By Bill Bisanz | St. Barts
If I could do anything in life, I would sail around the world with my family and dog, experiencing the far-flung lands and cultures of the globe. Exploring the world with my kids and learning about foreign peoples, languages, history and food while travelling along in a floating house, inspires my imagination.
While having young children has considerably slowed my sailing adventures, I’ve been fortunate to get a taste of this seafaring life during my travels where some French friends and I rented sailboats and set out exploring the Mediterranean. A younger man at the time, I often found myself wondering, “how did I get here?” like the time we sailed into the Grand Canal of Venice at sunset. In just a few weeks we would visit small seaside villages, uninhabited rock-lets, inhabited volcanic islands and iconic destinations like Capri. Simply amazing!
It was this sort of curiosity and sense of exploration that was at the heart of my desire to start Elite. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to explore new places with the help of others who had travelled there before. This is a big part of what we are up to at Elite; providing people with the opportunity to explore and learn through travel and sharing of personal experiences.
Lately, I think my favorite place to visit is Saint Barthélemy, or St. Barth’s, the French island located just a short hop away from St. Martin in the Caribbean. St. Barth’s is a small place with only about 8,000 full-time residents, although this number can double during the season when visitors from around the world visit.
My favorite beach on the island is Saline (the non-nude side), and one of the most fun nights one could ever have is a dinner and show at ‘Le Ti.’ Gustavia is the capital and, for me, it is very reminiscent of a Mediterranean seaside village. That’s probably why I like it there so much as it reminds me of my past sailing voyages.
Another dream of mine is to return to St. Barth’s with close friends to enjoy the New Year’s Eve fireworks from aboard a sailboat in Gustavia Harbor.
Un jour bientôt, j’espère ….