Port Antonio

Jamaica was everything we thought it would be and then some. All rasta hippies preaching their one love mon! We loved hearing what they said about their flag colors. Green is for the land, yellow for the sun, black for the people and red for the blood because we all bleed red making us all the same. Funny thing is there’s no red in their flag but that’s where the one love comes from.

We got to visit three ports while we were there. Our first port was Port Antonio which was all locals and a few sailors. It was a small but busy town so it was easy to get turned around. The locals were all friendly and helpful. They made it a point to tell us they were looking out for us. Of course we thought the they just wanted our money but it wasn’t like that (only a couple people here and there). They really wanted us to feel comfortable so that more people would hear about their town and come back to visit. They had little grocery stores in town but where we got our produce was in this alley way where each farmer had their own small fruit/veggie stand. All grown from their own lands. I thought this was pretty special. Carson kept getting suckered into buying Jamaican weed at the market. Haha yes. It’s exactly what you would think, literally people all over on the streets are smoking joints and carrying their weed around. I didn’t think it was that open to smoke everywhere there but it definitely is! I thought it was neat that the school the kids went to was right on the water and all the kids dressed in a very formal dress code. The boys were in collard shorts and pants and the girls in collard shirt and skirts to their calves. For lunch, we went to a place called Piggy’s that all the locals recommended to get their Jamaican jerk chicken and festival bread. Apparently the most recent James Bond movie was filmed here and that’s where they would all get lunch. Piggy’s burned down at some point after the movie was filmed and the James Bond actor found out and started a fundraiser to rebuild it. Apparently him and the owner, Piggy, became very close. The food was delicious paired with a cold red strip! One night we grabbed dinner with our new friends on catamaran Waterlust. It’s a family of four sailing around the world. Everyone we meet becomes your sailing fam for life out here which makes all of this so special. It’s like an instant bond. We have been sailing with a family on a catamaran called Matilda Mia for a almost a couple weeks now which are making the crossing with us to Guatemala right now as I write this. They have the cutest little 2 1/2 year old girl that handles sailing no problem! I guess she really doesn’t know any better since she’s been on the boat since she was 6 months. I love seeing these kids we meet interact with all the kids in these different countries. Kids are so simple out here.

The next port we stopped into was discovery bay. Much Smaller, richer town. Mansions all over the bay and mountain and a huge mining site for box-site which is found in aluminum. Our first morning here we went for a swim because the water was crystal clear. We missed seeing clear waters since we left the Bahamas. Right under the boat laid several conchs! I couldn’t believe it. Shortly after our finds the fish and wildlife preserve guys came up. Apparently it was a protected fishing zone and I wasn’t allowed to have the conchs. They didn’t look very official. I thought they just wanted some of my conch so I offered them one. They got a laugh out of that. They were nice enough to allow me to keep one. I was a little bummed but happy we didn’t get in major trouble! Should have checked the rules prior. Not everywhere is like the Bahamas. Although, later on we found out from a local that if you have to swim for the conchs you can keep them. You just can’t take the ones right on shore. Those guys probably went and took my finds when we left! Later we dove off the reefs behind the boat. The reefs were gorgeous but there wasn’t any fish to shoot. We were lucky enough to swim with two spotted eagle rays though! On the bay we’re these plywood beach bar shacks that we went with Matilda Mia to grab drinks, let Pia (their daughter) play on the beach with the Jamaican kids and eat dinner. There wasn’t one local in site. In fact, we were the only two boats in the Harbour. This was the true small town local feel. Apparently the people in the mansions on the bay (literally next door neighbors to the them) won’t go to this area. It’s a shame that some people think their too good for others. It’s not like this wasn’t a safe place to go. Some people just think their so entitled. It’s sad because the people I’m talking about are Americans. They were so shocked we came to visit their beach bars and treated us like family the entire time. Part of the reason we wanted to leave our own country was to experience REAL life and REAL people. Not just this fantasy we all seem to live in. Anyways…. enough with my rant. We ended up having drinks and dinner at this place called Highrie where they offered to smoke us out for free before dinner started. Ivone, the owner, set up the hookah and everything. Lol. She crafted us some nice cocktails, her husband prepared us Jamaican jerk chicken platters, put on a movie for Pia and fed us homemade ice cream at the end. They had rum raisin ice cream that was out of this world! It felt like we were in someone’s home! Ivone wants to host our wedding there whenever we decide to have one again 🤣

Next and last stop in Jamaica was Montego Bay. This is where allll the tourist go. It felt like we were back in America. We felt quite culture shocked with all the busy traffic and resorts everywhere. Thankfully we were only there for a day.

Now we are off to our hurricane hole, Rio Dulce, Guatemala! The things we have heard about this place are incredible. Not to mention our $1 is worth $7 in their country! Time to brush up on our Spanish on this 5 day crossing. Our longest voyage yet ✌️ Is it good luck if we were greeted first thing this morning with a pod of 20-30 dolphins surfing the front of our boat?? I don’t know but I sure hope so!Read more