January - Bahamas George Town FINALLY! After waiting more than a week for a weather window, we made it into the much acclaimed "cruisers mecca", also known as Chicken Harbor and "adult summer camp". After being here a couple of days I think all of these accurately describe George Town, and I can see why many people spend the entire season here. There are activities all day: various lessons and seminars, volleyball, basket weaving, art, happy hour, jam sessions, even church on the beach. We   stayed long enough to provision, pick up mail and get a good window before heading to Long Island. Jan 23rd Well, we passed right by Long Island and headed directly for Rum Cay. Rum Cay was nice and quiet with very friendly locals. A nice change from GT. There was not much in the way of development, but we were invited to a local lady's 76th birthday party. LOTS of wonderful local food and music! Great time.  We stayed a full day at Rum before setting out ESE on an overnight passage to Mayaguana Cay. This island is very remote, with only a handful of inhabitants. But the anchorage is surrounded bu coral reefs, so the food hunting was great!   After a couple of days, the weather called to us to sail SE. So bye-bye Bahamas, hello Turks & Caicos. February-Turks & Caicos We Spent a few days in Provo (Providenciales), the largest settlement in the Turks & Caicos. Tourism is the primary industry here, and lots of construction going on. Many new very expensive condos & resorts. We did share a rental car with 3 other friends and explore the city. Graham was brave enough to be our driver since they drive on the left here. "Look right, keep left" was the saying of the day! We moved on to South Caicos, where we are now. Both of us like it here better than Provo. This is a fishing village with quite an ecclectic mix of old and new buildings and   Bahamas-Dominican-Haitian-British-American influence on the people. There are many small boats that are used for one day trips fishing for fish, lobster and conch. Horses, pigs and donkeys roam the streets freely. There are several very small, but very good restaurants and stores. We have found the people here some of the friendliest we've ever met. Sailed to Sand Cay to stage our passage to the DR and stayed a few days waiting for winds to be favorable. It was quiet and beautiful there because the island is empty and remote. Mid Feb - Dominican Republic  :) The passage to the DR was wonderful! Left Sunday, Feb 10 for a nice sail with winds just forward of the beam at 15-20 kts, seas 3-4 ft. We saw humpback whales on their way to the mating grounds just off the DR coast. Caught a mahi-mahi, saw a green flash at sunset, and had stars from horizon to horizon during the night. We arrived at Luperon harbor at sunup. What a difference from the Bahamas or Turks & Caicos! Everything is SO green! Mountains, Birds and FRESH "frutas y vegetales" ! We've found Luperon to be friendly, inexpensive and safe. I can understand why there's so many "ex-pats" who stay here. Yesterday, we took an inland tour of the DR. This started with a hike up a mountain to a tall, but narrow system of waterfalls.   We swam, climbed and were lifted by our guides to each of seven levels.  When we reached the seventh level, we turned around and were able to swim, slide or jump down each level. The water flowed though a deep trench cut through the mountainside and worn smooth by the water flow. Basically it made a natural water park. We had great fun! And a good soaking in fresh water was wonderful! Afterward, we had lunch at a local buffet before exploring a botanical garden, a farm and a soapstone carving factory. We were also given a demo "cock fight", which is still popular here. But baseball is the country's passion. Just mention the name of a Dominican MLB player to get a big smile. Dan and Derek on "Ulitima Noche" are 2 young men who told me that wherever they go, they want to "make a difference". After this weekend, I have no doubt they will. On Friday they organized a dinner at the marina for cruisers to attend. It started as a way to collect donated school supplies. By the time for dinner,  it had escalated into these needs: - Supplies for the local school - Top 10 medicines for the hospital to distribute to those who cannot afford it. - A prosthetic leg for a local fisherman and father of 7 who lost his "good" leg through a series of tragedies. - Support for a local church who houses 10 Haitian orphans - Shirts and breakfast for migrant Haitian workers. WOW! Dan & Derek's enthusiasm was contagious and the cruising community stepped up to their challenges and met each and every need, even a new leg! Derek said "it was over the top"! But it didn't stop there. On Saturdays there is a softball game between the cruisers and some local young men, "Los Gringos vs Dominicana".  The cruisers have been treating the players to beer afterward. This week, we played, drank grande beers and provided hot dogs! First we handed them out to the local kids, then to the players, and eventually to anyone who happened to be in the area.  There were over 200 dogs distributed! By the afternoon, we were all a bunch of friends enjoying a Saturday softball afternoon. It was great fun for all!     I am so glad we came out to be a part of it. (Los Gringos lost by only a few points. The other towns team lost 18-5) Feb 20 - The wind is blowing us again. This time we transited the Northern DR coast in a series of nighttime passages, anchoring to rest during the day. The nighttime passages make sailing eastward against the E/SE tradewind more palatable since the winds drops about 10 knots from the usual 20-25kts. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen was one of these stops, Escondido. Samana was our last stop in the DR before heading across the dreaded "Mona Passage". Luckily for our crossing, Mona was asleep, and our passage uneventful. March - Puerto Rico Our first stop was Boqueron, where we took a publico to Mayaguez to clear US Customs. Border protection is alive and well here, we have been checked out 5 times now by Customs & Border Protection, since we were traveling at night along the Southern Coast. Mitch and Lauren joined us for their Spring Break, so we pulled into a marina slip (first time since Nassau) and rented a car for a couple of days. We toured El Yunke, the only tropical rainforest in the national park system. We all enjoyed a refreshing dip in the waterfalls! Then we got back on the boat, sailed to the Spanish Virgins to explore Culebra and its surrounding islands, snorkeling, diving, fishing (no luck), beachcombing and partying in Dewey. The weekend following their visit was the Culebra Heineken International Regatta, so we stuck around another couple of days. There were some pretty good live bands, and of course regatta shirts. On Sunday we sailed from Culebra to West End, British Virgin Islands.   