We had Don and Mel stay on the boat.  Mom and Dad picked them up from Havensight and took them to No Passports, which sells adult slushies (I stayed on the boat with the dogs). When Mom, Dad, Don and Mel arrived on the boat the dogs and I were so happy to see them, especially the dogs. The dogs were all over them when they arrived. After Don and Mel got settled in we went out to eat (we ate at Tap’n Still). We then decided to go back to the boat and chill for a bit. After some chilling and relaxing Mom, Dad, Don, Mel and I went to the Leatherback Brewery. We got pizza from a place that’s right by the brewery. The next morning we got up and motored over to Frenchman’s Bay. Once we got settled in, we decided to have a beach day. Dad and Don paddle boarded, while Mom, Mel and I swam to the beach. The dogs swam with us. It was great because Don and Mel got to throw the ball for Chance and watch Caper swim and play defense.  When we were at the beach, Caper tried to grab the ball from Chance. He was aggressively fighting Chance for the ball. Like two men/pirates play tug of war over treasure. We had a great dinner at Lanai.

Celebrating at Lanai

We left Frenchman’s and motored over to Lovango to celebrate Mel’s birthday. Before we left Mel got to open her birthday presents. It was exciting watching her enjoy them.

When Mom and Dad brought me home a Crab Cake from Lovango, I was so happy. On Easter Day, we went to Cinnamon Bay and hung out and sat on the sun chill. It was a great day.

The next day, we went to Coral Bay and ate at Salty Mongoose. It was fun. At some point we found out that Don used to be called, Little Donnie because his Dad’s name is Don also. Dad called him Mr. Lightweight because he hardly drinks beer. I came up with a nickname called, Little Donnie Lightweight and with the help of dad another nickname came to be, Little Donnie Lightweight Fu Fu. He was also nicknamed, The Butter King because he really likes butter. It was a silly and fun day. In the morning, we went over to Lameshur and got on a mooring ball there. We had to get up really early to make sure we would get one. Dad and Don went hiking over at Ram’s Head while Mel, Mom and I had a girl’s day, that was so much fun. On the next day, we went over to Drunk Bay, but we call it Body Beach. It was so cool that Don and Mel got to see all the bodies and make one out of coral. It was also nice to cool off at the beach at Salt Pond. We motored over to Reef Bay. We could only stay on the mooring ball for an hour, we unfortunately could not anchor. We had to do the hike and then leave, so that others could do it too. It was fun to do the hike with them though.

Saw this on hike at Lameshur.

We got to stay at Ditlyff that night and let the dogs play on the beach, so that was good and fun. We got up in the morning and motored over to Secret Harbour, which was a lot of fun. It was so nice and the restaurant was really cool and had a nice atmosphere, good food and good service. It reminded me of a restaurant in Grenada called, Aquarium.

Fun day at Sunset Grille.

In the morning, we motored over to Long Bay to anchor the boat. Mom, Dad, Don and Mel went to town to get tattoos. I had to stay on the boat with the dogs. It was a great day though because we got to get off the boat and go into town and play tourist.

A quick stop at Duffy’s

It was also great because Don and Mel decided to stay an extra day. To celebrate Mom, Mel and I had a girl’s night. We watched a movie called, Pitch Perfect and had our own snack bowls full of popcorn, chips and lots of different kinds of candy. It was so fun. We took Don and Mel to Brewer’s Bay which was fun because they were exploring it for the first time. Unfortunately, it also had a lot of noise going on because of the planes going in and out. On Don and Mel’s last day we took them to Salt and Vinegar, which is this restaurant we really like. The food there was really good and it was a fun day except for Don and Mel leaving. It was sad to see them go but hopefully this won’t be the last time we see them. On their last day we talked about what everyone’s favorite meals and activities were:

Dad’s favorite meal was Agave tacos and his favorite activity was going to Red Hook.

Mom’s favorite meal was Dad’s flank steak and her favorite activity was snorkeling the point from the dingy at Reef Bay.

