Savvy Restaurant at Cinnamon Hill

Last week, we were invited to a private event at Savvy's Restaurant at the Mt. Cinnamon resort...what a treat!  Not only were we honored to be invited to this fabulous event - we got to meet the wonderful Stacie Mills, who is a strategic partner with the resort and property.  We'll tell you more about Stacie and the exclusive Mt. Cinnamon resort in a later post, but first some pictures of our fun night out...  

While the Mt. Cinnamon resort is private, the Savvy restaurant is open to the public and offers a fabulous fine-dining menu and spectacular views of Grand Anse Beach and St. George's below.  If you find yourself in Grenada and want to treat yourself to a lovely night out, Savvy Restaurant should top your list.  If you don't believe me, just read the reviews.  I think they speak for themselves. will be offering our readers a very special rate at this fine resort - so stay tuned for that as well!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Passage from Grenada to Trinidad

90 miles and 16 hours later, we made it to the shores of Trinidad!

We have arrived in Trinidad!...After a fantastic four days of Grenada exploration with my dad and Uncle Tom, we set off from Grenada bound for Trinidad at 5:30pm on Monday night.  The weather forecast wasn't ideal, winds were predicted to be in the low to mid twenties (we prefer to leave for long passages in forecasted winds of 15 knots or less if possible because almost always winds are higher than predicted) and seas were estimated to be eight to ten feet.  We turned to our weather guru, Chris Parker, who told us that conditions would be moderating as the week progressed and the later we could wait, the better.  Being that Tom and my dad were flying out on Wednesday, Monday evening was the latest we could leave.  We readied Rasmus and prepared for what was sure to be a fast and bumpy ride.

Just as we were pulling out of the slip our engine made a bizarre noise.  Everyone looked alarmed.  "That's not right" Scott said.  We all knew it.  Please don't let this be a serious problem I hoped silently.  Scott tried the engine in reverse again. The noise grew worse.  "Tie the boat back up" Scott ordered.  We did.  It was investigation time and we were burning up daylight.  "Something is probably around the prop" I suggested.  Scott and our friend Felix went down to check the prop shaft.  It was then that Felix's girlfriend, Louisa, noticed the marina's Mediterranean mooring leader line... going right under our boat. Bingo.   Not the worst thing in the world - a line around the propeller could be fixed quickly - but not the most auspicious beginning either.

Knowing we were already slightly behind schedule (we were hoping to leave at 4pm) and not wanting to wait for the marina diver, Scott jumped in the water with a knife and got to work.  Fifteen minutes later we were free to go, and quietly backed out of what had been our "home" for the past seven months.  It was sad to say goodbye - but we were ready to leave and knowing that we'll be back next November made it just a little bit easier.

As we left the marina, the light of day was slipping quickly down the horizon and as Grenada gifted us one last sunset, we raised our sails and headed south on a beam reach.  We shut off the engine didn't turn it back on until we entered Boca de Manos on the way into Chaguramas Bay.  As predicted, once we were out of the lee of the island the seas kicked up and the wind built to over twenty knots.  We were flying under full jib and double-reefed main and averaged just under six knots the entire night.  The seas were bumpy and the boat pitched and lurched wildly but sailed well.  Thankfully, the guys let me be the "floater"- and being such, I didn't have to stand watch but remained available if necessary.  I hunkered down in the v-berth and hoped to God I didn't no into labor.  Baby girl endured a WILD ride!

Sixteen hours and ninety miles later we arrived, slightly bruised and battered, into Port of Spain, Trinidad - guided by a large pod of dolphin.  It's incredible how exhausting sailing through the night can be - especially when conditions require physical and mental concentration and hand steering (our autopilot doesn't do well in wind over 20 knots and seas on the beam).  The boys did a fantastic job keeping Rasmus sailing well, I did a great job of not going into labor, and other than a fat lip on Scott from a rogue glass that went flying through the cabin in the night, the trip was uneventful.

Just call him "Angelina".

After clearing into the country, the four of us clamored onto shore, enjoyed a nice, big meal and crashed.  Hard. It was a well-earned rest!

We have been very warmly welcomed by our new friends and sponsors at Peake's Yacht Services and we know without a shadow of a doubt that we made the right decision coming here.  This is an top-rate facility, with an incredibly accommodating and friendly staff who have already taken excellent care of us - and we haven't even been here 24 hours!  I'm looking forward to telling you more about this great facility...but for now, Scott and I are enjoying the benefits of having a nice, airconditioned hotel room for a night!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

PS.  If you want to see some great photos of the past five days with my dad and Uncle Tommy - please check out our latest album on Facebook!

