Antigua 3/18 (Written by Mikai)

HEy Hey HEY hey!! Here we are in Antigua after a long long LONG crossing from Guadeloupe. Only 8 hours... Which is really 8 days if you don't get breakfast or lunch... Can't eat food during a crossing or you get sick! But I sucked it up and when we landed in Antigua I had myself my very own pizza!

On the way over here we saw TONS of dolphins and whales!!!! One whale even jumped out of the water (head out first and head back in first) not 20 YARDS in front of our boat!! And the dolphins swam next to the hulls for quite a while. Unfortunately we were unable to catch very many pictures as Abby (our dog) was leaning over the edge preparing to eat the giant fish! Or so she thought, and then we pulled her away back into the cockpit. Our best and only picture is to the right.

We are docked here at the temporary guest dock in the English harbor, just until tomorrow. Tomorrow we will move to the "Registered" boat area for the 10 days while Papa is gone back to California. He is getting more parts for the boat (such as an engine starter switch which is needed for starting the engine). We also have Grandma Barbara here! She is here for another week or two and then it's back to just our family.

Photos section has also been updated.


More later,
Mikai

Time and Patience 3/13 (Late)

Written by Mikai:

Hey everyone! Sorry we haven't posted lately. It will be like this fairly often because here in the Third World, there is no internet that works! Most of the restaurants and hotels that say "We have high-speed internet" really mean "We have Dial-Up that doesn't work!". But occasionally we find a Wi-Fi that works, and when we do, new photos go up ("See "Photos" section above), and more posts go up on our blog. Sorry for the long wait and thanks for your patience. One more thing: on the "Our Route" section, we are now updating our location! You will notice 3 anchors instead of pin markers. These anchors represent where we have already been. Also, you can see where this post (and all other ones) was written by going to the bottom of this post (NOT the bottom of the page, just the bottom of this post) and you will see "Location: XXXXXX". And there is a whole NEW sections up top, it's called "Stories" you will find many of the stories that some of us have written about this trip. Enjoy it all!!

(Read on for the actual update)

Written by Shawna:

I actually thought we’d have nice leisurely days full of journal writing, reading and playing games.  I think I was right in thinking that we’d be more relaxed overall, but such a lifestyle couldn’t be further from the truth!  Here’s a typical day after our first month of adjusting to boat life:

6:30-7:30 We wake up to either walk the dogs or start breakfast (usually eggs or pancakes).  By 8:00 the crew, crew leader and crew lead mentor swab decks, mop floors, wash dishes and windows, make beds and wipe down bathrooms.  Yes, everyday we aren’t sailing. Then we invariably have a predetermined adventure, like waterfall climbing or gorge discovering, that we enjoy all morning if we aren’t sailing to our next destination. Destinations are anywhere from 2-5 hours away.  After returning to the boat sweaty, sometimes hungry, and usually ready for a rest for sure, the kids have schoolwork for 2-3  hours while Dan works online.  At 5:00 I start dinner ideally, we eat, wash up, review pictures and fall into bed exhausted (at about 8:00) from the sun, fresh ocean air, and all we’ve adjusted to and practiced being patient for during the day.  It’s tedious most of the time, everything takes much longer.  It takes us 5 hours to sail 30 miles for example.   

We are learning slowing down takes more patience than we’ve had the opportunity to practice back home.  We are slowly learning not to blame when things don’t go as expected, we are learning teamwork and to stop saying “that’s not my job”.  It’s been extremely difficult sometimes and extremely blissful others.  Yes this is what we came for.......we can have it easy when life isn’t as available to us as it is right now.  But this kind of life sure does make us think...............autopilot isn’t an option.

Martinique is a French island with croissants, nice shops, a selection of cheese to get excited about and French attitudes.  We visited Saint Anne for the last wacky parade day of Carnival, Marin for Club Med and croissants, Fort de France to say we did and Saint Pierre to depart from for Dominica.  We meandered a bit and climbed Mount Pelee, visited a Rum Distillery (pictured left), picked sugar cane and visited a volcano museum all in 2 days.  Check out our photos from 3/13 that Mikai has loaded to see more!

Finding what you look for 3/3

Not just an ordinary day, or was it?  I swear everyday something happens here that reminds us it really is "a small world after all".  Either that or the Universe really does align with our thoughts... or something like that.  Here's what I mean:
I wasn't successful trying to talk with, or email a family like ours: ( "The Three Little Birds" I discovered on the internet) setting out 6 months prior to us.  "The Three Little Birds are on the wifi list here!" Mikai declared as we motored to our slip in Rodney Bay. ---- What are the chances?  The kids played everyday after "school" and Mandi and I made great neighbors, sharing Mommy stories and ideas.


Then the other day our dog got what looked like an aggressive flesh eating disorder, so I asked on the "morning VHF radio talk" here in the marina if anyone could recommend a local vet.  Vet Tom came on and we dinghyed Jack out to see the Dr. and his wife in the bay.  After a shot of cortisone, a bottle of antibiotics, $20 and some dog talk, we found out that our advisors have lived this way a long time and had much more to share than information about Solar Eczema. They came by today to check in....wow!  A $20 house call.  Now that's something you don't get on an ordinary day.


