Category: People We Meet

Happy Holidays from Guadeloupe!

After the Christmas winds died down, we decided to say goodbye to Deshaies and head south to explore more of Guadeloupe.

Pigeon Island

Our first stop was Pigeon Island. The reef and sea life inside the Cousteau Nation Park is protected, meaning that anchoring and fishing is strictly forbidden. We anchored in the nearby cove for a couple of nights. We broke out the dive hookah and went exploring underwater. The water was the clearest we’ve seen since the Bahamas and the coral formations were just breathtaking. We hardly even noticed that it was raining buckets the entire time we were out. We dove until our flippers gave us blisters, then returned to the boat for another rolly night. Even though the winds had calmed down, it would be a few days before the seas followed suit. read more

Tomorrow is the Day: Goodbye Puerto Rico, Hello Adventure

Tomorrow is the day we’ve been counting down to all hurricane season. Tomorrow we’ll wake up with the sun, set sail, and start Part 2 of our sailing adventure. To say that we’re excited is an understatement. We’ve been busting our butts and knocking out boat project after boat project the last two weeks to prepare us for this moment. We’re exhausted, but we know how rejuvenating the seas can be and tomorrow all our hard work will pay off. read more

Two Salty Sailors in Paradise: Our First Two Weeks in the BVI

The Thorny Path to Windward is well behind us and we are in the British Virgin Islands. We did it! We sailed here from the Tampa Bay area, covering 1600 miles. We battled lightning storms, repaired boat issues, gathered paperwork for importing the dogs, withstood our fair share of high seas, and spent several sleepless nights behind the helm on overnight passages. We are no longer the greenhorns who had trouble setting the anchor and who laid awake all night checking every 15 minutes to make sure it was holding. Nor are we the newbie sailors that didn’t realize that 20-25 kt winds on the nose in open water is near suicidal. We are no longer intimidated by docking in tight slips. We are now intimately familiar with our boat’s systems. We now have a good understanding of Kairos’s and, more importantly, our own limits. We have learned a lot over the last 130 days at sea. We’ve learned about our boat, about sailing, about liveaboard life, about ourselves, and about each other. read more

From Isolation to the Big City: Coffin Island and San Juan

Coffin Island

Leaving the party towns of Boqueron and La Parguera, we set out for Isla Caja de Muertos (translation: Coffin Island) on May 8th. It was Mother’s Day, so we both called our moms while in route despite the choppy seas. read more

Driving and Waterfalls in the Dominican Republic

Our scariest experience to date occurred during our time in the Dominican Republic. It wasn’t an ocean passage or a building squall we braved. The dangerous experience that we conquered was riding motorcycles through the Dominican Republic. Most Dominicans get around via motorcycles. It’s normal to see a family of five on a single bike or someone hauling two dead goats. The street conditions are poor with the roads covered in pot holes. Motorcyclists fail to obey elementary road regulations and pass on the left, the right, and sometimes side by side with two other vehicles. To complicate things more, stray dogs and livestock wonder into the streets. All of this combined creates a chaotic obstacle course that’s exciting to navigate. read more

Luperon: The Grime, the Beauty, the Culture

We absolutely loved Luperon, but for very different reasons than the Bahamas. In fact, the two couldn’t be more different. The Bahamas had stunning beaches, turquoise clear water, and isolation. Luperon’s water was filthy, but the green country side was magnificent, the town was lively, the food was delicious and inexpensive, and it was full of puppies. Here’s a rundown of our time in Luperon: the grime, the beauty, the culture. read more

An Unexpected Stop in Turks and Caicos

As sad as we were to leave the Bahamas, we were equally excited to visit the Dominican Republic. We couldn’t wait to hike up the mountain side, explore waterfalls, and devour cheap street food. We pulled up our anchor at 12:50am on April 8th. It would take us 32-36 hours (our longest sail yet) to get to Luperon. Leaving in the middle of the night would ensure a morning arrival on April 9th. The pups were confused why we were up moving around so much at such a strange hour, but once we turned on the motor, they assumed their passage positions. Jaela took the cockpit floor, while Baxter settled into the side cushion. read more

Great Exuma

Being at anchor on a sailboat is pretty amazing. Your boat is always facing into the wind, so there’s a nice cool breeze running through. Bugs like land, so I don’t have to worry about any more noseeum attacks. And the views are usually spectacular. My favorite moment is after we’ve eaten dinner in our cockpit and we are watching the sun set with cocktails in our hands. Life on the hook can be pretty magical. But there are some pretty nice things about staying in a marina: hot showers, laundry access, free internet, unlimited water, no long and wet dinghy rides to shore to walk the pups, and better protection from strong winds. When we pulled into the Emerald Bay Marina, we figured we’d stay a few nights…we had no idea we’d be staying eight! read more

Staniel Cay and Black Point Settlement

Our first stop after exiting the Exumas Cay Land and Sea Park was Staniel Cay. As we neared the island, it was obvious that Staniel Cay was going to be a very different atmosphere than the solitude we just left behind. Surrounded by all of these mega-mega yachts, we instantly felt a stroke of jealousy. I wish our boat had a 3 story slide into the water, jet skis at our disposal, and cool vintage Italian speed boats to zip around on. read more

10 Lessons Learned from Life Aboard

We have been living aboard for 10 days now. I can’t believe it’s actually been that long. The time is flying by. We’ve learned a lot of things since moving on board. For example we just learned how to take apart and clean a carburetor. We also recently learned which way the valve handle should be pointed to ensure we are pumping the toilet to the holding tank instead of overboard (oops– fortunately we haven’t really used it yet). But in addition to learning about our boat’s systems, we have also learned (or relearned in many causes) some valuable life lessons. Here are our 10 lessons learned from 10 days of living aboard. read more