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.

We got to babysit Parker because Stephanie from Dreamcatcher hurt her back and Jake was on a trip visiting his sons  and their nephew. We took Caper, Chance, Rosco, Daisy and Parker to the beach and let them run around and play to  get their energies out.  We took Rosco and Daisy( Parker’s brother and sister) back to Dreamcatcher and Parker back to Aventis. Chance was extremely jealous because we gave Parker a lot of attention.  It was fun watching Parker though it was also kind of a distraction. It was hard to get schoolwork done with him on the boat, because he kept getting up on my lap and messing with the computer; he kept asking me to play with him. We were doing a favor and helping out a friend, so it was worth it. Parker is a Portuguese Water Dog like Caper and Chance. He is just a puppy who is 11 weeks old. It was also fun taking all five dogs to the beach because they all got to play and swim and we got to play with them. I called it Aventis Doggy Day Care, a private free business. 

Me, Mom and Dad got the Covid-19 Vaccine here in the US Virgin Islands.  There was a community vaccination center at the USVI University. We got the Pfizer Vaccine. There are three companies that make the vaccines, Pfizer, Modernara and Johnson~Johnson. The  Pfizer is 95% effective. Here is some information on the messenger RNA Vaccine, it is a new vaccine that is meant to protect against infectious diseases. Most vaccines like The flu vaccine puts in weakened germs in our body’s. This Vaccine teaches our body how to make a protein that triggers an immune response to our bodies. The protein is called the Spike Protein, it is found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid 19. The cell gets rid of the instructions once the protein is made. It is given in the upper arm muscle. The vaccine never enters the nucleus of the cell where our DNA is. The vaccine does not use  the live virus. When you have the vaccine you can still get the corona virus, but it should help you fight it off faster (spoiler alert, we find this out first hand). You should not get sick. Your immunity does not begin until 12 days after you get the shot. It was fun getting the vaccine I felt good. I did not have any reactions or get sick. I did have a sore arm and was very tired. Dad also had a sore arm. Mom didn’t have a sore arm but she was tired, we were all tired. Kent and Kathy, our friends from Wind Ensemble also got the vaccine they got right after us. It was a fun and memorable day.

We went on a hike at Lameshur Bay with Kent and Kathy, Caper and Chance got to come on the hike with us. It was their lucky day. We passed little Lameshur which had a beach. Our friends Kent and Kathy wanted us to check out Lameshur Bay. We hiked up  a big hill and saw ruins of an old mansion that belonged to a plantation owner. It kinda looked like what I thought it would. It was built in the mid 1700s. We then hiked down another trail and saw more ruins. We think these were slave quarters. We then got to the Petroglyphs. They were beautiful and there were sacred  drawings on the rocks. The trail was 5.3 kilometers. The petroglyphs are a lost culture from the Islands past. It is located at the base of the valley’s highest waterfall. There wasn’t any water there not sure if it was because it is all dried up or because it’s the dry season. A spring fed pool reflects a 20-foot wide panorama of carvings year round with others nearby. When we headed back to the boat we were all tired and thirsty. We drank all our water on the walk. Caper and Chance were so tired they kept stopping in the shade, so Dad had to drag them to get them to keep going. It was a long walk. It was an excellent hike and we all had a lot of fun.

We got our second Covid shot. We made an appointment and walked to the University of the US Virgin Islands to be able to get it. We got it at the community center there, like last time. Our friends Kent and Kathy came with us and got their second shot as well. Mom, Dad and I were in separate stations for the shot.  I asked for the shot on my right arm because I’m left handed. I bled a little bit, but that’s all good. We felt fine afterwards and even went swimming. Later that day, we all had sore arms.  During the night we all had chills.  Mom and I had chills in the morning too. We were  all tired the day after. It’s great that we all got the vaccine.  On April 6th the vaccine will be fully effective.  I was able to get it as well even though I’m 16 and most places are not vaccinating people my age. This was a big deal for us to get vaccinated because we can travel easier into new countries, Caribbean Islands and hopefully I’ll even get to visit my grandma.

