04/10/07

• Christmas--We have had such a wonderful Christmas!  All of our children and their spouses were here at my Mom's, including the remaining cat we left with our son, and our first grandchild, Sam, in utero!  Kathie looks wonderful, and is very healthy and doing well.  I cleaned the house and cooked for three days, planning to feed 23 people.  On Christmas Eve we had our Christmas celebration with our children, went to church and opened our gifts.  A wonderful time together, the first time we've had Christmas all together in several years.  At the last minute my oldest brother and his family were unable to come on Christmas Day due to illness, so we fed 19 people:  brothers, sister, in-laws, neices, and nephews.  Our daughter-in-law Teresa was the newest legal member of the family, but nephew Derek brought his fiance Brittany.  (We attended their wedding on Dec. 29th--it was very sweet.)  We had lots of food and such wonderful company!  We exchanged gifts using the "Chinese" method, and had a good time.  Most of the gifts were nice, but our lime green T-shirt from the Georgetown, Bahamas 2005 Family Regatta was not as appreciated as we had anticipated!

• December 1--Tony has finished his work in Tampa, and we are on our way to NC for Christmas.  We are taking a roundabout way to get there, to see friends and family before settling at my Mom's for a while.   
• September 3--We are in Tampa, all settled and ready to go to work.  This has been a stressful 2 weeks, but as much as we miss Columbine we are very happy where we are.  We have found a house to stay in, totally furnished, and have borrowed or bought at Goodwill everything else we need.  We are renting a car.  This job may not net us a lot of money for the cruising kitty, but we will enjoy being at home for a while, and time to spend with our children and my Mom. 

This site will be dormant for a while, as I rebuild it.  I hope you will enjoy reading about our first and second years of cruising.  We will be ready to work on the boat and start our third year of cruising when we return to Trinidad in January!

• August 24--Well, we are going home finally.  A little different than we thought--Tony will be working for his military contractor from Sept through Nov!  This will be great, but it's hard to get ready to be away from home for 4 months with only 2 weeks notice!

We have met many new people here, but it's also been great to catch up with others who have crossed our path this year!We finally caught up with Caliente--we have been chasing them since they left for the Bahamas before Christmas last year.  Our time together here will be much too short.  We also hear that Dance may catch up with us here before we leave--would sure hate to leave without one last meal and a hug!!

We played dominoes for the first and second time on Saturday afternoon at our marina and Sunday afternoon at the next marina.  Met lots of ruthless people--what a good time!  There is so much to do here--the island is gorgeous and the wildlife unmatched, but there's too much that we have to do the enjoy it.  We took an "island tour" one day, and it wasn't what we expected--pretty much just a long ride in the back seat of a comfortable bus, but, again, met several great people! 

The boat is going on the hard on Friday, and a couple more days of cleaning and straightening, then we are going to stay on Caliente until we leave on Tuesday morning, Aug 30th.

• August 16--TRINIDAD!!!  Hard to believe, but we have MADE it!  Now if we just had time to enjoy it . . . .  We left Grenada about 4:30 p.m. yesterday.  Adjusted the new autopilot, although throughout this trip it varied from 40 degrees off the GPS to being on, to being about 30 degrees off in the other direction!  Both magnetic compasses say the same thing, and both GPS's say the same thing, but they're not together by any means.  Magnetic or satellite . . . how weird.  But we got here anyway!  Motorsail, what little wind we had at our nose, of course.  Just couldn't make any speed, even though Tony had done a really good bottom scrubbing earlier today.

We traveled with Byron and Denise on South of Reality.  We met them first in Luperon, and met them again in Grenada.  It's great to hear familiar boat names on the radio and meet people again!  And sometimes you find traveling partners!  S of R is a catamaran, so they left later and got there much earlier--plus they just had a bottom job done in Grenada.  But it was good to talk to them through the night.  We saw the gas rig about 20 miles north of Trinidad--very well lit, and large enough to see against the dawn. 

• August 12--Have decided to stay in Grenada to await a new autopilot.  Just don't want to do the 18-hr trip to Trinidad by hand!We took a tour of the island, which was quite interesting.  Saw a waterfall and swam in its very soft water, a spice plantation, nutmeg co-op, and had lunch in a very good out-of-the-way restaurant.  The damage from Ivan last year and Emily last week was very apparent.  Our guide, Peter, said that 10% of the bars and 90% of the churches lost their roofs during Ivan.  We saw many large beautiful stone churches, all roofless.  Lots of rebuilding.  Ivan for them was all wind, and it took all the leaves off the trees.  The vines have taken over, and while it looks green, it's kinda spooky.  Lost a lot of nutmeg trees, one of their main products, and after they use their 2-yr reserve this year, it will be 3 more years before the newly replanted trees will produce.

