But the best part of being at camp is always the new friendships and the memories you make together that link you forever. Our fellow boaters and staff here at Le Phare Bleu are that exactly! They have become our family away from home.
Proper hurricane prep :) - photo credit Beth Lawson
Each morning the ladies (and sometimes Bruce) get together to workout. Classes range from yoga, boot camp, water aerobics and everything in between.
My girls and I usually follow the morning sweat fest with a quick dip in the pool before heading back to the boat to get some schooling done.
On shore - sometimes we have guests
Andrew uses his quiet mornings on board while we are away at class to catch up on his politics, courtesy of the great wifi from the marina. Once we take over with school he moves on to whatever project he is tackling for the day, unless someone is sneaking away to do some lobstering and then he’ll drop everything to join.
Early afternoon is spent finishing up school, doing any chores around the boat
and their is usually a milkshake shared by the girls while Andrew enjoys a beer. Then back to the boat at sunset to cook dinner and we usually watch a movie or play a game together as a fam.
Before
After - photo credit Living La Vidorra
My girls and I usually follow the morning sweat fest with a quick dip in the pool before heading back to the boat to get some schooling done.
Onboard
Andrew uses his quiet mornings on board while we are away at class to catch up on his politics, courtesy of the great wifi from the marina. Once we take over with school he moves on to whatever project he is tackling for the day, unless someone is sneaking away to do some lobstering and then he’ll drop everything to join.
Scrubbing out the cockpit.
or prepping stuff for dinner but we always try to be in the pool by 4, if not sooner :) The kids play with their friends while we chat it up with ours
That’s what a typical day looks like.
The exceptions are:
Every Tuesday we shuttle taxi into town to provision; aka- grocery shopping, with friends. The girls and I grab a quick lunch out before spending a few hours at the store.
The loot.
Then the process of finding everything a space on the boat begins! Those days don't see much proper schooling; the meal planning, shopping for the best price and critical thinking practice for storage is enough “real world” skill honing, in my opinion!
Thursday afternoons Andrew and I try to sneak away for cooking class. It is a fun way to get some time together while expanding our sometimes boring menu :)
We have to fit a laundry day in somewhere!
And every week has one other activity squished in somewhere, whether it be a kids’ outing or hiking the waterfalls, we definitely stay busy.
Last week we joined our friends aboard Higgins to celebrate Oliver’s b-day at the inflatable waterpark.
The kids had an amazing time and it was a great way to meet lots of other cruisers.
Over the weekend, we had a proper 40th b-day for yours truly with all our friends on the dock. We had an amazing potluck dinner,
everyone joined in with some music and singing,
and a good time was had by all!
Happy Birthday me!
New boat art hand painted on my card by Beth from Morame.
But I think the highlight of our week was 3 days later when we celebrated Aaron (from Take Two)’s 14th birthday by hiking the Seven Sisters Waterfalls. Hiking is not my favorite pastime but when the reward is so great it is definitely worth it.
The bottom two falls are tiered right into each other. It was a great place for everyone to swim, jump and play while the birthday boy, his older brother, Andrew and I headed to the top of the mountain where the 7 falls begin. Our guide recommended we hike barefoot so our swimming wouldn't be encumbered. So we traipsed through the muddy jungle, up, up and up until we could hear the rushing water. Each fall presents a different challenge but we were up for it.
The first was too slippery due to recent rain so we moved on to number 2 where we had to use the foothold for our back foot to push far enough away from the wall to miss the shallow shelf at the base of the falls.
It was only about 12-15’ high but my heart was still pumping pretty strong for our first jump (our guide kept asking if I was sure I was okay to do it? He clearly didn't know who he was dealing with :) and there was no way I was hiking back down the way we came, so the water was my best option). Fall 3 was very shallow, chest high, so the guys were slapping out. I tried for a jackknife that really turned into more of a cannonball that everyone laughed at
but I got the last laugh since I was one of the few who didn't touch bottom. Fall 4 was a long trench with the water rushing through so we shimmied between the walls to make it to the bottom.
Since my limbs aren't as long as Andrew’s, my flexibility came in pretty handy!
Fall 5 was insane enough for me to bow out (I held the GoPro instead). It was very shallow for the first 10’ closest to the falls and you had to parkour jump off the wall before shallow diving into the pool.
The guys showed quite form!
That brought us back to fall 6 where our entire party waited below to cheer us on. Our guide explained how to safely jump and land the 35’ drop and demonstrated it perfectly.
Now we were up! Andrew took the first jump with the GoPro to capture us from below.
Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to end his short life this way and but when he realized I wasn't backing out he had to save face and jump.
He actually had the best form of all of us! Now I’m left alone at the top of the falls, knowing there is no other way down. Once the pool was clear, I stepped up and jumped; the peanut gallery below didn't even have a chance to count down :)
What a rush! Pretty sure there is no better way to celebrate turning 14, or 40 for that matter. It was such a beautiful day and so much fun with our friends from Take Two.
Happy Birthday Aaron!
View from the top before Andrew jumped.
Eli, who had already jumped this fall once showed no hesitation and flew off the edge.
Anytime he sets up time lapse we should be suspicious!
The girls and I have also started doing a few dance classes a week, just to keep us from getting rusty ;) It is so fun to share a love of dance with them. They’ve even had one of their friends join in the classes. She has never danced before but is enjoying working hard to learn a few steps and doesn't complain too much about being sore :)
Paige is working on a few new songs on her ukulele
and Sky has captured and releases every crab that lives on our dock!
So I guess you can see that we stay pretty busy!
Things learned aboard this week:
Time is moving so fast! I can't believe we’ve been gone 9 months now. The girls are growing so much. They’ve become so independent and smart, luckily they’ve stayed sweet ;) And Andrew keeps taking me on dates and outings for just us two, reminding me regularly that it will be just us, too soon. Then we have the big 4 0 - now that just can't be right, I’m pretty sure I’m still in my twenties!
Birthday love from my girls :)
Today, like everyday, is another day in paradise. But they say we have weather headed our way. Next week we will share how our hurricane prep went. We are hoping the latest storm doesn't turn into anything mean but we will be prepared for it anyway!
Oh, man, I so enjoy reading your blog entries - we miss you all and love you bunches!
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