'Twas the week before Christmas...

It doesn't FEEL like the week before Christmas. 30C, palm trees and pelicans.

It was a busy week but not in the way it has been for most of our friends and families. Monday was our big adventure of going into San Juan to do some shopping. The lady at car rental agency told us we wouldn't know that there was a recession happening. She was right! Plaza Las Americas was completely insane - people shopping up a storm. It was good to get back to the boat and quiet Palmas.

There was a commercial being shot in the parking lot at the marina. Squealing tires of a Mustang. The Producer and I chatted a while and he had lots of suggestions of places to eat here in PR as well as St. Barths, St. Martin AND Montreal. :-)

I started a journal for myself using up different papers, bags and labels from the last few months. Also put my handmade nutmeg paper to use finally! I've sewn it twice already and haven't been happy with it. Try and try again.

Happy Solstice. Feliz Navidad and Ano Nuevo. xo

FOUR iguanas on the dock this morning! And we saw some sort of eel in the marina too - could have been a moray. I forgot to bring my camera with me on our walk to the plaza for a coffee - gorgeous orchids and a really amazing 4 inch caterpillar. Maybe next time! Excellent cappuccino.

No Soup For You!

Despite the mush burning a little on the bottom the soup turned out delicious as usual. Very thick like baby food so quite filling. Mmmm.

And in other news... I GOT A NEW CAMERA. Big deal and I'm thrilled with it. The iguanas and pelicans haven't been cooperating but I did mange to get a shot of one of the dudes that lives near the boat.

How do you say 'Yam' in Twi?

I was in the middle of making Sue's African Yam Soup when it occured to me that I CAN take a photo. My reliable little Macbook! So here's the early stages of the soup in progress. I'm making it in honour of Scott heading off on his adventure to Ghana today.

Feliz Navidad...not quite.

Day 6 in PR. Still decompressing from November. Getting some rest but still lots to do on the boat. Had another long walk on the beach nearby - which I feel in my calves! Thankfully a breeze has come up so it isn't quite as stifling.

We had a rental car for the first two days and did some exploring. Discovered that you can't get to the El Yunque National Rainforest from here; have to approach it from the north. Found a MALL which we thoroughly investigated. :-) Also found Ralph's Food Warehouse! Wow...big and friendly. I'm already dreaming of PLAZAS LAS AMERICAS..... Biggest mall in the Caribbean. Hey, I have to buy a new camera.

So back to cleaning! There are Christmas decorations up at the marina but none aboard. Hope to have photos of our lizard friends....soon. Thanks for checking in. xo

School of Hard Knocks

When do we graduate from that school? Been a long week. After two hectic days in the BVI's we had a flat motor to Culebra. I had only been once before (with BFB) and loved it. Quaint beautiful little island 30 miles (?) east of Puerto Rico. We have friends (a couple) who usually spend their winters there & managed to make contact with her. It was a bittersweet reunion with them as he is quite ill and hardly remembers his sailing days. Then as we left after a visit there, I realized I didn't have my camera. I'd left it in the taxi van...black bag on black seat. I called the driver but he or his last fares were not honest.

That was my baby....but in an attempt to 'get over it' I am thinking about the NEW one I will get. And to add to this tragedy Michel's camera died a few days ago. What's up with that?

Palmas del Mar is lovely and it looks like a great place to spend December. Sorry...no photos. Sigh.

Quick Stop "home"

A short visit in Tortola - minor boat repairs, banking, bills, etc. Busy and not much to say. Great to catch up with folks.

St. Martin was good but looking forward to returning to really find some good shopping and dining.

Off to Culebra and Puerto Rico next.

Saintes & St. Barts

Glimpses at Iles des Saintes - a sign at the end of the runway on Terre D'en Haut and some laundry. :-)

West Indian building in St. Barths (St. Barthelemy).

And they ate...Et ils ont mange

Heading north but it isn’t getting any cooler! Nor is the wind improving - doing a lot of motoring.

