FEBRUARY 2002
We spent the first two weeks of February doing projects on the boat while we waited for our new replacement motor. The waiting was made a little more stressful because we had family planning to visit us in Guadeloupe for vacation on February 22nd. Sharon’s two brothers and sister had been planning for years to come visit us while we were in the Caribbean. If everything didn’t go just right …this third time…installing the engine we were definitely at risk to not make it to Guadeloupe in time! Our luck so far with the motor nothing had gone right so we were more than a little bit worried. Thank goodness the 3rd time…was the charm! The motor arrived on schedule February 11th. The reinstallation went smoothly. The motor once again brand spanking new fresh out of the box! We did our test drive and everything worked great. Valentine’s day we finally escaped St. Maarten! We ran the motor for about 3 hours at all different rpms and even at wide-open 3800 rpm's she sounded great! We were so happy. As soon as the test drive was over we set sail! We had a beautiful 50-mile sail to St. Kitts. We arrived just as it was getting dark. We then cooked up a nice Valentine's dinner with a bottle of wine to celebrate.
The following day we had another lovely 80 mile sail to Guadeloupe. Nothing like a perfect day of Caribbean sailing to make you completely forget about the last two months of problems. We made it to Guadeloupe for our family’s visit with 5 days to spare! We were definitely in need of the break from boat project and issues. We were ready to relax and have some fun again.
Vaughn’s Birthday was in a couple days so since we had time to spare he decided he would like to spend his Birthday in Isle de Saints. Isle de Saintes is only 15 miles from Guadeloupe. We had another lovely brisk sail. We loved being back on the go, SAILING!
Vaughn really enjoyed his Birthday. We were anchored in a beautiful quiet cove. Sharon set up the hammock. Then she brought Vaughn frozen drinks while he gentle swayed in the hammock reading a book. We spent the afternoon snorkeling on a pretty little reef. Late afternoon we dinghied into town for the best ice cream in the world. The little shop at the Saintes makes the best ice cream we have ever found! We both had double scoops. We enjoyed wondering through town. We got some nice French wine and French bread then headed back to the boat. Sharon cooked Vaughn’s favorite pasta with carrot cake for dessert.
We sailed back to Guadeloupe cleaned up the boat and stocked up all set for the family. Sharon’s brother Derek, her brother Darren and his wife Liz arrived ready for a week of fun! It was great to see them, lots and hugs and kisses were shared. Once they were on board we immediately shoved off and anchored at a cute little tourist spot called Glossier Island. Everyone enjoyed the turquoise blue water and lovely white sand beach. We spent the evening catching up on stories.
The next day we all sailed over to Isle de Saintes. It was a beautiful sail but took everyone a bit to get their sea legs. We spend the afternoon at les Saintes swimming and snorkeling. They loved the warm Caribbean waters and enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of coral and fish. The next day we went into town and rented little scooters to tour the island. We decided we all looked like “Hells Angle” rejects on our little scooters. We had a great time. We drove every rode on the island at least once.
We stopped and toured the old Fort Napoleon. The Fort was build back in the early 1700’s. It’s way up on the highest hilltop on the island. The Fort is in excellent shape with a fascinating history. The views from the Fort are magnificent.
We stopped at a beautiful beach for a quick swim. Of course we all had to have a double scoop of the best ice cream in the world. Once every road on the island had been explored we returned the scooters and took the boat over to a different cove to anchor for the night. The cove is right at the base of a steep cliff of granite rock pillars. It’s quite the stunning backdrop, a dramatic accent to the gorgeous blue water. We all enjoyed a late afternoon snorkel. We saw lots of little reef fish, several schools of large fish. We even saw several octopuses and a moray eel. Then to make a perfect day even better…the sailboat next to us yelled over that he had caught a 60-pound wahoo fish. He had more than his freezer could hold so wanted to know if we could help him out by taking some of the fish off his hands! We jumped at the chance; wahoo is excellent eating fish. We had a feast for dinner.
The next morning Derek, Darren and Liz went scuba diving on the little reef. It was a good warm-up. Then we sailed back to Guadeloupe and anchored on the west side in the pretty little bay of Anse Barque. The following day we got up early and headed over to the Jacque Cousteau Marine Reserve. It is a beautiful spot to scuba dive. We set up the dive compressor and spent the day scuba diving the island reefs. We all loved the dives. The reef is full of huge barrel sponges. It has lots of different kinds of coral and fish. The island walls are covered in sponges of every imaginable color. We had a wonderful time enjoying the beauty of the underwater world!
The next day Derek, Darren and Liz rented a car and toured Guadeloupe while we sailed the boat around the island back to windward to meet them in the town of Pointe-a-Pitre. The following day we took the car and all went on a beautiful waterfall hike to Chutes de Morea. It was our favorite hike from our exploring the prior year, the hike we took on Sharon’s birthday. We loved it even the second time!
Derek also thought the hike was outstanding. He really enjoyed the rainforest jungle. He plunged right in and joined us for a swim under the waterfall. The waterfall is dramatic, framed in a tropical box canyon, dropping over 300 feet.
Darren and Liz enjoyed the beauty but were not use to hiking on slippery paths clinging to tree roots to climb the river canyon. The hike takes five hours and crosses the river 16 times. It’s beautiful but definitely not “your work in the park”. They said it is something they had never done before…and probably would never do again! They were real troopers enjoying the hike even though it pushed them to their limits.
While we were hiking Sharon’s sister Sydney and her husband Ralph had arrive in Guadeloupe. Their vacation overlapped her brothers’ vacation by several days. It was wonderful to have a lot of the family all in the Caribbean together! We all met for dinner and had a wonderful time sharing stories.
The following day we all got together and toured the beaches on Guadeloupe’s Grand Terre. We stopped at St. Anne and enjoyed the local artisans’ shops. Then we headed out to the eastern most point and had lunch in a funky little beach shack. The lunch tables were in ankle deep water out in the middle of a coral reef protected lagoon. We enjoyed a good meal while dangling our toes in the crystal blue water. We took a little swim and snorkel then headed back to the marina. Sydney and Ralph’s friend Anne and Vinnie had arrived the party was now complete. We all met on Reality for cocktails and a million laughs. Vinnie should be a stand up comedian he had us all laughing so hard our cheeks hurt! It was great to all be together having fun in the Caribbean.
The next morning Derek, Darren and Liz needed to head for home. After lots of hugs they drove to the airport to catch their flight home.