We sailed from St-Pierre, Martinique to the Island of Marie
Galante off the mainland of Guadeloupe, taking us exactly 12 hours. If it wasn’t for the several squalls, we
would have had a fantastic sail. The
squalls screwed up the wind strength and direction. Along with the current, we had a hard time
making it to Grand Bourg Harbor thus we had to use our motor.
We visited this island mostly by car. It’s a small island so in a day, we drove all
around the island and visited some sites along the way. Our first stop was the Domaine de Bellevue Rum
distillery. It was kind of early in the
morning but yet we couldn’t help but stop by the tasting counter and purchase some
Rum agricole.
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| NOTICE THE 59% ALCOHOL CONTENT |
Anse Canot has a beautiful, mostly private anchorage with a
nice beach. It was one of the beaches
without sargassum seaweed. This seaweed
was particularly thick around Marie Galante unfortunately. It stinks but mostly it’s a nuisance for
fishermen and tourists on beaches.
My favorite site on Marie Galante is a natural round
sinkhole with a 200 foot high rim and an arch at the bottom open to the
sea. It is named ‘Gueule Grand Gouffre’.
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| Gueule Grand Gouffre |
We stopped by the town of Capesterre. It was run down and had much sargassum
seaweed so walking along the seashore wasn’t pleasant due to the smell. Hopefully, the seaweed will subside soon. The town of Saint-Louis was also run down. Marie Galante used to produce much
agriculture and sold their produce on the mainline. Nowadays, it’s a sleepy island in which
tourists come by ferry from the mainland to visit for a day.
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| SARGASSUM WEED |
We had a fun sail from Marie Galante to St-Francois. We landed a Mahi Mahi and made a fish
chowder. We shared our meal with friends
Vince and Ralph as they shared their Wahoo with us a few days prior. Their Wahoo measure 59 inches. They were so kind as to give us some of their fish for later. Thanks Vince & Ralph !
The tiny airport in St-Francois is extremely close to
the shore. All day long, you can see
skydivers, gyrocopters and many small handmade planes. Around the marina are some very nice shops
and several restaurant/bars where you can people watch.
At Iles de Gosier we anchored between the island and
the mainland. The island is quite small
but very quaint with a working lighthouse and snack bar. We snorkeled and saw a large octopus which we
watched for quite some time. It slowly
swam over rocks and coral and every time it moved, we saw its camouflage change
with its environment. Of course, I did
not have my camera with me.
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| ILES A GOSIER |
From Iles de Gosier we dignied 3 miles into Point a Pitre,
the major city in Guadeloupe. The dinghy
dock was right across from the fishermen’s market and La Darse fruit and
vegetable market.
We visited the Victor Schoelcher museum. From 1829 to 1830, he visited slave
plantations in the south of the United States and during a stopover in Cuba, he
discovered the cruel reality of slavery.
When we returned home, he began his career as an abolitionist
writer. He adhered also to the young
French Society for the Abolition of the Slavery. For almost 20 years, Schoelcher devoted his
life and fortune to the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. He campaigned relentlessly, which contributed
to the French decree abolishing slavery on the 27th of April, 1848.
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| “A two storey limestone building was built for the museum and was inaugurated on July 21st, 1887. It was one of the first museums to open its doors from France overseas" |
We anchored at Iles a Cabrit which is part of Iles
Des Saintes. It is an uninhabited
island with over 100 sheeps and goats. Having
sundowners on the beach was difficult as the chickens would peck all around us hoping to get
some of our appetizers.
There are a
couple of wonderful hiking trails on the island with views from each side of
the island. Napoleon had built a fort on
this island for his wife called Fort Josephine.
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| ILES DES SAINTES |
We anchored in Deshaies only to provision and clear
out of the country since we’ve been here before. See previous blog on Guadeloupe from April
2015. We did however dinghy over to Pigeon
Island to snorkel at one of Jacques Cousteau’s underwater park.
HINTS FOR CRUISERS:
Grand Bourg, Marie Galante:
Anchorage: There is only room for about 4-5 boats
near the docks. Chris Doyle says you can
tie up to the docks for free but there isn’t any room as many local boats are
already there along with fishing boats with their fishing lines on the
dock. Don’t count on getting a spot
there. Also, you may need to put a stern
line out as it’s a tight anchorage. DO NOT anchor near the ferries. It is very protected in a northern swell.
Buses: From Grand Bourg, buses go to Capesterre and St-Louis every 20 minutes in the
morning but good luck waiting for one in the afternoon to get back to Grand
Bourg. They have no schedule. They basically leave St-Louis and Capesterre towards
Grand Bourg to make the last ferry.
Customs: Pass the
tourist office until the road curves to the right. The customs office is the pink building with
white doors in the left hand corner before the road curves to the right. There are no signs at all. Use the door on the right side of the building. Ph # is:
0590 97 54 49. Cel phone # 0690
83 33 10.
Car Rental: There are
several car rentals along the ferry docks.
~ 35Euros per day. You can tour
the whole island in one day.
Provisioning: Le
Carrefour is one street up from the docks on the right. They sell ice for 3.50 Euros.
Ice: Le Carrefour and
the gas station.
St-Francois:
Anchorage: Good and
large
Iles de Gosiers:
Laundry: From the
dinghy dock, walk past the park and when you hit the first major street, turn
left. Walk about 3 minutes and the
laverie is on the right side. It has 4,
8kg washers (5 euros) and one 14kg washer (8.50 euros). The 2 very large dryers are 1 Euro for 10
minutes.
Pointe a Pitre:
Grocery: It has a
Super U and Economax along with several smaller grocery stores. You may also choose to buy fresh produce and
fish at the markets (they close at 14hrs).
