St. Maarten, St. Martin, Anguilla and again St. Maarten (February to 9 March) We just wanted to experience carnival on the French side (St. Martin), and then, after having been working on the boat for about a month, we would finally leave...... It was a real Caribbean carnival. We thought it was one of our nicest experiences sofar. There was a fantastic grand parade with music and mainly women, but also some men and children dressed up in colourful, ornate outfits with hats with feathers etc. We enjoyed filming them and they liked to star. Shortly thereafter we were glad that we went outside the lagoon, through the bridge, to go to Anguilla. Marcel just wanted to clean the bottom of the boat, which had grown a beard, and then we would leave. It turned out that cleaning had become impossible, because there was so much growth. So, we decided to go back into the lagoon to Bobby’s Marina and let them haul the boat out of the water and put new antifouling paint on the bottom. It was certainly worth it, because Alegría sailed more than a knot faster afterwards. How strange. We have been stuck on St. Maarten for ages, but we were also stuck ourselves. We had colds too often. And what did we really want to do? Until now we had had a clear goal to get to the Caribbean. Now that we were in the Caribbean, we were faced with all kinds of questions, like "what next, which way to go, north or south?" and "is this it?" and "what do we want to do with our lives after this?" This last question pops up more often, and is demanding an answer more and more. We want to use our brain again, and work again. How does that work? People sometimes say that they’re jealous of us, that we can do this. While we are now living in paradise (except for boat maintenance, a few unpleasant chores or seasickness), we sometimes think: "Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to have a base and to work again?" Does every human being want something different all the time? Are we never content with what we do at this moment? The trick is probably to learn to live now and enjoy everything now (That must be true "Alegría!") What are we missing then? To do something fulfilling, but this ís also fulfilling. To create something, put a little bit of yourself in what you do, contribute to something. I would like to do something creative with people. Maybe this is the quest for Alegria? To discover your inner self. We are so much on our own, that we are forced to take a good look inside and to get to know ourselves better. We can’t use the excuse of "I haven’t got time", or "we are to busy" anymore. And so I hope to discover what motivates and inspires me, such that I can make a conscious decision what to do next. We are also getting closer to each other. It is quite a coincidence, that we keep meeting people who also crossed the Atlantic this year. Everybody seems to get into an impasse upon arrival, and ask themselves "what next?". They all come to a different conclusion. One couple sold the boat, another continues to Iceland to complete a tour around the Atlantic, others sail north, to spent hurricane season in North America. Quite a few sail back to Europe via the Azores. Yet others continue to the Panama Canal to sail to Polynesia. We considered all of this, and made our own decision. Sure North America would be very beautiful, but we sailed this way to see the Caribbean, and so this is what we are going to do. We could always decide to go north next year, or to go through the Panama Canal. To go through the Panama Canal this year would be too fast. First we want to experience how we like the Caribbean. Otherwise we forget to look around and are only planning ahead. We are looking forward to first go up north to the Virgin Islands, before heading south along the island chain, and taking our time to experience the atmosphere of every island. We have discovered that the islands are quite different, if you look carefully and explore the land, talk to the locals and walk the nature trails. They all have pleasant and less pleasant aspects and have quite different atmosphere and cultures. Contrary to Antigua, which has a mostly black population, St. Maarten is a melting pot of cultures from all continents. That makes it very nice and international. When the boat was finished, we went to Anguilla. Anguilla is quite different again. Contrary to the islands we had been visiting so far, it is very flat. If you look at a map of the Caribbean, you see two chains of islands. They all have a volcanic origin. The inner chain, from Grenada to Saba is younger and therefore mountainous. Clouds form above these islands, which causes rain and therefore these islands have lush vegetation. The outer chain includes islands such as St. Maarten and Anguilla. These islands are older, have eroded, and are therefore less mountainous and dryer (although you wouldn’t say so this year in St. Maarten). Contrary to St. Maarten, Anguilla has a lovely rural atmosphere, with a very friendly black and white population. Everybody says "hello" in the streets. There is unspoiled nature with eagle rays and turtles under water, and pelicans and tropicbirds above. There are beautiful Caribbean houses, and