Top 10 Tuesdays: 10 Things We'd Do Different

While we did a lot of things right when we shoved off a year and a half ago - we would be remiss if we didn't reflect on our time away and make a note of the things we didn't do right or, rather, would have done differently if we could have.  There were a lot of extenuating circumstances that led us to make many of the decisions we did (I got pregnant, Scott got a job...etc) but here are some things that we would have done differently if we lived in a "perfect" world (which, we do not!)...

Ten Things We'd Do Different 

1. Left earlier - this isn't really fair because there was work to be done and there were factors beyond our control that played into our timing, but in a perfect world we would have left for this trip earlier.  Leaving from Chicago in September was 'pushing it' timing wise.  While we left as soon as we could and it wasn't that big of a deal, it would have been nice to have been able to take more time going through the Erie Canal and down the East Coast without the threat of snow looming over us each and every day stopped to smell the roses.  We have vowed to return to both areas to explore under less of a time constraint in the future because both areas were incredible.  
2. Provisioned like we were crossing an ocean - Note to new cruisers:  Don't provision like you are crossing an ocean unless you are crossing an ocean.  I don't know who got it in my head that we had to provision like it was the dawn of Armageddon and we were readying our bomb shelter for years of underground living but it was not necessary.  Scott and I gave away about forty pounds of food in cans and bags the other day - most of which was leftover from our initial provisioning trip in Ft. Lauderdale!  Not only could we have saved ourselves some precious space on our boat - but we could've saved ourselves some coin too.  Seriously, if you are island hopping, don't go nuts like we did.  Believe it or not, they actually have grocery stores and eat food just about everywhere and, if you aren't too picky, you'll be just fine.
3. Spent more time, more places - This sort of goes hand in hand with numero uno, but we felt like we rushed through some places that we wished we didn't.  We spent over two months in the Bahamas, and by the time we left there - we had to really cover some ground to make it somewhere "safe" for hurricane season.  Particularly, we would have liked to have spent more time cruising Puerto Rico (for example we only spent 2 days in Culebra, and easily could've spent a week) and we just skimmed the surface of many of the islands down here due to timing.  Luckily, we're going cruise the Windward and Leeward islands extensively next season - and much talk has been had about enjoying doing this at a much slower, steadier pace. 
4. Explored shore more - One of our "whoopsie" mistakes was leaving without any guidebooks (well, we did have one from 1982 but that was used more for comic relief than anything else - I mean, what were people thinking in the 80's with those outfits?!?!).  This made shore exploration difficult.  Sometimes it really is best to do a little homework on a place and find out where hikes, hot springs, waterfalls and other attractions might be.  Having guidebooks for reference really helps out in this regard. We are happy to report that we are now proud owners of updated guidebooks for the entire Windward and Leeward island chain and we plan to explore more with our baby girl strapped to our backs next season.  We also bought a Caribbean hiking guide that lists hundreds of hikes and walks throughout the island chain and we're looking forward to strutting our stuff all over the place with our baby girl.
5. Do more research on places - See #4.  In addition - if you do your homework, you can time your trip with cool festivals and local events that are happening in these islands (of which there are many).  This is a GREAT way to really get involved and get to know a place when it's at its best.  For example, you might want to make it down to Grenada for Carnival, or to Bequia for the Bequia Music Festival or St. Maarten for the Heineken Regatta.  All this can be achieved with a little research and a flexible schedule.
6. Meal planning - I'm not a cook.  For those of you who have been long time followers you know I have really been kicking it up a notch, but I still have a long way to go.  I tend to find something that I like to is easy to make (i.e. soup, beans and plantains, rice and beans, toast and peanut butter...) and make the heck out of it.  Next season we're going to focus on having a more varied diet that explores more than four recipes.  Plus I'll be a baby food making machine.  Look out people!
7. Sat idle for six months - while we LOVE Grenada, we have no idea how people can sit here for six months every hurricane season year, after year, after year...While this was more or less out of our control because of planned visits back to the USA and Scott getting a job (which will allow us to keep cruising for a LONG time now), when we come back next season we're going to try to plan our timing a little better and either find areas we can cruise during the hurricane season, or do something else like rent a little beach house in Costa Rica and spend three months exploring and learning how to surf with our little beach baby.  Who knows?  You'll just have to keep reading and find out where we end up!
8. Left with a better dinghy - this was a BIGGIE.  We left with a twenty-five year old 2hp motor and an even older dinghy.  This is not an ideal cruising set-up.  We had so many dinghy problems the first eight months of this journey that we could do nothing else but laugh.  In all honesty, however, it really hindered us.  Not having a reliable dinghy is a serious handicap out here.  There were times we had to stay in marinas because our dinghy motor wasn't working, times we couldn't explore certain places because were weren't sure our dinghy would make it there, and - overall - a lot of missed opportunities all because of a dodgy motor attached to a heap of inflatable hypalon.  Obviously, we're all sorted now thanks to our sponsor Island Water World, (we have an 8ft Caribe hard bottom dinghy with an 8hp Mercury 2-stroke outboard) but for those of you planning a similar trip - do not brush the dinghy issue under the rug.  It will impact your trip in a HUGE way.
9. Not worry so much about hurricane season - we rushed through the Windwards and Leeward islands mostly so we could get down to Grenada in order to fly out for two weddings we were in this past summer but we also rushed to be here by the June start of the "hurricane season".  One of the perks of not having any insurance is not having to answer to anyone about where we need to be and when (insurance companies often deem that a boat must be at "x" place by "y" time in order to be covered).  We rushed south just like everyone else and we really didn't need to.  While hurricane season is not to be taken lightly and cruising during this time should be done with caution, LOTS of people continue cruising throughout the hurricane season.  I'm not saying you should cruise through hurricane season - so please don't take this as a suggestion!  I am just saying that, for us, we would have slowed down a bit and taken our time (with prudent weather monitoring through our sponsor, marine weather guru Chris Parker, of course).  A huge reason we didn't cruise more, however, was also due to the fact that Scott got his fantastic job with Island Windjammers (he has now been offered a permanent position in the rotation and we'll time our cruising around it!!).   We all know that the cruising kitty is as essential to a journey like this as a reliable vessel and we consider ourselves VERY lucky that work and play seem to work symbiotically!
10. Refrigeration - our next boat* will have refrigeration.  Been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt.  We want cold beer.  Do you blame us? 

