I'm Back!

 First I have to comment on the previous blog entry posted by Jim while I was off visiting family and friends in Milwaukee.

I Loved It!!!

What women wouldn't?

Married 31 years and the guy can still surprise me!

Of course it did come at a cost.  He did take a few hits from some of his guy friends.

 Our friend Tim came to visit while I was away and stayed with Jim onboard Merengue.  He appears to have survived the experience.  Jim and Tim (I know, it sounds like twins!) were college roommates so they have lived together in a small space before but that was many years ago.

 In Brew City I was doing my best to take in every brewery tour and taste every micro-brew I could find.

This is Natalie, Bill, Connie and me each with a different flavor!  Jim really misses having a variety of beers so I was doing my best to taste them all for him!  Yeah right!

 Back in St. Martin and we are provisioning the boat for our trip south and look what we found.  BEER!  Not just beer but different flavors of beer.  A supermarket here has expanded it's stock and we found bock, dubbel, tripel, and more!  Merengue's sitting a little lower in the water today!

 Ruby Leffe.  Delicious!

 Another great bargain.  Appleton Estate Rum for $4.51 a bottle.



 The grocery receipt was the longest on record and I'm still not sure that we have anything but beverages.  At least we'll be well hydrated!

 Happy cat playing with the grocery bags.

Continuing on the drinks theme, here's a great combination of signs on the boardwalk in Phillipsburg.  It's the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church with a sign out front that reads "1 umbrella, 2 chairs and 3 beers."

What times mass?

It's Been 6 Weeks...

.....and.....

Fun with Orchid

The main reason for heading to St. Martin this year was to catch up with Orchid and crew before they left for their Atlantic crossing.  This Australian family of four will be exploring the Mediteranean for the next year or so.  We met up in St. Barth's. 

Here they come, heading in past the mega-yacht.

 

 Alexander and Nicholas did a great job of grabbing the mooring ball and securing Orchid.

It must be nice having crew!

 Nicholas (age 8) jumped in the water and swam over to greet us.

 A moment later, Alexander (age 9) appeared via dinghy.

 These two kids can climb the mast and forestay like a couple of monkeys!  No bosun chair for them.

I'm trying to get my fill of snuggles before they head off but it's never enough.

 Time to sail to St. Martin.  Alexander and Nicholas came along as crew onboard Merengue.

Alexander at the helm.

 Nicholas takes a turn at the helm.

 Here's Merengue under a full mainsail and reefed genoa and still going over 6 knots.  I think we surprised Orchid with our speed!  Of course this picture was taken by Rachel as they passed us by!  We look rather small in this picture and we are accustomed to being the smallest yacht in most harbors but if you really want to feel small........

.....sail past one of the mega-yachts!  This is Merengue cruising past one of the big-boys!

St. Martin will be our base until June while Wendy flys to Milwaukee to visit.  Jim will be staying with Bailey and Merengue and contining to enjoy the beaches, baguettes and brie!

Carnival in Les Saintes

Our short visit to Les Saintes happened to correspond with carnival.  Carnival on this small island is very different then those we've seen on other islands.  It's more about family and a lot less skin.  

The participants were primarily school-age girls in floral costumes in keeping with this years theme, a Tropical Garden.  Many of the children watching the parade were also in costume. 

 We are not sure what these were.  Garbage piles?  Compost?  No, that's an ax in his head.

U.S. President Barak Obama with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Great view of the parade from above.

The photographer in action.  Hope you enjoyed le Carnival!

The Fast Track North

We just arrived in St. Martin. What? St. Martin? The last update was from the Grenadines, more then 300 NM from here where we had been weathered-in in Bequia for a month. We had no particular sailing plan for this year and in fact, we thought we might not sail further north then Martinique. But then we were lured north by the crew of Orchid and the thought of rendezvousing with them in St. Martin was too tempting. With the weather improved, it was time to set sail again. March had come in like a lamb and the weather forecast looked great. We decided to take advantage of the good conditions and just keep moving which is a little unusual for Merengue and crew. We usually like to stop and smell the roses, or maybe it’s the baguettes! For those of you who follow our blog for the sailing, here’s a look at our trip north.