More scary drivers.  But it's amazing--very few accidents:  as close as people drive to each other, and as fast as they drive, there is no American "gotta get there before you do" and all that.  Drivers give way when they should.  Very civilized!

• August 10--Loooong trip to the south end of Grenada.  Current, no wind, very slow day.  Still no autopilot.  Anchored in Prickly Bay, and went out to dinner to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary!

• August 7--Carriacou--End of the Grenadines.  Rendezvoused with La Vie Dansante here, Rick and Sue.  Great place, but it's shut down because of Carnival in Grenada.  Went snorkeling with Rick & Sue, ate out, had callalou on a pizza, with an egg in the middle.  It was delicious!  Bacon, egg, and callalou pizza.  Like spinach, but not bitter, really good.  Tony had the chainplates which we had made in PR polished.

• August 6--Canouan--In the Grenadines, only a half day sail, since someone has to be at the helm to steer all the time.  Tony is still trying to make the autopilot work.  Time to swim and make fried chicken for supper.  Last of the fresh chicken from Dominica.

• August 5--Admiralty Bay, Bequia--Another beautiful island.  Making lots of notes what to see when we come back this way next spring.  The autopilot died today--this is going to make our last 150 miles a little harder . . . .  It's only 19 years old.

• August 4--St. Vincent--What a beautiful island--this gets Sandy's vote for the best yet.  We are anchored in 25 ft of water 50 ft. offshore of a 400-ft rock cliff covered with greenery and palm trees.  Absolutely gorgeous!  A long day, about 50 miles, rough seas.  Then the boat boys here were obnoxious.  We're not staying, moving on tomorrow.

• August 3--Rodney Bay, St. Lucia--In a marina for the first time since we left the States!  Nice breeze, tho, and a POOL!!  And the nice man is washing, drying, and folding our clothes . . . .  And there's an ice cream shop . . . and it looks like we can finally get this page updated!  Will probably leave for St. Vincent tomorrow, then to Carriacou in the Grenadines.  Another short stop there, and then to Grenada, and hopefully to Trinidad by the first of next week.   

• July 31--Trois Ilets, Martinique--We are anchored just off this very picturesque small town, in the south of Fort de France Bay.  It reminds us very much of a small European town.   We watched the locals conduct a sailboat race around the harbor.  We had never seen this kind of boat before, very long and slender with a square sail with a boom that goes diagnally from the bottom of the mast to the top opposite corner of the sail.  No curve to the sail that we could see.  The crew of about 8-10 people ride removable poles which they maneuver from one side to the other and rock the boat back and forth to catch the wind.  They were beautiful boats and once going would really move, but there was a lot of sweat involved! 

• July 29--Martinique--Spent last night at anchor in St. Pierre, after a 10-hour day of sailing.  Moved today to Fort du France, the capitol city.  This is a big city!  Very colorful, has everything.  Tomorrow we will move across the bay to a quieter anchorage, and probably leave her Sunday or Monday for St. Lucia.  We're getting there!!

• July 28--Happy Birthday, Tony, Jr.!

• July 27--Dominica--It was a light wind day and the seas were fairly calm, so we motor/sailed.  We got here about 1330 yesterday and were immediately approached  by young men in boats offering all kinds of services.  We could not even go below before someone else was knocking on the side of the boat.  We hired a guy to take me to customs and also bought some bananas and mangoes.  We had the bottom cleaned as well.  That will increase our speed as we tear up the miles between here and Trinidad.  Portsmouth reminded us of Luperon.  We had dinner at the Blue Bay restaurant--their fish fritters were outstanding. 

We went up river this morning using Cobra River Guides.  Andrew was our guide.  He picked us up in a motor boat and then at the river we switched over to a rowboat.  He rowed us up river for about an hour.  The river was very lovely.  When we got back we bought some groceries (haven't had eggs for a week!) and ate chicken at a small snack bar for lunch.  It was very good.  When we got back to the boat, Sandy did some cooking, I took a nap and then we went for a swim.  We will head for Martinique in the morning. 