All that being said, do we have any regrets??  HECK NO!  But if someone else can learn and benefit from the things that we would have done a little different, then our mission is accomplished.  If those people also happen to be us being better prepared for next cruising season, then all the better!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

*Yes, many of you who follow us on Facebook know we are looking at bigger boats.  It's possible that this "hiatus" home will be filled with new boat talk and possible trips to visit potential contenders.  We'll keep you posted.  Exciting things are in the works, that is for sure!

Porcelain: A Caribbean Video Interlude

Made another little video the other day to another one of my favorite songs...

This one is to Porcelain, by Moby.  I could listen to him all day long. 

Hope you enjoy this little kick-start to your week!!  

Love,

Brittany & Scott

PS. We will be leaving for Trinidad this evening - sailing through the night and hoping to arrive sometime tomorrow morning (between 6am and 10am depending), so if you are interested be sure to check our SPOT tracker page.

Buzz of Regatta Weekend

The time has come for the 2012 Grenada Sailing Festival and let me tell you - things have been kicked into high gear around here!

Scott was originally going to race in this regatta (and I was hoping to be on a spectator boat), but due to our change in plans (namely going to Trinidad to store Rasmus instead of staying here) the timing didn't work out.  C'est la vie! Lucky for us we get to sample a little taste of the action...okay, and the Mt. Gay Rum (the main sponsor of this and practically every other sailing event in the world).

Race crews are flying in by the droves proudly wearing their red hats* and strutting their stuff in high-tech sailing shoes, fancy embroidered sailing shirts and donning the shiniest of mirrored Oakley sunglasses.  They're loud, they're proud and these folks are here to have a good time.  Sails are being schlepped, rigs are being tuned, battens are being pushed and the excitement in the air is palpable. Scott and I are familiar with the racing scene - it's something we spent a lot of years involved with in Chicago and while we prefer cruising, the racing "vibe" certainly has it's appeal!  Despite the fact that the scene here is more tame and on a smaller scale than some of the larger regattas Scott and I have participated in - it's still about the sailing, and when it's about sailing - it's all good.

While we're sad we're not going to be able to partake in the fun - it's nice being a fly on the wall for a bit!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

* These "red hats" are the famous Mt. Gay Rum hats that are given to just about every sailor during a regatta and are the "calling card" of the racing sailor.  Some people collect and wear these hats with a pride that is a little out of proportion with the fact that it's, well, just a hat.  You've really reached the holy grail if you have a really faded, old, jalopy of a hat from a really 'cool' race like "Antigua Race Week" or the "Chicago Mac Race".

Scrub a Dub Dub

The importance of a clean bottom cannot be denied...especially when it comes to a boat.

Racing sailors know this all too well, and cruising sailors usually learn it the hard way; like when they're slogging along the Northern coast of the Dominican Republic pounding into head seas going 2.5 knots after spending ten days in the cesspool that is Luperon wondering "Why are we so damn slow?!?" Well, I'll tell you why you're slow.  You've got a virtual aquarium living on the bottom of your boat.  Barnacles, algae, sea grass and mollusks will all be found living and clinging for dear life to your underhull and believe me, it will slow you down.  A lot.

