Author: Jody - Where The Coconuts Grow

Jody lives compactly aboard a 47' sailboat with her husband Peter, little boy Brig, and a baby girl on the way! She traded in the corporate conundrum for a life less ordinary and is now island-hopping around the Caribbean. Between a quirky obsession with organizing, capturing pretty pictures, diving with turtles and burying her toes in the sand, she feeds a passion for writing by blogging about their adventures in search of surf, sun, sand and serenity Where The Coconuts Grow.

January 12, 2016

How do we make our Sail Loot?

You all know our story. A few years ago Peter and I decided to buy a boat, quit our jobs, and sail away. Something we haven’t really talked about, however, is how we can afford to live this lifestyle!

We were absolutely honored when Teddy from the Sail Loot Podcast wanted to feature our story on his website. I feel terrible how long it actually took for our schedules to align. With the best of intentions, we made several attempts to find a strong enough wifi connection to complete the interview over Skype. We tried few places in Grenada during the last hurricane season but the signal was never great and we knew we would need a solid hour of connectivity. Upon finally arriving back to USVI we used our U.S. LTE cell signal and chatted with Teddy for almost an hour and a half.

Although it felt like it had taken eons to complete the interview, the most relevant part of our story was still a secret! Teddy’s patience was amazing and he agreed to wait to publish our interview after we got the clearance to go ‘live’ with the news. After being at the mercy of BVI Government Officials on Island Time since April, just last week we were finally able to make our big announcement.

We burned through almost three years of savings and the time has come to make some more loot for our sailing adventures as the new crew of Aristocat Charters! Running daysails in BVI is going to rejuvenate our bank account, ultimately allowing us to continue living our dream and sharing this lifestyle with as many people as we can.

If you’ve got some time to kill (or if you just want to hear our voices), lend your ear to hear our story on Sail Loot: Episode 031

Thanks again Teddy! You Rock!

January 3, 2016

Official Announcement

The suspense is finally over and we’re ecstatic to share the plans we’ve been cooking up!! We’ve been cruising around the Caribbean for the last two years living on savings and a little side income I’ve made from my blog, writing for Tiny House Blog, and working at Pizza Pi but the time has come to join the full-time working world again.

Have no fear – we are not saying goodbye to the cruising lifestyle and we aren’t even going to be working on land! An incredible opportunity has fallen into place that will allow us to be out on the water everyday doing what we love – sharing this amazing lifestyle with as many people as we can. We’ll be able to bring Betsy with us during the day and come home to our cozy boat every night, just a short dinghy ride away. The best part is that it’s all happening in some of our favorite places in the world!

THE BIG NEWS

Our friends from Windtraveler finally announced today that they have purchased Aristocat Charters, a daysail business here in the British Virgin Islands!! (Be sure to check out Brittany’s announcement HERE with all the details. It’s been a long process but we finally found our way through all the red tape!)

Scott and Brittany have asked us to run Aristocat, a 48′ Privilege Catamaran, out of West End, Tortola. We are taking guests sailing and snorkeling to either Jost Van Dyke or Norman Island.

The other boat, Lionheart, (also a 48′ Privilege Catamaran) is run by Scott and our friend Luuck from Sunkissed Soeters. They depart from Village Cay Marina in Road Town, Tortola, visiting Norman Island or Salt, Peter and Cooper Islands.

If you’ve ever dreamed about sailing and snorkeling in a tropical paradise, come to Tortola and let us show you just how magical it can be!

Please show a little love and like the Aristocat Charters Facebook Page. If you’ve sailed with us already, please share any recommendations for us on Trip Advisor. We always need new reviews to stay at the Number 1 Daysail in Tortola!! :)

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Mom feeling at home in BVI

The view from our home in West End, Tortola

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

BVI Sailing

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Our backyard

Magic moments

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Underwater wonders

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Sandy Spit

The view from the Soggy Dollar Bar, White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Fishies everywhere

Ivan’s Stress Free Bar – White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Dad and Stacy at Sandy Spit

One Love Bar, White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

Enjoying a day at the beach

If you’re wondering what this means for our cruising plans, we’re going to be refilling our cruising fund as first priority. We don’t know what the future holds, but you can be sure that we’ll be having fun and of course continuing to share all of our adventures with you along the way!

December 21, 2015

Cinnamon Bay Estate Ruins

After visiting the Annaberg Sugar Plantation with Peter’s Dad, Wiley, we continued our tour around the island of St. John.

In Cruz Bay, we stopped for fresh fruit smoothies.

These handsome gentlemen were telling jokes all day long, making us all laugh :)

The view of Cruz Bay, Great St. James Island and the Eastern tip of St. Thomas is breathtaking.

We stopped at several of the postcard-worthy beaches…

…and we even got to see the wild donkeys along the roadside!

The Cinnamon Bay Estate was one of the most prosperous sugar cane operations on the island in the 1700’s. Situation on the North side of the island, ruins from the factory can be found along the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail, preserved by the National Park Service.

We walked through the majestic forest and saw where the inner bark of the trees had been scraped off. This bark is dried to make raw cinnamon.

At the end of the trail we walked across the street to see what Cinnamon Bay looks like from the campground. We are used to looking in from the mooring field, never from land, so it was fun to see a new perspective.

Back at our boat we finished off the day with a gorgeous double rainbow! :)

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December 18, 2015

Annaberg Sugar Mill

I can hardly believe how the time flies. You might think we are lounging around with our feet propped up, drinking fruity drinks and basking in the sun all day, however that is far from the truth!! I honestly don’t know where the time goes. One minute we are tackling a project on the never-ending list of repairs and maintenance. Other times we are just keeping up with household chores like cooking meals, doing dishes, hiking to the Laundromat, or grooming Betsy.

Since there’s not much time in the day for relaxing on the beach, I usually have to sneak in a little bit of computer-time for blog posts and editing photos. We have just a few days before Peter’s Dad, Wiley, arrives to visit again and I’ve just realized I haven’t even posted all the photos from his last visit!!

Last time Wiley was here, he brought his sister, Emma. One of our adventures was to show them a tour of St. John. Our buddy Yisrael drove us in his taxi-van, taking the small car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John. It was a very strange movement, quite different from the way our boat moves through the waves, and also different from the way a passenger ferry feels. After a tipsy ride, we arrived at the West end of the island near Cruz Bay and set out to see the Annaberg Sugar Plantation.

Constructed between 1797 and 1805, the Annaberg Plantation spanned 1,300 acres and was operated by 662 enslaved workers.

The sugar mill ruins were officially turned over to the Virgin Islands National Park in 1956. We spent quite a bit of time talking to the National Park Service volunteers during our visit and really enjoyed learning about the history of this beautiful island. For anyone else visiting the US Virgin Islands, this stop is a great alternative if watersports aren’t your cup of tea!

View of Waterlemon Cay with West End Tortola in the distance

History lessons

December 5, 2015

Holiday Gift Ideas

Looking for some holiday gift ideas? ‘Tis the season!

Over the past two years we’ve learned so many tips and tricks for making our everyday life more efficient. Peter and I prefer that every item we bring aboard our floating home has more than one purpose. We’ve learned what works, what doesn’t, and we’ve also been introduced to some really cool products along the way.

I’m so glad you’re reading this post right now! I love it when I can share things with others that may bring them the same joy I was given :)

Take a look at some of our favorite items that we use on a daily basis: Products and Services We Love

If you don’t see the perfect gift listed in the link above, try using one of our affiliate links at the bottom of the page. If you click through before making a purchase, we get a commission. It’s no additional cost to you, but means A LOT to us! :)

** THE BIG NEWS **

THE BIG NEWS