Marie Galante 17th April (Easter Monday) to 22nd April
Up early today before the wind picks up, heading for Marie Galante. It is about 15 miles so we should be there for lunch. Quite a nice sail, on the beam all the way and about 20 knots, just what the alizes are supposed to be! Although we can barely see the island, it would look like an enormous black cloud has settled on it and we keep hoping that it will be gone by the time we get there. No such luck, we arrive in St Louis’ bay under pouring rain, we can barely see the other boats anchored. And it rained all afternoon, shame as we could hear music on the beach by the town. We would probably had made the effort if the music had not been of the bim boum bim boum kind, young people’s music stuff…must be getting old!
Four days bank holiday weekend has left St Louis hang over… there is absolutely no one around the next day. Most of the shop and restaurants are shut and the streets are empty. The pharmacy is open however and Ian asks if there is a dentist in St Louis, he has broken a tooth and need to have it sorted before it hurts. The young pharmacist is absolutely charming. We are informed that the nearest dentist is in Vieux Bourg, that her surgery is always packed and that we would be lucky to see her, especially if there is no emergency. Adding to this that the buses to Vieux Bourg are somewhat sparse if functioning at all, we soon abandon the idea of seeing to the broken tooth for now. The town is very small and after having walked everyone of its street, we set out to the north. Following a sign to some honey making place, we are astonished to find it open. Hives hives everywhere! We spent a bit of time talking about birds and bees as well as tasting every product they make here, including honey vinegar. Ian feels duty bound to purchase a bottle of honey and a bottle of vinegar. The young lady points us in the direction of the beach and we find the little path in the woodland easily enough. Very pictures path climbing up the cliffs with the sea dazzling blues glimpsed between the trees. Loads of birds and butterfly everywhere. Given the rain we have had, the path is very dry and the fallen leaves crackles under our feet. The trail meander not too far from the sea and the last dip deposits us on the beginning of the most fabulous expanse of golden sand and blue sea. It goes on for miles and there is no one on it. We have it to practically ourselves. Exactly like the brochure! The sun has not really come out all day which probably explain the deserted beach but it has stayed dry. Having this huge stretch of virgin sand, with only our footprints on it is quite something. We muse that it is the first time we have really been alone on a Caribbean beach so far on our trip. The sea is receding, leaving behind shells, stones, polished glass and bits of broken coral. My pockets are now heavy with my treasures… We stay out as long as we can but we do need to get back before sunset, I reckon the picturesque little path will not be so charming in the dark. Risks of breaking my neck are high with all the crab holes around. The cemetery is by the beach and Ian is grateful that it is closed… I can only see the first rows… shame, it looks very different from the other. Some of the graves are surrounded by balustrades and more than one crosses are at the head. Next to the cemetery, there are remnants of a sugar cane factory, heavy pieces of machinery lying in the grass.
The next day is another washed out day…rain, rain, rain, so we do stuff onboard and read in the dry… Bit of a bother, the engine is coughing again…Ian had a bit of a go at it and seem to have sorted it out.
Thursday, looks like a good day, the sun is out and is here to stay, so off we went for our 10 kms walk. The trail takes us back along the beautiful May beach, far more popular today although we only talking of a few dozen people spread out over 2 miles. The track leads us through the woods, up and over some cliffs and back down to another pretty beach, from there we cross the road and find our way into the mangrove for a while. I love the architectural quality of these fortress trees and the spindly legs of the paletuviers. We gain some height and the view from the middle is fantastic, we can see all around, Guadeloupe, la Desirade, Les Saintes… It feels good to stretch our legs. The walk gets us back down to the beach through small holding and sugar cane fields. We reach the beach in time for a swim. Nice warm sea, it is like a bath…
Back at the boat we are treated to a magnificent sunset and a clear dark night studded with stars. Twinkling in the distance are the lights of Guadeloupe stretching along the horizon. The anchorage is quiet at night, the wind drops and the sea flattens.
We thought that our engine problem was solved but it would seem not. The coughing has resumed and given that we are still not far from Pointe a Pitre, we decide to go back and have it checked up there. Hopefully Bernard will be free Monday. As luck would have it we set off this morning in the rain and the engine is running like a dream. Since we noticed the problem mainly occurring at anchor whilst charging the batteries, we run it again as soon as we are at anchor in the bay. Again no coughing. Maybe we have Bernard out to look at it and since we are here Ian will have his tooth looked at too.