Our Beach/Sand dune Adventure

Now we are officially in Los Testigos. There is a cute little town right off
our bow with about two or three houses. Independence successfully made it
into the harbor, last night around dinner time. So now that both boats are
together again, we decided to go on a little adventure to the sand dune.
Indi (Independence) were in an area that was really rolly, so they went to
re-set their anchor, while we started looking for a path near the village.
We came across a man who spoke only Spanish. So we spoke Spanish/English and
he spoke Spanish, and he finally figured out that we wanted to know if there
was a trail to the sand dune. He said kind of and showed us how to get
there. After pointing us in the right direction, he went back to his little
town and we started on the trail. For a while it was just a little path with
a couple plants sticking up here and there. About half way it started to get
a little rougher. ¾ of the way it got pretty bad with lots of rocks,
cactuses, and plants we weren't supposed to touch because they made you
itch. Finally, we could see the sand dune, which made us know that we were
still on the path. At last, we made it. The sand was about a zillion
degrees, and it was on a pretty good slope, that was hard to climb up. At
first I started to think that the hike was totally not worth it and this was
going to be super boring. But then I saw a path and decided to go down it.
When I got to the other side, my thoughts of the sand dune totally changed.
Before me was a huge beach/sand dune. For a while I climbed on the roots of
a tree with Cole and waited for Mommy and Daddy. Once they got there we all
went full blast into the perfectly clear water. The bottom was just sand,
and there were awesome waves, but no undertow. Soon Mommy and Daddy said
that we had to start heading back to the boat. Of course no one wanted to go
back on the trail, so we hoped that we might be able to get to the ocean and
swim back. Luckily, there was a path leading strait towards the ocean. There
were a bunch of rocks at first, but then it turned to sand. About half way
there, we saw the Indi crew walking on the path! We were so excited to see
them that after talking for a while (more like yelling) we decided to go
back and hang out for a while with them on the dune. After playing and
swimming some more, we had to go back. So we went down the trail and jumped
in the water. After swim/walking for a while it started to get deep and more
like a reef. So we found a floating piece of Styrofoam and put Sammy (the
two year- old on Indi) and Indi's back pack. Soon we got to a place where we
could go ashore from rocks sticking out of the water. Then we found a little
goat trail to get back to the little village where we had both beached the
dinghies. Now we are back on the boat and Mommy is cooking a fish that Indi
gave us since they caught so many. Gotta go. Bye!

9/25/08

Today started with waking up at 4:30 am. I woke up to the sound of the
engines, and Daddy closing my hatch. First I freaked out, but then I
remembered that today is the day we sail to Los Testigos. (Los Testigos is a
bunch of small islands off of Venezuela. They are totally deserted except
for one, that has a coast guard station.) Our plan was to sail along side
Independence, one of our friends, all the way there. This all changed when
at about 4:45 am, they informed us over the radio that they were having
difficulty lifting their anchor (this is called a fowled anchor). Since our
goal was to get there before night came, we had to leave them in the harbor.
Since we had no success calling them over the SSB, or long distance radio,
we don't know when they left, and how far behind us they are. Daddy guessed
about 4 hours. Any ways, when the sun finally rose, I could see that the
trip was going to be really calm with enough wind. Perfect weather for
sailing fast. The weather lasted for about half the trip. Then the wind
died, and we had to put up our light wind sail, the code zero. This sail is
absolutely huge, and is perfect in light winds (and blocking the sun, so you
get some shade). Cole and I soon got bored, and so we went to watch a movie.
On my way down, Daddy told me to run and get a water pump, bucket, and
sponge, because he overflowed the starboard water tank. So for the next half
an hour Cole and I mopped, pumped and sponged all the overflowed water.
Finally, I get to watch the movie. About fifteen minutes into the movie we
had to take the DVD out because Mommy's computer (what we were watching the
movie on) had 9 minutes of battery power left. As soon as we went upstairs,
we were given sandwiches and yogurts for lunch. When I went outside to eat
on the trampoline, I was so happy to see Los Testigos, even though it was
really far away. Now, at 4:40 pm we are in between all the islands and 25
minutes away from the anchorage. Daddy has to use the chart on the computer
now, so I have to go. Bye!

