The Last Hurrah

My brother Josh landed in St. Thomas after a red eye flight from Duluth, got in a gypsy cab to hustle to Red Hook where we picked him up in the dinghy, then we immediately set sail for the 100 mile upwind trek to St. Martin. We had a very small weather window as a storm system was forming over the next 24 hours, threatening strong winds and big seas. Josh was able to sleep for part of the journey out of pure exhaustion and when he wasn't sleeping, he was puking. I made the mistake of laughing at him (what, he's my brother!!) and almost immediately began puking myself. 24 hours and 8 pounds lighter between the two of us, we made land fall in the big and beautiful Marigot Bay. Of course it was dark, and of course we ran out of gas, and of course the engine was refusing to restart because air had gotten in the system. On the bright side, the seas were calm, the wind was low, and we eventually got to anchor safely. Our last Hurrah in St. Martin had officially begun.   

YAY Josh!! Dinghying away from the USVI's.  

Dave, Jon and Josh, at the Pink Iguana for some good music.

Josh and I jumped out of an airplane and landed on Orient beach!!

Tim and Kim hosting us at their seaside hotel. We'll miss Margie so much.

Our last sail on Tarka as her captains. Destination: St. Barthelemy

St. Barts

Jon surfing Tarka's keel

Swimming bliss

Back in St. Martin and look who came to visit: Clint and Jess! <3<3<3

We could hardly keep up with these two! Love them.

Excursion to Saba.

In the top five for favorite island

Walking home with pizza and beer. The hills were steep which makes for great views.

A Saba sunrise

Remembering our Island Life

Eight months ago was our last post. I left you hanging with us returning to the boat and enjoying our last hurrah on Tarka. I obviously wish I had been a diligent little blogger like some people I know (Bryan Rolfe (the new owner of Tarka)(The Adventures of Tarka)) because the memories of that fleeting time have already faded some and I would love to look back on an already written blog and try, even just for a moment, to re-live that magical time. When we owned the boat it really didn't seem like that big of a deal. Totally routine to swim every single day in the crystal clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean Islands while simultaneously trying to hide from the brilliant ever present tropical sun. I told myself almost everyday that when it was all over the one thing I didn't want to have done was 'taken it for granted'. Well lemme tell ya, that is hard to do. Because you can't open your eyes wider to see more, or inhale deeper to smell more, or smile bigger to have more fun. The only thing you can do is appreciate the moment you're in and not sweat the small stuff. And when it's your everyday life, that is much easier said than done.

I must admit, I find it hard to imagine the state of the islands now after having been ravaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria. What a heartbreaking reality, having the place you know and love be changed forever - not so much for me, but for the lovely people who call the islands 'home'.  

A warm welcome from our friends Jodi and Matt who put us up on St. Thomas before Jon's folks arrived <3

A tropical Christmas in the USVI's with Jon's family! We sure missed Alyssa and Charlie though :)

Exploring Little Thatch Island with some lovely friends.

Jon washing his hands after working on the engine. I do not think he misses this...

Horseback riding in Vieques after a dolphin filled sail from St. Thomas with Jodi and Val.

One of many island perks.

Exploring Puerto Rico  

A Medalla date in Old San Juan

My Las Vegas family in the BVI's! 

Courtney and Jason in the USVI's! Together we circumnavigated St. John.

One of the hardest parts of transitioning is saying goodbye to friends. Here we are with Adam and Kelly on our last morning in the Virgin Islands. Later that day we picked up my brother Josh who had flown into St. Thomas and the three of us sailed away heading for St. Martin. More about that in the next blog :)

The one with all the Friends

Check it out, two blogs in one week!! Pretty good huh? Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself ;-P This one was easy because we decided to spend our last three months, before returning to the boat, road tripping. Seeing as many friends as possible was at the top of my list. And we did well. My only regret is not pit stopping in Portland to connect with the extraordinary Alli and Brady (who gave me the necklace I now wear). I for sure thought we would have time on the drive back south, but of course we stayed as long as possible in every location rendering us short on time to make it to Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving. So we may have missed you guys, but let it be known that you were not far from our thoughts <3 <3 <3

I find blogging to be easier when we are on the boat because it is on my mind more often. Something about the isolation from your normal social activities (yoga, familiar coffee shops and grocery stores, local bars) makes me think about people I care about and what they might be doing at this moment. I will say Instagram helps with that, haha! But for real, when it comes down to it, everywhere we go and everything we do is definitely improved with good company. I can not say enough of the friends we have or have made. I am literally tearing up in this quaint little bar in paradise (the Dinghy Dock in Culebra) as I think about all the people I wish were here with me right now. I could never complain about my life, it is exactly as Jon and I dreamed it!! But when we sell Tarka and become 'dirt dwellers' again, I will be just as happy if not more happy sitting in a dark bar or crumby coffee shop as long as it is with one of my friends. Every one of you is more than I could have ever dreamed and I thank you for being a part of our lives. Maybe I'm close to my period or maybe it's this second G and T, but I love you. I love you all so much. Everyone that is reading this and everyone I have ever met I LOVE you. I look forward to our next meeting. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Symbiosis 2016. Jon, Tim, Eli, Alitia, Skylar and me. Our crew was amazing <3

A few days in Tahoe with my friend Cindy. 

