Kim's adventures

YESTERDAY

Yesterday, after we went to visit another Tayana 52 (which is the same as our boat) We had a short sail from Union Island to the Windward village in Carriacou. When we arrived, me, my parents and some friends went to shore. As we stepped on the dry and powdery sand, I saw a sign saying 'boat building site' with an arrow pointing to the right. Of course me and my family had come here countless times before, so I knew exactly what it was. It's where they build the Carriacou sloops (which are the traditional trading boats under sail). When we finished walking down the windy lane beside the sea, I saw a beautiful wooden structure of the sloop. Its big bendy wooden beams shining in the sunlight. Once we stopped gazing and admiring it, we turned around back towards the dingy dock where there was a path that led to the road.

Now we were on the nearly carless road. Having ran to catch up with my friend Zoe, together we walked down the never ending road. I saw friendly faces looking at us. Amongst the people there were goats, dogs and sheep beside us. As we dragged our feet along the road panting, a brown well fed dog tailed us until we arrived to a bush with beautiful red and black seeds. I picked some, stuffed them in my pocket and carried on...walking.

After what felt like hours, finally I saw the adults come to a halt next to a sign saying 'Turtle egg beach', so we walked on the sandy path and shortly we found ourselves following a trail with conch shells on either side. And now we were on the beach (really I don't know why it was called Turtle egg beach, because there weren't any).
We skipped and ran across the beach. For some reason when I stepped on that flat beach I felt like I was ruining a piece of art.

I trotted along the sand looking for shells, I listened to Alan say how it was a perfect kite boarding spot.
Five minutes later we came to a big green wooden structure which happened to be a high platform for bird watching.
Once me and my parents climbed up the ladder, Liz ( Alan's wife) told us to smile and took a picture.

It was an amazing view of the Grenadines islands that looked like a scrunched up piece of paper floating like a raft upon the glass like sea.

I don't know how it happened, where I was, or why I was there. I was just there in the right place at the right time to see it happen... to see the magic.

Now I will tell you my secret story. I remember walking out my front door and seeing the usual forest, I don't know what made me do it, but it felt right. I stepped on to the dry leaf scattered grass. I looked at the moon, it was full again.

Suddenly I heard voices, so without thinking I run forward following them .The voice in my head kept saying "Oh over there, oh wait there are over there".

After what felt like ages I came to a clearing, but there was nothing.
Quickly I looked down "Ha", I gasped.
Looking right at me where two...WOLVES.
"How can you talk", I said quickly.
"No sweety. You can talk", said the grey one.
"It's about time you looked in the mirror". Added the black wolf tossing his head towards the pond.
Slowly I walked towards it and looked down "AHHHHHH", I screamed "I'm a I'm a wolf! "I gasped finally.

"Shhhhh" called both of them,
"You'll wake up the...oh no", said one of the two in an annoyed voice, and at the same moment, something big started to move from the shadows.
I turned around to see 20 more rising. Now visible in the moonlight, was a wolf pack. As the creature moved closer, I took a step back and clumsily tripped over a rock. I saw a white wolf bound towards me and come to a halt by my side.
"Are you ok?", said a sweet female voice.
Slowly I nodded.
"There is nothing to be scared about. I'm Luna, these are my sons, Midnight (she pointed to the black one I had been talking to earlier on), and Mist (she pointed to the grey), oh and my husband Dusk, he is also the chief, and these are my daughters...",
"That's enough Luna", Dusk called from behind her.
"I want to give you this necklace to welcome you to the pack".
He held up a necklace with a wooden wolf as a pendent.
I watched each of them smile and bow as Dusk placed it on my neck.As I looked around, I noticed that all the wolves had a necklace. I tried to say thank you but a crowd of puppies came and licked me all over in celebration.

I closed my eyes but when I opened them again, I was no longer a wolf in the forest, but in my bed getting licked by my dog Truffle. Slowly, and feeling rather disappointed, I got out of bed. Yawning I stretched and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I froze. There was the necklace. "Was it a dream?" I asked myself...

As you may know, Dominica has been hit by the devastating hurricane Maria.

