A little of this, a little of that

 A few people have asked why we have not updated blog postings, so here is one .... although we have not done much lately.  

Colorful bloom on a palm tree in Le Marin

BeBe is still sitting at the dock in Marina du Marin; we will leave here Saturday and move to an anchorage somewhere.  Maybe we can find a spot among the reefs to anchor closer to Le Marin rather than out at St. Anne's.  It is too far to take the dinghy into Le Marin from St. Anne's, but closer anchoring options are limited.  We prefer the shopping options of Le Marin over the quiet village of St. Anne's, plus we are enjoying the social scene here.  We are not in a hurry to head southward just yet and will wait for weather to cooperate.



We did make a 2-day trip down to St. Lucia a few weeks ago, anchoring in Rodney Bay and dinghy-ing in to shop at the nice supermarket with all those American brand products.  I needed to stock up on jalapeno peppers and flour tortillas and Pepper Jack cheese and real honest-to-goodness sour cream instead of that nasty creme fraiche sold here.  I wanted to stock up on things that are not to be found in Le Marin markets.  And BeBe needed some boat cleaning supplies that were available at Island Water World but not available in Martinique.  When we returned to Marina du Marin the captainerie put us right back in the same berthing spot on the Amel service pontoon #4.  Right back in the midst of our new friends.  This is beginning to feel like home.  Too bad this is too far north to stay for hurricane season.

When at a French island, be sure and fly a Dutch courtesy flag.
Seen at St. Anne's anchorage for 2 days before someone pointed
out to the boat owner that he was flying the wrong country flag.

Just when you think you have seen every
way imaginable to stow a dinghy, you
come across this.

Last evening Rick and Linda on a Super Maramu 2000 named Rascal hosted 8 of us fellow Amel owners for drinks and snacks.  Ten people in the cockpit and we all were comfortable; I think the most we have had aboard BeBe is 8; now we know that cockpit can accommodate 10.  The guests included Fred and Patrick on Django-something; Steve and Liz on Aloha; Gary and Robin on Adagio; and Bill and me; plus our hosts.  Foods were delicious and conversation was very enjoyable.  This is what we have missed during those years in the Med -- the cruiser camaraderie.  It is so very, very nice to find it again!  We enjoyed the evening a lot.









Our Turkish friends, Hassan and Zehrya and their niece Fatma on the Amel 55 Kandiba, have returned after exploring the islands all the way up to Anguilla.  Kandiba needs a bit of service and then they will be heading south for hurricane season.  We will get together for dinner on Friday night and catch up.  It will be interesting to hear their opinions of all the Caribbean islands they have visited thus far.  It will be fun to 'see' the islands for the first time through their eyes.

Our granddaughter made decorated this nail bag (with help from her mom) when she was 4-yrs old.  It was a
Christmas gift to us just before we left to begin cruising.  Over the years most of the decorations and some of
the glitter glue have fallen off and it now is developing holes.  I use this at least once weekly.  Maybe she can
make a new one for me as this year's Christmas gift. Sometimes it is the small things that are most appreciated.

By the way,we are docked next to a newer Amel 64.  That boat makes 13-year-old BeBe look like a neglected step-child.  Bill likes the retractable hard bimini on the 64.  I like the deck cleats.  The Amel service center offered to give us a tour of this boat but I declined.  No point in looking at something that we cannot afford.

I have deck cleat and chock envy.  Aren't these gorgeous!  On the Amel 64 docked next to BeBe.