Guest post by Bini Als ich mich vor zwei Wochen auf den Weg in die Karibik gemacht habe, wusste ich, dass mir ein ganz neues, besonderes Erlebnis bevorstand. Meine persönliche Segelerfahrung resultiert aus zwei Törns auf der Ostsee, die wir als Familie Ende der 80er-Jahre unternommen haben. Nun sollte ich Segeln unter gänzlich anderen Rahmenbedingungen…
Category: Visitors
Heading south with Bini
After the kids departure we have a full week with my sister Bini. And what a wonderful week it is. The opening act is something special, even for us: a night sail. It is born out of a quandary. A massive winter storm system is passing eastward over the northern Atlantic. Its counterclockwise winds are…
Our stowaway “Tante Bini”
“She is here, she is here! Awwww, Bini!”, the kids exclaim as we approach JACE. Everybody is so excited. My sister Sabine, or Bini, is an absolute sweetheart and much adored “Tante Bini” by her niece and nephew. Her visit onboard has been highly anticipated. We carefully planned her visit to overlap with the kids for…
Exploring northern Antigua
The four of us haven’t sailed together in a couple of years. And our 5-month trip on “Towanda” lies almost ten years in the past. The kids where but 12 and 10 then and as lasting as the memories are, that adventure seems ages ago. Now we have two weeks with our two grown, independent…
Christmas afloat
They have arrived! After so much anticipation we are at the small Antigua airport. It is surprisingly busy with quite a few flights touching down in short progression. We wait patiently. Or not so patiently. Customs must be very busy and it takes quite a while. But finally we catch the familiar sight of our…
Farewell Anika
Hard to believe how fast those two weeks flew by. We had a magnificent time together and did so much. Lots of sailing up and down the islands, with plenty of wind and also rain at times. A few awesome hikes and great snorkeling. Actually, the spots we found both on St. Lucia and Martinique…
Wet ride back to Martinique
If it wasn’t so warm, I’d say I am back on the Baltic Sea where, as a teenager, I fell in love with sailing. The sky is gray and scary-looking, with low clouds and the line between dark sky and dark sea almost indistinguishable. Wind is howling and blowing spray off the tops of waves….
Dolphins and Dominica
Finally! Seeing dolphins for me is the ultimate marine life experience. When they come by the boat, swim with you, and play in the bow wave. We saw many in our travels years ago across the Mediterranean Sea. But here in the Caribbean they seem to be much more rare. I am not sure why…
Exploring St.Lucia with Anika
I wake up early to make up for yesterday’s oversight. I forgot to clear out of Martinique and then discovered that the local office is closed today and instead I need to travel to the next town, Le Marin. By 7:30 I am riding the dinghy to shore to catch the 7:50 bus for the…
The eagle has landed
Anika is here! So nice. I pick her up at the Martinique airport, a brand new and surprisingly large facility. There are no less than four or five daily nonstop flights from Paris. In general, Martinique is so much more developed, built up, much more western and feels much richer than the southern islands. I…