February 2000 - Speeding to Colon

Posted on 01 February

LOBSTER POT

Me, Mum and Hannah went shopping to buy a frizbie. It was red with a hole in the middle and it was very bendy. But it wasn’t as good as the airobea though. Then we went to the beach. We saw a lobster pot just as we arrived. There was a dead crab and some tuna fish on a stick. Not only tuna fish but other kinds too. It was washed up on the beach somehow. I was allowed to play with the new frizbie as long as I didn’t throw it to the sea. I threw it somewhere else instead. By mistake I threw it on some people sun bathing! We had some fruit punch and just as we were going to go I spotted a small pool in the hotel with two lobsters in it. One was going towards the small waterfall at the other end of the pool.

GAIL AND JOHN

We have been put in the water AT LAST!!! A crane came to put us in! After the boat was in lovely water again, we had a MacDonalds. When we were ready we set off to St Barths!!! Just as we were coming in to St Barths, the engine stopped! So we decided that we should go straight to Antigua. So we started on a night sail. It was very roly. It took a whole night. I was sick four times. At last we drew near. We had to wait for about half an hour for a boat called Sea Pony to tow us in. It was a red motor boat. We saw Gail and John on the pier waving to us. Then we stopped and said hello to them. Me, Hannah, Gail, John and Thomas all went to the beach. It was a beach outside their hotel and there were lots of lovely shells. I also named a puppy. I called it Candy. The lady who found him on the road who adopted him loved the name! We had lunch in a restaurant and I had a tuna fish. I was allowed to stay with Gail, John and Thomas. They gave me a present which was three books of paper. (My sort of thing!) In the evening, I had a drink with them at a bar called Columbo’s. Me, Hannah, Mum, Dad, Gail and John all went to have supper there. It was delicious. Yesterday it was a shopping day. We all split up (Dad with Mum and John, and me with Hannah, Gail and Thomas). Me and Hannah looked after Thomas while she did the shopping. We were allowed skittles and a necklace (very spoilt). In the evening WE TOOK OUR BRAIDS OUT !!!!!! My hair was really frizzy but we washed it so now it is OK again.

BYE

We went sailing to Five Islands bay. Thomas got very sick. The beach was lovely and Me, Gail, John and Thomas all made a motor car out of sand. There was a back seat and a front seat and wheels. Thomas sat in the front, I sat at the back. I also went running up and down the beach with Dad and Hannah. Then we sailed back again. The trip back was just as bad as the other. We all got very wet. The next day we went on a taxi journey to a place called Harmony Hall. We had lunch there and swam in the pool. We were invited for next time we go there to be taken in Ricardo’s (the manager’s) boat to Green Island, snorkell, he picks us up and we have lunch at Harmony Hall again. I CAN’T WAIT! We also met a couple who were stationed in a bay just outside Harmony Hall and were dining there too. They were doing the same thing as us and they came to talk on our table. They said there is a dolphin in English Harbour!!

Posted on 11 February

COME ON!!!

It was time for Granny, Grandpa, Nanna and Nannu to come! But they weren’t here! We waited for the whole evening for them. At last they came and we had supper in Catherine’s restaurant. It tasted lovely! The next day, we waited for ages for them again! We were expecting them to come at 8.30 but they came at 10.00! Then we played on the beach together. Granny, Grandpa, Nanna and Nannu all took me and Hannah to the house they’re staying in. It was lovely and with a swimming pool too! We had lunch with them. While we were eating delicious soup, the birds on the bird baskets (made out of coconut shells) started to sing. They were beautiful birds. Most of them were banana birds. We saw one humming bird though. After lunch we played some games like racing demons and uno and not forgetting pick-up sticks. We had great fun then we got back. Biba was HERE! She had left a note saying that they were in Catherine’s having a drink! Mum was down below and she didn’t notice they were here. But me and Hannah went to collect them. So Biba and Will (her boyfriend) came back with us. Me and Hannah had pasta with tomato suce and the grown-ups had curry then the grandparents had brought. It was yummy supper! So Biba and Will had a first night on Lazy Duck. We took the boat and anchored it just outside the beach. Grandpa had a VHF (a radio) so when they got to the beach he called Dad on the VHF so he could pick them up in the dinghy to take them to the boat. We swam a bit and the grandpas went to sleep. Me, Hannah and the grannys played games including snap which was absolutely hysterical! In the evening they went home again. The next day, me, Hannah, Dad, Biba, Will, Granny, Grandpa, Nanna and Nannu all went to watch he boat race. In the middle, me, Granny and grandpa went to the Admiral’s Inn (where we were having lunch) to join Mum and have a drink. Soon the others came and we were ready to order. I had a club sandwich. Yum yum. My tooth suddenly got very wobbly and I couldn’t bite on that side. Then I went with the grannys and grandpas to their house again.

