Different Island, Different Cultures

Montserrat, the most active volcano in the Caribbean.  As seen from the sea of course!

The volcano is just spectacular!

French dinghy dock in Deshaise, Guadeloupe.  Well, it is mostly finished.

The palm tree kind of makes this place unique?

Redonda Rock.  This is on the way to Guadeloupe and these rocks are not shown on my navigation charts!  Besides, the Rock was over 1/2 mile mis-located.  Never trust your instruments!!!

Parrots on Guadeloupe.

The botanical garden on Guadeloupe (and some red flowers).

Maria beneath the banyan tree!

Sailing next to Redonda Rock.  Don't get too close!

The volcano on Montserrat with the active vents.

Grand Anse beach on Guadeloupe. 

Steve Job's yacht waiting to greet us in Sint Maarten.  The top deck resembles and iPhone while the next lower deck is shaped like the iPad.

Visiting our friends villa on Sint Maarten (Don and Donna).  That is Donna and Maria in the picture and not Don.

 This is something you never want to see.  The little dinghy is towing a mooring ball (something that you attach your boat to so that it stays in place).  The mooring ball decided to float away, along with the boat that was tied to it.  Luckily the captain saw the problem, found a new mooring ball and towed this one to shore and out of the harbor.  Geeze, there is always something to worry about!


S/Y Aspen – February 3, 2015 – Log #126
Aspen Position: 16 degrees 18’ N  061 degrees 47’ W
Guadeloupe, Caribbean


We sailed from Sint Maarten/St. Martin and briefly stopped at the small island of Nevis for a quick rest before continuing at sunrise to Guadeloupe.

The French islands are always fun to visit because Customs/Immigration consists of filling out a form on a special computer and the person behind the counter stamps it.  No questions, no long waits and the French really don't care where you have been or where you are going.  If only it were that easy everywhere.

Of course we missed the Superbowl because the French don't televise it or really care about American football.   But since the Broncos didn't play we weren't really disappointed and spent the day at the beach.  Awww, that is a shame since it was snowing hard in Colorado!

There is so much to do around here.  Today we hiked about a mile straight uphill (in the heat) to visit the botanical gardens.  Wow, the trees, flowers, wildlife and plants were amazing.  The collection is from all over the world and is probably the best in the Caribbean.  Most of it is lost on Captain Steve because he only knows frangipani trees (well maybe those).

Now we are further south and it is getting even hotter everyday with lots of rain in these lush surroundings.  Guadeloupe has all the French restaurants, wine, rum and beautiful flowers that are found on the larger islands down here.  This will keep us busy for a little while until we move further south.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…