We have settled into a comfortable routine here in Grenada. We are anchored in Secret Harbour (Mount Hartman Bay) and have easy access to buses that take us for groceries, excursions or appointments. We are also only a short dinghy ride or walk to most social events and get togethers with friends. An extra bonus for me is that there are a few fabulous ladies here that offer up free yoga. These ladies are liveaboards, like us, and generously share their yoga time and talents with other cruisers. It makes for a divine experience for me – yoga on the lawn of a resort, with lapping ocean waves at my feet and palm trees shading me from above. Sigh. Amazing.

Of course, life isn’t life without a few bumps, and we have had a few over the past month. Most of those bumps involved boat fixes. Aargh, boats suck sometimes. We knew arriving in Grenada that we would need to do two things: First, fix the critical things that broke along the way. Second, get to our project list and fix the more minor things that we knew needed servicing or repair before we started this trip.
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We are still on the “fix the critical things stage”. Yeesh. What broke along the way? Our engine developed a leak at the raw water pump, our in-mast furling mainsail got severely “stuck”, our anchor windlass gear (the gypsy) became warped at the side wheel, our radar stopped working, our water maker developed a leak, and our anchor and deck lights stopped working. Like I said, yeesh. Some of these repairs have been fixed or are in progress, thankfully. All should be fixed before we leave Grenada in November. (Big shout out to our good friend Wayne on S/V Gwayne who has done all of our engine work and helped us immensely with making progress on the other repairs).

Unfortunately, not all our bumps were boat related. Ocean, our amazing pup, suddenly developed facial paralysis on the left side of her face. Here’s the back story: About three weeks ago, we noticed Ocean was drooling extensively and her left ear was perpendicular to her head. Very weird. Off we went to St. Georges University Small Animal Clinic where their neurologist diagnosed the paralysis, noting of course the left ear and the drooling but adding that her left eye didn’t blink and her left lip was drooping. It was clear WHAT was happening but we didn’t know WHY it was happening. And, no, it wasn’t a stroke.
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The first thought was that the paralysis could be due to an inflamed facial nerve. We were sent home with lots of medication and an appointment to see the neurologist again in a few weeks. That appointment was just today, and it was a very different one for us. At this appointment, we had a bevy of fifth year veterinary students do a clinical and neurological assessment of Ocean, with their professor coaching them as needed. It was a wild experience to be in a live veterinary class! And this was not a short exam – we were there for almost two hours. Ocean was a wonderful patient through it all and each veterinary student definitely got an A+ from Ocean on the treat-giving portion of the exam.

Despite all of the detailed examinations and analysis, we still do not have a definitive cause for the paralysis. We will see the neurologist again in a month and, hopefully by then, there will be some improvement and we will go from there. The good news is that Ocean’s facial paralysis is not impacting her energy or her appetite. She is not in any pain, and is otherwise fully functioning and healthy. She even did a two and a half hour Hash (i.e. organized hike) up and down a mountain, and over muddy and varied terrain. She is still strong as an ox, happily social with everyone and living her best life! 

​So, yes, there have been bumps in our days and that is okay. We had a few bumpy days in our land life too. Really, when at anchor, our life on Wild Horses is similar to our land life, well, except for the part where our car is actually a small boat (dinghy) and our home can sink or float away in a really bad storm 😊. The other thing that is the same? Those bumpy days feel way smoother with supportive friends and family. And, that we have in spades! 

​There is something really magical about arriving at a long sought after destination. A trip that was years in the making. And doing it twice as Wild Horses has done? Well, it is an incredible feeling. But each journey south for us has had its own magic.

Arriving in Grenada in 2023, after many, many years of planning, dreaming and preparing…well, we were overwhelmed with the feeling of accomplishment. We were tired though. Tired of the long journey and tired of fixing so many things on the boat along the way.

This time, arriving in Grenada, it feels different. We are not as tired or overwhelmed.
No, the biggest feeling we have this time is gratitude.

But why?

We took (almost) the same route from Florida to Grenada as we did the first time. We have the same boat. We have the same crew. Like the last time, we have run into boat issues and we have had weather delays. On paper, everything is pretty much the same as our first trip south. So, why does it feel different?

Deciding to go back to Grenada was a difficult one. On one hand, we wanted a second chance at exploring the Eastern Caribbean that we feel we rushed through the last time. On the other hand, we knew how hard the work would be to span the distance from northern Florida to Grenada. Just shy of 1,700 nautical miles.

This go around, most of those miles were hard fought. This season the trade winds have been relentless. The sea state higher. The weather windows were few and far between. Not easy. And, yes, stuff on the boat had to be fixed along the way this time too. Our anchor light, various engine leaks, a water maker leak, navigation lights that shorted out…I could go on and on.

So, why are we so grateful when the journey was actually more difficult?

It is because of the community of sailors that surrounds us. And in 2026, our personal community got A LOT bigger. It isn’t that there are more sailors out here since 2023 or that we are two times more social. No, it is because now in 2026 we just have more sailors able to connect easily with other sailors. Starlink, WhatsApp, the NoForeignLand app, Facebook and Instagram. Tools of connection for us sailors.

