LEAH'S HERE!

On Monday daughter Leah arrived on St. Maarten. This has been a week we have been looking forward to for some time. For her too since she arrived from chilly Chicago.

On Tuesday we sailed to Grand Case on the north shore of St. Martin. A pretty little town with tons of resturants and on Tuesday nights hundreds of vendors set up on the main street selling all kinds of crazy stuff. We ate dinner at 'California' which is where the three of us had our Christmas dinner when we chartered here back in 2003. Still great food!

We decided to stay another day so we could snorkle and Leah could get a good hilly run workout in.

On Thursday we tried to sail around the north-east corner of St. Martin and down towards St. Barts. When we turned to try to take our our course of 150 degrees we found the 20-25 knot wind coming out of 140 degrees. That ain't going to happen! So, we turned back and sailed back to Marigot bay, threw up our Q-flag and had another pleasant boat day while we considered our options.


While considering we decided it was time for Mismo's first swimming lesson. She loves the water as much as any cat but seemed to learn quickly where the 'rescue fender' is. This is a fender we keep hanging in the water that has been wrapped in screen type material so she can easily climb on it.






Before Leah arrived we again went to the Sunday flea market at Shrimpy's. A new cruising couple came to town with a boat load of stuff and they were sellling it on Sunday. Among the many items was a perfectly fine hammock which we quickly bought and tested out on Enee. Leah also likes how it works. We are also very excited that Leah brought her wonderful camera with her. She's a terrific photographer and has been taking many action shots as we go about our regular routines on board. Look for her blog post with her photos soon. We'll put a link here for them.