...And Then I Woke Up

Martin at the top of the mast while Belinda and I relax below.

Whenever I go on vacation, I try not to think about the fact that it will eventually end.  Then, before I know it,  it ends.  Do you do the same?  Such is the case with my latest adventure with Martin.  I kept telling myself, "This is never going to end.  It just can't!"  Inevitably, it did.  Our little jaunt down to the Caribbean was magical and lovely.  I still can't believe that Martin and I were able to have this experience together.  It was beautiful. It was... paradise.

Right outside the Soggy Dollar Bar.  The only way in is to swim, hence the soggy dollar.  Notice, we broke the rules and rode our dinghy in up to the sand.  Who wants soggy drawers while you're trying to enjoy the scenery with a nice fancy drink in hand?

Now that I made it sound dreamy and restful, I need to explain how Martin and I vacation.  Early on in our marriage, Martin was always off doing all sorts of fun adventures while I stayed home with Lily.  I made the mistake of saying, "I want to share these adventures with you from now on.  No more leaving me while you go out and discover the world."  Martin listened and I have been paying the price ever since.

Vacationing with Martin often requires a little work.  Martin isn't the "lounge-around-the-resort-or-take-a-cruise-kind-of-guy." Nope. Our vacations always entail me having to exert a little more energy than I'd like since I AM the "lay-around-the-resort-kind-of-vacation-girl."  Unlike Martin, I like my bed turned back with a mint on the pillow.  I like to leave my room messy and return to it being clean and tidy with fresh towels.  I love the little elves that make my stay magical.  I love the 600+ thread count sheets, room service and cabanas.  I love the luxury, lazy end when it comes to vacationing.

Day 1.   Day 4.   Day 9.  
My hair as it progressively got frizzier and frizzier throughout the week.  

Here is where reality hits the road and the difference between my adventurous husband and my content and immobile self begin to dove tail.

Martin's idea of a vacation is just the opposite.  He likes to move, accomplish something, make the most of our time.  He likes to get to the top, dive to the bottom and walk his way around it.  Bottom line, when it comes to Martin, he likes to push my VERY comfortable boundaries.  Then he likes to throw in a little something to keep me fresh and alert while still getting away from it all.  For example, our trip to Nepal last year.  I hiked for 11 days gaining and losing up to 1,500 vertical feet at a time and eventually made it to Everest base camp at 17,598 feet.  Honestly, at the time, trekking through Nepal really wasn't my kind of vacation.  Looking back now, I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this and rank at the top of my list for vacations.  It's untouchable as far as I am concerned.

I kinda love these two.

The Baths.  However, we like to refer to them as the "Miracle Waters."  
Below, check out how Lily is standing on her own!  Milagro!

Hanging out in the marina while dad runs and gets ice and Meredith buys a bathing suit.  Mom and Lil decided to stay on board and do a photo shoot of this little island girl.

Getting ready to load onto the dinghy to go have dinner at the Bitter End Yacht Club.  Fancy words call for fancy clothes.  We did not hold back.  It was a fun, fun evening.

This vacation was no different.  While we sailed around the British Virgin Islands (BVI's), Martin decided that if we are going to sail, then it was time that I LEARNED to sail.  So he hired an ASA (American Sailing Association) certified captain to be on board during the week to get me up to snuff (Basically, I had no "snuff" to even start with) and become a real life sailor.

So... what does this all mean, you ask?  Believe me, 6 weeks ago I would NOT have known what it entailed either.  So here is what I did; I took four certified instructor-led courses on sailing while we were island hopping.  This was no small feat.  I had to read 4, ASA books on basic keelboat sailing, coastal cruising, bareboat chartering and cruising catamarans.  (Are your eyes rolling back in your head from boredom yet?)  While learning to sail, both hands-on and through study, I also had to take 4 tests that had 100 questions each for each of the courses (101, 103, 104 & 114).  Believe me, I kicked and screamed the entire time.

A little blurry, but I just love the joy in her face.

In the end, I got certified to skipper a boat all by myself.  I passed!  It was a lot of work and a lot of studying.  Most of the time, the vacation end that I was hoping for, kind of took a backseat to sailing.  However, having the Caribbean as my classroom helped soothe the sting.

I really did love learning all these newly acquired sailing skills.  Now, that doesn't mean that I didn't complain to Martin about having to read the books and take the tests while on VACATION!

In the end, I was so glad that I did it.  I learned so much and feel so much more confident at sailing.

Truthfully, even though I am an ASA approved skipper, I still don't feel completely confident.  In fact, if you have a death wish, hire me to be your skipper.  I think I need a little more time at the helm before I just take off into the sunset.  However, it it is fun to think that I did something that was WAY out of my comfort zone and totally nailed it.  I just need to get out on the water more and to keep practicing.

Our Littlest First Mate.

Meredith and Lily at Willy T's.  A restaurant found on an old pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.

While on "vacation" our good friends, Garry and Belinda joined us along with Meredith who helped to entertain Lily.  At the end of the week, we all got off that boat as certified skipper's—so it was fun to learn alongside everyone.  I am also sure that it was fun for everyone to hear me shrill with terror or hear me say that I couldn't promise to keep anyone alive (except for Lily) every time I took the helm.

We love Belinda and Garry.

Coming into the marina.  It was a TIGHT squeeze!

Captain Lil'

Side note:  The scariest part about learning to sail was how to master driving the dinghy.  One day Martin took me out to practice on it and had me pull up to a random pier where he got out to buy some fishing tackle.  He told me to kill the engine.  Right then, visions of me drifting out to sea while trying to turn the engine back on filled my mind with terror.  So I stood up in the dinghy and held on to the pier for dear life while Martin took his jolly good time buying fish hooks.  At one point, the dinghy went under the pier while I scratched and yelped for a good two minutes as I went under with it.  Finally, I was able to work my way out from under the pier but not without a few laughs from onlookers.

Belinda and I finally took it out on our own without the influence of our male counterparts and nailed steering, starting and stopping it.  Soon it became my best friend getting me to land on various occasions.  

Oh, you know, Richard Branson's (Owner of Virgin airlines) boat just passed us while we were out on the open water.  It was HUGE!  

Me at the helm with a barge coming up from behind.  YIKES!

Today we are home.  I rolled over in bed this morning still reeling from our week and kissed Martin on the cheek and told him, "I think you are so fun!  Thanks for having faith in me."

So now, I am back to reality.  Back to the grocery store.  Back to family.  Back to being Lily's mom.  Back to everyday responsibilities.  Back to my normal life.  However, today I am just a little different, because now, you can call me "skipper."