In 2023, we had great friends with whom we spent many, many miles buddy boating, and along the way we met a few people here and there. It made for a rich experience that we absolutely treasure. We used WhatsApp a bit for texting our buddy boats and it was great. Much better than trying to hold a conversation over VHF with a fuzzy reception and reciting the word “over” all the time!

Going south in 2026, a WhatsApp texting group called “Grenada Bound” formed while we were in Georgetown, Bahamas and it became a buddy boat collector. Way back in March, about eight boats started the group (including Wild Horses) and new boats were added exponentially all along The Thorny Path. The group has ballooned to over forty boats and it is a wealth of information-sharing about Customs & Immigration, fuel prices, anchorages, tours, boat projects and all the other things that bring joy and sorrow into this cruising lifestyle. When schedules aligned, a few boats would travel together for a leg or two. Or share an anchorage (and sundowners) for one or two nights until one of the boats would move along. We all stayed connected through the Grenada Bound WhatsApp group, sharing our sail plans so that connecting in person, whenever possible, was easier.

Now that most of the group (nicknamed “Grenada Bounders”) has arrived in Grenada, the chatting has switched over to the social side of things – who is doing what and where. We are never alone and never bored!

Yes, we are grateful. We have many friends surrounding us and they come from all walks of life, different countries, different backgrounds. This is the beauty of a WhatsApp group that is built by globe-trotting people where the only entry fee is having a boat. Our group is a rich tapestry of experiences and they all genuinely want to share their information, skills, humour, and time. Over forty boats, congratulating each other as each leg of this journey unfolded, mostly over text but still with a deep depth of understanding for the work, the stress, the accomplishment.
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We had a smaller dose of this in 2023 and, yes, we were grateful then too. To have our sailing connections explode into the grand community that it is today, maybe the word ”grateful” isn’t big enough. All the sailors we met back then, plus the ones we are sharing Grenada with today, plus our ever-supportive friends and family. Oh my. We are very blessed.

(See below for some of the shenanigans that unfolded with various Grenada Bounders from St. Lucia to Grenada)

We arrived in the USVI two weeks ago and it has been a solid two weeks of high winds. Yeesh! But, much to our utter happiness, it has also been a solid two weeks (almost three weeks!) of hanging out with our great friends, Dave and Lisa, on Indigo Lady. It really has been one of those “never a dull moment” experiences!
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After first reuniting with Indigo Lady in Brewers Bay, we moved along to the Charlotte Amelie anchorage, also in St. Thomas. We wanted to be there for a few days to stock up on a few things for the boat but, more importantly, to rent a car and drive Ocean to her veterinary appointment to get her international papers for all the islands in the Eastern Caribbean. We have found a great vet clinic near Cowpet Bay called “Canines, Cats & Critters” that we have now used three times for Ocean’s travelling papers. They are easy to use, friendly and affordable. Perfect!

Speaking of Ocean, we often wonder what she thinks about all the adventures she has while we are doing this sailing thing. She never knows what will happen from one day to the next, who she will meet, what she will see, where she will go or how she will get there. We certainly ask a lot of her. She must be brave and patient, and she has to navigate beach landings, high docks, restaurants, grocery stores, getting on and off other boats, stray dogs, feral cats, new countries, new people, hot days, very hot days and so much more.
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Actually, our last few weeks in the USVI (both in St. Thomas and in St. John) have lots of good examples of what she has to handle as part of the crew of Wild Horses. In these jam-packed few weeks, Ocean has hiked the USVI mountainous terrain for 6 miles, checked out ruins from an old sugar mill, rode in the back of a pick up truck, was squeezed under the bar at the local pub (well, maybe a few local pubs…), enjoyed some yummy pizza from Pizza VI (a floating pizza place), and had a vet appointment. 

She has walked along the trampolines of not one but two catamarans (thank you Indigo Lady and Bitty Rose for welcoming Ocean aboard your beautiful boats!), went to the beach, swam off the stern of Indigo Lady while Mike and I snorkelled, saw wild donkeys, sheep and goats, a few bearded dragon iguanas, lots of chickens, went “nose to tentacle” with a squid that landed on our boat deck during a passage and was rocked to sleep every night in many, many bumpy anchorages. ​

She even got to hang out in a treehouse! Cruising friends of Indigo Lady (Juan and Alison) have a home in the USVI, way up in the mountains of St. John. This gorgeous homestead is nestled on the side of the mountain with a wrap around porch and levels upon levels of wonderful treelined walkways. It truly feels like a treehouse, just a very elegant one. And, lucky for us, our little Ocean was more than welcome to join Dave, Lisa and us at Juan and Alison’s place in a wonderful evening of great food and laughter.

