To cut a long story short we did make it although only just due to not changing the clocks on the boat when we got to Portugal which is an hour different to the Azores! The happy reunion was emotional and, of course, as soon as we got back to the boat Mum took over the cleaning which felt a bit strange to me, after all, I had been doing it for the last month and a half! I was so happy to be back with Mum again and even put up with all her stories about what they'd done back in Scotland (with a very green face, mind you!), who they'd seen, how big all my cousins had got, etc. Anyway since then we've been in Portugal and still are. We got a dog, Osfaldo (Oz for short) for Mum's birthday - he's a rescued dog and we're all so attached to him now, he's so cute and he gets really worried when anyone gets off the boat - he likes everyone to be together.
It's almost Christmas now and everyone’s doing lots of 'secret' things, well, as secret as you can be on a 48ft boat!! Mum was very disappointed to find out that she couldn't get a ham here for Christmas dinner but I think we're having duck instead. I am, of course, making the cake which I guarantee will be magnificent!! The Portugese definitely love christmas - they have a live donkey in the nativity scene outside a church in Olhao and speakers all through the streets playing carols!
Merry Christmas!
It's almost Christmas now and everyone’s doing lots of 'secret' things, well, as secret as you can be on a 48ft boat!! Mum was very disappointed to find out that she couldn't get a ham here for Christmas dinner but I think we're having duck instead. I am, of course, making the cake which I guarantee will be magnificent!! The Portugese definitely love christmas - they have a live donkey in the nativity scene outside a church in Olhao and speakers all through the streets playing carols!
Merry Christmas!
Hi again!! I know - it's amazing, eh - two posts in almost as many days! So, where were we? Oh yeah - the horrible weather on the way to Portugal .... well, we got to Lagos in the Algarve in the late afternoon of the 8th July - the day before Mum and Sam were supposed to fly in!! The boat was a mess - the hatches had been leaking and everything was damp and smelly. We had until noon the next day to clean it up, hire a car and drive to Faro to pick them up from the airport! Oh yeah - and we were both absolutely EXHAUSTED after the horrible trip. So will we make it or not? That is the question .... and you are going to have to wait and see until my next post!! Bye! Xx
So ... yes people - yet again I have unforgivably neglected you all and deprived you of all the amazingly magnificent details of my life! I suppose I should give you some basic details of the last few months. Well - After my last post on this blog Mum and Sam flew home to Scotland and Dad and I left a couple of days after to cross the atlantic to the Azores. We went staraight across to Flores - the most eastern of the islands. Our passage was 22 days...I think! We had pretty good weather all the way and we were in SSB contact with some other boats around us, particularly a catamaran called Katar which has a family on board with a 10 year old boy, Eric who was friends with Sam when we were in St Martin. When we got to Flores we squeezed into the tiny and already packed anchorage and drank rum and coke until we fell asleep -- that didn't take long!! Flores was beautiful - the people were lovely and extremely friendly - I can honestly say that it was one of the best places I have ever been in my whole life. Sam, Mum and my grandparents were supposed to fly out here but to cut a long story (very) short -- they didn't! So ... Dad and I had to take the boat alll the way to Portugal. Unlike the previous trip we had horrible weather -- 30 knots against for about 5 days! More of this story later......
Drawing!
Yes, I actually drew these!! Thanks to a cartoon drawing book that Devi from sy Arctic Tern gave me!!
St Martin
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for so long - you know how bad I am at it! Sams blog is very good - you should have a look at it. If you don't know the address then here it is : www.sam-at-sea.blogspot.com
Sea Warrior is in St Martin, anchored in the lagoon. We are getting the boat ready to cross the atlantic,or at least for Dad and I to cross. Mum and Sam are going to fly. It'll be while before we cross yet though because they haven't got tickets and because of the Iceland eruptions. The good thing is that there's a cinema not far from the boat!! Last night I went to see Avatar in 3D - it's a really weird but fantastic film. There are a few kids around but as ussual none my age - the closest is about 13. I'll probably end up having my birthday on the boat somwhere in the atlantic which is annoying because it's my 16th and I was hoping for a BIG party!! Devi and Hunter (sy Arctic Tern) gave me a package to open on my birthday - Thankyou!!
St Martin is half Dutch, half French which is unusual for such a small island and at first the different currencies were confusing but we just use US dollars on both sides. Strangely they speak mostly english on the dutch side and although I've only been to the french side once they seemed to speak english and french there too!? I don't know, its pretty confusing.
Yesterday I baked 145 cookies (no mean feat in our little oven) and sam went round the boats to sell them. We made $21 each and 1 euro! Yippee!
Lots of love to everyone! J. xxx.
Sea Warrior is in St Martin, anchored in the lagoon. We are getting the boat ready to cross the atlantic,or at least for Dad and I to cross. Mum and Sam are going to fly. It'll be while before we cross yet though because they haven't got tickets and because of the Iceland eruptions. The good thing is that there's a cinema not far from the boat!! Last night I went to see Avatar in 3D - it's a really weird but fantastic film. There are a few kids around but as ussual none my age - the closest is about 13. I'll probably end up having my birthday on the boat somwhere in the atlantic which is annoying because it's my 16th and I was hoping for a BIG party!! Devi and Hunter (sy Arctic Tern) gave me a package to open on my birthday - Thankyou!!
