Escaped to the Saintes
Oriole
Sun 3 Mar 2013 15:05
Bourg des Saintes, Guadeloupe.
After nearly eight action packed weeks in Antigua
and its coastal waters where we learnt to paddle board, catch and prepare conch,
caught up with Andrew and Caroline, renewed many acquaintances and friendships,
and hopefully entertained two lots of NPCGs, Harrison and Katy and then Denis,
we finally raised the anchor and sailed for Guadeloupe, en route slowly for
Trinidad.
The wind was unusually gentle as was the sea and we
made very comfortable progress and anchored for the night close inshore of
Pigeon Island in company, amongst several French yachts, with the 150 foot
yacht Roxane which we had seen in Antigua.
During the afternoon a paddleboarder approached who
was none other than David, the skipper of Roxane for a three month
charter. He managed to fall off just as he grabbed for our gunwhale!
David was skipper of Mirabella 5 when Andrew was mate, and Andrew and
Caroline had rented his apartment in Newport RI during the summer. We had
seen him and his wife Ricky briefly in Antigua. Ricky is a talented
artist, three of whose paintings adorn the bulkheads of Oriole. We were
rocking gently to the swell coming into the anchorage, but Roxane was rock
steady!
We arrived in the Saintes on Friday shortly before
Simon and Hilda Julien (from NF) on Brisa with ex-sailmaker Jen Hooper
aboard, enjoying her 70th birthday cruise.
A somewhat odd weather pattern is in progress with
mainly light winds from the wrong direction, so we are staying put in this
delightful spot until normal trade wind service is resumed.
The Orioles gave Jen a birthday lunch
at the Saladerie amidst much mirth.
Regular readers should note that the censor's red
pen has not been active this week, so you have an unredacted account of a quiet
week.