Oh, and Ocean crossed the Anegada Passage to St. Martin. That’s right! We are now in the Leeward Islands. We arrived in Marigot Bay, St. Martin on Saturday morning. It was a 96 nautical mile passage with the brightest (almost full) moon lighting up the ocean for us. Of course, with the windy season we have been having, it was a little bumpy getting here but that’s okay, we are here! And even nicer, Indigo Lady will be here with us for several days while they await good weather to travel to St. Kitts (note: They found that great weather window and have now moved on to St. Kitts for their scheduled haulout. We already miss them!)

​For Ocean, yes, she never knows what any given day will bring. Some days are less than fun but most are rewarding in so many ways. She often gets to do one or more of her favourite activities be it swimming, walking, meeting people, hiking, exploring, enjoying little “I can’t finish this can I give it to the dog” treats during restaurant meals or sundowner get-togethers, or vacuuming up crumbs (and chicken bones…so many chicken bones!!) that are inevitably lying beside walkways and boardwalks.
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And hanging out with us 24/7. The three of us wouldn’t have it any other way 😊.

It is really hard to believe that, one month ago, we were in Georgetown, Bahamas. Today, we are waking up in Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, USVI. No, we didn’t do this in one go. For a second time going south, we have done the Thorny Path.
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The Thorny Path is a whole bunch of going east into the trade winds, wind directly on the nose of the boat, with lots of big waves and swell bumping you around. If you don’t carefully plan your weather windows, it is a very uncomfortable series of passages. But, thankfully, with lots of weather planning and even more patience, it is mildly comfortable 😉. 

The first leg of our journey south took us to Luperon, Dominican Republic and we really thought we would be there for several weeks, waiting for a good weather window to brave the north coast of the Dominican Republic to the eastern town of Samana. We also thought we would do the same waiting in Samana, DR, before crossing the infamous Mona Passage that takes you from DR to Puerto Rico.
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Well, no. We waited just five days in Luperon before a perfect window to Samana presented itself. We had a forecast of light wind and only one-foot seas. Still, we wanted to be sure. We consulted with Chris Parker, a well-known and reliable weather router out of mainland US and a former cruiser himself. He echoed our feeling that these conditions were rare and we should go! So, along with three buddy boats, we left Luperon on Sunday April 26, and motor sailed for 25 hours, to the Marina Puerto Bahia in Samana, Dominican Republic. The passage was just as easy as forecasted. Nice!

​And then? Well, the right weather window to cross the Mona Passage popped up! We had just 48 hours to rest, fuel up, grab a few groceries, and share a wonderful dinner and lots of laughs with the crew of our buddy boats. On Wednesday April 29, there were six of us cruising boats in total, clearing out of the Dominican Republic. This was no small task in itself. The process took two hours and included a boat inspection by the Armada (Dominican Navy). 

​And then we were off! We started our crossing at 1100 hours on April 29 (late in the morning due to the delay from clearing out) and we had beautiful conditions. Our only concerns centred around the incredible amounts of floating debris caused by recent heavy rainfalls. Trash and branches littered the waterway. The worst was a full tree that one of our buddy boats sighted at dusk. Four of us boats were an hour or so behind him and due to arrive at the “tree” location in the dark. Yikes! Thankfully, our tree sighting buddy boat was able to give us the latitude and longitude of the tree, which we all pinned in our chart plotters. This is why we love buddy boating! The information sharing is incredible, plus it really increases the fun quotient 😊. All six boats chatted over WhatsApp through the night, keeping all of us entertained and informed. How did we do this with no cell service in the middle of the Mona Passage? We all have Starlink and turned on “Ocean Mode” to have uninterrupted access while offshore. Amazing!

​We arrived in Puerto Real, Puerto Rico at noon on April 30. Sigh, time to rest for a few days. Puerto Real is a small fishing village with an easy, safe anchorage and a great dinghy dock. The town had most of what we needed to refresh ourselves for our next leg across the southern coast of Puerto Rico. We dined with friends, had a great evening of drinks and laughs on our buddy boat Altair (Ian and Hannah), spent many mornings grabbing an inexpensive breakfast from the local bakery, walked the town streets to take in the local vibe, and even managed to get Ocean into the local dog groomers for a much-needed de-shedding treatment. She walked out of there looking like a rock star!

​Although we were comfortable in Puerto Real, the weather needed us to press on. On Thursday May 7, we were off to tackle the southern coast of Puerto Rico. This is another leg of true easting into the trade winds but with a higher level of difficulty due to the acres of sargassum that float along the coastal waters. This thick seaweed can rarely be avoided and annoyingly gets wrapped around our boat propeller, causing a significant drop in speed. How do we handle it? Every so often (maybe once an hour or two), we have to stop the boat and go into reverse. This chops up the weed and spits it off the prop. We then resume forward propulsion, but with the boat moving at our normal cruising speed once again. It is a frustrating exercise but it works!

Along the south coast of Puerto Rico, we made just two stops. The first was to Isla Baja de Muertos (Coffin Island) for one night and the second was to Salinas, a small marina town near the south eastern end of Puerto Rico, for several nights.

