S/V L'ORIENT

"We don't need that expensive anchor" - post-hurricane St. Martin Sorry for the gap between posts; I know we've gotten a lot of flack from our Latvian and Ukrainian followers- we'll try to be better. While the French excel at boat making, food, and wine- the islands haven't joined the connected world quite yet. After 1200 miles of bashing into the wind (Kirstin calculated this on i-Sailor) we arrived in Marigot Bay, St. Martin on Jan 15th. This represents several milestones for us......getting into the "real Careibbean" and having some good food are two of them. We also have busied ourselves with a lot of boat projects. We keep L'ORIENT in good shape so this never happens to us. New relays for the generator, new fresh water pump, oil and fuel filters in the engine room..........Kirstin is making dinghy chaps. What is this, you may ask ? As the dinghy cost a preposterous $4400 to replace and it's out in the sun all the time. Th

Kirstin and I have been spoiled by having Emily on board for over a week. Emily fills the role of stunt-kid, sailing buddy, snorkel pal, and general co-conspirator. At 20, she's at the age where she's young enough to be adventurous at yet old enough to get into adult trouble. We heard about a cool snorkeling spot on the island and found it an irresistible opportunity. There was one small impediment.......that being that the area is closed by the US Military (some matter about unexploded ordnance again). The closed, chained, and locked gate......along with big, big warning sign further whet our collective appetite for fun. Not wanting to disappoint Emily, we squeezed through the gate and were off. A short half-hour later we were chasing stingrays and fish in another cool coral field. We've also harnessed the labor potential of the situation and promoted Emily to chief pancake maker. Her skills, finely honed at VA Tech, have made her a natural on a boat, where limite

After Vieques and it's unexploded ordnance we made our way to Culebra. Kirstin had done extensive research on this island and it was at the top of her bucket list............beautiful beaches, great food, lots of wildlife; in short, the perfect island. Culebra certainly didn't disappoint. We both had tears in our eyes when we left and sailed east toward St. Thomas. The problem we had was that Emily (my daughter) was meeting us in St. Thomas for 10 days on L'ORIENT as she is on winter break from Virginia Tech. After Culebra, I had a feeling that we would crash pretty hard (and we did)............we knew that St. Thomas was a bit sketchy (and it was). The main bay (Charlotte Amalie) had drunks, homeless, cruise-ship people, and a well deserved run-down reputation. Having spoiled my daughter for years, I felt like we should present her with the options. Go back to Culebra or stay in sketchy St. Thomas. Not surprisingly, Princess Emily chose Culebra and is seen here pilot