We were up early and sailed to Pointe de Pitre, Guadeloupe. A northerly swell was coming in and we believed that the anchorage would offer us some protection, which it did. Again, we had to carefully watch for fish pots. There were many mooring balls to choose from and we picked up one that was off of a small island and protected by a reef. For being in the largest town on Guadeloupe, it was actually a fairly pretty anchorage. However, if we looked to our side, we saw the industrial part of the anchorage.
Three large, powder-blue cranes towered over the bay loading and unloading containers from cargo ships.
We could also see the slave museum from our anchorage, which was a large, modern, silver building. At night colored lights changed and were lit up, which was quite pretty in the night sky.
After lunch we dinghied into the main marina in Pointe a Pietre. This is supposed to be Guadeloupe’s yachting hub and we were anxious to see it. The marina was packed with boats. Boutique shops and restaurants lined the interior of the marina, making it easy to purchase whatever we needed. Unfortunately, part of the marina smelled like sewage (apparently where the American-powered boats go). We were glad that we opted to stay on a mooring ball in the bay. Even in the bay, the water was cloudy and snorkeling was not good. But at least it was a pleasant location.
We were moored in the perfect location to watch the sailing and windsurfing classes. Kids sailed mostly in front of our boat, but an occasional one or two ended up behind us. It was great fun to watch so many small sails zoom back and forth in the bay.
On Saturday, 3/2/24, we decided to dinghy into the marina (and lock up our dinghy) so that we could walk to the slave museum. We had heard that petty theft is frequent in town so I purposely did not take my camera. Town was run down and in certain places smelled like sewage. We walked past a university and then took a left down a street towards the museum. The museum’s grounds were well laid-out and manicured. It was quite a relaxing and peaceful place. Some young guys were rollerblade dancing on the cement, which was unique to see. As we went to enter the museum, the door was closing. I looked around and a sign was put up saying that there was a last-minute closure of the museum. So, we couldn’t visit it after all. We did walk all around the building and saw lots of building walls covered with what we could call graffiti art. I’m not sure if the locals would call it graffiti or murals.
Once we returned to the marina, we of course went into the bakery. They didn’t really have great patisseries there. However, I got a pain au chocolate (one of my favorites) and Steve got some other breakfast-like danish. And, we purchased the best baguette that we have had in the islands. It was a little denser than most baguettes and tasted amazing!