The Cruising Condition

I arrived in Grenada in mid December with a simple plan: have the bottom of the boat painted, launch the boat, and move it from Grenada Marine to Prickly Bay before Natalia and the kids flew in a week later. Everything went according to plan. The work to be done in the yard took place as expected, the boat was launched, the boat was moved – I even hoisted the jib and enjoyed a nice downwind solo sail to Prickly. Amid the flurry of activity that was that week, there was a constant absence in the back of my mind.

 Two months earlier I had spent 2 weeks in Grenada on my own with the sole purpose of working on the boat. That time I mixed boat projects with plenty of social activities. I stayed at Karin and Tomás's house most nights and enjoyed a few delicious dinners in their patio. During the day I spent a lot of time with the crew of Skylark, who were also on the hard. I had good friends with whom I could enjoy my downtime.

But in December, most of our friends were gone. I met a couple of other cruisers in the yard, but I mostly worked and ate alone. I was busy, though, so I didn't have much of a chance to feel lonely.

The work didn't stop when I got to Prickly, and life slowly started to return to almost normal when Natalia and the kids arrived in Grenada. We completed our provisioning, finished cleaning up the boat, and started looking for other cruising families to hang out with. We met a few boats and also spent time with Pontea, whom we had met in the summer.

We all felt somewhat out of sorts. Coming back to Grenada was like coming home (after all, Taia is our home), but all our friends and neighbors weren't there. Yes, we met people with whom we could easily establish a friendship, but they all had different travel plans. We missed our friends and all 4 of us were articulating it in different ways.

River tubing in Grenada on December 24th

After a quiet Christmas (talk about a silent night!), we started getting ready to sail to Bequia. The weather forecast promised unicorns, sirens, and care bears for the 28^th of December. We moved Taia to Saint George's the night before and picked up anchor at 3 am on the 28^th. Not long after we left the lee of Grenada, the unicorns became angry waves, the sirens made sure the wind backed to the north east (right on our motherfucking nose), and the care bears made Natalia toss her cookies repeatedly. Despite these fantastically unfriendly creatures, we successfully anchored in Bequia that afternoon. Then we started stalking people, desperately trying to make friends.

Bequia continues to be one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean. And to make it even more enticing, we met and befriended 4 other kid boats: Amar Sem Fim (from Brazil), Penny Lane (from England), Nemetona (from the US), and Shang Du (from Southafrica). Unfortunately Penny Lane and Nemetona are on their way south to Grenada, but Amar Sem Fim are on their way north and we will continue to run into them as we point our bow to Cuba. Shang Du are also going north, but on a much more relaxed schedule than ours.

New Year's Eve in Bequia was another quiet affair for the crew of Taia. We played games with the kids, watched a movie, and then watched a surprisingly good fireworks display from deck.

As has become a tradition in Bequia, I went diving. First with Shang Du and the day after with Pete from Penny Lane. Both dives were excellent. Another tradition for us on Bequia is a bonfire at the beach. We had it and it was a lot of fun.

Wreck dive in Bequia

Another successful bonfire at the beach in Bequia

Once again the weather forecast called for unicorns and sirens, so we planned our 90-mile passage to Martinique for the 5^th of January. This time Poseidon and Aeolus were unfashionably benevolent and gave us the most enjoyable passage we've had in a very long time. We covered the 90 miles in a bit shy of 17 hours, 11 or 12 of those in the dark. It was a beautiful starry night, with a few threatening clouds to the east, but the squalls took pity on us and failed to make an appearance.

Most enjoyable passage to Martinique

Now we're anchored in Sainte-Anne, Martinique. We're enjoying the food and the food is great and we will eat a lot of awesome tasting food. Did I mention the food in Martinique has no equal? So yeah, we're eating a lot and the refrigerator and freezer will be full to the brim before we move north again.

We still miss our friends and cry a little every time we see their blog and facebook posts. But that's ok, we know they're safe and happy, as are we. And we will make sure we meet again. Meanwhile, we're making new friends and feel a little bit less lonely every day. There's always room for new friends. Cruising is a very social lifestyle.