This past Thursday, we weighed anchor and headed out from Salinas. It was our roughest passage, with 5-foot seas growing to 8 feet but the entire crew (yes, Ocean too!) did a great job managing the ten-hour trip. We landed at Green Beach, Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands, had a quick rest and then up at dawn to arrive here, in Brewers Bay, USVI. We were exhausted but our friends on Indigo Lady (Dave and Lisa) were already here and waiting to greet us, making our arrival warm and fun. We had cruised with Indigo Lady extensively in 2023 and even visited them in their home in New Hampshire in the autumn months of 2024. They were a sight for sore eyes and Dave’s awesome pizza last night was a yummy delight for our bellies 😊. We will spend several days with them as we both await a weather window to head further south.
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Sigh, the last few weeks have been hectic and fun and stressful and exciting. Passages may be good or bad, but we find they are much more enjoyable when we have our cruising friends alongside, old and new, sharing stories and laughs. Add to that the comfort of a beautiful rainbow or sunset in a newfound anchorage, it is easy to remember why we keep doing this. Yup, that is cruising 😊.

It was just a few days after Christmas when we got our outboard motor back from its urgent freshwater servicing at Xtreme Marine in Jolly Harbour, Antigua.  Not only did the team there get it running again but they gave her a real once over and she is even better than before our capsizing adventure. With our outboard motor ready to go, we immediately started making plans with our friends on Rode Trip to depart from Antigua and to make our way to St. Martin for the New Year celebrations there.
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We weighed anchor at 4:00pm on Friday December 29th for a very easy 96 nautical mile overnight motor sail, under a bright full moon, to Marigot Bay, St. Martin (French side).  We arrived at the anchorage just before 8:00am, cleared in by 9:00am and were sitting in the Chez Fernand bakery eating croissants and drinking americanos by 9:30am.  What a great start to the day!

​The New Year’s celebrations on the island were fun, capped off by several incredible fireworks displays. During the day we had a wonderful ad hoc picnic with several of our boat buddies, including our friends on Kemana who were docked on the Dutch side of the island.  It was a special time with lots of chatter about what we all have accomplished over the past year, as well as our future sailing plans. 

Ah, sailing plans. This has been a big topic on Wild Horses for the last several months.  It is easy to dream of far away destinations and big voyages, but the world that is more real for Wild Horses includes so much more than just sailing and exploring.  It contains our family and our friends back home.  Every phone call is an emotional tug at our heartstrings to go back to Canada, even just for a quick visit. The longer we are away, the more we are realizing that we need to have more of a balance between sailing the world and being home for family. 
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Before we started this trip, the plan was clear.  We would sail the Eastern Caribbean for at least two years and then decide where else we wanted the wind to take us. We would go home, of course, but the plan was to make separate trips (Mike goes one time and I would go the next time) so that Wild Horses was never unattended.  And the dog?  We knew we didn’t want to subject Ocean to airplane travel.  Our dear pup, we thought, will just stay on the boat with either Mike or myself (whoever wasn't travelling).

Our plan was solid…until we had to put it into action. We have learned a lot about ourselves on this trip and one of the biggest is realizing that we only want to travel as a pack.  We are the three amigos and, well, it just will not do to leave an amigo behind 😉. By the time we departed Grenada, we knew we had a problem to solve. We wanted to go home for a visit with family but we wanted to keep our little family intact while doing it.

Just this past week, the final pieces of our new sail plan have come together. We will be sailing back to the continental United States over this winter, visiting the USVI, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas along the way.  We will then make our way to Green Cove Springs Marina near Jacksonville, Florida by the early summer months. There, Wild Horses will be hauled out and stored while we drive back to Canada over the summer months for our much-needed visit with family and friends. When Fall descends upon us, we will re-launch Wild Horses and sail the Bahamas over the winter.

What will we do after that? Not sure but being in the Bahamas will keep us closer to home and also to other sailing destinations like the Eastern Caribbean, Guatamala, Aruba and so much more.  We will have built in flexibility to decide on next steps. 

Perfect.  Freedom but also being able to hug mom and dad once in awhile.  I think we may have found our balance 😊.

​After spending seven wonderful days exploring Antigua’s eastern and southern harbours and beaches, last Thursday we decided it was time to move further north. Our plan was to spend Christmas and New Years in St. Martin.  This decision, however, meant that we would be moving along alone.  Our friends on Rode Trip were still waiting for their engine water pump to be installed so they wouldn’t be moving north until after Christmas at least. Other friends on Bitty Rose and Hop Drop would also be moving towards St. Martin before New Years but would be setting out from Antigua a few days after us. Kemana, Caretta and That’s It were already ahead of us in either St. Martin or Puerto Rico.

Last Wednesday we cleared out of Antigua and then moved Wild Horses from its spot on a harbour mooring ball to the anchorage just outside Jolly Harbour’s entrance.  This would be a perfect place to leave at first light to make the 32 nautical mile trip to Barbuda, Antigua’s sister island.  Together, they form the country of “Antigua and Barbuda”.  We were excited to get to see this small and very flat island known for clear, beautiful water and is home to a large colony of frigate birds.
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The next morning, we were underway.  Well, almost.  We had a slight delay when our anchor windlass decided to not work, preventing us from lifting our 88lb Rocna anchor.  Mike quickly found a loose wiring connection, fixed it and we were back in business.  Surely this was our one glitch for the day.

