Grenada to Los Testigos,Venezuela

November 29 Grenada to Los Testigos
For Gary and Janine the day started very early at 0030h . We weighed anchor and hoisted the mainsail and headed southwest at 270 degrees. Solange had headed out an hour ahead of us as their boat tends to be a bit slower than ours. We could see their stern light on the horizon. The moon was 80% full so there was lots of light to see by. The first 2 hours of the trip were spent crossing the Reindeer Shoals. This is a shallow bank extending out from Grenada. When the water is shallow the waves tend to be steeper and closer together. Also the wind was almost directly behind us and too light to really fill the sail, this allows the boom to flop back and forth with the roll of the boat. It was noisy and rolly for the first few hours which was Janine's watch, the moon was huge and bright shining on the water and even with the brightness there were still lots of shooting stars visible. As we approached the edge of the bank the lights of several fishing boats could be seen. The moon went down as a gorgeous orange ball at 3:20am which is when we cleared the Reindeer shoal and coincidently was when Gary started his shift.
Janine came back up at 6:20 to find the sun and Tavish were both up. Gary and Tavish had set the fishing lines and we were sailing along without the aid of the engine.
We started to see some flying fish, which are so cool. For those of you who haven't seen one they are like a cross between a dragon fly and a fish, that rocket out of the water usually at the bow of the boat and fly across the surface sometimes for several hundred feet. Janine crying out about the flying fish brought Richard up from below. This was a good thing as Richard is more interested in the fishing lines than Tavish or Janine. As we sailed along at great speeds (we hit 11.5knots) Richard noticed a fish leap out of the water by the fishing lines. It was a Mahi and it bit our hand line! We were over the moon excited! We have been trying to catch a Mahi since Florida and had decided they were fictitious. We were able to land a beautiful 18 inch Mahi mahi! We let Solange know dinner would be on our boat tonight.
Things went quietly along for quite a while. It got a bit more exciting when our course and a freighters' crossed but we took some evasive action and watched it go by. As we approached the islands of Los Testigos a skip jack tuna hit our hand land. While we were pulling it in our fishing rod took off with something big on it. We were able to land the skip Jack but lost the fish on the rod.Then WAM! A big fish hit our other hand line! The excitement was incredible, we had a huge Wahoo on the hand line. Meanwhile the Skipjack was thrashing around the cockpit splattering blood everywhere. We were able to to land the Wahoo.
Our technique for killing fish is to pour strong cheap alcohol into their gills. On this occasion we had 151 proof rum for the fish. It killed the Mahi instantly but for some reason it did not work on the tuna and Wahoo. They would seem dead but a few minutes later would start thrashing about causing blood to fly all over the cockpit and the crew of High Five to yell and jump around trying to avoid the blood and flopping fish. You have to remember we are still sailing towards the islands of Los Testigos and being set to leeward (towards the shore with the waves crashing on it) by the current. Gary cut off the tuna's head so it was now dead. He then stuck a knife through the wahoo's head which killed it as well. There was already so much blood coverint the cockpit this massacre didn't really matter. The next hour was spent cutting (using a machete and 2 fillet knives) up approximately 40lbs of fish while sailing into a new group of islands. We didn't see a lot of the scenery. We did notice that there were a lot of Frigate birds, so many that on the side of the mountain they looked like a swarm of bees. We managed to get all of the fish butchered and sealed in ziplocks just before we entered the anchorage. Thank goodness we bought the 12 volt Engel deep freezer or we wouldn't have anywhere to put all the fish.
We set our anchor just behind Solange at the island named Testigos Grande. There were about 6 other boats in the anchorage, most of them were French. We spent some time scrubbing the blood out of the cockpit and had a quick bite to eat. It was now about 2pm, we headed off to Isla Iguana, where the Costa Guarda had their office, so we could check in to Venezuela. This went very smoothly, thanks to Gary's ability to speak some Spanish.
We met the crew from Solange on the beach of Testigo Grande. We were walking down the beach saying "Ola" to the few local people we met. Truth be known we were searching for cold beer. We were approached by a man who was clearly not a local as he had light skin and red hair and spoke with a French accent. He very kindly gave us a quick tour of the local village, introducing us to the local villagers who are mostly all one extended family consisting of about 25 to 30 people. He tried to track down some beer for us but it seemed the island had run out of beer. We did see the Lagoon which is currently dry, 2 monkeys (one bites so you have to be careful), the trail that leads up the mountain and the trail that leads to a beach on the other side of the island. Our tour guide's name was Mano, he has a lovely wife named Gabby who is Venezuelan, and a beautiful 3 month old daughter. Their daughter was born on Isla Margarita. They live on a 28 foot wooden boat called DUNE.
After our tour and introductions we returned to our boat and cooked the Mahi, our skipjack tuna and a skipjack tuna Solange had caught for a delicious potluck dinner. It was a beautiful sunset, in a gorgeous place with great company and fresh fish.

