Tilly Mint's travels

While our friends just left for a wedding charter on their beautiful Oyster 66 (yes, the Captain is actually going to marry the couple!), we picked up last week a honeymoon couple headed for St Barts where they wanted to spend a few days staying on shore. Since their plane was landing in St Martin, they thought that the best way to travel between islands was probably a yacht - and of course they were right. Sailing by Tintamarre After a rainy first night at anchor in Grand Case, the weather cleared up in the morning and we sailed to Ile Fourche under the sun and with perfect wind. A light lunch at anchor - Caribbean gazpacho with onion tartlets, a typical French Caribbean recipe - was followed by a hike up Ile Fourche. The view from the top was stunning, as the visibility was better than we had ever seen it. St Martin, Saba, Statia, St Kitts, Nevis and of course St Barts all appeared perfectly clear to the eye. Rainbow over Ile Fourche The night was spent by the perfect bea...

We have just heard the news that our plans for the summer have changed: it seems that Tilly Mint is going to stay on this side of the pond and head up to New England when the Caribbean season ends. We are a bit disappointed that we won't see beautiful Croatia this time, but thrilled to go back to New England. Bill has already cruised these waters extensively and I cannot wait to discover Maine, Newport, Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard with our guests.

As a rule, I am the one in the galley sweating in front of the stove to produce all those delicious meals for our guests and even sometimes for my captain, but there is one thing he has not once let me prepare since we started working together: his beloved grits. Some explanation is probably required for anyone who has never been to the South of the US. Grits are a highly popular breakfast where my dear captain comes from - that is Charleston, South Carolina. As far as I understand, it is corn meal cooked in boiling water, which can be topped with cheese, butter, sour cream, shrimp, hot sauce, etc. The taste and aspect resembles polenta. Passing St John on the way to St Martin Last time we went to visit Bill's family, we brought back on the boat a few pounds of yellow grits of the highest quality. On Saturday morning, Bill decided that it was time for him to make some grits for breakfast - and for me to take a cooking lesson. He started by giving me the key to great grits:  B...

It is very hot right now in St Thomas, which is a perfect pretext to make an ice-cold lemonade. It is always a great success with charter guests, especially with kids. During our last charter, the two children we had on board asked for it almost every day, and told me that my homemade lemonade tasted much better than the one they bought at home. Since I myself as a child told my grandmother that her lovingly hand-mashed potatoes didn't taste as good as the instant mash that comes in a box, I knew I should take that comment as the highest compliment. The good news is it is extremely easy to make. All you need is 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar syrup. Pour them into a 1L bottle and fill up with water. Shake and leave to chill in the fridge for a few hours. For the perfect drink, serve over ice and top up with some San Pellegrino water. Enjoy!

Some of you might be disappointed by the content of this post: it is not related to a potential nudist charter but to the brown-footed booby who decided our bow was the perfect spot to rest, clean up his feathers and enjoy the scenery. Anchored in Caneel Bay, St John As I was walking on deck to prepare the boat to leave the anchorage, I suddenly realized we had an extra crew member on board. I rushed inside to grab my camera, worried that he would fly away. Yet Booby the Birdy was not impressed at all when I came so close to him I could have extended my arm and touched his feathery back - I chose no to do so however, have you seen the size of that beak?! He finally left us as I loudly informed Bill that our new friend had redecorated the forward deck, the stainless as well as the genoa furler! Booby probably felt he was in trouble... After two weeks of cruising the Virgin Islands, Tilly Mint is now back in St Thomas, where we will stay until our next charter next week in St M...

One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking Christmas cookies. When I lived in Munich, Germany a few years ago, I learned how to bake "Plaetzchen" with my German roommate. A few days before Christmas, people bake many different types of cookies - shortbread, cinnamon stars, vanilla moons - and then give them as a Christmas present to family and friends. I still bake Plaetzchen every year, spending a whole day in the kitchen with friends preparing up to five different types of cookies. In spite of being in the Caribbean and on charter, I did not give up on my Christmas tradition this year and baked my favorite cookies with the help of the two kids who were on board. It was a great success - even though of course none of the cookies actually made it to Christmas day! Below is my recipe for the simplest type of Plaetzchen I bake. They can be decorated with icing, melted chocolate, jam, caramel, but they are also delicious on their own! INGREDIENTS: - 300 grams Flou...

At the dock in Falmouth Harbour After a successful Charter Show in Antigua, Tilly Mint welcomed her first guests of the season on Sunday, December 11. We first headed to Barbuda, where we discovered perfect beaches, crystal-clear water and deserted anchorages. At anchor in Barbuda Swimming time! Nice find! After a few days of snorkeling, swimming, looking for shells on the beach and sampling the local lobsters, we went back to Antigua and spent the next week hopping from bay to bay, starting in Five Island Bay on the West coast, going down to Mamora Bay in the South and going up to Green Island on the East coast. Early morning on Green Island Trying the kneeboard Birthday cake Time was spent trying the boat toys, looking for hidden anchorages, following eagle rays and turtles underwater, and doing a treasure hunt on the beach for our birthday boy. Guests returned home just in time for Christmas, with a nice tan and lots of great memories and pictures to sh...

Bill and his partner Nathalie are the Captain/Chef team aboard Tilly Mint. They have worked on many yachts both together and separately in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, most recently on a 100ft charter sailboat in the British Virgin Islands. They are a young and energetic couple, with a passion for sailing and water sports to compliment their top-notch hospitality service. Bill is an American national who grew up on the tidal waters of Charleston, South Carolina. He comes from a family of sailors and took to the sport at a young age. Though he enjoyed racing and cruising on sailboats throughout his teenage years, he decided the sensible thing to do was pursue a college degree in business marketing. After studying for two years, he realized that he would never be happy in the business world. He promptly left school to follow his dream of making sailing a full time career. He spent some time in the Caribbean gaining experience on racing and charter sailboats, t...

Tilly Mint is a semi-custom, handcrafted 67ft sailboat built in England by Discovery Yachts – a boatyard renowned for innovative and award winning sailboats. She is the largest model offered by Discovery, and like her little sister the Discovery 55’, she was designed by the most prominent naval architect of this century, Ron Holland. Under full sail Since being launched in 2009, Tilly Mint has been lightly used by her private owner. She is now being offered for charter in the Caribbean and New England. Join us for your next vacation and discover for yourself why Tilly Mint has been described as “superb” and “breathtaking” by sources like Yachting Magazine and Sailing Magazine. At the dock in Mamora Bay, Antigua