Author Archives: Mark
New All Over Again
Sometimes when we land on an island I get that déjà vu feeling. We go through the same routines of checking in with Customs and Immigration. Once this is done, we try to get on the internet. Sometimes this is pretty easy and we can pirate a connection from a nearby bar or restaurant. Often […]
Grenada – Our First Glimpse
Traveling from Îles des Saintes to Grenada was interesting. We saw a weather window where the trade winds slackened a little bit. In this same window the chance of rain was minimal. We only got rained on once. The wind however was really misbehaving. Winds were forecasted at 15 knots. Actual winds were closer to […]
Guadeloupe – Îles des Saintes
At the first sliver of sunlight on the horizon, I am awakened by a single rooster soon to become a chorus. I turn in my bunk and listen to the waves gently lapping against Cream Puff’s hull. The day is beginning. I am still a little groggy since our overnight sail from St Kitts. I […]
St Kitts but not Nevis
Hurricane season is officially upon us and we need to be safe. The plan this season is to spend our time in Grenada, The Spice Island. Some folks think Grenada is far enough south to be out of the hurricane zone. One Google search of “spice island hurricane” will quickly reveal images of huge piles […]
Anchoring Antics at St Croix
Finally, we turned south! After what seemed like years going into the east wind working our way from the west coast of Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands we managed to get in a full day of sailing. Our last good sail was the 4 day trip from Turks and Cacaos Islands to Puerto Rico […]
Swimming With Turtles at St John, USVI
Our tendency to be sociable when in a marina or anchorage is paying off. One of the things we both do is talk to other cruisers to find out which way they are going. If they happen to be going the same way as us, great. We can look for them again in the next […]
PiZZA Pi
Do you love to hear great stories about how a business started? Then, I have a good one for you. A couple of my other favorites include Guy Laliberté , the founder of Cirque du Soleil, and how he was turned down by every bank he talked to for a loan he needed to expand his […]
We’re in St Thomas, USVI
We arrived in St Thomas after a bit of a bumpy ride. Since we are still facing the east winds and are trying to travel directly into the wind we have to motor. A die-hard true sailor would sail and tack all the way. We are not sailing purest. We don’t mind motoring now and […]
Spanish Virgins
We departed Palmas Del Mar and sailed (meaning we motored) to the small island of Culebra. Culebra is still Puerto Rico and is one of the many islands to the east referred to as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Wanting a couple of days of isolation we went to a beautiful cove and hung out for […]
Road Trip
Our plan was to take a coastal road, take a mountain road, grab a meal and see what we find. Other than this, the agenda was pretty loose and we figured we would go where the road took us. There is some reassurance that if we got totally lost, we are still on an island. […]
Old San Juan
We visited Old San Juan and for two days walked about this wonderful corner of Puerto Rico. If you are ever on the island of Puerto Rico, this stop is a “must do”. Our old motto of, “walk ‘til our feet hurt and drink ’til they don’t” came alive. The historic area is packed full […]
El Yunque National Forest
Two things: First, we visited a rain forest. Second, I am feeling very old. Let’s talk about the rain forest first. Why? Because it is fun and I have lots of pretty pictures to show you. I’ll get to the feeling old part in a minute. Mona had on her bucket list that she wanted […]
Drinking Bacardi Rum for Breakfast
Still in Puerto Rico and loving it. Our dear friend Mona arrived and is staying with us for a full week. She makes the most delicious homemade cookies in the world and lugged about 3 dozen of them in her carry-on as a special treat just for us. Mona is our point of contact when […]
Palmas Del Mar
We have finally arrived in the Southeastern corner of Puerto Rico. I say finally because we took longer than expected to get here. The trade winds have been in true form making our eastward travel head into the wind. On most days the wind has blown 25-30 knots. The long range forecast showed no sign […]
Caja de Muertos (or Coffin Island)
I always thought cacti were soft inside. Silly me. I’m not sure where or how I came upon this wisdom, or lack of it. Perhaps it was the old western movies watched as a kid where some Indian native cut open a cactus for a drink of water while all the bad guys suffered heatstroke […]