Grenada to Los Testigos,Venezuela

November 29 Grenada to Los Testigos
For Gary and Janine the day started very early at 0030h . We weighed anchor and hoisted the mainsail and headed southwest at 270 degrees. Solange had headed out an hour ahead of us as their boat tends to be a bit slower than ours. We could see their stern light on the horizon. The moon was 80% full so there was lots of light to see by. The first 2 hours of the trip were spent crossing the Reindeer Shoals. This is a shallow bank extending out from Grenada. When the water is shallow the waves tend to be steeper and closer together. Also the wind was almost directly behind us and too light to really fill the sail, this allows the boom to flop back and forth with the roll of the boat. It was noisy and rolly for the first few hours which was Janine's watch, the moon was huge and bright shining on the water and even with the brightness there were still lots of shooting stars visible. As we approached the edge of the bank the lights of several fishing boats could be seen. The moon went down as a gorgeous orange ball at 3:20am which is when we cleared the Reindeer shoal and coincidently was when Gary started his shift.
Janine came back up at 6:20 to find the sun and Tavish were both up. Gary and Tavish had set the fishing lines and we were sailing along without the aid of the engine.
We started to see some flying fish, which are so cool. For those of you who haven't seen one they are like a cross between a dragon fly and a fish, that rocket out of the water usually at the bow of the boat and fly across the surface sometimes for several hundred feet. Janine crying out about the flying fish brought Richard up from below. This was a good thing as Richard is more interested in the fishing lines than Tavish or Janine. As we sailed along at great speeds (we hit 11.5knots) Richard noticed a fish leap out of the water by the fishing lines. It was a Mahi and it bit our hand line! We were over the moon excited! We have been trying to catch a Mahi since Florida and had decided they were fictitious. We were able to land a beautiful 18 inch Mahi mahi! We let Solange know dinner would be on our boat tonight.
Things went quietly along for quite a while. It got a bit more exciting when our course and a freighters' crossed but we took some evasive action and watched it go by. As we approached the islands of Los Testigos a skip jack tuna hit our hand land. While we were pulling it in our fishing rod took off with something big on it. We were able to land the skip Jack but lost the fish on the rod.Then WAM! A big fish hit our other hand line! The excitement was incredible, we had a huge Wahoo on the hand line. Meanwhile the Skipjack was thrashing around the cockpit splattering blood everywhere. We were able to to land the Wahoo.
Our technique for killing fish is to pour strong cheap alcohol into their gills. On this occasion we had 151 proof rum for the fish. It killed the Mahi instantly but for some reason it did not work on the tuna and Wahoo. They would seem dead but a few minutes later would start thrashing about causing blood to fly all over the cockpit and the crew of High Five to yell and jump around trying to avoid the blood and flopping fish. You have to remember we are still sailing towards the islands of Los Testigos and being set to leeward (towards the shore with the waves crashing on it) by the current. Gary cut off the tuna's head so it was now dead. He then stuck a knife through the wahoo's head which killed it as well. There was already so much blood coverint the cockpit this massacre didn't really matter. The next hour was spent cutting (using a machete and 2 fillet knives) up approximately 40lbs of fish while sailing into a new group of islands. We didn't see a lot of the scenery. We did notice that there were a lot of Frigate birds, so many that on the side of the mountain they looked like a swarm of bees. We managed to get all of the fish butchered and sealed in ziplocks just before we entered the anchorage. Thank goodness we bought the 12 volt Engel deep freezer or we wouldn't have anywhere to put all the fish.
We set our anchor just behind Solange at the island named Testigos Grande. There were about 6 other boats in the anchorage, most of them were French. We spent some time scrubbing the blood out of the cockpit and had a quick bite to eat. It was now about 2pm, we headed off to Isla Iguana, where the Costa Guarda had their office, so we could check in to Venezuela. This went very smoothly, thanks to Gary's ability to speak some Spanish.
We met the crew from Solange on the beach of Testigo Grande. We were walking down the beach saying "Ola" to the few local people we met. Truth be known we were searching for cold beer. We were approached by a man who was clearly not a local as he had light skin and red hair and spoke with a French accent. He very kindly gave us a quick tour of the local village, introducing us to the local villagers who are mostly all one extended family consisting of about 25 to 30 people. He tried to track down some beer for us but it seemed the island had run out of beer. We did see the Lagoon which is currently dry, 2 monkeys (one bites so you have to be careful), the trail that leads up the mountain and the trail that leads to a beach on the other side of the island. Our tour guide's name was Mano, he has a lovely wife named Gabby who is Venezuelan, and a beautiful 3 month old daughter. Their daughter was born on Isla Margarita. They live on a 28 foot wooden boat called DUNE.
After our tour and introductions we returned to our boat and cooked the Mahi, our skipjack tuna and a skipjack tuna Solange had caught for a delicious potluck dinner. It was a beautiful sunset, in a gorgeous place with great company and fresh fish.

