Hi! As most of you are aware, we’re currently moored in Bonaire, the lovely Dutch Caribbean island that makes up the B in the ABC islands. Our passage from Carriacou was one of relative ease – we did some fishing, some steering, and some delicious cooking. And lots of sleep. I’m glad my first passage went smoothly (both in terms of waves and overall.)
Since we’ve been in Bonaire, we’ve been lucky enough to participate in several of the activities that distinguish Bonaire as a unique and exciting places. Among these are scuba diving and windsurfing. The entire coast of the island is filled with dive sites, but you could go even 30 feet behind our boat and see some super cool reefs and drop-offs, not to mention the countless fish (including cowfish!)
I like diving a great deal, and our hours spent reading and training for our certification have definitely paid off. It’s nice to be on a purely leisure dive, as opposed to our training dives where we practiced scuba skills in addition to looking at the pretty fish. We saw all sorts of fish and coral that I am not at all qualified to talk about other than the fact that I thought it was very pretty. One of my favorite types of fish is the cowfish. Some of them have two lil horns above their eyes so they look like swimming beef. They’re pretty adorable.
We’ve also had the pleasure of snorkeling all over the island, which has been fantastic. You don’t even need to dive to enjoy the water here. Through snorkeling, we’ve seen hundreds of remarkably colorful parrotfish. They range in size, but the one characteristic they all share is their scales all sparkle brilliantly with colors that remind one of a parrot. They do not have feathers like a parrot. The naming is merely for the colors.
We’ve also been windsurfing since being in Bonaire which is a great first place to windsurf considering how many international champions call Bonaire their home. The island has a shallow, sheltered bay that is ideal for beginners and experts alike. I (of course) fell off the windsurfer after being on the board for about two seconds. To some, that might be a discouraging start, but I laughed it off and hopped back on. Over the two hours I went from knowing barely anything about sailing to knowing a little more than barely anything about sailing. It wasn’t very windy, but I believe our conditions were ideal for learning to windsurf.
Happy Halloween everybody! I hope you have a spooky day!
Hey everyone! I wrote this a while ago about Carriacou. Although we’re now in Bonaire after a successful passage, I think you guys would enjoy reading it.
A few days ago, we moved our boat to the quiet Tyrell Bay of Carriacou. After all the excitement from Carnival in Grenada and all the kid boats we met, our latest anchorage feels remarkably sleepy. Although it’s different here, I definitely still enjoy it. And the peace and quiet is a nice change for a little bit.
There’s a fairly sizable reef in Tyrell Bay that makes for wonderful snorkeling. The maximum depth is about 12 feet, so it’s quite easy to get to the bottom to get a closer look at some interesting coral or a long abandoned motor. You’ve got to be careful of sea urchins though – the floor is like a minefield of big pokey black sea urchins, which twitch around and make awfully scary noises. They’re pretty easy to avoid, as long as you watch where you’re swimming.
Within the past few days, Sally and I have been on some adventures in search of some critters to consume. Sally spotted some lobsters which we tried to catch (with Boat Dad’s help), but they evaded us with relative ease. The only ones we netted were too small to bring home. A day after we saw lobsters, I spotted a gang of about five lionfish! Lionfish are an invasive and deadly species to Grenada and Carriacou, and as such, we’re allowed to kill them on sight.
Along with Boat Dad, Sally and I set out to spear the lionfish for both our own nourishment and to rid the ocean of some roaring bad guys. You get the mane idea, yeah? Whenever we spot something that looks tasty, I tread water above the thing and Sally swims back to the boat to get the spear or Boat Dad. Either way, I always seem to be stuck treading water. The most recent time, I suggested that I swim back, but Sally (correctly) stated that she would be faster. So, I waited for her.
With Boat Dad and Sally (and a spear) catching the lionfish was simple work. Boat Dad stabbed the biggest lionfish pretty good, but he swam deeper into the reef, out of range. Two of his friends were not so lucky, and they were soon vanquished and returned without glory to our boat to be prepared for an appetizer. Fun fact: fried lionfish is actually pretty good. Someone even claimed it tasted like lobster!
After our fish catching adventures, we went on to the island with a boat friend for a fantastic supper. If you’re ever in Carriacou, I would highly recommend going to a restaurant run by a woman named Mavis, who operates the restaurant with her husband and children. She’s friendly, and makes delicious fried chicken with spices that make KFC seem like dirt. So far, my post-Grenada adventures have been splendid, and I’m sure they’re only going to get splendid-er. Until next time!
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t done any blog posts in a really long time, but I will catch up on other things that I have done here in Grenada soon! I am going to write about a super fun event I was super lucky to be part of right now though, The Grenfin Invitational Swim Meet.The swim meet was a really cool experience, one I will never forget. The Sailfish swim club swimmers, coaches, helpers, and parents were all great people and inspirations.
