San~San Adventures

After Nevis, we were ready to explore Guadeloupe but first we’d have to stop at The Kingdom of Redonda and then through Montserrat. A total of 41 nautical miles south, The Kingdom of Redonda has a really interesting story. Number one, it’s just a rock.

Number two there is no anchorage or civilization at all. There is a discrepancy concerning the current King of Redonda there are several guys claiming the throne. This is what I’ve learned; The Kingdom of Redonda was discovered by none other than… That’s right, good ‘ole Chris (Columbus), he never actually landed but named the island as he passed by. No act of sovereignty actually took place until July of 1865 when this guy ( Matthew Dowdy Shiell) landed and claimed it his own. He bequeathed it to his son who grew up became a popular novelist, then a drunkard and while sitting on the bar stool appointed several clerics and other royal people; other drunkards. Through wills and other real documents and several hundreds of years, there is no one king but 2 men fighting over the Kingdom of Redonda which is really nothing!? Weird huh!

We passed by The Kingdom, as it were, and moved along to anchor in Montserrat. We snorkeled and took pictures with our new underwater camera! Woo hoo!

Some caves in Montserrat.

Spiny sea urchins.

Our first taste of a French Caribbean island was Guadeloupe. In the town of Deshaies, pronounced Day-hey, which was fantastically decorated with quaint shops, neat French cars along with expensive restaurants, skinny streets and many people saying Bonjour. The anchorage was crowded with boats and the town church had a tall steeple and since it was Good Friday we heard the ceremony from the street. The French really do a good Pizza!

Streets of Guadeloupe

Cemetery in Guadeloupe

After Deshaies we moved south along the coast 10 miles, to the area designated as Cousteau National Park. An underwater park founded and funded by Jacques Cousteau who proclaimed the site one of the 10 best dive sites in the world. It was a violently rolly anchorage and we quickly jumped into the water for a snorkel and then into the dinghy to the Pigeon Island location to see the underwater park. It was definitely some of the best snorkeling I have seen. Not so much colors but tons of fish. They look at us like we are just another fish, I imagine them saying, “ Hey Bob, look at the new guy.” We head into to shore to look around, bought some postcards and ate lunch at a little vendor, we were lucky to get served since we don’t speak any French! What a predicament!

We moved south along the coast, about 5 miles, to get a good nights sleep in a less rolly anchorage and found solace in Anse a la Barque. We enjoyed watching Master & Commander in the cockpit! G has engineered our entertainment system up so that we can watch our movies outside without having to run the generator. This is very exciting!

When we are bored… Yes, those are clothespins in her hair!

A huge pirate ship off the coast of Guadeloupe.

Basse Terre, Guadeloupe

Statues at the Market in Basse Terre.

This building in Iles De Saintes is a Dr.’s office, it looks like the bow of the boat, but it’s just a building!

Anchorage at Iles De Saintes.

Next morning, as we are sailing along the coast heading to Basse Terre, the smells of sulfur and trash burning fill the air, you can see little tufts of smoke rising from all over the land. Basse Terre was supposed to be the big town but we arrived on Easter Sunday and there was not a soul in sight until late afternoon when the bakery’s and butcher opened up. Most of these Caribbean islands are Roman Catholic and keep a strict schedule of religious holidays. After lunch we and moved it on down to Iles de Saintes, or The Islands of the Saints. The wind in the channel between Guadeloupe and the Saints was exciting, suddenly we went from 10 knots of wind to 20-25 and we flew across to arrive in time to walk around the island for a couple hours, look at all the boats in the harbor and change anchorages to a more calm nights sleep. We also watched Along Came Polly in the cockpit and slept well. What a good action packed day. We actually changed anchorages 3 times this day, ha!

DOMINICA

Easter Monday, it was off to Dominica, pronounced Dom–e-knee-ka, in the passage from the Saints to Dominica the waves kicked up to about 4′ and the wind was howling at about 20 kph, overall a real nice sail. Upon our approach to anchor in Portsmouth, Albert, a boat boy, introduced himself and offered his services including taking Cap into shore to clear customs, which he then did. This was the beginning of many boat boys to come and I will elaborate later. On shore, we found tons of families scattered along shore screaming, jumping, playing volleyball, eating from several different vendors. This is how Dominicans celebrate Easter and their spring break.

Gia playing with the locals.

A vendor set upon the beach, Grilled Plantains, Barbeque Chicken and Curried Fish!

The Purple Turtle is THE place to hang out in this area, the sand was black here and the waves crashed strongly against the shore while we watched the festivities and ate our lunch. Walked down the main street and saw a neat, old cemetery dating back to the 1800’s, a scene from The Pirate’s of the Caribbean was shot on Dominica’s famous Indian River. The land is the greenest by far we have seen and smells the sweetest, thanks to their over 300 inches of rain per year. Another movie in the cockpit night and off to bed, next stop, Roseau, Dominica.

7 am up and at ‘em! 15 nautical miles south to the capital of Dominica as well as her largest town. 75% of Dominica is heavily wooded rain forest and more than a quarter of the island is protected by law. Most of the tourist drawn to Dominica are Eco-tourists, explorers and adventurers. The government has regulations in place for no high-rise hotels, casinos or all-inclusive resorts. Something to appreciate will be left in the world! There is one cruise ship dock and immediately in front of that are the markets and restaurants and some duty free shops but much less than St. Thomas. We anchored in the far corner as to get an advantage against the rolling current and deep water, next to a gorgeous and meticulously maintained varnished wood hull schooner. Just a short walk from the dinghy dock was the public library where we could check our emails and skim through some books. The Fort Young Hotel, once a military fort constructed in the 1700’s, opened it’s doors to the public in 1964, and caught our attention. A desk marked Tours gave us the information about a tour we read about in one of our books called the Boiling Lake it is deemed a grueling hike that is 3 hours up and 3 hours down. GR, Jenn & Nate signed up for that. We found a great little cafe and ate, explored the different streets and shops and then headed back to the boat.

April 12^th Thursday

Must tell you about this night in Martinique, another French island that we bypassed. Nothing in the cruising guide sounded too spectacular so we decided we would just push it to St. Lucia so we could enjoy the comforts of a marina! This night was Friday the 13^th, I don’t think I knew that at the time but looking back I guess that explains it. After enjoying a nice dinner we put on a movie, meanwhile a small boat comes and anchors right next to us! Anyone and everyone in the community of sailing should know better than that but unfortunately we see it all too often. Anyway, I decided to sleep in the cockpit because it was hot in the cabin, don’t you know I wake up and notice a mast hovering right over us I get up and see this boat 4′ from our stern! I grab the boat hook and call GR and spend the night tapping on their hull with the boat hook and fending them off. We tried flashing the flashlight into the ports and after complete frustration and aggravation we suck up about 50′ of our chain which put us out of harms way. Luckily no harm done and we slept pretty well the rest of the night.

As our tour of the island of St. Kitts came to a close we met some really cool people, Greg and Amy, they were flagging down our taxi driver. We asked Steve, to pull over and pick them up. They hurried inside as began to rain. We get acquainted and find out Greg is a songwriter and they were here to play a concert for a company party. The company paid for all the employees to come to St. Kitts and stay in a hotel and see a concert by none other than Greg and a few other famous singer/songwriters. Greg and Amy were originally looking for a place to eat dinner but we invited them to eat with us. They were so interested in what we were doing sailing and all that we invited them to come back to San~San so they could have some fun! We took the boat for a sail and then spent the evening jumping off the boom into the cool, clear, warm water! What a blast!

They invited us to come see their concert and said to just show up the next night at 7 at the Fort. So we did and what a super fun night, GR got to meet Kim Carnes she sings, “ Betty Davis Eyes”!

They had a fully catered meal, open bar and fireworks! We got to see Greg at work strumming on his guitar and belting out tunes, man he’s good!

Thanks Greg & Amy for a wonderful time and hope to see you again soon!

BEANS & BONFIRES!

Since we last posted, we had a spectacular bonfire on the beach of St. Kitts to say farewell to the island.

During our fire we were able to view some livestock, including a cow, a bull and a monkey all grazing just a little bit away. Our fires are usually spectacular because of the fact that there are plenty of dead limbs or even complete trees lying around and we haul everything we can get our hands on to our spot. Everyone enjoys hunting and gather sticks and logs but the best part is the contest to see how high we can get the flames. For diner we pack our backpacks full of of baked beans and chili, then a whole pack of hot dogs and our drinks. We then find good roasting sticks and widdle the ends to a point, stick the dogs on and watch ‘em burn to a light crisp. Yum! Then we eat the stuff right out of the cans, Yes! We are so piratesque!

