The End

November 19, 2007 - Freeport, Maine:

April 23, 2008 - Red Hook, St.Thomas USVI:

At the risk of invoking the world's most overused cliche hippie mantra....
"What a long, strange trip it's been."
____________________________

I flew home yesterday. Many of you out there may be wondering why.... a few of you have actually asked. Well, on the amazing journey of the past five months, all three members of Team Audax have learned much about themselves; from each other, from strangers..... and from the sea. One of the many things I have learned about myself, is that I just plain wasn't cut out for long, multi-day, offshore bluewater passages. This is not a speculative assumption; I learned it first hand during the four day bluewater passage from South Caicos to Puerto Rico. That was only four days, and it went very smoothly, with pleasant conditions. The trip home from the Caribbean back to New England entails being hundreds of miles offshore for over 1000NM, which at 6kts boat speed equals about two weeks at sea. I can't do it.... the four day passage to Puerto Rico was about the limit of what I could handle. I never would have suspected this about myself. It's quite humbling..... and that's a good thing for me. I learn by doing. As my dad used to say to me as a kid: "It's gonna hafta hurt before you'll learn!". Truism, that.

So now I sit at Chelsi's house in New Hampshire, typing up my final blog entry, and I'm trying my best not to cry. Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" is playing in the background, and Chelsi's two dogs are whining because I'm typing instead of entertaining them. What an incredible journey this has been.....

A few years back, Adrienne and I were hiking the Morse Mountain trail, and Adrienne accidentally and unknowingly dropped her cel phone on the ground. It was found by another hiker later, and this hiker tracked us down and returned it to us. This kind stranger was none other than Team Audax founder John "Triggs Huntington" Herrigel. We became acquaintances. He attended the 5th annual St.Jean Holiday Bash. In the spring of 2007, John asked me over to his house on York Street to discuss.... stuff. During this discussion, in an unrelated tangential comment, John made reference to "....this boat trip I have coming up in the fall....". "What boat trip?", I asked. A fantasy was born right then, right there, that day on York Street. He informed me that he and his longtime friend Jordi (who's family, ironically enough, owns the Morse Mountain property where the cel phone was lost) were planning to somehow spend the next winter cruising the Virgin Islands on a sailboat. I had been fantasizing for years about doing the exact same thing.

Bam!

What resulted, is the adventure chronicled in the blog you are now reading.
So, now that it's over (for me)... where do I start? It's overwhelming. hhmmm.... how about a tribute..... to....

TEAM AUDAX
When John, Jordi and I were discussing this adventure over spaghetti / fresh bread dinner in the cockpit during my final night aboard, we all concurred the following:
The fact that three totally different guys, with three male egos, three different backgrounds, and three different life agendas were able to co-habitiate on a 38ft sailboat for five months without punching each others' lights out, is just plain INCREDIBLE. Think about it, people.... what are the odds?? It's a true blessing. Open mindedness, willingness to compromise, and an open forward communication style all teamed up to make it possible. Add to this the following yin/yang balance: Jordi and I are two opposite styles of people, which we have openly acknowledged to each other, with mutual respect. On the spectrum of plan-everything-in-advance vs just-go-with-the-flow, Jordi is at one end, and I am at the other. Throw John right in the middle to oscillate back and forth between the two ends of the spectrum as the swing-vote, and what you get is the perfect yin/yang balance in the Team Audax mojo. X=0. It just plain could NOT have worked out any other way. What are the odds of getting this combo by luck of the draw? They are astronomical. There is a Higher Power at work here, folks. I truly believe this in my heart.

JORDI ST. JOHN
Like the younger brother I never had. I have a lot of respect for this guy. He is very ambitous, meticulous, thorough, with a saucy competitive streak that can get him in trouble but is fun as hell to watch. Reminds of me when I was his age, when Ski Instructor Certification and attending as many Phish concerts as possible were my burning ambitions. He has his Captain's license, and was made for a career on boats. He's a natural, and he would make the best ever delivery/charter captain, if he chooses to do so. I have no doubt in my mind that he will excel in whatever he chooses as a career (I hope it involves boats), just as he has excelled at nordic skiing, the Spring Summer and Fall Days competitions, beating Josh and John at tennis, and last but not least, the card game of "hearts". I know this epic journey has solidified a strong bond between us which has only just begun. "Zat was a spicy-a-meat-a-ball!" will always make me chuckle. Love ya, Bro!

