Tikkels & Munten

One thing that is both good and bad with being on a Dutch island (ok half Dutch, half French), is that there's loads of different salty liquorice, very similar to the Swedish and Finish stuff, to find in the stores. That's great because I haven't had any since we had friends visiting us back in February or when I flew home to Finland a couple of days after that. But it's also really, really bad because I can't hold myself from eating too much of it when I get it, I mean too much when you can't eat your lunch or dinner because you're already full from the two bags of salty coins and pastels you just treated your poor stomach with. I certainly have no self control whatsoever when it comes to this shit. Shall we move over to the French side, please?

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Beach break

My beautiful silk kaftan is from this brand.
We're having a really good time here, in between all work.. Alex forced me to move my ass from the computer today to spend the afternoon at the beach instead and I must say it was a good move. Loving the vibe of this island. Should have less work to deal with and more time for island exploration after the weekend hopefully. 

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Purple sky

Caos lonely at the quay, one quiet night in Gustavia, St Barts. St Martin (SXM) in the background.

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Hey Randy, you forgot your cap!

Les Voiles de St Tropez
Did you know that the previous owner of this beauty of a boat that we're now busy preparing for a circumnavigation was D Randy West? Yes, the professional racing sailor, multihull captain and author of the famous Hurricane Book. Randy is very well known here in the West Indies, particularly on our favorite island St Barts where he lived for over 30 years, with Duende for some of them. Alex and I had the chance to meet this crazy entertaining man a couple of weeks ago and boy did he have some interesting stories to tell. Look out for more of them in his upcoming new book. I'd also like to suggest you to check out his very amusing first: The Hurricane Book, that's 18 stories from the 18 hurricanes he has survived, all told in a very humorous and informative way. 

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Galley friend

These miniature bottles of rum that people left here or I don't know from where we got them, comes very handy in the kitchen. Instead of opening the big bottles, I use these little bastards to add a few drops in the cakes that I bake, in my West-Indian chicken stew, in fruit-salads, over grilled vegetables and every thinkable concoction that could be in need of some sweet improvement. Very practical as there are only very few things in life that wouldn't taste better with some rum mixed with it.

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We're home

So we are back in St Martin again. With our new baby, Duende. We're slowly getting used to this new island which will be our new home for the following four weeks at least. Looking forward to spend an extended time around here. It's always kind of exciting to get to know a new place/new country for real, and not just by passing by for a day or two. Particularly appealing is it here in the Caribbean, where a number of countries with many different cultures, people, lives and societies are located so close to one another, just a few hours of sail in between them. There's definitely an island for everyone and for every taste here in these crystal clear waters of the West Indies.

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Busy

Sorry for the lack of interesting updates lately, its just that we are so incredibly busy with all kinds of urgent things around here. If I only had the time to process all the photos from these past four weeks, I would love to share with you:

  • Pics from the week we spent with Alex family in St Vincent and Bequia
  • A story from our rainforest trekking in Dominica
  • All the wonderful photos from our day in the waterfalls and beyond in Pitons, St Lucia
  • Also I'd like to answer all the questions and emails we've received lately
  • Tell you more about our new boat
  • Add a FAQ section to the blog

But this we have no time for what so ever, as we're super busy here doing this:
  • Writing a long article for the worlds most stylish yachting magazine, deadline Monday
  • Snapping shots for several different photo assignments
  • Preparing the purchase list for the equipment we need for Duende
  • Ordering everything we need for the same
  • Preparing the new boat for further travels around the world
  • Dealing with new sponsors and partners
  • Answering the 20 most important emails in the list of hundreds
  • Answering questions for an interview
  • Also I'm trying to find some time to write on my book

So many projects and missions constantly going on in our lives, it never ends and being born restless, it really seems like we never can take a step back and chill down. Properly. We definitely have to work on this. One day. Maybe when we get to the Pacific?

And oh, somebody asked us why we have chosen to have someone else moderating the comments that we receive to this blog, and that's simply because out of thirty nice ones there's always one retard trying to annoy us and as you can understand, we have neither time nor space for that kind of bullshit. For the rest of you, you amazing people that send us normal comments, the ones that we actually do read and all of you who've been in touch with us by email and/or through our other social media sites, we love you all and appreciate that you take your time to talk to us. I just have to apologize that we have been late in responding some of the emails that we've received lately, we'll get better on this as soon as it chills down here a bit. I'm sure you know how much we love sharing this journey with y'all.

That's it for now, listen to this great track produced by Alex's brother in the meanwhile if you'd like.

We'll be back with you soon.

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Back to the sea

So it took about two comfortable nights of quiet, non-rolly sleep and three days of land walking to get back to the sailing mood again. I think I told you before but sailing is deeply addictive, once you got the salt water in your veins it's very hard to get it out and it starts to itch under your skin when you've been away from the ocean for too long. We'll be hanging out in and around Antigua for a couple of more days before we head back to Duende. Hoping for the wind to shift back to E so we can get a pleasurable passage back to St Martin after the weekend.

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5:30

One of the many fishermen you might meet if you are up early in the mornings. This encounter was made outside of St Pierre, Martinique a couple of weeks ago.

