Sailing Blog
Still Loving Martinique – Les Trois-Îlets
One of our favorite places on Martinique to explore has been the peninsular of Les Trois-Îlets, Les Anses-d’Arlet and Le Diamant. Touring this area by car rather than boat enabled us to see some magnificent vistas as the narrow roads snaked about the hilly terrain and into the small villages. Almost every hilltop exuded a […]
Loving Martinique – Sainte-Pierre
We took Karl for a ride up to a little coastal town called Saint-Pierre. This is a pretty cool old town that was once the largest port on Martinique, back in the old days. Then, the volcano, Mount Pelée , erupted in 1902 killing all but one person in the town. About 28,000 people died […]
More of Martinique
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the French have the best healthcare system in the world. The French is a universal system largely financed by government and national health insurance. Believe it or not, doctors still make house calls to people unable to visit the clinic. A GP visit costs about US$30 of […]
Karl
Meet Karl. Karl was responsible for getting us around Martinique for seven days. I am happy to call an inanimate object a “Him” instead of a “Her” for a change. However, referring to a boat, plane or any lifeless object as female or male has always annoyed me. But at the same time I have […]
Finding Our Way Around Martinique
We love Martinique! It is clean, safe and beautiful. It is also very French. We generally find most people are patient with us as we consult with Google translate or bumble-mumble some French words. My high school French is okay for basics but we really struggle when we get off the beaten path, which is […]
Happy Cream Puff Day
January 2nd is Cream Puff day. I swear. I’m not making this up. A couple of years ago while Googling something for our boat Cream Puff I discovered this. Then, I forgot about it. My mind is not the steel trap it once was. Little things slip away every now and then. Other old […]
Some of our Favorite Memories: 2017 Cruising Season
While hanging out in the cockpit one night, Mark and I were reminiscing about 2017 coming to a close. We thought it would be fun to do a blog post on some of our favorite things this year. We hope you enjoy it too. We go slow. So far this year we have sailed or […]
Joyeux Noël
It’s Christmas time in the Caribbean. There is no snow. It is sunny and hot, always. I don’t really understand how Santa’s magic sled is supposed to work without the snow. That sled is going to make a hell of a mark on the roof when it lands. There are no chimneys for Santa to […]
Sainte Anne’s – Martinique
We are back in France. We had a fantastic 5 hour sail from St. Lucia to Martinique. It was one of those very rare days when everything was in our favor. The wind was coming from the right direction. The seas were moderate. We managed to not break anything along the way. It didn’t rain. […]
Happy to see St Lucia in the Rear View Mirror
We are finally legally admitted to St. Lucia. After never finding the immigration officer at Marigot Bay, we traveled to Rodney Bay and made contact at the local office. It wasn’t a problem we had stayed on the island for a few days without fully checking in. We know a couple of other boats having […]
St Lucia – The hunt for immigration in Marigot Bay
St Lucia is an island where a tourist must be careful about places they visit. Our first views of St Lucia included the magnificent twin pitons. Unfortunately the bay and town of Soufriere at the base of these pitons has a group of armed thugs at large who recently attacked a charter boat with two […]
Inspirations
Whenever I think of our friend Jack, a vivid memory comes to mind. James Brown is singing “I Feel Good” at high volume through the speakers of his boat. Jack is wiggling his bottom to the music and swinging around the cockpit. He is busy pouring us a second helping of the most potent yummy […]
The Beautiful Little Island of Bequia
Admiralty Bay and the township of Port Elizabeth on Bequia Island was a wonderful surprise. We originally planned to skip this island based on reports of crime posted on various cruising internet sites we follow. However, this was one of the very few times where someone else’s confidence of safety changed our plans. While in […]
Meet Sidney
“Are you going to be here tomorrow? Can I bring you anything? Do you need bread”. These were the questions Sidney asked as he approached Cream Puff. I sat on the rail with my feet over the side. He said. “I am a vendor, I sell all sort of things. This is my store”. I […]
The Tobago Cays
Another passport stamp. Another new country. Cindy said we probably change countries more than most people change their sheets. This week we arrived in the Grenadines part of the St. Vincent. We stopped very briefly at the port of Clifton on Union Island to clear in with customs and immigration. This was pretty simple since […]
