January 7, 2009, Basse Terre – les Saintes
Lyra departs for Dominica, passing Maestro on the way
Maltese Falcon passes through les Saintes
After morning coffee we go ashore at the marina for some exercise and shopping. We walk the mile or so into town and are pleased to see that a new foot bridge has been installed over the river, shortening the trip by about ¼ mile. We buy a phone chip that is valid in both Guadeloupe and Martinique. We find some kerosene which we hope will work in the lamps, then shop for vegetables in the very nice, new open air marketplace. There are many vegetables we have never seen before, and they all seem to be prepared “just like potatoes”. We pass on these for the time being. Elisabeth stands in line 30 minutes at the post office to buy 3 stamps. We believe that is carrying Island Time too far. On the way back to the marina we pass some fishermen beside the road selling their catch. We buy some lovely fresh tuna steaks and hope we can get the grill working (another uncompleted chore on our list). On board, we hoist the dinghy to the foredeck and depart for les Saintes. Elisabeth has bad memories about this trip (in her mind there is always a storm here) and berates Larry for putting up too much sail too soon. Nevertheless, we have a quick 7 knot close reach to les Saintes, and anchor off Bourg des Saintes next to Lyra, a Swedish flagged Bavaria 42. We invite them for cocktails, and find that they crossed the Atlantic on the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, an annual event with more than 100 boats participating). They are headed south, so we may run into them again.
January 8, 2009, les Saintes
January 8, 2009, les Saintes
Beach on the windward side of Terre de Haut
Singoalla at anchor in les Saintes
Today is a day of frequent, though short, rain showers. Every time we go on deck to start a project we get driven below again. We wave goodbye to our new friends on Lyra, only to find them replaced in a couple of hours by another Swedish boat, Emma af Kungshamn. We wonder if here are any Swedes left in the mother country. Larry is determined to figure out why we can’t get the gas grill to work. Working backwards from the grill, he tests each part, and finally is surprised to discover that if he blows through the main feed line, water sprays out the other end. Apparently, the heavy rains in Antigua over the summer had somehow managed to find their way into the tube. Reassembled, everything works fine. In the afternoon we go ashore for a long walk – to a beach with very high surf on the windward side of the island, then up to Fort Napoleon, which guards the entrance to the harbor. On the way we run into Kjell and Margareta from Emma and invite them for cocktails. They come bringing magazines, and we spend a marvelous few hours getting to know one another. They come from Kungshamn, which is very near Elisabeth’s summer home when she grew up, so there are many interesting references to discuss. After they leave, we grill tuna on our newly functioning grill and enjoy a marvelous dinner below. Elisabeth is captured by Svensk Dam Tidning, and goes to bed later than any other night since we left Bristol.
January 9, 2009, les Saintes – Portsmouth, Dominica
Chris Parker’s forecast this morning is not promising for inter-island passages. He predicts increasing sea and wind tomorrow, with heavy wind and seas for at least a week. We decide that we would rather be on a mooring in Dominica than on the hook here. We go ashore to clear out and to buy our daily ration of croissants and French bread. On the way we pass by Emma and are invited for breakfast on our return. In a system that could only be imagined by the French, we go to the police office in town hall to fill out the papers for clearing out. We are advised that they will be faxed to Pointe a Pitre for proper signature, and that we should come back in 30 minutes. We go out to Emma and are served an amazing breakfast of Swedish waffles prepared on a venerable waffle iron that is at least 60 years old. Larry runs in to get the faxed clearance, and we head out to Dominica, just after a much larger Australian ketch with a young family on board that had been anchored near us. Elisabeth steers most of the way, and is determined to pass the Australian boat which has an initial lead of about a mile. We pass her with 5 iles to go. In Portsmouth, Martin meets us and shows us to a mooring. After clearing in (and out, so long as we leave within 14 days, a very simple process in Dominica, we are joined by Sam and Wendy from Maestro, a Valiant 50 with Newport as its hailing port. We have seen them in almost every harbor we have gone to. They are Canadians, but we turn out to have an amazing number of points of tangency in our lives (same college, practicing law in New York, living in Stamford, etc.), and have a very pleasant cocktail hour. They depart after Elisabeth and Wendy agree o meet at 0600 to go to Dominica’s famous market day. Larry cooks steaks on the grill. Dinner on deck is interrupted by a rain shower, so is completed below. Elisabeth falls into bed immediately after dinner, and Larry reads Stieg Larson until his eyelids won’t stay up any more.
January 9, 2009, les Saintes – Portsmouth, Dominica
Chris Parker’s forecast this morning is not promising for inter-island passages. He predicts increasing sea and wind tomorrow, with heavy wind and seas for at least a week. We decide that we would rather be on a mooring in Dominica than on the hook here. We go ashore to clear out and to buy our daily ration of croissants and French bread. On the way we pass by Emma and are invited for breakfast on our return. In a system that could only be imagined by the French, we go to the police office in town hall to fill out the papers for clearing out. We are advised that they will be faxed to Pointe a Pitre for proper signature, and that we should come back in 30 minutes. We go out to Emma and are served an amazing breakfast of Swedish waffles prepared on a venerable waffle iron that is at least 60 years old. Larry runs in to get the faxed clearance, and we head out to Dominica, just after a much larger Australian ketch with a young family on board that had been anchored near us. Elisabeth steers most of the way, and is determined to pass the Australian boat which has an initial lead of about a mile. We pass her with 5 iles to go. In Portsmouth, Martin meets us and shows us to a mooring. After clearing in (and out, so long as we leave within 14 days, a very simple process in Dominica, we are joined by Sam and Wendy from Maestro, a Valiant 50 with Newport as its hailing port. We have seen them in almost every harbor we have gone to. They are Canadians, but we turn out to have an amazing number of points of tangency in our lives (same college, practicing law in New York, living in Stamford, etc.), and have a very pleasant cocktail hour. They depart after Elisabeth and Wendy agree o meet at 0600 to go to Dominica’s famous market day. Larry cooks steaks on the grill. Dinner on deck is interrupted by a rain shower, so is completed below. Elisabeth falls into bed immediately after dinner, and Larry reads Stieg Larson until his eyelids won’t stay up any more.
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