Sail Away: St. Vinncent & The Grenadines

On this foggy and gloomy Thursday, I thought it would be fun to reminisce on what I was doing on this day two years ago.

I was invited on the trip of a lifetime by my friend Erica. Her boyfriend and his brother in law both love to sail, and are certified captains. They planned a trip to sail for two weeks from St. Vincent down through the Grenadine Islands. I am so thankful to have been invited. It was an amazing trip that I'll never forget!

There was a group of 16 of us. They chartered two catamarans, Erica's boyfriend Corrie was the captain of our boat and Ben, his brother in law was the captain of the other boat. It was essentially like camping on a boat for two weeks. You don't need much besides a bikini and some sunscreen!

The day we chartered the boats, we went on a big shopping trip to stock up on most of the supplies we would need for the trip. There was a kitchen on each boat, but the fridge was tiny we purchased things like milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated until it's opened, Top Ramen, chips, bread and deli meat. It's definitely not gourmet, but when we supplemented with fresh lobster and fish from the locals, it was pretty delish! We were also able to buy produce from the Islands we visited along the way. And more importantly, rum, beer and ice could be purchased on land or by boat vendors each day!

It was such a wonderful trip, I couldn't even begin to tell you the many stories from those two weeks. It was quite an adventure! Our dinghy was stolen one of the first nights (common) so we had to share with our other boat and make multiple trips when we wanted to go to shore. And the fridge on the boat I was on decided to stop working, so we had to get creative with the food we ate, and put our meat in the other fridge.

The most exciting night, however, could have ended up pretty badly. We were up late (as usual) having a grand ol' time, when I went down to my cabin to get something. The ground felt really wet, and not from just a dripping wet swimsuit or something. Since I was the newbie and had never been on one of these trips before, I didn't want to make a big deal about it. So I just mentioned it to my friend Ken who was in the same cabin. Under further investigation, we realized the hull was completely filled with water, and it was starting to seep into the cabin. Thankfully we caught it when we did, but the boys spent the remainder of the night bailing water out with a single bucket! It could have been so much worse! But we had the pump fixed, and didn't have any major issues the rest of the trip.

Other than those few little hiccups, the trip was smooth sailing (pun intended). It was just two glorious weeks of sunbathing, day drinking, swimming, snorkeling, and exploring the various islands! To make it even more fun, we planned ahead with theme days. My favorites were America Day and Nautical! We also had 80's Day, Colombian Drug Lord Day, Beer Day, and an impromptu "rave" night with glow sticks and neon slap bracelets! To say we had fun and entertained ourselves would be an understatement!

My favorite place we visited was without a doubt Tabago Cays. It was spectacular, we even ended up changing our trip a little to spend an extra night there on the way back. The water was crystal clear turquoise and there was a turtle preserve where you could swim with turtles! It was such an amazing experience. We also took a water taxi over to a small island that was used in the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean! And swimming with sea turtles is an experience I'll never forget. They're just so beautiful!

Another favorite memory was my mini scuba diving experience. I never had an interest in getting certified before, but almost everyone on the trip was certified, and even brought along their own gear. One of the other guys in our group wanted a little lesson from our friends (who are very experienced) and Erica encouraged me to go with them. I was SO nervous, but I'm so happy I went. Now, I think getting certified is something I'm interested in. Ben helped me get set up and explained everything to me before heading down. He stayed with me the entire time. At first all the bubbles freaked me out, but I was able to relax eventually and even saw an eel! We only went down 10-15 feet, but it's an experience I'm so happy to have.

I could go on and on about our trip, but ya'll are probably starting to get bored! I'll let the pictures do the talking from now on!

my favorite picture of the trip!

'Merica Day

they nailed 80's day

fresh lobster for dinner

Nautical Day

we caught a Mahi Mahi

~ Tir Na Nog ~ 

awesome botanical garden tour