ONE LIFE - SAILING

The Beautiful Bahamas...The end is near !!

2008-05-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Bahamas

Well, we could have spent 7 months just in the Bahamas alone. There are over 700 islands and cays in the Bahamas alone and we have only been able to see a few of them, but what we have seen has been incredible. During our visit to the North West side of Long Island we had the pleasure of spending another hot day building sandcastles and playing on the beach. At the end of the hot day a storm approached from the East which brought along with it a science class up close; 2 huge water spouts up close and personal. These waterspouts are tornados on the water, very exciting and scary.

Kiana taking some time out to make a scarf, she says that she feels like a grandmother.

A game of monopoly where the captain took everyone to the cleaners, no sympathy spared.

Movie night every Saturday has been a cherished tradition for the last 7 months with popcorn and candy included.

I think that Dad will need a few days off from the kids when he gets home.

The kids went ashore by themselves to check things out and they found a ‘friendly’ snake. It did not take them long to have a home built for it.

Luke and Tyler spending some quiet time playing with their K’Nex. I am so thankful that we brought these with us, they have filled many hours.

Well, after the last blog entry I received quite a few emails that said that I sounded really homesick. OK I will admit that when I wrote the last entry I did get a bit homesick but it only lasted for the 2 hours it took to write the entry. All of that missing the 4 seasons and spring stuff went out the window when I received an email on May 8th that said Calgary was having snowfall warnings. Also when we met up with the Jackson family in Georgetown, Bahamas ( a family that we had originally met in the USVI who have been out sailing with their 3 children in a boat that is identical to ours for a year and a half), and another family from Quebec who is just starting their adventure (Mike, Soto and their two boys) and had my first campfire of the season, with s’mores and breadsticks I decided that I no longer wanted to come home. I tried to talk the captain into extending our stay, but he would not go for it.

A lot of fun was had at the small island of Staniel Cay where golf carts are the only vehicle on the roads. We rented a family sized one and off we went to explore the island. The James Bond movie “Thunderball” was partially filmed on this island and we were fortunate enough to be able to go snorkeling inside the famous cave that was in the movie. It was beautiful, with 3 different entrances and one sky light to let just enough natural light in, we spent two afternoons checking this sight out.

It has been amazing the number of Sharks that we have seen since being in the Bahamas. Thank goodness the majority of them have been Nurse Sharks, but none the less they still have that SHARK name. The local fishermen feed them their scraps and some of them will actually eat from the kids hands.

Just around the corner from Staniel Cay is a beach called Pig Beach and it is named this for a very good reason. Just when we thought that we had seen absolutely everything we once again had our eyes opened. We also ran into our new great friends the Jacksons and enjoyed their company for a couple more days.

Our next destination is the Exuma Cay island of Warderick Wells.

This group of islands is a national park and so there is no fishing here but great snorkeling. We spent a great couple of afternoons here snorkeling and seeing many fish that are hard to find out anywhere else. We saw many huge Lobster, Lion Fish (which are very poisonous and not native to the Carribean but have been introduced by foreign ships), lots of big Grouper (which drove Cole nuts as he has been looking for these for months to shoot with his Hawaiian Sling) and a huge spotted Eagle Ray. The tide was an amazing thing here as it caused a very strong current that caused a river like feeling that we could float down.

Our next exciting stop was an island that was loaded with Iguanas. Now before we arrived at Allen Cay, we knew that we would be seeing some beautiful Iguanas and we were all very excited, what we did not know was that there was a group of biologists from the U.S. that were down here doing research on this island and the surrounding islands. Now this is the best science class we could ask for. Dr. John and his team have come down to Allen Cay every year for the last 20 years to monitor, count, measure, and track the Iguanas on the island. We happened to be in the right place at the right time. We tried to help by catching as many Iguanas as we could, at the beginning it was easy as they came to the beach to be fed by the many tourists that come to see them, but after a couple of days we had to go inland and be as one with the creatures, this is where it got interesting. Thanks for the team and their patience with us as many, many questions were asked.

There were also Curly tailed lizards on this island which are much smaller and Tyler found out that if you turn them over they play dead.

And last but definitely not least our final Island…..New Providence….Nassau Harbour.

We will be flying out of Nassau on Saturday May 24, 2008.
First we must spend a night at the famous Atlantis Resort and Marina. So in we pull in our home on the water to this absolutely amazing facility which is really built for Mega Yachts, but who cares as we pay for one night in the Marina we are granted full access to the whole facilities for two days. So off go the Matwichuks for a grand finale to an absolutely amazing adventure. First things first, we are off to a huge outdoor waterpark in the beautiful Carribean sun. Water slides, relaxing tube rides and swimming pools everywhere you turn. Then it is off to see ‘The Dig’, which is an amazingly massive aquarium filled with every possible ocean creature you can imagine. I never realized until we were in here how much our kids have learned about the ocean, they were rattling off the names of everything they saw. And finally, since we missed movie night this past Saturday, we had to take in a movie or 3, since they were free. A great time was had by all and we were sad to leave and move on to our final Marina to meet the new Captains of ONE LIFE.

All settled into the Paradise Club Harbour Marina anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new crew, we decided one more adventure was in the books for us. The Dolphin Encounter…..we have been blessed with travelling alongside these beautiful creatures many times during our trip, but always from a distance. So now we get to see them up close and personal. How fun it was.

And here we are at the end of our journey, who knew one winter could fly by so quickly. We have been blessed with many things: a happy and healthy family, great friends new and old to share our adventures with, calm seas, a safe and secure boat, beautiful anchorages and marinas, Carribean islands with their welcoming peoples and communities, and finally a beautiful ocean and all of its amazing creatures. We have all learned and grown a lot during this past year and the memories that were created will last a life time.

Cole – We have enjoyed 7 months which seems like a long time but felt really short. One of my favorite parts was arriving in Grenada and seeing the boat for the first time, this is definitely the opposite feeling from what I am feeling now. We leave for home tomorrow and I am feeling very excited but at the same time wishing we still had another month. I think that through this experience I have gotten better at swimming, fishing, putting up with family members, being on the water, snorkeling, talking with the locals and learning to SCUBA dive. If I had to pick I would say that my top 3 islands are; 1. Bequia – Scuba for the first time ever, nice people and nice beaches. 2. Tobago Cays – Nice clear water, nice snorkeling with lots of turtles, sting rays and eagle rays and eels, 3. Barbuda – Huge beaches & pink sand. I am so glad that I got the chance to do this and I hope that someday I can do this with my kids.

Tyler – Seven months is not very long when you are having fun. My favorite activities to do were Scuba dive, snorkel, and fish. My favorite island is Barbuda with pink sandy beaches. I really enjoyed having company to play with and talk to. In the USVI we met a nice family that we met up with again in the Bahamas, there was Sam, Soloman and Summer. They were a very nice and polite family, we had fun playing with them. I liked the boat how it had four bedrooms and four bathrooms, I like sailing a lot better than motoring because we could go a lot faster. Right now I am in a hotel room writing this and getting ready to leave tomorrow at noon, I do not want to leave because I love our boat and the kayaks. I hope that we can come back next year and enjoy all of the activities on the boat. Bye for now can’t wait to see you all.

Kiana – When we left home I thought that these 7 months were such a long time, a long time that I would). Now that we are at the end of our journey I am not sure that I want to go back to civilization. I will not miss pumping toilets, taking short showers, having only brothers to hang with and sunburns, I will miss scuba diving, snorkeling, beaches, shopping, sailing in the middle of the ocean, meeting new people, cute boys, and an hour of school a day. Right now we are in the hotel room and I just had a shower which was beautiful. We just got news from home that it is only +10 degrees, here today it was +35 degrees, need I say more. I can’t say that I have a favorite place because they were all amazing. There are some guys on our boat now and I don’t really like them there because it is my boat, I am jealous. I have learnt so much about sea life & plant life on and around the islands. I have really started to love the ocean and sailing, there is so much more to it than just the surface that you see. This was definitely an experience that I will never ever ever forget.

Luke - I never thought 7 months would go so fast. I liked the boat boys the best because they were entertaining. The most fun was playing on the beach, we would play in the sand, build sand castles, swim, use our skim boards, snorkel and look for shells. I can't pick a favorite island because they were all good. I did not like when we had to walk a long ways in the hot sun. I am going to miss swimming in the ocean the most. I am going to miss the boat alot. I am glad that we did this.

We hope that you have enjoyed sailing along with us through the last 7 months. Our sincere thanks to those who have taken over for us back at home and have allowed us to fulfill this dream. We apologize for not updating the blog more often, but those beaches were calling our names (and with how fast the time has gone I am glad that we answered every call).

Thanks for following along on our adventure, we hope that you all follow your dreams as we all only have…….

ONE LIFE…DREAM IT…LIVE IT !!

Wave over wave, Sea over bow...We are as happy as the sea will allow!

2008-04-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

March 26 – April 26, 2008

Well it has been a week since we have once again been on our own. We have hauled up anchor once again and moved on west to a small island off the south of Puerto Rico called Isle de Aurora, but better known to the locals and on most charts as Gilligan’s Island. This island was originally named Aurora because of a slave lady at a local farm who escaped and swam out to this island, built herself somewhat of a house and lived off of the island and the ocean until her death at they say a very old age. None of her home remains and it has been renamed after the show Gilligans Island because of the sand pathways that lead all over the island, remember how the skipper used to chase Gilligan around on the paths, well that is exactly what this place is like, really cool. (Unfortunately we took no pictures here, I wish that I had gotten the kids to run down the paths all crazy like Gilligan used to in the shows) This island is a huge hang out for the locals who all come to enjoy some family time, there is a ferry that brings people back and forth all day loaded up with coolers, chairs, umbrellas, lots of food, etc. It is fun just to sit and people watch on these beaches. While at Gilligans Island we even managed to decorate Easter Eggs as Easter is just around the corner.

There are a couple of things here in Puerto Rico that we are witnessing for the first time in our trip, the first being the presence of police everywhere. On land there are police cars and ambulances everywhere and they always seem to have their lights on but not going anywhere. The kids have been forced to pull out their lifejackets and wear them in the dinghy every time we are in it they are also not allowed into the bars here as it is a part of the U.S., what an inconvenience this is…… There are also a lot of police boats out and about and they are constantly pulling over sea-doos and generally keeping an eye on everyone. We have yet to be approached or boarded, but are sure that it will happen eventually (Kevin is prepared with a couple of extra bottles of Rum, as we are told that a little gift can help out). One thing that we are getting frustrated with here is the lack of internet and computer hook-ups. I know that we have complained about it before but this place is crazy, you would think that for being part of the U.S. and also being a large island that we would be able to steal WIFI from someone, but NOPE. (For being a part of the United States, they are sure behind in the technology department.) So Kevin has resorted to spending a lot of time in the local Burger Kings as they seem to be the only place to get WiFi access.

Happy Belated Easter to all. We have picked up anchor once again and moved one last final time on the island of Puerto Rico. We are now on the far west side in a small (Sylvan Lake like town) called Boqueron, where we will stay until a weather window opens up for us that will allow us the long (24-30 hr) trip north west to the Dominican Republic. This little town is quite a neat experience in that it is a big party town on the weekends and then during the week it seems to just shut down all together. We arrived here on Easter Sunday and the town was just a hopping, there were sea-doos everywhere, police boats having speed chases with the sea-doos and the beach was packed. We once again bar-b-qued a turkey and a ham and had all the fixings, the Easter Bunny even managed to find the boat and unload way to much candy and chocolate for everyone.

The rest of the week the kids and I have spent getting back to the school books and Kevin back to the weather charts and planning an itinerary for our future passages and anchorages. In the afternoons we head into town to check things out, take a nice long walk on the beach (it seems that this is the only exercise that we have been getting lately, other than swimming) and for the boys to indulge at one of the many little ‘huts’ set up in town that sell fresh mangrove clams and oysters. Kiana and I have yet to build up the nerve to try them. With a squeeze of lime juice and a shake of hot sauce, down the hatch they go.

We have also had the fortune of meeting a couple from Toronto, Sam & Wendy, that have just sailed here from the southern Caribbean Island of Union and are planning the same trip over to the Dominican Republic that we are. Kevin has spent much time discussing weather and travel plans with Sam, which makes us feel a bit better about our long trip. They have decided that Friday, March 28 will be the best weather window to haul up anchor and sail over the second deepest trench in the World, the Puerto Rican Trench. So in the meantime we are safely anchored here till then.

We have come to a bit of a lull in our adventure in that everyone is becoming a bit more homesick and anxious about the long journeys ahead of us. While enjoying the sights and different cultures we are all sure missing home, the kids are starting to talk about the things that they miss the most, from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, to pets and bedrooms and of course sports and friends from school.

One of the things that we have been doing a lot of is reading and in one of the books that I just finished called “West of the Equator” there is a quote that I am finding very true about our situation….”Paradise is not a destination resort….it simply is…it lays to the north of us and to the south of us-it lays to the east of us and to the west of us-it lays above us and below us-it is always there, wherever we are.” I think that the we are all realizing that sure the Caribbean is a beautiful place, but there is really nothing better than being at home with your friends and family.

9:00 am Friday March 28 we head out on what will be our first overnight passage of our 7 month adventure. With our new found friends about an hour ahead of us we are somewhat more confident about out trip, knowing that we will have radio contact with another and sight of another boat most of the way to the Dominican Republic. Sam and Wendy are going farther than we are, we are stopping on the East side on the DR at a town called Samana while they are continuing on down the North Coast to a town called Luperon. We will continue to Luperon once we have had the pleasure of visiting Samana (Sa-ma nah). The weather for our passage turned out to be somewhat cooperative. Days after the Schergers left us a system moved into the DR and Puerto Rico area that brought very large northern swells into the area. We had driven to the North side of Puerto Rico to see the waves and along with many locals were amazed at the size and power of these waves, many areas on the North coast were actually being flooded by these waves.

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We were able to sail approx. half of the way and motor the rest of the way, we were lucky to only see one small squall during the trip which helped to wash some of the salt off of the boat and its occupants. Sailing through the night was a very different experience with Kevin and I taking 2 hour shifts during the day and 3 hour shifts during the night. I found it somewhat easy to sleep on my off shifts, but unfortunately Kevin was unable to sleep, he found resting with one ear and eye open to be good enough. It was definitely an experience that we will both never forget.
The kids during this trip were amazing…I had anticipated a lot of “I’m bored” comments, but by letting the kids know in advance how long the trip was going to be they just seemed to settle in and find things for themselves to do. They did have high hopes of staying up all night but as soon as the sun set their eyes were close to follow.

Arriving in the Dominican Republic was an adventure in itself. We had been forwarned that the customs and immigration people would come out to our boat to fill in the paperwork and that we were to stay on board until they arrived, we were also told that the DR officials like ‘gifts’ and money and that we should make sure that we only pay for what we actually have to pay for. Sure enough not an hour after our arrival a boat pulls up with 3 gentlemen aboard, 2 uniformed officials and one translator (our new go to guy…Cheecha). On board they climb in their big black boots and official attitudes, we have all of our boat papers and passports ready to fill in all of their forms and what do they pull do but pull out a piece of previously used paper and scribble on the back all of our information. The kids got quite the kick out of this, here we thought it would be all formal and strict and in the end it was quite easy, and yes we did have to give a cash gift but they were happy with $5.00 each, now we have all of this extra Rum on board…….

Samana has been another real eye opener for our family. Our anchorage here is not the best we have seen in our travels, there is no beach and the water is not swimmable, thankfully a short walk away is a big hotel with a beach that we have frequented. Our dinghy dock here is also home to a Coast Guard boat which you would think would make us feel safe and secure, unfortunately it is quite the opposite.

