Category: Heidi

Hello all,

Today is Sunday, July 29th, but I’m going to tell you all about yesterday, and the adventures of Kid’s Carnival. I say I, but this is more a joint project between the crew except for Lucy (because she was sleeping).

Carnival is an annual few day festival with activities such as (very) loud music and memorable, authentic Grenadian dancing. There’s lots of delicious food and colorful costumes and everyone is celebrating. Kid’s Carnival is the same idea, but it’s toned down, and is just one day for the kiddos. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still loud and spicy – but it’s much more appropriate for the youngsters.

We started our day in Prickly Bay, a small anchorage where we stayed while visiting family for a week (more on that later). We had yogurt and made some of the most delicious Mac and Cheese I have ever eaten in my life. After a lazy morning, we set off on a quick sail before dropping anchor in St. George’s. After finding a new spot for home Dad, Mom, Fenton, Heidi, & Sally, brought the dinghy into the jetty and walked along the beach to the mall where the Kid’s Carnival took place. We could easily hear the noise of the festival from the jetty before the ten minute walk.

The carnival took place on a big field with small tents holding vendors, food, music, toys, bubbles, horses, go-karts, and a stage with a DJ. Right away, we met up with some local family friends and Sally and the 11 year old girl, Leanna, got in line for horseback riding. The line took fooooooorever but we got some snow cones so everything was okay. Sally and Leanna waited very patiently and finally ended up on a horse. Lots of smiles.

The show started soon after the horses finished. The show started with a local youth dancing group. They were 5 and 6 year olds. They were adorable, and they had a lot of potential for the future. After that, we watched people dance in competitions to win soda. Then we watched emerging Soca artists. I don’t know a lot about Soca, but I do know that it’s loud and fast. It’s fun to listen to and watch. After that, we got to see royalty. Little Miss Grenada 2k18 took the stage, and she talked briefly about making Grenada a happier place, before strutting off majestically.

Finally, we got to the part everyone had been waiting for. We got to see characters such as Dora, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Ben 10, Mickey & Minnie Mouse. The best part was they all danced! The dancing was spicy, but it was enjoyable. We will never be able to see these characters again in the same way.

We left soon after due to some technical difficulties, hurting ears, hungry children, and one kid and our dog back home. It was a fun filled very Grenadian evening. We will never forget the way some local kids can move, the feeling of the music coming from everywhere, and the overall excitement flowing through the air.

We can’t wait for Carnival.

~Fenton & Heidi

Swimming has always been an important part of my life. Mom taught me how to swim at a very small age so I don’t remember learning. The ocean has always been a big pool with waves to splash in. Lane lines and swim caps were introduced. The nervous butterfly feeling before swimming a 100 yard butterfly became familiar. Our mother ocean became home. I have been surrounded by water since the beginning of my time. So when I learned that 90% of the people that live on this island didn’t know how to swim I happily agreed to help teach.

90% is a big number. That’s 9 out of every 10 people. That live on an island. A piece of land surrounded by water. What I found out from some of the kiddos I taught and some shallow research was that the no swim policy is a long cultural tradition. They believe that if you don’t teach kids to swim that they won’t go in the water and therefore it’s impossible to drown. Now if you asked me, teach them how to swim and then they won’t drown. On top of this, they’re kids! How do you keep small children that love the beach out of the water? It’s hard. Before I get into the full story I’d like to describe the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, and who ever else was watching. They were uncomfortable with their kids, grandkids, relatives, sister, brothers, in the water. They’re gonna get eaten by a shark! She can’t go over her head!! The seaweed!!! It’s all new and scary. In all honesty, at first I thought it was silly, sharks? Really? But these guys have been taught since forever that the ocean is something to be afraid of. Once I thought through this, it became a lot more understandable.

Swim lessons started on Monday. On the Saturday before, we met with Deb Eastwood, the lady that organized the Get Grenada Swimming program. She came to Grenada 11 years ago as a teacher and has done amazing things for the island ever since. We met her at a hotel with a small pool that some of the other volunteers were staying at. A big chunk of the other volunteers that we met were from the US or UK studying abroad as medics. They got quite anxious to say the least when they saw kids that could barely swim jump off a jetty into very shallow water. But we met them at the pool and Deb taught us the basics. Teach the lil guys to blow bubbles, float, kick, use their arms, and elementary backstroke. Since I was the only one wearing my bathing suit I got to help demonstrate. It was the first time I was in a pool since Florida!

