The sail from Martinique to Guadeloupe was a bit tricky. The weather forecast was not accurate and we got much more wind and bigger waves than all the weather models had predicted. The forecast showed 12-18 knots of wind, and we had 20-27 knots. We were a little nervous about the reefing, especially whether the guidelines for our boat is correct since there is a confusion in the boat papers. We are not sure if the guideline is for a 43 foot or a 45 foot Privilege catamaran.
As we approached the main island of Guadeloupe, we came to the lee of a flat island popularly known as the Pancake Island. There was turbulence around the island. We’ve experienced this before, so it didn’t shake us. Suddenly we started getting waves from different directions, and they reached almost double height when they met. We’ve been warned about this phenomenon before, but didn’t think of taking it into account when planning the route. We could see on the plotter that there was uneven terrain on the seabed. There were some underwater hilltops where the waves were breaking, which probably made it even worse.
We arrived at the anchorage very tired, and had quite a lot of trouble picking up a buoy, which was really not easy to catch.
The marina was a bit away from the town, Point a Pitre. The first day we walked into town, but had forgotten it was Sunday. Everything was closed. We walked around and saw some street art and found a cafe for lunch.
We found the atmosphere on Guadaloupe to be somewhat different from Martinique. Somehow it didn’t seem as French, but more like the small Caribbean islands with a slightly South American vibe.
One of the days, we visited Memorial ACTe, a historical museum about Guadalupe’s history with a focus on slavery. A harsh history, but with a fine exhibition that took you from the beginning with the history of slavery, its end, the Rastafarian culture and all the way up to today with focus on modern slavery. Even though we know the history of the Caribbean, it still made a deep impression seeing it up close. For instance in Guadeloupe, slavery was reinstated for some time after emancipation.
While we were in Guadeloupe, we made a plan for our onward journey to Panama. I want to have crew on longer stretches, and therefore we need to plan a little more detailed about where we will be when.
Since our generator could not be fixed in Martinique, we have chosen to sail to Florida to get it fixed. The stator coil and rotor of the generator are broken and needs to be replaced with new ones. As it is a fairly old generator, it is difficult to find spare parts for it. The Italian company that made our generator, Mase, has an office in Florida, and they have the things we need in stock.
When we calculate backwards in relation to the hurricane season here in the Caribbean, we have to pass through Panama around June, if we also want to have some time to be in the Pacific before the tropical cyclone season begins there.
The plan also shows that if we are to go up to Florida, get to Cuba and Mexico before going to Panama in June, we are in a bit of a hurry. We therefore had to change our somewhat relaxed way of traveling, which we have had in the southern islands, and planned our sailing, stays and tours to a greater extent.
