Nevis is our current location and today is the last day we will have internet for awhile.  So I thought I would fill you in on our travels.

We left Bitter End in Virgin Gorda and headed to the southern end of the island near Spanish Town.  It was a great anchorage with a marina and a very nice grocery store near by.  We took a day trip with Varua to the Baths and did some snorkeling.  Of course all those pictures are on my camera and I still can't find the little tool I need to import the pictures to the ipad, so I will have to post them later.

We left from Spanish Town at 4:00 pm on Thursday May 22nd and sailed almost 27 hours of our 45 hour voyage to St. Martin.  We tacked often which made the trip much longer than it should have been, but the trip was much more comfortable than sailing into the wind and waves.  We arrived in St. Martin at 1:30 pm on Saturday the 24th.  We spent our entire Sunday resting and recuperating from the trip.  Along the way we picked up a hitchhiker and caught two baracuda.  Naturally, we let them all go.

Flying Fish catching a ride

There is a barracuda at the end of this line

Sunrise over St. Martin

St. Martin....almost there

Busy anchorage but plenty of room.  The aromas from land were awesome.

We left St Martins at 5:30 am hoping to return here someday and explore the city.   We motored sailed with the main and the little jib for 42 miles arriving in Basseterre, St. Kitts by 5:00.  The cruise ship parked at the dock left at 7:00 pm.  The next morning we hauled the dinghy off the bow of the boat and went to check in with customs and immigration.  No problems and only $42.00.  The cruise ship village was a deserted as a ghost town, but walking further we arrived at the center of town.  People, buses, and taxis all moving around the clock tower in the middle of the street.

Clock tower with water basin to wash hands or get a drink of water.

Lots of activity in the center of town.  Selling fresh pineapples from the back of a truck.

We explored a couple of other small harbors that were usually rolly from the southeast winds, but very peaceful.  on Thursday the 29th we sailed a short 6 mile hop over to Nevis and found only 4 other boats in the huge anchorage area running along the western side.  Dozens of mooring balls available, so we hooked onto #31.  Friday we all went in and explored the city of Charleston.  The streets were old and the architecture was just as old.  We saw many buildings built in the 1800's.

OF COURSE THEY ARE PICTURES ON MY CAMERA!

Memorial Square during a little rain shower.  It rains here a little bit almost every day.  

But the highlight of the day was visiting the Horatio Nelson Museum.  He is one of Will's personal heroes   and has read many books and watched many movies about this British Navy Admiral.  Nelson  was killed during the battle of Trafalgar when he was 47.

Shaking hands with Horatio Nelson

The museum was a 2 mile hike outside of town but well worth the visit.

Tomorrow June 1st we will sail south to Montserrat.  A small island with an active volcano on it called Soufriere Hills.  It has been erupting on a regular basis since 1995.  the last eruption was in 2012.  

Not sure where we will head after this stop...we have thoughts of visiting Antiqua to the northeast or heading south again to Guadeloupe.  But we will catch up with you when we get somewhere.

Paradise is not a great place for keeping a journal or blogging.  However, I do think about
working on it at least once in awhile.

We spent 65 days in Salinas, Puerto Rico and enjoyed every second of it.  We loved our
new friends, the grocery stores, the bakery, the dingy rides when the engine was working
properly.  We loved swimming in the pool, playing Mexican train on Sundays,  our road
trips to San Juan, Ponce, the Rain Forest, and along the coast through the mountains.

One special weekend we partied on a special beach with new Puerto Rican amigos.

alexandra and baron

                                                            seee if you can find me

beach mommies

I truly loved flying back to the states for ten days and visited my mother and father in Tampa.
Then a trip to Hilton Head to see Carly and friends.

Carly was the highlight of my trip

The day finally came that we pulled anchor at 1:00 am with no moon but the sky filled with stars.  With some quick over night stops in Vieques, Calebra, and St Thomas, we pulled into Soper's Hole in Tortola....the British Virgin Island.  We arrived on May 7th three days before the wedding of our friends Lara and Brian.  But on May 8th the rains came and they stayed for five days.  In between the rain drops we still had lots of fun with our good friends visiting from Hilton Head, Morris and Jim, and the new friends we met at the wedding.  

Unfortunately all the pictures of the wedding and our week in Soper's Hole are on my camera.  I lost my camea for a few days but have also lost the cord for importing pictures from my camera to the ipad.  So I will be able to share those with everyone after we return to the states in July and I can purchase a new one!

One fun road trip was to Road Town to buy hydraulic fuel that Will needed for the water maker pump and it took us five stops before we found the only place that had it or had it in less than 5 gallon drums.  The nice shop owner just poured about a quart into an empty five gallon drum and said "No charge"  While he was busy with that deal, I met Clarence from the Struggling Man Road Side cafe and we joined him there for a great seaside lunch.

On May 14th we moved to a new mooring around the corner called Cane Garden Bay and we fell in love with that place.  We took a cute pink mooring ball and enjoyed the beach, swimming, pain killer rum drinks and had dinner at Quito's where Quito played his guitar for us.

our favorite beach so far in Tortola

Back on the seas we made one over night stop before arriving at Bitter End Resort.  We finally were able to anchor out instead of paying for a mooring ball....usually $30 a night.  So a free stay at an expensive resort.  It feels like being in Disney World without the rides and the crowds. 

So my friends and family, I leave you today on May 19th until next time.  Not sure where we will be next, but I am sure it will be beautiful.  And remember that you are always in our thoughts and wished we could have each and everyone of you with us to enjoy our trip.  We are usually safe, but scraps and bruises do happen.

Missssssss   youuuuuuuu