After a couple of nights anchored off of Green Island, we decided to explore the bay a little more. So, we went to the other end of the bay, near the expansive Nunsuch Bay Resort, and anchored in Ayers Creek. It was difficult to get proper holding in the creek, as the seabed was mud. The third time worked like a charm. It was very peaceful in this area and birds were chirping.

We decided to see if we could go to the Nunsuch Bay Resort for a drink. So, we hopped in our dinghy and motored to the front of the resort. They had a long barrier set up in front of the hotel to cut down on the wind waves close to shore. At the time we were not sure if we were allowed to take our dinghy around the barrier, so we headed to the back of the resort. There were some nice dinghy docks in the creek, some of which were private. Steve stayed in the dinghy while I hopped out to see if there was a restaurant that we could go to. I walked through the mangroves and inquired with the guard at “The Escape” an all-inclusive, couples-only part of the resort. He told us where Rackuni was located and received permission for us to leave our dinghy at the private dock. I returned to our dinghy to collect Steve and we were on our next adventure.

We walked past the guard again, up over the steep hill, and down to the main resort area. The resort itself was quite nice, with a couple of pools, well manicured grounds, and a lovely beach area. When we arrived at the restaurant, they were very welcoming even though we were not staying at their resort. I checked in and we sat in bar stools overlooking the bay. It was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed having a drink here.

After one night at the Valley Church anchorage, we spent a couple of nights in the Jolly Harbour marina. Last year we visited the marina so it was easy to resume a routine, as we knew where things were located. We washed the boat, had our laundry done, went grocery shopping, and disposed of our trash. We also had the opportunity to get together for drinks with some new friends that we met at the customs house.

After a couple of days, we set sail to the south-eastern part of Antigua to Nunsuch Bay. While we had visited Antigua a couple of times, we hadn’t made it to this windward bay yet and were looking forward to exploring it. It was a bit of a bumpy ride as we rounded the southern tip of the island. However, once we arrived in the bay, the waters were very calm with only wind waves. We actually had to move our boat in this anchorage because the wind died down and the boats started to swing. We determined that we were too close for comfort to a boat near us so we moved out a little further. In our first anchorage we were able to watch the kite boarders having a blast in front of our boat. It made for great entertainment.

One day we took our dinghy out to some reefs and snorkeled. The snorkeling wasn’t great here but it was nice to get into the water. Our anchorage was just to the side of the private island called “Green Island.” It was unfortunate that we couldn’t walk on the island to get some exercise.

Waiting for a good weather window paid off. Our sail between Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe and Jolly Harbour, Antigua was probably the best sail that we have had over the past two years. The winds were between 15 and 18 knots and the seas were between 3 and 5 feet. The sun shone for most of the sail and it was simply a beautiful day to cross the Guadeloupe Channel. Other boats thought so as well. There must have been at least two dozen boats making the crossing that day.

We arrived at Valley Church, a beautiful anchorage close to Jolly Harbour, around 2:30p. The health and customs office was open until 4p. So, after we were sure our anchor was set, we hopped in the dinghy to the customs house, which was painted bright yellow and had a “Q” flag flying. There was a crowd there. Apparently the health nurse had run out of the correct forms. So, we were told to return the next day.

We returned to our boat and enjoyed the afternoon in the beautiful anchorage. The next morning we arrived to the customs house at 8:30a. The nurse was supposed to arrive at 9a. We think that she might have been held up at the cruise ship dock. Anyways, she arrived around 10:15a and started processing people. By this time, there was quite a crowd. Since we had been sitting there for so long, it became quite a social gathering. This was great, as many of these people were going to enter the marina after clearing through customs, just like us.

Once the health nurse arrived, the process went quite smoothly. In Antigua, they are very particular about having all of the entry documentation correct. So, we were glad that we cleared out of customs in Deshaies to get the official stamp on our paperwork. Clearing through customs is different in every island. In this case, after a visit with the health nurse, only the captain continues with the clearing in process. Steve met several of the other captains in the queue while I chatted with many of the wives. Because this became so social, we met several different couples. It was nice to say hello to everyone in the marina.

