Luedke Vacation Blog

After returning to Oyster Pond, we said farewell to Owen and Liz — hopefully not for the last time.  Then the yacht marina gave us a ride to a resort on Orient Beach, on the French side of St Martin.  There we stayed two nights and worked on getting back our land legs.  The beach was white and wonderful, but there were people and sand fleas — something we didn’t have to deal with while sailing.

Thats why sailing is so much better.  No people, and no bugs.

Then our driver, Robinson, picked us up and drove us back to the airport for our trip home.  Since we had some time to kill between check-out and our flight to Dulles, Robinson took us around the other side of the island.  So on this trip we sailed and drove around St Martin.

The trip home was a bit eventful.  United Airlines couldn’t get fuel for the plane in St Martin for some reason, so we had to make a 20 minute flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Once there, we found that United’s terminal had a fire and was closed.  So we waited on the tarmack while the pilot made phone calls from his cell phone trying to find fuel.  Finally he made a deal with American Airlines and we taxied all the way around the airport to the American terminal.  There it took about an hour to fuel up.  The pilot was very angry and came back to first class several times to tell us what was going on.  United Airlines basically left it up to him to find his own fuel!

While waiting in San Juan we found out how far off the grid we were.  While the other passengers were using their phones to call people and tell them they would be late and/or missing their next flights we figured out we had no phone and they don’t put phones on planes anymore.  We finally took off and the pilot went full speed to Dulles, but we were still two hours late.  Everyone else missed their connecting flights, but we just went downstairs to find our limo driver.  He waited three hours total for us and earned a big tip.

Then we were home.  Jennifer and the cats were all waiting for us.  Although it was nice to sleep in our own beds again, we missed being on the Caribbean Sea with Own and Liz aboard the Catatonic.

Chuck

We woke up around 6:30 feeling a lot better and just in time for an awesome sunrise!  Since this was our last day, it seemed even more spectacular!  We had a leisurely morning.  My tummy was still a little sensitive, so I stuck to water, a little coffee and a plain toasted bagel.  Liz had an assortment of food and fruit for breakfast which looked very tasty!  We decided to sail to Oyster Pond and then pack.  So we put up the sails and put the fish lines out (we weren’t going to give up on catching a fish!).  The sail was slow, since we were only getting about nine-knot winds, so about halfway there, Owen decided to motor the rest of the way.  We pulled in the sails and the fish lines and headed for our destination, arriving an hour and half after leaving Ile Fourche.  Once we anchored, we packed up and while we were doing that, Owen called a taxi for us.  While we waited for the taxi, we reminisced about our time together.  When the taxi arrived, Liz and Owen helped us load our luggage into the trunk.  When then hugged each other and said our final goodbyes.  That’s the part that saddens me.  They are such awesome people and made our vacation one we shall never forget.  What an adventure I shall never forget the rest of my life!

Charlie and I found out when we woke up that shortly after we went to bed some more tarpon came by the fish light.  We also woke up to some rain, which wasn’t a bad thing because the result was another awesome rainbow!  So almost every day we saw a rainbow and that is, I think, a gift from God!  Because of the rain, Owen and Liz thought it would be a good idea to switch tables between the salon and the aft cockpit so we could eat breakfast indoors.  Liz made chocolate chip pancakes along with eggs and also put out the banana muffins and oatmeal cookies.  The food was very delicious! 

After breakfast, Charlie took a nap while I worked on a crossword puzzle and caught up on my journaling.  While I worked on my crossword puzzle, Owen and Liz did a little personal “maintenance!”  Owen clipped his nails while Liz painted hers.  She had a very pretty gold color nail polish and after painting the nails on her left hand, she asked Owen to paint the ones on her right!  He obliged, but it was so funny to watch!

The sun finally came out and everything looked so bright and clean; very picturesque!  Since we were leaving the Catatonic the next day, I also gave some thought to how much fun I had and how much I was going to miss Owen and Liz!  Owen is such a skilled sailor and has a great personality and sense of humor!  Liz is such a creative person and has such a beautiful soul!

Once Charlie woke up, we set a short jib sail and headed out for Ile Fourche.  We ended up sailing into a sudden rain squall, so it was very good that we hadn’t put the whole jib out!  We made it with no problems.  Once we arrived, we grabbed a ball and dried off!  Charlie and I decided to take a nap, but when I woke up I wasn’t feeling too well, so decided not to eat any dinner which was such a shame because Liz made this awesome looking beef stir fry!  Later I felt a little better and had fun hanging out watching the sunset, which, again, was so beautiful! We also turned the fish light on.  It attracted a large “ball” of bait fish but not much of anything else.

