Guadeloupe

Finally we managed to leave St Martin behind and headed south.  What a relief to be on the move again, with the wind in our hair, the sails full and the fishing lines trailing hopefully behind us.

Wow! A huge Wahoo.  Here is Daryl, the hunter gatherer of the family with  a huge fish!  We managed to get about thirty steaks from this fish and gave them out to fellow cruisers in the anchorage.

In Deshaies we visited the beautiful botanical gardens, wonderful orchids and tropical plants.

Wherever  we seem to go lately, suddenly a pair of swallows appear, intent on making a nest in the end of the boom.  We are often still moving when they perch on the leather strapping and peer into the cavity to judge whether it is suitable.

St. Maarten

So then onto St Maarten.  The island is divided into a French side and a Dutch one, there is a lagoon which is accessible by a bridge on either side.  Our boat is too wide to go through the French bridge, 

without risk of touching the sides, just not worth it really.

Anchoring on the French side involves no charge, and there are boats there that appear to have been totally abandoned.  Some have sunk and some are on the verge of it.  Indeed one of them sunk whilst we were there!

A scary figurehead on one of the yachts in the marina.

At the end of the runway, youngsters hang around at the bar and wait for a plane to get ready to take off.  They hang of to the fence and wait for the pilot to give it the gun.  If it is a large jumbo, they can literally get blown into the sea, a small plane isn't as much fun!

The dividing bridge that the Dutch are in the process of building.

This is the ship that brought the middle of the bridge into the lagoon leaving again.  It has about six inches either side of the bridge to spare.  A fantastic piece of seamanship.

A great spectator occasion too.

On the Dutch side you have to pay to anchor, but we needed to be close to the services and the workman charge for their time from the minute they leave their workshops, so better to be close.

This Swiss boat 'Turanor - Planet Solar' from Basel are trying to motor round the world on solar power.
There are huge panels that fold out like wings that provide the power for this rather striking vessel.

There it is gone, well almost gone!

A few days later, the same boat being lifted, pumped out and craned away.

St. Kitts cont.

Daryl came and collected me in the middle of my blog posting, there had been a massive downpour and  we were both ashore, with all the hatches open!
Rushed back and sorted it out.

Found an ideal place for lunch, out of the rain and enjoyed a light lunch and a glass of wine.

Watching a political rally in Basseterre, this couple have the most amazing hair.

This beautiful giant Saman tree in the grounds of Romney Manor is about 400 years old.  It is covered with air plants and is almost a garden on it's own.

Antigua at last

From the Virgin Islands we headed southwards.  We tried twice to head off and ended up turning back, the waves were just too uncomfortable and we did not want to get beaten up.  Friends of ours carried on and had their inflatable washed off the foredeck, taking a few stanchions with it.  So a good call not to go.
The third time was fine and we had a good sail, stopping at St Barths briefly for coffee, before heading off to Antigua whilst the weather was still favorable.
Arriving on the first day of race week, great to see all the yachts sailing as we approached Falmouth Harbour, trying to keep out of the way too!

Some of the race boats on the quay at the yacht club.  Even though we were not racing there was a great atmosphere and fun parties!

The Admiral's Inn never changes and is still a great place for a rum punch or a snack for lunch.                                 

After Antigua, we passed by Montserrat and were fascinated to see the ruins of Plymouth buried by the eruption of Soufriere, which is an active volcano with a cloud of ash above it, that hovers permanently over the island.

In St Kitts we hired a car for the day and explored the island.  From the top of the hill at Brimstone Fort, there was a wonderful view to the next island of St Eustatius.

Even found a travel lift that could lift us, but you would have to be a brave soul to leave your boat in this field we thought.

The Virgin Islands

 Dane left the boat in the Bahamas and Lisa in Puerto Rico, so it's just Daryl and I again.  The passage from there south was always going to be a hard one, with the prevailing winds against us.  So we waited for the appropriate weather window to leave.  The plan was to head as far east as possible, while the wind was light and then when the easterlies kicked it big time, we would head towards St Thomas.  It was not an easy passage, but, as usual, the boat looked after us and we chalked up another safe trip.

I really must clean the screen on the camera!  Like the sign though.

Terrible photo, but great tattoo.  This guy has a watch that reads 5 o'clock.  The saying is that 'It's 5 o'clock somewhere and time for a drink'

A beautiful anchorage in St Johns in the US Virgin Islands.  It is a park and a protected area, so there are buoys to pick up, so we don't destroy the seabed with our anchors.

Next to us this little red boat arrives, out comes the bride and groom and they get married on the back of the boat!  Great to see, we gave them applause as they left.  What a great idea!

Great to catch up with our friends on 'Gone with the Wind' and enjoy some good evenings out with them ashore.

There are a lot of kite boarders in Saba Rock, Virgin Gorda.  They get rather close to the moored yachts and this guy judged it wrong, getting the lines of his sail caught around the windex at the top of the mast of this boat!  Luckily it did come free later!

Slowly heading south.

A birthday lunch for me in the Turks and Caicos marina of Providenciales.  Great Italian food and some excellent NZ Sav Blanc too!  

David Copperfield, the famous illusionist had this rather beautiful mermaid and piano made and it rests on the seabed, on Rudder Cay.  It attracts lots of fish and snorkelers, like ourselves, once we found the right bay!

Lisa and I hired a car for the day when we got to Puerto Rico, this is a shot of the view from the castle at the top of the hill in Ponce.  An interesting place, it was carnival week and there was music everywhere.

Who likes their coffee?

Lisa leaving the boat in Ponce, a sad day for me to see her leave.  It has been great to have her on board and we have had some great times and chats over coffee.  She is off to see her Dad for a couple of weeks before heading back to New Zealand.

Cruising in the Bahamas

Lisa loved her diving and snorkeling, in the clear waters of the Bahamas, there were lots of treasures to look at, and then put back.

Climbing up the hill on Boo Boo Hill in Warderwick Wells, it is the tradition to leave a piece of driftwood with your names on.  Here are Lisa and Dane adding their piece of wood to the pile.

 We climbed up the hill at Monastry Bay in Georgetown and the view from the top was spectacular.

Lovely couple!

We cruised from Florida, across to the Bahamas and made our way slowly south, enjoying the chain of islands.  Great snorkeling in the clear water, lots of fish to see and the occasional crayfish to catch.