We went to this place called, Chicken’n Bowling. It’s the Virgin Island’s version of Bo’s in Lenoir, NC. Our friends, Kent and Kathy really wanted us to try this place, so we finally tried it. It was a lot of fun. We haven’t bowled in a while, so we kept trying different strategies. Mom ended up winning the games because she got a turkey and didn’t roll between her legs or use bumpers. Kent never let her forget it.  He nicknamed her, Turkey. He was not happy. He was a good sport about it though. We ended the day with a slushie from a place called, No Passports. We saw Jake and Stephanie and said “hi”,  but then they had to go because their charter guests were coming. We were Celebrating Mom’s big win. 

Recently I was on the paddle board and Mom said it was time to come in and do school work. I said there is more to life than just school. For example, there is the environment and spending time with family.  What I meant was I wish I could have more time to do other stuff that doesn’t involve school. Things like playing with the dogs, swimming, paddle boarding and connecting with friends on Snapchat, Instagram or in person. I also like to collect shells, swim off the back of the boat with Caper and go into town because it means I get to get off the boat and be on land for a while.  I will keep doing school because school is very important. I also want to go to college someday, get a job, and go off to live with a friend or on my own.

PS: This is not the original version of this entry. When I first wrote this blog entry my interests were not as wide as they are now. For those of you who know me, you can appreciate that I did not mention time on my IPad. My Mom and Dad say maybe I am coming out of the teenage funk?

Don and Mel came to stay on the boat for a week in January. This was my Birthday week. I turned 16. We picked them up from this really cool fancy marina called Yacht Haven Grande. It had a really nice pool and shops. Mom and I got to have a “girls day” before Don and Mel came on the boat.

On their first morning we went to the pool before we left the marina. The water was really cold. They said they needed it because of the night before? Our first stop was Caneel Bay, where we went snorkeling and sat on the beach. For dinner we went to ZOZOs and had a progressive fine dining meal. It was great having Cheesecake again. I missed having Cheesecake.

Next, we went to Maho Bay. I went paddle-boarding with Mel, where we were looking for turtles. We did not see many turtles though, or sharks. We did have a lot of fun.

We went to Coral Bay for my birthday. Dad made me a big birthday breakfast. I got to have a day off of school and play on my IPad instead. When Mom, Dad, Mel and Don went to the taco boat, Limeout, I stayed on the boat and watched the dogs. I don’t like tacos and that’s all they have. Dad made my favorite for dinner – Shrimp Fried Rice.

We went to Hanson Bay for the night. The next day we went to Dittlyf. When we were at Dittlyf we went snorkeling and had a beach day twice because Don was working.

We then went to Little St. James and had pizza from Pizza Pi (it is a boat where they make pizza). The next day we went snorkeling in my favorite spot for the week which is on Little St. James.

Then it was back to the marina. The four adults went out and I watched the dogs. When I was watching the dogs, Caper got up on the table even though I was sitting on the couch beside him.

The next day we had to take Don and Mel to the airport to say goodbye. We were sad to see them go, especially Caper and Chance. They really enjoyed the extra attention from Don and Mel.  We are looking forward to seeing them again.

We had dinner with Kent and Kathy who made Chinese food from scratch. We had Egg Drop Soup, Egg Foo Young and Fried Rice it was a treat for me because we were still celebrating my birthday. Kent’s secret ingredients for his fried rice are bacon and ham. It was really Good! I had not tried Egg Drop Soup or Egg Foo Young before – it was great getting to try new things.   I also liked getting to celebrate my birthday with them.

Recently, Caper and Chance met their long, lost cousin. Mom and Dad’s boat friends, Jake and Stephanie (Dreamcatcher), adopted a puppy. Parker is a Portuguese Water Dog. He is 11 weeks old. When Parker came on our boat Chance was jealous of him because he was stealing all the attention. When Chance got jealous of Parker, Caper was having a deja vu moment. He was  remembering when we brought Chance home and how he felt when he first came into his life. Caper was like, Whatever, about Parker and didn’t care or notice him as much as Chance did. Caper is not as threatened by other dogs and knows how to find his own spotlight.

