It’s hard to believe isn’t it? I mean, just hearing the name “Antigua” brings thoughts of palm trees, warm sunny days with cool ocean breezes, hundreds of beautiful beaches, blue skies and aqua water. Who in their right mind would be anxious to leave all that? Why would anyone be impatient with staying in a place that completely fits that description? Well, believe us. We are ready to go. We have places to get to and wanderlust has stricken. We need to get out of here, but the winds and waves have not cooperated over the last couple of weeks. They have held us captive to our Jolly Harbour Marina and we are getting antsy.

Colorful little beach shacks.Just another day at the beach.

Noi had her hair braided a couple of weeks ago and was ready to get rid of the braids and the extensions.  It turned into a three hour group project, but it kept us busy!Diane and Debbie working on the braids.Noi was frizzy when those braids came out, but it’s all back to normal now.We celebrated Larry’s birthday with a lobster bisque dinner followed by cake and ice cream.

We both suffered horrible colds when we arrived back from the states, so if there was good to be said about being here longer than we would have liked, at least we had lots of time to rest. We are feeling better now, thankfully, so to pass the time we have read, played around on the internet when the intermittent Wi-Fi was working, enjoyed happy hours with friends, had a couple of dinners out, traveled to town to buy lobsters and cooked them with our friends, celebrated Larry’s birthday, and, of course, spent time on the beach.

Betty’s Hope is an old sugar mill.  These are remnants of the master’s house.Enjoying our time together.  Left to right, Jack, Jean, Me, John, Carl, and AnnThe goats came to join the picnic area.Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.Eric Clapton’s Antigua home.From the same point as the previous photo, the view from Shirley Heights, the Caribbean Sea.  Large sunset parties are held here every Sunday night.  Cruisers tell us it is too crowded for comfort, but, obviously, it must be gorgeous.  The harbors here are English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour.These are the sail pillars at Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour.Nelson’s Dockyard has museums, shops, and lovely areas to see the mega-yachts docked there.Never beyond a little silliness!!

Yesterday, Tuesday the 17^th, just when we were really getting impatient I received a text from my brother, Jack. He and my sister-in-law, Jean, were traveling on a cruise with another couple.  Their ship was diverted from their planned stop in Montserrat to Antigua because the water was too rough at the anchorage. We were thrilled to be able to meet with them at the cruise dock and take an afternoon tour of the island, guided by our friendly taxi driver, Gene. We had a wonderful time seeing some of the sights we had not yet explored and being with Jack, Jean, Ann, and Carl.

It seems that Friday will finally be the day our little flotilla will pull out of the docks and continue on our northbound trek, and we are all busy stocking the cabinets and freezers again with supplies, completing projects such as oil changes, replenishing battery water, filling water tanks, and other endless tasks that need to be done before we leave. We can’t wait to get going again. Antigua, you were great, but it is time to leave!

One thing we know about cruisers: they all have their own stories. We have met single handers, couples, families, those with pets, those that don’t particularly like pets, those who are taking a break from their careers to cruise while they are young, those that are retired. Some seem to be independently wealthy, some have saved and planned to make their trip enjoyable, and some live on tight budgets. We have met people who have been living on their boats for ten years and some who just cruise part time. Some cruisers have families at home, wherever home may be, and some do not. Everyone decides what is best for them and everyone else completely accepts their choices without question. For us, when Christmas time came around, we knew we needed to be home with our family. We needed hugs from a two, a three, a five, a six, and a nine year old. For John, it had been over a year since he last saw Walt and Rush and almost a year since he last saw Michaela, Carter, and Madison. Top that off with some pretty wonderful children and their spouses or girlfriend and it was time to go home!

December 20^th was my birthday and I was getting the best gift ever. We left Jolly Harbour Marina, here in Antigua, around noon. We felt very comfortable leaving AfterMath as she is docked right next to our friends on Tropical Blend and on Symbiosis, both crews promising to keep an eye on her while we were gone. Our taxi took us to the kennel where Kirby would stay during our trip and then to the small airport here on the island. We flew to JFK and then to Washington Dulles, where Jeff picked us up at 11:30 PM. To say it was good to see him standing there would be an understatement! The following day was spent just having fun with the kids and getting some time to rest and relax.

Rush cuddling with Bop.Buddies forever.  I love Walt’s hand on top of John’s.Waiting for the Metro.That’s a happy little Walter!Walt and Rush getting a sneak peek on those trains.The beautiful displays.Niece Sarah, Jason, and baby Annie.It’s fun to play in the rainbows at the Indian museum.

After catching up on playing with Walt and Rush on Wednesday, we decided to take a trip to Washington D.C. on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Sarah had to work, but Jeff, John and I had great fun taking the boys on their first Metro ride into the city. We decided to visit the Botanical Gardens on the Mall because the annual train display was set up and the boys just love model trains. The display was absolutely gorgeous. Every year the theme changes and this year it commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of National Parks in the U.S. Every building and setting was made of plant material and 45 parks were featured. The boys loved the trains, which included Thomas, his friend Percy, a train shaped like a ladybug, and many other beautiful trains of all sizes. We also had another wonderful treat; our niece, Sarah Koch, and her husband, Jason, along with their new baby, Annie, came to meet us at the Smithsonian.   Annie is just three months old and this was our first time to meet her and give her some cuddles. We all had lunch together at the Indian museum, catching up and having a great time.