Iles des Saintes was wonderful as usual. This is one of my favorite spots - a super combination of West Indies and France. We ate pain au chocolat, bagettes, fresh fish and veggies. La Triangle on Terre D’en Haut is a tiny place right on the beach that you enter by a long 24” alley. I had the best plaintains ever! Also tried a new place called L’Insolente - excellent tapas. Pushed the envelope and ordered Chatroux bourguignon...that would be octopus. I’m glad I did it...once. :-)

Speaking of food, since this seems to be the theme. We were meant to BBQ chicken while at anchor in Roseau. We had torrential rain all evening which made bbq’ing impossible. It also meant closed hatches, two ovens on at 375F. Oh the joys of yachting. Dinner was a little late but all’s well that ends well (they say). My first time cooking christophenes was a success (delicious white onion sauce with cheese on top).

Last night was sheep leg, or is it leg of lamb. It was difficult to get excited about this as I don’t eat lamb. Had lots of help with cooking it. Made Aunt Eleanor’s Apple Pie Bavaroise which turned out great too.

Well, turns out we’ve got wind for sailing and it is difficult to type at this angle.

(Internet connections too pathetic to upload photos at this time)

PS Mom informs me the pie recipe was D. Hache's! Oops.

Room with a View?

Photos from my porthole: 1: AM in Marin, Martinique. 2: Noordam cruiseship leaving Rosseau, Dominica in the evening. 3: later that evening...the dinghy stowed for the night. Nice.

Long day from Marin to Roseau motoring and sailing but it was quite pleasant. Fishing line was off the stern but nothing caught.

Marin was wonderful - it is such a change from the english speaking islands. Michel and I had another karmic dining experience at Ti Toques. Marlin Tartare was delicious. Experience was excellent.

Nov. 16 All eight of us are going to do a tram ride through the jungle.

Zipping through the Rainforest!

Who knew that I'd be zipping on an 800 ft wire, 150 ft up through a rainforest in St. Lucia! It was sooo cool. There were 11 different lines and two suspension bridges. Had a blast (though wondered if the taxi driver was kidnapping us as we drove for forever on increasingly narrow roads into the 'jungle'!) Treetop Canopy Adventures was a great experience with a really fun well-trained staff.

Other excitement at our dock was the arrival of S/V Ocean Watch. A voyage of enviromental awareness education.

http://www.aroundtheamericas.org/

The crew that gave us a tour of their vessel and toured ours. They were a lot of fun, inspiring and we wished we'd been able to spend more time.

Those were the highlights. The other 98% was, um, working. We head off to Martinique demain. Until the next wifi signal....

Throw off the bowlines...

So we finally left Port Louis Marina, Grenada. Happy to be moving again! I am writing from Marigot Bay in St. Lucia - yet another gorgeous spot. It is so hard to complain (why bother) or get any sypathy when you see this scenery.

We left Grenada and spent one night in Mayreau, SVG (Saint Vincent & the Grenadines). Had a hike up the hill to the little Catholic church and stopped at Dennis' Hide-Away on the way down for a beverage and some fried conch.

Next day we motored around the corner to the Tobago Cays. Stunning place - the most unbelievable turquoise waters and white beaches. We snorkeled in the protected turtle feeding area and were not disappointed. The turtles munched away on the vegetation paying us no mind. Saw groups of 3-5, including the big fella in the photo with a couple of hangers-on. Also snorkeled the reef which was amazing too.

Nov 6- off to Bequia. Anchored in Admiralty Bay. Bequia is a wonderful island - and the town of Port Elizabeth was really buzzing on Friday afternoon when Michel and I went ashore to Customs. Saturday 7th - we loaded up on fresh fruit and the others wandered around town. Group went on The Tour. Michel and Carlos went for a bike ride while I chilled in the internet cafe.

As the gang was leaving for dinner ashore we spotted an octopus swim by the boat a few times! First time any of us have seen one come near the boat - pretty cool!