We got to the beach bright and early on Monday. We were teaching on the beach not in a pool. Most of the kids here have never been in a pool. There’s only one public pool on the entire island and if you don’t know how to swim it doesn’t do you much good. Swim started at 9 and we got there at 8. Two kids were already there. One of the two, an eight year old girl, Harmony, ended up with me for the rest of the week. I’m proud to say that she can now successfully swim freestyle and elementary backstroke and float for a loooong time. As more and more kids started coming in we started playing small team games. Little hand games, jumping, following the leader, and singing were all included in the before nine action. We ended up having a good half an hour every morning of fun before the swimming actually happened. It was a really really awesome way to meet some locals and make some memorable friends.

The swimming part was amazing. I love to swim. I love the ocean. I love teaching. I love lil kids. This past week was the best of all worlds. I felt as though I wasn’t only my students instructor but big bud. We had an interesting first day. Some of the kids were very excited and happily ran into the water. Others were terrified. It took some energy to get one friend closer than three feet from where the waves were washing up on the shore. But we all got there eventually. By the end of the week we could all blow bubbles, float on our backs and bellies—they don’t say stomach here, and kick kick kick. Some got the arms and backstroke down. Typically the smaller, more scared and lighter kiddos had a harder time floating. But they tried. They all wanted to learn. I thought that was really special. It’s one thing to try to teach someone who isn’t really trying but to teach kids that want to learn, that’s another story. A much better and more exciting one. It’s also incredible because these guys were all scared. The ocean is scary. Their parents and older siblings don’t swim. Haha that motivated some.

If you ever find yourself teaching small islanders how to swim, I would highly suggest telling them these few things:
-When you need air, you can come up and breathe. I thought this was self explanatory but I found out otherwise. Everyone was okay!!! Just sat and took some deep breaths after that.
-The seaweed isn’t gonna kill you. No it’s not alive. I mean technically sure it’s alive but it’s not going to reach up and pull you under.
-If you know how to swim your chances of drowning are much lower. After a week of teaching girls how to float on their backs and telling them that if you fall in and can’t stand you can float on your back and wait for someone to get you you would think that they would get that. But no. I asked them all on their last day what would happen if they couldn’t stand in the water and they all automatically said they would drown. Noooooo. You would swim or float silly girls.
-Water is allowed in your ears. Yes I know it feels weird but when you jump from the dock your whole head goes in too! They love to jump off the jetty into shallow (so they can stand) water but getting the ears wet when floating is tricky.
-I gotchu. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that in the past week but it’s a very nice reminder.
Overall, it was a blast. I loved every minute of it. I will remember these kids so well and always with a smile on my face. I was really really excited to share one of my stronger abilities with the island. With the help of many volunteers, different beaches, and kids up to learn, 628 kids were taught how to swim in the past week. Monday to Friday, 9-12.
628.
628 kids can now swim.
How amazing is that?
Lastly, I have some news. Big news. I have the honor to share with you that in a week we will have a new crew member joining us for nine months. My seventeen year old cousin, Fenton, is taking a gap year before he heads off to college and is sailing away with us. We are all excited beyond my words will work and can’t wait to see where this next year will take us all. So sooner rather than later the crew of Love & Luck will include, Mom, Dad, Fenton, Heidi, Lucy, Sally, and of course, Willie. Can’t wait friendo. ❤️
Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Heidi

The fourth of April, two thousand eighteen. Big big big fun filled day starting at eight in the morning and ending at ten forty-five at night. The biggest thing I learned on that day was life. Not the type of tree cocoa grows on, how loud geese can be, Christopher Columbus’ landing, but life. How we live, how others live. How much we have, how little some have. How big a difference we can all make. But rewind a lil bit. Back to eight in the morning.

