STOPOVER IN DESHAIES

 

 

We had a great sail from Dominica to Deshaies in Guadeloupe. We sailed with Golightly in near perfect conditions. Stephen has been telling me that our sailing as we go further south will be "champagne sailing". To me that means I can sit on the deck, sipping champagne and this hadn't happened up until this point! This time, however, I was able to sprawl myself out on the trampoline and read my book on a beautiful flat blue sea for much of the way....the only problem being we had no champagne, it's far too expensive in these parts!

 

Deshaies is a sleepy little French village and Customs and Immigration are so relaxed that we weren't able to clear in or out, and we stayed for 4 nights. We arrived on a Sunday, so flew our quarantine flag until Monday. The clearing is done in a little curio shop on the waters edge on the computer, not an official in sight. We went there on Monday and the shop was closed, so we went on Tuesday and were told that the lady who works wasn't there because she got married so we couldn't clear in. We were leaving on Thursday so didn't bother for one day, we wish all the places we visit could be like this!

 

We spent a great the few days with Les and Jeramie, braaing on our boat, having 'heavy entree's' on Golightly and provisioning with the delicious cheeses, wines and pates as can only be done on a the French Islands. We were also lucky enough to have another chance to swim with the dolphins! We are convinced that Tayne is a Dolphin Whisperer........just as we were about to start doing Afrikaans they arrived and then he got the day off school to swim with them. This is exactly what happened the previous time in the same bay, he reckons he has a 'connection' and this is a sign that he shouldn't be doing Afrikaans at all! :)

 

We love this little village but had to leave as high winds were predicted and we had to meet Pat and David in Antigua in a few days.

 

 

 

 

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DOMINICA

THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND

LEAVING THE SAINTES

We had a great sail from The Saintes, with Rocking B and Zanshin, Rocking B arriving first.....there's always a race on amongst the guys!

THE BOAT BOYS

The Boat Boys await your arrival in Dominca, sitting on their wooden boats as you enter the bay. They come alongside and offer you their services for fuel, ice, laundry and island tours, at a price of course. With names like Lawrence of Arabia, Blessing, Providence and Friday, it reminded us very much of Africa. They're extremely polite and do not harass one if you do not need them.

We anchored off the beach in Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth, a calm anchorage lined with beach bars and restaurants. We had to clear in on the far side of the bay and while the guys were doing this we took a stroll to a great modern supermarket (IGA) in the area. We were surprised to find all the provisions we need and a great fruit and veggie selection.
The Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here and one can visit the locations on the island where filming was done. We can see why they chose this island, it's beautiful around every corner.

DRINKS AT THE PURPLE TURTLE WITH ROCKING B AND ZANSHIN AND OUR BOATS ANCHORED IN THE BAY

THE LOVELY MARGARET APPROVING OF THE LOCAL BEER

RUM PUNCH FOR MICHAELA

Portsmouth Anchorage

We spent a busy week in Dominica with our friends Ken and Margaret (and Biscuit and Augie) from Rocking B and Arnd from Zanshin. We had a movie night on Rocking B, watching Captain Ron on a big screen, with popcorn, snacks......and air conditioning!! We did a South African evening with Bobotie on the menu on Katz and we found a tiny, local restaurant in the back streets of Portsmouth, called Emilia's Snuggle Spot Bar, serving delicious chicken, chips and hamburgers. We descended on the owner, Emilia, with 11 people one evening.

EMILA PREPARING MEALS FOR 11 CRUISERS

CHICKEN AND CHIPS AND SPICY CHICKEN WINGS FOR SUPPER

FERDINAND TAKING DRINKS ORDERS

THE CREW FROM DESPERADO AND LES IN SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT FISHING I'M SURE!

THE KIDS AND JERAMIE FROM GOLIGHTLY

We were so excited to hear Les Farge from Golightly on channel 68, calling on the radio a few days after our arrival. We had been in touch with Les before we left SA, asking about sailing and buying a boat in the Caribbean. We had been referred to him by our friend, Leon Swanepoel and had chatted on Facebook. Stephen hailed him before he could even drop anchor and we were having drinks with him and Jeramie at the Purple Turtle by that evening. And the rest is history......he is also heading to Antigua and is making his way down to Grenada for the hurricane season. It's so great to meet up with South Africans along the way, we can understand each other's 'language' and can have a good laugh about things only South African's comprehend.

US SAFFA'S CAN'T HELP BUT HAVE A GOOD OL' BRAAI

LES FARGE'S BOAT, GOLIGHTLY

The most beautiful part of Dominica are the rainforests high in the mountains that tower over the island. We hired a 7 seven seater car with Arnd and Rocking B and took a day trip into the forest. After driving up steep inclines, through dense tropical vegetation, we came across the Trafalgar Falls. There are two high waterfalls here and hot water sulphur springs. We loved the hot water pools as we hadn't had a bath in 5 months so hung around in them until we were so hot we couldn't take it anymore. To cool down we took a swim in the cold water under the waterfall which was wonderfully refreshing.
THE HOT SPRINGS AT TRAFALGAR FALLS

The springs made us feel really tired and relaxed and after doing some provisioning at Astaphans in Roseau a very sleepy crew headed back to Portsmouth.
This is how we filled up with water Dominica style......

