Here we go again...

Yep - we're back aboard Exodo and this time, indefinitely. Life sure has funny ways of working things out and helping you make some tough decisions and we couldn't be happier. After 28 years with the same company, the upper crust decided on a restructuring plan and eliminated a bunch of positions - mine being one. For some it was a blessing, for others, more traumatic, for us....it could only have been better if we'd actually won the lottery. In a manner of speaking, in many ways we already have many times over. So, with a little severance pay and well, no handshake - we're back in the glorious Caribbean and setting our sights on even more adventure and travels.

If you're back to follow us again, thanks for rejoining us, and if you're new to this blog, welcome aboard. We have no idea where the wind will take us, but for now we are happy, healthy and loving the sunshine and warm breezes aboard Exodo.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Why we love the British Virgins Islands sooooo much.

Olivia and Harrison (a pal from a cruise ship) playing in Cane Garden Bay


Olivia's puppy "Whip Cream" enjoying a Bushwacker at Saba Rock in the bitter end.



Catching coconuts.



The grounds at Saba Rock.



L-R Olivia, Michael Bean aka "The Pirate", Linda and Jennifer after the conch blowing contest during Michael Bean's pirate show. Linda won first place and Olivia won a CD for being the cutest and littlest that could actually blow a conch shell.


Olivia and Dad having a rest at the Bitter End.



Not a bad hangout.

The Winner - Hands Down

The entire Caribbean is incredibly beautiful and each island is really so diverse from the ones on either side, but now that we have arrived in the British Virgin Islands, I have to say that it's without a doubt, the most beautiful part of the Caribbean. Maybe it's because it's our 4th time here and familiar or that the waters are so incredibly blue and crystal clear. Maybe it's that there is no swell and the sea is so calm and flat between islands. Who cares...we're here and we're happy!!!

We made the 4:30 bridge opening out of the St. Maarten lagoon on Friday with some of our friends bidding us farewell from the yacht club deck and set one (just one!) course of 300 degrees straight for the BVI. We hoisted the sails and set off with a bucket of chicken and a freshly made pasta salad for the 85 mile crossing. We were both pretty excited to be experiencing our first all night crossing and we weren't disappointed. We had agreed on three hour watches at the helm, but neither of us could sleep on our 3 hrs off. One would think that this would be a very boring experience, and perhaps it is after many nights, but we were so happy to be enjoying the very particular kind of peace that comes with a calm night crossing, that it was stimulating in it's own way. The highlight for us both (Olivia was sound asleep on the floor of the cockpit) was the indescribable night sky. We've been in lots of dark places where the stars are brighter than usual - camping or boating - but nothing has ever come close to what we saw. The stars are more brilliant and plentiful than we ever could have imagined. That is a sight that every person should experience at least once in a lifetime. We were simply in awe.

As we were approaching the island of Virgin Gorda, Ron went up to the bow to stretch his legs and just at that moment, a beautiful big dolphin and her very young calf jumped out of the water at the bow and gave us the coolest welcome we could have asked for. She was playing with her baby and frolicking in our bow wake for a good 5 minutes before venturing off. After checking in with customs on Virgin Gorda, and very nice swim and snorkel at the famous "Baths", we ran into our friends Jim, Linda and their daughter Jennifer from Opus. We said some quick hellos, had a light dinner and were off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Yesterday we fully explored the incredible caves at the Baths with our friends and then we all sailed up to the Bitter End which is the northern most part of the BVI. We shared a terrific dinner and good company with the Opus crew aboard Exodo and today we off to explore more of the island itself. We may never leave here....

I guess it means we're officially on "Island Time"

Having some R&R after a tough morning of home school.

"Island Time" means that it will happen when it happens - no timelines, deadlines, or guarantees. Aside from sporadic internet access, I don't have a better excuse so here is my best recollection of the past 2 months. So much has happened and I really wish I had taken the time to make some notes each day because one day just blurs into the next here and yet any given day can be so vastly different from the one before or after it.

