I will try to be honest from the start. I am a card-carrying thrill seeking worrier. I am among the biggest worriers to ever walk the earth or sail the waters, but I absolutely love adventure. I'm pretty sure I was born that way. I tend to panic in the face of danger, yet keep coming back for more. Several years ago, when I was learning how to sail our 36 foot Catalina, I was at the helm while Steve was tinkering around with something in the cockpit. We were just outside the harbor and preparing to begin our sailing lesson. Suddenly, with full sails, we were hit by a 30 knot gust. We heeled violently and I lost steerage. I swear we did a donut in the middle of the lake. I was shaking like a leaf and handed skipper duties back to Steve, swearing I would never take the helm again. Within minutes I was wishing I could experience it all over again. Loved the scare factor.
If I am such a chicken, why then am I enthusiastically going on a cruise that will take me way out of my comfort zone and probably scare the pants off of me? Because I don't like giving into my neurosis. I know they are there, but I make every attempt to not have them dictate my decisions. Don't get me wrong, I am not outwardly panic stricken. Nobody knows (except poor Steve) because I can put on a pretty good game face. I mean, I used to dive off of a 10 meter tower when I was in college.....sober. I was on the diving team and regularly had to swallow my fear. Practice was typically a nightmare for me. Certainly my neuortic fears have become less while raising 5 children because children tend to put themselves in harms way on a daily basis. If I had given into all my worries over the past 23 years, I would be certifiable.
So this is my page. I will not be able to always put on my game face. I know I will be neurotic and you will read it all here. Hopefully, you will get a sense of what cruising is like through the experiences of a thrill-seeking worry wart.
NOTE: KAREN'S LOG READS FROM BOTTOM TO TOP - I.E. THE NEWEST ENTRIES ARE ON TOP
June 19, 2006
We docked the boat for the first time with no
help from anyone on the dock! We went out sailing this weekend and felt pretty confident. I stayed up front and manned
the bow, while Patrick watched the stern (naturally Steve was at the helm because the rest of us are too chicken to drive the monster).
Getting out,we angled just right and pulled away from the dock with ease. It helped that conditions were pretty calm, but we
still experience up to 5 knots of pull/push by the currents in the marina. We had a great sail in the harbor, but didn’t go
out onto the ocean due to high seas. It is nice to have an alternative to ocean sailing when conditions are rough.
Hey, our docking was quite nice, if I do say so. We purchased a boat hook that extends out pretty far and I used that to snag the line attached to the dock. I quickly tied off the bow while Steve worked the engines to draw us closer to the dock so Patrick could reach the line for the stern. I really think Steve and I can do it alone if we have to. I could have quickly made my way back after securing the bow and used the hook to grab the line for the stern. The only problem this time would have been that Steve doesn’t quite have approach down and we nearly clipped the front end of the boat docked behind us. Patrick needed the fender to protect both our boats. Next time we will do better.
While out for our sail we cruised along the city
and watched a regatta for the James Island Yacht Club. The conditions were perfect for races, with 10-12 knots of wind and beautiful
sunshine. I’m so used to the air temperature in
I like our marina, but not as much as I liked
All in all, we seem to be adjusting to “the south”. Bridey has even started to refer to the Civil War as the “war of northern aggression”…ha ha ha. We southerners, quite a bunch of cut-ups.
June 12, 2006
Hey, hey, we took the bad boy out for a sail this past weekend! I will be honest, it is not like you can just decide last minute to head out, it takes a certain amount of planning to get going. Maybe it will get easier as we understand tides and currents, but for now, it remains a nail-biter. In order to get out of our slip we now have about 6 lines to untie from the dock, plus we have to both carry fenders with us as well as have some tied to the pier. We weren't sure if we were going to have assistance upon our return, so we left a line for both the bow and stern secured on the dock. Our plan, if the tide was going out, was to snag the bow line first with the boat hook and then worry about the stern. If the tide was coming in, we would be pushed forward and would have to hope and pray that we secured the bow before getting pushed into the dock in front of us. As it turned out, Debra, who has a boat on the next pier, came out and helped us dock. She threw me the line we left on the dock and then Steve played with the engines in order to snuggle us up to the dock and attach the stern line. No dents to report.
Getting out was quite a trick. We have a trimaran directly behind us and only have about 4 feet to work with. In front we have about 20 feet. I kept the bow tight while Steve worked the engines to pull us off the dock at an angle. We had to get our butt out far enough to clear the boat behind, before I could release the forward line. All this, with the current pushing us backwards. Everyone on the dock seemed amused by our total lack of tidal knowledge. Okay, so how many of you really understand slack-tide? How long does it remain slack? What the Hell are you to do if you come in during the height of low tide? High tide? I'm telling you, it gets mighty rough during all these changes.
Once out of the slip and in the channel, we were able to relax and just sail. The weather was perfect (small swells, 85 degrees and 12 knots of wind). It is far more interesting to sail around here versus Waukegan Harbor. As you get out into the channel, the city is on your right and Shem Creek (were the shrimping boats call home) is on your left. There always seems to be a ton of activity around there. During the day, it is full of shrimping boats, and at night it is full of small power boats enjoying all the seafood restaurants along the piers. Beyond Shem Creek is Sullivan Island and rows of beautiful beach homes. Directly in front, is Fort Sumter (for all you history buffs), and beyond that, is the ocean. It is about 4 miles out to the open ocean, but you can sail in the bay easily. The bay is loaded with fishing and sailing boats. Everyone has to look out for the occasional container ship. They are massive and ride up your behind pretty darn fast.
We were entertained by dolphins and pelicans our entire sail. The dolphins seem more shy than the ones we saw in the Caribbean. They casually bob up and down through the water, but don't seem to want to "play" with the passing boats as much. There appear to be a few small islands with beaches along the channel, but I'm not sure if we are small enough to get to them. We saw many small power boats anchored near them, but no bigger boats. Our dinghy will come in handy for those explorations.
Steve and I will take a year or so to figure out if "roam" is too big for our weekend sails. We are not ready to take off and sail full-time, plus Bridey still has 2 more years of high school. We worry about how large the boat is how much more difficult it is to get out for a day sail. Maybe we just need some time to adjust to the conditions around here. I remember freaking out the first few times we took the Catalina out because we were not used to driving something 36 feet in tight quarters. We'll see. If sure felt great to be out on "roam" and I would hate to have to downsize.
June 5,2006
I've given myself some time to adjust to life on land. How strange it feels to be back in civilization. The grocery stores are packed with everything I need...and don't need, I can drive a car instead of a dinghy, I can take as many showers as I want and leave the water running while I lather, I can watch VH1 while I exercise and my smallish rental house seems huge!
As I reflect back on our journey I find that there are many things I will miss and some that I will not. I will not miss: waking up in the middle of the night wondering if our anchor is holding, not being able to flush toilet paper, long-life milk (yuck), worrying about weather (wanting it to be nice, but knowing the boat could use a good rain to wash off the salt), trying to find some alone time for me and Steve, and having to wash everything from sheets to undies in a bucket on the deck. I will miss: the excitement of getting somewhere new, sunrises and sunsets (the girls gathered on the tramp almost every night to watch the sun go down), trying to make something edible out of what we had onboard, the thrill of having dolphins race us out on the open ocean, having everyone within shouting distance, meeting new people, and sharing a tremendous opportunity with our children.
I remember during the planning phase Steve bugging me to make a list of places I really wanted to go because we weren't going to have enough time to see everything. I remember thinking "geez Steve, give it a rest. We have 4 months and we will probably run out of stuff to see". I was very wrong. We really didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to do. I felt very rushed to meet deadlines....had to be here by this day, had to meet someone here by this date. I hated moving so fast, but loved having friends and family join us. It wouldn't have been the same adventure without them. When we do this again, we will have no agenda.
I was trying to think of the memorable moments and came up with a few.
Best part of the day: getting e-mail from you guys. It made me feel so good to know that my friends and family were "there with me". It helped me feel less lonely and it was exciting to hear the news from home.
Scariest Memory: passage between Brazil and Trinidad. I don't know which was more frightening, the speed and the conditions, or my fear of being boarded by desperate bandits. I remember telling myself that it was better that we were puking on a heaving boat going 11 knots because then the pirates off the coast of Guyana wouldn't be able to take over our boat and kill us all.
Happiest Memory: Besides the obvious of land sightings, it has to be watching Brien and Patrick get off the plane in Canauon. My whole family was together for 10 days and it was very special.
Best Food: Hands down, St. Martin. Both Marigot and Grand Case have the best restaurants in the Caribbean.
Most "out of character" memory: In the Bahamas when we got to the National Park. Steve had changed the filter on the water-maker prior to making the passage and something wasn't working properly. He was happy to finally anchor so he could climb down and figure it out. Bridey and I were taking the dinghy down off of the davits when one of the davits gave way and bent about 90 degrees, plunging the dinghy into the water and leaving a badly broken davit. Steve rushed over to see what had happened. With all of standing around behind him, we expected the swears to fly, but instead Steve just slowly lowered his head onto the back of the bench, closed his eyes, slumped his shoulders and remained deathly silent. Lydia leaned over and whispered "Is he going to cry?" I couldn't help it, I just started to laugh as I looked around at all the concerned faces. They had never seen Steve respond like that. They were far more worried about him than the broken davit.
Funniest Memory: During a fairly rough night on our passage between the Bahamas and Charleston, everyone was on edge. Brien and Molly were convinced we were going to die, but were trying hard to get some sleep. Lydia had just gone back to bed (it was about 4:00 a.m.) and I was just beginning my watch. All of a sudden, Caitlin starts screaming from her berth. A flying fish had managed to jump into her open hatch and landed on her while she was sleeping. It was flopping around and letting off the foulest of smells. Brien managed to get a hold of it and tossed it back out into the ocean. It was just what we needed to ease the tension, but her room smelled for 2 days.
One thing I found out during this journey is that a lot of cruisers are full of themselves. There are a ton of know-it-alls out there. Brien imitates them perfectly...."um, I noticed that you chose to throw you bow line instead of your spring line. My experience has been that it is better to blah blah blah". It is all said in a rather superior tone, kind of like a nuts and twigs country club sort of guy. And their crap is so longwinded that you are ready to blow your brains out by the time they move to the next question. By the way, the next question always is "so how long have you been out?" They don't really care about your answer, they just want to tell you that they have been out longer, and you should go here, and you should anchor like this when you get there, and that they are way cooler than you. Don't get me wrong, we met some incredible people, but some of them where obnoxious. I loved meeting them all because it added to the experience. Besides, we had the added benefit of imitating them over dinner. In hindsight, I think we should have brought some travel guides along with our cruising guides in order to go some places that are not only geared towards cruisers. I think we also missed some great beaches because our guides focused primarily on where to get repairs, provisions and other services, when sometimes we just wanted to anchor at a great beach and chill. Next time.
This journey was an amazing time in our lives. It was extra special to be able to travel at a time when our kids could join us. Steve and I witnessed so much growth in all of them. All of our children have had a few difficult years due to extended family garbage and getting them away was just what was needed. Caitlin has never really taken the time to "find herself". She has been the typical over achiever who never slows down to just think. While we love that she is so focused on school and her grades, we knew she needed time to organize the other parts of her life. Okay, so part of it involved multiple tattoos and dating a guy with grey hair, but hey, she has a better idea of where she is going in life and the tats are pretty cool. She has changed from a people pleaser into a very independent thinker. Lydia wasn't even sure she wanted to spend so much time on a boat. Lydia keeps a lot of feelings to herself, but learned how to share more of her emotional side with her sisters. She has also become more confident about her abilities as a sailor. Bridey wouldn't even go into a store by herself prior to leaving on our journey. By February she was hopping into the dinghy solo to check out a new city and then head back to the mother ship to report where everything was. Brien and Patrick better learned how to live on their own. Patrick is pretty independent, but has been living at home for a while and had gotten used to me looking after him. He had several months of making his own meals, taking care of the dogs and running the business. Brien has never been away from us longer than 2 weeks and was nervous that he would miss everyone too much. He is very attached to his siblinigs and used to having Caitlin or Patrick as a roommate. Okay, so his grades sucked big time this semester, but he made it just fine without having his family around. He learned to depend more on himself.
