Our astonishingly beautiful, gracious Duende. With incomparable lines and fascinating character. How can a boat bring to ones mind and heart so many positive feelings, never thought that was possible? No matter how far we'd like to see ourselves from the need of material things, there will always be a certain type of happiness and joy evoked when surrounded by utter and exquisite beauty. Can't escape that fact.

Were dying for an ice-cream earlier tonight and after much searching, the only place open around Plaza del Lago was Burger King. Good (?) thing with that little place is that they got a 50'' TV screen inside of the restaurant and as we never watch TV usually nowadays (we do have one on the boat but haven't bothered to install an antenna), we got stuck inside of the AC-chilled fast food restaurant watching CNN for almost an hour. We watched reports from hurricane Isaac's devel over Louisiana, news from the Syrian war (from an American/CNN perspective) as well as news updates from the republican nomination (how boring). Not that the information provided were overly inspiring to us (except for the hurricane perhaps), but just because we normally never watch TV these days, we sat like spellbound, eating our $0.50 ice cream and ended the evening by ordering a burger each. Everything in the totally wrong order and not really what we had originally planned for dinner. TV, politics and the negativity of war and disaster seriously messes up with your brain, doesn't it. 

Picking up our daily fruits and vegetables from the market. Mango and grapefruit season is over here unfortunately so only the imported ones are good. But the tomatoes, lettuce, bananas, sweet potatoes, plantain and much of the rest is fine almost anytime of the year and tastes wonderful of course. And not to forget the delicious, super large Caribbean avocados that are in season right now!

...is to encounter a well functioning wifi connection that reaches all the way into the deepest corner of the boat while at anchor. Bonus when you've just gone through a storm and the house batteries have been loaded with extra wind energy so you can charge the laptop for {almost} as long as you want.

Aah, the bittersweet life of a freelance working cruiser. Some days are completely laptop-free around here, but most days require a minimum of four hours of work in front of that machine for my part. Luckily there are wifi in coffee shops and bars also in the Caribbean, but nothing beats the freedom of being able to read, write and work from your own, comfortable couch with the tea kettle on an arm length distance. 

We do have a fast satellite connection too, but as the cost to use it goes for $10 a MB, that option is kept solely for emergencies, forecast monitoring and quick blog updates from the sea during passage.

The way to travel on land on these islands is not always as rapid as what it might have been in the past when still living on land. We obviously don't own a car, not even bikes anymore, so our land based choice of travel normally stands between 1.) Bus 2.) Taxi - even though we rather not spend money on taxis plus it's often hard to find one if you're not right outside a resort or cruise ship terminal which we very seldom are, and 3.) Hitchhiking. If we need to get from one point to another, we normally get out on the street, wait for a bus to drop by and if it doesn't, we always end up hitching. Because of no more trains for the night, we once hitched all the way from Toulouse in France to Barcelona, Spain. Was a very efficient journey as we only needed three different cars/drivers to get to our final destination, 250 miles (400 km) away. Also in Corsica we hitched our way through the mountains because we could forget about finding a bus, taxi or even a car rental shop. 

I love the concept of hitching. It's a very dynamic way to move. You basically get picked up and invited into a strangers private space for a while and it sometimes makes for a very amusing, mixed experience. One second you're conversing with an younger French couple about their experience in the Caribbean, the second second you're listening to a local woman singing gospel in her white Nissan (image) and the third you're sitting next to a bar owner who complains about the slow season and hear him lament about the inflation and economic situation of the island. 

You won't have to worry that you're disturbing anyone as they obviously wouldn't pick you up if they were bothered. Most of the kind people that actually do pick up, are often willing to have a little chat, mostly about their own lives and situations. Which gives you, occasionally a good laugh, always an interesting moment of exchange with a stranger you normally wouldn't start a conversation with. It's the bizarre melange of rapidly swapped situations that I love so much about the whole process. The weirdness of coming so intimately close to people you normally wouldn't. You are literally invited into someones home. The place where they feel most comfortable. You get to see what they wear to work, which music they prefer listening to, how they answer the phone.. You are an observer of someone in his or hers very private sphere where they are just the people they are, while you being as much of a stranger to them as they to you. And shortly after the encounter, you leave them behind and will probably never see them again. And of course, the journey brings you to your desired destination. Sometimes faster, most of the times more comfortable, than what the bus would have managed. 

Storm is almost over for our part, still a bit windy and rainy so we'd rather be on sunny shell beach, St Barts where this photo was taken two days ago. Hopefully having the sun back here by tomorrow.

A night and a day in St Barts had to be enough for this time. Tropical storm Isaac is on his way to our islands so we sailed back to the lagoon of St Maarten which provides for best security around here during rough weather. Even here it might be hazardous would the storm become a stronger hurricane, as when the horrendous hurricane Luis destroyed 800 boats in the lagoon and caused 19 deaths in total around the islands in 1995. But Isaac will most likely not have time to develop into a hurricane before it reaches our longitudes, and certainly not a stronger one. Today is not as sunny and beautiful as on these images from yesterday's sail. We have grey skies, squalls and 20+ knots of wind here at the moment, 20 hours before the worst of the storm is expected. We'll be sailing down South where we're safe from hurricanes as soon as this bad weather has passed.

...is to have your own boat and be able to sail wherever your heart leads you.

