Friends Having Fun

Since I'm landlocked for now it's sometimes difficult to look at all of the wonderful Facebook posts and blog posts that our cruising friends are posting day after day. Just taunting me with pictures and statuses (apparently that really is a word - statuses) of the fantastic places they are visiting. Places that Troy and I had planned to be visiting on Storyville right about now. They are all making plans to meet each other down island and talking about the next fun thing on their agenda. That's OK though. I can't stop looking and I'm living vicariously through them.

Since I'm suffering through this, I thought that some of my readers might like to do a little suffering too. Many of you (especially my sailing/cruising friends) already follow some of these blogs, but I wanted to remind everyone about some of the awesome people that are out there cruising and doing a great job of writing about it and sharing it with others.

Note: To be directed to the great blogs mentioned below, just click on the yellow link

Our friends Rene and Stacy on Pipe Muh Bligh and Patrick and Lucy on Illusions are still in Sint Maarten. Apparently they've taken up residence there. Just kidding, I think they will be moving on soon. I wanted to mention Pipe Muh Bligh because, not only are they wonderful friends (we've been cruising with them for the past 2 years), but Stacy kept a great blog at one time. I say this because I don't remember the last time she made a blog post. I am hoping to accomplish 2 things by mentioning her: 1) I can see if she is reading my blog!, and 2) I can shame her into starting up her blog again. You know I love you Stacy!

And then there's our friends that are charting beautiful catamarans in the Virgin Islands. There is our best friend Steve and his fiancé Deb on Alternate Latitude. They keep a blog about their charter business in the Virgin Islands. If you ever want a dream vacation, give them a shout. Tell them that Storyville sent you and you might even get a discounted rate! We also have a wonderful friend Shane on Guiding Light who charters there and keeps a great blog detailing his charter adventures and his life aboard.

Everyone who cruises, or dreams about doing so, has probably already read Zero to Cruising's blog. We met Mike and Rebecca in The Bahamas 2 years ago and even though we had different sailing plans, we managed to cross paths again recently in Sint Maarten. We are hoping to see more of them when we make it back to Storyville in Grenada. Mike keeps a great blog and he manages to post really often - follow along and dream of living their life.

Even though we've never met Brittany and Scott, we've followed their blog, Windtraveler, forever. Brittany is a great writer and I love catching up with almost daily blog posts about their life cruising with the sweetest baby, Isla. It's the story of a family afloat on this big blue marble. They are also headed for Grenada and we hope to meet them one day soon.

Another blog that I love following is Turf to Surf. One couple, two cats and a monohull on the move. Tasha is a wonderful writer and they are just starting their cruising adventure. They fell in love with the Dominican Republic and are busy exploring that beautiful island that we fell in love with as well.

Our friends John and Jolanda on Joho are world travelers and have created cruising guides along the way. Stop in for a look at their blog and guides. We met them in Sint Maarten last year and cruised together back to the British Virgin Islands where we parted ways only to meet up with them again this year in Sint Maarten. I love it when we get to reconnect with friends!

There are so many great cruising blogs out there and several ways to find them. Click the links to take a look, but be warned! Cruising blogs can be addicting:

• Sailing Blog - Powered by Blog Nation, Click their link over to the right to give Storyville a boost
• The Monkey's Fist - Collecting Cruiser's Perspectives
• Networked Blogs - For a great list of cruising blogs

I have a list of blogs on the right side of this page. Almost all are friends who are cruising or living aboard or some mixture of the two. Some are still actively writing their blogs and some have given up on that venture. All are still interesting to read, especially if you ever dream of cutting those dock lines and setting sail.

I leave you with two of my favorite sailing quotes:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
--Mark Twain

To reach a port, we must sail - sail, not tie at anchor - sail, not drift.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt