A Visit To See Julia

Mom and I flew to D.C. to see Julia this weekend. We left Manchester early Saturday Morning after Mom spent too much time being padded down by security. It seems that if you pack away your boarding pass and then set off the security alarm, the security people get awful suspicious. The good news is that Mom passed the security investigation and we were able to complete our flight to D.C.

We landed at Reagan National airport despite our political misgivings at using an airport named after a person for whom we hold little respect. Jules picked us up at the curb and we drove off to Brian and Brenda's house for breakfast and to see the twins.


The bird joined our breakfast and ate dad's muffin.

Jules treated us to very good seats at half court / row 2. Watching the game from these seats was like sitting on the bench and watching. Georgetown played an interesting and exciting game but ended up losing in overtime.

On Sunday morning we toured Julia's workplace and saw her cubicle as well as the Georgetown campus. Nice place! We spent the rest of Sunday touring the mall.





Our flight home was very smooth without anyone being padded down.

Salsa Recipes

Hi everyone,

Reggie and I have been eating more and more salsa lately and I too have become disappointed by most of the store bought salsas, so a request for any recommendations and if you could post any recipes to the family recipe page?

Hope all is well with everyone!

Jenny

Happy Holidays from a little island

Living in St. Marten has made me realize just how different each of the caribbean islands are. St. Marten is a larger island that is divided by two countries, France and the Netherlands. Because of these two cultures in addition to the high tourist volume and the local caribbean flavor, there is always a lot going on here. Here are some examples of why I live in the caribbean;

*The gate to our hotel and Marina is always closed as you go out, the gate in is always open. 

*The Grande Marche had christmas music play over the loud speaker, but only when their live reggae cover band wasnt playing. 

*You can also taste test booze in the grocery store. 

*At the checkout they have single beers in the cooler instead of Cokes

*The path I run on is in habited by goats and cows... lots of them. I often end up hearding them as they run away and dont think to run the other direction. 

*You can get almost everywhere you need to go (bar, marine

 store, internet cafe, pharmacy) but dinghy, which is a very good thing as the traffic is terrible. 

*You can eat proper french gourmet or out of a chicken truck (which is literally a truck)

The question arose of what we do for fun. Not that there is ever a lack of it just living with the people I live with, but let me think of some examples. 

-Happy hour is always on the menu. There is a bar here that has 2 for 1 drinks but you have to get 2 so drink up. The same bar has a pool that you can swim in and sit at the bar in. 

-The airport is very close to the water (everything is, its a

 small island) so when planes come in and out you can get quite close to the runway. As any good buisnesman would do, someone built a bar there. Its called the Sunset and faces west but the main attraction is facing east or windward. People stand at the gate to the runway, hold on and get lifted by the after burners on the big jets. Sand gets blasted and people fall

down, its down right hillarious. 

-Then there are always watersports to take part in. I rented a windsurfer the other day and Jenna and Brooks took their first kite lesson so we'll all be partaking in that soon. (its way easier to pack onto a boat). 

-When all else fails get into your car and drive around the island. I havent made it all the way around in one go yet but I've done it in a weekend. You should also drive to the top of the highest hill you can find. We found a pretty good one that overlooks Phillipsburg and Marigot and looks south. 

That's all for now. We do have to work sometime! 

Happy New Year!

