Sailing off the mooring

Ukrainean captain Sergei shows off his skills by hoisting anchor and the main jib and staysail to aweigh at Antigua

Headless man found on Gustavia street

Should I call the Gendarmerie and report this crime?

Wearing my navigation chart just in case

Last evening on board SPV Star Clipper at St Barthelemy, Gustavia harbor. The Swedish shipping line owner, Michael Kraft, has just come on board to do quality control over Christmas week!

Le Select

St Barth's famous cafe offering the Burger in Paradise as the Jimmy Buffett song promised...

Leaving Guadeloupe

Splendid maneuver by the captain as he raises his anchor at Les Saintes and sails out of the anchorage.... although he does have the engine running ! The Star Clipper sails out at sunset between the rocky outcrops guarding the little bay and we steer W by NW leaving the main island of Guadeloupe to starboard. Then we settle down to captain's dinner with Lobster and Baked Alaska in the lee of the island!

Ziplines in the Antiguan rain forest

A dozen Zipline transfer lines slice through the rain forest canopy across deep ravines and jungle - this line is over 350 ft - just a little faith needed! Two stainless steel cables and two trolleys lend some confidence to the venture - it seems to improve considerably before the short last transfer and your safe return back to the good ship Star Flyer....

Star Clipper at anchor in Antigua

Time to experiment with my new App called Hipstamatic. This photo enhancing iPhone app has about a dozen different lenses that can be selected and then another 6 to 8 films style to select. There are several other options but just messing about with the combination of films and lenses gives enough variations to swamp you! After much experimentation there are two lenses I like and a couple of different films I keep returning to. This is a combination using Hipstamatic Kaimal Mark II lens and Kodot XGrizzled film.

For more fun Hipstamatic results check out http://www.panoramio.com/user/2134453/tags/Hipstamatic

Sugar Cane Central

Nevis small footprint in the Caribbean owes much to its bygone fame as one of the main sugar cane production centers hence the iron cauldrons for sugar reduction. Now it is left with converted mills into splendid top chain resorts such as the Hermitage, the Golden Rock, and Montpellier - once a Lady Di retreat.

Cruisers are worked hard

The inmates are running the ship... passengers are put to work hauling the main staysail as we leave Nevis. No grog being handed out here!

How do you make a Maltese cross?

Stamp on his foot ... of course!

Last time we were onboard the Star Flyer in Tahiti, we sailed under a Luxembourg flag... some deal with the EU benefits from having a ship built in Belgium. Now we are under the flag of Malta with the Maltese Cross flying on the stem of the Star Clipper. Apparently Malta is one of the few Euro zone countries where payroll taxes are not mandatory for the multi-national crew on the ship. Our crew hails mostly from India (engine room and deck hands), Thailand (dining and kitchen), Sweden (sports and social), Russia (sail riggers), Polish and Ukrainain (captain and officers who trained in the Soviet Navy tall ships) - and us the common cruisers mostly from US, UK, Canada, Germany, and a few other motley sources.

Moored alongside Eclipse

Sharing the dock at St. Marten is the mega-yacht Eclipse with Larry Ellison's Oracle II moored right behind her.... have we arrived at the right dock? Almost... Star Clipper awaits us... 98 passengers on this trip!

Made it across the beach to the runway

Always fun landing at St. Maarten and frightening the living daylights out the people tanning themselves on the beach... runway starts 50 ft from the beach and it is a short runway so they have to get their little wheels down as fast as possible!

Landing on the sea at St. Martin

ETOPS waypoint Bermuda

Two engine jets are regulated by ETOPS rules which limit the distance
to the nearest airport should one engine fail (never mind two
engines!). The flight from Philadelphia makes a direct course to
Bermuda, and with the island in sight in the distance makes a gentle
right-hand turn towards the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

Experimenting with Hipstamatic filters

Next flight and time to waste sitting in Philadelphia and experiment with the John S lens and Kodot XGrizzled film... after they removed the lavatory pumping truck!

Breaking hard at Philly

City o Brotherly Love does not look so welcoming at 7 in the morning, however we are only here for a few minutes then onto our long ETOPS flight down to SXM.

Early morning flight out of DCA

Always a lot of anticipation at the start of a trip, will we make the flight, will we get bumped, will the flight be delayed, etc, dozens of things to go wrong which we have experienced most of in our recent travels. Nothing like a weight lifting off you as the plane gets airborne, at least you are now on your way. Here we are at Reagan National waiting for baggage to load in the wee hours of the morning....

Kofte on the grill ce soir!