We have been home for about 2 weeks now, and our cruising life is fast becoming a distant memory! Safari Tu is out in Newport harbor, and I think she is starting to feel a bit lonely without us aboard...

Key things we've been enjoying on land: unlimited ice, dishwasher, laundry machine, no need to close all the windows when it rains, sundowners on the front porch.

Key things we've been missing from the cruising life: amazingly clear water, fresh breezes, random people coming up to our boat and saying hello, sundowners in the cockpit.

Many people have asked us "what was your favorite place on the trip?" and we find it difficult to answer this question... favorite place for what? For relaxing? For adventure? There were so many great places along the way, it's tough to answer. If pressed, I guess some of our best memories were from our time in Dominca (friendly people, amazing hiking and landscape, awesome fruits) and the island of Bequia in the Grenadines (picturesque harbor, nice beaches, quaint little town, multi-boat barbeque on the beach).

One of the best things about our trip was meeting other cruisers from all over the world! Sometimes we spent weeks "buddy-boating" with people we met, while other times we only had a day or two together before going our separate ways. We made a bunch of friendships that will last for a long time.

Special thanks to Mark for being our property manager / mail handler / problem solver while we were away - couldn't have done it without you. Thanks as well to Cindy for being our lead "shore crew" person during our long passages. Big thanks to Noel for helping us make our first offshore trip from Virginia to Bermuda, and thanks as well to our first-class crew for our other long passages: Matt, Roth, Amelia and Grant.

Thanks for tuning into our blog - hope you liked all the pictures and stories. If you want more, just come and visit us in Newport! You can continue to reach us via: safaritu@gmail.com. Don't forget to check out our last batch of photos from the Bahamas back to Newport.

Lots of love,
Scott & Jen & Anna & Matthew

Trip Stats (for the numerically-inclined)
Days away: 327
Miles traveled: 5818 nm
Engine hours: 713 hrs (! - not much wind in the Bahamas this season...)
Countries visited: 15
Ti-Punches imbibed: unknown

(The lead photo is a photo taken of Safari Tu arriving in Newport early in the morning on July 1st by sister-in-law Dana who got up early to wave us in with our 3-year old niece!!)