Beaches & Hiking (and birthdays!)

We have a little less than two weeks left on St. Croix so we've been packing our days to make sure we see and do all the fun stuff on the island. We've also had two birthdays and Easter, Hans has worked some shifts on island, daily homeschool, and lots of playtime (for kids and adults!) with the neighbors, boaters, and cruising friends from over 10 years ago. Both Hans and I have our full covid vaccines and with the outdoor eating and activities, it feels like we're in a post-pandemic world. I no longer open the news with dread every every morning, but, rather, feel something akin to hope when I see how many doses have been administered in the US. News from Europe is a little bleak, with more lockdowns and a slow vaccine delivery. We'll see how it looks and feels when we go back in May. 

Freja turned 10! She requested a massive fruit salad for breakfast, parasailing, and sushi. The sushi and parasailing fell through, but an epic water fight in and out of the pool with neighbor kids and Hans helped quell the disappointment.

And a few days later Matilda turned 8. This year, instead of our traditional crepe paper and balloons and birthday banner, we had to improvise with some homemade decorations. Better for the environment and still festive!

Matilda's birthday wish was to dog-sit a humane society dog. We had Beau for 4 days and we all enjoyed him much more than we thought. (Except for the poop, pee, and puke cleaning.)

Another sweet puppy at the humane society getting some love from Matilda.

Freja helped me make Matilda's cake, and she shaped and decorated it like a dog & bone.

Freja and Beau exploring the ruins near our condo.

 I am so thankful I was able to get my full vaccine course here in St. Croix. I am only allowed to travel to Europe because I'm married to Hans (a Swedish citizen), and I had little to no hope that I'd be able to get vaccinated there. I'll still have to produce a negative covid test upon arrival in Sweden, and I'm sure as we travel through Europe we'll get used to getting the tests, but the vaccine will only make travel easier, and of course makes me feel much more comfortable traveling and seeing family and friends. The kids and I will go to Vermont for a couple weeks before we go back to the boat and I'll be able to see and stay with my vaccinated family. This is definitely time to celebrate!

At the top of a very old, rusty lighthouse on the far west end of the island.

We are all ready to get back to the boat. Even though we'd only lived aboard from six months before we had to leave, it still is home. It's easy and fun here, but we feel like we're treading water. We dreamed, planned, and worked for so many years to build and live and sail on Positive Waves so that's all we really can think of. Hans started missing the boat the minute he left; the kids got homesick a few weeks later; and I was the last to wish we were back aboard. I love the Caribbean--the beaches, the pace of life, the weather--and I also appreciate the washing machine, the laundry, and the ease of living a land-based life. It is much easier to live on land than on a boat. So it wasn't hard for me to get comfortable here and just enjoy a few stress-free months. But there's a multitude of reasons I've chosen a nomadic, water-based lifestyle, not the least of which include the challenges, the proximity to nature, and the way that sailing and life aboard pushes me out of my comfort zone almost daily. It's not easy, but easy isn't always good. 

It's a hard life.

Downtown Fredriksted. Note the massive pothole. It is impossible to convey how absolutely terrible the roads are on this island. I don't know what the speed limit is, but between the hills, the curvy roads, and the potholes, I think I average about 20-30 mph.

Easter egg hunt at the art museum.

Moko Jumbies!

Inside the art museum; Freja found a beautiful piano and played on a real piano for the first time in almost over a year.

Hans and I have been looking at the calendar and at google maps, trying to map out a general idea of when and where we want to start sailing when we get back to PW. We plan on sailing across the Atlantic around November/December, so we have from May to November to get to the Canary Islands, the main jumping off point for a transat to the Caribbean. I've been researching food provisioning for longer passages, and we've started a checklist of tasks we need to do when we get back. There has been some Amazon ordering, but we're trying to keep that to a minimum. Freja has made a list of the changes and improvements she wants to make to her cabin and Matilda dreams of being reunited with all her stuffed animals. One more week of school-beach-repeat, and we'll be getting back there!

The view from Goat Hill on the far east end of the island.
A short but steep height with gorgeous views the whole way.

Hanging out with our friends Renee and Michael, who we met in the Bahamas in 2008 when they were on s/v Jacumba and we were on Whisper.

Positive Waves, patiently waiting for our return.

Sunset from the "Cay," and island located directly off Christiansted. We met up with the crew of m/v Bumfuzzle for a beach afternoon, and have since spent a lot of fun afternoons together - kids and parents all get along great. Meeting up with other boat families is like meeting long lost friends. We obviously all have a lot in common out the gate, and from travel logistics to weather to kids to boat problems, we always have a lot to talk about!