Lots of Sailing

Maria sailing toward Dominica

We just had to post another picture of the sail to Dominica, in the winter time with no huge seas or high winds! Now that is unusual!!!

Maria and Michele on Tarentela during a hike in Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe

Panoramic view of Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe

The friendly customs house at Portsmouth, Dominica

Sunset in Portsmouth, Dominica with a couple tall ships too! Yes, there was a green flash that evening.

Aspen on a mooring in Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe

Le Marin, Martinique.  Where the French fleet hangs out for the winter months!

Hiking on Martinique, near Ste. Anne.

Compare Martinique hiking with Dominica.  Dominica, the nature island!

I rarely post flower or plant pictures but this one from Dominica was just too stunning.

Daniel, our boat boy, rowing up the Indian River in Portsmouth, Dominica.

The voodoo ladies house in Pirates of the Caribbean, up the Indian River.  Or at least what is left of the house after the hurricanes of 2017.

Mural in Portsmouth, Dominica.  We love the colors!

The Cabrits in Portsmouth, Dominica.  It is a peaceful fort these days, unlike during times gone by.

Captain Steve in his normal position on the boat - fixing things!

Pigeon Island and Fort Rodney; Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Happy Hour on Tarentela, our friends from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada (boats represented were Murdina, Peace Keeper, Dakota Dream and Aspen)

The brighter side of happy hour; Michele (Tarentela), Maria (Aspen), Kitty (Peace Keeper) and Tina (Murdina)

Hiking near St. Anne, Martinique on one of Anina's (Prism) death marches.

Holiday dinner hosted by Tarentela with a lot of happy sailors!

Just one happy hour after another, or so it seems!

Flashback to a party on Dakota Dream, although the owners of Dakota Dream were back in North Dakota so we kind of commandeered their vessel.

Tarentela and Al's shirt from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (not to be confused with that other village, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 The admiral Maria cleaning, as usual, on Aspen

S/Y Aspen – February 7, 2019 – Log #162
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 04’ N  060 degrees 57’ W
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, Caribbean

Once holidays down in these little latitudes are finished, sailors take to the wind and head north or south depending on their dreams.

Aspen sailed her crew north to Dominica and then Iles des Saintes, part of Guadeloupe.  We can’t seem to stay away from the fantastic French islands for some reason.  It isn’t because of the rum since French rum doesn’t use molasses and tastes like jet fuel, except for the lethal and tasty ti-punch.

It must be the wine, cheeses and great hiking trails to secluded beaches that attracts us.

Dominica is always our favorite anchorage and this time was no different.  The Sunday night BBQ in Portsmouth is an all-you-can-eat affair complete with rum punch (made with 151 proof rum of course).

We took the Indian River tour once again but this time used Daniel, a very knowledgeable boat boy, proud of his Dominica heritage and island’s nature.  Yes, Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed in the Indian River but Johnny Depp is long departed.  Only traces of the voodoo lady remain.  There were no sightings of Sexy Bones this year.  He is still somewhere in the bush after last years’ devastating hurricanes.

We turned Aspen’s bow south and returned to St. Lucia where our ocean shipment of much needed parts will arrive sometime this week, or so we have been told.  A ship always needs a lot of TLC so this is the time we chose to do that kind of work.

Maria also gets her women’s’ only lunches where amps and volts cannot be mentioned!

Captain Steve gets to work on Aspen and run in the forest and beaches on the north end of the island, communing with nature or just trying to stay healthy, or something like that.

Aspen’s berth/slip in Rodney Bay Marina adjoins the charter boat fleets.  That gives us a lot of entertainment, most days, watching revelers find their charter boats and eventually sail away.  We’ve never seen so much food, rum and beer put onboard a boat as we have here.  It must be party time in the islands!

Toward the end of this month, Aspen and her crew should be repaired, rested and ready to head south to the Grenadines, among rainbows and clouds on the horizon.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

PS - You can track our voyages using this: https://us0-share.inreach.garmin.com/SYAspen
Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com