Tilly Mint's travels

With the end of the season almost here, we are taking some time to take care of the boat and to take care of ourselves. On Saturday I spent a perfect afternoon relaxing at the Spa of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Anse Marcel, on the French side of St Martin - with of course the sole purpose of testing it to be able to recommand it to our guests next season! In case you have ever wondered what heavenly bliss feels like, I can tell you it starts with walking through the peaceful gardens of the hotel, catching a glimpse of the swimming pool on my way to the Spa. Next step is changing into a fluffy bathrobe and sipping on a cold lemon juice while waiting for my appointment. Then comes the highlight of the day: the Coconut Dream body wrap - a warm, thick coconut paste is spread all over the body and left to rest wrapped in plastic for an hour, while my face is being treated to a long, relaxing massage involving hot stones. I seriously had to make an effort not to eat the coconut paste, and ri...

Tilly Mint is now swinging at anchor in Marigot Bay, St Martin, waiting to depart the Caribbean for New England, her Summer playground. Her crew however is not just waiting for mid-May to come: Bill is busy fixing all the small things that always need fixing on a boat and improving all the things that can be improved. After giving the boat a complete end-of-season clean-up, Nathalie is busy preparing her summer charter menu by adding new recipes to her culinary range. Caribbean shrimp and lime risotto Chocolate star with hazelnut and ginger Rum baba with vanilla whipped cream and Guadeloupe rum

After a week of hard work in Antigua, we picked up our guests in Falmouth Harbour and set sail for a week of exploration on islands out of the beaten paths. We first spent a night in Carlisle Bay where our guests went scuba-diving, then sailed about 30 miles to Montserrat. The volcano and its cloudy crown Montserrat used to be a highly touristic island before the volcano erupted and buried its capital, Plymouth, under a several meter-high layer of ashes and mud. Most of the population moved to the other side of the island and started building a new town, waiting for the volcano to go back to sleep so that they could return to Plymouth. Every attempt to clean up the streets and buildings of the former capital ended with a new period of volcanic activity, threatening to swallow half of the island all over again. Today it is forbidden to go into Plymouth, but from the top of a nearby hill you can view the ghost town under the mudslide - an eerie sight to say the least! Joe ...