Later that night, Jeff and Sarah took us out to dinner for my birthday. When asked what I felt like eating there wasn’t much hesitation. I wanted a good steak! I’m not one to order beef at a restaurant as a rule, but take it from me, there are no good steaks in the Caribbean, either in stores or in restaurants, and sometimes you just want a nice piece of meat! We went to a beautiful old steak house in the center of Annapolis and we all just relished every bite of the best steak and the most delicious potatoes we have ever eaten.

Some serious baking and sneaking bites going on here!

We had another nice lunch out on Friday and, in the evening, we all took the boys to see the lovely and large lighting display on the bay. When we returned home, Walt, Rush and I worked on making some cookies. They both love cooking, especially the measuring and stirring parts! Scooping cookies onto a cookie sheet is especially entertaining. Suffice it to say that more cookie dough ended up in the kids than in the oven!

Little shepherd boy, Rush, with Sarah.The living nativity.

Finally Christmas Eve was upon us. Going to Jeff and Sarah’s little white, picturesque church, singing carols, and especially watching Walt and Rush as shepherds in the live nativity scene was the perfect way to welcome Christmas. It seems like just a few years ago that it was our children in those scenes. Next year they will have a new little boy to attend the service with them, as Sarah is due in April. We couldn’t be more excited.

I’m guessing Santa won’t mind sharing with this little cutie.

After church we had a delicious dinner made by Sarah before the little guys left their cookies for Santa and headed off to bed, hoping to catch a glimpse of those famous reindeer.

Trying out the new roller skates right over the roadblocks created by new toys.Walt got a camera so he was busy taking pictures while rollerskating.  In fact, he took 389 pictures on Christmas day.  I may have competition!This picture makes me laugh!

Well, Walt and Rush missed Santa’s arrival, but he did come, leaving lots of presents under the tree. The day was spent in the traditional fashion of kids playing with gifts, Sarah and me cooking, and getting ready for a turkey dinner with the family and Doris, their au pair, and her boyfriend. We were all stuffed and happy at the end of a perfect Christmas day.

Early Monday morning, Jeff drove us to the airport where we rented a car to drive to Jacksonville to see Kelly and family and Jason, Lisa, and Lisa’s daughter, Ashley, who we had not met before. The drive was a long one with countless delays, but we finally got there around 11:30 PM, so other than getting to see Kelly and Craig and a quick sleepy trip down the stairs by Michaela, we had to wait till morning for the full reunion.

Left to right, Jason, Lisa, Ashley, Michaela, Madison (in front), Kelly, Carter (also in front.Of course, Jason had to go fishing with the kids in the back yard.

Jennifer with MadisonWe loved seeing Rich and Kathy

Tuesday was full of fun when everyone got together again. The first activity of the visit was a traditional trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. Kelly had invited John’s brother, Rich, and his girlfriend, Kathy, along with our niece, Jennifer, for dinner. Rich and Kathy have a home on Amelia Island, which is near to Kelly and Craig’s house, and Jennifer was there for Christmas, visiting from Colorado. We hadn’t seen Jennifer for a few years so it was a real joy to see her again. Because Jennifer, Jason, and I all have birthdays within six days of each other, Jennifer’s being on Christmas and Jason’s being the 26^th, Kelly had a cake for the three of us and we all got to celebrate together.

The glass at the rink is very scratched, but I couldn’t not document this day.  This was Lisa’s first time on skates.  And, as you can see, Jason has turned all Florida and wears only shorts.Madison enjoying the ride with Bop.Kelly, Carter and Craig.  Before we left, Carter was skating without the walker.Ashley was a confident skater – but she sure didn’t feel good.Michaela does great on skates!

The next day, Wednesday, found everyone bundling up for a day of ice-skating at the rink in Jacksonville. I chose to be the official photographer and babysitter for any child who wanted off the ice (translation, I didn’t want to skate) but everyone else donned rented skates and started off. Unfortunately, Ashley, who is pregnant, didn’t feel well and ended up having to go to the hospital. She was fine after some fluids, but we were all sorry she felt so ill and we are happy all is well now. Jason, Lisa, and Ashley left to go back to New Port Richey, where they live, and the rest of us all just relaxed after a good day together.

Madison looks so little by the horses, but she has no fear of them at all.Some of the pre-ride shenanigans!Michaela is so poised on a horse.Carter checking out this horse.These are some friendly horses!  Unfortunately, John did get stepped on by one of them!This guy just kept on resting his head on my shoulder.Maddie always manages to get a little ride in.Jazz seemed to really try to apologize to Michaela after he threw her.  No hard feelings were kept.

Thursday turned out to be a very busy day! Kelly had arranged Michaela’s riding lesson for 10 AM so John and I could go watch. We drove to the stable where she rides and John and I were surprised to see all the horses just loose around us. What fun it was to have those beautiful animals come up to us to be pet and to follow us around as if they were puppies. They were feeling pretty spunky that day and there was a lot of galloping around going on. However, soon Jazz, the horse Michaela was to ride for the day, was saddled up and she was on him, looking so grown up and accomplished. Jazz, however, was feeling a little feisty from all the running around and when Michaela turned him around and started to make him trot, he took off, throwing poor Michaela right off his back. It was her first fall from a horse, and she took it amazingly well. With only a couple of blisters on her hands from the reigns, she decided to stop for the day, but only a few days later she was right back in the saddle.

A good dad.

