We raised anchor around 10:30 for points south.
It was strange being on the move. It was made considerably harder by the fact that we had 22-28kt winds and 11ft seas!! I was totally freaked trying to talk myself calm. Poor Sam, he had a fever to begin with and was throwing up. Ben was out cold. O was psyched because we were doing 10-11kts. Our first trip back out and I was holding a sick child, feeling a little jumpy by the sea state and seriously wondering what the hell I was doing with my life!
However, we arrived at our destination in three and a half hours which is the upside of strong winds in the right direction! Deshaies(day-hay) is a rustic fishing village surrounded by steep lush mountains on three sides. It looks like something you would see in a French movie. We anchored and went ashore to check it out. There are charming little restaurants perched on the shore with hanging wicker lanterns, wonderful fabrics and menus to die for. I wish we had spent a few more days there because it was charming. I also wish the dollar was a bit stronger against the Euro!!!
The next day we had plans to go to the botanical garden in search of a Venus fly trap plant for Ben. However, upon closer reading of the guide book we noticed there is a 11 euro entrance fee per adult so we passed on that and instead decided to hike to the nearby waterfall.
As we were getting out of the dinghy to begin our hike it started to rain and rain and rain and rain......all day long. Not to be deterred, we continued to the waterfall, however, the path ended and you had to navigate across the stones of the stream which were slippery and O was lugging Ben on his shoulders so we decided to turn around and made for the boat TOTALLY drenched. The boat was wet, damp and dreary so after lunch we pulled anchor and decided to head for greener pastures or at least someplace where it was not raining.
We had no luck finding a place without rain. We anchored in Basse Terre which is a terrible anchorage...deep and rolly. The wind was clocking around in all directions which had O on edge all night. The problem with most volcanic island is that the anchorages are really deep unless you hug the shore and still they are 30/35 ft so you have to put out a lot of scope, when the winds are knocking around in all directions due to squalls and mountain ranges it can get a little tricky. Neither of us slept very well that night and were more than happy to pull anchor at five o clock that morning.
We arrived in the Saintes around 10am to a pretty full harbor. Again, the anchorage was deep so we had to chose carefully. After looking for what seemed like hours, we finally dropped the hook and settled in. Our expectations were pretty high as we had heard wonderful things about the Saintes. We were a tad disappointed. First of all, it was shockingly expensive and the waterfront lacked the charm of Deshaie. They had scooter rentals but the island did not intrigue us enough to warrant a rental so we decided to save our money for some rainforest stuff in Dominica. Something about paying 1.80 euro for a baguette was unappealing, five euro for a soda or beer...hmmm, no thanks.
Upon our return to the boat, we discovered that a nasty American catamaran had dropped their anchor on ours and were about forty feet in front of us. However, we didn't say anything and kicked back on the boat.
The next morning we went to town for coffee, chocolate croissants and a walk to the other side of the island. The people on the boat in front of us were not on board so we assumed they must be staying the day as well. They pulled anchor when they got back to their boat and grabbed our anchor as well. When we discovered they had left we hustled back to the boat which had shifted a little. Upon closer inspection we didn't think they had done too much damage so we stayed on board to monitor. That afternoon I was reading the Boxcar Children to Ben, Sam was sleeping and O was doing engine stuff when he shouted 'Lou(he calls me lou) I need you up here NOW!' I raced on deck and was horrified to see we literally side by side with the steel boat next to us. The guy we were touching was on board sitting in his cockpit reading and NEVER even said boo to us as our boats collided. I started pulling the anchor while O tied the dinghy off to the side so we could maneuver. As we were pulling the anchor I noticed our dinghy floating away and was half way across the harbor!! Again, the guy next to us said NOTHING and did not even move!!! I seriously wanted to thump him...give me a break. After the anchor was situated I(always bragging of being the stronger swimmer) had to eat my words and swim for the dinghy which was no easy task. I was seriously gasping and shaking once I got to it.
At this point O could find NO redeeming qualities about the Saints so we moved over to a cute little anchorage around the corner.
We took the kids to the beach which was teaming with sea glass and relaxed. That night around 2:00am we heard someone whistle and say 'excuse me' so we jumped up and found that again, we were side to another boat. O was furious. We had to pull anchor and re drop in the pitch black. We did it but it was stressful considering we had so much out. O woke up very early the next day and dived on our anchor which was solidly set and then dove on the boat that woke us up, both of their anchors had dragged leaving clear indentations along the sand, not to mention they had no scope out and were using two dinghy anchors!. So, they drag, wake us up and expect us to move...typical. Words cannot explain how angry Otis was at that point. Further exacerbated by the fact that the wind started blowing out of the west, which never happens putting us very close to shore. We pulled anchor and went back to town so I could do some 'trench' provisioning. We were leaving bright and early for Dominica.
Once we got to town we discovered our friends on Lady Francesca or 'The Lady' were there. We met them in Antigua, they have two girls the exact same age as Ben and Sam. I swung by to say hello on my way back from 'provisioning'. Their boat is one of the most beautiful boats I have ever seen. Normally they charter it but they have moved on board for a few months. The Lady is a 76ft wooden ketch which had just been stripped, re varnished and repainted in Antigua so she was brand spanking. The interior is all beautiful wood with high ceilings, wonderful cupboards, dining tables, bars, everything you could ever ask for and wonderfully maintained. Upon saying hello they sent me for the rest of the family so we hung out on The Lady for the night which was the first time I had seen O relax since we arrived.
The next morning bright and early we left for Dominica....O was in his element....seven volcanoes, lush green mountains, and abundance of fruit and veg just for the taking......
next update Dominica