Our gearbox problem is solved so we sailed to St Barts last night. We had the smoothes sail here from St Maarten ever, 20 knots of wind from the NE, giving us an opportunity to sail straight to Gustavia from the lagoon of Simpson Bay, which has never been possible before due to normally consistent E winds. Took us two hours and fifty minutes and suddenly we were back in another world. How we love this place on earth. Somehow it feels like coming home, every time we approach the coastline of this petite French island that we've come to love so much during our year and a half in the Caribbean..

I think I've started practicing yoga in every city I've ever lived, only to realize, after a few sessions, that I didn't have the patience nor "time" for it. Of course I understood the meaning and purpose of the training, just that I was too "busy" to learn how to slow down or how to breath correctly. I remember I was always wondering when the class would finish so that I could get out calling that important phone call or meet up with some friends for drinks. And a few seasons later, I tried it again, but I simply wasn't ready to slow down, until now. 

One of the main reasons to why I wanted to leave everything behind and sail around the world with Alex, was because I had come to a turning point in life where I felt the need to cut out the things that didn't really matter in the long run. I was also anxious to take a distance to the regular world, as an opportunity to begin looking inward. True that I've always been a spiritually inclined person, but my life was rushing too fast. Too many unnecessary challenges, way too much alcohol, late nights and I was leading a physically destructive lifestyle rather than a healthy one. Without consciously knowing that I needed to better take care of myself, I quickly suggested to Alex that we should set ourselves free and sail the oceans of the world together. For many other reasons too of course, much for the love and affection that we felt for one another, a chance to get closer to each other and to build a foundation for the love we were willing to invest in, but one of my personal reasons was that my body and soul was yearning for a change. A change that would allow me to grow as a human being.

Having been out sailing now for almost two years, thousands of miles away from the jetset-life I was accustomed to back home in Europe and around the world, one thing that has now grown to be more important than anything in my life, is to be able to breath freely, to lead a slower, harmonic life and to properly take care of my body. The body is after all what carries our soul and without constant attention to it we might loose contact with our inner spirit. That disconnection is something I've experienced much in my past, a distance to my Self that sometimes made me make wrong decisions as well as treating myself and others in ways that hasn't always been the best ones. 

So as a natural progress, I started practicing yoga again a few months back. Combined with my daily exercise and meditation, which I've been busy with ever since we left Europe behind, it allows my body and soul to be at peace with my being. Not only does it give my body the flexibility and strength that is good to have when sailing and leading a very physically challenging life as we do, but it also puts my mind at ease. It gives me strength and ability to, with a clear and conscious mind, make better decisions. It opens up my soul, makes me less affected by outer disturbances and distractions. It allows me to breath and analyze situations before rushing with answers and thus giving me time and opportunity to act better. Decide better. Do better. Live better. And evidently, to be a better partner, friend, human being than what I might've been before. Not saying I was ever terrible at any of those, just that there's always room for improvements within ourselves and I'm glad that I've found my way to achieve a greater form of inner peace and fulfillment. Which naturally reflects on the people I meet, those that I invite into my sphere and the people that I share my life with. 

Ultimately, life is just a series of actions and reactions, and we can choose if we want to make that chain a positive or a negative one. To keep myself in good shape, spiritually and physically, makes my little chain in this big world a better and more harmonic one. It really is so easy, and though I'm endlessly thankful for the vast experiences my earlier life has given me, I regret that I didn't fully embrace this knowledge before. Never too old for improvements though.

At anchor in Marigot.

Our days moves so slowly at the moment. Very pleasant indeed. While the boat is being prepared to go, we are now taking it easy, enjoying the last days on this island and discussing and planning on where to go next, which stops to make along the way towards South America. First stop seems obvious, can't leave the Caribbean behind without giving a proper farewell to one of the most beautiful islands in the world... more about that a bit later.

Beautiful view from Blue Mall.

.. is to be able to dive into the warm yet cooling crystal clear water first thing in the morning, after lunch or dinner, before bedtime.. or simply whenever the urge hit you.

We got a round tour in the new spectacular shopping mall the other day. The first five floors are dedicated for the new shopping center that is opening here in November this year, and the following two are occupied by several gorgeous one or two storey residential apartments and studios. Many of them are sold already, but there's still chance to invest in some of the most interesting condos on this island. All with an absolutely breathtaking view of the Caribbean sea. There is a great gym, beautiful pool area and lots of other shared benefits in the property. The flats are intelligently planned with high end Italian kitchen, marble flooring, walk in closets and huge corner balconies in all apartments. Prices are very competitive, starts at $475.000. Send us an email if you'd be interested in having a closer look and we'll put you in touch with the right person.

There's a lot of Saharan dust flying around here at the moment, resulting in a hazy sky and limited visibility. The view reminds me of the thick pollution that is visible in the back of the city when sailing on the coast of Barcelona, but feels better to know that what we have here is coming from sand. Dust from sand that has traveled thousands of miles, all the way across the Atlantic ocean. I think it is kind of romantic in a way, to know that we all are connected in one way or the other. Just like we all share the same moon and stars at night.

Not only does Alex's look sometimes fool people to believe that he's Italian, but he also recently proved to be making pizzas like one. We were invited to our friend Lynda for a pizza making evening the other night and without a pre agreement to do so, Alex took over the dough rolling and preparation like any Italian would have done it. Someone seem to miss a roomy kitchen just as much as I do! Thin crusty bottom and toppings after each of ours desire followed by a flavor competition... the Italian one with parma ham and arugula got shared gold with an all meat and cheese version. I wonder if I can get my man to recreate those delicious pizzas on the boat?