Iles de Saintes 2 ………….. Beaches and ice cream

15:52.11N 61:34.56W

26th January 2015

5662 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

As promised an early update on our latest travels which should bring everything nicely up to date. We arrived in the Iles de Saintes by lunchtime on the 24^th and decided to spend the first night anchored of the western island in the group Terre-de- Bas as this is often missed by passing yachts. Unfortunately it only has the one anchorage that could be considered safe for an overnight stop particularly as the wind was gusting well over 20 Knots from the east and as luck would have it there was no room at the inn. The way it seems to work is that the first wave of boats to arrive grab the prime spots close to the beach or pontoon but at a safe distance, no problems there. The next wave to arrive anchor further out, still all very gentlemanly. The next wave finding no obvious good spots muscle there way in between the first boats and the beach, the next wave squeeze themselves in between the first and second boats and so it goes on until you are left with two or three (usually French) boats motoring around the bay at ever higher speeds trying to find a non existent spot and shouting a lot of nonsense like, “where is your anchor”, or “how long is your chain”? To which the answer, “it is in front of my boat, where else would it be?” or “My chain is just long enough to go from my boat to my anchor” does not seem to please. At this point we decided to go elsewhere instead of adding to the spaghetti junction of anchor chains littering the sand. We went the mile across to the Eastern island, Terre-de-Haut and tried to pick up a buoy but alas for us again no room at the inn. In the end we dropped anchor just outside the buoyed area in 15 meters and the hook dug in first time, 1500 revs in reverse for 5 minutes and we did not move so I was happy for the night.

Sunday morning looking back towards Terre-de-Bas

We stayed aboard the first night and while eating breakfast on Sunday morning the first yachts began to leave the buoys and so by 9 O’clock we had moved and were snugly attached to a buoy about 50 meters from the landing pontoon and town centre. “Good things come to he who waits” say I, amongst other very smug comments at inopportune moments, but that’s just the way I am I suppose.

Looking down from Fort Napoleon

Looking across the roof tops towards Guadeloupe

Ile de Saints is a real picture post card sort of place, the small town has lots of little tourist shops and restaurants aplenty along the beach, there is a fort on the hill (called Napoleon of course) and you can walk from one end of the place to the other in half a day. That first day we had a look around the town, which was half closed because it was Sunday, and walked across the island to a lovely beach before eating a really nice meal for lunch and then heading back aboard.

Yes Norma ate all of that and just for lunch

Busily doing nothing all day through etc etc etc

That night my generator decided it didn’t want to run for more than twenty minutes at a time before stopping so it was out with the tools and into action. What I found was that it was full of loose connections, It does vibrate a bit and it has taken a hammering this year to be fair. I tightened everything up only causing big sparks once which is pretty good for me and I’m still not sure which loose connection fixed the problem but it is running as sweet as a nut now. Point to note: Everything, and I mean everything, on a yacht is in a permanent state of decay. From the moment you tighten a nut or fix a loose thread it is trying its best to work loose, fray or just break, so keeping on top of it is a full time job if you are travelling any distances, whinge over, so onto what the Spectranauts did next.

Monday morning 0730 bright and early I was listening to the SSB radio net catching up on what was going on in the cruising world when our croissants and baguettes were delivered to the boat by the harbour master, good service here in little France. By 10 O’clock we were shore side and ready to go. Steve was heading up to Fort Napoleon for a look around, which I rather fancied but a big hill and my sore foot would not have made a happy partnership, and so it was booking into customs for Norma and me. The Saintes are another French outpost in the Caribbean and so the customs process like Martinique was very simple, fill in an online form, pay an admin fee and you are good to go. What slowed it down was that there was only one computer and we were 3^rd in line. To top it of the American guy who had control of the keyboard could only type with one finger, could only remember one letter at a time and to put the icing on the cake he had a crew of eight all of whose passport details had to be typed in laboriously one digit at a time, clack….clack….clack went the keyboard as we all looked on. 45 minutes later we were at the front of the queue when the printer broke down and the lady had to install a new one, Arrghhh. Actually it wasn’t that bad and we met some interesting people in the line, an American from a massive power boat and a French man from a 30ft single handed sailing boat, both of whom were very friendly and happy to chat away as we listened to the metronome slowly clacking away in the corner. Clearance completed and 2 Euros fee paid we were all legal and above board until the 30^th and so it was of to the café for coffee and internet. After that we headed back across the island to the beach from yesterday but this time we were prepared with swimming costumes and snorkelling gear. We met up with Steve on the beach who informed us that it was the best fort so far with a museum that actually gave you the whole story of the place. He was lent the only English guide book on the understanding that he had to return it before he left, which of course being an English gentleman he did. I also being an English gent hid my disappointment and jealousy behind my stiff upper lip but inside I was crying like a baby, I hate my foot.

Now that is a beach!!

A very inquisitive local, I had to mention curry sauce before he would go away.

It’s not all Iguanas you know, we saw this Pushmepulleo on the way back from the beach

That’s it really only a short stay and mainly beaching but hey it’s not all work you know. Tomorrow we head across to Guadeloupe having spent a really relaxing and above all mosquito free couple of days. By the way my mossey bites have started to fade and my left foot is now only one shoe size up so all is well with the world….

PS: we are looking for some crew to come back across the Atlantic at the beginning of June. Three legs of about 2 weeks each, Norfolk to the Bahamas, Bahamas to the Azores, Azores to Cork….anyone interested in all or part? drop us a line.

Spectra {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com

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