Guadeloupe
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Guadeloupe 17th February, 2014 We berthed in Marina Bas du Fort with just 0.6 meter under
our keel – but we were floating, right! Another of these moorings that are
‘stern-on’ to the dock with a mooring buoy to tie your bow to. Oh well. The good news was that electricity and water was unlimited
and included in the price of the berth! WiFi was pretty bad to non-existent and
was protected so securely that was there was was almost un-useable – like we
couldn’t receive email on our Apple. The marina is part of a large apartment and tourist retail,
restaurant complex with yachting service and repair facilities. You take this
places for the convenience they offer and in our case this meant being able to
forget the boat for a few days whilst we explored the island. What a fun island. There is not much point in trying to be a tourist guidebook
but suffice to say that we felt this was an island with much to offer and a
long way from reaching it’s potential. We rented a car for two days and traveled most of it! Did I mention how much it rains in these islands! Great lunches. Great drives. Great scenery. (..but where all the beach cafes?)
As we were getting our early evening cocktails together one evening we happened to see this sight from our cockpit. This poor bedraggled sailing yacht being held afloat by inflated floats was being dragged in by a small workboat. It seems that the boat has dragged it's anchor and had been saved from floating off to far flung places on it's own by some of the rocky ledges around here. The only charge the rocks made for this service was a few holes in the hull and sinking the unfortunate vessel. I hope that the chap on the helm was not the owner of the yacht - I couldn't handle that if it were me.
....just great views everywhere. Isn't it disappointing that great views rarely reproduce in photos? You just HAVE to be there in person. ..and why isn't Les looking at the great view anyway! hahaha!! One of the fun things about sailing around to far
flung places are the people you meet as you float around! “Hello Lesley!”
Les was tidying the deck lines the second morning of our arrival and recognized
a voice from the dock. I was one of the crew of ‘Merlin III’. Merlin III had
just arrived into the marina and were berthed just a few boat along. Lesley had
met the crew in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. Like us they were a ‘Discovery 55’ and
built just a few months after ours. They had sailed across the Atlantic in
November with the ARC and were touring the Caribbean Islands. It’s always great to pass the time with other crew on the
same adventure as us but particularly good when they are other Discovery
owners. We split a couple of bottles of wine during a very pleasant cocktail
hour with Christopher, Claire and crew comparing notes and experiences with our
boats. It’s amazing who you’ll meet as you seek cover in the
rain! “Hello John!“ As we were rushing to the safety of the capitainne’s office
out of the latest downpour we bumped into Alex. We had previously met Alex and
Lauren in Lanzarote, part of the Canary Islands. Alex and Lauren were also on
an adventure to explore the world in their 44’ racing Dufour sail yacht. They
had also just crossed the Atlantic last December. Alex was just waiting for
Lauren to return from her home in Vancouver before continuing their adventure.
So when Lauren returned we had to compare notes and a few bottles of wine. “Hi John and Lesley!” Ok, so we didn’t bump into Mike - but we were really happy
to receive an email from him! Mike does ‘proper’ sailing. Mike had just arrived in Antigua after 32 days sailing solo
across the Atlantic in his 39 year old, 26 foot catamaran with only a handheld
GPS as his token modern electronic gadget! I’m thinking I would like to attempt a crossing in the same
manner one day and he will be the person to blame! Haha! ..so many nice places on Guadeloupe. But we have the rest of the world to visit. We needed to leave Pointe a Pitre to make our way 'anticlockwise and north' around the western side of the island and head for the island of Antigua. ..of course first all we have to get released from this dumb
mooring buoy which needs the marina dockhands and they of course are on island
time – and we have only been waiting 15 minutes so far. |