Mel’s favorite meal was Agave her favorite activity was going to Red Hook.

Don’s favorite meal was sausage gravy on Mom’s sausage and cheese biscuits and his favorite activity was hiking Ram’s Head.

My favorite meals, I don’t just have one favorite meal. I liked Agave’s queso, salsa, guacamole,  Lovango’s crab cakes, Salty Mongoose’s pizza and whatever Dad cooked on the boat.  

We motored over to St Croix, there was no wind. The trip was 37 nautical miles. It took us 6 and a half hours to get there.  When we got to Frederiksted, we had dinner with Kent and Kathy. It was great to see them again.  One day we went to this hotel called, The Fred, which was for adults only. I had to pretend to be 18. It was good though and we had lied about my age before, so I was used to it. It was fun because we got to go in their really nice pools.  We live on the water, but it’s not the same as a pool.  We ate at the restaurant there which was really good. The next day we drove around the island and went to Christiansted.  Before we got the car we ate at Polly’s at the Pier which was just ok. I couldn’t enjoy the food because I didn’t feel very well at the restaurant. I felt better for the rest of the day though.  We went to Gallows Bay Marina which was amazing because it has snacks and drinks. Mom and Dad were disappointed because there was no bar this time. We also went to Nate’s Boathouse. The food was fine, but the service was terrible. We tried to go to the Tidal pools but we didn’t have the right vehicle for the dirt roads. We had a van and we needed a jeep. It was exciting exploring St. Croix, it’s a wonderful place.  I was glad to be on land again.

The pier, very calm on our first day

Beautiful art at pier

Art by pier 2

Cannon at Fort Frederiksted

Sea glass display at the Fort

Sea glass art

The Fred

So many lovely things to see and explore in St. Croix.

Goodbye Grenada and Hello USVI

We took off from Grenada and started sailing over to the USVI. The trip was long (2 1/2 days) but no one got seasick. I found it a little boring because it was nonstop moving and there was no internet.  I could only watch downloaded movies like The Sound of Music and American Girl or listen to downloaded music like The Sound of Music soundtrack and some Disney songs. On the bright side, I got to skip school.

Some flying fish came up on the boat one night – there were seven of them. Caper brought one to the back of the boat. Mom found it and got rid of it. Caper then went to the front of the boat and ate one of the other fish. Caper’s breath and the back of the boat smelled like fish. We were glad when we anchored at St. Croix, USVI because that meant our passage was over.

A visit to North Carolina

We went to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We went to the airport and flew on an airplane. It has been a year since we’ve been on an airplane. When we arrived in North Carolina we got to see Makenzie and Ella at Basil’s restaurant for dinner. The next day we went with Makenzie and Ella to get tattoos. I just sat and watched while everyone else got a tattoo because I’m not old enough to get a tattoo yet.

I had my friend Kelsey over for to hang out at our vrbo apartment. After Kelsey’s visit, we went over to my friend Brendan’s house and had dinner with his family.

I got to hang out with Makenzie and Ella while mom and dad went to see their friends. I also went to youth group and helped them shop for a family who can’t afford Christmas.

We then stayed at my Grandma’s house and had Thanksgiving there. We also took our friend’s Don and Mel to Booneshine Brewery. We did not get to see Grandma in Virginia unfortunately. We did get to see my Grandad and Nana, though!

We all flew on an airplane to Florida, got covid tests, and stayed at Margaritaville Resort until our test results came in. We all tested negative! We then went back on the airplane and flew back to the USVIs.  It was great getting to see friends again and it was nice being in North Carolina and Florida for a little while. I had a fun time visiting friends and where we used to live.

I finally got my Bojangles bo-rounds, french fries and sweet tea!
Nothing makes me happier!

Winter Break

When we got back to the boat, we had the girls Makenzie and Ella with us. Ella and I shared a room and Makenzie got the laundry room. We went to get Caper and Chance from Paradise Paws, which is where they stayed while we were gone.  They jumped in the car. They were ready to go.

