Fruitful Paradise

 This is a piece of land that looks like a pancake from a distance. Marie Galante is considered flat but still has an elevation between 300-600 feet in various places. It is densely green and the trees and bushes seem taller than other places. During the couple of hikes we did, many sugar fields were observed. Our guest, Nico, cut down  some sugar cane sticks, peeled away the hard skin, to chew and suck on the fibers full of sweet water, just like the locals do. In addition, we saw many fruit trees that had fruits ripened and ready to be picked. Fruit trees are everywhere and before picking any fruits, we always make sure it’s not on someone’s property. Here in Marie Galante we were lucky to find random lemon, banana, papaya, mango, and coconut trees and we collected many of them. 

In Marie Galante, you also see tons of pigs. Almost every mango tree has a pig tied up underneath. Then there are oxes and cows! We have not witnessed so many pigs, oxes, and cows in one single island. The pigs seem friendly and some of them walked toward us like they needed petting! We saw big and small pigs, white, black and spotted. Some of the sugar cane transportation on the island is still on ox carriages. Watch out and make sure you are not in the way because these ox are so big that they could crush anything in their path. Moreover, I found my bamboo stick that was misplaced last year. We use to have a stick that was used as an extension for the outboard handle and dinghy depth finder. Now we have attained a new one made in Marie Galante!

                                                  As a cruiser and traveller, you see the most beautiful beaches on these Caribbean Islands. Some of the islands are surrounded by long white beaches and some have very few beaches. In Basse Terre, which is the mountainous part of Guadeloupe the very few beaches have dark sand. In Marie Galante beaches are more white and soft and long. Based on experience, low elevated islands have beautiful long white beaches and higher elevated islands don’t have as many and they are smaller.  

I mentioned that it’s difficult to connect with locals in the French Islands if you don’t speak French. We finally got to connect with some locals through Nico. Apparently, Guadeloupe has a large Lebanese community. In Point a Pitre, many store fronts are owned by Lebanese that have been settled here for over 50 years. Nico got to talk to some of them in Arabic and we were able to socialize. After all, we are all the same and different languages and cultures should not separate us! Our differences should be attracting us to one another and this is the beautiful part of Earthlings!

Right now we are in Dominica and going to explore this attractive land for the next couple of weeks.

Love from a fruitful paradise

Please check out the photo album of Guadeloupe on the fb page!

Guests Aboard

This lifestyle is unique and I feel very fortunate to live it. Very often, I wonder why aren’t more people living their lives this way? I wish more friends and family could join us, at least for a little while. But land life is keeping everyone so busy and tied up that flying to the Caribbean appears worlds away! Company aboard is great and I would like to share this experience with others! We haven’t had anyone visit since Dominican Republic (April 2011), before the last hurricane season. In the Virgin Islands, Tony stayed aboard for a few days but he already lives in the Caribbean, has a sailboat, and has been a cruiser.
Nico is our current visitor, a long time friend from Chicago. He contacted us a few weeks ago, bought a one way ticket and will be here for a few weeks. That is ideally the best way to visit us. For most of our friends and family it has been difficult to coordinate when and where to meet because they want to buy airfare a couple months in advance. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly where we are going to be then. We can usually  predict 2-3 weeks in advance where to meet. When friends want to come visit, they can choose either the time or the location, not both. When you choose the time, we will be able to tell you 2 weeks prior to that where we are going to be. If you choose the location, then we’ll tell you 2-3 weeks before we get to that specific location.

Most people can’t take a lot of time off from their jobs! If you really want to experience Earthling lifestyle, you have to come here at least for a couple of weeks. Then you will be able to experience passages to new islands, hiking, fishing, snorkeling, camping, and so forth. Last year, two of my friends flew in to Miami and we sailed to the Bahamas together and they flew out of Nassau. During the 3 weeks visit they got to experience the full-time live aboard lifestyle.
Having a guest aboard is also nice since they become crew and take certain responsibilities. Nico cooked breakfast this morning and he made dinner the other night, which was delicious. Having company is great since Kelly and I don’t have to keep each other entertained all the time! 

 Earthling is also like a school. When first time sailors come aboard, they have a lot to learn. This starts with getting in and out of the dinghy, especially Earthling 8.8, a hard dinghy, which is very unstable! The other knowledge to gain is nautical/boat terms. You will also learn how to sail, how to maintain a boat, how to anchor, how to troll and fish, and basically how to live aboard. You will also adapt to our sleep schedule, which is going to bed early and waking up early.   

Having a visitor aboard can also have its downsides. For instance, we can’t predict if our guest is going to have a problem with motion sickness or not!  As a captain it feels terrible to have a crew/guest that would be sick during a passage. The person’s experience might be worse than expected! The average space per person becomes less on the boat, especially when you live on a relatively small boat. For us, it’s easier in the small space since we are used to it. But our guest might be cramped in this limited space. The level of privacy is definitely reduced and it’s important to be comfortable living in a minimum amount of clothing. Sometimes I wish we were cruising on a larger boat where I could offer a full size berth with closet space, head, shower, and at least a door for our guests. However, the way we live right now makes it more cozy and communal. Our accommodations might be a challenge for our guest, such as the lack of unlimited running water and electricity. We shower in the salt water and rinse off with the 5 gallon solar shower, which should be enough for 3 showers each. Also, all electronics get charged during the day when the sun is strongest and the batteries are full.

There is a time and place for high maintenance and Earthling is not the place!!    

Right now we are in Marie Galante and we are planning to sail to Dominica within the next couple of days! 

Love from Marie Galante