Final Thoughts

Well folks,

After 5528 nautical miles, we've made it back home. With a forecast promising good winds, we ran from Onset, MA through the Cape Cod canal and up to Boston Harbor--flying the spinnaker again to make the most of a down-wind run. It was great to scud into local water doing eight knots, finishing the trip with a great sailing day.

After a couple nights on the hook among the harbor islands, we made our way to the dock at Cottage Park Yacht Club and began the shift back to land life. Over dinner for those last nights on the boat, we were able to reflect on a year's worth of adventures. While there are far too many to be captures in any one concluding blog entry, the kids each worked on some poems to encapsulate certain memories they hope to keep with them.

We certainly have enjoyed putting together this blog. It has helped us chronicle the year and kept us in contact with so many of you. Thank you for taking the time to follow our journey and share your comments as you saw fit. (Matthew in particular deserves a gold star for his efforts!)
Thank you also for your support as we navigated the waters of losing a parent. We all appreciate the attention you gave us as we dealt with Grappy's illness and death.

Hopefully we have provided a little inspiration for each of you to step away from the ordinary. Perhaps you will volunteer abroad, or visit someplace off the beaten path. Or you may think about getting by with less, and paying close attention to how you use water, power, and food. Maybe you will step away from the media, the rat race, and American consumer distraction and find time to connect with those special to you ... or perhaps ... you will do all of these and head of on a cruising adventure of your own!

( Oh, and by the way, if you are looking for a boat, we have a great one available!)

Hope you enjoy what the kids have created.
Peter.

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Ohana
by Xavier

Overnight passages were cool.
Hiking to beautiful views in Maine, Puerto Rico, and St John.
Awesome natural water slides and jumps.
New foods from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Amazing white sand beaches of the Bahamas.

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The Trip
by Jeremiah
(to the tune of Phineas & Ferb theme)

We had 365 days on our sailing ship
heading south to sunnier weather.
So the ultimate goal of our family trip
was to create memories that will last forever.

Things like...

Spearing a grouper,
Diving for conch,
or seeing wacky flying dinghies.

Spearing a grunt on my birthday,
or kayaking to an island of monkeys.

Body surfing waves,
seeing rocket ships,
or racing on Bahamian boats.

Lassoing lizards,
Catching a mahi,
or eating mufungo and goats.

As you can see there is so much to tell,
I'm sure friends will have lots of questions,
when I get back to school this fall.

But no matter how hard I try,
There is no way to cover it all.

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An Amazing Adventure
by Catherine

There were islands and islands galore,
Mainland was a word rarely spoken
In the Virgin Islands, DR, Bahamas and more,
We all hoped the spell would never be broken.

We made friends with other boats with kids,
All of them cruising just like us,
We taught them card games where you make bids,
We took what came and made no fuss.

We watched amazing dolphin shows,
Displayed at sea for us alone,
And sharks so majestic and without foes,
They eat a fish whole, the scales, meat, and bone.

There were wonders every way I turned
And there are so many things that I have learned.

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Oh The Places We Went
by Josie

(with inspiration from Theodor Geisel)

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air...



...We are finished, yes finished.
Today is our last day.
We have been to great places,
Far off and away.

We have brains in our head
And a sail on our boat.
We could steer ourselves
In any direction we vote.

We were on our own. And we knew what we knew.
And we were the ones who decided what to do.

We looked around anchorages for things we might fear.
About some we did say, “We do not choose to stay here.”
With our brains in our head and our feet on our yacht,
We were too smart for a not-so-good spot.

We did not always find a place we wanted to be.
And in that case, of course, we headed straight out to sea.
It is opener out there in the wide open sea.

Alas we've moved home
No more nights on the foam,
But dreaming of times when we might again roam.

The CheeseBlock 360

After having the chance to catch up with Nica, Jeremy, Julian, and Maddie (of Calypso) in Deltaville, we departed the Chesapeake and gladly headed for the more mild temperatures of New England. We had to motor south to make our way to the mouth of the bay, but once we passed over the bridge/tunnel, we raised the sails and started making our way towards Block Island.

