Rough Weekend with a Sick Baby on Board

Despite a fever, she still found the energy to help daddy re-bed a porthole...more on this later!

Nothing puts a damper on a weekend like a sick baby.  Poor little Isla suffered fever after fever (ranging from 101°-104°) since Saturday morning which lasted through last night.  We'd keep it at bay with infant Tylenol, cool washcloths and limited clothing when it got out of hand, but for the most part - the poor little thing rode it out.  It was heartbreaking.  We cuddled on the settee all day watching cartoons on my computer (we don't do t.v. at all in normal circumstances but this was an exception) and snuggling.  She wouldn't sleep without physically touching me, so I camped out in the v-berth with her the past two nights, waking with her every two hours or so to ease her cries and try to help cuddle her pain away.  Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep at all.  In the states we most certainly would have brought her to one of the many 24-hour care clinics available to us but being here in the islands, the only option is the hospital - which we didn't think necessary.  We tried "paging" the one pediatrician on the island we know of but no one got back to us, which left us with Google.  We're not worrisome parents by nature, and we never got overly concerned with Isla's symptoms, but seeing your typically happy baby miserable and writhing in pain is tough on anyone.  We're taking her to the local pediatrician today to rule out any sort of treatable infection, but already it seems she's on the mend.  Right now, she's giggling with daddy, squealing in delight as he tickles her and she seems to have her (abundant) energy back; running around the boat like it's her personal obstacle course, doing "ballet" on her tippy-toes, and jumping around like a little bean.  Very welcome sounds and sites, for sure.

We'll be back to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow or the next day.

Kiting in Virgin Gorda

The past couple of days have been play time.  Actually, the past couple of weeks have been play time.  We've throughly enjoyed the good, clean livin' here in the British Virgin Islands, leisurely sailing from anchorage to anchorage as if we have all the time in the world.  We might have been stuck waiting for weather, but we've been doing anything but sitting idle.  To be in a place where we have the luxury to sail just a few hours to yet another breathtaking anchorage without having to really care about weather, wave height and all that jazz has it's perks.  It's effortless cruising in these parts, and we've learned that we like effortless cruising.  We will be back to this neck of the woods, there is no question about that.

As most of you know, Scott took up the sport of kiteboarding about a year ago and he's hooked.  While I can appreciate any sport that has the sense of humor and audacity to name a strategic piece of gear the "donkey dick", I'm not going to lie, I was not entirely thrilled with his almost overnight obsession with what is - no question - an 'extreme sport' (read: one that is dangerous to life and limb).  I mean, new boat, new baby...didn't we have enough going on?  Couldn't he enjoy a leisurely paddle around the anchorage on our iSUP? Maybe a peaceful jaunt to a coral reef in our kayak?  And then there was the issue of storing all that gear: the kites (multiple kites for multiple conditions), the boards (yes, plural, multiple conditions), the harness, helmet, control bars, lines, and pumps (and, yes, the 'donkey dick').  My inner neat freak had a kitten looking at all that stuff piled up.  But Scott's got the adrenaline-junky gene wedged somewhere in his DNA right next to the expert-packer gene and he'd made up his mind and somehow tucked all that stuff away in our boat without sacrificing any "prime" real estate.  After he pinky swore he wouldn't die and stowed all the gear I became (semi) cool with it.

Kiteboarding (or kitesurfing) is definitely not an easy one to learn; it's physically demanding, condition specific and requires a pretty decent amount of coordination and gear.  If you can get past these things, it can actually be a nice complement to cruising.  Typically, we prefer to sail from place to place in winds under twenty knots.  Luckily, winds twenty knots and above happen to be primo for kiteboarding so the two fit nicely in that regard.  The fact that - as one kiteboarding friend told us - "every kiter I know has had some serious injury; blown out knees, broken bones, whiplash...some even died" is a mere afterthought after the rush of the ride.  Or so I am told.  (This friend did not help Scott's case, for the record).

On a positive note, we've met loads of kiteboarders along our travels who seem to be completely in tact (Scott has an inner radar for them, I am certain) and I can honestly say that they are a very cool, very helpful bunch of folks.  We met up with some yesterday and not only did they give Scott some pointers, but helped him launch his kite, and manned the chase vehicle while I chilled on the beach snapping photos and watched Isla nibble on driftwood.  To say Scott was stoked would be an understatement.  Good times had by all.

In other news, it's looking like we have a little weather window to cross over to St. Maarten (aka 'the land that wifi forgot'), so - if all goes as planned - we should be leaving this evening for the fifteen to eighteen hour passage.  Unfortunately you might not hear from us for a couple of days and won't be able to track us because our SPOT tracker up and stopped transmitting during our offshore passage and they have been incredibly unhelpful in getting us up and running again.  Don't be alarmed by the radio silence and keep an eye on our Facebook Page for updates as I will most likely post there first.

