05:17.035N 052:35.510W - The Beast and the Butterfly
Irene IV - World Adventure
Louis Goor
Sat 4 Mar 2023 19:12
The Beast
Being on a starboard tack for days on end is not easy, especially since we
have been on a continuous port tack for over a year– the beast! What does it
mean for everyday life when we are on a starboard tack? First of all, the
starboard side of the boat is the right-hand side. When the wind is coming
over the right-hand side of the boat and boom is out on the left-hand side
(port side) of the boat then we are on a starboard tack and the boat is
healing to the left. For the record, the exact opposite is the case if you
are speaking Dutch or German, that is starboard tack is called port tack and
visa versa! So, for all of us except George and sometimes Louis, leaning to
the left means we fall out of our bunks! As a precaution we can put up a
lee cloth (a large piece of plastic sailcloth) that can be attached to two
eyes on opposite cabin walls and stretches along the length of the bunk to
hopefully prevent a bump in the middle of the night. In George’s forward
port cabin, he, becomes jammed up against one of his cabin walls and often
wakes up with a bruised nose. In the heads (bathrooms), a quick visit for a
whizz can turn into a bruised back as the loo seat bangs against you or
worse, a sudden jolt can have you standing and catapulted against the
opposite wall much sooner than expected. For Louis a heads visit can have
him wedged halfway down the loo when the boat lurches. In the galley
(kitchen), a starboard tack throws the cook against the hot stove and
prevents the sink from fully draining. Need I go on? We do not like
starboard tack. However, we have but one more day before our impending
arrival in Grenada and the end of our final long Oyster World Rally passage.
Last night on watch I think Irene IV had heard me complain about starboard
tack because she inexplicably switched off the autopilot and gybed onto port
tack with a loud crack. A horrifying moment! Thankfully, Louis and Giles ran
on deck to the rescue.
The Butterfly
To break up our journey a little we popped into the Isle du Salut trio of
islands off the northern coast of French Guyana. We arrived in time for
afternoon tea and invited the crew of Seabird to join us. No sooner had
Seabird stepped aboard than a monsoon style rainstorm set upon us. The decks
got another wash, after the careful washing and polishing Rob, Giles, Louis,
and George had just finished. When the rain became a little overwhelming, we
moved down below and continued with cocktails followed by dinner.
These islands are the scene of the true story of a prisoner, Henri Chariére,
who spent many years here in the high security prison, he was known as
Papillon – the butterfly. Next morning, reasonably refreshed, even though
the wind and waves buffeted us about quite a bit, (at least the boat was not
leaning left), we ventured ashore. The first island we visited, Isle Royale,
is the site of the high security prison built in the 1850’s and used by the
French government until the 1960’s. In true French style, the buildings are
solid and beautiful, the layout is well thought out and pleasing to the eye
as well as functional. The site is in the process of being refurbished, so
we were not able to visit the museum, but a friendly Gendarme on a quadbike,
assured us we could wander all we wanted and pointed us in the direction of
the restaurant serving coffee and croissants. First things first. We marched
to the huge restaurant and, for a steep fee, mounded our plates with
croissant, pain au chocolate, and pain au raisin all washed down with
steaming mugs of milky coffee. The view from the restaurant overlooked the
uninhabited Devil’s Island, more beautiful than its name suggests. Fully
fed, we explored the prison complex – a myriad of buildings including, a
large hospital, a heliport, a lighthouse, a church, officers’ family
quarters, a guillotine courtyard, solitary confinement cells, regular cells
and more, all in various stages of refurbishment. Each building had a
noticeboard in French and English explaining its use. We were enthralled
exclaiming, if one had to go to prison, this was the place to be! As the
island supposedly offers no escape, there are no high electric fences and
apparently needed fewer guards. Papillon proved this theory wrong.
A visit to the smaller island, St. Joseph, afforded us a lovely walk around
its perimeter, coming upon a graveyard, worn, and ravaged by the angry sea,
and a Romanesque cobbled road which led to another prison complex and a
steep beautifully constructed staircase, worthy of an entrance to a grand
house. Thus exercised, we returned to our respective boats and set sail in
tandem at 13:15 bound for the Caribbean.