April 21, 2005
Tete de l'Anglais
Leaving Guadeloupe, we turned to say farewell only to note two little islands (rocks) off the north coast. Checking the charts, we discovered that the smaller of the two is called Tête à l’Anglais. We just love the French sense of humour – of course it is the smaller island, and of course it is severed from the main body of the island. So we thought we should share it with you.
Posted by dave at 03:12 PM | Comments (1)
April 20, 2005
French Navy Ship Intercepts Platina
We were motor-sailing along the coast of Guadeloupe and we saw a battle ship in the distance, criss-crossing, so we thought that they were doing some sort of exercise. Then they seemed to be racing towards us, and when they were about a kilometer away, we heard, on the VHF radio, “pa-mumble, zis iz franche Naval Ship mumble…” We thought that they COULDN’T POSSIBLY be speaking to us. Then we heard it again, but this time there was impatience in zi voice. We got on the VHF and asked if they were talking to us…and they were. They said that they wanted to board us.
Suddenly a black zodiac dinghy appeared and came speeding towards us with about 8 soldiers (Dave believes that there must have been about 50…) in fatigues, toting machine guns. As they got closer, we could see that they could talk to, and hear each other, using tiny, in-the-ear, electronic communications equipment. Of course, they were all big and mean looking. And, of course, they could not speak English.
They pulled along side Platina, and after rapid French mumbling, through their special communications equipment, one of them said, “zis iz a standerd prosseedure. We want to bored yur bot.” How polite, to ask before you storm.
As soon as we said, “yes”, they scrambled aboard. Two entered the cockpit; four others stayed on our port- and starboard-decks, hugging their machine guns while they maintained a vigilant look-out. One of them was relaying information back to the war ship, “we boarded the boat; there are two men; we have entered the cockpit; one of them has gone below to get their boat papers; he has returned with the boat papers; we are in possession of their boat papers; we are in possession of their passports…”. Meanwhile, the naval ship kept circling us, in smaller and smaller circles. They asked a bunch of questions about which ports we had recently visited which ports and countries we plan to visit, whether we plan to take on passengers etc.
They were very polite. When they spoke to Dave, they assumed that he could understand them. One of them asked him if he was “that famous stockbroker guy from America”, and Dave just stared back. Chis jumped in and said that Dave is a famous financier, but only in Toronto. Once they knew that we are live-aboard and that the boat is new and from France, and that we had just sailed her across the Atlantic, they became almost friendly.
We had a détente.
If only George Bush could be so lucky.
After a bunch of note-taking and more secret-communication mumbling, they scrambled off Platina, boarded their high-speed zodiac, and disappeared. We wanted to take a photo, but thought that military prison in Guadeloupe would be quite uncomfortable. Just another day in the lives of Chis and Dave.
Posted by chis at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)
N16.2 W48 Anse Deshaies, Guadeloupe
We had heard from an American couple that Anse Deshaies, at the north west tip of Guadeloupe was a beautiful anchorage with an adorable town and lots of breeze. Well, they were right on two counts. There wasn’t a breath of breeze. We also happened to pick two days before Antigua race week (Antigua is about 30 miles from this spot), and boats starting dropping anchor all over the place. Nevertheless, it was a beehive of activity, charming village, and a wonderful spot to return to.
Posted by dave at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
Flying the Staysail
There is a very pretty sail that flies between our mizzen and main mast – French colours of course. The trick is, the wind has to hit the boat between 70 and 110 degrees, and cannot be stronger than 10-15 knots. We lucked out leaving Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe for The Saintes! This is a photo of Dave holding some sort of important rope that did something important.
Posted by dave at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
N15.5 W35.2 Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
We have been in the Marina Bas du Fort in Guadeloupe for 11 days now, staring at this boat sunk across the lagoon from where we are sitting. The light this morning made it especially glamourous, so I snapped this photo. It is not Platina, who now has a spanking new generator fan, which, as it turned out, worked all along. The original one had not been wired properly. We were having trouble with our backup autopilot (why have 1 when you can have 2?), which is being reinstalled as we speak.
So off we go again. We head today for Les Saintes, a group of small islands on the south coast of Guadeloupe, where we will anchor and head in for dinner at a lovely spot we have heard about.
We are a week behind our schedule now, with a lot of ground to cover. The bad news is there is very little wind. The good news is that it is due to a big high pressure system.
Posted by dave at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2005
Awaiting Parts
Okay, who's idea was this? We sit here in Guadeloupe awaiting parts from France. The fan that circulates fresh air when we run the generator does not work. So when we run the generator (3 times a day for 2 hours) to recharge the batteries, make water, etc. we must open the engine room door, which happens to be the floor of the cockpit. In 30c temperatures, this makes sailing rather uncomfortable. We hope for the part to arrive Monday, so we are planning a Tuesday departure. We know we have been in the marina too long, because everyone who was here when we arrived, has now left.
Alas, one lives the life one chooses, no?
Posted by dave at 11:51 AM | Comments (1)
April 07, 2005
N16.13 W61.32, Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe
We arrived on time and on schedule for our appointment for repairs at Amel in Guadeloupe.
Guadeloupe is the largest of the Leeward Islands, and is an overseas department of France. Its 330,000 inhabitants are French citizens.
The Caribs called the island Karukera or “land of beautiful waters”. Following Columbus’ visit in 1493, when he named the island Santa Marie de Guadelupe de Estremadura, the Caribs defended all attempts to colonize. Finally, in 1635, the French succeeded, and the 1763 Treaty of Paris committed Guadeloupe to France.
Posted by dave at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)