A Little Saturday Sail

We went ashore on Saturday morning so WW could clear us out and our crew could wander around Nelson’s Dockyard which they had, as yet, not really seen. Once all our papers were in order, we returned to the ship and raised our anchors. (Freeman’s Bay can have some dicey holding, so our captain has decided two anchors are better than one. Certainly, it is much easier working with two anchors when David is around to manage one and Margaret is coiling and uncoiling line. How will be manage without them?)

Chain gang: David works on the second anchor's chain.

At the mouth of English Harbour, we raised our sails and set off to the south. It was 9 o’clock-ish. A brisk 22 knot breeze from the east and a mean northeast swell saw us on our way. We averaged about 7 knots the whole way, riding 9-foot swells with swoops and slides. At the tip of Guadeloupe, where there is always wind, we saw 31 knots of wind and briefly ran a jolly 8.9 knots. We dropped anchor at Deshaies at about 3:30.

David thought this might look like I'm cooking...I'm in the galley, after all.

I am, in fact, doing exactly what it looks like: counting money.

I'm sorting through our disparate change to find all the Euros.

The crew had a blast. Margaret spent the entire day in the cockpit, watching the sea and the birds and the flying fishes. David took endless pictures of boats. It became a bit of a running joke. WW and I would exchange bemused glances and Margaret would roll her eyes as David’s cry would go up: “Look! A boat!” No kidding? Out here on the water? How can this be? Better take some pictures to prove it happened. We discovered that Margaret takes pictures of people and sunsets. David takes pictures of boats and flowers and, sometimes, scenery. And I am happily adopting their photos for these posts.

David lowering the Q or quarantine flag

which flies until the boat and crew have been cleared in.

All legal at last, David raises the French flag.

(He liked it because he couldn't get it the wrong way up.)

In Deshaies, we went ashore. While WW cleared us in, we wandered the tiny main street and looked at tourist stuff. After we were legal, we went to the wee grocery store to buy ice.

Then it was back to Django for rum punches (David and WW), water for Margaret and me (I’m doing a dry month this month—because it’s the shortest, duh), and dinner.

Rum punch, part 1: rum, sugar, lime juice, Angostura bitters, water.

Rum punch, part 2: ice.

 

Well, it's not cooking, but at least it's food.

Is someone hungry??