"I'm reading, would you mind taking Sophie ashore?"

"No problem! OK, Sophie, let's go for poTi Punch."

Uproar first arrived in the Caribbean in 2016. One of my fond memories of Deshaise (dey-hey), Guadeloupe is sitting at sunset with Sophie on my lap, enjoying a ti punch.....or two. Sophie was 16 years old when we first anchored in Deshaise. She needed her potty runs each morning and evening, no problem. I enjoy café au lait and pain au chocolat in the morning and ti punch in the early evening. Sophie was a willing participant.

Being old, she didn't need to walk far. When we arrived at Madras Bar (prominent set for "Death in Paradise" BBC series) she just wanted to lay down in my lap. Warm, soft puppy, sharp beverage and beautiful sunset....what's not to love. I didn't even know we were enjoying life in a famous place.

Ti punch is a strictly French West Indies drink. Our last few laps in the Caribbean were in 2016 and 2017. Most of our cruising friends did not like the French Rhum Agricole. They found it sharp and not as smooth as the English Island rums (Antigua, Barbados, etc). True, they are not as smooth but they contain an array of grassy, sugar cane notes along with pepper and hints of spice. Rhum Agricole is made directly from sugar cane squeezings, fermented, distilled with nothing else added. Their art is in growing the right varieties of cane and harvesting only when sugar content is high. Fermenting and distilling skill combine to produce a memorable product.

English rums are made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining. The art of English rums is in the distilling and aging. Some may add flavors but don't admit it. We are not talking Captain Morgan here. One legged pirates are nowhere to be found. French distilleries make aged rum too, again a bit sharper than English rums. I enjoy and respect both forms of rum/rhum art. Most of our cruising friends now enjoy both types of rum. Perhaps I'm gaining converts. One lady, we hadn't seen in five years said, "Popeye, I still remember hearing you say, "I can be challenged by my rum.""

Back to ti punch. White rhum is between 50% and 62% alcohol! One is served a small glass, wedge of lime and a tiny jar of raw sugar with doll-sized spoon. Ti punch couldn't be more simple, just squeeze in some lime and add less than ¼ t raw sugar. Sometimes a funny stick with projections like broken umbrella spokes, called a lele, is used to swizzle the ingredients and "wake up" the rhum.

Back to Madras. Ti punch is served as above but the rhum glass is empty. They just put the whole bottle in front of you! I usually get my 3 euros worth. We call it a favorable wave when the boat rocks and the bartender pours in a little extra. I find favorable waves even on shore at Madras.

Pearl is now my potty run/ti punch companion. She loves her shore leave. Even being an energetic puppy, she insists on lying in my lap as we enjoy our sunset ritual.