We went to bed around 9 p.m., and slept pretty well throughout the night.  Charlie did get up once in a while to check the fish light, but he said the only thing he saw was something that reminded him of a puffer fish!  We had a lot of rain overnight, but nothing that kept us awake.

We woke up around 6:30 and watched a beautiful sunrise!  Charlie took a quick dip in the cool water and then we had coffee and a yummy breakfast of fruit, banana muffins and warm crescent rolls stuffed with chocolate chips!  We then cleaned up and motored the short distance to Gustavia, which is the main island and capital of St. Barts, where Owen and Liz checked us into customs and picked up some more supplies.  The bay there is very beautiful!  We saw some cruise ships and all kinds of amazing boats!  It was very windy there but sunny and beautiful all the same.  While Owen and Liz went ashore, Charlie enjoyed a cigar while admiring the view. 

Another side note – while we sailed to Sombrero, I lost my white sun hat.  While we were on our way to Gustavia, a very strong wind gust blew the brown Chevy cap off Charlie’s head!  So, it seems that the Caribbean Sea requires a hat as a sacrifice for sailing in her waters! 

Once Owen and Liz returned from checking us into customs and getting supplies, Charlie and I took a short nap.  Owen then motored over to Grand Saline for lunch.  We have been using the satellite phone to keep in touch with Jennifer and spoke to her today.  She was doing well, but missed us!  We missed her too!  Before lunch, Charlie and I decided to take a swim.  The current was very strong, so Owen put a rope out for me to hang on to so I wouldn’t get pushed about so much!  It really helped!  Liz made another one of her delicious lunches.  This time it was fish tacos and tortilla chips. 

After lunch, we left for Anse de Colombier, St. Barts which was about a half an hour away.  This spot was my favorite!  Shortly after we arrived, Owen and I went snorkeling and saw a variety of colorful fish.  Owen picked up a West Indian Sea Egg and put it into my hand.  It was so very cool!  It started to stick to my hand, but let go as soon as I began removing it. 

 When we returned, we cleaned up and then Charlie took a short swim.  Once we were all finished snorkeling and swimming, we settled in for some tasty appetizers Liz made called Dolmas.  She also made the most delicious butterscotch oatmeal cookies which the guys found too hard to resist snatching them up as they came out of the oven!  We then had some drinks and watched the most incredible sunset I have ever seen!  It was spectacular!  Watching it alongside Charlie meant a lot to me.  The sunset took a very long time to end and was so amazing it made me a little teary-eyed!  God has created the most beautiful earth!  I’m so thankful to him and also to Charlie for working so hard so we can take these trips!  I shall remember them always!

For dinner, Liz made pasta with her own special sauce and served it with a salad and Texas Toast.  Her pasta sauce was so good!  We then put the fish light out and saw a ton of tiny fish and then one tarpon started hanging around, but he kept his distance.  For dessert, we ate what butterscotch oatmeal cookies were left!

We woke up to some rain.  Charlie was up first and then Owen and Liz were also up when I finally got my body out of bed!  My lips were a little better, thank God!

We had a yummy breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes served with banana slices.   After breakfast, Charlie took a short nap while Owen and Liz cleaned up. 

A short time later, we set sail for Ile Fourche, St. Bart’s.  It took about two hours and the sea was pretty choppy and there was also a strong wind.  We hit 30 knots at one point.  Owen put the fish lines out again.  We never gave up hope that we would catch something but, alas, we weren’t so lucky!  We did find a great cove to grab a ball for a while.  Charlie, Liz and Owen swam ashore while we were there.  I later snorkeled with Charlie but did have a bit of a hard time with my mask.  It was probably too tight, but I managed okay and did see for the first time a stingray with a fish hovering over it as if playing some sort of silly game!  It was too funny!  I also saw two other fish; one with a yellow tail and the other one similar but larger.  After we swam for a while, Owen went to shore and hiked to the top of one of the hills (the highest point on the island is 103 meters above sea level).  While he was up there he took some great pictures of the Catatonic.   Liz took some great photos of Owen atop the hill!  The island is privately owned, however the only inhabitants are goats!  For lunch, Liz made burgers and macaroni and cheese.  

When we first sailed into the bay we saw a catamaran without it’s mast that obviously ran aground up on the rocks.  (We later found it it broke loose from a mooring ball.) What a strange sight.  After lunch, Owen took a Red Hook Pirate flag and attached it to the boat hook.  Owen and Charlie then took Kitty to look at the beached catamaran.  Charlie proudly held the flag while Owen steered Kitty slowly around the wreck so they could inspect the damage.  They said it looked as if quite a few things were left behind and that the wreck didn’t seem as if it happened that long ago.  Once they were done checking things out, they decided to explore the rest of the area to include a large rock they saw rising out of the water at the entrance to the bay.  What made watching them dinghy to the rock so much fun, was that they had to pass another catamaran to reach it and, with Chuck standing as he held the pirate flag, they looked as if they were going to board and attack the other Cat instead of just passing by!  All of the excitement of playing “pirates” wore them out and when they returned, we all decided it was nap time.

