We are all beginners

Sensei Jesse, Cole's long-time karate instructor and family friend, says, "We are all beginners." How true that is. No matter how many times we've cruised, chartered or raced, when anchoring in a place you've never seen before, you are a beginner. As first-timers to Barbados, anchoring at 8 am after a 24-hour overnight sail from Marie Galante, Guadeloupe, we felt like amateurs.

Nancy and David Staples, friends from Newport, who also own a place in Barbados, made us look like pros, rolling out the red carpet treatment. We are grateful for their never-ending hospitality ranging from a list of local contact names as long as your arm, to a vehicle at our disposal and hooking us up with a world-class marina. "Thank you" just doesn't cut it.

Arriving on Monday, landed us here on a holiday. Normally, customs/immigration is closed for sure, but somehow, that list of Staples' contacts got us "beginners" through customs within an hour of our arrival. Hmmmm, go figure? Then, it gets better. Within 48 hours of arrival, I had my own personal physician making a house-call on Zen. Yes, Dr Mike Brown diagnosed me with a case of tennis elbow. No biggie. The biggie was watching him receiving patient calls on his cell while hanging out in our cockpit. That one goes in the record books.

"Stay left, stay left, stay left!" is the mantra we chant while driving in these islands. A surprise field trip landed us at the Barbados Animal Refuge. The park was amazing, teeming with monkeys, deer, turtles, jackrabbits and swarms of birds, all free to come and go as they please. None of them are caged, or afraid of humans, for that matter. We stumbled out of the park with a camera full of pix and a plan to return. Photo Gallery has been updated. The field trip didn't end there. A great dinner in town and top-notch live calypso music to boot. This island gets better and better.

Barbados is not an easy island to reach. It's located due east of Bequia, which is pretty much upwind from all the nearby islands. Bajans, the locals, know this fact and treat you with gracious hospitality, good service and delicious cuisine....and you folks who know our family, know for us, it's all about the FOOD.

The best part of today was being able to share a dinner with another cruising family, The Reymann Family (www.cataway.net). After a month of not seeing any cruising boats, we finally met Nicole, Mathias, Tim and Niklas. For a while, the only people who talked to us were folks we paid...a server at a restaurant, a marine specialist, a cab driver....you see the pattern. We wondered, "Do we stink? Should we take more showers? Is it our breath? Are we giving off bad karma?" In a boat named "Zen", I sure hope not.

Thankfully, today marked the day we hit the cruising circuit. It's the best part of cruising...beginnings of a new friendship.