Light winds and fair weather
Oriole
Sun 20 Feb 2011 21:42
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Ilet à
Cabrit, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe. 15:52.44N
61:35.78W
Robert and Dani arrived on cue in
Antigua on Wednesday afternoon after an uninterrupted trip from Devon with not
very much sleep. After a good night's rest they were more or less
human again. The weather gods have been kind and the strong winds have
evaporated and we have had almost no rain. After a day for them to aclimatise we
sailed the 40+ miles to Guadeloupe in a very benign 10-15 knots of wind with
little sea running and a long lazy swell left over from the stronger winds of
last week. We were passed by the square rigger Alexander Humbolt heading
for Antigua which made an impressive sight under full sail and we had to alter
course to avoid a sperm whale which chose to surface and swim right
across our bows. (sorry no photo)
 The rare sight of a square rigger
under full sail.
We had a great view of him or her
blowing and all the dorsal fins and tail before sounding back into the depths.
We anchored amongst various friends yachts in Deshaies. On Saturday morning
after fresh croissants and bagettes, ordered the night before and delivered
at 0700 and a quick visit ashore and motored gently down to Pigeon
Island where there is Jacques Cousteau Marine Park. It is a
lovely place to snorkle or dive and we had a pleasant hours snorkling in
ideal conditions. We had heard that Hurricane Omar may have caused some
damage here but the coral was in good condition and the fish plentiful and
colourful and there were some enormous parrot fish gently grazing on it. In
the Pigeon Island anchorage on Sunday morning there was a gentle offshore
wind, a clear blue sky and the mate and the first class passangers enjoyed
their early morning cup of tea. We then motored in very little wind to the
Saintes where we anchored and tied our stern back to the beach close alongside
our friends on Breezing Up, the J46 which was the scene of our
Bequia Regatta success last year. We are invited for dinner on a large
motor yacht Mac Daddy originally for a giant lasgne but as the
fishermen have been successful it is to be mahi-mahi from the
grill.
 Tonight's dinner.
Once again the French are right on the
ball and a RIB has been round to take our order for croissants, pain au chocolat
and bagettes for breakfast. Delivery promised for 0700
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