The forecasts had promised 15 to 20 knot winds from the southwest, but at first we were met with lighter winds from the south east. Thankfully everyone felt comfortable with foredeck work, so sometime after eleven the first night (Sunday), we set up the whisker pole for the genoa and rigged a preventer on the main and began our downwind run towards home.

Monday dawned early with drier air and cooler temperatures than we had on the bay. With the sun up we were ready to try trolling for fish. Since we were running wing and wing, it was going to be hard to slow the boat when or if we got a strike. Therefore, instead of using the trolling rod and real, we let out the hand line (nice 100lb monofilament) with simple cedar plug. Within an hour or so, the bungee cord it was hooked to went taught and we knew something was on the line. Still moving at over six and a half knots, we tugged in our catch little by little. And as it got closer to the boat, we could tell we had another mahi-mahi. Not something we were expecting this far north. This one, however, wasn’t as big as our previous (26” vs. 50”), and we decided to throw it back. What we really wanted was a tuna. The cedar plug went back out and somehow we forgot about it for a while. Finally the kids noticed that the bungee was taught and we started hauling in the line to see what we had caught. Low and behold it was a tuna! It must have been on the line for a while, because by the time we got it on board it hadn’t much fight left. The amount of meat on the fish was amazing. We all had seared tuna for dinner that night and still we had at least eight pounds of filets left. It was nice to know Chasseur was going to be in Block Island and we would have someone to share it all with.



Later that day the sea treated with another gift, an amazing dolphin show that took place all around Ohana. In addition to having them scoot along in our bow-wave, this time we were treated to jumps and flips and tail slapping. Hopefully the attached video works and you can get a little sense of what we experienced.

The wind kept up for much of the next evening, but eventually died on us, leaving us to motor sail the last day and a half. But we arrived in Block Island with Chasseur helping to guide us in at night. Josie had made a estimate that our arrival time would be eleven o'clock (arrival time being when we passed the first buoy marking the channel). The blinking light came in to sight and the buoy was abeam of us at 10:59 exactly, Josie had guessed correctly. The night time temps were now in the low 60s, so we fished out fleece blankets that we hadn’t seen in months and all settled in for a great night's sleep.

Having stayed in Block Island for the 4th of July weekend, we are now slowly making our way towards Boston -- exploring the Elizabeth Islands and trying to remain in cruising mode and ignoring the siren calls of land based life.

-- Peter

Wandering in the Chesapeake

After our adventurous stay at Onancock with Matthew and Clara, the six of us made the long haul (55 miles with no wind) up to the Potomac. We were able to dock at Camp Fleury and enjoy a few days ashore, crabbing, swimming, and meeting people. The boys managed to catch over thirty crabs in the crab traps, and George showed us how to steam them and then crack and eat them.





Then our wandering cruise started when we left Breton Bay with two other sailboats – Eagle’s Wings and Bravura. Our first stop was St. Mary’s, where Hart-a-Lee also joined for the night. Many of us went ashore that evening for the concert given on the lawn at St. Mary’s College.

From St. Mary’s we had to motor south past Point Lookout, but were then able to raise the spinnaker and sail up to the Patuxent River and Solomons Island. Unlike in the fall when it was rainy and 40 degrees, this time it was hot and humid, so we rigged our boom overboard and people came over and jumped off with us. We hosted cocktail time this night. (I refrain from calling it cocktail hour because it tended to last much longer than that.) We stayed at Solomons the next day, went to church in the morning, and then paid a visit to the Calvert Marine Museum.



After our second night in Solomons we ventured up to the Choptank River where we found a little cove off of Broad Creek. (Our charts showed its name as Baby Owl Cove, but Builder Fleury seemed to have another name for it.) As Ohana pulled into the cove and set anchor, there was one other boat who had up until that point the peaceful cove all to themselves. We had just finished setting up our sun shade when Bravura arrived and rafted up with us. Eagle’s Wings pulled in and secured to the other side of us, and finally Reel Sweet (Builder Fleury’s motor boat) tied on to Eagle’s Wings. The kids managed a dinner of pasta as the adult cocktail hour stretched from 6 until midnight.



