A catastrophe was narrowly avoided when Abe accidentally left his phone in our taxi to the airport, but thankfully we were able to contact the driver and he brought it back to the airport. I assure you he received a generous tip for his efforts.
We were grateful to Grenadine Air for transporting us comfortably and safely to the beautiful Island of Canouan.
The view from the plane.
We checked in with Tradewinds-- the sailing club James and Andrea are a part of.
We had a few hours to relax while waiting for the 5:00 hour when it was time to board the boat. Okay, okay, twist my arm, I'll kill some time at Shenanigans-- a private beach resort.
Then the blessed hour arrived-- the dinghy arrived to take us through the marina to our boat--
Swept Away. How aptly named.
May I introduce you to "Island Betsy". You'd probably like her. I know I did. She is brave and relaxed and adventurous. She is up for anything-- happy and open to whatever life has to offer. She'll try food she had sworn she'd never eat-- and she LIKED it! She felt so comfortable in her body-- no makeup, no problem. Lots of pictures in swimsuits, no problem. Grateful every second for every opportunity. Regular life Betsy could really learn a thing or two from Island Betsy. I like to think a little bit of Island Betsy followed regular Betsy home. Which I suppose is the point of traveling.
Our first selfie aboard our home for the next seven days. Celebrating 25 years, baby!
The gang. Note the gorgeous rainbow as we left the marina. Spoiler alert: no joke, there was another rainbow as we motored back into the marina at the end of the trip. How blessed that our sail was bookended by rainbows. Andrea said she always brings good weather with her when she travels. She wasn't wrong. This is their rainy season, but we had perfect weather ALL week, yet as soon as we were leaving it was pouring rain.
Andrea had shirts made up for our adventure. I recently learned that not everyone loves wearing matching shirts with friends or family. Let it be known that if there is ever a reason to have unifying, matching shirts-- I am ALL IN! The matchier (I made up that word) the better.
She had shirts for the crew as well. Roly, the captain, is next to Andrea. Donny, the first mate and chef, is next to Abe. They are both originally from South Africa. They were pretty dang awesome in every way. I can wrap my mind around Roly (age 36) being a captain of a sailing vessel. And I can understand Donny being a first mate. But I CAN NOT comprehend how Donny, at the tender age of 22 could be such an amazing chef. I cannot begin to describe the gastronomical experience I had over the week we were on board. We had two meals ashore at restaurants where Donny did not prepare the food, and frankly, they were terribly disappointing. Under normal circumstances, they would have been quite impressive. But it's hard to be impressed after Donny. Like I said, I'm ruined for regular life. A special mention goes to the starter soup on the first night-- a coconut, butternut squash, and spinach soup.
Life changing.
The first evening we sailed around to the other side of Canouan and moored the boat for the night in Kato Cove. We went for a little swim over to "Lover's Point" (so named by us) and then climb this rock and jumped in. I realize it looks totally unsafe. Regular Betsy at home is thinking, "Oh, no no no! You mustn't endanger yourself!" But Island Betsy believed Captain Roly who assured us it was plenty deep to jump there. So we jumped.
Note about Day 3: I wore a motion sickness patch for the first 2 days. It totally worked, in that, I didn't get sick. However, I did feel quite sluggish. After that, I was great. May I just say, that one of the nicest feelings in the whole world is being rocked to sleep. No wonder babies love it! I loved lying in bed and the gentle rocking lulling me to sleep. So, so lovely. I would like for my bed at home to do that. I suppose that was the concept of the water bed but I don't want a water bed. No, I mean, like a giant baby swing with my bed on top. Well anyway, all this talk of being lulled to sleep is making me tired. Goodnight and more fun in the Grenadines will be coming soon.
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