Once ashore here we are bombarded with people selling things, “My friend come I have happy hour prices just for you.” “My friend cheapy cheapy just for you.” And the hardest is the kids that come up and try to shine our shoes, unfortunately we are all wearing flip flops, but I cannot let these kids walk away empty handed so we slip them a little cash anyways (the kids cannot believe how thankful they are for a one dollar bill, once again a real eye opener.) We have befriended one boy who sells peanuts, now these are not your regular peanuts, they are shelled, roasted and salted and then rolled in a piece of paper towel and the cost….cheapy cheapy 3 for $1.

We decided that it had been a long time since we had taken an official tour so off we go to find something to tour. Yup another waterfall. We had requested a tour in one of the tour trucks where you ride in the back (they were all over the place, nicely painted with comfortable seats in the back) from our tour organizer, Ralph, and sure enough that is what we received, into the back of a small beat-up truck we go with a driver who cannot speak English for our 30 minute drive to a beautiful waterfall. Our ‘tour organizer’ Ralph had Kevin pay for the trip up front and we did see him give the driver some cash, unfortunately when we arrived at the start of the tour of the waterfall there was some confusion over what we had actually paid for. With everyone speaking Spanish and only one guy with limited English, we managed to get it all worked out that we were to walk to the waterfall (horseback riding was an option) swim for awhile and return to have lunch back where we started. Our tour guide was a lady, we forget her name, who had 3 children of her own and did these tours all day long, just walking back and forth to this waterfall. With her limited English and our limited Spanish we managed to have a great walk through some farm land to another absolutely beautiful waterfall.

A pineapple growing in the wild, something I have never seen before.

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Notice the man diving into the water, he climbed up the moss wall and went behind the waterfall into a cave before diving into the water.

The guys went for a nice cool swim. Mom forgot to wear her bathing suit and Kiana had some admirers who’s whistles made her a little self conscious.

Lunch which was a typical DR meal was chicken, macaroni salad, rice, beans, some sort of fried potato like things, and of course a pop and a beer to top it off, absolutely delicious. After lunch was done we heard the ice cream truck come down the road so the kids ran out and sure enough they each bought a homemade vanilla ice cream from a gentleman on a motorbike with a cooler strapped on the back once again delicious.

We happened to be in the DR while elections were taking place and they sure let you know about it. Trucks such as these drive around with music and ‘sales pitches’ blaring from the speakers in the back. The only reason that we can think of as to why they do this is so that the many, many people on motorbikes and mopeds can also hear their sales pitches.

Filling up on water in the DR proves to be a bit of a task as we are warned that the water here is a bit risky.

The DR also brings about a new catch with the customs and immigration rules, when we leave this anchorage we are forced to ‘check out’ and get what is called a ‘dispachio’ from the officials here in Samana and then to check in again at the next anchorage. A money making scheme is what other cruisers tell us that it is, but nonetheless we are forced to do it. So after being stuck in Samana a week because the weather was out of control, Kevin and the boys head into the offices to get our dispachio, once again no problems only another eye opener at the way these people still live. The lady who made up our dispachio did it on a typewriter, something that our kids have never seen, and it was not even an electric typewriter…YIKES

So exactly 7 days after arriving in Samana we attempt to head North, another long overnight passage, along the coast of the DR to the next anchorage called Luperon. Well that is exactly what it was, was an attempt. We, for the first time on our trip, had to head back after a couple of hours motoring because the water was so rough and uncooperative. Heading north into the northerly swells was just too much for our little boat to handle, or better yet, for Kevin and I to handle. I have long since come to appreciate the power that the ocean has, but I don’t think that I have ever been so scared and helpless in my life. It felt as though we were in a movie and our boat was the size of a hot wheels car placed on the side of a mountain of a wave, not sure if you can picture that or not, but it was not something that I ever want to experience again. So back we go to Samana for another couple of beach days until the swells settle down a bit.

6:00 am and out we go again to attempt the passage to Luperon, yup the swells are still huge but we manage to get through the rough seas on the east side of the DR, it takes 3 hours but we are now moving with the wind and the waves along the north coast and all is a bit more smooth. Our estimated time of arrival is 6:00 am, it should take us 24 hours to get there, a little more if the wind and waves die down and we are forced to motor. Well the wind does no such thing and finally at about 1:00 am we are forced to take down our jib (it is the sail up front and it is the only one we had up, because we are moving with the wind coming from behind us we put the jib up to catch the wind and pull us along) and shut off both engines and simply drift with the waves as we are almost in Luperon and the sun will not be up until 6. For those who understand knots, we were still travelling over 6 knots with no sail and no engines. This causes a problem in that the entrance into the anchorage/harbor at Luperon is a tricky one and a very shallow one that cannot be managed in the dark it also has no buoys or lights to mark the entrance. Will still arrive early at approx 3 am and are forced to circle around outside the entrance of the harbor until the sun comes up.

What a night, Kevin and I are exhausted, the kids on the other hand have slept all night and are eager to get off the boat and explore the town of Luperon. Kevin is just laying down for a quick nap when new neighbors, Doug and Paula (S/V Exuma Grouper) from Eastern Canada, stop by to welcome us to Luperon. What a great welcome it was and what great neighbors to have, they told us all we needed to know and even took us on a tour of the town. They have been living down here on their catamaran for a couple of years now and plan to build a house and move down permanently. Luperon turned out to be quite a surprise after Samana in that it is not a touristy town at all, it is simply a small town on the island of the DR. There are no people looking to sell you anything for cheapy cheapy, there are simply people going about their daily, slow paced island lives. We can sure see the attraction to the many Canadians calling this harbor home.

Unfortunately we knew our time here was limited as we had spent so much time in Samana due to the weather. So we enjoyed as much as we could in the time that we had with our new found friends.

Doug and Paula showed us their favorite little lunch spot where we ate two days in a row, as the owner cooked up the best tasting Burritos we have ever had. (That and the fact that lunch cost us about $3 a person including drinks)

We also took a taxi into the town of Puerto Plata where we stocked up on groceries, we have heard that in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos things get a bit pricey. On the trip we found a little furry friend that really was very harmless. YUCK.

Kevin had to go and fill up the propane tank, I think that he enjoyed the ride just a little.

On our final night there we went up to the Marina to enjoy the weekly games night with the other cruisers and live aboards and gave the kids a chance to swim in the pool there. Fun was had by all.

We heard lots of reasons why all of the kids wanted to stay, but unfortunately we were forced to move right along as we were presented with a good weather window for our next 14 hour journey north to the Turks and Caicos Islands. We are also starting to feel as though we had better get moving if we actually plan on getting home at the end of May.

We left the DR at 3:00 am on a Thursday morning (dates are a bit fuzzy) and arrived to Big Sand Cay in the Turks & Caicos. Well what a sight to behold, something that we have yet to see to date and we were sure that we had pretty much seen everything (you know……same #$%^ different island) but we were absolutely amazed at the water color here. As the lady in the immigrations office puts it “‘Turquise’ is the color.” I only wish that our pictures could do it justice. Because it is so shallow and sandy here the color of the water really stands out.
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Sandy Cay is just like is says…Sandy and absolutely beautiful.
We have the privilege of welcoming another guest on board One Life, and it seems as though she will be our last guest (unless we can talk Grandma and Grandpa into coming down for another week).

Jennifer Sibbald, our friend, neighbor and babysitter from back home has come to join us for a week of relaxation, sun and sand. Well, being on board with a family of six may not be the most relaxing but we can sure guarantee the sun and sand part. To get to and from the airport and to tour the island a bit we rent a van to get us all around. First things first, we are off to the Conch farm. The island of Providenciales, better know as Provo, is the home to the worlds only Conch Farm, and since Kevin’s favorite appetizer down here is Conch Fritters we had better take a visit and see exactly what we are eating.

Well what a place and what an eye opener for us all. They have millions of conch here and only supply about 5% of the world’s meat supply, the rest still comes from the local fishermen that are out there day in and day out diving down for them. Up until now we have seen hundreds of conch down at the bottom of the ocean and the kids are constantly picking them up to see if anyone is home and usually there is, but unfortunately they are a shy creature and never come out to visit. Well here at the Conch Farm they have a couple of trained conch, Jerry and Sally, who love to come out for a visit and once again YUCK. I wonder if Kevin will still eat Conch after this little tour.

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We also had the pleasure of eating at a little local restaurant and trying Grits for the first time, for those of you that have not had the pleasure, they are just like porridge and then are topped with many different things. We tried the corned beef topping which kind of tasted like chili but was delicious none the less.

We spent much time driving around in our rental car as it brings about a lot of independence that we don’t usually have, we also spent some time on the beautiful beaches on the north side of the island where all of the all-inclusive hotels are. Provo is a beautiful island that in a few years will be covered in houses and hotels, it is currently an island under construction as everywhere you look there is something begin built.

Another must to see on the island of Provo is “THE HOLE”. Now The Hole is simply what its name implies, a hole in the ground in the middle of a subdivision. Now this hole is about 30 meters deep and does not look as though it caved in but that it has simply always been there. I was a very nervous mom while we were there trying to keep everyone far enough back. Once again as per Caribbean tradition there are no signs other than “The Hole” and of course no guard rails or ropes to help out those that do fall in. There were lots of ideas flowing while driving away as what to rename ‘THE HOLE’ for example: Satan’s Bellybutton, Devil’s Mouth, The BIG Hole, etc. The boys also wanted to come back another day with some ropes from the boat and climb down and really check it out. J Mom says NO!!

While Jen was on board we found a great anchorage in a deserted Marina called Cooper Jack Marina, where a lot of work and money was put in to dredge out and frame in the Marina. Rumor has it that the owners ran out of money and are looking for buyers (Hmmmmm…). Much time was spent swimming around the boat and of course finding different ways to entertain ourselves. With Jen’s help the kids set up a waterslide off the back of the boat and once again lots of fun was had by all.
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Even though Provo is one of the more expensive islands, it would not have been the same had we not done some souvenir shopping and sightseeing. Jen was able to get great gifts for all and also witness the ‘gift shop’ scene where every store seems to carry the same things.

Once again a week goes by to quickly and before we knew it we were taking Jennifer back to the Provo airport. Thanks Jen for a great week and for all of your fabulous pictures.

I would first like to say WoW what a wonderful family! I had such a great week being a guest of One Life. It was so much more than I expected, I loved all the exploring, the games, the swimming, and of course the shopping and just being a part of your amazing one of a kind experience. Thank you so much for all your hospitality. I had such a blast.
Jennifer

We were really hoping to do some Scuba diving in the Turks & Caicos, but unfortunately companies here are like the ones back home and have been hit hard by the rising gas prices (and simply because it is the T&C and everything is expensive here) and therefore the cost to run a boat is just crazy and their diving prices are out of this world. We are going to have to wait to the Bahamas for another time to dive.

Sunday April 20, 2008
Happy 14th Birthday to Kiana. And this is the fourth and final birthday that we will be celebrating onboard One Life. Kiana is very anxious to get home and study up to take her learners license. God help us all.

Monday the 21st saw us leaving the T&C and heading for the Bahamas, the last stretch of our journey. The trip over to the Bahamas was the most calm trip that we have yet to experience. The water was as clear as glass and there was no wind to speak of. With no wind and both engines running at full speed, by mid afternoon the crew of One Life was cooking, the captain was ordered to stop the boat and let the crew take a much needed dip. For those that have not seen pictures of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas may not know how they lie in the ocean. The T&C islands are on a bit of a shelf where one minute the sea depth is 20 meters and the next minute is over 3500 meters(10,000ft). Well, where we decided to take a swim was in the really deep water and it was a bit of an adrenaline rush for us all. With no land to see in sight, the water an unbelievable blue color, god only knows what swimming underneath of us, but so clear and pristine, we all hop in rather cautiously. How small we all felt out in this big blue sea.

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Arriving in the Bahamas brings along with it a bunch of mixed emotions from all of us. We have officially booked our airline tickets home for the end of May and as we are all really missing home and the family that is there, we also know that we only have 4 weeks left, and yes, how fast this adventure has moved along.

Checking into customs and immigrations here in the Bahamas was the last time we will be checking into a foreign country on our trip, next check in will be home sweet home, CANADA.
Bahamas like the T&C has the most beautiful water color we have had the pleasure of seeing, once again due to the water depths. The first island to visit here is called Mayaguana. It is a small island with what we have seen a big heart. We came to shore to check in and simply to take a look around and we ended up in a local’s house having lunch. She is hoping to open a restaurant in the near future, but in the mean time makes meals and people simply come and pick up their meals at lunch and supper. Some stay and eat in her small living room, others take the food and leave. The lunch was none other than fried chicken and French fries. Absolutely delicious.
With the waters crystal clear we are always anxious to hop in at every new anchorage that we arrive at and Mayaguana is no exception. From the boat we can see to the bottom and everything that swims under us. We think that this girl is eating a mango seed that was left over from the Captains breakfast.

It still amazes me how much time is spent by the kids and their catch and release program. They will definitely be able to give both of their grandfathers some fishing lessons once back on Canadian waters.

Speaking about fishing, when clearing into customs here in the Bahamas, everyone is forced to purchase a fishing license, and as we have realized it is for good reason. We have been here for 8 days and have already caught 1 unknown fish (Kiana tried her hardest to find it in the books), 3 barracuda (when we reeled two of them in only their heads were left, I guess the sharks figured they were hungrier than us), 1 rainbow runner and finally what Cole has been waiting 6 months for, 2 Dorado (or Mahi,Mahi or Dolphin, they go by a few different names).

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The Dorado is a real handful to bring and proved to be a long overdue upper body workout for the captain.

Even though we are in the Bahamas and this is the last leg of our trip, we still have many miles to cover. To make up the many miles, we have been sailing most mornings and enjoying the islands and beaches in the afternoons. The kids have become quite accustomed to the many hours at sea, and although we hear “I’m bored..” and “What can I do..” on most passages, they are mainly very good at amusing themselves and each other. They play board games, read books, draw pictures, make menus and serve lunch, play with play dough, use their 30 minutes on the Nintendo DS, help mom and dad drive, watch for sea life, fish, and if nothing else there is always napping.

Something that I had never stopped to think seriously about before this trip (even though I did know that Spring is my favorite season) was our 4 distinct seasons back in Canada. They are something that most of us have lived with our whole lives and are just another part of life in Canada. Well down here it is hot, humid and green year round. There is no feeling of things dying and then coming back to life that we are fortunate to experience back home. I have truly missed the good feelings that spring brings to everyone. Going outside for the first time without all of the winter clothing (the kids were talking about this), lighting that first campfire of the season, cleaning up the yard after the long winter, going down to the river and watching the last pieces of ice float by, the kids out in the paddle boat helping the lake melt a bit quicker, and opening the windows again to let some fresh outside air in the house. There really is something to be said for Canadian seasons.

And, yes I know, this is all easy for me to say, while I am down here in the sun and you are all back home watching the weather channel to see if you will be getting yet another spring snow storm. (Sucks to be you guys….)

The Adventure Continues...Just the 10 of us..

2008-03-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

February 27, 2008

So with our teary farewells said to Anna and Dustin we head back over to Tortola and Jost VanDyke to show the Schergers the great sights of the BVI. Having seen all of this before we are quick to show them the sights, Cane Garden Bay where a quick load of laundry and grocery shopping was done (who said laundry can’t be fun!!!), Jost VanDyke where we visited White Bay and the Soggy Dollar bar (Kiana and Phoebe bought matching t-shirts here that say: “I live in my own little world……but it’s ok they know me here.” And for anyone who knows either Kiana or Phoebe there could not be a more appropriate shirt for them.) Of course a visit to Jost would not be complete without a visit to the famous Foxy’s Bar and Restaurant, although we did go during the day and it is just not quite the same, then it was off to Sandy Spit and then the bubbling pool (which unfortunately we visited during a low tide and the pool was somewhat empty…oh well!!)

With our tour of the BVI complete we check out of customs on Jost, BVI and head back to the USVI and St.Johns to do a little Scuba Diving. Now that Luke and Tyler are 10 we are all able to go diving, which we are finding is a great activity to do as a family.

