We were all looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Les Saints, Guadaloupe so that didn’t leave much time to visit Dominica. We did take a few hours stop in Portsmouth to rest for the night so we could break up the trip into two day sails instead of an overnight to Les Saints from Saint Pierre. We also took the chance to fill up on water since our watermaker was still not working. They have a mooring with a potable water hose so you can tie right up and take on water. It beats tying to a busy dock just to grab some water.
The next day we released our mooring lines and raised the sails, both of them. Our genoa was repaired and helping to drive us the last few miles into Les Saints, Guadaloupe. We rounded Pointe Boisjoli to see Fort Napoleon sitting atop a high hill overlooking all the island of Les Saints. We took up a mooring ball in the Le Bourg anchorage. This mooring field is managed by Les Saints Management (LSM). Although there is a not insignificant charge for the mooring use, we were glad to be here. We were even luckier with our specific mooring ball. We tied up about 100 feet away from the wreck of the Lynndy. The Lynndy is a wrecked passenger vessel that was sunk during a hurricane. It is now marked with two yellow crossed buoys. The wreck sits about 10 meters below the surface and can be reached with snorkel gear. It was awesome to be able to jump right off the back of our home and snorkel a shipwreck.
Once we were settled we hung some Christmas lights up to celebrate the season. We spent Christmas Eve aboard S/V Smitty with the crews of S/V See Ya! and S/V Everlong. Stacey put together some great food, we all had plenty of drinks, and lots of laughs. This was our first holiday season living aboard. It is amazing to be in a tropical paradise for Christmas Eve surrounded by good friends, beautiful sites, and 360 degree waterfront views.
The next day was Christmas aboard Unwritten Timeline. All four crews came together again to celebrate the holiday. Every crew brought over fantastic foods, and loads of laughter. Between all the crews we managed to put together a traditional Christmas dinner with all the sides. The party ran well into the night. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. We even had a couple party crashers show up for a bit to take part in the fun. Late that night, or early the next morning depending on your point of view, the party broke up. Our guests took their tenders back to their boats and Lisa and I picked up a little bit and went to sleep.
The next few days we would get in some great hikes, our first official beach bonfire and get ready for new destinations.