Beautiful Pictures of the Ship

This morning, John took these amazing pictures of our ship! We are berthed right in the heart of Kingston, St. Vincent's capital.

Sailing to St. Vincent

My good friend Mirjam and I enjoying our sail into St. Vincent!


Many crew member eagerly watched from the top deck as we sailed into the island.


A steel-drum band was on the dock to welcome us! What a treat!


Many crew members wave their flags as we sail into a port.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an group of 32 islands. The biggest island is St. Vincent and its size is 18 miles by 11 miles. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has an estimated population of 120,000 and the capital is Kingstown (where we are berthed). The country has a French and British colonial history and is now part of the Commonwealth of Nations and CARICOM.

The official language is English, but many of the locals speak a dialect called Vincentian Creole. English is used in education, government, religion, and other formal settings, while Creole (or 'dialect' as it is referred to by locals) is used in informal situations such as in the home and with friends.

Agriculture, dominated by banana production, is the most important sector of their economy. The services sector, based mostly on a growing tourist industry, is also very important to their economy. Famous movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "White Squall" where filmed in St. Vincent which has increased tourism in the islands.

In the past few years, St. Vincent and the Grenadines have won many prestigious awards:

-2008: Best Honeymoon Island of The Year by Caribbean Travel World Awards
-2008: The 7th Most Spectacular Island Paradise by The Travel Channel
-2007: Caribbean Island of the Year by Caribbean Travel World Awards
-2006: Most Improved Destination Award by Dream World Cruise Destinations Magazine
-2006: Caribbean Diving Island of the Year by Caribbean Travel World Awards
-200: Best Caribbean Sailing & Yachting Island of the Year by Caribbean Travel World Awards

Sailing Photo

Our ship's photographer took this picture during the sail. We were so blessed with wonderful weather and smooth seas during our cross-Atlantic voyage! Look how smooth the ocean is! We were blessed to watch so many gorgous sunsets during the sail. Praise God for His AMAZING creation.

We're in the Caribbean!!!

We sailed into St. Vincent this morning!! After a 14-day sail, we were so happy to see land! :) We were welcomed to the island by a 20-man steel drum band on the quayside!! What a morning! More to come soon....

Sailing across the Atlantic!

Firstly, we want to apologize for being so absent in the past month! As I wrote previously, our internet connection was pretty much absent in London, so we were hardly able to blog. And now we'll fill you in on what we've been doing since London.

The month began as we sailed into Cork, Ireland from London, England on July 1. After a few short days in Cork, we boarded a plane for San Francisco! We enjoyed a wonderful time back at home with friends and family from July 4 – 12. What a terrific time of reconnection! The primary reason we traveled back to the USA was for my best friend Amy’s wedding, but we also had a great time celebrating John’s birthday, seeing our new twin nieces and spending time with friends and family. John’s family lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, so we really enjoyed staying with them. And my parents flew out from Indiana, so we had a great time with both sets of parents! We feel so blessed that God opened this door for us to travel home for this time. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and I was so honored to be asked to be Amy’s matron of honor. She was my maid of honor two years ago at our wedding, so it was so special to be in her wedding! We are so thankful that God brought Amy and Ryan together and that we could be a part of their big day.

Then on July 14th, we left Cork for our voyage across the Atlantic! We're now six days into our sail! So far, the sail has been a really special time for the crew to rest and recharge from the busy European ports. More to come on the sail!