When I awoke, I wrote in my journal.  Once everyone was up, we hung out and Liz made a delicious dinner of Tandoori chicken and shrimp with couscous and a salad.  She also asked us to each wear a Bindi on our foreheads.  She had stick-on ones that we each wore!   She also played some Indian music!  We had a lot of fun!

We watched another beautiful sunset even though there were a few more clouds than usual.  Right after dinner, Owen put the fish light out and threw in some food to see if it would attract the fish any faster.  We sat around watching the fish light and the stars, having a few drinks and a lot of laughs!  We finally went to bed around 8:30 and had a very good sleep.  It did rain during the night, so Charlie had to get up and close the windows.  He ended up having to go topside to close the one above the head because it was all the way up and he couldn’t reach it from inside!

We both woke up around 6:30 and took our coffee on the bridge to watch the sunrise.  It was so awesome to be up there, just Charlie and I.  Liz made another delicious breakfast of toast and an egg-bacon-tomato frittata.  A side note – Charlie got a kick out of saying “frittata” so for a while he kept repeating it in a silly voice!  Too funny!

About an hour later, we set sail for Fort Louis Marina at Marigot, which is the capital of the French side of St. Martin.  It was a 15-mile sail there.  When we arrived, Owen radioed the marina and was given instructions where to go to get fuel and water.  A short time later, we pulled up alongside the fuel and water dock.  We saw a ton of beautiful motor yachts and even a mega-yacht.  We were able to get the fuel and water we needed and while the Catatonic was getting “fed” Charlie and I got off and took a short walk around the town.  We saw some quaint shops and side-walk bistros, but didn’t stop to buy anything; we just wanted to stretch our legs for a bit.  Owen went to the marina office to pay for the fuel and water and also to get some more ice and some bottled water.  The filtered water on the Cat is perfectly good, but we just couldn’t seem to get used to the taste so Charlie asked Owen if he would get a few bottles for us and he was so gracious and didn’t hesitate to do so.  He not only came back with four bags of ice and the bottled water but he also came back with a one-hour internet access card in case we wanted to check our email.  That was so thoughtful of him!  Also, while we were waiting to leave, we watched a group of six West Indian boys take turns jumping into the water from the marina walkway.  They were having a great time jumping in, getting out and jumping in again!  They were mostly doing cannon balls!  It was pretty funny!  Once we finished our business at the dock, we motored outside the Marina so we could anchor and have lunch.  Once again, Liz made a delicious meal! This time we had chicken quesadillas, potato salad and a green salad.

 After lunch, we motored around St. Martin to find a fairly secluded spot to stay for the night.  We decided to go back to Tintamarre Island.  While we were going there, Owen put both fish lines out but we didn’t catch anything even though he put a new lure on the line the barracuda “devoured!”   Once we arrived, we anchored easily.  Charlie and I then jumped in and had a short swim.  We then dried off and cleaned up and afterward had a few drinks! Liz made some hummus and served it with pita bread and chips.  Owen put the hammock up and Liz decided to give it a try.  She put a pot of rice on the stove so that she could use it to make sushi for dinner.  She asked Owen to keep an eye on it for a while.  I offered to watch for it to boil and then Owen could turn the gas down so it could simmer, so between the two of us we managed to not burn the rice!  Haha! 

Another funny side-note – Liz was finding it a challenge to light the gas burners on the stove and Owen had no problem at all!  It was as if the stove would only let Owen light “her!”  At first it was a bit frustrating for Liz, but after a while it became hilarious!  Charlie even captured an “episode” on video!  Too funny!

Liz made the most delicious sushi for us.  She must have made at least five different kinds.  My favorites were the spicy tuna roll and shrimp sushi.  She even made beef sushi for Charlie.  It was all so good.  She served it with slices of ginger and wasabi, which Charlie couldn’t stop saying very loudly and in a funny voice.  Pretty soon, we were all hollering, “WASABI!” throughout the evening.   It was hilarious.  We had a lot of fun at dinner.  After dinner, Owen put the fish light on and this time, it really didn’t take long for us to attract some fairly large “bait fish” and then tarpon.  For dessert, Liz served homemade chocolate mousse.  It was so good!  After dessert, Owen took a swim in the water by the fish light which scared off the tarpon but only for a while.  He no sooner came onboard when we spotted a small stingray gliding along hugging the outer rim of the light.  It hung around for quite a while.  It eventually swam away.  Shortly after that, we said good night and I took another shower.  I felt so good!  Oh, so ever since our sail to Sombrero Island, my lips became very chapped.  But the funny thing was, only the upper one swelled and looked like I had a bad Botox treatment.  It seemed as if I could only afford to do one lip!  Haha!  I wasn’t too worried because I knew it would eventually return to normal, it just looked really odd! 

