16:12.117N 061:29.598W

Whisper
Noel Dilly
Sun 27 Jan 2013 14:05
"Ilet du Gosier, Guadeloupe - 27th January"
 
We have had two days of glorious sailing, with the occasional squall just to remind us that life is not idyllic all of the time!
Our sailing course from Portsmouth took us directly to Iles des Saintes, which was ideal as we could check in at Bourg des Saintes, which allows us to visit, Guadeloupe and the other surrounding French islands.  Isles des Saintes is a group of five small islands, they are steep with red and brown cliffs and many white sandy beaches.  There is only one town on the largest island, Terre d'en Haut, it is a lovely seaside town, so clean and picturesque.  Where once the inhabitants relied solely on fishing, they now rely on tourism.  Many ferries come and go in the morning and evening creating quite a wash and rather too much smoke as they blast their engines to manoeuvre when leaving the dock.  Walking along the high street, one needs to keep alert as there are many scooters for hire and the competence of the riders looks somewhat dubious as they hurtle down the middle of the road.  The boutique shops were filled with colourful cotton garments and French sophistication.  Flowers grow in abundance around the Caribbean buildings painted in pastel colours, with their pretty balconies and red rooves. Every so often a gap between the shops gave a glimpse of the turquoise bay behind them.  Best of all nobody seems in a hurry and is pleased to talk to you.  We learnt that the island has been French since it was colonised and was never agricultural so no slaves were imported, the inhabitants of African descent have arrived more recently by choice.    
 
Whilst on a hunt for some bread, as the bakers in the main street had just sold out, we found the supermarket and were amused to read some goods packaging, which said that the goods were made in Guadeloupe, Europe.  We brought two lovely hot crusty baguettes, just like those bought in France, a real luxury in the Caribbean.  You can imagine my horror, when we arrived back at the dinghy and had just set off back to Whisper, when the heavens opened.  Noel whipped off his shirt and the baguettes were half covered in a not quite large enough nor particularly fresh tee shirt!  I have to confess that despite this, they were extremely tasty and just as we remembered them. 
 
As we had made contact with Chris and Kevin who were only 20 miles away in Guadeloupe we decided to head on up to meet up with them and come back to explore these delightful group of islands later on.  We had a lazy start to the day and as the wind was fair we hoisted up the main and sailed off our mooring.  Five minutes later as we rounded the headland we were hit by another squall and seconds later, the beautiful bay which we had just left was completely hidden from view.  Once clear of the island the sun was out again and we were on our way making a good 5-6 knots in the right direction.  Chris was able to make radio contact with us as we came into range and we agreed to anchor at Ilet du Gosier, a tiny wooded island, partially surrounded by reefs, with a old fashioned lighthouse, three miles off the entrance to Pointe a Pitre on the south coast of Guadeloupe.   Drinks and a good chin wag, exchanging news and experiences since we had parted company at the beginning of the month, was thoroughly enjoyed onboard Whisper.  We will go our separate ways again tomorrow (Sunday), as the winds are right for us to make Marie Galante over the next couple of days, a well worth island to visit we are told and then we all plan to meet up again next weekend at the Isle des Saintes before we all head back south again.