(Blog 62) Dominica - Iles des Saintes
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Wed 13 Apr 2011 00:50
|
15:52.08N 61:35.08W
Tuesday 12th April
After a good night's sleep we awoke to a heavily overcast day. A light
drizzly prevailed. We were in Prince Rupert bay in the NW part of
Dominica. We had a quick breakfast and slipped the mooring that we had picked up
the previous evening.
I love Dominica, and Sylvie and I have visited the
island many times, so we had decided to move on to seek out new lands. We
were keen to see some islands that we don't know, in the limited time that we
have. So we pressed on with the drizzle and no wind! We motored out
of the bay and set the main (just in case we found any wind later). As we
motored clear of the northern part of Dominica a light breeze picked up, but we
had to keep the engine running, since there wasn't enough just to sail. It
was only about 18 miles across to a small group of charming islands called Iles
des Saintes which are situated just off the SW corner off Guadeloupe. As
we approached, the weather cleared a little and with a little more wind we had a
lovely sail in through the SW passage between the islands. We sailed up to
the main 'town' and had to tack the last mile to make the anchorage.
After handing sails, we found a great anchorage close in to the little town
of Bourg de Saintes on the main island of Terre d'en Haut.
It all looked very charming - and the pilot book simply
drools over the place: Irresistable charm...love at first sight....adorable
seaside town....... white sandy beaches....flowers in abundance .... AND it
all seems to be quite true! We dropped the hook at about 12.30pm and after
digging the dinghy out from the depths of a deep locker, blowing it up
and rowing ashore (in the by now, steady light drizzle), we located
the bins to dump our rubbish and settled down to a late lunch in an empty
waterside restaurant.
Since we were still illegal immigrants, we went in
search of the 'Marie' where we completed the necessary immigration formalities
for crew and boat. We then went in search of a boulangerie and some small
shopping items. By this time the drizzle was steadier and heavier, so we
aimed for the dinghy pontoon and rowed back to 'Catou' for a peaceful and wet
afternoon. It was a great shame, since this really does look a very pretty
place, and we had wanted to hire bikes to visit the island. The old church
was pretty, but I slipped on the wet steps outside (no damage done!) as we were
coming out, and there was little else we could do in the rain other than go back
on board. The tourist shops were looking rather sad with no
customers. Most of their trade comes from day visitors coming across from
Guadeloupe on one of several ferries that were moored on the main town
jetty. A few bedraggled tourists who had braved the weather that morning
were sploshing their way back to the ferries. So we climbed into a very
wet dinghy and rowed back.
These islands have always been French. The small
communities that have lived here have mostly relied on fishing as a way of
life. There are strong links to northern France, especially Brittany
apparently. Tomorrow we are heading up the west coast of Guadeloupe
to a small fishing town near the NW corner of the island. We will then
move on to the ' Emerald isle of the Caribbean' -
Montserrat.
We have a couple of photos to add to the blog
today:
|
