Des Saintes

We left Deshais, Guadeloupe Wednesday morning for a 32 mile run to Des Saintes, still part of Guadaloupe.  It was kind of a weird trip.  We had no wind for an hour, light wind for an hour, great wind for an hour, no wind for an hour and then when we rounded the lower left wing of butterfly-shaped Guadeloupe we got hit in the face by 30 knot winds.  It took us an hour and a half to do the 8.5 miles and when we got here the boat was covered in salt.

We spent some time tidying up and then enjoyed a quiet evening on the boat watching the goings on.

Mountainous Basse Terre

Captain Glenny

Lighthouse at lower left corner of butterfly-Guadeloupe

Snorkelers are going nuts getting up close and personal with the two dolphins that teasingly swim around. 

Because Glen can speak fluent Dolphin, he was able to call him over.

Next morning we set out to reconointer.  We remember the boutique nature of this lovely place from our charter trip here in 1999.  The ferries come in every morning and drop folks off for the day or perhaps a weekend.  There are beach bars and restaurants everywhere and little shops selling art, fashions and groceries.  Neat place.

Cool sign!

Boat shaped house

Cool streets

Colourful houses

We took the big hike up to Fort Napoleon, more than 350 feet up the hill.  Great views and a pretty interesting museum and surrounding gardens.

Fort Napoleon on top

Can you spot Blue Pearl?

Fort Museum

By noon we were hot and tired so what a good idea to have lunch at the Les Pied Dans L'eau restaurant.  Pam had cod fritters that approached Don's special recipe (but didn't meet) at BIMPYs.  Glen had some weird assortment of marinated fish and various fish salads.  Mmmmmmm!

What a view!

Visitors to our home will have seen the model shuttered door hanging in our living room.  It is a creation of Pascal Foy, a local artiste.  We had read about him back in the late 90s and visited him back then to purchase the door.  We visited again this time to see the new direction his art is taking him - using weird bits and pieces in his collages to make a statement.  He pointed out a large piece - a black piece of luggage chained to a backdrop showing bare foot prints.  He struggled with our limited French and his limited English to tell us that it was to depict the slavery that went on back in the 17th century.

Foy's workshop and gallery

Today we walked over to the other side of the island to look at the airport and the big beach... Grand Anse.  Looks beautiful but apparently vary dangerous with wild currents and undertoad.

Afternoon beers ashore, then Beef Dip with Greek salad on the boat.  An early night so we can get a good start in the morning.

We are headed for Dominca next.  When we were in Dominica in 1999, we were met by a "boat-boy" as soon as we sailed into the harbour.  Whoever gets to your boat first becomes your concierge for the time you are on the island and you are expected to make it worth his while.  It can be a nuisance elsewhere but these guys in Dominca have made it into an art form appreciated by most boaters.  They put on a massive all-you-can-eat BBQ on Sunday nights so we will leave here tomorrow so we can make the Sunday BBQ.

We are also looking forward to seeing Jeevan - a friend from back home who is going to med school at Ross University near Portsmouth.  Very cool.

Looking forward to enjoying some time in Dominica (Dom in eeka.)