Sailing Baby Blue

 We’re back in the US* and it feels a little strange. Here are some differences between the Caribbean and living in the big city (by which I mean Denver, of course). I haven’t seen anyone walking down the street holding a machete yet, and if I did I would run away. Everywhere I look there’s a tv. When it’s tuned to the news, I keep waiting to hear, "and live from New York it's Saturday Night!" Because it seems in every way more like a parody of the news than actual news. It’s sooo cold. "Can we turn the AC off?" I can't take being blasted with freezing cold, 72 degree air. It's dry. Drinking enough water is impossible. I had to make an emergency run to the grocery store for some extra-strength lotion to hold my skin together.   My allergies are gone. Jon's allergies are back. Everyone is in a hurry. I guess they need to be certain places for specific things that happen at sch...

Prickly Bay was our first anchoring stop in Grenada, largely because it sounded familiar and was the closest harbor after we rounded the southern tip of the island. We spent a week there familiarizing ourselves with our new digs: figuring out where to get on the bus to find groceries, where to find the fastest wifi, meeting our neighbors, etc. We also did the bare minimum amount of work on the boat just to say we got something done. I polished our stainless steel and Jon replaced our gear shift cable that broke way back in the BVIs. But most of the time we concentrated on slowing down. We met up with friends we had met along the way and made some new ones, spending probably too many evenings drinking good beer at the West Indies brewing company. In search of the most convenient spot to initiate our soon arriving new crew members, David and Rachel, into the cruising life, we moved over to Mt. Hartman Bay and landed with a thud – there was a sudden gust – on the dock. I had ...

Yep, that's Bobbie with her tiny new motor. I wouldn't say we finally broke down and bought an engine, as it has been pretty easy to row to shore from our prime spot in Mt. Hartman Bay in Grenada. But when we heard someone on the morning net offering up a 2 horsepower 2-stroke for a decent price we decided to jump on it. Now we'll have an easier time making it to shore if we end up at the back of the fleet on our way up island, and we'll be able to check out all those far flung snorkeling sites. Hopefully when the novelty wears off we'll continue to row occasionally - you know, to prevent any loss of muscle tone - but right now we're highly enjoying zipping around (still slower than everyone else).