preparing to move on

We have spent the last couple weeks continuing to get the boat ready to do what it is supposed to do, sail across bodies of water. The weather has provided us with a good window so we will be leaving Grenada Saturday night and sailing to Los Testigos, Venezuela. It will be about a 10 hour passage. We need to leave here after midnight in order to arrive in good daylight. We will be traveling with a boat called Solange, a family with 2 boys ages 11 and 12. They are from Courtenay BC. We are currently anchored in Prickly Bay. It is a busy anchorage, where we have been able to meet up with lots of other cruising boats. The last few days have been very busy, besides fixing things on the boat, we have tried to stock the boat with enough food to last for the next month as the out islands of Venezuela do not have any amenities. If Bradley and Tavish want to eat more than we have they will have to catch fish! We can only physically put so much food on this boat! We have been able to make time for some fun. There was a dinner for American Thanksgiving on the 26th where everyone brought a side dish. There were 60 cruisers gathered so a good time was had by all. Thanksgiving is fun with rum punch! Gary and Janine also went out with Kevin and Melissa, from the boat Solange, for a cheap but delicious curry dinner. The restaurant was the families house and as we ate our dinner off styrofom plates they watched indian soap operas on the TV over our heads. DE BIG FISH is the restaurant close to where we are anchored they had a live R&B band playing the other afternoon. The lead guitarist/singer is a chiropractor from Vancouver who has relocated to Grenada. The band was great! They played a lot of Muddy Waters, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. People were grooving and dancing. There has also been a lot of jumping off the boat and swimming, especially by the kids.

preparing to move on

We have spent the last couple weeks continuing to get the boat ready to do what it is supposed to do, sail across bodies of water. The weather has provided us with a good window so we will be leaving Grenada Saturday night and sailing to Los Testigos, Venezuela. It will be about a 10 hour passage. We need to leave here after midnight in order to arrive in good daylight. We will be traveling with a boat called Solange, a family with 2 boys ages 11 and 12. They are from Courtenay BC. We are currently anchored in Prickly Bay. It is a busy anchorage, where we have been able to meet up with lots of other cruising boats. The last few days have been very busy, besides fixing things on the boat, we have tried to stock the boat with enough food to last for the next month as the out islands of Venezuela do not have any amenities. If Bradley and Tavish want to eat more than we have they will have to catch fish! We can only physically put so much food on this boat! We have been able to make time for some fun. There was a dinner for American Thanksgiving on the 26th where everyone brought a side dish. There were 60 cruisers gathered so a good time was had by all. Thanksgiving is fun with rum punch! Gary and Janine also went out with Kevin and Melissa, from the boat Solange, for a cheap but delicious curry dinner. The restaurant was the families house and as we ate our dinner off styrofom plates they watched indian soap operas on the TV over our heads. DE BIG FISH is the restaurant close to where we are anchored they had a live R&B band playing the other afternoon. The lead guitarist/singer is a chiropractor from Vancouver who has relocated to Grenada. The band was great! They played a lot of Muddy Waters, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. People were grooving and dancing. There has also been a lot of jumping off the boat and swimming, especially by the kids.

