The leg to Long Island will be etched deep in our memory: Perfect moonset and sunrise, the incomparable light of the Bahamas and sailing in two to three meter deep water over a white sandy bottom. All around us, every shade from turquoise to blue. Not a soul far and wide.

When was the last time we spent several days at sea? Over three months ago when we crossed the Atlantic. Time to warm up our sea legs again, because it’s three full days to the Bahamas. At least if we leave the Dominican Republic on the left and the Turks and Caicos Islands on the right.

Puerto Rico is a breather. After the many countries, islands, impressions and short sailing legs of the last few months, we are looking forward to a slower pace.

There is a special chapter in the last pages of our logbook. It’s called “People and Boats” and – you won’t be surprised – it lists the names of people and their boats next to the place where we first met them. This is how we try to keep track of all the encounters we have had over the last few months.

The places we have visited so far are characterized by their British or French colonial past. Today, they are either French overseas territories or independent states of the British Commonwealth. Sint Maarten and Saba are the first countries with a Dutch colonial history that we visit.

In theory, night sailing is great. It’s quiet, the moon or stars light the way, and you can use the day for other things. In theory. In practice, we are often tired after a night-time passage and catch up on sleep on the day of arrival. Then it is not used any better. So it doesn’t make much difference whether we sail during the day or at night.

We have an appointment. It’s a rarity and we don’t want to miss it. Neighbors from our old hometown are escaping the gray German winter and are on a cruise through the Caribbean. During a short stopover in Guadeloupe we want to catch up with them. So the capital Pointe-à-Pitre with its big cruise terminal is our first stop on Guadeloupe.

It all began a few years ago in Greece. A Greek island was supposed to be the vacation destination. But it’s hard to decide when there are so many options. So I took a pragmatic approach: I always wanted to do freediving. Where is there an instructor in Greece? On Zakynthos.

We should actually have a money bin like Scrooge McDuck. Dominica throws so many rainbows into the sky that we don’t even know which end we should look for the pot of gold first. So we refrain from searching and concentrate on the natural treasures that the island has to offer.

Rain does not quite fit the picture. But the day we arrived in Martinique, we could have guessed that it wasn’t going to be all sunshine in Caribbean France: It was gray and rainy.