Off the sailboat back to the Steamboat.

After nearly eight months afloat and approximately 4500 miles traveled, we have left the catamaran on the hard at Grenada Marine for the hurricane season and have returned to Colorado to our home in the mountains in Steamboat Springs, fondly referred to as "the 'boat". So we now find ourselves with the mixed emotions of sadness, leaving our newfound lifestyle on the water, saying goodbye to our newly made friends, and returning to a community we "grew up in", seeing the changes happen here on land, which we find less than pleasing. We knew big building projects were approved in town, but not having seen them sprout up made their full grown appearance to us quite startling. But as they say, you can't stop progress. We just wonder if this growth really IS progress or simply as sign of overt greed. This being said, we will try to not dwell on the down-side of our return too much, yet express the gratitude we feel for having been able to experience our sailing and travel experiences over the past year.

Rounding the tip of Grenada, heading toward our chosen hurricane hole harbor, we found large seas and rough travel which were so opposed to our earlier trip down to Grenada, where we experienced outstanding sailing conditions and remarkable speeds for our little boat. The half day trip around the tip brought back memories of earlier ocean conditions and reminded us not to become complacent about moving about the seas. Mother Nature seems to always know just when to play the "don't be smug" card and bring one back down to earth about what power she holds. We safely made the approach trip and entered a calm harbor for a couple nights with our new Dominican Republic friends Louis and Sophia on Fruko where we planned to hole up for a couple of days before making the final entry into the marina where we would leave the boat for the summer. The harbor is a newly made complex which included a neat restaurant, some townhouses for sale, a North Atlantic Light ship anchored on the docks as the office, and a very protected slip space which served well for our initial clean up efforts on the boat.

Since we had an appointment to have the boat hauled out of the water on Monday at 10:30 am, we knew we needed to be close enough that we could get into that harbor regardless of weather. Therefore, we chose Le Phare Bleu (the blue lighthouse) as our final layover. Louis and Sophia were seeking a place to haul their boat so they accompanied us to take a look at our chosen haul out location. Le Phare Bleu proved a perfect place to relax and get a few things done prior to hauling and we wasted no time getting busy cleaning out the interior and sorting out stuff to throw away or take home with us. It also provided us with a nice place to relax and socialize prior to the arduous task ahead once the boat was actually on land and chained down for the season. The restaurant was having a 13th birthday party for a local boy and he had invited all of his school mates for the celebration. The party was raucous and fun to watch as the kids interacted and we quickly reaffirmed that kids are kids regardless of their nationality. The music for the party was provided by a local steel drum band. These musicians were part of a music club which acted like an alternative activity for the kids to try to keep them "out of trouble", much like a 4-H club might be to American kids. They were very good at their musical skills and we enjoyed listening and watching the others enjoy the affair. It was clear that the band members were from a much lesser socio-economic class than the partiers, yet the interaction between the kids was terrific. During their break from entertaining, the band kids joined in with the party guests and played in the water aboard the many available floating toys and kayaks and such. We got quite a bit of pre-cleaning done at the marina so Monday morning we were all set to head off to Grenada Marina to prepare to have the boat hauled out of the water fort the season.

We left the calm of Le Phare Bleu early to be sure to be ready when our haul time arrived. We made the two hour trip in three since the seas were still kicked up pretty good, but were there in time to make our scheduled appointment. They, on the other hand, were not so well prepared. We soon found that our appointment was moved back to 1 pm so we waited patiently for that time. Once we docked the boat in the slip the big lift was moved over the boat and the slings were attached under the boat. Before long she was airborne and moving across the land under this giant four wheeled device to her summer resting place further into the boat yard. We watched as the workers placed huge blocks under the keels and made sure the boat was well balanced on land before removing the crane and driving it away to do haul the next boat out. Once it was settled, a rather rickety ladder was placed against the transom of one hull so we could climb back aboard to continue prepping the boat for storage. The temp in the yard was nearing 100 degrees and the humidity was the same but we kept busy doing our various chores to be sure the boat would be safe and secure for the months on land. We took all of the food stores we couldn't eat and gave them to the front desk crew who happily accepted them to distribute to the workers of the yard for them to take home. We imagined the amount of goodies which were distributed over this pre-hurricane period to be huge as the yard had over 200 vessels already up on blocks. Regardless, we needed to remove anything from the boat which the bugs might find inviting while we were gone.

Since we knew the yard would be less than ideal for overnight stays, we had made arrangements at a neighboring hotel/resort for the two nights we would be there before flying off to the states. This proved to be a wonderful decision as every night, upon completion of our cleaning chores, we were ready for a nice dinner and a cool room to enjoy for the night. Both of these were easily accomplished by the resort. The restaurant was superb and the lodging was beautiful. The resort was an Eco-lodge, catering to nature folks seeking daily nature tours around the island. We thoroughly enjoyed the two nights we stayed there and will certainly use their facilities on the return leg of our trip next fall, when we return to prep the boat for splashing back into the ocean for next winter's journeys.

Our flight back to the states was uneventful and on time, even though we were not anxious to make the journey. We both commented that this was the first time in our lives we had not felt excited to be returning to our beautiful adopted home state of Colorado. We landed at Denver and daughter Jenny picked us up and we were whisked off to their Denver home for dinner and reunion laughs and hugs. The next night we spent with daughter Ellie and her husband in their new home up near Boulder. Was a great way to get back into the stateside family lifestyle.

So now we are back in our mountain home doing renovations to our "rental" home, prepping it to sell and finding the efforts more difficult than expected. It seems the poor real estate economy has finally settled into our small resort town and prices are falling quickly with buyers far and few. So time will tell how well the remodeling effort will be received.

A few reflections on our trip:
1. The hardest part of our trip was, indeed, pushing off from the dock the first time and tying up at the haul out marina at the end.
2. We learned a lot about sailing, about each other, ourselves individually and as a couple, and a tremendous amount about the people in the beautiful paces we visited. Most of all, we learned that the material things we were accustomed to at home, were pretty unnecessary in the big picture.
3. We found we could survive nicely without hearing the evening news.
4. The ocean is a powerful element and an accurate weather forecast is one of the best pieces of information one can come across. We also learned that getting an accurate forecast is nearly impossible.
5. We recommend this lifestyle to anyone willing to push themselves a bit, willing to experience alternative cultures, able to cope with regularly perishing food stores, able to fix things which WILL break, and willing to laugh at the most inappropriate times, to break the tension.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our tales of this trip and will tune in next fall when we return to this adventure, God willing.

Until then, fair winds to one and all.