"Gunfire" in the Anchorage

Anse Fideling, Terre de Bas, Les Saintes

16° 58' 60" N, 61° 42' 54" W

Markus

Arrived in Les Saintes this afternoon after a beautiful sail from Dominica. Anchored in a Anse Fideling, a small undeveloped bay on the south of the island of Terre de Bas. Shortly after dropping the hook, we had an almost surreal experience as we heard gunfire from the beach behind us and all of a sudden saw lots of guys in camouflages with automatic rifles running around some ruin on the beach where smoke grenades seemed to be exploding. As we learned later, the French marine infantry is conducting a joint exercise with forces from 10 other countries (including 20+ US Marines) in the Guadeloupe area. When we walked around the island some hours later, we got to talk to one of the US Marines who was waiting to re-board his ship. A very nice person who completed tours in Afghanistan and Irak and has now reached the end of his 4-year term of duty - before his unit goes back to Iraq. You would think the US would be well represented in Iraq with guys like this one on the ground there...

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