Deshaies, Guadeloupe
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Sat 12 Nov 2011 13:48
| We made it - we left Antigua and sailed south to Guadeloupe! The adventure has started and it feels great!! After the now traditional visit by Glenn at 08.30 for his second cup of tea of the day aboard Seaduced we set off. Despite being American, we have managed to convince Glenn that nothing truly worthwhile can be achieved without a second cup of good old Yorkshire tea in the morning and his visits have become part of the day - he is so punctual you can set your watch by him!! That said we know he only visits because we have good tea and were close enough in the marina to get a good free wifi signal - total cupboard love - but we will miss him when we leave. We wish him fair winds and good sailing and look forward to catching up in the BVI's. The trip south was interesting to say the least - we wished for light to moderate winds, but got 20-25 knots on the beam all day, which made for a great days sailing but after nearly seven months on dry land sent me scurrying below to lie down until the nausea passed, despite the tablets and the sick band - clearly more practice needed!! The sailing was great fun, in that everything worked as it should and that we remembered how to do it, but just setting off again was the most amazing feeling of relief and excitement in what lies ahead. After a somewhat rolly six hours we dropped the hook in Deshaies, which is fab little french fishing village in the north of Guadeloupe. Arriving in the French islands is a very strange feeling - it feels very familiar, the supermarkets in town and the banks and petrol stations are all familiar French names, and everyone speaks French, but so very different as well. You spend euros, but can still buy rum from a large drum at a street side stall, and everyone is friendly and wishes you 'bonjour'. The first thing we did after checking in and realising that we were too early for a few bars was head to the supermarche - we bought fresh baguettes and camembert cheese and boiled ham for sandwiches. To wash it down we bought a lovely French red wine - a great treat after a day sailing. All the restaurants here seem to specialise in fish and seafood with a creole twist so eating out should be fun. We also found a really friendly local tapas bar in town for a quick stop on the way back to the dinghy. Today was quite wet, and second drink was required while we sat out the rain - it's a hard life!! A few photos of where we are: |