{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This Week;

*Christmas came to our building

* Paloma and saw a beautiful amazing  production of Snow white.  It was circus, opera, theater and dance, what’s not to love. Thanks Marlon and Amanda for including us.

*We turned one of our walls into a white board.

*The weather was very moody.

* I ate lots of Xtra hot sauce.

* Ronan discovered Tintin and I haven’t heard much out of him since.

How was your week? Post your week in the comments. We love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week;

*We celebrated thanksgiving with the rest of  USA. I said I was thankful for my family, which is lovely but a little lame. I will strive to be more creative next year. James was thankful that we got to have such an amazing experience together last year and that he found such a great job, so quickly. Ronan was thankful for the sailing trip and for Daddy because he thought of it and it was so fun. Paloma was thankful for getting into a good school.

*We enjoyed the balmy weather and braced ourselves for the coming cold.

* We saw the lovely Hugo, which we all enjoyed, even if some of us (Ronan) think the book is better and makes more sense.

*We got stuff out of storage, adding to our box collection.

* Our favorite babysitter got her brother to bring me Xtra Hot pepper sauce from St. Luisa.  I can’t tell how happy this make me.  I’ve been really jones’n for it.  My own  little bit of the Caribbean here in new York, now that is something to be thankful for.

How was your week? What are you thankful for?

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This Week;

*Paloma went to her first school dance.

*I felt that special band of hectic that only New York can provide, running here, running there not actually being anywhere.

*We got a couch. We’re not sure it’s really the right couch for the space. We really like the guy we brought it from. He is going  to Kabul with the UN.  Fingers crossed he does a great job and the couch grows on us.

* James fought the system ( well sprints identity test) and got me an iphone.  Now the kids want to talk to Siri all the time.

* We had a party to celbrate our return to New York. So now we are offically here.

*We did not go to Battery Park boat basin and sadly watch other peoples boats. We were on our way to the library and we just walked by. Really.

What did you do this week? Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

I am totally breaking with tradition today and adding words to this post.  I have a really really good reason, we’re having a party!!

It’s this Sunday @ the fabulous Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria. If your in New York join us to celebrate our return to the big apple.  Please follow the link for more info  http://sailingondine.eventbrite.com/

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This week;

*We saw snow for the first time in a long time. The word skiing was said a lot. Not by me.

*Paloma started middle school and This American Life did a show on middle school.  Good or bad timing, I’m still not sure.

*We had a real New York Halloween. NYC hearts Halloween.

*We got a dining table and chairs, mattresses for everyone and a bed for James and I. Yay to not eating on the floor or having to blow up the bed every night. ( everything else is a work in progress)

*The combination of having a real stove and over ordering apples put me on a bit  of a cooking frenzy.

What did you do this week? Did you dress up for Halloween? Cook anything good? Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week;

*James’ new catchphrase is ” We spent a year living on the water and now it feeling like we’re living under it”

* We had lots of middle school drama but I am happy to report that Paloma will start at a wonderful school on Monday.

*We moved into our new apartment, with the stuff we flew back with, borrowed air mattresses and the bounty from our obligatory IKEA trip.

* James left on his first business trip on the same day we moved.

* I spent a lot of time buying stuff and then unpacking it from boxes. I kept saying I want to live with less stuff.  We ended up with no stuff.  Now I think the universe is having a good laugh at my expense.

* I messed up my first Freshdirect order. I thought I was ordering 10 apples but I was ordering 10 packs of 4. Apple crumble anyone.

* We’ve enjoyed our new view of the Hudson river, even tho the sailboats make us a little wistful.

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How was your week? Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week:

*Paloma turned eleven. We celebrated at a beloved New York institution. It was a pretty perfect day.

* James started his new job.

*We looked for and found an apartment. Yay!  A big thanks to our friend and soon to be neighbor for introducing us to the building.

* I  spent way to much of my life on Craig’s list and Pinerest.

*We are tried to get use to schedules, calenders and commutes.

* We enjoyed hangout with our generous Brooklyn hosts.

How was your week? Post your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week:

*We spent a rainy day in Istanbul

*We flew to New York

*Ronan went right back to school at PS150.  Getting Paloma into middle school is a little more work.

*We lost a friend to cancer. He was 49, with two girls the same age as Paloma and Ronan and he was an awesome person. Cancer sucks.

How was your week?  Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We packed up the boat ( one guess how James feels about packing) It was not fun, it was sad, boring and hard. Not a good combination, but it’s done!

*Paloma dived into algebra with help of khan ( they should pay me for product placement) academy and James.

* Paloma & Ronan spent a lot time with their new four legged friend, Aris.

*After watching all of the X-men movies, and after much debate, Ronan declared imagination the greatest mutant power.

*We said good bye to the good ship Ondine. ( I keep humming this song )

How was your week? Are you sad about Jobs dying? ( James’ is very sad, he worked for him once) Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week off board:

*James returned to Turkey.  Yay!

* We paid another visit to our favorite market.

*We took a road trip to the national park with longest name ever and visited some more ruins on the way.

* Ronan turned eight. This was the most momentous thing that happen this week, of course. Paloma made a cake. Ronan got to choose his day; egg, bacon and chips for breakfast, playing Lego and video games all day and the amusement park after dark.

* We started packing up Ondine.

How was your week? leave your week in the comments, we love hearing from you?

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week off board:

* We went to the amusement park

* We missed James alot

*We checked out the market

*The kids fell in love with Adventure Time

* We’ve been grateful that it’s cooling off a bit here.

How was your week?  leave your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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Yesterday I was struck by the similarity between the beginning of our trip and the ending. I found my self-making popcorn in a seaside resort town that prides it’s self on its Englishness; waiting for James and the next chapter of our lives to begin. Despite all my own good council about a lot life happening in the transitions, I have not escaped the energy sapping feeling of being in purgatory, again.

Of course Didim, Turkey, with its sucky fish spas and English grannies with lots of tatts, is a long way from Bermuda. (I should know, I’ve sailed it)

We are staying in an apartment in Altinkum a seaside resort area that caters to English tourists, James refers to as butlins in Turkey. I admire the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial sprite that the Turks bring to giving their visitors what they want. Although I wouldn’t mind a little cultural arrogance if it meant I could get some really good Turkish food and experience a little more ottoman empire and a little less Blackpool.

It’s not all egg and chips, we got fresh yogurt and honey comb at the lovely Saturday market and we’ve found a restaurant in the center of Didim that serves only Turkish food. We had a good time at the amusement park, Luna Park; the crazy dance is really crazy.

The kids have made friends with an ice cream vendor on the boardwalk and he gives them extra big servings. The beach is just outside our door and we have great view of the sea from our balcony. The beach it’s self is not that enticing for children who have lived on a boat for a year, it’s sallow and crowd with people, and cigarette butts.

We mainly hang out in the apartment, reading, writing and doing math on khan academy, eating popcorn and looking forward to Adventure time. Not terribly exciting but not terribly exciting maybe just what we need right now, before taking the next big leap. Even purgatory had it benefits.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama   A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week not on board:

*We went to Didim’s temple to Apollo

* Ronan lost another tooth, making him look a strange anti-vampire. It made wonder what young vampires do when they lose their baby teeth, then it was pointed out me that vampires are made not born. Duh.

*James flew back to the US,  job hunting again.

*Paloma perfected her stuffed tomato recipe

* We moved apartments. Now we have a lovely view of the main beach instead of neon and brake dancing and best of all, Ronan got his bath and not just a bath, a jacuzzi!

*We saw a white rabbit hanging out on the beach.

How was your week? Post your week in the comments, we love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We bid farewell to the our new friends the pirates of Kalymnos and sailed to Didim Turkey.

*Ronan lost a tooth.

*Ondine was hauled out by a huge, fancy, remote control crane at D-Marin Marina.

*We enjoyed the beach club and the pool at the yacht club, both part of the marina, very nice.

* We moved off Ondine and into an apartment. We were excited to give landlubbing a go again.

* We had an osmosis scare. I thought osmosis was a way to learn French in your sleep but it means this and is kinda disastrous on a boat.  It turned out we had a faulty moisture reading not a leaky haul. Phew and double phew.

*We discovered that our apartment is in an English tourist mecca. Our neighbors are Zanzibar,who serve proper full English breakfast with proper beacon, and Skybar, named after SkyTv, which they play on huge screens both inside and out. Both bars (pubs) have Karaoke, dancing bar boys ( actually one of the break-dancing groups was quite impressive) and very loud music all night long. Great if your on holiday from Newark-on-Trent but a little shocking if you’ve been living on a boat.

*We were  grateful for and amazed by restaurants that have pick up and drop of services for their guests.

What did you do this week? Post your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual viasoulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*Was pretty uneventful, (unlike the week for our friends in New York) which made a nice change.

* We hung out on a mooring owned by the lovely family that owns the Pirate Beach and who are taking really good care of us.

*Book were read, card games were played and a lot of kayaking was done.

* Paloma got sick with a really high temperature for the  first time on the trip. ( she seems to be on the mend)

* James spent a lot of time on the computer planning our futures, both near and far. I think Turkey is in our near future. Stay tuned.

What did you do this week? (survive a hurricane?) Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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Thursday, August 11, 2011 4:45 am

I am woken up by the wind, it’s howling. Ondine is anchored off a beach called, Agios Prokopis, on the island of Naxos in Greece. Captain James is not on board, he’s  in New York.  My biggest fear when James is away is that we will slip on our anchor and be dragged out to sea. Whenever he is not on board I spend many nights/early mornings on deck trying to work out if we are moving any closer or further away from the objects around us, scolding myself the whole time for being paranoid and telling myself  “It would be bloody obvious if we were slipping, go back to bed.”  Paranoid or not I know this is different. The Meltemi is screaming. I get up and put the instruments on. The wind is gusting to 40knots. That’s really strong.  I go outside, it’s noisy and nasty but we seemed to be in the same place. I go upfront and check the anchor, I watch the chain pull out taught, and then slacken off as the boat comes forward.  That’s good. I take in the washing and wet bathers hanging on the back of the boat, I don’t want lose anymore clothes to the Meltemi. I’m concerned that the noise is going wake everyone up and that they might be scared. Paloma and Ronan are fast asleep. I close their hatches. Cindy Abramson, my best friend from New York is staying with us. We met fifteen years ago on my first trip to New York. Cindy worked for Fox Searchlight and they had just brought my first film. Cindy was assigned to look after me for the weekend because everybody else was in the Hamptons. We joked for years that she did such a good job I just kept her on.  She is fast asleep. I creep in and close her hatch too.  I’m awake and a little freaked out, so I skype James. I read out the wind speeds to him and I tell him that I snorkeled the anchor during the day and  it was still dug in. James says he is sure we will be fine. Around 6am I close the computer and go back to sleep.