Back to Duluth! Best. Halloween. Ever. Ryan, Jon, Clint, Jess, Ally, me. 

Back to Reno where we left our truck. Kicking it with Nina and Jonas (not pictured ;(

Road trip to Seattle to see my love Brittnie and my new love Esme and Chuck! ;)

Oh and Courtney lives in Seattle too, How Perfect!! Seattle must be pretty great to attract such amazing humans.

Molly and John in Twisp! <3<3<3

Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz with the Martins. Our California family! Rosada Joe and Jameson, muah!

Big Sur

Friends in high places. Rosalia living the good life in Big Sur

Our first visit to Los Angeles

Friends in LA!! 

Carl knows whats up. In J Tree exploring Carl's backyard

WHAAAAAT???? JESSE and JULIE??? Yup that's right, while driving around the Hidden Valley Campsite in Joshua Tree at night we spontaneously ran into some old Duluth friends. (Well, first time meeting Julie but we clicked pretty quick. Obviously ↑ :D )

Okay, enough fooling around! This was our last stop (at the Mojave Desert Sand Dunes!) before returning to our 2nd home, Las Vegas where we spent a few days preparing for our return to the boat, a few days partying with Courtney (eeepic), and a few more days prepping to leave. Somehow we pulled it together and caught our flight with our two checked bags and split for St. Thomas.

From Cuba to MN

It has been almost a year since my last post. Around this time last year Jon and I were in Time Out Boat Yard on St. Martin working on Tarka after the unfortunate beaching incident. Since then a lot has happened.

I love our constantly changing adventurous life style but currently I am enjoying it more than ever since Jon has officially applied to grad programs across the country. He is pursuing a PhD in social work and will begin classes in the fall. So obviously we will be selling Tarka and paying rent somewhere. (where we will come up w that kind of cash every month is beyond me. ;-P) Anyway let me recap on some of the highlights of last February thru August.

I'll begin with a spontaneous 10 day climbing trip to Cuba. Our friends had been encouraging us to join them and at the last minute we decided it was not something we could miss. Our first three days we spent in Havana and that was about all I could stand. Constantly being harassed and cheated gets old. From there we traveled to Viñales for some climbing. The small town vibe suited us much better and we found bikes to rent, horses to ride, climbs to climb, coconuts to drink, and cigars to smoke. A very cool experience although truth be told, I wouldn't go back. Let me just say that their communism doesn't seem to work and I don't think much of the tourist euros are finding their way to the peoples pockets.

After Cuba my brother Josh joined us for some sailing in the BVI's. With his help we flew the spinnaker for the first time and made our way to Culebra, one of the Spanish Islands off of Puerto Rico. Around this time our friends Adam and Kelly invited us to crew for their trip to the Bahamas. Again, how could we pass that up?! So after dropping off Josh we hurried to Virgin Gorda where we hauled out for the season before embarking on an unbelievable and unforgettable trip up through the Bahamas with two of the most amazing people we've ever met.

From there we had an extended layover in New York where we house-sat for our friends Annie and Matias. Such a treat for us to explore such an incredible city and see such wonderful friends. xoxo

After New York we split for MN to (help) plan and participate in our wedding! We were lucky enough to have our St. Thomas friends Matt and Jodi in Duluth (Duluth natives) and took the opportunity to join them, along w Jodi's brother and sister-in-law, for a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters. Such a special place, such great people. Definitely worth the longest, coldest motorcycle ride on a dirt rode we have ever had. Yup, we'd do it all over again for a trip like that :)

After that we tied the knot! It was one of those perfect fairy tale kind of days.     

Hiking to some climbs with Ro, Joe, and Jamo <3

Tobacco drying, where the infamous Cuban Cigars come from. 

Climbing in Viñales

MOLLY!!!

My bro was expecting us to sail him to Puerto Rico but when the Bahamas opportunity came up we had to turn around and head back to the BVI's. He was fine, we just flew him from St. Thomas to catch his flight! Haha, what a trooper :)

With Josh to help, we finally had the guts to fly the spinnaker! 

The most incredible opportunities come when you are least expecting... 

If only I knew how to play the piano!

Kelly showing us all how to be amazing.

New York with Annie <3

BWCA trip with Jodi, Matt, Lindsay and Ryan

Canoe fun 

My beautiful sister giving me a hand <3

Mr. and Mrs.!! xoxo