Deshaies – Ilse de Saints, Guadeloupe N15.52 W061.35 May 25 – June 1 2010

Deshaies is located on the NW corner of the Guadeloupe Butterfly. It is a quaint old fishing village and a reasonable quiet anchorage. It is however, a stopover for those coming and going from Guadeloupe. We found the anchorage got quite busy in the early evening with boats vying for too little space and some not giving enough swing room to those around them. This was our experience when we were awakening in the wee hours with all hands running on deck (it became night of the naked man) as we stood toe to toe fending off each other’s vessels (lesson here is sleep in your shorts). We were lucky and the offending steel boat was very apologetic and we were able to laugh about it…not always the case. We waited till dawn to rush ashore to the renowned bakery, only to discover to our chagrin, it had closed…with nothing to keep us there, we weighed anchor and headed for the Saints.

After a lovely day of sailing we arrived at this beautiful spot which is another revisit for us. We are familiar with this little Island group and really enjoy the laid back attitude and rustic setting populated by the Island French and all their wonderful bakery delights.

The only drawback on this return visit was the so called progress…which meant a lot more people, and a lot more ferry traffic. The Saint’s however, still retain the unique island charm with friendly vendors and bakery owners selling their wares with amidst a cacophony of smells that warms the tummy and smiles that warm the heart.

Even Doc found a new girlfriend. Now it is probly fair to say that he does have a ‘girl’ in every port, but on this occasion it turned out to be Lyla the Goat….uhuh…you read right…he would sit patiently by the fenced yard and wait until she came nose to nose…perhaps they were doing the Vulcan mind meld…but it sure was cute.

We learned something the hard way here, and that is the enough water splashed back into your ship’s exhaust system from large ferry wake will stop your boat dead in the water…this unfortunate incident became our experience, and lucky for us, we found an angel in the form of David of Sv Guardian Spirit along with wife Elaine, were there at the rescue, David being a former diesel motor engineer and faster than I can write this, he had the injectors removed and the water sea water pumped out and the engine started….Thanks David and Elaine.

One of the treats here a local baker named Michele who came out to the anchorage each morning with croissants, Pain au Chocolat and fresh banquettes hot from the oven…a person could get fat here (or should I say, fatter).