Hand Stands on Water: Working Out iSUP Style

It's official:  the stand-up paddle board, or "SUP" for the lazy, is pretty much the best toy ever for a cruising boat.  It's easy to use, easy to deploy, and easy to store.  Simple, simple, simple.  Being that our 42 foot hull, while roomy, doesn't have a whole lot of space to store an eleven by three foot rigid board, we went the inflatable route.  Our Airis iSUP has been simply awesome to have on the boat.  We've not only used it as a vehicle for personal exploration, a place to lay back and relax, and an alternate family vessel (yes, we've had our little family of three cruising around on this bad boy) but now, we also use it to work out.

I discovered by happenstance one day that laying on your stomach and paddling the board with both arms on either side in a windmill motion - much how a surfer paddles out to a break - was not only an incredible workout, but felt distinctly cool in that "Oh hey there! Look at me! I (very temporarily) look like a surfer which makes me feel cool because surfers are AWESOME" sort of way.  So the other day when Isla went down for her morning nap, Scott decided to wake up his deltoids and put my new exercise to the test.  I jumped in the water to swim and, twenty minutes later, swam over to him where, next thing I knew, we were giggling like children doing handstands on the water.  And wiping out a lot.

I don't know what possessed him to first do it - but as soon as Scott inverted - the gauntlet had been thrown.  For the next forty-five minutes, most likely to the amusement of everyone else in the anchorage, we practiced inversions coupled with iSUP yoga and had a blast.  For the record, standing on one leg atop an inflatable paddle board is very, very hard.  In fact, it might be impossible. So we kept the yoga to the floor exercises after some comical unsuccessful attempts at standing bow pose. It was fun trying though!

Prepping for an inversion

Almost there! 

Bingo!

A little down dog

The "super cool surfer paddle".  Use both arms at once, or alternate.  Also called "the delt burner"

Sit ups are also great on the SUP

Has the planking craze ended?  Did we miss that boat?

And now, for the blooper reel:

He's not hanging ten, but about to wipe out.  Though he does sort of look "surfer cool" here...

It takes a while to get it right.

Another bonus of doing inversions on the water, this little maneuver is less painful.  

Right before I flopped over with incredible grace (not).

You Are What You Eat...and That Includes Your Sunscreen

We live in a very toxic world.  Everywhere we go, every single day we are inhaling, digesting, and absorbing dangerous chemicals into our bodies.  To be honest, I'm actually pretty ignorant when it comes to stuff like this.  While there is a part of me wants to learn more about the poisonous compounds that line tin cans and the hazardous pesticides that keep my food looking pretty, there's another part of me that thinks filling my head with all that information would make me completely neurotic and want to live in a bubble.  So I find a balance between ignorant bliss and over-educated paranoia (okay, I lean a bit more toward ignorant bliss).

Lately, I've gotten a lot of emails and questions about what sort of sunscreen and baby products I use for Isla, mostly from mother's who want to find the safest and least toxic brands for their babies.  There's something about motherhood that makes us suddenly care about stuff like this.  We want to keep our babies pure.  To keep their little bodies as healthy as we possibly can.  Sure, I use disposable diapers and yes, I use non-organic products on Isla, but regardless of these choices, I always think twice about what goes on and in her little body.  So why don't we do the same for ourselves?

Skin Deep (we have no affiliation) is an incredible project and site where you can check the toxicity of a wide array of cosmetic products from shampoo to sunscreen, and everything in between (yes men's products too).  They give you a "score" of 1-10 (ten being most toxic) and then break down ingredient concerns (again with a score of 1-10) into these categories: overall hazard, cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunology toxicity and user restrictions.  It's a lot of info.

The skin is the body's largest organ and it's actually pretty scary how mindlessly most of us slather products on it like it's no big deal.  Did you know that the American government doesn’t require health studies or pre-market testing of the chemicals in personal care products, even though just about everyone is exposed to them?  Some of the ingredients that are in our everyday lotions and potions are incredibly toxic.  Check it out.  What you learn you are unknowingly ingesting might surprise you.  Turns out, we're a whole lot more than what we eat these days...

Bringing a Taste of the Islands Home

Loyal blog followers know about my love of coconut water...I fell in love with the stuff when I was an avid Bikram yogi before we left and the love affair resumed when we got down island and could get it straight from the source.  For those of you who don't know - coconut water is one of the healthiest things you can put in your body.  Not only is it totally natural, it is full of electrolytes, potassium and is actually more hydrating than water.  While I personally love the taste - it should be said that the flavor is very unique and for many it is 'acquired'.  It's doesn't taste like water and it doesn't taste like coconut milk - some actually liken it to slightly spoiled, watered down milk.  Tempting right?  While I think that's a little harsh, it's best to know what you are in for.  Give it a try - if the taste doesn't win you over (it's not that bad, I promise) the health benefits should.