For Steve and I, this adventure was a way to find out if the "lifestyle" was good for us. Interestingly, Steve is probably less comfortable with it than I am. Steve gets frustrated when he can't just go to a store and buy what he needs. We had a fair amount of mechanical difficulties along the way and he hated worrying about whether or not he was going to be able to find what he needed to make repairs. I, on the other hand, liked not knowing what I was going to find in a store. It was fun trying to make meals out of what was available. We both agree that we do not like long passages. We both prefer spending our days with a typical routine (getting up, taking care of business and going to bed). On passages, everyone goes into survival mode. Everything revolves around the watch schedule and even when you try to sleep, you have one ear listened in case someone needs help. A few days of it are fine, after that it really sucks. We think we would like to spend time doing the short hops for a while (Bahamas, Caribbean) and postpone any more trips across oceans. The 2,500 miles between Brazil and Tobago were enough for us for now.
I look back at the 5,000 miles I have sailed in the past 4 months and know that I wouldn't change a thing. I learned so much and have learned to focus on things over which I have some control and try to steer clear of worrying about those things outside my control. I feel much better when I am able to give the worry gene a rest. I marvel at how good Steve looks after taking time off from the hectic building world. His blood pressure is way down, even lower than mine and he has adopted a much more relaxed outlook.
Our next hurdle is to learn how to sail and dock "roam" in this environment. It is pretty easy to pick up an anchor and go when you are in the wide open ocean, but here in Charleston, the currents are killer and the marina is tight. The boat seemed so much smaller on the ocean. It looks HUGE at the dock. We haven't been out since we arrived back. I am terrified to give it a try. Hopefully this weekend I will work up the courage to give it a go. I will continue to write updates about our sailing adventures here in Charleston, so if you're interested, stay tuned. Maybe it is our turn to get ripped on a little by those around here that understand the tides, although I don't really understand the southern accent yet so I won't be sure if they are making fun of us or not. All y'all have a good day!
May 25,2006
Charleston, South Carolina
We made it! We arrived back in the States on Tuesday. We spent 4 days "on the road" from the Bahamas to here so getting to Charleston felt wonderful. Brien and Molly have never been on a passage before (Molly has only sailed one time before coming aboard), so they had a lot to learn in a short period of time. The weather was unstable the entire trip, some hours no wind and flat and then it would change to 20 knots and waves within minutes. Poor Molly was convinced we were all going to die the second night out. The wind and waves picked up at about 11:00 p.m. and the waves were slapping the bottom of the boat. For those not used to the noise, it sounds like the boat will break apart at any moment. Brien and Molly kept coming into the cockpit to get reassurance from the watch captain. Actually, I thought the sail was pretty decent. We averaged 11 knots for about 5 hours one day. We had planned on coming into the harbor in Charleston in the daylight hours, but the weather was changing fast so instead of slowing "roam" down, we just let her go and figured we were better off getting as far as we could. I hate beating into the wind and the forecast predicted a huge wind shift to the north. We ended up arriving in Charleston at 2:00 a.m. We were all dead tired so we wanted to dock instead of driving around in the harbor until daylight. Oh my God, what a nightmare. The harbor master assigned us an end tie at the far end of the marina. Unfortunatey, no one from the marina checked the spot before we came in and there were several boats docked illegally and 2 barges tied up the the dock. Some young guy working the graveyard shift was trying to direct us in, not really able to see just how large our boat is. We got half way in before Steve realized that there was no way we were going to fit. We had about 1 inch on either side of us. Brien and Bridey ran from side to side with roving fenders while the rest of us had posts. I can't believe that we didn't hit, not even a tiny bit. Bridey was amazing. We have called her "monkey child" the entire journey because she is quick and can hang off of almost anything and get things done. She was on her belly, shoving a fender between us and the barge, while Brien was on his butt, pushing us away. They saved the day. We tied up to one of the barges while the guy, Rob, found a more appropriate spot for us. Backing up was almost as frightening as going in. We managed to dock, but it was 5:00 am. by the time the last line was secured. We didn't care what time it was. We made landfall and it called for celebration. Miller time. Even though some of us had been up for about 24 hours, we were pumped.
I will write in a day or two, after I give my brain some time to process our homecoming. I also want to get a scrapbook of pictures up. We had so much trouble with the site while we were gone that pictures were impossible to post.
May 17, 2006
We have docked in the land of strange wealth. We are in Nasau in a slip at the Atlantis resort. Wow, anyone up for a $40.00 burger for lunch? No kidding, this place is obscenly expensive. The daily fee just to stay in a slip is $4.00 a foot (we are 46 feet, you do the math). It is a really nice place, but unfortunately it has been raining since we arrived yesterday. Molly arrives this afternoon. Maybe she will bring some sunshine with her. We would like to go the pool and water slides. We will stay here another day or two before beginning our last leg of this journey. Sad and exciting all at the same time.
Prior
to coming here we sailed to Exuma Water and Land National Park. Incredible. We stayed for 2 days because it was so nice.
The park consists of about 20 moorings and a park ranger office. No one lives there except for the rangers. We saw so
many beautiful fish and hiked some gnarly trails. I thought Steve was taking us on a death march. I was surprised that
we made it back alive. The trails were rough and steep, but the views spectacular.
After the national park we sailed to
Allen Cay. It is not inhabited by humans, but is loaded with giant iguanas. As we approached with our dinghy, they all
came pouring out of the brush. I guess some people feed them so they come out to get a possible snack. They are quite
bold and get within a few inches of you. We kept running back to shore and the safety of the dinghy before we realized that
all we had to do was take a step towards them and they would run off. We have funny videos of the terror moments. The
anchorage there only fits a few boats, so is very beautiful and private. We saw tons of rays swimming under our boat.
On route to Allen Cay we stopped just for a few minutes outside of an island that had a small grocery store. Brien, Bridey and
I hopped in the dinghy to get some supplies for dinner at Allen Cay and noticed that there were about 10 sharks right underneath us.
Yikes! There is a small dock where local fishermen clean their fish so the sharks hang out there. I don't think I'll ever
get used to them. They terrify me.
Coming to Atlantis is strange because it is so fake. There are tons of tanks
of sharks, fish and rays and all the guests seem to really enjoy looking at them. We have spent so much time seeing all of them
in their natural habitat that I don't appreciate the displays here. Also, I am so out of practice living among wealth.
For the past 4 months my idea of getting dressed up has been to put on my cleanest t-shirt and wash my hair. Steve and I went
out to dinner alone last night and I couldn't get over how dressy all the women were. I also have not had any make up on for
4 months. Most of the women had make up on and I'm so not used to it that I thought they looked like hookers. I am in
for culture shock when I get back to the States. Will I still know how to walk in high heels?
Like I said, we will stay here
for a day or two, but maybe longer if the weather doesn't clear. The approach to Nassau was pretty nasty. We had a decent
sail until about 5 miles off the coast and then we were hit by a storm. The shore is loaded with coral heads and we couldn't
even see below the surface. We just had to cross our fingers and plow ahead. Thankfully we made it in okay. We had
to go under a bridge that we cleared by only 2 feet. Wow, that was scary. I was sure that Steve and Brien had mis-measured
and we were going to lose our mast.
May 12, 2006
Staniel Cay
We had a great sail here today. We just had the screetcher out and we were flying at about 8 knots. I love not having to use the engines. We arrived here this afternoon and were not prepared for the huge current. It said nothing about it in any of our charts or guides. This is not a place to do a lot of swimming. We did, however, take advantage of low tide and snorkled in an underwater cave. For any James Bond fans out there, this is where the movie Thunderball was filmed. I guess there is even a scene taken from the cave. I haven't seen the movie in a while so I don't remember. Although this is a pretty area, I don't think I would like to stay here more than overnight. We will keep moving north tomorrow.
Last night we stayed at Little Farmers Cay, about 18 miles south of here. It is a great little island. It only has a population of about 200 and everyone is related. I think the people there were the friendliest so far. Steve, Brien, Lydia and I went on a walk around the entire island and everyone that passed us stopped to chat. Brien wanted to walk by the airport and little did we know that the runway was part of the road going around the island. We realized it when we saw a small plane bearing down on us as we casually walked along what we thought was a pretty wide roadway. Lydia got some terrific footage of the landing because it landed within 10 feet of us. There weren’t any signs or anything informing pedestrians that this was indeed an airport. Hopefully, we didn't cause the pilot to have a heart attack.
We had dinner at Ocean Cottage Bar and Restaurant. It was one of the typical, and my favorite, type of restaurants found here and in the Caribbean. It is the type where you must make a reservation and order before the early afternoon. We hailed Ocean Cottage on the radio and asked what was on the menu for the evening, placed our order and were told to arrive at 6:30. The restaurant has only about 6 tables and is run by a couple and their 5 children. The food was outstanding. The conch fritters were the best I’ve had. My dinner entrée was delicious as well. The owner sat with us for a long time after dinner and talked U.S politics. He was very well read and had some interesting opinions. I enjoying hearing what people outside of America think about how our government operates. Surprisingly, most are quite envious of the U.S. and have good things to say about us.
Internet connections
are getting pretty difficult to come by. Typically, I copy my updates on to my jump drive and Lydia goes off with Caitlin to
find service. Lydia posts my update and then tries to retrieve any e-mail for me and send mine out. It appears that some
of my e-mails are not getting to some of you. A big shout out to Mirek, who wrote and said he hasn't recieved anything from
me. I will give you a call when I get back to the States. I have tried to answer everyone's e-mails, but perhaps they
aren't always going through. Sorry! I really do love hearing from all of you, but don't be ticked if you aren't hearing
back from me. Something must be screwy on this end.
May 11, 2006
Brien made it here safe and sound. We read that it was important in the Bahamas to have all documents in order when arriving by plane, but leaving some other way. Steve composed a letter that he sent to Brien last week so he wouldn't have any problems in the airport, but Brien said they didn't even ask for anything. They just stamped his passport and said welcome. We'll know better next time and won't go through the hassle of being so prepared. Some islands are uptight and some don't seem to care at all.
I am really beginning to feel like there is something freaky about us and The Pirates of the Caribbean. It's like we are following the Black Pearl. During our cab ride to the airport the driver was telling us all about the cast and crew of the movie staying on the island. Patrick, our driver, said he was one of the crew that picked up the actors at their hotels at 4:00 a.m. and delivered them to the set. I had forgetten that a lot of the scenes for the 2nd and 3rd movies were shot in the Bahamas. Again, we heard how cool Johnny Depp was. He told us that the entire cast would go to the Two Turtles restaurant and do Karaoke night! Oh my God, we were like so there doing the same thing! We probably used the same mike as Johnny and Orlando. Patrick said that it is a good thing Johnny Depp is a good actor because his voice is terrible. I usually wait until movies come out in DVD before I see them, but maybe I will have to go to the theater for this one.
Great Exuma was very nice. There are some beautiful homes and we were told it is a playground for the rich and famous. Jimmy Buffett flies in on his own jet often, as do many other celebrities. The locals are used to having a few beers sitting next to movie stars. The island has a population of 6,000, which has doubled from 3,000 a few years ago. There is a real building boom on the island and most of the new inhabitants are construction workers. We were told that it is almost impossible to get things built because there aren't enough trades people here. Homes can take several years to build. Most only have 3 or 4 workers at any given time. The 4 seasons had to bring in their own crews to work on the construction of the hotel. There are a lot of people entering the island illegally from Haiti, but no one seems to mind because they need the help. It just takes one look at the beaches and the cute town to understand why this is such a popular place. It is expensive though. Ther grocery store, while well-stocked, was double the price as anywhere else I have shopped.