When me and my family approached, we saw a dry and dead island. Everything that used to be once so green became grey. Everyone has been trying to do everything they can to help them recover.
To support this, me , Nina and Francesca, went as volunteers to a horse riding stables. To help look after the horses meanwhile a couple of other people tried to harden the ground, because every time the horses tried to walk, their hooves would sink into the ground, which has been flooded by the river during Maria.

The second time we went to the island I heard a song, that at first I thought was rubbish, but as I listened to the words, I understood how important that song was to the locals. This is what he sang "bring it back, bring it back, bring back the trees, bring back the tourism, bring back our island, bring it back, bring it back." It was the meaning, the meaning not to give up.

For some reason, the second time we went, I felt happy for the island because Dominica was getting green again. As a security man told me ,"Dominica is coming back to life ".

Hello my name is Kim, and this time I will tell you about my Mum's 50th birthday. Personally I loved it all, the breakfast, presents🎁, afternoon walk, pick nick, swim, the beach and all the People. But nothing could over come the evening, so now I will tell you what happened then...

After the walk we all had aching bones, and obviously I had a fever 🤒. But I didn't feel too bad, so that was ok👌. Amazingly our friends Michael (Nina's friend) and Erin (my friend) turned up after a month or so of not seeing each other, just at the right time! So they came too. Now we were 14. Monica, Diego and baby Noah from serena, Francesca and Enzo, the children of Mike and Cathrine and their Auntie Vanessa from Wakataitea, Michael and Erin from flip flops. Unfortunately their parents didn't come and that leaves just my family, which you probably already know. Anyway back to the point, so there we were, all 6 of us children outside on the bow .

After a while me and Erin started to get bored so we went inside. Tried a bread stick, but we both agreed they tasted a bit like plastic, so we went into my parents'room and played a few hands of happy families, which is a card game. So after that we decided to play a board game that my Mum made. We tried to make Francesca  play but gradually gave up and played on our own. Every now and again we would catch a few words of what the mothers were saying. Like "oh yes its lovely isn't it?" and ,"oh my gosh  look". Oh yes, of course, you wouldn't know, this morning we gave my Mum a painted calabash from me, a wallet/phone case from Nina, a kindle from my Dad, a yoga mat from all of us and this present, the one that personally I think was her favorite ... a hard back novel that we stuck pictures on the pages of, and underlined some lines in the book that matched the picture! Anyway once we had finished the game, (I won) we had some dinner. Erin and I brought our plate to the cockpit where all the kids had transferred to. Once me and Erin started to follow the conversation it was actually Quite fun🙂. When we had all finished our plates we went up on deck again. We stayed there for ten minutes, but after a bit my Dad came to inform us that we had to decorate the cake. We told Michael and Erin that didn't know it was a cheese cake and at these words Michael jumped up and said his favourite cake was cheese cake.

Whilst Nina was decorating the cake Mikel and Enzo kept trying to stick there finger into it, and criticising her in silly things like,"that slice of kiwi is too big" and,"that slice of pineapple is a tiny bit to the right" and things like that as a joke to annoy her (it was really funny 😂)
Once we sang the Happy Birthday thing in Italian and English,practically we just took the candles off the first cake, and put them on a chocolate cake that Wakataitea made, called a crazy cake, (it's vegan), and sang happy birthday in Italian. Unfortunately after a while Micheal and Erin had to go😢 (I would tell you at what time, but I've forgotten!)

Almost at the same time as they left, serena left too. I thought that Wakataitea were going leave too because, 1.Mike was almost asleep and 2. Cathrine wasn't so much of a party animal... but Vanessa her sister was! We heard her shout "I WAS PROMISED MUSIC!" And that's where it all started...