After hurricane Tomas, we stuck around Bequia for a couple more days and Ron helped Herve, the owner of the wrecked catamaran untangle his mast and get his boat sea worthy enough to get it back to their home port in Martinique. We sailed north just ahead of Herve so we'd be in radio range if he got into trouble. The weather report was for average seas and winds, but once again, we got more than we bargained for. We were excited that our friends Patrick and Sheila were meeting us in Antigua in mid-November, and we had no more time to waste so we had to make tracks if we wanted to get there before they did. This particular leg was going to be approximately 50 nautical miles because we wanted to sail right by St. Vincent and on to St. Lucia. We hadn't heard from our friends Ken and Diane in St. Lucia since the hurricane and also learned that the south of St. Lucia had really extensive damage, so we were quite worried about them. We set off early in the morning in calm seas and 15 knots of wind only to be quickly in the midst of 8-10 foot seas and 25-35 knots of wind...and that was in the lea of St. Vincent. We had anticipated a 4-5 hour trip from Bequia to the north end of St. Vincent, but instead it took us 8.5 hours of rough seas. We just started out into the channel between St. Vincent and St. Lucia and it got a lot worse quite quickly. The captain decided that it was going to be too much for an already tired captain and crew to try to cross the channel, so we turned around and sailed two more hours back down St. Vincent to the first place we could anchor and be protected from the sea. The Island of St. Vincent is a very poor one and has a reputation of some danger and theft. There are really no "cruiser friendly" anchorages and it was a very anxious feeling to know we would be in a harbour without the usual group of other cruisers that offer a sense of safety. St. Vincent had also suffered quite a lot of damage from the hurricane, and desperate times can sometime cause people to do desperate things, which added to our sense of discomfort. We anchored in a small bay called Wallilabou which was the one of the main shooting locations for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3. They even still had the small museum at the dockside that displayed all the shooting schedules, cast photos, costumes, etc. There were only two other boats in this small bay - one was a transiting catamaran and the other was a 45 ft. Benneteau high and dry up on the rocks and beach from the storm. As we were about to set our anchor, we were quickly met by several boat boys in fish boats, canoes and even rafts, eager to sell us what little fruit they had and offer to collect our garbage. It broke our hearts to see the desperation in these people so we bought what we could from each of them and donated a bag full of clothes that we no longer wore or needed. On shore, we met some of the locals that were hard at work cleaning up the damage and saw for ourselves again how powerful mother nature is and how incredibly resilient these people are in the wake of such adversity. The few people we met were kind, helpful and welcomed us warmly. That night I slept under brilliant stars in a beautifully quiet anchorage with a real sense of sorrow and guilt not only for having, but for having been afraid based on nothing we had experienced firsthand.

Shooting and crew schedule from the Pirates of the Caribbean scene.


Some damage from Hurricane Tomas on St. Vincent at Wallilabou.


The next morning, we shoved off to much calmer seas and good wind but the direction of the wind meant we would have to sail past Vieux Fort in St. Lucia and on to Mariigot Bay and hope to get a taxi or bus to Vieux Fort to try to reach Ken and Diane. As we were nearing the south end of St. Lucia, we heard a call to us over the VHF from a boat we hadn't heard of before and when I answered the radio, I was thrilled to hear Ken's voice - they had gone down to the docks and borrowed someone's radio to try to reach us. While we were worried about them, they were just as worried about us. What a relief it was to hear from them! We were saddened to hear that there was loss of life in St. Lucia from the water and mudslides caused by the storm. Ken had been busy working with the Red Cross assisting in locating survivors and recovering bodies in some of the harder hit areas. He spent 25 years with the Canadian military and I can't think of a more capable or caring person for the job. The south of the island was cut off from the rest because roads and bridges were completely washed away so we altered our course to head back to View Fort and made it just before dark. We were so happy to see them and Diane opted to spend the night with us and sail up to the north end with us the next day. We headed up the next day to Rodney Bay at the north end of the island and had a great visit with Diane along the way. We were also looking forward to finding our friends Karen, Mike and Samantha from Mischana that we hadn't seen since April. We were happy to pull into the calm and rock solid docks of Rodney Bay and were happily greeted by our friends standing on the dock yelling "There goes the neighborhood!" After tying up and hugs all around, I couldn't wait to go shopping - here there are wonderfully stocked grocery stores (with fresh milk!!!) and we were out of just about everything since supplies were scarce in St. Vincent and Bequia after the storm. We also quickly learned that the entire island of St. Lucia was completely without running water as the pumping stations were still until 12 feet of mud and silt. Stores still had limited quantities of water, but were charging 4 or 5 times the normal price. Luckily, we had just filled out water tanks when we left Bequia, so we were ok for a couple of days.

After a restful day in Rodney Bay, we continued our trek north to Martinique and were treated to a fantastic sail in near perfect conditions and just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we were approached and entertained by a huge pod of dolphins dancing in our bow wake and jumping over each other seemingly just to please us. We arrived in LeMarin, Martinique and were very excited to meet up with our friends Henrik, Mariola, Lala, and Mischu from the boat LaLa. They have opted to spend the year in Martinique so Lala and Mischu can attend school after 3 years of homeschooling on the boat. We spent a few days visiting and stocking up our bulk items and wine cellar and we were also able to meet up with Herve and were glad to see that he was safely back at his home and now dealing with his insurance company. He and his wife invited us to their home for some hospitality en francais, but we had a good weather window to continue north and needed to make up some time.

Dolphins at the bow off of St. Vincent.


Showing us some tricks!!

The next 4 days through Martinique and Dominica were calm and uneventful and we made such good time that once we reached Les Saintes in Guadeloupe, we treated ourselves to a few days there as it was one of our favorite anchorages when we traveled south. The waters heading into Les Saintes were so calm and so still it was creepy. We felt like the entire sea had simply stopped moving and lay completely flat. What an incredible contrast from the raging seas just a few days earlier.

Another 2 days sailing and an overnight stop in Deshaies, Guadeloupe and we had Antigua in sight with 2 days to clean the boat and get ready for Patrik and Sheila to visit us from Victoria. They are seasoned sailors so they were really looking forward to spending their vacation sailing with us and making a few passages with us as far as St. Maarten. Sometimes we need to be careful what we wish for....

