Back with the fleshpots
Oriole
Tue 13 Jan 2009 20:08
|
Falmouth Harbour, Antigua.17:00.94N
61:46.39W.
From the Saintes to
Deshaies, Guadeloupe we had another idyllic sail in sparkling conditions,
something that we did not see much of last year. The pundits are telling
us that as this is not either an El Ninjo or a La Ninja year we should be
getting some really good settled trade wind weather and a good summer in the UK!
So far this is proving correct, but the high pressure to the north is
intensifying and moving towards us and we are expecting a bit of a blow this
week.
Hurricane Omar had done more damage
in Deshaies and the very substantial main town dock has been swept away and
a large motor yacht had been driven up on the beach where it had
been. (Sorry the photo got deleted!!) The houses behind the beach
were also pretty mangled.
For the passage up to Antigua on
Tuesday we had light winds but big seas and unusually needed no
reefs.
Sea Shuttle had arrived a
day before us and the old folks were taken out for dinner by the skipper. We
have a few jobs to do and friendships to renew and having done a bit of
restocking we will move off as soon as we won't get blown to bits.
 One of Antigua's 365
beaches.
From the Saintes to
Deshaies, Guadeloupe we had another idyllic sail in sparkling conditions,
something that we did not see much of last year. The pundits are telling
us that as this is not either an El Ninjo or a La Ninja year we should be
getting some really good settled trade wind weather and a good summer in the UK!
So far this is proving correct, but the high pressure to the north is
intensifying and moving towards us and we are expecting a bit of a blow this
week.
Hurricane Omar had done more damage
in Deshaies and the very substantial main town dock has been swept away and
a large motor yacht had been driven up on the beach where it had
been. (Sorry the photo got deleted!!) The houses behind the beach
were also pretty mangled.
For the passage up to Antigua on
Tuesday we had light winds but big seas and unusually needed no
reefs.
Sea Shuttle had arrived a
day before us and the old folks were taken out for dinner by the skipper. We
have a few jobs to do and friendships to renew and having done a bit of
restocking we will move off as soon as we won't get blown to bits
On Sunday we did a land
circumnavigation of Antigua en auto, something we had never done, with
Andrew as our driver and guide.
 One man's meat is another
man's poison.
We stopped for drinks in a very
exclusive bijou resort where the bill for a round of drinks would have
bought a whole meal in the places we normally frequent, which is fortunately
what we found for lunch.
 John and Andrew at Devil's Bridge.
The pound does not stretch very far
these days compared with last year in this dollar based economy. Things
are pretty quiet and the locals are feeling the pinch but the superyachts keep
on piling in, but even the biggest and the best are short of charters this year.
So far Sea Shuttle and Oriole seem OK although we have just
lost one charter!
|