January 23,2010 We left Antigua with our friends on Wind Whisperer on January 4th and set off for the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. Winds were very light and behind us so we motor sailed for most of the trip. As we approached the shores of Nevis, wind direction improved and we were able to sail our way into the Narrows, a reef infested and dangerous passageway between the two islands. I wish I had done my pre-trip homework before we were actually in the Narrows. As I reviewed the entrance recommendations in our guide books I discovered that both books strongly suggest that it is a good passage if you are leaving the islands, but not if you are approaching. Oh well, its far too late to change our minds.........we are already there. As I did the "oh my God" chant, Jim bravely guided Emerald Seas through the Narrows and into safe waters. We anchored at Ballast Bay, St. Kitts and were overjoyed to find that we were the only boat! Privacy at last, nudity rules, or at least it did for about an hour and then along came Barb and Terry, aboard Wind Whisperer.......

The skies here were raining ash from the erupting volcanoe on the island of Montserrat. Grey ash has covered Emerald Seas and big chunks of ash get into our eyes. The ash is everywhere.......We dump buckets of salt water over the deck to clear some of it away and keep our hatches closed in the faint hope that the fine dust will stay outside......What a mess! Fortunately, the wind direction changed the next day and the skies were clear again. We hosed down Emerald Seas and vacuumed and dusted inside and all was well again. St.Kitts is a very beautiful island and we enjoyed exploring the town of Basseterre. We took a bus out to Fort Charles on Brimstone Hill with our friends, Barb and Terry, survived the hike up to the Fort and enjoyed the afternoon exploring the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. From the Fortress we could see the island of St.Eustatius and Nevis.

A few days later, after saying good-bye to our friends on Wind Whisperer who were bound for St. Croix, we set sail for St. Barthelemy (or St. Barths for short).Totally loved St. Barths! Great hiking at Anse de Colombier, free mooring balls, turtles, topless beaches and super-yachts everywhere. This is the "hot spot" for fashion designers from all over the world. Armani has a house here, so does John Lennon's son- its amazing what money can buy. Anse de Colombier used to be the private property of the Rockefellers. We finally got tired of all the fancy yachts and headed over to Isle Fourchue, part of St. Barth's Marine Reserve. Here we enjoyed free moorings, few boats, turtles, great swimming, our own huge barracuda under the boat and two excellent dives. On the first dive we saw about 5 eagle rays swimming, some over top of us, several barracuda and got close and personal with a turtle who was munching on some sponge. The next day we went back to the site with our underwater cameras so that we could take pictures of the eagle rays. Murphy's Law being what it is, we saw nothing worth taking pictures of!!!

On Saturday, January 16th we set sail for St. Martins and are currently anchored in Simpson Lagoon, surrounded by cruising sailboats from all over the world. Our good friend, Kennedy, on Far Star, arrived from the Virgin Islands and is anchored near us.We said "farewell" to our friends, Denise and Jean-Pierre, from Absaroque who have returned to Quebec to spend a few months with family and friends.

John and Noelle DeBoeck flew from Vancouver Island, B.C. to visit and we had a very enjoyable time together with sundowners happening long before sundown! Rum supplies in St. Martin were getting a bit low so we sailed to the island of Anguilla. A few days later, after drinking all the rum in Anguilla, we sailed to a beautiful bay on St. Martins in search of more cheap rum. Later in the week we took the Edge ferry to the rugged, volcanic island of Saba to visit and dive with our friends, John and Lynn of Sea Saba and drink all their rum. The diving, meals, rum, wine and hospitality were wonderful and greatly appreciated. Weather conditions were so good that we were able to dive on the Windward side of Saba. On one dive Jim found a sea horse and we saw several turtles. Best of all was listening to the sound of Humpback whales singing while we dove.

Our friends have returned to Canada and now we are faced with the realization that we have run out of excuses to avoid the "Emerald Seas To-do List". St. Martin is the place to get boat jobs done because there are lots of marine services available. So far we have replaced all the life lines, painted the anchor locker, finished and touched up the brightwork and installed new Raymarine navigation instruments. The new gauges are much easier to read and now we know for sure how fast the wind is blowing. Before it was all guess work and we just guessed if the winds were terrifying...........now we will know with absolute certainty if they are. As soon as we finish fixing or replacing the wind generator, re-provisioning our wine, rum and food supplies, oil anchor windlass and lose the list or run out of money, we are out of here! Our future destination has not been determined yet, but we are looking forward to more great sailing, family visits, sunny days,swimming, snorkelling, diving, star-gazing, good times with friends and plenty of quality time with each other.

Life is good! Love Renate & Jim