The day they arrived, the winds and the seas picked up so we just enjoyed a few extra days in English Harbor - also a favorite place of ours. We tripped around and did some snorkeling and just enjoyed the great company of our guests while we waited for better weather to sail. We knew we wanted to get to St. Maarten, but didn't know if we were going to make a straight 70 mile shot to St. Barts, or head more west to St Kitts which was 50 miles, so we sailed around to Jolly Harbor which is a better jumping off point for either destination. One crumby weather day turned into another of waiting, but it sure gave us time to hang out, explore, visit and play dominos and Patrick taught us that with a little Tequila, dominos will work better if you wink at them!


Patrick, Sheila and Olivia - passage from Antigua to St. Kitts.


After 5 days, we had good enough weather to head out so we packed up and made off for St. Kitts. It was a little rough on the way over, but Sheila took it like a trooper and Patrik was having a great time on the big seas. We got into St. Kitts just in time to stretch our legs and find some dinner before heading off to St. Maarten the next morning. Some days, you wish you just stayed in bed....

At 7 am the next day, we headed out for what we hoped would be a 4-5 hour sail in fair seas and wind. What we got was 12-15 foot seas and 30-35 knot winds! It was without a doubt, the biggest seas and roughest conditions we had been in yet. It was one of those passages that you simply had to find a spot to sit and don't move for the duration - not so easy with a 5 year old. The conditions were way beyond being able to use the autohelm so the boat had to be entirely hand steered. Exodo has a very high freeboard but still there were times when we had the rails in the water. Olivia sat on my lap like a trooper and didn't start heaving until 8 hours into a 10.5 hour sail. I can hardly describe what it's like to sail up a wave and feel like the boat is standing on it's end and down into a trough to where the nose of the boat is burried underwater and you're staring into nothing but a wall of water that is to become the next wave to go over. My tolerance and motion threshold have come a very, very long way throughout this journey, and I'm glad to say I still have not given in to the big "bucket" but I am in no hurray to repeat those conditions and time sooner or later. We all were so happy to be in the lea of St. Maarten that we didn't even mind that we missed the bridge opening by 30 minutes and had to spend the night out of the lagoon. Patrick and Sheila were hoping to do some sailing, but I know it was a little more than they bargained for also. They are definitely the heartiest guests we could have had for that trip and have some great stories to tell as a result. Sheila barely uttered a word the entire trip, almost exploded her bladder, I'm sure and wins "Best Poker Face" - hands down.

Patrick and Ron having a swim in a squall in Antigua.


Sheila watching the squall head west.


Sandcastle queen.

Time flies out here and certainly more so when you're in beautiful surroundings with great company and their time here ended all to quickly for us and for them. They say you never really know someone until you live with them, or travel with them and I sure feel that we got to know and love them both a whole lot more. Olivia has two new best buddies and has asked me to add "Let it go, Patrick".

Coming back to St. Maarten really felt like "coming home" for us three because this is where we started from. We have some really great friends living here that have become more like family and I know will always be in our lives in some form or another. It was great to see them all again, and pick right back up where we all left off when we set sail from here in April.

Two weeks of downtime allowed us to make a few repairs, clean up, catch up on some school work for Olivia and get ready for our dear friends and charter sailing buddies Jen, Ed, Drayson and Courteney that were coming from Victoria to visit us through Christmas. We were so excited about this visit because we were a little bummed about not being at home for Christmas and their visit was just about the next best thing. While Ron and I both missed being home to see our own families at Christmas, we always spend part of our Christmas with these dear friends so we felt honored that they would choose to spend their Christmas with us St. Maarten style. True to form here, Del and Mike hosted Christmas dinner and not only welcomed our guests with open arms, but also had gifts for all the kids and went a little overboard with Olivia. Three days tied to the dock at Turtle Pier did little to help the older kids get their sea legs as they were a little sea sick on our sail to St. Barts. We still had a great time there touring the island, snorkeling and enjoying their company. Having them here also gave us a chance to really be on vacation and enjoy a lot of the local sights and beaches we haven't seen yet. Standing on Sunset beach at the foot of the runway when the 747's land never gets old and neither does challenging the 6-10 foot waves in the water at Mullet beach. We also learned that you can get 8 people into a Hyundai Atos and still have room for a couple more! We miss them already!!

Santa comes to the Caribbean too!!


Checking out a blowhole near Mullet Bay in St. Maarten.


Courteney, Jennifer and Olivia playing on the beach.


The Lum family snorkeling at St. Barts

We are sad that our company has all gone home and now that it's January, we are really feeling like we're on the final leg of the time I have left from work. The next few days will be spent doing chores and repairs in preparation for our longest passage yet. We have a great 3 day weather window this Friday so we're heading off to the Virgin Islands which is one of our all time favorite places ever. It's a 90 mile crossing and will be our first over nighter, so we're both pretty excited about it. We have chartered 3 times in the British Virgin Islands and loved it every time, but it will feel different to be there on our own boat this time. We can't wait to visit familiar places and explore the U.S. and Spanish Virgin islands which are both new cruising grounds for us. Stay tuned for the next leg of our great journey.