Ships log

3/03/11: Bequia, Grenadines to St. Lucia. 53.3 NM. Wind 10-25 knots, 4-5 ft. swell. Travel time 10.5 hours. Left at sunrise. Beautiful beam reach between Bequia and St. Vincent then the typical no wind in the lee of the island. Close reach from St. Vincent to the moorings between the Pitons, St. Lucia. Great sailing!

3/04/11: The Pitons to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. 18 NM. Motor-sailed in the lee of the island.

3/05/11:  Rodney Bay, St. Lucia to St. Pierre, Martinique.  44.2 NM.  Wind 12-18.  Beam reach with speeds over 6 knots until north of Fort de France Bay, then wind died.  Travel time 9 hours.  Spotted 2 whales dozing in the water.

 St. Pierre waterfront.

3/6/11: Martinique to Roseau, Dominica. 35.6 NM. Wind 10-18 knots, low seas. Beam reach again! Travel time 7 hours.

3/07/11: Roseau, Dominica to Les Saintes. 40.3 NM. No wind in lee of island then 11-18 knots in the channel. Travel time 8 hours.

These 5 days of sailing were some of the best that we have ever experienced. Beam reaches, low swell and waves, blue sea and sky, the sailing was fabulous! We celebrated with a 2-day lay-over in Les Saintes, one of our favorite places in the Caribbean. Watch for a future blog post on the carnival celebration.

3/10/11:  Les Saintes to Deshaies, Guadeloupe.  38.0 NM.  Forecast was for light winds but we had from 10 – 25 knots on the nose.  Motorsailed.  Travel time 8 hours.

 Lighthouse on the southwest shore of Guadeloupe.

Leaving Guadeloupe at sunrise.

3/11/11:  Guadeloupe to Montserrat.  42.7 NM. Wind 6 -8 knots, then slowly increased to 13-16 knots near Montserrat.  Confused seas near island.  Travel time 9.5 hours.

The Montserrat volcano is still very active.  If you look closely you can see steam rising out of vents near the top.

Waterspout forming over Montserrat.

3/12/11:  Montserrat to Basseterre, St. Kitt’s.  47.0 NM.  Wind 13-16.  Travel time 9.5 hours.

Leaving Montserrat.

In a rare moment of spontaneity, we decided to stop in St. Kitt’s to visit our friends Mike and Renee.  We had told them that we would visit on our way south in June so they were a little surprised when they received our email telling them that we were at the marina.  Hey, we’re in the neighborhood.  Whatcha doing?  We spent 4 days hanging out at the beach, by the pool, at various beach bars and restaurants and at their villa.  It always feels like we’re on vacation when we visit them.  They do a good job of spoiling us!

 Sandy Bank Beach.

 Ahhhhh!  The swimming pool at the villa.

The view of Nevis from the pool.

 Michael's Bar.  Not our friend Michael, a different Michael.

 Michael at Michael's.

3/17/11: St. Kitt’s to Gustavia, St. Barth’s. 47.4 N.M. Wind 11-15. Close-reach. Travel time 9.5 hours. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!


With all these islands named after saints, how come St. Patrick didn’t get the honor?


3/19/11: Gustavia to Columbier Bay, St. Barth’s. 2.8 N.M. Beautiful turquoise water, sea turtles, stingrays, reef fish and big remoras under the boat! Met up with our friends on Orchid here.

3/21/11: St. Barth’s to St. Martin. 17.8 N.M. Wind 13 – 18 knots. Travel time 4 hours. Alexander and Nicholas (S/V Orchid) came along as crew. We were greeted by a spinner dolphin off the south coast of St. Martin!

We will be calling St. Martin home for the next few months.