Everywhere along our trip we have met other cruisers who are celebrating the fact that they "finally made it!" For some, this means that they finally made it off the dock and are traveling down to the Florida Keys. For others it is that they finally made it to the Bahamas and are enjoying the island life. And still for many others it is finally making it to the Caribbean, specifically when you make landfall in the Virgin Islands. All of these are great accomplishments in this cruising life and definitely worth celebrating. But for us, our dream was to sail [View Full Entry]

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We spent over two weeks in Martinique and had a lovely time, when the weather permitted. The trade winds kicked up to about 25-30 knots constant (the highest of the season) and we were having squalls up to 50 knots with each tropical wave that moved across the Caribbean. Hurricane season has officially started. Most of our days we were stuck inside, reading books or watching movies or playing dominoes, seeking shelter from the the howling wind, down pouring rain, and earth-shattering lightening. We moved our boat down from Anse Mitan to Marin, Martinique's best protected anchorage to ride [View Full Entry]

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Martinique produces some of the best rum in the Caribbean, distilled the same way for centuries with strict standards and using only local sugarcane. The French are as serious about their rum as they are for their wine, so we decided to visit a few distilleries and go rum tasting- yum! The adventure begins with us renting a car, actually I don't know if you can even call it a car, it was a "Twingo" about the size of a shoebox. The company theme is "it moves!" like they are actually surprised that the thing can run. It is what my [View Full Entry]

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We set sail at first light and got to St. Pierre on the northern tip of Martinique just before sunset, it was a long day. But now we are here, anchored in St. Pierre harbor at the base of Mt. Pelee- a totally amazing site! We are super excited to explore Martinique and are looking forward to visiting this famous town. St. Pierre has a fascinating and very tragic history. It was once the capital of Martinique and the epi-center of the French West Indies, often called the Paris of the Caribbean, rich in culture, sophistication and the elite plantation society. [View Full Entry]

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We left St. Bart's just after sunset and had a wonderful sail to Les Saintes. And yes- we actually sailed. We were booking it around 8 knots with full sail and engine off, just the sound of the waves and the water rushing against the hull- nice! It was the first time since we left the Bahamas that the wind was off our stern not dead on the nose, so instead of bashing thru the waves we just got pushed along, surfing down them as they came in behind us. It was a calm night and we enjoyed watching the lights [View Full Entry]

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We are off sailing again- yohoo! The mast was repaired, the sails were back on, and we were anxious to get a move on- it was time to leave St. Martin. So we made the 9:30 bridge opening and set sail for St. Barts, a quick 20 mile trip to this swanky little island. And sail we did! We are happy to report that the Rum Runner is up and running again under full sail. It was a fun day trip to St. Barts, we threw in a tack or two, and arrived at Anse de Colombier by the afternoon. Anse [View Full Entry]

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Cruising is really just another way to test of your skills, adaptability, and patience. Obviously you need some skills to sail a boat down to the Caribbean as well as fix all the problems you encounter along the way (like bad electrical wiring, the propeller coming loose, the battery chargers not working, the freezer going out, the bilge pumps not shutting off, as well as multiple plumbing issues and other such leaks… just to name a few of the things that we have had to fix lately). Not to mention the bigger problems we have had with our sail blowing out [View Full Entry]

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I seriously can’t believe that we have been anchored out in St. Martin for a month now; we haven’t moved the boat and are starting to get some serious growth on our anchor chain. I don’t think the Rum Runner has been in one place for this long since we left Charleston- holy cow! And unfortunately we don’t know when we will set sail again. We are still waiting for repairs and can’t leave until our mast gets fixed, which can easily take another week or two. Really now, what kind of sailboat doesn’t have a sail? This is getting ridiculous [View Full Entry]

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Saba is one of the islands in the Caribbean that we were most looking forward to visiting, truly unique geography and thus interesting history and culture as well. It is a small island (a mere 5 square miles) surrounded by sheer cliffs and steep drop-offs, just the tip of a volcano that rises thousands of feet out of the ocean on the edge of the Caribbean shelf. It is incredibly difficult to anchor your boat here because the island continues its vertical drop down into the ocean depths just a few feet from the shoreline and there are no beaches to [View Full Entry]

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Carinival! Our first week in St. Martin happened to be Mardi Gras and all of town was closed for the week to celebrate. So we went over to Philipsburg to watch the grand parade- and let me tell you, it was awesome! The costumes were big and bold and feathery and glittery and just over the top. And live music was blasting from the back of semi-trucks throughout the parade, so loud that we were able to feel the beat pulsing in our chest. It was a throng of activity, everyone was dancing and drinking and having a great time. The [View Full Entry]

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