We arraigned the tour with José several days prior to the actual date. He’s an incredibly kind guy that knows three languages. One of which is English. Everyone in town knows him and as we saw it, everyone likes him. He picked us up at the government dock in a big AIR CONDITIONED van with his driver Billy. In Dominican Republic, driving is a scary task even for those who haven’t traveled more than 10mph in a while. With motorcycles, potholes, donkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, goats, horses, and lots and lots of cows, driving in a car is a lil challenging. Aaaand on top of all that, after all the rain we’ve been getting, many of the dirt roads are flooded and slick. Billy and José however, know these towns like the back of their hand so we didn’t have any troubles. We all piled in and almost automatically went to grab our seatbelts. Well, there were no seatbelts. Or speed limits. Or stop signs. With all of the animals too! We went along a short but very bumpy, ride and stopped at a cow community. No I’m not making that up. We stopped at a cow community. We walked right into a large {pile of yuck and…} number of cows and the bull and watched them hand milk a cow. Pretty neat stuff.

After a twenty minute drive, mostly on paved roads (yayayayay), we stopped at a so called beautiful gathering spot, resort, and beach club. We were told that they take the Carnival cruise passengers to this spot, but it is open to anyone. Anyone can bring food and drink and hangout at this spot. We were let inside and beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent, they are all understatements. It had a beach, many cute tables and huts, stairs right into the ocean, showers, restaurant. It was great. I told Mom I could see myself getting married there. So if that says anything…haha.

Back into the car we went, after checking again for seatbelt, seriously though every time we got into the car. Like we know they aren’t there but our arm just automatically reaches up and haha we looked pretty silly but hey! Safety first kids! We drove for a while and ended up in the city of Isabella, where Columbus set up the first settlement in the new world. But okay let’s hold up for a second here. In my social studies class in so called America, we were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. And this is all true. But what they don’t tell us is that the Domican Republic and Haiti are the America he landed on. I’ve always assumed he washed up in Boston?!?!?! Maybe I’m stupid or wasn’t paying attention or I missed something entirely but seriously did they ever teach us about Columbus in the DR? I don’t think so. So until yesterday I don’t exactly know what I thought but I definitely didn’t think that Columbus discovered the island of Dominican and Haiti. Anyway, the museum was really interesting. It took a lil brain power seeing as it was all in Spanish. Thankfully, José was an amazing tour guide and explained everything in excellent English. We walked around the ruins of the first settlement. It made everything really real to see the very last bits of the house Columbus lived in, see the small cemeteries, and the church. Apparently, the settlement was still up and had more than an outline of large rocks but a lil miscommunication a little while ago ended that. What I understood was the government ordered the space to be cleared, meaning some trees and greenery, but the entire city ended up in the ocean. So I learned a lot a lot of history, the real history.

In Isabella, we also stopped at two very, very, small shops that had hand carved wood animal figures. They were absolutely amazing and really cool to see. We also stopped at the first church that is still up and running. We looked around for a lil bit, there were lots of gorgeous plants and VERY VERY VERY LOUD GEESE. Along with some turkeys, doggos, kitties, were the security geese. Now typically we’ve seen security dogs. Big ferocious sounding mean dogs. And they definitely know how to keep unwanted visitors away. Well, here at this church, the geese are the alarm system. Now you’re probably thinking ‘well duh heidi geese can be loud.’ No guys these birds are screaming, honking, crowing, squawking, like I’ve never seen before. That was definitely a new one for us. Security geese.

We headed back to Luperon {our starting spot} for lunch. We had a fantastic rice and beans and chicken and salad at a small local restaurant. All the food we had in Luperon and the DR was awesome. So so good. After we finished we got back into the car and headed for a cocoa plantation. In all honesty, I wasn’t too too excited for this stop but I was pleasantly surprised. It had allllll the trees there. Mangoes, avocados, cocoa, bananas, plantains, paprika, coffee, sopadillo, and many more I can’t either spell or remember. They had magnificent flowers that I loved photographing. And then, probably my favorite part of the plantation, the animals! I automatically was drawn to an adorable kitty that let my pick her up and snuggle and aaah so sososososos cute. They also had geese. Very very loud geese. Haha they had some cows, sheep, goats, they had a baby goat that Sally got to hold for a while. Also adorable. But my favorite animal there, and my favorite animal in general were the ostriches. They are so so funny looking and smile at you and hahaha makes me laugh just thinking about those goofballs. It was overall, a really interesting spot.