We went to Brewer’s Bay because Makenzie and Ella had exams and we needed to make sure they had good internet. I swam with Makenzie and saw lots of turtles. From there we went to Buck Island and had a sunken ship under our boat.

Next, we went to Christmas Cove where we snorkeled and had Pizza Pi (which was pizza and ice cream delivered to your boat). We left Christmas Cove to go Honeymoon Beach in Caneel Bay which is where we anchored to be near Cruz Bay. We went to Cruz Bay to go shopping and exploring. We also went to Bikini’s Beach Bar. I swam around the boat with Caper.

The next day, we went to Maho Bay where we saw more turtles and a shark. We also went to the Paddle Up Beach Bar. We left Maho to go to Water Lemon which is where we hiked up to Annenberg Sugar Mill.  The girls had not been here before. We left Water Lemon to go to Flannigan Island, which is it’s own island in the Caribbean. We had all to ourselves. We snorkeled there.

For Mom’s birthday we were at Coral Bay and had tacos at the taco boat called, Lime Out. I did not have a taco, but I did have grilled shrimp. We also explored the town of Coral Bay which is a really neat small town with lots of art.

We then went to Ditleff to snorkel and look for octopus. We are able to take the dogs to the beach here and they love it. I tried out my early Christmas present which was a prescription mask.

When Christmas Eve and Christmas Day came we went to Lovango Cay where we swam in the pool and ate at the restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner. Then it was time to head back to Crown Bay Marina. Best thing about being at the marina, Scoops and Brews because it has ice cream milkshakes, smoothies, coffee, etc.. We also had Jessie and a couple of other men work on our boat. When it was finally time to say goodbye to Makenzie and Ella and mom cried and dad held back tears. Caper and Chance were also sad that Makenzie and Ella left; they had a fun time with them. Caper and Chance are not the only ones who had a fun time with Makenzie and Ella. I had a fun time with Makenzie and Ella on the boat and hope they will come visit again soon.

On July 17 we were anchored in Prickly Bay which is on the south side of Grenada. We got to go to the St George’s University Club at Prickly Bay where there was a pool. In order for us to go and use the club we had to do a lot of talking since it was closed to the public because it’s usually for faculty and staff only.  They made an exception for us. It was worth it. We ate and drank there. I got a coke while everybody else got an adult beverage. I searched for the menu and the amenities on the internet. It was fun being at the university club pool. We had it all to ourselves. It was like having our own private resort. The staff were very friendly and humorous. They told us we had to check out by 4:30 but then they let us stay longer because we were such good company. They have been pretty lonely since the university is closed.

A few days later we went to Ronde Island, an uninhabited island, because we are making our way to Carriacou.  There are three inhabited islands we can be on now that we are checked into Grenada. They are Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. We spent four nights at Ronde. This island only has a few vacation homes on it, no one lives here full time. The island is for sale for $100 million! The most expensive island for sale in the world! We took the dogs to the beach and let them swim and play ball. They loved it. We went around the other side of the island to check out Palm Tree Beach. We decided not to beach the dinghy because the swells were big and it was not safe. One of the nights we had a beach barbecue with Patrick and Rita (Bella) as well as Shirley and David (Maeva).  Shirley is French Canadian and David is Portuguese but can also speak French. David does not speak a lot of English.  We are teaching him while he is trying to teach us some Portuguese. Maeva brought their grill over to the beach for the barbecue. We cooked hotdogs, pork chaps, sausage, fish and shrimp. Plus we had rice. When we were at the barbecue, Caper and Chance made a new friend named Zeus who is a Yorkshire Terrier who weighs 5 pounds. This was the first time we had done a beach barbecue from our boat. It was fun except for the bugs that came out at sunset and bothered us. We had to use a lot of bug spray.