Driving home from her lesson, after making a stop at our mail forwarding service in Green Cove Springs, the next mishap of the day occurred. On the highway, a car ahead of us hit a metal box, sending it flying into one of Kelly’s tires and making a four-inch slash in the side. Kelly handled it beautifully, carefully getting off the road and into a side street where John got to change the tire for his daughter while Kelly arranged an appointment to get a new tire and the kids and I played happily. The day ended well with the new tire installed and everyone enjoying being together for the last night before we left again for Antigua.

John and Kirby relaxing after our wonderful trip.

Our trip home was easy. We picked up Kirby, got back to the boat, and relaxed with our friends over pizza and drinks. We did both come back with bad colds that we are still trying to shake, but all is well and it was the most wonderful way to spend our Christmas time.

Back in Antigua, it was a ladies’ beach day.

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Debbie and Noi on the beach.

Now we wish all of you good health, peaceful days, and time with friends and family. Live every day to its fullest and treasure those you love. Happy New Year!

Christmas is just around the corner! Ever since we started our Caribbean adventure we have been planning on going back to the states to spend Christmas with our children and their families. But planning a trip back home is not quite the same when you live on a boat. Knowing where you will be a reasonable time before the holidays is a guessing game so making airline reservations is tricky business. Also, there is the problem of needing a place to leave one spoiled Wheaten Terrier while in a foreign country. Thankfully, John kept me calm by reminding me every time I asked that he was “working on it”. Finally, just a few weeks before Christmas, it was determined that we could make it to Antigua for sure, even arriving a couple of weeks early, and there we could leave the boat safely at Jolly Harbour Marina where our friends could keep an eye on it. Also, the Tropical Blend crew have friends who live on the island and they knew of a kennel where Kirby could be happy and healthy while we are gone. So, we left Martinique and made our way to Antigua with fun days and a not so fun experience along the way.

Living on a boat teaches you a respect for nature. While we are lucky to live in this trawler that affords us comfortable and dry quarters regardless of the conditions outside, we still need to watch winds and waves before we move. We are careful when we anchor to be aware of those around us, to know if they are on a mooring, or on their own anchor and we look to see if they use chain or line. However, sometimes the least expected is what happens.

The rains and winds were amazing on November 28th.  This dinghy managed to float away from is boat.  Thankfully it was discovered by its owner who rescued it from his paddle board.

On November 28^th we debated whether or not to leave our anchorage in Grand Anse d’Arlet on Martinique. It turned out to be a horribly rainy day and, although we have the protection of our pilot house we thought the next day would be better for traveling. We knew our anchor was well set and, along with Tropical Blend and Symbiosis, we just settled in for a rainy day in the harbor. All was fine until about 7 PM. At that time, seemingly out of nowhere, a huge wind kicked up that was from the opposite direction from which it had been blowing. AfterMath, and all the other boats in the anchorage turned 180 degrees away from how they had been sitting for the last couple of days. Well, all of the boats except the one next to us! With the wind came big waves and all of the sudden we were approaching the neighboring sailboat way too quickly. Soon we were slamming up against this boat, which had been there since before we arrived. The owner came out and told us that, although it looked like he had been at anchor on a chain, he was really tied to a huge cement block mooring that did not have a mooring ball attached to it. This meant that he did not swing like everyone else in the anchorage did. In trying to separate the boats we found that his chain had gotten wrapped around our stabilizer. We called Larry and Scott from our buddy boats and they kindly and bravely hopped in a dinghy and came over to help, but before they got to us John had managed to ease AfterMath forward enough for us to get untangled. We were still too close to the other boat though so we had to pull anchor and move further out of the anchorage to set again during this horrible and unexpected storm. Both boats did sustain some damage, but for us it was purely cosmetic and we were still fully functional. The other boat will be fine too after some repairs and no one was hurt, but it was just not a good night. Later we found that all of the nearby anchorages had a very hard night too and many boats were dragged and damaged. The power of Mother Nature should never be taken lightly.

Tropical Blend and Symbiosis just ahead of us on our way to Dominica.

Friendly dolphin along the way.Colorful homes in the valleys of Dominica

This windjammer cruiser came in on a rainy, hazy day in Dominica.  I couldn’t resist playing with these photos as the ship looked like a ghost ship at sea.

Passing through a small village in Dominica while on our tour we spotted this lovely lady.Our tour guide took us through small villages all along the way. Rouseau is the largest city on DominicaOur tour guide, Paul.A lovely village church.Everything in the Caribbean is full of color.Just outside the church, on the beach, is this boat building business.  Note the rooster who is overseeing the progress.The beach here bubbles all the time, hence the name, Bubble Beach.  The bubbles are from gasses that escape the ground.  The water was HOT!!The bar at Bubble Beach.  Frangipani caterpillars are huge, but beautiful.Trafalgar Falls in Dominica.  There are two waterfalls here.  This one is known as the father and the one below is the mother.In between the falls is a pool.  Look carefully and you will see people in it.Here are, in order from left to right, Noi, Debbie, Larry, Scott, our guide Paul, and John making their way to the pool between the falls.They enjoyed the refreshing water!Paul trying to look like Moses.Next stop, hot springs.  There are a lot of hot springs in Dominica.  People who have these springs in their yards let tourists come and see them for just a small tip.A very nice young boy who was happy to chat with me.