Welcome to Grenada

Sorry this is out of order, we have finally got around to writing. Our first morning in Grenada, we all slept until 11 am on Monday morning(7 am pst). It was a beautiful sunny day when I opened the curtains, and yes we were facing onto the most beautiful beach in Grenada. I could see some sail boats anchored out in one of our favourite anchorages. We caught a taxi to Grenada Marine in St David’s where High Five V was waiting for us. It is about a 25 minute drive from the hotel. When we got to the marina we didn’t see our boat right away, there were a lot of boats in the yard. We decided to get some lunch while it was being served. The chicken roti here is very good! After lunch we wandered around the yard looking for High Five, you would think finding a 46 foot boat would be easy. After 30 minutes of wandering around in the hot sun we found her buried behind 4 other boats. We were excited, and the boat could be heard breathing a sigh of relief when her family returned to her. We climbed up the saw horse and ladder and unlocked the door. On first look she looked pretty good. Once we looked closer we could see all the evidence of the mouse party that had taken place in our absence. Now you may wonder how mice could get onto a boat that is locked up tight and not touching the ground except for steel frames that it is sitting on. Well in Grenada one of the things done to protect the boats during a hurricane is they are strapped down to cement blocks buried in the ground. These straps act as highways to the boat for rodents and insects. A hatch or port must have been left open at some point (workers were coming in and out) and the mice found their party place. We have a theory that they got into the coffee first and once they were all hopped up on caffeine they attacked the styrofom parrot because it was looking at them sternly. They ate the tortilla chips which made them a bit thirsty so they ran all over the tops of the water tanks because it smelled like water (there are 3 water tanks under the floors throughout the boat). They chewed any containers with moisturizer in it, and the tetra packs of old French Rabbit red wine did not make their judgment any better. They got a nasty shock when they bit the stash of spare batteries which caused much defecation. We think one of the last things they ate was the 10 packages of roach killer. This made them very thirsty and they wobbled off the boat forgetting about that very large step to the ground. So we are left to clean up after the mouse party, as well as, do all the rest of the very long list of things to be done before the boat can float again. We decided renting a car would be the most efficient way to get to and from the boat and to all the stores we would need to visit. This is also the most adrenaline producing means of travel we could find. Grenada is a left hand drive country, there are no sidewalks on 99% of the roads and the roads are about as wide as a single lane in North America. Janine is Right Left dyslexic so you will be happy to know there was no way she was going to attempt driving. In fact she preferred have a stiff drink before getting into the car. For some reason every time we started to drive back to the hotel it coincided with school dismissal. So take narrow roads with cars going really fast (because the locals all seem to only have 2 speeds, stopping and going fast) and send schools full of small children looking lovely in their uniforms out to walk along the non existent sidewalks. The roads here make the old SEA TO Sky highway look straight. Every corner seems to have a cement truck or a flat bed truck with workers hanging off it coming around it. But surprisingly enough there are very few car crashes. We were told there have been only 4 fatal crashes this year. Really amazing given the number of cliffs! So we settled into a routine of getting up around 7:30 stopping at various stores to support the local economy, getting to the boat around 10 and working like dogs until 3:30 or 4 when we would climb into the Suzuki ( same car as Sue) Vitara and thrill ride our way back to the hotel, dodging school children and trucks, for a swim in the pool. Usually Gary and Janine would head out to get some food while the kids chose to stay in the air conditioned hotel room and get their last fill of cable TV. We found a great Sushi restaurant that had a pizza restaurant next door. So we could have some sushi and order the pizza to be ready to take back to the kids when we were finished. Except for the hours of sweat spent scrubbing the boat it was a like a vacation.