Thursday, August 11th, 2011 11am

The Meltemi continues to blow hard all day. We abandoned any shore plans we had. We stay inside reading and playing endless games of Uno. We occasionally go on to the deck and marvel at the brave souls on the beach. We speculate that this is their one holiday and they are going to go to beach even if means being sand blasted, damn it. In the evening the wind seems to lessen and we decide to get off the boat and have dinner at the taverna on the beach. There is a little dinghy drama due to the wind and I end up swimming in and out, so we can leave the dinghy with Ondine. The taverna has a view of the anchorage and I take a photo of the crazy white-capped waves surrounding Ondine in the normally calm bay.  We are back on the boat as the sun is setting around 9pm. We have one last round of Uno, We call James, he’s on the way to the airport and we all tell him how excited we are that we will see him soon.  I read a chapter of Birds, Beasts and Relatives to the kids.  It’s Cindy’s last night with us so we watch the last episode of the Sherlock series that she had brought with her, and we go to bed.  I can’t sleep. I look at stuff online. At around 1am I think “This is dumb, I should go to sleep”. I look out my stern porthole and see that the small tanker that sometimes anchors behind us is back. I look out the side window and check that the two speed boats off our port side are in the same place, they are. I notice that the one closest to us doesn’t have his light on, “ idiot” I think as I turn off the light and go to sleep.

Friday, August 12, 2011  2am

I wake with a start, something is wrong. The wind is howling and we’re rocking. I look out the back porthole. I can see the tanker but it looks like its moving way from us. Maybe the sound of him pulling up his anchor is what woke me. My gut is telling me that’s not it. Something is wrong.  I look out the side window I don’t see the speedboats. Something is really wrong. I scramble out of bed and out into the cockpit.  It’s really dark I don’t recognize anything. My heart is pounding. I tell myself I’ve panicked before and all that’s happened is the boat has turned around in the wind, but this time all the lights on land look really far away. I run upfront to the anchor. The chain is pulling back under the boat. I just look at it. I can’t work out what it means.  It means you have dragged your anchor and you are being swept out to sea, you freaking idiot. My worst fear has been realized but I can’t get my head around it. I go back below and turn everything on, the instruments, the VHF, my computer, the mobile phone. I think about calling James then I remember he’s on a plane.  I put on a pair of leggings. My heart is pounding in my ears and it feels like all my blood is rushing to my stomach. I’m still really confused. I don’t know what’s going on, I know it’s not good and that it’s getting worse fast. I go back up on deck. I look around, I still have no idea where I am. I look at the depth meter, it’s reading in the hundreds, not the twenties we were anchored in. Ondine is really rocking, things are banging around inside. I hear glasses smashing.  Suddenly, I’m not confused anymore. I know exactly what’s happened and exactly what I have to do.  I turn on the engine. Paloma comes up. I tell her to go tell Cindy I need her.  I make my first distress call. I still don’t know where I am, so I give my position as off Agia Anna, Naxos. No one responds.  I have to get the anchor up.  Our windless (the thing that pulls up and is meant to lower the anchor) is temperamental at the best of times. It only works in the up direction, we have to manually drop the anchor. Bringing it up is usually a three person job: one person to push the windless control button, one person to crouch in the anchor locker and pull on the chain so that it doesn’t get caught around the windless in a big tangled mess, and one person at the helm to move the boat and take the pressure off the anchor when needed. It’s a delicate art form even in a quiet bay, nevermind in what is starting to feel like offshore in a storm. Cindy and Paloma are on deck with me. I have us all put on life jackets. I ask Paloma to help me raise the anchor. Paloma and I put on tethers.  I tell Cindy I don’t really know where I am and if she should could look around and see if  she recognizes anything, that would be helpful.  I turn the boat in the direction I think will take the most pressure of anchor. I don’t know how I made the decision.  Paloma and I hook into the lifelines and go up front. Waves are starting to break over the bow of the boat. I climb into the anchor locker, attach the windless control, put on my gloves and tell Paloma to hit the button. Nothing. I futz with the connection. “Try again” I shout. It works. I pull and pull and pull on the chain. The wind blows the locker door on to my head a few times. I don’t feel it.  The anchor is up.  I run back to the helm. Now we have to get back to the anchorage. Ondine has been turning back around again and is heading back out to sea. I ask Cindy if she has any idea where we come from. She points confidently in the other direction. I turn the boat around. I am struggling against the wind, the current and waves, I only have one engine (a legacy of the P bracket incident) but I manage to wrestle control. If I only knew where I was.  I remember the helm GPS! In my defense it had been on the blink for a while and we only recently got the part to fix it. I could have kissed it when it came to life. Cindy had been right we are heading in the right direction and now we have a chart and our GPS position.  I make our first distress call giving our position. It’s still really rough and I need to give most of my attention to the helm. I ask Cindy to take over the radio. I show her how to use it and where to read our latitude and longitude.  Just as she is about to call another voice comes on the radio, it’s a woman, she’s French and she sounds really distressed.  She is on a boat called Stray Cat.  They’re out in the channel near us and they have no steerage. She keeps saying, “This is no joke.” It seems unreal that someone else is calling in a may day too.  I look at Cindy I tell her “We just have to wait for them to finish. They sound worse off than us.”  It’s a strange feeling, it seems bizarre that we are both in trouble in the same place and the same time (of course it’s not, if the conditions are bad people get in trouble, but it felt very strange at the time) I feel an instant kinship with them and concern. I also know two boats in trouble is not good. Meanwhile Ronan has been clinging to his bunk trying to stay a sleep, despite being banged into the wall and thrown to the floor, he only abandons his bunk after a wave comes in his port and he is drenched with water. I have Paloma put a life jacket on him, he lies down on the couch and becomes our own Eeyore, “We’re going to sink. Do I have to wear this life jacket? It itches, ask Mama if I really have to wear it. I can’t sleep in it. We’re all going to drown”.

When Stray Cat is done, I tell Cindy what to say and she gives the calmest distress call ever. The harbormaster responds now but there is a lot of confusion with two boats and everyone speaking different versions of English. It was also a struggle to hear the radio above the roar of the wind and the angry sea. I ask Cindy to use the radio inside.  I only catch snippets of the conversations. They’re coming, but to who? They tell Stray Cat to look for a yellow light and us to look for a red boat or is it the other way around? Stray Cat reminds them repeatedly that there are two different boats. Ronan imparts one more pearl of wisdom: “Go toward the yellow light”, before passing out.

I’m starting to recognize things. I can see the tanker. Then one of the speedboats. I know the one without lights is there but I can’t make him out yet. I take his name in vain.  I can see another light in the distance. I wondered if it’s Stray Cat. The time has come to think about dropping the anchor, preferably without hitting anything. Paloma puts the deck lights on. I tell Cindy my plan, I’m going to get us  as close as I dare, put the boat in neutral and drop the anchor. I need her to stay at the helm and if it looks like we are going hit something, move away from it. I tell her “It’s easy, just like driving a car”. I look at her blank face and then I remember she doesn’t drive.  You’ll be fine I say trying to sound upbeat and confident. I could just make out the unlit speedboat to port and I curse him again. I move into position, put the boat in neutral, run to the bow and drop the anchor as fast as I can, then I run back to the helm. Cindy is standing looking at the controls “I have no idea what I’m doing”. I know the feeling. I tell her it’s fine. The current is pulling us back out and around.  The anchor did not catch. Then the coastguard arrive in their shinny red boat. They throw me a line and I attached them to our stern cleat. They ask me to attach a line to the bow. Attaching the rope feels like the most awkward thing I’ve done all night, I struggle to get it the right side of the safety line.  I can hear them asking Cindy the name of the boat, they seem confused and it isn’t clear to me how they’re going to help. They tell Cindy that we are the wrong boat and they have to go. Cindy asks if will come back. They are none committal. I run to the stern and cast them off. I don’t think twice about it. Stray Cat needs them more and with them gone I know what I have to do. I have to get the anchor back up.  I turn the boat back toward the anchor. We try the windless. Nothing, nothing and more nothing.  I pull on the chain in frustration. Yeah right, like that’s going to work. I look at chain in the water; it’s being pulled back under the boat and to the side. We’re being pulled out fast. I have to get this anchor up.  I want get as much pressure off as I can. I go back to the helm, turn the boat towards anchor and gun it forward, I leave it moving forward slightly in the hope of counter acting the current. I jump back in the anchor locker. The windless starts. I’m flooded with relief. We are going to get another chance to try and anchor.  I head back out so that we can approach the anchorage again.  I can hear Cindy calling the harbormaster and asking for help. I hear Paloma telling her the information she doesn’t know: “Yes we have AIS”. Paloma makes sure it’s on. I can hear them tell Cindy they can see us and that they could maybe send someone in an hour and half.  Okay I just have to get this boat anchored without help.  I plan to go in closer this time and leave the engine slightly in forward to try and counteract the current pulling us out.   Paloma and Cindy join me at the helm. We joke about being abandoned and wonder if we were too calm on the radio. Just as I am in position, the engine makes a funny noise. I have no revs and I have no control. Paloma says: “The engine doesn’t sound good, Mum” I don’t answer. I know I’ve lost the engine and I know that this is perhaps my only chance to anchor. I run to the front and hurl the chain down as fast as I can, maybe faster.  I run back to the helm. I turn the dead engine off. I call in a new mayday saying my situation has gotten worse, I am now without an engine. My mind is spinning, if we don’t hold I’m not sure what to do next.  Then another voice comes on the radio, it’s the Captain of the tanker anchored behind us. He has me change channels to 12 (the one the Naxos harbormaster monitors) He’s calm, helpful and optimistic just when I was running out of all of the above. He translates our situation to the harbormaster in Greek, when I tell him I have dropped the anchor but am not optimistic about it holding he says, “let’s see”. Most importantly, when I needed it most he is there and cares about my situation. Then even more miraculous than the kindness of Greek oil tanker captains, suddenly I realize that we’re not being dragged out to sea. I look at depth meter we are still in less than thirty feet of water. I look to Cindy for confirmation “We’re not moving, right?” She nods.  We stand transfixed by the depth meter, when it goes up we hold our breath, when it  moves back down we’re flooded with relief.  The tanker captain calls back, hardly believing it myself, I tell him I think we’re holding. He lets the coast guard know.  He tells me he’s due to leave soon and wants to know that I will be okay. I feel grateful all over again that there is someone who isn’t indifferent to our plight. I thank him profusely and tell him that we are going to be okay and I almost believe it.

