Short and sweet, I have been perfectly healthy all year. No illness except for one episode of mal-de-mar. I did chronicle my concerns about my vision which culminated in swift, thorough and affordable tests in Antigua. Result, just wear reading glasses. I quit wearing reading and distance glasses soon after leaving on the trip. But reading without glasses had caused some eye strain.

Lisa got the Georgetown Bug. There was a high concentration of cruisers in Georgetown and a flu-like bug was passed around. Lisa is having some allergy problems with eye itching, etc.

We have been booted out of ACA health insurance three times due to screw-ups in the system. I have spent 100s of hours trying to get it sorted out and give up. We even paid for it for 6 months before we found out we were not insured. So we have given up on the mandatory stuff. We have DAN medivac and emergency insurance which takes care of emergency care and evacuation to the US if warranted. Other cruisers tell us not to worry about health insurance, cost in most countries is affordable. This is not a judgment on the ACA, this is just our personal experience.

My biggest health concern is sunburn and skin cancer. I wear sun block on my face every day and don't go long without a shirt outside. We met one cruiser who had Zika Virus and said it wasn't much of a problem. Of course, she wasn't pregnant.

Next time you go into a grocery store in the US, fall down on your knees and give thanks! Nowhere I have been compares to the selection and prices. Having said that, we are really enjoying the local foods almost everywhere. The Bahamas have the highest food prices and good selection only in Marsh Harbor and Georgetown. I love Cracked Conch in the Bahamas and ordered it whenever I could. Prices in restaurants are high too.

Culebra and the Viequez, Spanish Virgins, had very good food in restaurants. Prices in grocery stores were OK but selection a bit limited. US Virgin Islands had close to US mainland selection and prices. We enjoyed the hamburgers at Tap and Still, Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook.

The French islands had the best food, in grocery stores and especially restaurants! Our propane lasted twice as long in the French islands. We normally use a 10 pound tank every 5 weeks (we carry two) at a cost of about $12. Lisa put her bread baking on hold. We really ate out a lot in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Some restaurants accept US$ cash on an equivalent to Euros. That's a 15% discount. Next fall we will spend a lot more time in the French islands.

Rodney Bay in St Lucia also had good grocery stores but the restaurants didn't have much we raved about. We did find chicken and “ground provision” to be very cheap in local restaurants. Ground provision are vegetable dishes. You might get 5 different ones with a chicken quarter on top for about $5 in a local restaurant.

Roti is the Caribbean burrito. They are quite large and cost around $4. I love em. The filling is mostly potato and other veggies in a mild curry sauce. Most common are chiken roti. The chicken pieces have all the bones so roti are quite messy to eat. I had a Lambi roti (conch) from Nora on Union Island. It was a rich gravy roti that was one of my favorite. Here on Carriacou there is a bus (large van) whose driver makes roti. Yesterday we got a ride to Hillsboro and a roti for less than $10. The problem is that Helena drives all over town selling her roti and we got the scenic tour. She honks her horn constantly as she drives to advertise. During the trip she sold about 20.

The best food on the islands are the fruits and vegetables! From Antigua down to Grenada, we are never more than a short walk from a vegetable stand. We have gotten to know the vendors by name. Ask their advice about what is good that day and what is ripe today and what will keep several days. When you ask advice, you invariably get a gift fruit or vegetable thrown in. Everyone likes to feel their knowledge is important. We eat fresh mangos every day! The window for ripeness is quite short and we are good at catching them just right. Yesterday I bought 7 huge starfruit for $2. They are delicious.

Meat in the islands is mostly chicken. It is good chicken and I like chicken and eat chicken almost every day. Surprisingly, it is difficult to buy fresh fish unless you are in the right place at the right time. We have caught some good ones trolling and I am doing more bottom fishing from Uproar at night. Caught two nice Jacks last night. Pork is also often available but beef is scarce! We hear in mainland Grenada there will be better grocery stores and more variety.

Prices in the Caribbean outside of the Virgin Islands are reasonable if not inexpensive. People here are passionate about their food as people are everywhere. I asked Lavey, one vegetable stand lady, how to cook Callalou. She said, “If you cook it with land crabs, you won't want to ever eat anything else.” I asked her how I can get some of that to try. She said, “You can't, I just cook it for myself.” The next time I saw her she offered to make me some saying, “I'll just charge you for the Callalou.” We were leaving the next day but I will take her up on it next Fall. We did find a cook in Chatham Bay who made us some. We were talking about it during the BBQ dinner she made for us. Her husband set off into the bush and brought back 8 of these monsters (pictured). They are nasty looking but tasted delicious the next day!

Oh, I have lost about 15 to 20 pounds but not for lack of good food!