Luke – Scuba diving is very cool. I saw an eel, a nurse shark and a turtle, we went down 35 feet.

Tyler – Scuba diving was much fun, it was a lot better that I thought it would be. When I went down for the first time it felt like I was a fish with gills because I could breathe. The farthest I went down was 35 feet, it was awesome. I saw an eel, a nurse shark and a turtle. The turtle was more curious of me than I was of it. I got to do 2 dives of about 45 minutes each. I would like to do this again and I am going to get certified some day.

Devin was able to take his deep water dive and certification here which was on our to-do list. It is amazing how the business ethic can change from one island to the other. When Kevin and I took our certification in Bequia the instructors took alot of time with us to make sure that we were comfortable and understood everything, but here on a U.S. island it is business comes first and they had us on and off the boat with two dives under our belts and another group heading out before we even knew what hit us. Oh well, the diving was great, everyone enjoyed themselves and Devin passed is Scuba course with flying colors. Congrats Devin!!!!!

What would a stop on St.John’s be without visiting the Eco Hotel and a visit to the glass blowing demonstration, just as our kids and Kevin and I were amazed with the show the Schergers were equally impressed and entertained. Phoebe and I had to make a stop at the glass store the next day to purchase some of the artwork we witnessed being created. At the Eco Hotel we also had the opportunity to sit and listen to a Marine Biologist do a talk on the state of the Coral Reefs in the Caribbean, we learned a great deal and at least one little mind was greatly affected (Kiana is thinking that maybe a career in Marine Biology would not be so bad; study amazing reefs, scuba and snorkel all day, incorporate her love of photography, live in the Caribbean and finally make money to help support her jewellery purchasing, not such a bad life) Once again this trip has been a wonderful eye opener for all of us.

Kiana – Listening to the marine biologist was very interesting. He reminded me a lot of my science teacher back at school, Mr. Luck, because he knew lots and was always making hilarious jokes. I learned about sea sponges, hard coral and soft coral. I hope one day that I can find the reason and cure for the black ring disease that the brain coral die from. The coolest part about the presentation was the sponge breeding…..hahaha!!! All of a sudden all of the sponges release white stuff (technical name held back) which then goes into the other sponges to produce baby sponges (health class). Corals also have a thin layer of skin and mucus, we learned that you should not touch any coral because you will remove these layers. Corals come in all different colors and shapes. My favorite soft coral in the whole ocean are the anemones, most of them are yellow with purple, green or blue tips, I love seeing them while snorkeling. Next up Spanish Islands……… Hasta La Vista Babes!!!

On St.John’s we also spent a day on the beach at Cinnamon Bay with a bagged lunch and lots of sun for everyone. I think that our guests have shed a complete layer of skin since their arrival. Cinnamon Bay is neat in that it is a campground like we have in the mountains in Canada, just bring your tent or better yet rent a big Coleman tent and you are set. They even have a great cafeteria style restaurant and of course a great white sandy beach.

Moving forward we haul up anchor and head for St.Thomas for a restock in our grocery supplies and some souvenir shopping. St.Thomas is a great place to stock up when you have two families to feed as there is a Costco like store (Cost – U – Less) with bulk items and items that are hard to find on other islands; so off go Kevin, Cole and Devin to do some heavy duty shopping, where we are going to store all of this stuff is the big question.

Today we sent the Schergers ashore too experience some local life on their own. Kevin delivered them to land and we planned for a meet up later in the day at the Fat Turtle Restaurant for some deep fried pickle appetizers. We went and did some shopping of our own, with some long overdue haircuts for mom and dad and some more gifts to buy for friends, the day went quickly.

We decided that some sightseeing was in order for the island of St.Thomas. With a suggestion to visit Coral World from a local dive shop we hired a tour truck to take us over to Coki Beach where a mini sea world of sorts awaited our arrival. Fun was had by all as we followed the schedule of feeding and presentations that we were given with our map at the entrance, this ended up being a great thing as we witnessed everything there was to see.

Cole – At Coral world we saw lots of great stuff. We got to pet and feed Nurse and Lemon sharks, they feel like fine sand paper. We got to touch some sea urchins that cannot hurt you. Then we went to feed some birds, we fed them mango nectar and the birds sat on our shoulders and stuck their tongues in. It cost $5.oo for two cups of nectar. We got to see the sting-rays next, they were my favorite. We were given some fish, we waved it in the water and they would come and suction up against the wall, then you had to lift up their noses and drop the fish into their mouths, we were then allowed to pet the top of their heads. They felt hard and slimy but very cool. Next was the sea lion show, he could do lots of stuff like wave, high 5, stand up and look into the aquariums and talk (they roar like a lion, I guess that is why they are called that). Then we went into an underwater glass building, where there was a lady scuba diving and feeding the wild fish like the Horse Eyed Jacks some fish. She had to wear special metal gloves to protect her hands, we talked to her after and she showed us holes in her wet suit from some fish bites. She told us that the worst thing that has happened under the water to her was an eel going up her shorts, she had to take her shorts right off in order to get it out. Then we went out of Coral World to the beach beside it (Coki Beach) and went snorkeling, we bought some dog bones from a local vendor to feed the fish, it was really cool and the fish loved the bones.

With so much to see and so little time we are forced to haul up anchor once again and move on. Because the next set of islands, the Spanish Virgin Islands (SVI), are considered part of the U.S. we were told that we simply had to let the customs officials know when we arrived there, but being in the Caribbean nothing ever seems to go as smoothly as it should. We arrived on the Spanish Island of Culebra (Snake Island in Spanish) on a Saturday morning, so being the law abiding Canadian citizens that we are we did not stop to collect our $200 but went directly to the airport to “let them know” that we had arrived.

The customs official on duty quickly let us know that the officials in St.John failed to stamp our passports and also should have issued/sold us a ‘Cruising Permit’ for sailing in U.S. waters (and that this should have been done back at the end of January when we checked into the USVI for the first time) . Kevin and I held our breath thinking that we were heading back to the USVI to collect our license and proper paper work, thankfully the lady in customs was having a great day and filed the proper papers on our behalf. Unfortunately the story does not end there, being at this customs office temporarily she was unable to get the computer system working to print off our papers so we would have to come back tomorrow and pick up our papers. Thankful that she had done what she could for us and not sent us back to the USVI we smiled, said thanks and vowed to return tomorrow, oops sorry not tomorrow it is Sunday and the customs office is closed, Monday would have to do.

Seeing this layover as an opportunity to venture ashore, we woke early Sunday morning and headed into town to rent some jeeps and do some ‘off-roading’. Culebra is a small island, 7 miles long by 3 miles wide, easy to cover in one day. Carlos’s Jeep Rentals was silly enough to rent Kevin and Devin each a brand new jeep to take around the island, silly, silly people.

With a small map in hand off we go to check out the beautiful beaches of Culebra. On the north shore we found a beautiful beach called Bahia Flamenco (Flamingo Beach, new change in that everything is in Spanish now, this beach was named after the pink Flamingos that once nested here) where everyone on the island seemed to go for a beautiful Sunday afternoon with friends and family. Unfortunately for the hired lifeguard on this beach the swells coming from the north created some big waves and some undertow that us silly Albertans love to play in. We were not on the beach 5 minutes before we were in the water enjoying the crashing waves and doing our rendition of body surfing (some bathing suit readjustments were definitely done this day hey Phoebe), only to hear the lifeguards whistle blowing and arms swinging wildly at us. Unbeknownst to us, we were in an area that we were not supposed to be in with our kids, so somewhat frustrated and embarrassed we more over and into the water we go again, guess what?? Whistles blowing and arms swinging again, this time we are out to far, come in closer. Kevin and Devin had had enough, out they go to carry our towels and picnic supplies down the beach to the unsupervised area where there is no lifeguard. What Rebels. With the show that our Average Joes hockey players were putting on out in that surf that they should have a career sports change to body surfing, well maybe not……

Monday morning after our captain had acquired the proper documents we headed around the south side of the island to a bay called Carlos Rosario. Here we witnessed some of the healthiest coral reef that we have seen in our travels and the boys spent hours playing football and truth and dare (running down the beach with their bathing suits at their knees was quite the entertainment) on the beautiful sand beach. Once again the kayaks are a great thing to have, they continue to give the kids a means of getting away from the parents (and vice versa of course) and a bit of their own independence.

I am sure that everyone is wondering how we are all managing on the boat, all 10 of us 24/7???????? Well to be totally honest we are doing incredible, the kids are getting along amazingly well, we still have the silly sibling quarrels but nothing out of the ordinary. I think that Devin and Phoebe will have to invest in a Sorry game as Eric and Everett seemed to enjoy it just a little bit (I think we played 10 games a day, every time that we sailed anywhere, what a great way to pass the time). As for the adults we have gotten into a bit of a routine with Devin and Phoebe trying to pay for everything and us fighting back, we all clean together which is wonderful as the work gets done quicker, we take turns one week on and one week off for cooking meals (we also fight over who does the dishes; the kids can just not understand why we would fight over such a thing…”Mom Mr. Scherger wants to do the dishes so just let him!!!”) as it is just too expensive for 10 people to eat out very often and finally Devin having to eat all of the leftovers as he hates to see anything go to waste. We really could not have picked a more compatible family to have on board with us, we just all seem to work well together.

2008-03-27T15:28:00.001-07:00

Back to the travelling…
Leaving Isla de Culebra we aimed our bow south west to Isla de Vieques. With fishing line in the water we anxiously awaited a meal from the sea to grace us with their presence. In no time at all the boys had caught a very large fish, once again unsure of the kind, we pulled out our fishing books to determine the make and model and weather it was edible or not. Bingo, a King Mackerel, delicious eating and definitely enough to feed our hungry crew. So aboard he comes and into the freezer he goes until our destination is reached. Once again this was very exciting, every time that fishing line makes its sound the adrenaline starts pumping on board.

In 1941 the US Navy arrived on Vieques and purchased two thirds of the land where they use it for aerial and naval bombardment practice. According to our cruising guides as of 2003 the actions were to cease, so off we go ready to drop anchor at a beautiful bay called Bahia Salina del Sur. As we are about to drop anchor into the beautiful white sand we see a shiny red chevy pickup drive down the beach. A man dressed in army fatigues gets out of the truck and watches us for a moment through his binoculars; he then gets his speaker and tells us…..”Approaching catamaran, you have entered restricted waters, operation under way please leave immediately.” He then pulled out his M16 and started firing at us……just kidding, he was very nice about it and we turned around and left quickly, our hearts beating a bit quicker but all else was ok and another adventure under our belts. (Phoebe and I later learned from a US Coast Guard that was doing laundry at the same time as us that the navy is no longer on the island but the Department of Natural Resources is in there cleaning up the mess that the navy left behind.)

We then headed farther west, where we were absolutely certain the navy no longer resided, to a bay called Mosquito Bay, now this bay is famous for two reasons, the first being that it is where the movie “Lord of The Flies” was filmed, the second being that it is a bioluminescent bay. What is this bioluminescent you ask??? Well unfortunately the tide was low and we were unable to enter into this bay, we had to turn around and anchor at the mouth of the bay and dinghy in to see what it looked like. Being the middle of the day there was not much to see other than a lot of Mangrove trees, so we dinghyed back to the boat for a very exciting part of our trip with the Schergers.

Before we had left Canada back in October, Mr. Scherger had told all of our kids to bring a couple of things with them that meant something special to them, nothing big, something that would fit into a sandwich bag. So sure enough all of the kids packed away their ‘treasurers’ and have had them on the boat for the past four months, not sure what they were needed for, but nonetheless did what they were told. Well, when the Schergers arrived they pulled out of one of their hockey bags an absolutely beautiful wooden treasure chest that Devin’s brother had hand made especially for all of us. The kids each had to carve their initials into the box and on the top of the treasure chest was written “ONE LIFE 2008”. The kids each had to put their treasures into the chest while being video-taped, along with a few treasures from each of the parents, we also put in some email addresses and phone numbers in case it gets dug up before we can all get back. We then went ashore, at an undisclosed location of course, and the kids dug a hole about four feet deep, with sweat pouring down their faces and buried the treasure chest. The kids were each given a co-ordinate from the GPS to remember as we hope that in 20 years from now, God Willing, we will all return to dig up the treasures. What an absolutely great idea, this not only gives us something to wonder about for the next 20 years but also another trip to plan for our families in the future, and we all know how quickly 20 years can pass. Our kids will have families of their own by then that will have heard the tail of the buried treasure chest, I think that the s/v One Life may need to grow during that time also. The legend of treasures being buried on these islands just came true for our two families. THANK YOU Devin and Phoebe for thinking up and making such a great idea come to life.

Once our treasures were safe in the ground we all took a quick swim and were on our way to the next bay over called Ferro Bay, this bay, like Mosquito Bay, is surrounded by Mangrove trees and is therefore a very shallow protected anchorage. The water was as calm as glass and there was no wind to speak of, which aids in a good night sleep and which the kids and Devin took full advantage of sleeping out on the trampolines.

It is also a beautiful place for the kids to kayak through as the Mangrove trees create pathways through the water for guiding your kayak through the peace and quiet, and listening to the birds this was a great thing. We had read that Ferro Bay also contained the bioluminescent water which we have been waiting for since we researched it back home in September. Bioluminescent water is millions of microorganisms that when agitated they glow in the dark, absolutely amazing.

Tyler – When we went to see the bioluminescent water we pulled the Kayaks behind the dinghy and it was really fun. Eric and I were in the last kayak and Cole kept making us submarine the front of the kayak. But the very best was the glowing water, when you put your hand in it felt like my hand was melting in the water because it was lit up and they would not swim as fast as my hand and they stayed behind my hand.

Cole - Awesome. Coolest thing ever. Weird. We left our boat at about 8 pm and headed into the mangroves to try to find the bioluminescent water. I was in the front kayak behind the dinghy and when you would splash the water would light up and when it landed it would light up the water around it. I splashed some into the cup holder of the kayak and swished my finger in it and it made it green in there too. When fish came under our kayak they would glow a little bit and then Kiana and I would rock the kayak and it would cause the fish to swim away faster and they would leave a trail of green behind them. I kept on pulling the line to Eric and Tyler’s kayak and the front of their kayak would go under the water, it was fun.

With time running out way to quickly, it is unreal how fast this month is moving along, we are now moving west to the very large island of Puerto Rico. Our 5 hour sail across unfortunately turned into a motor across as the little wind that there was, was directly behind us. We arrived in Puerto Rico on Friday the 14 with 3 full days ahead of us to tour the island and see the sights. First things first, we need to fill the water and gas tanks as the SVI did not have a marina for us to fill up before we left. Well the cruising guide that we have is unfortunately a few years old and when we pulled into get gas with plans to set anchor in the same bay, we were somewhat surprised to see a brand new beautiful marina being built. Fill up quick and back to the books to find another bay to anchor in.

With our anchor set firm in Salinas Bay and plans for the men to set off in the morning for a car rental place we say goodnight after another hard day’s work in paradise.
Saturday morning at 11 am Kevin and Devin anxiously head out to the car rental place to find us some wheels for the weekend. Phoebe and I stayed on the boat with the kids trying to entertain them, now this is becoming a bit of a chore as we have been on the boat for a few days now and everyone is feeling a bit cooped up. Anyways after a few games of sorry under our belts and 4 hours later, the dads show up with some bad news. Well it seems as though the island of Puerto Rico is a busy one this weekend and there are no cars to rent in the whole town of Salinas, well if this doesn’t put everyone into a great mood (moms stuck on the boat with kids and dads having just spent 4 hours walking back from the car rental place because this town seems to have no cabs, only in the Caribbean)…….. Ok, well the moms and kids need to get off of the boat for awhile so off into the marina we go with dirty laundry in tow. Even doing laundry is better that sitting on the boat any longer. Thankfully the marina here is somewhat ok, the kids found a small park to terrorize, Phoebe, Devin and I found a little Snack Bar close to the laundry mat to enjoy a few Pina Coladas, and Kevin found a little internet shop to try and get caught up on his emails. Life is good in the Caribbean.

