Deshaies has always been an overnight stop for us. It is the most northerly port that cruisers can check in or out of on Guadeloupe. We’ve been ashore once, to check out on the customs computer, but otherwise, our knowledge of this town was limited to the cruising guide and other people’s Facebook posts and blogs. Kind of silly, especially when we know people who absolutely love it here. Add in the bonus of our friends Bob and Gigi being here, and it was time to explore the Caribbean coast of this island. Lord knows, we have certainly fallen in love with the rest of the place!
Our trip from Antigua started very early, at a few minutes after first light and before sunrise. The trip across the open water was routine, until we got to the top of Guadeloupe. There was a definite squall line heading our way, and it didn’t look like we were going to escape with dry clothes. We furled the jib early, in anticipation of the winds. Well, it ended up pretty anticlimactic; we got hit with a little rain (bless Ken, he told me to hide under the dodger), and we didn’t see much over 22 knots of wind. Heh. Well, better than that blast earlier this year as we came north towards Dominica…
There are a handful of free moorings in Deshaies, but the odds of getting them is low. We didn’t care, as the winds and currents are so squirrelly in this bay that we know a mooring ball would bounce off the hull and bowsprit, which would irk us repeatedly. We have enough chain and a good anchor, so we dropped the hook out by our friends.
Our first order of business, of course, was to check in. Well, when the boutique that has the Customs computer opens at 1600h. So lunch, a nap, and assembling the dinghy were done, THEN going ashore. Drinks and pizza on ‘Pinnacle’ finished the day beautifully.
The next day was a public holiday for the Feast of the Ascension. There were ads for a Creole Food Festival, with drums and music. Well, it ended up just being some ladies selling local food, in traditional garb, but it was tasty enough, and they were very pleasant to chat with. Bob and Gigi showed us the Deshaies ropes, since they had already been enjoying the town for 9 days up to this point.
The next morning, Ken and I put on our walking shoes and took the 1.5 km walk up to the Botanical Gardens. In a nutshell, “magnifique”. We also gathered enough material and base information for about three more years of articles for my monthly contributions to “Caribbean Compass”. There was a cage with Lorikeets (similar to a parakeet), where, for 50 cents Euro, you could get some food for them. Well, the birds know this, as they hang around the dispenser like drunks around the liquor store. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any coins. However, we made up for it when the large peacock at the snack stop happily ate some of my bokit from out of my fingers.
Les Jardins Botaniques were very worthwhile, as many of our friends have told us!