Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

2-1 After checking out of Grenada the previous day, we left Sandy Island for Clifton, St. Vincent around noon, after the kids and I did some boat cleaning and Cale changed the oil in one of the engines. It was a short ride to Clifton. We first tried to anchor but started dragging and ended up getting a mooring ball. We spoke to some friends from the UK aboard Rapau once we got settled. Another friends had woken up in the night to go to the bathroom and noticed they had been dragging across the bay heading towards some rocks. Apparently, not great anchor holding.
Once we got settled, we all went ashore to check in. It took a long time as usual. I walked around with the kids while we waited. It was a charming little road of shops and restaurant. We walked into one and talked to a very old, lovely lady who owned the store. She told us about her 3 children and how they each had 2 children but one of their little girls, so her grandaughter had been recently killed by a motorcycle. I felt so bad for her. She said they were still mourning. She was a little difficult to understand but I feel like I’m getting a little better at it. Most everyone in the islands we’ve been speak English. Most with an British and/or Carribean accent. The interesting thing is when they speak to non-natives it’s very easy to understand, but when they speak to each other it sounds like they are speaking a different language. I’ve heard it called Carribean- Creole. In some of the smaller villages they don’t switch back and forth most likely because they haven’t had formal schooling and so its kind of in between proper English and what sounds like a different language.
Checking in takes forever, so after our walk down the street we sat in a little gazebo area on the shade until Cole realized a man had left his pipe sitting on the bench. When we left he quickly got up to retrieve it. After Cale finished checking us into St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) we got a few items of produce. They had a very good selection of produce that are brought in from the mainland of St. Vincent. A lady called me over and I got some christophine (a zucchini like vegetable). Then, we went to a guy who had called me over earlier. We got some avocados and Cole wanted a coconut. We started asking how to eat it and he cut it up and he did it for us. He had us taste the difference between a wet and dry one. The wet one has water in it. The dry doesn’t but has a sweeter taste. His mother wouldn’t let us pay for them. It was such a kind thing. She said “the coconut is on the house.” We walked down and saw where they kite surf. It’s a very cool set up but expensive to try.
I made dinner while the kids swam and hung out with Hold Fast 2 boys. We watched Forest Gump until it got late. It’s exciting to be in a new country, but also weird to not really know what we are doing.
2-2 We took the dinghy to shore and set out hiking. Our produce guy who yesterday cut us coconut told us how to walk to Sparrows Beach but we didn’t listen and walked through town instead. We ended up walking the long way but it was cool to see the area. There were goats and cows and amazing views. There were also houses perched on thr hillside and derelict building that looked abandoned. All of course, painted in beautiful, bright colors.
The beach was a little slice of paradise. We swam in the waves for quite some time. The kids were on shoulders having wars. I tried for a but and after having Kira on me and getting walloped I gave up.
We had lunch at the restaurant before walking back the shorter way. The kids swam for a while by the boat. The locals here fly by here their boats so we’ve been hesitant to let the kids swim. They never seem to tire of jumping and diving off the boat. Cale and I joined the Kelly and out UK friends Peter and Jackie for sundowners. Cale and I had non alcoholic of course. They are all very nice. The tide had gone out and while we were telling them our dinghy story or dinghy got stuck ona Reef going back to our boat. It took sometime buy eventually we got moving again and back to the boat. The kids watched minions and played chess. Cade seems to be defiant. It seems to come and go in spurts. Not always sure how to reach him, especially if he’s being asked to do something he doesn’t want to do. School continues to be okay. I think we will probably need a little more structure.