*Also, ran Gia up the Mast this day, GR was up the mast working on our steaming light and Gia had been begging to get up there so we let her she loved it!

ABOVE: San~San sailing into Nevis.  Check it out Rail in the water, woo-hoo!

Bright and early we moved on to Nevis (knee-vis), the sister island to St. Kitts, just two miles south. Nevis has a 3 miles stretch of beach called Pinney’s Beach which has become a party beach lined with different restaurant and bars competing against one another for your attention with cold fruity drinks that will knock your flip-flops off. A famous and fun bar was called Sunshine’s, their drink was the Killer Bee. I was told by a local the the alcohol was close to moonshine! It tasted that way and when I started to slur my words I called it quits. To get out of the sun there are several palm frond umbrella covered picnic tables where you can hid your toes in the sand and chat while you gaze out at all the boats at anchor, a completely breathtaking view.

Charlestown is a town with a colorful history, charming buildings made with volcanic stone and brick date back to the 1700’s.

The capital of Nevis, the only hustle and bustle here are the ferries that run back and forth from St. Kitts. Everything was within walking distance and the people here were super nice.

While in town, we found a lovely Internet Cafe and enjoyed a delicious meal while surfing and putting in the previous blog. We purchased some good fruits and veggies from a street vendor. I really love that part, also we’ve tried ice cream from just about every island.

GR & me, sunset sailing! <3

Gia in the Customs Officer hat!

The “Bus”. Walking in downtown Basse Terre, St. Kitts.

Bloody Point, where the river ran red!

Gia with her new pet!

Brimstone Fortress

Black Rocks

March 25^th Sunday morning

Started the engine and found that water was not spitting out of the exhaust which meant our water pump belt was broke. This was one of several delays to come. Since Jenn still had a cell phone that worked we all got to call our friends and family to let them know we’d be offshore for four days to go to Grenada. Since it was Sunday the marine store was closed, so we figured we weren’t going to leave until Monday and we might as well get comfy here. Later that night, we find out the one marine store doesn’t have our belt and we’d have to use the emergency belt. So first thing Monday morning we are at the marina office getting checked out and putting the emergency belt on. We cast off the dock lines around 9:30 am.

After we’d cleared the island and made it offshore we had some trouble with James, 2 aluminum rivets broke. This meant we’d have to hand steer for four days and 400 miles, none of us wanted to do that and the rolling seas were not going to allow us to repair. We turned around and made our way to Buck Island, anchored and diagnosed, now came the order of getting supplies. Green Cay Marina prepared a slip for us and Martin the maintenance man let us borrow his rivet gun. After G fixed the steering vane, James (“home, James”) we walked the docks and found a 50′ Columbia “Arawa” for sale, so we called the broker $150,000. We set up an appointment for that night. It was a gorgeous flush deck, sloop rig with an aft cockpit and slept 6, but the sole was rotting and it was all tore apart. What a shame!

Anyway, that night for dinner we tried a place called The Deep End upon suggestion. When we got there it was just past sunset and the atmosphere was dressy casual, we were intimidated by the pricey menu and sheepishly asked our waitress if they had any burgers, “Sure!”, she replied. So we all order the most delicious burgers we have come to eat since Duffy’s Love Shack in St. Thomas! In case you haven’t noticed GR is a serious Burger Expert, we try burgers everywhere!

LET”S TRY THIS AGAIN!

Tuesday morning March 27^th

9 am, Overcast morning led to pouring rain as we tossed off the dock lines and headed out for our second try at this journey to Grenada. Gia stayed down below and played while the four of us; GR & me, Jenn and Nate got soaked for roughly 24 hours on and off. At first it was a steady rain, so why bother with foul weather gear? We played charades in our bathing suits and listen to C.C.R. as we took turns at the helm. Hmm, I notice that could be taken the wrong way?! We were in our suits because of the rain people!