We are on route to an island about 30 miles north of Great Exuma. There is light wind so we are motoring. We would like to arrive while the sun is still high in the sky because it is so much easier to see the coral heads. One wrong move and you can kiss your vessel goodbye. Our charts have been pretty good, but nothing is better than the human eye. I bought some awesome sunglasses in St Martin. I can see much better than with any other polarized glasses I have had. I don't know if they carry them in the U.S. but the brand is Lifeguard. Best $20.00 I have spent.
May 10,2006
George Town, Great Exuma
Please excuse my headache. For 4 months we have kept to a pretty mellow routine. We sail or explore during the day and either read or star gaze in the evening. Going to bed at 9:00 is considered late. Last night we broke the rules. We had dinner at a little bar/restaurant in town and were just about to leave when two of the guys we had met on the pier in Rum Cay walked in. They are the guys who gave us the incredibly fresh mahi-mahi. They are probably mid-twenties and in the Bahamas preparing for a big fishing tournament that is to begin next week. They can fish a 60 mile radius so they are scouting out different locations. Little did we know that it was also Karaoke night at this bar, something I have never done, and one thing led to another and the Fennell 5 got back on "roam" at 11:45. All I can say is get out of Lydia's way when she has a mike in her hands. She was such a show off, she didn't even need the monitor. She was belting them out like there was no tomorrow. Steve got up during Frank Sinatra and grabbed the mike when "I did it My Way" was playing. Wow, see what happens when you have been deprived of all things social for months! Steve would NEVER do Karaoke, nor would the rest of us, if we were back home. The place was packed and the singing gave way to a massive dance party. There were a lot of young guys there for the fishing tournament so Caitlin and Lydia did not have to look far for dance partners. Bridey held her own during the singing and was coaxed into joining me, Caitlin and Lydia in an Outkast song, but looked somewhat embarrassed while she watched us as the dancing got going. She kept pointing to an imaginary watch. We paid no attention. In hindsight, maybe I should have and I wouldn't be nursing a headache this morning. I haven't danced like that since the Fireman's Ball back in July.
George Town is really nice. It is a smallish town, but has enough to make it a great place to stop. I can't wait to hit the grocery store. It is really big and has stuff I haven't seen since we left. When we were in St Martin and shopping in a cute little French grocery store an obnoxious guy from New York came and asked the cute check out girl (in his horrid NY accent) "do you know where there is an American style grocery store? You know, with chips and stuff". We were mortified. Thankfully, the young clerk spoke no English so she wasn't offended. Well that guy would be in heaven if he saw this store. Chips and stuff everywhere. And you wonder why we are called stupid, fat Americans.
The sail here was one of the best so far. We had a 20 mile sail, no motoring. The winds have been quiet for the past week and we have burned a lot of diesel. I'm not sure there is anywhere as beautiful as the Bahamas. The beaches and the water are spectacular. Other islands in the Caribbean are charming for other reasons, but if beaches are your thing, this is the place. The sail was even more special due to the view.
Brien arrives tonight at 7:00. Too bad he missed last night. I don't think we will carry on like that again anytime soon. I'm getting too old. We have to sail approximatey 25 miles per day over the next 6 days in order to be where we will pick up Molly. I have to figure out where we are going to stop every night. It is on my "to do" list for today, along with cleaning and grocery shopping. Steve has to change the oil in the engines and the generator. Brien will be a helpful addition to the boat. He says that he is looking forward to being crew, not just on vacation. Good, he can take some of my watches and help with boat upkeep!
May 8, 2006
Long Island, The Bahamas
All I can say is WOW. I have never been anywhere quite like this. Yesterday we spent
the night in Rum Cay and sailed (motored) here today. Are there any bad anchorages in the Bahamas? The beaches are deserted, with
pure white sand and the water is the color everyone thinks of when dreaming about paradise. We are currently anchored in 8 feet of
water, but it looks like we are just inches from the bottom. There is only one other boat along this 2 mile sand beach. I may never
return home.
Rum Cay was interesting. Only about 200 people live on the island and it seems to be one of the places fishing boats love
to go. There is a small marina where we headed right away for diesel. Both Caitin and I had to stand up high on the front of the boat
to help navigate through reef heads. Two boats sank last week trying to get in. At times, the water was only 5 feet deep, with coral
heads within inches of the boat. Yikes! We made it without even a scratch.
I guess we were quite a hit at the fuel dock because they
don't see many sailboats. Also, because it is such a fishing area, they don't see many women either. We were well attended to by the
staff, due to the females on our boat all in bathing suits. My biggest compliment yet was the young woman who runs the dock asked
Steve if he was traveling with his 4 daughters. Ha Ha Ha. I believe she is overdue for an eye exam. While at the dock a fishing boat
came in and the crew gave us 5 beautiful mahi-mahi steaks. Nice guys. All they asked in return was that we thought twice before swearing
at the next power boat that cruises by us creating a large wake. We couldn't make any promises. While the fishing crew cleaned their
catch they threw the guts and stuff over the side of the pier. It didn't take long for the sharks to pick up on the scent and we saw
a huge 7 foot shark right underneath us! Naturally, Caitlin wouldn't swim the rest of the day. After we anchored out along the shore,
the girls dinghied back to the marina to have a drink and use the internet. The bartender took their picture because he said no one
would believe him when he told them that 3 chicks came into the bar. He said most have nicknamed the island "Brokeback, or Man Island"
because there are never any females around. Needless to say, the girls got a lot of attention.
The town of Rum Cay consists of 2 restaurants
that only serve food if people go in before noon to let them know that they would like some dinner. They are attached to the cooks'
homes. We knocked on their doors, but we were too late for them to fix us anything. There is also a small bar and a garage type grocery
store. Our walk through town took about 5 minutes. We noticed that the license plates were all single or double digits. Rum Cay is
a great place to really get away from everything, but I couldn't imagine living there. It is spectacularly gorgeous, but in bumble.
Internet
is difficult to find, but there was a signal at the marina. I was thrilled to finally check my e-mail. I heard from one of my past
clients and it made my day. There are times when I really miss my life back in civilization. There are some people back there about
whom I genuinely care. I will miss them when as I get settled in Charleston. Our time is growing shorter and soon we will be back
in the States. I have mixed emotions about this trip ending. I am anxious to get back and begin a new life, but I know I will have
days when I wish I were back on the boat, heading to a new destination.
We leave here tomorrow and have a 20 mile sail to Georgetown.
Brien arrives Wednesday evening, so we will have all day Wednesday to get new produce and do some other shopping. It will be nice
to have a fresh face around here. We keep telling the same jokes to each other. I don't know why, but they just aren't as funny the
fourth time around.
May 6,2006 (I think)
We left Samana on Thursday and have not touched land since then. We stopped briefly in Mayaguana
to do some minor repairs on the starboard engine and to enjoy a beautiful blue water inlet off of the island. Even if we could, we
didn't want to go straight through to Rum Cay because we would get there in the middle of the night and it is an anchorage that must
be entered during high sun hours or you risk ending up on the reef.
It feels good to be on our way, but I really enjoyed the Dominican
Republic. I will miss the market in Samana. It was by far the livelest that we have experienced. There is nothing like the feel of
a good market. There were hundreds of venders with everything from live chickens to dried beans. It had a circus-like atmosphere.
There was a spot to buy beef, with the entire cow, including the head, right next to the fish vendors. I have bought fish at the market
before, but never beef or chicken. I'm still a rookie when it comes to knowing if stuff is fresh or not. I feel like such an accomplished
cruiser because I go to provision with my various market bags that I have collected along the way. After smelling, feeling and bargaining
I made my purchases. I loaded up on pinapples, carrots, apples, oranges, limes, potatoes, bananas, and eggplant (all for under $25.00
and I bought a ton of each). Steve always knows his place and stood by quietly as I made my selections. His job was to hand over the
money and then help me carry the bags. I flagged down a motorcycle taxi and we were on our way back to the anchorage. I could have
stayed at market all day and just watched people. Some were there to sell, some to buy, some to trade, and some just to socialize.
The atmosphere had such life to it that I will truly miss it next time I am at the grocery store picking up produce.
The girls have
been teasing me non-stop about the way in which I handle a language barrier. I speak no spanish, so when I try to communicate in english,
I start using an accent. A local guy was going to move his boat out of our way at the dinghy dock, but we didn't need it moved in
order to get out. He had no idea what I was trying to tell him so I went from "it's okay, we can get out", to "izts ohkay, we kan
git out". Naturally, a whole lot of hand gestures accompanies my pathetic display. The guy just kept looking at me like I was crazy.
I have been ripped on constantly since leaving Samana. Well deserved, I'm afraid. I even start laughing when I think about it.
Our
passage has been uneventful. We hit some leftover chop on Thursday and I got sick. I just have to admit to myself that some conditions,
no matter what precautions I take, will make me sick. I threw everything at it, pills, ginger, positive attitude, but nothing worked.
I can't take going into the waves. I've decided that my stomach is a land-lubber and my heart is a sailor. There will always be a
battle between the two. As much as I hate getting sick, I live for those special times while underway. During my midnight watch the
other night the water became less agitated and I was able to enjoy the beauty of a midnight sail. The stars were thick in the sky
and the water seemed to be answering back with an unbelievable display of bioluminesence. The water looked like a mass of thousands
of tangled, tiny green christmas lights right below the surface. It went on for miles and all that was required of me was to appreciate
the beauty and take mental pictures to carry with me. I can't recall anything like it. We all gathered around the trampoline last
night as the sun went down and were treated to the elusive "green flash". If you sit low enough and jump up right when you see it,
you can see it twice. None of us have seen television in 4 months, but this is a far superior replacement. I've said it before, it
makes up for my tender stomach.
Passages are a mixed bag for me.
May 2, 2006
We are still in Samana and we are having a blast. The
stories of this town being unsafe seem to be false. Of course we have had to get used to seeing people packing heat, but I guess it
is all part of a developing country. Even the guy who has been watching our dinghy when we go ashore carries a rifle with him at night
while sitting on the dock. We have met really nice people and have enjoyed our stay. The police/government does not have the funds
to adequately patrol the town, so people take matters into their own hands. It seems to work for them, but I am still a little nervous
when I see people carrying weapons, especially when they appear drunk. We tend to get back to our boat by 8:30 at night, well before
things get more crazy.
Sunday there was a huge political rally in town. At first we were so impressed that people get so involved in
the political process, but then we were informed that people get paid to support a candidate. It was a sight. The music and the decorations
were cool and the dancing was contagious. I'm glad we were here to see it. This town is a happening place.
Today we went on a tour
with Richard. He seems like a good enough guy, but he drinks a lot. He had his first beer, but probably not the first of the day,
with us at 10:00. Thankfully he was not driving! He sat in the back of a pick up truck with us while his buddy, who appeared sober,
drove. Richard speaks perfect english and knows the history of the island. Unfortunately, the more he drinks, the more he wants to
share his personal problems....um, no thanks I've got enough of my own. I was impressed that he could pack away beer like there was
no tomorrow and then navigate the rough terrain without killing himself. Everyone has a gift.
I am one of the most neurotic people
about car safety, but there I was sitting in the back of a pick up truck, with no seat belts, driving through rural roads at obscene
speeds, hanging on with white knuckles. We went to the local market and bought some really beautiful artwork and then continued on
to the most spectular waterfall I have ever seen. We have seen 3 or 4 on other islands, but this one was 3 times the size. We had
to hike about 40 minutes along a muddy, hilly, rocky and slippery trail to get there, but it was worth it. We were all in awe. Richard
was content to suck down his third beer. We were treated to a home-cooked meal of rice/beans, fried plantains, salad, fish, chicken
and fruit at the base of the trail when we arrived back at our truck.
We have found some good guys at the pier and they have been helpful
getting us diesel, water and ice. They are so determined to increase tourism here, that they go above and beyond to be of assistance.
We heard that an international airport is being built about 30 minutes away, as is a major highway to connect this area to the rest
of the Dominican Republic, so real growth is expected. Steve is thinking this might be a great investment and spent some time researching
real estate on the island. Other areas of this country are already seeing huge growth and it is predicted that Samana will be next.