A new island

We made it to St. Maarten from Newport in a week, to the minute. The delivery was great! Good weather, happy crew. Basically we rocked it, saw some breeze (up to 40Knts) and topped out with a boat speed of 12.2!
We've now been here for over a week and managed to get ourselves in to plenty of good spots. Day 1 was wash down and put the boat back together. It was still the work week so we worked thursday and friday, fighting hangovers the whole time.
It's traditional for a crew to arrive after a delivery, wash down and then head to a huge dinner. This equation sounded a bit like doomsday for all of us who were running on very little sleep and I saw visions of falling asleep in our moules frites. As a boat we opted for washdown and the bar. The Soggy Dollar Bar is at the dinghy dock so you have very little choice about where you start the night. As it was a wednesday town wasnt really rolling we grabbed some Lebanese dinner while we waited for the ground to stop moving. By the time we'd drank enough beers to stop swaying (but before we drank enough to start swaying again) the Knickerbocker crew had rolled up and the dance party was well underway. The Soggy Dollar Bar here in St. Maarten is soggy for a different reason than the SDB in Jost. In Jost you have to swim to the bar so your dollars get wet. In St. Maarten, apparently, there is an overhead shower inside the bar... so your dollars get wet! There's also a machine that makes soap fall like snow. So we had that going for us... which was nice.
We worked the next day and looked forward to our sit down dinner in Marigot. The french side of the island has some pretty sweet spots for food. They are tres bien, you might say. We found our spot along the road and began the feast with our favorite appetizer, mussels and french fries. The french have an amazing tradition of a post meal appertif of fruit infused rum. Though you get a shot and sip it, we managed to finish the bottle before the cows went home.
On saturday we finally made it to the beach. The beach here is a little different than the beaches Im used to in the bvis. There are people on these beaches. and bars. The water is warm and salty and we lounged for the afternoon sipping ti-punch cold.
On sunday we went ziplining!! There is a zip line course here that you take a truck up and zip down! Hannah has the pictures (my camera was lost in Gavin's pants) but theyre pretty wicked. Next time you get a chance to zip through a rain forest, do it.
Back to monday and the work week... tune in for the blog about what I'm fixing this week.

Laurel gets a new job

Yup. it happened.
I am officially working for the man but dont worry, it's working for the man as only I could do. I work on his yacht. In October I started working for a 73' sloop called Encore. She's a beautiful custom design by Sparkman and Stephens built as a racing machine 20 years ago. She doesnt race any more but has won Antigua race week 5 or so times!
Im working as the mate aboard. I guess Im the First Mate but there's only one, me, so I don't thing it's important to specify. I work with a Captain, Brooks, a Chef, Mike (Hammer) and a Stewardess, only we havent hired a stew so I dont know who she is yet. The captain and chef are fabulous people, which is a good thing because we all live together and work together and see each other pretty much all day everyday.
My job is pretty awesome. It is different everyday and keeps my ADD and SOS (shiny object syndrome) well satisfied. Some days I wash the boat. Some days I take things apart like mufflers and winches. Some days I put things together like generators and winches. Some days I help Brooks invent ways to do things like cool our bevys down (we made a deck locker into an insulated and cooled drink locker). Basically I'm in charge of making sure things dont break, fix them when they do, its a boat after all, and keeping the boat looking sharp.
The other part of my job that is awesome is where it takes place. Currently the boat is in the Newport Shipyard for a refit. Newport is a great town but it is getting coooold! Today it was 24 degrees when we got to the boat! Good thing the actual winter takes place in the Caribbean. You didn't think I got a job in the US did you? So I get to go home to the warm blue water and spend 5 months there exploring some new islands further down the chain. In May we make the delivery north and summer in Long Island Sound. All in all some very nice places to live and work and play. And if I work or play too hard it's ok because I have health insurance now too!
So that's me working for the man, or at least his boat and having a terrific time! Come visit when you get a chance!

Keeping up with Kate

After reading Kate's blog I am re-inspired to try this blog thing out again. Though mine certainly wont be as clever as Kate's it will be full of adventures (random/ adventures.. whatever you call it).
Again Im going to go off my photos. My journal writing happens as often as my blogging!

Often, during adventures we end up climbing things and jumping off of them. This is the day Marco, Dom, Scotty, Jerome, Drew and I dinghied around Virgin Gorda. We stopped at Pajerous Point and climbed up the cliffs at the very North eastern tip of VG. Though we were very careful to keep out shoes dry on the swim in we ended up with some soggy sneakers after jumping off the cliff. O well. No good day ends with dry shoes..