The next day, our little flotilla moved from Grand Anse d’Arlet to St. Pierre in Martinique in preparation for the next trip to Rupert Bay in Portsmouth on Dominica. Portsmouth has a group of “boat boys” that are part of the Portsmouth Area Yacht Services (PAYS) organization. This organization was formed several years ago after there had been a lot of crime in the anchorage. Now cruisers have very little to worry about when they arrive here. The boat boys help tie boats to moorings and then take very good care of you for your whole stay. If you need a ride to shore, they will take you, if you want a tour, they will arrange it. Last time we were in Portsmouth we needed a refrigerator repairman and our boat boy, Daniel, delivered one to our boat. As we arrived in the anchorage we asked if we could again have Daniel as our boat boy. Minutes later he arrived on his colorful boat and welcomed us back to the island as if we were old and valued friends. The first couple of days on Dominica were dreary and rainy but we did manage to get a nice clear day to take a tour of the island with our friends. Dominica is a beautiful island that has nicknamed itself “The Nature Island”. Our tour guide, Paul, made sure we saw the best of it.

A very crazy brown booby that joined us on our trip.

We left Dominica on December 4^th and traveled to Isle de Saintes in Guadeloupe. On our way a bird known as a brown booby joined us. This bird was with us for well over a half hour and was very entertaining to me, but especially to Kirby. He flew next to the boat, cutting just a couple of feet in front of us, then he would fly about 50 feet away, dive for a fish, and come right back to entertain us over and over again. We have had sea gulls and such follow us, but we have never been quite so closely accompanied by a bird as we were with this one. Needless to say, I was able to get a lot of pictures!

Entering the Isle des Saintes.

The entry into Guadeloupe from the south has to be one of the prettiest entries into a country in the Caribbean. Little islands and beautiful rock formations appear in front of huge mountains covered in green and dotted with colorful villages. It truly is breathtaking to see.

Although we expected to spend a few days in the Isle des Saintes, we noticed that the weather was turning and that what are known as the Christmas Winds seemed to be arriving. Frequently, during the period from early December to mid January, the easterly trade winds here in the Windward Islands become stronger. These winds are called the Christmas Winds. They typically blow for 25-30 knots persisting for several days causing the seas to build to 15 feet or more. They are more wind and waves than we want to handle on AfterMath. By this point we had made our airline reservations to go home to see our family, and we needed to be in Antigua before the 20^th to catch our plane. Because we just couldn’t be sure that there would be another safe window to leave for a while, we left our friends on Tropical Blend and Symbiosis behind and moved to Deshaies on the main island of Guadeloupe. From there, on December 7^th, we made the 40-mile crossing between Guadeloupe and Antigua.

Falmouth at night

The Maltese Falcon

The first harbor in Antigua was English Harbour. It is a pretty place but it didn’t have much room to anchor so, after a brief look around, we moved to Falmouth. Falmouth was a joy. While we were certainly the little kids on the block, we loved seeing the mega-yachts that surrounded us and we enjoyed the beautiful lights they displayed at night. During the day we dinghied around the harbor and looked in awe at the amazing ships there. A boat that had the most interesting masts I had ever seen particularly fascinated me. A quick online investigation and a conversation with our son, Jeff, let me discover that this was a famous sailing yacht called the Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon under sail.

Soon we left Falmouth and started the short, easy journey to Jolly Harbour where we will stay for a month. Our trip was made even more enjoyable when we noticed the Maltese Falcon was on the same route as we were. We watched them hoist their sails and soon they were traveling right next to us.

Christmas photCongee, a delicious Thai breakfast soup.Good times on the dock.Our little tree aboard.It was Christmas at the marina and these three cuties were dressed for the occasion.From right to left, you see AfterMath, Tropical Blend, and Symbiosis.

Just one day after we arrived in Jolly Harbour our friends joined us and we were all able to dock right alongside each other. Since they have arrived we have been having nightly happy hours on the dock, meeting new people, taking a trip to the beach for some Christmas photos, enjoying the marina and the town, and even having a great Thai breakfast treat made by Noi, who is from Thailand. It is so wonderful to be settled again for a little while, but especially wonderful to know that we are going to see our family for the Christmas season. I can’t wait to hug those little ones, and I have heard that Rush is looking forward to “Nana’s special songs” for him. How fun to have someone that likes me to sing!!

To all of you, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year and, as always, we wish you happiness as you follow your dreams, whatever they may be.

Here is where we are today:

The world offers so many places to visit, so many sights to see, and so many people to meet. Of course there is never enough time to do it all. Now, though, on our slow trip north, we are taking in so much that we missed on our way south. The islands are gorgeous and every single stop makes us appreciate the varying cultures and offerings. We will never see it all, but at least we are seeing more.

Beautiful Marigot Bay.  I will always think that this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.Entering Rodney Bay, St. LuciaThe night of the Super Moon.  Buying cucumbers, bananas, and grapefruit from Gregory in Rodney Bay.Riding in the dinghies in Rodney Bay.  Thankfully this pirate ship is as close to the real thing that we have seen along our travels.Evenings in Rodney Bay were unbelievably colorful.

Leaving St. Lucia.  Here is Symbiosis under sail.  I love black and white pictures of sailboats!

