Life Four Point Zero

There’s just something special about being back home – at least the familiarity of U.S. soil one enjoys by visiting the US Virgin Islands. After our stressful overnight of dodging unpredictable thunderstorms, we welcomed the calmness of the harbor and the American-esque scene ashore. I had built a long list of errands that would be easiest to do in a place so connected to U.S. products and services, and we spent several days in Christiansted checking items off the list. The US Postal Service serves the USVI’s with their normal domestic US rates, and we took advantage of this fact to send out many packages to points back home. In fact, we did so many errands in the first three days in Christiansted, I have a hard time recalling what we did for pleasure – such is the downfall of a well connected island! While I can write about the joy we had in finding ‘Cost U Less’ a Costco-type store here that is a boon for a family of four trying to re-provision a sailboat, I don’t think you’d understand our excitement! However, here’s a picture of the net result… our loot ready to load aboard Hermes (name for our dinghy!) and then onboard Thalia.

Continue reading “Buck Island Stew, Take Two Ep. 50”

Our last web entry left off with us just having explored the very interesting town of St. Pierre on the island of Martinique. We need to make a wake and keep moving northwest as we have to be in St. Croix (300 miles from Martinique) by the 24th of April. We figure that we must make a hop to the next island up in this chain of islands almost every day. We have built in a two day stay in Les Saintes (group of islands off south west point of Guadaloupe) to say a final “good bye” to our friends on “Heaven Won’t Wait”.

Here’s how we made the 309 mile northwest move on Thalia:

Sat. Apr 14 – left Martinique for Portsmouth, Dominica (54 miles)

Sun. Apr 15 – Hopped to Les Saintes for a two night stay (21 miles)

Tues. Apr 17 – Hopped to Deshaies, Guadaloupe for a night (32 miles)

Wed. Apr 18 – Hopped past active volcanic island of Montserrat to Nevis (70 miles). Spent three nights anchored off Charlestown, Nevis.

Sat Apr 21 – Hopped to the island of Saba (47 miles) and discovered it was too rough to remain there as they have no protected anchorages and the seas were running quite big. At 3:30 in the afternoon, we made the decision to sail overnight to St. Croix (another 86 miles) — one of the US Virgin Islands.

Sun Apr 22 – Arrived at 7 am in the morning, ready to stay put for a few days!

Continue reading “Six Hops and Seven Islands in Nine days! Ep. 49”

It’s true. After a lot of consideration and discussion our family has made a firm commitment to stand strong “on the left”.

… you’re thinking, “great … here she goes with her political left vs. right, liberal argument against conservative views! Ha! Gotcha. No such luck.

You see, since our last web log, we have turned a corner, in the literal sense. Actually, a 180-degree corner — which is to say we have turned around and are now headed north/northwest where we have spent the previous five and a half months traveling in the south/southeastern direction! What does this have to do with the title, you ask? Everything!

Continue reading “We are leaning to the left! Ep. 48”

We had some special guests aboard Thalia this week – my brother Todd and his daughter Julia. Todd, along with his wife Molly, live in Sacramento, CA, along with two additional boys. Given the distance – and they currently hold the record for the longest travel to be onboard with us! – they couldn’t all come together. Regardless, we had a very enjoyable week with the two of them; it is always fun to show someone else the pleasures of cruising in the Caribbean!

Continue reading “Just Plain Fun, No Fooling Ep. 47”

It is hard not to feel a little sense of competitiveness with your fellow Caribbean 1500 ralliers. After the rum punches and prizes were dispersed in Tortola last November, many boats like us hung out in the BVI’s for weeks – and gradually months. But a handful of more adventurous souls – in particular, one boat whimsically named ‘Over Margaritas’ for how the young couple had met and discussed their mutual sailing dreams – pointed their bows south for the 3-4 day voyage to the bottom of the Caribbean chain. On the morning SSB chat, these folks raved about places like the Grenadines for it’s isolated beauty and crystal clear waters. At one point, Karen and I had contemplated this same strategy whereby you sail to as far south as you dare and slowly make your way northward through the islands. But, how, I wondered, did these southern adventurers really know that the beauty they were experiencing was that much better then the tremendous sights we were taking in at places like St John, Jost van Dyke and Virgin Gorda? Afterall, they had skipped over those sights in their pursuit south. On what basis could they rightfully gloat about their seemingly advantageous setting? We now know!

Continue reading “At One With Mother Nature Ep. 46”

We have put some mileage under the keel this week! Tom finished last week’s web entry with our visit to the southern portion of Dominica. We left Dominica on Sunday morning, March 18th, and currently find ourselves anchored in the Tobago Cays — 170 miles to the south, at least as the ever busy “crow” might fly!

The first day’s sail took us 45 miles to the southwest coast of Martinique. Although tempted by the thoughts of French baguettes and croissants, we did not go ashore. This allowed us to forego the often lengthy process of checking in with customs and immigration; and, since we were moving on the following morning we decided to just borrow the anchorage! So, the boys burned off some energy by using one of our spare halyards (the lines which reach to the top of the mast) for swinging off of the boat. This is very fun and mom and dad often partake in the excitement. With a good shove from a parent, the boys can fly through the air in a nice wide semi-circle along the boat before letting go and plopping into the water. It is our solution to a tree swing!

Continue reading “Speechless! Ep. 45”

It is hard to believe that some cruisers skip over Dominica in their travels through the Caribbean. Yes, at one point there was a greater risk of crime to boaters anchored here, but the locals have dealt with this swiftly. And, there’s the ever-present signs of poverty throughout the island – pothole ridden roads, street side gutters with strange smells emanating forth, and rusty tin roofed huts scattered throughout the hillsides. But it doesn’t take much money to live the simple, healthy life here. The air is clean and the water so pure and sweet that the local brewery – Kubuli – could piggyback on the marketing techniques of Coors ‘pure rocky mountain spring water’ jingle. And, as Karen wrote about last week, the interior grows such seductively smelling fruits and vegetables, it is no wonder that this island boosts so many inhabitants over the age of 100. Let me tell you, it wouldn’t take much debating if Karen were to suggest we settle down for our golden years here – in a tin-roofed hut with no electricity and just fresh fruits and vegetables to live on!

For now, we settled on a 10 day stay here. After a week in the northern port of Portsmouth, we moved down to the southern end of the island, to the capital – Roseau. Despite the inherent crowds of a capital city, including the presence of two cruise ships, the sights and sounds did not disappoint us. Villomee, Arctic Tern and Asseance were with us to enjoy the scene, while our good friends on Heaven Won’t Wait had to head north to St Martin to collect visitors. With the abundance of fruits and vegetables throughout the interior, it is no surprise that each town has a bustling open-air market. Here’s the scene in Roseau.

Continue reading “Double the Pleasure in Dominica Ep. 44”