Welcome to the Grenadines!
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: home of a bajillion small, beautiful islands surrounded by gorgeous turquoise waters and filled with friendly people, the Grenadines make us feel right at home.
Our Happy Place
After leaving the States over 2 years ago, we’ve finally found our Happy Place. I don’t mean a specific place, per se. But a feeling. Ya know what I mean? We found our groove. A routine we can settle into and really feel comfortable. So what does that even mean? Well, here’s a look at a typical day in our lives while hanging out in the Grenadines for 6 weeks…
A Traveling Routine?
It may seem weird that we enjoy a routine. But when you travel full time, honestly? It can be exhausting. Finding a routine in the Grenadines allowed us to really rest and recover from constant movement. Constant searches for weather windows for the next move. Constant plans for where to check into and out of the next country. Basically, reset our tired brains after 2 solid years of movement.
Our Daily Schedule
Sun’s up, Jenn’s up. Time for yoga! Mark typically gets the coffee going while I get busy on deck doing yoga and weights.
Side Bar: We need to sort out that coffee thing. Still. We’re hoping to find an electric kettle in the States that will work with our current inverter in order to speed along our coffee press process. Waiting 20+ minutes for the water to boil before we can get the coffee brewing in our stainless steel coffee press is kind of torture. And I think we can run an electric kettle easily, which will save 20 minutes worth of propane every morning… And we have LOADS of power thanks to our Relion batteries, so why not?
After yoga, coffee and oatmeal, it’s time for Mark to kite! This was before he learned to boat launch in Antigua, so I ran him to the beach in the dinghy, helped him launch on the beach, and then dashed back to the boat to do my own thing. I was able to keep an eye on him, in case he needed a rescue. More than once, I’d look up from what I was doing to find him hanging out on the downwind beach, patiently waiting for me to see him and come get him. Oopsie.
Naps are Critical
I typically cooked lunch while he kited for a few hours. I’d grab him, we have lunch and then nap. You know, so our food could digest before snorkeling! Plus, me getting up before 7am to work out, and Mark kiting for 2 or 3 hours often meant we needed a little rest to keep going. And why not nap? We try to take advantage of all of these things we finally have time to do!
Afternoon Snorkels
We found, via our hike to the top of Frigate Rock, a gorgeous bit of reef on the windward side of Frigate Rock. So around 2pm it’s time to snorkel! But even if we can’t find good reef, I just love the freedom of swimming and swimming and swimming in the open water. Plus, swimming with fins is great for you butt. Dents and all.
Dinner and a Movie?
Yes, please! We have a hard drive full of TV shows and movies. However, the cell coverage in Frigate is strong enough to stream Netflix. Let me tell you, there was no shortage of binge watching over dinner.
Time for Town
About once a week or so, we dinghied into Clifton, across the beautiful bay on the windward side of Frigate Rock. If you go thru it enough times, you learn the coral-free path, and can zip to town in less than 10 minutes. Easy peasy. We hit town to grab fresh veggies and often grabbed lunch as well. The Local was a great spot for lunch. And Barracudas has excellent pizza!
We also spent some time hiking around. It’s not uncommon for us to dinghy to land and just start walking. Random, but a great way to really see the islands.
All About the Budget
While we didn’t hide out in the Grenadines in order to save money, it sure was a bonus side effect! Even going out to eat and hanging out in town with friends, we stayed under $600US. That’s my kind of life! Never did we feel like we were skimping on things, but eating at home saves a fortune. And if there are no stores around, there’s really no way to spend money. It’s not like we can do some late night Amazon binge shopping… Suddenly this lifestyle has become a money saver. What?!
Future Happy Places
So what does this even mean? We’ve moved on from the Grenadines. I’m currently typing this at anchor in Antigua. Green Island, Nonsuch Bay, to be exact. And guess what!? It’s our Current Happy Place. Yoga, kiting, snorkeling. It’s got it all! Except restaurants and provisioning. But we knew that coming in, so we are good for about a week. Then we will putt around to the north of this island, and eventually Jolly Harbor to check out. Next up? St. Croix! Then St. Thomas, Old San Juan, and finally the Bahamas. Time for Round 3 of Luna Sea in the Bahamas – another ultimate Happy Place. Woop Woop!
About Author
Jennifer,
I am glad that you and Mark are doing well living your dream. I am currently in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera having left the states on 1/3/19. We cruised the Abacos and the headed to Nassau to drop my bud off who was flying back. Hooked a sailfish on that particular voyage. I have been singlhanding since through the Exumas and across to Eleuthera. Have started the slow journey back to Savannah as I have some real estate to deal with from my father’s estate. I plan to be back in the Bahamas next winter. Good luck!
Dave Driggers
SV Hotspur
Hey Dave! We really LOVE Spanish Wells! And are heading back to Savannah as well. Between SAV and Bahamas next season, surely we will finally cross paths on the water.
Great read. Thanks for sharing! Happy to see you guys happy!
Thanks Andy!
Great read and great pictures. Sure hope to see you when you get back to Savannah. Love seeing ya’ll having FUN ! ! ! !
Happy happy birthday my friend. Glad you are celebrating in your happy place. Miss you (and Mark and the pup)