One cool thing I forgot to mention was all the flying fish we would see while sailing. They jump up out of the water and “fly” at great speeds over the surface when trying to evade a predator.  It’s just so fun to watch because all of a sudden, a bunch of these silver fish coming jumping up out of the water and go “flying” by. 

 We had a fairly good night’s sleep.  Charlie got up during the night and saw two tarpon by the fish light.  A few hours later when he went out again, he saw only small “bait” fish.  It rained on and off during the night so he had to secure the window hatches and we turned on the AC for the first time since coming onboard.

Charlie and I woke up around 5:30 and it was just beginning to get light outside.  Charlie turned the coffee maker on and when it was finished brewing, I took some onto the bridge along with my bible and camera, waiting for the sun to rise so I could get some photos.  Charlie then went back to sleep for a while.  I truly loved having the wonderful opportunity to see the sunrise and since we were the only ones on Dog Island, it was extra special.  Shortly after sun rise, Owen and Liz woke up and we had a nice breakfast of toast with peanut butter and jam.  We also had juice and fruit.  We cleaned up and prepared the boat for our long sail to Sombrero, Anguilla.  We left at 7:45 and arrived at 10:45.  The seas were pretty rough but we had great wind, though; a broad-reach sail of 35 miles and wind gusts up to 40 knots.  Also, another rather neat thing was that while we were sailing to Sombrero, the Cat reached 12.5 knots sailing speed!  Pretty cool!

As we neared the island, it was so cool to see it on the horizon and when we were a few miles out, a large group of Brown Booby birds started circling our yacht as if to either great us or most likely, investigate our presence! Charlie said they may have thought we were a fishing boat.  They aren’t that common, so it was cool to see so many of them.  The island is a sanctuary of sorts for these birds.  On a side note, when the birds came close to us Charlie started yelling, “Birdie, Birdie, Birdie!”  It was something that he would continue to do throughout the rest of the trip and each time he did it, we would all break out into peals of laughter!

It was surreal in many ways sailing to Sombrero, because for pretty much the whole sail there we were the only vessels as far as the eye could see!  When we arrived at the island, we took a ton of photos and motored around to see it from all sides.  The island was at one time, mostly in the late 1800s, used as a site for mining guano for its phosphate.  Also, the island had many different light houses over the years and from where we were, we could see the remnants of quite a few.  There is now an automatic lighthouse that doesn’t need to be manned, so now no one lives or works on the island any more.  The only way on the island is by this large, very long ladder that extends out over the sea from a long flight of stone steps.  One would have to dinghy over to the ladder and then somehow get onto it to then climb onto the island.  Anyway, it’s such an interesting place and a once-in-a lifetime experience that we didn’t want to miss.  I felt slightly bad for thinking that Charlie was being overly obsessed with going to this island, but now I can see how fascinating it is and how much fun it was to sail there!

Since we weren’t staying, we still wanted to hang around a while and have something to eat before our sail back.  Since it was a bit of a rocky ride for us, we decided to have something light so we asked Liz to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  She also served some fruit.  We had so much fun there and really didn’t want to leave, but we had another long sail ahead of us to get to where we were going to spend the night.  So, shortly after lunch we set sail again and headed out into the open sea.  We left around 11:30 a.m.

We decided to sail to Crocus Bay, Anguilla and had a very adventurous trip!  Owen put out two fish lines again to see if we could catch anything that Liz could use to make sushi!  We were definitely hoping!  Oh, I meant to say that while we were sailing to Sombrero, we had a lot of fun listening to all kinds of music but especially from Charlie’s iPod.  It seemed that whenever an album he would select to play would finish, it would default to music from the group Garbage!  So, needless to say, we sort of came to the conclusion that the sound system was possessed!  We ended up listening to a lot of Garbage!  Haha!  Also, Liz and I had a lot of fun looking at the beautiful clouds and pointing out ones that resembled anything from cookies, to people to animals!  Too fun!

While we were sailing to Crocus Bay, one of the fish lines got a bite and Owen went to see what it was and after pulling on the line for a while, reeled it in and all he had was a fish head!  I heard him yell out, “He ate my fish!” meaning something much larger than the fish on the lure came along and chomped down on the first fish leaving only its head; it was very clean cut too!  It looked as if something “cut” the body away from the head; so funny and yet so frustrating at the same time!  So, Owen got “robbed” and we couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the day!  It was one of those things that you wouldn’t believe unless you saw it!