After the plantation, we headed off to a poorer section of the Dominican. We brought with us our collection of toothbrushes that so many of you kindly donated to help children in need. I can tell you now that the kids were ecstatic. Beyond happy to receive these small but special gifts. It was a tricky ride there. Many of the streets were flooded which made for a slow, bumpy ride. It was quite the hike to Cambiasso, the town we stopped in. I don’t know if I’d even want to call it a town, more like a community. It was on a white sand, turquoise water beach. Really really pretty. The houses looked like what many of us would call a shack, or shed. The van that we were in was bigger than most of these shelters. Families live together in one room spots. Some kids didn’t have clothes. No one had shoes on their feet. Bathrooms were the middle of the street for some. They depend on people passing by for business. It was real life. I’ve heard about all this stuff before, seen photos, read papers. But I don’t think any of it can really describe what it is like to walk around and see it. Most of the kids were at school when we arrived so we handed out toothbrushes to the younger kiddos. They were speechless. It really meant so so so incredibly much to them. I don’t think I can ever describe the look on these lil guys faces. It’s something you have to experience, you had to be there kinda thing. Something that really struck me hard was when we asked José if we should give the mothers and/or fathers the toothbrushes for the kids that were at school, he said no. They would never get to the kids. Parents would sell them and buy something for themselves instead of give it to their own children. I can’t start to explain how grateful I am for everything that I have. I really do appreciate my toothbrush more now. I don’t know how many kids my age get to see people living like this. I would guess not that many. It was really the greatest learning moment I think I’ve had. Ever. You can go to the best college in the world but what they can’t teach you is life. Real life. It’s out there. It’s really real now. I met a mother of five children. I’m guessing she was no more than two years older than me. It’s really hard for me to imagine having five kids and one room to live in depending on passing by visitors for money. What I also don’t think always comes across is that these people are the smiliest, and friendliest people we’ve met. They were really truly grateful for us coming. They appreciated our company. These aren’t bad people. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty for everyone but these people didn’t do something wrong that put them where they are. They were born with the wrong last name, the wrong storm hit them hard, it is what it is. And they are willing to look past that and make the best out of what they have. And things like this keep me going. I encourage you to tonight, when you go to brush your teeth, with a toothbrush, toothpaste, safe drinking water, take a minute to think about how much you have to be grateful for. There are a lot of things that remind me how truly lucky I am. And all in all, I’ve really been shown that we are all one big family. We’re all human.

By the time we got back to the dock after the ride from Cambiasso it was nearly six in the pm. We quickly got dressed into nicer clothes, regained some of our energy, and met our friends that we met at the marina for dinner. The man who owns the marina that we stayed at also owns the restaurant so it was all really nice. It was so fun to watch Ellana, six years old, Spanish speaking, and sally, ten years old, English speaking become great friends. We ended up spending the next day with them too which was also a blast. By the time we got back home it was way late and after a day full of excitement we fell asleep real quick.

It was truly an incredible experience. The biggest thing I learned on that day was life. Not the type of tree cocoa grows on, how loud geese can be, Christopher Columbus’ landing, but life. How we live, how others live. How much we have, how little some have. How big a difference we can all make. How thankful I am to be where I am. How grateful I am to be sharing this message and story with you. Thank you.

Till next time,
Heidi

Friends! Wowie haha it’s been a while. I’m gonna backtrack a lil bit here so let’s pretend it’s about a month ago. First of all, I wrote this a while ago when we were still in the Bahamas and never got around to posting so here goes.