Friday, August 12, 2011 4am

The wind is still blowing hard; I can’t believe we are actually holding.  I’m still keeping my depth meter vigil. It’s getting lighter and we can see Stray Cat now attached to red shiny speed boat.  They come into the bay and do big laps of it together. I connect to someone’s WIFI  (4am is apparently a good time to do this) I leave a message for James, which I know he won’t get until after 10am and I look up the forecast for the wind. It should ease up later in the day; I wish didn’t have to wait twelve hours but at least isn’t going to get worse.  I send Cindy to bed. Paloma and I stay on watch, drinking tea. Then she also passes out.

Friday, August 12, 2011 5:32am

Feeling lonely on watch and wanting to make last night’s events real to the outside world. I post on Facebook: Being swept out to sea @ 2am goes down as my worst night ever! The response is fairly immediate. It feels good to tell the story and talk to people outside. My body is still pretty sure that the danger is not over but telling the story helps my mind to start putting it in the past tense. I go and look at the anchor alot.  There is strange rope attached to it, and looking at it, I think I know why the engine stopped last night.  I stand staring at the depth meter like a trader watching a stock.  I see Stray Cat and its escort leave the bay and head towards the Naxos marina. I veto my own impulse to call them on the VHF; I wish them well in my head instead.  I take a photo of the sunrise because I’m so happy to see it, everything looks better in the daylight. The bright sun also makes the events of last night seem unreal, like a bad dream, I take a photo of my really dirty anchor mud covered feet, see it did really happen.

Friday, August 12, 2011 9:30am

I physic myself  up to go and look at the anchor. I put on a swimsuit and snorkel.  I can see the drama play at on the sea floor. There is a long drag mark from the point the anchor hit the sand until it finally hooked in a patch of seaweed. It’s really dug in but I float above it for a long time, watching the chain move, the anchor stays still. The rope is caught around the anchor is more than one place, I follow it, the other end is attached to a large sandbag. It’s a makeshift mooring of some kind, maybe one of the buoys marking the swimming areas, it is another casualty of last night and it must have dragged right in to our path. I swim to our propeller, my suspicion is confirmed, wrapped around the prop is part of the rope.

Friday, August 12, 2011 6pm

The rest of the day is spent feeling shell-shocked and watching the depth meter. We congratulate each other on being so calm and collected, for saving ourselves. We wonder if we sounded more distressed on the radio it would have helped. Cindy does a hilarious imitation of herself on the radio that sounds a lot like a very laconic Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge Simpson) giving a mayday.   We count our many miracles. It was a miracle that we didn’t hit anything on the way out; it was miracle that we got the anchor up twice and the biggest miracle of all was that the anchor held after the engine had been disabled by the stray rope.  The meltemi is easing up a little and I’m starting to believe we are going to stay were we are.  We decide it would be nice to get off the boat, see Cindy off and pick up James.

Friday, August 12, 2011 9pm

We bid farewell to Cindy at the dock but have to wait a while for James’ delayed ferry. We walked in to the he old market town to look for something to eat. We find a lovely little jewelry store. I buy us all something featuring the eye of Naxos.  I feel compelled to buy them. I joke with Paloma that it was a survivor’s gift, a medal, a trophy. There was something else as well.  I’ve gone through an intense experience, I feel changed but there’s nothing physically different about me. I want something physical, tangible evidence that I had lived through this.

Saturday, August 13^th, 2011 6pm

We are in Naxos so that James can get his stitches out  (oh my we have been accident prone). We decide to see if we can find Stray Cat. We find her pretty quickly but now that we are standing in front of the boat, we hesitate. I’m worried they might be upset about the confusion that two boats calling maydays had caused. Of course they’re a lovely couple (he’s Canadian and she is French) and very happy to meet us.  We swap war stories. They were anchored in the main Naxos anchorage. They had slipped several times and then lost control of their windless and dragged on to the rocks, losing a rudder. The rest we had heard on the radio. She mentioned how calm she felt, how it all seemed like dream.  I had to laugh (not out loud) to myself, in our story we had cast her as the hysterical French woman. It made me wonder about the story I tell myself.  What did it  look like from the outside? Do I care?  This is what it felt like to me.  The Stray Cat couple is moving to Australia, we talked about Brisbane versus Perth. We all wish each other well and say again how happy we all are that everyone is safe and okay. We all agree that in the end that’s all that matters. Then the family green go to the movies.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*The lovely Laurie came and went.

* We enjoyed probably the last beach in Greece where farmers still herd their sheep.

*We finally left Naxos and sailed to Amorgos

* There was a serious hearts craze.

*We sailed to Kalymnos

*Ronan enjoyed the joys of pajama sailing.

What did you do this week? Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual viasoulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on Board:

*There was the dramatic being dragged out to sea at 2am incident, more to come on that later.

*Cindy returned to New York but not before being declared Uno champion and champion of the mayday call.

*The captain returned, had his stitches removed and put some new stitches in our sail.

* We saw a movie  at the Naxos open air cinema.

* The lovely Laurie came to stay.

What did you do this week? Post your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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Normally on Fridays I  post one photo of a  moment with out text as part of {this moment} via soulemama

But last night we dragged on our anchor.  At 2am I discovered  we were drifting out into a stormy sea, without the captain on board.  It was the scariest moment ever!  It feels like a miracle that we are back at anchor and okay this morning. So I think I needed to comment and post two pictures.  One of the sunrise because I was so happy to see it.

And one of my anchor grease covered feet.

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This week on Board:

*We missed James. (I find it hard to sleep when he is away)

* I used my sleepless hours to make a tote out of plastic bags.

* Cece came to stay!

* We played a lot of Uno

* I spent a lot time worrying about our dinghy, Searover

*Ronan feel in love with Pipi Longstocking.

What did you do this week? Leave your week in the comments, we love hearing from you! ( specially our London dwelling friends this week)

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Anyone looking for a great CEO, only very slightly damaged?  James is in United States on our first post Ondine reccy.

It’s an odd feeling to think that the sun is starting to set on our grand adventure and to be contemplating life back on the hard. It feels like time as flown by and simultaneously our life in New York feels like eons ago, being a dirt dweller feels as foreign now as being a live board did last November.

We made a very concise effort to make this a real year out and not make post sailing plans. When people asked what next  we would honesty answer, “ We have no idea”.  But lately “ When we move off the boat” has slipped into our vocabularies.   I am looking forward to not feel nauseous so often. The kids are looking forward to going back to a school where you get to see your friend’s everyday, not just when your wakes cross. James is looking forward to exchanging all the manual labor for a lot more PowerPoint.  I know Mr. Elephante is looking forward to a stiller drier life.

There will be a lot to miss, more than I ever expected. A lovely community of supportive cruises, the sea, the sunsets. Most of all I think I will miss the sense of freedom. Freedom to leave at anytime and go somewhere new. Freedom from imposed schedules. I am now shocked by how much of my time was spent scheduling things or transitioning from one scheduled activity to another. Freedom from a lot of the bureaucracy and forced social interactions that are part life in the big city. Freedom to spend your time with the people you want to spend your time with.

As terrifying as they where in the beginning and as nerve wracking as I still find them, I will miss night-watches. I will miss the time alone with just the stars, the wind and Ondine.

Whatever sadness I will have about giving up this vagabond life at sea is over powered by my curiosity to find out what happens next in the family green story.  I am hoping I will be able to bring some of the freedom and adventure from this chapter into the next

During the Obama campaign I kept buying “change is awesome “ T-shirts and bags. I wondered what appealed to me so much about the slogan. Was it all that tantric yoga, did I really believe it? Or was I just trying to convince myself? One of the great gifts of this year at sea is that I now know for sure, I was right, change is awesome.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

*We recovered in a lovely isolated cove, a rare find here in the islands of Greece.

*We moved to a more built up part of Naxos.

* I started to play Ronan’s Ukulele as therapy for my finger. I am beyond awful but it seems to be working.

*James left for the USA on our first post cruising reccy. Fingers crossed the Herman Muster look doesn’t put off potential employers

*The kids and I are missing James and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our friend Cindy.

What did you do this week? Put your week in the comments section, we love hearing from you!

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Naxos Greece. It’s 2am and I can’t sleep. I have ear squeeze, it’s painful and it’s keeping me awake.  James is a sleep with eight stitches in his head and wearing a really ridiculous bandage on his head, his new fancy (expensive) flashlight is on the sea floor a few meters from the boat. It has not been a good day on the SV Ondine.

Have you ever read the book  ”Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?”  I loved it as child and read it over and over.  ( in Australia he is going to move to Timbuktu, not Australia) There is something very entertaining about misfortune. As they say “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” ( there is some disgreement on online about who said it, I thought it was Woody Allen but some sites say Carol Burnett )

On Fridays I usually post a picture of one memorable moment from the week. I was going to post this picture of Paloma and a goose.

