report from Deshaies, Guadeloupe

 This is our fourth blog of the 2011-2012 cruising season.

We arrived at Deshaies, Guadeloupe, on January 9. It is a scenic village with perfect sunsets.

Check it out on Google Earth at 16-18.421N 061-47.898W.

 The entrance to Le Jardin Botanique is a 2km walk steeply uphill from the dinghy dock. It is a spectacular garden, well-tended & in full bloom in January. We wandered around for several hours in awe of the exotic beauty.



 

  

  Left photo below is before the flower on the right opens.

 

 There is an aviary and a carp pond.

 

Roosters run wild everywhere and the flamingo are captive.

 There are two eateries on the grounds. We choose the more casual for lunch & were not disappointed with bokits, salads, beer & wine in a beautiful location overlooking the bay at Deshaies.

Of course, boat maintanence can be required at any time.



We were happy to see the local firefighters training.




We walked up along the Deshaies River for a cooling dip.

Schools of small jacks were congregating under the Charlotte D, inviting us to fish. We boated 7 & Peter dressed them as he was taught by Mate of Chatham Bay. They were “corned” (salted) before hanging to dry. They make a lovely appetizer. Take one down & pass it around!

We were planning to stay longer in Deshaies, & it is certainly worth a layover of many days, but we had a weather forecast “perfect” for going north. In fact, Chris Parker said on his HF radio forecast, “today will be the finest day of trade wind sailing you will ever see”. So, we dumped our plans to rent a car for a drive to hike the Rain Forest and visit volcanic hot springs, & set all plain sail for Antigua, vowing to come back to Deshaies soon.

Departing Deshaies for Antigua we trolled over several deep coral reefs where the fishing was productive, further reinforcing our desire to return.

 Peter and Catherine aboard S/V Charlotte D

 

"Qui va trop vite casse le cou."











Report from S/V Charlotte D at Les Saintes

This is our third posting of the 2011-2012 winter cruising season. We hope you enjoy it.
Looks like you'll have to scroll down quite a bit to find the real beginning, I don't know why.

On December 10-13 Catherine & Peter sailed the 320 nm (over 70 hrs) from Charlotteville,
Tobago, to Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe. Wind & sea conditions were benign. We were fortunate enough to enjoy a 6 hr spinnaker run on the second day. Fishing was good but there was no catching.

Les Iles des Saintes, part of Guadeloupe, a department of France, are a beautiful archipelago of four mountainous islands plus a handful of rocks located about 15 nm south of the big island of Guadeloupe (check it out on “Google Earth” at 15-52.0'N 061-35.2'W).

In February of 2011 the former anchorage area was filled by the municipality with “pay per use” moorings, & anchoring is now prohibited in the bays with moorings. This adds to the cost of visiting “The Saintes". There are, however, advantages of the new moorings. The anchor holding has, in our experience, been variable & we have seen many boats “dragging anchor”, particularly charter boats with novice crew. Consequently, we are not unhappy about the loss of “right to anchor”, so long as the moorings, now new, are properly maintained over the fullness of time.

The harbour is beautiful with a variety of interesting vessels.

Peter joined the fleet in our sailing dinghy.

We were pleased to have visiting crew with us from December 28. Mike & Peggy from Cedar Key added a lot to cruising enjoyment. They are featured in many of the photos in this blog.

“The Saintes" have many attractions for us. There are magnificent beaches within 30-60 min by foot from the dinghy dock.

The French beaches have many breath-taking natural wonders.

Local children sometimes joined our beach fun; spoken language no barrier.

We enjoyed invigorating hikes up the various peaks, usually to ruins of forts from the 1800's. The most vigorous is the 315 m (1036 ft) vertical climb of Le Chameau, earning our lunch of Bokits (morue & complet poisson).

Ilet a Cabrit is indeed populated with goats & includes the 86 m (282 ft) vertical climb to ruins of Fort Josephine.

On Ilet a Cabrit, Henrique operates a pottery “factory” producing mainly masks based on ancient Amerindian designs which he fires in a wood-fuelled kiln. We purchased three.



We also made the 100 m (330 ft) climb to Fort Napoleon, which is largely intact & has beautiful gardens, iguanas & an interesting museum (history & marine biology).

There is a productive local fishery operated by descendents of the original colonists from northern France, especially Brittany. They have a new fish market where we purchased lovely yellow fin tuna & mahi-mahi. Les poissonniers speak no English, so if you want to buy fresh fish, polish your French.



Most of the population is of Brittany origin & they are French, with a Creole influence. A working ability in French is essential to manage in restaurants, markets & shops. There was a great tolerance of our imperfect French.

The restaurants are most definitely worth overcoming any language barrier. We thoroughly enjoyed the French/Creole cuisine, at modest prices for lunch. The highlights for us were le canard, le chatrou, l'ouassau, acras, le boudin, le poisson fume & creative fresh salads.


Street vendors offer sorbet fait maison (ask, “Je peux gouter?”, to get a sample before buying), acras (fritters), crepes wrapped around conch, fish or crab, fresh squeezed juices (passion fruit, guave, etc), so you can stroll and eat.

Of course, we had delicious meals aboard the Charlotte D where many hands made light work of the preparation and cleanup.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed the company of cruising friends from Nova Scotia for dinner featuring paves de kangourou.

We started the New Year with a January first champagne brunch of duck & sausage cassolet with Mike's special Caesar salad .

We met a cruiser from Argentine who supports his cruising by selling his original acrylics of island scenes. We purchased several depicting scenes from lovely places we have enjoyed. You might find his display near the waterfront.

We had Eduard for dinner of quail & he entertained us with some of his adventures sailing between Canada & the Caribben & across the Atlantic.

There is a good selection of European & local bottled beer, or, more expensive, excellent Belgium Ales (de Pression, on draft), including Leffe. Much more economical than beer is Guadeloupe rum at 10 Euro (about 13 $ Canadian) per litre or french wines at 3 Euro (about 4 $ Canadian) per 750 ml.

Food shopping is a delight. La patisserie offers pain au chocolat & les baguettes toute chaude

Le Marche offers delectable imports from France, including le camembert fait, le fromage de chevre, la pate de campagne plus exotic meats including kangaroo, quail, duck & antelope!

Daily boats from Dominica bring fresh fruits & vegetables to the outdoor market. The vendors are Dominican & so speak (their version of) English.

ATMs (distributeur de billets) may or may not produce, so, to continue enjoying the cuisine, don't let your Euros get too low. US cash is widely accepted as are les cartes de credit (but may be a surcharge). There is a banque postal (post office) with economical & fast service to North America.

Wireless internet is available in many bars & restaurants for customers.

Jerome offers free internet from his “Yacht Club” where he also sells potable water from a hose attached to a mooring in 12 feet of water. Jerome's is very comfortable and “laid back” to the max (get you own beer from the cooler, leave payment on the bar).

On January 9, we sailed north to the big island of Guadeloupe.

Fishing underway was productive.

les plus riches ne sont pas les plus travailleurs.

Peter and Catherine aboard S/V Charlotte D