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.

The one that didn't get away...

From fishing in St. Lucia.

Bequia And Tobago Keys 12*38.289'N, 61*21.359'W

Simply amazing.

Bequia is a small island just south of St. Vincent in the Grenadines that has long been a favorite for yachtspeople. It's small enough to still offer a culture and flair of it's own, but also offers all the services that cruisers could need from repairs to provisions to pristine beaches and great trails and even a little shopping. We went into Port Elizabeth, Bequia's main port in Admiralty Bay. It's full of small Boutique hotels, shops and restaurants on the waterfront, most of which are adorned with intricate wooden trim aptly called "gingerbread" making most of the bay look like something out of a storybook. There is a beautiful little walkway along the sea wall that offers a great look at these unique buildings.

On this leg of the trip, 2 noteworthy things occurred:
I've always had a great love for turtles, so I was pretty excited to learn that Bequia has a Turtle Sanctuary at the north end of the island. Since it's really the "low" season for cruisers (most have left the hurricane zone or are at least tied down for the season) we were able to get a great deal from the scooter rental place. A 7km ride over the hill to the Atlantic side of the island gave us a great reminder of how different things are on these islands once you get away from the harbor and into the countrysides. The Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary was founded and is still run by a gentleman called Brother King. When he was a young man of 22 (he's now in his 60's, I think), he was the sole survivor (from a crew of 10) of a shipwreck at sea. The fisherman that saved him was hunting turtles and he was so disturbed by how these creatures were being hunted and how fast they were becoming endangered, that from that time forward, he dedicated his life to working to save the turtles and educate people on the state of being for these docile creatures. When we arrived, we were the only ones there so we got a private guided tour from Brian (another perk of traveling in the off season). In nature, once turtle eggs hatch, the hatchlings will instinctively swim to the sea. This is where half of them meet their early demise as lunch for hungry gulls and seabird. Since man is their biggest predator, only about 1 in 1000 survive until they are mature enough to lay eggs (15-20 years). Brother King and his crew take the eggs and raise the turtles until they are old enough to have a better chance of survival and then release them. They also rescue turtles that are injured from fishing net, boats, hooks etc., or sick from other means. One of the really cool things we learned was that turtles love to have their shells scratched! They have nerves under their shells and can feel that sensation much like people feel on their nail beds. When you scratch their shells, they really wiggle and get their flippers going much like a dog thumps it's leg when you scratch the sweet spot on their backs. Olivia just loved getting splashed by the turtles' flippers when she scratched their backs.

Scratching the turtle's back - they love it!


Playing with the babies.


The second noteworthy event was the incredible amount of rain we experienced while we were there. To date, I had no idea that the sky was capable of holding that much water! We were treated to two "tropical waves" back to back which kept us in Bequia a week longer than we expected. A tropical wave is a system of low pressure that could eventually become a tropical depression, then a tropical storm, then a hurricane. Nothing really dangerous in a tropical wave but the wind gusts were 30+ knots and the rain....oh the rain! We have fairly high toe rails on our boat so we plugged a scupper (deck drain) on one side and Olivia had her own personal bath and fresh water pool in no time. When we saw how fast it filled, we gave the decks an extra good scrubbing on the other side of the boat where the water fill hole is, plugged the scupper, opened the water fill hole and filled our 200 gallon (800 litres) in less than 4 hours!! Saved us about $80 in water but I would have gladly paid the $80 to have had less leaks inside the cabin of the boat! Resealing all our ports and hatches is definitely job one when we reach Grenada.


Fun on a really, really, really rainy day.


Once we saw the dove carrying the olive branch, we figured it was safe to move on so we headed for the Tobago Keys. We had a quick and easy sail down to Union Island at about 7.5 knots which made the captain happy. Once we stocked up on some fresh fruit, veggies and ice, we made the quick 1 hour hop over to the Tobago Keys.

The fruit and veggie market at Union Island.


A restaurant on the reef at Union Island. You really want to make sure you have a designated driver when you leave here at night!

In hindsight, I'm not sure what we were expecting, but what we discovered wasn't it. The keys are a small beautiful group of 4 tiny uninhabited white beach islands surrounded many keel hungry reefs, so a lot of extra care is needed to navigate in and out of the area. This was the place I have most looked forward to because it's well known for it's population of Greenback sea turtles which are now endangered. Once we got there and anchored, I couldn't get my snorkel stuff on and get in the water fast enough...and we were not disappointed. With Olivia in tow, it took all of about 60 seconds to see our first turtle and then another and then another and pretty soon, we couldn't swim 20 feet without bumping into another one. It was such an awesome experience to swim 2 feet from these incredibly docile and beautiful creatures!! Some of the larger ones had shells that were as much as 3-4 feet long. They move from one sea grass clump to the next with such grace and don't seem to mind having awestruck spectators following them. While Ron and Olivia enjoyed the experience, they don't seem to be quite as turtle happy as I am and I was quite content to spend much of the day in the water - unquestionably the highlight of this adventure for me so far.

