A Caribbean Thanksgiving & Notes from Eliza

Our Thanksgiving of 2009 was very different from all the others we have had. This year we splashed in the tropical water instead of avoiding the ice cold waves of Pleasant Bay. We ate a pot luck dinner at 3pm because if we waited longer the bugs would ruin the feast. At the Cape we eat around 7pm after Grammy has finished all the cooking. Usually we are with my dad’s family for this holiday, however, this year we were with new friends who we’ve met on our voyage. We liked the change in the thanksgiving holiday and look forward to what 2010 will bring.

-- Jeremiah and Xavier

Just a bit different from Plimouth Plantation?

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Hello all you wonderful followers.

I am sitting in the air conditioning of our boat on the dock at Sopher’s Hole Marina while the boys are doing their school work. Since our reunion on the 15th we have started a new scheduling system which seems to be working well for all. We do “school” from 8:30 to 11:00am each day, lunch, then snorkel, hike or gather with others for social time. The effort the kids are putting into their work is impressive and the amount of resistance that we get is quite limited.

This routine has allowed me some time to breathe. The adjustment to such small quarters has been challenging for most of us. I seem to be the last of the strugglers. I did not imagine this was going to be so difficult.

Thanksgiving was exciting and energizing. We were able to Skype both sets of grandparents before the gathering on the beach. It blows my mind that I can talk into the computer to PA and CA with such a great connection. I know it will be great once we can Skype one of you face to face.

For Thanksgiving, thirteen boats gathered on Prickly Pear Island for a pot luck meal---27 adults and 13 children, including a couple from New Zealand, two boats from Canada, and the rest from various US cities. There are so many unique stories about why people choose to cruise for an extended period of time. I wish I was a better writer to be able to share these with you all. But it is not to be.

We are off to St. John tomorrow. I am looking forward to revisiting some of the anchorages from our last trip here. From there to St. Thomas to hopefully meet up with John and Jo, get supplies, a new bimini and then to the Spanish Virgins by the middle of December.

Hope this finds you all well and I am truly thankfully for all the love and encouragement you have shared with us.

-- Eliza

Thanksgiving poems

Here are some acrostic poems that we created for Thanksgiving.



Tropical Waters
Hot and Humid
Awesome Exploring
Noisy Chickens and Goats
Kilgour's Hockey sick flagpole
Swimming Squid
Gorgeous Coral Reefs
Ice Cold Daiquiris
VanAlstines Catching Conchs
Inviting beaches
Numerous Islands
Giant Hermit Crabs
- Jeremiah

Tropical Trees
Hot Weather
Awesome Fish
Nice Water
Kind People
Snorkeling
Glowing Plankton
Interesting Fish
Vigorous Crabs
Interesting Coral
Newts
Good to be here
-Xavier

Turquoise Water

Happy Humans

Abandoned Sweaters

New Flip Flops
Kind Winds
Sandy Beaches
Green Hillsides
Important Sunscreen
Virgin Islands
Interesting Lobsters
Nervous Minnows
Grand Weather
-Josie

Terrific fish
Heavenly views
Aqua water
Never the shivers
Keys (Cays) all to ourselves
Soft sand
Gorgeous pictures
Interesting coral
Vivid colors
Incredible sights
New day, more to see
Great snorkeling

-- Catherine

Togetherness
Helpful folks
Aunts and uncles
Nieces and nephews
Kindness and knowledge
Sense of peace
Grammy and Gip
Imagination
Voyaging afar
Individual uniqueness
New friends
Grappy and Hunna

-- Eliza and Peter

Hermit Crabs (& Dinghy Poll Math Homework)

We are in Virgin Gorda North Sound near Prickly Pear Island. On Prickly Pear Island there are hermit crabs the size of an adult's fist. Their bodies are red and dark maroon. Their shells are swirly black and white. We collected about one dozen. We made a huge castle for them. We watched them play in the castle for two hours. They ate Ritz crackers that we fed them. We named all of them. Climber Crab, Coconut Fred, King, Nestmaker, Big Man, Active Johnny and Greedy are some of the names we made up. It was sad to leave them.

-- Xavier

Jeremiah and I with two of the hermit crabs.

We called this one Pincer.

Our crab castle and the beach on Prickly Pear.

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Thank you to everyone who participated in the dinghy naming poll. Given the graphics the polling widget produced, it should be clear that the winning name was Casey's suggestion - Keiki. (Our whole crew thought that was a very creative submission.)  To help understand those graphics the widget puts together, Xavier has taken the time to create his own tally sheet and from that create his own bar graph.  Had he been at Brackett this year, he would have come up with a question and polled his classmates to create his data.  With your help he was able to do a similar assignment.  Thank you for your interest and support.

-- Peter

Xavier with his tally sheet.