Video Chat

One of our favorite forms of entertainment is video chatting with our
really close friends. After we come back from a day full of
watersports, we check on Skype to see who's online. Next, we connect
with them online. If they are able, we do a video chat. This is when
your screen is kind of like a television and you can see the people
you are talking to. Sometimes it's really confusing when everyone
talks at once or if you move really fast and then the screen gets
fuzzy. But, it's really fun because it's the closest thing to talking
face-to-face. I have been hoping to set up the computer and put it
near the dinner table so we can eat dinner with our friends. But
momma and daddy don't like that idea because it uses up all the
laptop's battery. Daddy just said, "How much do you guys think I
weigh?" Cole said, "Six hundred and ninety nine pounds." Of course,
we all know it was a mistake, but it was really funny. He actually
weighs 188 lbs. That was kind of strange, totally off subject, but
that's OK. For the next 2 weeks, we are going to be doing lots of
sailing. But, we are going to new places and out of Grenada, we have
been for the past month. Much longer than I ever thought we'd be
here. Today we started school really early so we could have a full
day of playing with our friends on Beach Magic and Panache, since it's
our last day with them. I ended up doing extra school work since Cole
was still going, but I still got to play for a long time. I'll
probably send another blog in a couple days after we get to Los
Testigos. Bye to Laurianne, Max, Marshall and Parker!!! We'll miss
you!!!

9/16/08

Today was a really fun day. I got up at around 7:30, and played my DS for a little while before Daddy came down to tell us to start school. Math and history each took about half an hour to 20 minutes. Reading took a long time because I did two lesons, and finished my book. It was really good. In art history I read a chapter and drew a picture of a helmet. Finally for composition I finished my news article and put it on the blog. After school we had a great lunch of tuna casserole and lots of fruits. I was about to start a bracelet, when the kids from the boat Beach Magic drove up in their dinghy. They said that they wanted us to come over to their boat, but when Daddy said that Max was allowed to wind surf, that plan was canceled. So for a while we swam around and jumped off the back of the boat. All of a sudden we saw Panache drive into the anchorage. After a lot more swimming Cole went to Panache to ask the kids if they wanted to come over and swim. Of course, Cole came back with both boys in the dinghy. When Max was done wind surfing, we all jumped in the dinghy to go tubing. It was so much fun. Everyone decided to just laugh at the people in the tube while they were in the dinghy, but Marshal and I decided to laughed at. After I went, Parker, the driver of the dinghy, said that he was going to pull Marshal at full speed. He deffinitly did. We were all laughing so hard when he wiped out (more like flipped out). When we went back to Zen, Marshal and Parkers' parents were there too. As soon as we got aboard, Mommy brought out a bunch of homemade pretzels. They were amazing! Before we knew it, it was 6:30, and everyone had to leave. Today was a great day.

Another School Project

Here is another school project that I had to do. It is a newspaper article on the chocolate factory I wrote a blog about a while ago.

 

 

     Belmont Plantation Chocolate Factory

If you have ever wondered how or where chocolate is made, here are some of the answers. At the Belmont Plantation, in Grenada, chocolate is all anyone thinks about.

 

Starting 360 years ago, by the Swiss, sugar cane was grown. When the Swiss left, the French took over with coffee, then the British with nutmeg, and finally the Indian, who still own the plantation now, started chocolate.

 

A while after the Indian took over, they started growing all different fruits and vegetables. All the new products were then distributed around the island.

 

Most visitors of the plantation agreed that it was a very educational event. Monique Burgess says "It was very educational, and I loved how everything is done by hand."

 

When you come to plantation you can first be given a tour, and watch a quick movie on how the chocolate is made. After the film is done you are given a free sample of the chocolate, and an opportunity to get your own bar.

 

"The chocolate is awesome," says Cole Burgess "and I have never seen so many different fruits and vegetables."

Weather in the Tobago Cays

If you looked at our main blog, you would have seen the weather chart of the
hurricanes. If you read the actual blog, you would know that we are NOT
going to get hit by one. Even though we are not in a hurricane, we are in
twenty five knots of wind with thirty knot gusts, pouring rain for the whole
day, and a huge current. Weather down here sounds great doesn't it (ha ha)!
Despite the weather Cole, me and the kids on the boat Cataway (Nick and
Tim), went to the beach to go exploring. In the pelting rain the four of us
went on all the trails and little paths possible. Finally, we decided that
we were absolutely freezing, and that we should go jump in the water, which
was surprisingly warm. We swam for a while, until Nick and Tim's dad came to
pick us up. When we got to Cataway we decided that we were way to cold to
get out of the water, so we swam for about an hour. Tim came up with the
idea to try and swim through the two hulls and to get to the bow of the
boat. It was really hard with a good current, rain, and waves smashing on
us, but we finally got through. We went back and forth about three times
until the current go too strong, and we gave up and got out of the water to
dry off. Since the weather was not getting any better we settled on playing
their PS3 (a game you play that is connected to a TV). When we got bored of
that we played the electronic game of Life. It was really fun. We didn't
play until the end, but Nick won with the most money. After that we played
the PS3 again for only a couple minutes until we had to go back to Zen. As
it is getting darker, the white caps on the waves aren't as clear, but I
know they won't be gone until late tonight when the squall has passed. Daddy
says that we have great weather coming our way in the next couple of days.
Now I just half to wait. Bye!