As it turns out, this was far from the truth.

The passage to Barbuda was a windless one, which meant motoring the whole way.  Our first glimpse of Barbuda was surprising.  It is flat as a pancake and pretty sparse!  Such a contrast from mountainous and lush Antigua.  We motored into the Cocoa Point anchorage slowly and carefully, avoiding the many reefs scattered about.  It was an easy feat as the water was clear and blue.

Next on deck was to get Ocean to shore.  We piled into the dinghy and started to head towards the shoreline.  Hmmm, strong breakers at the nearby beach looked very ominous.  We dinghied further south to where the shoreline was calm but there were “private property” signs there.  Yeesh.  We doubled back and started heading north again, towards the one and only beach bar.  Surely people can land their dinghies here?  Right?  Well, it didn’t look good there either.  There was a mooring ball slightly away from shore that we contemplated attaching the dinghy to but it would require a fairly sporty swim in for all three of us, especially with the crashing waves at shore. Finally, we thought we saw a calmer section along the shore line, just 10 metres away, and motored the dinghy towards it.
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We were wrong about the calmness.  Very wrong.  It was a catastrophe.  The dinghy swung violently sideways as it got caught up in a large breaking swell and then it flipped.  I was underwater and scooped out behind the dinghy. Ocean had made a premature jump out of the dinghy before the flip (she is so smart) and when I found my way to the surface of the water, I could see her playing onshore with some of the debris from our capsized dinghy.  Where was Mike?  Trapped under the dinghy.  I helped him get the dinghy off him and then we got it righted.  We were shaken but still had to secure the dinghy from being pummeled in the breaking swells.  Out of nowhere, a gentleman (who we later found out was the beach bar owner named Enoch) came along and, without asking, started to help us pull the dinghy onto the beach and then rushed to secure everything being swept into the ocean that had fallen out of our dinghy.  He did this even though our large dog was running free around him.  He did this even though he was working.  He did this even though it was difficult. He even brought us a 2-gallon jug of his fresh water to wash down the salt and sand drenched engine.  Wow.

We had a moment to catch our breath and assess our situation. The important part was all three of us were safe and with minimal injuries. We had all our gear, including our wallet and phones and nothing had been damaged.  Um, scratch that.  We had an engine that had been submerged in saltwater. We knew it wouldn’t start and although we had our oars, we knew that rowing the half mile to our boat in the swell was not doable.  We needed a tow.  The bartender assured us that someone would be coming to his beach bar before dark.  But, for over an hour, no one came.

Finally, our heroes arrived.  A small dinghy loaded down with six people approached the same shoreline where we capsized.  Surely, they would suffer the same fate?  Nope.  They had the landing process nailed.  Three young people in their 20s jumped out of the dinghy, swam to shore and awaited the dinghy they just left. They waited for a big swell to crash and then the race was on. As the dinghy approached the shore, the last three people jumped out and swam while the three on shore rushed out and secured the dinghy.  All six then pulled the dinghy onshore.

Oh, that’s what we did wrong. 😉

There was no hesitation from the dinghy’s captain when we asked for a tow.  “Yes!  I will do it right now!”  Mike had previously rowed our dinghy out to the beach bar’s mooring so the three of us needed to swim out to it, in the crashing waves.  Mike and I had no issue with this but we worried about Ocean.  She had her lifejacket on but could she negotiate the crashing waves and strong swell?  Our heroes had an answer for that.  They offered to put her in their dinghy so she wouldn’t have to swim.  Great!  Except Ocean did not like the idea of Mike and I swimming away from her while some strangers took her elsewhere in their dinghy. Out she jumped!  But her attempts to swim to us failed as she struggled to negotiate the crashing waves.  Once again, our heroes leapt into action.  Two strong swimmers from the group grabbed the handle on her lifejacket and guided her through the waves and swell to us waiting in our dinghy.  They then tread water while pushing her up and over the dinghy gunnels. Wow!!

After being towed to our boat, we gave the engine a fresh water rinsing, removed the spark plugs, oiled the cylinders (clearing it of any water) and got pounds of sand out of the housing.  Still the engine would not start. We knew we had to get the engine properly serviced immediately or our almost new engine would be trash. We couldn’t remain in Barbuda, with its very scarce services and amenities.  We had to go back to Antigua.  Our friends on Rode Trip, still in Antigua, had secured us an engine mechanic who could take care of our engine as soon as we arrived back there.  They also offered us the loan of their dinghy for use over Christmas. They are currently at a dock so the dinghy wasn’t being used.  Amazing!

At the end of the day, we know we were lucky.  Lucky to have suffered no injuries.  Lucky to have great sailing buddies who never hesitate to assist however they can.  Lucky to be in a world where complete strangers will go out of their way to help you without hesitation.  A big thank you to Rode Trip, to Enoch (the bar owner at Barbuda) and to the crew on Inukshuk, our towing heroes.

