February 24
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| Leaving Les Saints, Pain au Sucre |
Forgot to mention an incident upon our return from shore
yesterday. I was in the cockpit and
noticed the Douane in their dinghy motoring about. The next thing I knew they were tying up to
the Mistress. I called for Peter, one,
two, three times and dah he finally clued in they were coming aboard. All six of them in their navy uniforms. I felt as if we were under siege and wondered
why they choose us. All very nice, asked
to see boat papers, passports and asked where we had come from, where we had
been. Filled in some papers and asked what
we all did for a living. Finally, after
about half an hour later, they left but did leave a mess from their gun holster
and shoes on the deck. An experience for
sure!
Dolphins in the bay here today…teasing snorkelers. Tried hard to get a picture of them but
virtually impossible.
Walked over to Pompierre Bay today which is one of the most
beautiful beaches in the world. It is
protected from the Atlantic by the Ilet Roche.
Beach itself would need a raking but the vista and the location is
really beautiful. You almost feel as if
you are in a lagoon and not Simpsons Bay Lagoon. Peter and I hiked up to the top of the island
where apparently goats used to feed. We
saw none there but the views were really incredible. It was a lovely day.
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| Entrance on right into Pompierre Bay from the Atlantic |
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| Pompierre Bay, taken from the top of Ilet Roche |
Need I say there are some more problems. Never ending it seems on a boat. This morning the forward head stopped
working. Even though the macerator had
been replaced, this time it seems to be the switch. Nothing could really be done, so it looks as
if a new head will be installed….this time non electric which the skipper has
been talking about for a while.
February 23...Spent yesterday afternoon walking the town, a bit of shopping and of course, beers for Dave and Peter at the public dock. Pretty little town but touristy. Found a hair dresser and made an appointment. Charge for shampoo, crème rinse, cut, colour is all separate. Price of 55 Euros does not include styling.
Last night dinner was at Pieds dans l’eau, Feet in the
Water, a restaurant right on the waterfront.
Two cuttlefishes and one coquillel’angostino lobster, which is probably
what is running all over the dinghy dock.
Town was deserted when we left the restaurant.
Dave arranged for fresh baguette and croissants to be delivered to the boat this morning so before setting off to the French hairdresser had a delightfull breakfast. Met up with
Peter and Dave at the market. No fish today, the seas are too rough. We walked back to the Tourist Bureau to find the
Customs office as it was no longer in the place remembered. It is now up in the Cyber Café downtown. Spent some time there checking out and then
walked over to the other side of the island, past the cemetery and walked over
to the Grande Anse. It was then lunch
time so went to La Toumbana and had the price fix menu for 10 Euros. Mahi mahi, rice and salad and two scoops of
pistachio ice cream. Pleasant sitting
for lunch. Came back to the boat full
and satisfied. Light dinner tonight!
Grand Anse with view to Dominica
La Toumbana, Dave and the restored chic!
La Toumbana, six of the seven dwarfs are not Happy!
GAS…..P! Correction
to be made. A very pleasant suggestion
was made that any mention of gas should be corrected to diesel….what would some
people think. So rather than searching
for the mention of gas I have noted it here.
Gas…diesel, la meme chose!!
February 22...Swam this morning and took a long shower as Jerome
charges 30 Euros for any amount of water.
We figured we may as well empty the water tanks. Interesting getting water from Jerome. A pin in the water, hose is attached below,
and you let him know when to start pumping the water. Peter had to dinghy in to shore to pay which
was a major feat. Waves crashing on the
shore again made it difficult for him to dinghy back to the boat. The mooring pins, which the mayor had
installed, all 80 of them, are a pain to pick up. They have a large 10 inch ring at the top of
them which one would think would be easy…..not! After
a minor injury, Peter and I decided that he would use the dinghy to pick up the
line and I would hand him the bow line. Those pins are heavy as well and almost
impossible to pick up. Dave steered the
boat in the right direction and it seemed to work much better. Lucky there are three of us!
Bourg de Saintes
Bourg des Saintes Harbour
February 21...Off this morning.
Weather seems much calmer. We
were unsure of where exactly we were going.
