Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

1-28 We were anxious to get going we got a pretty early start but it was not smooth sailing. Waves were coming from the west and meeting up with the normal waves that come from the north east. We got tossed all over for 2.5 hours. We got to Sandy Island, a small bit of land just out from Carriacou where we ended up anchoring. We went to shore and swam before getting picked up and eating at the Paradise Beach Club. We have met back up with hold fast 2. The kids were excited to see them again.
1-29 This was our last day with grand parents. Cale and I woke up early to take up the anchor and get a better mooring ball spot closer to the beach. The anchor chain came off the windlass and got jammed. Cale had to come get it undone while I drove. It was a bit stressful because there was a boat right over our anchor so we were pretty close to them and it was windy. After breakfast we had church on the boat. Kelsey, Grandma Gail, Cole and Kira shared some thoughts. Kelsey hid little slips of paper that said ‘God’ and then she said now you need to look for God. Gail’s thought was to have a good mind set to get the most out of the trip. We made our way to the beach. The kids played and did flips in the water off the side of the boat. We eventually went snorkeling. It was really pretty and fun. The birds dive on the fish here. When snorkeling you can see why. There were hundreds of tiny little fish.
We swam and played in the water when we got back to the boat. Cale fixed the grill and got the water maker put back together. We cooked up some red snapper a guy sold us. It was super tasty. Leon, our new friend from Norway, also made us some pizzas that were tasty.
Our night ended with a bon fire on the beach with Nina and her friends Peter and Jackie who are aboard Repoa who had quite a story about a long Atlantic crossing with no wind and also getting their dingy stolen in Barbados.
The stars here are unreal. I’m bracing myself for grandparents being gone. We have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do on the boat and of course really need to start school.

1-30
The grandparents were up early on their journey home. Cale drove them and all their stuff over to shore in the dinghy. Thankfully, they all made it off with dry bags and clothes. They then took a taxi to the ferry terminal and had a 2 hour ride to St Georges. They had about 6 hours to kill before heading to the airport. It is not easy to get down here. From there they were supposed to fly to Miami, then Houston then home. Usually with an overnight in Houston. That is long enough but they also got stuck in Houston because of ice and got home 3 days later. We were sad and wished they could have stayed more time with us on the boat.
We spent the morning getting the older two kids moved back into their rooms and cleaning. It’s such a small space but somehow it get so dirty so fast.
We did official school for the first time. It is going to take some getting used to. We did have our friends from Norway join us. That kept my kids in line, although also distracted as we had lots of questions about differences in our countries.
The kids school morfed into ways to make money, which morfed into them going around to other boats and getting orders for cookies. We then spent the rest of the day making cookies to fulfill their orders. Their plan is to make enough money selling cookies to buy stuff to sell pizzas. It was fun to see them working hard and being creative together.
The kids then started making pizzas for themselves to eat and business planned.

1-31 The hold fast 2 boys came pretty early to pretend to do school but mostly work on their pizza business. Cale went to fill tanks with Iian. It took longer then they thought. They first beached the dingy and unloaded the tanks. They grabbed something to eat while they waited for them to get filled then they decided to use a dingy dock and had to haul the tanks. In the meantime, the kids were deciding on what product to sell. Cale, Kira and I left to check out of Grenada at the customs office and to get groceries. We took the dinghy to shore but quickly realized the 3 of us couldn’t beach the dingy with the waves coming in. So, poor Cale had to anchor, undress to his underwear and swim to shore. I say ‘poor Cale’ but of course Kira and I couldn’t stop laughing and I didn’t miss my chance to take pictures and video.
We got a car into town. It was about a 10 minute drive. The main town is Rodney Bay. It felt similar to Grenada, but less developed and more rural. The roads were even more narrow then in Grenada and when we commented to the driver he said, “yes these are just track size.” The whole town takes about 5 minutes to drive through. The customs line was long and is a slow process so eventually while Cale waited Kira and I walked back into town to the store. I was very excited to find some cheaper staples like flour, sugar, and salt and even scored a couple pounds of chicken breast and hamburger meat.
We got another cab ride home and loaded the groceries as carefully as possible into the dinghy and then had a very slow ride to the boat to minimize splash.
About the time we got back, Hold fast 2 had just left. The kids did some more selling and money making while we were ashore. They first sold cinnamon rolls, which they said they tasted after and were not that great, and then a pizza bread roll. They actually turned about pretty good and they made another 100 ec, so 400ec total.
We got groceries put away which is a bit of a process. All produce has to be washed in vinegar water and we have been also trying to wipe everything down. We also have to get rid of cardboard boxes as much as possible. Why? Roaches. Apparently they like the glue in cardboard boxes and can labels. Their eggs can also be on produce. It’s a process to get everything wiped down, labeled and stored. I’m feeling pretty well stocked. Besides produce which is difficult to find here. I think we should be pretty good for a while.
The kids swam and jumped off the boat. The activity of the day was catching the football while jumping off the boat. We visited a near by boat with our same layout that were friends with the previous owners. We talked through some boat issues because our boats are so similar. We then went to shore at Off the Hook. It was an amazing atmosphere. Right on the beach, the kids played cornhole and played in the sand. We ended up having to anchor the dinghy and Cole swam ashore. We love our dingy but we’ve decided we need to downsize. It’s so hard to maneuverer. The chicken wings at Off The Hook were the best thing I’ve had this whole trip. They were soooo good! We took the dinghy back to the boat in the dark and just like that another day in paradise comes to an end.
We have 24 hours from the time we checked out of Grenada to leave the country so we will head out tomorrow morning. Carriacou, and especially Sandy Island did not disappoint.