Endless Pleasure

What a week!!

Our last post ended with us landing in the Island of st. Thomas. It didn't get as far as the warm welcome we got, just before leaving the terminal, with a complimentary rum sampling. A nice start ;)

A short taxi ride brought us to Red Hook, where,  by the dingy dock, we were supposed to meet Tim. 

There we were once again, with our pile of bags, ready for another week of adventures, only this time, afloat!

Tim and Stephany bought the catamaran Endless Pleasure who docked next to us in the marina in Rhode Island. Side by side we worked on getting our boats ready for the long journey, and a friendship was born. Their plan: to charter their boat (a 51' privilege, a beauty ) to groups on a weekly basis. our plan: to float. 'Yes please' was the only answer we could think of when they so generously invited us to spend a week onboard. 

The plan was to go out for short day sails so that Tim would be able to make it to his classes in the evenings. We spent the first day provisioning and exploring the area, and even Kayaked to the nearby shore. The cat is equipped with 2 kayaks, a paddle board, floating beds and other toys which make the stay even more fun. 

Our goal was to try them all :) mission accomplished!

Words can not describe how good they made us feel. From the second we came onboard they made us feel welcomed and at home. A real bond was formed with the kids, Mika finally found a soul mate, a grown up who actually knows Katy Perry and can sing along with her, and by the time we arrived to our last Marina in Totola, Gur has officially adopted Tim as a big brother. 

Not to mention their encouragement and support of our on going boat search. 

We miss you already, and look forward to meeting again soon!!

And now?

We have rented a house on the island of Tortola and will stay here for the next three weeks.  We will relax, explore, and continue hunting for a new boat. 

Turns out now is the worst season to shop for catamarans in the Caribbean as they are all busy. No one is selling, everyone is sailing...

Yesterday, we took a ferry to the nearby island of virgin Gorda to look at a potential boat and explore the famous baths. 

A beach covered with giant boulders and a challenging path going threw them which leads to an amazing bay. 

Every island is different, and every beach is different, and us? We are trying to see them all ;)

What's next? 

As always, with us, we'll have to wait and see. 

Stay warm,

And hug your mom,

*Yom Em Sameach Mami!

(Happy Mother's Day)

-Darya

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One month later

It's hard to believe it's been a month since we left freezing Boston behind. Some days it feels like we left yesterday and on others it feels like months have gone by. 

We just left the island of Vieques where we enjoyed the homy company of our friends John and Vicki. 

We shared a nice house where we could finally cook our own meals, brew our own coffee and mix our Piña Coladas. 

The island has endless beaches, one more spectacular then the other and we spent our days enjoying the sun, the sand and the clear blue water. 

Having so many beaches and not as many tourists allowed us to enjoy these beaches almost exclusively on our own. 

The kids really enjoyed the extra attention of 2 more grown ups and took full advantage of John's tickling frantic, and Vicki's collection of imported bed time stories. 

Oren took advantage of the extra support and headed back to Boston for a meetingfor 3 days. 

He has been constantly trying to figure out the next step for us, searching for boat alternatives all over the Caribbean. And No. Still ok word from the insurance, so we're still in the dark concerning our budget. 

(Vegan friends. Sorry. Please skip over this next paragraph)

Turns out having the company of two naturally born New Englanders had culinary advantages too :)

One day we came across two fisherman selling live lobsters and fish they just caught. Oren and I weren happy enough to grill the fish but were about to pass on the lobsters. John and Vicki on the other hand happily shoved them into the cooler and eagerly drove home. 

With only a small pot in sight the biggest of the lobsters put up a fight that would have left him strolling out of the kitchen against any other cook. Unfortunately for him he was up agains miss Vicki. With all of us running for shelter, she used two tools to control and tame it until at last he gave up. His friends who witnessed it all practically jumped in to the pot willingly. 

What a feast that was! 

(Welcome back vegans it's a perfect world again)

The island of Vieques has a huge population of wild horses running free every where. When they don't go through your garbage bins and send them rolling all down the street they make for some wonderful photo ops. 

The island also has the world's largest bio luminescence bay. A spectacular sight i got to enjoy in a pedal boat. 

Once the moon was out it wasn't as great but until then it was quite the sight. 

You can only see it after dark so oren covered for me as it was too late for the kids. 

Another unexpected obstacle was our laptop who died on us suddenly leaving us only to the mercy of the I-devices. Yes. This post was thumb-typed on my phone. Of course it also means we have no access to the oh so much better photos patiently awaiting on my camera...

Thank god for iphone!

By the time I finished posting we've just landed on the island of St Thomas where we are to join our friends Tim and Stephaney on board their catamaran. 

What's next? We haven't written the next chapter just yet.. Stay tuned!

And hey,

GO PATS!!!!

- Darya 

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More than one way to float...

It's been over a week since we have been separated from our boat. One of the most dramatic weeks ever. Within a few seconds we had to face a new, unexpected twist in our unfolding adventure, and we're now trying to answer the biggest question of all: What's next??
First, some updates about the last few days:
It took several days for the rescue team to tow the boat back to Fajardo, PR, and a couple of days more to haul it out of the water. Oren was with her the whole time, but it took a while before I got to see her. in a word - painful.

I got to her shortly after they have set her down on blocks in the marina's dry dock, and was greeted by the team who worked on striping off the layers of patches they've used to try and close the holes before towing her back to the marina.
one of the workers presented me with a strange souvenir - a used bottle of water he said he got out of the damaged part of the boat. a closer look revealed this...

yes. a live fish. poor guy swam all the way from Culebrita in the bottom of our boat... Crazy.
I later took him back to the ocean, blessed it as best I could and sent him off on his way.

From certain angles, the outside doesn't look so bad, but on the inside, cabinets have been tore out, water  got everywhere, and damage was clear. We had, for example one cabinet full of books that were to be used to 'boat-school' the kids. all were damaged beyond repair. a joint effort is being made now back home to recover some of the books. (Thank you, Savta Noa, Doda Tamar and GilGil).
In the meantime we are pursuing alternative methods of teaching :)

We hanged around the Marina for a few days. The Marina owner, Brooks Prouty, was incredibly helpful, took us under his wings, took care of us, and even helped us store some of our belongings until we figure out what to do next. Once again we were more than lucky to find a true friend! We love you Brooks!

We've retreated to a hotel for a few days. giving us a chance to relax and the kids a chance to run around, swim in the pool and just have fun.

Today we visited the old city of San Juan, and the amazing fortresses built by the Spanish to defend it.

We still have to make one painful trip to the post office in Culebra, to pick up the new trampoline we ordered for the boat... yup. It arrived a day after the accident...
What's next? Endless surprises, I'm sure...
By the end of the week, we will take a ferry to the island of Vieques, where we're going to meet our friends from Boston, John and Vicky.  Original plan was to have them stay on land, and join us for daily cruises, but instead they will take us in with them... We are so looking forward!
We've updated our friends Tim and Stephanie, who were our neighbors back  in the marina in RI. They have a 50' catamaran and are now in the BVI awaiting their first charter customers. They were sweet enough to invite us to stay with them for a week after we leave Vieques, thus buying us yet another week in paradise... you guys are amazing!!!
We don't know how soon we can get answers from the insurance, which will enable us to plan our next steps. Suggestions are welcomed! comment, text us, email or send a dolphin :) we're open to ideas.
With everything we've been preoccupied with we are still sending warm thoughts to all our friends back in the freezing mainland.
 Keep warm!

Love,
The 'floating' Eliases

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