One night before I went to bed I thought of five things that make me happy. I wanted to share with you the 5 things that make me really happy. They are: 

1. Playing with the dogs especially swimming with Caper

2. Spending time with Mom and Dad and their boat friends

3. spending time with my boat friends and mountain friends

4. Eating my favorite foods which include bacon, eggs, sausage, any type of potatoes, pancakes and orange juice

5. Diving into a different world by book or by screen. 

It was really interesting to think about five things that make me happy. I challenge you to do the same.

I went to Kent and Kathy’s boat, WindEnsemble, for game night. Kent and Kathy had Kathy’s sister Barbara and brother in-law Jeff visiting on their boat.  I am trying to do other stuff besides getting on my iPad like interacting with other people, trying new hobbies, learning new tricks, getting involved in more boat chores, projects and spending more time with the dogs. We played Mexican Train Dominoes. Kathy didn’t understand how to play Mexican Train Dominoes; so I figured I would make a version called Mexican Boat Dominoes where the playing pieces are boats and the dominoes make their way to different anchorages. Turns out I can have a really good sense of humor, can get drunk on life and I am really fun to be around.  I had a fun time last night playing Mexican Train Dominoes.

I also learned to play the Cups game. Thanks Kathy.

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.

We went to the Grenada Chocolate Museum and saw how chocolate was made and the history of chocolate.

There is a bean called the Cacao bean which is the source of both Cacao and Coca supplies. Cacao refers to the uncooked form of chocolate. When the cacao beans are roasted, they are then called Cocoa beans. There are three types of beans: Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. 

Forastero means foreigner in Spanish. It tastes like a mild chocolate flavor unsupported by any secondary flavors. It is a fast growing tree with a high yield. It is very resistant to disease.  It is the most commonly grown bean significantly hardier and of higher yield than Criollo.

Criollo’s origin is the Amazon. It is primarily cultivated in West Africa, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Criollo means native in Spanish. It has a complex taste which can include flavors of caramel, nuts, vanilla and tobacco.  It is resistant towards disease. It is the rarest and most expensive cocoa on the market. It represents 5% of all the cocoa beans grown in the world. Its origin is Mexico. It is primarily cultivated in Central America.

The Trinitario bean is a natural hybrid of Criollo and Forastero. It is considered a fine flavor bean with notes ranging from spicy to earthy to highly acidic. It has fragile trees with low yield. It produces good grade cocoa with premium flavor. Its origin is the accidental cross fertilization of Criollo and Forastero trees in Trinidad  around 1730. It is primarily cultivated in Grenada, Venezuela, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Indonesia, Papua, New Guinea and other Caribbean and Latin American countries.

The Cacao trees only grow within 20 degrees of the equator.

We also explored the shop and drank Chocolate drinks from the bakery. Mom and Dad had Chocolate Tea and I had Hot Chocolate which is more of a morning drink they way they make it. It was fun to explore the history of Chocolate and how it is made and about how Grenada plays a big role in making Chocolate.   

Recently, I gave my dogs, Caper and Chance nicknames: Chatterbox and Lucky.

Caper has a lot to say. Caper talks a lot like a Chatterbox would, especially when he is sitting down, when it is time to eat and when he wants pets. He usually sounds grumpy. He makes a grumpy noise that sounds like a groan. He talks to us about a lot of things. He is also very expressive. When we come home he has a big smile on his face.

I named Chance Lucky because of how many mishaps he has had. Lucky is a good name for him because even though he has had a lot of surgeries and injuries he has been lucky and survived them all. Now he’s back to his normal Chance self doing crazy things like playing with Caper, playing ball at the beach, chasing Caper around the boat, and of course howling and singing when we are away until we come home.

We hauled our boat out on Tuesday October 27th at Clarkes Court Marina in Grenada.

Mom and Dad took the boat to be lifted out of the water. The boat got lifted out of the water by a lifting machine and then moved with a towing machine. The machine had straps on it that went under the boat to pick it up. 

