Bon Voyage

This lifestyle is going to take some getting used to.  You would think the major adjustment for us would have been the no house, no car, no 9 to 5 job thing.  However, it’s not that.  It was, and remains to be, the sailing in a different direction than friends and family thing that’s hard.  Our WhatsApp address book is growing, as is our list of favorite blogs.  The oldtimers (as in, experience, not in age) are telling us not to worry, we will meet up again and again, all over the world.  Reunions are something to look forward to, but in the meantime, a twinge of sadness seeps into our hearts as we hoist the mainsail at sunset and head south.

Looking back one word comes to mind above all else, “Thank you.”  Thank you Lucille for our favorite farmstand.  It’s no matter that we walked two miles one Tuesday, only to find out you are only open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, not too early or too late.

Only the sugar apples are missing from this picture.  Why? Because we ate them!  And the guavas didn’t last much longer, so tangy and sweet!

Thank you to the sea turtles, our anchorage pets, only better, because we didn’t need to feed or walk you!  Thank you to the tiny tropical fish that live in the mermaid pools on the Shirley Heights trail.  It was so nice to share a dip with you. Thank you to the Antiguans who taught us to say, “Good afternoon,” to an entire busload of people when getting on the #17 to St John’s.  What a lovely thing to do!   Thank you to the rainbows.  How many people on earth can say that they were spoiled by rainbows? 

Before we left Antigua, busy-ness, the panacea for all that ails people, alleviated our sorrows.  

There was work-work, boat-work, house-work, and preparation-for-travel-work.

Michael replaced Gerty’s bow lights, port and starboard.

I sewed patches over the holes on Gerty’s sail cover.

There was laundry day and PCR covid testing day. 

There was homemade focaccia-for-lunch day.

And, (insert drum roll here), there was package pick up day.  Yup, Kiteboards.

Seventeen black and blue marks later for me (twelve on the left leg, five on the right, and a skinned foot and thumb later for Michael, we can sorta kiteboard for real.  Michael is practicing the all-important upwind technique and I am mastering the art of not being thrown into the air like a ragdoll.  

So, this explains it.  Why we chose St. Vincent and the Grenadines as our COVID Caribbean destination.  We had to be strategic.  Check-in is expensive, time consuming, and scary when it involves testing, quarantine, and rising cases.  Our criteria included a kiteboarding spot (Union Island), a baguette spot (Bequia Island), a dive spot (Tobago Keys), and an active volcano that could erupt with less than twenty-four hours notice.  No, no that’s not right, but as long as no one gets hurt, it would make for a good blog post!

Last remarks:

Thank you SV Escape for hosting a warm and yummy send off.  We will miss you and SV Flora so much!

Thank you Beat on SV SanJulio for rescuing us after a long day of kamikaze kiteboarding in Green Island when our dinghy engine died.

Thank you SV Oroboro for your authentic focaccia recipe.  I hope you don’t mind if I post it here for my friends and family back home.

Focaccia Bread

• 260 g flour (2.08 cups)
• 160 ml water
• 1 tsp yeast
• 10g olive oil (0.35 oz)
• 30 g milk (0.1 oz)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Optional: Mozzarella, tomato, basil

Mix flour, salt in big bowl. Mix water, yeast, sugar, milk, oil in a small bowl. Start adding water into flour little by little. Knead until it gets smooth. Leave in a bowl with a wet cloth on it for 10 minutes. Knead and leave it for another 10 minutes. Knead and leave 1 hr 30 min. Make it flat and put it on a rectangular pan. Sprinkle water and oil, salt on top. Bake it for at least 30 minutes at 375-400 degrees