boats and genips

It was very still and humid today. In fact, the past few days have been without breeze and much more humid. And while the breeze almost always comes from the east, we've had days where it has blown more from the north. Fortunately - it still feels manageable - and cool enough to sleep. I may, however, reassess the situation tonight.
Max is back to school this week. To be perfectly honest - this realization only occured after Mark drove by the school, called me on his mobile and exclaimed "there’s a lot of parents dropping off children at Max's school right now."

It's amazing how quickly you can get children out the door if you need to.

Fortunately, we live about two minutes from the school. And after all, it's pre-school! (After that little bit of Monday morning excitement, I did triple check Julian's school calendar to confirm that he started Grade One the end of next week...)

With Max in school, Julian and I have been together this week and we've juggled a little work and little play.

This morning, we made our way to the boat yard to oversee the boat being hauled out. Typically, the IC24s and other boats of various sizes are hauled out mid-end of August and put on cradles or stands until the end of hurricane season. I had not been down to this particular boat yard in a couple of months and it was a very different scene from an earlier visit. The yard was full of boats neatly lined up. Even the marina and the lagoon area had a far greater occupancy level. Everyone had completed their seasonal preparations and boats were safely tucked away.

Amazingly, for this part of the world, the entire boat hauling operation was extremely efficient. Boat towed over, lifted out of the water at the scheduled time, gently placed into its cradle - and nothing broke.




Of course, what this also means is that we can't do any sailing on this boat for a month or two.

On a completely different subject matter and with no idea how to segue to the following subject matter, we have an enormous genip tree in our yard. I had never tasted (or even heard of) this little green grape-like fruit. In fact, when a friend was over and pointed to the heavily clustered fruits hanging from the tree, I thought she was pulling my leg with a name like "genip". I had visions of it being one of those lines you feed a newcomer so they are easily identifiable when you go to a store and ask for "genips". Ah yes...a genip....here’s another one….



But sure enough, these little things that taste like a cross between a grape, lychee nut, and a plum are a popular treat in the Caribbean. You can also find them in Spain where they are called waya. The downside to the genip is they are a lot of work. For the amount of sweet, juicy pulp you get in each fruit - there is a lot of careful snacking around a good sized pit. So far, I am the only one in our family who can bother to eat them. Julian just wrinkles his nose and says, "no thanks."

I've noticed they sell genips by the branch at fruit stands. Hmmmmm. Well maybe if Julian and I are bored on Friday.....

flip floppers in florida

It's hard to believe the summer is almost over. Despite both boys having three months summer vacation, the weeks have blown by (some weeks quite literally). Julian completed eight weeks of his sailing camp, Max enjoyed his school camp and Mark and I have been undergoing our own small business learning and training process.

To celebrate the end of the summer, we decided to take a small jaunt over "stateside" to explore a little of Florida. The evening before our trip was very stormy. Thunder, lightning and enough rain to fill the pool to the rim. In fact, when we awoke the following morning to the continuation of the storm, it did cross my mind whether or flight would depart. Fortunately, by the time we were due to leave St. Thomas, the weather had settled considerably. However, Tropical Storm Fay was having some impact even in this area and resulted in our three hour flight being extended an additional hour with some wait time for a gate and the lightning to cease before we could "safely" disembark.

An extra hour on a stuffy plane with two young children is always a great way to start any holiday.

Our week in Florida was an interesting contrast to our life in St. Thomas. Following a short stay in Miami, we drove north to Orlando. We rented a large car (big enough the boys could barely reach other in the back seat), and drove on large, fast freeways. Actually, the driving part was fun. Coming from the roughly paved 30 mph roads of St. Thomas, it was a welcomed change to experience a little first-world highway infrastructure.

The three and a half hour drive from Miami to Orlando was an unremarkably flat drive. As you approach Orlando, there were so many billboards on the side of the road advertising Disney park tickets, hotels,and other services that there was vitually no room for mileage signage.

Orlando is a theme-park destination. Parks, parks and more parks. Disney, Universal Studios, Epcot, Sea World, waterparks. Huge numbers of cars, coaches, people, children and strollers.

What were we thinking?

Braving the masses, we visited the Disney's Magic Kingdom. The smartest move we made was getting a double stroller the lug the boys and our gear around this massive park. We did a tremendous amount of walking.

