By now we have arrived a lot further north in the Caribbean; you can see that on the overview map on the homepage. We choose to do this part a bit faster than most sailors because these islands are familiar to us. This way we will have more time for the for us still unknown areas like Cuba, the Bahamas and the USA. Because yes, Cuba has been included in our trip planning on the advice of Dolf and Marjanne and Rinus. We make speed by making choices; we skip some islands and choose a few where we take our time. As a result, the stretches of sailing are longer, often too long for a daytrip, but then we just sail through the night, which has the advantage that we can spend the day on the islands themselves. Because of this we absolutely don't have the feeling that we are hunting and going through it too fast. With the side-effect that we suddenly meet (and catch up with) other sailors, like Martijn van de 'Rotop' in Dominica and Sander, Michelle, Rikke, Imme and Pippa van de Lamawaje in Iles les Saints. That results in nice encounters. And suddenly we sail in the 'front line' instead of in the 'back line' like two weeks ago.

We do St Vincent and St Lucia very briefly without going into the country. They are relatively poor islands, volcanic with high mountains and 'boatboys' who sail around in small boats and try to earn money from the visiting yachts by helping with mooring and selling food. On St Vincent we make a short stop in Byahaut Bay. The buoys and the restaurant of a few years ago are no longer there. Credit crisis? We don't know, but it's nice snorkeling there. Then we sail for another half hour to spend the night in Wallilabou Bay, the bay where the Disney movies Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 and 3 were shot. A beautiful bay with friendly boatboys who help to moor (with a line from the back of the Brandaan to the 'gallows-stellage' used in the movie). The next morning we walk around for an hour in the old movie set and recognize many places from the movies. Then we set off for St Lucia to meet the Barbarossa there.

The weather is calm and the 5 to 6 hour trip is wonderful sailing, while at the northern Cape of St Vincent it can be quite haunted. So not this time. At the same time as the Barbarossa we arrive at the Gros Pitons, two high mountains (world heritage) with a beautiful anchorage at the foot of it. We have a drink together and get to know Carla and Huub; very cosy! The next morning we go snorkelling, but that's a bit disappointing, lots of currents and waves and little to see. Ellen has baked a nice 'green' cake and with a cup of tea with it this is the real farewell moment ... until 4,5 months from now in the Azores! We leave around 5 pm for a night trip of over 100 miles to Dominica. Again this is a wonderful sailing trip, half to ample wind, nice speed, calm sea. In the middle of the night we sail along the leeward side of Martinique and we see all the lights in the distance. In the morning we arrive at the southern Cape of Dominica, and then it is just as rough with strong gusts of wind and big waves. Luckily we can reef in time. Just after that it is very quiet again on the leeward side of Dominica. Around 9.00 am we drop anchor in St Rupert Bay, a spacious bay with many other sailing boats on the north side of Dominica.

Dominica is a beautiful island, very green with high mountains covered with rainforest and diverse vegetation. Many birds (including two species of parrots) and many rivers (about 356) that flow from the mountains in all directions into the sea. A beautiful rough nature! After arrival we first do school and in the afternoon we explore the Indian River together with a boatboy (as a guide). He rows us up and down the river for an hour and shows us the beautiful vegetation and many different birds. In the evening we eat on the boat and go to bed early. The next morning (di 9 Feb) we go out for a walk after school. With a taxi and / or a guide it is much too expensive ... after some bargaining we end up with a rented car (an old jeep) after which we make the walk through the forest and to the waterfall on our own. Actually much more fun and very good to do on your own. In the evening Martijn comes with his girlfriend from the 'Rotop' to have a drink. Martijn also comes from 'Bru' (Bruinisse), lives already 15 years on his boat (34 feet) and sails already 5 years in the Caribbean and the east coast of America. Very nice to hear how he sails around as 'low budget' as possible. In many ways the opposite of us. Martijn uses free old frying oil from restaurants for his engine so he doesn't have to buy diesel. He's been up and down the Intra Costal waterway (ICW) on the east coast of America three times already and gives us a few handy tips. On Wed 10 Feb we make a tour on the north side of the island in the morning with the rented car. Small roads through dense jungle. We stop at a cold water source in the crater of a volcano and have lunch in a nice tent on the north side of the beach. In the beginning of the afternoon we are back again and when we take our dinghy to the Brandaan we suddenly see the Nebulea lying there. That was a while ago (last seen in Portugal)! We chat for a while, but shortly after that we leave again according to plan for Iles les Saint. Again a wonderful sailing trip of three hours with half wind and few waves.

Iles les Saint is a group of small islands, it belongs to Guadeloupe and is therefore a province of France. Suddenly we are back in the 'European Union'. On the land it's quite touristy (with visitors coming by ferry from Guadeloupe), they only talk french and we can only pay with euros. But they have delicious French bread with delicious French cheeses! In the anchor bay it is quiet, but with the anchor at 13 meters deep. And that's quite deep, Toine notices when he has to go into the depths the next morning with our little diving kit (for boat maintenance) to catch a part of the nuerol that fell into the water during maintenance. It works, well done Toine! That evening we have been enjoying a self-made three-course dinner on the boat for a very long time. The next morning (do 11 Feb) Sander and Imme van de 'Lamawaje' (Imme of the 'Lamawaje') visit us, also a Dutch boat with three girls of 9, 7 and 4 years old. The girls play together all afternoon (swimming, diving from the boat, interspersed with games Umo) and we have a drink with them at the end of the day, with also a Danish couple they met before. Unfortunately our plans run out the next day; the Lamawaje also goes to Cuba, Bahamas and USA, but at a much slower pace because they don't sail back to the Netherlands and leave their boat in the Chesapeake Bay. In the evening we eat a delicious meat skewer on the shore (the French can do that). When we get back to the boat we see a weird kind of rain.

We can't explain it yet, but we close as many windows as possible. When we wake up the next morning the whole boat is covered in a grey layer of dust. It turns out ... the volcano on Montserrat (about 80 miles away) has been active (partial dome collapse) and has driven a large ash cloud to the northeast. Right over our bay. That's a bit of polishing ... and still everything is not finished, we need a big rain shower for that. The girls are having a talk. Marinthe happens to be talking about volcanoes and can take this right away. Eline made a very nice speech about the weather. Well done Eline! After school they swim with Rikke, Imme and Pippa van de Lamawaje and then we say goodbye. They go to Guadeloupe and we go to a bay further on in Iles les Saints. There it is beautiful snorkeling. Very clear water with many different fish. We have a nice quiet afternoon and evening with the four of us. And now (the next day) we are on our way to the northern tip of Guadeloupe to leave for Antigua in the morning. Have a nice weekend and see you all next week!