Deshaies to Bouillante

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we had a pleasant motor-sail 12nm south from Deshaies to Bouillante.  The wind was light and varied from E to S.  We sailed inshore in about 50m of water to take in the view ashore.  Many fishing pots in the water but spectacular views of the coast and high hills beyond.  As we entered Anse Bouillante we found the wind was SW - blowing into the bay.  Perhaps a local sea breeze.

Anchor app showing wind change

Here are the usual tracks and graphs of the passage...

Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

Scenic coastline

Ditto

Entering Anse Bouillante

When we anchored we suspected we may be over a rocky patch.  But the anchor held and the winds were light so after an hour we dinghied ashore for a reccy.  The main dinghy dock is a large aluminium structure in front of the Carrefour Express.  From there we explored the town centre then walked past the hydrothermal outlet beach to the other older dock which has a freshwater tap.  Local boats use this dock so it's not really a dinghy dock.

Bouillante Church

L'Eddy's Papillon restaurant

View over Anse Bouillante

Thermal powerstation outlet

Near the hydrothermal bathing beach there's a nice little cafe with toilets.  We had a cool drink there and chilled out until we felt the wind changing.

Dock with fresh water tap

After the brief reccy we returned to Zen Again.  By then the wind had swung 180 degrees to the ESE.  The screenshot of the Anchor app at the top of this post shows the boat adjusting to the new wind and swinging as the wind subsequently varied.

Later in the afternoon I dinghied ashore to the dinghy dock to fill our four jerries.  They topped up our main tanks with enough left over for a laundry job today.

We leave our Anchor app running on one of our phones 24/7 when at anchor.  Just as well because we started to drag 15 minutes after turning in.  Of course it drizzling and a dark moonless evening, but we weighed anchor again (still heavy).  We re-anchored outside the four other yachts nearby in 12m over sand and rock.  The anchor chain once more seemed to be over rock so we didn't get a good night's sleep but didn't drag again.

This morning we moved further inshore and anchored in 8m, just W of the local boats' mooring field.  No rocky noises this time so hopefully we're dug in for the duration.  While we were doing the laundry Gendarmes and Duane personnel visited us for a chat.  They didn't inspect our papers but asked where we'd been and where we were going.  Suggested Costa Rica for the hurricane season!  Nice guys with good English.

Later this morning I dinghied ashore again to fill the four jerries.  Always good to have full tanks.