• July 23--to Guadeloupe--We sailed around the east side of Monteserrat today, and looked into the cauldron of the volcano.  It appears to be smoking, and the top was wreathed in clouds.  We saw the ruins of the airport and the town.  Absolutely awesome.

Great sail to Guadeloupe--a little rough, but we're tough.  Anchored in Deshaies  and had supper in town.  Will rest tomorrow and then down the west coast to Basse Terre to set up for a run to Dominica.

• July 22-Montserrat--We had an absolutely wonderful sail to Nevis yesterday.  (We're moving fast now--skipped Saba, Statia, and St. Kitts.)  A nice beam reach at 5 to 6 knots the entire trip.  We anchored at Tamarind Bay, Nevis.  It is an absolutely beautiful island with the old volcano dominating everything.  The top was always covered with clouds.  We got up this morning and set sail at 0730 hoping to sail all the way again, but unfortunately the wind was on our nose and we had to fight waves, under motor, all the way to Montserrat.  We averaged only 3.5 knots the whole way, arriving in Montserrat at 1700.  This is an awesome place, too, with the large inactive volcano in the foreground and the smoking active one way off in the distance. 

• July 20--St.Barts--Lovely on the NW corner of St. Barts, in Columbier Bay.  We hiked from the beach over a very narrow, rocky trail to Anse des Flamandes.  It was a beautiful walk, but hot.  We walked around the village, exchanged some books at one of the hotels and ate a great curry chicken sandwich at the Creole snack bar.  We also tried this stuffed local squash item, a christophene, and found it to be very good.  At 1230 we began our hike back to the boat.  One way the trip was probably about 1 ½ to 2 miles, with a fair amount of up and down.  Really beautiful though.  A swim to cool off, and we lazed around the rest of the day.

• July 17--Marigot Bay, St. Martin--Tony, Jr. & Teresa's first anniversary!  We spent last night and today with Tony's cousin Danise and her family.  They have found a great house on Dawn Beach and this is their 2nd vacation here.  It was so good to spend time with them, and reaquaint ourselves.  Their daughters are 13 and 9, and brought back a lot of fond memories of traveling with our kids.  Wish we could get on south so we can put the boat away safely and fly home and visit those kids! 

• July 14--Marigot Bay, St. Martin--It's Bastille Day, and the French are celebrating in a big way!  A parade with lots of drums, a street "fair," BBQ, lots of noise--all in French.  We had rain squalls with some 30-35 kt gusts, an unusual result of Emily.  She was well south of us--all of our friends in that area seem to be fine.

• July 11--We have been in the British Virgin Islands for several days.  This brings back such fond memories of our charter trip here for our 25th wedding anniversary 7 years ago.  A lot is the same, some is different.  It has certainly built up, and there are LOTS of charter boats!  We really stand out amongst all the white-hulled, blue-canvased boats. 

We are headed out this afternoon for an 80-mile motor sail to St. Martin.  Weather coming, probably will have to wait there, and do the rest of the southern trip as fast as we can dodge tropical waves.  Safety first, always!!

• July 7--Kathie is pregnant!  Our oldest daughter--we are going to be grandparents!!  An answer to 2 years of prayers.  It'll be another month before we find out how many babies we can count on!

• July 6--We left Salinas, PR on Sunday night, June 26th.  We motor-sailed, and decided to go into Palmas del Mar, PR, the next morning.  The engine was making a funny noise, and since our repairs are under warranty, we wanted to get it taken care of before we got out of PR.  The mechanics came on Tuesday morning, declared everything OK, and we left Palmas del Mar about 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the 28th.  We caught up with Dance again that evening, in Esperanza, on the island of Vieques.  We stayed anchored in Sun Bay for a couple of nights, then on Thursday, the 30th, we left Puerto Rico for the US Virgin Islands.  We were able to sail most of the trip, and it was a great day.  (Dance went up to the next island, Culebra--it's supposed to be great.)  We anchored in the bay at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, about 3:00 p.m.  We saw several cruise ships come and go--this place is set up for them!  There are two malls right off the cruise docks selling jewelry and clothes--high end things.  There are more shops downtown as well. 

For July 4th, we took the ferry to St. John for their festival.  We were disappointed.  I guess this was the last day and things were winding down.  We apparently missed a parade, looking at the costumes.  Then it started raining, and we decided not to wait till 9:00 hoping the fireworks would go on.  So, another ferry ride and a jitney (psuedo-taxi) ride to the dinghy, and we were home right about 8:00.  We did have a lovely dinner at Panini's Italian restaurant. 