For our first night watch we took split shifts of six hours for each couple, which we would alternate into 3 hours per person. GR and I picked the first shift from 6pm – 12- pm, so we suited up in our foul weather gear complete with sweats underneath for warmth as the temperature was significantly dropping as the day went on. It would be an understatement to say we were waterlogged! As soon as we closed the companionway the heavens opened up on us! This was pelting, stinging, sideways up from the ground rain! My first attempt at tacking I lost one of our Lewmar winch handles! It didn’t lock in completely and as I cranked it, it just slowly crept out. When I noticed it, I went to catch it and it dropped down into the depths of Davey Jones locker never to be seen again. I was so disappointed in myself! A winch handle is an imperative item, especially when you only have 2 on-board! So I had to run up to the main mast grab the second handle out of the mast winch and run back. Meanwhile, managing to stay on the boat in the 20 knot gusts and pelting rain, dancing over our 10 foot dinghy strapped down on the deck in bare feet! Hello! Wait, there is MORE! After about 3 hours and 3 tacks, I got my fingers caught in between the winch and the sheet for the head sail. OUCH! It hurt like hell at the time but the next day it was fine! I think I was more scared than anything because of the way my whole body jerked from the sail whipping in the wind and my inability to wrap it into the self tailor in time.

Wednesday March 28^th

Morning burst into a glorious, sunny, hot day. It felt great to get dry and sun soaked for a change! Porpoises gave us a show, dancing all around the boat! The emergency belt we put on was breaking every 30 minutes so it was hard to keep the batteries charged. With James, the steering vane, also out of commission we did not want to go any further and decided to pull into the next island. “St. Kitts it is!”

That night G and I did another 6pm- 12pm. We followed the illuminating moon and the constellations that sparkled as we nibbled on our stash of Girl Scout cookies slowly savoring every morsel. That night the wind was so light we were only making 2-3 knots, no good! Around 10 pm G told me to listen for a sound, I thought it sounded like dolphins when they talk to each other, but it was so dark we could see nothing. Hmm? Round midnight we had a hitchhiker, a black bird that hopped along the lifelines. A peaceful night to make up for the treacherous night before. Thank you God.

Thursday March 29^th

St. Kitts is a good introduction to the topography of the Leeward islands. Approximately 23 miles long and 5 miles wide it’s a rough 68 square miles. The island’s highest point is 3,792′ Mt. Liamuiga, a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1692. One of the most unique things about the island is that it’s population of monkeys outnumber the humans, 3:1. Originally intended as pets, Green monkeys have inhabited the island for over 400 years, brought by French settlers with their slaves from East Africa. The main export was and still is sugar cane.

As San~San pulls in closer to the island we noticed the rolling emerald hills and vibrant green farms that encompass the landscape. As soon as we anchored, we got the dinghy in the water and got to the dock to clear customs. Our official tells us to come back at 1pm so we walk along tourist row, duty-free shops boasting rum tastings and discounted prices on lots of exciting things. We just want a cold beer!

Along the way Gia in her famous, outgoing way, tells jokes to all the people we meet. Steve turns out to be a local cab driver and offers to give us a tour of the island, something we intended to do. So he gives us his number and we set up a tour for the following day. He then tells us he’ll take us to where the local flavor is for lunch. SWEET!

This meal included; Stewed Mutton (goat), Baked Mac – N – Cheese, Green Bananas, Rice and Beans and Fish Stew too all for $5.00 USD. O yea, the exchange on money here is about $3 East Caribbean to our $1 USD. Another Score! Steve also took us to the local auto parts store to find another belt for the water pump issue.

Friday March 30^th

Our tour of St. Kitts started at 9 am. The cab is really a little Suzuki mini-van that locals call a bus. On the bus is “RUFFNECK”, each bus is named according to the driver’s personality or nickname. Lots of men in dreads and the colors for St. Kitts and neighboring Nevis’s flag (Knee-vis) are same as Jamaica’s. Cricket is the national sport and this month happened to be the Cricket World Cup. Carib the local beer has a brewery here, we were unable to get a tour. The streets are lined with trees of mangoes, tamarind and avocados. On the island there are public and private schools, everyone must wear a different uniform according to school and grades. The nursing and veterinary colleges come complete with daycare facilities for student’s children. Historic manor and shop, Caribelle Batik,is an awesome facility that makes beautiful clothing and artistic wall hangings in a unique way, by using wax and a tie-dye like technique. The grounds alone were immaculate and lush. The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is an awesome historical site that cannot be missed, I do not have time to recite that pamphlet but in a nutshell www.brimstonehillfortress.org! Steve took us by his family bakery where we got complimentary raisin rolls, DELICIOUS, and 2 loaves of bread. Gia got to meet and hold a real live, 9 month old green monkey! The out island feel is so perfect here, donkey and goats roamed the street as well as pigs and chickens, you can tell that people live and work here. It’s more than just a tourist town! And no perfect untouched island would be complete without a Marriott and golf course, Boo! Anyway, that was our tour! Thanks or joining us!