Pics to follow.

Ummm...we're still here if you're still tuning in.

Ok, I know I've been a little more than remiss at posting and keeping you up to date and we do apologize but.... we feel both loved and missed by your emails and glad you're looking out for us. We'll try to stay a little more...regular, shall we say. We are all well and happy and currently in St. Maarten. Internet access is non existant where we are moored, so access is limited to quiet times when we come to shore with the laptop. Now that the holiday hubub has quieted, I will find more time in the next few days to post text and pics and there's lots of great stuff to update on. Hope you'll stay tuned...

Wishing you all a safe, happy and hurricane free 2011.

More pics and video from HurricaneTomas

"Happy Halloween Hurricane Style" or "God looks after drunks and fools and we're perfectly sober."

WE SURVIVED HURRICANE TOMAS!!! We left Grenada with a bang and the hits just keep on coming. Before we left, we did a weather check and saw that there was a tropical wave heading our way, so we wanted to high tail it north and get some miles under the keel. When we left Grenada on Monday, we expected a 5 hour sail and fairly smooth seas but instead, we had a 10 hour sail, 8 ft seas and 25-33 knots of wind on the nose and fighting a strong current that was pushing us away from the island. We were very glad to see Tyrell Bay in Carriacou, which is the northern most outpost of Grenada. We really wanted to make some tracks on our way north, so the next morning we got up bright and early. We ate and then stowed everything tightly for the trip up to Union Island and the Tobago Cays. The usual drill is that Ron stays at the bow and gets the anchor up while I drive the boat. As per usual, he signals me to go forward and all seems good except that the boat isn't moving. He then tells me to go in reverse and again, the boat doesn't move. Ron runs down to the engine room to discover that the drive shaft has once again separated from the transmission coupling. This is the same problem that we had when we were in St. Georges in Grenada. It would appear that the fellow that fixed it at that time did a very temporary job. Fortunately for us, we happened upon a gentlemen folks know as York and he is apparently the best welder/fabricator in the Windwards. We spend the next two days tripping around Carriacou while York corrected our problem properly and was sure to show Ron what was done incorrectly and how he corrected it - worth every penny. We did another weather check at this time and it looked as if the tropical wave had dissipated so that eased our minds somewhat. After clearing out of Grenada for a second time, we were off to Union Island to check in to customs for St. Vincent and the Grenadines; stock up on some fruit and bread and head to the Tobago Keys for the night. This is the best place to have a close encounter with the beautiful greenback sea turtles so I couldn't wait to get there and get into the water. Once we got settled on a mooring for the night we went for a swim and snorkel. It was a little windy and rough in the Tobago keys, and I saw only one turtle in somewhat murky waters, but never the less, we had a nice evening in the wonderful warm Caribbean breeze and talked about how nice the sail northward would be...

The Tobago Cays are just far enough away from any main island to not be able to get internet signal, but for some odd reason, when I got up and made coffee the next morning, I flipped on the computer and was surprised to see that we had a weak internet signal. I went to the weather report as I do every morning and was very surprised to see a tropical storm warning for the exact spot we were in. I woke the Captain, showed him the update and we quickly agreed that it was time to boot it to safety. What should have been a 4 hour sail once again turned into 8, but the seas weren't so bad and we were extremely happy to arrive in Bequia. One of the locals greeted us in his boat as per usual and offered us a mooring and, under normal conditions we would have declined and opted to anchor. In this instance however, we did take a mooring, but I didn't feel good about the one he suggested so we asked for the one that was about 100 yards further into the bay. Once we got a weather update, we could see that the storm system had intensified and was now predicted to come right on top of Bequia as a category 1 hurricane! We had no trouble agreeing that we didn't want to be on the boat so Ron got busy securing Exodo with extra lines and chaffing gear on the mooring as well as setting both of our anchors while I made some skype calls to find us a place to stay and pack a bag. We were lucky to get a room at the Gingerbread Hotel right on the harbour and could see the boat from there. Flashlights, noodles, matches and coffee in hand, we hunkered down for the night. As it turned out, we could have saved a small fortune and stayed on the boat that night because the storm really didn't start until noon the next day, but when it came, it came with a vengeance! Even though we were safely tucked inside a concrete hotel room, it's still surprisingly unnerving to sit through so much of mother nature's power. Olivia took it like a trooper and was happy to have her markers, coloring book and some toys, but Ron paced and worried most of the time. By 3 pm the power went off and the wind and rain hammered on until around midnight. We can't even imagine what it must have been like for the folks who opted to stay on their boats for the night. When it was light enough to go outside we went out to survey the damage and look for Exodo. We could immediately see one boat high and dry up on the rocks and another without a mast. Exodo was still in the same place, masts and sails intact but had chaffed right though two heavy lines and chaffing gear and was no longer on the mooring. The only thing that saved her was the anchors that Ron had set. We met a French couple in the hotel during the storm and as they had nothing to eat or drink, we were happy to share our noodles and coffee with them for which they were very grateful. As it turned out, they weren't so lucky with their boat. Ironically, they were on the mooring that we had declined and at some time during the hurricane, they got hit by the huge 80 ft. steal work boat in the bay that delivers water and fuel to cruisers. They ended up breaking free of their mooring, lost their forward stay and their whole mast came down on top of their main cabin. Another captain who had stayed on his boat threw out a line and somehow snagged the catamaran as it was drifting helplessly past and rafted it up to his steel schooner. If not for his efforts, the catamaran would surely have hit many other boats on it's way to shore and become completely destroyed in the process. It's also very scary to know that it could very well have been us had we taken the first mooring that was suggested to us. To the angels looking out for us....thank you, thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you.

