We could see Venezuela, just 6 nautical miles across the channel from Nesi‘s mooring in Trinidad. “Jana is riding her bike across Venezuela,” we told the girls, “She’ll take a little ferry, and meet us here in a week, with many stories to tell!”
Jana was our first boat school teacher in the Caribbean. She comes from Czech Republic, and spent the last 10 years traveling around Europe and South America. She’s got plenty of experience on the road! She is sailing with us 3 months from Trinidad to Martinique (the so-called Windward Islands)
At this time, the US had already started its military campaign to against narco-traffic boats around Venezuelan waters. An announcement was made that an aircraft carrier and lots of Navy resources were being relocated to this area — which put everyone in Trinidad on high alert.
“Hmmm… we should probably take off soon!” we thought. Based on the risk & uncertainty in the area, we also decided to re-route and head north to Bahamas by the end of this season, instead of our original plan to sail back south and cross Venezuelan waters.
Now with Jana onboard, we picked up our first co-op guests, and started cruising along the chain of islands from Trinidad & Tobago, to Grenada, to St. Vincent & Grenadines, St. Lucia, and onward to Martinique for the holidays.
Below, Jana shares her highlights from 3 months aboard Nesi.
Captain K
Jana shares her story…
Travelling on a catamaran across the Caribbean islands with a wonderful family is something I had never even dared to dream about. But the stars aligned, and the universe worked its magic.
It’s not easy to describe the uniqueness of such a trip. The adventures, connections, stories told, experiences shared, and lessons learned while living this kind of life are truly magical and deeply meaningful.
I joined Sabrina, Kristian, Kaiana, and Naiyah in Trinidad, where they had left Nesi for a few months, moored in a marina during hurricane season, while they went off to spend time with their families. When they reunited on the boat, we met up and started sailing to Tobago, which was 8 hrs sailing away.
I didn’t have any boating experience, so as you might imagine, getting on a boat for almost three months with people you don’t know (with limited access to land!) can be scary.
I remember thinking, “Well, in the worst case, I’ll at least get to see the Caribbean.” Fortunately, this experience went far beyond “just” exploring islands. They quickly became part of my chosen family, and I feel so blessed for this.
Just a few of the unforgettable moments aboard:
- night swimming with bioluminescence in Tobago;
- standing night watch from Tobago to Grenada while watching a comet shoot across the sky;
- of course, watching dolphins swim alongside Nesi!
- observing schools of cuttlefish in Grenada and snorkeling the Sculpture Park;
- swimming with sea turtles in St. Vincent;
- enjoying a volcanic mud bath in St. Lucia;
- seeing countless sea stars in Martinique;
- Cocoa plantations and chocolate factories;
- my first Thanksgiving!
- and just exploring the mesmerizing coral reefs throughout the entire journey.
All is not just “roses and rainbows” as Sabrina sometimes says. Every step of the way, different challenges confronted us, and I had the privilege of being part of them to learn how to problem-solve on a boat.
First, a rat intruder came aboard in Trinidad while Nesi was tied up at the marina. Trying to catch it took 5 whole weeks, and took a massive toll on our serenity—especially Sabrina’s, who could probably write an entire book about the experience!
Spoiler alert: Sabrina eventually caught the intruder, and we held a special funeral ceremony—not only to say goodbye, but mainly to celebrate the return of peace of mind! 🙂
Our very first outing on the boat brought an unexpected crisis — the engines were running in gear, but the folding props didn’t open! The propellers had got completely covered in barnacles, so they provided zero propulsion, and we were dead in the water, adrift. Watching Kristian and Sabrina handle the situation with such professionalism was truly inspiring and gave me a deep sense of calm, knowing that the weeks ahead on the boat would be safe and fun.
Another challenge was the 5 day haul out for Nesi — mainly to replace the propellers (good thing!) but also to get rid of the barnacles that had gathered on the hull for two months in the water. Scraping the barnacles off was surprisingly fun, as was painting and cleaning the boat. After about two weeks of preparation, we finally got back in the water, ready to start our first trip.
