It has been a while since I’ve posted and there’s not much to add to the end of the journey aside from the fact that we’re heavily swept up with all that goes into being back home. We miss the boat but it is also nice to be home.
Here is video of a bit of what we experienced with Tropical Storm Isaac.
If we haven’t connected with you in a while we’re not ignoring you so please do connect.
This post is being written somewhere high above the USA on our way north.
After over 5000 nautical miles of sailing, over 20,000 photos and videos, 230 days, 1 tropical storm, and countless memories, we’re on our way home and ready for the next adventure around the corner.
I’m a firm believer that we are defined in many ways by the stories that we create. And, it’s been exciting creating many stories over the past 8 months. What we’ve been able to share was largely only in pictures and captions, and hopefully, you’ve been able to have fun sharing along. I hope you’re creating your own stories too, big and small.
We’re going to dearly miss our friends in the BVI and those we’ve met along the way, but we will cross paths again before too long. The call of the low latitudes is a strong one for our family, and we will need to get back to the good ship Legend.
A little bit more on Legend. The role that she played can’t be overstated. She was our home and shelter. She kept us safe and after a little while even dry. She has been our direct connection to experiencing nature in a wondrous way. And, for all of this, we are grateful for her.
I expect that, as we get ready for September and the fall, you too are preparing for a change of pace and hopefully some adventures this fall as well. We’re looking forward to connecting with friends back home and staying connected with friends down south. So, please do stay in touch and let us know how your adventures are going.
Don’t go too far as I know that we’ll have a few more posts to put up. A video or two of how TS Isaac affected us and maybe I can get Caroline to comment a little. And, of course, there is always the opportunity for us to use this blog for the next legendary adventure. Stay tuned!!
It seems that we faired very well. The storm passed south of us and didn’t increase in intensity. So, it was a relatively quiet day with no even a lot of rain. That meant that we could get a lot of work done and are more or less prepared to head off tomorrow morning.
Here’s an update of where it is.
Sad and glad about heading off. We will miss being on our adventure but will enjoying being back home too. Planning for the next adventures is in the works. (Those who know me well won’t be surprised.)
We have traveled back to our home base for a couple of very good reasons. The first is that we are scheduled to fly out on Friday. The second is that we are expecting the weather to change.
While we’ve been down here, we’ve experienced rather wonderful weather. Sometimes we’d be wet for a few days, or have a couple days of larger swell, but that tended to be about it. With the start of hurricane season, we’ve also done well which is largely what we expected. But, alas, as is usual when we leave the Caribbean at this time of year, the weather tends to want to play a part.
In this case, Tropical Storm Isaac is now approaching the Leeward Islands. It should continue south of the Virgin Islands as is forecast at present. What we expect to have is a fair bit of wind, lots of rain, and high storm swell on the coast. Right now, it looks like it will come and go before we have to leave on Friday which is great news, but, we’ll see.
Here is the present storm track for Isaac.
[We are located just under the ‘R’ in Puerto Rico on the map.]
So, for those of you who may hear about the storm on the news, we are just fine and are ashore safe and sound. Hopefully, it won’t affect Legend or any of the other boats at Nanny Cay, as it is usually a safe harbour.
As mentioned, we didn’t have a lot of time with Tine. So, we just hit a few of our favourite spots with her. We’re spent a couple nights at the Bitter End, so that she could get acclimatized and have a chance to see all of us sail together on 3 different small boats – 2 Hobies and a Pico. Then, in a mad dash, we headed off the next morning early to get to The Baths, then off to White Bay Peter Island, with a final stop at The Bight on Norman Island. That was a busy day of sailing that ended with a quick tour of the caves and then dinner on the Willy T. What a big day that was.
Here are some shots from that day.
We are very excited that Christine is here. Through a challenging time, she was still able to make it down albeit a little later which means her time in the BVI will be short and sweet. She will be with us for a few days and then travel home with us on Friday. Yes, as in this Friday!!
