Sailing Guadeloupe

We left early on Sunday morning, with enough light to ensure that we could remove a coral head if needed, as the last two times we anchored in Falmouth we needed assistance with the 200 pound dead coral we brought up. Luckily, it was a smooth departure and we were underway by 6:30am. We planned to sail all the way to Marie Gallant…..we made it here last night, after several plan changes.
About 2hours into our 12hr sail I started to smell something. Eventually Brian did too. We realized it was diesel but didn’t know from where. It was strong and very unpleasant. We hypothesized the various scenarios that might have caused it. After about 7hrs of sailing… we made the tough decision to tack towards Saint Louis so we could get in at dusk and assess the situation. For most of the day we were close hauled (bow close to the wind) and the boat heeled. Now changing direction, the swells were still about 8ft, but we were on a beam reach, leveling the boat off, and allowing the auto pilot to do its job without complaining to much (we were hand steering a lot prior to the beam reach). We took this opportunity to go below, face down the diesel smell, lift the table to access the port tank — and it was the “fix” we had done on the sender that was causing all the problems. The new sender (to read the tank level) came with screws that were the wrong thread. Being a newbie, I didn’t know the difference and screwed them in, figuring I was righting the gasket, untill they wouldn’t go further. 🙄 Fortunately we saved the old screws and were able to reuse them to stop the leaking. However, we had lost about 8-10 gallons into the boat and the smell was horrendous.
Once we got to Saint Louis, dropped anchor and had some hot dogs, I set about emptying the bridge into buckets as the bridge pumps weren’t working. Then using bilge soap, which Brian had been pouring down the bilges to neutralize the smell during the passage, and dawn to scrub the areas I could reach.
Exhausted and slightly overwhelmed and over stimulated, I wanted to stay in Saint Louis and take a car, taxi or bus to Point a Pitre (where we wanted to shop for groceries, and go to the bookstore, and clothing store). Brian had a change of heart and wanted to sail again the next morning, as we still had a long way to go.
I mustered some strength and we left at 6am Monday, still stinking like diesel. On the bow, navigating through lobster pots, coffee in hand, I was amazed at the beauty of the northern coast of Guadeloupe! The waves smashing against the beaches, the mist, the sun rising all around the mountains. Last year was equally spectacular (with rainbows). However, once we rounded the headland, we would be fighting the wind, and heading directly into squalls. We saw ALOT of them and the swells were even bigger, with some intense periods of wind (39.4knots) and rain. There is a cross at the southern point of this French West Indies island (called Pointes des colibris), once we rounded the point the wind would be behind us and we would need to drop sails and motor. Our destination was Le Goiser, but to play safe we went to Saint Anne which was 12nm closer, as it was again nearing dusk.
Although the view was nice in Saint Anne and we could have caught a bus to town, the anchorage wasn’t protected and the swells were hitting the boat hard, causing us to pitch/ roll continuously. We ate and went to sleep… then up early on Tuesday to continue the journey. A nice sail to Le Goiser, that only took 2-3hrs. I spent lots of time on the bow watching for pots and marvelling at the beauty of the coast, watching the lighthouse (Phare de l’îlet du Gosier) come into view.
Once anchored in Le Goiser, we mobilized quickly and took the dinghy to shore, and went to the bus stop (which we had used the year prior)…. We missed the first two buses — as we were in the shade for one and used the wrong port name for the other — wanting to go to Bas de Fort). After about 40min we caught a bus and got off one stop too early. However, a 20min walk had us at the bookstore. Then onto the Carrefour Express for some grub, before hitting the Love Store and the shop beside it to purchase clothing (as we have done so for the last three years). Brian found four shorts, swim trunks and a t-shirt, I bought four dresses. Then a pit stop at the capinerie (immigration) to see about checking out as our next stop was Marie Gallant — a small island— before Dominica. They advised we could call and get our exit clearance there. Not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post, but the USA denied my online exit request, but we were already off shore….. so who knows what issues I’ll face coming back into the USA.
Onto the grocery store (Leclerc) to stock up on produce. Since we were on the bus, I had put groceries bags in my back pack.. at the checkout, Brian was unloading the cart and I was pulling out bags and then putting in our new clothes. The cashier thought I was stealing, so I had to empty the backpack… we did have food from earlier (2 clementines, nuts and rice cakes)… but luckily the packaged items were Carrefour brand. Back to the bus stop with our pelf, and onto a jam packed local bus, back to Le Gosier.
Once back on the boat, we put the food away, went for a swim and cooked up some red snapper that we had purchased! It felt great to swim and shower… after being in a diesel den for the last few days. We are going through all the Sage incense quickly, although apparently burnt coffee beans are supposed to remove the smell of diesel….. [segue to the next adventure/ catastrophe].Read more