We are on our way to Deshaies, Guadeloupe. We should anchor in a few hours for a quiet day is this small town.

Yesterday was quite the opposite. We were in St. Barths…vacation mecca for mega yachts! Oh the toys boys love. It’s clear the holiday is near as you see ships anchored everywhere. We craned our necks to see them al,l noting exotic names and designs, yes there was a bit of name dropping – who owns what and who’s in town.

I didn’t hear of any actual celebrity sighting but it’s clear their yachts are at the ready. As we tendered into port you could see crewmembers loading boxes of Champaign and wine into small boats to be delivered to the big ones!

Once we reach shore we boarded a catamaran for a morning of snorkeling. It was a clear sunny day and we had perfect conditions. Unfortunately the bay where we anchored was crowded with small day sailors and we had to swim quite a distance to reach a very small reef area with a few fish – not a great reward for the effort. I did spot two sea turtles, one with a sand shark riding it’s back.

The water was lovely as well as the companionship of others from the ship. It’s fun to discover new friends in such a relaxed way.

I returned to the ship for lunch and Tom and I joined Brian and Kaye in the Veranda Café. Several 100 calories later we decided to have a lazy afternoon on board. There were a few shops open but as many of you know dollars to euros isn’t a great exchange. So no Christmas gifts from St. Barths!

The sunset/sail away was beautiful – as we were leaving a massive sailing yacht circled by us on it’s way to an evening in Gustavia.

http://gallery.mac.com/ogram1/100263

We had the choice of the deck barbeque or a quiet dinner in the restaurant. – and true to form Tom voted for quiet! We joined some friends in the club for drinks and then had a lovely dinner. The dining room wait staff rewarded our choice with wonderful attentive service.

Of course the post dinner choices included the “Rock the Boat” party but we were happy to let them rock us to sleep and we dreamed about another great day.