Category: Life On A Boat

We Made It Through Karen

Sunday Morning Weather Report

We awoke yesterday to the news that Tropical Storm Karen was heading for Grenada. Suddenly, our safe hurricane hole in Grenada was not so safe. The good news is we made it through Karen unscathed.

Before Sunday morning, the forecasts said Tropical Storm Karen was supposed to keep west and north of us. We woke up to this change and did not have time to prepare. We keep a good eye on the weather forecasts, but we have to expect the unexpected living on a boat.

Tropical Storm Karen
Tropical Storm Karen forecast as of Sunday AM

I’m not gonna lie: when the winds and rains started, I was scared. Sunday morning, the calm before the storm, we rushed around Sava closing hatches and lifting our dinghy while thunder roared in the background.

Dinghy Sava
Our dinghy secured off the boat
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Constant Boat Work

“Living on a sailboat is doing boat work in exotic places”

Sad but true. After living aboard Sava for nearly 10 months, we are constantly doing boat work.

One step forward..

We have some good news, but I am afraid to celebrate too much for fear of jinxing us. We are embroiled in what feels like constant boat work but have some good news: the engine and auto pilot are still working!

And several steps back

Just because I haven’t posted recently about breakdowns doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I will recount the latest issues we’ve had with Sava.

Recent Boat Work

Windlass

We tried to anchor in a new spot a few weeks ago only to have the windlass fail again. We moved onto a mooring ball at a lovely marina with a great restaurant, Whisper Cove, while trying to fix the windlass.

Brian dismantled the windlass, unwound the entire anchor chain, and consulted professionals. They cleaned it and couldn’t find anything wrong.

When Brian reinstalled it, it worked better than ever. While we don’t know what was wrong with our windlass, it’s raising and dropping the anchor perfectly so we are happy.

STATUS: Working

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The Grenadines Are Perfect for Cruising

We love the Grenadines for many reasons. Brian and I were married there in 2004, and there are so many reasons to visit this group of tropical islands in the eastern Caribbean, especially because the Grenadines are perfect for cruising.

church Union Island
The church where we got married on Union Island

This was our third visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. For our 10th wedding anniversary, we returned to the Grenadines and chartered a sailboat with friends. We loved sailing there then and we had a great time this July sailing the islands again.

Here’s some of the reasons I think you should visit The Grenadines, especially by boat!

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