On the way back we sailed into a rainstorm, or squall to get to Anguilla.  Owen sailed through the smallest one as there were quite a few up ahead, but he had no choice.  It was a bit uncomfortable but all the same, kind of fun too!  On our way back we listened to Led Zeppelin, Blink 182 and a very unique cover band that Liz knows that recorded a parody of Pink Floyd’s music called, “Dark Side of the Moonshine!”  It was hilarious!  Another interesting thing happened on our way back, Owen’s white cleaning bucket went overboard!  He said he had his “favorite” brushes in there!  Poor Owen; not his day!  J We really sailed hard today and that caused us to be really tired, yet at the same time, proud to have done so.

When we arrived at Crocus Bay, we settled in and I got ready to see another sunset.  Liz started dinner while Owen made us a few drinks while we sat and watched the sun dip lower and lower.  It was beautiful!   Each evening at dusk we tried watch out for what’s called a, “green flash” which is supposed to happen just as the sun goes below the horizon, but we never saw one.  It was fun to try, though.  We had another awesome dinner of Kielbasa, potato salad, chickpea and lettuce salad and grilled bread.  For dessert we had what Charlie and Owen called, “cinnamon snails” and some sliced oranges.  Owen also put out the fish light and we ended up having a very good “show!”  When Charlie got up around 2 and then again at 4 a.m. he saw at least 15 tarpons!  How cool!

Slept so much better last night.  I fell asleep pretty quickly.  Charlie stayed up with Liz and Owen and had an impromptu birthday party!  They had a lot of fun!  This morning we slept in until 7 and then got up and had some coffee and juice and a great breakfast!  Liz made a delicious frittata with tomato and avocado relish.  Before we ate, I was able to go on the bridge and read some passages in my new bible!  I also took some photos of the area too!  Such a beautiful sight!

After breakfast, Charlie took a nap while Liz prepared some things for our lunch and dinner.  Owen took the dinghy, Kittytonic, to the customs office and checked us in.  I worked on my crossword puzzle and talked to Liz while she cleaned up the galley!  After Liz was finished cleaning up we went topside and saw a rainbow!  It had rained for about 10 minutes shortly after Owen left for the customs office and when it stopped we saw a full rainbow; from end to end!  Charlie joked about it later and said we should have gone to one of the ends and taken the pot of gold!  J  Anyway, Liz and I both took pictures of it.

When Owen returned from customs, he brought with him two $1 bills that had been folded origami-style into bow ties; one for each of us!  Owen said that the ladies in the customs office made them for him to bring back and give to the ladies onboard!  That was so sweet!  Owen and Liz then worked on a small shopping list so that Owen could go ashore and pick up some more beverages and meat!  Haha!  He also took the trash with him.  While Owen was shopping, Charlie woke up from his nap and took a quick dip in the water.  He said it was so cool and refreshing!

While we waited for Owen to return with the shopping, the rest of us sat on the bridge.  Charlie brought out the binoculars and we took turns looking through them at the other boats and all the activity along the shoreline.  Owen returned shortly after that with a bunch of ice and a lot of beverages including ginger ale, club soda, seltzer water and red bull.  Also a ton of meat which made Charlie smile!  When Owen went ashore to shop, he called his mom’s friend, Sally, who is like an aunt to Owen.  She lives there and picked him up and drove him around so he could get around easier and find what he was looking for.  Also, because yesterday was his birthday, she gave him the keys to her home so he could come and go there and always feel welcome.  That really made him happy!  It was so sweet of her!

