After a smooth sixty-mile sail from Dominica, we arrived in a modern-day Pompeii of the Caribbean, Saint-Pierre, Martinique. The Saint-Pierre harbor is extremely deep, except right along the shoreline, so we had to get unusually close to the beach to anchor. The harbor is also littered with wrecked ships that burned and sank during the […]
Posts with the SCUBA tag
Karukera — The Island of Beautiful Waters
The forty-two mile sail from Antigua to Guadeloupe was fast and bouncy. The trade winds were steady from the east, but with fluctuating intensity anywhere from the mid-teens to gusting well over thirty knots. The seas were around eight feet and hitting us just forward of broadside. As usual, ¡Pura Vida! loved the high winds […]
Revelry and Relaxation in Antigua
Our arrival in Antigua (pronounced “an-TEE-ga” – the u is silent) heralded two major events, our first trip back home since departing the mainland almost two years ago, followed by a visit to ¡Pura Vida! by one of our favorite couples. All the excitement aside, we had to prepare to leave our home unattended at […]
10 Must-Sees and Off-The-Beaten-Path Anchorages in The British Virgin Islands
We like people. Really, we do. We especially enjoy meeting and socializing with other cruisers and island locals, but typically we are happiest when we are able to drop the hook in the more isolated corners of the archipelagos we visit. Seeking this kind of seclusion is what led us to spend months in the […]
Parades in Paradise
Although we are always saddened to miss Mardi Gras in New Orleans, we were excited to arrive in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, a week before their “Mardi Croix” celebration. (“Tuesday Cross”…We are aware that makes no sense.) Finally, after a year and a half of cruising, we could dust off our capes, crowns, glitter, […]
Exploring the Land of the Fat Virgin
At noon on January 20th, inauguration day in the United States, something very special happened. We glided across an invisible line in the water in an area called “the Narrows” and we entered foreign territory! This was not some grand political statement on our part, just a fun coincidence caused primarily by a weather window […]
Once Was Not Enough
If we had to pick a single word to describe the island of St. John, it would be “pristine”. A whopping 60% of the landmass of the island is within the lush Virgin Islands National Park. The park boundaries also extend to most of the sea around the island. In addition, even more underwater areas are […]
Adventures in Eating
Since the Bahamas, I’ve enjoyed photographing some of the most, uh, interesting food and drink we’ve encountered. We’ve eaten very much as we always had, needing to make only a few adjustments, as we’ve found certain staples aren’t always available, but discovering new culinary delights is a major advantage to traveling. I can only […]
Back in the U.S.A — Kinda
As we said farewell to the Dominican Republic and saw its coast disappear behind us, the only thing separating us from Puerto Rico was 90 miles of open water in the Mona Passage. The Mona Passage is the stuff of legends for sailors. We have been hearing tales about this infamous body of water for years, […]
Dominican Republic – Episode 3: Saving The Best For Last!
It took us almost two months bouncing our way along the south coast of the Dominican Republic, but finally we were on our way to a true island paradise. We planned our final stop in the country for Isla Saona – a palm-tree-lined, soft-white-sandy-beached, crystal-clear-water, daytime getaway destination for Dominicans, resort folk, cruise ship passengers […]