I’ve seen a lot of beautiful places in my lifetime. I’ve hiked Grand Canyon and the Tetons, I’ve been to the boundary waters multiple times, I’ve visited pink sand beaches, but none of this comes even close to what we saw yesterday (yesterday being a long time ago). Yesterday I went to not only the most beautiful beach but most beautiful place so far in my 14 years of life. I don’t think words will do much at all but I’ll do my best. First of all, this special spot is located in the Exumas Land and Sea Park on Shroud Cay. The park is very similar to a National Park for the islands. You are allowed to take nothing but photos and amazing memories. The way into this beach is a dinghy ride through the mangroves. No vessel over three knots is allowed which makes for a quiet and peaceful ride. We saw a sea turtle and lots of little fish on the way in which made the trip there exciting. Towards the end of the dinghy ride, I was sitting on the very front of the dinghy, the tide was down so I was trying to help pilot Dad through the sand and rocks. Now this is where the magic happened. I was at the very front, motor is down low as not to disturb the sand or ruin the bottom of our dinghy, we make a slow, big, wide, turn, and bam. At least 50 shades of the blue Atlantic and the whitest sand I’ve ever seen. It was incredible. The water was surprisingly warm and the sand was softer than I thought possible. We spent a good chunk of our day in paradise. As I write this we are headed for a different island also protected by the park. Got some pretty big shoes to fill. Haha I don’t know if anything will ever compare to that experience but I’m excited to see what comes next.

The next spot we visited was also amazing. This doesn’t mean much because all in all the Bahamas were extremely peaceful and gorgeous. The video I posted was from that next spot. It was the first time in a while we got to go hiking so we spent a day finding our way around the island. Great fun. We visited a few more special places but I think everyone has done a great job keeping that updated. I know that Dad has a few longish ones coming. So moving on to Georgetown!

Georgetown was kid paradise. I met first fourteen year old we’ve seen since October! It was a blast, the beach was spectacular, and a definite community was present. We made lots of friends and loved meeting them at the beach every afternoon at two. Campfires, swings, sea shanties, and friends. What more could one ask for? So so much fun.

As most all of you know, we are happy in the Dominican Republic. The mountains are absolutely gorgeous and the new culture is beautiful. I’m sure we will have more on this as we continue to explore this country.

Cya,

Heidi 🌴☀️❤️

Hello all,

As many of you know I am a Girl Scout, Venture Scout, and enjoy all things nature. I am currently working towards my Ranger Award and one of the requirements is sharing my knowledge of Leave No Trace. With some help from the family I put together this video. Hope y’all enjoy!

 

 

Aaaah I completely forgot to post this. But hey better late than never..? Hahah sorry bout the delay.

As I’ve been growing older but not up, I’ve always wondered where the wild things are. After reading the classic children’s book by Maurice Sendak, I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who’s wondered where these creatures live. Well, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve found them in Key West. Oh have we seen some people. I’m not gonna go into much detail for everyone’s sake but if you’ve ever been to Key West I’ll leave it at your typical Key Wester. As we mentioned in our family blog we saw some hilarious situations. My favorite being a cruise ship passenger tasting some soap and the reactions that followed. I also love all of the diversity of everything here. All of the artwork, animals, people, and food have their own special differences that make this place so interesting. Oh oh oh! Being a parrothead, it’s only right to visit the original Margaritaville and Captain Tony’s. Fins up!

If we go way back to getting here from Naples hahaha. That morning was full of lots of circles with only one engine working. Now, if we go waaaaaaay back to when I was three, four, five, six, and maaaaybe even seven Sesame Street was the best thing. And we all know that Grover is the coolest character on the show (Cookie Monster is a close second, don’t worry). One song that will stick with me forever and ever is Grover’s around, around, around, around, over, and under, and throoooooough. Okay so back to the circling around a boat hook. Teheheheeee my inner Sesame Street came out.  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XKu3NE7Omkw

Wowie. So much has happened since October 9th. However, I feel that this trip is just beginning. This is it folks, haha this is where the story of the islands really begins. And the United States novel is coming to a close. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we end on a happily ever after. ✨

Cya friendos,
Heidi ‍

Hey friends!

Wow..another whole year. Another crazy year. So much has changed in these last few months but let’s start at the very beginning…it’s a very good place to start.

     In January, mom and dad were thinking about possibly looking at boats, then possibly sailing for a couple of years, and then possibly homeschooling. And come February, we were looking at catamarans in freezing snow and ice. And by March, we had a boat. A beautiful 37 foot catamaran. All of April and most of May were a blur of cleaning and selling most everything along with tackling school, swim, and cello. And on May 20, 2017, we became boaters. Moved out of the house and headed up to Sheboygan to start our new life on the boat. But here’s the thing. That was May 20, school ended June 6. So for a couple of weeks we drove an hour and a half to get to school and an hour and a half back. How fun. But hey come June 6, I graduated eighth grade -yay!