But I ended up posting this instead.

Let’s face it I will probably forget the cheeky goose at the taverna in Lipsos, but I’m never going to forget James on the salon floor with blood pouring down his face.

We left lipsos at dawn for the twelve hourish sail to Naxos, we were a few hours in when James leaped up from the salon table and bounded straight into the doorframe with his head. He tells everyone who comes onto the boat not to wear a hat inside because it makes it impossible to judge the height of the entranceway between the salon and the cockpit and you will thwack your head on it. His love for his new favorite hat (It says Ondine, Aegean tour, 2011 and was a gift from Dave Rose) made him forget his own good advice. When he felt the engine shake he was up like a shot, hat and all, then he was on the floor with his forehead split open (He really loves the hat the first thing he asked me to do when we got the bleeding to stop was to try and get the blood out of it)  There was a lot of blood but I made James sit up and apply a lot of pressure to his head, while I fumbled around getting out the Marine 3000 medical kit. Luckily the bleeding stopped pretty quickly and his pupils looked okay. (I remembered one bigger than the other very bad)  I pulled out the handy dandy “A comprehensive Guide to Marine Medicine” and was somewhat reassured by the fact it said that if you don’t lose consciousness that it’s rarely serious, then it suggested tying the wound closed with the victims own hair, not something I was ready to face yet, so we put a towel on James head along with some frozen spinach. We decided to continue on to Naxos.  James lay on the cockpit floor captaining, because of course during the drama the wind had shifted and now we needed to pay some serious attention to sailing, ah yes all this drama and sailing too. Finally James had to get up with the blood stained towel and spinach and plot a new course. Meanwhile the rest of the crew was getting seasick and vomiting off the back of the boat.  Once that James was happy with our new course and  the rest of us had dosed ourselves with Dramamine, James made a few comments about “feeling like shit and being really tired ” and” maybe it was because we got up so early”, I made a few useful comments like “ Well I’m sure it has nothing to do with gapping hole in your head.”  Then I had him lie down, he was apprehensive but I reassured him that the book said it would be fine as long a I woke him every couple of hours and ask him stupid questions like “what’s your name?”  I then sat on watch trying to work out what the! @* # I would do if I couldn’t wake him up and kicking myself that after all this time I don’t know more about sailing the stupid boat. (Of course you could look at it the other way and say how amazing it is that someone who has as little interest in sailing as me knows as much as I do)  I worked out the thing I was most worried about was getting the sail down with out James, the rest I thought we could handle.  I was more than relieved when we got close to Naxos that James still knew his name, even if it did take a few heart stopping tries to rouse him.  I had the kids and I do a dry run of “taking the sail down if daddy is unconscious.” It was not elegant precision in motion but if we had to, I think we could get it done.  We anchored in the first anchorage we could, on a remote beach. (I’ve seen people herding flocks of sheep.)

James found a terverna owner willing to drive him to the hospital. I stayed with the kids and made frittata out of  “ The spinach Daddy defrosted with the hole in his head” as Ronan so eloquently put it.

James returned from his Greek hospital adventure triumphant (Stitches at a Greek hospital 5 euro, lift to the hospital on the other side on the island 150 euro, no open wound on your forehead, priceless.) Unfortunately on the way to pick him up, James’ new fancy smancy flashlight got dropped into the water.  It’s a diving light, so it was still on illuminating the sea and tauntingly signaling where it was and that it wasn’t that far down.  James couldn’t dive for it because of the aforementioned hole in the head. I am a hopeless diver but I put on a snorkel and flippers, grabbed the fishing net and swam out to get it. I nearly did too, but on my third try I came up with an excrutiating pain in my ear.  Paloma then tried to give  it a go, she came close too,  but then she accidentally flipped the switch with the net. The sea went dark and the flashlight remains on the sea floor.

Not our finest day on Ondine but a memorable one.

And now Elvis Costello

UPDATE: Paloma got the flashlight and it still works! I got the blood out of the hat.  I’m thinking of of marketing a stain remover called “Alacrity”

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

* We had a lovely lunch at James’ favorite childhood taverna.

* We went to Delos, birth place of Apollo and Artemis. ( Paloma was shocked by the Apollo to Artemis temple ratio )

* We sailed to Leros to find out about getting hauled out again (dam you P bracket)  We learned we have to wait for a part. ( the dam P bracket)  So we’ve sailed off to explore the near by Islands.

* Some crazy people attached themselves to Ondine and got pulled along behind her.

* We spent a few days just chilling in Lipsos.

* I felt under the weather, so James read to me.  ( I love being read to. Do you?)

* Paloma learned fishing skills or lack there of may be inherited.

What did you do this week? Leave your week comments in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on Board:

*We finally made it to Mykonos. Where James spent his summers as a child and where Aunty Lucy, uncle John and Kailey still spend their summers. ( If I only had a euro for every time james says ” this road wasn’t here, it was just a donkey track”)

*We help Steve and Sarah find the beach and taverna, they had loved on their Honeymoon. It turned out James new the people who started it. ( When there was only a donkey track)

*Ronan leaned the joys of Kadima.

* We said goodbye to the Dembitzers.  We suspect the children sabotaged the dinghy so they couldn’t leave. Luckily James swam to another boat and the very nice captain gave everyone a lift in his dinghy, so no ferries were missed.

* We spent our first day on board as just the Family Green in over 12 weeks. ( We like company)

*We spent evenings on Aunty Lucy’s porch eating take out, watching the amazing sunsets and downloading torrents on their really fast connection.

* We put some of Grandpa with Grandma.

What did you do this week? Put your week in the comments section, we love hearing from you!

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This week on Board:

*We sailed through the Corinth Canal to the Aegean.

*We took thermal baths in Loutra on the island of Kythnos.

*We felt the power of the Meltemi.  Even losing some clothes to it, oops.

*We dropped off Lisa and Dave in AntiParos, where they spent their honeymoon 11 years ago. (ahhh)

* We picked up Steve, Sarah, Lousia and Alex. Paloma and Ronan are in kids our own age heaven.

*We ate a lot of good food.

* We did a lot of swimming.

What did you do this week? Put your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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This week on board:

* We sailed from Italy to Greece.

* We discovered we were rudderless in Zakynthos

* We said goodbye to Alison, Manny, Claudia and Jimmy and hello to Dave and Lisa.

* Because our boat was a wreck, we went on a road trip to Shipwreck beach.

*I finally finished my first bag made of plastic bags. I think I’m going to keep plastic bags in it.

* We got our new rudder and sailed to Galaxithi.

* Paloma got to fulfill her dream of seeing Apollo’s temple at Delphi.

What did you this week? Leave your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*Ronan cut off all his hair! He looks super cute in a very british post war way.  But part of me will always miss Ziggy.

*We sailed to Sardinia, Italy.  We have  been eating lots of gelato in celebration.

*We said good bye to our fabulous beleaguered  guest Grant.  but not before sending him up the mast, twice.

*We had our best dinner ever at  Trattoria Lillicu.  Where the amazing GIAN PAOLO was our singing waiter.

* New victims guests; Manuel, Alison, Claudia and Jimmy joined us.

* We saw whales!

* We stopped Ondine in the middle of the ocean and went for a swim.

* We arrived in Ustica. The loveliest island you will never go to unless you live on a boat.

What did you do this week? Please share in the comments. We love hearing from you!

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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Last week and this week on board:

* We left Horta, Portugal heading for Gibraltar. We sailed for seven days and end up back in Portugal, Faro Portugal on the continent, but still! ( It was a wind thing)

* Ronan settled on his passage look. The hair has yerned him the nickname Ziggy.

* Our friend Grant who was expecting a lovely holiday sailing around the Med drinking sundowners has ended up, flying to Gibraltar, then having to bus to Cadiz, Spain, where we picked him up then immediately sailed over night back towards Gibraltar, When our starboard engine failed, we made Grant get in the dinghy and act as out engine. Now he’s hanging out in a marina while we have work done. Oh the glamour of being on Ondine.

*We sailed through the strait of Gibraltar at night. It’s a pretty spectacular light show. It’s like sailing down a super tanker highway. You feel like you can reach out and touch the lights of  Europe with one hand and Africa’s with other, as  huge lit up monster ships speed pass you.

* We have not actually ever made it to Gibraltar. We got darn close. However when we arrived the marina was closed due to a fuel tank explosion that had left oil in the water. ( poor Ondine got very dirty) We have ended up across the boarder in La Lina, Spain.

*We try and sound like locals and refer to Gibraltar as Gib.

What did you do this week?  Put your week in the comments. We love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

* We got our land legs back. We have just been at sea for 13 days crossing the Atlantic, don’t ya know

*There was a lot of cleaning,  fixing and drying out.

* We ate at the hot rocks restaurant. We had spent  a lot of time talking and fantasizing about eating at the restaurant in Horta where you cook your  own meal on volcanic rock right at the table!  It totally lived up to our fantasy. Don’t you love when that happens?

*We took part in a Horta tradition. We painted a picture on the dock commemorating our crossing.

*We drove up to the Caldera and went to an amazing Volcano site & museum, Vulcao dos Capelinhos.

*James embraced Portuguese fashion.  The Portuguese are some of the loveliest people on earth but not the most glamorous.

* We saw Pico on fire, every night at sunset.

* We are waiting out the weather, hanging at Peter’s sports and dreaming of Gibraltar.

What did you do this week?  Leave your week in the comments, we love hearing from you!

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We made it to Bermuda in record time 4 days and 4 hours. It was fast  but the first 48 hours were rough. It was even too rough for the power of the mighty patch to combat.  Adding to the stomach churning nature of the passage was some very funky smells.  All I could do was crawl on deck for my watches then crawl back into my bunk and sleep.  Thank goodness we had Richard aboard.

