New Cruisers in Caribbean

[Starstream]

Hello All:

We are sailing the Caribbean in our 40 Endeavor sailing vessel. We started our journey this past February in Florida and will be spending the next few years in the Caribbean.

Our vessel name is Starstream and we are currently in St Lucia.

We're looking forward to meeting fellow cruisers and sharing experiences!

Lisa Meuche
S/V Starstream

[slomotion]

Welcome,

But slow down - you're moving too fast.

Don't mind me - I'm just jealous.

[Starstream]

Thanks for your response,
I am also looking for information on anyone with experience on travelling with pets on board, any suggestions??

Lisa

EDIT: Lisa's question about traveling with pets has been moved to the "Cruising with Pets" forum.

[slomotion]

Click on the Discussion Boards tab - there's a group entitled Cruising with Pets. Post your question there. You can also do a keyword search for older threads.

FWIW, I know something about boat cats - they're all crazy. But, mature cats "usually" like boats. They sleep 16-18 hours a day, they'll use whatever "facilities" you provide, and they're "generally" pretty laid back about cruising. Kittens, on the other hand, are far too crazy to live on a cruising boat - they'll chase their own shadow or a speck of dust over the side.

[Hud3]

Welcome to Cruisers Forum, Lisa. Glad to have you here! Congratulations on getting to the Caribbean from Florida. Maybe you can tell us about your passage, as this is a perennial topic of discussion here.

And stop by Nevis when (if) you head north. We'd love to meet you.

[Starstream]

We would love to see you as we move north. I must admit I am very much a beginner with forums and am struggling to respond correctly, find the proper threads etc...

We did the crossing the very easy way, via Dockwise, but would be more than happy to share our experience. Since arriving in St Thomas our time as been spent learning things about our 40 Endeavor that we hadn't known in the previous 14 years of ownership! I am happy to say that all of the glichs have been addressed and we are happily spending the hurricane season in St Lucia with a 4-6 week "vacation" home to Florida planned while here.

The crossings from St Thomas to St Lucia were pleasant and uneventful with the exception of those mentioned above. We "over provisioned" to the extreme after listening to folks who have had experiences with "going without" while down island. Truly, we are just now to the point that we are able to open the many storage areas in a 40 Endeavor without something falling on us or the need to dig deep for a provision lost to the deep, dark holes :-)

I am delighted to have found this forum and am especially happy to find an information site from those who have had experiences with pets on board as that has been a particular point of interest for us this first year.

Again, thank you for your warm welcome and we look forward to finding you in a port along the way!

All the Best,
Lisa and David Meuche
S/V Starstream

[Hud3]

Hahaha! I would say that doing the "Thorny Path" from Florida to St. Thomas via Dockwise is definitely the comfortable way to do it!

And as far as provisioning, we were able to find most things we needed in the islands, although it sometimes took more than one island to complete our shopping list. (Hint: if you like canned tomatoes, bring them with you.)

[s/v Jedi]

Starstream,

You are "new" in the Caribbean but I still suppose you have been told that St. Lucia is not the smartest place to be in the hurricane season??

We were much like you when we were "new" here and cruising the Virgins in July & August. An unpleasant hurricane-watch made us realize we should head south but the next year we learned that even Grenada is not far enough south. This lesson was very unpleasant and costly. We would still go to Grenada and the Grenadines during hurricane season because it's a short sail down to Trini (or beyond) but we would never leave the boat there when flying home, which was what we did when Ivan struck her in Grenada.

cheers,
Nick.

[Ocean Girl]

Welcome,
Have fun in the caribbean.
Erika

[Zanshin]

Lol, I started my cruising season in December last year and only made it down to Antigua by the time May rolled around (and I rarely stayed in the same place for more than a couple of days!) Right now I'm back in the real world to stock up the cruising kitty but will be back on the boat later this - hopefully our paths will cross. Good Luck!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard!
You are some of the most beautiful sailing areas in the world. Hope you avoid the big storms.
Kind regards,
JohnL