Everything is More Fun with Willie and Michelle!

Some of our closest friends, Willie and Michelle Lim, met us in Providentiales for one glorious week. Michelle gets sea sick, so they spent the first three nights at a hotel, but stayed aboard Always Sunday the rest of the time. Willie and Michelle are both excellent chefs, and I was thrilled to be able to watch them prepare fish several nights. Willie also loves to try the local food wherever they travel (all over the world), and he had a list ready of the top ten eateries specializing in local flavor. As I've already said, everything is more fun when Willie and Michelle are around.

Amazing Caribbean food at CoCo Van, a food truck with a lovely outdoor setting.

Prince's house on Providentiales

Da Conch Shack
Rated in
Top Ten
Local 
Restaurants

Playing Hands and Feet

Sunset Fishing Trip

All Willie wanted to do 
was catch some fresh fish 
for dinner, but alas, the big
fish weren't biting. No worries. The little fish took the bait.

They might be small, but we ate every fin and tail!
Squirrel Fish, Smallmouth Grunts and Coneys for dinner. Just add Fish Fry!

Learning how to saute ginger and garlic to top pan-fried tuna

FINALLY IN THE BAHAMAS!

We've heard a lot over the years about the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, and Exumas from other boaters, and we could hardly wait to sail there on Always Sunday. At first, I was a little disappointed because the islands were so flat, with scrubby vegetation, very different from the lush, mountainous Caribbean islands we have been visiting. But I have to say, after further exploration, the beaches are pristine and there's nothing that compares to the turquoise waters. We enjoyed many anchorages where there were no other boats in site, we call them honeymooners. 

One of the few islands with towering pines where we could sit in the shade and read. Absolutely lovely!

Are those pigs that Ricky is asking directions from? YES! The uninhabited island of Big Major Cay in the Exumas is famous for its freckled pig population. You can go ashore and visit with them, as Ricky is doing, or they swim out and visit your boat, especially if you're feeding them something good. 

Bahamian Curly Tail Lizard curls his tail when he's excited

 

Boater friends Mary and Steve on Willow hike in the National Park with us. 

Friends flew into Providentiales to spend a week with us. Left to right: Ricky, Robin, Steve and Michelle Delaune, Jamie and Ryan Crane. Had a blast together!!!

This amazing mini-monastery is the main attraction on Cat Island, built by Monsignor John Hawes in 1939, known to Cat Islanders as Father Jerome. He studied architecture before joining the priesthood. Using all local stone, he built The Hermitage on the highest hill in the Bahamas (206 ft above sea level) as his retirement get-away from the world.

          Ricky swimming with JoJo, a friendly dolphin who follows the boats around Providentiales

Always Sunday at anchor in Grace Bay

Banded Starfish

Fresh Mahi Mahi

Family and Friends Visit Always Sunday

Good friends Joe and Julie Bouligny (Lafayette, LA) texted us one morning to see if we were sailing anywhere near St. Lucia because they were on a cruise ship docked there for one day only. Luck would have it that we had just arrived in St. Lucia to pick up my niece, so we were able to have lunch together and let them see our boat for a few hours. 

Sharon Wright, our niece, arrived in St. Lucia mid-January for three glorious weeks sailing to ten different islands. The beautiful Pitons are in the background.

Uncle Ricky showing Sharon the new electronics

Sailing into Iles des Saints

       One of our favorite places on Guadeloupe is the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Deshaies                         (pronounced Days-ay). I could spend hours there taking photos of flowers and birds!

St. Barts is a busy place with lots of boats, great restaurants and shopping

Work hard all day, play hard all night!!!

We joined the throngs of crazy people who visit Maho Beach
 in St. Martin to take photos of the airplanes
landing right overhead. Then, when the planes take off,
you get sandblasted. Are we having fun yet?

One of our favorite ruins on the island of Nevis is the Cottle Church, built in 1824 by English planter Thomas John Cottle as the first church in the Caribbean for all people to worship together, regardless of colour or nationality. It's a story that truly inspires.

Filming site of Calypso's House, the sea goddess in Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest - Indian River on Dominica

Hiking in Dominica

Climbing the rocks up to a waterfall on Guadeloupe

Martinique is the beautiful French Island known as the birth place of the Empress Josephine. We walked through the ruins of what was a magnificent theatre in St. Pierre, once called Little Paris. The whole city, at that time the commercial, cultural and social center of Martinique, was buried when Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902, killing 30,000 people. The volcano gave several warnings, even sending enough ash down to kill birds and animals a week before it erupted. Two men survived: Leon Leandre, a cobbler, and the infamous Cyparis, in prison for murder.

