Stahlratte and fish pot
Stahlratte and fish pot
Picture of Arnd

Arnd

2023-05-28 Off to the Saintes

Morning
Towing my dinghy from Deshaies and off to the Saintes
Towing my dinghy from Deshaies

I woke up after a great night’s sleep and began a bit of work on the website with adapting the layout of the standard blog post (this one, for example). Sometime after my first coffee I realized that there was nothing keeping me in Deshaies, apart from inertia.

Partially submerged fishpot

So around 10AM I decided to make the ship ready for sailing and got all 200 feet of chain back into the anchor locker.

Lee side of Guadeloupe
Stahlratte and fish pot
Stahlratte and fish pot

The winds were, as always, mixed in the lee of Guadeloupe. I tacked from port to starboard several times without once changing course. At times the winds was normal, but most of the time it was backwinded.

Basseterre Panorama
Basseterre Panorama

Despite the shifting winds, I made good time heading off to the Saintes. And, as expected, the winds picked up at the southern end of Guadeloupe. I’d prepared this time – going below and closing all the hatches and securing anything that might fall over or down. And the winds really did go from 5 knots to 30 knots in a matter of seconds. My 2 reefs in both sails made the sail as comfortable as punching into wind and waves can be.

Arrival in the Saintes
Warship following me all day
Warship following me all day

I arrived with perfect timing at around 17:00. The dinghy and person collecting the daily mooring fees was just finishing up and assisted me in getting a mooring. These mooring balls have no play at all, so lifting them up the 6 feet of freeboard on Zanshin is impossible. I’d planned on anchoring the first night and seeking assistance the next day – but this wasn’t necessary. There was an AIS “French Warship” cruising up and down the coast all day at 9knots. I assume they were either doing maneuvers or shadowing me. The latter is unlikely – they’d have turned off their AIS…

Dinner
Deshaies Anchorage
Deshaies Anchorage

I thawed out a baguette and made a light dinner of cheese and bread. After my repast I sat down in the cockpit with some blues music in the background and enjoyed the view.