According to the great Hindu epic ‘Ramayana’, Denali is believed to be the time when Lord Rama defeated and killed the evil King Ravana and after passing a period of fourteen years in exile returned to his capital Ayodhya on a new moon day of the Kartik season with wife Sita and brother Lakshman. This homecoming of Lord Rama is celebrated with lights, fireworks, and merriment. The tradition continues to this day where huge effigies of Ravana are burned symbolizing Lord Rama's vanquishing of the demon king. The idols of Goddess Lakshmi, the symbol of wealth and prosperity and Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, the symbol of auspiciousness and wisdom, are worshipped in most Hindu homes on this day. “Denali or 'Deepawali',as it is known is the Festival of Lights. The people light up the ... read more

Magnificent, lush, green, wet, alive, elegant, relaxing, serene, and vivid are all words that could be used to describe our trip to Asa Wright Nature Reserve in Trinidad. We signed up for an overnight trip to stay at the Asa Wright Nature Reserve. The trip began on Saturday, October 15th at 9:30 AM when we climbed into a van driven by Jesse James, Trinidad tour guide supreme. We heard Jesse’s name from other cruisers hundreds of miles before we even got to Trinidad. For the cruising community he is Trinidad’s number 1 ambassador. His business, Members Only, caters predominantly to cruisers. His primary business is providing transportation to shops but he also is a source of information and assistance - everything from where can I get this part for my boat to emergency medical assistance. The ... read more

A rainy day at home. The sound of rain on the deck, the gentle rocking of the boat, time to read. A time to relax. then at quickly as it started, it ends. Now it is time to continue putting away those things we brought from the US, get re-acquinted with our home and try to scratch off some of those items on the "to do list". The rainy season has its benefits!... read more

Back in the USA-being gone for just over a year doesn't seem that long, but it feels like a long time. I'm not sure why, it may be that our new life (sailing the Caribbean) is so radically different from life back in the USA. From the moment we landed in Newark, New Jersey it was as if someone had changed the speed on the record player from 331/3 to 78 (my apologies to those of you who don't remember record players). Just walking through the airport you can immediately see how everyone else is driven and moving at this incredibly fast pace and we're being sucked right along with them. Janice was the one who noticed it first and suggested that we stop, sit down and get a cup of coffee. This gave both of ... read more

On the night before we planned on leaving for Trinidad one of the other boats organized a movie night which we took advantage of. Transportation was organized for a trip to the local movie theatre to see the newest Pirates of the Caribbean film with Johnny Deep. Some of the cruisers came to the movie complete with pirate costume. Unfortunately we didn’t get photos of most of them as they were in the other vehicle, but it was obvious that many came cruising with many of the makings of a pirate costume. One of our friends even had the boots! We all teased that she had the room as she sails on a catamaran! It seemed as everything was set for us to leave Grenada on Thursday, July 14th for our crossing to Trinidad. It is ... read more