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Guadaloupe

Heading south from Antigua, Guadaloupe is the first of a
string of large islands, followed by Dominica, Martinique, St.
Lucia and St. Vincent, each a day's sail from it's neighbor.

We stayed in Antigua about 10 days longer than we'd planned,
dealing with getting our autopilot fixed. First, Raymarine shipped the
wrong part. Then we lost a weekend. Then they identified the correct
part, but it was back ordered for at least a month, as was a
complete replacement unit. On a whim, Steve called Phantom
Marine Electronics in San Diego and, miraculously, they had a
replacement unit in stock which they shipped out the same day.

The upshot is that our time to visit Guadaloupe and Dominica was
being crunched because we needed to be in Martinique by the 21st
to meet our families, who would be flying down to meet us over
spring break week. The cruising guide makes Guadaloupe sound
great, and we'd been told not to miss Dominica. So, after a crew
parley, we decided to make the most of our limited time on each of
these islands by waking up at the crack of dawn ... say, like 8 or 9
o'clock ... and cramming our days with activities.

We left English Harbor, Antigua, at 0845 on March 14, and dropped anchor in Anse Deshaies (rhymes with "say hey!" at
1445. We sailed an easy beam reach at 7+ knots in 10-15 knot winds and 2-4 foot seas.

On the whole, Guadaloupe was a disappointment. Dehaies was a pretty enough harbor, and our first morning there we
took a 3 hour hike, first scrambling up a rain forest river (a stream, actually), climbing rock to rock up to a gorge and
waterfall, then walking back to town on a road. At that point things (besides the road) started going downhill, starting with
our overpriced lunch in town. Mike had $25 curried chicken over rice: the chicken was mostly bones and skin, and we
swear there was a foot thrown in for good measure. Jay had $20 fish that had been grilled until the last molecules of
moisture had been driven out of the carcass. And Steve had $30 conch over rice that was, to quote David Lindley's cover
of Werewolves of London, very greasy indeed.

We'd planned to visit a botanical garden after lunch, but none of us felt like walking a mile back uphill, and there wasn't a
taxi to be found in town. After waiting an hour for the bus, we gave up and headed back to Dakota Rose, pulled up
anchor and headed south to the island's capital, Basse Terre, arriving close to sunset. There, the cruising guide assured
us, we'd find a welcome at Marina Riviere Sens, an ideal location for renting a car and exploring the interior of the island.

We couldn't raise the marina on the VHF so we anchored just outside its entrance. Steve slowly pulled us into about 25
feet of water off a black sand beach, planning to drop anchor adjacent to a small, white mooring buoy. Imagine his
surprise when Jay yelled that the aforesaid mooring ball was, in fact, the bald head of a snorkeler who, upon closer
examination, turned out to be naked. Eeeewwww!!!!

As for the marina, well, it rivals the Panama Canal Yacht Club in decrepitude. The visitor's dock is falling into the water,
there were several boats sunk in their slips, there was no dinghy dock to tie to, the water was smelly, and we couldn't
even find a car rental agency.

In short, we gave up on Guadaloupe and headed out for Dominica at first light the next morning.

Now we may, in our haste, have missed the best Guadaloupe has to offer.