Marie Galante is the French countryside replete with longhorn bulls tied to trees, goats, tidy farmhouses and rolling fields. ‘Cept the fields are sugar cane and coconut palms border them mingling with papaya and the occasional breadfruit tree. We saw men cutting cane with machetes and ox drawn carts to haul it as well as a few modern tractors loaded high with the cash crop. The south and east windward sides of the island are ringed with reefs and glow a fluorescent blue inside where only pirogues fishing skiffs can navigate. English is welcome but so would be Japanese or Russian as everyone speaks French only. I love being a fish out of water. I love immersion and the ever present reminders that everything you think you know is only relative at best. The food is fantastic, the middle of the day everything closes for a rest, seemingly everybody is smoking, you are welcome but nothing would change if you never came. I love it!
We slept in and sorted out the boat for a short offshore hop to Iles Des Saintes, another Guadeloupe island group but so very unique in its own ways. To say the sail was beautiful would do it an injustice. Kelly steered expertly on a perfect beam reach with 15 knots of breeze, 3-5 foot seas on the quarter and our code zero spinnaker up, no main or genoa, just charging off the breeze at 6-8 knots effortlessly. Quinn had a blast and commented on the fact that sailing is fun when the waves are not “gy-normous”. Yoga mats on the cabin trunk, the kids spread out and enjoyed a rapid transit with spectacular views. We took the long way round the bottom of Terre-Haute (the biggest of 5 islands) through mind blowing cuts of electric blue water and towering crumbling cliffs. When we were in the lee of the island the town and anchorage came into view. Beautiful, serene and just busy enough to be exciting. We love this place. Again, great food, again, tres French, again all sailors from around the world. I know Kelly feels the same and suspect the kids get it too although sometimes being a kid and wanting to watch a movie after dinner far surpasses the urge to say “I am in heaven, thanks mom and dad for making my wildest dreams come true- you’re easily the greatest parents the world has ever seen”.
We dinghied around one of the smaller islands to our own personal rocky beach and snorkel spots (if you exclude the black goats). Cooked a big healthy pork loin and French mashed potatoes supper and, yes, watched a movie. Always a good day when my back hurts as I scoop a sleeping salty Quinn out of the salon to drop him into his berth. Kelly pulled a tendon in her foot during a mooring ball pickup and is hobbled but upbeat. Moorings here cost 15 Euro but have a metal hoop in the top you must tie to that was clearly designed for boats with less freeboard than the Madame. An acrobatic contortionist with a boat hook Kelly is not. A world class anchoring and mooring mate she most certainly is. She got it done- comfort be damned.
The kayaks are inflated. The kids enjoyed their autonomy and paddled to the beach alone only to make French friends and strike up a beach soccer (futbol) match. Kelly and I enjoyed a Kronenbourg or 3 in the cockpit watching them noting how we fantasized about this moment years ago when this plot was hatched. A little French, a little English, some powdery sand and a soccer ball. New friends. Perfect.
The dinghy outboard is running great with new sparkplugs. Provisions (as much baguette as we can eat and wine for mom and ice for her foot) will be loaded tonight. Tomorrow another reach to Dominica. New courtesy flag will be raised, new places will be discovered, new reefs will be snorkled and, yes, an old movie or 2 will likely be rewatched. Ghostbusters (the original bill Murray classic) at anchor in a French territory with swimtired kids is truly a gift. “Dogs and cats, living together….mass hysteria!!!”
I know I can say for sure, “I am in heaven, thanks mom and dad”
Much love. Stay tuned.