My Dad turned the iPod on and started to dance first, it was just my Dad and Vanessa, then my Mum joined and Cathrine got forced to dance to the song of "Killing me softly". Vanessa Kept on forcing Nina to dance. At one point Vanessa pulled Nina up and started doing the valzer in a more groovy style and kept on bashing into people. She even accidentally sat on Mike 2 or 3 times. After a whike I did the mistake of going to get a glass of water. Obviously I got pulled in too. Did you know that being pulled around by adults is strangely fun! So now I was dancing too. I tried to pull Francesca in but didn't manage. In the end I told her if she danced for 10 minutes and she didn't like it I would stop too. About a minute after francesca started to enjoy herself, Vanessa picked up a bottle of white wine to use as a microphone 🎤 and splashed a bit on her dress 👗 ( she obviously thought it was empty ). An hour later me and Francesca felt sorry for our boat neighbours because our music was so loud. We remembered that lots of times we would hear charter boats with their music loud and think how annoying they were, and now we were being one of those people. After that we went downstairs and tried to get Enzo and Mike to dance, but we didn't manage.
By the time we stopped dancing it was 2.30 in the morning!..and everybody left.

THE NEXT DAY ...my Dad had a hungover and we were all tired. We met Michael and Erin and told them all about the dancing. To our surprise they said " ..oh that was you with the loud music!". And imagine they were right at the back of the anchorage.

It might have just been the angle, or the lighting, but I definitely saw it...a fish smile. 

We were snorkelling and I was hanging around an underwater cave, waiting very still for my sister to give me my GoPro. Whilst I waited, I watched the different coloured fish, each prettier than the last. As I was doing so, I saw a fish that looked strangely chilled out and relaxed, as if he had nothing on his mind. He was very beautiful, but for some reason he looked as if he was my friend, and then I saw it. His mouth open curled into an unmistakable smile. His scales rusty orange and brown glistening in the light that shone through the water. But as soon as he had come, he had gone. That was enough to cheer up the rest of my day.

Malaga 18th October 1484

Dear Majesty,

I'm writing with regard to the voyage I intend to complete across the Ocean Sea. I have a theory that if we travel West we will be able to find a shorter sea route to the Orient.
We could achieve unimaginable wealth, increase Spain's political influence and trading power.
As evidence to support my request I can produce a series of drift wood, plants and feathers from unknown birds which have been carried by the wind and tide from an not yet known land to the West. I have also been studying and recording winds and tides for many months to plan the start of the journey with the most favourable weather conditions.
For this voyage to succeed I will need good ships and strong willing men to sail them.A reasonable amount of food will be required too.
In return for my efforts in our endeavour I request the following reward. I would want my son and descendants to have wealth throughout their lives, and for myself a healthy percentage of the profits.

Your humble servant.

Christopher Columbus

As I sat at the bow watching Cocolo soaring through the Dominican water outside the 1000m contour, I felt myself moving up and down with the waves. Every time I went up I could feel as I had butterflies in my belly. Gradually I was giving up to see Sperm Whales.

After a bit, I started thinking of completely irrelevant things, but I got interrupted by my Dad telling me to come back. As I was doing so, I heard my Mum shout "WHALES!" At first I thought she was just saying it so I would come back to the cockpit. So that's what I did. Just then I saw one, no two, no three but four sprays of water. Quickly we tacked. Immediately we started to move closer. As I watched the whales getting nearer I rushed towards the bow to get a better look. I watched them as if I was hypnotised by their pearl black and shiny skin. They were so elegant not even a ballerina could have beat them!

There we were witnessing a miracle! I observed the elegant creatures puffing out water like a volcano whilst gliding through the sea. It was an amazing sight. There is only one word for this, magical! Their head was unique, how it just stopped as if the rest had got chopped off and there was only one square left. Something about their face makes them look harmless and playful like in a fairy tale.

I moved my eyes from the head to some mountain like bumps that shone in the sunlight followed by a tail. Wow! That was amazing! Their tails one by one shining in the sun and before I knew it they were gone for a deep dive. We knew we wouldn't see them again before an hour, so we started moving again. I have no words but Wow!
Even though it was only 15 mins, they were one of the best of my life.

It was a warm cloudy day at Mawgan Porth beach in Cornwall. After trying and trying to catch even the smallest of waves, ( and failing miserably) I gave up. Cold and wet I made my way out of the rough waves. After a minute or so of walking I turned around to watch the waves breaking. That's when I noticed a black outline of our dog. His white shaggy chest fur smashed against the waves. I heard him whining, and felt heart broken to see him struggle, so I rushed towards him.