Can we write this trip off as a business expense now that Steve talked real estate?
The boat that we have renamed "the poopie boat"
moved into town near us. Thankfully this is not a swimming harbor. We saw the poopie girl in town and Bridey was grossed out. She
begged me not to shake hands with her if offered. There are 3 boats, poopy boat being one of them, that are sailing together, but
they are going south. It seems like an odd time to be heading in that direction, with hurricane season fast approaching. We are waiting
until Thursday to head north. It would probably be safe to leave tomorrow, but according to our weather readout, it doesn't seem like
the seas will really calm down until Thursday. What is one more day, except we are running out of water and we can't run our water
maker in this harbor because it is too dirty (not only because of poopie girl). We may try to head out a little further up the bay
where the water might be cleaner and anchor tomorrow night. We love our showers and require a lot of water.
We are looking forward
to seeing the Bahamas and have heard that we could spend 5 years there and not see everything. I guess that will be a god excuse to
go back. We will be on a passage for the next several days and then may not be near real civilization for a day or two after that.
Oh my God, poopie girl just pulled up in her dinghy! I've got to get out there and listen to her talk to Steve.
April 30,2006
Samana-
Dominican Republic
We left Puerto Rico yesterday morning with the intention of getting here this morning, take a nap, and then leave
again for another overnight sail up the coast. The weather is not agreeing with that plan. An unfavorable weather front was supposed
to hit tomorrow, with us safely up the coast, but it hit late last night while we were sailing instead. We didn't get wacked with
anything too terrible, but it was less than pleasant. We endured virtually no visability, rain and waves from 11:00 p.m. until we
arrived here this morning at 9:00. The forecast is for 10-15 feet waves with winds from the north (right where we are heading) for
the next few days. Yeah, like I'm going out in that. The local fishermen go out in almost any conditions and they are staying in.
We will do the same and stay here until the weather clears.
There were 3 other boats seeking shelter right inside the inlet off the
ocean. We had not found out about the foul weather prediction yet and were going to anchor with them to nap. One of the boats hailed
us on the radio and gave us the gloomy forecast. Caitlin and I were on the trampoline preparing to drop anchor while Steve was talking
to the guy. We looked over to one of the other boats about 10 yards away and a lady from the boat came out onto the cockpit and climbed
over the life-line, bare assed, and hung her butt over the side and started to poop. I am not kidding. Caitlin looked at me in horror
and said "can you see anything coming out?" Oh my God, there was no way I was looking in that direction. I swear, she did not use
toilet paper when she was done. She just climbed back over the line and went down below. GROSS!!!! How the heck can one hang onto
a boat and have the ability to do that? I don't know if I should be mortified or impressed. We decided to move closer into town.
In
hindsight, last night was one of my more frightening watches. Close to midnight, out of nowhere, a 20 foot fishing boat came roaring
past us. The condiditons were so thick that I couldn't see it sooner than when it almost hit the starboard side of the boat. I jerked
the wheel violently to the left and avoided a collision (which woke up Steve and Caitlin). After a few seconds I realized that the
boat had no people in it and it was half full of water, with many of the items left on board beginning to float away. We had heard
on channel 16, from the Coast Guard, that there were reports of disabled boats and to be on the lookout for them. I have no idea whether
or not anyone had drowned or simiply got off their boat and onto someone else's. We looked around in the water with our spotlight
but didn't see anyone in the water. The storm caught everyone off guard. I was freaked out for the rest of my watch. Needless to say,
none of us got much sleep last night.
Samana is an interesting town. It has a bad reputation for locals helping themselves to cruisers
dinghies, motors and anything else they can steal off of the boat, but from I have seen, they are trying hard to keep the crime levels
down and encourage cruisers to visit here. Customs came out to our boat and handled all of the paperwork right in our cockpit. Now
that is service. We walked through town and found almost everyone to be friendly and the prices in the restaurants very reasonable.
I can see we will eat well while we wait for the wind conditions to change! There is a fruit and vegetable market every morning, so
we can stock up on produce prior to leaving. We met a man on the dock that gives tours and will go on one on Tuesday. There is a national
park near here with a spectacular waterfall.
We need the weather to clear pretty quickly because we are meeting Brien in the Bahamas
in 10 days. I think we will skip going further up the coast and head directly there. It will mean a long 2-3 day passage but, you
don't mess with mother nature and there is no way it is safe to go back out onto the ocean in this mess. I am a bit of a wimp compared
to the rest of this crew, but I am still the "mom", which puts me in charge. The girls didn't even flinch over the conditions last
night. They not only look like Steve, but are getting his low key attitude towards sailing. I hate them! I don't want to be the only
baby.
4/28/06
Ensenada, Puerto Rico
Actually we are leaving Ensenada as I am typing. This was a beautiful anchorage. We were the only boat and had a great view of the ocean beyond the reef. I took a lot of pictures of "roam" from the dinghy. It looked cool all alone in this large space. We are traveling further up the coast and will make the 250 mile passage to the Dominican Republic tomorrow. We have been sailing a lot during the day and I feel like a rock star on tour because we end up in a different town every day. Some days I don't even remember where we are. All that is missing is the sex and drugs, but we have the rock and roll covered.
Yesterday was my birthday. It is always a day of reflection for me. I was fortunate to have most of my family here with me and spoke to the other important people in my life (Brien, Patrick, Robin) on the phone. I am discovering that as kids become adults our relationship with them is a gift, not a given. With adulthood comes the same rules of friendship; mutual respect, honesty,love and trust. It is all earned, not a birth right. It is not a guarentee that adult friendships with your kids will be ongoing. To keep the relationship healthy and strong they require nurturing and attention. I feel so lucky that my children have allowed me into their adult lives. Living on a boat with them has made me even more determined to continue to earn their trust and respect. They are the most important people in my life. We've had some pretty intense discussions and some pretty stupid, silly ones, but they have all been important to me. I feel honored that my kids have allowed me to help them work through some very difficult times in their young lives (some that no one should ever have to endure and some of just the typical growing up variety) and I am constantly amazed at how they approach all of it with integrity and conviction. I can only hope that one day I am just like them. They are my role models.
My birthday reflection turns to Steve too. He has been there for me for over 25 years. Sometimes he is standing behind me giving me a little push. At times he has had to plant himself firmly in front of me to protect me, but mostly he has just been in step beside me. I am truly a lucky woman. The idea to go off on a boat for several months was Steve's idea, but I realize that it has been one of the healthiest things we have ever done as a family. I was listening to Green Day yesterday and was struck by the lyrics of "Good Riddance". They capture how I feel right about now. The refrain says "it's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life". I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be right now.
Enough self-reflection, there is a galley to clean and a grocery list
to make. I think the girls are going through an entire jar of peanut butter a day. I also have to go referee "does it float" because
I hear a controversy brewing.
4/26/06
Vieques, Spanish Virgin Islands
We left St Thomas after one night anchored outside Charlotte-Amilie. By accident, We were there for some celebration and the very loud, very bad reggae bands played until 2: a.m. The sound carried well over the bay. St Thomas is a great destination for vacation shopping, but not good for cruisers. We stopped in St Thomas to find groceries, propane, filters for the water maker and fuel. We couldn't even find any ice. All we managed to find was the fuel and sketchy directions to some inlet that might sell propane. Like I said, not a place for cruisers. Ever block has tons of perfume, t-shirt, booze and cigarettes at duty free prices. At least 3 cruise ships park there everyday. I certainly liked St John better.
We left St Thomas early in hopes of finding the hidden cove where Antilles Gas Company is located. There was no way we could bring "roam" in so Bridey and I did a James Bond type move. We dropped the dinghy as we were motoring, hopped in, started her up and left the mother ship circling around in the bay. If we had our walkie talkies we would have radioed Steve and told him we were "going dark" (spy talk for disconnecting all modes of communication). We headed into the cove only to be met by a huge tanker making its way out. Thanks to the highly refined skills of our dinghy captain, we avoided a sure death collision. We had to go pretty far in before spotting a dock. Bridey tied up and stayed with the boat while I headed off on foot to find the mysterious propane fueling station. Mission accomplished and we tore off to meet the mother ship at the pre-arranged location. Driving a dinghy to a moving boat is a trick, but moments later, we were off to the ocean and on to the Spanish Virgin Islands.
We landed here in Vieques without incident, meaning no American bombs detonated during our sail along the coast of this beautiful island. As you recall, this island was a political hotbed a few years ago. Geez, even Jessie Jackson came down to protest. For a very long time, this island, part of Puerto Rico, was used by the U.S. military as a practice range for bombs. Through our binoculars we could see the warning signs on the beaches along the coast stating that there might be unexploded bombs. We bypassed those cute little inlets and headed for the areas not used in military exercises. I must say, this is a beautiful place. There are only 2 small towns, but miles of gorgeous beaches. I imagine that in about 10 years it will be a vacation meca. It has everything, beaches, close proximity to Puerto Rico, lively obstacle courses (just kidding). Really, buying land here would be a good investment. We were only able to stay one night because we have to sail the 50 miles to Puerto Rico today. We did enjoy awesome burger cooked on the grill last night, looking out on a beautiful beach. We have to have the mindset of being on a delivery instead of just cruising. Typically, cruisers explore the islands more than sail, but we have a schedule of sorts to follow and cannot stay very long in any one spot. We sail more than we wander around ashore. Lately there has been little wind so we mostly motor. Hopefully the wind will pick up later today and we can fly the screecher.
Even in quiet anchorages, we can find some adventure and excitement. Yesterday the girls nearly flipped the dinghy when going ashore to find ice. The only spot they could pull the dinghy up was right where the waves were breaking. A huge wave toppled Caitlin AND Lydia out of the boat and nearly pitched Bridey and the dinghy into into the surf back over front. Thankfully, Bridey had the sense to turn suddenly and took the wave over the side instead. They were freaked out, but then couldn't stop laughing as they pulled the boat to safety. They wondered how many people watched their comedy routine. They felt like such "charter people". Caitlin and Lydia said their rum and coke later in the evening tasted that much better because of the ordeal they went through to get the ice.
These longer day sails can get a bit boring and it shows. We entertain ourselves by singing very loudly to someones i-Pod. We rotate so everyone has a chance to play their music. Our voices are quite horrible, but only the fish hear us. Our other pastime is playing "will it float". All biodegratable products can be thrown overboard out on the open sea. We gather around the back of the boat and chuck stuff off after quessing if it will float or sink. If you watch David Letterman you have seen his game that is similar. We have to take into account that we are in salt water and results may vary. Raw eggs (quite rotten) sink, while hard boiled eggs (quite rotten) float. We are actually very entertained and amused by this game. I am concerned that we will no longer fit into society when we return to civilization.
We have has cell service for the past couple of days and have bothered Patrick and Brien often. I think they long for the no service days. I was able to call my sister Robin and catch up on her family. E-mails just don't cut it. I think we should have service for the rest of our journey. Lydia and Bridey have enjoyed contacting their friends back in Lake Bluff/Lake Forest.
Caitlin is the captain today, therefore she decides everything that happens with our sail. She has tried to order Bridey to massage her feet, but it didn't work out so well. The power goes to Caitlin's head and she is a stern captain. There is no messing around when she is in charge. Wow, wait till she has kids! They will be neat, orderly and scrubbed clean. Don't tell her I wrote this. Let's just see if she is reading my updates. I hope we find a decent restaurant tonight because I am tired of cooking and eating on the boat. It always feels good to go out after a long sail.
4/23/06
In my last update
I forgot to write about the U.S. Aircraft Carrier we saw in St Martin. We came along side of it as we approached the island. It is
truly an awesome sight. Just the size of the thing would intimdate the toughest of enemies! The deck was full of fighter jets and
helicopters. They certainly picked a great spot to anchor for some R and R. We saw sailors everywhere on the island.
