October 19th...one year ago we left Miami heading to our hopeful destination of Grenada.    We made it on June 26th having travelled over 2,000 nautical miles and having visited many countries and islands!   Our plans now are to travel back north some time soon.  We are not sure how long it will take or where we will go on our return trip.  But we are all ready to return to the USA!  Maybe by next hurricane season.

                                                   We are ready for our adventure to begin

We did an overnight sail to West End in the Bahamas and spent 2 months exploring the Bahama Islands.   Our Thanksgiving was with friends John and Cathi at their beautiful beach front home on Treasure Cay. Our Christmas was spent on Rum Cay where we were invited to share dinner at a sandy floored bar for a pot luck dinner with the 38 residents.  New Year's Eve was spent in San Salvador with friends Helga and Peter. We left San Salvador on January 26th and had a two night sail to the last island in the Bahama chain called Mayaguana.  We had Will's brother Jamie with us as an extra crew member.  We spent a week there with 11 other sailboats waiting for a good weather window to make the sail to Turks and Caicos.

                                             Thanksgiving in Treasure Cay at Cathi's home

                                             Christmas in Rum Cay with friends  They are
                                             preparing costumes for Junkanoo parade the
                                                         day after Christmas

Helga and I on sailing catamaran Twiga on

New Year's Eve

Jamie and Will on our way to Turks and Caicos.

This is after two days of beating into the winds

and waves.  Happy to be in calm waters.

Leaving Turks and Caicos was a big jump for us and arrived in the Dominican Republic after another two day over night sail.  We arrived on January 22nd and spent 3 weeks there enjoying the Spanish culture.  We met up with friends Sylvio and Susan and Jon....cruisers we have met and spent fun times with as we have travelled south.  Jamie left us to find wind surfing meccas, and we set off for Puerto Rico.

Jon and Susan 

Sylvio

                                                       

We loved many of the ports that we visited in Puerto Rico.....Mayaqueze, Boqureon, Cabo Rojo, Guilligans Island, and finally Silinas.  We spent two wonderful months at this fine harbor and had friends Marty and Smitty join us for a week visit. We met our friends Dick and Jane playing Mexican train dominoes.   Susan's friend Kim came for a weekend, and we spent a day on the beach with our Puerto Rican lady friends

Marty and Smitty

Jane and Dick

Mommie, Kim and Susan

Alexandra

Next stop Tortolla in the US Virgin Islands.  We stopped to anchor each night at Vieqiues, Calebra, and St Thomas. We attended a wedding of our friend Morris's son on May 10th...Brian and Lara.  We explored different anchorages there and in the British Virgin Islands as well....Virgin Gorda was a treat as we met up with our friends Meredith and Justin.

Brian and Lara

My colorful friend

Fellow Hilton Head sailor Jim

                                              Will's good friend Morris...father of the groom

                                            Justin and Meredith married in Virgin Gorda

On May 22nd we headed east to the Windward Islands.  St. Maartin, St Kitts, and Nevis.  On June 3rd we arrived in Guadeloupe and were treated to an island tour to the waterfalls with Charlotte and Jonathan....a young couple we met at the weeding in Tortola.  This was our first French island and found the French very hospitable.

Charlotte and Jonathan in Guadalope

Everyone loved Benely.  This was on Nevis at

an outdoor art cafe

Dominica was our next stop and Bentley was not allowed ashore, so after two days we sailed on to Martinique another French Island.  We met a couple from Greenville, SC...Libby and David and toured the Mt. Pele volcano area with them.  Walking among the ruins of the town of St Pierre that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt Pele in  in the 1902 was a special treat.  We also loved the aromas and food on the French islands.

                                     Food stands and bakeries are a part of all island cultures


On June 17th we arrived at the first of the Leeward Islands...St Lucia.  Our hurricane insurance takes effect on July 1st, so we hustled through the islands quickly.  St Vincent, Bequia, Mayreau, Union Island, and Carriacou which is a part of Grenada, so we checked in there.

Beautiful anchorages throughout the islands

                                            Wendy and Dave with us in Carriacoua. This was
                                            the first time we had run into them since March, 2013

Checking in and checking out is a MUST in each of the different islands, so we have now checked in and out of 15 different ports.  We will be checking out of Grenada in the very near future.  We look forward to returning to the United States.   We are not sure which direction we will take or how long it will take us, but we hope to be back by the beginning of hurricane season July 1, 2015.

So a final picture of our sailboat Varua at sunset in Woburn Bay, Grenada.   We will miss many of the friends we have met from all over the world.   Bitter sweet to leave this country, but USA here we come.