February 8, 2013
Just call me "Lazybones"!
One of our goals when we first began cruising was to maintain a blog of our adventures for family and friends. We were actually pretty good about keeping it up during the first two years. I (Stacy) would write, and Rene would play photographer and photo-editor. We posted often enough to keep ourselves and our family happy, and friends would occasionally give us a 
friendly prod if we went too long between entries. Somehow, blogging began to fall by the wayside during our third year. We'd still post, but our posts might go out 2-3 months behind the actual event. We blamed it on bad wi-fi, spending six months in the same place, and maybe even too many happy hours...anything but laziness. Now that we're approaching our fourth anniversary of cruising, I decided it was about time to revisit our blog site. Know what? The last entry was for St. Martin in 2012. That was almost a YEAR ago. Where has the time gone, and what the heck have we been doing all year?? We've spent time in some gorgeous places with great friends, but somehow we a) have managed not to blog about ANY of it, and b) even worse, have taken almost NO pictures. Our friend Deana on Storyville has become the unofficial photographer of the group, and we keep telling ourselves we're going to get copies of her pictures. (Deana has also been blogging MUCH more regularly, so I often steer people to her blog to see what we're up to. Go to www.love2sail.blogspot.com for a great read!)
Besides the usual "eat better, exercise more" New Year's resolutions, I set two new ones: "use the four-year-old, never-been-used pressure cooker more often", and "start blogging again". I've done surprisingly well with the pressure cooker - how can you not like something that inspires more dinners with friends? (Keep in mind, most recipes call for 3-4 pound cuts of meat. Do Rene and I really want to eat corned beef and cabbage leftovers for a week?) The blogging, on the other hand...well, you get the idea. Sooo...here's a brief synopsis of life on Pipe Muh Bligh over the past nine to ten months. We're about to head into new territory (a.k.a. the Leeward and Windward Islands), so hopefully that will inspire me to post updates more often.
And if you want to see more photos or details of what we've been up to, you can always check out Storyville's blog. "-)
Pipe Muh Bligh's Top Five List, May 2012 - January 2013:
Just call me "Lazybones"!
One of our goals when we first began cruising was to maintain a blog of our adventures for family and friends. We were actually pretty good about keeping it up during the first two years. I (Stacy) would write, and Rene would play photographer and photo-editor. We posted often enough to keep ourselves and our family happy, and friends would occasionally give us a 
friendly prod if we went too long between entries. Somehow, blogging began to fall by the wayside during our third year. We'd still post, but our posts might go out 2-3 months behind the actual event. We blamed it on bad wi-fi, spending six months in the same place, and maybe even too many happy hours...anything but laziness. Now that we're approaching our fourth anniversary of cruising, I decided it was about time to revisit our blog site. Know what? The last entry was for St. Martin in 2012. That was almost a YEAR ago. Where has the time gone, and what the heck have we been doing all year?? We've spent time in some gorgeous places with great friends, but somehow we a) have managed not to blog about ANY of it, and b) even worse, have taken almost NO pictures. Our friend Deana on Storyville has become the unofficial photographer of the group, and we keep telling ourselves we're going to get copies of her pictures. (Deana has also been blogging MUCH more regularly, so I often steer people to her blog to see what we're up to. Go to www.love2sail.blogspot.com for a great read!)
Besides the usual "eat better, exercise more" New Year's resolutions, I set two new ones: "use the four-year-old, never-been-used pressure cooker more often", and "start blogging again". I've done surprisingly well with the pressure cooker - how can you not like something that inspires more dinners with friends? (Keep in mind, most recipes call for 3-4 pound cuts of meat. Do Rene and I really want to eat corned beef and cabbage leftovers for a week?) The blogging, on the other hand...well, you get the idea. Sooo...here's a brief synopsis of life on Pipe Muh Bligh over the past nine to ten months. We're about to head into new territory (a.k.a. the Leeward and Windward Islands), so hopefully that will inspire me to post updates more often.
And if you want to see more photos or details of what we've been up to, you can always check out Storyville's blog. "-)
Pipe Muh Bligh's Top Five List, May 2012 - January 2013:
- A visit to Anegada, BVI: with a max elevation of only 28 feet, it's known as "the drowned island". Its breathtaking views...and exorbinant prices...made us feel more like we were in the Bahamas than the British Virgin Islands.
- A "highlights" tour of the BVIs: enjoying sundowners at White Bay in the shadow of the exclusive Peter Island Resort (after the real guests are gone, of course!); swimming along the picture perfect beach at Sandy Cay; trying not to lose our swimsuits at Jost Van Dyke's "Bubbly Pools"; and enjoying dinner at our favorite restaurant in the BVIs...Foxy's Taboo on JVD.
- A cruise around the Spanish Virgin Islands: technically part of Puerto Rico, the national wildlife refuge of Culabrita and her big sister, Culebra, offer great snorkeling and plenty of perfect beaches. Culebra's great if you're after good meals, fun bars, and a ferry to Puerto Rico. Culebrita is the place to be if you want...nothing. There's an old lighthouse at the top of the island, but that's it. No bars, no restaurants, no hotels, no grocery stores, NOTHING. With free mooring balls available to cruisers to protect the reefs, the Spanish VIs are a must-see!
- Yet another hurricane season in Luperon, Dominican Republic: catching up with old friends and making new ones; visiting S/V Sand Dollar's new home at 2500 feet; motorcycle rides along the coast; listening to Troy and friends play on Saturday nights at Jerry's; and, of course...Lifestyles, Lifestyles, Lifestyles! (At $12 per-person-per-day for a beachfront, all-inclusive resort, you really do have to go three times...)
- Downwind sails: what more can we say? Some people (including ourselves at times) thought we were crazy to go back to Luperon after making it as far south at St. Martin. After all, we were actually closer to that other hurricane hole, Grenada, than we were to the Dominican Republic. But still...being able to sail wing-and-wing with the wind instead of against it was incredible. It made all of the easting we've had to do since then worth it. (Well, almost!)
Cheers!
3 comments:
Well, hello again! I feel your blogging pain! I can't seem to get back going on my website either.... one of these days..... Glad to know you both are well and we miss all of you! We are heading to the Bahamas in March... after that, who knows! We hope to meet up with the Texas Navy someday. Y'all take care and continue loving life!
Amazing post! I initially found your blog a week or so ago, and I want to subscribe to your RSS feed.
New-pipe
Ahh, your blogs are 'time-less' for us land-based sailors. Just hard to be discipined with you are living a no-schedule lifestyle. I noticed as you reflected on the last 10 months your memories were all of the 'delicious' variety. (No storms, no thefts, etc.) We loved our little pressure cooker until we became vegetarians about 6 months ago. Who would have guessed my meat-and-potatoes John would change? He's almost off his blood pressure meds and has lost 20 lbs!
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