Moorglade's Voyage - Kirsty goes sailing

Kirsty goes sailing

Moorglade's Voyage

Ted Wilson

Tue 19 Apr 2011 13:34

Our Position is 14:29.979N 61:05.185W

Tuesday 19 April

The town was, as described, very pretty, but also very quiet as it was Sunday and as we discovered as we walked up the hill, everyone was in church, or rather just coming out of church complete with palms (for Palm Sunday). The more enterprising had set up stalls in the little square by the church, selling home made food and vegetables, and the bread shop was packed with people buying baguettes. Spurred on by Kirsty, we walked around the town but were unable to find any other excitement other than beautiful flowers everywhere, so went back to the boat and prepared to move on.

Once again the anchor was very muddy and required much washing down, as it was pulled up but before long we were motoring in light winds, unusually coming from the West, towards Anse Mitan, just along the coast. However when we arrived the anchorage was very crowded and filled with local moorings, and the small Marina, mentioned in the pilot book appeared to have met with a serious accident and the pontoon was very short and no longer attached to the shore, so we went on down the coast to Grand Anse d'Arlet.

While relaxing after arrival we were entertained to see a couple snokelling with their dog. It seemed quite happy to ride on the back of its owner when possible or swim free wehn they dived down for better views. (I hoped they kept its nails trimmed as it seemed quite possible very scratchy)

The next morning phone calls from the UK woke everyone early so Kirsty took advantage of the cooler temperatures to go ashore for a run. Some confusion over places with very similar names meant she went further down the coast than had originally been planned and she encountered some extremely steep hills, which handicapped her progress, but she made it back in time for breakfast. Knee problems may inhibit her future training efforts and jeopardise her participation in a half marathon on her return to Ethiopia. (Not to mention that most athletes train at altitude before competing at a lower level, not the other way round!)

After breakfast, having failed to locate any wifi obtainable on board, I went ashore in search of an internet cafe while Ted and Kirsty went snorkelling. Ted took the opportunity to scrape barnacles off the bottom of the boat while Kirsty went turtle watching, unfortunately without the camera. The internet cafe was overrun with biting insects but provided an opportunity to charge a toothbrush at the same time as downloading e-mails so a successful morning was had by all.

After lunch on board it was time for a relaxing afternoon. Another attempt to get wifi on board was intermittently successful and I was able to do some work using the fruits of the mornings endeavours. Meanwhile Ted and Kirsty took the dinghy over to some rocks and Kirsty had another go at snorkelling, with the camera this time, and was able to photograph many fish, but unfortunately no turtles this time. I had a swim off the boat when work was done and then it was time to get ready to go ashore for an evening meal. The season is drawing to a close in the Caribbean and it was noticeable how much quieter it was on shore compared to when we were here in January. However we went back to the morning's internet cafe and had a very satisfactory meal, sitting virtually on the beach with the waves lapping just feet away and not a biting insect in sight (although this might have been because of the liberal application of DEET based products)

Breakfast the next morning was accompanied with turtles swimming past the boat. Later we will sail South to St Anne and clear out at Le Marin before sailing to St Lucia tomorrow.