We got underway shortly after Owen returned and set sail for Dog Island.  It took about two hours and was a lot of fun!  I began to notice that I was looking forward more and more each day to sail!  Once we left the protected park area of Anguilla, Owen put out two fish lines.  About an hour into our sail he caught a Horse-Eye Jack.  While he was reeling it in, he yelled for Liz get a fishing belt.  Charlie took the belt and strapped it around Owens waist so he could continue to reel in the fish without hurting himself.  After a bit of a struggle, Owen got the fish onboard.  Owen had to release it, though, because he said it’s considered a reef-fish and could have a disease, which name I didn’t get, so he didn’t want to take a chance eating it.  Then, less than a half an hour later, he caught a Barracuda on the other line and brought it in.  He let it go too, but it was pretty angry and was hard to release.   Owen managed but not without getting slightly bitten on his hand first!  He ended up having to cut the line instead of getting the lure out!  Charlie then brought in the line on the opposite side and secured it for Owen.  A short while after all the fishing excitement, we arrived at Dog Island.  It was pretty windy and we weren’t sure we were going to stay.  Liz grilled chicken for lunch and it smelled so good!  For lunch Liz served grapes, chicken Caesar wraps, chex mix and raspberry cookies.  It was very good!  After lunch, we went swimming for a short while as Owen went under the Cat to let down a stern-side anchor to keep the boat from rocking too much.  I only stayed in for about 10 minutes, but they were in the water longer and said they saw two stingrays under the boat and had fun checking them out.  Then they came back onboard and relaxed a while.  When we first arrived onboard, we told Liz and Owen that we were not uptight about their role as captain and crew and that if we were napping or kicking back, they should feel comfortable to do the same.  So this day was a perfect example of what we meant with Liz in her cabin watching a movie and Owen and I chatting while Charlie decided to go in the water again.  After a few minutes, we noticed we hadn’t seen Charlie and we looked out over the port side and there he was swimming to Dog Island’s beach.  Now, we weren’t very far from the beach, but still it was a pretty decent swim considering the current was pretty strong.  Of course, I got a bit worried, but quickly saw that he was okay.  He had worn his snorkel and fins, so was actually making it look real easy!  Owen, of course, was concerned but he, too, saw very quickly that he was okay and was actually almost at the beach.  We went on the bridge and watched Charlie go ashore and explore.  When Charlie returned, he told us that over the ridgeline or berm was a salt pond and a small channel that allowed the seawater to get in during high tide.  Obviously, this was how they used to direct the water into the salt pond during the island’s “heyday” of salt collection.  Oh, and after Charlie explored the island, he swam back and did very well, again despite what I considered a strong current and what I also believe was the beginning of high tide.  I was so focused on watching him that I forgot to get some photos!  Oh well, it is something we will always remember.  Oh, and we know have to call this Island “Naked” Dog Island!  Haha!  Enough said!

After he returned, I went to one of the trampolines to lie down, relax and get some sun!  It is such a cool feeling lying on the trampoline because you feel the gentle rocking of the boat, hear the sound of the water and feel the cool breeze!  I really enjoyed it.  Charlie sat in the forward cockpit and chatted with me for a while.  It was really nice!  He then left and went inside to take another nap while I stayed for a little while longer watching the birds fly to and from the sea to what I called “Bird Rock.”  There was a large rock that rose up above the sea that the birds seemed fascinated with and it was interesting to see them flying over and around it.  I then went below and changed out of my bathing suit and into some clothes.

We were at a perfect spot to see an amazing sunset.  I was so excited and couldn’t wait until it was time to watch the sun go down.  Watching the sun set is my absolute favorite thing to do while on these trips!  While we watched the sun set, Liz made dinner and Owen made a gin and tonic for me to drink while I sat with my camera to take some photos.  We ended up having an amazing sunset and I was thrilled!  While I was enthralled with the sun setting, Charlie had a small scotch and smoked a cigar and Owen put the fish light out to getting ready for the night’s show.  We ended up not attracting too many fish, but that’s the way it sometimes works out.  It was a clear night and there were, though, a ton of stars and it looked so beautiful!

We had an awesome dinner of beef kabobs with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes.  For dessert, Liz made these delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  They were so very good!  Charlie and I went to bed very early, shortly after dinner because we had such a fun-filled day and knew we had to get an early start in the morning to sail to Sombrero!  We fell asleep easily.  The moon was bright again and we had a wonderful cool breeze swirling around us as we slept.  During the night Owen had to check our anchorage because we were mostly in sand.  All went well and we had no problems despite the strong current and constant pull on the anchor.  So, even though it was Friday the 13^th, we had a fantastic day!

We woke up around 7 after a restful sleep, having to remind ourselves that we were in paradise!  We had coffee and grapefruit juice along with a fruit platter Liz made.  We also had wheat toast with strawberry jam and banana muffins!  Yum!

Liz told us that today was Owen’s 23^rd birthday!  How exciting!  Liz planned a special dinner and dessert to celebrate!

Charlie rented a satellite phone for us to bring along and this morning we had a text message from Jennifer so I called her back shortly after breakfast and we were able to chat for a few minutes.

Once we were finished with breakfast and cleaning up, we sailed for about two and half hours to Scrub Island, Anguilla for lunch and a swim.  The water there was beautiful and the view priceless!  Almost shortly after we arrived, Charlie took a swim with his snorkel and said there was just sand on the bottom.  I decided to take a quick swim before lunch and it was fun!  The water was a little cold but it warmed up quickly.

After my swim, we had a delicious lunch of Snapper burgers and mango salsa with plantain chips.  It was very good.  Liz made Charlie a bacon-cheese burger.  He really liked it.  Charlie took another swim while I worked on a crossword puzzle.  We both took a nap for about an hour but then woke up when Owen put on the engine while getting ready to leave! J  We then set sail for Road Bay, Anguilla where we were going to anchor for the night.  It took about two hours to sail there.  It was a lot of fun!