While at this Marina we met another 2 families (one from Vancouver and the other from the states) that are on a similar adventure to us, the only differences being that they are off for 15 months maybe more and they started in States and are heading south. It was great fun to meet up with others that have been where we are going and hear all of their stories and suggestions and also to let them know what to expect on their travels down south. It was too bad that we were not staying in this spot longer as they had kids the same age as ours, more importantly a girl that was 13. Laundry done we are back to the boat for a good night’s rest and high hopes of heading west to the big town of Ponce to find a car rental place at their small airport.

Sunday morning, two full days left with the Schergers, Kevin and Devin once again head out in hopes of finding a car. Phoebe and the boys spend this time swimming as they know that their time is limited and want to make the best of it. With smiles on their faces the men return from Thrifty with two small cars in tow for us to tour with for the next 2 days. So off we go to try and navigate the streets of Ponce. The rest of Sunday found us following the Schergers (Kevin figured that it was their turn to be the adventurous leaders) through town and then up a mountain through one of Puerto Ricos beautiful rain forests, Devin turned out to be a great tour guide or was that Phoebe with the map and good directions???

Monday morning saw us up early and heading into the capital city of San Juan to tour the beautiful sights of Old San Juan and the forts that make this city famous. Old San Juan is a really neat place, first it took us a good 30 minutes to try and find a parking space as the streets are really narrow and one can only park on one side of the street. We then headed to the Fort to have a quick history lesson and then it was off to do some good shopping. The stores of Old San Juan are small little places but stacked back to back, there is definitely a souvenir for everyone here, and a trip to San Juan would not be complete without tasting a shaved ice drink. On pretty much every street corner there is a vendor with a large block of ice, a special ice scraper and 30 different bottles of sugar to create us the perfect snow cone, what could be more perfect on a hot day in paradise. With cigars smoking (Devin just had to sample a freshly made cigar) and shopping bags full it was time to hop back into the cars and start our long journey back to the boat (about 2 hours).

Tuesday morning, with bags packed and hugs all around, we are forced to say goodbye to a great family who has made our adventure even more of a success. Thank you to the Schergers for their patience and humor while on board the small and cramped quarters of ‘One Life’. When told that we had friends coming for a month many people questioned our motives and simply wished us luck, well it is absolutely amazing how quickly a month can pass when you are in such good company.

Tyler – The best thing I remember about Everett and Eric being here is when we truth and dare on the beach when Everett dared me to go in the water and take my shorts off and swing them in the air. Thanks for coming see you when we get back.

Luke – One thing I remember is playing truth and dare on the beach, thanks for coming and can’t wait to get back on the ice with all of you.

Kiana – Thanks for coming and spending some time with us, it was nice to have others on board to talk and laugh with. Mrs. S, I am expecting that t-shirt to be worn at least 3 days a week. Can’t wait to see you all at hockey practice…..hahahaha!!!!

Cole – Even though I had to give up my bedroom I would do it all again if you wanted to come back. I had lots of fun playing with Sharkbait (Eric) and Everett and playing Sorry will never be the same. Thank-You for coming and great idea about burying the treasure chest (my number is 5).

Thanks again Devin, Phoebe, Everett and Eric not only would we do this again in the blink of an eye, but our plane tickets are booked for March 13, 2028.
See you in Coleman in August………….

EXTRAS:

The Honeymoon..just the 2 of us and 10 other people!

2008-03-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

February 18, 2008

Auntie Anna and Uncle Dustin arrived today, an hour late (they are finding out what being on Caribbean time means before they are even off of the plane) and short a bag but safe and sound otherwise. Kiana quickly showed them to the honeymoon suite in her forward cabin and helped to settle them in. First things first, lather up the snow white Canadians. We have gone through about 20 bottles of sunscreen and are slowly starting not to need as much as our skin is getting used to the sun, but these new arrivals must start from scratch, and of course not being used to the Caribbean rays our guests have taken on a bit of a red glow. How quickly they will learn to cover themselves from the tops of their feet to those receding hairlines.

Once again requests were sent out for certain little missed items from back home; from much needed new underwear, to craft supplies, new reading material and a new internet antenna, Auntie Anna and Uncle Dustin carted a bag full of surprises aboard One Life. Thanks goes out to them for running all over Edmonton to pick up our extra wants.
First off is to take the newly weds to a couple of our favorite spots, so off to Lee Bay we go to check out some peace and quiet.

That is if you can call going from a home with two quiet people to a small boat with a family of six any kind of peace and quiet, but of course Anna and Dustin step in like the great Aunt and Uncle they are and take control of the kids. They had a speed course on snorkeling and fish names and into the water they went to see some of the best snorkeling that the Caribbean has to offer. They turned out to be naturals at the snorkeling game so off into the kayaks they go, balance is the key of course.

The kids kept the two of them busy from morning to late at night with all of their different activities and of course their talking and story-telling of all their adventures. Thanks to Anna and Dustin for being patient when hearing our stories told four different ways, ok maybe six different ways in some cases.

We are so thankful that our family and friends have taken some time out of their schedules to come down for a visit. I honestly do not think that this trip would have lasted as long as it has if we did not have our guests as we have missed them too much.

Day two into the honeymoon Anna and Dustin are off, with 4 kids, on a trip into Road Town (Tortolas capital city) to see the sights and then off to the airport to pick up a lost bag (which after calling the airport many times Dustin was told had arrived). Guess what… no lost bag and a hundred dollars later our crew shows up somewhat frustrated with American Airlines but amazed with a new Caribbean friend who will be on call for our lost bag and will deliver it when it finally arrives. I think we need a Myett’s happy hour with a slushy Bush Wacker that always goes down way too quickly.

February 21, 2008

Up we get to give the boat a once over in anticipation of our new arrivals. Once again a job made simpler with Anna and Dustin’s four extra hands to help out (first they took the kids ashore so that Kevin and I could clean with no one under our feet and then they came aboard and scrubbed their hearts out.) 6 adults and 6 kids aboard One Life, we know that it is doable, but our new guests are unsure. Good friends of ours Devin, Phoebe, Everette and Eric Scherger arrived from Devon today at 9 pm local time. Our first guests to arrive on time, with all of their luggage intact (what a concept considering one loaded clothes filled hockey bag had a good old Canadian hockey stick taped to the outside of it, a Kevin request). A family just like ours that back home goes 24-7 arrives for a month of rest and relaxation and a little bit of adventure thrown in. With all four of them having different hockey schedules, Devin and Phoebe both with full time jobs, two active boys to keep up with and a new house to move into when they get back, the Schergers are excited to get this long overdue vacation under way.

It is always an eye opener for our guests when they arrive on the dock to see our dinghy where they thought would be a boat, because it costs extra to pull the catamaran up to a marina we tend to stay out in the middle of the bay on a mooring ball or at anchor and dinghy back and forth. Our dinghy is like our car it transports us from our house to where we need to go, if it only had wheels. The dinghy is just one of those things that one does not think of until you are here and need to get on the boat, and like I tell everyone “There is nothing graceful about getting in and out of the dinghy, you just gotta do it.”

With all 12 of us loaded on board and the exhausted kids put to sleep (every bed is full) there is much catching up to do. Kevin and I are anxious to get all of the updates from back home; from the Average Joes stats (who has taken the captains place with the most penalty minutes) to the Hockey Bags successful running of the Town of Devon 3 on 3 tournament and of course all of the Devon Minor Hockey issues and gossip (what would minor hockey be without its issues and gossip, it has been nice to take a break from all of that for one year). We finally decided to call it a night at about 2 am, which has been the latest Kevin and I have stayed up since we arrived here (8 pm is the sailers midnight).

The next morning, with everyone drugged up on gravol, we say farewell to Trellis Bay on Beef Island. Trellis Bay has been a great home to us while we have waited for guests to arrive and depart as it is a simple walk to the airport instead of paying handfuls of cash to the local taxi drivers. As we will be dropping Anna and Dustin off at their resort and the Schergers will be flying out of Puerto Rico this is the last time we will have to enter the turtle and shark filled Trellis Bay.

The plan for our full boat of tacky white tourists, since the weather is permitting, is to sail up to the northern most British Virgin Island called Anegada. Now Anegada is a really neat little island, at about 13 km long and 3 km wide is only 28 feet above sea level. When we first started out towards Anegada everyone was sure that we had no clue where we were going as you can’t see the island until you are quit close to it. It was a beautiful day for a sail and we were able to put up all of our sails and make some good time. After arriving we packed a lunch and headed down the beach for a beautiful hour walk. The beaches in Anegada were once again beautiful and were enjoyed by all.

Sam’s Bar and Restaraunt played host to all of us thirsty and hungry hard working beach bums for a great meal of the famous Anegada Lobster and Conch fritters. Unfortunately Sam became very busy as he seemed to be running the show all by himself so Kevin and Devin were gracious enough to help out behind the bar serving drinks to the thirsty guests (which was pretty much themselves), in the Caribbean they call this the honor system, pour yourself drinks and pay later. Only in the Caribbean.

The next day we decided to take a bit of a tour so we hopped onto a tour bus (truck with seats in the back) and headed over through the small town to the Iguana Headstart Sanctuary. At this place the locals are trying to increase the population of the local Iguana numbers, it seems as though the project is just getting started as they had a lot of cages that were just being built. We were able to see some of the lizards hiding in their holes and are anxious to come back in 20 years to see them in the wild. After our short visit with the Iguanas we headed to the north side of the island to another great beach where once again we soaked up the sun and did some great snorkeling, some of our guests were able to see a beautiful turtle on this beach..

Our stay on Anegada was a short one as we are now on somewhat of a schedule, with Anna and Dustin due to check into their hotel on Monday the 26th and the Schergers due to fly out of Puerto Rico on March 18 we have some serious island hopping to do and adventures to experience.

With 12 people on board our water supply takes a bit of a beating, so off to refill and listen to some entertainment provided by none other than Micheal Beans (a singing entertainer in a little bar on the top of a hill on a little island just off of Tortola in the BVI) on Marina Cay (What is the first letter in the pirate alphabet??? Aarrrrrr, What is the last letter in the Pirate Alphabet??? Aarrrrr, What is the middle letter in the pirates alphabet??? D; what do you get Aarrr D Aarrr)

Next we are off to Cooper Island to unfortunately drop off Auntie Anna and Uncle Dustin at their resort, and resort it is. Cooper Island Resort is really the only thing on this island, so you could really say that they had the island to themselves. With a small dive shop, a private house or two and a ferry to take them to other islands the newlyweds will get some peace and quiet and adventures of their own.

February 26, 2008

Today is a big day on s/v One Life, it is Luke and Tyler’s 10th birthday and what better way to celebrate than to be in the Caribbean with your family, aunt and uncle, and good friends. Thanks to the Schergers for transporting birthday gifts from back home (not only for Luke and Tyler but also for Kiana and Cole). A huge thank-you to Luke and Tyler’s good friend Stephen (and mom and dad, Christy and Larry) from Devon for sending great birthday packages with many missed items from back home (candies, movies, hockey shirts, etc) we sure miss you guys.

Another big event happened today back home that unfortunately we had to miss, and that is another new addition to the big family. Daryn, Jenn and big brother Aidan (Daryn is Kevin’s cousin and we also work with Daryn at Cybertech) sent us an email to inform us that Luke and Tyler will be sharing their birthday with a new cousin Quinten James who was born on February 26, 2008. Congrats Daryn and Jenn and also grandma Dorreen, we can’t wait to get home and meet him in person.

B y: Anna & Dustin - Today our personal charter boat anchored at Cooper Island, our home for the next 6 days: I will admit that we expected to meet this new home with more excitement. Surely being cramped on a boat for 7 days with 6 kids and 4 other adults is enough to make any honeymooning couple ready to scream for privacy. But as always Kendra and Kevin were exceptional hosts… our days on board flew by – and as I sit here writing this there is that same feeling of sadness that I get whenever I have to leave my sister and her amazing family. Strange how things never change…only this time when we say goodnight it will be for another couple of months…which only adds to that feeling of sadness.

Every week we anxiously checked this blog, most times cursing the ‘vacationers’ for the lack of a new entry, other times reading and rereading the last entry, opening and reopening the pictures – just to try and feel like we are apart of this great adventure. Now we can say that we have been, and words can not even begin to explain…

Living on Caribbean time for the past week, we can now understand the lack of weekly blog entries (although the Matwichuks still blame it on the lack of internet). Islands, fish and sunburns flew by in a frenzy over the past seven days: feeding the crew (not once but three times a day…then dishes), anchoring, sea sickness, swimming, kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, exploring, picture taking and of course a nightly round of games may sound like an easy day to these seasoned professionals but to unwary landlubbers it can leave you exhausted and overwhelmed.

Our captain and admiral made sure that we saw as many islands in the BVI as possible while the kids made sure we knew every fish and tree we passed as well as which bars had the best entertainment, which drinks to try and which to avoid (Who says home schooling isn’t practical???). The weather was more than gracious allowing us to sail with the dolphins, snorkel with barracuda and sea turtles, enjoy walks on white sandy beaches, attend happy hour and all in all enjoy Caribbean time at its finest.

We realize we have done a terrible job of explaining a week aboard One Life but we’re hoping that Kendra can fill in the blanks and that Kevin will choose the best from our selection of pictures. A big thanks to the crew for an amazing start to our honeymoon, we’ll miss you and can’t wait to see you back home – ENJOY the rest of your trip…

Ken, Kev, Kiana, Cole, Luke and Tyler: As always thank you for opening your home to us, we had an amazing time and could never have asked for better. We hope you did not get to sick of us!!! Dustins first question when we got here was What are we going to do now?!? It is going to be a hard week without you boys here to entertain him for me & Kiana thanx for letting us steal your bedroom – enjoy having a ‘real’ bed back….thank you so much for everything…we can’t wait to have you home – take lots of pictures and let us know where we should stay on our next holiday!! We love you so much…and miss you…thanx again

Happy Birthday Luke and Tyler
LOVE ANNA AND DUSTIN

Off to see the Virgins (and the Inlaws!)

2008-02-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

January 10, 3:00 am

We hauled up anchor from St.Martin and headed west for one of our longest passages in our 7 months of sailing, to the BVI (British Virgin Islands).

What should have been a great day of sailing turned into another day of great fishing. The winds were just not howling in our favor and we were forced to motor and restock our fish freezer once again.

We arrived to Jost Van Dyke, BVI, to grandma and grandpa and to good friends Jim and Karen on January 11 and what a great reunion it was. It has been 3 and a half months since we last saw these fellow sailers as Grandma and Grandpa were in Mexico at the time of our departure in November.

Grandma and Grandpa and Jim and Karen have chartered a 36’ Footloose sailboat for a 3 week vacation in the BVI. We have met them here for the last 2 weeks of their vacation.
Our first meal together was spent at the famous Foxy’s Restaurant on Jost Van Dyke. For anyone who is a Kenny Chesney (he is a country singer) fan, he sings of JVD and Foxy’s in a couple of his songs. Foxy no longer sings nightly but is always present for a picture or two.

He kept telling our kids not to turn out like him “…a guy who is always drunk.” I guess that comes with the territory of owing a bar in the Caribbean.

On a hike cole demonstrated his new skill of collecting and opening coconuts for Grandma, Grandpa, Jim, and Karen.

Lots of fun was had building sandcastles, crocodiles, turtles and mermaids in the sand and playing dominos on the beach with a few cold beers and pina coladas. Having two boats made meal time a delicious potluck which was always entertaining. We sailed to many different little bays, did some great snorkeling, checked out some great souvenir shops and anxiously awaited for the arrival of yet some more family members.

January 18 brought Auntie Krystal, Uncle Curtis, Josh, Kendall and Jake aboard One Life. Finally some cousins to help keep the kids busy. If only I could explain how excited our kids were to see their cousins and to show them their home on the water.