We also bought
a new video camera. Ours was stolen in St Lucia. It was a bummer to lose all the footage of our journey. I wish I had taken the cartridges
out of the camera. Electronics are supposed to be cheap and good in Phillipsberg (the Dutch side), so we took a bus there for the
morning. The Dutch side used to be a pit, but the government has finally put the resources into cleaning it up after the hurricane
7 years ago. It has become a really nice destination. Steve picked out the latest model of camera, but thus far, he is the only one
who knows how to use it. I'm usually behind the camera so at least I will be part of the DVD's now.
The passage to the Virgin Islands was beautiful. It is amazing how your perspective changes. I now consider a 30 mile sail to be a quick little hop to another island. Even the overnight to Anegada seemed like just a small trip. We left on Thursday evening at about 5:00 and arrived in Anegada at about 8:00 the next morning. As I have said, I worry about night passages but usually end up liking them. I don't sleep well because I worry about everyone on watches, but I am getting better about freaking out over every sound. I pulled the 4:00-6:00 a.m. watch, but woke up at 3:30 and couldn't sleep. I got up and layed on the cockpit bench and watched Lydia on her watch. I am amazed at how confident she has become. Prior to leaving Brazil, Lydia was terrified of doing a watch, even with someone else. Thursday night, she just sat there perched on the captain's chair, scanning the horizon, taking bearings of ships in the distance, watching the boat speed and wind. When it was time to switch, she rattled off what ships needed to be watched closely because their courses might intersect with ours and how the generator batteries were doing before crawling back to bed. Very impressive, but then I've come to believe that sailing is a great confidence builder. We saw the cutest little girls, live-aboards, in Trinidad. They must have been about 7 and 5 years old. Their parents were bringing their boat into a slip and the 7 year old started yelling in her little British accent to her younger sister, "we need fenders, we need fenders, Sara mind the fenders!". They were mere babies, but so confident about their abilities. I wish I could have had my children experienice that type of life when they were young. Oh well, better late then never.
We left Anegada on Friday and headed for the U.S. Virgin Islands. We have spent a lot of time sailing the British Virgins, but have never been to the U.S. because it is a pain to check in and out. I thought someone would say "welcome home sir, the red white and blue has been waiting", but instead we got some pissed off employee who snarled at us. Nice homecoming.
We are currently in St John and we love it. 80% of the island is protected park land and is in pristine condition. In an effort to protect the reefs, no boats are allowed to anchor and must pick up a mooring ball instead. There are trails and snorkling areas everywhere. There is a campground right near our anchorage and it looks really cool. The tents are build up on platforms and made entirely of screen. They are tucked into the woods all the way up the hill of the island. We hiked up the hill this morning for breakfast at a park-run restaurant. I have not been around so many Americans in several months. It felt odd. Steve bought this rediculous baseball cap in Dominica that he wore to breakfast. Our guide, Albert had one and Steve liked it so he bought the same one. It is gray and has a "leaf" on the bill, along with DOMINICA. Steve was naive enough to think it was a fern leaf because Dominica has the largest variety of fern species. It is so a marijuana leaf. The girls have been calling him "dude" since he put it on. We got the strangest looks from the other people in the restaurant. Bridey made him promise not to ever wear it when she is with her friends. Steve, what a character!
We took a 5 mile hike after breakfast and did some of the most amazing snorkling ever. The coral and fish were gorgeous and the water crystal clear. We swam with a giant turtle for several minutes. He didn't seem to mind us one bit. This is a must see island. I could spend a couple of weeks here easily. The trails could keep me busy for that long. We will stay here through tomorrow, but then have to keep moving. We need to be in the Bahamas soon to pick up Brien. We are trying to get back to South Carolina by the third week of May so Brien and Molly can sail the entire way with us. Brien and Caitlin start summer school the last week of May and have to be back in Chicago. Hopefully, they can have a few days in Charleston before heading back. Lydia will go back to Lake Forest for her graduation ceremony and stay with Brien/Caitlin and her best friend for a week. Needless to say, we have to get back for all of them. otherwise we would take a little more time.
4/19/06
I felt sad leaving Orient Bay yesterday morning. It ranks #1 as my favorite beach. It is very quiet after 4:00 p.m., when the cruise ship people leave, but lively and entertaining during the daytime. The beach sand is pure white and the ocean water is an amazing mix of turquoise and emerald green. Steve and I have not exercised much since we have been sailing because it is difficult to find roads with sidewalks, or even anchorages with enough room to make running around them worthwhile. We have been swimming, but it is not the same. We ran the beach at Orient Bay both mornings we were there. My thighs are on fire today. I guess my regular routine of exercise will have to wait until I get home.
Bridey, Lydia, Steve and I went out to dinner at Papaguyo (a clothing optional restaurant) on Monday night. It is just something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. I think there was a 50/50 split of clothed and not clothed (we were clothed). I just can't understand how people go out to eat naked. I would have to spend the entire time trying to hold my stomach in and therefore wouldn't be able to enjoy the food. I would also feel obligated to order just a salad. The girls discovered that nudists are no different than they are, just less inhibited when it comes to their bodies. We decided that some of them should work on becoming more inhibited because their bodies screamed to be covered up!
Our highlight yesterday was purchasing a new dinghy. It is a beautiful, spacious AB dinghy and it doesn't take on water! They even gave us money for our POS (piece of sh..) dinghy. Bridey is so much happier to run errands for us. She didn't even complain this morning when I asked her to run the garbage in. Bridey tends to attract the more interesting locals. Every time she ties up at the dinghy dock a young local male will inevitably approach her and try to chat her up. For some reason they either want a date or to sell her pot. I think it is because she dresses rather skaterish (board shorts and tye-dye) and wears hippy type jewelry. She finds it amusing, while I find it annoying. Interesting how they all slink away when I approach the dock.
We are heading to Phillipsberg today. We are going to take a bus because technically we are supposed to check out of the French side and sign in on the Dutch side. By boat we may get busted, but on land, we shouldn't have a problem. This afternoon we will pull up anchor and motor just a couple of miles away to Grand Case. It is the food capital of the Caribbean. It is a very small town jammed with French restaurants. Each restaurant has maybe 10 to 15 tables, with some right on the beach. The food rivals Le Francais, but wins in the atmosphere category. The restaurants place their menus right outside so we will wander around looking at menus until we find what we want. Our stay on St Martin has felt like a mini vacation because we have hit the beaches and gone out to dinner far more than we typically do. The truth is, most of the Caribbean has lousy food, especially further south (sorry Peyton and Amy) The French islands have amazing food. It is more worthwhile to head out to dinner because you really can't find a bad meal. We will eat on the boat more often in the BVI because there are only a few restaurants that are decent.
Tomorrow we will come back to Marigot and prepare to leave for the BVI. After looking at the weather, we think we will leave around dinner time and sail overnight. We should arrive early Friday morning. I dread overnights because I get nervous, but then always find them to be more pleasant than daytime passages. There is something magical about sitting on watch, looking out over a dark ocean that is peaceful. Unfortunately, during the time leading up to the passage I worry about weather changes, being run over by a freighter, or Bridey falling off during her shift. It is nice to know that I haven't lost my worry gene.
4/16/06
It
has been difficult to update because of travel and poor internet services. In the past I have e-mailed Brien my updates and he has
posted them for me, but I am afraid he will use any diversion to avoid studying so I am resisting the temptation.
Guadeloupe was pretty
nice. The most exciting thing that happened was Caitlin got another tattoo. I hate when kids become grown ups and no longer have to
inform you of their decisions! She has added a Southern Cross constellation on her shoulder. It looks good. I checked out the place
after the fact (like that matters) and it looked very clean and the shop was licensed. Kids.
We spent a day in the largest city, Pointe
a Pitre and wandered the market. It was the largest we have seen. It was fascinating to watch the fishermen cleaning and selling their
fish right up against the pier. It smelled bad but it was still fun to watch. The nicest place in Guadeloupe was the Saints. It reminded
me of a French Door County. No cars are allowed in town, so everyone drives scooters. For the locals that seemed to work fine, but
the tourists scared the Hell out of me. Walk at your own risk! We did a fair amount of hiking and even spent a day at the beach. It
is interesting how little you actually do the vacation kind of stuff when you are traveling. There never seems to be enough time in
the day.
We definitely have a routine going. When we arrive somewhere new the girls hop into the dinghy to scope out the town. Their
primary concern is internet. Steve and I go in and handle the immigration/customs and then search for supplies. We usually eat out
one night and cook aboard the others. Ice is always a priority and that is bought in the late afternoon along with bringing garbage
ashore. It seems we spend most of our time looking for stuff.
Bridey is the dinghy captain and no one, not even Steve, does anything
with the dinghy without her approval. She hoists it up on the davits prior to departure and at night and then lowers it in the morning
or when we arrive somewhere new. She fills it when it needs air and fills the gas tank when it gets low. She, Steve and I are the
only ones who know how to drive it, so she scores big time when Caitlin wants to go ashore for internet. The fee is typically a coke,
ice cream and Caitlin paying for Bridey’s internet use. Bridey knows she has a sweet deal and hopes that Caitlin never becomes interested
in driving the dinghy.
We have been hoping to get a new dinghy, but haven’t found a suitable one in stock anywhere. Our dinghy is Brazilian
and not very good. It takes on water and seems to need air daily. I don’t think the Brazilians are known for their dinghies, but it
was the only type available when we picked up the boat. We think we have located one in St. Martin and will pick it up on Tuesday
when the stores reopen after the Easter holiday. Hopefully, the store will take a trade-in because this dinghy was expensive. Regardless,
our dinghy captain has told us we need a new one because she is sick of pumping ours up in rough conditions. We will either get a
Carib or an AB. Both get good reviews. Thankfully our dinghy motor is fine.
We got to Marigot, St Martin on Saturday, after a 28 hour
sail/motor. We broke up the watches to 2 hours on and 8 off. I was impressed that both Bridey and Lydia were fine being on watch alone
in the middle of the night. They are turning into confident, competent sailors. Getting to St Martin feels good because it is familiar.
It is the first place we have been thus far that we have been before. We have had several great vacations on this island. We plan
on staying for about a week so we can get our fill of delicious French food. The restaurants here are better than anywhere in the
world.
As soon as we anchored, Caitlin dashed off the boat to find her new beau….oh God, while the other girls remained with us for
the afternoon. Okay, I like this guy but he is much older than Caitlin (no joke, he is 32 and graying!). He is extremely nice, smart
and easy to get along with, but, I will say it again….he is 32….almost 33! We trust Caitlin’s judgment so we have not interfered,
but both and Steve and I keep saying….he is 32, graying and from Portugal. Repeat after me “she is a grown up and able to make sound
decisions, she is a grown up and able to make sound decisions”. Okay, that is not helping.
Are there any better ways to spend Easter
Sunday than walking the beach looking at naked people? Yes, we are anchored off of Orient Bay which is a clothing optional beach.
Bridey and Lydia claim to be traumatized for life after seeing a bunch of old naked men and women. I believe they used the words “prune
like” often. I must admit that it is quite a show. It is a live and let live attitude on this beach, so anything goes. You can be
fully dressed or absolutely naked and no one seems to notice, or care. I love it here. We have always stayed on this beach when we
have vacationed in St Martin. It is a long strip of brilliant white sand with the most beautifully clear water. The kids have been
here before, but it was several years ago. We will stay here a couple of days and enjoy the swimming, running on the beach and “site
seeing”, before heading back to Marigot. We have to do major provisioning before leaving for the Virgin Islands. We are running low
on everything.
4/12/06
Through very little scientific research, but through much observation, I believe I have cracked the code on the cultural differences in how cruisers shower. I have applied none of the standards I learned in my psych research classes in graduate school, but I believe this was a worthwhile study none the less. I feel it is important to share these observations with the general public as a way for all countries to understand one another more completely. World peace has to start somewhere. Read and learn.
I believe that almost all those who sail a mono-hull shower off the back of their boat, due to the cramped quarters down below. People who own catamarans either shower off the back or inside. My girls prefer to shower outside because their bathroom is a little tight, while Steve and I shower inside because we have an awesome shower. Most showering is done in the late afternoon or early evening. Most women shower before the men.
