BVI via St Lucia – Part Trois!

Basse Terre….Capital City of Guadeloupe…I’ll bet you would have been fun to explore, but we need to get out of this oven otherwise known as a marina! Au Revoir !

So…..“Life” had thrown us a curve ball, now it's our “choice” in how we handle this unfortunate “opportunity” that will “control” our immediate “destiny”…..I think I remember hearing something similar to that in a self help audio book that my wife got me in the 90’s by Dr. Stephen Covey, ha! Don’t get me wrong, that audio book did nothing to change my outlook on life or modify my demeanor, I was more than a little frustrated in the marina! (Please remember this next photo until the end of the post and tell me if we made a good choice in leaving?)




Thorough preparation was the primary objective when planning this passage and I felt like we dropped the ball on our first destination, but in hindsight we had no way of knowing about the power issues? I mean… I thought I read everything I could find about cruising along our planned route, I had researched optional bailout points in the event of a problem, I noted where various marine supply stores were, hospitals/clinics, fuel and water, what currency is accepted, C&I info, and yes which marinas offered shore power. DANGIT! I can actually hear in my head the soothing audio voice of Dr. Covey saying remember.. only you control your physical response to the situation at hand! Breath in…..breath out… grab a cold beer!




We tossed out several relocation options, some more convenient than others, but we ultimately agreed upon……. Les Saintes!! Yes, I read some of your responses to part 2 that Les Saintes was not to be missed and I can now agree! With our hostage safely stored with the jerry cans we plotted our course for the anchorage at Bourg des Saintes on the island of Terre-de-Haut. We would actually be back tracking a bit, but what the heck we heard this place was wonderful and what’s another 2 hours on the water! There was absolutely no wind, so we leisurely motored towards Les Saintes making about 6 knots. I think we had 15 miles to cover and it was just after 4pm, hope we have some light when we arrive!!






As we approached these tiny Guadeloupe territories it became obvious that we made a good choice, very beautiful area! The approach to the mooring field at Bourg des Saintes was straight forward and we had plenty of light! The sun was just dropping behind the hill tops of Ilet-a-Cabrit a small island just off the coast of Terre de Haut. The small island contains the ruins of Fort Josephine and it makes sense that Terre de Haut is home to the larger Fort Napoleon.








There were plenty of mooring balls to choose from in this relatively active port, including a regular ferry that runs between Terre de Haut and Pointe-à-Pitre on the mainland. We grabbed a ball further out in the bay with hopes of catching a little breeze. After we arrived at sunset I think we only saw and felt one last ferry.







We were so excited to be sitting in this bay, even if the tradewinds were letting us down a bit. Donna and I have wanted to check this area out and couldn’t wait for the morning light. The sunset was beautiful here and the lighting was absolutely incredible. There was an interesting storm line building to our north east as we settled in, I was actually hoping that it would slide over us and bring a little relief in the form of a breeze. I honestly can’t remember sitting on a boat in the Caribbean when the water surface was so darn flat, look at some of the photo's!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20to%20BVI%203/UT3A8572_zpsxo4uewjc.jpg[/img]


I can’t remember exactly what we ate, to be honest my journal contains maybe the first 48 hours of the trip then noth’in!, but from this cell phone pic it looks like a wrap, veggies and hummus and I’m positive a few cold Piton’s were consumed! I can also tell you with much certainty that the adults were in good spirits, but pretty dang warm, so warm that Matt and I tried to sleep outside in the cockpit for part of the night. Conner on the other hand handled the temps like a champ and slept through the night!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20BVI%203/st20lucia2012_zpsbwoempdn.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20to%20BVI%203/UT3A8585_zpshyjdddag.jpg[/img]


It had been a very long 24 plus hour journey and we were all exhausted. As much as we wanted to stretch our legs and explore, we chose to save our dinghy ride for the morning. Yes it was warm, it was perfectly still, it was perfectly quiet, we were sweating perfectly! and we wouldn't have traded this light show for anything. Have you ever been to a place where the colors just didn't seem real? it was like we were sitting in a pastel or vibrant watercolor, thank god for little curve balls!!!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20to%20BVI%203/UT3A8588_zpsnfasqnpc.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20to%20BVI%203/UT3A8575_zpsknusdgyc.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...%20to%20BVI%203/UT3A8567_zps7xdqyesq.jpg[/img]



TO BE CONTINUED...........................