After we anchored there we hung out for a while and Liz made these incredible nachos! They were so tasty!  While Liz was making the nachos, Owen went underneath the Catatonic and cleaned around the hose lines.  He also hosed down the Cat to rinse off any salt spray from our sail.  We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around and talking until it was time for dinner.

We had a delicious dinner of chicken breasts stuffed with feta cheese, almonds and spinach.  They were very, very good!  Liz also made a sweet potato and onion stir fry.  It was yummy!  She then brought out chocolate cupcakes for Owen’s birthday.  She iced them with homemade toasted coconut icing.  They were delicious.  She put a number 2 and a number 3 candle on the cupcakes and then lit them.  We sang, “Happy Birthday” and then Owen made a wish and blew out the candles!  It was too fun!

Shortly after that, we put out the fish light and managed to attract tarpon fairly quickly which was so cool to see!  Charlie also brought his laser light and was playing with it by shining it in the water!  Also, when we looked up there were a lot of stars in the sky!  It was beautiful!

After dinner and dessert, Owen brought up his guitar and started playing some very good songs!  We had a lot of fun with that.  He’s very talented!

I couldn’t resist and took a long, hot shower and it felt so nice!  I then became very sleepy and decided to get in bed and get a good night’s sleep.  So I thanked God for another wonderful day!

Today, Charlie and I began our Caribbean sailing adventure!  How exciting going to the Caribbean once again to sail!  We left our home in Woodbridge, VA at 5 a.m. and took a car service to Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C.  It was very cold; about 31 degrees, so it was nice to know we were going somewhere warm.

We arrived at the airport about 40 minutes later, so that turned out well.  We used one of those self-check-in kiosks, which saved a little time but not much.  Once we checked-in, and our bags were tagged, we dropped them off and went to security.  Security wasn’t so bad, but it did feel weird having to get a full-body scan, but it was super quick and really no big deal.  The Star Alliance lounge wasn’t open so we decided to go straight to the gate.  When we got there, I noticed a familiar face.  There is a TV show called, “Say Yes to the Dress, Atlanta” and the styling consultant for the show, Monte, was sitting a few feet away from me!  Too funny!  I sent a text message to Jennifer using Charlie’s phone to tell her and she sent a message back that she thought that was nice and she was slightly jealous J  I missed her already!  She told me later that Angela was really excited about him being there!  Anyway, it was a good start to the day.

They announced that we would be boarding on time and since we were flying first class we were able to board first.  The first class seating was very comfortable and the stewardess was great.  We flew U.S. Airways our first leg of our flight which was to Charlotte, NC.  We experienced something for the first time — de-icing a plane!  Because there was some frost on the wings they had to de-ice it!  I had a window seat so was able to see the truck pull up to the plane and then spray it all over with de-icing fluid.  It was a bit strange; like going through a car wash with soapy water spraying all over.  It didn’t take too long, though.  Then shortly after that, the pilot came on and announced that because of the heavy fog and rain in Charlotte our flight would be delayed about 40 minutes and we would have to wait until then before we could take off.  It was kind of nice, however, because we got to sit on the runway and watch the sun come up over D.C.  It was beautiful to see the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial as the sun was rising!  We took off at 7:45 instead of 7 but Charlie assured me we had plenty of time to make our connecting flight to St. Martin.  While onboard, they gave us some biscotti to eat, which was actually very tasty!  Charlie had a Bloody Mary and I still had the bottled water we bought at the airport before our flight.  A few days before we left, Charlie bought a book for me about Anguilla since it’s one of the islands we will sail around and so I brought it with me to read.   I also brought this awesome vacation brochure Charlie made which included our basic itinerary along with a lot of important information to make our trip go smoothly.  While waiting, I divided my time between reading the book and writing in my journal.

Oh, since we ended up waiting on the runway quite a while after the plane was de-iced,  a pilot who was on the plane traveling as a passenger was asked to look out the windows and check the wings to make sure they weren’t frost covered again before we could take off.  He said the wings looked fine and so we were good to go! The flight from D.C. to Charlotte took about 55 minutes.

We landed safely at Charlotte, but had a bit of a hike to get to the gate of our connecting flight.  We found it easily, though, and hung around until we boarded around 10 a.m. While we were at the gate waiting to board our plane, we ran into some people I know from church who were also going to St. Martin for the first time.  They said they were staying on the French side at a small hotel and meeting some other people they knew.  I introduced them to Charlie and they chatted with us until just a few minutes before we had to board.

