...and waiting.

Good morning, Peter Island! Much better safe at anhor than in rough seas. It's a rainy morning, but it's warm and a good time to do some computer work while we still have the internet. Just like being at home but this is my favorite office - with light rocking, a beautiful view and 79F. Life here is good.

Today we all go thru our safety equipment. We each have our own life jacket and personal EPIRB and strobe light to wear while sailing and doing our night watches - in case we simply fall off or somehow sink the boat. An EPIRB is an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon that will transmit a signal so we can be found in an emergency. The strobe lights will automatically activate in the water to also help them find us. Nutmeg also has her own EPIRB. Hopefully we will never have a reason to test these out! We also have lifelines which attach to our vests which we attach to the lifelilne on the boat when we need to walk along the deck during night watches or rough seas. Another important way of watching over the life of a sailor.

Another good snorkel, good food and good night.

XO XO Gma & Gpa

01/31/2023
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GPA!
What a great place to wake up on your birthday and celebrate!

But, there's still work do be done. Funny how many things we can all find to do! Max & Whitey are true preppers. Winds out at sea are at 35 knots. Glad we have a calm harbour to hole up in and get everything prepared for our voyage. The plan is to actually sail away on Saturday, Feb 4th.

Birthday Dinner: Filet Mignon, twice baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and chocolate mousse with a candle to celebrate the birthday boy. Full tummies. Time to read and fall asleep.

XO XO Gma & Gpa

02/01/2023
We worked all morning making sure all our phones are working on the Iridium satellite communications system. This should allow us to stay in touch with the rest of the world with email, text and phone plus

to monitor the upcoming weather. It is, of course, not free -- could cost $10 per minute -- so we will be limiting our intel to the most important communications.

Max put on her dive gear to clean Nutmeg's hull - so it is as smooth as a baby's bottom :) A smooth bottom = less drag = more speed. J&R went thru and organized the medical kit. Whitey keeps working on important boat and navigation details the rest of us can't do.

02/02/2023
Another day full of working on the boat. Gpa helps Max finish cleaning Nutmeg's bottom. Max & Whitey revise the dinghy's system of chocks and straps to ride safe & sound on the transom while at sea.
Another day at the office. Love the floating office and the magnificent view. Don't love all the computer work I still need to do for taxes, etc.
Another good night.

XO XO Gma & Gpa

02/03/23

Left Peter Island as the sun was rising. :) :) Head to West End, Tortola to: check out of immigration (Hip-Hip-Horray!), fuel up, do laundry, buy a few more groceries (need to stock up on chips and snacks for those mid-night watches) and take care of business. There is always more to be done for Nutmeg. She sure demands and deserves a lot of attention! It IS ALL About HER!

The bad news of the day: There is a local weather front moving in. Delay our departure another day...new DODPRT (date of departure) is 02/05. So, tomorrow's plan is now to anchor at Benures Bay, Norman Island for the day.

It's Friday night, Time for our traditional Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned! But, there's no brandy onboard. So, a Bourbon Old Fashioned it is. Where to go for our Friday night fish fry? to Omar's - a great new local place right along the dock. The Fish & Chips are reported to be quite good here, but the curry dishes win out along with the Mahi Mahi. We're are not disappointed!

Goodnight,
XO XO Gma & Gpa

02/04/2023
It's a rainy morning. Good call to spend the day at Benures Bay.
Plenty left on Whitey's list for us all to help with.
Plenty more "office work" to do.
Plenty more fish to see snorkeling. Lion Fish are not supposed to be here! They have invaded the warm Caribbean waters - and can potentially cause big problems with the coral reef fish population and devastate the ecosystem. One solution is to enjoy them for dinner.

Instead, we had Mahi Mahi Caesar Salad for dinner. And Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert. Gotta love having a freezer on the boat.

Sleep tight. Sailing off early in the morning!
XO XO Gma & Gpa