Merry Christmas indeed!

Enjoying the adventures aboard Wild Horses?  Want to know where we are headed next?  Click on the buttons below!

Wild Horses arrived in Carriacou, Grenada on Oct 28th and we immediately started to prepare for our trip to St. Vincent & The Grenadines (SVG).  The first island in SVG is just a few hours away and we were excited to start island hopping our way through the beautiful waterways of the Grenadines, including Union Island, Canouan and Bequia.
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Cue “screeching stop” sound.

After almost two weeks, we still have not received a pet permit to SVG for Ocean.  All necessary paperwork was submitted, but we haven’t even so much as received a confirmation of receipt. Processing time is supposed to be three days.  I have emailed several times to get an idea of the status of our application.  No response.  I have also tried calling (probably more than fifty times).  No answer.  Yeesh. It helps to know that I am not alone in this.  I have met several other cruisers with the same experience.  Only one was able to finally get someone on the phone at the St. Vincent Government Veterinary Office.  They pleaded their case and was issued a permit.  Hence, I keep calling the office with the hope of winning the Pet Permit lottery 😉.

In the interim, we have been exploring the beautiful island of Carriacou.  Last week, our boat buddies (Kemana and Caretta) and the three crew from Wild Horses took the city bus out to Windward, on the northeast region of the island.  This area is ripe with wooden boat building and we were able to see a few in progress as well as chat with a few locals. It took two buses to get to windward and two for the return.  In each case, we had to ask if Ocean could board. All but one gladly had her ride, albeit under our seats.  She was a champ about it though! The one bus driver who resisted, complained about Ocean’s size, her fur and just about everything dog-like about her.  But he finally still let her ride, even though he scowled his way through it.  Funny thing though, since that day our scowl-faced bus driver has stopped twice to ask if we want a ride while we were walking Ocean along the street.  I guess she warmed his heart a little bit! 

We have also had some fun hanging out on a nearby beach, and checking out some local stores, events and great restaurants.  And, with our days and nights getting a little cooler (just one or two degrees but we’ll take it), we have enjoyed some very nice walks around town.  ​

Although we haven’t minded waiting a few weeks in Carriacou for our pet permit, there might be a weather window early next week to start moving north and we don’t want to miss this window.

Cue “Plan B”. 

The next country north of St. Vincent is St. Lucia. This country is near and dear to our hearts as we visited a resort there several years ago.  We absolutely fell in love with the island and the people and have been excited to visit on our own sailboat.  On our way south, we had to skip St. Lucia (and St. Vincent) as Tropical Storm Bret was hot on our tail and we wanted to be the furthest south we could safely get.  That was Grenada, which is south of both St. Vincent and St, Lucia.
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This past week, I requested the pet permit for St. Lucia.  Not only did I get a “thanks for your email” receipt but I received the actual pet permit the very next day.  Yay!  Our new plan now is to head to St. Lucia.  Sadly, our boat buddies will not be joining us as they, rightly so, will be exploring SVG.  No worries though. We have plans to meet up with them either in St. Lucia or Martinique.     

Want to catch up with where we are?  And where we are headed? Click the buttons below!

We have had one of our busiest weeks since we arrived in Grenada but every minute of it had us smiling from ear to ear.  Well, that isn’t entirely correct after this morning’s events.  Sigh.  But let’s start with the good stuff.

We were elated at the beginning of last week with the early arrival of our shipment of packages from Miami. We got the call late on Monday (Oct 17) from our cargo broker that he would be bringing our boxes to Secret Harbour the next day.  Thankfully, all eight boxes made their way quickly through Customs.  We had heard of others who had to wait two or three weeks for their clearance but ours came in just five days.  Yay!
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Mike was away from the harbour doing our weekly shopping so Ocean and I signed for all the boxes, loaded them into the dinghy and got them aboard Wild Horses.  In this shipment were our oil filters (boring but important), our port navigation light (boring but important), our new radar (so-so exciting but important), a few items from home (fun and important) and our new Solstice Pup Plank (super crazy exciting and important).  

​Later that same afternoon, Barry (our amazing buddy and electrician from Caretta) came over to Wild Horses and helped to install the port navigation light.  When ordering the port navigation light, we tried desperately to get one with a white encasement so that it would be a perfect match to our still intact starboard navigation light.  Unfortunately, they were all back ordered at the manufacturer.  Yeesh. We decided to go with function over form and get one with a black encasement.  Is it a big deal?  Nope!  And we kind of like our “black eye” at the bow.  It doesn’t stand out to anyone else and, to us, it is a badge of honour.  It is the only equipment we lost when we were dragged into during Tropical Storm Bret and that is due to Mike’s keen captain skills.  I love looking at that light!

