Went with our friends on Tracy on Wanderlust, David and Kim on Melelana and Shirley and Alan on Lattitude Adjustment to the Botanical Gardens in Deshaies on Guadeloupe.
After a very sweaty 1 mile walk all uphill to get there, we spent a hour wandering the gardens. Very nice. All the signage in French, so mostly wandering and enjoying.
Lots of photos below of botanical garden views.
We stayed a couple more days in Jolly Harbor. We went for a nice hike to the top of Pearns Hill. It was a pretty steep climb, and we were breathing hard at the top. A development is planned so it has signs for the lots, and paved roads.
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| Hard to see in the photo, but the road is probably a 40 degree incline. |
We hung out in Barbuda for a few more days. Went over to our friends boat Matcha, and helped them start up their watermaker, which had been pickled for a while. They recently purchased the boat, and just wanted moral support for the start up. Everything went well, so no issues.
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| Sunrise at Barbuda |
We stayed in St. Martin a few more days.
One of our hatch screen had a rip in it. Kris had sewn it up a couple of times, but we decided to replace/repair the whole screen. We did not have any white screen material, which was what the hatches originally had, but had black. It turned out OK, other than not matching the rest. At least no rips in it anymore.
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| New screen installed. Kris holding old ripped one up. |
Well, we have not moved in the last week. Heavy NE winds kept us here, plus in no hurry to move on anywhere. Just doing daily living stuff.
Really exciting things 😜like Kris sewed a new cover for the bean bag in the cockpit
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| Old bag, made of cheap vinyl just to see if we would use it, and what size to make it. |
Pretty uneventful week. Had a nice get together with two other Manta's anchored near us. Fun night.
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| Tracy on Wanderlust and Dawn and Ivan off of Salty Fish |
Kris has been having ear issues - swimmers ear. Hasn't really bothered her too much, just a general soreness of the ear. Did some home treatment with rubbing alcohol and vinegar, which helped, but never took away the issue. We had waited until we got to St. Martin to see a doctor, since in the United States Virgin Islands, the cheapest we found was $150 for a doctors visit. We found a walk in clinic here in St. Martin - waited about 1.5 hours and then paid $35 for the doctor and $13 for the prescription for ear drops. Very happy with the treatment, doctor was nice, and staff was friendly.
Took a nice walk into town, and stopped at one of the French bakeries. Delicious
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| Lots of traffic in the downtown tourist area of Marigot, St. Martin |
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| The food selection is incredible - and all so pretty |
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| It was as delicious as it looks. Bit spendy at $6, but worth it. |
Kris has been sewing this week - finishing the salon cushions. Now, this project started in 2022 when we decided we were not happy with the fabric of our current cushions, and Kris was also bothered by how the foam had been cut, not lining up with the boat angles and corners as well as she wanted. We did not know which fabric/vinyl/material we wanted to replace it with. Not ones to rush into a decision like that - it took us until November of 2023 to finally order the fabric - and the the decision only made because we found a great sale on some expensive material. We got original ultraleather fabric on sale for $29 a yard - compared to $79 a yard normally. Kris struggled with the project, as the material was quite stretchy in one direction, and partially stretchy in the other. That combined with the foam being cut and glued in pieces, without great straight edges. Had to plan for 1/2" to 1 1/2" stretch in one direction, and no stretch to 1" stretch in the other depending on the length of fabric, and the foam compressing from 1/2" to 1" made for some frustration, and lots of diagrams and head scratching. She got 90% done, and ran out of thread. Derek brought some more during his visit, so it was finally time to complete the project. Turned out OK, not perfect like Kris wanted, but good enough, and we really like the fabric choice.
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| Fabric is great, doesn't feel hot and sticky, and cleans easy. Still wish we had gotten the seats tighter, as you can see wrinkles where we sit all the time |
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| Getting the seams on the corners to line up was a real pain. |
The lagoon here in St. Martin has many boats anchored, but not a crowded feeling. Only real negative is the growth on the chain and snubber lines. Will take some scrubbing to get rid of that growth. We will have to give the bottom a good scrub at our next stop as well. There was a cruiser swap meet on Saturday, did not find any needed items but it was good to go in and see all the cruisers.
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| View from the anchorage. Simpson Bay lagoon |
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| View in anchorage, looking SW towards airport |
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| Lots of fuzzy growth on chain and snubbers - will take some scrubbing. Imagine the bottom will need a good scrub as well. |
With strong ENE winds coming for the next week, we will most likely be here for the next 10 days. Oh well, will have to find some more good food, and do some more land exploration.
We hung out in St. John's Francis bay Sunday and Monday and part of Tuesday. Kris's back felt better, so she went for a nice long walk, first one in a few days.
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| Nice trail through trees |
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| Top of the trail overlooking pond and anchorage. Charm is in the center of the photo |
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| Ruins of old Annaberg Country school |
On Monday we had an unexpected visitor for most the day, that kept us amused for a while.
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| Brown pelican using our bow as a perch to spot fish |
It was fun to watch him dive for small fish around the boat. He/she had a pretty good kill ratio. Fish frequently use cruising boats as protected areas to gather around, and this guy got smart and took advantage of that.
Unfortunately the visitor did not observe our strict no pooping on the deck policy, so Dean had to go up in the evening and wash the offense away.
The weather looked good, so Tuesday afternoon we hoisted anchor and set sail. Had a great sail east to St. Martin, and were joined by 5 other boats with the same idea.
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| On AIS we are the green boat on the track line. |
Had a good sail with mostly north winds. Averaged around 6.5 knots for the entire 90 mile trip. Quite happy, as we were the smallest of all the boats sailing, yet none passed us over the twelve hour sail. North of us were two 53 mono hulls, south was one 45 catamaran and one 45 mono hull.
We got in at 5:30 in the morning and since there was full moon we felt safe to anchor in the north bay. Got a couple hours sleep and up to make the bridge opening at 8:30 into the inner lagoon. The bridge is a bascule bridge but only has a 32.8 foot width opening, which feels smaller when you are going through it. We are 21' wide, so have almost 6' on each side, but sure looks tight.
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| Another catamaran went under the bridge ahead of us |
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| Looks smaller the closer we got to it. |
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| Bridge in down position |
We made it just fine, Dean did an excellent job driving through, no scraps. There is another bridge on the Dutch side of the island, but they charge a fee, and then to get to the French side of the island we would have to go under another bridge. We want the French side because check in is easier, and cheaper. Only $2 to check into the French side, and we do it mostly all ourselves on a self serve computer at the marine store.
Check in successful, we went and had a nice lunch out. We were walking by on the street, and the owner was out cleaning tables, and wanted to show us his food. We declined, and wandered further into town, but a cruise ship must have been in, because the "touristy" part of town was quite busy. So we headed back, and decided to try his place. He took us on a full tour of his restaurant kitchen, showing us the different food he had. After the tour, he took our order, and Kris went to use the sink to wash up before eating - and the sink is the same one the staff uses for dishes and why not. - Not in America any more. The food was good, the service great, and the experience even better.
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| Kris's plate of Potatoes and chopped cod, with an side of Zucchini with something? Dean had the lasagna. |
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| Anchorage looking north - French side |
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| Anchorage looking south - Dutch side |
Saturday we walked up to the Carrefour grocery store - Kris had brain overload with all the fresh fruits and vegetables.
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| The store was busy, probably because it was Saturday before Easter |
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| The even had a section with fresh sprouts, microgreens, and herbs still growing in containers you could buy. |
Prices were a bit more than the states on some things, like grapes, berries and candy, but about the same on others. We will most likely be here for the next week, just chillaxin, and maybe a couple of boat projects.
