Hello everyone.
We hope you all had a really great Thanksgiving. Let us fill you in on the past few days.
Tuesday we pushed off the dock in St. Maartin as you know. We originally intended to head straight to Gustavia, however, in our crusing guide we read about a tiny island with an anchorage about a 2 miles off the northern coast of St. Barthes called Ile Fourchue. We arrived in the dark and made dinner on the boat.
The next morning we awoke surrounded by the beautiful rocky cliffs of the island. The island, once occupied by only goats, is now empty. A few years ago the goats ate all the vegetation off the island (even the cacti) and began to die. The goats were removed from the island and slowly the vegetation is returning. We tried to hike around but the rocks were sliding beneath our feet we got pricked a few times by cacti. It just wasn't pleasant. Instead we grabbed our snorkeling gear to check out the reefs we read about. Sadly, it appears that a lot of. them have been destroyed from human carelessness. We saw a lot of fish none the less. Around 11 we pulled up our anchor and went to Anse de Colombier. It is an absolutely charming beach/anchorage in St. Barthes that can only be accesed by boat or foot path. We went kayaking and on a hike to Anse de Flamand. That evening we had a BBQ. It was the first time we ate red meat in a while and neither of us realized how much we missed it.
Thursday morning we headed to Gustavia to clear customs. We cleared customs and went on a ensure that we were very hungry for our feast. Around 11 we returned to the boat to begin preparing our feast. We had a chicken-it fit in the oven! We stuffed the chicken and surrounded it with potatoes and onions and let the oven do its work while we enjoyed the sunshine. An hour and 45 minutes later the chicken looked ready! We made a bit of extra stuffing, steamed spinach and gravy. Walid carved carved the chicken up and we dug in! We had a great feast followed by a nap. We have pictures that we will post within the next few days.
We have seen a nurse shark swimming around our boat and got fairly close up from the dingy. We've also seen a lot of sea turtles. We are very careful in our dinghy because they swim all over the anchorage. We have developed quite a liking to them. It makes me very sad though because every year they are injured or killed by jet skiiers and speeding people in their dinghys.
Today we are going to go snorkeling then to the beach for the afternoon. With in the next few days we will be heading to Saba. We are having a great time but missing everyone.
We hope you are all great and that you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.
Stay tuned for our picture postings. (We have some good ones!)
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Off to St. Barthes
Hello!
After a great weekend and day of work yesterday we are off to St. Barthes this afternoon. Sunday we hiked about 6 miles around the tip of the island so we were able to see the atlantic side as well. Today we are running final errands to pick up the spare parts, picking up groceries, and then are pushing off.
Today we are picking up our Thanksgiving dinner. Our oven is too small for a Turkey but we are hoping we can fit in a roast chicken. If not, we will downsize a step further to cornish hens! Walid is a bit worried about running out of propane if we run to oven for the time needed to roast a chicken but I feel that Thanksgiving spirit will prevail for us! (and if it doesn't we have extra propane tanks.) In addition to our bird we are going to make stuffing, creamed spinach, and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. We are really looking forward to our first Thanksgiving in boat land. If we don't find an internet cafe before Thanksgiving we hope you all have a great holiday and long weekend!
After a great weekend and day of work yesterday we are off to St. Barthes this afternoon. Sunday we hiked about 6 miles around the tip of the island so we were able to see the atlantic side as well. Today we are running final errands to pick up the spare parts, picking up groceries, and then are pushing off.
Today we are picking up our Thanksgiving dinner. Our oven is too small for a Turkey but we are hoping we can fit in a roast chicken. If not, we will downsize a step further to cornish hens! Walid is a bit worried about running out of propane if we run to oven for the time needed to roast a chicken but I feel that Thanksgiving spirit will prevail for us! (and if it doesn't we have extra propane tanks.) In addition to our bird we are going to make stuffing, creamed spinach, and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. We are really looking forward to our first Thanksgiving in boat land. If we don't find an internet cafe before Thanksgiving we hope you all have a great holiday and long weekend!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Our weekend in St. Maartin
Hello Everyone.
I am back to blogging and feeling better! It took a few days but I feel that my energy along with my spirits are back to normal.
We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend in St. Maartin. We spent it in Ft. Louis marina which we will leave tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning for St. Barthes.