The next day we hopped over to San Domingo Creek and dinghied into St. Michaels through the “back door.” There we explored the shops, had a great lunch, and cooled off with ice cream treats. That evening, back aboard the boats, we were treated to an amazing lightning show.

To escape the heat Ohana chose to indulge in some dock time when we got to Oxford. After plugging in and getting the AC running, we were picked up by Reel Sweet and enjoyed an afternoon exploration of the upper reaches of the Tred Avon. That night we all slept comfortably having freshly showered and settled down without sticking to the sheets.

From the Choptank we headed back to Solomons and the next day said our goodbyes before making our way south towards Deltaville. Joining the Wanderers with all their joy and humor made this tour quite the experience and furthered our understanding of all the treasures to be found here.

Onancock, VA

Once again, it is my honor to be a guest blogger on the Ohana website, and this time we’re coming to you from the Delmarva Peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay. (You can pronounce “Onancock” however you like because we asked three people how to say it properly and got four different answers.) The lovely Clara and I decided that we would hook up with the “Crew” once they made landfall after their sail up from the Bahamas, and Liza chose the quaint town of Onancock as the meeting place. After some last minute planning (which was helped by not having many choices to begin with) we were all set for a three day visit with the “Crew”.

We drove down on Saturday and met up with everyone at our B & B, the Colonial Manor Inn, located on the main drag of town. We did see one car go by, but remember it was Saturday afternoon. Peter lugged up his portable Happy Hour Cooler, complete with wine, beer, and Sierra Mist, and we had Happy Hour on the porch, taking time to catch up with all of the kids. It still amazes me that all 4 are still here after almost 11 months on the boat!!! After Happy Hour we headed down to the town dock for dinner at waterfront restaurant. All 8 of us dined outside, and I had some soft shell crabs for the first time in my life. I wasn’t sure what parts of it to eat, so I ate everything just to make sure I didn’t miss a good part. It was the first of many crab dishes I would eat in the next three days. That night it poured rain and was unbearably muggy, but we didn’t even notice due to the fine A/C in our establishment.

The next morning (Sunday) we met up with the “Crew” for our short trip to Tangier Island (by “ferry”), another one of life’s little mysteries I had never heard of before this trip. To make a long story short, you’re going to have to read about the island on your own time because I don’t have enough space here to go into all the detail. I think one of the kids on the boat should have written a report on the island, but you know how kids get when the end of school is in sight. Anyway, its one of those little communities (like only 584 residents on the island) which wants to get on with its life without having the outside world poking its nose into their business. Good luck with that. I would like to say it was charming or quaint, but it was just a bunch of buildings on an island. The most fascinating aspect of the island was all of the graves in everyone’s front yards. There really wasn’t a town cemetery; everyone seemed to be just buried where they fell. They did have a very thorough history center/museum on the island, and we learned quite a lot of island history in our short stay. And for lunch we ate at a nice little restaurant and I had a crab cake sandwich (kind of like a crab patty at Mr. Crabs on Sponge Bob Squarepants)!!! Overall a very worthwhile day trip. We even got to see a lot of osprey nests (with chicks) on the channel markers on our trip back and forth to the island.
Once we got back from the trip Peter decided to bring Ohana into the town dock from its anchorage in the harbor, as we were planning on having dinner on the boat that evening (and it was necessary to have the a/c run for a few hours). Yours Truly was chosen to help throw some rope or do some other sailing thing and rode Keiki out to the Ohana to bring her in so to speak. Well, we fired up the engine, started to motor into the dock, and then watched the depth finder on the boat go to 0.0…..and then came to a complete stop. Even with my limited sailing knowledge I knew that wasn’t good. Luckily, there was space at another part of the dock, and we just tied up there instead. Of course all this time we created quite a scene and I think half of the town was there to help us tie up at the town dock. Sadly, I didn’t get to even throw a rope. But a few hours later we were back on the boat having…..not crab for dinner, but instead some grilled pork and apples. It was a little tight in the salon, but the 8 of us had a nice dinner, and afterwards played some games with the kids, and then called it a night.
On Monday morning all of us (minus Peter who stayed behind to do some work in the boat) headed to Chincoteague Island (part of the Assateague Island National Refuge) to see the famous wild horses. It took about 45 minutes to drive there. Now the lovely Clara & I had been there in 1999, but a lot had changed since then. Our first stop was to the Visitor Center to learn about the horses and all the other wildlife on the island. (Since it was an official school day for the kids, you could say this was a sanctioned field trip.) After that we took a 1.6 mile hike though the woodlands to get a better glimpse of the wild horses; at least that is what the brochure promised. All of us (except Clara who wisely stayed in the air conditioned car) were eaten alive by some very determined mosquitoes. In a very bizarre manner, the mosquitoes that bit Catherine left a series of welts on her back which were identical to Orion’s Belt---so in an indirect way we did learn a little astronomy while we were there. But we did see the horses from the road and along our hike, so it was not a total loss. After that hike we headed to another Visitors Center to handle some horseshoe crabs and oysters. Then some of us headed to the beach and others went on a marsh walk, where we learned about all the critters that live in the salt marsh (and about the mating habits of the fiddler crab). After that we took a drive on the wildlife loop in the park and saw some wonderful herons, egrets and other native birds. Lunch was a little late that day, but we ended up in another great little seafood place where I had (who would have guessed) another great crab cake sandwich!!! After we drove back we took a little siesta and then met up with Liza and Peter for an adults only dinner at a little bistro in town. This time it was soft shell crab for the appetizer and crab cakes for dinner!!!

