Ahoy, Everyone,
WOWIE! We hope that you all have been doing very well and that this blog finds you all happy and healthy. We look forward to hearing from all of you and really enjoy hearing what is going on in your lives. We do not know where to begin. We have not written a blog in quite some time. Seems that we have a taken a bit of Sabbitical, but we are getting back on track now.
We hope that all of you are doing well and we sincerely appreciate all of your wonderful messages and glad you enjoyed the periodic updates that we sent the past few months. We are still traveling with our great friends aboard: Sabbaticus and Sol Mate.
Here we go...........
As all of you know, we have been on a world wind tour of the Caribbean for the past few months with our boat buddies that we have been traveling with since last December, trying to get to Grenada before hurricane season begins. We have explored as much as we could and worked on as many boat projects as we could fix ourselves. We were in Grenada at the Port Louis Marina from August - November where we met up again with boat friends that we had not seen in a while. We then will head back up north as far as St. Martin and will spend Christmas in St. Martin.
We will begin the Blog as of September and will update up to October 31, 2011. We will then work on filling in the Blog from when we last left off in April 2011 and bring it up to date. We are looking forward to sharing our adventures with alll of you and we hope that you enjoy them. We sincerley appreciate all of your love and support while we are out chasing our sailing dreams!
Cheers and love to all of you,
Bill, JoAnne & Sailor Kitty : )
September 2011
GRENADA - Port Louis Marina
We definitely enjoyed our stay in Grenada. We were on the hook for the first couple of weeks and then moved into the Port Louis Marina as is stipulated by our insurance, due to hurricane coverage. We had not been on a dock in almost 3 years, so it was definitely an adjustment, and we were concerned about getting marina-itis. We were truly blessed to have great neighbors on both sides of us (2 big Defevers, Cardea and Finally Fun) and we were all squished in like sardines and were Med Mooring style (Stern in to the dock and moored at the bow). We had a great time hosting dock parties like we used to in Clear Lake at South Shore Harbour Marina. We began to do theme night parties, too: Tex Mex, Sushi, Cocktails and Concoctions, Conched Out, Make your own Banana Split Party, Ultra Movie Night, lots of Happy Hours and numerous cooking classes that we organized with locals, Martin and Joanie that created fabulous local dishes and shared their family recipes. We even got the opportunity to celebrate 2 Canadian Thanksgivings in one day. We went to one at Clark's Court Bay Marina and the other on our dock. We met lots of great friends and all shared boat stories. We participated in several HASHES. These are wonderful 2 - 3 hour muddy treks through the rainforest, slipping and sliding up and down mountains, up and down waterfalls and rivers, and dodging limbs, trees, and many other obstacles. Lots of fun and great exercise. We also coordinated in lots of our own organized HASHES, too. We hiked through the rainforest to all of the waterfalls and as many plantations as we could. One trek that we did was to the famous 7 Sisters Falls. What a Blast! We were able to scamper up the mountain and then shimmy like Spiderman down the river and jumping into all of the falls. The final jump on the last fall is a 35 foot jump and it was great and a definite adrenaline rush! We toured by bus as many places as we could. We went to the street markets and all of the local attractions, great culture and wonderful people, too.
We had lots of boat projects to complete while we were in the marina. We started with a TO DO LIST a mile long and then began crossing things off the list, however, as soon as we fix one, well another thing broke. The old addage still stands, "Everything is broken on your boat, you just don't know it yet."
We held a 9/11 10th Anniversary Memorial Service. JoAnne celebrated her 41st birthday in Grenada. Bill organized a great day of scuba diving and then the dock had organized a surprise birthday party upon our arrival home. Halloween was a BLAST! We all decorated the Victory Restaurant at the marina and were ready for the costume party. We even had fun trick or treaters going boat to boat. We were both nominated for Best Costume. Bill won Best Guy Costume as a "Half Assed Pirate" complete with a Pirate Costume and a Rubber Butt with only one cheek showing and a bottle of rum and there was a tie between JoAnne and Sunny. Sunny was a Tropical Depression and JoAnne a PlayBoy Bunny. Sonny won the bottle of rum for her family.
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| HAPPY HOUR ABOARD S/V TRANQUILA |
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| CREATING OUR NEW DESIGN FOR OUR VODKA MAIN SALON TABLE |
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| DRAWING AND THEN BREAKING OUT THE ROUTER TO CARVE AN OCEAN REEF DESIGN IN VODKA TABLE |
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| TEX MEX PARTY, THE RAIN DID NOT STOP THESE SAILORS FROM HAVING A PARTY |
ANOTHER FUN HASH
9/11 10TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL SERVICE AT THE PARK IN ST. GEORGE'S HOSTED BY S/V HAPPY TIMES
THEY DID A FANTASTIC JOB!
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| PROGRAM FOR 9/11 MEMORIAL SERVICE |
THE 7 HOUR TREK THROUGH THE RAINFOREST AND WATERFALLS
WITH OUR GUIDE, WINSTON
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| WINSTON |
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| JOANNE AND WINSTON BATTLING IT OUT WITH THE VINES AND BRUSH |
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| READY FOR A SWIM |
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| BRANDON TAKING A SHOWER. WHERE'S OUR SHAMPOO WHEN WE NEED IT. |
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| WOWIE! BILL AND JOANNE IN THE ICE COLD WATER DROPPING FROM 30 Ft.! |
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| END OF THE GREAT TREK! |
COCKTAILS AND CONCOCTIONS DOCK PARTY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
JOANNE'S BIRTHDAY
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| DENA'S FAMOUS JELLO SHOTS! |
MAKE YOUR OWN BANANA SPLIT PARTY
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
MILES' BIRTHDAY FROM S/V ECLIPSE ABOARD S/Y SPIRITED LADY
OCTOBER 8, 2011
ULTRA SUSHI NIGHT FOR ABOUT 40 people
So fun, everyone pitched in and helped make a great Sushi Night
Better than any Japanese Restaurant EVER!!
PREPARATION ABOARD M/Y "FINALLY FUN"
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| HEY, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? : ) |
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| THE FINISHED PRODUCT! WHAT A TEAM!! |
CLARKE'S COURT BAY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING
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| SINGING OUR HEARTS OUT TO KAREOKE, "SWEET CAROLINE" |
PORT LOUIS CRUISERS CANADIAN THANKSGIVING DINNER
SET UP BEHIND ULTRA
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| MARTIN, THE CHEF FOR THE COOKING CLASSES AND ALL AROUND BOAT MAINTENANCE EXPERT |
LOBSTER ANYONE!!
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| WE ALL BOUGHT LOBSTERS FOR A REALLY GOOD PRICE RON IS DISPLAYING THE ONES THAT HE BOUGHT |
MARTIN AND JOANIE'S COOKING CLASS FOR LEARNING TO MAKE
STEWED CHICKEN, PEAS AND RICE, AND MACARRONI PIE
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| JOANIE COOKING UP STEWED CHICKEN, PEAS AND RICE AND MACARRONI PIE |
YEA! MERLE AND KATIE ARRIVE FROM TEXAS THAT NIGHT AT
GRENADA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!
