16:12.117N 061:29.598W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Sun 27 Jan 2013 14:05
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"Ilet du Gosier, Guadeloupe - 27th
January"
We have had two days of glorious sailing, with the
occasional squall just to remind us that life is not idyllic all of the
time!
Our sailing course from Portsmouth took us directly
to Iles des Saintes, which was ideal as we could check in at Bourg des
Saintes, which allows us to visit, Guadeloupe and the other surrounding
French islands. Isles des Saintes is a group of five small islands,
they are steep with red and brown cliffs and many white sandy
beaches. There is only one town on the largest island, Terre
d'en Haut, it is a lovely seaside town, so clean and
picturesque. Where once the inhabitants relied solely on fishing, they now
rely on tourism. Many ferries come and go in the morning and evening
creating quite a wash and rather too much smoke as they blast their engines to
manoeuvre when leaving the dock. Walking along the high
street, one needs to keep alert as there are many scooters for
hire and the competence of the riders looks somewhat dubious as they hurtle
down the middle of the road. The boutique shops were filled with
colourful cotton garments and French sophistication. Flowers grow in
abundance around the Caribbean buildings painted in pastel colours, with their
pretty balconies and red rooves. Every so often a gap between the shops
gave a glimpse of the turquoise bay behind them. Best of all nobody
seems in a hurry and is pleased to talk to you. We learnt that the island
has been French since it was colonised and was never agricultural so no
slaves were imported, the inhabitants of African descent have arrived
more recently by choice.
Whilst on a hunt for some bread, as the bakers in
the main street had just sold out, we found the supermarket and were amused
to read some goods packaging, which said that the goods were made in
Guadeloupe, Europe. We brought two lovely hot crusty baguettes, just
like those bought in France, a real luxury in the Caribbean. You can
imagine my horror, when we arrived back at the dinghy and had just set off back
to Whisper, when the heavens opened. Noel whipped off his shirt and
the baguettes were half covered in a not quite large enough nor
particularly fresh tee shirt! I have to confess that
despite this, they were extremely tasty and just as we remembered
them.
As we had made contact with Chris and Kevin who
were only 20 miles away in Guadeloupe we decided to head on up to meet up with
them and come back to explore these delightful group of islands later
on. We had a lazy start to the day and as the wind was fair we
hoisted up the main and sailed off our mooring. Five minutes later as we
rounded the headland we were hit by another squall and seconds later, the
beautiful bay which we had just left was completely hidden from
view. Once clear of the island the sun was out again and we were on
our way making a good 5-6 knots in the right direction. Chris
was able to make radio contact with us as we came into range and we
agreed to anchor at Ilet du Gosier, a tiny wooded island, partially surrounded
by reefs, with a old fashioned lighthouse, three miles off the
entrance to Pointe a Pitre on the south coast of
Guadeloupe. Drinks and a good chin wag, exchanging news
and experiences since we had parted company at the beginning of the month, was
thoroughly enjoyed onboard Whisper. We will go our separate ways
again tomorrow (Sunday), as the winds are right for us to make Marie
Galante over the next couple of days, a well worth island to visit we are told
and then we all plan to meet up again next weekend at the Isle des Saintes
before we all head back south again.
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