After I swam in the pool I had a shower. While I was getting dressed, I was looking in the mirror at my wobbly tooth and wobbling it. Suddenly it started danglling and I yanked it off! MY TOOTH CAME OUT!! I kept it safe in a tissue. In the evening I put it under my pillow and I got 1 dollar. I went with the grannys and grandpas (Hannah too) to their house. The others sailed to Green Island. We decided to meet at Harmony Hall. We stopped to have a drink. We went up the old sugar mill to the top. It was a lovely view!

BEACH SNORKELLING

Yesterday I went with the others on a speed boat to a beach so that we could go snorkelling for an hour or two. There wasn’t really much to see and I got a bit cold but I still saw a butterfly fish, squirrel fishes and some LOVELY brain coral. Will, Grandpa and Nannu all went to the great reef. When they came back, they said there wasn’t much to see apart from a sting ray and a barracuda. Then we headed back to Harmony Hall. We walked up and had lunch there. I had DELICIOUS duck and some ting! For pudding I had some passion fruit ice-cream! Yum yum! We also saw some lobsters in a tank the Harmony Hall had collected to put down people’s throats! Peter (the director) picked some up by the antennae. One broke off and others just flapped. Peter emptied the water (sssslllloooowwwwllllyyyy) to clean it, and put some more clean water in (sssslllloooowwwwllllyyyy). It all came in little tubes straight from the sea. After we had gone, we went in the dinghy back to the boat.

Posted on 22 February

OFF WE GO!!!!

We sailed back and the engine went again. We had two days of fixing then we set off for Panama. Granny and Nanna and Nannu waved to us as we left. I felt like crying. We have been going for two days now and tomorrow we will arrive in Bonaire. It will be exciting. (Mum has just given me my fourth glass of water today). I have just finished two books in two days and I am halfway through Pollyanna (it used to be Mum’s). They were quite long.

LET’S GO SNORKELLING!

Today we went snorkelling. (We got to Bonaire yesterday). It was lovely. A boat came to take us. We saw a rainbow parrotfish (it was gigantic), two trunkfish, two trumpet fish, (Mum didn’t see the second one), sergeant major fish and all sorts of things! It was beautiful. After a while I got a bit chilly so I got out. At last we went back. On the way we saw lots of flying fish. We were going 30 knots (on the speed boat of course) and the flying fish still were going at the same speed as us. After the flying fish, Dad saw lots of splashing. At first he thought it was dolphins, but we went to go and see. Dad then decided they were marlins.

PANAMA CANAL HERE WE COME!

We sailed to Colon and it was very rocky. We saw dolphins for the first time since the Atlantic! They came and played in the bow a bit and then went away again. We also saw LOADS of flying fish and lots of them landed on the deck. One of them went just by Dad’s ear and landed in the water again. We saw flying fish of all sizes. There were also HUGE waves. We couldn’t go up on deck because they were so big! One time, we surfed an ENORMOUS wave and went 17.4 knots and we think that’s the fastest Lazy Duck has ever been!!!!! At last we arrived and there was lots of big ships and it is very noisy and smelly which is a big change from all the islands we’ve seen.