I watched the dogs, Caper and Chance, on the shore.

While our boat went on the hard (which means on land), we rented a house and stayed there for a week.

It was different being in a house after being on the boat for a year. What was different about being at the house is that we had air conditioning in our bedrooms all night long and all the time. We also had unlimited water. We had a great view from our house. We got to see boats and dinghies go by in the bay below us. We also had a pool, which we tried to swim in everyday, but instead we had a lot of rain and wind.

We didn’t stay at the house very long. We left on Wednesday, November 4. They put the boat back in the water and we started preparing for sailing up to the USVI. Hopefully we are going up to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

For anyone who knows my dog Chance, this won’t be a surprise, Chance had another mishap. It happened when we were meeting some other boaters at an uninhabited island. Chance caught himself on the hook of the sunshade when he was going to greet guests that dinghied up to our boat. The hook caught on the inside of his leg and pulled his skin away from his muscle. When it happened Chance howled in pain but there was no blood. The next morning when Mom and Dad took Caper and Chance to the beach, they did not know he had air pockets in his leg. He came out of the water with sea water in his leg and underbelly. He had filled like a balloon. We went two hours by boat back to Paradise Beach to get Chance to the animal hospital in Carriacou. There were three lady veterinarians that volunteer at the clinic, that took care of Chance. He had surgery to put in drains for the sea water and stitches to hold them in. He had to wear a cone on his head to make sure he did not pull the drains and stitches out. We also put a shirt on him to cover up his wounds. Chance has had 7 surgeries in 6 years. My dog Chance is a mess.

Once Chance was better and we could leave him alone, we went to the Japanese Steakhouse at Carib Sushi, which is a restaurant in Grenada. We invited Kent and Kathy to come with us. I ordered shrimp, vegetable fried rice and vegetables. Dad ordered chicken, vegetable fried rice and vegetables. Mom ordered steak, vegetable fried rice and vegetables. Kathy had shrimp and Kent had tuna. The chef came and cooked the food for us. He wanted me to touch the fire on his hand. I was hesitant but then I touched the fire. The presentation was so cool and fascinating. He did a lot of cool tricks, like he spelled I love you with the egg, rice and veggies. The food was delicious and it was a really fun experience. It was like Makotos (which is a Japanese Steakhouse in Boone, NC) and not like Makotos at the same time. It was like Makotos because they had a room where you order and eat sushi and a room where they make the food for you at your table. It is not like Makotos because the broth is made of seafood, not chicken. Another difference is that it is on an island in the Caribbean and not in a small town in the US.

When we arrived back at Port Louis Marina (we have some broken things that need to get fixed), I made some new friends. Addison Roberts (Dragonfly),  Grace and Cameron (Kraken),  Kat (Somni), and her best friend Kiera, Zoey and Tanner (Dorothy Rose.) I met Grace and Cameron on our first day back at the marina. I met Addison when she first came to the boat and we listened to Taylor Swift music. I met Kat, Kiera, Guila, Ariana, Zoey and Zoey’s big sister Ali at the pool. I joined a book club with Addison, Grace, Guila, Ariana, Kat and Zoey. I hung out with them on Addison’s boat and we played Charades. I also hung out with them on Tanner’s boat and watched my first Zombie Apocalypse movie. I went to Le Phare Bleu Marina for the teen activity and the movie Mulan but then I saw my friends there and decided to hang out with them instead. We played games, chilled and ate. I brought the snacks, of course. We had french fries and chips. We also raided the popcorn machine and went swimming. Some of us played BS, which is a card game. I also hung-out with Grace and Addison at night a couple of times. One night I had Grace and Addison over on our boat. It’s nice to have new friends even though I miss my old friends. I always have a fun time hanging out with them. I hope to be able to hang out with them some more. They are really nice people and I’m glad I met them.