We went on a tour of Carricou by taxi. We found out that Carricou had  grapes but they were not regular grapes- they were sea grapes but you can’t eat them until they are ripe and in season. The sea grapes grow by the sea so they have a salty taste. They are still poisonous for dogs except a great dane because a great dane is a huge dog, so the grapes are not as hard on their system. We saw the Princess Royal Hospital which was built up at the very top of the island to keep people with malaria isolated. We went to Indigo Well which is where the french would go to make indigo. The slaves would make indigo by taking the water from the well and using the indigo plants and making it into dye. They do not use this well to make indigo anymore.  We went to an old windmill, where the slaves from the 18-19 century would work. We went to a plantation, where they used to grow corn and peas. They have a corn festival on October 27th, where you get to try different varieties of corn. Carriacou is known for its boat building; they make boats and then race them in an event called a regatta. The islands  around Carriacou all have french names. We ate at a restaurant called Callalou which was by the beach. It reminded me of a restaurant we ate at in the Bahamas which was also by a beach. The restaurant is called Callalou because they serve Callalou. Dad did not like Callalou because it reminded him of when he had it in the oil down. Callalou is similar to spinach but it is actually a little bit sweeter than spinach. They also had cajun potatoes, which were really good and garlic shrimp.

Sea Grapes:

This is the view from the Princess Royal Hospital.
Our boat is in the far bay behind us.

• 

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We arrived in Grenada! Yay!!

We sailed away from the US Virgin Islands, and after 72 hours at sea, we got to the dock at Port Louis Marina in Grenada. We had our temperature checked and then we moved to the quarantine anchorage. This is in St. George, which is the capital of Grenada. From here everyone is put in quarantine for two weeks. This means we could not take the dogs to the beach. We could not see anybody except Patrick and Rita on Bella whose boat was close to ours.

We could not go off the boat except to swim around the boat. Everyday was the same; we were all just sitting there waiting for our two weeks to be up. I was bored but we did schoolwork, swam close to the boat and watched Downton Abbey. This is a show that takes place in the late 18- early 19 hundreds. It is about the Crawleys who live in a giant estate in Yorkshire, England. We watched it season by season. We watched Downton Abbey every night because on July 1st they are taking it off air and we wanted to finish it.

When our two weeks of quarantine were over we went to the dock at Port Louis Marina to get checked for COVID. I got my finger pricked. I tested negative. I do not have COVID.

A few days later, we went on a tour of Grenada by taxi. We went with some of our old friends from Suntex Marina in FL and some new friends from this marina. We had 13 people in our group.

One of the first things we did was learn about nutmeg and how to use all of it’s parts. We smelled and learned about other spices too. We bought some of the spices in the spice shop.

We went to the rainforest reserve to try to find monkeys but didn’t see any. We then went to see the lake made by the volcano in Grand Etang Forest Reserve. This lake is where the whole island gets their water. We went to a waterfall called Annandale Waterfall where the boys jumped into the waterfall. We went to what used to be the airport but now it’s a park used for festivals. We went to a graveyard by a church and saw graves that are recent and some that date back to the early 1800’s. We were given history on the Mayflower (Christopher Columbus’ ship). The guide also showed us Leapers Hill. The Caribs jumped here and killed themselves instead of surrendering to the English settlers.

It was fun getting to explore new places, learn about the spices and the history of Grenada. It was also fun watching the boys jump off the waterfall.

A few more things I had to share that happened in May…

Caper and Chance (my dogs) kept hassling me to write about their new friends. When we were anchored for about a month at Brewer’s Bay in St. Thomas, Caper and Chance made new friends as well, their names were Rosco and Daisy. Rosco and Daisy live on Dreamcatcher, a catamaran. Caper and Chance met Rosco and Daisy one morning when they went for a swim on the beach and had a doggy play date. Caper went swimming, Chance chased a ball out in the water, and Daisy chased a stick out in the water. Rosco didn’t do anything in the water for a while – he just greeted everyone, asked for pets, and watched. Eventually, Rosco got in the water to get the stick, but he only went in a few feet.