We are now back on Exodo and preparing for a what some say will be a large storm surge in the bay over the next several hours or days. Interesting memories of excitement and adventure from our first and hopefully last hurricane.






Pics to follow...

Back in the saddle...or rather the cockpit

After almost 6 wonderful and very busy weeks back home, we made it back very tired and surprised to see all of our luggage. A big thanks to Ken and Diane for hosting us (and our extra luggage) during our layover in St. Lucia. The people we know who have stayed in Grenada all summer said that the only thing we missed was a great deal of rain while we were gone so I guess we picked just the right time. As great as is was to land back in Grenada, it wasn't so great to discover that no matter how many precautions I took, we still had developed some mold on the boat from the high humidity here - not in great quantities, but enough to get me re-acquainted with a sponge, a gallon of vinegar and every square in of the interior. This was a pretty big job, especially in heat that we have definitely become unaccustomed to in 6 very fast weeks. Despite two sets of bug bombs, we also had more tiny (harmless) little sugar ants on the boat than we've ever had, but the good news is there isn't a single living cockroach within a mile of here. We have since discovered the magical power of Boric Acid and now are completely critter free - yippee!! As boat life goes, we had some trouble getting the batteries to charge properly causing the fridge and other things not to work properly. After 5 days of searching for the problem, Ron was all set to replace a $1200 charger/inverter when he discovered that the leads on one of the consumption regulators had corroded. This cost a total of $65 EC or $22 US to fix. So thanks to some smart thinking and persistence on the Captain's part, we are back in cool cheese and ice cubes. As I write this, it's early Sunday morning and we were all set to leave at dawn and true to our luck lately, discovered at the last moment that the alternator belt needed replacing so Ron is down in the engine room getting dirty and hopefully getting us underway. Engine is now running which is my cue to get navigating... next stop, Union Island in the Grenadines. Thank you Grenada!! What a fabulous time we've had here and will love the memories of the people and places you've shown us!

A brief "Time Out"

No, we haven't been bad and yes, we're still underway, sort of. We took a short "time out" to go home to visit family and friends and tend to some personal business and other fun stuff. Since we're kind of homeless off the boat, we have been enjoying the fabulous hospitality of the 'Lum' Hilton in Victoria. With a big screen tv, three squares a day, a hot tub and endless showers, it will be tough to leave even though we are really looking forward to getting back to Exodo in Grenada and continuing our journey. A huge thank you to Jen and Ed for being such wonderful hosts to us during our stay and allowing us their wheels to get around. We deluded ourselves into thinking we would have so much free time on our hands while in Victoria and that couldn't be further from the truth. We were definitely kept hopping with errands chores and details that need tending to that we didn't even get to spend time with half the people we really wanted to see. For those that we missed - we're truly sorry we missed you, but for those that we did see - it was great to spend a little time with you and we really enjoyed your company. We have a few more days here in "paradise north" and will enjoy Olivia's 5th birthday and Thanksgiving before heading back to Grenada next week.

Carnival and Friday the 13th...

Some of the stunning carnival costumes


I've never been one to be overly superstitious, but this Friday the 13th certainly lived up to it's name for us. Firstly, our flat screen tv on the boat just decided to spontaneously die, then Ron went to start the generator to charge the house batteries and the pull handle was gone so the cord was now coiled up inside the unit. The other way to charge the house batteries is to run the main engine. Ron had been cleaning a few things in the engine room so had left the door open and went up to start the engine. As soon as he did, I walked by the engine room and saw water spraying everywhere all over the engine. It turned out that the anti-syphon loop from the engine was the original one and had corroded through. So we now had no way to charge the batteries which run all the boat systems including the bilge pumps and the batteries were at 12.28 - when they drop below 12, the batteries are being damaged. While Ron was trying to fix that, I went to get a few groceries and Olivia opted to stay and watch Curious George (a family favorite)on the laptop. Sooo...while Ron was in the engine room and I was out, a small squall passed over and a lot of rain came through the port window and on to the laptop computer, which apparently went unnoticed by the monkey smitten 4 year old. Water and laptops don't mix well and we are now out one laptop and all of it's pictures and data.
Unfortunately, there won't be pics for a few weeks - we are now working off our small netbook that doesn't have a card reader. The good news is that we have all our photos right from day one still on the memory cards in the event of just such a disaster.

As I write this, the generator is fixed, the engine is fixed, the TV is at a repair shop deciding IF it will be fixed and the laptop is still resting in peace. Hopefully, we can get it repaired when we fly back to Canada for a short while next month, but I think that's very wishful thinking.

