Sorry for the Gaps
At the moment I am sitting in a very nice hotel room with Ken and Dawn Bartizal on the island of St. Kitts. Ken and I were roommates at Notre Dame many years ago. They have joined me on the Bella Gatta many times and are a true joy to travel with.
But let me catch up since the last blog. Yvonne, Lou and I sailed up to Guadaloupe under mild conditions and anchored outside a large marina, Bass du Fort. We were still having some mechanical problems with the engine mount on the starboard side and the transmission on the port. A mechanic named Fred fixed everything in lightning speed with great results. We had a change in crew and sailed 20 miles south to a tiny island group called Le Saints. There was a quaint village that was besieged every day by tourists from Guadaloupe. We then sailed 26 miles to another village at the northern tip of Guadaloupe named Dashaies. We wanted to clear out early so the 45 mile sail would end in daylight. Customs was tied up with a small cruise ship so we had to leave late without a clearance.
The trip to Antigua was long and hard. We motored into the wind for 10 hours and arrived at Falmouth Harbor in the dark. We inched in and tied to a mooring ball, tired and relieved. Antigua is very pretty and is rich in history. We toured English Harbor which has been restored to much of of its 1700s style. The Bartizals had brought a complete Thansgiving dinner that was delicious (turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.
After several other harbors, Ken, Dawn and I decided that we had seen all of Antigua we needed. They fly out of Antigua Sunday Nov. 30. We sailed off to St. Kitts after they booked 2 seats on a flight back to Antigua. St. kitts is a small island with a pair of tall old volcanos. With the Bartizals staying at the Marriott this last night, we have been enjoying the perks of the pool and beach. I will do some minor boatwork tomorrow after they leave. Monday I will sail up to Statia and then Saba. This is perfect since I will be on my own and the distances are not far (20 miles or so each). On Dec. 6th I will pick up some new crew in St. Barts. Well, so far Bella Gatta has gone 750 miles of her 2500 mile journey. She is slowly getting closer to home. Steve