Look forward to our next entry – Bonfires in St. Kitts and beach bars in Nevis!

St. Thomas Yacht Club - International Rolex Regatta

Iguana just chilling in the marina restaurant!

Duffy’s Love Bar & our new friends!

St. Croix, Fort Christensted, historical downtown area

Gia’s first catch, a Mutton Snapper! Even pulled the hook out herself, notice she’s in her p.j.’s!

*Thursday we cast off the dock lines at about 10:30 am, heading out into the wild blue yonder. We, Jenn and I, both got sick. I was tired of being in the cockpit so I went below decks to my berth and found a comfy place to conk out. When I awoke we were anchoring in Salinas, finally. A very well protected anchorage, it resembles Boot Key Harbour, Marathon, Florida; several live aboard boats in the harbor surrounded by mangroves. Marina De Salinas and several waterfront homes with docks crowded by assorted water toys (boats). Since it was a long and strenuous day at sea GR made pasta, we ate and called it a night.

*Friday morning we woke up and casually set up Winny, the wind generator and covered the sails. After we were finished we noticed a boat just behind us, the man on the bow was trying to raise the head sail by himself. GR and Nate decided to go help after watching the poor guy go round for round in a losing battle. In minutes GR was up the guy’s mast helping him fix his roller furling. Later, GR told us while he was up there he saw 2 manatees! About an hour later the boys were back with stories and a boat card, Tom aboard s/v Rock ‘n Roll, is single-handing back to Cancun. His wife Chris was here until just about 3 days ago, they have sailed from from Florida to Tobago and are now heading back. We needed to get to the nearest Marine store, Larry’s Playa Marina, for a mizzen boom block that broke on our journey. The marina is actually over a mile outside of Salinas proper, but there are several shops within easy walking distance. A Bar-B-Q was happening around 5 pm in the marina and we all decided it was the place to be on a Friday night in Salinas PR. Drinks were cheap and the food was perfect!

*Saturday morning, we planned to do laundry to no avail as the laundry was totally gridlocked. Jenn and I went for a run, just about 3 miles. Along the way we saw the actual heart of the town including a Texaco, Post Office, Gym, Car Rental and a large grocery store conveniently named Grande. Salinas is famous amongst Puerto Ricans for its cockfights, which are legal in Puerto Rico. Jogging down the street we saw many homes have rows of cages with cocks in pens. The town is bursting with brightly painted homes and beautiful plants and flowers growing through the gates. Several stray dogs lay right in the middle of the road. Not much traffic on the roads and everyone was happy to give a wave and say Buenos Dias! The marina where we dinghy into has a great pool. So Jenn and I had no problem jumping right in the pool to cool off after our run. It was 80 degrees at about 10 am this morning! We all met up and had lunch at a little Bakery down the street, delicious Cubano sandwiches(lunch meat on Cuban bread). The flavor in this town was more friendly and family oriented than many of the Bahamas. The sense of love in the community is felt all around. Can’t wait to see the beautiful beaches of Culebra!

A Little History

Isla De Culebra

Sir Henry Morgan and other pirates allegedly used this island as a hideout and legend has it that some of their booty is still buried there! Culebra means Snake in Spanish and the name describes the shape of the island, 7 miles long by 3 miles wide. 2,800 acres of Culebra and her surrounding islets are designated as part of the U.S. National Refuge System. Little development here provides a sanctuary for indigenous plants and animals.

Never made it to Culebra!

