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| Ponds and mates poolside |
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| Parents and the kids L to R: Warren, Skip, Cindy and Kathie |
The Buccaneer was as nice as we remember from a few years ago, and we ate too much, slept too late and generally lazed around. Warren's 90th was celebrated in good form and plans are in the works to celebrate Kathie's 90th here next spring!
We had a chance to catch up with our friends Matt and Rachel, transplants from California and Alabama respectively. We've stayed in touch since we met them last year in Culebrita and it was great to see them again. They've since moved off their boat "August Moon" and into a very cool house in St. Croix. We hope to take them up on their "mi casa su casa" invitation and visit them again soon.
No exciting news on the fishing front even though we've been spending a fair amount of time offshore. The only thing we hooked was this barracuda that we let go.
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| Watch out for those teeth |
From St. Croix we made a quick stop off in the BVI, then went straight to Antigua for a few days where we caught up with our friends Tim and Nancy on Larus who are heading north.... that is if they don't head south. See? We're not the only ones who can't make decisions. The wind was southwest while we were in Antigua, which was perfect for a few days anchored in Five Islands. In more typical trade winds conditions we've heard that the 'scent' from the local landfill blows right over this pretty anchorage and makes it less than idyllic.
We always poke around the roadside stands in Antigua and this time we came away with passion fruit that we made into juice and added to our rum. Tasty.
Since we're still focused on getting to Dominica, we didn't hang around Antigua long, but sailed on to Guadeloupe where we hiked over the hill from Deshaies to the long beach just north of the anchorage. We were about to turn off the main road and onto the dirt road that leads to the beach when a guy in a pick up stopped and offered us a ride. We were really out for the walk but he was so friendly and so insistent that we finally jumped in and rode with him.
Hubert's English was as bad as our French but we came away with the understanding that his father was from France and came to Guadeloupe by way of a few other islands and now has some farmland in Guadeloupe. Hubert loves Americans and was happy to meet us. He dropped us off near the beach where he was turning into the farm with his load of coconuts and overripe mangos to feed his pigs, chickens and goats. Not for the first time, nor the last I'm sure, I wish I knew more French.
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| It's hard to tell in the photo but these waves were bigger than us. |
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| Squall moving in over Deshaies |
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| Skip bails out the John H. |
One thing we bypassed on our last swing past Guadeloupe was the Jardin Botanique. It's an uphill hike along the main road to the garden but it was definitely worth a visit. This makes up for the lack of flora shots (not too much fauna though) in recent posts. Here's a sampling of orchids, heliconia, bananas and other things I won't attempt to identify.
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| Hungry, ill mannered koi |
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| L: Teeny bananas, not ready for picking, R: still not ready, but getting closer |
From Deshaies we sailed to The Saints where we've been for a few days, connecting with some old friends and making some new friends. We anchored behind Pain de Sucre for a few peaceful nights and snorkeled the rocky shoreline. The water here is clearer than we saw farther north, but there still aren't a lot of fish around.
More rain came through while we were here - water tanks are full and we're getting liberal with our water use. This is sure to come back and haunt us if we don't wise up, but for now we're showering happily.
We cleared out about an hour ago, and tomorrow we're off to Dominica.
* Just a note or two.... I added a few things to the blog, including a "Search This Blog" bar on the right that lets you search for specific things. It's not perfect, but it works pretty well. So, if you want to see all the posts that have iguanas in them.... just type in "iguana" and you'll get most of them.
* Also for those of you without our email addresses who are too shy to comment publicly in the comments section, there's now an "Email Us" bar on the right too! We set up an email for Saralane and you can email us directly. No excuses now people! We love to hear from you.....
7 comments:
Some explanation about the "drinks" photos please. The one on the left looks a little creepy. Like capers in a goopy sauce. I am sure there is something interesting going on here. Safe sail to Dominica. A new destination. A new vicarious adventure for me. Yea.
The flower pictures are beautiful, Maddie. Maybe I just don't have the right subjects, but I can't make flower pictures like you do. Perhaps if I spent more time in the tropics...
That's the key Dan - spend more time in the tropics!
Cin - That's the passion fruit, seeds and all, that Skip is scooping out of it's rind and into the blender. I blend it with a tiny bit of water and sometimes a little sugar - then strain out the seeds to get the juice. YUM!
Love the flora photos - we never made it to the botanical garden - will have to put it on our list for when we are back there. Great seeing the protea - reminded us of South Africa again! Glad you are getting around to explore this year much more!
We definitely miss the passion fruit and mangoes here in Spain!
Nice to see the new post maddie. Great to hear from ya.
Wayne
WWW.GalleyWenchTales.com
I see you are making good use of the bullet blender you bought while you were in NJ. I think you can call that drink a 'YumRum' Really nice to see the pics of Skip's family. I hope I look that good when I'm 90. Ya got some good genes there, Skip!
Looks like an awesome trip. We'd love to show you a round if you ever come back! Caribbean Sailing
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