Since we had stayed longer in Guadeloupe, and since the check-out process in Les Saintes was so informal, we decided that we needed to check out of Guadeloupe again before entering Antigua’s territory.  We know from past experience that Antigua is a little prickly about documentation when clearing in and out of their country.  The closest place from Pigeon Island to check out was Deshaies.  It was an hour and a half north of Pigeon Island by boat.  We looked into taking a bus, but the language barrier was too great.  The schedules were not posted and the woman I talked to told me that we would need to change buses along the way.  So, we gave up on the bus and took the boat there. 

The anchorage was relatively narrow with deep water.  There were some mooring balls, but someone posted on Facebook the week before that their mooring had broken while they were attached.  We found a spot to anchor in 40 feet of water.  We put out almost all of our chain.  The other thing about this mooring is that winds whip through the bay at 40 knots every once in a while and the boats swing around their anchors.  Because this was the first good weather window in about 10 days, there were a LOT of boats in this anchorage and we knew that more were coming since it was only lunch time.  We went into the Pelican store and found the customs computer in the back.  We cleared out and then walked back to the dinghy dock.  Town itself looked darling, with a pedestrian zone and boutique shops lined up along the street.  There was a nice promenade area in front of the dock.  The building looked like they were well cared for and the streets were relatively clean.  We would have liked to have explored this town more.  Instead, we used up the last of our Euros in the Patisserie and headed back to the boat.  The anchorage was so tight that boats were resting above other people’s anchors.  In order to leave, dinghies were pushing boats aside so that people could lift their anchors.  Because of the water depth, boats had to put out a lot of anchor chain, leaving what seemed to be big holes where another boat could fit.  Captain Steve wanted nothing to do with this and was afraid that our boat might get hit.  So, we grabbed a quick sandwich onboard and sailed back to the Pigeon Island anchorage for one last night.  This meant a 6a departure the next day.  However, it also meant that we could sleep throughout the night and not worry about our boat getting hit.

We took our dinghy and tied it to shore one day and walked towards the resort area of Pigeon Island.  This area is not all that built up and the entire area looked run down.  There was garbage along the streets.  And, the beach was black sand, making it look dingier than a pretty, sugar-white sand beach.  There was a restaurant on the beach there along with some souvenir shops. 

The water was so calm in this bay.  While small boats took people over to Pigeon Island to snorkel, we took our dinghy.  We also saw many people kayak over to snorkel.  Snorkeling was crowded.  While we saw several schools of fish, the whole experience wasn’t as good as expected.  Perhaps it had been hyped up so much that I was let down.  Or, perhaps we have just snorkeled in some fabulous locations with lots of fish and coral and we are becoming spoiled.  It was good to see it and get into the water, however.

On the way to Pigeon Island we stopped Marina du Sud to get gas.  We wanted to be sure that we had enough gas that we could motor the entire way from Pigeon Island to Antigua if we needed to.  This was an adventure in itself.  Who knew that getting gas could be so difficult.

We pulled into the little fuel dock in this protected area where the marina was located.  The dock was only 40 feet and our boat is 42 feet long so that was our first challenge.  Two extra feet wasn’t that big of a deal.  However, there was no dock attendant.  A random woman was on the dock and I asked her to tie off our bow rope.  Steve was able to maneuver the boat so that I could jump onto the dock and tie off the stern line.  The woman was having difficulty with the bow line so I ran up there to assist.  The problem was that on both cleats where we were tying off, three of the four pins were missing.  I tied the boat as best as I could and then looked around.  There was a gas station up on the road above the dock.  So, I walked up there and, in French, asked to purchase some diesel for our boat.  The attendant had a good sense of humor, took one look at me, and in French started laughing and asked if I really was filling up the boat’s tank.  I laughed with him and said, in French, that my husband was actually filling up the boat.  He then proceeded to draw a picture for me and told me how to get the diesel.  I knew the French word for diesel was diesel.  However, the gas pump had two different words on them, Gazoile and something else which meant gasoline.  I also knew a word for gasoline, but apparently there are multiple words for diesel and gasoline.  Anyways, back at the pump, I followed the instructions and nothing happened.  We were supposed to put the hose in our tank from the unit on the end of the dock.  Then I was supposed to take the other hose off of the pump closer to land.  Unfortunately, that didn’t work.  Finally, a local boater who happened to pull up to the dock spoke English and helped us out.  The attendant had to reset the pump.  Anyways, after that adventure we made it to Pigeon Island.

