From: Fred &Phyllis Denton <denton@flash.net>
To: Crews List <denton@flash.net>
Date: Friday, March 01, 2002 3:58 PM
Subject: Crew's Letter #02 2002 Caribbean Cruise Part 2

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

The 2002 season is taking shape. We are on our way to Corfu later this
month.
2002 Season.
April - Corfu --> Peloponnisos --> Crete
**************** April 15 to 29 is booked
May - Crete --> Rhodes
**************** May 15 to June 10 is booked
June - Rhodes --> Turkey
**************** June 13 to 28 is booked
July - August - Turkey
September - October - Istanbul --> Corfu

**************************************************************************
************ Guadeloupe to Martinique -- A Trip Report ******************
**************************** Part 2 **************************************

The arrival in Prince Rupert Bay was an event. Our anchorage secure. A French boat, Panglosse, nearby was a liveaboard that had recently completed her transatlantic. They invited us for drinks and suggested that we hire a van and a guide for a day of island sightseeing. The next morning
"Lawrence of Arabia" came for us by outboard launch and delivered us to Portsmouth. There the guide and van driver, The Shadow Warrior, loaded us into the van and described the 6 hour tour he had planned. It included the Atlantic beaches, the Caribe Reservation, road side markets for crafts and produce, a visit to a rain forest, waterfall, lunch and a drive back up the Caribbean Sea shore. It was a day well spent. By the time the water taxi, "Lawrence of Arabia" again, returned us to Gypsy Queen, we were ready to relax for the rest <pun intended> of the day.
The galley of Gypsy Queen was both well stocked and well managed. This
boat didn't have a cook. It had a chef. The food that came out of was excellent. Stroganoff, seafood Alfredo, rum nut ice cream crepes, good wines, gentleman Jack and varied fruits and vegetables made eating aboard a joy.
The water maker arrangement was a great solution to several liveaboard problems. _ Water makers must either be run frequently or pickled between uses. _ The pickling process is a complication. _ Water makers can be contaminated by polluted seawater water close to shore. _ The fresh water that is available at marinas and fuel docks is often questionable as drinking water. - Once polluted, the fresh water tanks my never get really clean.
The Gypsy Queen solution, when not at sea is to filter the fresh water
tank water into a special drinking water tank. A special tank for drinking water, two valves and a careful switch over procedure is all it takes.
The passage from Dominica to Martinique was uneventful. First stop, St Pietre. A volcano destroyed this town of 30,000 in 1902. The day after It was a small village of 3,000. It still is. The  museum that documents the before and after is very interesting.
Forte de France was a short sail south. There we arranged a ferry trip back to Guadeloupe to meet our plane connection to Dallas. The trip south had taken 4 rather full days of sailing. The trip back was 3 1/2 hours by High-Speed Catamaran.
YOU ARE NOT PARANOID IF THEY REALLY ARE OUT TO GET YOU. Throughout the cruise, there was an underlying mood of theft. The morning Caribbean Weather Report was bracketed with "Lock It or Loose It." The dinghy and outboard was locked in the davits and at the dock. The cabin
was locked every time we left. This is the negative that Mediterranean yachtsmen had warned us of. Caribbean yachtsmen live with it. Paradise is in a ghetto. The disparity of wealth is no different in Croatia or Greece, but the morals are. When we come west, we will have to cope. Meanwhile,
it is a joy to meet the local people of the islands we cruise with trust and respect.
This cruise was good fun and very informative. The Montgomery's are graceful hosts and we now count them as good friends. We hope they will join us in Turkey this summer.

Keep a Tight Luff,
Phyl and Fred

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