Clifton to frigate
2-3 Cale ran to shore to pick up some parts. The kids and I took a try at marine biology and thry did some school.
Clifton was so busy with people constantly in and out so we were ready to leave. I drove the boat out of the marina. It was a quiet ride of to Frigate. We first tried to anchor but didn’t have great holding so we moored. It’s a beautiful spot. It’s pretty windy here but it helps to keep us cooled off. We had lunch then went on a hike up the mtn. It was more like scampering up. There was lots of rock climbing involved. Kelsey was a awesome. Cade was a little nervous at times. I got a throw in my thumb and got about 8 cactus stings. They gurt so bad right after and got white with a red dot and super swollen. After about 30 minutes they didn’t hurt as bad but not back to normal either. I also saw 2 huge iguanas. No one else saw them. It was an amazing view at the top. We could see to grenada, the reef, our boat and the tobago cays. By thr time we got back to our boat hold fast were here. The kids swam for a while. We did a snorkel to the Reef. It was good snorkeling but pretty murky. Thr hold fast boys came over later for games and watched a movie with us. They are fun to have around.
Frigate
2-4 we needed to flip our anchor chain. It was a several hour undertaking. Cale tied off the anchor. We then unloaded the chain onto the deck. We then snaked it around on the trampoline and marked new with the new anchor chain markers we got. I’d love to say it was a pleasant experience but we had our fair share of frustrations. Once we got it measured we put it back in the locker as I scrubbed and rinsed it. It should add to the lofe of the chain now that that is done. We made a mess of the deck so we scrubbed that. We then went to shore. We waited a bit for Nina and leon and Jackie to make it down then went on a long walk through the mangroves. It was nice. There were some very sketchy bridges that basically said use at your own risk. It took quite a while to make it to the town of Ashton. Once we got there we hoped to have lunch but there was nothing anywhere. We finally ended up near a market and a lady said yes I can open the restaurant in 5 minutes. We said sure but then they walked us around to someone’s back yard and some broken tables and chairs and we decided we probably would be waiting for a long time. We decided to leave. I felt bad because I think she might have gone to get food but the kids were done by that point and we couldn’t wait forever for food. We trecked back to the boat and got home around 4:30. A highlight was a sweet little dog that followed ua around the while time. He necer barked and wouldnt let us feed him. He just walked with us the whole time. The kids still somehow had energy to swim. We ate and then relaxed until it was time for bed.
A guy we had told we’d buy a fish from came by and said he had a Mai Mai which was what we wanted. The fisherman come by several times a day. They are friendly and very respectful but this guy was a little pushy. Somehow we ended up paying way to much for what he said was a cousin to the Mai Mai, but which turned out to be a big eye jack. It was a a big one so we got a lot of meat but we learned sometimes we just have to say no. Cole felt bad for days because he pressured us to buy it.
2-5 Frigate to Chatham (sunday)
Cole was sick during the night. Hus tummy really hurt him and he eventually thew up. Poor guy didnt get much sleep. We got up undecided on what the day would bring. We wanted to check out Chatham but had heard it was a rolly night and very windy. We did our version of church when we can’t go to shore for church. Kelsey and Cale gave a talk and the other kids prepared a come follow me discussion. It went well and the kids contributed.
We decided to go for it and went around the corner to Chatham around 1. It was gusting about 25-30 knots around the corner and about 17-24 once we got anchored. We got a good anchor spot . Cale, cade and kelsey swam out and dove on the anchor to make sure it was set good. The rest of our Sunday was pretty relaxing. The view is absolute beautiful. Cale kept saying it looked like Jurassic park. We are excited to explore some tomorrow. We elated our fish. It was pretty good but we were all nervous something might be wrong with it. I made bread for the first time. It turned out pretty good. We played some games, and we’re ready for bed.

2-6
It was our windiesth, scariest night yet. They say the wind howls through here and they were right. It was so windy. Cale was up most of the night. I was up quite a bit as well. He said he saw it hit 35+ knots. The anchor held.
We had a pretty chill morning. It was still windy and got very rolly. We decided to pull up the anchor and move closer in. We got set and a boat left in a good spot so we snuck up to his spot. We all, the kids and Cale and I, went to shore. Nowhere was open for lunch so we decided to come back for dinner.
Cale went into town with Iian for dinghy fuel, cash, and a few groceries. The kids and I stayed in the boat. Cale called and where they got picked up and dropped off was up a big dirt hill so we took the dighy over and the kids ran up to meet them and help them get everything.
We snorkeled along the north shore. It was really good. We saw a squid. We also saw the schools of thousands and thousands of fish. It felt like we were in a fish highway. They were swimming so fast all around us.
We came back and went to shore at Sunset Diner with the Kelly’s. It was a nice place right in the beach. No shoes required. Each place we visit seems to be a little more rural. I would also say underdeveloped, but authentic seems more the right word. There was no running water in the bathrooms, just outside there was a sink with a lock on it. The food was really good. The kids came back to the boat and played games while we visited and paid.
Everyday we meet and chat with people from all over the world. Most are extremely nice.