Americans shower outside with their very conservative bathing suits on. They lather their hair and reachable parts first. When it comes time to wash the private areas they give a thorough look around and then go into contortionist mode in order to clean without showing anything that might offend. They take another good look around and then attempt to rinse those areas without anyone seeing. After they finish, they disappear down below and appear minutes later fully dressed.
The British are almost as shy as the Americans, as they shower with their bathing suits on. They do not, however, scan the anchorage prior to washing their unmentionables. Oddly, once they have carefully cleaned without flashing anyone, they towel off in the cockpit, drop their towel and dress right there. Go figure.
The French always shower nude. They do not care who sees them. They take their time and lather forever. I am quite fond of the men who bend way over to wash their feet….gross. After their shower, they usually sit naked in the cockpit until they are dry and then go down below to dress. I am amazed that they typically have a cigarette hanging from their mouths during this entire process.
The Scandinavians are a mixture. All men shower in the nude, but the women either shower naked or in their bottoms. They, unlike the French do not smoke during this evening ritual, although they do sit in the cockpit to dry before going to dress.
The Swiss and the Germans always shower naked and seem to make it a family event. I once saw parents and 2 small children all crammed under the shower head. On the surface it appears as though it is a pleasurable activity although if you listen carefully, the mother is always yelling at the kids. I would to if I couldn’t even get away for a shower! These families go below, with no lounging, to dress.
This is what I have carefully observed thus far. Obviously I have had a lot of time on my hands. Between 4:00 and 6:00 can
be a rather slow time of the day and I need something to do. Poor Steve, he always seems to witness the older, less firm and rather
chunky ladies enjoying their daily bathing. A few days ago he was sick of looking up and seeing this rather plump French lady shower
and then air dry, so he decided to go take his own shower. As soon as he got into the shower, a knock out Norwegian woman from the
boat on the other side, got out of the water and began taking her shower. Not only was she young, beautiful and had a killer body,
but she showered in a far more public area (the solar shower by the mast). What a sight. Even I was impressed. Steve was so ticked
when he came outside to find her totally dressed enjoying a glass of wine with her husband. He was looking forward to 5:00 the entire
next day, but the Norwegian boat picked up their anchor and headed out at about 3:30. Steve typically has a case of bad timing.
I don’t want you all to think I am a total pervert, as I do have other 4-6 o’clock activities. Our favorite is to sit and watch all the yahoos in charter boats come into the anchorage and attempt to find a spot and then anchor without hitting any other boats. Typically the husband is driving while the wife drops the anchor. There is always an argument at some point in the process. The best is when there are a few guys on the boat and they all try to be in charge. The boats literally go in circles while they argue. Ah, the fun one has while sailing for months. As you can tell, it doesn’t take much to entertain us. I will keep you informed of any new revelations.
4/9/06
Portsmouth ,
I know I said we were going to leave by today, but we couldn’t tear ourselves away. Yesterday we took
a 3 hour river ride down the
Today we took a day tour of the island. Jeffers, our driver took us to the rain forest, which gets over 400 inches of rain per year. It was downright cold up in the mountains! We also hiked to an amazing waterfall and visited a Carib village. Unlike their warring ancestors, everyone we met was warm and friendly. This island, like some that we have visited, does not have much in the way of tourism so we are an oddity to most. Most of the visitors are cruisers. We were greatly warmly everywhere we went. We particularly enjoyed meeting a Carib family who makes their living farming and selling homemade crafts. We bought a beautiful basket, a Carib Indian carved mask and an herb grinder. The granddaughter of the owner of the farm, an adorable 6 year old, approached us and gave us fresh mangos, passion fruit and orange coconuts. The juice from the coconut was delicious (her grandfather told us it is great with ice and gin added into the top). As we left, we were also given fresh mint, bayleaf and basil to make tea.
The
Tomorrow we are off to the Saints
in Guadalupe and after that
4/7/06
Yesterday was my best day of shopping ever! Wow, Fort de France has French fashions at low prices and clothing/shoe stores everywhere. I was in heaven. We took the ferry (or to be politically correct…the human aquatic transport system) early in the morning and did not get back to our boat until after 4:00. Okay, we did take a small detour and got on the wrong ferry on the way back and had to repeat the loop. All the ferry personnel got a huge kick out of the stupid American tourists. Openly laughing is so impolite, not to mention embarrassing. It is dangerous shopping with Steve because, unlike most husbands, he cheers me on and seems to enjoy watching me spend money. There is a window of opportunity though, so I have to shop fast. 3 hours seems to be his limit of generosity and then he gets bored. The city is really very nice and I could see it as a place to live for a few years. It is quaint, but big enough to have all the modern conveniences. We had lunch at a small restaurant that was excellent and full of local police force (I figure that must mean it is good).
After we returned from shopping and our extended ride on the ferry, we made our first go of refueling. Team “roam” performed fabulously. The fenders were perfectly placed and Steve seemed to just glide along side the dock. Well done!
We left at 5:30 a.m. this
morning because we wanted to ensure getting to
4/5/06
Anse Mitan,
Okay,
I feel like a total bum. Here we are in this very chic small town and I’m walking around in a stained t-shirt, gym shorts and flip
flops. I told Steve I needed to bring some of my killer high heeled sandals! We left Marin this morning and sailed about 20 miles
north. We are right across the bay from the capital city of
The girls are getting used to seeing all sorts of naked people showering on the back of their boats. They still have a hard time with the 80-something year olds. The French certainly do things differently! As soon as I hear “EEEWWWW”, I know they have spotted another. Of course they don’t turn their heads, but move to a better vantage point. We haven’t hit a French beach yet. Just wait until they see all the topless women in thong bottoms. EEEWWWW.
We are
starting to feel more comfortable with how the boat sails and even lived through our first docking. In
The one thing that I am still getting used to is how laborious living on a boat can
be. Just getting groceries is an entire morning project. This morning
4/3/06
Amy and Peyton got off safely on Sunday. It was sad for Lydia and Bridey to see them leave, but in a way, I am relieved to not have the responsibility of keeping an eye on them. I think they had a good time, but sailing is not your typical vacation. Sailing is slow moving, with a fair amount of down time. When we are not on a passage or doing stuff to maintain the boat, we fill the time with playing cards or reading books. Guests may find it difficult to adjust to the routine.
After checking the weather reports, we decided to leave for Martinique on Sunday, right after Steve got back from the airport. We did not see a whole lot of St Lucia and would have liked to stay longer, but we were antsy to get to Martinique to get the battery issue resolved. The batteries have not held a decent charge since the generator problems. Our sail to Martinique was great! The seas were relatively calm and the wind at about 11 knots. Again, we averaged about 8 knots of speed. Steve’s hat blew off about 5 miles off the coast and we decided to do an impromptu man overboard drill. Let’s just say that some dolphin is sporting a fine look right about now. We looked more like a comedy routine than a well oiled search and rescue squad. We will practice more often. Thankfully, it seems you must really want to fall off of this boat in order to go overboard.
Martinique is beautiful. We are currently in Marin because it is where our contacts are for the work that needs to be done. It has been fun to spend time in the shops and restaurants because we can practice our French. Bridey and Caitlin are pretty good. My skills are rusty, but I am managing. What I really love is how incredibly inexpensive great French wine is here. It is tough to spend more than $10 on a bottle of incredible red. The fresh baguettes and cheese complete the experience. I could stay here for a long time, although we may get kicked out of here after our trampoline dance party last night. Steve took over DJ responsibilities and played every dance song that Lydia and Caitlin likes. They were dancing fools until the very late hour of 9:30 p.m. No joke, we were the only boat still showing signs of life. We got a few bad looks this morning as nearby cruisers went by in their dinghies. Oops!
We met with the guys who will look over our warranty repair list. There is one very cute young man who the girls tend to stare at the entire time he is here. The only problem is it seems Europeans do not use much deodorant and the cute guy smells a bit ripe. Lydia is convinced she can fix his odor issues if she could just score a few dates. As long as he knows his way around batteries, I don’t care what he smells like. The other repair we wanted to have someone take a look at is our dagger board. The starboard dagger board broke during sea trials and it seems that we may be able to get that fixed here as well. We thought we were going to have to wait to get back to the States. If we have to stay here longer than 3 days, we plan to taxi to Fort de France (about 30 minutes away). It is the capital and said to be a beautiful city. If our repairs are done sooner, we will sail and stay there for a day or two. I can stay anywhere that the grocery stores are full of fresh produce and the shelves well-stocked. Martinique has it all and the prices are pretty reasonable.
News flash……the cute young guy just showed up to work on the electrical system and Lydia came running into my room to tell me that he brought along an assistant and he is even cuter than the cute guy. It is going to be an interesting day around here.
3/29/06
We left St. Vincent this morning and headed to St Lucia. We finally understand the weather read-outs better and therefore picked a pretty good day for travel. It was pretty choppy leaving, but smoothed out after about 8 miles. Amy is turning out to be quite the sailor. She was given the responsibility of being on watch for about 3 hours of the crossing. She looked proud as she took the captain’s seat and took her job seriously. Her keen eyes were rewarded with her sighting dolphins and whales about 20 yards off the stern of the boat. How cool is that! We will work our way up the coast and will arrive at Rodney Bay on Friday. We have rented a slip at the resort there and felt it would be nice for Peyton and Amy to get a taste for the resort life here before they leave. It will also give us an opportunity to be near a hose with fresh water and give this baby a bath! There is salt everywhere, even though I fill a pail with fresh water everyday and try my best to wipe the boat down.
3/28/06
Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent (or the really cool place where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed).
I didn’t realize how easy it is to satisfy a bunch of teenage girls. Take them to a place where Johnny Depp spent 8 months and you’re sure to have happy campers! This is an amazing little anchorage. It really does feel like we have gone back in time. The buildings are either very old or old looking buildings constructed for the filming of the movie. We met a very nice man upon our arrival who took us under his wing. He helped us tie a line from the stern to the shore and then brought over his handmade jewelry. He showed us how he creates his beautifully carved dolphin necklaces and the girls couldn’t resist the prices. We bought a bunch. Our new friend, with the appropriate nickname of Smiley, worked as crew during the filming and constructed much of the set. He gave us a tour (at no cost) and filled us in on the gossip about the actors. The consensus among the locals is that Johnny Depp is a genuinely good guy, but Keira Knightly is nasty and never said hello to anyone the entire time she was here. Sorry Brien, I know you have a huge crush on her. Naturally, the movie the girl’s will watch tonight on DVD will be Pirates of the Caribbean.
After a hike to a waterfall a couple of miles up the road, we came back to the boat to get the water tank filled. Peyton and Amy became official crew members because they minded the fenders and helped keep us from hitting the boat next to us. We’ll make sailors out of them yet.
Tomorrow we will head for St Lucia because it looks like the most favorable weather day in the near future. It will still be a beat into the waves and wind, but we have to get there and the weather doesn’t look like it will be decent until the weekend. We’ll load up on the Stugeron!
I am happy that we were able to show Peyton and Amy a true taste of Caribbean life in St. Vincent. Yesterday we took them into Kingstown, the capital, by public transportation. What a trip! St. Vincent is not much of a tourist attraction because there are no beaches, so having the girls go with us into more of a “working” town was fun. There we were smashed in between people going to work, with the bus driver going far too fast and Peyton looked over at me and said, “ I can’t see anyone from Lake Forest doing this on their spring break. This is so cool!”. I was thrilled that she was able to see what life is like away from the resorts. In town, we made a huge dent in the wallet at a very well stocked grocery store and decided to take a taxi back to the boat because we didn’t think we could cram all those bags in a bus. Amy almost fainted when our driver told us that he was hired to take Johnny Depp around for several days. She lunged for her camera and I swear she was going to kiss the seat. This spring break rocks!
3/27/06
Where do I begin? We had a great time with Brien and Patrick. They left yesterday and I spent the early morning hours crying and remained teary for several more hours. It is so nice to have everyone together, that saying goodbye is never easy. I could see the airport runway from our boat and held the Kleenex to my eyes as their plane took off. Hopefully, we will see Brien in a few weeks, along with Molly.
