Pigeon Island and “hot bathing”
Monday 15th - Tuesday 16th January 2024
On Monday, we departed Deshaies after doing a few errands first thing in the morning. Our target destination was the anchorage opposite Pigeon Island—a distance of about 8 miles. We tried to sail with the genoa but often the wind was too light to keep it filled. Pigeon island is part of the Jacques Cousteau national park. According to some it’s got the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. It’s necessary to anchor outside the park and travel in by dinghy. Arriving at the anchorage we found a bewildering array of mooring balls, floats and many other boats. Our first few of attempts to anchor were unsuccessful, (we were clearly dragging when we backed on the anchor), so we travelled a little further down the coast and found a spot where the holding seemed good. A little lunch break allowed us to build some confidence that the boat was not dragging.
We donned our wet suits, gathered our snorkel gear, got the engine on the dinghy and set off. The half-mile dinghy ride was mostly uneventful except for a catamaran that cut across our path towing a fishing line! As they were inside the park boundaries where fishing is strictly prohibited, we were doubly outraged. We tied the dinghy to the mooring ball for recreational boats (under 26 feet) and jumped in with our masks and snorkels. The light and clarity of the water were both good allowing us to see the coral (mostly in good shape) and so many fish including some big schools. There were a few groups of snorkelers and even a couple of scuba divers passed beneath us! The most excitement came when we heard a horn and looked up to see a commercial boat bearing down on us. I definitely felt that my swimming speed was inadequate to get out of the way! Overall we did think that it was a spectacular area of reef. Fish would come quite close and seemed untroubled by the swimmers.
Returning to the boat, we showered and had dinner. As boater’s midnight approached, I retired to bed. The evening didn’t end at that point, however. I woke up and realized that Mike was up and in the cockpit. It took me a few minutes to register the sound of the wind howling through the rigging. A bright light was repeatedly being swept across our boat. Apparently, a catamaran was attempting to anchor very close to our boat. While our anchor seemed to be holding well, we were concerned that this vessel might drop their anchor on our chain. Eventually, they moved off somewhere else. Mike reported that at least two boats were dragging and several others had people on deck with powerful spotlights. The winds touched 38 knots at one point. Slowly the wind subsided and we finally were able to sleep.
Tuesday (today) we motored south two miles to a bay off a town whose name means “boiling”. Here there is a electric plant using geothermal energy and dumping the hot water into the bay. After some antics trying to get our anchor to hold, we took the dinghy to shore to investigate the “hot sea” bathing. It was truly odd. The water was indeed pretty hot except down by our feet where it seemed a more reasonable temperature. Honestly it was too warm for my liking on a sunny afternoon! I may have been the only person of that opinion. There were dozens of people much closer to the hot water outlet who seemed to think it was fantastic! Mike loved it! We ate lunch at the nearby restaurant. We were able to watch a continuous parade of people stripping down to their swimming gear and descending into the water!
Upon returning to the boat, we got ready to make a passage to Les Saintes (a group of islands off the south of Guadeloupe). The dinghy is on the foredeck, the inner forestay and staysail are in place. We are very much hoping to have a night without the excitement of last night!
Gloria
16 08.032 N, 61 46.341 W … give or take a few hundred feet! We are anchored in 25 ft depth with 100 feet of chain out, and have been swinging in complete 360 degree circles. Our anchor alarm has gone off twice, not because we are dragging, but because we didn’t set it with 300 ft radius we need!
No comments:
Post a Comment