Awesome Beaches

           We have only been in st. Martin for a little while but we have already seen a number of great beaches. The first beach we went to was a little beach in front of a resort, we had anchored the dinghy right off of it and we had swum in.
         The second beach we went to was right near a big ship-reck and we learned how to snorkel there.
          The third one was the best of all. The water was super blue and there were no rocks on the ocean floor. The waves reached high and low and we surfed them to the shore.

Drawing Dafne

I made a lot of pictures while my dad was working on the boat today. I did some drawings. I took pictures of them on my bed, which is in the port bow (left, front of the boat).

This is the sugar scoop. The sugar scoop is at the end of the boat, in the back which is called the stern.

This is our grill, which we use to cook food (unless it's rainy, like today).

We have a ladder, which is also on the stern. We use it to get on the dock.

The ocean.

And, this is my new water bottle.

We're Here

          

  We've arrived in st. Martin and are docked at the marina. We are one full day into are trip by now and I'm very excited about what is to come!
          In the photo above I am at a restaurant in named Skip Jacks and I am holding a Caribbean lobster, and as you can see the Caribbean kind don't have pinchers, so you can hold them very easily. Another difference between main lobster and Caribbean lobster is that when main lobster are relatively scuttling, Caribbean lobster are very, very lazy.
          This morning we went to the beach and it was beautiful! The water was a clear turquoise and the sand a pure white. With the sun shining overhead it was really, really fun.

Dreaming for Two Years

       After thinking and dreaming about something like this to happen for two years it seems like a dream come true now that it's actually coming together.  There is less than two weeks left to pack and spend with friends, but each day my excitement grows by that much.  I am aware that this experience is a once in a life-time (and not in everyones life-time at that) but my excitement just grows more and more.

       The process of organizing something like this has a lot of steps, number one is you have to know what kind of boat you want, how big you want it to be, and then buy it.  Number two is to know where you are going to start out the trip (you can't plan all of it because a lot of the places you go will depend on weather, health issues, and other things) because then you will know where you want the boat to be. Number three is to figure out what equipment you will need or/and want, and then buy that stuff.  There really isn't a number four unless you consider packing a step.

                                                                       

1.  2.

3.

Almost Ready.

Me sailing with my sister.

What every body tells me about the trip we're going on  is so exiting but what I think is going to be so exiting is all the places we're going to see.

 My dad is talking to my grandfather and telling him how to axess an app on his ipad that can see where we're traveling.I'm also exited about making new friends. When ever we go to a new place I want to make some new friends.

I am also looking forward to learning new sports and games and also teaching other kids how to play soccer for instance.

My dad said that in one place these kids from a town that  we  are going to visite would get up early and play a soccer game each morning I thought that was pretty awesome even though I didn't really like the geting up early part of it. But I would like to try it any way.

Kids playing soccer in Cartagena

Getting Ready For Our Trip.

Dafne our boat

I'm very exited about sailing around the Caribbean I'm looking forward to drinking coconut milk and tasting new kinds of foods and also seeing exotic  plants.


All my dad and mom do is talk about getting stuff for the boat its very confusing. They got me a stand up paddle board for my birthday they also got underwater lights that connect to the boat and attract fish. My dad explained  it all to me and made me do some math. You have to be very smart to live on a boat, and also you have to know how to sail a big boat. I know how to sail a small boat, but even so I think I'll be very good at sailing a big boat.

Were going to do even more shopping when we get to ST. martin 
"I can't wait. It's going to be so fun." Not really, but once we're out of that mess we'll be off and going.

I CAN'T WAIT.

A picture of St. Martin

Getting Ready

                                         
       Ever since February when my mom and dad chose the boat we were going to live on everything has been preparation for our sailing adventure. My mom and dad have been talking about it nonstop and trying to get everything ready to leave, including finding teachers/mentors to coach my sisters and I on our learning and to helping us accomplish our goals as travelers.
      Even just today I had a prep. meeting with my future mentor (who is Carrie Spalding as some of you may know) to talk about a schedule so that we can comunicate when I am on the boat. She is supposed to be a coach to me and will work with me on keeping up with the learning that my classmates will be doing when I am away.