We have survived our first guests, or better put, our first guests have survived us. Grandma and Grandpa from the farm arrived in Grenada on November 23 after a long journey from Canada. Kevin met them at the airport to bring them back to the boat. They were slightly delayed in customs because Kevin (supposedly) forgot to give them all the information they needed to fill out the immigration form.
After clearing through customs, the adventure began
with a fast taxi ride to True Blue Bay where we were anchored. Once arriving at the marina Grandma and Grandpa began looking at all the boats that were docked and tryed to figure out which was ours. When Kevin pointed out to the bay where our boat was and showed them our dingy which would take them out to our boat Grandma started to head back to the taxi. After getting them and their luggage on and off of the dingy everyone was safe and sound on ‘One Life’ and ready for a good nights sleep.We had planned to pull up anchor the day after Grandma and Grandpa arrived but due to bad (10-14 ft) northerly swells we were stuck put in Grenada. For us this was frustrating as we were pretty Grenada’d out, but for mom and dad who had just arrived they were fine with staying put.
It gave us a few extra days to relax at the beach. We went to a restaurant called the ‘Aquarium’ on Saturday where there was a beautiful beach out front and due to the northerly swells what was normally a calm beach with good snorkeling was turned into a sandy beach with huge rolling waves. 
We all enjoyed being thrown around and pushed into the sand for the afternoon. Supper followed at the restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa and plenty of Pina Colada’s for everyone (unfortunately we were too excited about having guests, we forgot our camera on this day and therefore did not get any good pictures of anyone in the wash machine, and trust me there would have been some good ones (right grandpa!). Kevin had to remind Dad a few times that he is not 18 anymore. We woke up early Monday morning planning to head north but when we got out onto the west side of the island we encountered some really rough seas and ended up turning around and heading back.
There was a good part to our failed attempt at sailing and that was that we caught a yellow tailed snapper which we cooked up for supper that night, it fed all eight of us and was absolutely delicious. We need to become better organized when sailing and fishing because during all the excitement and commotion of catching this fish we had a man overboard drill. Luke was getting a bucket of water to put the fish in, unfortunately the force of the water filling the bucket while moving pulled the bucket and Luke right into the ocean, my heart totally stopped for a few seconds
when I saw his scared little face, thank goodness Kevin was quick to act and we turned around and easily picked him up. A quick lesson learned.We have decided to make a family bet to see who of our guests will get sea sick first; Grandma and Grandpa should have been the first as the ocean was so bad even I was a little queasy. Tuesday brought with it much calmer seas so we decided to head north after one quick trip into town for Grandpa and Grandma and the kids to do some shopping and Kevin and I to pull into the docks for some fuel and water. Unfortunately after
pulling away from the docks in the lagoon our starboard (that’s the one on the right for all you land lovers!) engine stalled all of a sudden…. fishing line, thick, thick fishing line… wrapped around the propeller shaft. After spending four hours or more holding his breath, getting cut up by barnacles under the boat and cutting the line free we were able to try the engine. Unfortunately, when Kevin restarted the engine it vibrated very badly and he was forced to shut it down. We had the dilemma of heading north with one engine or staying on in Grenada for a couple more days to have 
the problem dealt with. Well, we chose to limp north on one engine and enjoy our visit with the grandparents, we would worry about the engine later. We sailed on somewhat mixed seas for the rest of the afternoon and arrived at Tyrrell Bay, Carriacou just as the sun was setting on Tuesday evening.On Wednesday morning we had another first on our trip, we stopped on an island called Sandy Island, where the whole island was nothing but sand. It was beautiful here, we swam, did some great snorkeling and of course played in the sand,
we all came back a little pinker but amazed with this little piece of heaven. We then cleared out with Grenada customs and immigration as we are now heading into the St.Vincent and Grenadines group of islands. Loaded up with a few fresh bags of fruit and some more cash we headed north to Union Island. Union Island was definitely an adventure for all, one of the local boat boys approached us upon arrival with an offer Kevin couldn’t refuse, a lobster and chicken supper that he would cook himself, what we didn’t know was where exactly we would be eating this meal….Jackie picked us up at 7:00pm and took us in his ‘speed boat’ 
(well some of us, the kids and I, grandma was a little nervous and wanted to keep to our dinghy) and took us to a local restaurant where sure enough we had a delicious meal of lobster and chicken bar-b-qued by Jackie and his ‘friend’. We were the only people in the restaurant and I am not sure if the grandparents actually relaxed enough to enjoy their meal or not. We did some more fruit and veggie shopping on Union Island before heading out for the Tobago Cays (pronounced ‘keys’ for all you land lovers!). Now this place is amazing, it is a group of little islands all surrounded by a horse shoe shaped barrier reef. It is actually a park where like Jasper or Banff where you have to pay an admittance fee to stay.
Here we did lots of snorkeling and grandpa did lots of jumping off of the boat. We saw and swam with stingrays, spotted eagle rays, many different fish and on our way out a few turtles off the side of the boat. Thursday afternoon we again supported the local boat boy economy by order chocolate and raisin croissants for breakfast at 7:30 am Friday morning. When the croissants had not arrived by 8:00 am on Friday, Cole and Grandpa began making noise about how we would never see them. Shortly after 8:00 am our croissants arrived for a delicious breakfast. Kevin once again tried to explain to Cole and Grandpa that the 
Carribean economy is based a lot on trust and it is too small for these guys to get a bad reputation, tourists are their only Livelihood.On Friday November 30 we left the Tobago Cays, but not before celebrating Cole’s 12th birthday. Grandma and I baked him a delicious chocolate cake with Skittles on top. Cole also received beautiful electronic birthday wishes. What a place to celebrate your 12th birthday.
We then moved on to the island of Canouan where we had a delicious supper at Pirates Cove Bar. A delicious birthday and farewell supper, for the next morning we had to take grandma and
grandpa to the airport. Mom was a bit nervous flying off of an island that is only 3 miles long by 1 ½ miles wide. How quickly 8 days can go in paradise (hopefully they will be able to rejoin us in the new year when the swells are under control and we are more seasoned sailors). We all truly enjoyed (yes, even Kevin) having them here. Thanks to grandma and grandpa for bringing with them a new card came and 400 pennies to keep us going, our first taste of Christmas (delicious gingerbread cookies, hey Phoebe my mom did my baking too), a bunch of Christmas craft supplies (we will post pictures of our Christmas decorated boat) and also for 
leaving their reading material behind for us to enjoy (although Kevin is still on page 12 of his first book, thanks James). We are now looking forward to our next guests, Auntie Krystal, Uncle Curtis, Josh, Kendall, Jake, Grandma and Grandpa at the lake, and friends Jim and Karen. Boy, won’t our boat be full….. Just kidding Grandma and Grandpa and Jim and Karen are chartering a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands in January.…..We just checked, and the odds in Vegas are currently favoring Uncle Curtis to become sea sick first and Ray a close second..
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Remote Control Boat at Sandy Island
Cole's Birthday
Remote Control Boat at Tobago Cays
