Arrived in the Caribbean!!!
18 April 2015 | Isle de Cabrit, Guadeloupe
Graham, Julie, Alex, Amelia come to greet us as we enter the bay at Isle de Cabrit.
Well, we arrived at Isle de Cabrit, Isles des Saintes, Gudadeloupe, on the morning of Saturday, April 11, Day 31, at the beginning of Day 32. As we came around the top of the island, we saw a whale in the distance and then he made his way toward us and passed just behind Gromit. What excitement! How fortuitous! And that was just the beginning of the excitement! We were only minutes away from the anchorage and when we turned the corner of the island, out came the Salty Gingers (their boat is called Salty Ginger): Julie, Graham, Alex and Amelia!
As we approached the moorings, we saw that they had a huge sign (it was a shower curtain) with the words: WE LOVE YOU GROMIT,
TOUR DE MONDE written on it with duct tape and they had a gaggle of brightly coloured
balloons all bouncing happily on their front deck. We were so excited and thrilled!!!
They all came out to greet us in their dinghy, with the biggest
smiles and such excitement. We too were all smiles to see them and to be finished with this
epic passage: 4059 nautical miles.
As soon as we were secure on our mooring, our guys jumped into the water with their guys and there was boundless joy and energy emanating from the flotilla of kids, reunited after many, many years. When Graham and Julie stepped aboard Gromit the tears of release and joy flowed........
It is sooooo good to be here. No noise, no steering, no whooshing water, no flapping and no twapping of rigging, just gentle rocking, quiet and great nights of sleep!
We'll be here until Friday (Apr. 17) and then head north to the main island of Guadeloupe to meet friends, a French family, who we got to know in Huahine, French Polynesia, the year we lived there. Then to Antiqua, St. Maarten, British Virgin Islands and beyond; route unknown as of yet. We'll probably end up jumping off for the States from the top of the Bahamas, but that won't be until some time in June.
As soon as possible, ie good internet, I'll post some pictures.
Correction to my last post. Our steering went when we had about 700 miles to go, not 500 miles.