SIX MONTHS ABOARD

It's been six months since Astarte and crew left St. Petersburg, Florida. We feel like it's been a good "shake-down" cruise. Astarte was a "new" boat to us - and as we both worked to build up the cruising kitty which meant being on the road a lot - we didn't get the chance to really use her too much. So these first six months, we've learned a lot about the boat and cruising on her.

We've traveled more than 2800 nautical miles and visited the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Puerto Rico, US Virgins, St. Martins, St. Barts, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, The Grenadines, Grenada, Venezuela and now Bonaire. In some of those countries we stopped at multiple anchorages. We've experienced some big seas and some flat calm crossings; some heavy winds and some light air; we've sailed various points of sail and had to motor into it.

With every "major" stopping point (Georgetown, Provo, Salinas PR, St. Johns, St. Martins, Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, and Grenada) we were excited about the decision to continue to move on. And with each move we knew it was the right call. Every cruiser has his or her own tolerance for continuing the adventure - and it's certainly easy to fall in love with many of these islands - and stay. But we've moved on - maybe too fast for some, too slow for others.but we've moved on with our goal of the San Blas islands in Panama still in sight.

We've met many wonderful and interesting people along the way. Cruisers are great partiers and incredibly helpful and fun. You make "fast" friends while cruising because of similar interests. We've had the pleasure of dining with many aboard their boats or ours; drank with many more on boats for sundowners or at happy hours on shore; and, we've experienced fun local events with fellow boaters. The people are from all parts of the world - making it a small world community - and folks we've met from our own backyard - St. Petersburg.

We've had guests (not enough!) and enjoyed their company. We wish we were more prepared for the first guests - and had fewer outboard problems - but hopefully they understand. It's a continual learning experience for us - what works best for guests and us. We look forward to Kathryn and Mark's visit to Panama.

Astarte has been a great boat - she sails like a dream - but isn't such a great power boat. Michael's been terrific about fixing things that break. Barbara's adjusted to cooking on a two-burner stove.

We don't have a favorite island - every place is special and it is so dependant on the weather when you're there. We love remote, out of the way places as well as the bigger "cities."

Fish catching has been fair. We always have a line in the water when underway. Sometimes we get lucky - but we wish it was more often.

We've read loads of books and continue to trade them as we read them. We're trying to learn Spanish - and are committed to being more conversational by Columbia!

The most important thing is that we are healthier now than when we left. We've both trimmed down quite a bit and are more active. We eat healthier than when we were traveling for our jobs. And we are happy. We still love being with each other and enjoy our time together.

We do miss seeing family and friends - and that's what you give up when you cruise. Luckily our families are very supportive and understand what fulfilling dreams is all about.

Let us know if there is anything specific you'd like more info on. We're always looking for ideas on what to put in this blog.

We look forward to the next six months.