Marin, Martinique

[N14d27:86, W060d52:64]

Yesterday, we had a glorious sail from St. Lucia to Martinique. Yeah! We had 15-20 knots of wind on the beam. Crossroads loves a beam reach. We were making 7 knots of speed. (very fast for us)

Thanksgiving was a delight, we shared the week with our friends John and Elizabeth. We will post photos and stories soon.

The Way It's Supposed to Be....

We have been anchored in the Tobago Cays for a week now and it is just about perfect. The Tobago Cays are a half circle of small, uninhabited islands and a half circle of beautiful reef. In the middle of the two half circles is about the nicest anchorage we have been in yet. The reef protects us from the waves coming in from the Atlantic but leaves us fully exposed to a wonderful breeze- the east trade winds. We are in ten feet of crystal clear water with a bright white sand bottom. It looks like a swimming pool. We can see the bottom clearly even by moonlight. The color of the water ranges from light swimming pool blue through blue-eyes blue right on to deep-water cobalt. Hours have been spent just starring out at the water. The five closest islands have also drawn our attention. Each has a small beach for sitting and reading all day in the shade of the coconut trees. It really does feel like paradise here. And to think, we almost left a couple days after we got here due to some grim weather predictions that finally turned into a cloudy day, clean decks and 45 or so gallons of fresh water in our tank. That day was also the first time we had to run the engine to charge the batteries. The solar panels had taken care of that on all the sunny days. This is what we left our jobs, families and friends and sold our house to do. Ahhh, nice!

Glenn

Leaving Grenada

At the helm aboard Crossroads we have a computer-screen chart plotter. This shows us a view of a chart with a "you are here" symbol at our position. Last Saturday, as we sailed away from Grenada, I watched our ship-blip move farther and farther north, away from the island. It was hard to scroll up and drop Grenada off the bottom of the screen - forever.

We have visited some great places thus far on our trip, but I was always ready to move on by the time we left them. Not so with Grenada, I could live there. The people are friendly, industrious and seem happier that most islanders. The scenery is stunning- everywhere I looked, I wanted to build a house, just to sit and enjoy the view. I did a lot of biking on the island and Michele and I ran two hashes, so we really got to see a lot and we met some terrific people. I don't know what makes a place feel like home, but for me Grenada has it. I look forward to returning one day, the easy way - by airplane.

Glenn

Tobago Cays, St Vincent/Grenadines

[N12d37:83, W061d21:39]

We arrived at the Tobago Cays this morning.(not be confused with Tobago of Trinidad and Tobago). The Tobago Cays are a beautiful set of islands in St. Vincent. The aqua blue water is a welcome site after being in a marina for so long in Trinidad. As soon as we anchored, I was happy to volunteer to check the anchor, I jumped off the boat and swam in the wonderful clean, salty ocean. We actually hung our hammock today, we haven't done that in months. We are looking forward to taking a break from navigating and boat projects.

Michele

Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou

[N12d27:37, W061d29:24]

Yesterday was a sad day for us, we had to leave Grenada. It was by far our favorite island. On our last day in Grenada we had our Grenadian friends Susan and Frank out to the boat with their three kids. Later that evening we went "liming" with Frank.
(Liming means hanging out or talking) We hope to see them again one day either in the states or in Grenada. We motor sailed to Carriacou and spent a windy night in Tyrrel Bay. We plan to snorkel later today and reconnect with our friends on Dragonfly and Delilah for Lasagna on Crossroads. Tomorrow we will sail to Union Island and then to the Tobago Keys in the Grenadines.

Michele

Divali in Trinidad

The Saturday night before we left Trinidad, Glenn and I attended the Hindu Festival of Lights known as Divali.

Divali signifies the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, justice over injustice and intelligence over ignorance. During Divali, thousands of deyas (small clay pots, filled with oil and wicks) are lit at dusk throughout the country. The food was amazing; we were served a traditional Hindu meal. As we walked the streets looking at all the lights, the individual families gave away sweets in front of their houses. It was a wonderful way to see entire families walking the streets in traditional dress. It was a great night and it was very interesting to see how another culture celebrates one of their largest holidays.