The water when we arrived in Pigeon Island was incredibly calm and flat.  We were thrilled by this after the rolly experience we had in Les Saintes.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful afternoon.  We took the dinghy into a cove in front of where we anchored.  At first we were quite worried that our dinghy would be stolen here.  We usually lock our dinghy up, but this area looked quite disheveled.  This dock was right on the end of a mall complex that contained a launderette, supermarket, and patisserie.  It was Saturday afternoon and the Patisserie was closed, but the supermarket was open. 

Les Saintes is a territory of Guadeloupe.  So, when we checked into Les Saintes, we were actually checking into Guadeloupe’s territory.  The check-in and out process was quite informal.  The computer’s printer wasn’t working.  So, we had to fill in the information, the woman took a screen shot of the information and emailed it to herself to print at her desk.  Then she signed it.  Unfortunately her official stamp was missing.  (This becomes important later, so read on.)

When traveling between islands, we look at the “weather window” to see when the winds and sea state will be calm or in our comfort zone for sailing.  We were getting close to the end of our sailing season and needed to get to Antigua by the middle of April.  We had approximately a month until then and were going to sail from Guadeloupe to Antigua.  Because of the distances and our desire to stop at Pigeon Island, we wanted to start moving north.  Originally we were going to spend a day in Les Saintes, a day at Pigeon Island, and then travel to Antigua.  However, the weather window collapsed on us and so we ended up spending several days in Les Saintes. 

We saw a short weather window opening up so we headed north to Pigeon Island.  This is a location where Jacque Cousteau has an Underwater Park and the snorkeling here was supposed to be great.  We would spend one day at Pigeon Island and then continue on to Antigua.  So, we cleared out of customs at Les Saintes and were on our way.  Unfortunately, the weather window collapsed on us again.  The winds and sea state were forecasted to be at the top end of what we feel comfortable sailing in.  So, after thinking about it, we decided to stay in Pigeon Island and wait for better conditions before sailing in the open ocean to Antigua.  We actually stayed there for more than a week.

Another day we decided to dinghy to town and walk to Fort Napoleon, which overlooked the main bay on the island.  Again it was a hot and steamy day and we were definitely working to walk up the hills to the fort.  When we arrived, we saw everyone showing a QR code to the admissions person.  She didn’t speak English but I was able to ascertain that it was a QR code to the French Covid vaccination registry.  We didn’t think that we would need to use the QR code on our trip, so we didn’t submit our information to it.  A friendly couple was in line who spoke a little English.  They were able to translate for us and we showed our vaccination cards from the United States.  The woman accepted that and we were admitted to the fort. 

The pentagonal-shaped Fort was unique (to us) because it was perched up on the top of a hill and had a moat that went around it.  Water is at a premium in the Caribbean so we are not sure if they kept it filled or if it was just there to make the sides of the fort deeper. 

There were mostly paintings inside the forte and everything was marked in French.  While I could get the gist of the signs, it was a lot of work for me to read them and try to translate.  There were nice gardens on the grounds of the forte.  And, they also had made stone designs in their gardens.

We scrambled up a rocky path to the road that overlooked the bay where we were anchored.  From there, we started walking towards town and came upon a sign that indicated that Napoleon’s Lookout, called Le Chameau, was up that road.  It took us a while to interpret the sign, but in the end we went up the road (closed to cars and scooters).  This was quite a vertical road and it was very humid out.  Our efforts paid off, as we arrived to this imposing stone tower at the top of the hill.  Along the way we enjoyed some beautiful views of the bays below.  We decided not to climb the looped rope up to the top of the lookout.  As we arrived, another group of people were leaving so we mostly got to explore this site on our own, which was fun.