Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe - Legal Aliens

So after paying that hefty fine in Fort de France, we knew we would need to have our mail shipped ASAP to get our current US Coast Guard certificate. We debated staying in Martinique and waiting for mail or having it sent to Dominica (the next island to the north) but it made sense to just have it shipped to the capital of Guadeloupe (two islands north) since we knew there was a large marina there that would accept the package for us.

On Sunday afternoon we cleared out of Martinique. Customs in St. Pierre is actually run out of a bar called L'Escapade; instead of a customs officer the person who handles the paperwork does double duty as bartender. Oddly enough she scrutinized our paperwork, as opposed to the actual customs agent in Le Marin who didn't even look at it or our passports. She noticed the expiration date straightaway but of course we had our receipt from the fine so at least we didn't have to shell out another 300 Euros. Monday was a long day -- we left Martinique at 6AM and sailed past Dominica to get to the Iles des Saintes, which are just south of the main island of Guadeloupe. We arrived around sunset, plus it happened to be an election day, so customs was closed meaning that there were no pesky customs officers around to notice our expired paperwork.

This morning we got an early start heading to Pointe-a-Pitre, the capital of Guadeloupe, and we arrived around 11AM. On first impression, the anchorage here doesn't have much going for it. It's very industrial with big shipping docks and a cruise ship dock. The bottom is mud, so our primary anchor (a Delta) wouldn't set but luckily we used the spare Danforth anchor which is perfect for mud and hooked on the first try. We dinghied over to the marina and -- whew! -- picked up our mail with our paperwork before clearing in at customs and immigration. Things started looking up once we walked around the marina a bit. It's a great place; there are all kinds of restaurants, even one called "Arizona" which we'll have to check out. We ate lunch at a 50's-inspired cafe where the pizzas were named after rock-and-roll legends. Think "Ed Debevics" or "5 and Diner" but with a bizarre French flair. It was a bit surreal since the woman manager had hair and clothes that could only be described as 60's chic (none of the other employees were dressed that way though, so I think it was a fashion choice not a work uniform). After lunch we stopped by the supermarket and picked up a bunch of produce and some pain au chocolate. I like it that here you can have a buttery croissant-type thing stuffed with chocolate and still call it a breakfast food.

Where we are:
Location=Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Lat=16 13.607
Lon=61 32.064