Rum Runner - Jay and Jen Johnson

Rum Runners of lore were some of the best sailors on the seas. They had to outrun, outwit, and outsail the navy in order to make their spoils. We are proud to follow in the traditions of the past Rum Runners; to sail in the same waters, to find protected anchorages and friendly ports, as well as to enjoy some of the best rums the Caribbean has to offer- yar!

Let me introduce you to the crew of the Rum Runner; I’m Jen and do most of the blogging. But my life wouldn’t be complete without my husband Jay by my side. And as always we have our trusty companion Kona, the Salty Dog. We have been living aboard the yacht Rum Runner for over four years now. We have sailed along the East Coast of America, to the Florida Keys, amongst the islands of the Bahamas, and are now down in the Caribbean. We love the adventure, exploring new cultures and tropical islands. Here are the tales and photos of our life living aboard.

Private Message Subscribe 1 Forum Posts Top Photos Blog Map

Guestbook Search Blogs First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: December 6th 2005
Last Login: November 3rd 2009

Blog Entries: 147
Photos: 1077
Recommended by 3

TB Code: [blogger=9636]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Rum Runner, order by Date newest first.

By Rum Runner
October 16th 2009

Carriacou Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Carriacou

Back of the Truck
Chris and Jay riding around Carriacou in the back of Tony's truck- now this is the way to see Carriacou!

Our first stop in the Grenadine Islands was Carriacou. Although technically, Carriacou is still part of Grenada. We have only stopped here a couple of times, thrown up the Q-Flag, and spent the night at anchor. We have never actually stepped foot on land and figured it was time to go ashore and explore this lovely little island that we have heard so much about. Luckily we were traveling with the Verna Breeze and their new crew member, Stephanie. Steph had made some friends on the island and we were invited to come along as Tony showed us around Carriacou. Unfortunately [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
October 11th 2009

Splash! Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Grenada

Rum Runner
Looking better than ever!

Splash! The Rum Runner is back in the water. And looking better than ever! We have new bottom paint, the hull has been waxed, the plumbing re-done, and we completed just about everything on our to-do list (not the entire list, but good enough). We got new cockpit cushions (our old ones were stained and falling apart) and even a new grill (which was necessary after 4 years of heavy use- we grill every chance we get). So we are decked out and ready for another cruising season. Best of all, we installed new underwater lights and they are awesome! They [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
September 28th 2009

Island Tours Central America Caribbean » Grenada

Mona Monkey
We saw one of the Mona Monkeys that live in the Grand Etang Forest- cool!

We have done lots of island tours in this last month, all over Grenada. And Jay has put about 2,000 miles on our rental car, which is crazy considering that the island is only 30 miles long! We have driven along the west and east coast, up to the north end of the island, and cut across the middle thru the Grand Etang National Park. It truly is a lovely island to explore; lush mountains full of vegetation and beautiful beaches with turquoise Caribbean waters create the most scenic countryside. And you never know what you might run into along the [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
September 5th 2009

Oil Down: The National Dish of Grenada Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Grenada

Oil Down
Preparing the Oil Down, Grenada's National Dish.

One weekend we got invited to go to an Oil Down, which is a traditional neighborhood party here in Grenada. Oil Down is the national dish of Grenada and is a hearty meal of meat and provisions stewed in coconut milk over an open fire. It is called oil down because the coconut milk simmers down and releases its rich flavored oil into the pot. Yum! It is Caribbean comfort food at its best. Traditionally it is the men who cook the oil down, but this time we all pitched in and helped. It is quite a production to make, with [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
August 26th 2009

On The Hard Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Saint David

Hauling Out
Jay drove the Rum Runner backwards into the pit, and after the straps got adjusted the Rum Runner was lifted out of the water.

Our plan for hurricane season this year was to stay in Grenada, so this is as far south as we were going to sail. But we decided to try something new. Instead of living on the boat thru all of hurricane season (which is downright miserable) we decided to put the boat on the hard and live on land, at least for 6 weeks. It was time for us to haul out anyways because we needed new bottom paint. It would also give us the opportunity to do some much needed maintenance on the boat that requires it to be out [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
August 20th 2009

Underwater Sculpture Park Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Moliniere

Underwater Sculpture Garden
Snorkeling at the underwater sculpture garden- so cool!

One day we decided to go out snorkeling in Moliniere Bay. We had heard that there is a cool underwater sculpture park and we wanted to check it out. So we hopped in the dinghy and trekked over there. Moliniere is a sheltered bay on the west coast of Grenada that is relatively shallow, only 10 to 20 feet deep- perfect for snorkeling. So we tied up the dinghy to one of the mooring balls and dived in. It didn’t take us long to discover one of the sculptures. Almost buried in the sand were stone sculptures of women laying on [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
August 11th 2009

Spice Mas! Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Saint George

Car-Ni-Val!
So glad we got to Grenada in time for Spice Mas! But it's not just all glitter and feathers, there is much, much more to Carnival.

Luckily we got to Grenada in time for Carnival, Spice Mas 2009- yohoo! Every island has Carnival at different times throughout the year and we were super excited to go to this one. Grenada’s Carnival is unique and we have heard tons of fabulous tales about past years from other cruisers. It is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that still use paint on J’Ouvert morning, the only island with a light parade, and it is the most friendly and fun Carnival because it encourages everyone to participate and be part of the debauchery. Just about everyone on the [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
July 24th 2009

Touring The Grenadines Central America Caribbean » Saint Vincent & Grenadines » Grenadines

Salt Whistle Bay
Walking on the beach at Salt Whistle Bay.

What a relief… to be south of the hurricane belt and back in the Grenadines, some of the most beautiful islands in the world. We love the Grenadines and have spent a lot of time here. But surprisingly, have not seen it all. So once we rested up for a couple of days and recovered from our sail down it was time to kick back, relax, and explore. We spent a couple of weeks touring the Grenadines. Of course we had to stop at some of our favorite anchorages, including Bequia and Union Island and the Tobago Cays and Mopion and [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
June 20th 2009

Diving, Not Driving, In The Saintes Central America Caribbean » Guadeloupe » Les Saintes

Les Saintes
Anchored outside of Terre-de-Haut in Les Saintes, one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean.

Even though we had to book it south for hurricane season, we couldn’t resist stopping at Iles de Saintes on our way back down. We skipped the Saintes on our travels up the Caribbean chain this year, and just couldn’t pass by these islands without stopping again. Besides, we had to break up all that travel somehow. And who could resist this group of small islands just off of Guadeloupe. The Saintes are one of our favorite anchorages in the Caribbean. We absolutely love the quaint French fishing village on Terre-de-Haut, it is so charming! The people are friendly, the food [View Full Entry]

By Rum Runner
June 6th 2009

Time To Book! Central America Caribbean

St. John
Waiting in the Virgin Islands for the next weather window. Not a bad place to be stuck though.

It certainly was time to book it on south. We couldn’t believe that it is already June- where did the time go?!?! We ended up spending close to another month in the Virgin Islands, traveling back and forth. We went to St. John for a couple of days, then back to St. Thomas, then back to St. John, then over to Norman, and finally back to Virgin Gorda. We spent most of our time just riding out the nasty weather that moved into the area. Unfortunately we had weeks of squalls and wind and pouring down rain. We spent most of [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » Rum Runner

Rum Runner | Jay and Jen Johnson | Travel Blog

Rum Runner - Jay and Jen Johnson

Blogs & Travel Journals