We are ready to move again, when the weather will cooperate.  Planning a night at Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, then a night at Virgin Gorda, also, BVI, and then a good sail south to St. Martin.  This island is half-French, half Danish.  Another country!  Hope that Dance catches up with us again soon!

• June 25--The fuel injector has been rebuilt, and the mechanic is in the engine room replacing it.  Yeah!!  Saturday morning, and we plan to leave tonight.  Going to Vieques to meet Dance, our sailing partners, and then south as fast as we can get there.  Hope to see a few islands along the way, as long as we're in Trinidad before the first hurricane!  We took the injector to San Juan on Thursday, to save us some time and money.  We were so excited to get a car! 

We took the opportunity to do some sightseeing.  We saw the Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest radio telescope.  It was impressive, and you may remember seeing it in the movies Contact and James Bond's Goldeneye.  Then we drove through San Juan and stayed in Fajardo for the night, on the east coast.  On Friday we went to the only tropical rain forest in the US National Forest System.  It was really beautiful, and we walked for a couple of hours to a waterfall and back.  Wow.  Puerto Rico is a lovely island, and we have enjoyed all the traveling we have been able to do.  We had not planned to be here this long, but are glad we've had this time to see so much.

• June 22--A mechanic is in the engine room, and we are praying he can fix this.  So far we have had two mechanics look at the leak, and both tell us it's something we've already waited for a part and put on!  This guy is from a company owned by a retired LTC, Air Force pilot, who now runs a business fixing boat engines all over the Caribbean.  We met him at lunch last Friday and he promised to fix it right.  He understands we're in a hurry, but these things can never be rushed! 

We are biting our nails to get out of Salinas.  We were unable to get a rental car this weekend--we wanted to go to the rain forest in the east, but had no way to get there.  If we hadn't had the computer, I guess Tony would have gone crazy.  I have read every book in the swap library at the marina, and there is no one left here to swap with any more.  It's too hot to do much else.  I have several meals ready for some serious traveling, but I've already done that once this month and we had to go ahead and eat them.  Sigh.

• June 15--the computer is back!!  Frantically typing to update the log . . . .  I don't think we are going to make Trinidad by July 1st!  We are sick at how many places we are going to have to sail by.  I guess we'll have to spend this winter coming back up to see all these islands, and another hurricane season in Trinidad/Venezuala.  Oh, well, someone has to do it . . . .

Tony is working in the engine room, trying to fix the diesel leak.  He is actually getting calluses on his chest and stomach from lying on the engine.  Everything he needs to get to is on the back side of this engine.  This particular place he has to do by mirror or by feel. 

• June 13--Dance left today, trying to see Vieques and Calebra's beautiful beaches and clear water while their company can enjoy it.   We are waiting for an engine part, and hoping the computer will be fixed tomorrow.

• June 8--Trying to leave Salinas . . . took up the anchor at 5:40 a.m., took off down the harbor, reached the reef, lost 300 rpms, Tony opened the engine room and we had a mist of diesel fuel.  Turned around, reanchored by 7:30 a.m.  He has fought this leak and thought he had it fixed half a dozen times.  So another delay. 

• May 29th--Salinas, PR.  This is a major stop for cruisers, great place to get to San Juan, straight up I-52.  Norhimar is here, where they will leave their boat and go back to the States.  Several of the other boats we came across with have already moved on.  We don't plan to stay long. . . (famous last words, as my Mom would say.)

Dance caught up with us several days later.  We will try to travel together, but with their 2 family members visiting, they fill a rental car!  We do enjoy Ken and Brenda a lot.  We went to San Juan on May 31st; they spent the night with Norhi's parents, and we got a free night at the San Juan Marriott.  I just can't understand why anyone needs to spend the kind of money it takes to stay and eat in places like that.  I'd rather be on my boat, cooking bacon, eggs, and grits.

We spent the day shopping at Ft. Buchanan, in San Juan.  Bought Tony two new pair of shoes, we both have bought some new shorts, replacing some things on the boat, buying things we haven't seen in months . . . .  Ah, civilization.  This is much more American than Puerto Rico generally!  We also bought $850 worth of groceries, restocking for the trip south.  We haven't been able to do as much sightseeing here as we would have liked--all the money is going for boat restocking.