It all started about one and a half weeks before the swim meet. We were asked if we wanted to do a swim meet if we were still in Grenada. We all thought that would be fun but didn’t think that we would still be in Grenada. We decided we would stay in Grenada, so, we would be able to go!
We started going to practice. We had about a week to practice and when we got into the pool for the first time in about a year and a half, it was much harder then I remember. But with Coach Mandy and Coach Deb I was very excited and ready to swim more!
When I first got to the swim meet on Thursday night, I was very excited to start swimming! When we got there we met some more super nice people on the team. There was good music playing as we quickly warmed up. That day we were doing only one event which was the 500 freestyle. The event was 9 and over for the event and since I had no times I was in the same heat as Sally. The 500 was good. We had the first heat so we spent a lot of time cheering with the rest of the team. The swimmers were so dedicated and were sooo fast. I talked and met more people which was fun. Later that evening, we found out that the Sailfish were leading the meet for the first time in 7 years! That was exciting to us all.
Friday night we were going to swim the 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and 100 freestyle.But…Friday night was filled with rainstorms with lots of thunder and lightning. We got into our dinghy a few minutes before we were going to be picked up because it was raining hard and thundering and lightning right in the harbor.We got up to the swim meet and before the meet even started, they postponed it.Well, the Sailfish were still leading the Grenfin 2 days in a row. When we got back to our boat, it was still thundering and lightning. We found out that one of the boats in the harbor even got struck by lightning!It was definitely a good call to postpone the meet.
The next morning we woke up early and Coach Deb drove us up for a 7:15 warm up. When we got to the meet, we found out that we would be swimming Friday’s and Saturday’s events. They eliminated 2 events, the 200 back and 200 breaststroke, so there would be time to do both days. We were all warmed up well before the meet started. To start the meet, there was a march around the pool with everyone in their team jackets. It was fun and I will post some pics of that! Next there were announcements. I started off just standing by where we ended with other people, but I was informed that, “You will be old by the time that these people stop talking,” by Coach Mandy. So I sat down and half listened to the ongoing talk about Lucozade, basically gatorade, and all the other sponsors for the meet.After about 5 false ends to the talking, the meet was finally beginning! The little kids swam the 100 freestyle and then it was time for the 9 and over 200 freestyle. Heidi, Sally, and I were all in the same heat. No one else was swimming with us.
So, when the announcer was announcing us, it was, “Heidi Vannini in lane 2 from Sailfish, LucyVannini in lane 3 from Sailfish, and Sally Vannini in lane 4 from Sailfish.Well, they are all Vannini’s and they are all Sailfish.” I looked at Heidi and Sally smiling. They both were smiling too. I adjusted my goggles and soon the race began. It ended Heidi first, Lucy second, and Sally third. We had fun doing the rest of the races, talking and laughing with the team, and cheering. By the time that the two days put into one were done it was dark and about 7 at night. It was a long day and soon after we ate dinner, I went to bed, thinking of the fun and swimming that the next day would bring us.
Heidi, Sally, and me in the Sailfish jackets
It was Sunday. We still had the lead in the meet, only by about20 points though. And there was one event that the other team could win 20-30 points.It was the last day and the winner would be determined that day. It was going to be the most competition… I got up, ate breakfast, got swim stuff together, then we left. We decided yesterday that we would warm up on our boat so we didn’t have to wake up so early. But when we got there we warmed up a little more with the little kids on the team. The first thing that I swam was the 200 IM. It is my least favorite event so I was pretty happy it was the first event.After that I swam some more races.The others sailfish events were super exciting. At the end of them everyone on the team was jumping up and down and cheering for them. It always seemed to be less then a second that a least two swimmers ended from each other in the last eats. Grenfin seemed to be getting in the lead but still it seemed very close. We had lunch break. They had all different types of foods there and it was cool to see the differences between their food and the food at swim meets I went to. They had rotis, bake with salt fish or cheese, barbecue with rice and salad, and lots of other good food. After the lunch break, we started going over some of the medals before we finished the meet.There were lots of Grenfin and lots of Sailfish winning prizes but I thought that the Grenfin might be a little ahead still. There was the 100 breaststroke and relay after that. We finished and there were more awards.
Me doing breaststrokeHeidi doing backstrokeSally doing breaststroke
Heidi, Sally, and I got changed quickly and headed over to the side where people were getting the medals. About halfway through the medals Coach Mandy came over and told everyone that if the sailfish won that we would run around, act mad, and jump in the water. Heidi said that she would do the running around and acting mad part but she was already changed. I agreed. When the time finally came for saying which team won, everyone was super excited and nervous. The last two teams left were Grenfin and Sailfish. For seven years before this, the Grenfin had always won.The Grenfin started cheering like oo, oo,oo.
