The Scintillating Saints

andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Wed 1 Feb 2012 13:00
The Scintillating Saints

We left Dominica and once clear of the island the wind filled our sails
and we were zooming along once more, one reef in the main and one in the
genoa. Andrew is having a lot of fun playing with the sails and is
finding out how different they are to the old ones, for a start they make
a lovely crackly noise but the main is still very stiff when we lower it
so a bit of gymnastics is required to get it into the stak pak.

We could see the Saints as we left Dominica and amazingly enough Susan
managed to stay awake for the whole trip and even made some lunch. The
anchorages in the Saints have recently been laid with brand new buoys and
we managed to capture one and tie up on our first attempt. Lesley and
James in Coba Libre arrived about an hour or so after us and once they
were secured we picked them up in our dinghy and all went ashore to clear
customs and immigration.

What a pretty place and very French and we were once more back to spending
Euros – and fortunately had a few left from before the, as at first the
ATM didn’t want to let us have any money. We wandered about and found the
immigration place and just like in Martinique it consisted of a computer
in a bar (very civilized), so once we had filled in all the details and
had it stamped we were free to enjoy ourselves. But first of all we
ordered croissants and baguettes to be delivered to Andromeda the
following morning.....yummy yummy.

We explored the town and found out where the market and supermarkets were
and picked up a few bits before heading back to Andromeda to make tea and
enjoy the scenery of the very pretty bay we were in. Over the next few
days we walked around the main town and up to the fort, which was closed –
only open in the mornings – so decided to re-visit the following day,
hiring some scooters to do so and also explore the rest of the island at
the same time.

Now it’s been a long time since Andrew was on a motorised vehicle with
only two wheels,(and even longer since Susan rode pillion), so he was very
apprehensive about the scooters – however madness prevailed and we and
Lesley and James hired two scooters. The good thing is that they have no
gears other than forward so remembering to change gear isn’t an issue.
They do go quite fast and as scooters are the main form of transport on
the island, there are quite a few coming at you, over-taking and simply
being there! However apart from one or two slightly hair-raising moments,
we enjoyed the experience, including the steep hill too and from the fort.
We saw all the beaches, explored all the roads, and still had some time
for a cold beer at the end. All in all, a good, though somewhat nervous
day. Hope the pictures do the island justice.

Having enjoyed the warm croissants and baguettes delivered to the boat at
around 7:30 am each morning – this can only happen in a French island – it
was time to move on. We left a couple of days after Coba Libra as they
needed to get things moving in Antigua with a new spray hood before they
pick up their guests and start to think about heading west. So after a
week in The Saints we stopped for the night in Deshaies at the northern
end of Guadeloupe and then set off for Antigua the following morning.
Another great sail in some nice wind. We hope to be able to visit
Guadeloupe on the way down as there’s loads to see and do on the island.

However we were still having generator problems and wanted to get to
English Harbour to get them sorted. We are also planning to meet Graham
and Phedra, Aston and Atlanta on Nakesa at some stage. We will stay in
Antigua until Sue and Paull arrive in early February for a three week
break.
The generator is currently in bits awaiting spare parts from the US – it
is recoverable and is not terminal but if it doesn’t work this time this
time on Andromeda will be very limited. We also have some concerns over
the house batteries which were changed before we left on the ARC but can’t
really confirm this until we see the how they react to the generator
charging them. A trip to tax-free St Maarten is now on the itinerary.

Susan and Lesley have been to Antigua’s capital, St. John’s, and have
found the best supermarket on the island, The Epicurian, while Andrew
waited for engineers, as is often the case these days. St. John’s was
very busy the first time they and they had a good look round before
catching another bus to the supermarket which was a few more miles down
the road. Nakesa arrived in the bay and so a great reunion was had and we
had a few days of afternoons and games on the beach and meals together to
celebrate Graham’s birthday (champagne in glasses in the sea – its a hard
life but someone has to do it) and then we all said goodbye to Coba Libre
who went down to Jolly Harbour to meet James’s Mum before they headed for
the BVI’s.

In the meantime Andrew has been encouraged to join the Royal Naval Tot
Club of Antigua and Barbuda, which involves rum and naval history. Last
night he had his test – yes he had to learn stuff and then be tested on it
by two committee members, something that last happened when he was a
callow youth - and managed to pass. Now all he needs to do is buy a large
round of drinks and he can fly the club’s burgee! What a silly thing
sailing and sailing clubs can seem.

For now we are enjoying the sunshine and sea and waiting once again for
bits to arrive, still we have a great view from Andromeda as there are
always boats coming and going. Apart from the small cruising boats like
ourselves always shuffling themselves around the anchorage there are the
really enormous super yachts, both sailing and motoring, that come in and
out of the harbour. We have even see Pete Townsend pootling around in his
dinghy and Max Clifford was at the restaurant where we had lunch the other
day – yes we know we are little sad. As well as all this they have been
having races in the bay behind Andromeda and we have a great view of
proceedings, it is so nice to see the really big super sailing yachts with
all their sails up though we jumped out of our skin the first time they
fired the starting cannon.

Daily exercise is swimming twice round Andromeda - and we think of you all
back home

Happy birthday Liz! We hope you had a great day.
Happy birthday Mum, we will be thinking of you.

Sue and Paull we are counting the days.

More in due course,

Andrew and Susan
s/v Andromeda of Plymouth
Antigua and Barbuda


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