Also among the photos from this year: The Voyage for Cleaner Energy. While in Martha's Vineyard I learned about the sailing vessel 2041
In an effort to build awareness that the treaty that the world signed in agreement to leave Antarctica undeveloped and unclaimed is up for debate in the year 2041. The boat follows a lecture series by Robert Swan. If you get a chance go see his lecture, it's very good. Check the website to see their schedule.





And then there's always big things to discover. While at a regatta party in Portsmouth Chris topped off my bevy with some goslings.



While visiting Michelle in NY we stopped by Super Duper Weenie for lunch. The line was long but the weenies were super. Any time youre traveling up 95 stop at the Black Rock Turnpike and grab a weenier. Worth it for sure.

How many marathons can one person fit into one month you ask? I went for 3. Of course I only ran one of them. Alex and Seth kick off the whole shebang with running the marathon in Berlin. I didnt get to see that one so I'm not counting it in my total. I ran the Newport Marathon in RI with ~600 people. The race was a great course all around Newport and Middletown. 26.2 miles later I had some sore legs and a time of 4:22. It was awesome! Jenna ran with me for ~1 1 miles and we thrilled the camera man at mile 16.
The week after I flew to DC to see Julia run the Marine Corps marathon. It was basically the same as mine... with 24,000 more people. Jules and her friends all finished and did really well!
The week after that was the NYC Marathon that Jordan ran. What a month! Congrats to everyone! Now go sit on a couch and eat something! (and tune back into the blog!)

Camera contents

In leaving the Caribbean in June I lost my camera cord. I recently received a new one and was able to upload all my photos from the summer. Let's see if I can do a summary blog....There is a slight time gap between my birthday and july due to my camera being replaced while I was in California for Ben and Dee's wedding but let's see what else we have...

My birthday in May was excellent. I celebrated it 4 or 5 times in different locations each time. The first unofficial celebration was with mom and dad on their trip to the bvis. My new rainbow sandals were much needed and are now broken in just right. I was in Boston for my actual birthday and had a wonderful dinner with Jillian and Jen at Temple Bar in Cambridge. From Boston I was headed to NY for a flight back to the bvis. As my official NYC ambassador, Janie had a great plan for a little birthday-ness. When in NYC drink Champagne at The Plaza! Before I left the city I caught up with the Sled Ladies for dinner in what else but a restaurant that looked like a ship! All in all it looks like 24 is going to be a pretty good year!

(insert Ben and Dee's wedding photos/visit to Nell in Portland OR)
Next pictures are of the Blessing of the Fleet in 5 Islands, ME. In true Maine style, the local pastor blesses all of the fishing boats and their men for a safe and prosperous season. Once all the official business is done the fun and games start. First up a parade around the harbor in pea soup fog! After that they let the local kids compete in a trap running contest strung between two docks... only in maine...
I spent the summer up and down between Maine and Martha's Vineyard working on Noctiluca and finding other jobs when I could.

Dad and I hiked Mnt. Washington. I've never done it and Dad hasn't been back since they paved the top so I asked if he would go with me. He was right, of course, that the top was a bit disapointing when you realize everyone else just drove, but it was a great hike!

We had a bit of a UNH reunion when Chris called and asked if I wanted to sail the Downeaster. Alie, Laura, Chris, Dan and I sailed with Shawn and took 2nd for the weekend. With Diana running the RC it was just like sailing on Mendum's!

Back to the islands I go but this time the ferry went a bit further, to Nantucket! I caught up with Adam Knee and Saw Robert Swan speak about global climate change. I helped take his Voyage for Cleaner energy to NYC for their next engagement.




Next up: Ed's wedding. Alex, Seth and I drove out to Jamaica Vermont to celebrate Ed and Lisa's Luau of Love. With a bon fire, a hot tub and a whole lot of Girl Talk we had a great party and some really good egg sandwiches!
We found our way to the Alpine slides on our way home as well as to a snowboard gear museum.

The summer finishes up with some more boating, lots of running (in marathon training) and Xavier Rudd in concert. All in all everything looks good!