Welcome to Grenada

Sorry this is out of order, we have finally got around to writing. Our first morning in Grenada, we all slept until 11 am on Monday morning(7 am pst). It was a beautiful sunny day when I opened the curtains, and yes we were facing onto the most beautiful beach in Grenada. I could see some sail boats anchored out in one of our favourite anchorages. We caught a taxi to Grenada Marine in St David’s where High Five V was waiting for us. It is about a 25 minute drive from the hotel. When we got to the marina we didn’t see our boat right away, there were a lot of boats in the yard. We decided to get some lunch while it was being served. The chicken roti here is very good! After lunch we wandered around the yard looking for High Five, you would think finding a 46 foot boat would be easy. After 30 minutes of wandering around in the hot sun we found her buried behind 4 other boats. We were excited, and the boat could be heard breathing a sigh of relief when her family returned to her. We climbed up the saw horse and ladder and unlocked the door. On first look she looked pretty good. Once we looked closer we could see all the evidence of the mouse party that had taken place in our absence. Now you may wonder how mice could get onto a boat that is locked up tight and not touching the ground except for steel frames that it is sitting on. Well in Grenada one of the things done to protect the boats during a hurricane is they are strapped down to cement blocks buried in the ground. These straps act as highways to the boat for rodents and insects. A hatch or port must have been left open at some point (workers were coming in and out) and the mice found their party place. We have a theory that they got into the coffee first and once they were all hopped up on caffeine they attacked the styrofom parrot because it was looking at them sternly. They ate the tortilla chips which made them a bit thirsty so they ran all over the tops of the water tanks because it smelled like water (there are 3 water tanks under the floors throughout the boat). They chewed any containers with moisturizer in it, and the tetra packs of old French Rabbit red wine did not make their judgment any better. They got a nasty shock when they bit the stash of spare batteries which caused much defecation. We think one of the last things they ate was the 10 packages of roach killer. This made them very thirsty and they wobbled off the boat forgetting about that very large step to the ground. So we are left to clean up after the mouse party, as well as, do all the rest of the very long list of things to be done before the boat can float again. We decided renting a car would be the most efficient way to get to and from the boat and to all the stores we would need to visit. This is also the most adrenaline producing means of travel we could find. Grenada is a left hand drive country, there are no sidewalks on 99% of the roads and the roads are about as wide as a single lane in North America. Janine is Right Left dyslexic so you will be happy to know there was no way she was going to attempt driving. In fact she preferred have a stiff drink before getting into the car. For some reason every time we started to drive back to the hotel it coincided with school dismissal. So take narrow roads with cars going really fast (because the locals all seem to only have 2 speeds, stopping and going fast) and send schools full of small children looking lovely in their uniforms out to walk along the non existent sidewalks. The roads here make the old SEA TO Sky highway look straight. Every corner seems to have a cement truck or a flat bed truck with workers hanging off it coming around it. But surprisingly enough there are very few car crashes. We were told there have been only 4 fatal crashes this year. Really amazing given the number of cliffs! So we settled into a routine of getting up around 7:30 stopping at various stores to support the local economy, getting to the boat around 10 and working like dogs until 3:30 or 4 when we would climb into the Suzuki ( same car as Sue) Vitara and thrill ride our way back to the hotel, dodging school children and trucks, for a swim in the pool. Usually Gary and Janine would head out to get some food while the kids chose to stay in the air conditioned hotel room and get their last fill of cable TV. We found a great Sushi restaurant that had a pizza restaurant next door. So we could have some sushi and order the pizza to be ready to take back to the kids when we were finished. Except for the hours of sweat spent scrubbing the boat it was a like a vacation.

