A big event last night...Emily saw her first satellite! We have been night sky watching with her for years to no avail...but last night, for one brief shining moment the 8'oclock satellite burned brightly as it caught the sun and Emily was treated to her first vision of a satellite crossing the night sky! And this after she whipped up some amazing Chinese chicken stir fry with fresh ginger and rice for dinner. I wanted thirds...but saved it for leftover night which might very well be tonight after our long day.

We beat dawn up today (5am) as we have a long way to go if we intend to reach Guadeloupe before sunset. We slipped the mooring can at 5:20 and watched fishermen haul in their nets as we rounded Nevis heading south. The winds are about 10kts, and within 20 degrees, so it looks like a long motor today..."Can you say Trawler, John?"

You can see Redonda, the small Island kingdom - that is uninhabited, as soon as you clear Nevis, with Montserrat in the distance, which still has an active Volcano steaming on its southeastern shore. While the wind doesn't look promising, we hope that we can clear Montserrat without getting volcanic ash on the boat. As we approach, the heat of the land draws the sea breeze and the wind shifts from South east to west, so we luck out in that regard. The seas and wind pipe up at the south end of the island, but on the nose for our course to Guadeloupe - so we can't quite sail yet, although about 45 minutes later it settles enough for us to throw out the jib and we increase the boat speed by a full knot.

Looks like we will make harbor in time to anchor before sunset - hallelujah! Like yesterday, a swim is the first thing in order for all of us and since I finally cut Jim's hair at Nevis, it is off the agenda for today...but for now I am breaking out the leftover Mango salsa Emily whipped up a few days ago to go with the sautéed chicken and we are going to feast on a delicious treat. Even leftover days are pretty special with our personal gourmet on board.

4:20pm we anchored in Shangri'La. - OK, Actually Deshaises, Guadeloupe, but it looks like Shangri'La. We did 80 nautical miles and we're anchored in this picturesque spot in under 11 hours. A long day, but ended beautifully. After checking the anchor and a quick sea bath we were visited by our first cruiser....Ginny ( John) from Wind Shepherd swam over to say hello and get to know us. (Carol...this is the first time in 6 weeks that it happened! We must officially be out of the charter belt now.) They have been cruising for 10 years and she was very helpful with local information, where to get internet, water (we may go ashore just to hose each other down tomorrow!) etc. Also, there is a local service here where a young man will take your order and deliver baguettes, croissants and pane de chocolate at 7:30 am. I LOVE the French! He stopped by while we were visiting with Ginny and we immediately placed our order for the morning! She also talked with us about where to summer (Trinidad or Grenada), we discussed the possibility of a flotilla down to Trinidad. We'll see, but for now we are looking at checking in to Guadeloupe tomorrow and exploring the local area which from the boat looks JUST wonderful.

Personally, I am looking forward to a good night's sleep, and no dawn wake up call.