Mom and I went to an Afternoon Tea; it was a girls only thing. Dad and Kevin (from Pisces) felt left out. It was a beautiful place. We had a tour of the gardens, drank blue tea and ate cakes. We even ate a victoria sponge. The Tower Estate is called the Downton Abbey of Grenada. They have one and a half acres of tropical gardens. Victoria gave us a tour of the gardens. She has been caring for the gardens for 32 years. It was really cool seeing the flowers in the garden and drinking blue tea. One of the flowers is called Butterfly Pea (picture below) and it is what they use to make the tea blue. I have not had formal tea since second grade. We used china cups and a china teapot. It was very formal. Our host, Isabel, told us that the estate was built in 1913. The husband built it for his wife but she did not want to live there. She left him. Isabel’s grandparents bought the house at an auction in the 1950’s and her family has lived there ever since. We went with a couple of women we knew from the marina and some we didn’t know. Renee from Texas Crewed organized it. It was an experience I will never forget.

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 have been exploring more of Grenada!

Recently, we went to one of the restaurants/bars at the Spice Market at Grand Anse Beach called Beach Bum with Patrick and Rita (Bella), Kevin and Mary (Pisces), Stewart and Sandra (White Wings), Chris and Jan (Sapphire), David and Eilene (Raven), as well as Kent and Kathy (Wind Ensemble). The Spice Market didn’t really have anything because of the lack of tourists on Grenada. Everyone but me had the “Oil Down” which is the national dish of Grenada. I had french fries. The Oil Down has breadfruit, which is a species of flowering seeds that the British and French brought over during the Colonial Era. It is called a breadfruit because when you cook it it is like a simple fresh baked bread but has a potato-like taste. Oil Down also has a variety of meats, vegetables and spices. What is in the stew varies by area of Grenada and family recipe. The version we ate had saffron, salt fish, goat, pork, callaloo, coconut milk and breadfruit. It is called Oil Down because it has coconut oil in it. Most people liked it, but Dad not so much. He got a burger after trying it.

On Thursday we went to the West Indies Brewery. We went with a group of people from the marina. We went on a tour of the brewery and learned about the beer and cider making process. The cider making process is simple. They use apple juice concentrate and then put the yeast in to make it have alcohol since the apple juice concentrate already has sugar in it. The yeast eats the sugar and then once the process is done, they put it in the tank. They cheat with the other flavors by using special flavor packets like watermelon and pomegranate. The beer making process has five steps. The first step is they take malted barley and soak it in hot water to release the sugars. The second step is they boil the malt sugar with hops for seasoning. The third step is they cool the malt sugar and then add the yeast to begin fermentation. The fourth step is the yeast ferments the malt sugars and releases CO2 and Ethyl Alcohol. The fifth and final step is after the fermentation is complete, they bottle the beer with a little bit of added sugar to provide carbonation. Dad says the sixth step is to drink it.

I ran into my good friend Ben from Zenobia at the brewery. We hung out and played Harry Potter UNO, which is like UNO but with special rules. I also played Pool with Ben. He had to show me how to play because I haven’t played since I was at Grandad and Nana’s apartment in Charlotte two Christmas’ ago. I was a bit rusty at it. I did not try the beer or the cider, but I tried Ting and I really liked it.

4th of July! Yay!!

We celebrated the fourth of July by having a gathering at Grand Anse Beach with a group of people, some from the marina and some who were on anchor. Renee’ and Gene from Texas Crewed put together and brought their mini-cat which is basically a mini catamaran. Ben from Zenobia helped them put it together and sail it to the beach from the marina.  Ben’s Dad Johannes came to the beach as well. I went on the mini-cat once with Ben, Dad and Patrick from Bella. I went again with Ben, Mom and Mary from Pisces. It was fun going on the mini-cat.  I got to help with the lines. I helped roll up the jib. What was exciting about going on the mini-cat is that it went really fast.  It reminded me of being on a speed boat at Watauga Lake which is a lake in North Carolina.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Umbrellas which is a bar and restaurant on the beach. There were food trucks as well, but I wanted to go to a restaurant with french fries and shade.

Our dog Caper celebrated his 8th birthday today (July 4th).
Happy Birthday Caper!

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!