posted from Falmouth Harbour, Antigua
DESHAIS
It was finally time to say goodbye to Antigua and head out on the first leg of our journey to Grenada. We had done our thing here, the weather forecast was good, so after a short stop in Jolly Harbour for provisioning we headed south. We had a nice sail south to Deshais, Guadeloupe and found a spot to anchor in amongst the local boats and cruisers.
We looked around and found that we knew quite a few boats in the anchorage. We usually don’t travel with other boats, but it seems we were all on the same page. Jackie was quite pleased because she had some ladies to do water aerobics with in the morning.
One day we took a hike up the small river that flows into the bay. A road runs next to the river for a couple hundred yards and beyond that there is a riverside trail. A car stopped at the end of the road and a guy got out and started talking on his cell phone. We kept going and followed the river to where it nearly disappears into a wall of boulders and downed trees.
There are a few small pools along the way and some had some small (six inch) fish swimming around. Draped on a rock by the last pool was a bright red woman’s top. It made you wonder about the circumstances under which it got there and what the woman was wearing when she left.
Pool at the end of the creek
The water was clear enough to get good pictures of the fish
Crab walking on a rock
Getting the evil eye
We finished our exploration and began to work our way back along the river. We soon heard someone singing. We got closer and found it was a local Rasta guy taking his morning bath. We moved away from the river for a little bit to give him some space. Then we came upon another guy just finishing his ablutions, so we stayed back until he finished dressing. Evidently this is the local equivalent of the public baths.
THE SAINTES
After a couple days of hanging out and sampling goodies from the pastry shop at the end of the dinghy dock, we again moved on. The next jump was down the leeward side of Guadeloupe and then part way across the channel to a small group of island known as The Saintes. We visited them for a couple days the first time we went south. We had thought about stopping at them in the past and even sailed through the middle of them once, but kept going.
The main island is Terre D’en Haut. The anchorage is off the only town, Bourg des Saintes. Since our last visit, the main anchorage has been converted to a mooring field. Probably just as well because it is quite deep so it’s a bit hard to anchor. You have to pay a nominal fee for the mooring each night, but you can arrange to have croissants and baguettes delivered each morning.
The mooring field at Bourg des Saintes
We started at the south end and worked our way north looking for an open mooring. It turns out there was a race stopping over that night and only one was left mooring left. It was on the north side of the anchorage next to Receta, who had arrived only a couple hours before us. We felt lucky to find a spot at all. The next morning all the racers left for Pointe a Pitre and the anchorage was pretty empty after that.
Our mooring was near two buoys that looked like yellow railroad crossing signs. They mark the ends of a wreck. We snorkeled the wreck one afternoon. It appears to be a small ferry and provides a home for a lot of fish.
Compass Rose (second from right) moored near “Railroad Signs”
Jackie diving on the wreck
The town is your typical French tourist town and has the obligatory fort – Fort Napoleon – on a hill overlooking the bay. The fort is an easy walk from town. It is well restored, has nice gardens, and provides wonderful views of the town and bay.
Main building of Fort Napoleon
Jackie with view of fort walls
Moat around the fort
LOCAL SIGHTS
Here are a few sights from around the Saintes.
The old tourist office, I think
Old church
The Adventures of Little Rosie 