tall ships

This certainly is the place to be!  Last night I counted no less than 5 tall ships (Sea Cloud, Eye of the Wind, Frederic Chopin to name a few) as well as the Club Med 2, a 5 masted staysail schooner/cruise ship.  Very pretty views, especially as the sun sets or rises in this harbor.

 

OMG the Hunger Games continue for moorings each morning.   This morning I watched as moorings got snapped up one by one as boats left. Big winds and seas have already built, so most boats are leaving under two or three reefs and a whisper of a jib.  As soon as a mooring is vacated another boat is there to take it.  The first amazing site I had this morning was a guy at the bow (to run lines to hook up to the mooring) with a boat hook in one hand and a six month old infant in the other.   These moorings are not easy to catch (easiest by laying flush on deck and leaning down to feed lines through) so that would have been a sight to see.  The second was a boat that simply had no skill – the circled for half an hour making unsuccessful attempts.  Then they lowered their dinghy into the water and somehow managed to lose the dinghy.  Cue another 10 minutes rescuing the dinghy before they dropped the boat hook.  At this point a kind stranger from a neighboring boat jumped in their dinghy to assist.   The things you get to see here before breakfast.

next generation of palm trees

 

Yesterday we decided to head over to Plage de Pompierre.  A nice hike across the island and then a great beach that’s very popular with young families.

 

As the weather held us in the Saintes we decided to do some more exploring. We hiked (much longer and hillier than I expected) over to Pain du Sucre (SugarLoaf). They only had a postage stamp of a beach there and it was packed, but we managed to squeeze in and get in some remarkable snorkeling right from shore. The storm doesn’t seem to have done much damage, as sea fans and enormous barrel sponges were everywhere right off the shore.

wedding party in the Saintes

Coming back to the boat one day we noticed the outboard on the dinghy running pretty rough, and then it died. Luckily we were pretty close to the boat so Trip was able to row the final bit. Turns out when we were in Deshaies Trip went to the gas station and bought ‘gazole’ thinking that was gasoline. It’s not – it’s diesel (gas + oil). ‘Essence’ is gasoline. We hailed one of the guys collecting mooring ball fees and in my broken French I explained the problem. He promised to help out the next day. After a series of mixed up communications with his office he came back at the end of the day and took Trip ashore with the jerry cans to dispose of the diesel. Then he took him all the way to the next island (turns out the main island doesn’t have a fuel dock – destroyed in the hurricane) where he could get gas. Once again, cruising = fixing problems in exotic places. And it only took 24 hours!

Despite how small the Saintes is you really need reservations (both for lunch or dinner) at the best restaurants. We made a reservation for lunch at Dou Dou and were not disappointed. You sit under umbrellas (to protect from the sun and/or rain) but you’re right on the beach which means the first two rows of tables are mildly flooded at high tide, which is fun to watch. The presentation was worthy of any New York restaurant and the seafood was outstanding. Trip got the best meal all around – dorado (mahi mahi) with a creamy passionfruit sauce. Does not sound like it should work on fish but it was beautiful and delicious.

Grand Anse beach

The next night our luck finally ran out with the mooring ball. You hear stories about mooring lines breaking and it finally happened to us. After a few days of high winds and rolling waves coming in, I happened to walk forward to take a look at our mooring lines and chafing gear (extra heavy pieces of cloth wrapped around at the point of contact that provides the initial wear and tear). Imagine my surprise when I saw one set of lines dangling free. When I pulled them up I found the line had completely sheared and the chafe guard was gone. Trip got into the dinghy so we could put a replacement line on and wouldn’t you know it, as he got forward of the boat, nearly to the mooring ball, the next squall kicked up. For the next 10 minutes he crouched in the dinghy and I crouched on the forward deck as rain driving like needles pounded us and the wind gusted into the forties. The mooring ball disappeared underwater as the boat pulled it down with the force of the wind and we just hoped the last mooring line wouldn’t separate. We got lucky, the squall passed, the line held, and we were able to get a new line on.

split mooring line, chafe gear and all

We were so exhausted we collapsed in the cockpit afterward. I would have been happy to stay aboard to recover from that close call, but Trip really wanted to go ashore. There was one restaurant, La Fringale, we hadn’t visited that featured a classic French menu – including escargot. I got dressed and we went ashore. Turns out it was a well-deserved lunch. Trip had his escargot and I had a lovely beef carpaccio. We split a cassoulet. That sounds odd, as cassoulet is a national French casserole of sausage, duck confit, and white beans, normally savored in the dead of winter. I think we were so chilled from the rainstorm and exhausted to boot that the cassoulet was exactly what we needed.

While the winds and seas stayed high we hiked over to the windward side of the island. The smaller beaches were ok, but Grand Anse was fabulous. You’re never allowed to swim there because it’s considered so rough, but in these conditions it was particularly fierce. We were the only ones standing above the beach, watching the waves come crashing in – truly majestic. Trip also tried his hand at the French idea of an outdoor fitness center – he tried every single one of the machines they had there, though I only captured one picture.

Torben and Judy came back and we were able to have an afternoon drink and lunch to celebrate Judy’s birthday. While at the bar we happened to look down over what looked like and was indeed a wedding party. We later discovered they had rented the local Aqualodge – a small houseboat in the harbor. They were a bit loud that night but it wasn’t bad and we particularly enjoyed being able to cuddle when they played our wedding song – the Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

A weather window finally opened and we decided to head south to Dominica. The wind was still strong and the seas substantial – we got up to 7.9 knots under double reefed main and half jib flying along. Though I never really like the helm, at one point I was on it while Trip was down below checking charts. The boat kept rounding up with bursts of wind and I was a little uncomfortable at how close we were getting to a boat coming toward us. We probably only passed with 40 feet in between the two boats, but of course the other guy was French so he thought that was no problem whatsoever and then got excited when he saw me alone at the helm and gave me a thumbs up. Trip came up ruining my prospects at meeting my next husband…. : )