we visited the excellent art gallery/studio of Michèle Lavalette. Her website is www.michelelavalette.com. We went to Prickly Pear Cay East for a day, a beautiful uninhabited island with white beaches and crystal clear water, where we snorkelled. A high swell from the north was forecast, which would make a crossing to the Virgin Islands unpleasant. We decided to go back to St. Maarten to see the Heineken regatta up close. We sailed to Orient bay on the east side of St. Maarten, and anchored at Ile Pinel. Here we waited until the first boats sailed past on a run under spinnaker. We sailed alongside them under Genoa only, and took lots of photo’s. The second day in Marigot we bumped into Sjors and Carola, whom we met early August in La Coruña on board their boat "Felice". They were now involved with the organisation of the regatta. It was so nice to see them again! We also saw Shirley and Guustaaf from "Jahazi". They had just come back from a trip to Holland, and were going to sail their boat to the BVI to sell her. They gave us a large part of their food stock. Especially the goulash was very nice. On the 9th of March we left St. Maarten at 4 am to sail to the BVI. It was a beautiful night with lots of stars and a small moon. It was a good crossing with the wind behind us and at 5 pm we dropped anchor at Spanish Harbour on Virgin Gorda. British Virgin Islands (BVI, 9 to 18 March) We had a lovely time in the BVI. It was nice to be back here. In 1995 we had chartered here a 45 feet Centurion with a group friends from Caracas. Almost every day we snorkelled and each location was beautiful. We snorkelled and walked at the Baths on Virgin Gorda. The Baths consists of beaches with palm trees and huge granite boulders. It was very crowded though. That evening we went to Marina Cay. A tiny island with a nice bar and terrace on top, where we watched the sun go down. Later we had dinner at a restaurant near the waterfront. We went snorkelling the next morning. Of the islands in the BVI we liked Anegada the best, the lowest island, almost completely surrounded by coral reefs. We thought it was quite exciting to sail in between the coral reefs. Luckily it was well marked. Onshore we took bumpy ride on a bus to beautiful Loblolly Beach on the north shore of the island. We saw beautiful underwater valleys and coral gardens whilst snorkelling. We saw several reef fish, amongst others a large baracuda and squid. During a walk on the beach to Pomato Point we also saw birds. On Tortola we wandered around through the old streets of Road Town, and in the evening we had dinner in an old style English pub (Pusser’s). At Norman Island we snorkelled in the caves and saw lobsters. One of the most beautiful bays where we anchored was Cane Garden Bay. It was very well protected, and we saw turtles sticking their heads out of the water. The beach was beautiful. That evening we had dinner in Quito’s Gazebo on the beach and listened and danced to the fantastic reggae music played by Quito’s band. Lovely! Sandy Spit is a small uninhabited Robinson Crusoe island, where we also snorkelled. US and Spanish Virgin Islands (18 March to 1 April) We continued our journey to Puerto Rico. First we had to clear out in Sopers Hole (BVI), then check in at Cruz Bay (USVI), and then check in again at Culebra (Puerto Rico). Puerto Rico is also part of the US, but for customs is separate from the USVI. The atmosphere in Culebra and the village of Dewey is very relaxed. We enjoyed speaking Spanish again. It was wonderful to wake up the next morning while at anchor in the bay. We could hear the roosters everywhere, very rural. This way we were up early to sail to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was a definite high in our sailing trip. Especially in the interior and in the old cities it reminded us of Venezuela, and on the freeways and in shopping malls it reminded us of the US. We left the boat in marina Puerto del Rey, rented a car and toured the island for a week. First we went to the El Yunque rainforest in the mountains in the northeast of the island. We walked a trail to the Las Minas waterfalls. We heard many birds and tree frogs. The tree frogs are called "coqui", and that is also the sound they make. The vegetation is stunning with a variety of trees, palm trees, ferns, tree ferns, and bamboo. Then we drove the Ruta Panoramica from Yabucoa in the southeast through the Central Cordillera to Maricao in the west. We enjoyed the great views. Perhaps it was especially beautiful this time of the year, because a lot of trees were flowering. Nearly everywhere we saw those enormous bright orange flowers of the African tulip tree. We also saw waterfalls along this route. One night we spent in Casa Grande, a "parador" close to Utuado. This was a great experience. It was situated in the middle of the mountains, en surrounded by beautiful plants and trees. It had a restaurant and a swimming pool with a view. We slept in a hut, which looked like a hotel room on the inside, with a balcony and a hammock. It was most special to be woken up at 6 in the morning by all these sounds of birds and tree frogs. The entire forest came to life. My mom said to me later: "perhaps it