The Boat Teacher role
Being the girls’ teacher was one of the greatest highlights of the trip. In truth, they taught me far more than I could ever teach them—through their snorkeling skills, vivid storytelling, independence, and confidence on the boat. They are among the brightest, most adventurous, and most fun children I have ever met.
Some of my favorite activities with them included:
Snorkeling and building canyons and volcanoes out of sand
I was a bit anxious before my first snorkel with the girls, as I didn’t have much snorkeling experience myself. That anxiety quickly disappeared when they showed me just how confident and capable they were as swimmers and snorkelers. The same went for paddleboarding or simply swimming around the boat.
Building castles, volcanoes, and canyons on the beach became a long-lasting and creative learning activity—especially when the girls happily left their beach toys behind and built incredible things using only their imagination.
Learning how islands are formed
Volcanoes were a major topic during the trip, mainly because many of the islands have active volcanoes and because the girls’ fascination with them grew during their previous travels.
Play-Doh became our go-to material for building volcanoes, combined with baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar to demonstrate magma eruptions. The girls were thrilled to see how an island can form from a seamount eruption.
Creating the Sun and the Moon and demonstrating orbits
There is already a globe on the boat, and thanks to a book they read with their dad (in Portuguese), the girls are very interested in the solar system.
We created the Sun using a blown balloon covered with kitchen paper and lots of messy paint (of course 😄). The Moon was made from crumpled paper with dark spots, wrapped in tape.
And voilà—something simple turned into a fun and memorable demonstration of the Earth–Moon orbit.
Exploring islands and local chocolate factories
Most of the islands are famous chocolate manufacturers and it’s the best school taking the girls there showing them where chocolate comes from and how it’s made! They loved snacking on raw cacao fruit! The same way seeing animals in their natural habitat which they can see everyday observing the water animals but it’s also fun to get inland and observe local animals, in Tobago we got to see and learn a lot about hummingbirds!
Learning about the invasive lionfish
The lionfish is an invasive species in the Caribbean. To explain what “invasive” means, we cut out paper fish and turned it into a storytelling activity. We also played games in the water, where I was the lionfish and the girls had to find ways to get rid of me—by becoming sharks, fishing me out, or spearfishing me.
My favorite moments, though, were the stories we created during long sails, when the girls’ imaginations ran wild with ideas about how lionfish arrived, how to prevent their spread, and how to reduce their numbers.
Playing card games
We especially loved Cover Your Assets, Monopoly Deal, and Sleeping Queens.
I adore board games, and the girls do too! They happily play games designed for older children, and since math is one of their favorite subjects, the games quickly became competitive. Naiyah and Kaiana play like professionals—so smart that I often asked them for advice, whether we were on the same team or not. Playing with them never feels like playing with little kids; it feels like playing with serious players.
Making up sailing stories
The girls have wonderfully vivid imaginations and love beavers and their tiny LEGO guinea pigs. We made up stories about guinea pig and beaver sailors while sailing, which made long passages fly by. Sabrina is an incredible storyteller, and this is clearly one of the many gifts the girls inherited from their amazing mum.
Creating posters for each island we visited
The girls keep two journals: one travel journal for their adventures, and another where they each write one sentence per day. I loved creating posters with them for each island we visited.
We started each day—after hugs, LEGO time, breakfast, and stretching—by writing the date and country in their personal journals, along with one daily affirmation to set a positive mindset for the day.
Cooking Arepas
The girls love cooking and were thrilled to help me prepare traditional Venezuelan dish I introduced to the boat. The girls can prepare scrambled egg, bake muffins or cook arepas for you! They are great cooks, just like their mum! 😉
Every day on Nesi is an adventure. Every day is meaningful, enriching, and a blessing. You never get bored, that’s for sure!
This journey became one of the most intense and self-evolving experiences of my life. I still pinch myself in disbelief that this was my reality for those months!
Not only the family themselves but also all the guests that came aboard are great people to spend time with. Reflecting on the day’s stories during dinner time and the appreciation for the whole trip with each group was one of many highlights.
What a privilege to live this—and what an honor to be chosen as a teacher by a family where respect, communication, love, adventure, fun and dance parties are the norm.
Love you, Sabrina, Kristian, Kaiana, and Naiyah.
See you again soon.
With love,
Jana
