Happy Thanksgiving!

So yesterday we had a Australian Thanksgiving party with all of our sailing friends. We called Australian because yesterday was Thanksgiving in Australia, not here. We did it yesterday because today there is a party at the marina for all of the American boats. Everyone (Tara Vana, Albatres and one other person that we just met and I don't know his boat's name)came except Someday Came (they thought that it would probably be too late for Violet, their 3 year old). Anyways, since it was on our boat, after school Cole and I cleaned our whole hull from top to bottom. It was really boring, but it looked much better. Oscar from Albatres and his parents came over at around 4:00, and asked if it was okay if Oscar could play here until his parents finished running errands. Of course, we said that he can absolutely play and that his parents should come back at around 6:00 for the party. At 5:30 Tara Vana came with their food. Soon after Albatres came and then this other person we met on a catamaran. Then from 6:00 to about 11:00 we talked, ran around the boat, laughed and ate. Soon everyone was falling asleep so they all went back to their boat. The meal was so good, and I had such a fun time!

Happy Thanksgiving! (numero dos)

Okay, now for the second party! So yesterday Mommy woke up sick. She slept basically all day. Cole, Daddy and I kept ourselves busy by watching music videos on YouTube, looking at a really cool website (newmoongirls.com........it's really cool for 8-16 year old girls), and reading books. Soon we decided to go to the big playground with the 'strap-into-a-harness-and-jump trampoline'. We invited Someday Came, Albatres and Tara Vana to come, but for one reason or another only Albatres could come. After lots of jumping, running and climbing, we dropped off Oscar from Albatres on his boat and Cole and I took showers ashore where you can use as much water as you want. When we got back to the boat Mommy decided that she would like to go to the party ashore and that she would love to hear the live music that would be playing ashore. So at 6:00 we all got into the dinghy and met Tara Vana at the marina. The whole restaraunt was decorated with all sorts of lights and red and white tables and chairs. The food was then served. We had turkey, rice, potatoes, bread, green beans, and some local looking food. It was all really good, and cake was for desert. Then, as I was eating my cake the dancers came in. They were really good, and had really nice costumes. They danced to the drums and maraca things that the band was playing. They did four different dances, each with the same six people. I really loved to watch them, and at the end they pulled some people from the audience to dance too. It just so happened that they took Ami from Tara Vana! It was really funny to watch her dance with the team, but she picked up a bunch of the steps and was looking pretty good with all the other dancers. After that they left, and we only stayed for a little while longer. As I was  After the party we all went back to the boat and went to sleep.

An Eventful Day

Okay so here is a list of things that happened yesterday:

1.woke up

2.found Daddy working in the engine rooms
3.ate breakfast

4.sat around and did nothing for a while

5.Albatres came over

6.Cole crashed down 8 feet into the engine room

7.Mommy freaked out and I cried

8.everyone got in the dinghy

9.Cole looked at us like we were crazy

10.Momy and I stopped crying

11.we got out of the dinghy

12.Cole started dancing around on the back deck (he was abviously fine)

13.Mommy put ice on Cole's foot

14.Daddy got back in the engine room to finish working

15.Albatres went back to their boat

16.I sat around and did nothing

17.Tara Vana took us out to dinner

18.we went back to the boat

19.I got in bed

20.I went to sleep

 

Okay, so that basically covered everything. Cole is perfectly fine (and is back to being an occasionally anoyning brother). I don't really feel like writing any more, so that is my blog for today. Bye!

Zee Fort

As I ran accross the triangle castle I spotted the enemy. So I called to all the people and told them to fire the cannons. Then I happily watched the enemy ships' mast fall down as they were attacked by Cartagena's armies.