Friday day Walid spent a lot of the day working on the boat. I found a great path up to the fort on the top of the island so I ran up and down the hill for a while to get my exercise. I explored the city in the afternoon and ran some errands. Friday night we had dinner at a french cafe on the water in Marina Royale in Marigot.
Saturday we spent the morning emailing and doing some (online) Christmas shopping for our families back home. In the afternoon we tried to dinghy to a beach that was near our marina but the surf was too rough to safely get the dinghy pulled out on the beach and there was no dinghy dock. Saturday night we had dinner inland at a great restaurant called the Tree Lounge.
As you can see it is surrounded by forest and has the feeling of being in a tree house. We spent a few hours sharing tapas before heading home.
Today we are trying to decide what to do. It is partly cloudy and rain showers have been passing through all morning. We have to get to the grocery store at some point and have also been wanting to go hiking along the coast.
We are having a great time in St. Maartin. We saw a big sea turtle on Friday swimming around in the marina. Yesterday as Walid was driving the dinghy I saw a baby sea turtle but it was gone by the time we turned around. We are feeling very positive about our trip and are having the time of our lives. We have fallen into a nice routine and coexistence and have even been getting along great!!
Over the next month in a half we are going to push through the carribbean to get to South America where we will explore inland a bit. We are both missing the cool weather and would love to do a little mountain climbing or hiking. We've tossed around climbing in Boliva or hiking the Inca trail in Peru. We are sitting down tonight to make a tentative schedule.
We are off to enjoy our Sunday and are hoping that you've all had a fabulous weekend!
I am back to blogging and feeling better! It took a few days but I feel that my energy along with my spirits are back to normal.
We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend in St. Maartin. We spent it in Ft. Louis marina which we will leave tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning for St. Barthes.
Friday day Walid spent a lot of the day working on the boat. I found a great path up to the fort on the top of the island so I ran up and down the hill for a while to get my exercise. I explored the city in the afternoon and ran some errands. Friday night we had dinner at a french cafe on the water in Marina Royale in Marigot.
Saturday we spent the morning emailing and doing some (online) Christmas shopping for our families back home. In the afternoon we tried to dinghy to a beach that was near our marina but the surf was too rough to safely get the dinghy pulled out on the beach and there was no dinghy dock. Saturday night we had dinner inland at a great restaurant called the Tree Lounge.
As you can see it is surrounded by forest and has the feeling of being in a tree house. We spent a few hours sharing tapas before heading home.
Today we are trying to decide what to do. It is partly cloudy and rain showers have been passing through all morning. We have to get to the grocery store at some point and have also been wanting to go hiking along the coast.
We are having a great time in St. Maartin. We saw a big sea turtle on Friday swimming around in the marina. Yesterday as Walid was driving the dinghy I saw a baby sea turtle but it was gone by the time we turned around. We are feeling very positive about our trip and are having the time of our lives. We have fallen into a nice routine and coexistence and have even been getting along great!!
Over the next month in a half we are going to push through the carribbean to get to South America where we will explore inland a bit. We are both missing the cool weather and would love to do a little mountain climbing or hiking. We've tossed around climbing in Boliva or hiking the Inca trail in Peru. We are sitting down tonight to make a tentative schedule.
We are off to enjoy our Sunday and are hoping that you've all had a fabulous weekend!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Hi All,
We are currently sitting in St. Martin waiting for our windlass to be repaired. A couple of days ago we planned to spend a night at the dock cleaning the boat and making some repairs. When we went to pull up the anchor there was no power at the windlass and I almost broke my back pulling up the 60 pound anchor. It turns out that salt water somehow got to the wiring and short cuircuited everything. We have desinged a simpler way of wiring it and are waiting for the electrician to do the re-wiring on Monday. We have, however, had some eventful times getting here.
The big fight...
