Ahoy there!

 

As usual we ended staying longer than we had planned and eventually left St.Martin on 26 th June. So what kept us? Apart from the abundant supply of baguettes, patisseries and wine – mainly the weather and indolence!

The tropical waves are coming every few days now and so we have to pick our time to move.

The good news on the weather front is that the trade winds have remained quite strong and are keeping the Atlantic Ocean at a normal temperature so lessening the chance of tropical storms. Don't feel overly sorry for us though, the water isn't that cold - where we are swimming now is 29C.

So how did we while away our time? The usual boat chores of course. We have been fortunate to have escaped major disasters but sometimes small things all seem to happen at once. We had a sleepless night when we thought our largest fuel tank has sprung a leak. Andrew had been polishing the diesel by transferring it between tanks. It transpired, after much overnight thought, that he had got some levers confused and a small amount of fuel had got into the bilge. We were much relieved when we realised this had been the problem.

Next on the list was a leaking heat exchange unit, solved with liquid gasket and lastly filling the holes in the generator's exhaust.   Fortunately Dutch St.Maarten has some very good chandlers so we took the dinghy across the lagoon a few times. On one visit Sharon managed, after a year of trying, to persuade Andrew to buy a wind scoop (they were on special offer) and this has become a definite hit. It is a large triangle of kite fabric which clips inside our cabin hatch while the pointy end ties to the boom. Any breeze is then directed into the cabin which is wonderful on a hot night.

 

We caught the bus to Phillipsburg , St. Maarten's capital a couple of times, it only takes about half an hour and costs $3 return. The local buses are terrific, if you see one coming you just put your hand out and it will pick you up. When you want to get off you just yell ‘stop!' We discovered that the islanders don't like walking as sometimes it was only a few yards between requests. The bus drivers make frequent stops for chats or to buy fruit from the roadside vendors. Phillipsburg is quiet until a cruise ship is in and then its bedlam. We were lucky arriving in low season as we had only one ship and on our second visit none at all – apparently in the peak season there are up to nine a day! With only two main streets and the seafront it can get very crowded. Nearly all the shops sell duty free goods aimed at the cruise market – we lost count of the jewellery shops – as well as designer clothes shops. Competition is fierce and as you walk past the doors you are told that nearly everything has 80% off!  

We also stumbled across the gallery of ‘Yoda guy' (yodaguy.com we think). This is the chap who created Yoda from the Star Wars series. He left the high pressure of film work and sailed the Caribbean before settling in Phillipsburg . Now ‘in a gallery far, far away!!' he has Star Wars ephemera and paints local scenes. He was very amiable and quite happy to chat to visitors. Surprisingly for such a tourist town restaurants were good and we enjoyed a couple of excellent Chinese meals.

As most of you know we are not great sports fan but felt we should soak up the atmosphere of a French bar to watch the England vs. Trinidad & Tobago world cup match. The Arawak Café had two huge screens, air conditioning and cheap beer during the game. Most of the watchers supported T & T, the only Caribbean nation in the contest, but we managed to cheer loudly when England scored. When we did get a goal the chap behind us uttered ‘Quelle dommage' which has now become the boat phrase we use when something goes wrong! But the atmosphere was great and we all became armchair experts.

 

We were planning to leave after a week but more waves kept us in harbour. Fortunately for us the local two night Music Festival was on by the harbour. The first night was mainly acts from the local music schools. Some were excellent, the steel drum band and the 13 year old saxophonist stood out. We felt sorry for the students of the piano teacher who dragged them on one by one and they were all made to play beyond their skill but we gave them   loud applause. And it's not everyday you see a piano teacher sporting a black thong! The second night showcased local acts and dance schools – an excellent Flamenco dancer and a salsa group. The finale was an hour long set by an energetic reggae group who had the bay jumping. Two really good nights and like many of these events we've been lucky to attend – free.

 

Finally we managed to leave and on Sunday 25 th Andrew did his last croissant & baguette run and we set off for an overnight trip to Deshaies in northern Guadeloupe . After a few hours in fairly uncomfortable weather we realised that we would be arriving in the dark so we made the decision to divert to Gustavia, St.Barts.   After a fairly rolly night we were about to set sail again when the local ‘Captainerie' paid us a visit. Usually you can anchor for the night and not have to clear customs if you don't leave the boat. However it transpired that in the Port of Gustavia you have to clear in & out. The process was quick and as we were ashore we thought we would have a look around.

Gustavia is a small, well organised harbour with lots of red tiled villas built on the surrounding hills. A destination for the wealthy, every other shop is an international designer – fortunately for Andrew many were closed for their annual holidays! By late morning we were off again.

The journey to Guadeloupe was hot and fairly uncomfortable with seven feet swells and several thirty knot plus squalls.Even in the dark the scenery was interesting as we went past the lights of Antigua , St. Kitts and Nevis . Andrew had Monserrat during his night watch and saw a magna flare. As daylight broke Sharon could see the smoke rising from the volcano and signs of the recent lava flows.

We were anchored in Deshaies by mid morning and were greeted by several turtles swimming past. The first of many that we saw. Deshaies is protected on three sides by the tall, cone shaped hills typical of Guadeloupe. The town is small but with everything a cruiser needs – solid dinghy dock, supermarket and bakers within easy walk, a cash point machine and a laid back customs officer! The harbour is protected from the prevailing winds although local conditions mean you do dance about the anchorage a bit!

A couple more waves kept us in Deshaies but we took advantage and did some proper sight seeing (our Guadeloupe special coming soon!) On Sunday 2 nd July we sailed down the coast to the islands – Les Saintes – at the foot of Guadeloupe which is where we are now (5 th July) waiting for our next weather window to get to Martinique. Internet access has been very limited so we won't be able to send this for a few days.

We have a question for French speakers – what time of the day does ‘bonjour' become ‘bon soir ' as we are getting very confused with our greetings?   Sometimes we are given a ‘bon soir ' just after lunch.

 

 

Warm regards

Sharon & Andrew

P.S Saturday 8th July – arrived in Marin, South Martinique. We will be here for a few days before a quick stop in St.Lucia