Things we are just plain grateful for
New on Tiny House Blog!
“YURT LIFE” has just been published featuring our friends on S/V Necesse as they tell about their recent trip to visit to Eben’s brother and his wife Mel up at their Mountain Yurt in Canada. The Stolz men are all about unconventional living!
It was such a short hop over to Nevis once we left St. Kitts. The hillsides and black sand beaches were breathtaking at Pinney’s Beach.
We took the dinghy around the point for a little snorkeling near the rocky points. The water wasn’t very clear that day so we headed back toward where we were anchored and snorkeled off the beach near some scattered coral heads. Peter got a little too close and accidentally poked himself on an urchin. NO FUN!
Our diving adventures were cut short, but we still enjoyed the scenery.
Unfortunately we left our credit card at Salt Plage back on St. Kitts so we had to turn back and get it the next day. The management was incredibly helpful and even bought us a drink for our inconveniences. It’s not so easy to just cancel a credit card and have a new one mailed out when we live on a boat with no mailing address. Oh well. It was an easy sail and it only set us back one day.
As we set out for Guadeloupe, a small pod of spinner dolphins came out to play as we passed by Nevis around dinnertime….
We left St. Kitts at 5:45pm on July 7th. Our night passage started off terribly uncomfortable when we made the mistake of not getting far enough off shore. The shoals south of Nevis stirred up the sea in a violent way and had us considering turning around to wait for settled weather. Our friends Dustin and Courtney were planning to leave Nevis not long after us and we later heard they took a wave on the flybridge of Captiva, a 75′ Catamaran, on that very same passage! We persevered, wearily arriving at Deshaies, Guadeloupe at 10:15 am just in time to see a beautiful rainbow above our sistership, Lunacy.
We were finally a good distance down the island chain!
We’re currently in Grenada wrapping up Hurricane Season and preparing to sail back north to the Virgin Islands… stay tuned for more adventures!
The holidays are coming… Snowbirds fly south and families start booking vacations. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Would it be to one of these Exotic Sailing Destinations or maybe somewhere a bit closer to home?
Because we live on a boat, the question for us then becomes “What is our #1 favorite sailing destination?” There are literally THOUSANDS of islands in the Caribbean. While we have only visited a few of them so far, one group of islands sticks out in our minds as being somewhere we would go back to over and over again. Any ideas?
You guessed it… The British Virgin Islands!
Here are our top 10 reasons why the BVIs are our all-around favorite sailing destination:
1. Diving – The environment here meets all the requirements of what we like to call the 80-80-80 Rule, which makes for some incredible snorkeling and scuba diving.
2. Beaches – All of the islands have their own unique and picturesque beaches. White sand, crystal clear water and palm trees frame the shorelines turning every anchorage into the picture perfect backdrop for taking magazine quality photos.
3. Sailing Conditions – The islands are scattered perfectly in such a way where the prevailing East winds will allow a beam reach on a short day-sail to a different island every day. This is a great place to learn how to sail or just brush up on your skills. A sailing playground if you will; many will consider this the Charter capital of the world. Choose from an easy mooring ball, or a quiet anchorage away from the commotion.
4. Fishing – The North Drop and the South Drop are the two best fishing locations where you’ll find billfish, tuna, shark, wahoo, mahi mahi and most other pelagic game fish. Inshore, you can catch bonefish, tarpon, jacks and snapper.
5. Surfing – World class point breaks can be found in Cane Garden Bay and Apple Bay, but are usually only breaking in Winter months during a rare North swell.
6. Transportation and Accommodations – The BVI Tourism Authority has made this destination easy and affordable to enjoy. There are tons of cabanas, houses, resorts and even private islands for rent. Ferries operate daily to carry visitors and locals between the major islands. Even airlines offer specials flying to and from the Virgin Islands. It’s a quick hop back over to US territory if any emergencies arise.
7. Tourist Attractions – There are a dozen world renown attractions in these islands. Take a trip to The Baths on Virgin Gorda, The Bubbly Pool on Jost Van Dyke, RMS Rhone Shipwreck near Salt Island or The Caves at Norman Island.
8. Beach Bars – Experience one of the infamous Full Moon Parties at Bomba’s Shack at Apple Bay, sip on some Foxy’s Firewater Rum, kick back with Ivan, or swim up to The Soggy Dollar Bar to try out the original Painkiller.
9. Sunsets – The most spectacular colors will fill the sky at sunset each evening.
10. It’s the Caribbean, mon! – When we arrived in the BVIs, it was the first time we felt the laid-back tropical vibe we had been waiting for. We set our clocks for Island Time and the rest is history!
What’s your favorite travel destination?
Sailing from one end of Virgin Gorda to the other was a breeze. On June 24th we anchored in front of Spanish Town and got settled for the night.
The following day marked 30 days we had spent in BVI. Our mission was to visit the Customs and Immigration office to check out. We were misinformed about the location for checking out and found ourselves at the office up the hill which happens to be the place to go only for extending visas. The officials kindly informed us at 3pm that they were closed for the day and we would have to visit the Customs office near the Port Authority back down by our boat the next day. Go figure.
The next morning Peter and I dinghied back to shore and hiked across the field adjacent to the Marina to reach the Customs office. We brought our cruising permit, Certificate of Documentation, passports and money. Expecting to be hit hard for taxes and fees in a country that thrives on the Charter Boat Industry, we were pleasantly surprised to only be charged .75 cents for administration fees. It was even more strange since we had to visit three different windows with three different staff members to complete the transaction. One person could have done in two minutes what it took three people to do in 20.
Before this experience we had heard that various offices around BVI charge different rates for checking out of the country. Some are as high as $20. We heard Gun Creek was only $1.75 but it wasn’t convenient for us to check out of there since they didn’t have a decent grocery store or propane filling station. We took our chances with Spanish Town and everything worked out great.
The officials here did make sure to inform us, however, that our cruising permit had in fact only been valid for one week – not the 30 days we had thought. It wasn’t a terribly big deal and they waved us away after we told them it was our first time in BVI. They warned us for next time to notify the officials upon entry if we plan on staying longer than one week. NOTED!
On June 26th, the day had finally come to say “Goodbye BVI” and “Adios to Jost”. Already late in the season we still had a long way to go before reaching Grenada where we would be spending Hurricane Season below 12-degrees latitude. If you’re interested on why a lot of Caribbean cruisers choose to spend Hurricane Season in Grenada, take a look at this fun little tool from NOAA: Historical Hurricane Tracks.
Next up… St. Eustatius! We’re currently finishing up projects in Grenada as Hurricane Season comes to an end :)
Today marks ONE WHOLE YEAR living aboard Mary Christine!
From San Diego to Grenada and 3,000 nautical miles at sea, we’ve had some amazing adventures in our first year. We’re grateful for the opportunity we’ve been given to experience such a beautiful way to travel and we look forward to many more years to come!
For those new to our site, visit our first post to catch up on all the awesome memories we’ve made so far :)
We’ve just arrived back into the land of WIFI after an amazing week in the Tobago Cays! Stay tuned for some more great pictures.