reminded you of Klamono, in New Guinea" (we lived there when I was between age 2 and 5), and maybe that is true. That morning I attended a yoga/meditation class. I felt great the whole day afterwards. I fancied the idea of setting up something similar, also with a space to use for art and free expression besides yoga and meditation. Between Adjuntas and Maricao we drove through coffee, orange, mandarin and banana plantations. The coffee plants were flowering, and smelled lovely (a little bit like jasmine). Ripe oranges and mandarins were hanging in the trees or lying on the ground. Incredible, how these plantations are located on such steep hillsides. It must be hard work. We would have loved to spend another night in the mountains, in another "parador", however everything was fully booked, because it was "Semana Santa" (the week before Easter), and everybody in Puerto Rico had some days off, and went on a trip. In the end we found an old fashioned, but very Puerto Rican "parador" at a thermal spring and spa. The next day we went to the Tibes Indian park. They showed us how the Taino Indians lived in Puerto Rico before the arrival of Columbus. The guide told us some fantastic stories. We visited Hacienda Buena Vista, where they showed us how they used to grind corn and coffee with the use of water mills. They also showed how to make chocolate from cocoa. In Ponce we wandered around the old city centre. Especially Castillo Serrallés was the highlight of the day. The benches in the Cathedral were decorated with palm branches for Palm Sunday. They also held processions that day, but we missed them. We also spent two half days in Old San Juan. It is a beautiful, crowded city with many old streets, of which the houses are painted in pastels, with lanterns and balconies. The city is almost entirely surrounded by a wall, which was built between 1635 and 1645, in Spanish colonial times. You can walk along the wall on the outside along Paseo de la Princesa. At the end of the week we went once more to El Yunque to walk another nice trail through the rainforest. We managed to stay dry in between two enormous showers. It was especially beautiful now with all the wet, shiny leafs, the wet moss and the mushrooms. After a week we were sorry to leave Puerto Rico. We would have loved to stay longer, we wouldn’t mind to live there if this was possible. During our stay in the marina we were next to "Serendipity". And this is how we met the Brown family from Beaumont, Texas. Very nice people. We left the same day and saw each other again at Palominos, a small island just northeast of the marina. We invited them for drinks. The next day there was hardly any wind, and we motored to Cayo Luis Peña, a small island near Culebra. Serendipity was here as well, and they invited us for a lovely dinner. The night before Easter we were at anchor near Culebrita. We saw many turtles in the bay, as they came up for air. On Easter Sunday we painted Easter eggs. Via BVI back to St. Maarten (2 to 6 April) That same day we sailed to Caneel Bay, St. John, and had a special Easter dinner in a nice restaurant on the waterfront in Cruz Bay. On April 1st, the wind shifted to the east-northeast, which was exactly the direction we wanted to go. After a day of tacking into a headwind, we anchored at Virgin Gorda. The next day the wind shifted east-southeast, exactly the direction of St. Maarten, where we wanted to go. We left the BVI via the north side of Virgin Gorda. On the shallow platform between Virgin Gorda and Anegada we were pushed to the west by a strong current, which made it difficult to make any progress against the headwind. After a couple of hours we came into deeper water, and made better progress, although we sailed in the direction of St. Croix at first. During the day wind luckily shifted to the northeast, so that at nightfall we could finally sail in the direction of St. Maarten. The wind was a lot stronger than forecasted with 18 to 25 knots, which was difficult sailing close hauled, with a high sea against us. Every now and then speed dropped down to only 2 knots. On top of that we got more and more seasick. Fortunately I took a pill just in time, but Marcel was too late. At first the night was very dark, but fortunately at midnight the moon came up. We didn’t sleep much that night. This was also due to squalls and showers with 25 to 30 knots of wind, which occurred especially in the vicinity of St. Maarten. We had to reduce sail and even heave to because we could not see anymore in the rain and because we would otherwise be on a collision course with a cruise ship. Earlier that night another cruise ship didn’t see us, but Marcel hailed him on the radio, after which he altered course. The next morning we arrived early in Simpson Bay. We were exhausted. We were surprised to see Foekje and Hans on "Romarin". So nice to see them again. We felt at home immediately. After sleeping most of the day, we invited them to have dinner with us, and we had a very nice e v e n i n g together. Now we are waiting for the weather to improve, because it is storming and raining again in St. Maarten. We came to St. Maarten to install a wind generator, and this is almost finished now.