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.