Caribbean
Flying High in the Tobago Cays
The next island in the Grenadine chain is Canouan. Benny keeps a close eye on noonsite.com, which, among many other things, provides updates on nefarious activities that impact cruisers around the world. Like St. Vincent, Canouan has a reputation for thievery, so, like St. Vincent, we decided to give it a miss. Further down the…
Read MoreBequia & Mustique
When heading south from St. Lucia, the next island you encounter is St. Vincent. Unfortunately, there have been many incidents with cruisers over the last several years involving theft and worse. So sadly, like many other cruisers, we completely bypassed it. St. Vincent is actually just one part of “St. Vincent and the Grenadines”, the…
Read MoreSt. Lucia & Les Pitons
Rodney Bay, on the north-east coast of St. Lucia is a large and popular anchorage with a very protected lagoon and marina. We anchored in the bay and awaited the arrival of Steve and Peri McHale, our great friends from Vancouver. As you move “down-island” (i.e. moving southward through the Leeward and Windward chain), you…
Read MoreVacation in Martinique
Martinique is the first of the Windward Islands. Like Guadeloupe, it is part of France, although it seems more cosmopolitan than its sister to the north. We landed in St. Pierre and cleared customs online in a seaside bar while drinking a couple of large bières françaises. Remember what I said in my previous post…
Read MoreGuadeloupe & Les Saintes – Burnetts Ahoy
Guadeloupe is straight south from Antigua. We made landfall in Deshaies (pronounced Days-ay) and cleared customs at a tee shirt shop. For each new country, you have to “clear-in” when you arrive and then “clear-out” when you leave. It’s time-consuming, but unavoidable. Before you’ve cleared-in, you must fly a solid yellow quarantine flag, commonly called…
Read MoreA Tough Scrape in Antigua
We thought we’d finished all our eastward passages when we got to St. Martin. Heading east means going straight into the trade winds and their associated rough seas. We had forgotten about the Nevis to Antigua passage. It’s due east and that’s where we needed to go next – another 10-hour washing machine ride. When…
Read MoreFour-Wheeling in St. Kitts & Nevis
A “salty sail” is one that features strong winds and significant seas. The passage from St. Barth’s to Saba definitely qualified as a salty sail. The wind was on our aft quarter, so we rocketed across the sea in record time. Brian and Tracy were ensconced in a safe spot near the stern and kept…
Read MoreFour-Wheeling in St. Barth’s
The sail from St. Martin to St. Barth’s (short for Saint Barthélemy) is only a couple of hours. We had bright sunshine all the way and landed a barracuda mid-passage. Barracuda are a sleek, pointy, nasty-piece-of-work. They have a long mouth with a ton of sharp teeth. They are edible, but apparently are bony and…
Read MoreAnguilla & St. Martin
You have probably already guessed that the photo above was not taken in the Caribbean. Just as we were preparing to leave the BVIs for Anguilla, we received a Skype call from our daughter, Lindsay, and her boyfriend, Mike. It was to announce their ENGAGEMENT! Benny and I are beyond delighted and are so thrilled…
Read MoreBritish Virgin Islands (part 2)
Anegada, unlike all the other islands in the BVIs, is as flat as a pancake, just some sand atop a giant coral reef. It is situated to the north-east of the rest of the BVIs and is a 2-hour sail from North Sound. Shortly after picking up a mooring in the main anchorage, we were…
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