Our Great Adventure

11 August 2010 | Yarmouth, Maine
30 June 2010 | Camden Harbor
29 June 2010 | Dix Island to Camden Yacht Club dock
28 June 2010 | Dix Island
27 June 2010 | Dix Island
26 June 2010 | Maple Juice Cove
25 June 2010 | Otis Cove (St. George River), ME
23 June 2010 | Linekin Bay/ Boothbay Harbor, ME
21 June 2010 | Cape Porpoise, ME
19 June 2010 | Marblehead
16 June 2010 | passage Onset- Marblehead, MA
14 June 2010 | Quissett, MA
11 June 2010 | Vineyard Haven & Edgartown
07 June 2010 | Newport, RI
06 June 2010 | Newport, RI
05 June 2010 | 41.5 N 71.3 W (Newport Harbor)
04 June 2010 | 125 miles south of Montauk
03 June 2010 | 35.7N 72.9W (approx. 150 miles ESE of Cape Henry)
02 June 2010 | 130 Miles East of Cape Fear

Final reflections

11 August 2010 | Yarmouth, Maine
the four of us
Our world is large. We experienced a bit of it.

Favorite Place:
Hannah- Dominica, Marie Galante, Martinique and Saba in the Caribbean
Man-O-War Cay, Big Majors and Black Point in the Bahamas
Hayden- Dominica, Saba and Farmer's Cay
Peter- Dominica for local culture, food and mountains
St. Pierre, Martinique for access to Mt. Pelee and great French
pastries
Exumas for water clarity, snorkeling, etc.
Christine- Dominica or Saba, but the Bahamas for R and R

Favorite Animal:
Hannah- green sea turtles and sargeant major reef fish
Hayden- all lizards
Peter- mahi leaping out of the water with their iradescent colors
Christine- sea turtles

I will never forget...
the time Dad lost the spear and the hogfish (Hayden)
sipping coffee and looking at/for turtles (Christine)
the sargeant majors mibbling on my fingers and touching sea turtle (Hannah)
hiking Mt. Pelee, spearing grouper with interested sharks, Hayden's tumble in the jungle on Nevis, sugar cane and agricole rhum in Marie Galante (Peter)

What is that smell?

30 June 2010 | Camden Harbor
Christine
I can not even count the times that one of us said, "Uggh, what is that smell?" when opening the fridge on the boat! We would then clean it out, look for the offending food/fish/veggie whatever...Towards the end of our adventure, there was a lingering odor that we couldn't locate. Even the cans (beer, soda) had taken on this smell...
Today, Peter emptied out the entire fridge. He found the super, incredibly smelly remains of some small grunt that Hayden had speared in a baggie (just one, not even double bagged!) Gross!

Camden Bound

29 June 2010 | Dix Island to Camden Yacht Club dock
Christine
Foggy motor back to Camden.
Packing up, cleaning up, preparing to move off our HOME.
Many feelings, mixed feelings.
Family and friends to see,
A boat for sale, a home for sale really.
Lots of work to make it all happen...
Land life, transitioning-
How will it go?

Last Day

28 June 2010 | Dix Island
Christine
foggy day
lazy day
last day on the boat
reading day
small project day
buy more lobster day
play cards day
reflect on this adventure day
watch the lobster boats day
listen to the ospreys day
watch the ducks duck day

The journey to Dix Island

27 June 2010 | Dix Island
Christine
What a day! It was a calm, chilly, quiet day as we motored up to Dix Island. The water, grey and flat, held no secrets. Any wake was instantly visible. Seaweed on the surface showed its bits of flotsam effortlessly. You could look out to sea for miles. Being at the helm enabled me to peruse these waters. It was the kind of day I call a "good day for whales."
As it turned out, it was a good day for seals too. I spotted the biggest bull seal I have ever seen. He was just off our port and did not spook as we neared.
Minutes later, I called out, "Whale!" A black fin had broken through the glassy waters to our starboard. We were treated to three more sightings of this long, black back and fin as the whale exhaled and took breaths before diving under again.
Once at Dix Island, we hiked and explored. High Island nearby has a huge granite pier. Fresh, local lobster was on the menu for dinner!