When we got back to the dock, the sky was being lit up with a spectacular lightning display, followed by the booming thunder. Since the “Crew” was due to take off at 7am the next morning we said our goodbyes then (as we don’t do 7am on vacation). I couldn’t believe the time had gone so quickly, but then again I can’t believe they have only one more month to go in their year long sailing trip! It was a great three days in the lovely town of Onancock, a part of the country I doubt we would have ever visited if it weren’t for the “Crew”. Until next time……….

-Matthew

Downtown Tangier

Ponies of Chincoteague

The Fiddler Crabs in the Marsh

BIRAC 700

The following is a collective effort with each of us contributing a paragraph or so.

(Care to guess who is responsible for each paragraph?)

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Ohana making the most of light winds.

Last time you heard from us we were writing from the sunshine and crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, now 650 miles later we are in the Chesapeake, back in Hampton, start line of the Caribbean 1500. During our passage we experienced the wonders of the sea, enjoyed various types of entertainment, took necessary safety precautions, and ultimately re-engaged with hustle and bustle of life in the United States.

It was awesome for the six of us to sail along at 6 to 10 knots and realize that we were alone, really alone. On the first day out as we headed on the course of 10 degrees magnetic, we slowly lost sight of Wild Horses, a boat headed for Block Island. As it disappeared over the horizon we did not see any other boats until we saw land about three days later. The quiet of the VHF allowed the sounds of sailing to become more pronounced. The rhythm of the waves lapping on the side of the hull combined with the chatter of kids singing or playing games in the cockpit became the ordinary. This alone time was precious to all of us. It allowed time to create, think and be together.

Sure we might have be out in the middle of nowhere and it might have been amazingly beautiful, but still we needed entertainment besides staring out upon the endless waves. Some of the more absurd methods of passing time included stacking dirty dishes into towers or concocting schemes to rid ourselves of two little, annoying, stick wielding brothers. (The Nintendo proved helpful in this regard.) More sophisticated forms such as listening to audio books, or playing Yahtzee also took place. Also a good amount of time was spent discussing and debating a whole range of different topics. We renamed unpronounceable jelly fish and convinced Josie to compare everything to the Carib 1500. Our passage was dubbed the Birac 700. “Birac” because it is “Carib” backwards, and 700 because the length of the “Carib” was rounded up, so we did too. On the last day of the passage it was calm enough for a treat, so the four kids hid up in the front cabin and watched movies. All together the days and nights passed quite rapidly.