St Martin is half Dutch, half French which is unusual for such a small island and at first the different currencies were confusing but we just use US dollars on both sides. Strangely they speak mostly english on the dutch side and although I've only been to the french side once they seemed to speak english and french there too!? I don't know, its pretty confusing.
Yesterday I baked 145 cookies (no mean feat in our little oven) and sam went round the boats to sell them. We made $21 each and 1 euro! Yippee!
Lots of love to everyone! J. xxx.
Mount Pelee
This post is about our adventure up Mount Pelee, the (active) volcano at the south end of Martinique!
We got up at about 6:00 am (it was still dark!!!!) to leave. I have told Dad over and over that teenagers are NOT supposed to get up early but I don't think the message has got through yet! Anyway, we got up at an unearthly hour of the morning and went ashore. Then we waited in the bus stop for ages for a guy who had assured us he would be on time with his bus to take us to the walk. He eventually arrived and Dad and I lugged our heavy packs into the bus and sat down with mum and sam. He took us up to a village called Mont Rouge and dropped us off on the outskirts of town, about 6 km from the walk!! So, we began to walk........and walk..............and walk........until a friendly farmer in a pickup truck gave us a lift with his vegetables on the back of the truck!! At the start of the walk the fog was very thick and by this time it was quarter to eight so we set off again. The start of the trail was almost vertical!! AND I had this enormous heavy rucksack on my back and NO leg muscles! Eventually we got to a little bothy at the bottom of 'the chinese peak' which is the highest part. The fog was a real peasouper and we couldn't see the magnificent view of the valley. We left our packs there (phew!) and climbed up the peak, hoping for a better view but the fog was just as thick there and mum and I had loads of water in our hair from it! Disappointed, we walked back down to the bothy and used our camping stove to make some tea and ate some food. Afterwards, Mum and Sam left to go back to the boat and Dad and I set up camp, pitching our tent. We spent the rest of the sfternoon playing card games and climbing back up the peak around 4:30 when the fog cleared a bit and we had an AMAZING view of the north of the island. When we got back to camp we found that some other people had camped right on the other side of the bothy! Can you imagine how many people camp up there through the year and then on the day we go someone else does too!
The next morning we were up and off down the other side of the volcano early and it was a steep descent with aching muscles from the day before although our packs were much lighter. We hitched a lift back St. Pierre only to discover that Sea Warrior wasn't quite in the same place we left her! Luckily Mum said she had only just started dragging so we arrived just in time.!!
Wow!
Hi Everyone! 'Sea Warrior' and crew is in Martinique at the moment and carnival has just finished. We were in Fort de France (the capital) last Sunday for the opening parade where the dress code was 'multicoloured'. In the morning there was a dance display and then in the afternoon the real fun began.... The music was mainly from live bands marching through the streets behind costumed dancers and paraders. Some though, had cars or trucks with enormous speakers on the back booming out over the dancing crowds. My friend Aluna (another liveaboard teenage girl) and I boogied away to the music, ate far too much candyfloss and generally enjoyed ourselves! When the parade came to an end we headed back out to our boats although ashore the music carried on, drifting across the water until the wee hours of the morning.
The next day my friend Aluna and her family left the rolly anchorage of Fort de France to head south down the Caribbean islands. Today everyone had to dress up as someone of the opposite sex so I cajoled Dad and Heiner (our friend from the boat 'La Buena Vida') into dressing up as women. Dad was particularly enthusiastic - even demanding makeup!! I organized their oufits and transformed them into beautiful damsels!! Mum,me and Marleyne (Heiner's wife) drew moustaches and goatees on each others faces and practiced our manly poses together!! The parade wasn't as big as the day before but we all had fun and it was a laugh to see Heiner and Dad dressed up!! 
The next day Sea Warrior left Fort de France to go to St. Pierre, a bay further north in Martinique. Our friends Marleyne and Heiner knew I wanted to stay for some more carnival and invited me to stay with them on 'La Buena Vida'. So, Mum, Dad and Sam left me behind and sailed off into the sunset!! So that afternoon we went ashore to the carnival again. It was the busiest day yet and the streets were packed with lots of costumed paraders! We watched the parade and then joined in, dancing along with everyone else. The next day, Wednesday, was the last day of the celebrations and they would burn the 'King of Carnival' and 'grieve' for him. Unfortuneatly the anchorage was getting rather rolly so we had to leave and go up to St. Pierre where 'Sea Warrior' was.
We spent the next few days in St Pierre enjoying the town and visiting the distillary and going on a walk along the canal walk. The canal was built by slaves to irrogate the plantation in the surrounding area. Unfortuneatly for me there were some scary heights and cliffs because the canal is built along the hillside!!
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