JOHN HERRIGEL
Like the other younger brother I never had. John and I had so many deep Ego vs Spirituality discussions that we could burn them on CD and sell them as a career. And I mean sell them to Comedy Central, not Oprah. We have both embarked on the same spiritual journey, at roughly the same pace, with similar ups and downs, guided by our new spiritual quasi-mentors Ekhart Tolle and Michael Brown. This has produced a very special bond between us that will never be broken, regardless of where our respective journeys take us. Did y'all know that John Herrigel is a serial entrepreneur? That's right. He once started his very own ice cream business! And sea salt, too! That's right! That kicks ass. His newest post-cruise endeavour has lots of potential to be "the big one", and I wish him the best of luck with it. "That's a good call." Love ya, Bro!

S/V AUDAX
Our favorite lady. She has treated us so well. I have no doubts whatsoever about her abilities to carry my brothers home safely. Much love and thanks to this sassy lady. More cruising to come in the Gulf of Maine Summer - see ya then!

My two new brothers, and two new additions to Team Audax are undertaking a HUGE adventure with the bluewater passage home. Think about it: over 1000NM, 12 or so days at sea, hundreds of miles offshore with no land in sight. That's huge. (Follow all the action at http://www.caribbeanendeavour.com/ ) If there were ever a suitable context to invoke the term "Godspeed", this is it:

GODSPEED, TEAM AUDAX!

Last, but certainly not least, words cannot do justice to the huge amount of GRATITUDE I feel. I feel so very blessed to have experienced this adventure of a lifetime. There is simply no way that my mortal human mind could have orchestrated such an incredible experience. I truly believe it could only have been created by a Higher Power.

So, from the bottom of my heart:
THANK YOU John!
THANK YOU Jordi!
THANK YOU S/V Audax!
THANK YOU to all the friends and family who visited us in Caribbean paradise and/or faithfully followed the blogs!
THANK YOU God!

Sincerely, with much love and gratitude,
Steve M. St.Jean

[NOTE: This IS, in fact, my FINAL blog post. Hence the title of this entry: "The End". A very special thanks to all the loyal readers out there - you truly made the blog worth writing. I appreciate all of your comments and/or emails along the way.]

My Final Cruise: "Amandalie"

At John's Chatham NJ 10th year high school reunion, he was reuinted with his old friends, Amanda and Natalie. He invited them down for a Caribbean cruise aboard S/V Audax. They accepted. Jordi was delivering a Beneteau 50 from Florida to Boston, so it was just the four of us. I collectively refer to Amanda and Natalie as "Amandalie".

They treated us to dinner at our favorite posh poach - Peter Island Resort! Gold Stars CAN be BOUGHT:

They did well at the Hooters Top Ten. Although, I was dissapointed at how quickly they downselected. I don't think they put much thought into it:

We DESTROYED Foxy's. They weren't ready for Amanda's pro-caliber dance routines. Neither was I:

Reuniting with Jordi! Welcome back, Bro!:

I finally made johns birthday cake, ten days late. It was still pretty yummy, even though it was made with olive oil and chocolate milk ingredient substitutions:

The Baths.... this time, in the SUN:

Dagnyandymattrosie

Cool new guests over the last week! John's friends Matt, Rosie and Andrew. Also, Jordi's mom Dagny.