So, we will have only a little time showing her the sites and then we’ll be back at our home base to start preparing and packing for home.
But, first, a very important action must be completed. We staged a new flag dedication ceremony. We had purchased a blank red flag and Christine (or Tine) made it into a Legend flag so we would have another one (since we wore out the last one she made). So, here it is aloft in all its splendor.
This is after all a sailing adventure and now we’re getting a lot of small boat sailing in before we leave. And, we’re having a blast. Or, I should say the kids are having a blast. They’re getting good and talking about doing more up north and down here.
Here’s a shot of all three sailing. One boy is in the power boat with the instructor and one boy is in each of the sailboats.
Solo in a Bug.
Matthew in a Bug.
A great shot of tandem sailing by the Frazers.
It`s been a while since we`ve posted a sunset. Although it`s hurricane season, the weather is still wonderful albeit a bit warmer in the summer. And, the sunsets still work their magic.
Don`t look at Mommy. Sail the Boat. 🙂
Matthew and Noah often learn to sail together. And, they do very well. The have just started to sail on their own two but not in this set of pictures.
And, the big question is whether they end up flipping the boat over. Wait and see.
It looks like they flip it here but they actually recovered. They did, however, turtle the boat at some point in the lesson.
Wow, are he and his brothers ever getting better.
I believe that we’ve all evolved while down here. We’ve grown as people and we’ve grown in our skills and abilities. For example, I’ve never really referred to myself as a sailor, but I think that after this experience, I could likely consider it now. More concrete are the kids’ abilities. Whether it’s sailing Legend, sailing a small laser, swimming, snorkelling, you name it. They’ve grown in so many ways. What an experience.
Here’s an example of Matthew’s new comfort level…. diving down just for kicks.
Again, we love the Bitter End for a bunch of reasons including the fact that the kids get to learn to sail.
Here’s the reception area and pictures of Ethan learning even more.
Creativity rears its head again. With “nothing” else to do, Ethan created a transformer like ‘bot from our clothes pegs. Too long an adventure… nahh…
We’ve been waiting for the jelly fish season, and it is came. It didn’t last too long though which is nice.
Here’s a picture of one of the jellies.
There’s not much time left on this adventure. We’re back in the BVI and enjoying our last days here. We’ll soon be joined by Christine or Tine as many of you know her. As we start to get our heads around coming back to Canada, we’re also enjoying the beauty that is the BVI. Great weather, calm seas, good wind.
If you’re wanting to see our reality check for our time, just look up at the top left of this page. You’ll see the countdown timer has been started. With the timer started, it is also exciting as we get ready for the next adventure and adventures.
A seaplane takes off in the harbour at Christiansted.
Just for fun here is a driving video…
Another island, another car rental. I love touring around an island on our own. I know that I’ve said it before but it really does give you a great sense of the place. And, one of the things that we discovered with St. Croix is just how much of the island is surrounded by reef.
Another I really love is when art installations or sculpture or monuments can incorporate something cool (and by cool, I mean techie or sciencie). Here is what the island did for the millennium. They put a monument on their most easterly point. It represents 2 M’s or MM or 2000. It also is a sundial, etc. Cool.
Here is what I would call a neat radio telescope. The kids would call it more a super huge laser gun. <sigh>
Another neat technical thing… the vertical windmill. Oh, and yes, another awesome view.
Just a small part of the largest oil refinery in the western hemisphere.
A beautiful red tree. That can only one thing… Caroline went to another botanical garden. 🙂 The boys and I skipped out on this one and went to Subway… that was a treat. And, then off to get some stuff for the boat from Kmart. Yup, we’re acclimatizing ourselves for our return home… <sigh>
Frederiksted – a lovely clean well kept town.
An action shot of driving through the countryside. Some lovely road that were more like tree tunnels.
This is a small boat that an older couple call home. Quite a place to live for an older couple. We saw that it takes them a while to get loaded into the dinghy and then row ashore but I’m sure that they do okay. A very active lifestyle.
