The Flip Side

One of many rain squalls moving towards us from the hills, and a preview of the rainbow that usually follows them.


In reading over some of our previous posts, it occurs to me that I'm really portraying only part of this adventure - the best parts, the parts that we all dream and romanticize about. I think that's because they are all the things we did this for and they're the things that we choose to focus on, but there is definitely another side - the "not so romantic" side.

It's not always an easy go. Even when we were planning this trip, we knew there would be some rougher times, but it's hard not to have visions of laying around on the deck with a cool, fruity drink and the biggest problem being what spf sunscreen to use. Some might envision this as a week long charter cruise or an all inclusive vacation, only a lot longer. The reality is, this is hard work. Harder than we expected even though lots who've gone before us have regaled us with their stories and some truths about cruising as they've lived it.

Here's the short version of the hard parts:
Undoubtedly, the hardest part falls on Ron's shoulders. Not because he's the captain, and ultimately carries that responsibility, but more because he gets all the "blue" jobs. He's logged more hours buried in the engine room than he ever thought he would and I can tell you that if the outside air temp is 85 degrees, it's easily 20-25 degrees hotter in the engine room with no ventilation. On average, Ron spends at least 3 hours each day either in the engine room, fixing the dingy outboard or some other mechanical or electrical issue. Getting parts isn't always as easy as visiting your local West Marine so much time is spent figuring out how to make something work until we get to where we can find some parts. As I write this, Ron is trying to determine why the outboard won't start. Could be the all the rain.

Rain, Rain and more Rain - We are currently in Dominica and it's spectacular, but it has poured rain here for the last 5 days. I know that sounds just like home, but rain here is a whole different story. It comes in 10 minute intervals and as soon as the rain stops, the humidity shoots up and you instantly sweat so much you think it's still raining. We have a 2 gallon bucket sitting on the deck that fills up every six hours. Can you guess how dry my "hand washed with love" laundry is getting on the deck?? We have also discovered we have leaky deck hatches - all of them. We now have trays, towels and pots strategically placed all over the boat to catch the water coming in. My mustang self inflating life vest inflated this morning - INSIDE THE BOAT!! I guess we have a new set of projects to add to the list of things to do in Trinidad.

Grocery shopping is a full day event: Not only are the things we're used to not available, but if you can find a grocery store, it likely has shelves stocked with items from Europe and therefore many are not in English. We've had some pretty interesting meals on the boat. Buying groceries is the easy part. Now you have to lug them all back to the dingy, sometimes by taxi, and then into the dingy and then into the boat. Want to know how often a full dozen eggs actually makes it to safety? Never. Once on board, we have to immediately remove all (and I mean ALL) cardboard packaging and repack items in airtight containers or zip lock bags to avoid vermin or moisture.

The "C" word: Yes we've had a couple of those on board which was always my biggest fear. Cockroaches are actually quite harmless, but yuck, yuck, yuck. We have been neurotically careful about what we bring on board to avoid them. Cardboard is usually the culprit because cockroaches and other bugs love to lay eggs in the crevices of cardboard, especially if it's corrugated. I have probably 50 cockroach motels strategically placed all over the boat, but one of two of the little buggers have managed to get on the boat and elude the motels.

Laundry: In St. Martin, we were spoiled to have a laundry service that washed, dried and folded our stuff for $9 a load and worth every penny. Doing laundry by hand, piece by piece is fun - once. After that, it's just hard sweaty work that takes up a lot of time and deck space.

We miss stuff: I miss fresh milk and I'm sure Ron misses many of his power and hand tools. Olivia misses Jojo and her pals, Kiddie Capers and most of all, Nathan. We miss long daily showers and fresh towels. We miss the smell of crisp, cool air, clean dry sheets, take out food if I don't feel like cooking, a fridge that stays cold, stopping into a grocery store when we want or need to, and most of all we miss our friends and family.

I could list a few more, but you get the picture - it's not always sunshine and tropical flowers, but there are trade offs for everything. For example, an ice cold beer in St. Maarten is $1, the most "to die for" baguettes in the French Islands are $1 and piping hot in the morning. The 10 minute intervals when it's not raining in Dominica give off the most spectacular rainbows you can imagine, the smell of the jungle up the Indian river is incredible and the people we've met, well that's the best part of the whole adventure. And we wouldn't trade any of it - good days and not so good days - it's all what we bargained for.

I think I hear the outboard running...


My mustang inflatable vest that actually inflated because of a water leak inside the boat.


Catching water from a leaky hatch



Raining on the Indian River. They don't call it a rain forest for nothing.