*Beginning on Saturday, March 17^th. Saturday night we left the calm harbor off Salinas and made our way to completely, uncomfortable, rolling Media Luna Reef to stage before our midnight departure to St. Thomas, shaved about an hour off our time. Ate dinner and planned to sleep from 8p- 12a before our watch from 12a – 3a, when we would be relieved by Jenn and Nate. Hardly slept a wink before it was time to get up and raised the main, pulled up the anchor and set sail. Weather was as predicted a cool 10 knots with 3 – 4 ft. seas. Once daylight broke it was on and off overcast and warm breezes, wind on our nose pretty much the whole way and motored for mostly all 60 miles. Originally we were heading to Culebra but we fear we may be lagging behind a bit much in our time schedule and decided we wanted to get to the Virgin Islands as soon as possible and why stop to anchor eat and sleep just to get up and do it all again in a couple hours anyway, no one got sick so we took off for St. Thomas. Highpoints of our trip were several Barracuda caught on the line, non of which our edible so if anyone was tracking us they just have to follow the trail of dead ‘cuda. We did however catch 2 King Mackerel which are GREAT eating. Jenn and Nate took care of the slicing and dicing.

Arrived in Charlotte Amalie(named after a Danish Queen) anchorage on Sunday evening around 5p, toasted to our hard work with wine and bean dip!

*Monday morning March 18^th. The mountains here are peppered with homes that boast 360 degree views, they look dangerously carved into the cliffs. At least 12 Cruise ships a week come through this major seaport and drop off guests to shop at duty free prices so the town is crawling with jewelry stores, T-shirts, knick-knack stores and restaurants. The town still has many original Danish buildings, stone alleys and historical sights. We toured the second oldest synagogue in the United States inside it had sand floors which replicated the olden times when Jews needed to worship in secret, the sand keeps their voices from carrying. Some of the sights we toured included Bluebeard’s and Black beard’s Castles as well as the Fort Christian, climbed the 99 steps supposedly made of brick ballast from old pirate ships, the Britannia house; an original 1800 home constructed of Dade county pine built by wealthy French refugees from Haiti then it was owned by British Government hence the name.

*Tuesday morning March 19^th. Gia caught her first fish bright and early at 7:30 am an 18 inch Red Snapper. I also cleaned my first fish. When she first cast I went down below because usually she just flings the pole around until it gets caught in the anchor chain. Well I wasn’t even in the companion way and she was screaming that she had a fish and her pole looked as if it was going to snap. I jumped up and told her to reel him in it took some fight but she did it all by herself she was so excited. So she also ate her first fish for dinner last night complete with her own choice of seasonings, Creole extra spicy! She loves that spicy stuff!

Trade winds are cranking so Winny is keeping our batteries at 12.8 volts or better even with everything running! We left the boat open today for the first time since there is a drought in the area we didn’t even think about rain, but of course during lunch today the old flood gates opened up for about an hour! We ate lunch and moaned about how sad we were about our wet San~San! We took a 2 hour island tour by way of Chevy truck with 3 rows of seating in the bed. Maggie our tour guide explained all the areas and interesting facts but it was so much I don’t think I could regurgitate that much info in one entry! There would be more pictures but to our dismay our camera broke just minutes before the tour began, needless to say we bought another camera today thanks to duty free shopping!

*Thursday, March 22^nd. Moved anchorage to Christmas Cove catty corner from St. Thomas and just a hop skip to St. John. Local claims to have good snorkeling, I didn’t see anything extraordinary though. Very calm compared to Charlotte Amalie! We’ll sleep good tonight! Dinghy across about a mile to St. Thomas Yacht Club to inquire about the Rolex Regatta that starts on Friday. Of course the location of the races are top secret because they don’t want any sailors to have a leg up but we know that at least one of them will be right in front of where we are anchored. After a stop at the Yacht Club we were off to the next bay to find a Marine store with a block for our mizzen mast and some charts of the Leewards and the Windwards. About $400 later we have successfully stocked San~San with all the charts we need to go to Grenada and back. WE ARE SO EXCITED!

Lunch - For lunch we found this awesome little tiki bar & restaurant called Duffy’s Love Shack(duffysloveshack.com), When you walk in you get laced with necklaces and cool drinks like the Shark Tank that is a BIG fishbowl full of liquor complete with extra huge straws and rubber sharks! We ordered burgers that were the best we have had in months. Truly I was stuffed and didn’t eat anything else all day or night. I recommend it to everyone! We skipped on the super huge mixed drinks and stick to beers, we’d have never left! HA! Anyhow, We met these great kids that worked on a cruise ship as entertainers and I could tell it was definatly there passion because hey wee entertaining us with out even trying, singing along to all the great tunes Duffy’s played. And like only Gia can she made fast friends and we took pictures and wish them all the best of luck on there life adventures!