It was great meeting Jake, Stephanie, Roscoe and Daisy! We look forward to seeing them in Grenada when they sail down in July.

We finally left St. Thomas and sailed to St. Croix!

We went to shore on St. Croix on May 29th to get some land time because it will be a long time before we are on land again. We are getting ready to sail to Grenada which will take 3 days nonstop. We went to a restaurant called Brew STX. It was the first time we got to sit down at a restaurant since COVID started.  I got french fries and they were yummy. The reason why sitting at a restaurant was such a big deal is because after we sail to Grenada, we have to stay on the boat in a two week quarantine.

{Watch out folks this blog is going to turn into an advertisement.} Come one, come all to the Barina to get Snacks, Beer, Wine, Coffee, Soda, Marine Supplies, Etc … 🙂

We went to a store that wasn’t just a Marina store, but a Bar too. We got marine supplies, beer, wine, soda and Cheetos. I got diet coke and Cheetos, Dad got beer and a speargun, and Mom got wine and a tank top. We went with our friends Patrick and Rita (from Bella). This is my dad’s favorite marine supply store ever!

Later that afternoon/evening, I hung out on the boat with the dogs while mom and dad went to a tiki bar and pizza place to meet with the other boaters who are also heading to Grenada the next morning.

We were only on St. Croix for one day, but really enjoyed it.
We can’t wait to come back!

On January 22nd we arrived in the tropics at Mayaguana, Bahamas (the most southern Bahamas Island). We had a two-day passage sail to get there. We sailed through breakfast, lunch and dinner. I got to sleep at the fly bridge. We saw the sunset while the boat was moving. We eventually stopped at 2:00 in the morning and I moved down to my bedroom. While I was sleeping, we moved to a new anchor spot. Once we got to our new anchor spot, we got to go for a morning swim. The water was crystal clear. The water was nine feet deep. We could see sand dollars, fish and conch at the bottom. Chance was a lifeguard. Caper was a Champion swimmer. We had to tie him to the boat, so he would not swim too far away from the boat.

On January 23rd we went to explore the island of Mayaguana. We walked on the island and met a Police guy and his son. We explored Abraham’s Settlement on Mayaguana and checked out the beach. We did not stay on the beach because the dogs got sand spurs on their feet. I went into one of the little stores, which was in a lady’s garage. She had dogs and the dogs were crazy protective and scared of our dogs. The store didn’t really have much. All we got there was eggs and an orange Fanta. Thank goodness for the Fanta, I was dying of thirst that day.

From Jan 27-Jan 30 we made our way from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico. We stayed in Puerto Rico for only a few days. We rented a car and checked out a few places (and a brewery) while there, plus grocery shopped and bought new phones for internet. We then had a 1-day sail to the USVI.

On February 8th we went on a hike in St. Johns, USVI. We hiked up what used to be a Danish road they used to get from one settlement to another. It was a strenuous hike to the top of the hill. We went so high up to the top of the hill that we had a really good view of Maho Bay. We got to do it with Kent and Kathy Meredith of s/v Wind Ensemble. It was a long hike to me because I was already tired. The name of the hike was Mary Hope Trail.

On Feb 10th Me, Mom and Kathy took an island taxi to Trunk Bay on St. John’s where we went snorkeling and hung out at the beach. What was neat about the snorkel is there were markers that told us what the fish were and it was a national park, so we had to pay to get in. Afterwards, we took a taxi back to Maho Bay and ate at the beach bar with Dad and Kent. We then went back to the boat and danced along to Abba music. We had Kent and Kathy over for dinner.