Xaver with his bar graph.

Caribbean 1500

Ten days at sea is a long time, especially on a rocking forty-five foot sail boat. The trip was not always easy, with strong winds and large waves, but there were fun times when we saw some very cool things that can only be glimpsed out in the ocean. The good times always canceled out the challenges making the trip enjoyable and memorable.

I finally understand why ocean sailing is called “blue water” sailing. Out in the ocean, past the Gulf Stream, the water is an absolutely gorgeous color of blue. It is the color of the Crayola’s cornflower crayon, and the blue of the American flag. Sometimes if the light hits a breaking wave just the right way a turquoise color can be seen, which is just as pretty, but in a different way. The water out in the middle of the ocean is more beautiful than along the coast.

As we sailed through these wonderful seas quite a few sights jumped out at me. One morning out of these blue waves came about twenty dolphins swimming toward Ohana. They leaped and twirled and appeared to be having a magnificent time. Later on, once the sun had set, the stars put on a show equally amazing to the one of the dolphins. Out in the ocean without the light pollution of cities, so many stars sparkled like diamonds that the more well known constellations were hard to find. One evening while on deck, I saw a shooting star, which was awesome. Even on cloudy nights there were light shows to observe. In the wake of the boat phosphorescence dotted our path through the sea. These breathtaking displays added variety to each day of the journey.

For most of the voyage the waves rocked Ohana like she was a small milk carton bobbing up and down the waves. We rolled over the enormous twenty foot waves, and smashed into the smaller crashing waves. When we got pounded by the smaller crashing waves they would come over the side and soak everyone. The entire cockpit became covered in a layer of salt, so anything we touched would leave some white dust on our fingers. We were all very relieved when the seas calmed down, the sun came out, and everything dried off.

Once we arrived in Tortola we quickly learned that our little problems were nothing compared to the troubles other boats in the rally had. One example is that our autopilot had a little trouble keeping a course toward the end, but started working again, while another boat blew their autopilot completely the second day out and had to hand steer the entire way. We also had a block break free and break a window, but that is not as bad as a boat who had an uncontrolled jibe and lost all their sailing instruments. Another problem we came across was that we had to change our fuel filter while sailing, but at least our engine worked unlike a few other boats. Last and probably least, we had a stay sail line chafe through, but that is not even close to as bad as having a broken in boom furler, which means you cannot raise your main sail. After hearing these stories we realized how smoothly our trip went.

After ten days at sea, land was a great thing to set eyes on. The trip was not nearly as easy as flying to the Caribbean in an airplane, but I learned plenty from it. The memories that have come with this experience will last a lifetime and the confidence that I have gained will help me in the months of sailing still to come.

-- Josie

The crew in Hampton, VA

(Dad, me, Diane, Dave, and Jim)

At the helm.

 

One that didn't get away

Tending to a loose staysail.

One of the smaller waves breaking on the bow.

 One of the dolphins at Soper's Hole (the finish).

 

The crew in Tortola, BVI!

Caribbean Arrival!

Just a quick note say that we have arrived safely after an amazing passage.
We picked up a mooring at Soper's Hole last night around 2:00 a.m., cleared customs this morning and made our way to Nanny Cay by 10:00. Josie is working on a piece about the passage which we will post in a couple days.

- Peter

Caribbean 1500

After making our way down the Chesapeake Bay, we have spent the past six days in Hampton, VA participating in the activities and events that make up the departure components of the “Caribbean 1500” – a sailing rally that goes from Hampton to Tortola. In order to make the nine to eleven day sail we have had to add crew members and Eliza, Catherine, Jeremiah, and Xavier stepped off the boat for a little while. Dave, Jim and Diane (each an experienced sailor) have joined Josie and I to help move the boat to the Caribbean. Eliza and the younger kids will then fly down and meet us in the Virgin Islands.

At this point, we have bought all our provisions, fill all the tanks, stowed most of the loose items, and are ready to depart Monday morning. Our goal is to get out across the Gulf Stream before Tuesday evening, when the wind is predicted to build and shift towards the northeast (contrary to the current... not a good thing). From there we expect to sail close to the rhumb line for most of the journey. We should have a full moon and fair weather and are hoping for an exciting time.

We will keep in touch with the rally organizers via short wave radio, but will not be able to update this blog until after our arrival in Tortola. Each boat in the rally, however, has been given a satellite transponder which transmits our location a couple times a day. For those of you who are interested in following our passage, you can track our progress by going to www.carib1500.com and looking for the “Boat Positions” link. Then choose the “Cruising Class” group of which we are a part. You should then be presented with a map of the western Atlantic and the tracks of the different boats in the cruising class. I think we are one of the red tracks.

Looking forward to warmer weather!

-- Peter