 

Okay, none of that is true (but it could of been in the 1600s'!). So yesterday our new friends on Tara Vana, Albatres, and Someday Came and us, all went to the big fort in Cartagena. It was so much fun to run around in the tunnels with our flashlights and we learned a lot about Cartagena's history. In a nutshell Cartagena used to be the holder of all the gold found in South America until a Frenchman came and stole it in the 1600's. Because of all the gold, Cartagena made a huge fort so that they could look over the island in which the gold was held. It was made on a hill simply covered with brick. After making a plan it took them 100 years to build it with tons of slaves. Some of their brilliant ideas was tunnels to get from place to place underground, and a slanted wall so that when a cannonball hit it, it didn't crumble to pieces, but rolled down instead. Most of the fort is still the same brick now, and only one part of it had to be rebuilt in the early 1900s' (I think). The best part of the fort was running around in the underground tunnel with flashlights. The worst part was climbing back up the tunnel to ground level and fearing not having enough air to breath (obviously I'm still alive). After the fort we went to Old Town and walked around for a while after watching an African American dance team do a quick performance. As we walked past the gold museum, we decided to go in. It was really cool, and all the gold in the museum was real 24 karat gold. We then left to go to dinner since it was getting late and Violet was starting to get tired. On our way Albatres had to leave and go back to their boat, but Tara Vana, Someday Came and us stopped at a really nice restaurant to have dinner. After having ravioli, we went to the ice cream place. We finally got back to the boat at 10:00 and went straight to bed. Albatres just arrived so I've gotta go, bye!

Cartagena

So we are now currently in Cartagena. It is basically a harbour surrounded by a huge city. One of my favorite parts is watching the container ships come in and get unloaded at night. It is really cool because there are these big crane looking like things that light up at night and look like it's only a big structure of light. Another awesome thing here is that Mommy and I might get tickets to see a ballet!!!!! I am extremely excited and hope there is a show that we could see. Something weird about Cartagena is that when there is rain (it doesn't matter how much) the streets are flooded and it looks like Venice. A bad thing about Cartagena is that you can't swim in the water (it is so disgusting that even if people said we could, I still wouldn't do it. It is a brownish color and is really polluted). Something really cool about Cartagena is that, since it is their carnival this week, there is all sorts of really cool things going on: people singing on the top of a really old ship, harbour wide water gun fights, a parade of boats going down the center of the harbour with the Miss Columbia people in them and tons of fireworks. Something really awesome about Cartagena is the play grounds. They all have trampolines and one even has go carts, a bouncy house, and an awesome rope thing to climb on! We are going there today after we run some errands. That is basically a summery of what I know so far, but will probably be updated soon! Gotta go, Bye!

Motoring Our Way Through Muck (Happy Anniversary to Mommy and Daddy!)

-Muddy
-Filthy and gross
-Debris is everywhere
-The logs and weeds are floating by
-Brown Sea

Do you like my cinquain? It describes what I see surrounding the boat right
now. Today is our third day on our trip to Cartagena, and we are now passing
through the 'dumping grounds' of the Magdelena river. The river flows out of
the mountains and city in Columbia, and then out to sea, leaving the ocean
as a brackish water, brown and invaded by leaves, shoes, logs, sticks and
weeds from the mountains and city. When we first spotted the dumping ground
it was just brown water on the horizon, but as we got closer we saw the
abrupt change in the color of the water. It was so abrupt that Cole and I
were able to sit on the bow and count down until we passed the line (before
which we had been cleaning the clay off the deck. It was so much fun to play
with though, and we even made Mommy and Daddy an anniversary present). Once
passed the line, everyone was sent on deck to look for logs and any other
floating debris (this included leaves, sticks, weeds, bushes, boats and yes,
even a shoe). The first piece of debris was found by Cole. He found it, but
instead of saying which way to turn the boat he began to yell and point in
all different directions saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, did you see that,
it was huge!!!" Mommy got everything under control, and we didn't hit the
pile of leaves and sticks. But this is basically how it went whenever we saw
something floating: #1 point and yell, #2 pick a direction to point at, #3
look at everyone else and ask if they saw it too. Wonderfully organized
process wouldn't you say? After passing a small fishing boat who happened to
be anchored in 700 feet of water (strange), the brown water turned to dark
brown, and then to a more regular, greenish color, but still not blue. We
are now sailing in a third blue, third brown and third green water to a
little anchorage where we will be spending the night at before we wake up
early the next morning to continue our journey to Cartagena. Mommy is
currently making and snack and.........oh yeah! I forgot to tell you about
Cole and Is' wonderful surprise for Mommy and Daddy's anniversary! So after
dinner tonight, Cole and I are going to set up my piano. Next I will play
the song they walked down the aisle to on their wedding. Then Cole is going
to play his favorite song on the piano, The Titanic. After that Cole will
present our clay sculptures of islands (Cole made the islands and I made
their names out of pink and green clay), while I recite the cinquains I
wrote for them. The whole time they will probably be eating dessert knowing
Daddy. I'm going to go eat the wonderful snack Mommy made us. Bye!