Though much of our time was spent just hanging, we also had responsibilities that had to be carried out each day. Each morning Dad would start the day by listening to the weather the single side band radio (SSB), which is like a Ham radio. This was at 6:30 a.m., an hour later, he would turn the SSB back on and check in with Chasseur and Stolen Hour (two family boats we have been cruising with and were making a similar passage to the one we were.) Together, they would discuss the weather, give their lat. and long., and talk about anything else of interest such as fish caught or a malfunctioning engine. A similar conversation would take place at 7:30 p.m.. These conversations added a nice bit structure to our days, especially since the only other thing that had a definite time were our night shifts. For night sailing, we split the night into fourths. Catherine was in charge from 8 p.m. - 11 p.m., then Dad took over from 11 p.m. - 2 a.m. Mom had the 2 – 5 watch and I was on from 5-8. During night watches we would listen to music, and look at the stars or sunset or sunrise. Every 10 minutes or so we would check our position on the GPS, look around for lights on the horizon, and check on any change in the direction and speed of the wind. Day watches, which the four kids covered, were a little different. In the day time there would always be some one else up in the cockpit with you, so if you had to quickly down to grab something you could just ask someone else to cover for you for a bit. Since the weather was nice we did one man (or woman) watches, but if the weather were to have turned sour we had a plan for doubling up the watches. These watches not only gave structure to the day but gave us a time that we had to be up on deck and got to see some amazing stuff.

We saw an assortment of animals during the passage. The first time we saw a Portuguese Man- of-War we thought it was a plastic cup or floating trash. After many more passed by, some close to the boat, we knew that they were jellyfish. Later on during the passage we heard the trolling line zipping out. We knew we had a big fish. After a long fight, we finally got a huge mahi-mahi aboard. We watched as its vivid green and yellow slowly changed into dull silver. Two days later, Mom spotted some dolphins and we all rushed up to the bow to see them play in our bow waves. A few of them would fall back a bit and then surf a wave until they had enough speed to jump – some spinning, some flipping, some arching – the looked like they were showing off. The beautiful blue water and all these wonderful animals made the days quite entertaining.

As we got closer to Virginia, the sights changed. We saw fighter jets dropping flares out of the sky. We saw cargo ships, huge masses of metal that carry containers on their decks. We also saw seven fishing boats that were going out to the gulf stream. We were definitely getting closer to civilization.

Initially, we thought that it would take about five or six days for us to make the passage from Marsh Harbour to Norfolk. With favorable winds Saturday afternoon through Sunday and with the three-plus knot push from the gulf stream, we arrived off Cape Hatteras late Tuesday night. We motored through the calm weather on Wednesday and passed into the Chesapeake Bay by eight that evening. As we dropped the hook for the night it seemed clear to all of us how far we had come since the fall. The trip odometer had crossed 4700 miles and we had at least one experience to go with each mile. While we still had over a month and a half before our scheduled return home, this passage highlighted the confidence and camaraderie that had grown among us, something even more precious than the photos and the memories that we will be bringing home as well.

Fresh fish for dinner!

(and breakfast, and lunch, and dinner again)

Bahamas By Boat

The palm trees, the bushes, the slight rolling hills,
The crystal clear water, shining near blue,
The breeze lightly blowing, it never quite stills,
The blinding white beaches, so fine, soft and new,

These beautiful wonders take over my sight,
They make up the paradise in which I am,
Illuminated by the gorgeous sunlight,
The water as docile as a newly born lamb,

In all the amazing reefs that I've seen,
The beauty I look for I've found here at last,
This place beats anywhere else that I've been,
Just as rich and as true as it was in the past,

The reefs and the beaches, the sun and the land,
This is perfection what else could I demand,

-Catherine Jacob-Dolan


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This was a school assignment so no I am not just spurting out poetry. Dad wanted me to post my poem on the blog so others could read it. So there it is, a sonnet following the rhyme scheme: abab,cdcd,efef,gg.