Sailboats aren't known for being the zippiest form of transportation around in the first place, so when you lose a knot or two of boat speed - it makes a big difference.  Therefore, bottom cleaning should be a part of every cruising sailor's routinely scheduled maintenance.  Tropical waters are famous for breeding sea life aplenty and if you don't move regularly (like sitting at anchor for a week or more), the speed at which life will grow will be much faster.  Usually, Scott and I would dive our boat every couple of weeks in a nice anchorage somewhere with some scotch brite pads and give our boat a scrub.  However, here in the harbor - it would take a pretty lucrative ($$$) dare to get either of us to get in the water and do this (we've seen everything from hypodermic needles to dead rats float by our boat).

Enter our buddy Martin!!

Not only does he not mind getting in the water, but he's got a scuba set up which means he can do a much more thorough job, much faster than we could.  For a $100 even - we get a pristinely scrubbed bottom (we've checked his work before and he does a great job) and the peace of mind that we have potentially managed to escape nasty case of giardiasis.  Sometimes, money spent is well worth it and in this case, we're happy to hand over a Ben Franklin, thankyouverymuch.

We should enjoy a nice, fast ride to Trinidad now.  Here's hoping!!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

The Sponge Man

Yesterday, at the beach as Scott and I were lounging in the soft, white sand reading our (respective) Kindle and Nook...I heard the call, "I am the sponge man"!  Always interested in unique sales pitches, I turned up my gaze and saw this guy.  "Loofas!  Natural loofahs!" he called out.  While I don't need a loofah - or luffa as the genus is more commonly known - (I'm a synthetic "bath poof" girl myself) I did think these were really interesting, particularly because he had a few that were still in the raw - meaning they were contained in the pods they grew in.

Despite my original supposal that these products come from the sea, the loofah is actually from a plant that grows on land called "cucurbits" and grows like a gourd from a tree.  A tree!?  All my life I wrongly assumed these things came from the ocean!  Am I the only one who was in the dark here?  Pretty interesting stuff really.  For you trivia types out there, you can learn more about the natural loofah and how it's harvested here.  You never know when Jeopardy might call!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Next Steps...

Lots of questions coming in about our next steps these days!

When we announced that we were having a baby back in September, I also mentioned we would be going home to have her around the beginning of the new year.  Well - believe it or not, here we are!

After much deliberation, we decided to bring our beloved Rasmus to Trinidad for the seven months or so that we will be away.  While there were a lot of reasons contributing to this decision (more in a later post) we also got a fantastic deal on high-security storage with our newest sponsor Peake Yacht Services, the Caribbean's largest and most comprehensive yacht haul-out facility.  We are honored and excited to partner with such an esteemed yachting facility.

So, weather permitting, we will be sailing for Trinidad this coming Saturday.  Being that I am eight months pregnant we thought it might be nice to have another hand on board in case things get dicey (as they do from time to time on the water) and I threw out an invitation to my dad.  Lucky for us - he took the bait and booked a ticket.  Seeing the news on Facebook, his best friend (and the best pseudo-uncle there ever was) called him up and said "I'm coming too".  So now, we will be a motley crew of four and having my dad and uncle Tom along will make what will be a bitter-sweet journey err on the "sweet" side.

Once we're in Trinidad, Scott and I will be thrown back into "work mode" prepping the boat for long-term storage (again, more on this in a later post!).  From there, we will be flying back to Chicago where we will live with my parents (believe it or not, all parties involved are excited about this!), have our baby (due March 21st) and remain home with our little sea monkey for the 2012 hurricane season as we adjust to being parents.  Scott will get a part-time job to make more money for our cruising kitty and will also be returning to Grenada for five weeks in July to work for Island Windjammers.  We have lots of places to visit and people to see while we are home, so we're going to be busy and if the past year and a half is any indication - time is going to fly!

We plan on returning to the Caribbean next September to complete some projects and continue cruising full-time.  There is talk about getting a bigger boat, and we're exploring our options on that front.  We'll keep you posted.  We will remain here in the Windward and Leeward Islands and we'll probably head south to the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) or somewhere else after next season.  We're not sure where we'll spend the 2013 hurricane season but we don't want to sit idle on our boat in one place again and we're liking the idea of renting a house in Costa Rica for a few months and surfing every day.  Who knows?  When two dreamers like us get to talking and planning, just about anything is possible!

Windtraveler is not going away!  We're only taking a little break while we amp up for phase two - this next year is going to get really interesting and rest assured, we'll keep you in the loop!

Love,
Brittany & Scott