On a much more fun note, we did have the good fortune of being in Grenada for the annual Carnival, which I can only describe as the most insane 4 days of street parties we've ever witnessed. I don't care much for big crowds, and this life rarely sees cruisers awake after 9 pm, but this was a one time opportunity that couldn't be missed. There were many events going on all over the place - some I still don't even understand, but we took in some of the main ones. On the Friday night, we went to the Steel Drum Finals competition at the main stadium here and except for the fact that the stage was too far away from the crowd, the music was incredible. Most steel drum bands that we see are usually 4 or 6 or maybe 8 players, but these bands had 40, 60 or some even had 80 players. The talent was amazing and the music was mesmerizing.
Lots of the cruisers we have come to know have been here for Carnival in years past and told us we simply couldn't miss an event called J'Ouvert. Directly translated, J'ouvert is a French contraction for jour ouvert or dawn/daybreak. We had to get up at 4:30 am for this event and our wake up call was one of the other cruisers banging on our hull. We were told to just make sure we wore old clothes that we didn't mind getting dirty. J'Ouvert is really the big kickoff to the Carnival parade events and the parade happens in the wee hours of the morning where paraders are masqeraded in full body paint of various colors and sometimes wearing little more than a loincloth, they parade in packs with their color group of pink, red, green, blue, yellow, purple, silver and black behind floats that carry the the biggest speakers you can imagine turned up full blast playing whatever soca song is the most popular of the day. While parading and dancing, these masqueraders will randomly splatter or rub off their paint on to unsuspecting parade watchers and often drag them into the streets for a dance or two - and we were not immune to the splatter!
The origins of street parties associated with J'ouvert coincide with the emancipation from slavery in 1838. Emancipation provided Africans with the opportunity to not only participate in Carnival, but to embrace it as an expression of their new found freedom. Some theorize that some J'ouvert traditions are carried forward in remembrance of civil disturbances in Port of Spain, Trinidad, when the people smeared themselves with oil or paint to avoid being recognized. By the time we left, all three of us were well covered in very colorful old attire. The whole thing is very bizarre and difficult to describe but I can say it's now crossed off the "Bucket List".

Later that same day was the parade with all the big flamboyant costumes and they were spectacular! Still the same boom box vehicles playing the same music over and over at such a high volume and bass, I though my internal organs were going to rattle right out of me. That night, there was yet another parade where anybody and everybody participates by purchasing a "package" at one of the sponsors a few days prior to the parade. The package contains a shirt of a specific color, a goofy hat of some kind that lights up, a lighted wand of some kind, a lighted bracelet and a mug. You are then expected to march with everyone from that color group - with of course, the same boom boxes and the same music. It turns out that each group (or "Band") plays whatever song they think is the most popular of the day and the one that is played most becomes the theme song of Carnival. It is definitely not like a long weekend parade and festivities we experience at home and the energy level and enthursiasm here is unrivaled. Carnival is celebrated in each of the Caribbean islands at different times and I think the only ones bigger than Grenada are Rio in Brazil and Trinidad, although Grenada is still reported to have the biggest and best J'Ouvert.

Throughout our time here, we have really been enjoying the complany of friends from other boats, especially Henryk, Mariola and Lala off the 42 Tayana, Lala. We have been spoiled by the luxury of the Port Louie Marina, which we are leaving today and have grown to really love the island, the culture and most importantly the friendliest and kindest people in the Caribbean.

Olivia and her pal, Lala



Pics to follow.

Monkey Business...

We are currently re-doing all the wood work on the boat which means every piece of wood surface has to have the old varnish sanded off and 4 new coats of varnish applied with a light sanding between coats. We have Charlie, one of the locals helping us with this project. Yesterday we had finished all the initial sanding and the first coat of varnish went on, so we decided that rather than take a chance that Miss O's little finger or toe prints would appear on a freshly varnishes wood surface, her and I got on a bus up to the Grand Etang rainforest in search of the elusive mona monkeys. The roads are so twisty and windy and narrow and there are clearly no speed limits here. I'm not even sure all my internal organs are still attached where they should be, but never the less, we made it to our destination. It was an overcast day to begin with which means that up in the rainforest, it is shrouded in cloud or raining - we got both. We walked the paths where the monkeys are usually seen and even stopped at the local cafe for a sandwich while we waited for the furry critters to make an appearance. Just as we were giving up and searching for a bus home....voila! The furry little creatures appeared out of nowhere. I guess even in mating season they have to come out for sustenance sooner or later. They are clearly used to being fed by awestruck tourists because as soon as they saw that we had a banana and a mango for them, they made a complete bee-line for us. They were happy to accept our fruit and peel it ever so carefully before scarfing it down and then retreating back into the jungle once they figured the buffet was over.

Finally...the monkeys!!


These little guys love to peel mangoes and bananas.

Olivia had her very first official sleepover at her friend Lala's boat. She has slept away from us once before, but that was with people she has known forever and are closer than family. She was so excited and seemed so non chalant about us leaving her there that Ron and I both had one of those moments where you silently question why your child can so easily leave you. Just as we were about to lock up and turn out the lights for the night, the VHF buzzed and it was Lala's mom, Mariola calling us to say that Olivia wasn't ready to stay and wanted to come home. When we dingied over to their boat and picked her up, she said "mommy, my magination told me I missed you and daddy too much". Gotta love it.

