Echo Days 9 & 10: Gustavia and Ile Fourchue
Day 9: Written by Avery White
Today we had an early wake up at 7:00 followed by a breakfast buffet. Immediately after breakfast we moved from the Gustavia anchorage to the Gustavia docks. After docking and cleaning up breakfast, we headed to town to explore the local shops. We all enjoyed walking through the town and admiring the famous red roofs.
We then met back at the boat to pack a lunch for the afternoon. After packing up some sandwiches, we hopped into our two car rentals and headed for the beach. We first went to Shell Beach. There, we relaxed on shore, ate our sandwiches, and swam to a six meter rock jump. When we left Shell Beach, we drove to the east side of the island to go to an overlook that allowed us to get a good view of the whole island. We then hit another beach. There, we played frisbee and built a sandcastle. We drove around a little more on the east side and admired the beauty of the island. We then made our way back to the boat and began showers. After we were all fresh and clean, we made and ate a yummy dinner of carbonara.
Day 10: Written by Henry Joslin-Davis
Day ten was filled to the brim with exciting events like the days leading up to it. We began the day at seven o’clock sharp and immediately started breakfast prep. Since the boat was low on provisioning, a few of us left docks and went across the street to a French supermarket where we got the last few ingredients for breakfast burritos. After breakfast, the whole boat went to explore the town of Gustavia for an hour. Then it was back to boats for pre-departure checks. It was a short motor sail from St. Bart’s to the island Ile Fourchue. We spent a few hours there snorkeling, hiking and exploring the island. Some of us went to the top of the tallest peak while others saw a baby reef shark during a snorkel! After a tasty pesto pasta lunch, the boat did a thorough lunch clean and pre-departure check for the five hour sail to Saba Island. The sail was particularly rocky due to some pretty large waves. The crew started off strong getting the sails up but eventually everyone was napping either below decks or above, trying to combat the rocking waves and sea sickness. After a recharging nap, the entire crew was energized by the end of the sail. We ended the sail with a lovely sunset and some chill techno music. After picking up a mooring ball, we began boat showers and dinner prep. Dinner was an amazing batch of steak tacos which we inhaled. Then we ended the day with a deep boat clean and boat meeting. All in all, it was a wonderful day!