Telling secrets on the front of the boat. Please come back soon, Sharon! WE MISS YOU!!!

CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING IN THE ISLANDS

To be perfectly honest, we almost forgot about Thanksgiving this year. We're visiting islands that do not celebrate this exclusively American holiday, so we had no reminders. A few days before, we were talking with new friends Bobbi and Craig Brown on a 40' Catamaran just like ours, and realized it was only a couple of days til Thanksgiving. We decided to celebrate island-style. First we hired an open-back taxi truck for an island tour of Bequia. Here's a photo taken from the Hamilton Fort.  

Our Thanksgiving lunch was a far cry from the normal turkey and dressing with pumpkin pie for desert. We chose to have lunch at the beautiful Firefly Plantation Resort in their excellent restaurant that grows much of the produce used in their kitchen. The 30 acres still belonging to this sugar plantation were beautiful, and after our delightful lunch, we enjoyed a tour of the plantation. We sampled fruit from many of the plantation crops, including sugar cane, coconuts, tamarinds, almonds, oranges, limes, pomegranates, soursop, apples, pumpkins and various herbs. 

I ordered something I've been dying to try, Coconut-crusted Lion Fish, while Ricky ordered Chicken Roti with breadfruit. Roti is a wrap of chicken with potatoes baked in plenty of curry. 

 
 Ezra gave the plantation tour!

Toasting our beautiful tropical Thanksgiving Day with Bobbi and Craig drinking fresh coconut water right out of the rind. 

Now that's the way to end a great day in Bequia!

Ricky cleaning his fresh catch of the day-Barracuda, my favorite.

LEARNING ABOUT NEW LOCAL FOODS

COOKING CLASSES AT TRUE BLUE RESORT

Friends Mike and Roycelyn invited us to attend cooking classes every Thursday afternoon while we were in Grenada so we could learn more about the local cuisine. They didn't tell us it was also a comedy routine of sorts with larger-than-life OMEGA (between me and Ricky) and her partner ESTHER   Not only did we learn how to make Cou Cou, but we fell in love with these amazing ladies and the friendly staff at the resort. First they fried Barracuda in a nice batter, then set it aside. They threw together what looked a lot like our Ettoufee with tomatoes, bellpepper, onions, garlic, etc. After the "gravy" cooked a bit, they added the fried fish back to simmer in the rich, creamy sauce. It was wonderful!!!

I'm a very lucky girl to have a husband who likes to make breakfast, not just every once in a while, but EVERY DAY!!! He fixes my coffee at 7am to sip while I read my Bible, then we usually have breakfast at 8am. The photo above shows pancakes with turkey bacon and fresh mango. He switches up between pancakes, oatmeal, fried eggs and granola, and always serves fruit on the side.

PUMPKIN SOUP

We have really enjoyed Pumpkin Soup at local restaurants, one of the specialties of the Caribbean Islands. As I looked over fresh fruit at the market, I decided to buy some pumpkin and try to make it on the boat. Turned out yummy!

Basic Recipe:

Peel and cube Pumpkin and boil in chicken broth (I used Chicken Bullion Cubes) with onion and garlic until soft enough to mash. Season with salt and pepper and parsley flakes. Be creative with different spices.

Passion Fruit is one of our favorite new fruits
Sweet and sour at the same time
Allow the skin to wrinkle first

It's fun to browse the local fruit stands!

I was reading another boater's blog who mentioned how much they liked Roti. It was on all the local menus, but I never bothered to ask what it was. Turns out to be very good!

Chicken Roti is popular, pictured right. It's chicken and potatoes baked in a flour tortilla wrap, and it's served with a sweet mango chutney. It reminds me of pot pie, and it's very filling. Some people use other meats and vegetables.
(Photo doesn't do it justice!)

FRIED PLANTAIN CHIPS
We visited local waterfalls and the care-taker offered us some plantains he had just fried in coconut oil. It tasted like candy, so I had to try it on the boat. It's now one of our favorite healthy snacks. Plantains are very similar to bananas, in fact I bet you can use bananas as well.
Simply cut thin chips using a ripe plantain. Get oil hot and drop pieces in, turning when browned. Drain on a paper towel and wait a few minutes to taste so you don't burn your mouth. So good!

Yesterday at the market I picked up a large yellow "melon" to inquire what it was, and was told it was papaya. I'm sure I've had papaya before, but this is the first time I've ever bought one.

This morning we scooped out the seeds and peeled and cubed it, and were very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Reminds me of a cross between watermelon and cantaloupe.