The sail from Bermuda to Anguilla was less than perfect. Though any sailor should not complain about being on a beam reach, 25kts and big seas for 4 days without a change can be trying. Around day three we were both hit with a general crankiness about life. The boat was heeling too much, it was impossible to do anything comfortably, sitting outside was just too wet, and the walls of the boat seemed to be closing in on us. We expected a lot of ups and downs but when the downs hit sometimes sheer reason just doesn't work. It was early afternoon and we had barely spoken all day when I heard a loud crack. Colleen slipped while making a sandwich and banged her head quite hard in the kitchen. I looked up to see the angry contorted face of my wife glaring at me, a moment later a string of expletives too bad to write here came crashing down on my head. 'How dare you laugh at me, you stupid, fat !@#%$ idiot'. I answered 'what are you talking about, I'm not laughing, calm down'. I should have known never to tell a person with a banged head on a rolling boat to calm down. After being yelled at again I went totally over the edge and we started screaming at each other. Doors were slammed, by both of us I might add, so hard that we broke the door frame. Ten minutes later we were best friends. As we expected, placing two people in small boat necessitates a fight once in a while. What we did not expect was the intensity that can build while people's nerves get shattered by an endlessly rolling ocean. After our explosion we realized that this is just what we need to force us into some intelligent reflection about ourselves and each other. It also forced us to go from knowing in theory that this trip will build tolerance and patience, to knowing it in reality. One can wax poetic all day long about patience but actually being patient is something all together different.
Scarry drinks...
After our long trip to Anguilla we were very happy to finally arrive, however, our second day on shore proved to be very unexpected. We went out for a couple of drinks at sunset on a beautiful beach with a nice little bar. Colleen ordered a rum punch, which is the drink of choice on these islands. She drank her first over the course of more than an hour, then we ordered one more round and the check. Half way through her second drink i noticed she was worse for wear and suggested we go home. Halfway to the dinghy, about 150 meters away, she collapsed on the beach. I was surprised at her state of inibriation, but figured that she must have had an empty stomach or something. With much effort I got her to the boat, where she vomitted and then collapsed in bed totally unresponsive. I called 911 where the local operator berated me for being a bad husband and said that there was nothing they could do until I got her to the main road. I must say that carrying a 120 pound unconscious person is not so easy, especially from boat to boat in the dark. I was able to contact my GP and another friend who is a toxicology professor at Harvard in Boston. They both told me that even if she were drugged or over intoxicated it was very improbable that there would be ill effects lasting more than a day or two. Considering the situation they both thought that a date rape drug may have been given as she had the exact symptoms. I was also told to wake her every two hours and monitor her breathing. Horribly, while trying to get her to bed she fell and I caught her only after she banged her nose quite hard, and to wake her I had to slap her quite hard as well so now she is a little sore in the head. (I hope that that is the last time I have to beat my wife!!!!) Anyway... she is fine now and we are convinced that the bar tender was trying to drug me as he most likely assumed that I was having the stronger drink and that would have given him a chance to take advantage of her on a relatively empty beach while I was incapacitated.
We have no idea what actually happened. We went to the clinic to have blood tests but the wait was so long that we eventually left and Colleen is now totally recovered after two days of rest and a lot of water. It seems unlikely that 2 rum punches would have this effect and whether there was maliscious forthought we will never know. What we do know is that we now are very much on alert that a young couple travelling together are likely and easy targets of people's bad intentions. We find it funny that while we brave the open ocean together on a small boat, all along, we still have more to fear from our fellow man. Despite this sad commentary we still have our youthfull optimism!!!
Once we have a functioning anchor we are off to St. Barthes for Thanksgiving, then we will spend a couple of days hiking on Saba Island to recover from whatever festivities may find us in the coming days.
We are currently sitting in St. Martin waiting for our windlass to be repaired. A couple of days ago we planned to spend a night at the dock cleaning the boat and making some repairs. When we went to pull up the anchor there was no power at the windlass and I almost broke my back pulling up the 60 pound anchor. It turns out that salt water somehow got to the wiring and short cuircuited everything. We have desinged a simpler way of wiring it and are waiting for the electrician to do the re-wiring on Monday. We have, however, had some eventful times getting here.
The big fight...