Soon after the cousines arrived on the boat the boys had a shark hooked. There were some very wide eyes on our new guests! We assured them that it was not a man eater.

Everyone fit in just fine and fun was had by all. A lot of snorkeling, playing on the beach, singing at happy hour, hermit crab babysitting, domino games and journal writing (the cousins did the journal writing…it seems as though as soon as we have company our school work goes out the
window).

We did some fun sailing and I think the Hooples are now hooked on the Caribbean. Just like most people a week was not enough…having never been to the Caribbean before it must have been a bit overwhelming, the great snorkeling and the many, many different beaches and bay’s not to mention the many, many different bars and happy hours to check out (This was especially overwhelming to uncle Curtis).
A great evening out with the whole clan was had on the night of the full moon. A great supper, thanks to grandpa and grandma, was enjoyed at Quito’s bar and restaurant, a delicious supper with great live entertainment by Quito himself to follow.

A favorite spot for all was the bubbling pool. On Jost Van Dyke we ventured in to find the famous bubbling pool which has only become popular in the past 10 years as the locals had kept this spot secret, saving it for their own use. Well we are glad that they decided to share as laughs were had by all. A small pool, 5 feet at the deepest point, where the waves from the Atlantic are pushed in and over some big rocks creating just like its name implies a big bubbling pool. (See Video)

Great memories were also created at Myett’s Bar in Cane Garden Bay. Happy Hour here means delicious meatballs (free of course) and great live entertainment which our kids freely took part in (music class!), not to mention intoxicating pina coladas and pain killers (the famous local rum drink)….we will simply put that Uncle Curtis was up late that night feeding the fish and it had nothing to do with being seasick. The bet on who would be sick on the boat first was somewhat won during this week.

A huge thank-you to Auntie Krystal (and family) for taking on a large sum of our work back home and we sure hope that they enjoyed their quick week away in paradise.

Our goodbyes to our family were still warm when we welcomed yet another guest.

Kevin’s friend, business partner and quading buddy Ray LeBlanc, joined us on Sunday evening (should have been Friday night), after fighting with American Airlines and some great winter weather for two days.

What a great place to be heading when the weather for the week ahead at home is predicted to reach -39 (brrrrrr). After settling into his aft cabin, Ray enjoyed unwinding from the stressful trip and work back in Fort McMurray with a cold rum and coke.

The kid’s school work may have been abandoned but Ray was determined to help teach them the ways of the world, lesson one mixology also known as ratios…..3 parts rum 1 part coke, which later in the week advanced to pain killer mixing, we think they have the recipe mastered. Ray rewarded our kids generously with work well done by continually buying them virgin pina coladas and fruit punches.

We spent many hours reading books, Ray wins the record, I think that he finished 4 or 5 novels in the week that he was here. Many hours were also spent playing dominos and the card game wizard, which I have learnt that I can only win when Kevin and Ray have put back a few painkillers.

Thanks to Ray for teaching us a new card came to add to our collection, another thanks to Ray for delivering a package (huge and heavy) from home and back again. Auntie Lara was thoughtful enough to do some last minute shopping to help replenish our bathing suit, rug, scrapbooking and valentine’s candy supply (thanks Lara).

After a quick lesson in sailing Ray had the sails raised and was at the helm, we think that he is also hooked as it is the most relaxed we have seen him in a long while.

All it takes is a nice steady 15 knot wind, somewhat calm waters, a blue sky and that glorious sun to make a day perfect. Once again a week is just too short a time. Thanks for a great week Ray.

February 5, 2008

We are alone for the next couple of weeks until Auntie Anna and Uncle Dustin fly in for their long overdue honeymoon. This means that we are back at the books and unfortunately saying goodbye to the happy hour entertainment. For the first 24 hours we all went through a type of withdrawal, with no one for us to entertain and no one to entertain us, we had to relearn how to relax and entertain ourselves.

Back into our routine of a couple hours of school work in the morning and then into the water for the afternoon we soon realized that we could do this again on our own.

The kids spent yesterday afternoon going on an adventure. We are currently anchored in a favorite bay of ours called Lee Bay, which is a little bay with not much to offer the regular charter boat. A very, very small beach of sand with a lot of rocks and no stores or restaurants, but great snorkeling and a lot of peace and quiet. The kids took a snack and a couple bottles of water and were off on their kayaks to explore the island and all of the large boulder sized rocks. I love to see the four of them getting along as though they are best friends and not just siblings, a moment where I am so thankful that we have put ourselves and our family first and the rat race second, this has to be good for all involved.

EXTRAS

Cole & Tyler with baby hawks bill sea turtle Trellis Bay, Beef Island, Tortolla

Grandma and Grandpa on Thermo Fossicle with all of the Grandchildren (except Kiana)

Kiana the mermaid snorkeling.

Colonel Luke giving orders to the Sargent Majors at The Caves - Norman Island

Luke diving down to get a better look.

Tyler petting a fish at The Caves - Norman Island. Guess he misses his animals back home.

Kendall discussing the water temperature with a
Sargent Major fish.

Joshua taking a turn driving One Life, Luke is
giving some good advice.

Kevin multi-tasking is what he does best, unfortunately he only does one of these tasks well!

Luke & Jake Fishing with Lukes new fishing rod

Kendall and Kiana Kyaking

Jake & Cole Kyaking

Kevin & Cole finding a use for the snow balls sent to us from Aunty Doreen.

Bubbley Pool at Jost Van Dyke

Kendall & Kiana Snorkeling at the Caves - Norman Island

Kendall & Kiana Snorkeling

Happy Hour, Again!

A Waterfall and Beach for Every Day of the Year..

2008-01-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

December 29, 2007

Well we hauled up anchor on Boxing Day and sailed away from Martinique in search of some more beautiful sights. Next island up, Dominica, the nature island.

"Luke – While we were sailing we saw a big brown thing, it turned out to be a big turtle that was floating at the top of the water. When we got closer it lifted its head up and then dived down. "

Dominica (A waterfall for every day of the year)

The Nature Island – It is said “If Columbus came back today, Dominica is the only island he would recognize.” We arrived in Roseau, the capital city of Dominica and were, once again, greeted by the never ending boat boys. Jason was quick to offer the usual of fruits, veggies and of course a tour of this beautiful island. So off we went with Jason’s cousin, Moses Jr. and his brother Israel (I’m not kidding!) to check out the rain forests and waterfalls of Dominica. After a nice easy walk through the most amazing rainforest yet we came across the waterfall that we had been waiting for. From way up came a steady stream of fresh, clean, salt free water flowing down into a pond that we were able to swim in. Dominica, being an island with many high mountains and valleys attracts many rain clouds that produce these beautiful waterfalls and of course with rain comes the rainbows. It is said that rainbows can even be seen during the night when the moon is bright. We had to do some rock climbing and traversing to get to these places but once we dove into the surprisingly cool pools everything was perfect.

On our way back from the falls Kiana and I spotted a tree that looked rather familiar, a plant that I had missed terribly over this Christmas season, a poinsettia tree. So nice to see growing wild.

"Cole – On this tour Moses Jr and Israel took us to a local restaurant that was kinda like a cross between a buffet and a fast food restaurant where you could look and see what you wanted and then they would put it on a plate and you could either stay and eat it or leave. I had chicken that seemed like it was slow cooked with rice. It was really, really good. I like going to local restaurants because the food is good."

Jason our boat boy was forever fishing, we never saw him catch anything but he tried continuously. On the last day he was disappointed to hear that we were leaving because he wanted to take the boys fishing, maybe he thought that they would bring him some luck.

Moving north from the capital city and all of the rain, we then anchored at a small village called Portsmouth where we took a river tour on the Indian River. The Indian River is part of a national park which means that we were unable to motor up the river to check things out. Martin was our man (Providence was his boat name) to row us up the river and to teach us about the incredible Bloodwood Trees that grow here, the root system on these trees was unreal, seeing and walking amongst them was like being in a Harry Potter book where the trees almost come alive. Along this river the trees were like a canopy that hung over top of us and below us were the huge mullet fish that gently swam around probably knowing that they were protected from fishermen.

Portsmouth also brought with it a beautiful beach with some palm tree swings that the kids took full advantage of. It is always fun to see the local kids (being Christmas vacation there were a few of them) down at the beach enjoying their beautiful backyard playground, our kids always learn so many tricks from them. They spent hours swinging from these simple ropes into much too shallow water and enjoying their skim boards. We find ourselves constantly saying that if we were back in Canada our government would have guard rails around such things.

New Years Eve and Day found us on the Island of Guadeloupe, being the exciting group that we are we were in bed at around 10 pm unable to stay awake to bring in the new year. Like Grandpa at the lake says “8 pm is sailor’s midnight.” We therefore celebrated on New Year’s Day with a bottle of bubbly. We unfortunately had not much time to spend on the island of Guadeloupe, but we did take a beautiful New Years Day stroll down a sidewalk along the waters edge and found some street vendors selling none other than delicious snow cones in your choice of flavors; Mint, Lemon, Fruit Punch, Pomegranate just to name a few. They make these snow cones by scraping a huge block of ice with a special scraping tool and then filling a cup with the cool ingredients. We were also on a mission to find our captain a new pair of sandals as one of his went overboard on our latest passage. The French English barrier is one that is hard to overcome, we could use Coach Norm and his clan to come down and help us out. We finally found a pair in his size and a salesman that could not understand how we could be Canadian and not speak French.

Leaving Guadeloupe we had a decision to make, go northwest to Montserrat, Nevis, St.Kitts, and Statia or head straight north to Antigua and Barbuda. Being the head teacher on the boat I insisted on doing both. Go west to the island of Montserrat to see the active volcano and then head east to Antigua and Barbuda.

Montserrat – the Island with the active Volcano! Now this was a field trip that we will never forget. In 1995 the Soufriere Hills Volcano erupted destroying the capital city of Plymouth. The population here at the time of the volcano was 10,000, many from the US and Canada who were here for some beautiful peace and quiet that the Caribbean offers. After the volcano erupted the majority of people moved away leaving only 4,500 people living on the north end of the island. It is amazing to see how one island can have two totally different landscapes in such a small area. The volcano with its grayness and bareness is on the south side and on the north side is a beautiful green luscious landscape. Sailing past the swallowed up town of Plymouth was definitely a surreal (a word that I seem to be using often now a days) feeling. Houses and more houses, stores, hospitals and schools half buried in lava & ash and now deserted. A whole city just empty of everything. How quickly people’s lives and businesses were turned upside-down and they were forced to start over somewhere else. Technically there is a 2 mile exclusion zone off of the end of Montserrat where you are supposed to stay clear, but with a captain like ours we needed to get closer. In the summer of 2003 the huge volcanic dome collapsed and now the volcano shows signs of settling down to sleep, although with all of the smoke still pouring out it sure seems like it is far from sleeping.

"Kiana – The Volcano on Montserrat was smokin’.(hahaha) There was a town buried under lava and ashes. We were able to see this better than most people because we sailed closer then we were supposed to (opsie!). Seeing the buried houses made me thankful that I do not live near a volcano. When we got to where we were heading (Little Bay) it really didn’t seem like there was much around to do. Dad said that on the other side of the mountain there was a beach. So we hopped off the boat and tried to find our way around a construction zone for a half an hour and when we finally found the path we hiked for another half an hour on a steep path over the mountain. We found a long beach with soft sand and great water and we had it all to ourselves. We didn’t get to stay there for long because we had to save time for our long hike back before dark. When we got back to the boat the boys decided to try and get to the beach with the dinghy and found that it was a 2 minute ride. Oh well at least we got some exercise. TaTa for now folks. "

"Cole - This volcano was a lot different than I thought it would be. I thought that it would just be a small mountain with a small hole at the top of it, but it turns out that it was a huge mountain with smoke coming out of the top and houses half covered with lava. I would have liked to see the hospital that was worth 28 million dollars but it was covered with lava and we were not allowed to walk within a mile of the town. We also hiked over a huge hill and on the way we saw donkeys, goats and wild pigs. Once we got to the beach it turned out that we could have gone on a two minute dinghy ride instead of walking through prickly bushes. We had fun at the beach. "

Sailing straight east when the wind is also straight from the east is not a pretty task. So the captain made a decision, motor from Montserrat to Antigua. Motoring proved to be not as boring as we had all thought, due to the fact that when we are sailing we achieve approx. 8-10 knots in speed compared to approx 5 knots under motor, our fish hooks were not quite a blur to the fish. 6 hours of motoring, 7 delicious fish to stock our freezer. 3 Barracuda, 3 Tuna and 1 Kingfish, how delicious fresh Tuna sushi is. (i-Gen guys, sorry it just won’t keep that long, you will have to come down to try it out)

Antigua & Barbuda (A beach for every day of the year)

I can honestly say that I am in beach heaven and it is killing me to leave the beaches here. I would have thought that we had already seen the best of the best but I was wrong. Barbuda wins the beach contest by far. 11 Mile Beach is the name and that only begins to describe what we came across, 11 miles of beautiful pinkish white perfect sand, only one other sailboat in sight, a hotel that has been closed down (one that we later found out was a special spot for Princess Diana) and fresh coconuts, plenty for the taking. Then we forced ourselves to pick up anchor from this beautiful spot, sailed around to the west side of the island only to see a 13 mile beach in the same state. I really am in heaven.

"Tyler – Barbuda has a 13 mile beach. When we went there, there was absolutely no one there just like on all of the other beaches in Barbuda. When we came in on the Kayaks, with all of our clothes on, me, my mom and Kiana went in the yellow one and Dad Luke and Cole went in the orange one. We in the yellow Kayak came ashore perfect, riding a big wave perfectly onto shore, but when my dad, Luke and Cole tried riding the wave, Luke and Cole got a bit worried so they jumped out, luckily dad had his camera in a bag, because after that the Kayak looked like a surf board. It flipped and took dad with it. I laughed really hard. "

"Luke – In Barbuda we went for a walk down a beach that was really long and had nobody on it. There was a really nice hotel that was deserted. We found 9 coconuts under a coconut tree that we broke out of their outer shells and then we walked back to the Kayaks. We put them in the Kayak and then dad went back to the boat to get us some cold pop, but when Cole tried to pull dad out over the waves he got smoked by the Kayak and hurt his head. We lost one of the coconuts in this accident and dad fell out of the Kayak for the second time. That was one of my favorite beaches. "

On the island of Antigua we anchored off of a beach where there was a beautiful hotel/resort of the obviously very rich. Provided to all of the guests were luxurious beach loungers with thick foam cushions which were covered with a thick beige towel and rolled up for their use were 2 more thick beige towels (which were all collected and cleaned every night) and they were served bottles of water or whatever they wanted to drink by an employee who walked up and down the beach…..and then there was us on our well used beach towels laying on the beach with our little cooler. At our anchorage here the kids spent hours diving down and collecting many starfish which are an amazing creature. They had to put them upside down on the boat or else the starfish would suction himself on to the boat. Cole also had to watch what his starfish was suctioning on to…….

Pushing forward to the island of St.Martin we were amazed once again. Mega Yacht capital of the Caribbean for sure. The size of some of these boats is absolutely incredible; with the size of some of them I would love to see what these people’s houses look like.

While waiting for the captain to clear us into customs, the kids and I decided to take a bit of a walk and what did we find but a McDonalds. In we went for a delicious ice cream, fries and half an hour of watching tv, which they conveniently had hanging on the wall, I didn’t realize how much I was missing that silly thing. For supper we decided to go out to a restaurant, but this was not your normal restaurant, this one was definitely for happy, sun burnt, drinking tourists. Man what our kids are learning now that they can get into places like these, they really are having the time of their lives.

St.Martin was a great place to shop, it is a duty free island which simply meant that prices were finally reasonable. So Kevin stocked up in the sailboat shops and scuba shops (2 new scuba tanks were purchased) and the kids and I in the souvenir shops. Even though St. Martin seemed like a lovely island we were anxious to get going as we knew that one more day of sailing would get us to the BVI where Grandma and Grandpa from the lake were awaiting our arrival.