After staying in Marigot Bay on St. Lucia for a week we joined up again with our little flotilla in Rodney Bay, also on St. Lucia. Tropical Blend and Symbiosis were getting some work done on their boats, so we decided to have a little change of scenery and wait with them. Rodney Bay’s marina was not as luxurious as Capella Marina in Marigot Bay, but it did offer grocery stores and a small mall in walking distance, little shops, several restaurants, and a swimming pool. Those features made our stay there very enjoyable. Unfortunately, the wifi in Rodney Bay was sadly lacking which is why an earlier post to this blog was impossible. During our time there, we took the dinghies out for a ride, experienced the super moon, swam in the pool, and generally relaxed with our friends. Finally on November 18^th, we left the beautiful island of St. Lucia and steered northward to Martinique.

Going ashore in St. Anne, MartiniqueAt the fish market.The Marketplace in St. Anne

I know, more sunsets, but this is such a classic “sailing off into the sunset” image.I really love silhouettes.  So many little rainbows here.  That’s Tropical Blend in the foreground.Debbie and Larry from Tropical Blend at a beautiful beach on the south end of Martinique.

The Caribbean is so full of color wherever you look.The southern tip of Martinique.Our first stop in Martinique was St. Anne, which is a lovely little French village where shops abound. Of course, only French is spoken and, at times, that limited our purchases and made our lunch orders a gamble, but the local bakery is always stocked with croissants of every variety, sandwiches, sweet breads, and long baguettes that sell for 1 Euro. There is a marketplace on Saturday that is loaded with fruits, vegetables, jars and bottles of mystery contents, meat, flowers, jewelry, clothing and much more. On the way to the marketplace is a stand where fresh caught tuna can be purchased. The heads from the fish are prominently displayed and were offered to our friend Noi for free (she refused). We spent several days in St. Anne before we decided to move a few miles northward to visit a new anchorage.It was Thanksgiving on AfterMath.
And the Thanksgiving rainbow over the anchorage.

We arrived in Grande Anse d’Arlet on Wednesday, November 23^rd. It was a rainy afternoon, but we were ready to relax and start our preparations for Thursday, Thanksgiving! We really missed being home this year, our first ever without any of our family around, but we were lucky to have Debbie and Larry and Scott and Noi with us. The group got together ahead of time to plan our feast, which turned out to be as traditional as it possibly could be while on a tropical French island. Together we came up with deviled egg and shrimp for pre-dinner appetizers, then grapefruit, in the Daigle tradition to start the sit down meal. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans with carrots, and delicious homemade cranberry sauce made up our main course while banana cream pavlova and apple tarts with whipped cream were the desserts. Truly, in the Thanksgiving tradition, everyone was too stuffed to move much after dinner!

The little village at Grande Anse d’Arlet.That’s Larry on the left and John on the right.Debbie and Noi.  This little shop doubles as a laundromat.As I took a little walk I met this kind man.  I asked (in English while showing him my camera) if I could take his picture.  He answered, “Mais, oui!)A  little boat for tourists to see underwater.  Note the windows on the bottom.  Don’t you just want to sing “Yellow Submarine” when you see it?The village from the water.

These photos are courtesy of Scott Neuman as my underwater camera is out of commission.  Thanks to him for sharing these gorgeous shots with us.

Grande Anse d’Arlet is an amazingly beautiful spot. Here the anchorage is completely surrounded by tall hills that drop off sharply into the water. There is a little village at the edge of the water that is one street wide and is lined with casual restaurants and one or two small shops. No one is in a hurry here! Ordering lunch in a café is an affair that easily lasts a couple of hours. There is wonderful snorkeling in this anchorage. Yesterday we swam from the boat to the water’s edge to see the sights. Today we tied our dinghy to Symbiosis and jumped in to see countless starfish, sea cucumbers, various fish, and the star of the show, huge sea turtles. Afterwards we took the dinghies to a huge roped off area reserved for snorkelers. Obviously this is a place that Martinique is protecting for its corals and it was beautiful. Fan coral waved and huge schools of colorful fish darted about. Much of the coral in the Caribbean has lost its color, but here we saw yellows, oranges, reds, and even tiny bits of blues coming back to life. It was a gorgeous spot and we are happy it is being so well protected. Obviously, I am very sad that my underwater camera is not working!

So, for a few more days we will remain in Martinique before making our way to Dominica. We are thinking of all of our friends and family during this holiday weekend, hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and sending wishes that you are taking time to live your dreams.

Here is where we are today.

There is that special feeling. I remember it from when we had a small powerboat on Candlewood Lake. I remember it from Solitude, our 30 foot Hunter sailboat in Connecticut. And I remember it from when we left the dock in Mystic, CT on AfterMath a year and a half ago. It is the feeling that comes with the first day out. It is a feeling of freedom. It is one of no longer being bound to the land. It feels slightly insecure, like riding in a car without a seatbelt, but it feels so amazingly good to be released from solid ground. We are back on the water again. After four months in Grenada with only a couple of weeks of dinghy time while we were there, we are back at sea. It is beautiful and warm and wonderful to be here.

Although we planned to leave our dock on Saturday, we found out Friday evening that we had a little bit of an electrical problem that needed attention before we set out. We called our friendly electrician, Michael, who had done some other work for us in Grenada and he came by Saturday morning. It turned out to be merely a flipped circuit breaker that we didn’t even know existed, so, we just enjoyed the day and changed the plan to leave until Sunday morning.