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| HELLO BEAUTIFUL! |
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| THEIR GOURMET KITCHEN |
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CELEBRATING THEIR ARRIVAL AT THEIR VILLA WITH A GLASS OF WINE |
BREAKFAST AT THEIR BEAUTIFUL VILLA AT MACA BANA
GETTING READY TO LOAD UP IN THE LAUNCH FOR THE
DINGHY RAFT UP CONCERT
BY LE PHARE BLEU MARINA
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| THE LAUNCH THAT WILL TAKE US TO THE CONCERT |
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| CAPTAIN MIKE TAKING AERIAL SHOT VIDEO FOR THE MUSIC VIDEO FOOTAGE |
VIEW THE MUSIC VIDEO ON YOU TUBE AT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZPhUq2RsUo&feature=related
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| KEVIN, DENA, CARRYN, BRANDON AND BELLA |
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| THE SONG THAT WAS JUST SUNG WAS "I WANNA KNOW IF YOU HAVE EVER SEEN THE RAIN, COMING DOWN ON A SUNNY DAY" |
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| SURPRISE FOR MERLE AND KATIE'S WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! |
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| MERLE AND BILL LIMING IN THE HOT TUB |
AQUARIUM BEACH AND RESTAURANT AT THE MACA BANA VILLAS
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| MACA BANA SWIMMING POOL |
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| VIEWS OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA FROM THEIR VILLA |
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| BILL AND MERLE IN THE DINK WHILE WE ARE ALL HEADED OUT TO SNORKEL THE UNDERWATER SCULPTURE GARDEN |
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| A SURPRISE: KEVIN, CONNOR AND MIKAYLA ARE GETTING SCUBA CERTIFIED AT THE SCULPTURE GARDEN |
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| MERLE AND KATIE SNORKELING |
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| AMAZING HOW LIFE LIKE THE FACES ARE |
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| JOANNE DIVING WITH THE MERMAID |
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| BILL AND JOANNE PLAYING RING AROUND THE ROSIE, TOO |
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| OUR PICNIC ON THE BEACH |
THE DAY TODAY STARTED WITH KATIE AND JOANNE GETTING MASSAGES AND THE GUYS DRIVING AROUND GRENADA CHECKING OUT THE SITES.
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| KATIE PAID FOR JOANNE AND SHE TO HAVE A GREAT MASSAGE |
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| MERLE ON THE LANAI OF THE VILLA TRYING TO GET HIS NEW IPHONE TO WORK |
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| THE CATHEDERAL'S ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF IN THE HURRICANE IN 1994 |
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| PREPARING DINNER FOR MERLE AND KATIE |
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| BEFORE DEPARTING A GREAT RAINBOW RIGHT OVER ULTRA |
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| THIS IS A COCOA POD, THIS IS COCOA BEANS COME FROM AND ARE THEN DRIED AND GROUND UP. |
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| RIVERS RUM DISTILLERY, NOTICE THE WATER WHEEL, SAME PROCESS THEY HAVE BEEN USING SINCE THE DAY IT BEGAN IN THE EARLY 1700's. |
ULTRA HOSTED A SURPRISE HAPPY HOUR FOR MERLE AND KATIE AND THEY GOT THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO MEET ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL
CRUISING FRIENDS!
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| Add caption |
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| ULTRA MOVIE NIGHT |
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| TONS OF COCOA BEANS DRYING IN THE SUN |
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| EVER WONDER HOW PINEAPPLES GROW? |
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| ANOTHER GREAT HASH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN |
THE AQUARIUM BEACH AND RESTAURANT PORT LOUIS CRUISERS' DAY
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| BILL LIMING ON THE BEACH |
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| FRESH CAUGHT TUNA DINNER ABOARD M/Y FINALLY FUN |
OCTOBER 31, 2011
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
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| DECORATING FOR THE HALLOWEEN PARTY THANK YOU KATIE FOR BRINGING ALL OF THE GREAT HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS FOR US |
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| QUINN IS READY TO TRICK OR TREAT |
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| THE GIRLS ARE READY, TOO |
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| WE ARRIVED AT THE PARTY AS THE HALF ASSED PIRATE AND THE PLAYBOY BUNNY |
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| CYRIL AND RICHARD |
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| GREAT COSTUME! SUNNY WAS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION! : ) |
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| MARILYN WAS A BATHROOM WALL |
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| SHARON AND ANDY WERE CEREAL KILLERS |
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| THE CONGA LINE HAS BEGUN |
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| WOW! IS THAT A BIG TREE OR WHAT! |
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| JUST BEFORE WE SAW A FANTASTIC AND LINGERING GREEN FLASH OFF OF THE PORT LOUIS BEACH |
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| THE TUNNEL TO TOWN ST. GEORGE'S "FEMALES ONLY" SIGN IS STILL THERE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO |
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| THE TUNNEL |
We hope that you enjoyed this Blog and we look forward to sharing more of our adventures and hearing from all of you, too!
Cheers and love to all of you,
Bill, JoAnne & Sailor Kitty : )
S/V ULTRA
