Sunday August 31
Hello everybody!
In our last travel letter we said we'd stop writing for a while but the pressure to keep on was too great! There were outcries from several directions that we must keep inform you of our dos and whereabouts so here it is!
We are still in the Caribbean and will let you know what we have been up to since February. As you may remember we have started working on a yacht, an Oyster 62 that is much of what a Rolls Royce is for cars. It's a varied work. Captain Kris has been busy with several installations and maintenance onboard. Gunilla looks after the interior mostly, when time allows also exterior, and plans the provisioning etc. Our boss has not been onboard for a few months so we have been able to mainly work 8-5 Monday thru Friday. When we have guests onboard we work long days, from 6-10 and no weekends off. It's a fun and flexible job that be both like a lot.
The difference between sailing an Oyster 62 and an OE36, you may want to know. Well, they are many… On Elvina there is no shower, now we have 3 inside and 1 outside! We are living a life in luxury with a microwave oven, a freezer, a large fridge, running water as well as hot water from the tap. There is a flat screen on the wall with a separate DVD player, electronic seacharts, electrical winches, sat phones etc. As you see a comparison of the two boats is not to be done. The fact is in many ways it is easier to handle a big boat. Less muscle power is used at sea but when going into a dock the lines are much larger and the fenders heavier. The places we go to are the same though. Elvina has usually been the first boat to leave the anchorage in the early mornings in order to get to the next place before dark. Now we can leave around 8am and pass all the smaller boats during the day and still have time for a swim before evening comes. In Swedish movie there is a saying "oh yes, small boats also has its charm". (No Elvina, we haven't forgotten you..)
The first 2 months we mostly sailed around in the BVI's, USVI's and a short spell to the Spanish Virgins. During this time we had guests flying in and out from different places. The past winter has been a relatively cold and windy season in the Caribbean but for newcomers from Scandinavia it's been hot enough. Oyster had a regatta in the BVI's in April that we participated in. Our mottos were to race as good as possible and have a happy ship. We had lots of fun both during the races and during the parties in the evenings. Oyster takes good care of their owners and there was a great atmosphere during the regatta. Another fun thing we did was to swim with dolphins. There is a dolphin safari in Tortola, BVI's, and we got to do tricks with the dolphins. Very cool! After having had them swimming around us in several places it was great to come near and play with them.
We sailed south for the hurricane season and got to go back to some of our favorite spots as well as see new places. We like Martinique a lot and spent a week there before St Lucia and the Grenadines became our agenda. We bought a pair of jogging shoes during the trip and we have used them several times for both long walks and jogging runs.
Last time we were in Tobago Cays we had a very windy night with a longlasting thunderstorm that made us take protection behind another island so we never went snorkeling. This we did now and it's the best snorkeling we've ever had. Very clear water and the fish are so colorful it feels like swimming around in an aquarium.
We have been in Grenada since mid July and have done both sightseeing on the island and taken a diving certificate. It is completely different to snorkeling. We had an intense but very fun course. There are several interesting dive spot around Grenada so we got to see new places every time.
Gunilla went to Sweden for a few weeks holiday and travelled around. She enjoyed long walks in the forest and picked lots of chanterelles. There was also time for a visit to Denmark and England to see our boss among other things.
We will be in Grenada until mid-September when our boss returns to us and we'll begin our sail westwards. It'll be fun to come to places we have just dreamed of before. There is a small poem by Diane Arbus that concludes our feelings: "The best thing I know is to go to a place I have never been". We'll be in touch!
All the best from Gunilla and Kris