The following day, Barry was back at Wild Horses to do the outside installation of our new radar.  I wish I could say the installation went smoothly and easily but it didn’t.  It took a lot of ingenuity and hard work from Barry to get the radar mounted on our mast.  Not only did he have to go up our mast several times to feed wires that did not want to be fed but he also ground out a spot in our mast to properly hold the radar mount.  The guy was tired, sweaty and full of metal shavings by late afternoon.  And, on Saturday he returned to finish the inside wiring pieces.  Thanks to Barry we finally have radar on Wild Horses!  Barry is definitely one very skilled and hard-working guy and we will be spoiling him appropriately to say thanks!
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Ah, and then there is the Solstice Pup Plank. Yes, Ocean already has a great ramp for swimming off the stern of Wild Horses and that won’t change.  The Pup Plank, however, is a mobile swim platform that we can attach to the dinghy so we can swim her when we go snorkelling. We never run out of ways to spoil our pup!

​In between installations, we decided that we were due to play around in another waterfall.  We had heard great things about the Mount Carmel Waterfall located in the parish of St. Andrew and all of our boat buddies (Caretta, Kemana, Bitty Rose) were happy to come along.  It was a good hour drive there by taxi but well worth it. These waterfalls are less touristy than the others we had been to in Grenada.  Our taxi took us down a narrow tree lined road and parked just off a little trail into the woods.  At the end of the trail was a beautiful and tranquil waterfall with a gorgeous swimming area at its base.  But wait, that isn’t all.  Continuing along the woody trail and across a stream, we found ourselves at any even more stunning waterfall.  The water cascaded down 70 feet and there was lots of room to swim and play in the falls and in its refreshing pool of water.  We had thought that these falls would be very busy but we were the only ones there for most of the morning.  

After we had our fill of the second waterfall, we walked back along the trail to the first waterfall where our driver (Devon) had prepared us a traditional Oil Down lunch. Full of salted fish, coconut milk, callaloo (like spinach), breadfruit (like potatoes), carrots, and dumplings – it was delicious!  After lunch, we played in the waterfall until early afternoon.  It was an incredible day and we felt like real Grenadians.  It is days like this that make this adventure worth the hardship of travel and boat issues. ​

Speaking of which, this morning was one of the not so great times ☹.  We had arranged to have our anchor chain and the hull of Wild Horses thoroughly cleaned (the barnacles and slime are nasty after 3 months of sitting still!) and to have our propeller zinc changed by a great company here in Grenada in anticipation of leaving Grenada in the coming week.  For non-sailors, the zinc is a sacrificial metal that will take the brunt of any stray electrical current that may be running around our hull from our own boat or from other boats.  Without it, our through hulls could get damaged and, well, that just makes for a very wet and potentially sinking boat.  

Anchor chain cleaning – CHECK. 
Hull cleaning – CHECK. 
Zinc change – Uh oh.

The screw that holds the zinc onto the end of the propeller was completely stripped and the only solution put forward so far is to get the Wild Horses hauled out to fix the screw/zinc issue.  Will this delay our departure from Grenada?  We have no idea as I write this but we are now scrambling for options.  It is never a dull moment around here!  Thankfully we still have visions of our day in the Mount Carmel Waterfalls to keep us smiling!

Click the buttons below to find out where we are where we are going next!

Hurricane season is just about over and we have started to see a few boats leave our anchorage and begin their slow meander north, up the Eastern Caribbean island chain, or west to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.  For us, we are planning to make our exit from Grenada within the next few weeks and will be heading north.  However, before we weigh anchor, we have a departure list of several tasks that will need to be done.  The first on this list is to receive our cargo shipment from Miami.  
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When we first arrived in Grenada, West Indies, we quickly learned that it is a common practice of cruisers to get items shipped to Grenada from the United States, Canada and elsewhere.  The island is just too small to have “everything” a cruiser would need for their boat so many cruisers have to use an importing company.

The process is fairly simple, although it involves several steps. Order your items from a vendor and then ship them to the importer’s Miami address. If there are multiple items then the importer opens the boxes and consolidates the items to reduce the overall size of the shipment which lowers the cost to the cruiser.  The boxes are then shipped (by cargo ship or airplane) to a Grenadian address.  Once the shipment arrives in Grenada, it has to be processed through Customs so that the appropriate duty charges can be applied.  If all goes smoothly, the whole process takes about a month.  And the cost?  Well, it won’t break the bank but it isn’t super cheap either.  Suffice it to say, a person would generally only ship an item that they really needed.

For us, we had a few items that we couldn’t find anywhere in Grenada but all were critical to us as cruisers so we had to get on board the “ship-or-go-without” train.  In our shipment will be our new radar system, a port navigation light (replacing the one that was broken in Tropical Storm Bret), oil filters for our Westerbeke engine, and a Solstice Pup Plank for Ocean to use when we are snorkelling from our dinghy.  Oh, and we have a couple of items arriving that were replaced under warranty and had been sent to our Canadian address.  A few packages of Swiss Chalet sauce may also have found their way into that bundle before it was mailed to Miami (thank you Betty and Barry!).

​Until our shipment arrives, we are easily entertaining ourselves.  Ocean swims off the boat on a daily basis and we still hang out quite a bit with our friends on Caretta, Kemana and Bitty Rose.  Just this morning we had a great sailing and fishing outing, on Caretta, to the reef outside of the southern bays.  Although we had no luck with fishing, the sail and camaraderie were perfect. 