Thankful

Happy and healthy, does it get any better than that?

Today I am thankful for a million things...
I'm thankful for my incredible family, who literally mean the world to me...I am thankful for my wonderful husband, who is the ultimate partner in life and love...I am thankful for my health, the health of my family and the health of this beautiful baby girl growing inside me...I am thankful for our fantastic boat, who has taken such good care of us during this voyage...I am thankful for my friends, all of whom contribute to my life and help make me a better person...I am thankful for all the blessings, lessons, gifts and trials that this journey has bestowed upon us...I am thankful I get to share our lives with all of you...I am thankful that, while this world can be a pretty ugly place, my world is beautiful...I am thankful that I have the means to live my dream, every. single. day.

I am just thankful.  For everything.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ship (in) Shape

A lot of you have asked how we stay in shape.

Scott and I led very (some might say "hyper") active lives when we were landlubbers.  I worked out every day at lunch and did Bikram Yoga four times a week after work.  Scott biked to work every day and either ran or biked several times during the week.  We are both triathletes and marathoners and Scott is even an Ironman.  Staying in shape was a big deal to us.  It made us happy.

I am here to tell you our "shape" is suffering. Ugh.  It pains me to type that.

While we don't have a scale and can't say for sure - Scott and I both feel a little softer in the middle than we are used to.

Life on a boat is active - we are constantly engaging our core muscles to counter act the heeling of the boat, we're pulling lines to raise and trim sails, and getting the flour out from under the settee actually causes me to break a sweat.  We get exercise, it's just different than what we're used to.  For the most part we eat light and healthy and, despite what it might look like according our Facebook photos, we are not drowning in a bottle of rum every night.  What is missing, however, is cardio.

We have run ashore a few times - but lately we have been moving so much that running ashore is not a priority.  We also both have foldable bicycles - but getting them to and from shore is a production and not usually worth it for a day's ride.  Swimming is something we both love but the anchorage and water quality are not always up to par (our last anchorage in St. Maarten tested positive for staph and all sorts of icky stuff and today I saw a shoe, a plastic bag, and a Styrofoam cup float by our boat right before I was about to jump in).  We do sit ups and push ups from time to time, but our regime is inconsistent.  It's gotten very hot down here, we're sticky and sweaty and the idea of working up more of a sweat kinda makes us want to puke.  Yesterday we spent the bulk of the afternoon laying below deck in the shade, barely able to move, with two fans blowing directly on us.  It is that hot.

BUT - we are looking forward to getting to Grenada where we will be staying put for five months.  We're hoping to get into more of a routine where exercise is a consistent part of our life!

Until then - we'll just let it all hang out.  Ha!

PS.  I will tell you - one pose that I love and I try to do a minute each day is this one.  Very good for the body!

"Fit" for Sailing...

A lot of people ask us if Scott and I are “afraid” when we tell them what we are going to do. The answer is NO. “Free is the heart that lives not in fear” is a favorite quote of mine (along with nearly every line of the movie Captain Ron, so baring that in mind…). However, there are a few things that I am, for lack of a better word, nervous about.

Namely – exercise. I love the stuff. Scott loves the stuff. We are both triathletes who have to make a concerted effort to sit still. We get in “funks” if we haven’t worked out enough. I work out every day at lunch, and then – two to three days a week - head to the Bikram yoga studio downstairs after work. I am the daughter of an aerobics instructor. We are HAPPY when we exercise. We LOVE to exercise and frankly, I am trying to wrap my head around how to do this in or on a 35 foot sail boat. Sure, sure…there’s swimming. But those who know me well also know I have a shark phobia that runs wide and deep. I watch “Shark Week” religiously (it is, in fact, THIS week) and I also read a lot of sailing blogs/books and you know what? I don’t care what you say - the ocean is teeming with these toothy predators. They are everywhere. So I don’t foresee swimming long distances in open water all that much. Then there is “boat yoga”. Scott and I got excited while watching an episode of Lats and Ats TV and a woman demonstrated this “boat yoga”. Do you know the first and only pose she demonstrated? “Leg on Bow Rail”. I kid you not. She lifted her leg, placed it on the bow rail (the metal railing in the front of the boat) and called that a yoga pose. While it might be a nice stretch, it most certainly is not going to keep us fit.

Ugh. So what to do? I know that the cruising lifestyle is one that keeps you slim and trim naturally – constantly lifting and pulling things, eating small (mostly) healthy meals, and living on a moving object therefore constantly engaging your core – but what about cardio? What about running? Sigh. Guess we’ll just have to pack our running shoes and run ashore…or maybe we can get the DVD version of "Sweatin' to the Oldies" and do that on deck? Hmmm....

Yours in health,

Brittany and Scott