January 10, 3:00 am we hauled up anchor from St.Martin and headed west for one of our longest passages in our 7 months of sailing, to the BVI (British Virgin Islands). What should have been a great day of sailing turned into another day of great fishing. The winds were just not howling in our favor and we were forced to motor and restock our fish freezer once again.

Kiana Swinging

Cole on the skim board

St.Vincent, St.Lucia, and Christmas in Martinique

2008-01-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

December 14, 2007

St. Vincent was a different island, we still have mixed feelings about whether we really liked it or not. We stayed at a marina here called the Blue Lagoon where we were unable to just jump into the water for a quick cool down swim, it was somewhat dirty, thankfully because we were paying for a mooring ball here, we were able to use the swimming pool and shower facilities at the marina.

St. Vincent has a volcano called La Soufriere which rises to about 4,000 feet. We decided to take a tour to the top of the volcano and check things out. Absolutely amazing, about 5 hours of hiking (there and back) up a mountain and through an unbelievably green rainforest, Leslie our tour guide was another great person with an abundance of knowledge about his island. He is a local grandfather with 2 kids and 2 grandkids who hikes up to the top of this volcano 3-4 times a week. It was a challenging hike and would definitely keep a person in great shape. Bamboo has my vote for favorite plant/tree, they are amazing they grow so perfectly straight and are incredibly strong. The locals use bamboo as supports while building their houses until the cement supports are completed. The first hour and a half was total rainforest and then as we gained altitude the air became cooler and the forest became a lot less dense until there was not much more than grass growing. We came across a lava river bed that was quite a site to see, the lava cooled and became amazingly smooth. The kids were amazed at all of the volcanic rock around them, trying to crack them open to see what they could find inside, hoping for some precious gems of some sort. Quite a few pieces made it home with us in shorts pockets for family and friends to see. This volcano was last active in 1979 and Leslie our guide, who has lived on this island his whole life, was here to witness it, how neat/scary would that be? A bit of a disappointing arrival at the top of the Volcano, we were surrounded by thick, wet clouds that refused to clear away. We were unable to see the complete rim around the volcano but were able to see down inside where there was a pool of sulfur water. The winds were so strong that Leslie made us sit down so that we would not be blown several hundred feed down in to the crater. We were so wet and cold that our visit at the top was quite short. (I was not too impressed with the short visit as I was still huffing and puffing from the hike up). During our hike a couple of ‘local’ guys who actually live up on this volcano and do some ‘ganjia farming’ in the rich volcanic soils, as Leslie called it, passed us with only bare feet. These guys live up on the mountain for months growing ‘weed’ that they then carry down to sell in the local towns. I am very sorry to tell you all that Kevin has also picked up a bad addiction to Hairoun, he consumes at least 6 350ml containers a day and is always searching for a local dealer. (It is actually pronounced Hi-roon and is the local beer in St. Vincent). Kevin is collecting beer from each island to share with his beer buddy Devin who will be arriving in February. On every island each brand of beer is carefully sampled and only the best brands are allowed into Kevin’s collection. On our descending hike, our kids turned into Tarzan and Jane and began swinging from the vines in the forest. Well they were more like George of the Jungle as they were not the most graceful swingers. How FUN. On our return to Leslie’s van we arrived to a disappointing sight, obviously sales in the drug business are not as good as we thought, one of the mountain men broke into his van and stole his sunglasses and to Kevin’s total disappointment our locally made chicken Rotis lunch. Rotis are a local dish that is made up of chicken, potato and a curry mixture that is wrapped up in a flatbread of sorts, it is really good. Poor Leslie who is such a positive man, was so frustrated with these guys. We did get to visit the local police station so that Leslie could file a report for his insurance, so that was kinda cool.

Using the local bus system we also visited the local market in the capital town of Kingston, these markets are where the locals shop at and are off the beaten path where the cruise ship tourists are not taken. They are always fun to visit as they are loaded with all the fun fruits and veggies and breads to buy. I will never complain about my work load again, these local farmers haul all their ripe fruits and veggies into the market on a daily basis for other locals to buy, whatever does not sell they haul home just to be brought back tomorrow. There were also about 5 different hardware stores in a 2 block space and if you can believe it not one of them had a steak knife, maybe if we had called it a Chicken Roti knife they would have had one. Next on our agenda was a trip to the Botanical gardens. We were given a quick tour of the gardens and of course our favorite thing here was the talking parrots. The kids had them talking like crazy…Hello…Morning… They are a rare and protected bird in St. Vincent and were wonderful to see up close. The gardens themselves, although they had some interesting trees and flowers from around the world, were not kept up as well as we thought they would be. After visiting the Devonian Botanical Gardens so often, we had high expectations I guess.

After heading out of the Blue Lagoon marina we were off to Walliabou Bay on the north side on St.Vincent. Now this is where the filming of “Pirates of the Carribean” took place. Definitely a large part of 1 and smaller parts of 2 and 3 were filmed here. Disney left different stage parts behind taking down anything of value I am sure. It was so neat to be able to climb and stand where Johnny Depp had once been. One of the local bar owners, where a large portion of the props remain, sells copies of a picture that he took of Depp where it shows him drinking a beer and smoking a joint , I am sure Johnny would be happy about that. Saturday night on our boat is movie night, needless to say Pirates of the Carribean 1 was the request for this Saturday and sure enough we saw all the parts in the movie, it sure caused us to watch the movie in a different way, a lot more exciting. The boat boys here in Wallilabou Bay are sure proud of their area and are quick to let you know that they played a part in the movie, mostly fishermen.

December 18, 2007

From St. Vincent our next stop will be St. Lucia. Now St. Lucia brings us a bit of extra excitement as we know some people on this island that we are going to meet up with and tour around with. Vicki and Doug from Regina, SK, whom we met this past summer out a Wabamun Lake (Liz and Harvey, Liz and Vicki are sisters, who own a cabin beside Kevin’s parents out at the lake graciously introduced us and the rest is history) own a house here and spend their winters in luxury on the beautiful island of St.Lucia.
A HUGE THANK-YOU goes out to Doug and Vicki who opened their beautiful piece of heaven to us and welcomed us with open arms. This was the first time on our trip that we were able to go into a home on one of the islands, they are amazing in that because all of the islands are incredibly hilly they are all built on stilts of some sort. Well Liz and Doug’s house is no exception; up high on a hill with their gardens in their yard and fruit trees wherever you turn I can sure understand why they come back winter after winter. Just imagine cleaning up your summer garden in Canada just to turn around and plant another one here, only add a mango, grapefruit, lime, orange and coconut trees to the mix. Nothing beats fresh fruit from your own fruit trees and Vicki and Doug had our mouths watering in no time. Huge mangoes served up still on their peels, with a facecloth to catch all of the juices running down our faces. We were kept busy eating fresh fruit, and also had a quick lesson on the Canadian method of extracting coconut water from the coconut, Vicki is amazing with the drill. Thank-you again for your hospitality and amazing produce that came home with us, I don’t think the delicious mangoes and oranges made it 24 hrs on our boat.

The day following our visit to Vicki and Doug’s house, Vicki became our tour guide extraordinaire for the day. We had a destination of the St. Lucia Botanical gardens, but in order to get there we had to hop on to a local bus which here in St. Lucia is a little bit different, here they are regulated which means that there is not the squishing in and sitting on knees that we experienced on other islands. What was the same about this bus system were the roads that they have to wind in and out and up and down. The bus trip was just as educational as the botanical gardens themselves. We viewed such amazing sights as banana plantations, local villages, local farming villages and the beautiful Piton Mountains (two mountains which stand side by side with a beautiful anchorage in between them, you can climb the taller of the two). We arrived at the Botanical Gardens just before opening time and therefore beat the daily cruise ship rush, which we were very thankful for. The Gardens here in St. Lucia definitely made up for the gardens in St. Vincent. We saw the most beautiful flowers and plants and trees up close and personal while taking a relaxing walk on beautiful paths that lead around the gardens. It was so nice to see the grounds so incredibly well taken care of. In the gardens we saw some mineral baths that Louie XVI had built so that his soldiers could relax and benefit from the minerals, they have been redone for tourists to swim in, but we did see the original baths. Supposedly if you bath in them they take 10 years off your looks, none of us figured we needed this so we simply admired. In these gardens we also came across the Diamond Falls, these diamond falls contain the same minerals as the baths and therefore have colored the stone wall behind them, an absolutely stunning view. Our tour with Vicki was not over with the bus rides and the Botanical Gardens, she then took us to Milo’s Restaurant in the village of Soufriere. A little local restaurant where they served up an absolutely delicious lunch of Chicken and Fish Rotis with a salad or fries and of course a cold Piton (the local beer on St. Lucia, it is getting harder and harder for Kevin to pick a favorite).
Once again a HUGE THANK-YOU to Vicki for taking a day to spend with us, it was wonderful.
We had one more stop to make on St .Lucia (well there was more than one but we are having to pick and choose as we are on somewhat of a schedule) we had to visit Pigeon Island National Park. This island is actually not an island on its own anymore; it has been attached to St.Lucia, with a couple beautiful hotels on the manmade causeway. Pigeon Island is made up of 2 peaks joined by a saddle ridge that we were able to hike to the top of and across. These peaks were used in the 1780’s as a strategic British observation post to see the next island north, the French in Martinique, who had planned to dispel of the British in the Caribbean. Unfortunately for the French the British on Pigeon Island were watching their every move and when they left Martinique to try to take over the island, Admiral Rodney and his fleet were ready and waiting. The British defeated the French in less than 24 hours and Pigeon Island has not played an important role since. In 1817 a hurricane destroyed many of the buildings here but thankfully there are still enough left for us to let our minds imagine and wander. There is a small museum here which helps to create a picture in your mind and a smaller bar under the museum in some of the old officer’s barracks, where the walls are made of large stone and tunnels lead in and out of the bar/restaurant. We stopped for a quick drink and I had a/one pina colada that sent my head spinning. (That local rum gets you every time.) There were a few old large trees here that kids insisted on climbing, it was not till we wanted them to pose for a picture that they realized that they were full of ants, just look at their faces, they were laughing so hard and were unable to sit still.

Here in St. Lucia we anchored at Rodney Bay, which is a beautiful beach about a mile long. It also has a huge marina that holds hundreds of boats. We are thankful for the large marina here in the lagoon because on our sail over we noticed some stitching coming out in our Jib (that is the sail up at the front of the boat) so we took it down and had the local sail maker sew it up for us. We also found a great Italian ice cream shop here at the marina where I am sure they know us by name. We visited the mall in St. Lucia a couple of times to purchase some Christmas food and gifts to help with our Christmas Spirit. I never realized how Christmas shopping puts one in the mood so quickly; I guess the idea of giving really does go a long way.
Well our time in St. Lucia was very limited but we were able, with the help of some new friends, see the best parts of it and stock up on some Christmas cheer.

December 23, 2007

Well 2 sleeps before Santa comes and we are heading for the Island of Martinique. Now this island for those of you who have heard our boat purchase and hurricane story, know is where we purchased our boat back in August. Kevin and I think that we kinda know the ins and outs of this island, even though it is French and we cannot understand a word, know what to expect and can at least rent a car and get around on our own (you drive on the right hand side here). We rented a little 2 door car here and squished all six of us in to the four available seats, still more comfy that the 21 people in the van alternative. We drove along the east / Carribean coast to see what we could find, not really looking for anything in particular just feeling great with our new freedom. Here we found a little village called St. Pierre where in 1902 Mount Pelee erupted and coved the entire town with lava leaving only two men alive, one man was down in his cellar and the other man was a criminal in an underground jail. Here we had some delicious pizza at a little French restaurant and then took the afternoon to enjoy one of Martinique’s beautiful black sand beaches. Now being Christmas eve and all we headed home to locate the man in red on his journeys around the globe (the internet is an amazing thing). The kids were very excited but nervous at the same time as they were told that this Christmas would be smaller due to our location and limited funds for Christmas gifts. Lets just say they said extra prayers that Santa would be good to them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.
December 25, 2007

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.
Our first Christmas away from family, friends, Christmas parties, snow and everything we know, turns out to be alright, I have always said that as long as Kevin and the kids are with me I will be alright and this just proves it.
How better to explain Christmas than through a child’s eyes……

Kiana – We had a very different Christmas this year in Martinique. Tyler woke me up, It was about 4:45. I was about to yell at him for waking me up so early in the morning but then remembered it was Christmas (YAY!!!). I quickly climbed out of my top hatch (the window right above my bed) and crawled over to theirs and we had we had a 15 minute long countdown while listening to my iPod (the earliest we were allowed to wake up was 5:00). We ran out to the kitchen and woke up mom and dad it took an extra 10 minutes for them to actually know why they were being woken up so when they were awake enough we all started ripping open the many presents we got(thank you!). When everything was open and most of it tried out mom and dad decided we should go for another ride in our car we rented we stopped by a really nice beech. The waves there were big so we were worried that we couldn’t swim because usually where the are big waves there is shallow coral .When the boys went to investigate they found it was just really shallow sand. I was sooooo sad because I had forgot my bathing suitL . We didn’t stay for long any ways and I ended up getting soaked any waysJ. For supper that night we had turkey, ham, stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, and pumpkin (yummy). Well that’s all folks. kiana

Cole – Christmas day was a lot different here than at home, no snow, no Christmas tree and no relatives but overall it was still fun. We woke up at 5 am our time, 2 am your time to see the table full of presents. We got lots of board games, Skim boards (these are like surf boards you use in the sand and water to ride on like a snowboard), books, clothes and candies. Everything but the books, clothes and candy we are sharing. Then after opening presents we drove to a beach with big waves which we had fun in and then we drove home and had a big supper of Turkey, ham, pumpkin, potatoes, and stuffing. This is a Christmas that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Tyler – Christmas day this year was small. My best present was the Skim boards from Santa. After we opened our presents we got to go to the beach, it was easy to learn how to use the boards but I fell down a few times learning. After the beach in our rental car we went home to the boat and I helped mom make some homemade stuffing. In it we put butter, celery, garlic and croutons. The supper was really good.

Christmas day we spent opening gifts and going on another tour with our sports car, well that is the way Kevin drove it anyways. With new gifts in hand we headed for a beautiful beach on the southern end of Martinique. I wanted to take the kids down to the Marina in the town of Le Marin where we purchased the boat and witnessed firsthand hurricane Dean. We showed them the hotel we stayed in and the damage that was done to the island. It is amazing how the locals all pull together to clean up their town and get back to normal. It has been four months since the hurricane and except for a few stranded sailboats out in the bay things look pretty back to normal, even the palm and coconut trees have grown new leaves and seem to be back to normal. It does help that Martinique is part of France and when it is needed France steps in and helps out, this is very noticeable when you get to the other islands where they are independent and are left to their own devices.
December 29, 2007
Well we hauled up anchor on Boxing Day and sailed away from Martinique in search of some more beautiful sights. Next island up, Dominica, the nature island.

Luke – While we were sailing we saw a big brown thing, it turned out to be a big turtle that was floating at the top of the water. When we got closer it lifted its head up and then dived down.