Our tender fuel cell was stolen in Cane Garden Bay, Tortola. We got a new one in Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda. Here, Andy can be seen dancing with it:

Andy surfs! Well! He brought his board. I brought him to Josiah's Bay Beach on Tortola. He surfed. This is not him in this pic, as HE took it. But trust me, he's good. The cab driver tried to get $120 for this trip. We gave him $80:

It RAINED. All day and all night at The Baths and to Peter Island. The FIRST and ONLY extended precipitation of the whole trip!:

Chili dogs below, as it POURS on us at Peter Island:

A day-after-Foxy's induced power nap:

Matt and Andy play the "rate the Hooters Girls" game. They did well - way better than Rodger and Jillian:

The Baths in the pouring rain. It was fun and refreshing:

Jordi's mom, Dagny St.John. A very special person whom John and I were fortunate to have on the boat. A very Present and spiritually grounded individual. We had some great deep discussions as well as a few laughs. She is a medical intuitive, and performs energy readings "through the ether". See http://www.dagnystjohn.com/ for more info:

Poaching vs. Legit

POACHING: The "art" of attempting to utilize various amenities of a resort, without actually paying to be a legitimate guest at said resort. Subject amenities may include, but are not limited to: showers, beaches, beach chairs, swimming pools, wi-fi, tennis courts, coffee etc.

LEGIT: The status of being an actual, welcomed, paying guest at a resort. This allows one to fully enjoy all amenities listed above, with pride. No stealth aspect or shame involved whatsoever.

Rodger and Jillian Herrigel, aka "The R & J Train", aka John's Parents, treated us to two days at the PETER ISLAND RESORT! Just plain awesome.

That's right! I'm in the POOL! Room 113 - Herrigel! In your face!!:


Poaching entails hiking to and from Sunset Point, packing your own food & drink. Legit guests get a ride to and from, and food and drink is provided:

Look at the smile on Jillian's face. She was SO PSYCHED to be at the helm under full sail. She marveled at how the boat "tips over" when the sails power up. She's a natural. I see a sailboat in their future:

They got the "pimp pad" aboard Audax. Livin' large:

Peter Island Resort:

They gave us a ride to a private beach on the far side of the island, and delivered "picnic lunches" at the time of our choosing. I never saw a "picnic lunch" like this:

The lobster pants make a triumphant return. Two nights in a row. That's right!:

I laughed at these signs. That's right - in your face. Herrigel - room 113. Check it:

Rodger and Jillian try their hand at picking the Audax/Hooter's Top Ten. There were very few overlaps. As a matter of fact, Jillian picked #52 (D.F.L.) "Elisamonique" as one of her TOPS. We had to stop and go to dinner.... good thing.... tempers were flaring within ten minutes as John and I defended Brodine and Mandy respectively:

They loved Matouk's! True Audax crew:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Rodger and Jillian!! Your generosity knows no bounds. Pleasant memories that will be with me for a lifetime. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. THANK YOU!

"Goatie"

So, it all started out as the usual textbook Peter Island hike, with our latest guest, Kelly. Remember her? We met her and her friend Lisa at Cinnamon Bay, St.John. Kelly liked the boat so much, she just had to come down for another visit! She flies for free; she works for Delta.

There are lots of wild goats on Peter Island:

Just hikin' along, when we heard.... on the side of the road.... "baaaa, baaaaa, baaaa!!". LOOK! It's a baby goat! Awwww.... cute. But also a bit sad. It appears this lil' guy has lost his family:

We all stood and looked at the cute lil' baby goat. I even tried to verbally soothe the lil' guy... "hey buddy, wassup, lil' fella?" etc. Bad move. The baby goat then ran up to us, and assumed that we were willing to be his new family. Cute, but sad. And, probably not the best move for the goat and his chances of reuniting with his real family.

His persitsence was amazing. He clung right to us, right at our ankles as we hiked along.... for miles! He never even hesitated. Kept right on the pace. We became concerned that he would follow us too far away from his goat family. Oh well.... we hike on. We got to the Sunset Point adirondack chairs, and set up the tables and chairs for a timer photo. It was VERY windy, and the strong breeze would blow the camera over onto its back during the timer countdown. This resulted in a great photo of the sky directly above:

It happened twice. We were laughing pretty hard:

So then Jordi has the idea that he will reduce the timer time from 10 seconds to 3, to hurry and take the pic before the wind blows it over. He didn't cut himself quite enough time, and this resulted in a very funny pic of him not quite making it back to his seat in time, musical chairs style. More laughter. Nothing like a good laugh:

We scrap the timer attempts, and just go for the standard long-arm technique:

Yeah, the baby goat is still with us. At this point, we have developed quite the rapport with our new lil' buddy "Goatie". Jordi named him. He gets credit for the originality. So we decide to try and ditch Goatie, so that he has a chance of reuniting with his real goat family. Here's the plan.... I'll toss him down a bank with an established goat path on it, and we all RUN as fast as we can down the road and leave him in our dust, and he'll stay on the goat path. Great plan, huh? Here's how it worked out: I toss Goatie and we run as fast as we can. Goatie is back on our road in two seconds, passes Kelly in short order, and catches me and Jordi shortly thereafter. Kelly then snaps the following pic. We were all lauging SO HARD that we were crying, and our abs hurt. This was SO FUNNY!! I seriously have not laughed so hard in a LONG TIME. To tears:

We did eventually manage to successfully ditch Goatie. We hope he made it back to his family! We had fun with you, lil' buddy!

_____________________________

UNRELATED SIDE NOTE: I was online at Village Cay Marina in Tortola, when I saw a man wearing a Hodgdon Yachts T-shirt! And I just happened to be wearing the EXACT SAME SHIRT! So, I greeted the fellow, and it was Tom Hampson! I collablorated with Tom on the helmpod for Windcrest! Small world.... especially for cruisers. Just running into him is freaky enough, but the fact that we both just happened to be wearing our Scheherazade shirts? Too freaky!:

New Guests, New Islands

Back in Road Town, after cruising to Anegada (new island!), Virgin Gorda (new island!), Peter Island and Norman Island with Bob "Beebo" Tusso (new guest!).

Sunset at sunset point, Peter Island:

How did this cat get way up here? He didn't look too psyched, and he doesn't like crackers and cheese:

There's S/V Audax at "The Baths", Virgin Gorda:

Me and "Beebo" at The Baths. This is right before he took a heroic Navy Seal style digger in the waves, trying to keep our bags dry as we loaded the tender amid breaking waves. Very Seal-esque move, indeed. Check out that SHIRT!!:

Anegada! Looks JUST LIKE the Bahamas! The island of Anegada was the inspiration behind Iron Butterfly's psychadelic 70's hit "Anegada Da Vida":

Funny little story..... Jordi and Josh are tight with the guys that own the "Hooters" restaraunt franchise. They gave Jordi a deck of Hooters girls playing cards. I flipped through them, making a comment about one in particular. This segued into further comments by the other guys, and so on.... before it was all over, about an HOUR later, we had the entire deck (all 52 girls) narrowed down to the TOP TEN, reality show style. Political alliances were formed and smashed, there were heated debates, but also many many laughs. It is our pleasure to present to you... the TOP TEN Hooters girls from the 2006 edition playing cards!:

David Coates (new guest) snorkeling mishap involving a Sea Urchin:

David Coates, Scot Herrigel (new guest) and Jordi:

Beebo and John, Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor. Yet another great sunset:

JOIN TEAM AUDAX!

Hey there, all you wanna-be Caribbean cruisers:

Here is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to JOIN TEAM AUDAX!! My position on the team will be up for grabs as of APRIL 23rd. The team needs an experienced, enthusiastic, not totally broke, sailor (possibly two) with a thirst for week-long bluewater passagemaking.

Your duties will entail goofing off in the USVI's and BVI's, helping prepare S/V Audax for the trip home, and then sailing her from the VI's to Bermuda, and then from Bermuda to New England, in the mid May to mid June time frame. This is not a paying position; you can expect to get yourself down here, and feed yourself for the duration. You will be doing it for the sheer thrill and experience, both of which are guaranteed. Doubt it? Read this blog.

For details, questions, and to throw your hat in the ring, please contact:

John Herrigel
jherrigel@greentreemaine.com
www.caribbeanendeavour.com

and

Jordi St.John
jordistjohn@gmail.com

Good luck to all candidates. It ain't easy bein' me. ;)

NOTE: This vacant position is NOT a result of any sort of "falling out" behind the scenes! We're all good, and still tight. Everything is Irie, mon. No problem.