Once we boarded, we were told we would have to wait on the runway until about 10:30 when we were finally cleared for takeoff.  The weather in Charlotte was pretty poor with heavy rain and fog so it was understandable that we were delayed as long as we were.  Once we took off, we went to 35,000 feet which put us above the rainy weather.  We flew first class on this flight also; however the plane was an international version of the B757 so the first-class section was much nicer than the previous plane.   The seats were much more comfortable and had adjustable foot rests, which made it so comfortable for short people like me!  The lunch was very, very good.  Charlie had the enchilada meal and I had the cannelloni/tortellini dish.  They each came with a salad w/creamy Italian dressing, a small plate of pita bread, olives and hummus and a hot roll with butter.  Charlie had a Jack and Coke and I had coffee and water.  The flight attendant offered us carrot cake for dessert but we were so full and couldn’t even finish our meals so we declined.  The service was very good.  Oh and when we first were in flight they gave us a snack pack of nuts and crackers, which was yummy.  Not too long after lunch, Charlie took a nap while I wrote in my journal.  It’s amazing to fly in a plane thousands of feet in the air over the ocean and clouds!  It’s just awesome!  I thank God for this opportunity and my husband for all his hard work that helped to make this happen for us.  Oh, so while I was writing in my journal, they made an announcement that a celebrity was on board and that it was his 40^th birthday.  We were then asked to all say “Happy Birthday, Tracy” as sort of a U.S. Airways first flash mob event.  They also announced that the duty-free cart of assorted items would be passing by and that the small group of people who are travelling with “Tracy” could look at his wish list and buy him some gifts.  How crazy is that?  Never a dull moment on our adventure!  I am grateful to God for my life, my family and all the earth!  It was so wonderful having the opportunity to see another part of the world!

Around 1 p.m. we were high above the Atlantic Ocean and it was sunny and clear!  We were also high above the clouds and it was so wonderful to see the clouds below us and the shadows they cast over the ocean!  Some of the clouds took on such amazing shapes such as groups of people praying or large sections that reminded me of a mountain or waterfall!  Also, some reminded me of creatures with long necks and large heads like a dinosaur or the loch ness monster!  Haha!

When we arrived in St. Martin, we landed at the Princess Juliana Airport which is on the Netherland side of the island which is known as St. Maarten. The approach to the runway was awesome!  The airport is located right alongside a beach and as we were landing you could see people on the beach taking pictures of our approach!  It was pretty amazing! Once we landed, we had to wait about a ½ hour for our bags but fortunately all three were there.

We went outside and met our driver, Robinson, who was from St. Martin Limousine.  He helped us with our bags and had us wait alongside the curb in front of the airport while he brought the car around.  We truly didn’t mind the wait because the weather felt so good and was a balmy 82 degrees with a slight breeze!  Once he brought the car around we got in and had about another ½ hour drive to Oyster Pond which is on the Dutch/French border.

When we arrived at Oyster Pond, the driver at first took us to a hotel there, but then we explained that we were meeting a Catamaran and her crew at the Marina so he drove us around to where we had to go.  We then met Owen and Liz and they helped us onboard the Catatonic with all our stuff.  They were both so nice!  They were very friendly!  The Catatonic was so nice and clean!  It was great to be on her again but not the same as with Rick and Missy.  But that’s okay, because Owen and Liz were both very nice and very special too!

Once we got settled, we sailed for an hour to Tintamarre Island to stay for the night.  I started feeling seasick right when we sat down for dinner and had to put a patch on and even use one of those wristbands which also helped.  Liz made a great dinner of salmon and pasta with bread and it was so good!  We didn’t eat too much though because we were both feeling a bit off and not very hungry.

Shortly after dinner we put the fish light out.  Owen said he just bought it recently because the other one they had stopped working.  He said some of the information he was given about us was that Chuck definitely wanted a fish light and Dewar’s Scotch, so he hooked us up!  The fish light attracted quite a few fish including baby Clarinet fish and huge tarpon.  It was pretty cool!  Liz and Owen kept making “Pain Killers” for Charlie and he really enjoyed them!  I guess depending on the strength of the drink is what number title you give it!  They were making mostly #1s for him and I believe one #2!  Needless to say, they really made him happy!  The patch really helped me but I stuck to water and a few pieces of food.  I felt bad for Liz because she really took time to make a great dinner and hors d’oeuvres for us.  She made delicious veggie spring rolls with a yummy peanut sauce and chili sauce!  I managed to eat one and it was very good!

We got to bed around 8 p.m. because it was such a long day for us.  The time there is one hour ahead.  Charlie fell asleep very quickly and I read in bed a while and then fell asleep.  We slept very well.  We had a full moon overhead during the night and it was so awesome to look at through the window hatch above our bed!  The moon shining on us was so cool! At one point, Charlie woke up with a Charlie horse in one of his legs but he got up right away and it went away.  Overall, we had a great first day!