Diamond Falls

Black Pearl

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the One Life Crew

2007-12-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

In LOVE with the Grenadines! (Turtles, Rays, & Clear Water)

2007-12-14T03:29:00.000-08:00

Well, the past couple of weeks have seemed like the first that we honestly slowed down, with very few jobs to get done (there is always the bottom of the boat to clean, we will save that for our guests) and no place to go. After dropping mom and dad off at the airport in Canouan we did a bit of grocery shopping (I don’t think that the kids will ever complain about having to carry groceries from the van into the kitchen again). We walked to the local food marts and fruit stands to purchase what we could (In the Caribbean it seems that you shopping to see what they have as opposed to having a list to buy). We carried it all back to the boat (those black superstore bags are sure coming in handy down here), a nice little hike. The fruits here are amazing. On a daily basis we consume golden apples (which are not at all like apples, more like a juicy peach with a prickly seed that the locals say to use as a toothbrush), mangos, bananas, avocadoes, grapefruits, sugar apples, star fuite and juicy tomato’s, they are fresh, huge and delicious. We are quickly learning to purchase these from the local fruit stands and not from the boat boys, as of course they need to add on their profits for their families and the gas for their boats. On the way home from grocery shopping, with our arms loaded full, a local fisherman approached Cole with a spear gun in hand and asked if we had any extra money to help repair his broken gun. In return he would bring us a nice grouper (fish) to have for supper. Cole (like grandpa on the farm) was suspicious and was sure that we would never see the guy or the grouper again…….Kevin gave the guy 20EC($7) and 2 hours later we heard a loud whistle from down the beach and sure enough our fish had arrived, except it was no grouper. Our donation had purchased us 10 Brazilian Lobster, who knew there was such a thing. The “lobster” were about the size of extra large shrimp. Kevin cleaned and barbequed them and sure enough they were delicious and another meal from the ocean.

From Canouan we headed back down south to the Tobago Cays, this would have been Saturday December 1, 2007. I am writing this on about the 12th and it is hard to remember days and dates in the past, well it is hard to remember today’s date also, all of the days kinda mix together. The Tobago Cays are an amazing place, like I said previously, it is a park where you have to pay a nightly fee of 10 EC per adult and half price for kids. There are 5 very small islands that make up the Cays and they are all surrounded by a reef, which means that water remains calm enough to anchor and sleep comfortably (This is very good!). We stayed here for four nights and loved every minute of it, we kayaked or dinghyed to every island to check them all out and did a lot of snorkeling, all of the islands were small enough to walk around, but only one had a shoreline that we could actually walk around, half of it rocks (the Atlantic side) and the other half beautiful sand. When we first arrived here some neighbors from Canada (they were actually from Pigeon Lake) told us that some turtles would pop their heads up right around the boat, well we sure kept our eyes peeled for these amazing creatures. Sure enough one morning at about 10:00 am, when I am trying to keep kids attention long enough to do schoolwork, we see some little heads popping out of the water to get a quick breath of air. I am sure it only took us 2 minutes to get our snorkeling equipment out of storage and into the water. These creatures are absolutely amazing, they were tame enough for us to observe for quite a long time and the kids and Kevin were even able to dive down and pet them. We were also fortunate enough to swim with many rays here, the kids took some amazing underwater pictures here. The Tobago Cays receives many visitors on a daily basis, some beautiful, huge sailboats pull up outside the Cays and take their guests ashore, these sailboats are actually like a cruise ship where you stay on them for a week and they sail you around. There are also day cruisers that come out here with people off of the huge cruise ships, they only stay for a few hours and then leave again. We are so thankful that we have the extra time to take to fully enjoy all that these areas have to offer.

We are also very relieved that Kevin figured out our anchoring problems, there were no anchoring skill problems, he simply put the anchor together wrong, slightly upside down. Now that we have things sorted out we have a hard time getting the darn thing out of the ground. I am sure that all of our future guests will be thankful for this. The kids think that maybe had to much beer when he was puting the anchor together the first time. Anything's possible!

Luke – December 3, 2007
Today I got to take my dad’s camera into the water, I videoed a stingray and some turtles. The turtles were my favorite; I had to kick really hard to get to the bottom to get close to them. I got to touch the one and it felt hard but kinda soft. I don’t think that he even felt me touch him. I followed him from the bottom where he was eating sea grass to the top where he had to get air. He seems to be able to hold his breath for a long time; I am learning to hold my breath for a long time to. While I was looking at the turtle it was kinda freaky when a stingray came right under me. I thought that he would jab his tail into me (like the crocodile hunter), but he didn’t he just swam away, he was really flat with a really long tail it is like twice as long as him. I am sure excited for my cousins and friends to come visit.

Cole – December 3, 2007
Today was one of the best days since we have been here because while we were doing school work I kept on seeing heads pop out of the water. First I just thought that they were snorkelers but then I noticed that they were turtles. So then I quickly dropped my pencil grabbed my snorkel and goggles and jumped in to swim after them. When I got over top of them they looked small from the top where I was, but when I dived down or they came up they were almost as big as me. They did not seem to care that we were swimming beside them, they just dove down and started eating again. I touched one of them three times and another one once, they were hard and covered in algae kind of. They had white on their stomachs, necks and chins. Dad and I also spotted a big spotted eagle ray, they look like stingrays but with a big nose and long thicker tails. After supper Kiana, Luke and Tyler tied me up to the jib with lots of line, at the end it was almost impossible to get out, so they pulled my pants down (thank goodness it was dark) so they had to untie me, we had lots of fun even though I ended up with a rope burn.

Just East of the Tobago Cays is an island called Mayreau and on this island is a beautiful bay called Salt Whistle Bay. A friend from Grenada had said that it was a must stop, so with this info how could we miss it. Salt Whistle Bay is a beautiful sandy beach with a neat little hotel and restraunt tucked back in behind the palm trees. We stayed here for two nights and went to the restraunt for a great lunch in their outdoor little table booths. On Salt Whistle Bay they also had the classic palm tree over the water, how could we miss a great picture of the kids here. Unfortunately the waters were to mixed up for us to do any snorkeling here, but after being at the Cays it would be hard to beat.

With great hesitation we left the Tobago Cays and headed for the next island North, Bequia. Bequia is still part of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, but is a small island with only one major town and several small villages. When Kevin and I were down here in August we stopped at this island to grab me some more Gravol and Kevin remembers loving this island, sure enough all of the kids followed suit. We did a lot in our short stay here on Bequia. We loved the local ‘Rasta’ fruit market where all of the Rastafarian vendors say “Me remember you from yesterday Mon, and remember you promise, you would buy from me…” they all say this to you so or course we have to buy a little something from all of them. Bequia is an old whaling island. Years ago the locals on this island were big into catching and killing whales for their blubber that they then turned into oil. In order to hunt the whales the local fisherman would make their own open bow boats out of wood and spear the whales by hand. When a whale was speared, it would pull their tiny boats through the water at speeds sometimes over 50 km/h! The crew would focus on keeping the boat from being pulled under the water or capsizing until the whale tired and they could kill it. To this day Bequia is the only island in the Caribbean to allow whaling. They are able to kill two whales per year, but many years do not kill any as most of the whaling skills have not been past on to the younger generation.

The tradition of boat building however is still alive in Bequia, albeit they are now beautiful model boats of different complexity, sizes, and styles. While walking around town we visited 3 or 4 model boat builder shops and looked at their amazing work. All of the work is done by hand out of wood found on the island or wood that is shipped in from none other than Canada, ‘Canadian White Pine’ they called it. Luke decided to part with some of his spending money and purchase a kid’s coconut sailboat that is actually for putting in the water and sailing, every Easter the local kids build their boats and have races down at the shore, the other boats in the shops are simply for admiring.

When anchored, it is a very regular occurrence to have boat boys (vendors) approach your boat to sell virtually any product or service you can imagine. Sometimes the frequency of the visits and the repetitiveness of the products sold can become quite annoying. Once in a while a breath of fresh air blows in, well this breath of fresh air was Whistling Willy. When Willy first came by the kids were at the beach and Kevin and I thought, oh no, here we go again; but Willy’s products were very unique relative to the other venders. His hand carved pendants and jewelry were beautiful and we thought they would be of great interest to the kids. We convinced Willy to come back the next morning so the kids could have a look. He agreed and off he went whistling away under the power of the wind using a homemade sail/parachute to propel himself from boat to boat. Sure enough the kids parted with more of their spending money and made Willy a happy man.

After Willy left, Kevin and I took the dingy to the beach to get the kids for supper. The waves crashing on the beach were quite large so we pulled the dingy up onto the beach as far as we could before going for a swim with the kids. While swimming I looked back to find our dingy being thrashed around by the large waves crashing in on the beach. The Captain called for all hands on deck and with great effort we gathered our dingy and all of its contents, which were now scattered all over the beach and in the water. After a half hour or so, we had everything put back together and the dingy emptied of the water and buckets of sand. Well that was enough relaxing for us and we headed back to the boat for supper!

Tyler – December 11, 2007
Well this week has been a great one. First mom, Dad, Kiana and Cole went Scuba diving, Luke and I could not go because you had to be 10, when Mom and Dad were Scuba diving me and Luke sat on the boat with Laurie and learned all about Bequia. Laurie was one of the instructors but he had a cold so he could not dive so he stayed on the boat with us. The second time that we went there was a ship wreck that we got to snorkel over and see it was a 100 foot tugboat. Bequia was not a busy town and it was small. We got to go to the Turtle Sanctuary where they catch baby turtles, keep them and feed them and then release them when they are 4 years old. We had an interesting ride there in the back of a truck, it was their taxis. We were anchored beside a really nice beach and when we went there to play we found a hole in the sand that would never get filled in, we could stick our whole head in it and come out all sandy, it was exciting but Cole got water in his ear and it hurt him. On Saturday mom and dad made us walk to the top of this mountain to a village called Mt. Pleasant where they were having a village “Light Up” celebration where they decorated everything with Christmas lights, it was really cool when they turned all the lights on.

Kiana – December 11, 2007
Bequia (bek-whey) is definitely going to be one of my most favorite islands. 1st it’s where I have started learning to scuba dive. Cole and I did the first dive out of four with our parents it was sooooo amazing. First we had to watch an “educational video” which was actually very helpful because sometimes understanding a Caribbean accent is difficult. There were 11 hand signals to memorize…ok?(irie?)/ok!(irie!), Stop, Go up, go down, Something is wrong, Don’t touch!, Ear problem, Exhale, Slow down mon, Out of air, and Share air. None of them were hard to remember they were all really common sense. The main thing to remember is to relax and don’t stop breathing! Besides that the instructors (Ron, Laurie and Rolando) take care of the rest. Another reason I love Bequia is because of the turtle sanctuary. They have a couple older turtles and hundreds of little baby turtles. They were sooooo cute and little about the size of an egg but the guy there wasn’t very talkative the turtles were friendlier than he was. The tastiest thing about the Caribbean islands is the fresh fruits and veggies that include

December 12, 2007
I wish that the kids would spend more time writing on this blog and less time msn’ing and emailing their friends. I had hoped that on this trip we would get away from the tv and the computers a bit but unfortunately they have taken over the world. The kids now fight over the computer daily and I am always thankful when we pull into an anchorage that has no internet access (although I do like reading my own emails). As was already mentioned Kevin and I took our SCUBA open water dive testing in Bequia and loved every minute of it. Kiana and Cole took a junior certification course and were able to come on our first dive with us. It was a little nerve racking as I was stressed about everything I had to do properly and also worried about the kids at the same time. Luke and Tyler are planning to take the same course on February 26, 2008 (their birthday) as you have to be 10 years old to take it. The diving in Bequia was great, we did 2 dives at 40 feet and 2 dives at 60 feet. It is amazing what lives down at those depths (I saw a lobster almost a big as I am), we hope to do more diving in the near future as we are in such beautiful diving areas. Once again we forgot out cameras and did not even get a picture of our dive instructors whom the kids became great friends with.

A great tradition here on Bequia is for villages to hang Christmas lights together, they do not place the lights on their own individual houses but down the streets of the village. Each village then has one evening in December when they ‘unveil’ their lights. On Saturday night we walked up to one such village to join in on their festivities. It is kinda like Bright Nights, there were local ladies who had cooked some local foods and were selling them and another couple who had set up a bar on the side of the road, it was one big village party. We arrived at around 6:30pm, the lights were turned on at around 8:30 and when we were heading back down the hill at around 10:00 the party was just getting started, there were many more people just heading up the hill in the pitch black night to enjoy the festivities. We did take some pictures but they are kinda dark as it was night time. Just before Christmas there is then a competition and one of the villages wins the ‘title’ of ‘Best Christmas Lights’ for the year. We were fortunate to be able to join in on this celebration. Kevin even met a friend that wanted to sell him some Ganja???

On Tuesday, with much reluctance, we pulled up anchor and sailed away from Bequia. If we were to do this trip again we would spend much more time in the Grenadines as it is truly a very special and unspoiled place. On the 8 mile passage from Bequia to St. Vincent we witnessed the roughest waters so far. We made the crossing in record time but it was a bit stressful and we were very glad to reach St. Vincent. We have no pictures of this but for anyone interested, rent the movie 'White Squal' and you will get the idea.

St. Vincent is a much larger island (20x12 miles) with a 3000 foot volcano (last active in 1979) on the north side of the island, it is called Soufriere. St. Vincent has a larger town, called Kingstown, where we will be able to stock up on groceries and all other supplies that are needed. With four kids to feed this is becoming more work than we thought on these small islands. I bet that you are all wondering how we get from our boat to the grocery store...well we decided back when we first began this trip that we would use local transportation when available and save our taxi money for special tours. In St. Vincent, as it was in Grenada, they have a local bus system, which don't be fooled is nothing like the bus systems in Canada. Here they use vans, just as we use at home, except these vans are privately owned, have names, have four or five rows of seats, a driver and a conductor, no route or numbers of where they are going, no speed limit that we can figure and finally no limit as to how many people they can put on at a time. Just imagine 21 people shoved into your family van which is then going incredibly fast around the mountain corners with music blarring in your ears, it is an adventure in itself everytime we flag one down, the benefit of this adventure is only 1 EC per person per trip (Disney would charge much more).

While here we hope to do lots of touring and sightseeing and hopefully catch up on some school work that seems to be forgotten when anchored close to the beautiful sandy beaches. I am so thankful that we only decided to do Math and Language Arts for homeschooling as we do not seem to have the time to dedicate to the books. The kids find it quite hard to concentrate, well just a second we found it hard to concentrate sitting at our kitchen table at home to. There is so much to learn and experience down here that I don't think that we are falling behind at all. (Dont't tell the kids that I said this.)

A huge congratulations to my brother, sister-in-law and nieces (Darin, Theresa, Payton, Madison and Jordan) who welcomed into their family today a brand new baby boy. Bryar Joseph Willy was born on December 12, 2007 at 5:40pm weighing 7lbs 12oz. I can’t wait to see and hold him. Congrats guys and all our love.

Swimming with the turtles #1

Swimming with the turtles #2

Swimming with the Sting Rays

Turtle Sanctuary

Our First Guests !! (The inlaws arrive)

2007-12-01T03:03:00.000-08:00

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...

Remote Control Boat at Sandy Island

Cole's Birthday

Remote Control Boat at Tobago Cays

Anchoring's a Drag, but the Dolphins are Cool !

2007-11-21T02:59:00.000-08:00

Well I can honestly say that we are officially on Caribbean time. Our daily entertainment is listening to the cruisers net at 7:30 am, where other cruisers like us (albeit most are retired and live down here on their boat year round) volunteer their time each morning to give us an update or the goings on around Grenada, events happening, different organized tours, pot luck suppers, domino games, different items for sale and so on.
Through listening to this broadcast we signed up for a full day island tour, which took place last Thursday.

Fortunately for us Thursday turned out to be a rainy day (4 kids on a boat inside all day would have had us packing and coming home). Our tour guide Cuthbert (Cutty for short) was an amazing local man who has lived his whole life on the island. This man knew every plant, flower, tree and spice on the island. Grenada is called the spice island, and on this tour we found out exactly why. This island, which is only 21 km by 8 km, used to produce the second largest amount of nutmeg in the world, next to Indonesia. Hurricane Ivan changed all of this in 2004 when it destroyed over 95% of the nutmeg trees, the nutmeg trees are just starting to recover as it takes the new ones 7 years to produce again. Cutty would stop his taxi/bus/van about every 5-10 minutes to hop out and grab some leaves, a fruit or spice of some kind for us to sample.

