Buddy boating with Dream Weaver & Act III

It all started with a party on s/v Lucky on Friday the 13th. Crew from five boats converged on a gorgeous Leopard 45 catamaran in Pigeon Bay owned by the lovely Kat & Ted Grant. We had a fabulous time singing oldies and dancing like it was 1999, apparently after a few drinks! Only the videos do it justice, so you’ll have to trust me, it was fun!!

The next morning, I went snorkeling with Mike & Mary (from s/v Dream Weaver) and a few other Salty Dawg crew. The water was cold and clear and the fish were in all sizes and colors. Fortunately, nothing big enough to eat me! After snorkeling, we went about some chores at the laundromat and grocery store. Even the simplest things can be challenging, especially in the French speaking countries, when you don’t know where anything is, cannot read all the signs and sometimes, the locals don’t want to suffer through your butchering their language, but I tried anyway. I’ve been taking Duolingo online since we were in these islands in 2020 and probably should be doing better than I am (but I’m definitely better than I was)!! At any rate, we found the hidden cut to the laundry and after doing our chores, followed a local as he sailed out of it using his rowboat paddle as a sail.

Another buddy boat, Valianna, from last season (and earlier this season), showed up in the harbor over night so we got to catch up with them on board Dream Weaver that afternoon.

The next day, Dream Weaver, Act III and Billy Ruff’n were to sail to Marina Bas du Fort in Pointe a Pitre, a ~ 40 mile jaunt to the ‘crotch’ of the butterfly shaped island. The wind was on the nose so we motored sailed most of the way. Jean Mark, the dock master at the Marina was incredibly friendly and helpful. Without reservations, he helped all 3 of us med moor, one right next to the other, on their packed docks.

The docks are supposed to be secured behind a big metal gate, which never seemed to be locked, but felt safe enough. The Marina campus is quite large and conveniently complete with lots of shops, restaurants and services (like car rental agencies, a grocery store and marine store). Our first night there, the traveling pack enjoyed Desperado beers and dinner at Le 9 in the Marina.

The next afternoon, Mike and I went to town in search of a Digitel store to look into sims cards for his phone and our Wi-Fi booster. This is what boaters (without Starlink systems) to keep communications up to par the further you go down the islands. The ladies, Mary (on Dream Weaver) and Barb and Teara (on Act III) joined us in town. Mike walked back to the Marina and the ladies got to visit the spice market, enjoy lunch and shop without any men pushing us to move on! On the walk back, we got to see some wonderful street art.

We had hoped to rent a car and visit the largest waterfall in Guadeloupe but we couldn’t find any available. It was a good thing because we found out from a cab driver (Antoinette) that you couldn’t walk up to the falls due to a recent avalanche and could only see it from afar (assuming we found it on our own). Instead, Antoinette offered to take all 8 of us on a tour of Grand Terre, the other side of the butterfly from the waterfalls. We started the day at Cimetiere de Morne-a-l’eau, a vast and beautiful cemetery with black & white tiled tombs covering the hill as far as you can see, some with personalized artifacts, like a plastic sewing machine, scissors & thread for the seamstress and a plastic calculator for the accountant.

The next stop was Le Monde Rum Distillery, where we saw the instruments of rum making and bottling, including a wind mill sprouting tropical plants that was once used to generated power for the distillery.

Our driver, Antoinette, masterfully negotiated the pot holes and speeding traffic as we made our way to St. Francois, the eastern most point of Guadeloupe, where we soaked up the beautiful views of the unusual shaped volcanic rocks jutting out of the ocean water as it crashed onto the soft beaches. There we had lunch at a nearby barbecue hut where we had BoKits (a local specialty sandwich made of fried dough stuffed with the barbecue of your choice and salad) and homemade jus drinks. The sandwiches were huge and delicious!

After lunch, we drove to St. Anne beach where we visited another spice market and had some beers and Ti-punch while watching the local kids race their sailboats off shore. 

That evening, we started an epic domino game on Act III. We played on two tables and switched the high and low scorers after 4 rounds to play another 4 rounds. I think it took 3 hours before we quit to finish the game another day.

On 1/18, our merry band of buddies sailed to Isles de Saintes, an island that is part of Guadeloupe, about 20 miles away. Dream Weaver found a mooring ball right off the main town of Bourges de Saintes. Act III and Billy Ruff’n picked up moorings at the nearby island of Ilet a Cabri. The plan was to spend one night there and have Dream Weaver scout for moorings the next day when boats start to move about. The plan worked perfectly! We were settled onto moorings off the main town before noon the next day. From there, we could easily dinghy in and scope out dinner reservations for the gang the next night at one of the best restaurants in town. That evening, all of the Salty Dawgs in the harbor were invited to s/v Lucky for a pot luck dinner. Another fun evening was had!

The next day, we hiked over to Marigot Bay, a pretty fishing village, to scope out another anchorage. It was a nice hike but the anchorage was too rolly to consider moving. We walked back to town for salads with smoked fish and lobster at Le cafe de Marine, next to the dinghy dock, for lunch with a view of Billy Ruff’n in the harbor. We had an excellent dinner at Ti Kaz-la that evening with the gang from s/v Dream Weaver and s/v Act III.

On 1/21, Doug, a Salty Dawger on s/v Frolic, led a group of us in yoga in the park in the morning and Dream Weaver left for Martinique in the afternoon. Act III is leaving tomorrow to pick up crew in Pointe a Pitre so Andrew and I are left to our own devices for entertainment until we make new friends or old ones arrive!