“It was super close, only seven points difference,” the announcer said. Everyone fell silent. 7 points was only one race. “The winner for this years Grenfin Invitational goes to….…Sailfish!” The whole team was jumping up and down and cheering like crazy. It was so exciting how happy everyone was. People started jumping in the water. Sally went to change back into her swim suit and I was just about to when Coach Mandy told us, “Go be in the water with your team.” Heidi and I looked at each other then started going to the pool. I jumped in and was greeted with lots of splashes and “you came in!” Heidi was in soon after me. It was so much fun, they had great music playing, everyone was so happy, and hugging each other! It was so so so so much fun! After lots of hugs, congrats, and pictures we headed back.
celebrating pictureSally, Heidi, me, and Coach Mandy with the trophy🎉
I am so glad that I got to be part in this super fun event. It was very inspiring to be part of a swim team that everyone was encouraged, super nice, and dedicated. Coach Mandy and Coach Deb were great role models, people to look up to, and amazing both as people and coaches. The swimmers on the team were some of the most welcoming people that I met. Even though we just came and barely met one another, everyone was sure nice and welcomed us to be part of the team. It seemed by the end of the weekend that we had been friends with the rest of the team for a lot longer the just a weekend. The Sailfish Swim Team was a great team filled with amazing people. I would stay in Grenada just so I could be part of this swim team. It was a super great memory, experience, and something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Hello again!
I know that Fenton has already covered this and the event happened a million years ago but I wanted to share my story from J’Ouvert (ju-vay). That morning was definitely one I will remember forever. I’m very glad I chose to go. It was a last minute decision on my part. I mean let’s be honest here, “Hey Heidi, wanna come with me to get covered in grease and listen to music that’s playing way louder than it should be all at four in the morning?!” Um yeeeah no thank you. But if you think about it, this is a once in a lifetime experience I don’t want to miss. And the stories that come after. It’s a new culture at their most exciting time of the year. It was all worth it.
We (Dad, Fenton, Lucy {she decided to skip it} and I) planned our “outfits” the night before. This included a very old way too big pair of shorts I had never worn that I could very easily part with and a large white t-shirt I’m not too fond of. All on top of a swim suit just in case we needed to take our clothes off for the dinghy ride home. We woke up the next morning way earlier than any human should have to wake up at and the music was already blaring. So loudly we could hear it from our boat before we left. The sun had not yet risen but being very pale cruisers we put on our sunscreen and dish soap. Dad figured that Joy would help rub off the greases that we were to be covered with. So we loaded up the dinghy and headed off, stopping to pick up a few more boat friends along the way.
And then, the most terrible noise came out of the seventeen year old sitting next to me in our small boat. A strangled cat mixed with a breaching whale scream accompanied the flopping sound coming from the bottom of the dinghy. The flashlight was whipped out and we caught our first dinghy fish!! Quite the way to start the crazy morning.
We made it to the dock with no further excitement. The music got louder and louder and we could kind of make out the clusters of dark oil covered people. We docked and locked the dinghy and moved about two feet before hitting the wall of people. The streets were filled, jam packed, completely full, hundreds of thousands of loud, crazy, messy people everywhere. Everywhere. Our small group stood and stared for a few minutes, trying to take in the entire scene. We finally decided to try to make our way through the mass of human bodies. We moved about a foot and were stopped by a man with a gallon of white paint. He smeared some on Dad’s face and continued walking. Lemme point out here that this isn’t face paint. This is full on paint-your-walls stuff. Anyways, we decided to make a go for it. We stepped into the streets and the music pounded through my body. My chest thumping to each beat of some of our new favorite songs.
It is practically impossible to stay clean in this setting. Even if you don’t cover yourself in oil, like us, there is no way to walk down the packed streets without being brushed up against. By the time we had moved maaaybe two feet, we all had some sort of coloring on us. We stopped for a minute to enjoy the music and partially because we physically couldn’t move anywhere. The speakers were moving in and out with the music (just like in all the cartoons!!!) that seemed to get louder as the day went on. Then, this man with his buddy stopped in front of us. One of them holding a five gallon bucket of grease and the other with a grease covered piece of seaweed. If you haven’t imagined this already, he dunked his seaweed in the bucket and dripped the slimy plant all over our necks and for me, all in my hair. We moved about a total of ten feet in our entire experience. On a short dash to the next “open” spot, I was stopped by a big orange paint coated hand on my face. After getting some more grease and paint thrown on us, we stood back and just watched.
It was truly the craziest event I have ever been to. The entire island was going insane. Partying hard. And all at four in the morning.
Grenada, you really do have an amazing culture. I feel so special and lucky to have shared J’Ouvert 2018 with you. Thank you for an awesome carnival.
More soon,
Heidi
P.S. The dish soap definitely helped with the aftermath of the morning. Only a few ocean showers after we were cleaner than before.