Richard casually mentioned to a mutual friend in London that he would  love to do a spot of sailing before starting his new job. In less than 48 hours we had him on a plane to the BVI. It was a real gift to have him on board.  He is good company and it meant watches every 6 hours instead of 3!  James loved the heavy weather sailing but I just can’t get over the feeling like death warmed up to see the beauty in doing 12 knots with the wind at our beam.  Once the weather calmed down and we all become human again, it was lovely; we saw whales, Paloma made pizza from scratch, I read the Wide Sargasso Sea
( the perfect book to read while sailing through the Saragossa  ) and we all enjoyed the sun.

It was only four days but by the time we arrived in St George’s harbor  the easter egg painting and sad goodbyes of Virgin Gorda  seemed a life time ago.

How was your easter/spring break?

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We got back in the water. Yay.

*We took Ondine on a little test sail with Andy and Marie (they did the work on the boat) and we got to fly the spinnaker, our favorite sail.

*Paloma took her first flight alone, to visit her friend Ginger, who is visiting Virgin Gorda from NY. (We are sailing to pick her up)

*We enjoyed our last days with the crew from S.V Ouma. (We miss you already)

*Donna, Luca and Joaquino joined us from New York. Joaquino and Ronan are two little peas in a pod.

*We sailed to St. Barts.

*On the way to St. Barts Luca put in a line and got a bite almost immediately got a bit and reeled in a Barracuda (making us, the worst fisher people at sea, very jealous) Unfortunately we had throw it back because it may have had ciguatera.

*The universe was very kind to Ronan. A while back Ronan had lost his boogie board. He was very sad but very good about not expecting us to buy him another one.  Then James was given one by Budget Marine. (It gives you an idea how much we spend there)  Lucky Ronan.

What did you do this week? Please share in the comments. We love hearing from you!

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The menu planning is done and the provisioning  has begun. Two supermarket and five trollies, so far!

Paloma and I have been testing lots of recipes and getting aquatinted with my new friend.

It was a shaky start.  I read the instructions over and over and even then I had to have James read them and check I was doing it right. The thing terrifies me. It brings back a deeply buried childhood trauma. When I was a little hippy child I once had to hide under a table as hot lentils spewed out of a pressure cooker and all over our kitchen.  They are much safer now but I still jumped every time the value let off steam. Luckily I have had the calm voice of Jane Todd to guide me.

Doesn’t she make you feel safe? Jane is the author of “The Pressure Cooker Cookbook”  I love this book. I love the picture and the font.

It was written in 1977, exactly the same time as I was hiding from lentils. I bet that never happened to Jane.  Under her guidance I managed to make two batches of pretty good chili ( one veg, one meat) I found a recipe that uses cocoa, yum.

Next, Beef Stew and Spicy Lamb.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual ( a day late) via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This  week on board:

*The passage back to St. Martin was rough. Everyone got sick but the captain.

*James caught a tuna. ( Doesn’t he look proud of himself.)

*We went through the bridge into stink lagoon. (As it’s affectionately known)

*We pulled our home out of  the water with a crane and put it on wooden supports, on the hard. Crazy.

*One of said supports started to breach the hull. That’s a hole in our boat! It’s all fixed now but it was not fun to see.

*James worked very hard getting Ondine ready for the Atlantic crossing. I worked on the crossing menus. That’s 567 meals plus     756 snacks. Phew.

* We got to stay in hotel with wifi, a pool and a zoo!

* I brought my first pressure cooker. Now I just need to lean to use it. Luckly the fabulous Tanya (aka OumaMama) leant me her groovy books.

*Best of all, we got to catch up with boat loads of friends.

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Yesterday Ondine was hauled out. She is having her bottom painted and some work done in preparation for the big Atlantic crossing.

I can’t express how nerve racking it is to see your home being lifted up by a crane. James was a very pale shade of nervous Englishman through the whole thing. It’s very strange to climb up a ladder to the boat and see dirt through the port holes.

Last night was the first time I have slept on land in over five months!  We are staying in a funky little hotel on the water. It feels like total five star luxury to us. They have a pool and a small zoo. The bathroom seems enormous to a crew that has been showering in a head the size of a cupboard for months.  Best of all, we have 24/7 wifi. I’m on a broadband bingeing, downloading frenzy.

It’s going to be nice for a couple of days but the truth is, I can’t wait to get back on the water.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We sailed a night and day from St Martin to St Thomas. Ondine was back in USA for first time in five months.

*We picked up the Bricault family; Paul Cicek, Melise & Destin.

*We sail to St. John in a squall and moored at night. Note to self, maybe not the best way introduce guests to life on board.

*We hung out in St Francis Bay, St John.

*The kids taught each other every card game they know.

*Ronan & Melise spent five hours straight in a friends pool.

*We sailed to the Bitter end yacht club in BVI. Thanks to our lovely friends, we stayed on a dock  (1^st time in 5 months), while they stayed at the resort. We felt a little like the hick cousins staying on the lawn in our RV, a 55 Ft floating RV.

* Saying goodbye to friends again was hard, especially for Ronan.

* We crossed wakes again with Paloma’s resucers from SV Life Part Two. We are about to set sail with them for Tortola.

What did you do this week? Please share your week in the comments. We love hearing from you.

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We have been having problems with our heads. (toilets)  James spent a lot of time down with the holding tank, (yuk) before the whole think caved in and we had to call in the professionals  ( Paul and Cicek don’t worry, it’s all fixed and smelling great for your arrival)  Head stories are common among sailors and I think it’s all part of mans great struggles towards civilization.  Empires have risen and fallen on their ability  to deal with their own waste. We put a man on the moon but as Armstrong took those historic steps, he was stepping in his own pee. They never got that bit perfect.  As James had his hands down the bilge and in the tank, I tried to convince him he was part of a noble human struggle, he didn’t really buy it.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual ( a day late) via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We fixed Ondine and she was ready to sail again. YAY!

*We sailed to Bequia. It was an unpleasant ride for me. The trip back the other way is said to be way worse, I’m braking out the patches for that.

*We anchored in the dark. Something we used to avoid at all costs. It’s still scary, but now we do it.

*We sailed to the beautiful Tabago Cays.

*We swam with turtles and rays.

*We had lobster on the beach made by Mr Wonderful. Mr wonderful turned out to be not so wonderful, he promised to do bunch of stuff for us then completely disappeared.

*I got a trim boat style.

*We watched all the Star Wars episodes in episode order. The Empire Strikes Back is still my favorite. We keep quoting Yoda to the poor kids “ No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”

What did you do this week?  Leave your week in the comments. We love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board;

*We have been enjoying all the reading material James brought back.

*We had a really good time at The Cruises Net* birthday party. Everyone had “Then things went wrong” stories. It became very clear that it’s not us, it’s boats.  It made us feel better about everything, of course it could have also been the rum punch.

* I got to meet Ann Vanderhoof, author of my favorite books about cruising/cooking in the caribbean.

*Paloma started baking bread.

*We won the saturday morning cruises net quiz!  We won by correctly identifying an Oscar Wild quote.  James & I got to have a lovely dinner here. Thank you Mr Wild  and also SV Esprit de mer for watching Ronan & Paloma.

*James spent a lot of time with the Chinaman. We now have a straight propeller shaft ( there is a very Benny hill joke in there somewhere) and hope to have to engines running by the end of the day.

*Lots of new friends came and went. Its part of the rhythm of cruising life, not sure that it will ever be easy. (We miss you SV Ouma & Juno)

* The kids spent a lot of time on a big purple foot.

What did you do this week? Please share your week in the comments.

* The Rodney Bay Cruise’s Net is an informal show broadcast on the VHS @ 830 am Mon-Sat.  Les, the rummey english gentleman who runs the show gives the weather, some BBC news items and then cruises call in with information, taxi shares, requests for help. I have been very thankful for it.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*It was very windy (Not much sleep for me)

*I found a lentil recipe I really like. ( The Spice Necklace again)

* Paloma did very well selling her brownies at the Yacht club yard sale and is planing her expansion into bread.

*Ronan got to hold a boa constrictor. He smiled from ear to ear for hours.

*We saw the Pitons ( They’re on Oprah’s list of things to see before you die. That’s crossed off, phew)

*We bathed in volcanic mud

* I fixed my first my first ever leak. ( With help. Thank You SV Juno &  SV Ouma )

* James came home.  Yay, yay, yay!

* Ronan finally got his longed for corn rows.( Courtesy off  Emma, our NYC babysitters Lisa’s sister in law, and our Digicell rep. We love Emma.)

What did you do this week? Please share in the comments. We love hearing from you.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We hosted a kids book swap. Ronan scored Anakin Skywalker’s Journals .

*We broke our propeller.

*James left for Canada.

* We hung out at Pigeon Island

* I ran out of fuel on the dinghy.

*We spent a lot of time at the pool at H2O cafe

* We discovered joys of fresh cocoa pods

What did you do this week? Please share your week in the comments.

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“It’s just us again” Ronan said forlornly as we dinghied back to Ondine after dropping James at his taxi. Yes, it’s just us again, with only one engine and a generator that doesn’t work, I thought.  I didn’t really feel in much of a position to grumble, James was going to bury  his father, I can’t think of many things harder than that, being in St. Lucia on a Catamaran, even with only one engine, doesn’t really cut it.  Actually things were going okay without the captain, we quickly  fell into a nice little daily rhythm ; Get up, take the readings, start engine, make water and put on the washing. Make breakfast, listen to The Cruises Net, read a chapter of  The Lost Hero, turn off engine, hang out washing and clean up. Deal with boat business and try to “do something”

(Yesterday we hiked to the top of the fort on Pigeon Island and I leaned what a gun sling is.)