Kiana was most amazed with the Cocoa pods that Cutty picked off of a tree, he cut this big red fruit looking item in half and in the middle were cocoa beans, covered with this white slimy looking stuff. He told us to take one and suck on it (but not to bite them as cocoa beans need to be boiled before eaten), well they were far from appetizing looking but trusting him we each took one, two of the boys spit theirs out but Kiana and I (chocolate is a girl’s best friend) loved them. They had a slightly slimy sour coating on them but you could definitely taste the chocolate in them.

On the next tour we went through a nutmeg processing plant where all of the farmers on the island bring their nutmegs in to sell. Before the hurricane in 2004, 149 people (49 men and 100 women) were employed in this plant, today there are only 7. They eventually hope to see production increase back to where it was, although Cutty doubts it ever will, he says that the younger generation is lazy and are not taking over the plantations that their parents and grandparents are getting to old to work in, the tourist industry on the island has a higher profit margin for them and is a lot less work.
Everything in the plant is still done by hand, a nutmeg, when still hanging on the tree is a yellow fruit about the size of a lime, when they are ripe the fruit will split open to reveal a red slimy product called mace and inside this mace is the nutmeg ‘seed’. Every part of this nutmeg fruit is used in some way, the yellow fruit is used for making jams and jellies of which we have purchased and eaten already, the mace is used as a preservative, for ice cream and candy products, and finally the nutmeg is used for baking and adding to eggnog and rum punch.
Which brings us to our next little tour inside of our big tour, the rum factory.

The River Rum factory is the last remaining factory on the island that totally uses sugar cane to produce its rum. Another industry where it is getting harder and harder for them to continue, as growing and working with sugar cane is hard work and the younger generation is not stepping up to take over. The kids were not too impressed with the smells that came from this tour. We were taken through each process that the sugar cane juice goes through from the juice extraction by a 200 year old water wheel producing the power for the juicer to the fermentation process where the juice ferments and naturally produces its own yeast to the end distillation (boiling) process which creates the rum. We were each given a taste at the end of the tour of the two types of rum that they produce 60 and 75%. The kids thought that this was the best part. No we didn’t let them have their own glass, but we did let them stick their fingers in and I think that cured them from ever drinking rum again.

We all gained a more open mind about trying the different local fruits and spices and as Kiana puts it, “just stuff it in and if you don’t like it you can just spit it out and never ever, ever eat it again!”

The kids (and adults) had an eye opener when Cutty took us through a local neighborhood where the houses were as small as a Canadian garden shed. I asked him if one family would occupy one house and he told me that these houses were called Janet Houses, after Hurricane Janet. Venezuela had sent these prefabricated houses over to Grenada for the locals to live in. Cutty said that he grew up in one and that there were 15 people living in his house, kids slept on the floor under the beds, on the beds, under the table and on the table, wherever there was space. I don’t think that the kids will ever complain about space again. After Hurricane Ivan similar houses were sent over again, but this time, unfortunately, not everyone who needed one received one. It was a political case of; if you knew the right people in the right places then you received one, as did other members of your family.
As you can see this day was definitely a science and social class at its best.

Saturday brought us another all day rainy day that we all hope can soon be forgotten. We got up to listen to the morning cruisers net and then decided that the kids and I would go in to do some laundry and internet surfing at Whisper Cove Marina while Kevin ran into town to pick up some supplies to fix the solar panels on the boat. At approx. 2:00 pm a very large system moved in that brought with it 50 knot winds and large waves. The kids and I were safe doing laundry, watching a movie and surfing the net, when we received a phone call at the Marina from a fellow cruiser telling us that our boat was dragging through the anchorage (this is not a good thing as we were right in the middle surrounded by many other boats that we could have hit). Thankfully a neighbor of ours, Phil, from Newfoundland, knew that you didn’t need a key to start our boat and quickly hopped aboard ‘One Life’ and reset her anchor. Feeling bad about our day, we quickly learned that there are some amazing people down here who have done and been through what we went through and who would do anything for their neighbor.

Being Caribbean time and all, our solar panels were finally ready to be installed, so we relocated to Prickly Bay where the welder could come aboard to do his work. What Kevin thought would be an hours job turned out to be a days event, we should have know that lunch break would take 2 hours. Needless to say Kevin decided to do the wiring himself, and I do have to say that he did an amazing job. He did have the whole boat taken apart and I was scared that there would be left over pieces when he was finished. We are now running on solar power but are still constantly yelling at kids to turn off lights, still in that adjustment phase I guess.

Yesterday we decided that it was time to raise the sails and move to a more swim and snorkel friendly area. We headed North and had an amazing sail up the island of Grenada, the weather was perfect with the winds at 15 knots and the sun shining. We even had an escort by 6 Bottlenose dolphins just off our starboard bow. They were absolutely amazing, swimming along side of us, it could not have been a more perfect sail.

Today we spent most of the day on Grand Anse Beach, a white sandy beach over 2 kms long where the kids found probably 20 starfish, nothing better than sand and waves to keep 4 kids busy. I think that we will be spending a lot of time here.

This week brings us a new adventure. Our first guests (Grandma and Grandpa on the farm) will be joining us on Thursday evening. We are all very excited for their arrival and look forward to entertaining them for a week or so. We thank everyone for sending their ‘comments’ and well wishes to our blog! We all sit around together to read what everyone has to say and hear what is going on back home. Keep them coming and all our love to everyone. Wish you were all here with us. (Kind of! - says Kevin)

Throwing off the bowlines and Sailing away from the safe harbor.

2007-11-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were busy days for us. Friday night we signed ourselves up for a trip out to a small fishing town called Gouyave where every Friday night (called Fish Fry-day) they fry up their catches from the week for everyone to try out. We sampled many different local fish dishes along with different local fruit drinks and of course desserts/candies.

The kids were sampling everything until we reached the table that had these little fried fish that were still whole and people just popped them into their mouths and ate every piece of it. We asked about them and were told that they are cooked extra long so that the bones become soft and edible, the kids quickly became full.

They had a local school band entertaining with their steel pan band, I don’t think that I could ever hear enough of that music, it is so unique. (Well maybe if one of our kids was taking lessons I may think different) The only bad part of the evening was that I had to step in between two different Caribbean boys that became interested in our tall red headed beauty, we are going to have to keep an eye on her down here.

Saturday brought us taking a tour to the Seven Sisters waterfalls. We started out at 9:00 am on a rainy Saturday morning. Keith our tour guide was excellent, he knew the name of every plant and tree on the island, he is a local guy who was born and raised on Grenada and was very knowledgeable about the island. Half way to the falls Keith noticed a Mona Monkey sitting on a fence post, of course we stopped to take a closer look and have some pictures taken.

These monkeys were hunted by the locals until 2004 when Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada and since then the government has put a ban on hunting them since so many were killed in the hurricane and so many of their trees that they live in were destroyed.

They like to eat from your hand, this one in the picture is chewing on a chewy mint that another lady had just given him, I think that he would have much preferred a banana myself. In order to get to the waterfalls we had to hike a couple of miles through the rainforest. Like I said it was a rainy Saturday so the ground was very slippery and half way to the falls the rain came down like cats and dogs or should I say monkeys and snakes (we did learn that there are snakes but no poisonous creatures on this island, thank god) . Keith took out his machete and cut gigantic leaves for us to use as umbrellas but the rain was so strong that we were soaked anyways. We saw some incredible views and plants and trees, bamboo, nutmeg, guava, and many other island fruits and veggies, before reaching the waterfall which was also incredible.
Hiking in the Rocky Mountains to one of our waterfalls is a match to this except for the water temperature and the unbelievable foliage in the rainforest. Kevin happened to read an article Friday night about catching nasty bugs in the fresh water streams of the Caribbean (bugs that get into system and eat your internal organs and so on), so Saturday morning we (Kevin) mentioned this to the kids and told them that we were not going to let them swim in the fresh water pool of the waterfall, they were somewhat upset. Who do you think was the first one in the pool when we reached the waterfall…yup Kevin. Hopefully this is the first of many waterfalls that we will see on our adventures.

Sunday was another exciting day for us, it was finally the day to leave the “boring” marina. We were up early to clean the boat and get everything tucked away and ready to sail. At about 11:00 am we pulled away from the marina and headed out into the Atlantic Ocean for the kids first ocean sail. The wind was blowing at over 25 knots, not exactly what we wanted for their first time out (for those of you who are not sailors that is way too much wind, 15 knots would have been nice.) They all had a great time with Cole at the wheel for most of the trip and Tyler, Luke and Kiana sitting up front trying to get soaked, I am thankful for putting them into their summer sailing lessons as they knew what to expect, albeit much bigger waves and saltier water. We sailed out and around Hog Island and anchored in a bay behind the Island, where the kid’s friend Adam is also anchored. This has been a big step for us as we are now living the life that we came down here to live, no paying big bucks at the marina and the privacy and freedom to do what we please. It did not take the kids 2 minutes to put the kayaks into the water (we are also close enough so that they can swim, physical education class) and head into the beach by themselves for some playtime in the sand away from mom and dad. Now that is a nice break for all of us, far enough away so that we can’t hear them and close enough that we can still see them. We are still close enough to the marina so that when the welder is ready to install our solar panels we can simply pull back in for him to do this (which should happen on Tuesday….).

Luke & Tyler Having a Shower

The Forced Slow Down

2007-11-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Words of the week……adjustment & patience. Just imagine… 6 people and 13 hockey bags of stuff in a 42X21 foot area, we have stuff and people everywhere. Needless to say we have some adjusting to do with a lot of patience thrown in. Kevin has been on his own in China for 3 weeks and as one of the guys from work puts it “You are going to go insane in the first month.” (By the way, thanks to the guys from Kevin’s office who got together and purchased him a Speedo, sunglasses, and a book, I will be posting pictures) With excited kids under our heels, who have 100 other things to do other than schooling and trying to get 'tings' done on Caribbean time we are definitely having to make a few adjustments.

As the pictures show our kids have taken up a new and exciting past time… Ocean fishing. We have fishing rods made out of everything in sight; sticks, water bottles, hands… They have found that muscles picked off of the side of the pier works good as bait, but leftover chicken, although a little costly, is just as good and much easier.

Within no time, off the back of the boat, we had caught what we think to be a permit fish. We later learned that the locals catch these fish and simply throw them into a frying pan for a tasty treat.

On Tuesday morning we hired a guy to show us how to clean and wax the hulls of the boat.

Shawn and Tyler hit it off and Tyler is now enrolled in Shawn's Karate Kid training program (Wax on - Wax off).

In the afternoon, Dad had some work and waiting to do on the boat so the kids and I went to the beach just a dinghy ride away to spend the afternoon on Hogg Island.

It wasn’t long before the kids had made a friend, 9 year old Adam from Portugal who has lived his entire life aboard a sail boat.

Adam took Cole for a ride aboard his sail dinghy with Kiana chasing close behind almost keeping up with her long legs and flippers.

Some locals showed up to have a bar-b-que of Conch soup and a fish fry, they just happened to be frying the same fish that the kids were catching off the back of the boat, except it took them about 5 minutes to catch 10 of these fish right on the beach with nothing but some line, a hook and fresh conch for bait. Needless to say we are looking for Conch to use as bait.

We are currently staying at a Marina called Clarkes Court Bay Marina where the owner, Bob, is originally from Toronto. On different nights of the week they have theme get togethers at the Marina Bar (yes the kids are allowed in which they absolutely love) On Saturday night we joined in on the pot luck supper and Karaoke night and visited with lots of other boaters, it was fun. Tonight they are having hamburgers and fries for 10 EC a person which is $3.70 Canadian (math class at its best) and more importantly for Kevin a dollar off drinks.

The Adventure Begins !!

2007-11-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

4 kids + 2 stressed parents + 10 hours in 4 airports + 11 hours in the air + 13 lost hockey bags + humidity that knocks you over = the beginning of our fun-filled adventure.

Our house was full with 13 packed hockey bags that contained everything from bathing suits to Christmas decorations to scuba gear and school books. It was a stressful couple of days with Kevin arriving home from China on Monday the 29th with a to-do list that was 3 pages long. We quickly learned to prioritize and realize that what didn’t get done could either be delegated to a family member or friend or simply be left undone, and that is o.k. Thanks goes out to all of those that put up with us those last few weeks, well lets make it the last whole year since we set the date for this adventure. Thanks to the family members who have taken over our property managing, house/pet sitting and my house cleaner/sister that came in at the last minute to help put everything in order, we love and already miss you all.

So on to the trip. Anna and Dustin drove us to the Edmonton International Airport at 10:30 pm on Thursday night where Grandma and Grandpa on the farm were waiting to bit us farewell. We had quite a few eyes on us with our four kids loaded down with their carry on backpacks that were stuffed with leftovers that would not fit into our 13 hockey bags. We checked our bags through to Grenada but were told that we would have to pick all of them up in Toronto to clear through U.S. customs. On a good day I am stressed going through customs, but with 13 bags of things that we need/want with us the stress level multiplied.

All of our airplane rides were uneventful and on time, with movies to watch and an unlimited amount of Halloween candy to keep everyone happy. Going through U.S. customs was another story. Luke, Tyler and Cole put their funds together to purchase a remote control boat to take with them, we decided to take it on as carry on as it is a bit fragile, U.S. officials decided that the remote control hand piece was the “wrong shape” and told us that we could not take it as carry on. So off goes Kevin 3 steps back out through customs to check the boat as luggage. Unfortunately we had not all gone through customs and they found some magnets (you know the expensive colorful ones that the kids make shapes with) in my bag that also could not be taken as carry on, so off I go, leaving our kids in the customs room to chase Kevin to put the magnets in with the remote control.
We finally cleared customs in Toronto only to realize that through all of this chaos we lost our 4 badminton rackets, which thankfully can be purchased at the local hardware store upon arrival.

We arrived at the Grenada airport at 9:30 pm local time only to discover that not one piece of our luggage arrived on the same plane as us, which we later realized was a blessing in disguise as it was a huge feat to load on the boat and put away. We simply took off pants and climbed up onto the beds and instantly fell into a deep sleep. The kid’s first impression of our boat (which everyone who is coming to see us will appreciate) was “Whoa it is huge, way bigger than I thought it would be…”

Our first day here, with no clothes/shorts to change into, we decided to go shopping.

Introduction - Planning the Adventure

2007-11-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

Sometime in 2005 we had a crazy idea. We would take some time off to drop out of our normal life routine and sail the Eastern Caribbean with our 4 children, Kiana(13), Cole(11), Luke(9), and Tyler(9).

Over the following two years, Kendra and I learned to sail (no, we didn't know how to sail when we came up with the idea). Many people validated that yes our idea was the craziest that they had ever heard and that we were on the verge of being irresponsible, putting our family in such a risky situation. Others just kept silent! (But their body language was easy to read). Enough people did encourage us to pursue our dream and admitted that this was the type of idea that once you make the decision, if you do not follow through on the decision, it will haunt you for the rest of your lives.

With positive encouragement keeping us going, we began planning our trip. We spent many hours finding the right boat which turned out to be a 2002 Robertson & Caine Leopard 42 catamaran. We also spent countless hours formulating a plan for how our home lives, work lives, and business lives would be taken care of while we were gone. The kids began the 2007 school year home schooling and we will continue this throughout our trip.

In August, 2007 we took possession of our new sail boat ‘ONE LIFE’ on the island of Martinique. The day after taking possession, hurricane Dean passed over Martinique to give us a taste of the power of Mother Nature. Luckily, ‘ONE LIFE’’s life was not meant to end that day and survived with minor damage. Once the hurricane moved on and the seas calmed, Kendra and I sailed ‘ONE LIFE’ south to Grenada where she sat docked at Clarkes Court Bay Marina to wait out the hurricane season.

On November 2, 2007 we returned to Grenada and ‘ONE LIFE” as a family and our adventure began.

The Matwichuk Family
S/V ONE LIFE