I am not sure I even want to know how much rum was consumed last week. New bottles just kept appearing on the boat and cocktail hour came earlier and earlier. The days were lazy except when we were sailing. Patrick has a thing about boat speed and feels he must compete with every boat on the water (dinghies and power yachts included). It was exhausting. He kept picking out new boats for Steve to chase. I must admit though that roam did okay. She is a fast boat. It seems she will average 9 knots in almost any conditions.
We spent the week with them jumping around the islands
near Canouan. We couldn’t go very far because we had 2 guests arriving on Friday and also the boys were scheduled to leave from the
Canouan airport on Sunday. We spent 2 days on Mustique. Wow, a perfect island. It is probably the most upscale island, as far as real
estate goes, that we have ever been to. Tommy Hilfiger, Mick Jagger, Goldie Hawn, to name a few, all have estates there. There are
only 90 homes on the island and no commercial air service, therefore, no real tourism anywhere on the island. There a couple of small,
very posh resorts, but other than that, just beautiful hilly streets, bordered by lush plants and trees. We anchored right below the
bluff where the Hilfiger estate is located. The house was in full swing and Patrick spent most of his time looking for young women
in bikinis by the pool. Steve was the only one who could remember the name of the reality show about Hilfiger’s daughter (Rich Girls).
How he remembers this stuff, I don’t know, but we all remembered the episode when they jetted off to Mustique for some R and R. Brien,
I have decided that if I ever become fabulously wealthy, I will have a place in Mustique. It is so beautifully maintained and so private that I can see why so many celebrities hide out there. You could go a day and never see anyone (except when obnoxious yahoos like us show up).
Amy Hoffmann and Peyton Owen arrived on Friday. Space was a little tight for the two day overlap
with the boys, but not bad. It was fun to have all of them on the boat at one time. Loud, but fun. After the boys left yesterday and
I dried my tears, we left for
Steve and I spent the afternoon yesterday with our heads and hands in the coffin-like area that holds the generator. Yes, it was acting up again. This cruising stuff is tough! I have more bruises and cuts than I can count and every muscle in my body is sore today from working at such difficult angles. Maybe I’ll abandon ship and head to the Hilfiger’s.
Today we are going into
3/19/06
We have been a few places since I last wrote. We headed for
Thursday we headed for
Friday we went to pick up the boys at
Last night we anchored in what has to be the most beautiful anchorage I have
ever been to. We were in Tobago Cays, surrounded by a wide horseshoe of reef. Nothing but ocean in your front yard. Very calm waters
and the swim into one of the small islands was crystal clear (all the better to see the huge turtles lumbering past). The scenery
was great, but the local will make you choke on their dingy shopping prices). $10.00 (
It is great having the whole family together. The first night Steve and I went to bed and listened to all the kids laughing and telling stories. They have all missed each other. They stayed up for hours and looked a bit bleary-eyed the next morning. I fear our time with them will feel too short, but Brien is planning on returning to us after finals with his girlfriend Molly. They may be with us until we get back to the States. It would be nice to have them not only for the company, but for the help.
3/14/06
Where do I start?
How about the lovely passage between Trinidad and Grenada? Let's see....how does "highly unusual" sound. Yep, rockin and rollin straight
into the wind for 12 hours. I puked for about 7 of them and then just wimpered for the rest. It was touted as the easy sail. By hour
11, I knew that I would be needed for anchoring so I took drastic messures. I drank a beer. My grandmother, who came over "on the
boat" from Sweden when she was a teen, swore that the only way she surrived was by sipping beer the entire way. Hey, it did the trick.
My stomach settled and I was good to go by the time we arrived. Oh, I almost forgot....our departure from Trinidad was very tricky.
We were parallel parked between a big cat and another row of boats. Knicked the front of the boat...ouch. Just a love tap, but an
inch gash all the same. I couldn't get the fender there fast enough. Oh well, it is now officially a used boat.
Grenada was beautiful.
I was amazed at how fast their island has recovered from Ivan in 2002. Maybe they could teach the U.S. a thing or two. Yesterday we
took an all day tour of the city with a guy we hired in the marina. We went to a small island chocolate factory. All solar powered.
Very cool. It was actually just a couple of rooms, but the chocolate was awesome. The guys who run it appeared to enjoy their wacky
tobaccy, so they were more than happy to open samples (the munchies you know). Really nice, veryyyyy mellow guys. Funny. Next we went
to a rum distillery that has been doing it the old fashion way for over 250 years. No computers, all done by hand. Labor intensive
work, but they wish to remain pure and to keep more people employed. The taste test at the end had us all running for the water jug......over
80 proof. Lydia just touched her lips to it and teared up. We bought a bottle of their lower octane for Brien....I'm not drinking
the stuff! We spent the afternoon in the rainforest and finally saw a Mona Monkey. It came right up to us...much to Bridey's dislike.
I haven't seen her move that fast since we were at our last buffet and she wanted first dibs on the desserts. Next we went to a beautiful
waterfall and the girls went swimming. It was pouring rain, so Steve and I decided just to watch. On our way back to the boat we stopped
at the local fish market and bought Mahi-Mahi for $2.50 cents a pound. Good eats last night.
Today we motored, yes quite unusually
right into the wind, to Carriacou. It is part of Grenada and about a 4 hour sail. A small island that does not fit the description
in the book, so I think we will pull the anchor up tomorrow morning and head somewhere else. The beauty of having a mobile home. We
have had a couple days of rain, so at least the boat is salt-free. I never realized how much salt collects during a sail!
Three more
days until we see Brien and Patrick. I can't wait. Brien wrote and told me that they are both ready to come because they got their
chests waxed and bought speedos....funny guy.
3/10/06
Our last day in Trinidad. All that is left to do is mark the anchor chain and give the boat a good scrubbing. Yesterday Caitlin, Lydia and I took the mini-bus to the nearest larger grocery to stock up on the essentials. You haven't lived until you've had a ride in one of those. I suppose the driver knows just how fast he can take the curves, but Lydia had her fingernails dug into my leg most of the ride. Getting back was more of a treat. The girls had their backpacks loaded to the max and 4 bags each in their hands. I had a large mesh laundry suitcase bursting at the seams and 2 additional bags. The bus we got onto (these are very small mini-vans with 3 rows of seats) had only 3 seats left. We shoved our stuff in the best we could and off we went. Maybe the bags could act as airbags if we crashed? The hike back from the bus stop is about 3/4 of a mile. Easy with empty hands, but almost like a marathon with what we were carrying. Ouch. We got back only to discover that the freezer (which we turned off during our passage when the generator wasn't working) would not get cold after turining it back on. Crap. I had just purchased a lot of fresh meat. We shoved the meat into the ice maker until this morning, when we could reasonably investigate the problem. Steve is too large to fit into the small access area under the salon seating area, so I ventured in with flashlight firmly clenched between my teeth. I had to army crawl until I got to the back side of the freezer. And yeah, had to do a little trouble shooting.....imagine me puffed up right now. Made my diagnosis....a blown fuse and then took care of business. Oh yeah, I'm that good. I'll have to remember this when cocktail hour arrives so I can re-tell it to all that will listen. Bottom line, the freezer is now purring like a kitten. Damn, I'm all that and more.
We leave for Genada tomorrow very early. It should take about 10 hours and we want to get there when it is still light out. We will anchor in St. George, which is the captial. I have heard that it is a great little town. Quaint, with a rum store or distillery every few blocks. My kind of town. I fnd it hard to believe that we have been here for over a month and have not been in the ocean yet! It has been so busy getting things ready and doing last minute repairs that we haven't had the time. That will all change after tomorrow. We will be in areas where a swim is as close as the back of your boat. Finally. Although it has been great having such easy access to the internet, laundry and supply stores, it will be nice to be in more remote areas. We will have to hike to an internet cafe to update, but the trade off will be worth it.
We only have one big challenge tomorrow morning. Getting out of here! Steve claims that he wants an early start to give us plenty of daylight when we get to Grenada. The truth is, he wants to leave under the cover of darkness so no one will witness him shoving off of a dock for the first time alone. He sat motionless, staring into space (kind of like Puddy if you watch Seinfeld) for over an hour yesterday. When asked, he said he was planning how to get out of here without T-boning our new boat. Now that inspires confidence. Oh well, we have plenty of fenders and Bridey rides them like a pro. Not her first rodeo with the job of protecting the boat. She runs around placing the fenders in harms way like she was born perform to the task.
Catch you later.
3/8/06
Trinidad...finally. Our main purpose for stopping here was for repairs, but the first couple of days did not look promising. I expected a host of overalled men with shiny tools in hand waiting for us on the dock when we arrived. I am finding that it doesn't really work that way. Monday could mean Monday, but it could also mean Wednesday. The Great Silverback (as Brien affectionately refers to his father), was stalking back and forth alternating between shaking his fists high above his head and beating his chest. Fortunately, our contact here (a frenchman named Philippe who looks like James Taylor and delivers bad news with a beautiful french accent), sprang into action yesterday and there has been a flurry of activity since. We would like to head to Grenada on Saturday morning.
Trinidad has little to offer as far as tourism goes. Philippe warned us to not go into Port of Spain due to the high crime rate. He warned that there has been a large increase in kidnappings and that foreigners were being targeted. Enough to keep me away. No one has to tell me twice. The marina at which we are staying is very nice and full of live-aboards. Strange lifestyle though. They seem to not do much except reposition their sun shades. There is one crusty old couple at the end of our pier that huddles underneath their hooded monohull waiting for noon so they can have a beer. How can they spend months here doing the same thing every single day?! How can they be living on these magnificent cruising boats and not go out to sea. I can understand during hurricane season, but this ain't it.
Jorge has left today. He is off to visit his friends in Tobago and then back to Brazil for another delivery. It was great having him around because we needed his cat sailing knowledge and his language skills. A VERY nice guy. The girls (particularily Caitlin) got to know him well and learned a lot about sailing from him. Patrick comes home with wacky phrases from his construction site friends. Everytime I ask him to do anything and try to explain it he says "mom, this is not my first rodeo". Well, the running joke around here with Jorge was that this was our first rodeo. As he left today, he told us we are ready for our second rodeo. A little nervous without him, but Steve has always been a capable captain, although he'll probably get all power happy now that Jorge has left. Oh God, spare me!
3/5/06We're off to open waters. Yikes! We were surprised to discover that our exit papers are prepared for departure today and changing the date would prove to be difficult. We were told on Wednesday. We spent Wednesday and Thursday racing around the city trying to find everything we need. I have to make one more trip to the grocery store to pick up produce and fresh bread. Wednesday we focused on essentials (dishes, safety equipment and such). Thursday the focus was on non-perishables (pasta, sauces, spices ect). Today, the perishables. Each trip was a fresh water run. We will leave with 50 gallons on board because our water maker needs some time to get the icky taste out of the system.
Our captain (Jorge) is perfect. He is fluent in 4 languages, one being english. He came to the store with us yesterday and was very helpful when trying to read labels. Is that salt or sugar?! He also recommended that we start getting our bodies used to foreign countries. He suggested beginning with small sips of local water (1 per day) and allow our systems to be able to handle the bacteria foreign to us. We have been less freaked about ice cubes in beverages and eating the skin on fresh produce with no ill effects. His reasoning seems sound. So far so good. Just my luck we will all get hit with the runs once on the open ocean....Jorge will find himself overboard!
Well, I better get a move on. One more day of frantic shopping. We will leave at high tide, as the river becomes quite shallow during low tide. We are shooting for 4:00 this afternoon. We had a difficult time with the Brazilian navy yesterday (they inspect the boat and okay departure). We were lucky enough to get a "by the book" new guy. I think someone tried to grease his palm at one point. He was asking for things that were impossible for us to have....like current charts of our next destination (new meaning within 1 week). When our captain stated that our charts are a few weeks old, he stated that we cannot leave without fresh ones. Our captain asked where we could get new charts and the guy actually said we could get them at our new destination! Huh?! We tried not to laugh. Jorge said that this is common in this part of the world. Everyone wants to be important.
