Guadeloupe April 22, 2010

Getting away from the mangroves and heading towards Guadeloupe was only a forty mile passage. Trade winds were still missing, so with no wind we had to motor. Here’s a funny for you. The only thing worse than sailing with no trade wind, is sailing with the hot, motor running in the tropics with no trade wind.

Entering the bay at Deshaies was beautiful. The water is clean and people are swimming all around. Being unable to swim might have accounted for a brief but relentless meltdown on my part. I am reminded that this is a journey, and we are headed for the equator. That is like the hottest spot in the world. The closest part of the world to the sun. I am menopausal with hot flashes, sailing the tropics with no trade winds, being belted by bugs that carry the sickly dengue (sp) virus. I think I am entitled to one little outburst. But moving on to the beauty of Deshaies.

We anchored at a quaint little French village, with the colourful faded shanties rounding the water. And their traditional fishing boats were ready for any amateur’s photo camera. I hope I have taken enough shots. Early in the evening this adorable young blonde male child of 18 or so, came to us in his dinghy and in his truly Parisian French accent asked if we would be interested in “fresh bread and perhaps some croissant au chocolat to be delivered fresh in the morning around 7 or 7:30”. Indeed we did order six croissants and a loaf of bread. Insisted he return for the right currency in Euros, and to return a third time with the change. Al did this for me.

The sunsets are like I have never seen before. Probably because I have never been so close to the sun before. A photo is worth a thousand words, so I will leave a photo or two. I thanked God for the beautiful sunsets, He knew I was being facetious, and I stubbed my foot on the boat rail. Another “Our Father”.

There was a lively band playing at a local bar/restaurant called Hemmingway’s. It was packed and the band sounded great. They sang English, French, Spanish, and maybe more but none that I recognized. There was lots of laughing to be heard, if you could hear it over the cricket’s protests. And in the morning you are awakened by what can only be described as the “Rooster’s Symphony”, and this I kid you not. While I tried to point out the area where one was doodling, another would answer, and after their banter back and forth, a third and a fourth rooster would add their doodles to the piece. I enjoyed this part of our stay most. Those darn roosters! And the other thing I particularly enjoyed was in the morning, long before dawn, when the fishers would tear through the anchorage with their motors revved up, nary a light to see with and not hit one boat in the entire places. I know this to be true, because I was sitting at the bow of the boat figuring out the rooster thing

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Today I celebrated my birthday in Guadeloupe. Allan had stuffed crab for an entrée, and conch and rice for an appetizer. He enjoyed it very much. I ordered a steak with no entrée, and it was tough as the bottom of a leather boot. The waitress struggled with her English, while I puttered with my French, and we found common ground at “non bon”. At $45 US it was definitely “non bon”. But I do have to ask myself why I would order beef in the middle of seafood country. I would have tried the poisson if the poisson had a name, and came to the table with no tail and eyes. I will try harder; this is after all an adventure. At my age, a peanut butter and jam sandwich tastes great on that French bread that was delivered this morning.

While we were waiting for the customs office to open so we could exit the country (it never did open) we enjoyed the company of the local people, as well as a visit from a very friendly pelican. I thought for sure he had made a suicide dive, but these birds dive from about fifty feet straight into the water, and their wings all go squishy and funky, and they come out of it with a beek full of fish. Amazing!