In the afternoon we go to H2O,  a cafe in the marina that has fast Wifi and a pool. We dinghy home before sunset, put the dinghy up on the davits, make dinner, make more water, eat dinner, wash up, read another chapter, take the readings, go to bed and try not  to stay up worrying about the anchor dragging.  I had it all under control, I was feeling very proud of my self. I was even zooming around on the dinghy, like the thing never terrified me.  Beware pride the mother of complacency. They are both dangerous things for a boat dweller .  As we pulled out of the mariner that evening, refusing help to cast off because we know what we’re doing, the dinghy engine died.  I knew the moment it died what had happened, I had run out of fuel.  Totally embarrassing! Luckily we were close to a house on the bay and we rowed/floated over to its dock. I called out on the radio to the boats I knew, no one answered, it was getting dark. Then Paloma had the brilliant idea of calling SV Restless.  Trish from Restless teaches informal yoga on the beach and  I had leant her my extra yoga mats. The Yoga deities were smiling on me, she answered right away, brought us a jerry can of fuel and saved us. It was totally humiliating.  But when you live on the sea a little humility  can go along way, to saving your ass.

l

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

*We mourned the loss of Grandpa Green.

*We sailed to Saint Lucia. Paloma and Ronan sent out messages in bottles on the way.

*I cooked octopus and it was delicious. (I used a recipe from The Spice Necklace)

*Paloma and her new friend Emma, sold brownies from Sea leaf.

*Ronan has christened me Mama paparazzi

* The kids cooked us dinner.

*I went to my first ever ladies luncheon.

What did you do this week?  Tell me in the comments or post a link.

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Rum is serious business in the Caribbean and it is at its most serious in Martinique. Their rhum agricole, made from fresh cane sugar instead of molasses, is the only product in the French Caribbean to have the French AOC designation. This certifies that the rhum comes from a carefully defined area and is made in the traditional manner. In France the certification is given to agricultural products from specific regions. Only Roquefort chesses can come from Roquefort and only champagne can come from champagne, otherwise its just sparkling wine. Certification or not the rhum agricole is gooood! In its honor I set about trying to make a perfect rum punch. Here is what I came up with

The most important thing is to use good rum. It’s traditional to use white rum in punch, but I like dark rum, so I say use what taste good to you. Put two or three ice cubes in a tumbler, add enough rum to float the cubes, add a touch of sweeter, I like a brown sugar or agava, mix it in, add the pulp from half a large passion fruit. If you can’t get fresh you can use nectar from a box, but then don’t use sweeter and “use a good rum” goes double for you. Then add the juice of half a lime and a quarter of a lime to the glass, fill the remainder of the tumbler with fresh orange juice. Grate nutmeg on top. Drink at sunset.
Perhaps you can lift your glass and offer a toast to Jim Green, who instilled a sense of adventure and a love of sailing in his son. And without whose influence we would not be on this adventure. Cheers.

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Yesterday was a strange day for the crew of Ondine. James’ father passed away the night before. It was very difficult and discombobulating for James to go through such a dark passage of adulthood in such a bright and sunny place, so far from Vancouver.  He wrote a very moving post about his father’s death,  you should read it, if you haven’t. Yesterday was also the 14th anniversary of the day James and I met ( that’s right we met on Valentine’s Day). So our Valentine’s Day become an odd but true celebration of life and love in all its bitter and sweet, light and dark, joy and pain. There was some craftiness, lots of words of love, some tears and, chocolate and champagne.

The kids opened a restaurant and made us dinner. All those Top Chef episodes are paying off. Paloma was the head chef and front of house, Ronan was sou chef  ( I didn’t know those terms until I started working in a restaurant ) The staff meals were served in the kitchen, although the meal was so good, we invited the staff to have dessert with us. It was a lovely little celebration, sitting on a boat eating chocolate mousse with the ones you love.  Even with it’s sadness and difficult bits, life is good.

How was your Valentine’s Day?

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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This week on board:

* we were rocked every few minutes by water skiers from Club Med.

* someone got a new French bikini.

* a script was printed and revisions done.

* lots of things were cooked and eaten

*James fixed stuff.

* a lot of lego was played and a little crochet was done.

* We all enjoyed this book.

* There was snorkeling.

What happen at your place this week?

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Since our visitors left and I am free to experiment on my family, I have made a concerted effort to use local ingredients and cook Caribbean style.

With the encouragement of this book and the help of the internet, (especially this site) I dove in. I learned about browning sauce, green seasoning and made my own jerk marinade.  I discovered that you need scotch bonnets, fresh thyme, and chive (green onions) to cook anything.

I went on a bit of a pulse bender, I made Caribbean kidney beans, Caribbean lentils and a dish called rice and peas, which has no peas but is made with black eyed beans (called pigeon peas in a lot of the islands). This is a super traditional island dish and you can find lots of different versions of it. Strangely enough, I ended up using Stephanie Alexander’s (famous Australian chef) recipe.  Hey her books basically taught me how to cook and The Cook’s Companion is one of the three cookbooks we have on board. Ronan loved the peas and rice so much that he said he wanted to marry them. Although this is from a boy who’s great culinary discovery of the trip has been saltfish and bake sandwiches, made on a BBQ, at the divest bar you can find in Roseau, Dominica.

When I decided to give everyone a brake from beans, Ronan complained, “ Where’s the beans and rice?” He told me he could eat them everyday. I say be careful what you wish for.

I realized I had taken the cooking local thing to heart when we first got to Martinique, everyone ran to buy cheese and bread, I  ran to buy  local Colombo powder. (The Creole version of curry) A lot of local restaurants claim to have the best Callaloo soup in the Caribbean (It’s like having the best bouillabaisse in the Rivera or The best chesse cake in New York) Before I came to Caribbean I had never herd of this green leafy vegetable (and I am bit of green leafy vegetable freak). When I saw the distinctive green leaves on sale at the saturday market in Saint Pierre, I knew I had to try.  I asked my interpreter (James) to confirm that’s what they were. The market lady said it was Callaloo and was very good for making soup. If I had recipe then I could buy it. I said I did know what it was and I knew how to cook it. Something must have got lost in translation, because she showed me in great detail how to peel the stalks (actually very helpful) and got her friends to run around the market making sure I had the right ingredients for the soup (the only thing I was missing was okra, phew) She finally let me buy the leaves. When I got back to Ondine I thought right well now I have to prove the market lady, who I will never see again, wrong and make the best Callaloo soup ever.  All I could find on line were recipes that used a lot of salted meat and I wanted to make a veggie version. So I had to improvise. I don’t know about the best soup ever, but it turned out pretty well. Paloma ate four bowls. I can’t get a much better review than that.  Here is the recipe, in case you want a taste of cruising the Caribbean.

Ingredients:

1-tablespoon olive oil

1 bunch of Callaloo

1 small slice of pumpkin

6 cups vegetable stock ( good stock or broth makes all the difference)

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 scotch bonnet. (I made this with my kids in mind, so I added the pepper whole then remove it, if you a want a spicy soup, chop and seed the pepper and leave it in)

2 chive (green onions) finely chopped.

2 fresh thyme stalks

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt and pepper to tatse.

1 1/2 cups okra cut into ½ inch rounds.

1 cup coconut milk.

Juice of ½ a lime

Directions

1. Remove the bottom of the stems of the callaloo leaves, then peel of the first layer of the stem, then chop roughly. In a large saucepan fry the onion until clear, then add garlic, chive, thyme, pepper, and scotch bonnet. Fry for a few moments more. Add the Callaloo and pumpkin, and then add the stock. Cover, and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.
2. Add okra, coconut milk, and lime. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Remove scotch bonnet and thyme stalk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Let know what you think.

In the Islands a good cook is said to have sweet hands. I am far from having my own sweet hands but it’s something to inspire to. My next challenge, saltfish!   If you have any Caribbean recipes you love, please send them my way.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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One of many things that has not gone the way we thought it would (Does anything, ever!) is connecting with other cruising families. There will be lots of families doing the same thing as us, kids naturally make friends easily, making new friends will be easy peasy lemon squeezy, we thought. (ha) By the time we got to Dominica Paloma was getting pretty desperate for playmates, she was not related to. In Portsmouth, when ever a new boat came in, Paloma would race on to the deck with the binoculars checking for signs of anyone under 14, and then checking the flag to see if they speak English. She has gotten very good at identifying country flags. She roped Ronan in and had him on VHS asking if anyone wanted to play Uno. We totally struck out.  The only thing standing between us and mutiny is that Paloma is able to skype her friend Marlon in NY on the weekends

When we arrived in Martinique we noticed two boys fishing off their yacht, they looked about the right ages. When we dinghied by and waved, they waved back, (a good sign. The French do not wave), then we saw the Australian flag on the boat. Eureka! This could totally work. We bumped into them the next day at the tourist office. After  the clumsy opening line of “ Are you the Australians?”,  we learned that they’re the Dunstans, Matt, Rachel, Alexander aged 9 and Nicholas aged 8. They have been living aboard their vessel, Orchid, since August. (You can read about their adventures here) They’re heading north as we head south. We were ships passing in ST. Pierre. We made plans to meet up the next day to celebrate Australia day/ my birthday.

We took a hike with them the next day, up the hill and down past the Madonna and into the butterfly garden (the back way.) By the time we got to the garden everyone was to busy talking to really notice the butterflies, despite my lame cries of “look butterflies”, every few moments. The Papillion garden is a funny, eco education and culture center. We sampled their organic fruit while the kids made jewelry out of traditional seeds, like the Caribe Indians, assisted by groovy young Parisian dudes (modern life can be very culturally confusing, not that I would have it any other way. My own fair haired boy is currently torn between having his hair in dreads, like Bob or corn rows, like the Karate Kid).  The guy running the garden was worried about us walking back to town along the busy road, so he gave us a lift, to the kids delight, in back of his pick up, because it was so much (ahem) safer.

That night we celebrated with champagne, good food, chocolate catastrophe, and good company. Nicholas made me a card and gave me the necklace he had made at the butterfly garden. A sweet and generous gesture from anyone, but from a eight year old boy, you just met, it’s melt your heart through your chest stuff.

The next day Alexander was not feeling well, which I’m sure had nothing to do with the chocolate or the past one am bedtime. The kids did manage to cram in some more playing and watched The Nutty Professor on our entrainment center (the salon curtains.) We all swapped books. We gave each other the highlights to look out for and the things to skip as we head where the other has been. The next morning as Orchid pulled out into the sunrise, heading to Dominica, we had lost our naïveté about the ease of finding friends along our journey but had gained a sweet appreciation of it, when we find it.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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James and I were getting totally sick of our hair, in the heat and salt water. I wanted a totally diffrent look for my Birthday. I was thinking Jean Seberg ala Breathless.

