033102 Easter Sunday I was dead to the world only waking when Patti gave me a gentle nudge. I finally surfaced, still wearing my bedclothes to find Tim elbow deep in a bucket doing his laundry. (where does he get the energy?) We all need to freshen a few things so Debbie started Scott's and her load next.

It had been decided the day before that since the walk on the trail had been so pleasant that we'd stay through late morning and attempt another walk. Unfortunately both Patti and Bill came down with Debbie's malaise and were making too many forays to the head to allow them that much time ashore.

We had a quick breakfast of cereal (two bran types and some wheat flakes topped by yogurt) and Tim, s&d and I climbed into the dinghy leaving Patti and Bill behind to do theirs (and my) laundry. We docked at the public jetty and wandered into town in search of a bakery named Jimmie's where there are supposed to be particulary good pastries. We must have arrived late because the only items that looked interesting were quiches. We got 3 of one and 3 of another for lunch, found 3 baguettes in a grocery down the street and returned to stow it all in the dinghy's locker, hoping it would still be there when we returned.

We knew that the trail started on a road out of town and headed south toward the airport. We had just stopped to check the map when a charming older woman stopped behind us and eagerly pointed us the right direction even demonstrating the stairs we were to climb. Needless to say we still didn't manage to find her directions, but we did find the Plage de Grande Anse (Beach of the large cove) which was the beautiful white sand beach we'd looked down onto from our vantage point above the cliffs the previous day.

Because this beach is on the windward or east side, the waves were significant and we had the beach to ourselves. Tim and Scott went body surfing and Debbie and I danced with the waves for awhile. Picked up a few shells (few available) to bring back to Patti and listened and watched while some pilot landed and took off over and over again at this same airport. He roared over our heads at least six times, each one at a different angle. We had to stop cavorting at some point and made our way back the way we'd come (determined to find the stairway that our helpful guide had told us about). Dusted off our sandy feet replaced our sandals, and headed back up the road.

The major form of transportation here is motorcycles and/or scooters. I could do without the noise, but when your streets are as narrow as this, it's much more efficient to use that method to get around. And sidewalks just sort of dribble away--they'll go for a block and a half and then just stop, eventually picking up again across the road or farther down. Makes for awkward pedestrian travel, but charming.

We needed to restock our stores so we stopped in a couple of local stores to get fresh veggies, yogurt, cheese and beverages. Stuffed this all into our misc backpacks and returned to the jetty to discover that Tim's dinghy was the favorite launching spot for several local boys who continued to dive off and climb back in until we reclaimed it.

Returned to find the boat wreathed in clean laundry. We packed everything away and headed for open water for the trip up the west side of Guadeloupe. Used sails for the trip between islands then switched to motor once we got inside the island. Had a brief snack of chunks of fresh baguette shmeared with cream cheese, grapes and beer. Ah, the life!

A long hot afternoon followed as we motored up to the northern end of Guadeloupe. We kept skirting the edges of clouds which covered the island, but never extended far enough out to give us relief. We were all feeling pretty well baked by the time we pulled into Deshaies harbor. Of course as soon as we got into the harbor the clouds were overhead and an occasional drip or two of rain would fall--just enough to wet the deck, but nothing soaked. We watched the rainbows form , fade and reform over the town with the backdrop of green mountains. Swimming refreshed us and we had our usual West Indian breakfast and Pringle snack hour and chatted till sunset. Once again no green flash, clouds just above the horizon obscured the actual setting. Pretty soon it was 7:45 and we all decided to stay on board for dinner.

Patti's expertise was called into play and she masterfully microwaved ten baked potatoes to perfection. Topped with ham, cheese, steamed broccoli and we all went away happy. We sat in the back stargazing--the moon comes up later and later after being full a few nights ago. One by one we begin nodding off and adjourned to our beds.
[smk]