What a great week! This was our early Xmas get together with Sean & Laura and Tristan & Dom. We hadn’t spent much time with any of them over the last 18 months so to have a whole week together was special.
Club Med has been a favourite of Judy and I since 2004, and the boys had been to a number of them, including Sean working on the beach as a sailing Instructor at Punta Cana 10 years ago. But neither Laura or Dom had been to one before and we were really hoping they would like it.
Those who have been to Club Med know that it is not your typical all-inclusive. Much more active, social, and fun. And a big, beautifully landscaped, low density property. Being a French resort company, good food is also very important.
Judy and I stayed in the adult only Zen Oasis area which provides a more quiet pool that we could all make use of in the late afternoon.
We did golf instruction in the morning, and sailed in the afternoon. Tristan and Sean also took tennis lessons, and Tristan, Dom and Laura did trapeze. What a thrill! Aqua-gym was also a good workout.
Of course they also had shows in the evening, but our late dinner hour compromised seeing all of the shows.
This was a special visit for Sean as he was able to reconnect with a number of the GO’s (gentile organizers) that he worked with 10 years ago.
The sailing was great, with 15 to 25 knots of wind most of the time. Finally, strong winds that were desirable! And with 30C temps all week, capsizing a boat due to the wind periodically was not unpleasant.
This club uses lasers, rather than the more typical Hobie-cats, which makes for very active sailing.
Dom and Laura both wanted to learn to sail so Greg took Dom out one afternoon and Sean took Laura out a number of times. And yes, Dom did have control of the boat for a while. This pic was taken after we had swapped helmsman roles a few times.
We even had a turtle nest hatching one night. While at dinner in the beachfront restaurant one of the sailing crew came by and let us know. So of course we also hustled out to the beach to watch them paddle thru the sand to get to the water. Very cute.
Heading back to the boat was a bit of an adventure. With the new US Covid rules, we had to present 5 sets of documents for check-in and boarding. Passports of course, plus DR immigration exit clearance, negative Covid test, proof of vaccination, and a US attestation form. All went well though, and overall a fairly comforting travel experience.
Back in Vero Beach, we spent a couple of days to re-provision the boat, retrieve an alternator that had been dropped off for service, and relaxing by the pool. This really is a nice marina.
From here we will work our way south slowly to Palm Beach area, where we will spend a week over Xmas. Tristan will join us, and we will be close to Dom’s family’s place. And compared to two years go here, the weather forecast is great. Then on to Key West. Yea!
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