After a fast sail from Antegua accompanied by our friends on Oceana, we arrived in Deshaies in early afternoon. Deshaies is one of my favorite anchorages. It's narrow bay that is well protected from all directions but the west with good holding. The sides of the bay are steep hills and cliffs tapering down to a picturesque town at the head of the bay. I've included a picture, but it doesn't do the anchorage justice as you can't see the high walls on the sides of the bay.
The town is a small strip of small shops and restaraunts along the shore with scattered residences that pepper the hilside as it rises steeply behind the town. One of the shops in town is an internet cafe where we are to clear customs and immigration. The French islands make clearing in and out very simple. You find the cafe hosting the customs computer, fill out a form on that computer and print the form. Someone at the cafe signs and stamps the paper and you're all set. The only down side is you don't get a stamp for your passport.
By the time we set the anchor, let it soak for a while and took the dinghy ashore, most of the shops and restaraunts were closing for the afternoon siesta, the internet cafe hosting the customs PC being one of them. Knowing that at least one restaraunt or cafe is always open during siesta we strolled down the street and found it without any problems.
Soon we were sitting in a cafe and I was drinking chilled Cote du Provence Rose. I got the idea from the Rasta man sitting at the ajacent table chatting with his friends. The French islands are intriguing this way - Rasta mixed with the French cafe - perfect!
After a few beverages in the cafe, a nap semed in order to recover from the daybreak departure from Antigua. We headed back out to the boat and relaxed, watching several other boats arrive and find a place in the anchorage.
Early in the evening, we returned to town to clear in and have dinner. On the way in, we were treated to a bright rainbow stretching from one end of the town to the other. Gorgeous.
After clearing customs we wandered around until we found a restaurant we liked and joined Oceana for dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset overlooking our boats at anchor while we ate. By the time we were returning to our boat it was quite dark with no moon, but the stars were very brilliant and lit our way back to Mirasol.
No comments:
Post a Comment