Good morning world

It's 6.30 and we're sitting here planning for the nearest future. Lots on our mind. The new boat. When should we leave. What about the hurricanes. Where should we go after Antigua. When will we be done with what has to get done on Caos. What is the plan when we get South. The new boat again. Is it a good choice. What are the benefits with such a drastic change of boat/home/vehicle and so on... You might think that we are on a permanent vacation of some sort, but this life is also very much our normal life. We have everyday things to deal with even though we might have chosen to call the world our home instead of having a fixed land based house or an apartment. We also have a future to plan for and we want to make sure that we take the right decisions and make the right moves, you know all those questions that most of us have to deal with in this world. Ok I can admit that the majority of things are easier to handle when you are not forced to work 9-5 and instead you're able to take those life decisions while surrounded by beaches and palm trees and beautiful nature, but still, this is our life and no matter how the layout of it looks, we want to make sure we do the things right. One thing that is really really annoying right now though, call it a luxe problem if you want, but the temperature and the humidity is almost unbearable here in the Caribbean at the moment. And when you are not on the beach or swimming, it is a joke to try to be fresh when sweat is constantly pouring down your skin. That's one of those problems we have to deal with over here..

Have a great Thursday you all. /T

Work it

Great gym here at the Antigua Yacht Club. First time I visit a proper gym in around ten months. Well needed. Usually gym's are not suitable for this sailing gypsy lifestyle we're living and I have to find my own ways of keeping myself in shape on the boat, but it's perfect when we're staying longer in one place like we're doing right now. Will abuse this gym to the max as long as we're here in Antigua. We only live once as far as I know, so no reason to be anything less than the best looking we ever can during that only lifetime.

And as for Alex you ask? He doesn't need anything but natural physical work to keep himself in good shape. He has that sexy toned muscular street fighter kind of look on his body no matter what he does or eats. Very annoying. /T

A Saturday sail

We had a great day of sailing yesterday with fine conditions. It was also finally about time we got a couple of photos of our Caos under sail, after having sailed her now for almost two years together. She's beautiful, isn't she? /T

Mango fever

Essentials in the Caribbean: Ice-cold water. A handful of mango fruits. Ray Ban shades. Can't fail with that combo accompanied by sunshine, laughter, love, beach and the sea. xoxo

Last nights catch

And indeed also last nights dinner.. Sunset and sunrise are the best times of the day to get fish, as I've learnt from my fisherman. Yesterday Alex caught three barracudas in the short period of 40 minutes. The two first ones were too big and I asked him to let them go (greater risk of having to encounter ciguatera, remember?), while the last one was this tiny little baby barracuda, perfect in size for a dinner for us two. Was delicious with garlic and coriander gravy served with oven roasted potatoes. Sorry no picture taken of the meal as the light went out of this place. Here's instead one barracuda meal I made one summer in Sardinia, Italy, if you remember? /T

By the way, we have just edited "our route" post, check it out here.

Greetings from the tropics

Happy weekend. Again. It feels like it was yesterday I wished you the same last time. Time flies fast when you're having fun, no? I have by the way started to accept my new blonde hair. Never though I would say this but I could even go as far as saying that I love it. I've definitely always seen myself as a true brunette and had really hard to imagine being able to keep up a classy appearance with lighter hair, but obviously it works pretty well, this too. Who knows how long this love will last, but at least my hair feels much better now than when treated with chocolate colored dye every second month. The less beauty maintenance here on the seas, the better. Just need to find the energy and will one day to bleach a bit more on the ends to be able to remove the orange hue and then we're all set.

Well that's all for today. The weekend is here and I've dressed up in my new tropical dress to go out for some curry conch and jerk chicken with my man. Simple Caribbean food at its best. Hasta luego amigos and have a great weekend wherever you are in the world. /T

One of those weekends

Here's one of my new friends. I was lucky enough to meet a guy the other week who offered me the opportunity to ride his racehorse whenever I wanted to, for no cost, just because he doesn't have enough time for it himself. Now "my" horse had just lost one of his shoes so there was no riding opportunity this time, but at least I got introduced to the horses at the ranch and hopefully the farrier will have the new shoes fixed soon after the holidays so I can get back to the stable and get out riding in just a few days. I haven't been in the saddle since I was in Bahrain last time, and that must have been at least two years ago now. Can't wait to get out in the woods with big red, as is the throughbred racehorse's name (it is not the horse in this pic though, will introduce you to him a bit later).

Well hello there beautiful.

Alex saved me from my ambitious three course dinner plans and said he was dying for some hamburgers, thanks for that! It's too hot to cook here anyway! 

So we went to one favorite hangout where the best fast food, ice-cream and drinks are served by some locals.

On the morning after we left for yet another dinghy excursion. The inflatable dinghy is our everyday vehicle, just like a car or a bike is on land, and we love packing it full with snorkeling and diving equipment, freshly made picnic, fishing rods and some books to read under an umbrella and get out to one of the vast amount of beaches, the beautiful bays and exploring new areas of the islands. 

We found a deserted little spot in Rendevouz Bay where we made a fire and ate hot dogs for lunch.

Went for a walk in the woods.

And by the beach...

Beautiful surroundings.

And warm water.

Alex was fishing from the dinghy on the way home, he got something....

Something BIG!

A huge tarpon!!!

This particular sort of fish is known for its fight and for the show he puts up when being caught and he was literally pulling us and our little dinghy all around the bay. The rod Alex got this beast with was the lightest of all the rods we have here onboard, quite impressive. Would have been nice to catch the tarpon but on the other hand it felt almost better when he finally released himself from the hook and could get back to the sea where he belongs. But wow what an impressive fish, I've never seen them before.

We went to buy some ice-cream. Here with a delicious orange sorbet.

There has been a fishing tournament going on during the weekend and we went to English Harbor to attend the price giving ceremony and to have a look at the big stuff they caught for the day. Here a big wahoo.

Same equipment as Alex has. Shimano Tiagras all around.

More wahoos waiting to get weighted.

Fish for sale.

It was a great festive feeling in English Harbor. Kids playing.

While the women were drinking cocktails.

Sexy Carib girls promoting Carib beer.

Done with fishing for today.

How cute.

I wonder how many years it took to save to that length?

People gathered to get a glimpse of the beast of the day.

Crazy huge.

A 464 lbs marlin fish. (210 kg!)

Mmmm popcorn...

I have said it before, and I'll say it again: Antigua is Amazing with a capital A. Best place with the greatest variety we've experienced so far in the Caribbean islands. We have everything we need here in terms of climate, the beautiful nature, the people are great and easy to connect with, the waters are fantastic, there is good infrastructure, the place offers easy sailing distance to many other lovely places and countries and it seems like there will be no problem at all to find things to do around here. 

One important part of this world tour journey we've embarked on, is to one day perhaps be able to figure out where to settle with that little house we have planned to build for ourselves, and Antigua has climbed right up to number one on the list of places we've seen since we left our home in Barcelona for eight months ago. So who knows what will happen after this world tour, maybe it is in Antigua we will get our very own land-based home. A place on a cliff where we will have our serene vacation spot where we'll be staying in between our travels of the ocean. A place where we will be able to unload all those treasures we've collected on our travels, and maybe it is here we one day will set up that intimate restaurant in connection to our own garden that we have in mind? Who knows? All we know for now is that we love Antigua and the only thing wrong with this place is that it is very far away from our families and friends with no easy and direct flight connections to any of our homes in Europe. I guess our search for the perfect place to buy land will continue for a couple of years to come, but until we found something better, Antigua will stay right there at the top. Competing with our beloved Mediterranean of course. /T