Hawaii Vibes – Kihei, Hawaii, USA, December 3, 2024
Hawaii is a special place. Not only is it beautiful all the time, but we have a nice little condo right on the beach. It’s whale season on top of everything else! Now the only reason we have not decided to move here is because it is far away from everything and seriously expensive. The average home price is about $1M. We started our adventure by only planning to spend 2 weeks here, but we are now at 5 weeks and are having a difficult time leaving. Our days have been spent hiking the volcanos, snorkeling across the street in “turtle town,” driving the road to Hana, whale watching, visiting the lava tube and lavender farm, hiking the lava fields, and so much more!
Coral fields are amazing just steps from our condoThen we need to talk about the endless stream of turtlesOnce above water we explored lava tubes. Then had to explore the endless number of water falls. For something different we hiked a lava field. Then there was the volcano adventure at 10k feetOn the Hana highway we explored the rainbow treesNo words.
But most of all we spent each night on our little patio watching the sunset and whales. To say the least, we absolutely love it here and certainly plan to come back at some point. Today’s adventure involves driving down to see the surfers since there is “dangerous shore break” and we decided snorkeling wasn’t a great idea. We will get to see more black sand beaches and whales.
I would imagine this is a middle finger to the tour boat chasing him. Then the whole sunset obsession.
The Death March – Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, May 2, 2023
Terre-de-Haute is a lovely little seaside community in a terrific anchorage. It is definitely the touristy part of Guadeloupe but very safe and nice to walk around. On day one here we decided to do a hike marked “moderate to hard” on the all trails map, which what we have used to guide us on all our hikes so far. Note to self, their scale of moderate to hard is different than the “Campbell Scale” (our ability rating scale). The hike was named “Le Pain” and it definitely was! It was 5.5 miles with final elevation of 1,210 feet straight up! Basically, we spent the next 2.5 hours hiking up a steep rocky off-road path up to a little set of ruins. Apparently, this little set of islands has changed hands many times between France, Spain, and Britain due to its strategic location but in the end landed with the French. It was by far the most challenging hike we have done this season and brought both of us to our limits. At least when we got to the top, the views were worth it!
Le pain? Sure seems easy. This is steeper then it appears. Almost to topHe said we would die. Notice to two younger people exhausted. The views incredible. On top of the world. Paved road down thankfully!
Funny story on the way to the trail we passed a little house with about a dozen bird cages one of which was home to a parrot. The only word the parrot knew was “asshole.” Pretty funny as we walk by, he calls Ron an “asshole.” We got a good laugh our of that one.
After that we took a couple days to snorkel which was fun since Guadeloupe is a volcanic mountainous island and the coral against the black sand was really pretty. I haven’t seen this since Hawaii many years ago. The amazing thing here is how big some of the sponges are. They are as big as me! It was kind of nuts but the water is clear and warm as bath water.
Huge sponges
On our next hike we ended up going to Fort Napolean which was a nice little history lesson. It was not nearly as difficult but still a nice little uphill walk. The fort was cool but sadly all the explanations were in French so I ended up doing a little reading when we got home to interpret what I had just seen. The fort itself was huge and the first moat I have seen. Pretty cool overall with a brick oven, cistern, and slits in the stone for gun protection.
Very well preservedFort offered great viewsSo many slaves on board. Humans suck
We had intended to head over to Dominica the next day but not realizing it was a holiday, we did not get to check out. Who know the French Labor Day was on May 1st. We waited and headed to Dominica the following day. The nature island is awaiting.
When Nothing Works – Lanyard Cay, Bahamas, November 26, 2022
We finished up a few days in Hopetown and were able to fix our starter battery issue which was great! So, when the weather cleared, we were ready to get away from all the charter boats in Hopetown and anchor out for a few days. Being a holiday week, everyone who thought about sailing drops $20K and rents a boat they have no idea how to drive! It isn’t that big a deal except they ended up mooring right next to us and with 30+ MPH winds, the fact they don’t tie up correctly is a bit scary. But we made it out alive and the boat unscathed. Ron ended up having to go over and help one of them moore since they simply couldn’t get it. EEK!
Anyway, we spent Thanksgiving in Pelican Cay which is a protected reef and a place we had not been before and decided to snokel. The current was no joke and we had about 4-foot rolling waves. A good workout indeed! It was amazing and one of the best reefs we have seen together. The visibility wasn’t great but the coral life there was very healthy, and we saw huge starfish, huge spotted eagle rays, a few turtles and a rare school of cuddlefish! It was a bit cold but well worth going. We also headed back to “the bight” which is a shallow area full of sting rays and turbo turtles. They are called turbo turtles because as soon as they see you they dart off faster then any turtle should be able to swim. The “bight” is also home of numerous blue holes. These are basically sink holes that open up and are extremely deep so you can not see the bottom. Some even open to the ocean and can have weird currents flowing around them depending upon the tide so care must be taken not to get sucked into them.
We were thinking about heading down to Eleuthera in the next few days but decided to wait til Monday. In the meantime, we needed to make some water and that is when the wheels fell off the bus…the generator was first.
Ron ended up replacing the pull cord again, taking it apart and cleaning everything with brake cleaner since he ran out of carburetor cleaner the last time he fixed it. No sooner had he got that running (an hour later) …then the water maker quit. So, Sailing Hubby has a bit of a temper when he fixes the same thing multiple times, but our generator was left up front and it is all rusted and barely running. This has come to the top of the replacement list. Besides, I learned a few new cuss words today as he was threatening to toss the generator in the ocean. He’s very creative in his rants. I’ll chalk that one up to life skills. Poor guy.
After fixing everything he touched, replacing the impeller on the water maker, he finally got all the pieces working at the same time only to discover the generator was no longer generating any power even when it ran. I’m not sure why he was afraid he’d be bored this morning. Living on a boat certainly makes you appreciate you water and power!
We decided to relax and watch the OSU Game, however that required a bit of work on the fire-stick. I’m sad after watching my buckeyes get beat by Michigan and now all that’s left is to visit Pete’s Pub. I think Hubby has earned his beer after this morning. Pete’s is a legendary art gallery and pub combination (more than one way to get visitors) although I am not sure why as it was a bit underwhelming. The art is cool though and all bronze sculpture and made into everything from coffee tables, statues, to jewelry. So we had a couple token beers collected a million insect bites and headed home. Heading home at dusk into the 4 foot swells that ran across the bay topped off an adventurous day.
This could be yours for $80kInteresting chain of life.
Cement Donkeys 