La Sagesse

Sunday morning I suggested walking to La Sagesse, a small resort on the bay adjacent to ours on the east. We had been there before a couple of times for lunch, but never took a swim at their nice beach. So this time I wanted to spend more time there. In last April, just before we left for Canada, our new Finnish friends had mentioned a short cut to La Sagesse through the hill between our two bays, which was worth a try.

We wore our bathing suits and light clothes, made our beach bag and started around 11:00 am. While passing by the guards at the gate, I asked about directions. Both of the guards showed signs of dismay, and hinted that we might come to some harm on the way. The night before we had heard some gun-shots, so I asked if there would be criminals roaming around. They laughed, and assured us that those were hunters, and the only harm would be from getting lost. We started merrily on the only path going towards the sea; then heard the guy calling us from behind. One of the guards, Justin, decided to accompany us until the fork on the way, to point to the right direction. When we parted I made joke that they should send a search party in case we did not return, and started to climb the hill. Justin told us that when we reached the peak of the hill, we would see the resort at the beach below, and we should turn right towards it. Before we reached the peak, we saw a path on the left (wrong side) kind of going down, so we kept on going, and saw a series of big mansions along the way, overlooking the bay we wanted to go.  We walked and walked on the road, going towards the wrong direction at the top of the hill, and ended up at the main road, which we had used before to get to La Sagesse. At least we knew where to go after reaching the main road; the only thing was that we had doubled the distance to walk in that heat. Al was not a happy camper, but did not complain too much. He was a bit ticked off that we did not take the other road, which we realized afterwards that must have wound around the coast of the hill and went onto beach. Oh well, a little walk does not kill people, just make them thirsty for a cold beer! While we were coming in, we saw the owner Mike, who remarked that he would have picked us up from Grenada Marine if he knew. We suggested he drive us back. No problem.

We reached the bar, and had our fill of the sea and food/drink. After quite some time, the waiter John asked us to pay the bill, since his shift was almost over, and he also suggested we stay the night. When asked immediately, we learned that they charged US$80.00 for the night. On the spot we decided to stay, and asked if somebody could drive us to our boat and back. We had not prepared Ruyam II to be left alone at night, and we lacked some necessities as well. John was more than willing to wait even up to an hour while we collected our things. For me, five minutes is more than enough to get a change of clothes and our tooth brushes!

It was wonderful to sleep beside the ocean, and have a swim in the afternoon and early morning. Best thing we did for a Sunday.

Of course, Al was anxious to get back to the marina in the morning, to have a talk with the mechanic about the starboard propeller shaft, which Jason had claimed to have been bent, causing a vibration on the engine. He suggested we replace it with a more expensive folding version, which had to be ordered. Al did not think so, but wanted to discuss it with the mechanic.

At 8:30 am we were ready to go. Mike mentioned that another nice couple was going with us, whom we met at the reception area. They were quite similar to us; maybe a bit older and from France. They had a year old 38 feet Lagoon, which they had brought from France last season, and were ready to roam the Caribbean up to Martinique this year. They were scheduled to launch Monday as well, so as anxious to get back. 

Mike loaded the luggage on the small truck, and took us back to the grind of living on dry.