Guadeloupe
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Tue 20 Jan 2009 12:35
We have sailed the 45nm south to the island of Guadeloupe for a couple of
weeks before we return to Antigua to collect friends before heading north to
the BVI's.
The difference between the islands is remarkable. With Antigua's strong
British history and modern independence we now find ourselves in Caribbean
France. A Departement of France, French as the prime language, the currency
is the Euro and the cars driven on the right. It is also notable that the
people seem even friendlier, more affluent and the shops have much of what
you would find in rural France. I'm not sure why all this is so but there
are a few signs thanking the EU for their regional support.
Our first port of call was the very pretty town of Deshaies on the NW coast.
Anchored in the small bay with the sound of roosters crowing in the morning,
good coffee and croissants for breakfast....mmmmmmmmm.
There is also a fantastic tropical gardens above the town that is well worth
the visit. Trish took lots of photos and I'll add a section to our website
for her to show some of the best shots.
We have now come 30nm further south to the islands of Les Saintes off the SW
tip of Guadeloupe and will stay here a few days before returning to the
mainland. We arrived off the tiny town of Bourg Des Saintes as the weather
was closing in and for the last twelve hours the anchorage has been lashed
by one squall after another. Within seconds the wind rises and the rain
comes down in torrents for anything from a few minutes to an hour and then
stops just as quickly. With the seabed composed of hard sand the holding is
indifferent and woken by the rising wind, sleep was frequently interrupted
to check our position and anchor holding. With a £50 million motoryacht
behind us and a £10 million superyacht alongside, had we dragged our anchor
I am sure our insurance bills would have been impressive.
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