Keep your fingers crossed. I'm off the blue waters and a few weeks of quality time with my children...oh God!
Feb. 14, 2006
We have made it to
As I said earlier,
this is the best 50th birthday Steve could ever hope for. We saw the boat for the first time today and I was moved to tears watching
Steve’s face. We met Junior’s parents (Junior is at the
Today we also met Philippe, Junior’s business partner. Junior is more focused on amenities, while Philippe
focuses on speed and construction. Together, they cover everything…..a good-looking fast boat. Steve and Caitlin are out doing a prelim
sail with Philippe, while I stayed back at the hotel (
To anyone
planning to travel to
P.S. we will (actually Steve will because I suck at it) try to get more pics on the site. Until now service has been slow and we have been so busy. It took about 45 minutes to load 3 pictures last time he tried.
Feb, 11, 2006
We will be leaving for
Yesterday we visited the old city of
Although I have witnessed no crime, there are plenty of police officers. On every block it is common to see a set of 2 officers standing in a shaded “post”, while a set of 2 more stroll along with the crowd. All seem quite friendly and not intimidating. I guess like anywhere else where tourism helps to feed the economy it is in their best interest to keep the streets safe. We’ve been told that is unsafe to wander around past 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. Yeah, like Steve and I last past 9:30 before wanting to go to bed.
Getting up
early in
We are off to find a post office so Bridey can mail in her first batch of homework to
Feb. 9, 2006
Brazil is an interesting country. There is a stark contrast between the haves and have not’s. The hillsides are scattered with shacks
that would not pass any building codes in the
I have not traveled a lot, but have been to many European countries and the
Since there are not many American tourists here, we stand out. The girls were wearing their Crocs and caught the eye of everyone who passed. We have been wearing them for a couple of years (popular among boaters for several years prior to becoming all the rage for teens), but no one here seems to understand them. The young women here just point and laugh. The local women here wear blue jeans (even when it is 85 and humid), tight, low-cut, knit shirts (which Steve loves) and high heeled sandals. Yeah, we really stand out….mostly cruiser wear. Steve threatened me with walking the plank if I dared to bring any of my “cute” shoes with me. “Limited space on board Karen”.
We are trying hard to speak some Portuguese and carry a phrase book with us. Caitlin pointed out that it would seem rude to not even try. We agreed. At dinner, the waitress seemed amused as we butchered the language. She on the other hand was trying to practice her very limited English and butchered right along with us. A good experience for all.
Salvador
is in full swing preparing for Carnival. The streets are already lined with viewing stands constructed at the second and third floor
levels. Even our hotel looks like it is under construction due to the viewing stands built in above street level. Sadly, we will probably
be underway to
Thank you to all of our friends who have e-mailed to wish us well. I love hearing from you guys. I have been nervous about our decision to take this time out from life, but after hearing from so many of you expressing your desire to do the same, I feel more comfortable with our decision. Thanks for the reassurance.
By the way, Brazilian coffee is excellent! I am typically a green tea drinker, but have really enjoyed my java
here. My green tea whispers "good morning, have a pleasant day". The coffee screams " OH MY GOD, IS THIS DAY AWESOME OR WHAT". Steve
and the kids had an “intervention” with me at breakfast this morning and limited my future intake to only 2 cups. I apparently get
a bit too jazzed up on the stuff and embarrass them. I was trying to bribe
Feb. 8, 2006
WE MADE IT!!!!!! All of us are very jet lagged,
but happy to be in
T he overnight
flight from
We had been dreading customs in
The flight from
For all of you who know me well, you know how awful I am about air travel. My friend
at
Feb. 3, 2006
Final preparations are underway. I cannot believe how much stuff we are taking with us. Honestly, I think we will be lucky to have room for our toothbrushes! One of our special order sails arrived this morning via UPS. The darn thing was so heavy that Steve had to go outside and assist the poor guy. No way am I in charge of that thing! Steve laughed at me when I purchased a luggage pull cart: this morning he asked if we can use it to lug the sail through the airport! We have no wheeled bags because they tend to be more difficult to stow on the boat. Only duffle bags. I ordered 10 online that meet the exact limits for airline travel. We also purchased a scale to weigh each bag. We will be charged if they are over a certain weight. I have never owned a scale in my life. The only time we weigh ourselves is at the doctor’s office.
I am weeding through my things and have narrowed down the “must haves”. I have a green tea that both Steve and I really love….both hot and iced. I have 2 large ziplocks packed with about 60 teabags. That should get us through until I find something else we like. I also must have my iPod and some of my research. I have ambitious plans to try and begin to write a book while we are cruising. The topic is grim so I am not sure if I will fully embrace the process or not. We’ll see.
I talked to our son Brien for a long time last night. I’m trying to get it all in before communication becomes more difficult. Both Steve and I have not only a parental relationship with our kids, but also a deep friendship. All of our children are extremely close to one another as well. It is hard for all of us to be separated for long periods of time. Brien was detailing his survival plan…..lots of time with his girlfriend Molly, his brother Patrick and his close friends. Our reunion in March with both boys will be joyous. For now I better focus on the present and get some of this junk packed!
Jan. 25, 2006
I am taking a break from unpacking boxes at our new rental home in
The reality of sailing for several months is hitting me. I spent so much time preparing for the move here, that I didn’t really give our sail much thought. I’m getting the “oh my God, what have I gotten myself into!?” feel. My latest worries are……what if one of the kids falls overboard? Are we really prepared for that? What if the weather sucks during our long passage? I am a total wimp during storms. My children and Steve still tease me about my frantic behavior during a VERY small squall we sailed through while we were chartering in the BVI. I was acting like I was in a scene from the movie The Perfect Storm. The darn thing blew over in about 5 minutes. Oh well, I add entertainment value. I am worried about living aboard for several months. Will we hate it? Or worse yet, what if I hate it and Steve loves it? I love my comfy bed. I have yet to have a comfortable berth on a boat. We have ordered our boat with an almost king sized master bed in our berth, but will I feel too closed in? Will we find the types of food supplies we need? Will it get old trying to make meals in a more confined space? My neurosis is showing again isn’t it. Like I’ve said, I worry, but I try not to let it stop me from doing the things I want to do. I was very worried about moving to a new house, but now that I am in and almost settled, I think about how foolish my worries were. Hopefully, it will be the same once we are on our on the boat
Jan. 6, 2006
We have finalized our departure date, 2/6/06. I think it took Steve more than a day going back and forth between airlines getting the quickest route. I am not the best flyer (live for those take-off's!) so Steve always tries to limit the stops in-between destinations. What a guy. Our daughter, Caitlin, took charge of getting our visas from the Brazilian consulate, not the easiest task. She had to bring all the documents to the consulate office in Chicago and then return days later to retrive our traveling papers. Naturally, we had several questions prior to sending her downtown, but no joke, you can't speak to anyone on the phone. All questions have to be either e-mailed or asked in person. Also, they are in the office like 3 hours per day, a couple times a week. I love when agencies do their best to make it easy. At least they were prompt in returning the e-mailed questions. It was actually very exciting to get our passports and entry visas home. We all grabbed ours and looked at them. It somehow made everything seem real.
In order to shed the last bit of convention, Caitlin and I went and got tattoos. Once it is healed and my legs are no longer transparent white, I will take a picture. Perhaps it is a midlife crisis, or just my way of breaking free, but I love it. Absolutely naughty. Caitlin and I had planned to get "inked" along the way, but we got phobic over germs and decided we were better off going to a very clean parlor near our home (at least I have some common sense left). The kids and their friends think my tat is awesome, Steve just laughs at it and shakes his head.
Lately, we have all been reading about Brazil and Trinidad, our first chunk of travel. I am afraid we could stay several years and still not see everything that looks interesting. Good reason to return. We have received news that our boat may not be ready on time. I must say that I am growing tired of hearing "sailors should never live by a schedule". Those are the words of people who don't have 4 people with already purchased tickets meeting them in the Genadines in mid-March! Apparently, all of Brazil practically shuts down between mid-December and the end of Carnival in February. What!!!! How many weeks in a row can one party? I have left the "gentle persuasion" to Steve. He has been back and forth with everyone involved in the launch of our boat. So far, we are optomistic that we will begin sea trials in early February, prior to our boat builder leaving for the boat show in Miami, although he would prefer launching after his return. Way too late for us. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Dec. 18, 2005
I am now in true preparation mode. Friday we took a family field trip to get our immunizations. I explored the options and found that most primary care physicians are not equipped to immunize for foreign travel and, although the hospital in which I work has a travel clinic, they do not work with those under the age of 18. I went on the CDC website and gathered basic information about the regions in which we were going to travel, including recommended inoculations. We all went to our Primary Care Physicians and got the immunizations that they could give (Hepatitis A and B, Tetanus). These are easily covered by insurance and the only cost was a co-pay. For the more exotic immunizations, I found a chain called Passport Health. They specialize in international travel and take people of all ages. I called and gave them a basic itinerary over the phone and scheduled an appointment for all of us. Our appointment was last Friday and I was pleasantly surprised at how professional the nurse was who handled our case. She had a pre-made booklet for us detailing specifics of the regions in which we are to travel, including all recommended immunizations and medications that may prove useful during our stay. We watched a video detailing how to best avoid getting sick, what to do if someone did become ill and a complete description of common illnesses and how they are transmitted. Very informative. The nurse discussed all recommended immunizations, but left the final decision to us. We all received vaccinations for yellow fever and typhoid, but are waiting until we finalize our travel plans to Brazil to determine whether or not we will take the malaria medication. We may not be traveling far enough inland to require taking the medication, and because there are some side-effects, I would rather not take anything that could potentially make us ill if we don't need it. If we opt to take the medication, we can go back at no additional cost and get the meds. prior to departure. We also received prescriptions for antibiotics for all of us, in case anyone experiences digestive distress. We had a choice to buy them there or get a prescription. We opted to take the prescriptions to our pharmacy and use insurance to cover some of the cost. Any reduction in cost helps! Our yellow fever and typhoid will not be covered by insurance (foreign travel is elective) so we paid for that at the time of service. It ended up costing about $160 for each of us. Expensive, but I felt like we received beneficial education along with our necessary shots. Passport Health also has many products available (such as insect repellent, emergency kits) but we only purchased some medication for insect/jellyfish bites).
In preparation for months away from home, we all scheduled appointments at the dentist. Nothing worse than a tooth ache and your hundreds of miles from help. I endured 3 hours of drilling just one hour after being used as a human pin cushion. One new crown and two fillings replaced. Caitlin had a cavity filled as well. The dentist also gave me some home remedies if any of us experience difficulties along the way. I was told to bring along denture adhesive to use if a crown pops off. Apparently, it will hold loose crowns from a few hours to several days. I left with a sample to put into our first-aid kit.
I am starting to compile a provision list for food/cleaning supplies/household needs. It seems like everyday I remember something else we will need regularly.
Dec. 10, 2006
Okay, I am finally going to start writing. It seems odd to be thinking/writing about sailing and warm weather while I am sitting in front of the Christmas tree with snow falling outside. I must be ready for change though because I abandoned tradition this year and bought my first artificial tree. A white one. Steve took one look at it and said "whatever". My unconventional tree makes me happy. Perhaps it represents what is to come.
My brain is finally beginning to think about what I need to do to get ready for our journey. I marvel in what a small world we live. One of my clients has grandparents who have been cruising for the past twenty-some years. I am hoping they will help me avoid common mistakes made by first time cruisers. We have been e-mailing back and forth in the past few weeks. I am hoping they can assist me with provisioning, islands of interest and any other helpful hints. This weekend I plan on sitting down to create a master list of the food items we tend to eat the most. My fear is that I totally mess up on provisioning and we all are forced into a strict diet between Brazil and Trinidad. At least we have a water-maker on board so we won't go thirsty.