• May 27th--Must leave Ponce . . . Dance is staying behind for a day or so.  We motored to Caja de Muertos (Coffin Island--you know, looks like a dead person lying a coffin from one perspective some miles away).  Beautiful State Park, fairly deserted.  But this is Memorial Day weekend.  Great lighthouse, built before los Americanos came in 1898. 

• May 23--On to Ponce, PR.  We anchored in the Yacht Basin, next to the Malecón, which is the Hispanic version of the Boardwalk.  But this one is really loud, I mean REALLY LOUD.  Maybe they're like this in the States now, but I think the Hispanics know what LOUD really is.  Till 3:00 in the morning on weekends.  Which start on Wednesday night . . . .  We are seeing a lot of historic and cultural places; Ponce is a great town.  Good shopping as well, and real movie theatres!  Great store down the road, sells cases. 

• May 22--We and Dance have sailed to Gilligan's Island.  No town, just water and a few houses on the island.  This place will be much more crowded on the weekend.  We swam, had a good, relaxing time.

• May 19-20--We checked into Mayaguana on Thursday morning, and then motored down to Boquerón with Dreammaker, a 3-hour trip.  We had dinner with them out that night.  Dance and the other boats came in Friday morning--it was so cool to watch them appear on the horizon and find their way past us to their anchorage.  They spent Saturday checking in by taxi to Mayaguana.  Norhi from Norhimar is Puerton Rican, and we are looking forward to meeting her parents, from San Juan. 

  Boquerón is a beach town, and is just what we need after Luperón.  Much more American, but still Hispanic.  Most everybody speaks some English, and you can make yourself understood fairly easily.  We caught a ride with Norhi's dad to the mall in the next town, and what an experience!  We haven't been to a mall since we left Miami the middle of January.  How many ways can we spend money . . . .  

• May 16-18--Sailing/Motoring to Puerto Rico.  We talked to Dreammaker every once in a while.  We were all seasick at first, but I put on my patch (which I should have done anyway) and got better fast, Bonnie and the Captain took turns being really sick.  The weather was not what we expected, and we got banged around a bit.  We had one of the chainplates break and a shroud holding up the mast was blowing in the wind.  We tied it down and kept on going.  It was as rough a 48-hour trip as we ever want to do, and we should have waited with the other boats.  They came on Wednesday and had a much better trip.  We were really not prepared--we had already eaten all the meals I made for the trip, waiting to go, and I spent the day before we left in town with delays rather than on the boat straightening for the ride.  Yes, Mom, I even had dirty dishes in the sink I had to work around. 

• May 15--We had a meeting today with several boats, Dance, Twice in a Blue Moon, Dreammaker, Norhimar, South of Reality, and Jean, talking about weather and when to leave.  Dreammaker and we decided to leave on Monday, May 16th, but Dance and others are going to wait another day. 

• May 10--getting anxious to leave Luperón.  We love it here, but it is getting late and we have so many other places we want to see!  Again, we will have been here a month soon.  Barnacles grow on the boat bottom, we spread out inside, and inertia sets in!  I am beginning to get somewhat used to the heat, and am walking around town enough to finally regain some strength.  I usually carry an umbrella, to keep the sun off me.  It's brutal.

• May 5--We have spent 2 days and nights in Santa Domingo with Dance and another couple on Twice in a Blue Moon.  Hotel room, restaurants, real showers and beds--the whole shebang!  We have walked forever, seen the Columbus monument, found the local breakfast spot, and all those touristy things.  We have learned to be very careful--we have been approached by many people speaking English, who offer their help and then tag along, expecting to be our tour guide and get paid for it.  I wish we could wear a sign saying "Cruisers" as opposed to tourists--we have very little money to share with the local economy!  Heck, Tony and I don't even buy souvenirs! 