Travelling to Grenada

Well after weeks of organizing, sorting and packing we managed to squeeze all the things we had acquired to take to the boat into 10 bags to be checked and a couple carry-ons each. Only 2 of the bags were overweight. Kate Douglas and her son Robert kindly gave our luggage and some of us a ride to the airport. The rest of us got a ride with Grandma (Ladora). The checking in process was very easy, Westjet took our word on the weights of the bags so we didn’t have to worry about the accuracy of the bathroom scales we had been using. Grandma treated us to dinner at the Milestones at YVR, thanks again. Going through security we discovered we had broken a few rules. I had a tube of toothpaste that was a large tube that had a very little amount in it and Gary had mistakenly left a knife in his backpack. We shuffled some stuff around and Gary went to check one more bag. This cost us some money but lightened all of our carry on bags. It wasn’t long before we were settled into our seats on the plane, we were all very excited but new this would one of our only chances to sleep in the next 20 hours. The plane took off at 11pm. Now why do people keep their lights on and read during an entire night flight? Isn’t the point of a night flight to sleep while you travel? Wouldn’t you look around and see every other person on the plane is snuggled in to sleep and think “ wow maybe my light is bothering all these people trying to sleep”. OK that is enough ranting. I don’t think any of us slept very well. We arrived in Toronto at 6am EST (3am PST) bleary eyed but still excited. We grabbed breakfast while we waited for the next flight. We watched our luggage get loaded onto our Westjet flight to St Lucia and were relieved to see all 11 pieces! We hadn’t reserved seats on this flight so we ended up at the back of the plane, but were all able to sit together. The flight went well with just a bit of turbulence to keep it interesting. All of us but Bradley were able to grab pieces of sleep. Once we got down over the Caribbean Islands it was fun to try and recognize the islands by their geographic characteristics. Monserat was the easiest as it was smoking. We landed in St Lucia at 2:10pm, immediately after walking out the door of the plane that warm tropical air envelopes you. Oh it felt and smelt so good! Our flight arrived at the same time as a 747 from Europe, so the customs line up was really long. Fortunately a nice customs officer sent us to the “family” booth with no lineup as we were travelling with children. This is something we have experienced often while travelling with kids. Canada customs should take note. If you have never been to St Lucia, I should explain, St Lucia has an international airport and a domestic airport and they built them at opposite ends of the country. Economically it makes sense as a taxi must be hired to drive people from one airport to the other. This deposits about $100.00US into the local economy. It also allows the traveler to see some of St Lucia and possibly stop for a drink or a bite to eat along the way depositing more into the local economy. The problem with this system is you need to have enough time between your flight connections to allow for the hour and half taxi ride. Fortunately we had time for both the taxi ride and a stop for a cold drink. We had pre arranged for our taxi before leaving Vancouver and made sure he had a vehicle large enough to accommodate all 11 of our bags. This went amazingly well. Upon reaching the domestic airport we had to check all our bags which was a bit expensive. Liat airlines only allows 1 bag per person and charges a hefty fee for extra bags. We knew this was the case but it was still the cheapest way to get all the gear to the boat. Liat couldn’t guarantee all our bags would make it on to our flight but said that they would get there some time. What can you do but smile and hope for the best? It was a 30 min flight to St Vincent where we waited for 2 ½ hour for our flight to Grenada. I was nervous about this flight actually happening as Liat is well known for planes not arriving when they are supposed to. We had now been traveling for 20 hours with very little sleep and not much food since breakfast in Toronto. In our family the potential for people to start falling apart at this point is huge. I am happy to report that everyone held up incredibly well. As parents we couldn’t have been more proud of our kids, they are hardy seasoned travelers. Our flight showed up at 9pm and took 30 min to reach Grenada…our final destination by air! A miracle occurred! All our bags arrived with us! Customs was a little sticky but they let us go with a small donation to the local economy. We grabbed a cab to get to the hotel and picked up some dinner to go on the way. I had booked the hotel rooms on a site called skyauction. I had never used this site before and was nervous if it would actually work. I am happy to report that it all went smoothly our rooms were ready and waiting for us with killer views of the best beach in Genada. Or at least as good as the view can be at 10:30pm but the tree frogs sounded awesome. We had now been traveling for 2 4 hours and were ready to collapse.