The sail from Bermuda to Anguilla was less than perfect. Though any sailor should not complain about being on a beam reach, 25kts and big seas for 4 days without a change can be trying. Around day three we were both hit with a general crankiness about life. The boat was heeling too much, it was impossible to do anything comfortably, sitting outside was just too wet, and the walls of the boat seemed to be closing in on us. We expected a lot of ups and downs but when the downs hit sometimes sheer reason just doesn't work. It was early afternoon and we had barely spoken all day when I heard a loud crack. Colleen slipped while making a sandwich and banged her head quite hard in the kitchen. I looked up to see the angry contorted face of my wife glaring at me, a moment later a string of expletives too bad to write here came crashing down on my head. 'How dare you laugh at me, you stupid, fat !@#%$ idiot'. I answered 'what are you talking about, I'm not laughing, calm down'. I should have known never to tell a person with a banged head on a rolling boat to calm down. After being yelled at again I went totally over the edge and we started screaming at each other. Doors were slammed, by both of us I might add, so hard that we broke the door frame. Ten minutes later we were best friends. As we expected, placing two people in small boat necessitates a fight once in a while. What we did not expect was the intensity that can build while people's nerves get shattered by an endlessly rolling ocean. After our explosion we realized that this is just what we need to force us into some intelligent reflection about ourselves and each other. It also forced us to go from knowing in theory that this trip will build tolerance and patience, to knowing it in reality. One can wax poetic all day long about patience but actually being patient is something all together different.
Scarry drinks...
After our long trip to Anguilla we were very happy to finally arrive, however, our second day on shore proved to be very unexpected. We went out for a couple of drinks at sunset on a beautiful beach with a nice little bar. Colleen ordered a rum punch, which is the drink of choice on these islands. She drank her first over the course of more than an hour, then we ordered one more round and the check. Half way through her second drink i noticed she was worse for wear and suggested we go home. Halfway to the dinghy, about 150 meters away, she collapsed on the beach. I was surprised at her state of inibriation, but figured that she must have had an empty stomach or something. With much effort I got her to the boat, where she vomitted and then collapsed in bed totally unresponsive. I called 911 where the local operator berated me for being a bad husband and said that there was nothing they could do until I got her to the main road. I must say that carrying a 120 pound unconscious person is not so easy, especially from boat to boat in the dark. I was able to contact my GP and another friend who is a toxicology professor at Harvard in Boston. They both told me that even if she were drugged or over intoxicated it was very improbable that there would be ill effects lasting more than a day or two. Considering the situation they both thought that a date rape drug may have been given as she had the exact symptoms. I was also told to wake her every two hours and monitor her breathing. Horribly, while trying to get her to bed she fell and I caught her only after she banged her nose quite hard, and to wake her I had to slap her quite hard as well so now she is a little sore in the head. (I hope that that is the last time I have to beat my wife!!!!) Anyway... she is fine now and we are convinced that the bar tender was trying to drug me as he most likely assumed that I was having the stronger drink and that would have given him a chance to take advantage of her on a relatively empty beach while I was incapacitated.
We have no idea what actually happened. We went to the clinic to have blood tests but the wait was so long that we eventually left and Colleen is now totally recovered after two days of rest and a lot of water. It seems unlikely that 2 rum punches would have this effect and whether there was maliscious forthought we will never know. What we do know is that we now are very much on alert that a young couple travelling together are likely and easy targets of people's bad intentions. We find it funny that while we brave the open ocean together on a small boat, all along, we still have more to fear from our fellow man. Despite this sad commentary we still have our youthfull optimism!!!
Once we have a functioning anchor we are off to St. Barthes for Thanksgiving, then we will spend a couple of days hiking on Saba Island to recover from whatever festivities may find us in the coming days.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A few pictures...
The morning before our arrival to Bermuda.
Hanging out on the boat in Anguilla.
Sunset in Anguilla.St. Maartin
Hi Everyone!
We have moved from Anguilla on to St. Martin. We will update more later on everything that has happened in the past few days. We've had some definite excitement (not so great though.) We are now just relaxing in St. Martin enjoying the french side Marigot.
We've found an internet cafe so in the next few days we should have some pictures up along with the story of our fight at sea and our time in Anguilla.
Stay tuned!!
We have moved from Anguilla on to St. Martin. We will update more later on everything that has happened in the past few days. We've had some definite excitement (not so great though.) We are now just relaxing in St. Martin enjoying the french side Marigot.
We've found an internet cafe so in the next few days we should have some pictures up along with the story of our fight at sea and our time in Anguilla.