Sunday 8th - Anchor up at around 6:30AM...sail and motor to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia. We had quiche for lunch en route. Marigot is quite a lovely spot. Hope to post more photos on picasaweb. Michel and I had a fabulous dinner out at the Rain Forest HideAway.

http://www.rainforesthideawaystlucia.com/home.htm

We didn't plan to go there but a ferry pulled up as we got to the end of the dock so we got on. One of the perfect spontaneous nights. Must get back to work and leave my cool, quiet sanctuary.

Tobago Cays- Postponed

We're still in Grenada awaiting the arrival of our last two guests. Plan is to leave on Wednesday AM. Photos while out on errands - my favorite "round-about" in Grenada...love the tires.

Exciting news - I sold the ink and watercolour images I'd done in June to the gift shop here at Port Louis Marina. :-) We did a trade so I got to go shopping! It was great!

Otherwise... busy workin' Hallowe'en was a non-event. Too bad; I do love candy.

She of Little Willpower

I have to start out by saying that it would be dull if I posted photos of us working, which consumes most of our time. These are the highlights of what happens the rest of the time!

Our neighbours on the dock have two sons. One is aspiring to be a bartender so we got to test his product this week. Impressive presentation and tasty too!

Also stopped to visit Michael, The Pan Man who makes steel pan drums by hand. The boys next door are taking lessons.

A hike to the beach again this morning. Due to space restraints I told myself I'd only pick up blue glass or anything really skookum....Didn't work - how can I leave those little gems behind? Photos of things I can't take 'home': This photo is a beautiful crab shell. It is almond season so the beach was covered in shiny red almond 'pods'.

Too hot for Art? ARt who?

Turns out that one other person is reading my blog (thanks BFB!)! So now I feel I should post something new. :-)

The days in Grenada are flying by now, with long lists of work to be done on the boat and a few leisure to-do's. I haven't been to one of the many waterfalls here yet. Been so busy that I haven't done any journaling either. (photo:uninspired stalled page)

Saturday night we went out for dinner on the lightship Vastra Banken at Le Phare Bleu marina. We'd been there in June and it was fantastic. This time was no different. Mark, the chef, does an amazing job and the service is excellent!

Photo: Dinner out - Västra Banken lightship

http://www.lepharebleu.com/en/dining.html

Took the dinghy around to Grand Anse Beach. Gorgeous! Long empty beach of superfine sand; warm turquoise water. (Sorry!)

Noteworthy in the "work" department this week: I winched Michel up the 100 ft mast so he could clean, inspect, de-rust. Always great photos from up there.

Morning walk & beachcombing

I had to hike over the hill for my reward of walking on the beach. The beach has changed but there is still a LOT of seaglass!

I have a problem. :-)

Last Hurrah

Being the Great Procrastinator that I am, I managed to finally get my UV light box (a fabulous job by brother Dave) working. From Mom's Jam room (come Semi-darkroom), to the laundry area I had some decent results. My photo of them isn't the best though.

Then...a short but sweet stop in TO and area for friends and food. Girls Night In, and the most amazing sushi out.

Back to the hot south - Grenada again. Taking "the good with the bad" as Mrs. Ross used to say - the dolphins on our bow definitely make up for the sweltering heat and missing family & friends. Magical!

Artist, Crafter, Gypsy, Sailor, Homeless?

Salt of the Earth Craft Fair:

Sarah (Sarah Branch Pottery), Linda and

Nicole (L'Oiseau Vert)

Tobago Cays

I've been reading "Artful Blogging" magazine which has inspired me to wake up THE BLOG. After Italy...what was I to write? What would be the point of continuing the blog? My life is a confusing mix of sailing around the Caribbean (sound of background violins) and spending time with friends and family in Canada.

Art or Travel? Can it be both?

What inspires me most about the articles in Artful Blogging is the sense of community that the bloggers find. Being of No Fixed Address - I find this appealing. So why not!? The trick will be to find time and wifi.

Andiamo!

A New Year