Pigeon Island anchorage was a choice.
We knew we had to get water and some gas. We stopped at Anse a la Barque thinking we
may overnight in that lovely bay but it was crowded. We decided to move on to Marina Riviere Sens
for gas and hopefully water. Arriving at
Riviere Sens, just south of Basse Terre, there was no one at the gas dock to help us
but amazingly a fine job was done by the three of us. No crash landing. The thought was to stay in the marina
overnight and then we could get some water.
The marine was very hot and since we were early enough we decided to
move on to Iles des Saintes (The Saints).
We decided to give Jerome a call the next day to fill our water
tanks. Arrived just before dusk and took
a mooring at Ilet a Cabrit, just off Terre den Haut, one of the lslands of The
Saints.
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| Southern end of Guadaloupe with a view to The Saints |
farming on Guadaloupe, great produce is available
February 20...Well, that was certainly a ride last night. It felt like the entire boat was pulling away from the anchor and we were going to drift back to Montserrat. A lot of clanging, banging and swaying back and forth but luckily we did not meet anyone in the middle of the night. Damage report….snubber broke loose and was easily replaced this morning. Whew!
February 19...Early lunch today so that we could take the bus in to Ste.
Rose. It is only a short ride from
Deshaies. Caught the bus at the church
again. Once at Ste. Rose, we walked down
into the older part and then the road along the water. There are all kinds of restaurants which were
pretty full and interesting fishing boats and nets along the shore. We stopped at the supermarket,
Carrefour. I thought I had died and gone
to heaven. Wonderful produce, all kinds
of lettuce, cheeses and dry goods. Could
have spent much longer in there. Caught the
bus back to Deshaies, a different route again but saw some very well kept
homes. There is a resort close to the
Grand Anse, I think the name of it is Carib Resort.
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| Ste. Rose |
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| Ste. Rose harbour |
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| Pointe a Pitre, Covered Market |
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| Pointe a Pitre street view |
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| Pointe a Pitre street |
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| Pirates of the Carribbean |
Had a wonderful fish dinner last night...fresh caught and bought from the fisherman at the docks....we think it was a small tuna. We dinghied over to the beach around the corner from the harbour....big swells so we couldn't beach the dinghy; however, I jumped off and went for a swim. Lovely place to anchor.....sand bottom but the swells would be too great. Unfortunate.Tomorrow off to Pointe a Pitre for the long bus ride in. Looking forward to the adventure.
February 17...Short dinghy ride to the boulangier for pain au chocolat and
even though we didn’t need a French stick, I couldn’t resist the warm
bread. Guess what lunch is going to
be? Gouda from St. Martin and
bread. Hmmm can hardly wait. Plans now are to stay until Thursday.
Peter went up the mast again to get the topping lift but not
100% successful in putting it back in the mast.
Brought it down and redirected it.
So clever! Next time I’ll have to
get a picture of him hanging up there! He says he'll have to take a camera up so that we now what the view is from the top of the mast......maybe tomorrow, right!
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| Deshaies, new dinghy dock, looking out into the harbour |
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| Deshaies, view in to the town at sunset |
Had plans to take a bus into Pointe a Pitre but decided we
needed to chill after the last two days.
Took some time to check in, bank machine for Euros and then hit an
Internet café. Spent over an hour there
catching up on emails, doing the blog, etc.
Decided to come back to the boat for lunch and plan to go in later. The dinghy ride is short.
Back into town to walk around, check out supermarkets and decided to come back in for dinner later. Deshaies is a quaint little town. The harbor is crowded but pleasant. Unfortunately, the pizza place was full so we ordered and took our pizzas back to the boat.Beautiful evening, no wind and we were able to sit in the cockpit for the first time in many weeks.
Back into town to walk around, check out supermarkets and decided to come back in for dinner later. Deshaies is a quaint little town. The harbor is crowded but pleasant. Unfortunately, the pizza place was full so we ordered and took our pizzas back to the boat.Beautiful evening, no wind and we were able to sit in the cockpit for the first time in many weeks.
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| Deshaies Street |
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| Deshaies Boulangerie |
