St. Barthelemy - 24th - 27th February
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Sat 9 Mar 2013 14:17
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Slipping out of Simpson Bay to try some sailing to
windward towards the French Island of St Barthelemy (St Barts to its
friends and St Barth to it's French friends) we were not sure what we would find
when we arrived.
The sailing was terriffic...we had 15 knots of
wind, slight waves and beautiful sunshine. Navigation was by mark 1 eyeball and
the distance to travel, just 15 miles or so.
But quite a few of our cruising acquaintances have
decided to give St barts a miss...based on a series of reasons, uppermost being
that it is very French and very expensive. The capital is called
Gustavia...a throwback to a nordic past and some diplomatic dealings between
Swedish and French royalties in centuries past, and as we approached we
found ourselves weaving Persephone around a series of huge motor yachts
in the outer anchorage. The dramatic and severe looking "A" was there along
with several other showpiece yachts.
We found the trusty CQR kedge a little unreliable
in the main small boat anchorage and after a couple of failed attempts at
anchoring, eventually took up a mooring buoy being vacated by an Australian
yacht, just leaving.
Gustavia on Sunday is fairly safe...there is no
crime on the island and all the very "exclusive" designer shops are well and
truly shut, thus excluding us and the temptation to bankrupt ourselves!
The town is delightful, nevertheless. Arranged around the inner harbour, with
it's further allocation of superyachts, all the buildings are intact, welll
maintained and brightly painted in pastel colours....very "French Riviera" if
you like.
The smart set were sunning themselves on the
delightful beach just round the corner, and there was an air of confident calm
around the place. Electric vehicles seemed to be the order of the day, though
transportation in the past seems to have been based on the fabulous mini moke
from the 60's.....tres chic, in a country sort of way.
We checked in, with the efficient french
Immigration office, paid no immigration fees and some very reasonable harbour
dues and then had a liight salad lunch, overlooking the harbour...very
French, too.
After a day or two, we dropped the mooring and
pottered north around the corner to the Baie des Colombieres, and had a lovely
time there, too. Landing on the deserted beach in the dinghy required a strong
sense of timing (like most good comedy) but was achievable ((just) in the swell
as it crashed on the white sand.
Our next sail would be back to St Martin, to the
French side, where we planned a visit or two to the Supermarkets as we had
reliably been informed that this was the place to stock up wth some decent
grub!
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