*Friday morning March 23. Ate breakfast a St. Thomas Yacht Club, complimentary yogurt, apples, oranges and bagels, pastries, croissants, cereal, coffee and oj, delicious! All around the energy is flowing. At the front lobby an information desk has been set up, a message board with several small scraps of brightly colored paper scream WILL CREW FOR RUM OR NAKED LADIES! Another bulletin board lists the various names and classes of each race. A booth has been set up to sell Rolex Regatta merchandise, all colors & sizes of t-shirts & hats. Along the beach Hobie cats are being prepped and officials are leaving to set the marks of the course. After our indulgent complimentary meal we pile into the dinghy and make the trek across to San~San.

Christmas Cove has provided many sleep filled nights and pleasurable snorkeling & swimming right off the boat. Once back at the boat we receive an invitation to dine on Ooh-la-la with Captain Pete & Barbara. 11:30 am on Ooh-la-la Barbara introduces us to a new drink like a White Sangria. Recipe calls for Sprite, a bottle of champagne, brandy, orange, lime and splash of cranberry. Delicious! The perfect view of the races was complimented by the VHF radio on channel 72 where contenders and officials communicate injuries and false starts. So over cocktails we enjoyed the regatta as well as Pete’s fine collection of music including steel drums, Spanish guitar and classics like “At Last” by Etta James over a delectable lunch of grilled King Mackerel and spinach salad! Do we feel like royalty or what!

After lunch G and I swam over to a secluded beach to find not sand but a collection of large and small dark colored rocks. Green and black stones peppered the shoreline, I notices they were rather hot and similar to the ones used in Hot Stone massages. So I plopped right down in them and G covered me from neck to toes ! What an awesome experience I think I found my new “happy place”!

Later the night, at the Yacht Club all the sailors(including us) were getting free drink tickets courtesy of Patron (a very expensive tequila). At the merchandise booth I splurge on some items for us. Next on a big screen played the highlights of each race. It was a hoot to see all the teams cheering an jeering one another. To top off the night we danced away all our worries and cares to the Ah We Band complete with trumpet, trombone and 2 vocalists! Life IS Good!

*Sunday morning 6 am. Make ready for sail to St. Croix 34 miles with James our steering wind vane, like an auto-pilot that uses no power. A terrific day full of sunshine and no need to trim the sails made us all fall asleep and get sunburn. Boo! We pulled into St. Croix Marine for fuel and tied up for the night. It was so nice to turn on the a/c after a long hot day. Also the bar was just a hop skip for the dock and a nice cold beer topped off the day!

Gia, Jessica & G.R. our first picture with our new camera.

Buenos dias! Hay alquien aqui que hable ingles?(Is there anybody here who speaks English?)

Currently we are approximately 17 degrees N & 66 degrees Bahia De Ponce (pronounced pon-say) Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club is surrounded by mountainous terrain and crisp ocean. Puerto Rico has 300 miles of coastline. The sky spans wide, the sun shines hot rays that kiss your skin and the breeze blows cool! When you hear Yacht Club you may think of a high dollar stuffy place surrounded by huge yachts and paid crew running around vying for your daughters attention. Not so here. The marina houses mainly sport fishers many of them are washed daily. Roughly 10 boats a day are visited by Spanish speaking men,“Hola,” they say. Then crank up the popular tunes and wash and wax their little hearts out! Don’t be surprised when walking down the docks you may smell the scent of rotting fish because the fishermen just gut them and throw them right in the harbor only they don’t go far! Yum. The Club boasts a Dominoe hall sporting several trophies. Older gents crowd the hall throughout the morning and evening, while the younger blue collar workers crowd them for lunch hour. Very exciting to watch. We took part in some dominoes last night, Gordon beat me and Jenn won once. Plenty of stray cats run around, one gray striped kitty let me pet her head while another calico kitty hissed at Gordon when he put his hand out to her. When dining in the outdoor area several black birds caw at you begging for food. The pool was refreshing to say the least, a little chilly for my taste but Gia was a fish in a past life I swear! What more could we ask for, you say? HA, not much. Here we sit until Thursday, when we will untie our lines and depart Ponce, Puerto Rico and head toward the Virgin Islands. Our first stop being Salinas.