More from the Bahamas

Hello everyone,

The Bahamas have continued to amaze us as we spent the past days working out way up the Exuma island chain, with stops in Staniel Cay, Fowl Cay, Wardrick Wells, Hawksbill, Shroud, Highbourne, Allen, and Ships Channel cays. We are now in the Abacos and hoping to get a weather window later next week to make the run to the Chesapeake. Leaving the clear blue waters and relaxing undeveloped corners of the Bahamas will be hard, but we are also looking forward to being in the states and checking out the southern parts of the Chesapeake.

Below are more pieces the kids have put together. Enjoy.
--Peter

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Swinging from the Halyard

“One , Two, Three, Let Go!” I cried, and Josie released her hands and pushed off with her feet as I cranked the winch and slowly made final adjustments to her height. We were finally bringing a dream to reality. Way back in Long Island Sound we had observed a boat completing an interesting stunt, which we were now copying. In a harness clipped to a halyard we climbed to the outside of the lifelines and pushed off. This all took place on the leeward side of the boat while we were on a beam reach and nicely heeled over. We swung out over the water and soared through the air, or if Dad rounded up quickly and the boat heeled way over we got bounced along the water.

Josie, Jeremiah, Mom and I all took turns swinging off the boat. Flying over the water was tons of fun, like … well not really like anything else we’ve done. We flew through the air with sometimes only our feet hitting the water and other times being soaked quite thoroughly. The bow waves would come up and spray us. The feeling was amazing, the water, the wind, the adrenaline rush. Boat swinging is something I want to to again.

-- Catherine

Glossary of terms for landlubbers:

beam reach – when the wind is blowing across the boat, the boat is sailing across the wind, a beam reach is the fastest point of sail also it gives the most heel
bow – the front of the vessel
halyard - a line running down from the top of the mast, usually used to hoist a sail.
heeled – when the boat tips over because of the wind catching the sail.
landlubber – a non sailor who resides on land, sailors are superior to landlubbers
leeward – the low side of the boat when the boat is heeled over, the side with the sail(s)
lifelines – the lines sometimes netted that are arranged to keep passengers from falling over board
to round up – to come closer to the wind
winch – a round almost bobbin like appliance used to crank in sheets and haylards

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Thunderball Grotto and Jumping from the Spreaders

On the afternoon of Friday the 30th of April, we arrived at a Big Majors Spot, a little island near Stainel Cay. Once we set the anchor, the five of us (Mom stayed back) jumped into Keiki and (with Jeremiah driving) zoomed over to Thunderball Grotto.

When we arrived at the dinghy mooring, we quickly put on our snorkel gear and jumped in. The second I got into the water, I was surrounded by little Sargent Majors. These 4 inch long fish usually have yellow and black stripes, but some times they have blue and black instead. Around the grotto these fish came right up to my mask, hoping for food, but even though I did not have any they swam around me anyway. Under the cloud of Sargent Majors were a few very colorful Angelfish and some beautiful coral. After all our snorkeling experiences this year, we had never seen so many fish which were unafraid of humans.

The unique behavior of the fish was but one of the special features of Thunderball Grotto. From the dinghy mooring we were able to swim through a tunnel into a sunlit cave. The cave itself was about 100 feet long with a widest part of about 25 feet. The height of the cave in the middle was about 30 feet, but at the two entrances it was only about 3 feet from the water (at low tide). In the ceiling there were two large holes. (These were conveniently located over the deepest part of cave.) Shafts of sunlight flooded down through the holes lighting the cave and the water. To be snorkeling in a cave without the need for flashlights impressed all of us.

I had heard that people jump from through the holes and they were only a little higher than the other cliffs I had jumped from so a bunch of us decided to check it out. I did not jumped that day because it looked a little too scary. I knew, however, that I had to come back the next day and make myself jump.