      Now, this is when the craziest, most fun filled summer of my life began. It all started with a trip up to Quetico to paddle the Boundary Waters with Venture Crew. I loved every minute of that trek and got to spend so much time with so many amazing people. Two days after I got home we started the drive to the Poconos to spend a week with cousins. Always love seeing those goofs so as you can imagine, I had a blast. After that week came to an end we headed to the east coast to visit old Girl Scout troops and my happy place, Grammie’s beach. Had an action packed few weeks there seeing some of my closest friends, cousins again, and family. Phew haha that was a lot but oh man the adventure hasn’t even begun.

      We headed back up to Racine, Wisconsin, -where our boat spent the summer- and had about a week at home….for the first time in forever. We had a nice time to relax for a lil bit and Sally, dad, and I got to see the one and only Jimmy Buffett at Wrigley so woohoo! Aaaand then, another week in the Boundary Waters spent with family.

      After quite a bit of traveling, we settled down back in Racine and took daily sailing lessons to prepare for the upcoming years. We had lots of fun meeting many characters we will remember forever and sailing is almost always fun. It’s always exciting when it involves the police coming after us and multiple turtles or capsized 420’s right? Haha oh boy I could go on forever but fast forward to October. October 9 we left. Let the adventure begin! As most of you probably know we successfully made it down all of the rivers with only a couple tows and engine break downs…

      We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with grandparents, cousins, and lots of Florida sunshine. We all have so much to be thankful for! Dad and I also attended the Hurricane Benefit Concert starring Jimmy Buffett, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, and Caroline Jones. Super fun night filled with amazing music. One to remember forever.
We are happily spending the holiday season in Florida with grandparents. What a way to end the year. I hope that y’all have had amazing years filled with love, joy, and happiness. Wish for nothing but the best for the new year. May your days be filled with love and luck. Fair winds and following seas friends. 🍀❤️

Happy New Year!
Heidi 🎉

Hello friends! Woah, lots has happened in the past few months. My sisters and I are currently actively participating in daily sailing lessons and we have now started our school work. We have met quite the characters with our sailing classes and truly had tons of fun. Only a few unexpected swims and collisions so everything is good.

Life in the boat is quite something. We are happily living all together in our marina. Life at the marina is quite interesting. We are all finally getting settled and back into some daily routines. We have been all over this summer so it’s nice to finally be back.

School. School is quite different when you are sitting on a couch with your sisters gently rocking back and forth. It’s hard to explain, it’s nice to have your own pace and freedoms and all but then again, wheres the teacher to teach, or the classmates to study with? But I’m sure it will all work out. With Sally’s constant singing and Lucy working hard with post-it’s and me clicking a pen we are having nothing but a blast. We are happy and having loads of fun.

Anyways I just wanted to update y’all on our current state of being and hope that all your days are filled with love and luck.

“With little love and luck we will get by
With a little love and luck we’ll take the sky”
~Jimmy Buffett, Love & Luck (if y’all didn’t know, our boat is named Love & Luck, it’s a great song by the best artist)

Cya later,
Heidi

Hey guys! This is Heidi, the oldest kid on the boat. I am in 8th grade and enjoy many outdoorsy activities including hiking, backpacking, camping, swimming, snorkeling, yoga, and of course, sailing. One of the most frequently asked question I get is, are you excited? And yes, I am super excited to begin our adventure. I can’t wait to explore new cultures, see lots of marine life, and most of all, get to spend time with some of my favorite people 24/7.

For the update part of this post, I wanted to inform y’all that we have found a boat! After looking at a few other catamarans, we settled on a beautiful 37 foot cat. We are all super excited to get ready to move onto our 3 cabin home. The boat has 2 heads(bathrooms), 3 cabins(bedrooms) and a nice kitchen area and a small table inside and another table outside. The boat also has a small trampoline at the front of the boat that I’m sure my sisters and I will enjoy.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to this blog site. I hope that you are having a spectacular day and I will hopefully be back soon with some more good news!

“Mother Mother Ocean, I have heard your call.”
― Jimmy Buffett

That’s all for now,
Heidi