island swimming, a little bit less than a mile and were back with our dinghy in time for an excellent lunch at the Rocher de Malendure, and provisioning at the local grocery store.