Visiting Altair's Homeport

26 June 2010 | Maple Juice Cove
Christine
Stolen Hour ventured up river today to the beautiful, peaceful waters that Rick and Julie of s/v Altair call home. It was a great day spent with friends- touring their lovely, craftsman style home in this picturesque spot! Sharing lunch and conversation, and last, but certainly not least, the WORLD CUP match...the US lost to Ghana in overtime!
Sunday morning we took a l-o-n-g dinghy tour in search of the house from Wyeth's painting "Christina's World." Once located, we made the short trek up the path/road to check it out.
Vessel Name: Stolen Hour
Vessel Make/Model: J/44
Hailing Port: Yarmouth, Maine
Crew: Peter, Christine, Hannah, & Hayden
About: Peter grew up sailing the waters of Penobscot Bay. Christine grew up day sailing on a lake in Texas. Blue water sailing came later. Hannah & Hayden have been sailing since they born. Cruising is a family passion!
Extra:
This "great adventure" has been in the works for many years. Twenty years ago Peter did the Caribbean 1500 with friends. He then sailed with a family on their cruising adventure. From these experiences came the determination to one day "set sail for a year" with his own family. The question has [...]
Stolen Hour's Photos - Caribbean part 6
Photos 1 to 84 of 84 | Main
1
Helen, Kirk, Elizabeth & Peter at the barbeque in Portsmouth
Momma and Hayden dancing in the sand
Daddy and Hannah dancing
brother and sister hit the dance floor
the site of the big barbeque bash sponsored by the "boat boys" of Portsmouth, Dominica every Sunday
the "boat boys" descend upon a new arrival
At the market getting grilled plantains from Nina (and learning her secrets!)
outside the market with our haul
Can you read this sign Happy?  Did you know there was a store just for you?
star fruit a la Martha Stewart
a beautiful specimen
Cabrits Fort on the hill in Portsmouth, Dominica
The kids table at the barbeque with crew from Stolen Hour, Trinity and Discovery
a house in northern Dominica
cutting up calabash on the beach with Velal
Hannah scooping out her calabash
Vella working on the calabash
Christine grating coconut for the "Nikon Delight" stew on the beach
Christine & Nikon cooking on the beach
Peter (with ti punch in mouth) serving out the braf
political signs and flags abound
northwest beach on Dominica
view of Dominica
same rock as above, different angle
another Kubuli beer sign
Vella and kids in the water
fun at the beach
Dominican home (taken from car)
Nikon digging for yams
The yam is out!
My reminder for the location of our hike in for lunch with Nikon and Vella
Dominican home
Vella with fresh coconut milk
Hannah enjoys fresh coconut
Dominican home
Hannah and Clare in the Bwa Nef Falls
Christine eating mango at the Bwa Nef Falls while the fire roasts the bread fruit
stoking the fire
bread fruit in the fire
banana leaves (they were our plates)
Peter and Nikon scraped the blackened outside off the bread fruit
voila! lunch is served
Vella has lunch
the path down to Vella
picturesque view
donkey we passed on the way
Domincan house
cool palm tree
little store
cocoa fruit
Vella and the kids
A second visit to the distillery in St. Pierre, Martinique, this time with Mom in tow
scooping up the freshly cut sugar cane
dropping the cane into the hole where it goes into the grinders
Hayden is captivated by this
filling the barrels with rum
more barrels
barrels of rum
a painting showing the cutting of the cane
local advertising (antique)
the water room on the plantation
the storage tanks
close-up of the painted tank
agricole rum tank
another stop for more rum tasting
Mt. Pelee under cover of cloud
Mt. Pelee in hiding (H&H& Peter hiked it this way!)
Church in Morne Rouge
Morne Rouge church entrance
church
church
church
architectural features
church top
view through arches of church
Mom
Poem on "baguette" in park memorializing the original brick oven site of the first bakery in Morne Rouge
sign reminding me what the above poem was all about
view into the valley from Morne Rouge center park
houses and farm plots in the valley
Hannah & Hayden being silly with fruity, stringy candy laces (French licorice?)
oops- sideways!  
sign below iron sculpture of chains
"Tears of Iron" sculpture made from anchor rode from the boats lost in the eruption of Mt. Pelee
May eruption in St. Pierre- 2nd eruption in Morne Rouge 4 months later
 
1