Stop the Carnival

With our grandson - Landon Daniel Valenzuela - soon to arrive and the hurricane season on the way, we decided to Stop the Carnival for a few months.   Kinja will be spending the time on the hard in Providenciales (Provo) in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  Provo seems to have fewer hurricanes than most other places and we hope it will be spared this year!

We checked into an ocean front resort for the few days we need to prepare Kinja to be taken out of the water and securely anchored to the ground.     

The Ocean Club Resort

Provo has many wonderful restaurants.  

You can't beat the Tiki Hut for lunch...

One of our favorites for dinner is the Coco  Bistro

The Bar

Kinja being lifted onto the hard

So, with our fingers crossed we will leave Provo tomorrow to head back to the US.  We will stop in CT. to see Laura, Wilson and his family and then head to Tahoe.

It has been a fantastic cruise... better than we ever could of imagined.  Even though the weather was often bad we have magical memories of the places we visited and the people we met along the way.

We have learned a lot about sailing together and the challenges it can present.  A quote from Dennis Connor says it best -- "The three major factors to consider in a successful crewman are attitude, attitude and attitude"  We both excelled in that department!!

We leave you with one last quote before we stop the Carnival.......  

"The ocean has always been a salve to my soul... the best thing for a cut or abrasion was to go swimming in salt water.  Later down the road of life, I made the discovery that salt water is also good for the mental abrasions one inevitably acquires on land"  Jimmy Buffett

I hope we do not get to many mental abrasions before we are able to join back up with the sea and start the Carnival again.

The Turks and Caicos Islands

We made it to the Caribbean!  The Turks and Caicos are considered part of the Caribbean, not the Bahamas, and things are very different here.  Provo (where we are) is the main island and is pretty sophisticated.  There are many nice resorts along Grace Bay and it is nice because they are not high rises. They are 2-4 stories with lot's of vegetation and gardens.  The island is very beautiful - white sand beaches-crystal clear seas-healthy reefs for snorkeling and diving.  But, wouldn't you know it, for the first time ever the waters have been plagued with portuguese man-o-war jellyfish.  Just in time for the Sperry's arrival!  We did get some snorkeling in and they have since disappeared from the island.

We rented a car and did some exploring.  They name the rental cars here, ours is "Frick".

 One day we took off down one of the many white sandy roads toward the NW side of the island.

Nothing for miles and miles and then out of know where appeared a Zen like resort (Amanyara) nestled along the oceanfront--soaring ceilings, open air bar and restaurant, reflecting pools....amazing!

Resort entrance

Reflecting pool

Pool bar and restaurant

 The pool where we had lunch on the terrace.

Entrance to the main restaurant

Main restaurant on the reflecting pool

Walkway

The least expensive room was $2,000 per night.  We opted for rum drinks and a light lunch :)

Besides, we have great accommodations on Kinja.