Arriving in Guadeloupe and its little outlying islands, Les Saintes (or The Saints), we had to check into France again. I like the French islands because I get to polish up my high-school French, and, more importantly, we get to stock up on amazing cheese, wine and fresh baguettes and pains au chocolat.
Our first stop was in The Saints. It looked like a beautiful group of little islands. Unfortunately it was so busy in all the bays that the only place we could drop anchor was in the large bay off the main town, Bourg des Saintes. With the wind and wave conditions being what they were it made for a very rolly, uncomfortable stay. The best thing to do was to go ashore and explore.
While Max and Paul were doing the check-in of their dreams – there was a fridge with cold beers at the check-in place, and a friendly lady who took care of the paperwork while they relaxed with their beers – Jess and I stayed on the main square with the kids. We met a man who was weaving palm fronds. He wore a really cool hat that he had made himself, and he was just starting on a hat for his wife. But when he saw our children, he put the hat aside. He asked the kids if they had ever seen a palm parrot. Off course they had not, so he proceeded to make one! It was awesome to see him work and the result was really cool. So, learning to weave with palm fronds is now on my arts-and-crafts bucket list!
Moving On
After a fretful sleep, being tossed around in our beds by the swell, we set off the next morning for Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. The trip was one of the most uncomfortable sails we had so far: we had to motor, with waves from the side, because we had a problem with our mainsail. We would fix that issue in Guadeloupe. We also had to dodge countless fish traps. When we reached the bay we were happy to find that the water was flat! No waves, no swell. We would sleep comfortably again, yay!
Another reason to cheer was that we caught up with our friends on No Plans Just Options, who were already in Pointe-à-Pitre. They invited us and Mrs. Chippy to their boat for a BBQ. It was a great night, so lovely to catch up with them.
The next day, our three families got together in our dinghies to do some mangrove exploring. Guadeloupe is shaped a bit like a butterfly, with two almost separate islands being connected by a mangrove river. Pointe-à-Pitre is just south of that river, so we could just jump into our dinghy and go up to the other side. We had fun racing the dinghy over the flat waters. The views reminded me of being on the inland waterways back home in The Netherlands somehow.
Wat een leuke palmpapegaai! Dit vonden de kinderen vast heel boeiend. Mooie foto’s die van jou en Max uitkijkend op de zee staat bij ons in een lijst zo’n prachtig plaatje.
Ook viel mij die bebaarde man tussen de rodondenderons op haha een echte pionier. Leuk geschreven Bieb en mooie foto’s. Dikke knuffel van mama (oma)