Travelling to Grenada

Well after weeks of organizing, sorting and packing we managed to squeeze all the things we had acquired to take to the boat into 10 bags to be checked and a couple carry-ons each. Only 2 of the bags were overweight. Kate Douglas and her son Robert kindly gave our luggage and some of us a ride to the airport. The rest of us got a ride with Grandma (Ladora). The checking in process was very easy, Westjet took our word on the weights of the bags so we didn’t have to worry about the accuracy of the bathroom scales we had been using. Grandma treated us to dinner at the Milestones at YVR, thanks again. Going through security we discovered we had broken a few rules. I had a tube of toothpaste that was a large tube that had a very little amount in it and Gary had mistakenly left a knife in his backpack. We shuffled some stuff around and Gary went to check one more bag. This cost us some money but lightened all of our carry on bags. It wasn’t long before we were settled into our seats on the plane, we were all very excited but new this would one of our only chances to sleep in the next 20 hours. The plane took off at 11pm. Now why do people keep their lights on and read during an entire night flight? Isn’t the point of a night flight to sleep while you travel? Wouldn’t you look around and see every other person on the plane is snuggled in to sleep and think “ wow maybe my light is bothering all these people trying to sleep”. OK that is enough ranting. I don’t think any of us slept very well. We arrived in Toronto at 6am EST (3am PST) bleary eyed but still excited. We grabbed breakfast while we waited for the next flight. We watched our luggage get loaded onto our Westjet flight to St Lucia and were relieved to see all 11 pieces! We hadn’t reserved seats on this flight so we ended up at the back of the plane, but were all able to sit together. The flight went well with just a bit of turbulence to keep it interesting. All of us but Bradley were able to grab pieces of sleep. Once we got down over the Caribbean Islands it was fun to try and recognize the islands by their geographic characteristics. Monserat was the easiest as it was smoking. We landed in St Lucia at 2:10pm, immediately after walking out the door of the plane that warm tropical air envelopes you. Oh it felt and smelt so good! Our flight arrived at the same time as a 747 from Europe, so the customs line up was really long. Fortunately a nice customs officer sent us to the “family” booth with no lineup as we were travelling with children. This is something we have experienced often while travelling with kids. Canada customs should take note. If you have never been to St Lucia, I should explain, St Lucia has an international airport and a domestic airport and they built them at opposite ends of the country. Economically it makes sense as a taxi must be hired to drive people from one airport to the other. This deposits about $100.00US into the local economy. It also allows the traveler to see some of St Lucia and possibly stop for a drink or a bite to eat along the way depositing more into the local economy. The problem with this system is you need to have enough time between your flight connections to allow for the hour and half taxi ride. Fortunately we had time for both the taxi ride and a stop for a cold drink. We had pre arranged for our taxi before leaving Vancouver and made sure he had a vehicle large enough to accommodate all 11 of our bags. This went amazingly well. Upon reaching the domestic airport we had to check all our bags which was a bit expensive. Liat airlines only allows 1 bag per person and charges a hefty fee for extra bags. We knew this was the case but it was still the cheapest way to get all the gear to the boat. Liat couldn’t guarantee all our bags would make it on to our flight but said that they would get there some time. What can you do but smile and hope for the best? It was a 30 min flight to St Vincent where we waited for 2 ½ hour for our flight to Grenada. I was nervous about this flight actually happening as Liat is well known for planes not arriving when they are supposed to. We had now been traveling for 20 hours with very little sleep and not much food since breakfast in Toronto. In our family the potential for people to start falling apart at this point is huge. I am happy to report that everyone held up incredibly well. As parents we couldn’t have been more proud of our kids, they are hardy seasoned travelers. Our flight showed up at 9pm and took 30 min to reach Grenada…our final destination by air! A miracle occurred! All our bags arrived with us! Customs was a little sticky but they let us go with a small donation to the local economy. We grabbed a cab to get to the hotel and picked up some dinner to go on the way. I had booked the hotel rooms on a site called skyauction. I had never used this site before and was nervous if it would actually work. I am happy to report that it all went smoothly our rooms were ready and waiting for us with killer views of the best beach in Genada. Or at least as good as the view can be at 10:30pm but the tree frogs sounded awesome. We had now been traveling for 2 4 hours and were ready to collapse.

All polished and painted

All polished and painted

First coat of paint is on. There is a paint shortage, so only the
second coat will be blue.

First coat of paint is on. There is a paint shortage, so only the
second coat will be blue.

We are here!

We are here!

The Countdown

It is 1 week until we leave Vancouver. People keep asking me if I`m excited. On one level I am but it is way over shadowed by the long list and piles of stuff that need to be taken care of in the next 7 days of which I am working 2 so that leaves me 5 days! Yikes! Luckily I am not doing this on my own. The High Five crew is getting back into working together as a team. The boys are actully a lot of help, a big improvement from when we left in 2007. I would write more but the lists aren`t getting shorter and the piles of stuff actually seem to be growing. Gotta Go!