http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Donna-Gay/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Donna Gay en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:35:21 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:35:21 +0000 I returned to the boat in Panama on September 30th after a 3 month stay in the U.S. and it didn't take long for me to settle down to the slower pace of everyday living on a sailboat. Soon after I returned we sailed to the San Blas Islands of Panama Kuna Yala an archipelago on Panama's Caribbean coast composed of 340 islands. We visited the Kuna village of Tupile where a young Kuna man befriend http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-450961.html We left the Bahamas in late May and headed to Jamaica. We spent a week in Jamaica waiting for good weather for the anticipated crossing to Panama. We eventually got acceptable weather not really enough wind but at least no BAD weather and made the 4 day sail to Panama. We arrived in Panama on June 1 in plenty of time for hurricane season. June 1st is technically the beginning of hurricane se http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Kuna-Yala/blog-405225.html We've been traveling through the Bahamas since late March. We have sailed in the most shallow water here than anywhere else but is crystal clear beautiful water in various shades of blue and green. Since the water is so shallow I have spent alot more time than usual standing on the coachroof and picking out reefs rocks and hazards as we approach harbors. We approached the Bahamas from the so http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/North-Eleuthera/blog-399509.html Hi everyone. We are anchored in Fat Hog's Bay Tortola British Virgin Islands. We've been in the BVIs a little over a week and have once again enjoyed our stay here. This is my 4th visit Jimmy's 5th to the BVIs. Jimmy has been diving at 3 different sites here this past week plus a lot of snorkeling. We ran into our friends Dave and Michelle on sv Daniell Storey whom we haven't seen sinc http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/British-Virgin-Islands/Tortola/blog-371681.html Jimmy and I are in Puerto Rico now and plan to spend Christmas on the boat this year. Since the last blog entry we have put a few miles under our belts. We left Puerto la Cruz Venezuela in late October and headed out of the country via the offshore Venzuelan islands of Los Roques and Los Aves. We spent a couple of days in each island group before sailing to Bonaire.Bonaire is part of the ABC I http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/Ponce/blog-356622.html Wow what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. Our time in Venezuela is winding down. What a country It has mountains beaches jungle amazing waterfalls and the list goes on. After leaving the island of Margarita we traveled north to the island of Blanquilla for a few days and then south to the island of Tortuga for a few days. These islands have pretty beaches and Blanquilla especial http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Venezuela/North-Eastern/Puerto-la-Cruz/blog-335788.html We left Grenada August 19 and sailed to Trinidad with our friends Val Lloyd on sv Puddle Jumper. On August 22nd I flew from Trinidad to Atlanta GA to visit my family in Dalton GA. My son and daughterinlaw flew in from Dallas and my sister flew in from Houston. We all gathered at Mom's house. I spent 9 days in Georgia . My Mom's family has a big family reunion every year so I had a ch http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Venezuela/North-Eastern/blog-325875.html We spent most of June in the Grenadines. We visited Bequia Mustique Canouan Mayreau Tobago Cays Petit St. Vincent and Union Island. While sailing in the Grenadines we started traveling with several other boats from island to island. At one time we had as many as 8 boats traveling together. It was great fun and we made a lot of new friends. Toward the end of June we made our way further http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Grenada/Grenada/blog-305095.html In early May we left St. Martin and sailed to Oranje Baai St. Eustatius also called Statia. We stayed there 2 days and one of the highlights of our visit was a hike to the crater rim of the Quill Volcano. Most people have never heard of Statia but in the 1700s it was the trade capitol of the Indies with over 100 ships in the harbor at a time. After Statia we sailed to St. Kitts where we anch http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Saint-Lucia/Anse-la-Raye/blog-281927.html After spending a month in Puerto Rico we made our way back through the Spanish U.S. and British Virgin Islands in order to be back in St. Martin by the first week of April. After returning to St. Martin we had guests from Fort Worth for a week. While they were here we traveled to the French side of St. Martin where we visited Marigot Grand Case Tintamarre and Orient Beach. We enjoyed the http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Netherlands-Antilles/Sint-Maarten/blog-267833.html