So yesterday James and I shaved off each others hair.   Neither of us had ever touched a pair of clippers. It could have been a recipe for marital disaster.

It all worked out. Although getting all the hair off the boat has been a bear.( a big hairy one) I think we both look super cute and if you squint really hard, we kinda almost look like Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Let me know what you think! (remember it’s my birthday. Lie if you have to)

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We made it to France in time for my birthday!  Which means baguettes and Nutella for the kids and good wine and champers to celebrate my 39^th year with . Yay!

But we only just made it. Dominica didn’t want to let us go.

On first day we where due to leave James had a little free driving accident and needed to chill for a day. The next day as we were preparing to leave and James cut open his leg with his own knife and had to get stitches.

Finally the next day we pulled out of Ports Mouth. We got a couple of miles past the tip of the island when the clew holding the main sail to the boom pulled loose.

Not good. We had to drop the sail and motor back to Dominica, pulling into the capital Roseau. Where we meet the delightful Poncho (Roseau’s very special boat boy) and his family. He helped us fix our sail with the help of a friend.

We also discovered the special treats Dominica still had to show us, before she would let us go.

Finally on the 24th we left the wild, natural, lovely, Dominica, one mouth and two days after we first arrived to spend a week or maybe two.

We made it finally. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.  On the passage over the weather was rough. I got sick (no surprise) and then the boom got seriously messed up. (I will leave it up to James to give details to those that care) Again it was not good but we managed to limp into Saint Pierre.  The first thing we did was got to the supermarket to buy cheese and wine. Vivre la France.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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He’s back, he’s back.  Paloma baked brownies and they both made signs and gosh it’s nice to have him back on board.

He came bearing gifts.  Ronan got more of his beloved Bad Kitty and Bone books. And that’s the last we heard from him.

But most of the gifts were for me.

Dark chocolate and coffee, I’m so predictable. And almonds and Lara bars.  It’s so funny to see what you crave and miss, taking up a whole suitcase. What would be on your list?

Of course James was the best gift all ( You can start the vomit noises now.)

PS  He also brought back this very fancy clipper set. Stay tuned for the great hair shave of 2011.

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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James is on his way back to us yay !! Everything about having to be away has been horrible for James. With one small exception: I have been forced to take charge of the aspects of boat living that I usually try to avoid like the plague. The things that keep James up at night have been keeping me up:  Is the battery charging, are we using to much power, do we have enough water, is the anchor/mooring holding ( you get the idea) and I am forced to drive the dinghy and dock it. (yuck)

I know James is this thrilled every time I talk to him about amps and voltage. At last she has some empathy and understanding for the juice Nazi. There has been a problem with the watermaker, so I have become very intimate with that.

We were getting low on water, washing the dishes in sea water, having Ronan pee of the side ( he loves it) and using bottled water to cook.  I had worked out how to reprogram the water maker, so it bypassed the broken bit and worked out where to take out the hose (With James’ help, via Skype), so I could manually test the salinity ( i.e., taste it).  Then it started to pour with rain, filling the tanks and saving me from potentially contaminating our water supply. I have never been so happy to see the rain. I think I experienced the exact opposite emotions re rain that Queenslanders were having at exactly the same time.

When James gets home tomorrow I will be very happy to hand over the boat to him.  But I know that he will be happy to finally have a partner that knows what a salinity probe is. (Hey, its part of the watermaker.)

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Paloma would like me to set the record straight. She was not nearly swept out to sea because of a lack of skill on her part. It was equipment failure. Sea Leaf’s dagger board (a plank of wood that sticks out the bottom of the boat & helps the boat move forward. Very helpful for going where you want to go.) had come loose and was hanging from the bottom of the boat by a rope, making it very very hard to steer.

The next day when I ahem tried to help Paloma fix it, the dagger board ended up the bottom of the sea. I am a hopeless diver and could not retrieve it.

It was Charlie Love to the rescue. He brought over a diver friend who got it in one skillful dive.

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It finally stopped pouring rain and the sun came out, just in time for Lucy, John and Kailey to depart.  After three weeks of seven souls aboard they have left a lot of empty space. It feels oddly quiet and we keep setting too many places at the table.  When the alarm went off on the water maker at 2am last night, I really missed having John asleep at his computer in the salon (he was on call for his business in Canada).

But we are finding our rhythm as a trio. We are slowly tidying up, reclaiming the space, enjoying the sun and getting used to pleasing only ourselves.

And I totally admit it, after they left we cranked up the music and had ourselves Risky Business moment, boat style. It involved swabbing the deck and spraying each other with water and definitely no socks.

Of course these days you have to be careful what you do when you think it’s just you, because your mother just might put in on a blog

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{this moment} – A Friday ritual via soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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Another rainy day in Dominica without the captain.

Paloma was nearly swept out to sea on Sea Leaf and had to be rescued by some other cruisers. Adding a nautical flavor to my parental embarrassment.

Her rescuers turned out to be super lovely and totally non judgmental. They are also on a cat and planning to cross the Atlantic in May. You can read about their adventures here.

I taught the kids to play solitaire. It was a huge hit and they played for hours.Why didn’t I think of it years ago!

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This is Michael. He is one of our personal shoppers. We where wary of Michael when he first offered to get us fruit and produce. He looks and acts like a seller of a different kind. We weren’t entirely wrong. He sells that too.  Hey man it’s the islands. And in Dominica that kind of product is way easier to procure than a tomato. As we discovered on Christmas Eve, most people grow their own fruit and veg. (Michael Polland would be pleased.) If you’re visiting, you need someone to act as a middleman. Hence the need for Michael and our other personal shopper, Sugar Daddy.

On the day things did not go as planned, Sugar Daddy brought me a huge bunch of basil. So I made pesto. (I love the jars. They are from French yogurt we got in Guadeloupe.)

Today he brought a huge papaya, more basil and tomatoes. We will not starve while James is away. We have survived the first day with out him. It’s been raining a lot, which somehow seems appropriate.  As consolation for the downpours we get these.

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Things did not go as planned yesterday.  James is leaving for Canada today to see his Father who is gravely ill.  Being on Ondine without the Captain isn’t terrifying. No, not at all.  But he has to go and my sister in law, Lucy, her husband John and their Daughter, Kailey will be staying on with the kids and I in Dominica for a bit. We have been in Portsmouth for a while and we thought a change of scene while the Captain is away would be a good idea. So James was going to move us on his last day in Dominica. The plan was to get up, get fuel and water at the fuel dock, then sail to an anchorage in the main town of Roseau.  When we got up it was bucketing down rain and the wind was howling. But we got ready and upped the anchor. When we got to the fuel dock the wind had changed direction and started blowing us on to the dock. (It’s a tricky dock as it’s really set up for cruises ships) We decided to abort with John already on the dock. When we started around to pick him up one of the engines snapped a belt. We where forced to abandoned John and quickly find a mooring. The first person we called on the VHS was, Charlie Love. Charlie is our yacht helper.  A group of guys in Portsmouth have gotten together and formed a group that provides security and services for the yachts.  They have brightly colored boats and nick names like Seabird, Spaghetti and Lawrence of Arabia.  It can be a bit disconcerting when they speed out to meet you coming into Portsmouth. It feels like you are new fresh meat.  But they just have a vested interested seeing you have a good experience in Portsmouth and want to get to you before the crack heads. They have a system of taking turns and only one of them actually approaches the boat. Charlie has been invaluable to us. He’s helped us with immigration, getting our laundry done, set up tours of the Island and taken us down the Indian River. When we where in trouble yesterday he got us on a mooring, picked up John and arranged for our lovely one-armed mechanic, Igna (who we have gotten to know very well!) to come and help us.  As it turned we didn’t have the right belt and all the shops where shut yesterday. Igna got us a new belt this morning and we where able fill up with fuel and water, but we will have to stay here in Portsmouth while James is away. Maybe it’s all for the best, here we have Charlie Love looking out for us.

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As the sunsets on another year, I want to wish you all A Happy New Year and introduce a new ritual via Soulemama.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

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We were anchored in Portsmouth Town, Dominica for Christmas (actually we are still here, waiting on a part for the generator, another story). Dominica is natural, wild, unspoiled, lush and fertile.  A beautiful place to spend Christmas but not an easy one to put on a Christmas dinner. (No Baked Alaska this year.) Most people who live here have their own gardens. More than one person has said me “In Dominica most people don’t have much money but no one goes hungry.”  Wonderful stuff, unless you are a couple of white girls on a boat who didn’t get to the market until 10am on Christmas Eve.  It’s all over by then girl, you need to be here before 7am to get anything good (duh).  We did manage to find two chickens at the bottom of a freezer and Christmas was saved. It was also a lesson in how very little you actually need for a true celebration. Santa only came for the kids this year but I got not doing the dishes for 24 hours as my Christmas wish. I can’t remember a gift in resent history that I have enjoyed more. (It helps to be careful what you wish for, James wished for nothing more to go wrong with Ondine and my brother in law wished for world peace. Santa has his limits ya know).

It’s hard not to feel grateful when you wake up to this on Christmas morning.

Ronan was very concerned that Santa would not be able to find the boat. Luckily he as able to continue the tradition of waking his parents at the crack of dawn with cries of ” He came, he came”

My favorite moment of the day: the smile on Paloma’s face when she opened her gift, a long longed for computer of her own. Made even more important for Skypeing your friends in New York without your Mother demanding her computer back.

The hurricane house.  It  was just going to a run of the mill gingerbread house, until I realized that frosting and humidity don’t mix.  A hurricane house made much more sense for a Caribbean Christmas and was a lot more fun.

Wishing you all the best this silly season with love from Dominica.