Stay tuned!!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
80 Miles to go...
Hi All,
We are 80 miles away from Anguilla and hope to arrive by 10 or so tonight. I wish I could say that things have gotten smoother but it is still really bumpy. Peter and Jane and Carol and Jesse thanks for your comments it alsways nice to hear from people when you are being tossed around and getting cranky... Peter you will appreciate why we can only write periodically, as we are hard heeled on port tack and I can't keep my butt in the nav station seat. I am going to rig a harness right away. Everyone will also be happy to know that we had our first real sea fight... I will describe it in more funny details once this silly boat stops flopping around so much. Colleen recovered in 24 hours and is now in fine form sitting outside reading happily in the sun as I have used a whole roll of duct tape to secure her from falling overboard (just kidding). We have not seen anything but flying fish and not one boat for 5 days, strange but at least we can't get run over that way. Also, peter again you will appreciate, our toilet does not flush on port tack properly and now smells like a truck stop bathroom, nice!!!! Once we arrive we are going to have a nice sleep, clean the boat and ourselves, send some emails, and go running in the morning. Then I am going to eat 7 whole lobsters as we ran out of fresh food yesterday. All the best to all
We are 80 miles away from Anguilla and hope to arrive by 10 or so tonight. I wish I could say that things have gotten smoother but it is still really bumpy. Peter and Jane and Carol and Jesse thanks for your comments it alsways nice to hear from people when you are being tossed around and getting cranky... Peter you will appreciate why we can only write periodically, as we are hard heeled on port tack and I can't keep my butt in the nav station seat. I am going to rig a harness right away. Everyone will also be happy to know that we had our first real sea fight... I will describe it in more funny details once this silly boat stops flopping around so much. Colleen recovered in 24 hours and is now in fine form sitting outside reading happily in the sun as I have used a whole roll of duct tape to secure her from falling overboard (just kidding). We have not seen anything but flying fish and not one boat for 5 days, strange but at least we can't get run over that way. Also, peter again you will appreciate, our toilet does not flush on port tack properly and now smells like a truck stop bathroom, nice!!!! Once we arrive we are going to have a nice sleep, clean the boat and ourselves, send some emails, and go running in the morning. Then I am going to eat 7 whole lobsters as we ran out of fresh food yesterday. All the best to all
Thursday, November 13, 2008
First Tough Weather
Hi All,
Please excuse us for not posting for a bit... no one said double handed ocean sailing was easy!!! Colleen unfortunately caught a cold in Bermuda so our boat is a little infirmary at the moment. This is doubled by the fact that we are experiencing 25kt winds and 10 foot seas that are throwing poor little sandwitch around like a cork on the ocean. We have been relegated to reading, sleeping and eating out of cans as anything else is close to implossible. Sitting outside is ok during the day as the sun is out to warm you every couple of minutes when a wave comes into the cockpit but now the inside of the boat is all salty from the water we have dragged in while dripping. At night we are currently stuck inside the cabin, which is a sweaty 80 degrees and we can't open the windows because of the on coming water. It should be noted that the conditions are quite normal for the open ocean and are not unreasonable. We are sailing hard at 7.5 to 8 kts and the seas are uneaven so the motion is not uniform, which makes it so uncomfortable. Luckily we expected all this and are in high spirits, we just wish we could shower as we are starting to stink!!! We expect to be in Anguilla around Sunday night or Monday morning and the conditions are expected to be exactly like this, not a shift in the wind or the waves, until we are in the lee of the island. We hope all is well back home.
