Though I dont have any photos to post I think it's time I put up a new entry.
My life here in the caribbean has settled into a "routine" (or as much of a routine as one can settle into when they move around and do different things everyday). We have been on charter for most of the month of March and moving the boat between St. Maarten and the VIs inbetween. This leaves little time for wakeboarding, running, or anything fun and personal. I just barely got my brackets into Dad before the games started and, I'm not going to lie, I hardly looked at which teams I was clicking on to win. But so be it, that's the nature of the beast, I can hardly complain. Though our routine is an odd one it's nice to have one and it's very nice to be back in the VI because they're much prettier islands.
Anyways, all this time sitting around waiting for our guests to do something has left me ample time to ponder things like what I'm going to write about in my next blog. I have been making a concerted effort to catch up with and stay in touch with many people from back home. This blog is about is what everyone else is up to.
Let's see....
Congratulations to Lindsay K, my college roomate, for getting into Vet school! Though years of school doesnt sound awesome to me Im wicked proud of the girl!
Speaking of college roomates, Allison D is getting Married this fall! yikes!
Marrige is contagious and Jill P is getting married in the fall as well!
Rachael M is back at the books studying criminal law and living in Brooklyn, I cant wait to catch up in the city this summer!
Amanda A is teaching music to kids in NH, appropriately and happily.
Joanne S got her first offical passport and is coming to visit me in the islands! (She got the passport to go on vacation with Mike in Europe, but those are just details).
On the traveling note, Seth and Will have undertaken their craziest endeavour yet and are calling it the Epic Man http://theepicmancometh.blogspot.com/. And I thought running a marathon was hard.
Michelle just bought a car!
Nell has moved to the big city of Portland to stay while Dustin is in New Zealand learning about grapes.
I guess those are the big Milestones... Noone is pregnant (Jen?) Graduating early? (Kate?) I dont have much going on, looking at taking my AEC (which is the first certification for marine engineering) and upgrading to an unlimited Yacht Master at some point this summer or fall. Trying to fit everything into the 4 weeks of vacation with an actual vacation far away from boats (or at least sailing on boats).
What is everyone else up to?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
It seems last time I wrote I was wishing everyone a merry christmas and happy new year, sounds like a good time for an update.
Again, because the days run together on the beach, Ill have to refer to the contents of my overused camera.
After our charter in the BVI we took a half of a day to play and rest in the North Sound, VG. Pretty much top 3 favorite places of mine, if you didnt know. Since Ben came up to visit I had to show off my local knowledge and we drove out to The Grotto to do some cliff jumping. The Grotto is in the rocks on Mountain point and pretty much the coolest spot ever to jump in the water. As you swim up to it it looks like an uninteresting pile of rocks and you have to dive below it or climb over it to get in. Since we forgot masks we chose to climb (and I got a chance to show off my wicked bouldering skills). After a few climbs and jumps we swam back to the dinghy and went to Saba Rock for lunch, YUM!
Sad as it was, we had to start our drive back to St. Maarten that evening and after 11 hours of pounding into the wind and waves we dropped anchor and waited for the morning bridge.
When we got back we found the island to be full of friends. Ben and Dee were off charter and Tony and Nina were getting their decks done and in town for a week or so. First order of operation on any good day off is to steal Knickerbocker's crew tender and go w
akeboarding! if I ever figure out how to load videos onto this you'll see how sick I am (well sort of). That photo is of Dee. Since we had such a tough morning we decided to take the rest of the day on the beach.
Im going to jump ahead a couple weekends, there was plenty of working being done during the weeks, I swear, I dont hang out on the beach everyday. I do go wakeboarding pretty much every day after work though, so Ive got that going for me, which is nice.
There is a day off tradition that happens every once in awhile called Rose Lunch. Basically this consists of going to a beach with a restaurant (not hard to find here in tourist country) and ordering a bottle or 3 of the cheaper rose wine. As you can imagine lunch stretches right on to sunset. I was at one of these rose lunches whcn Dad and Mom were visiting Jules in DC. That's me talking to Dad.
After that we were back on charter and I left my camera in my room. Tune in next time for Meredith's surprise birthday!
Again, because the days run together on the beach, Ill have to refer to the contents of my overused camera.
After our charter in the BVI we took a half of a day to play and rest in the North Sound, VG. Pretty much top 3 favorite places of mine, if you didnt know. Since Ben came up to visit I had to show off my local knowledge and we drove out to The Grotto to do some cliff jumping. The Grotto is in the rocks on Mountain point and pretty much the coolest spot ever to jump in the water. As you swim up to it it looks like an uninteresting pile of rocks and you have to dive below it or climb over it to get in. Since we forgot masks we chose to climb (and I got a chance to show off my wicked bouldering skills). After a few climbs and jumps we swam back to the dinghy and went to Saba Rock for lunch, YUM!
Sad as it was, we had to start our drive back to St. Maarten that evening and after 11 hours of pounding into the wind and waves we dropped anchor and waited for the morning bridge.
When we got back we found the island to be full of friends. Ben and Dee were off charter and Tony and Nina were getting their decks done and in town for a week or so. First order of operation on any good day off is to steal Knickerbocker's crew tender and go w
akeboarding! if I ever figure out how to load videos onto this you'll see how sick I am (well sort of). That photo is of Dee. Since we had such a tough morning we decided to take the rest of the day on the beach.Im going to jump ahead a couple weekends, there was plenty of working being done during the weeks, I swear, I dont hang out on the beach everyday. I do go wakeboarding pretty much every day after work though, so Ive got that going for me, which is nice.
There is a day off tradition that happens every once in awhile called Rose Lunch. Basically this consists of going to a beach with a restaurant (not hard to find here in tourist country) and ordering a bottle or 3 of the cheaper rose wine. As you can imagine lunch stretches right on to sunset. I was at one of these rose lunches whcn Dad and Mom were visiting Jules in DC. That's me talking to Dad.
After that we were back on charter and I left my camera in my room. Tune in next time for Meredith's surprise birthday!Sunday, February 8, 2009
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 peo
ple 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.
ple get awful suspicious. The good news is that Mom passed the security investigation and we were able to complete our flight to D.C.
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.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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;
down, its down right hillarious.
*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!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)