Da wind, he com back!
Oriole
Sun 27 Mar 2005 17:33
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We poked our noses out of Falmouth Harbour on
Monday morning and immediately got blasted by the wind which has returned
after its few weeks holiday. For the ten miles to windward to the south
east corner of Antigua it was like sailing in the Channel on a really foul day,
overcast and rain. But by the time we arrived the sun had returned and we spent
three days anchored behind the reef in Nonsuch Bay with big seas pounding on its
other side, looking towards Africa. Apart from swimming we did not get off the
boat for three days - really idle - but a welcome relief after sorting out the
engine.
We roared southwards to Guadeloupe on Thursday
and then on to the Saintes, the little group of islands between Guadeloupe
and Dominica. Easter here has been pretty hectic with lots of comings and goings
and with yole racing, the traditional French local sailing
boats where most of the crew of twelve or so sit out on pole trapezes
to keep them upright.
 First
yole over the line.
They go right out into the open ocean mostly
without mishap. As we were approaching the Saintes we saw a whale blowing about
200 yards ahead and then we witnessed the classic dive sequence of a Humpback
whale with the full tail coming clear of the water as it
disappeared. This is the first time we have ever seen this vast
tail coming clear of the water but it was all over before we thought of the
cameras. There have been four square rigged ships visiting the
Saintes this weekend, it is remarkable that there are enough people wanting to
sail on them to make them a viable proposition once again.
 More traditional
shipping under the shadow of Fort Napoleon.
As often happens we have caught up with old
friends here, there is always something or somewhere new to hear about or just
gossip.
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