Following Tropical Blend out of Port LouisLeaving St. George’s, Grenada.The beauty of nature is amazing.Goodbye to the island of Grenada.\Sunset at Sandy Island

Just as we left the tip of Grenada this cloud popped up.  When Becky and Judd were with us on the island we had a great time describing what we saw in the clouds.  I snapped this picture with my phone and immediately sent it to them with the caption of “The Pillsbury Dough Boy Waving his Final Goodbye to us from Grenada”.Sunset at Sandy IslandKirby loves his dinghy rides. The beautiful water around Carriacou.CarriacouA view of Sandy Island off the coast of Carriacou.  Can you find AfterMath?Symbiosis at its mooring.Left to right, Symbiosis, AfterMath, John on Tangent, and Tropical BlendDebbie and Noi tending the fire.Scott walking the beach at Sandy IslandThe beautiful beach at Sandy Island.  And yes, that guy in the distance is clothes free.  Kirby got to run this beach and meet up with him.  Noi was walking with Kirby and had to keep her eyes averted.Debbie and Larry enjoying our potluck dinner.

Sunday was a gorgeous day, with light winds and calm seas. By 8:30 AM the staff of Port Louis Marina was at our boat and at Tropical Blend with our friends Debbie and Larry who were traveling with us. We were untied in short order so we left St. George’s for the last time, finding our friends Noi and Scott on Symbiosis, who had made their way from their anchorage to join us, nearby. The three boats took the short trip to Sandy Island, which is a spit of sand off the island of Carriacou, part of the country of Grenada. We stayed two nights at Sandy Island and while we were there we took the dinghy for a ride, swam, snorkeled, and even had a potluck dinner on shore with a lovely fire constructed and tended by Noi. Unfortunately, my underwater camera stopped working, so the snorkeling was not documented. I will be sending it back to Olympus, but I’m pretty sad that there will be no underwater images until I can get it back.

I looked at this beautiful view while John checked us into St. Vincent.Tropical Blend in Union Island meeting up with a boat boy.Another sunset.  This one at Union Island.And after the sun set, for just a little while before it set too, we were treated to this gorgeous sliver of a moon.

Tuesday found us all on another short hop to Union Island, which is part of St. Vincent. After clearing Immigration and Customs we all dropped our anchors for the night. It was a peaceful anchorage and the water was clear and calm; perfect for an afternoon in the water on the pool float I brought from Bradenton, FL.

Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau

Wednesday we all left and made our way to Mayreau which is also in St. Vincent. The anchorage there, Salt Whistle Bay, is a funny little one; full of boats, shacks on land that offer full meals and music, and lots and lots of boat boys. Boat boys can be annoying to some cruisers as they approach incoming boats before they are even in the bay, wanting to help with anchoring or picking up mooring balls, or selling fish or lobster, or even just getting rid of the ship’s trash. For me, however, I welcome the sight of those colorful little boats coming towards us when we are picking up a mooring. AfterMath’s bow stands high off the water line and my job when mooring is to reach down with a boat hook, pick up the line with a loop hanging on the mooring, and run two lines through the loop, cleating a line to each side of the bow. However, most of the moorings in the Caribbean have no hanging lines, or at least very short ones that do not reach my position on the bow. When the boat boys show up I only need to hand them each bow line separately, and take the ropes back aboard to be cleated. The few dollars we have to give as tips makes the service invaluable to me and I smile when I see those boat boys approaching.

In Mayreau we experienced the most rain we have had on our whole trip. All six of us hopped in dinghies and went to shore for lunch. We no sooner made it to the dinghy dock, which was treacherous with its loose boards that lined it, when the rain began pouring down. The service was very slow at the shack we picked, but we were in no hurry to get back on our dinghies and we had a very enjoyable afternoon watching the rain, enjoying our lunches and keeping each other company for a few hours. Finally the rain let up and, full of delicious food, we climbed back into the dinghies and back to our boats for a restful afternoon and evening.

The Tobago Cays

Sunset over Bequai.  I promise, this is the last sunset for a while.  It’s just so hard to stop!

Thursday came and we all took the very short trip from Mayreau to the Tobago Cays. Here we snorkeled looking for the turtles that live there, but they, unfortunately, seemed to be missing that day. We did see a huge manta ray, lots of puffer fish, too many jellyfish for my liking, and one lionfish. Back on AfterMath, John checked the weather one more time and saw that Saturday would be windy and wavy, not a good combination for me or for Kirby who doesn’t appreciate rough seas any more than I do. Because of the predictions, we decided to continue on to Bequai before the rough seas set in while the others decided to spend a couple more nights at the Tobago Cays. We would have loved to spend longer there, but the reward for being in Bequai on Thursday was that we could make it back to my favorite spot in the islands, Marigot Bay in St. Lucia on Friday. Not much makes me happier than the Capella Resort in Marigot Bay!

Those beautiful Pitons in St. Lucia again.I just love the way the rock swirls around the Piton.This is the volcano we visited last May by land.  You can see the smoke rising as it does constantly.A beautiful resort on St. LuciaHomes nestled on the hillside.The little beach at the entrance of Marigot BayA short dinghy ride back into the Caribbean Sea brought us here.  The homes aren’t much, but the view is phenomenal.

The view from our dock of Capella Resort and Marina.  I love this place!AfterMath at rest for a few days.

