Spuddle around marina

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 5 Apr 2009 22:05
 
Spuddle around the marina
 
 
 
We spent the morning bimbling about doing chores. Bear serviced the outboard and the first bit of our outing was a roar across the bay (only to clear the engines throat "yeah, yeah") to see the river entrance and short cut you can use to go between the two islands of Guadeloupe. Next a slow spuddle around the marina.
 
 
 
 
 
 
We have not been in such a vast marina since we left St Quay, it being Sunday and most places being closed we to explore, knowing there is always something to see. The whole complex opened in 1978, holds over 1000 yachts of all shapes and sizes. There is an enormous haul out area where you can live aboard and do maintenance work is top left. Beez Neez is on the first pontoon, far side as you look at this photo.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The sheer size can be seen on this map, the University is top centre, the town of Pointe-à-Pitre is top left. Pointe-à-Pitre from the air. The market is opposite the two ferry boats in the bay. The marina is out of the photo at top left.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
An advertising photo of the marina. Beez Neez is on the visitors pontoon, number 6, very far left (above the word Neez in red). The small red roofed building at the end of our pontoon is the capitainerie, a little further to the right is the shower block.
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When we came in to park there were gusts of 24 - 32 knots, I chose to go in front first in to the narrow gap. We have watched other determined to back in with dire consequences. One yacht was being helped with their ropes by the boat next to them, just at the last moment a big gust went to blow the parkers boat on to his helpful neighbours pointy bit, his decision to gun it forward out of the hole was a good one, unfortunately the helpful neighbour was just about to tie off the rope when he found himself dragged into the water. Air filled with blue French language. Parker decided too much for him and went to anchor. English boat came in with his tender going along at the lead, propeller chopper worked well when the dinghy rope was run over, dinghy last seen being rescued by the capitainerie. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This tri-maran is in for repairs, no rudder and a whole. Blow up support used to keep hole out of water.
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
View from the shore of the blow up holding up the tri-maran. King Papyrus is one of those pleasure boats, a two hour trip up the mangrove river most days or an evening shindig. Both prices made our eyes water. The Hagan Das ice cream shop where a scoop of sorbet is £3, two scoops of ice-cream £6. Beyond the ice-cream shop is a cafe-eatery we use as our internet provider. We can sit for the price of two halves of Stella and do all our emails, blogs etc. Around the marina there are over twenty restaurants serving every kind of food, but the prices are not for us. There are three fairly well stocked supermarkets, Pizza, pate, fish fingers, brie and French sticks are all reasonably priced. We wandered the other day to the huge Cora (out of town hypermarket - ten minutes walk away). Crevettes £16 a pound, smallish lobster £28, a medium crab £16, a small Styrofoam tray of mince £7, medium bag of MM's £3.50, small pot of Ben + Jerry's ice-cream £6.50, cheapest bottle of Rose £1.87 that I used to get for 80p. All in all we only came home with some coke, a melon and some fish fingers. We'll eat from our stores aboard.
 
 
 
 
          
 
 
 
All the water is very shallow around the edge of the marina and is covered with tube worms. Amazing really that such delicate creatures will adapt to the good showering they get with the detergents used when folk wash their boats and the odd drop of diesel spilt when decanting from cans.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some of the buildings are a bit scruffy, reflecting that twenty years ago this was a parsy place. I found this group at a distance looked lovely and then saw my favourite tucked away in a corner.
 
 
 
         
 
 
 
 
I caught Bear dribbling when he saw this old lady. The whole of her rear end is dedicated to being a wood shed complete with bench saw. The various bits of wood all stacked around the cockpit. There is NOTHING you cannot get done here. In the Chris Doyle Guide he says "This whole area is geared to yachts, and this is one of the best yachting service centres in the Leewards, especially if you own a high-tech boat. The chaps here are used to working on outrageous racing machines taking part in the Rhoute de Rhum; they service motors of all types, from really big units for power cruisers, to rinky dink diesels and outboards used in fishing boats. You can get a new rig, hull repair or a perfect racing sail"  The local GP is also a sailor and with all the shops and eateries you never have to leave the site at all.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The boats here are wide and varied. Tri-marans, loads of catamarans, racing, cruising, Sun Sail has a huge charter business run from here. Bear thought the yellow lady was a fun looking craft. We nipped round the other side to see her face on.
Must mention Bob. We were parked next to Bob in St Lucia, he has an Amel 54 footer that he sails single-handed, he is proud to be a young seventy-one and sporting a tiny pony-tail. He has taken some stick from his son back at home in the US about his age and giving up. He went back for three months just after we had arrived in Rodney Bay. I so wanted to spend evenings over a pint talking about his favourite places and hoped we would catch up with him again one day. He arrived this week. I asked how the trip back to the States went and did he pacify his son. "Pacify him, I took him ski-ing and whooped his arse". We talked about some of his circumnavigation, favourite places and how easy it was to lose track of time and date. He told me he had only flown back "just to move the boat", "Friendship II" from Rodney Bay to here for maintenance work. He was flying on a red eye back to California on Monday and needed to be in his taxi at four in the morning. He got to the airport just fine, but only to find he was a whole day early.
Hope to see you again soon Bob.
 
 
 
         
 
 
 
 
This catamaran has "a bit of a growth problem". The long strands of white is the same stuff as we exported from St Lucia, glad we scraped it off when we did. We pulled a bit off and obviously with time it goes from a soft coral like Shredded Wheat - to this - brittle and tough to get at. The tiny dots below the growth are millions of baby fish. The front end of the port hull had a 'tree' growing from it. I guess you could say, slower progress would be made through the water.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
Row upon row of boats, the collective value is anyone's guess. A view from the water-side of the Coco Cafe we went after our aquarium jaunt.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL a happy little spuddle