Please excuse us for not posting for a bit... no one said double handed ocean sailing was easy!!! Colleen unfortunately caught a cold in Bermuda so our boat is a little infirmary at the moment. This is doubled by the fact that we are experiencing 25kt winds and 10 foot seas that are throwing poor little sandwitch around like a cork on the ocean. We have been relegated to reading, sleeping and eating out of cans as anything else is close to implossible. Sitting outside is ok during the day as the sun is out to warm you every couple of minutes when a wave comes into the cockpit but now the inside of the boat is all salty from the water we have dragged in while dripping. At night we are currently stuck inside the cabin, which is a sweaty 80 degrees and we can't open the windows because of the on coming water. It should be noted that the conditions are quite normal for the open ocean and are not unreasonable. We are sailing hard at 7.5 to 8 kts and the seas are uneaven so the motion is not uniform, which makes it so uncomfortable. Luckily we expected all this and are in high spirits, we just wish we could shower as we are starting to stink!!! We expect to be in Anguilla around Sunday night or Monday morning and the conditions are expected to be exactly like this, not a shift in the wind or the waves, until we are in the lee of the island. We hope all is well back home.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
As planned we woke up this morning and prepared to got ready to head to St. Georges to check out of customs there. We were held up for about an hour by a sailing school who had set up their course right over our anchor! By 11 we were on our way and by 1 we were to St. Georges where we had a final lunch with Susan and Munir. After lunch and goodbyes we refueled and refilled our water tanks, cleared out of customs and were on our way by 3:30.
We enjoyed another beautiful sunset at sea and have settled in with our books for the evening. The first passage was a really interesting passage in terms of coexisiting in such a small space. Out to sea Walid and I fell into very separate routines. We sat in different parts of the boat to read, took turns being below and above deck, ate breakfast and lunch separatly having only dinner together. Some days we found we wouldn't say a word to each other until dinner. We never felt cramped or in each others way and were really looking forward to getting under way for the next passage. (which should take 5-7 days.)
We have decided to change our first stop from St. Barthes to Anguilla which is 50 miles closer instead of heading to St. Barthes than backtracking to Anguilla and St. Maartin we will hit those 2 islands first.
Good night!
We enjoyed another beautiful sunset at sea and have settled in with our books for the evening. The first passage was a really interesting passage in terms of coexisiting in such a small space. Out to sea Walid and I fell into very separate routines. We sat in different parts of the boat to read, took turns being below and above deck, ate breakfast and lunch separatly having only dinner together. Some days we found we wouldn't say a word to each other until dinner. We never felt cramped or in each others way and were really looking forward to getting under way for the next passage. (which should take 5-7 days.)
We have decided to change our first stop from St. Barthes to Anguilla which is 50 miles closer instead of heading to St. Barthes than backtracking to Anguilla and St. Maartin we will hit those 2 islands first.
Good night!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Taking off tomorrow!
We have had a great time in Bermuda but are now ready to get underway and head further south. Sunday morning (yesterday) we had hoped to get underway this morning, however, further in the day postponed that because Walid wasn't feeling great. Today we ran last minute errands (post office, grocery shopping, etc.) and are all set to take off tomorrow. Walid is still not feeling 100% but thinks he should be back to normal by tomorrow. This afternoon we are reading, cleaning, and going on a run before a a final dinner on land with Susan and Munir.
We hope you have a great week and will be updating once we are underway.
We hope you have a great week and will be updating once we are underway.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Life in Bermuda
Hello everyone!
We are having a fabulous time in Bermuda. Susan and Munir (Walids parents) are here coincidentally on vacation as well!
Wednesday afternoon after blogging we went to the bookstore in Hamilton. They import from the UK and USA so some books were pricier than others. However, we learned an interesting fact-some books have different titles in the USA and England. The staff was complaining about accidently double ordering books. It is quite common with James Patterson and several of the "chick lit" reads. For example, on the way over to Bermuda I read Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I saw it in the bookstore here but it was shipped from England and called Shopaholic Abroad. Wednesday evening we went to Tuckers Point to visit Susan and Munir, check out their new place, and had a really nice time with them.
On Thursday Walid and I went to a used book store called The Barn. We stocked up on a few more books-and at 50 cents for a paperback and 1 dollar for a hard cover we did quite well. I got a bit nervous about books because on the way over 6 books in 4 and a half days. I read easy, fun books during the day and in the evenings have been (still) taking my time and enjoying The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Long story short, I worried about running out of books by the time we were in non-english speaking countries where restocking may be more difficult. So, after the used book store we met up with Susan and Munir and had a lovely visit at the zoo and aquarium followed by a relaxing evening on the boat with a great thunderstorm that came through.