Thursday, March 8^th, 2007

7 pm our time, 6 yours. Just sailed into an anchorage for the night. Did 10 hour today and only made about 25 miles toward destination, Salinas. We probably tacked about 70 miles, we were flying. I was not ready to add this yet but we have Internet here and I am never sure when we will again so here it is. Have tons more to say but will try to get it out from Salinas in a day or two.

Tuesday, March 6^th 2007

Well we made it to Puerto Rico. Much sooner then planned. I figured we would average 4 knots over approx 250 miles. Well we could not sail because we could not make the wind on our nose work. We motored and back winded the main which kept us from rolling all over the place, helped stiffen things up. We averaged just over 6 knots and arrived here 10 hour ahead of schedule but we burned 40 gallons of fuel pushing through the seas and against the wind. Fuel has averaged around 4-5 dollars US per gallon so that will hurt tomorrow when we get fuel.

We left Luperon Harbor at about 6pm on Sunday the 4^th. Beat through the night with about 3-5 foot seas the occasional 6 footer or so, winds blew about 22 and gusted to 28 many times and like I said, right on our nose. Arrived in Escondido, Dominican Republic at about 2:30 on Monday afternoon. Weezy thank you for the recommendation, unfortunately we only were about to stay long enough to get a bath eat some early dinner and catch an hour nap and off we went.

Escondido, this is it. The pictures once again just don’t capture what this place has to offer. I felt like I was in the South Pacific the 2500 foot mountains that drop right into the ocean straight down. The two beaches had coconut palms and caves. I am so excited to go back and actually spend some time there. We anchored and let the anchor back so we were 300 feet from the beach. Next time we will get closer. You can sail 30 feet from the cliffs in 40 foot of water. Next time we are here I will get better photos.

Sadly we did have to leave, about 6:30 we hit the sea again, much calmer this time. Again motoring with the main sail back winded. With the wind on our nose the way it was we could not use James so we had to hand steer the entire way, almost 45 hours. Fortunately the boat is a very good sailer and is well balanced so we could lock the wheel and only had to make minor adjustment every half hour or so. Still LONG nights. Tonight is a much deserved nights sleep. We made a big plate of pasta and some garlic bread to ensure we would pass out.

Tomorrow morning we will get the dinghy off of the deck and into the water and go to clear customs. Then off to Salinas by way of La Parguera, and Ponce.

Wednesday, March 7^th, 2007

Sailing, government, never try to make plans. Slept in this morning, felt great. Got up got moving around, went in to clear customs. Well the guard says, customs is busy you will have to come back at 11:00 and look for me I will see if they are free yet. First plan change. So off we go walking around before we have cleared in. We found a great little place to have lunch then we find a place called “Customs House” we go in and clear customs afterward the man tell us to go back to the other place for immigration and agriculture. We show up the guard is gone and we wonder in anyways. The guy looks at our passports and and takes some info and tells us to go to the customs house we tell him we have been there already he says okay your done. So I had to ask, what reason do we do both of these and he tells me no real reason but he is not going to complain he needs a job. I thought that was great. All that amounted to about 5 hours of wondering around. So much for an early departure. Finally we get out to the boat and are ready to pull up the anchor, up no problem we have the sails out and the motor to get out of the anchorage. The wind picks up a bite after we get away from the land and the motor dies. By now there is a bit of chop and the wind is howling pretty good so we are going to have to find an anchorage on the coast that we can sail into and get anchored with out the motor. Boqueron looks good, we barely make it in at dawn. Out come the tools and in we go. It seems that there is nothing wrong with the engine at all except that it needs fuel to run. Hmmmm who would have thought that an almost empty tank of fuel would be a problem on a boat heeling over 35 to 40 degrees. Good news is there is a fuel dock about 1000 feet ahead of us in the anchorage. We will visit them and take off in the morning.

It’s the little things that make this trip interesting. We learn new things every day. As I am putting the engine compartment together a Jimmy Buffet song came on and summed it up just perfect, “Just another shitty day in paradise”