GETTING HOOKED UP TO WATER

A GARDEN HOSE FROM A HOME ON THE SHORE IS LED UNDER THE SEA TO A BUOY IN THE BAY.

This is how we did our washing Dominica style......

STOMPING THE TOWLES CLEAN WHILE STEPHEN RUNS THE UNDERWATER HOSE

This is how we fueled up, Dominca style......

This is how we shopped Dominica style......

WE BOUGHT DELICIOUS FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIE JUICE FROM THIS RASTA IN THE STREET

WE MADE FRIENDS WITH THIS LADY, I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HER FOR HER GREAT PERSONALITY AND KINDNESS. SHE GAVE US FRUIT AND A GOOD LAUGH!!

This is how we get around, Katzendingy style......

Michaela and I did some really amazing hikes from our anchorage. We found an ancient fort hidden in the forest in the Cabrits National Park. The Caribs had fierce battles here and one got an eerie feel of the civilization at that defended their territory during the 1600's.

We also did a beautiful 3 hour hike on the Waitukubuli Trail, through the forest to the neighbouring bays. We came across a deserted beach with tributes to Nelson Mandela nailed to the trees, we felt so much pride that he is honored in this way, on this little beach in the middle of nowhere.

AAAARGHHH...WET TAKKIES!!

THIS IS HOME AT THE END OF OUR HIKE

We're sad to say goodbye to our lovely American friends, Margaret and Ken and their cute Schnauzers, Biscuit and Augie from Rocking B as they leave for Martinique and then to the Jazz Festival in St Lucia. We hope to meet up with them again when we head down island. One meets such great cruisers, such as themselves, that become so part of your life, in such a short time. We're all a bit crazy to give up perfectly good lifestyles back home and the passion to live this simple lifestyle creates an instant bond. We all have our own itineraries and have to move on...........

MARGARET, BISCUIT AND AUGIE SAILING PAST AS THEY SAY GOODBYE

CHEERS CAPTAIN KEN

Thanks to Arnd from Zanshin for the use of some of his photographs.

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Guadeloupe and The Saintes

 

 

THE VILLAGE OF DESHAIES

WE WALKED TO THIS LOVELY BEACH

CAUGHT IN THE RAIN ON OUR WALK

We spent longer than we thought in Deshaies, Guadeloupe, and loved every minute. Michaela and I did a long walk from the anchorage to the neighbouring bay, through forests to a beautiful beach, getting caught in the rain along the way. What I love about walking and hiking in these parts is that you choose a path, follow it, and have no idea what you'll find on the other side. We've come across the most interesting, hidden away, non touristy places along the way.

 

Sadly, it was time to move on......places to go, new things to see!

 

We headed up the coast to Pigeon Island, an island off Anse Malendure, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. The dive site is part of The Cousteau National Park and there is an underwater statue of Jaques Cousteau off the island. Michaela, Tayne and Arnd did 2 scuba dives here and Stephen and I snorkeled. It was stunning, with crystal clear visibility and a huge variety of fish and coral. We anchored off the island for the day, amongst a few other dive boats, diving and SUPing around the boat, having lunch and a few beers. What a great day!

PIGEON ISLAND DIVING

 

Our next destination was The Saintes, another French island along the West Indies chain. We had a great sail with s/v Rocking B and s/v Zanshin. As we were dropping the sails at sunset to come into the anchorage, we caught a nice sized Cero.

 

Chaos ensued, far too much happening at once!! Sails down, lines in, motor slowing down, reverse then forward again, there was no ways we were going to lose this one, fish have been scarce on Katz!! After a good fight, Tayne got it on board and the poor thing was bludgeoned to death....or so we thought! It was lying quietly in the basin on the deck, waiting to be filleted for supper, when it got a new lease on life and made a final attempt to escape back into the deep blue and bolted out of that basin, flapping and gyrating all over the cockpit area, blood flying everywhere!! What a mess, we now had to swab the decks and get the boat anchored while there was still light, We had a good laugh and so enjoyed that fish for supper but I couldn't help but feel a little compassion it!

THE ELUSIVE CERO

 

The following morning we cleared in at Le Bourg, a pretty French fishing village nestled into the mountainside, with quaint shops and cobbled streets. We love the French islands, knowing we're going to get great baked goodies and this place didn't disappoint! We had the most delicious warm chocolate croissants and irresistible crusty baguettes, the French sure know how to do it.

OUR ANCHORAGE, PAIN DE SUCRE

The Saintes are made up of 8 islands. It is lush with high surrounding hills and white sandy beaches. We did a lot of walking here. Our family, Arnd and Ken walked to Fort Nepoleon, an old ruin built in 1844 and Michaela and I did a very strenuous steep climb to Le Chameau, the highest peak of all the islands.

VIEWS FROM OUR WALKING EXPEDITIONS

It took us 2 hours, up a steep road, with switchbacks all the way. The view from the top made the aching thighs all worth it. We also walked to an outdoor church on the hill behind our anchorage, which had a lovely feeling of tranquility and gave us a chance to take beautiful photo's of the area.

 

THE VILLAGE OF LE BOURG

We loved our 4 day stay in The Saintes and hope to visit there again on our return journey.

 

 

 

 

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