This life is for the birds.


Tree Huggers


Up a tree without a vine.


The anchorage at Tobago Keys

The latest weather report has another tropical wave in store for late Tuesday or early Wednesday and we have 40 nautical miles to cover, so after checking out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with customs this morning, we are off to the first stop in Grenada, the island of Carriacou for tonight and then off to St. Georges on the main island of Grenada.

Pics to follow.

Thankful and Proud..

Cody Takeshi Thom

On Saturday June 19th (Cheryl's birthday), Ron's oldest son Aaron and his wife Cheryl welcomed their third child, and a brother for Keira and Brooklyn, Cody Takeshi Thom. Quick labor and delivery and an awesome birthday present for Cheryl!! We're sure looking forward to meeting Cody when we return!

Keira, Brooklyn and new brother Cody


Also, for the past few weeks, one of my nieces, Sarah is living her dream and competing in the prestigious Spruce Meadows Equestrian competition and has been landing in the ribbons!! She is only 16 years old and one of the youngest competitors at the event. Way to go, Sarah!!! Can you say OLYMPICS???

Sarah and "Splash"




We have been hanging out in Bequia, one of the Grenadines, waiting for the weather to be good enough to move on to the Tobago Keys and then on to Grenada. So much rain yesterday that we filled our 200 gallon water tank with rain water in less than 4 hours!!!

Definitely Dolphins...

On our way into Bequia, about 5 miles off shore...what a thrill!!


Off the bow with Bequia in the distance.

Catching Up...Bequia 13*00.314'N, 61*06.400'W

It seems that the further we go south, the more difficult it is to get good internet access, but the break from technology isn't so bad.

Last night we arrived in Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and today is Captain Ron's birthday....so while he's enjoying a sleep-in, I'll try to get you caught up on our travels...


Mount Pelee Volcano

On May 22, we arrived in Martinique, which is a very French island with virtually no English either spoken or written. Signs, menus, instructions, food labels, labels on anything you purchase - it's all in French and although my vocabulary en francais has improved impressively, our time here has been a great lesson in how difficult it is to be a minority in a county where so much is unfamiliar and what a difference it can make if people choose to be friendly and helpful, or not.

Our first stop here was a tiny village at the north end of the island called St. Pierre which lies at the foot of the Mt. Pelee volcano. In 1900, St. Pierre had a population of 30,000 and was known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was the cultural, commercial and social center of Martinique. The wealth of the island came from the plantations, most of which were around St. Pierre. The volcano started giving warnings in April of 1902 and on May 2, it spewed enough ash to kill some birds and small animals. Twice more that month, the Pelee spewed ash and boiling volcanic mud down it's sides killing 3 people and burying two estates. The only reason people stayed was that the governor at that time couldn't cope with the responsibility of evacuating Martinique's most important city and was pressured by the planters and business leaders who would have suffered financial losses has the city been evacuated. A few had the foresight and determination to leave the city regardless. The volcano finally blew on Assention Day that year and the destruction was massive. There were many witnesses to the disaster as many people were traveling to St. Pierre that day for the Assention Day church services and could see the heavy red smoke descend on the city. Rather than continue, they climbed the surrounding hills to see what would happen next. The end came at 2 minutes past 8 in the morning. The side of the volcano facing St. Pierre turned red and burst open releasing a giant fireball of superheated gas that flowed down over the city releasing more energy than an atomic bomb. An estimated 29,933 people perished instantly, leaving only two survivors - a cobbler who was in his cellar and a prisoner who was in a very thick stone cell. Twelve commercial ships were destroyed in the bay. Many of the town ruins remain today and a local museum has on display many of the artifacts from the town at the time including some very melted iron bells from the church, tools, dishes, even a meal of peas and potatoes that was preserved by the heat and gasses.

While we visited a few of the major cities while we were on Martinique, our favorite was by far the last little village we went to called St. Anne. It's an adorable little seaside town that is full of delightful little shops, beautiful beaches, picturesque seaside cafes, cobblestone streets and church bells that remind of simpler times.

The church and town square at St. Anne, Martinique.


The sanctuary.