I returned the next day, and did jump, but not after after thinking way too much about it. I had jumped off two cliffs before and this was only a little higher, but I had never before jumped through a hole. I was scared that I was going to hit the other side of the hole. I was still worried even after I had seen Peter from Stolen Hour and Sandy from Pilgrim jump without getting even close to the other side of the hole. The only reason I was able to make myself go was after seeing Evan, who went right before me, literally step off the edge. After I jumped Hayden leaped and nearly landed on my head, Hannah followed Hayden and Catherine jumped after Hannah. Dad jumped next and Peter from Stolen Hour jumped again. Later Hannah from Pilgrim and her mom Polly jumped. Everyone found it scary but certainly enjoyed the thrill.

Outside the grotto from the dinghy mooring.

(People on top are near the roof holes)

Near the hole you need to drop through.

Inside the grotto

My jumping adventures continued three days later while on a mooring at the south anchorage on Wardrick Wells. I invited the kids from the other boats, Stolen Hour and Pilgrim, to come over and jump off our boom. We jumped for a while, but quickly got bored of having to crawl all the way out to the end just for one quick jump. I decided that it would be a good time to call Peter from Stolen Hour to see if he wanted to jump off the spreaders with me. He said yes and came over in his dinghy. Peter free climbed up the mast and sat on the spreaders. I did not think that I had enough upper body strength to free climb, and I also was very scared of falling back down to the deck. Instead I was hauled up in Dad’s climbing harness. After slipping out of the harness, I stood at the end of the spreaders for a while just to be sure there were no sharks around and because ... as always ... I was a little scared. I jumped eventually and it was a very long fall. Even though this was my fourth jump from this height, it was a challenge because I had to push off while balancing on a thin piece of metal. In the coming months I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more jumping adventures.

-- Josie

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Lizards on a Leash

To make a lasso to catch lizard you need a piece of grass. Then you tie a slip not at the end of it. Then you find a lizard and very quietly sneak up behind it and up the lasso around its head and pull! Hayden, Hans, and Jeremiah each lassoed lizards. To free the lizards you would either cut the lasso or the lizard would break free itself. Sandy, the dad on Pilgrim, taught us all how to do this. It is something I want to do again.

-- Xavier

Lionfish

When I went snorkeling I saw a lionfish. It was a foot long. It was extremely beautiful. It had wavy stripes of orange and brown on its whole body. On its side it had feather like fins each one made up of many oval shaped smaller fins. Its spines are so poisonous that one spine can make you very very sick if it pierces your skin. Its spines are 4 or 5 inches long It was exciting to see the lionfish because there are not easy to see.

-- Xavier

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Spearfishing

There are other ways of fishing than a casting rod or a trolling rod ... spearfishing is one of them. I learned how to spearfish from a great birthday present that my mom and dad set up.

Unlike fishing with a rod, with all the line and lures and stuff, you just need one piece of equipment for spearfishing. The spear I used had a 4-5 foot long and ½ inch diameter fiberglass pole. At the end of the pole there were three 6 inch prongs. At the other end there was a ¼ inch thick rubber band that is attached to the pole by a tightly rapped rope. With this in hand you can jump in the water and you are ready to go.

To shoot a fish you have to hold the spear correctly. First you hold the rubber band between your thumb and pointer finger. Then you pull the band up the rod and hold on with the hand that has the rubber band in it. Then when you see the fish you want to spear, you dive down and let go of the rod. You need to hold on to the rubber band or else it goes shooting down to the bottom. The spear will cut through the water and hopefully hit your target.

The first fish I speared was a small mouthed grunt. They grow 6-10inches long and live in schools. This makes it easier because if your spear misses the fish you were aiming at you still have the chance of hitting another one. Another fish you can spear is snapper. They grow in a range of 1-3 feet. Snapper are harder to catch because they live alone and are usually on the move. I almost speared one, but I was not fast enough. It darted away. The more experience you get, the more kinds of fish you can go after.

This is probably one of the best birthday present ever, because I will always remember how excited I was when the spear went right through the grunt's head. (Matthew, this was almost as fun as blowing something up.)

On the hunt.

Going after a school of grunts.