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 […]
The Islands That Brush The Clouds
The plan went to hell as we violently wobbled with the rhythm of a metronome for an entire night at anchor, and our possessions flew from shelves to join a gyrating melee on our salon floor. Upon departing Saint Martin, we had ten days before our scheduled flight out of Antigua to visit the U.S. […]
Vive La France!
Saint Martin, French West Indies, is unlike any other island we have visited up to now in our travels. The island is not large, but it is half French and half Dutch. We arrived on the French side just after dawn, and were treated to a dazzling sunrise with birds singing in our rigging as […]
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, […]
Questioning Everything
Since we sailed away from land-life in August 2015, we have gotten quite a few questions from friends and family. We realized by some of the questions being asked that we were taking a lot for granted about their knowledge of what we do, and how strange our aquatic life may seem to our […]
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 […]
An Ode to the Unappreciated Saint
“It’s only an overnight stopover.” “We’re sailing right past it.” “We’re skipping it altogether and going straight to the British Virgin Islands!” These are just a few of the rumblings we have read from other cruisers about the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In their defense, the massive cruise ships […]
Big City Living
Although the city of Charlotte Amalie (“Am-ALL-yeh”) on the island of St. Thomas has a population of just under 20,000; it feels like a huge city after the small town, laid-back vibe in Culebra. Heading east on a sailboat in the Caribbean is always tricky, since the prevailing winds are almost always from that direction; […]