Decompression

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Lots and lots has happened. Some expected, some unexpected. Our frustration level reached a peak last week – and we needed to just unplug. The best medicine to cure the lists of stuff that need re-fixing on our boat is to set sail, find a secluded anchorage, explore, swim, and just inhale the surroundings. So, that’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of days.

There have been a lot of firsts for the new Field Trip crew:
  • We successfully docked the boat with Sarah and I to get water
  • We planned a 3-hour sail to a beautiful anchorage in Ilha Grande (so nice we decided to stay a little longer…)
  • We went to the prettiest beach we’ve ever seen, and had a blast with kiddos. We literally walked through a jungle to get there, and spotted Marmosets playing in the trees!
  • We had our first of many Caiprinhas (specialty drink of Brazil)
  • Both kids snorkeled for the first time – and LOVED IT! We saw a huge starfish, a turtle, and lots of tropical fish.
  • Elizabeth successfully took the helm for 15 min and did a great job navigating to a waypoint
  • Michael spent some time at the helm and liked to ‘drive the boat’ as he says
  • We have come close to mastering the idiosyncrasies of anchoring our boat with the new bridle – some tweaks we’ll add in St. Lucia to make this even easier
  • We met another great family from Brazil, and enjoyed talking about dreams, sailing and a little Deloitte business (grin, he was the CFO of a large multinational company and liked IBM….)
  • Sarah has been captain for most of the week, and has done an excellent job
  • And…drum roll…Sarah is cutting my hair today...pray for calm seas… 
All in all we’ve been having a fantastic week. Unfortunately our time is shorter than we would like. New crew is flying into Rio Sunday for our trip to St. Lucia. Sarah and the kids are flying back to Denver this weekend.

The hardest part for me will be missing Sarah and the kids for 3-4 weeks. The second hardest part will be the passage from Rio to Recife…hopefully we’ll have good winds and fair a little better than our friends aboard Escapade….stay tuned on FaceBook for more updates via Spot.

P.S. A new video is coming soon….once we have higher speed and ‘free’ internet!

Kids at dinner

Boat ride to restaurant

Marmoset

Island dining at it's finest

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