Caribbean

Hopefully these give you a better idea of where we are and where we're headed!

Martinique

Tuesday 24th January

We've started to head north and our first stop after leaving St.Lucia is the town of St.Pierre on the north west point of Martinique. The anchorage lies in the Shadow of Mt. Pelee volcano, which in 1902 erupted killing just under 30,000 people. Two lucky residents survived, Cyparis, who was imprisoned in a stone cell, and Leon Leandre, a cobbler in his cellar!

Last time we were here we spent a few days exploring the village and hiking in the hills above, this time we just used it as an overnight anchorage and as a jumping point to get further north to the island of Dominica. The trade winds have been blowing in full swing, on the Atlantic crossing this made for a great downwind sail, now that we're heading north  between the islands it means a lot of wind and big swell hitting us on the beam and some times head on. It's not making for the most enjoyable sailing for me as we end up wet and soggy but Jimmy is Loving the speed and  the opportunity to push Blue Moon at what she does best. 

Rodney Bay - St. Lucia

Friday 20th January

It's a strange feeling to be back in the Caribbean again, a place so familiar to us and yet everything feels new. In seven years a lot can change but really the underlying way of life is exactly the same and that's what we love. We haven't found a cruising community like this anywhere else in the world and we were welcomed back in with open arms.

Making the most of a Christmas present from Jimmy's mum we decided to Literally 'splash out' and spend a week in Rodney Bay marina and give Blue Moon some desperately needed TLC. In four days we had already used over 400 gallons of water as we scrubbed away the thick coat of Sahara dust we'd collected since Morocco. Luckily we were able to balance working on the boat with exploring the local area and celebrating our circumnavigation with good friends.

Caribbean Cuisine

Chicken & Potato Roti

Steamed fish, mash potato, beans & rice, plantain, bread fruit and yuca.

One of the great things about being back in the Caribbean is the local food, made from locally grown ingredients it's real soul food which leaves you feeling like you've eaten a 'proper' meal! Roti's are one of our favourite - it's basically curry wrapped in a flour pancake or wrap. The curry often varies to include either chicken, beef, goat, shrimp and with or without vegetables. Beans and rice are another popular meal and when mixed with either steamed fish, jerk chicken or beef in a kind of gravy it's really delicious!