CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored off the town of Bourg de Saintes on the island of Terre D'en Haut in the Iles Des Saintes, Guadeloupe
15 51.966' N, 061 35.285' W

We are still flying the Q-flag, although we have gotten one step closer to clearing in. Friday morning, bright and early, Sheryl kayaked into shore and was able to encourage the officials to fax all of our paperwork to the big island for processing. Unfortunately, after waiting a couple of hours, nothing had been done with it on the other end. Sheryl said that she would check back on Monday morning. We spent the remainder of the day in R&R mode, recovering from back-to-back days of passagemaking.

On Saturday we put both kayaks in the water and went to explore a couple of other nearby anchorages. The winds were blowing pretty hard, but we can generally make good headway as long as we simply keep on paddling (it is not important to have strong strokes, but it is best to keep a steady tempo).



Our first stop was the anchorage on Ilet a Cabrit. Several of the boats were anchored stern-to the beach. We stopped at one boat, s/v Slow Dancing, where Richard and Beth told us that they had their bow anchor in 40 feet of water and their stern anchor (only a few feet off shore) in 6 feet of water. Water depth where the boat was parked was about 12 feet. Another boat, s/v Mistress, had a bow anchor forward and their stern tied off to a tree on shore. We met owners Michael and Louise while they were walking their dog along the beach. Two couples who spoke English, a rarity here in The Saints, perhaps we should move out here? The water west of Cabrit was calmer than our anchorage over near town, but the depths were concerning (40+ feet is a long way to lift our very heavy ground tackle), and the flukey winds wrapping around the island would certainly not provide the fresh breezes we were currently enjoying. Finally, there is the internet signal we are currently paying for (not the best, but it is the only WiFi in town), which we would lose if we moved to that remote island anchorage.

After assessing the anchorage, we decided to check out the underwater scenery. We beached the kayaks near Pte. Sable and donned our snorkel gear. The fish were not as large, colorful, or plentiful as we have found in other locations, but the water a short distance from the shoreline was crystal clear.



After snorkeling for a while, we went for a walk along the beach and enjoyed our lunch of PB&J sandwiches on delicious whole wheat French bread (yes, the bakery was open when Sheryl went to town on Friday). All of this under the watchful eyes of the resident pelicans.



After lunch we decided to check out another anchorage around the corner of Pain de Sucre. You can see in the photo below that Pain de Sucre is a 200-foot mini-piton. We were able to kayak right up to the sheer face of this terrestrial hump.



Around the corner, we found quite a few boats at anchor. The bottom appeared to be mostly sandy, but there were lots of big rocks and coral sprinkled about. Again, with deep water we would be in a bad way if our anchor got caught on something on the bottom. Sheryl is able to get down to 20-25 feet (largely due to her recent self-motivated training in underwater photography), but I simply cannot equalize the pressures in my head to get down that deep (due to my history of sinus troubles, I suspect). I think we'll stay put in our current anchor spot.

There were several people snorkeling off the beach nearest to Pain de Sucre, but we opted to turn around and paddle back to the boat. We knew that the final leg of our triangle would take us directly into the wind and chop for about a mile. Not a bad distance under normal circumstances, but winds were steady at better than 20-knots. That meant constant paddling, no rest (otherwise we would quickly blow backwards).

Once back to the boat, conditions were reasonably comfortable. Each day that we have been here, a large Windstar-type cruise ship anchors in the harbor to our port side. Their position between us and the point of access to open water between Ilet a Cabrit and Terre-de-Haut blocks any swell we might otherwise experience. Unfortunately, the cruise ships have been departing at sunset, and we are left with rolly conditions all night long. As reported before, Sheryl has no problems sleeping in these conditions (in fact, she claims to like it), but I continue to struggle.

I think that I have gotten better at handling it, but each day here the roll seems to be more pronounced than it was the day before. This would correspond with the recent forecasts for big swells in offshore waters. I continue to try different sleeping positions and locations within the boat. Sometimes I can get by in the v-berth by tucking pillows at my sides to keep me from rolling around in my bunk. Last night, I had to retire to the salon and wedge myself into the settee with the lee cloth in place. I guess all of this is good practice for our eventual long offshore passage to Bermuda. If I can learn to sleep in these conditions, I should be able to be more rested for those long days on the open ocean.

As I write this blog, it is almost noon on Sunday and no Windstar cruise ship has come to our rescue today. We swing on our anchor in a periodic arc, and at a certain point in the swing we start to roll. It builds as the mast swings further and further, back and forth, until items below are banging against cupboard doors, sinks drains are gurgling, and knives clink together in their block. We hold on until the boat swings back into a position where the swell is no longer hitting us on the beam. I suppose that I could try to rig some form of bridle to keep us pointed at an angle to the swell; however, instead I am inclined to go ashore, walk around, and explore some of the beaches here on Terre-de-Haut. Tonight, there is bound to be another training session in sleeping-under-motion.

P.S. My suffering here in this rolly anchorage has provided Sheryl enough time with internet access to post new photos. See the link (top left) 'Guadeloupe 2009' for the most recent pics.