Friday Walid and I found a rail trail that was for pedestrians only. We got up, packed a picnic lunch, and took off to the rail trail. We ran about 3 miles before cutting off the trail and heading to Warwick Bay. The beach had maybe 2 other people on it! We found a quiet cove and set up camp for a few hours in the sun. We had a picnic lunch, swam and read. Unfortunatly we forgot water, so, after only a few hours we had to leave because we were so thirsty. The late afternoon was spent running errands and doing work on the boat. We had BBQ salmon for dinner (we were finally able to use our grill again!!) and then hit the town for a night of dancing. We got in late and I went to bed. Walid was full of energy so he stayed up doing boat chores. At some point he thought he would give himself a haircut, something he had been meaning to do...
This morning I rolled over and woke up to the disturbing sight of my husbands head that had transformed from nice bleached hair to something that resembled a dying hedgehog. Apparently, the clippers died half way through because his hair was so thick. He recharged the clippers while he slept and we tried our best to fix it this morning. Again, the clippers died. At this point at least Walid could leave the boat with a hat on. (Earlier this morning he had tendrils of long hair flowing from random locations.) We made our way to land, had a quick bite to lunch, and then found a nice hair salon with a woman who fixed what had been done in no time. This afternoon we are planning on swimming around the boat and relaxing. The weather is great so we are going to have another BBQ tonight which we are looking forward to.
We hope that you are all having a great weekend and missing us terribly.
(just kidding)
We are having a fabulous time in Bermuda. Susan and Munir (Walids parents) are here coincidentally on vacation as well!
Wednesday afternoon after blogging we went to the bookstore in Hamilton. They import from the UK and USA so some books were pricier than others. However, we learned an interesting fact-some books have different titles in the USA and England. The staff was complaining about accidently double ordering books. It is quite common with James Patterson and several of the "chick lit" reads. For example, on the way over to Bermuda I read Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I saw it in the bookstore here but it was shipped from England and called Shopaholic Abroad. Wednesday evening we went to Tuckers Point to visit Susan and Munir, check out their new place, and had a really nice time with them.
On Thursday Walid and I went to a used book store called The Barn. We stocked up on a few more books-and at 50 cents for a paperback and 1 dollar for a hard cover we did quite well. I got a bit nervous about books because on the way over 6 books in 4 and a half days. I read easy, fun books during the day and in the evenings have been (still) taking my time and enjoying The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Long story short, I worried about running out of books by the time we were in non-english speaking countries where restocking may be more difficult. So, after the used book store we met up with Susan and Munir and had a lovely visit at the zoo and aquarium followed by a relaxing evening on the boat with a great thunderstorm that came through.
Friday Walid and I found a rail trail that was for pedestrians only. We got up, packed a picnic lunch, and took off to the rail trail. We ran about 3 miles before cutting off the trail and heading to Warwick Bay. The beach had maybe 2 other people on it! We found a quiet cove and set up camp for a few hours in the sun. We had a picnic lunch, swam and read. Unfortunatly we forgot water, so, after only a few hours we had to leave because we were so thirsty. The late afternoon was spent running errands and doing work on the boat. We had BBQ salmon for dinner (we were finally able to use our grill again!!) and then hit the town for a night of dancing. We got in late and I went to bed. Walid was full of energy so he stayed up doing boat chores. At some point he thought he would give himself a haircut, something he had been meaning to do...
This morning I rolled over and woke up to the disturbing sight of my husbands head that had transformed from nice bleached hair to something that resembled a dying hedgehog. Apparently, the clippers died half way through because his hair was so thick. He recharged the clippers while he slept and we tried our best to fix it this morning. Again, the clippers died. At this point at least Walid could leave the boat with a hat on. (Earlier this morning he had tendrils of long hair flowing from random locations.) We made our way to land, had a quick bite to lunch, and then found a nice hair salon with a woman who fixed what had been done in no time. This afternoon we are planning on swimming around the boat and relaxing. The weather is great so we are going to have another BBQ tonight which we are looking forward to.
We hope that you are all having a great weekend and missing us terribly.
(just kidding)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
We made it to Bermuda!
Hi everyone!
We hope you are enjoying your November!
We are sorry for having not updated the blog while we were out to sea. The morning we left (at 6 AM) the password was no longer accepted. It was too expensive to fix at sea via satellite so we waited until we were on land. It took us a few days but we've found an internet cafe to get our work done at.
Let us fill you in on our journey!!