Once I had reached him I realised why he was whining, he wanted to get my Dad out of the surfing waves. I tried pulling him out of the water but he didn't budge. What you need to know is that Spud is not a chihuahua! In fact, when he's on two legs he reaches my Dad's chest. Exasperated, I tearfully shouted to my Dad " Dad, Spud, can you bring him to shore?" but my Dad just ignored me and finally said " he'll be fine ".

As I listened to Spud's high pitched whining, I watched him struggle. I could tell he was scared and worried too. Even though I was cold and my Dad wasn't helping I couldn't leave Spud. Determined, I kept insisting for Dad to get out. After what felt like ages I watched my Dad to get out. I knew Spud would follow because my Dad is his special person and that's exactly what he did.

Seeing Spud trotting in front with his tongue out and his tail wagging I released my fear. On our way back I walked behind my parents happily telling each other how they caught waves.

 These are some magic squares that I invented myself. They are very good and easy to make, I hope you enjoy them too.

Ingredients:

- 2 medium eggs 

- 125ml vegetable oil 

- 250ml milk 

- 200g sugar 

- 400g plain flour & 3 tsp of baking powder 

- 1 tsp salt 

Filling: 

- blueberry jam 

- Nutella 

- lime zest custard 

(or choose your own )

Method:

1. Heat the oven at 200C.

2. Beat the eggs lightly in a large bowl.

3. Add oil and milk, mix until just combined then add sugar until smooth.

4. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder until is just smooth (don't over mix it or it will make the square tough.

5. Fill the tin two thirds and bake for 20-25 mins (check with a cocktail stick to see if cooked).

6. Once baked, cut it in equal squares. Cut them half open and spread your filling.

Custard:

3 eggs yolks

3 tbs sugar

3 tbs flower

125ml milk

lime zest if added

- mix eggs and sugar first

- add flour and milk 

- stir it gently on a flame until thickened 

Your custard is done!

TIP : Put cling film on the custard surface to stop a skin from forming.

You know I live on a boat, but I haven't told you what happens on board!

Our boat is called Cocolo. Cocolo is a sailing boat with one mast, a main sheet and a very big steering wheel. The hull is white with a thin blue line and a red bottom. The name of the boat is written on the stern (the back) right next to the platform that my Dad made ( so you can swim, dive off it, etc.) Cocolo is 52 feet (which is quite big for a boat).

if you climb up the platform on the boat you will find yourself in the cockpit ( which is where the steering wheel is). The cockpit a bit like a living room but outside. Oh, I almost forgot we have TORTOISES 🐢! It's hard work but fun. We have two tortoises Crazy and Pebbles. Last year we only had Crazy. She used to be smaller than my palm, but now she barely fits in both of my hands put together! Anyway Pebbles is a bit bigger than Crazy used to be. We have a chart saying...

CRAZY & PEBBLES like to eat...

Mango 

Avocado

Banana🍌

Cucumber

Lettuce 

Eggs 🍳

Beans

Pachoy 

Pumpkin 🎃 

Tomato 🍅 

Cheese 🧀 

Plantain 

Grapefruit ...

and many more things.

Usually me and Nina put them outside in the cockpit for the day, in the evening we put them in a small box for sleeping covered with black cloths.

Andy (our friend) lent us the tortoises! Did you know that tortoises are cold blooded animals? They can also live up to more than 100 years old! I like the tortoises because they are like a friend, but it's quite unpleasant when they have to use the toilet, it's not that fun.( unfortunately we only had them for a month and a half because we were heading North).

FACTS:

- The shell is 60 different bones.

-Pregnant females will burrow and lay up to 30 eggs 🍳 ,they will leave them to incubate and hatch entirely on their own.

- Altough they have no teeth they have strong mouths with horned hedges.

- The Galapagos tortoises are the biggest tortoises in the world and males weigh over 200kg (440 lbs) on average.

- As we get energy from food, they get energy from the sun ☀️.

Crazy is the one with the two yellow dots on her back, that Andy painted on so he didn't forget who was who.