On Feb 17th Mom, Dad and I went on a hike to a Sugar Mill Plantation. We saw the ruins of the old factory, windmill, cooking and boiling areas as well as the slave headquarters. In the early 19th century the sugar mill was the only way to get sugar in the USVIs. At the time they would have slaves working because they found the work a whole lot easier if the slaves did it. The sugar cane would go through the windmill and into the boiling room where it would go from copper kettle to copper kettle. The slaves would then cook it in the kitchen and bring it to the people who own the plantation so they could sell it.

On Feb 23rd we went motoring from the US Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands. We stopped at Tortola to check into Customs. The British Virgin Islands restaurants do not cater to pet dogs because they do not believe in pet dogs or friendly dogs. The dogs they know and have on the islands are not usually pets but wild dogs and they are not always friendly. They are scared of dogs because they have never been around dogs very much. Caper and Chance had to be checked by the local vet to see if they were friendly and healthy. One of the restaurants we wanted to eat at on the patio in Tortola said no because we had the dogs. After Customs we moved over to Cooper Island. There we got a mooring ball instead of anchoring. We went to the island and it was very touristy like the shops and the restaurant are all stuff that you would see in a tourist town and the environment was really pretty, especially the view of the water. The restaurants on Cooper Island were nice and they let us be there with the dogs.

On Saturday January 4th, we got to experience the Junkanoo in George Town, Bahamas. It only comes once a year. It is usually in late December after Christmas on Boxing Day, but it got postponed this year to January because of the weather. Junkanoo is a celebration of freedom from slavery.

It had really loud music and there were a lot of people there. Once the parade started about 8:30 there would be a group of dancers and musicians once an hour. We would have to wait an hour for the next group. The parade was on “Island Time.”

What was unique about the costumes is that they were made with feathers and sequins. Only one person could carry them. They could make them big or small whatever they like but only one person can carry it. The parade was really fun to see and experience. We also met some new friends there.

On January 8th we went to Sand Dollar Beach just off of George Town, Bahamas and the dogs were crazy! The dogs wanted to get off the dinghy and swim to the beach, so they did. They jumped off the dinghy a hundred feet from the beach and swam to the beach and almost beat us to the beach. When we took the dogs for a walk on the beach, Caper did not walk he swam and wandered off.  He came back to Dad’s whistle and met a dog friend. Chance follows Caper when he takes off. I guess they wanted to do their own thing today.

This is a Beach Shack built by other cruisers over the years at Sand Dollar Beach where we were anchored:

On January 17 we went to the famous blue hole called Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island, Bahamas and swam. This blue hole is the deepest known salt water blue hole with an entrance below sea level. It is 663 feet deep. This was a neat and fun place (Dean’s Blue Hole). Nature’s swimming pool.

We rented a car to drive on Long Island and we went to a couple of more beaches and stores. We went to a Italian restaurant called Chez Pierre. The food was really good. It was my birthday celebration so I got to order margarita pizza, spaghetti and french fries. And I got free dessert at Chez Pierre!

We had left the dogs on the boat and they were barking like crazy (as seen on the security cameras). Caper even went up on the table and laid there all day! Crazy dogs. Singing for us to come home.

We came back to the boat to see the dogs, who went crazy with happiness.

We started the new year at Sand Dollar Beach in Stocking Island, Exuma. We dingyed over to the beach and Mom wanted to find sand dollars. Since it is Sand Dollar Beach and because she used to look for Sand Dollars when she was a kid. Dad found them first. We hiked up some very steep, rocky hills. I wore Chacos, so my feet wouldn’t get hurt. I recommend wearing Chacos/tennis shoes when hiking up those hills because your feet could easily get hurt. We wanted to cross to the other side of the Island to see the Atlantic. Since there was a poisonous tree in our way, we decided to go back where we started and we did. We went back and we swam. The dogs had so much energy, they were always one step ahead. Dad tried calling them but there were times where they would not listen.  When we got back on the boat in their defense, they drank a lot of water.They were so tired, they went to the bathroom on the wrong side of the boat. They got in trouble.

The dogs pose for a picture:

Chance is telling me to come on:

Finally Chance is worn out!