Les Saintes
Pelekan
Tom & Jos Hollway
Wed 25 Jan 2012 22:20
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15:52N 61:35W
Slight change of plan - again. It was so wet and grey yesterday
morning that we decided to abandon going ashore to the botanical gardens in
Guadeloupe and sail straight to Les Saintes.
We sped off, fishing lines were trailed and optimism was high for a
fresh fish supper. The sail was better than most in that we saw about 4 dolphin
pass close to the boat, and lots of activity from fish, clearly being chased by
something very threatening. They were intelligent enough to flee the enemy
and to avoid taking any of our lures, much to Tom's irritation. The sea was
choppy for the last few miles with winds over 20 knots but we arrived, picked up
a buoy and were ashore for a cold beer in Bourg des Saintes by16.30hrs. It's
quite a lumpy mooring, dingy transfer is wet and interesting. Anchored just
behind us is Tenacious, the large square rigger run by the Jubilee Sailing
Trust.
It was strange going ashore to hear almost nothing but french
conversation, spend euros and eat steak with frites. After a rocky night we did
our first bit of exercise for days. We walked up a steep winding road to Fort
Napoleon. This was a life and death situation. Ferry loads of tourists arrive
and rent motor scooters for the day in order to sight see. They wobbled up the
hill, careering from side to side, often unbalanced by the large load in the
passenger seat, the "wife". At least a collision going up would have been in
slow motion. The trip down was another matter as the brakes were being severely
tested. We were ready to jump into the very deep gutters at the side of the
narrow road but miraculously avoided that manoeuver. After a fine lunch we are
back on the boat, contemplating the next move.
xx Jos, Tom and Nick
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