We had a fun time - all of us. Despite the crowds of "happy" people, the heat and in a couple of instances - the RAIN! - there was enjoyment watching the kids on the rides and rushing off to see something new.

Max loved the mini-race cars and exclaimed "Again!" each time the ride came to an end. Julian was tall enough to enjoy rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain - and screaming with delight at the fast rollercoasters.

The morning was quiet enough that we walked easily onto rides and through the park. As the day progressed, the queues grew in size (and so did the people).

At one point, the effects of Tropical Storm Fay were being felt in Orlando and the rain soaked us. We ended up getting some plastic ponchos to keep some of the rain off - and fortunately for you, I resisted any photographic record of our neon batman look.

Disney was an experience and fun for the boys. However, it definitely warranted a glass of wine upon returning to the hotel .

We celebrated Max's third birthday in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale is an interesting spot of canals, bridges, boats and large waterfront properties. We had a fun beachside breakfast there and played on a very large beach.

We also did something else in Fort Lauderdale that we don't do in St. Thomas. Shopping.

As we get used to a small comunity, it was almost a shock again dealing with crowds large stores and all the selection. After getting some clothes and things we can't get in St. Thomas - I am pretty certain we have all had our fill of retail for quite a while.

And now back to St. Thomas. As we flew in yesterday afternoon, Mark and I remarked how this is the first time we have come back from a holiday trip and not been sad about coming home. It's great to be home and we are excited about work and starting school again. And maybe the roads aren't that great here and I can't always find the food I'd like or supplies we need - but it's a lovely spot.

OH! And today is Mark and my 12th wedding anniversary. Time really does fly by.

summer time

There was the most dramatic tropical storm Friday night. Thunder and lightning like I have never experienced! The lightning was so bright it was like a spot light in the house each time it flashed. Julian slept through the entire storm, however, little light-sleeper Max came flying down the hall to land in more secure sleeping arrangements - wedged between his mum and dad. The rain came down so hard I was sure I'd find something leaking.
And I did.
One of the side slat windows in the guest bedroom was open resulting in a new indoor wading pool for Max. Thank goodness for tiles floors - between water, sand and potty training Max (a slow and painful process I may add..)- it's a constant battle to keep floors clean. There is, however, a good breeze that blows through the house managing to blow a lot of it away - well most things at least.



After all the rain, the remainder of the weekend was quite pleasant. We had a couple of birthday parties and some needed down time. We were down in Magens Bay and the water was crystal clear and the beach was quite quiet.

Julian completed eight weeks of sailing camp on Friday. He is becoming quite the confident little Optimist sailor - steering and tacking the boat. I went down to the Yacht Club last week with Max and watched them out sailing and it was quite the sight. Julian was having a great time and doing really well -- even though he spent more time looking back and not where he was going. Then again, there are a lot of people we race against who do the same thing.



Speaking of racing, Mark and I continue to go out racing on Friday nights and now have full use of an IC 24 for a year. We have taken the boys out on the boat a couple of times with friends and anchor at Christmas Cove and do some snorkeling. This week is the last Friday night race and then everyone hauls out the boats to ready them for hurricane season. Many people take their boats around the corner to the lagoon which is a protected area for boats, and there are sheds, boat shelves and other options depending on what your boat insurance wants you to do.

Hurricane season also means our business is busy with service calls and quotes on new machines. The summer has resulted in many rolling black-outs on the island where WAPA (Water and Power Authority)shuts down the power grid in specific areas to reduce and limit some of the consumption. Needless to say, as soon as the power goes down there are calls into the office because someone has a generator that hasn't switched on.

The island is still fairly steady with tourists and hotels are apparently quite full. Cruise ships continue to slide in and out of the harbour and the traffic on the road definitely isn't any lighter. It is more humid these days - but thankfully there is a breeze that makes it less oppressive. Generally, people run their air conditioning more this time of year but so far our house has remained quite comfortable.

We are planning a small break from island life and will be heading to Florida for a week. It will be a good opportunity to get a few things not found here and celebrate Max's birthday with Mickey and Donald. The boys don't know they are going to Disney - so it will be fun to see their faces when we get there.