We left early on Friday morning and traveled 60 miles to Capella Marina where everyone seemed to remember us from our May visit. They even inquired about Kirby and Jake and we were sad to have to tell them that only Kirby was with us now. Nevertheless, I can happily say that nothing has changed here. The service is impeccable; everyone from the dockhands, to the office staff to the pool staff greets us as if we are their long lost friends. And, of course, I have been happy to be back in the beautiful pools the resort has to offer. We will meet up with our friends again on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, but in the meantime, we will enjoy this beautiful resort where, thankfully, the marina is the eye candy for the hotel. While we pay only $48 a night for our dock, the rooms in the hotel generally run from $650 to $2500 a night during this season and, happily, we get all the same resort privileges.

And so our journey continues. What an experience it has been so far, and how wonderful it continues to be. Now we will stop at islands we have visited before and will spend more time at those we previously just skimmed. We will go to new places that were not on the way during our southward passage but will be on the northward one. All along the way we are finding boats that are now familiar to us from our time in Grenada and it all feels like one big happy family on the water and at the anchorages. It’s hard to believe that we are actually living this life. We do not take this privilege lightly. We continue to live our dream and to wish the same for all of you, whatever your dream may be. And to those of us on the water, we wish you fair winds and calm seas and ask you to be on the lookout for AfterMath as you travel along. We will be waving at you and hoping to get time to visit again.

Here is where we are today:

Tonight is the last night we will be at J Dock in Port Louis Marina.  Tomorrow we will have the bottom scrubbed one last time and then we will move to a temporary dock for the night in preparation for leaving the island on Saturday morning.  I can’t think of a better tribute to show you than by giving you the gift of the faces of some of the wonderful people we have met this past summer.  These are just a few of the amazing locals we found on this tropical island of Grenada.  Enjoy, as we did; it’s been wonderful.

Randy was our first guide on Grenada.  His tour made our whole stay easier as we knew where to go in St. Georges for almost anything we needed.Carnival came and we loved the costumes and the fun, but the best part was the faces of the children.

This little girl’s photo is courtesy of Debbie Gaddy.Cutty is the guide of choice for most cruisers on Grenada.  He knows so much about the island and the plants that grow here.  We took his tour twice!Tillman Thomas is a past Prime Minister of Grenada.  He was jailed during the coup but freed when the United States invaded the island.  We met him on one of Cutty’s tours.My favorite lady at the produce market, Evre.  She would always weigh my vegetables and then add a little more.  A young man we met on our way to the waterfall.  He has amazing eyes, don’t you think?

This lady has just the best face ever.  I had to buy some limes to get her to let me take her picture  but it was well worth the purchase.  I’m sure she would have stories to tell.This is Joseph.  He has a jewelry stand in the market place and actually made Karen a bracelet from some driftwood.  Not much to tell about this man who was really just trying to get me to give him some cash.  I gave him 2 EC but at least got to take his picture!This is the man who let me hold his pet monkey.  He doesn’t ask for any amount, but will take tips if offered.  It was such a thrill to hold that beautiful creature.John works at the marina and never was found without a smile on his face.  We will really miss John.This is John’s wife, Debbie.  We all thought it was fun that they were John and Debbie just like us.Here is John’s daughter, Kayla.  She is 3 and such a beauty.And this is John’s son, Evan.  He is 7 and is just adorable.A family shot at Port Louis Marina.Marlene also works at Port Louis.  She really loves Kirby and never passed him without giving him a pat.  
This little boy was swimming off the dock at Coconuts when Debbie Gaddy shot his picture.  Such a gorgeous child!

So now we say goodbye to all of our friends here.  We thank them for allowing us to feel like Grenada was home and we send hugs and kisses to all of them as we take our leave.  Grenada, you are wonderful.

Grenada is lush in its rainforests, spectacular in its beaches, friendly in its people, and enjoyable in its markets. It is always hot and there is always music playing somewhere nearby. We have made friends here that we treasure, and we have learned to take life slow and easy, if for no other reason than to combat the heat. We love exploring the island by ourselves, but it is even more fun to share our hurricane season home with guests. On October 1^st we were thrilled to have our niece, Karen, and her husband, Josh, come aboard for a week. Karen is my brother Jack’s daughter, and Jack and Jean agreed to babysit for Karen and Josh’s three little boys while their parents made the trip to Grenada to spend some time on AfterMath.

Karen and Josh loved the water right away.A gold spotted eel in the water.  And no, he was not the least bit scary.

We dropped our dinghy, Tangent, into the water to allow us some freedom around the island’s west side on the Caribbean Sea while our company was here. Our first adventure came the day after they landed when, after our now traditional Sunday morning Bloody Marys and baguettes, we headed out to the beach for some steel drum music and a swim at Coconuts. Coconuts is on Grand Anse, the beach that typically is shown in all of the travel brochures for Grenada. We spent a lot of time in the water, and some time having rum punch, before Karen and Josh spotted what appeared to be a snake in the water. Karen, Josh, and I headed back in to check him out and I was lucky enough to be able to get a picture of this beautiful animal which really turned out to be a gold spotted eel looking for a late afternoon snack.

Monday brought us back to the beach. This time we worked our way down the island all the way south on Tangent. It was farther south on the water than John and I had been before and the scenery was gorgeous. On our way back we stopped at Morne Rouge Beach where we snorkeled and found beautiful and huge sea stars. At first Karen wasn’t sure she wanted to touch one, but before long we were all enjoying holding them, and observing the colors and the symmetry they displayed. We carefully replaced each sea star right where we found it and sent it on its way.