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Exclusive Brazilian Beachwear

We're back in Antigua for a few days because of a number of reasons, one of them being that we had got a few parcels delivered to our address here. This is a sneak peak of what was hiding in one of those. Delicious bikinis and sophisticated beachwear from one of the most interesting swimwear brands right now: Babajaan. I'll show you some more of my favorites from that collection soon, in the meanwhile you can find parts from the Brazilian born Sandra Moleirinho's new collection here on Net-a-Porter. 

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A harmonic weekend


Finally I'll have some time to share some more photos from our wonderful stay at Buccament Bay Resort in St Vincent the other week. One afternoon we anchored up in the lush bay of Buccament, we got greeted at the beach by the staff with drinks waiting for us upon our dinghy arrival. What a mad contrast to our simple cruising lifestyle. Being the only boat anchored in the private bay that weekend, we had our Caos in clear view during our whole stay, making the experience one step greater, I mean how often do you get to arrive with and park your own boat on a five star resorts private waters just outside of the luxurious villa you're staying in for the weekend? 

The resort itself is idyllically located inside of a volcanic valley, among rainforest and steep green hills, a place on earth almost surreal in its beauty. The settings reminded us of a colorful fairy-tale with its natural fairness beyond imagination. The perfectly white sand beach laid out a smooth and silky carpet before the crystal clear water and the large pool area with a sophisticated bar and a stylish restaurant overlooked the same calm sea from above. Our villa was tastefully equipped with the latest technology, discreet art and all was decorated in subtle peaceful tones. We had a large private jacuzzi on our terrace and everything else was available that one could be in need of. A large comfortable bed with crisp white cotton linen for example, something that we don't really miss in our nomadic boat life before we actually get into one. Oh those mornings in the bed of the resort, wish they could never end.. We had only three things on our mind when we arrived to the resort and they all got very much fulfilled: eat, sleep and relax and I can't think of a better place for satisfying those needs and wishes than this place where the food and drinks were outstanding, the staff and the service was all equally flawless in every little detail and the ambiance and the astonishing surroundings gave us an incredible peace of mind. Three days swept away faster than ever before... Definitely hoping we'll get the chance to revisit one day. 

For more info of this amazing place, check out the Buccament Bay Resort's website. 

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After the storm comes beach

The storm passed by our area pretty quickly. Four hours of 25-40 knots of wind and our two anchors held us in place without any kind of problem. It was kind of a small storm after all and like Alex said; we've been through worse, and those times we were far from land and safe anchorages. The sun's now back here again and we're heading to the beach for some meditation time. Haven't slept much last night due to the screaming wind so a day on the beach is perfect.

By the way, as we don't moderate the comments ourselves any longer we don't get to see more than the comments that gets published here in the blog, but I just got the information that a few of you still insist on commenting anonymously. Please make sure to add your name to what you have to say, otherwise your comment/questions and wonderings won't go through. 

Have a great Sunday evening you all. 

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Irene

Already in the early beginning of the year, when they announced this years names for the upcoming hurricanes of this season, I said to Alex that Irene would probably come our way. Not that I'm an expert in tropical storm developments or anything, it was just a feeling I had, most likely because Irene was the name of my beloved and very much missed grandmother and it is also my own middle name. So now it seems like I was right in my prediction. Irene is the ninth named storm in this 2011 Atlantic hurricane season and it is predicted to develop into the first real hurricane, sometime on Monday when it should approach the coast of Dominican Republic. Luckily, for us, the storm isn't going to reach those terrible and devastating hurricane forces before it has passed through the Lesser Antilles and moved on to the West, but nevertheless we are expected to get a good portion of strong winds, 40-50 knots, and the typical torrential rain that usually develops with these tropical depressions. Alex woke me up at 2.20 am a couple of hours ago and we have now set out a second anchor (using a Delta and a CQR) and more chain so let's now hope that the boat will stay firmly with this set up until the storm has drifted away. 

This is the first tropical storm in our lives, hoping it will be an experience not too powerful. It would also be amazing if Irene could hold herself as close to the coast of Guadeloupe as possible as she's now  supposed to hit land for the first time since she was developed into a storm. We're currently around 60 nm from the center of the storm. Click here for more info about Irene.

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Exhausted

We have sailed around 1000 nautical miles in the past 30 days, that's very many miles let me tell you and I feel it in every part of my body. Now I hope for at least four-five days of non movement under my feet, no rolling, no banging into waves, no uncomfortable heeling and no more sleepless nights during night watches for a while. I know I'll get the lust back for getting out on the ocean again in approximately five days but until then I'm glad we're safely anchored up and with no intention to move from here for at least the following 96 hours.

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J'adore St Barth

We were supposed to sail down to Antigua to fix some stuff down there for a few days but we got stuck in between on this amazing French island again. St Barth is dangerously close to St Martin where we supposedly will spend quite a lot of time this year, only a three hours sail away, and I can imagine that we will find many future occasions and excuses to jump over to spend some good times here. St Barth is an exquisite French island smacked into the most beautiful of the Caribbean waters and it's very easy to fall in love with the style, the vibe and the beauty of this place. Having major headache from last nights party but Alex has already forced me to change the sails so we're now on our way on the seas again. Hoping that the salt water and breeze will help me to recover.. 

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