We left Thursday morning of the 30th from Newport around 6 in the morning. It was a beautiful day but rather chilly. Dolphins joined us and swam along the boat the first day. I put music on for them when they came for a second visit later in the afternoon and they jumped in the air all around the boat. That night we slept well in between watch.
The second day it was a little bit warmer but we still needed to bundle. We hoped the dolphins would come back but they didn't. Our sighting for the day was a school of flying fish who whizzed right past our boat. The second night we passed through the gulf stream and we had a great current in our favor. We hit 11 knots that night!
Day 3 and 4 were calm and uneventful. Walid and I got a lot of reading done and enjoyed the warming weather. By the afternoon of the 4th day we were finally able to sit out in our bathing suits and work on our tan. The evening of the 4th we watched High Society on our computer and as soon as it ended the wind really picked up. It was a nasty rough night (but luckily it was our last.) We were both up most of the night pushing onwards to Bermuda.
Day 5 we arrived into St. Georges in Bermuda around 11 and cleared customs. After clearing we decided to move Sandwitch to Hamilton. We anchored in Hamilton and enjoyed a celebratory glass of champagne. (Thanks to the Buggs!!)
On the trip we had only 1 (serious) casualty which was our dinghy motor. On our way out of Newport early in the morning it hit a piling and cracked. We have been running around Bermuda trying to replace the part which has proved to be rather difficult. Bermuda doesn't have any second hand shops and the motor hasn't been made since 2006. The wind picked up yesterday making it too difficult to row back and forth to our boat so we are on a dock. Fortunately we someone is coming to help us out with our dinghy motor so we should be anchored again tonight.
We have been having a great time in Bermuda and are enjoying being on land, however, our boat is so comfortable it wasn't such a bad passage!!
The only other sad casualty was my pumpkin which we had strapped to the front of the boat. It made it 5 days but was lost only hours before arriving to Bermuda because of the rough seas. At least Halloween had passed!!
We hope you are all wonderful and will update more often now that the password situation has been resolved!
We hope you are enjoying your November!
We are sorry for having not updated the blog while we were out to sea. The morning we left (at 6 AM) the password was no longer accepted. It was too expensive to fix at sea via satellite so we waited until we were on land. It took us a few days but we've found an internet cafe to get our work done at.
Let us fill you in on our journey!!
We left Thursday morning of the 30th from Newport around 6 in the morning. It was a beautiful day but rather chilly. Dolphins joined us and swam along the boat the first day. I put music on for them when they came for a second visit later in the afternoon and they jumped in the air all around the boat. That night we slept well in between watch.
The second day it was a little bit warmer but we still needed to bundle. We hoped the dolphins would come back but they didn't. Our sighting for the day was a school of flying fish who whizzed right past our boat. The second night we passed through the gulf stream and we had a great current in our favor. We hit 11 knots that night!
Day 3 and 4 were calm and uneventful. Walid and I got a lot of reading done and enjoyed the warming weather. By the afternoon of the 4th day we were finally able to sit out in our bathing suits and work on our tan. The evening of the 4th we watched High Society on our computer and as soon as it ended the wind really picked up. It was a nasty rough night (but luckily it was our last.) We were both up most of the night pushing onwards to Bermuda.
Day 5 we arrived into St. Georges in Bermuda around 11 and cleared customs. After clearing we decided to move Sandwitch to Hamilton. We anchored in Hamilton and enjoyed a celebratory glass of champagne. (Thanks to the Buggs!!)
On the trip we had only 1 (serious) casualty which was our dinghy motor. On our way out of Newport early in the morning it hit a piling and cracked. We have been running around Bermuda trying to replace the part which has proved to be rather difficult. Bermuda doesn't have any second hand shops and the motor hasn't been made since 2006. The wind picked up yesterday making it too difficult to row back and forth to our boat so we are on a dock. Fortunately we someone is coming to help us out with our dinghy motor so we should be anchored again tonight.
We have been having a great time in Bermuda and are enjoying being on land, however, our boat is so comfortable it wasn't such a bad passage!!
The only other sad casualty was my pumpkin which we had strapped to the front of the boat. It made it 5 days but was lost only hours before arriving to Bermuda because of the rough seas. At least Halloween had passed!!
We hope you are all wonderful and will update more often now that the password situation has been resolved!
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