St. Martin Lagoon

Left Saba early to hole up in Simpson Bay Lagoon, St. Martin. Currently at the Royal Turtle dock near the airport (check the SPOT map). An area of disturbed weather currently know as Invest 94L will pass our area on Wednesday, and may develop into Tropical Storm Erika before then. We'll know more in the morning, and keep you posted!

Off to Saba

Pronounced "Say-Ba". Or, if you are a pirate, "Say-BARRRRRRRR!"

Hiking the Quill

Yesterday we left St. Kitts after the big 5am morning market and headed for St. Eustatius. There was not much wind at all so we didn't make it here until about 11a. After checking into customs, snorkeling the old city ruins, and eating a big lunch we began our hike to the top of the Quill around 2p.

The hike took us from sea level to about 2500ft but the trail was in good condition so the hike was great! The Quill is the volcano responsible for forming much of the island but has been inactive for hundreds of years so it's all grown up with jungle. We were under tree cover most of the way which helped with the heat and by the time we left Panorama Pt. (highest point on the western side) it was 5p and the sun was on its way down.

Awesome hike-- would reccomend it to anyone!

St. Kitts!

It's all monkey business down here in St. Kitts! The green velvet monkey was brought to the island as pets for plantation owners. Eventually they would escape and today there's a healthy population living in the rain forest.
Locals now hire professional monkey hunters to capture the animals and help tame them. Once brought into captivity they receive proper vaccinations and make really great family pets! I tried to talk Sasha into buying me one-- the boat needs it! It would really help with marketing.. right?

We spent most of the day taking a tour around the island, this place is beautiful!

Last Night Out in St. Kitts

Port Zante Marina in Basseterre

Dinner at the Marriott

Wineglass photos

ARRRR!!

Sunset

Sunset and the Night Watchmen!

Safe in St. Kitts!

Arrived safely in Port Zante marina in Basseterre, St. Christopher. The wind died near Monserrat, so we motored the rest of the way. It was so flat and calm we even got here ahead of schedule!

Sailing to St. Kitts

Off to St. Kitts.... should be there by tomorrow morning! Check the SPOT map for updates on our position.

Happy Birthday Tara!

She is wonderful and today we celebrate all that is TARA!!!

Also, I uploaded a bunch of pics to the blog last night, so click on "older posts" at the bottom of the page to be sure you see them all!

Zipline in Dominica

One word: AWESOME

Dominica Market

Saturday is the busiest day at the well-established market in Roseau, Dominica.

Tara buys corn (of course).

The Japanese donated a serious fish warehouse to the market, including several giant walk-in deep freezers, one of which is equipped with a massive icemaker.

Eddie Murphy cleans our fish.

Yellowfin Tuna, 72 lbs., sliced in half with a band saw.

Dominica

Strong Soil!

They grow em bigger in Texas.... and Dominica! On the left is regular
parsley bought on one of the french islands (Antigua maybe?). On the
right is Dominicia parsley-- HUGE!

Back in Dominica

Moored just south of the capital of Dominica, Roseau. Pictures from Martinique soon!

Rhum Depaz

Afternoon visit to the Depaz Distillery in St. Pierre, Martinique at the base of the Mt Pelee volcano. Built four years after the 1902 eruption that destroyed the town and killed 30,000 people. Initially water was used to power the cane presses. Now steam is used and they burn the leftover cane stalks to boil the water, and recover the ash from the fire to fertilize the plantations! Rhum Agricole is made directly from pressed sugar cane, not molasses, so it is stronger and cleaner-tasting. Delicious!

Scenes from Martinique