A lot has happened since my last blog. Hard to believe, but it was difficult to find the time to write while we were out cruising down the Caribbean island chain. Everyday there was a new adventure--swimming and snorkeling in the gorgeous blue and turquoise waters of the Caribbean, hiking in the beautiful British and US Virgin Islands, installing solar panels and the delicious French cuisine in St. Martin, waterfalls hikes and river tours on Dominica, sundowners with fellow cruisers on their boats, potlucks, birthday parties--there was always something to do.

Our first extended ocean trip was from Hampton, Virginia, to the British Virgin Islands with the Salty Dawg Rally. We left November 1, 2016, (a day earlier then planned due to the weather), and the trip took 9 1/2 days. The first couple of days there was very little wind so we had to motorsail, but the winds soon picked up and we actually had some pretty rough days with heavy wind and big seas. I hadn't worked out my seasickness, so I was sick for a few days. Luckily our crew was able to cover my watch and handle the cooking duties (we had to have crew with us to be able to join the Salty Dawg Rally since we didn't have enough ocean experience). There were approximately 85 boats in the Rally, and we saw a few here and there during our voyage. Everyone left at different times, and some boats were faster than others, but everyone met up at the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda, one of the British Virgin Islands.

After dropping off our crew (a big Thank You! to Nellie and Phil Kellett) and before going to the Bitter End to meet up with the rally, we went to Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola, British Virgin Islands, to fix some things that broke during our trip. With the high winds we experienced during our trip, our staysail tore out of the clew. Bob had to wrestle it under control as it was whipping around in the wind and the boat was bouncing up and down in 6-8 foot waves! Very scary! He was able to get it under control, wound it up, and tied it. Also, our refrigeration stopped working. We have one unit that is run by the engine (that's the one that stopped working) and one unit that runs by the generator, so fortunately that was still working. We then had to run the generator twice a day to keep the refrigerator and freezer cold. Luckily, a refrigeration technician at the marina was able to repair the unit and it did not have to be replaced.

We then headed up to the Bitter End Yacht Club to meet up with the other Salty Dawgs. There were many parties and get togethers, lots of fun! We visited some other islands, then left the British Virgin Islands and checked in to the US Virgin Islands. For those of you that don't know, the British and US Virgin Islands are fairly close together--it's a great sailing and vacation destination! We spent a few weeks on Saint John where there are some great hiking trails and many beautiful places to snorkel. From there, I flew home for Christmas while Bob spent the days swimming and hiking with other cruisers.

In January, we sailed down to Saint Croix, another US Virgin Island, for the Seven Seas Cruising Association GAM (get together). The forecast was calling for high winds, and we knew that we would get stuck on Saint Croix for a while, but what better place to be stranded! We've never been there before, so we rented a car, toured the island, visited the Captain Morgan and Cruzan Rum distilleries, and hiked with our friends, Bill and Maureen on Kalunamoo. We stayed at Green Cay Marina almost two weeks because of the high winds, but we had a great time! We thoroughly enjoyed Saint Croix and could see ourselves living there some day.

We sailed back to Saint John with Kalunamoo to meet up with other Salty Dawgs, Phil and Judy on Rum Runner, so that we could all sail together to Anguilla, which is approximately a 16-hour sail from Saint John. This was our last overnight sail since all the islands after this are fairly close together. We left St. John at 8:00 p.m., leaving a crowded anchorage in the dark was the scariest part of the trip. Once we rounded St. John, we had some good wind and were able to sail most of the way to Anguilla. We passed a few boats, and were in the path of a cruise ship, which Kalunamoo hailed on the radio. The captain of the cruise ship told Kalunamoo that he saw the three of us on his screen and was turning to go around our boats to let us go by. What a nice guy! We arrived in Anguilla around lunchtime on January 21, 2017, and checked in. I think Anguilla has the friendliest Customs and Immigration officers we met in the Caribbean. We rented a car and took a tour of the island, which was beautiful, very laid back, and not busy with tourists.

Then on to Saint Martin/Sint Maarten (one island, two countries--French and Dutch) where we spent three weeks working on the boat and installing solar panels. It's the best place to get any work done on the boat as there are many boat repair shops and suppliers. Also, the French food in Saint Martin is the absolute BEST in the Caribbean! Croissants, baguettes, French pastries, and on and on! It was yummy!

After our solar panels were installed, we continued down the island chain to Saint Bart's, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Guadalupe, Les Saintes, Dominica, etc. While in Antigua, we had our first visitor, Bob's sister Robin. Again, due to high winds, we were not able to take her sailing (didn't want to scare her the first time on our boat since we'd like her to visit again!), so we rented a car for the week and toured the island.

Then finally in April, we made it south to Grenada where Oasis currently sits on land waiting out the hurricane season. All of the islands are beautiful and unique in their own way: the British Virgin Islands, best charter boat destination; Saint Martin, did I mention the food?!; Saint Bart's, beautiful yet expensive; Les Saints, quaint little island with cute shops and golf carts for transportation; Dominica, beautiful waterfalls tours and the Indian River tour where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was filmed (attached picture)--so much to see and do.

We are now home for the summer and have both found jobs to keep us busy. We are starting to make plans for our next adventure and are flying to Grenada on October 22. After cleaning the boat and provisioning, we will be sailing up to the British Virgin Islands to meet up with the Salty Dawgs and probably stay there through November as they have a Thanksgiving Day get-together on the beach. After that, we will again head south along the island chain and spend some more time in each island and stop at some islands that we missed. Hopefully, I'll find more time to write along the way.

P.S. Sailblogs only allows one picture per entry with their free site. I will be posting more pictures in Facebook.