We haven't embedded ourselves too much with the scheduled social scene here, but we do head over to Hartman Bay on Sunday's to play dominoes with some of the cruisers - it's a great way to get away from boat chores,relax and enjoy the company of others.

This coming week is the annual Carnival here in Grenada and it's a very, very big event. The entire island shuts down during this time and the parades and parties are endless. Preparation for this event starts the day after it ends the year before and we have been feeling the excitement building throughout the island. We feel lucky to be here and get to experience some of it. The events go all through the streets and are 24 hours a day for 4 days.

Getting to know Grenada...

Walking on the trail to the waterfall.

The first week we were here took a little adjustment to get expectation to meet with reality and somehow since then, we have quietly slipped into the comfortable cruisers life here and had opportunity to really see some of the incredible beauty of this island and it's people. They sure don't call it the "Spice Island" for nothing. Everywhere you go, your senses are treated to the most wonderfully exotic smells of the flowers, the trees, the sea and all the different spices and herbs that grow abundantly wild here. We got together with a few of the other cruisers we've met and did a tour of the island with one of the guides called "Cutty". He's spent most of his life here, but has also traveled and worked abroad. The day started with a stop at a local spice shack and a very informative demonstration of what grows here and it's various uses. We sampled cinnamon, lemongrass, coco, tumeric, mimo, noni, vanilla, nutmeg, ylang ylang, fig, bay leaves, citrus leaves and a few others - all fresh and growing on the sides of the roads everywhere. Our next stop was at one of three main waterfalls on the island. This was fabulous because we got to stop and have a swim and man, it sure felt good to dive into fresh water and not have to worry about turning off the tap to conserve!! There were a few locals jumping off the top of the falls wowing the few tourists that were there and happily taking a few EC dollars in return.

One of the waterfalls on Grenada.

Having a wonderful dip in the waterfall pool
After the dip, we were off to the Antoine Rum Distillery which is the oldest functioning rum factory in the world. It was founded in 1875 and is still in production today. The giant waterwheel turns the giant gears that turn the crusher that crushes the cane into liquid that gets boiled down that gets turned into 150 proof rum. The process is a great deal less than sanitary, but apparently that doesn't matter when your finished product is 150 proof liquid explosive. Absolute firewater, but who can tell when you mix it with enough fruit juice and coconut milk?

Another stop was the cocoa processing plant where local farmers bring their cocoa pods and sell them to the processors.

Learning all about the cocoa process - the cocoa bean starts out as a slimy sweet seed in a large pod...

...and ends up as a dried cocoa bean that looks like a dark almond. They are shipped all over the world like this and further processed into other things.

As we drove through the middle of the island, we passed through Grant Etang National Park which is part of the rain forest. This was a much anticipated stop for us as this is where the monkeys come out of the rain forest to greet people and hope for a mango or banana in return. We waited for quite a while and listened to Cutty'c monkey calls, but as luck would have it, this is mating season for the little guys and they were obviously more interested in that than our lousy little fruit offering. Fortunately, the regular island bus passes right through here, so it will be easy to make a return trip and hope to experience the monkeys.

Sugar Cane being pressed at the rum distillery.

This will eventually be something drinkable - not sure I'll drink rum anymore.


In addition to the island tour, we've also made several trips to downtown St. Georges which is the main shopping, financial and economic district. On one of those trips we were admiring the old brick buildings and learned from one of the locals that most of the bricks on the island came over as ballast in ships from England in the 17 - 1800's and were traded for rum and spices. Pretty good trade for the English, I'd say.

One of the many old brick buildings - bricks were originally traded for rum and spices.

It's become something of a ritual that we start the day with coffee in the cockpit and discuss plans for the day and watch the boats that are leaving the bay for other destinations and in the evenings we watch who is arriving into the bay from points north. Two weeks ago, we were enjoying the end of the day in the cockpit and had mentioned how nice it would be to see our friends from the boat LaLa. We thought they would be coming to Grenada at some point, but didn't know when, or if they would come to Prickly Bay or one of the other many anchorages here. A few days ago, while enjoying a sundowner in the cockpit and watching the boats come in, low and behold, there came Lala around the corner with Henrick posing on the bow. We were so delighted to see them and feel like we've run into old friends. Olivia and Lala (their 11 year old daughter is also named Lala) have been hanging out and really enjoying each others company also.

Olivia, Lala and Inanna playing on the beach.


Last week, one of the marinas held a "Boat Jumble and Craft Fair" so we went to check it out and socialize a little with the other cruisers. I bought a few small watercolor pictures from one of the artists I enjoy to bring to our house (when we figure out where that is). In conversation with the artist, she mentioned that she was putting on a water color class for children that week and that while most of the kids were a little older, Olivia would be welcome to attend. Anyone that knows our little girl knows that she LOVES to paint or do any type of artwork, so she was very excited to get to go to this class (which is held in a marine pub like every other social event). I got caught up on my email while she listened intently to the teacher and created her masterpiece and I have to say that for a four year old, she did a great job!