Then today a boater and his wife yell, "hey Double Down".  I step out into the bright midday light to a chipper couple asking all about our boat.  Turns out they know Double Down well, having raced against her several years ago.  They ALSO have the exact model Cat, equipment, engines etc.  This means we get an expert briefing, and many new questions answered.  Does she hold 75 or is it 150 gallons of Water afterall?  Oh and we should tighten the trampoline?  Right!

Then the crazy thing is we aren't certain where to stay in the north, Nevis? St Kitts? Antigua?  (Chances are we'll need another safe harbor when Dan flies again back to CA for work. ) So guess who just happens to live in Antigua with info about everywhere and everything around?  Yep Ty and Judith, the couple on the boat that stopped by.
And one last thing.  Ty was born and raised in San Carlos of course, just down the street.

Gosh I guess all that talk and angst about safety, strange diseases, pirates, big storms, needs for sailing certifications and big sun hats was just that.  Talk and angst.  Instead we have found what we were looking for: Great, helpful, present, interested, helpful, inspiring, and generous people wanting to share their love of whatever they love.  Looks like it's really true that what you look for is what you find.

The Value of Rig Checks - Also Known As "Where in the Heck Did That Nut Come From?"

Stooping down to examine a nut lying on the deck, I muttered, "Huh, wonder where this nut came from?"  We were at the beginning of one of our first 4+ hour crossings as a family, and I was getting ready to set the mainsail.  Or so I thought.  The seas out from the island we departed from were 8-10', and winds were a steady 25 knots.  That 29 mph for you landlubbers.  So it was going to be a fast diesel-less day to the next island.  Or so I thought.

So I hoist the mainsail.  That thing looks funny.  "Huh, one sail batten is no longer attached to the slider in the mast".  Let the sail down, instruct Mikai to hover lest we get into shallows, run to get a bolt and LOCK NUT, oops got one too big, ok back to get the right one, hoist away again.  All's great, we're still dead into the wind for sail-hoisting thanks to Ninja Driver Mikai, and I move into place to adjust the mainsheet and traveler.

It's at this point I stoop down and grasp for the nut lying on the deck.  Butterfingers, and it flies into the drink.  I guess that was a sign of what was to happen next.  No one really saw it, but about ten seconds later, a black shadow shot into the drink too.  Then the main was magically loose or at least looser (not sure I wanted that yet).  "WHAT WAS THAT?"  At first nothing seemed wrong, the boat was fine, I was fine, the crew was fine, nothing was falling, nothing broken.  Or was it?  The mainsheet, the line (NOT ROPE you LANDLUBBER) that holds thousands of pounds of wind on the mainsail had only one block (pulley in landlubberese) holding it.  Now if you remember your physics or anything about levers, you'll know that losing that one block changes it from 4:1 to 2:1.  One lonely block left to hold all that weight.  I guess we could have sailed on one, but if that one fell off, we'd have a boom BOOMING all over the places as nothing else holds the sail and boom except the mainsheet.

So, about two nanoseconds later (nanosecond one was considering jumping in after the block), down came the mainsail, and motoring it was to the next island.

That's the kind of stuff that happens on a typical day.  It's not the boat really--this happens to new and well-worn boats, although a LOCK NUT might have helped.  Anything that does happen is my fault.  Yeah it really is.  Did I do a rig check?  No, not that day.  Would I have caught it if I had?  Maybe.  I'm always keeping a keen eye for anything amiss.  The nut on the deck (no I'm not referring to me or any of the family) was a sign, a 10-second sign til the damage was done.

So we motor off to the next island, and I think, well, I'll just go to the chandlery (hardware store for boats) and pick up a new one.  Except no one has that particular block.  Four local stores later, then 10 in California, no one has that block.  So I call the block maker.  They ask to send a picture, sounds like a custom block.  So at 9pm in the middle of pouring rain (not my choice or directive), a few shots are taken, and I get them the next day, and find out there are 14 left in existence, and have it shipped overnight.

I didn't realize this would be 24X7 adventure, on and off the boat.

I also am happily reminded since nothing truly bad happened, that a 5 minute gaze at everything topside on the boat is paramount.  And I'm sure something unexpected will happen next time, stay tuned here for more.

Just a quick note

Hey everyone who follows our blog!! Sorry we have not been updating... There is SOOOO much to do for preparing our boat for this year. Dan is back in California getting a few quick things. Grandma Barbara (Shawna's Mom) is coming back with Dan on Monday (3/5). We will try to make another longer post tonight.

Also, the "Photos" section is the most regularly updated part of this blog. We try to post pictures at least every day if not every other day. Again, not very many interesting things have been happening other than swabbing the deck daily, so there are not very many recent pictures. Tonight we will post more pictures and write another post.