Still Sailing

So yesterday morning we left Curacao at around 8:00 in the morning and
started our journey to Cartagena. It was a very nice sail, and there was no
waves whatsoever. I was even able to start reading a book to Cole and get a
bunch of homeschooling done. We also got to sail next to Someday Came for a
while. After we got near a bunch of ships, they disappeared off the horizon
and into the maze of ships. After one of Mommy's amazing chicken, rice and
vegetable dinner, everyone went down to bed to get rest before their shifts
(yes, Cole and I started doing shifts with Mommy and Daddy). At 9:00 pm I
woke up to Daddy sticking his head in my hatch and saying my name. When I
climbed out I found Mommy lying on the bow. Daddy told me to crawl up there
so that I could watch the 30 dolphins swim and jump around the boat. It was
so cool and I loved it when they would swim under the tramp and jump out of
the water, getting us wet. They would also come to the surface and talk to
us in their high pitched dolphin voices. Daddy thinks that since we turned
the deck light on that they were attracted to that, because when we turned
it on they came and when it went off they swam away (or it was too dark to
see them). Soon Mommy went down to bed and Daddy taught me how to look for
storms on the horizon. All of a sudden we heard a bang on the side of the
hull. Mommy came running up and I jumped on the couch and huddled there
until the running and panicking stopped. I then helped Daddy look in the
engine rooms for a signs of a leek. All clear! Mommy went down to bed and
Daddy and I sat in the cockpit for a while and looked up at the big, bright
moon. At midnight I went down back to sleep. I woke Cole up, and told him he
was on watch with Mommy, but he just looked at me and went back to sleep.
Since Cole and I get three hours on and six hours off, I slept the rest of
the night (I did have one more shift, but I was only up for an hour or so
before Daddy told me to go back to bed).We are now motoring (there is no
wind) past land and are going to turn in a while. I'm going to go do
something...don't know what but I'll do something. Bye!

PADI.................?

So yesterday I started something very, very, very, very, very, very, (okay I think you get it) fun. Okay, I'll give you clues, and you have to guess what I started. 1. It is a type of school, 2. you are in the water for a long time, 3. you have a book, take tests, watch movies, have a BCD, and have lots of fun.  Did you get it right? I started scuba diving!!! It's amazingly fun, and it started on Monday and will end at Wednesday. Each day starts at 8:30 each morning, an hour to hour and a half lunch break from 12:00 to 1:00, and we end at 4:30. I am being certified for PADI diving. PADI stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Today we did our second dive at the reef right below the boat. We have learned all the equipment, and how to set it up. We have also learned what to do in an emergency, and how to prevent them. Oh yeah, the most important rule of diving is.....................keep breathing! I know it sounds really hard, but when you are in a difficult situation, it's hard not to hold your breath. Why should you always hold your breath? Easy, if you start ascending, you lungs will expand. If you keep going up, you lungs will expand so far they will explode. I'm not kidding. Okay, so you want to know a difficult situation where you want to hold your breath. If your regulator (the thing you breath through) is knocked out of your head, you have to  blow out little bubbles while you recover your regulator. I know it sounds super simple, but sometimes it isn't. Okay, so here are some definitions for diving: Regulator-the thing you breath through,  BCD- (Buoyancy Control Device) kind of like a life jacket that you can blow up to make you go either up and down in the water, also holds up your tank,   Octopus-your extra regulator attached to your tank for buddy breathing,    Buddy Breathing-using your octopus to give to your buddy if he/she runs out of air. Okay I think that's everything new. I also found out that Cole and I are only allowed to dive to 40 feet. Today with our instructor Carolyn, we dove to 32 feet and got to see tons of fish and even a baby octopus! It was really fun and we even got to swim underneath Zen and Someday Came. I really loved it. Okay, we are going to go out for some type of Asian food for dinner (yummy!). Bye!