The teacher's painting.


Olivia's interpretation - not bad for a four year old.

Grenada 12*00.919N, 61*44.543W

After a few spectacular days in the Tobago Keys, we had a great sail down to Grenada averaging 7.5 knots which is great for a boat as heavy as Exodo. We made our first stop at the island of Carriacou to check into Grenada and spent the night at Tyrell Bay on the south end so we could get an early start for the longer run across the water and down the coast of the main island of Grenada to St. Georges. After one night in the marina in St. Georges without a breeze, we were reminded of how many flies and mosquitoes love to greet the cruisers on land, so we filled out water tanks, stocked up on a few things for the fridge and headed out to find some of the southern anchorages we have heard so much about. So many of the cruisers we've met have spoken so highly of spending the hurricane season here that I may have built my own expectations too high. While the island is very, very beautiful and the people are extremely friendly and helpful, the anchorages themselves are really not what we expected. I think we expected to find more beaches, services and businesses at dingy range to the anchorages, but there is in fact very little with the exception of Prickly Bay, which is where we have our anchor set for now. Over the past 10 days, Ron has himself deeply embedded in priority #1 which is removing and resealing the the leaky hatches and fits in other small boat projects as time and weather permit.

Olivia helping Dad fix re-seal the hatches.

This is the second place we've been that offers a "cruisers net" which is a forum held over the vhf radio each morning to inform people of events, activities, things for sale, weather, security issues and anything else that might be of use to cruisers. The second day we were here, we heard a call over the net for volunteers for a children's literacy program in the area called Young Readers. I knew immediately that this was for us and I couldn't think of a better way to do something useful and meet some of the locals. For the past 2 weeks, we have been going up to Mt. Airy with a few of the other cruisers and helping the children to with their reading and some simple math and spelling. The kids range in age from 4-18 and after the work is done, there's a little time left to play some games and have a quick snack before heading back to the marina. Most of these kids just love the extra attention and love to be cuddled. Olivia and I paired up with a little girl named Shemina and she was a surprisingly good little reader for a six year old. She has 9 brothers and sisters - no wonder she loves a little extra lap time so much!

2 of the Young Readers, Whitney and Shemina with Olivia.


Jan, the founder and leader of the Young Readers Literacy Program reads to the kids.

2 nights ago, I had the opportunity to fulfill a long-time dream of watching the leatherback turtles lay their eggs on the beach - too bad it didn't quite happen...

Grenada's Levera Beach is one of the main beaches that these giant turtles come to each year. They will lay eggs about every 3 years, but in that year they may lay up to 4 nests of 150 eggs each. They come ashore at night, find a spot on the sand and use their huge flippers to dig a perfect hole. When they feel that they've dug deep enough, they will lower their back end into the hole and go into a deep trance like state as they lay the eggs. The eggs will incubate for approximately 50 days and when the next erupts, the babies will dig themselves out and instinctively waddle into the sea. Myself and 12 other cruisers took the 2 hour ride up to Levera Beach at the north end of the island and were briefed by one of the guides. To protect this habitat, this beach is closed to the public from May to September for nesting and hatching. People are only allowed there with guides, must use red lights only and no flash photography as bright lights will often scare the females and prevent them from nesting. We had to stay in a certain holding area on the beach until one of the researchers told us that they had spotted a nesting female or could see a nest erupting. The research team walks and scans the 3/4 mile stretch of beach every 30 minutes or so to look for any turtle activity. We waited and waited and waited and finally one of the researchers came over with a pail that had a bunch of hatchlings in it that were only about 30 minutes old. A nest had erupted, but because there was no moon that night (they will instinctively follow the moonlight into the sea) these particular babies were wandering aimlessly around the beach. We got to see them and then help shoo them into the sea. Unfortunately, we didn't get to experience a female coming ashore to nest, which was really disappointing, but we did get to sit in the dark on the beach until almost 1:00 am and experience the most star packed sky I've ever seen.

We are currently deciding on weather or not to stay here in Grenada for the remainder of hurricane season, or continue to Trinidad. There have been some reports of boats being boarded en route and some other security issues and we just aren't sure we want to take that chance. For the very most part, the entire Caribbean is just as safe, or safer than our own neighbourhoods at home, but some of the criminal activity from Venezuela has begun to migrate north into Trinidad. Olivia has made a few new friends here, although there aren't as many "boat kids" here as we had hoped. She loves that she gets to swim every day here and her swimming skills have improved exponentially. She has no fear and flings herself off the side of the boat at every opportunity and has a very keen sense of balance and boundaries on the boat.

Olivia and her local friend Inanna.

At times, I think all three of us miss life at home, friends, family and our comfortable routines, but we are still enjoying all the great new opportunities and adventures this journey has led us to. There are definitely trade offs for everything, but while we really miss the events that go on at home without us, we are busy making great memories and living in the moment every day. We can't respond to them all, but we really are thankful for the emails, blog comments and skype conversations - they really keep us feeling connected.

Pics to follow.