Karen and Josh, such a beautiful couple!This is ginger.A real highlight for me!  A juvenile mona monkey.  They live in the rainforest on Grenada and sometimes can be found at the Grand Etang Park parking lot.  Unfortunately we never found one in the wild and this was someone’s pet, but I was thrilled to see it nevertheless.  Karen loved the monkey too.  Allendale waterfall, breathtakingly beautiful.Karen taking the plunge.Next up, Josh.And that’s Josh, entering the water.The gang feeling nice and cool.  Left to right, Josh, Lynne, Marty, Larry, Debby, and Karen.Lunchtime at school.  The children were climbing the cherry tree for a snack.Back at the rum distillery.This old building covered in bougainvillea is so picturesque.  The rums to sample.  Left to right:  Royale is guaranteed to be at least 75% alcohol, the next bottle is made so tourists can take it on a plane and is 69% alcohol (nothing over 70% is allowed on an airplane), then a mango rum punch, and then everyone’s favorite, a chocolate rum punch.John and Marty getting ready to sample the hard stuff.And, Karen takes a taste.I don’t think she liked it!Nope, she really didn’t like it!Petit Anse, another lovely spot.Debby, Larry, Lynne, and MartyThese are cocoa beans being sorted.The grounds on the chocolate factory are just gorgeous.Flowers at the chocolate factory.Petroglyphs along the road

Our neighbors, Debby and Larry on Tropical Blend, had their friends Lynne and Marty visiting at the same time Karen and Josh were here so we arranged another island tour on Tuesday for the eight of us with Cutty, the guide we used with Chris and Sam back in August. Once again we had a wonderful time, seeing the sights and learning about the amazing plants, fruits, and vegetables that grow so freely on Grenada. This time we stopped at Allendale waterfall where some of the group jumped in and took a quick swim in the cool water that travels through the rain forest. We also toured the rum factory again, and for the first time it was running with its 230-year-old water wheel grinding the sugar cane. Probably the highlight of the rum tour was watching Karen sip the rum that is guaranteed to be at least 150 proof. The looks on her face gave everyone something to chuckle about for the rest of the day.

Karen went for a run and some of the locals stopped her to give her a “water nut”.  Unripe coconuts are cut open and the water is a popular drink.  It is good for hydration, which is so important in the heat of Grenada.  Of course, the men opened it for her with their machete.  

We met Joseph at the spice market and he made Karen a bracelet out of drift wood using a candle to heat and bend the wood to fit her wrist.

This is sorrel tea.  At the market I found sorrel flowers that are boiled with bay leaves, cloves, and cinnamon sticks (I used some cinnamon sticks that Cutty had cut from a tree just a few days earlier).  The tea is left to steep for several hours, then it is strained, sugar is added to taste and it is served over ice.  This is a traditional Christmas time drink here and I was afraid we would leave before I could try it, but my favorite lady at the market had a bag of flowers to sell me.  It is delicious and kind of reminds me of a spiced cranberry juice. By the way, you can also add rum to this drink; no surprise in this land of rum!  Surrounding the glass is a spice necklace made by a local person.  It smells wonderful!

Also, while they were here, we went back to the underwater sculpture park, had lunch at the yacht club nearby a couple of times, enjoyed dinner at the restaurants in the marina, and explored the fish, meat, and produce markets. Karen and Josh took a bus to the rainforest and hiked to Seven Sisters, another beautiful waterfall on Grenada. During their stay, we shared lots of laughs, took lots of pictures, swam in the pool, and sat outside in the evening enjoying the clear night air and the lights on the hills surrounding the marina. Their visit was wonderful; we loved having them here with us and were sad to see them leave very early Saturday morning.

Debby and Larry out on Little BlendYou can see the rain in the distance.  That’s John.John and Larry relaxing at the beach.

After a couple of days of getting used to the quiet again we ventured out with Debby and Larry on a snorkeling trip. Unfortunately, all those beautiful sea stars had wandered elsewhere, but we still had fun running our dinghies together. On the way home, though, we were pelted by rain that stung like crazed bees from a hive. Happily, it stopped by the time we tied our dinghies back up at the marina, but we will remember that painful rain for quite a while!

These guys were swimming happily just that morning.

Some Tropical Blends courtesy of Larry.Noi carrying a heavy bowl of lobsters!

Tuesday night found us together with Debby and Larry and Scott and Noi from the sailing vessel Symbiosis for an amazing lobster dinner. Scott and Noi are anchored in Prickly Bay and local fishermen come in every day with lobsters fresh from the sea, so we asked them to pick a few up and come to Port Louis for a fun dinner. Scrounging through our boats for what we had aboard after having guests, Debby and I found green beans, a butternut squash, some potatoes and some other fresh vegetables, and ingredients for brownies. Larry provided rum tropical blends, and I steamed the lobsters while Debby melted butter and set up a borrowed picnic table. Noi grilled Thai tuna that she added to the meal and we had an amazing feast with good friends. We did a good job eating all of the lobster meat, but the carcasses were too good to throw away so I made a huge pot of lobster bisque the next day. Friday night the six of us gathered again for a fun meal of soup, salad and bread and Rice Krispie treats.

It is getting close to time to leave Grenada now. We have ordered a couple of parts that we are expecting to arrive next week and, once they are here and installed, we will start our journey back up the island chain. We have decided to take our time heading north, but we look forward to going back to the states. We have absolutely loved this adventure in the Caribbean, but now we would like to spend some time cruising on the east coast of the states. It will be nice to be closer to family and to be in the US again, but it sure will be hard to leave Grenada.