I write this on 3/28 and we’re still in Guadeloupe. That weather window I mentioned a couple of posts ago wasn’t much of a window, so we decided to stay put and to explore more here. My last lengthy post covered through March 5th, and 3½ weeks is a lot to catch you up on, so I’m not going to do it all at once. You’re welcome. 😉
Last time I wrote at length, we’d just seen my cousins off on March 5th, bidding them farewell in the mall parking lot while we tried to renew our data plan. No dice. The Orange plan I’d originally purchased never let me do anything via the app or by dialing the requisite numbers on the phone and the agent in the store at the mall couldn’t help me either. The Digicel store was closed. Good thing our T-mobile plan works here; that bought us more time. The trip wasn’t a complete bust, however. We discovered that there is a supermarket in the mall. We scoped it out and realized we could do some reprovisioning here another day. For now, we just walked back to Lady to rest. The following day we did laundry, made water, worked on reassembling the boat to pre-guest status, and I took stock of our provisions. It was a productive, yet still restful day.
Freshly rested, Friday was our day to reprovision and finally get data. We didn’t need a lot of provisions, so we decided to make two separate trips to two different markets to get what we needed. After breakfast we walked to Leader Price, a smaller supermarket only 20 minutes away by foot. There was also a fresh produce market along the same route. We took our wheeled cart, stopped at both locations and returned to Lady to unpack and eat lunch before setting out again in the afternoon, this time for the mall that had both a supermarket and a Digicel store. We opted to finally take the bus rather than walk the 45 minutes to the mall. Buses are more difficult to figure out when everything is in a different language and the driver doesn’t speak any English. Thanks to my limited knowledge of French and Google Translate, I was able to tell him where we wanted to go. Unfortunately, he must have forgotten about us, because next thing we know, we’re in Point à Pitre, having passed the mall. Ultimately, we got to the mall. Dave worked on completing our shopping while I got us a SIM card and data plan, then we caught the bus back to the town of Le Grosier where Indigo Lady was still anchored in the bay. It was open market day in the park where dinghy was docked, so we scoped that out for a bit. The market is awesome, with lots of produce for sale, as well as fragrant bulk spices and spice mixes, plus food stalls galore and local made crafts (as well as some kitsch). Finally, we returned to Lady for yet more unpacking and dinner.
There were still more errands to run on Saturday. We took the bus to the marina complex, just outside of Point à Pitre. This time I used the bus’s app to figure out which bus to get on, though I still checked with the driver when we boarded, and this time I let him know that I wouldn’t know when to request a stop. That worked. We arrived at the marina quickly, went in for our $10 worth of parts to fix our microwave/convection oven and came out with $250 worth of stuff. Happens every time we go into a marine supplies store. 😂 It was all stuff we’d planned on buying eventually anyway, and this was a very well-stocked store. Our microwave works again, and we have two shiny new dock lines and a few other things.
After a week anchored at Îlet du Grosier, we finally hauled anchor on 3/10 and set out for St. Francois, 16 nm east along the south coast of Grand Terre. We did not get that far. It was a bumpy ride and we were in no rush, so instead we stopped at Petit Havre after just 3 nm. This is a pretty little open anchorage protected only by the reef, which breaks the swell so that it’s bearable. Snorkeling was out of the question, however, because the surge on the reef was too big. We enjoyed watching a group of about 8 kiteboarders playing around in the shallows. Mostly we did laundry and a few other chores. Dave was just starting to prep dinner when he noticed the freezer thermostat was reading too high. An hour later, he had the faulty valves in the freezer cooling water circulating pump repaired and went back to fixing dinner. Jazz in the hammocks seemed appropriate for that evening. It was. ☺️
From Petit Havre, we jumped another 3 nm east to St. Anne. It was still a bit bumpy traveling eastward, and we figured we may as well visit all the south coast anchorages. This is another open anchorage protected only by the reef. Shortly after anchoring, we dropped dinghy and headed to the fishing harbor just north of us and tied her up there so we could explore. We walked about town and cruised through a few shops, including the Artisan Village right near the fishing harbor. St. Anne is popular with local tourists and has a busy, touristy downtown and beach. As one might expect, the closer to the beach one is, the more expensive the food is. So we walked inland a couple of streets and grabbed inexpensive, yet still enjoyable, baguette sandwiches at a spot frequented by locals rather than tourists. We got some homemade ice cream near the beach afterward and then returned to Lady. The highlight of this anchorage was the sailing school. Not long after our return to Lady, I heard Dave call from the tramp that the sailing school was out and about the anchorage. We spent the next 90 minutes watching and cheering on the 10-14 year olds zipping around the anchorage, navigating each other, the anchored boats, and the floating markers they were supposed to be racing around. Most of the boats had a single sail and single child aboard, but there were also three slightly larger boats with two sails and a crew of four kids. They excitedly waved as they passed us. The lead boat proudly flashed us the “we’re #1” sign as they passed. It was an enjoyable way to spend part of an afternoon.
The following day we finally made it to St. Francois, 8 nm east of St. Anne. This is another open anchorage, but it was even better protected by a more extensive reef than the prior two anchorages. It was also expansive and shallow. We anchored in about 6.5 feet of water and it was almost flat calm. After lunch aboard, we dinghied to the marina where we left dinghy on a very nice dinghy dock, then we proceeded to walk about town. It’s a big marina full of mostly local boats, though they have some dock space for transient boats. The water, however, was nasty and smelled. No thank you; I’ll stay at anchor. There were many shops and restaurants around three sides of the marina, and it all kind of spilled into the main town and down toward the fishing harbor as well. We also discovered a supermarket near the marina. Score!
The following morning we headed ashore about 8:30AM for breakfast and WiFi at a restaurant bordering the marina that we’d scoped out the day before. Yes, we have our own data, but we needed to update operating systems and apps, and backup our phones and iPads, and that uses too much data. So we spent a couple of hours (public WiFi is slow) doing the tech thing and enjoying a leisurely breakfast. After that, we walked down to Marché le Rotunde (the round market). The building is, well, round, and inside there are crafters set up at tables, and all around the exterior, but still under an extended roof, were stall upon stall of people selling local produce, honey, syrups, jams, juices, and very fragrant spices and spice mixes. Oh the wonderful aromas! Dave succumbed and bought a couple of small samples of spice mixes. I bought a yard of the locally made Madras fabric, which is brightly colored red, blue and yellow plaid that is traditionally used for costumes for Festival. Maybe I’ll make an apron out of it. Our next stop was a quick lunch of paninis at a street vendor, then we continued on to the Musée des Beaux Artes. It’s a small art gallery run by a small non-profit and only costs $5 euros to enter. It has a large number of artworks by artists with some sort of connection to Guadeloupe. It was well laid out, and most of the signs were in both French and English. Yay. We then popped into the supermarket to pick up a few things for dinner before returning to Lady for the evening.
As delightful an anchorage and as nice a town as St. Francois was, the conditions were perfect for cruising south to Marie Galante, so that’s what we did the morning of 3/14. I’ll tell you about that next time.
Until then, stay safe and take care of each other.
Life on Lady 