Well I have had the most amazing week of surfski paddling and exploring here in the Carribean Islands of St Maarten and Guadelope. I have always wondered about getting onto the ocean here and am happy to say that there is some fantastic paddling including some very tidy downwind. These islands, initialy legendary as Pirate enclaves and scene of the brutal slave trade have now become what many call the playground of the world. The effects of tourism are to be seen everywhere: hotels, Casinos, facilitated beaches, yacht basins, mansions on cliff faces etc etc. Of course there is a good reason for this; it's quite spectacular here. Hills, flat lands, tropical forests, mangrove forests, rugged coastline, bays with stunning beaches, it's all here on these islands. That being said, the picture perfect scenes are in stark contrast to many developed areas that seemed "unfinished" and in semi-disrepair. The annual hurricanes are partly to blame but also, there truly is a thing called "island fever" that puts maintenance quite low on the priority list. But hey, tomorrow is another day.

The islands of Guadelope and St. Maarten are home to some very keen surfski paddlers. They have some great paddling, here and in an effort to share it with the world they organised some paddling events. I did 3 races while I was here as part of the Carribean mini tour, all in the space of a week. The first race was an island to island race from Desirade island to Guadelope, the second race was along the coast in St Maarten from Oyster Bay to Plum Bay. And then the final race was another island to island race from St Barts to Oyster Pond on St Maarten. I managed to win all three ahead of an Aussie guy, Dave Kissane and some travelling French paddlers, their top paddler being Benoit Le roux.

All 3 races where set up as downwind races; the first 2 delivered good, very fun conditions, but the last one.... Bliksem, it was very hard. The wind came from the side and a bit from the front and made it hectically tough. Overall I think we hardly saw what the ocean here is capable of because I could just see the potential for some fantasic and very exciting downwind.

The team organising these events put alot of effort into it and could quite possibly not have done more to facilitate 3 fantastic events. Airport runs, Accommodation, meals, ferries to the start, the list goes on. It's basically impossible to be dissapointed. These events deserve to be supported, they are awesome.

It's been a very productive and interesting time here. Of course I made sure that I maximised on paddling and exploring every nook and cranny that my paddle could take me too as well as shooting the breeze and driving the islands experiencing the life here. Highlights include living on a yacht (currently I'm typing this email from the cabin of a Sunsail yacht in the small marina of Oyster Pond), snorkeling, hiking to waterfalls and taking on jet planes at the famous Princess Juliana Airport.