Guest blogger Sue Sorensen. First impression…Wow…Last impression…Wow. My husband Gary and I have had the pleasure of spending the last 12 days with Greg on his boat “Mile High Dream”. I recently retired from 33 years of teaching middle school science, so we didn’t really have a chance to do things like this before. I met Greg in our Summit bike group “Tour de Friends” last summer. We got to talking about where we spent our winters, and when he casually said “on a boat sailing around the Caribbean”…I said, do people really get to do that? He said yup and so the idea was” launched “ that we might hitch a ride this year. We used to do some sailboat racing back in WI, but boy is this a different world. We sailed the first week with his sailing buddy Lew (and friends Chris and Colleen). We did a bunch of really fun things like snorkeling, hiking, visiting fresh markets and old forts, drinking rum, drinking beer, riding scooters, canoeing where the witch from the Pirates of the Caribbean lived, fishing, shopping, sailing, eating home made ice cream, eating French bakery, ….Small things I have learned…
- Take a direct flight when possible (8 hours in Trinidad) in the dead of the night and
then 4 hours in St. Lucia…long 30 hour day.
- Get a taxi driver that either speaks English or at least knows where it is that you are
going. (We did see some other parts of the island this way, but there are better ways)
- Get seasick downwind and on the low side of the boat. (Yes, I was the only one)
- Know how to use an ATM before you leave (our first time ever!!)
- Learn how to not act like a tourist when talking to people in the markets.
- Make sure both feet are in the dingy before trying to get in (I fell in the water, after a
few too many Rum punches)
- Make sure you have a waterproof case on your phone (see above) because iPhones
and saltwater don’t mix!
- Sleep sideways across the bed in big waves…that way your stomach isn’t sloshing
from side to side, more naturally up and down.
- Get up early if you want to rent scooters (or at least before the tour boats disembark)
- make sure the sail is down before you try putting the anchor down (ask Greg about
this one as it is his to tell!)
- Don’t put your fingers into the mouth of the fish that you catch, they have teeth!
- Make sure you have important numbers written down as if you fall into the water and
your phone is dead, you should have a hard copy.
- LIFE IS SHORT, DO WHAT MATTERS. JOIN IN THE DANCE.

I have learned a lot more than this on the trip, even from our dog sitters who came down from West Virginia just to dog sit for our two girls (in our motorhome!). There are a lot of super people in this world who are willing to teach us new things about life and share their experiences with us. Thank you Greg, Lew, and the Mile High Dream!!