All along our travels, we've met some great cruisers and had the pleasure of their company in several of the ports we've been to because many cruisers are, like us, working their way south to get out of the hurricane zone. We have made good friends of a few boats in particular: Kamaloha, with Charlie, Maureen and their two kids Beth and Brenden, Msichana with Mike, Karen and Karen's daughter Samantha(who have been liveaboards and cruising for most of Samantha's 13 years!) and LaLa with Henrick, Maryola, Lala and Mischu, a delightful polish family from Kelowna who have entertained us with stories of their discoveries and blunders of cruising life. While Msichana is spending the summer in St. Lucia, we hope to bump into Lala here in the Grenadines any time and will catch up with Kamaloha in Grenada. It's been so great to have the company, advise, experience and pleasure of other cruisers as we make our way south.

Henrick on Lala.

Another of the highlights of this leg of our journey was meeting and getting to know a delightful couple that sailed from France who spoke no English. One day as Ron was walking on the dock to get back in our dingy, he came upon an older gentleman who was staring at his own dingy scratching his head. Ron asked it he needed some help and the man began gesturing and trying to explain something. Ron finally deduced that the man's gas tank for his dingy had been stolen (we always lock ours with the dingy for just that reason). Ron towed him back to his own boat and when he came back to ours, he remembered we had one on board that was no longer of use to us so he brought it over the the Frenchman's boat and returned with a bottle of rum and an invitation for us to come to their boat for drinks the next night. So, over we went and spent a wonderful 3 hours and many laughs with this couple who spoke no English and we happily entertained them with our Frenglish and passing a notepad and a French/English dictionary back and forth. Through out the evening, Olivia was looking at us all like we were nuts, but having a great time with the new dolly and the pack of smarties they had given her!! It just goes to show that the bonds of friendship can certainly cross into different cultures and languages. It was one of the nicest evening we had had on the island.

On June 7, we left for St. Lucia and had a really great, smooth and uneventful sail into Rodney Bay at the north end of the island. We treated ourselves to 3 nights at the marina dock here and felt really spoiled! Because we were plugged into the power and water at the dock, we could have long showers and run our air conditioning and it was sooooo nice to sleep in a very cool cabin! This marina also has great pubs, restaurants, shops a chandlery and a pool which Olivia enjoyed repeatedly throwing herself into. There is also a spa here run by one of the local ladies and I had the single best full body massage ever for $85 EC which is about $40 Cdn - If you're ever in Rodney Bay - finding Debra will be the most relaxing 90 minutes you could imagine.


Between the Pitons on St. Lucia

Back when we were in St. Kitts, we met a really nice couple from another Canadian boat called Annie II. Diane and Ken have both just retired from the Canadian military and now call St. Lucia home. Ken is originally from St. Lucia and immigrated to Canada as a young boy and always knew he would return someday to the caribbean. When we met them, they were bringing their 26 Tanzer back home from having been de-masted in a storm in the Bahamas. Since leaving the military, they have built a beautiful home and rental villa with a 180 degree view high over the Atlantic ocean in St. Lucia. They graciously invited us to spend a night or two with them, so who were we to turn down such an offer?? Since they live near the southern tip of St. Lucia, we invited them up to Rodney Bay to sail down with us to Vieux Fort where they live. We had a great sail down on Exodo and spent the night at anchor between the famous St. Lucia pitons which are huge mountainous rock formations that stick straight up from the ocean. The following day, as we continued on south under a great sail, we all heard a great big rip and looked to see our head sail falling away from the furler and wildly flapping in the wind. Once the momentary chaos was subdued and the sail brought back inside the boat, the guys decided it was time to fish. Ron brought all kinds of big sparkly, pretty fishing lures (that Olivia thinks are her own rubber petting zoo), but we hadn't had much time or opportunity to test them. Since we could only use our main sail and the conditions were just right, this was the day. After a very short time, the guys brought in a beautiful 15 lb. tuna. There was subsequently anther fish on the line and it gave a bigger fight than the tuna did but eventually got away. Ken says it would have been much bigger than the tuna - possibly a large Dorado or Sailfish, but you know the story about the one that got away...


Ron and Ken and the tuna having a very bad day.


Pouring rum into the gills of a fish is the humane alternative to clubbing them - I guess Diane thought the fish had more than it's share.

We spent two wonderfully relaxing nights at Ken and Diane's home enjoying the spectacular view, great showers, a tuna and lobster feast(I had chicken) and great company. Diane was kind enough to drive us back up to Rodney Bay to have the sail repaired and we were treated to the incredible island scenery during the drive up the coast and through the jungle rain forest. The terrain and vegetation is very similar to Dominica - simply stunning.

Lobster dinner at Ken and Diane's


Olivia and "Socks"

We've just arrived in Bequia which is an island just south of St. Vincent. We opted not to stop in St. Vincent at this time due mostly to our time constraints to get to Grenada, and the recently reported levels of crime in St. Vincent. Hopefully, the conditions will be more favorable for a visit there when we return up the island chain.