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Picts Emma-Kate and Paloma took as we sailed away from Antigua towards Guadalope.  The guys are me and Chase.  Rowan and Chase helped us sail from Westbrook to Bermuda and we met up with them again in Antigua and they joined us to Guadalope.

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We’re now in Guadeloupe, our first French island. I am excited to be in a French island for one reason and one reason only: The Food! I had a fantasy of our trip through the islands also being a gastronomic adventure. A fantasy filled with exotic local produce, spices and delicacies. So far the adventure has been a little tepid. In Bermuda they import everything and in Antigua it was hard to find fresh local produce. We ended up provisioning in large supermarkets, buying the same bag of Earthbound spinach we get in New York. Ah the joys of globalization. Near the marinas the restaurants cater to yachties and tourists offering standard fare (lots of pizza) at worse than New York prices. In Antigua a woman at a roadside store did teach me to cook a Christopher and sold me a wonderful avocado. We also had a great local meal at Caribbean Taste, a restaurant on the veranda of an ex-fisherman’s house. All the local people who work around the marina told us it ‘s where they have lunch. It fulfilled by fantasies by being local food, prepared by locals, in a local style, at local prices and was delicious. But on the whole if you want fresh local food you really had to search it out. We ended up eating so much pasta with marinara sauce on the boat, that Paloma says she never wants to see another bowl.

As we pulled up anchor and sailed to Guadalupe it was the tales of amazing markets, cheap French wine and the best Creole cooking in the Caribbean that was on my mind. We hit the market today and it didn’t disappoint. It was full of color and life and local produce. The woman selling spices wore traditional madras cloth outfits and their stalls smelled of the sweet sticky vanilla pods they sell.

The stalls make bouquets of vegetables and herbs, so you can buy just what you need for a dish. The whole thing was such a sensory overload that we had to have a nap when we got back. We brought lovely fresh produce and fish.

The price of the fish did renew James resolve to learn to fish, something we have been dismal failures at so far. I took advantage of the bounty and made veggie curry for dinner, something I’ve been craving for weeks. It’s good to be in France. We know we really are in France because along with great food and wine, there will a general strike tomorrow. A local told us everything will closed and the roads blocked in the morning, until the army arrests everyone.

Vivre la France libre!

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I did it. I have survived my first off-shore passage. Six days and 950 nautical miles from
Bermuda to Antigua. I could not have done without The Patch. The small round plastic disc of drugs placed behind my ear, which means the difference between feeling a little woozy and wanting to throw myself off the boat. All hail The Patch.

An off-shore passage, like all slightly (ahem) extreme human endeavors, is a lot of mind numbing monotony with moments of sheer terror punctuated by the sublime.
We had three adults on board, so we worked on a three hours on/six hours off watch system (watch – meaning standing at the helm and watching for other boats, watching that we stay on course and that sh*t don’t go wrong). Reducing time to three-hour increments, funky sleep patterns and a general malaise that being on a rocking boat with nothing but ocean for days puts me in, made the days seem to meld into one. The connection to how long I had been at sea and how much longer we had to go felt very vague and tenuous, as if being at sea was just a continuous state without beginning or end. This feeling was only enhanced by my inability to do much under sail. My queasiness even with The Patch made doing anything below perilous. I was basically asleep or on deck, just being on a passage.

Things went wrong, we had serious rudder issue, we tore a spinnaker, there was not enough wind, then too much, but these things didn’t seem good or bad to me but rather just part of the natural rhythm of life under sail. (I am sure that it’s feels very different for Captain James, who bears the weight of the responsibility.) I started to wonder if this was the state of just beingness that the yogis talk about. Then I discovered I could read on deck. I think David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” stopped me from going totally loo loo (thanks Amanda). It felt like he was the person I was spending most of my time with. He wrote about tennis and I kept wanting to call him and ask what he thought of Agassi’ memoir. Then it would register that I was in the middle of the ocean with no way to communicate, I didn’t know him, and most insurmountable, he’s dead.

The millions of vivid stars and beauty of the sea at night help to ease the fear factor of being on watch in the middle of night, alone, with everyone on board asleep and the safety of the boat in your hands. The less said about me freaking out about a mast light that appeared out of nowhere and turned out to be a planet rising the better. Lets just say there was something lovely about the night shifts but I was always relived when they where over.

When we made it to Antigua the rush of satisfaction and excitement at having “made it” that I expected did not materialize. It was lovely to be able to swim and have the boat stable enough to go into galley and make a cup of coffee. But I wasn’t in a mad rush to get off Ondine. I needed to ease my self back into the world beyond being at sea.

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Here was the plan. Have a massive party. Sail away from the dancing to Bermuda.  Ondine crewed by James, myself and a bunch of his squash buddies. The squash players also heading to a tournament on the island. Another squash friend would fly to Bermuda with the kids.  James would play in the tournament, and our adventure would begin on a high note.

Well we had the party. Then Mother Nature felt that it was important that we understand from the outset how our relationship is going to work. She is in charge.  A seasonally unusual off-shore storm blew in.  We had to wait it out. For a week!  I ended up flying to Bermuda with the kids. While James scrambled to find crew and waited for a weather window.

So here I am in Bermuda waiting for my man. My mind is filled with images of woman waiting on rocky cliffs for their sailors to return.

Of course, these women are waiting in cold, unforgiving European or North Eastern landscapes, not an island paradise.

Bermuda is beautiful and (mostly) warm. We are doing are best to be “on vacation”.  We have been to the Aquarium/Zoo.  We have taken a bus into town, which is quite an undertaking. You need to have hard-to-find tokens or exact change.  In our case seven dollars in coins per trip.  (It was an emergency we had to get more Horrid Henry stories and a bucket and spade.) We’ve seen the cave at Grotto Bay and eaten at The Swizzle Inn.  I have sampled both local cocktails, The Dark & Stormy and The Swizzle. (Dark and Stormy gets my vote.)

But the waiting is hard. There is something about waiting for our ship to come in that adds a certain anxious listlessness to everything we do.

We are anxious about what is happening on Ondine. (Snatched sat phone calls and track me updates indicate everything is fine.)  We are anxious for Ondine to arrive and for our life on board to begin. The waiting seems to sap us of energy and leave us exhausted  (the kids have been getting in a lot of last minute Hanna-Barbara).  It doesn’t help ones sense of inertia that doing anything in Bermuda is breathtakingly expensive  (we’ve been eating a lot of popcorn).

The thing that seems to help the most is also a Bermuda’s greatest asset: it’s beaches.

We had our best day when we finally got it together to make it to Shelly Bay. The small beach is a short but terrifying walk (Bermuda has no sidewalks) from the Brightside Apartments, where we’re staying.

There is nothing like a beach to soothe an anxious soul.

Now I have gotten hold of a book of bus tickets (who knew bus tickets could bring such freedom and joy) we are planning to spend what time we have left waiting on the beach.

Update: He arrived safely!  Before I could post this. The family green is happily reunited. Ondine is anchored in St. George’s Bay.

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In less than two weeks I am going to embark on a grand sailing adventure with my family. We are leaving our very New York life and moving on to this Catamaran. For a year! Sailing in the Caribbean for six months. Then crossing the Atlantic and sailing in the Mediterranean for six months. Amazing right?

Here is my dirty secret, my confession.  I’m not much of sailor, and I don’t love it.

When I tell people what we are about to do, after asking lots of questions about home schooling (why is home schooling always the first thing people ask about? I will deal with that obsession another time.). They say something along the lines of  “you must be a extremely experienced sailor type.” I answer, “My best sailing skill is making cocktails.” Which would be a vaguely amusing throw away line if it were not so accurate. I’m dyslexic and have trouble with my right and left never mind port and starboard. Keeping the boat in the right relationship to the wind makes my head want to explode. I find driving a small car nerve racking. Being at the wheel of a 55 foot vessel, that has the people I love on board and represents the sum total of everything we own, makes me want to throw–up with fear.  While we are on the subject, I get seasick. So why on earth am I going this?

I’m a sucker for adventure.  Brought up in Australia by a single mother and American popular culture, the call to adventure is strong in me.  I want to do interesting, extraordinary things.  This counts big time.

More importantly it’s my husbands life long dream. For my generation, brought up on movies made by those that worshiped at the altar of Joseph Campbell, there is little more sacred than followings ones dreams. Yes, Spielberg and Lucas I’m blaming you.  Maybe second only to our obsession with needing to be cool.  When my kids are doing something really hideous the first thing out of my mouth is “that is really uncool” like that is the worst thing you could every do. Ugh, Curt Cobain you have a lot to answer for.  But I digress.  Where was I?  Dreams. As far as dreams go this one is a pretty good one, as apposed to going to the North Pole on dog sleds or walking across the Sahara.  It’s a year of summer. We’re are going to go to some fabulous places. It is an unprecedented chance to do something exceptionally cool (oh dear there I go) with the whole family.

I have also already discovered while sailing that along with my lack of natural ability and unstable stomach that I am rather brave. I can cut a line (rope for the uninitiated) with a knife remarkably quickly when required. I will stand on the bow of boat in 50-knot winds and horizontal rain and try to wrestle a mooring on to a cleat. When I break a finger wrestling said mooring I will not totally freak out and bail. (Note sailing metaphor.)

I like leaning theses things about myself. Things you only learn through challenge and adventure.  So I’m excited by the challenge that will be Sailing Ondine. Teaching our kids, living in a completely new way, sailing and the biggest challenge, crossing the Atlantic. Even if I will be riding the porcelain bus most of the way.  Bring it on!

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Finally, we are able to announce our launch party.

First the important details:
Special Guests: ?uestLove on the turntables and Ondine at the dock
Location: “The Frying Pan”. Pier 66. 26th Street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan.
Date: Saturday, Nov 6th @ 6pm. (If you’ve got kids you are welcome to show up earlier.)
End: Sailors will leave the dock at 9:30pm (ish). You are welcome to stay as long as you’d like.
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Can be bought here: http://bit.ly/djy0jQ
Proceeds (if there is any profit) to go to one of my favorite charities: StreetSquash

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