Sailing past the Caribbean
Listening to an audiobook on the fast sail north. From Grenada we sailed 50 or so nautical miles north to the Grenadines for a short week in the Tobago Cays and from there we bypassed the rest of the eastern Caribbean island chain and sailed directly to St. Croix. Between covid testing costs for a family of four, lengthened check-in and check-out processes at each island, and a schedule to meet which meant that a few days at a few islands wasn't worth the windward beat, all paired with easy domestic flights for Hans from the USVI--skipping the eastern Caribbean was actually a pretty easy choice. Even so, as we sailed past all those dramatic, lush, and historic islands on our way north, I couldn't help but feel that we were missing a big part of the adventure. Cruising with kids and cruising while working is a different experience than an open-ended, fully-funded cruise. This is definitely not a freewheeling, long-term vacation--we have daily, weekly, and monthly commitments an