April -Virgin Islands British Virgins: We sailed from Soper's Hole, West End to Norman's Cay for the idea of a St Patty's day party at the Willy T. Well, we partied at the Willy T, but we were told "We're English and don't celebrate that holiday". Imagine that.  The next day, we were able to get some good snorkeling in at the nearby caves and islands. We spent a few days at quieter (not less crowded) anchorages in nearby islands before heading to Jost Van Dyke. We spent a couple of days at Jost Van Dyke.  There were a lot of restraunts, bars and fun places to see. But once again, very crowded and expensive. We had fun and really enjoyed our visit, but we cut it short and headed to the USVI, hoping for some relief from the charter boat madness.   US Virgins: We spent another few days on the north and west side of St John, but still amazed at the number of rental boats around. Until we found Coral Bay.  A very large bay with several secluded anchorages, and a small, way cool village surrounding the main anchorage. There are many boats here, mostly belonging to the locals and a few cruisers who stop by (some never leave).  The locals include many musicians, artists, sailors and not-so-ordinary folks. The local slogan is "Coral Bay, The worlds largest open air asylum".  I think they're more sane than most. Live music and good food abounds, so I can see why so many come here and stay awhile. BVIs: After a couple of weeks in Coral Bay, we decided it was time to return to the BVI's at Virgin Gorda to see the famous Baths. These huge smooth granite boulders are indeed a site to see. We then transited the north shore of Tortola and met back up with our friends on Chinook in Cane Garden Bay. Sadly, that is also where we parted ways since they're continuing on southward. US Virgins:We departed the BVIs and again headed for St John, this time for the lovely harbor at Lameshur Bay. It is very pristine since it is inside the national park. It was a nice rest before our downwind passage back to PR. Puerto Rico: After a beautiful sail to PR, we stopped at Ensenada Honda in Vieques. We were the only boat anchored in this beautiful harbor, so we stayed a couple of days. Caught a smallish yellowfin tuna on the way in, so we had plenty of fresh fish. We enjoyed Esperanza, Vieques, which is a beautiful island town before heading to Salinas for provisioning and boat chores. We stopped in La Parguera on the southern coast before moving on to Boqueron. La Parguera is a fishing resort town, with houses built on stilts nestled among the mangroves. May -Back to the Bahamas We left Boqueron, PR on May 7 and sailed non-stop to South Caicos, 325 miles, our longest non-stop passage. Except for the 4 hours we were becalmed, it was a nice downwind sail and we flew our spinnaker! After a couple of days in S Caicos, we sailed to Mayaguana Cay to re-enter the Bahamas. It feels almost like home waters again. It does amaze me that the water is clearer and the beaches whiter here than anywhere else we have seen, including the Virgin Islands. The sailing has generally been slow downwind sails, where we fly mizzen and spinnaker (chute). It's relaxing sailing, but too slow to catch fish.  After a stop in Rum Cay, we stopped for a few days at pristine Conception Cay for beach combing, diving and general laziness. Cat Island was our next destination, stopping in New Bight for a night, then Arthurs Town and Orange Creek where we "hid" from a late season norther (our first "cold front" since leaving Georgetown in Jan.).   Since we had a week or so to wait before the music festival on Cat Island, we headed back to the Exumas (a day sail away), first Normas Cay (McDuffs) to see the friends we met in November. As usual, the food was excellent and company grand. We then headed south into Exuma Park (Shroud and Warderick Wells) for swimming and snorkeling before beating our way back to Cat Island. June - Bahamas Cat Island, Arthurs Town: This was the place to be for the 10th Rake n Scrape Music Festival. What a good time! Like most festivals, there were games for the kids,  handmade crafts, and homemade food, as well as music most of the night.  We ate homemade Bahamian dishes such as crab & dough, steamed conch (with peas and rice, of course), conch salad, bennie cakes (candy made from sesame seeds and molasses), crab soup (gumbo-like) and wonderful coconut tarts. The events started Friday night with the local children getting involved. The local school band preformed, then they "plaited" the maypole, and some even played with their own rake n scrape bands. The music started with a local rake n scrape band performing some traditional tunes that are very polka-like with folk dancers and then it moved on to professional modern Bahamian performers. Oh, let me explain what rake n scrape is: It started here on Cat Island and consists of an accordion, a goat skin drum, and a saw that is "scraped". The original rake n scrape was similar to polka music and the dance looked like a mix of polka, square dance and African dances with colorful costumes. The modern rake n scrape now uses electric guitars instead of an accordion and has more of a calypso sound.  During our stay we made many friends with the very friendly locals. Arthurs Town will certainly go on our list of places to visit again! Eleuthera: We made our way up the west side of Eleuthera, stopping at several locations. This lower part of Eleuthera is similar to the friendly "out islands" of the Bahamas. On the north side, we stopped at Spanish Wells, which is a very conservative fishing village before navigating the "Devils Backbone" to go to Harbour Island. Both Spanish Wells and Harbour Island are more developed with lots of American dollars than most places we have visited. But the islands are very pretty with lots of flowers and pastel colored homes. Abacos: After a smooth passage, we returned to the Abacos, a place more like Florida than anywhere we've been since November. But, we caught conch and fish and caught up with old friends from D-dock! We stayed for the annual regatta kick off party, the "Cheeseburger in Paradise" party sponsored by Stranded Naked Swimwear, which was a lot of fun! But, the threat of tropcal systems ushered us back to good ol' Florida!

Many spinnaker days and dolphins playing off the bow.

One of the several "junior" R&S bands.

Food stalls. These ladies actually dismantled their home kitchens and moved them here to cook for the festival.