​We also had a great time watching college football on Bitty Rose this past weekend.  And last week?  Well, we played Bingo at Prickly Bay Marina where the grand prize was a goat (yes, an actual live goat). We did have some winners in our group but, thankfully, none of our gang won that prize!  Too bad, having a goat as crew would certainly spice up the anchorage!

We will be on the move again soon.  Click on the buttons below to check out where we are today and where we plan to sail next season.

This past year has been a big learning curve for us.  For sure, there have been big surprises, like lots of engine work, but there have also been many little surprises along the way too, which have made the journey just a tad more interesting.
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Here are our top five surprises from our first year:

First – No bugs!

Mike and I thought that living in the hot Caribbean would mean a lot of bug management on the boat.  We had read many articles and posts about not bringing cardboard onto the boat as they are likely full of roach eggs (yikes!) and that the mosquitos down south would be a lot to handle.  Yeesh, this was not something I was looking forward too.  Back home in the Thousand Islands, I was constantly fighting to combat bugs.  Mosquitos during the day, no-see-ums at dusk and spiders all the time.  Well, so far, bugs are a non-issue for us in the Caribbean. We have taken cardboard onto the boat on several occasions throughout our trip and have never suffered for it.  We also never put the screens in our hatches, preferring to allow as much wind to flow through the boat as possible. Mosquitos seem to be more of a land issue, thankfully.  And spiders?  I have not seen any on the boat, I mean, not even one, since we left the New York State canals. At anchor, we are blissfully bug-less 😊.

Second – How challenging it would be to get stuff
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We had no idea how difficult it would be to get stuff along the way on this journey, that includes deliveries, marine supplies and our groceries.  I mean, we knew we would have to walk to grocery stores and that walk would sometimes be long.  We just didn’t realize how many towns along the New York State canals, in the Chesapeake, along the AICW (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) and further south in the Caribbean, wouldn’t have stores at all.  Or, if there were stores, that they would be only marginally stocked and the size of a convenience store back home.  Thankfully, my ultra-conservative self decided to stock up on lots of groceries and house supplies before we left Canada.  When a good store couldn’t be found, we simply shopped on Wild Horses!    

Marine supplies were similar.  It wasn’t always easy finding a marine store and when we did, we couldn’t always find the right parts.  It was a big surprise that something as simple as an oil filter for our Westerbeke engine could not be found once we left the United States.  Truth be told, knowing what we know now, we could have done better with our spare parts before we left Canada. Too often, we had to borrow from our boat buddies until we could get the part we needed. 
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The other challenge was getting deliveries like warranty parts, bank or credit cards, SIM cards and amazon deliveries while travelling. When the weather was good, we wanted to keep moving and it was painful to have to stop and wait for a delivery to arrive. In Grenada, getting those same deliveries is a huge and expensive process. For example, it would have cost $130 CAD to get our replacement bank cards couriered from home.  Yikes!  Thankfully, a cruiser friend was able to bring them back for us when they flew back to Grenada from Canada.

Third – The beers keep getting smaller
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How is this even possible?  So unfair…

Fourth – What a blend of people we would be cruising with
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Of course, we figured we would meet people from around the world (and we have) but what was surprising was the wide variety of people from all walks of life that are cruisers. Our little anchorage alone is full of retired (or working!) lawyers, business owners, government workers, realtors, medical people, police officers, teachers, tradespeople, kids, animals, young people, older people and everything in between.  You name it, we got it. This diversity was hugely highlighted one afternoon when a young lad and his friends were fishing off the docks. All of a sudden, there was screaming.  One of the young boys had gotten a fish hook in his cheek.  Yeesh!  Within minutes, several cruisers were on the scene. A numbing agent was applied by a retired dentist, then a retired ER doctor removed the hook while a retired nurse assisted.  Incredible!

Fifth - Ocean’s popularity with the locals
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We were definitely unprepared for how much attention Ocean would get on our travels. From our first moments in the Bahamas and all through the Caribbean, Ocean has caused a stir. Locals react strongly to her, in a very respectful and positive way.  Kind of like she is a loaded weapon.  Eyes become wide as we walk down the street.  Women usually give her a wide berth and say “woo-wee, that is a big dog” while guys will challenge each other to get close to her.  Almost everyone will finally ask to meet her though and when they see how calm she is, well, then they want to know if she can have puppies (she can’t).  They want a dog just like her.  And once we throw on her sunglasses to take off in the dinghy, it is game over.  We get big smiles from everyone, or a thumbs up.  It is an incredibly fun experience for us and we have met so many wonderful people. And the word spreads.  Walking along a roadside or arriving at a dock, people we have never met will ask “Is that Ocean”?  Well, yes it is!  Our little girl is pretty popular!

​These surprises are exactly why we are enjoying this lifestyle so much.  Not all of it is fun but all of it keep us captivated and on our toes! 😊

Want to know when we are leaving Grenada and where we will be headed?  Click on the buttons below!