Oh When the Saintes (the swell) come rolling in.......
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Sun 6 Jan 2013 23:54
Oh When the Saintes (the swell) come rolling in.....
We do hope you sang along there, we have certainly felt that the sea and Andromeda have been moving to a somewhat frantic beat the last couple of days as a big winds and north easterly swells have been covering most of the Caribbean. The Saintes has had its fair share and so have we.
Lovely and picturesque as it is here we certainly don't remember bouncing around quite as much the last time we visited. It's a good job we are on a nice big, relatively recently laid and well maintained buoy so have no worries about drifting off when the wind really picks up and howls through the rigging. Last night was so bumpy we found ourselves awake at 2am so decided to have a mug of cocoa whilst the big gusts went past...then surprisingly we both fell asleep and suddenly Andrew was nudging me and asking where my purse was as the very nice man in the little water taxi was coming alongside to deliver our breakfast. Very scrummy, very tasty, very french croissants and french bread (still warm!). Very shortly we were in the cockpit, (I was still in my bed) with a cup of tea, some butter and jam and the delicious croissants...the french do some things so right.
After that delightful start to our day we got on with some of the usual chores, there is always somewhere to clean or tidy and today on our rounds we suddenly discovered that a can of coke that been punctured from the movement on board and was spraying its contents about....so more cleaning - well we wouldn't want to get bored would we?
Having got ourselves hot and bothered with work it was time for a dip in the sea before lunch. The biggest advantage of being on a buoy or at anchor is that the sea is so available for a dip, we so enjoy jumping overboard into the blue, blue sea and today was no exception. The current was running a bit fast past Andromeda and the waves were pushing us about but we still enjoyed swimming around her a couple of times, Andrew even did some boat work whilst in the water, I, as you will see had the camera ready.
After lunch we had a look at the weather and think we will probably leave here tomorrow and head up the west coast of Guadaloupe and stay at either Pigeon Island or Deshaies (and maybe get a quieter night) and then on up to Antigua.
We have enjoyed our few days here in the Saintes, there is always so much going on and we spend hours watching the various crafts go back and forth.
The Saintes is well served by ferries and these come in several different sizes, most arriving during the day with the odd one coming or going at the crack of dawn or dusk. This is also a stop on the cruising route so some of the cruise liners drop their anchors off the town. This time we have seen a smallish one and and medium sized one and it is fun to watch the tenders going back and forth all day, ferrying folks to the shore. No big square riggers this time but at least 8 or 9 Super Sailing Yachts, most probably 3 times the size of Andromeda.
Then there are the charter boats, mainly catamarans, most of them heading back to Guadaloupe as their holiday ends. Other cruisers of all shapes and sizes arrive, some coming from the south as we have, others going south. As well as these there are bigger catamarans that come from Guadaloupe on day trips, especially the big pink one that we have seen several times.
At the moment moored right next to us on the next buoy is Challenger 2 - a 60ft Tall Ships yacht. We have seen these boats all over the place both before we crossed the Atlantic and in different ports around the Caribbean. There is usually at least one vessel on the ARC and they also offer cruises through the islands.
And as if all that wasn't enough there are always the hobi catamarans going out for practise and and training, their really brightly coloured sails looking very pretty against the sea and sky as they zoom past us out into the bay where they are joined by windsurfers and kite surfers. Of course we also have a great view of the town from the anchorage and being such a small place we have a great view of the traffic going up and down the hills to the fort...scooters, cars and small vans make you feel like you are watching a model train set.
Then there is the weather...It can go from bright blue sky and sunshine and good visibility to rain, misty grey clouds that even make Guadaloupe disappear from sight (Guadaloupe is only 15 miles away so is very visible most of the time) and then a short time later out comes the sun, chasing away the clouds and once more it is idyllic with the blue skies back again....ahhhh.
We will let you know how we get on as we go further north but are sure we will be back here again especially as we have now discovered the rotisserie chicken shop(even better than the finger licking good stuff).
We hope you enjoy the photos, a sea eyed view of Andromeda.
More in due course,
Andrew and Susan
Andromeda of Plymouth
The Saintes