• April 28--We had an absolutely fantastic time yesterday, probably the best since we started traveling. We rented motorcycles ($12.00 a day) with our friends on Dance. We used one bike, Ken and Brenda used one, and their 15-year-old daughter, Chelsea, was on a moto-concho, i.e., a bike with a driver, Santiago. We went to the waterfalls on a little river. There are 27 falls and they are absolutely beautiful. You do a lot of swimming up to them and climbing up them, sometimes ladders, sometimes you just push through and up the waterfall, and then slide down them to get back down the mountain. We had a DR guide name Gary at the falls, and he was an incredible young man, stronger than an ox. Sandy did not go up to the 27th fall--she and Brenda went to the 7th fall, which is where everybody else went. Ken, Chelsea and Tony were the only ones we saw yesterday who went to the top--only one of the benefits of doing your own trip when you go places.  There were a few disappointed young guys, but when you're with a group they're not going to wait 2 HOURS for you to go all the way to the top.  Gary pulled Sandy up a lot of the way- she was just not strong enough to move against the water and pull herself up these rocks. But these guys know what they're doing. We decided they're all part monkey.  They would dive into these little pools from incredible heights--even climbing trees at the top of the cliff to make it more impressive. It was gorgeous, and Brenda and Sandy did a lot of people watching while they waited for the rest of us. Mostly Europeans-- lots of Brits, some Germans, some DR's, not many Americans. And why would you come to a waterfall and a rocky, rushing river, in a bikini that barely covers all this rolling flesh??!! Ah, well.
  
  After we got back on the bikes we were VERY anxious to find some food (it was 2:00 by this time) and got a recommendation from Gary. We had chicken, pork & beef (understanding that these portions are less than half of what you would get in the States) with rice, bean soup and a salad, with fruit for dessert, family style. Birds in cages all around (a myna, lots of parakeets, and a few parrots), cats, and a beautiful black rooster strutting around. After we left they shut the door! It was very late to be eating. Must explain these bird cages--they were boards & chicken wire enclosures built along the ceiling.
  
  After we rode back to town, we left the guide behind and Chelsea got behind her Mom and Dad and we went out the other side of town looking for the beach. We had to stop and ask directions, and the people were laughing at us and calling us the gringos who ride like the Dominicans--3 to a bike.
  
  After coming back into town, we sat in a local cafe and vegged for a while and ate a wonderful plate of nachos. (This is the place where Rick on Naomi Marie out of Texas was the guest chef last week and we ate a wonderful Italian meal (caprezzi for appetizer!) We met them last year in Marathon.) We got back to the boat about dark. Dad checked emails and I washed dishes. Crashed and slept like babies!

• Late April--The first week we were in Luperón we got sick--some virus going around, nausea, diarrhea, fever, as if it wasn't hot enough here already.  Tony got it first, and I was really hoping I wouldn't get it, but I did.  Really knocked us out for several days.  I was just beginning to feel better, and this set me back strengthwise.  Our friends on Dance arrived while we were still recooperating, and we are very glad to see them.  Looking forward to doing some traveling.

• Luperón, Dominican Republic (DR). Break out your maps and see where the DR is. If you guessed on the island of Hispanola you are potential Jeopardy contestants, and if you guessed that DR shares the island with Haiti you win the Bonus round!  (Except for Sandy's brother Benjie and his family, who spent 5 years in Haiti.)

The harbor is crowded with sailboats, and is not very big. We have already been visited by the Navy, the go-to guy (Poppo), who will bring us gas, water, and even clean the boat bottom! Tony has gone in now to register us with Immigration, Customs, and whoever else, and I have been washing a big pile of dishes.

We are in a small, very well protected harbor on the north coast called Puerto Blanco. Luperón is a bustling little town which has been left behind by the rest of DR, which is fast becoming a very modern, productive country. It is nestled within a group of small, lush green mountains that border the ocean. There are always rain clouds on the horizon and it may or not rain at any moment, and the Trade Winds blow through here just about every day at 15 knots from the east. At night there is no wind at all.

It is so, so different from the Bahamas with its beautiful water but very desert-like islands.  In the Bahamas we marveled at all the colors of blue in the water; here, we are astounded at the shades of green on the mountains.  They show up in layers to the horizon as we sit in the boat.  And the people are so friendly here in comparison to the Bahamians, who are often haughty and rude.  Here everyone smiles at you and says "Hola", even the little kids.  EVERYONE calls "hola" back and forth as you go by, walking or riding, and the kids are just hysterical. Most people smile and act like they are really glad to see us.  No one speaks much English so we are practicing our Spanish skills. But everyone just smiles and laughs as we try to communicate.  I am fairly quickly remembering my Spanish and am having a blast speaking to everyone.  Tony, on the other hand, stutters along, much as he does in English, although he is proud of himself for being able to buy some fuses and a cold chisel today. Hurrah for Kathy Parsons' book!

Basic foods, especially vegetables, are fresh and very inexpensive. We like that a lot. Most everything else, except diesel and gas, are very reasonable. We can see why people once arriving here end up staying for months and even years.  Right now the peso is about three to a dollar.

We are definitely in the third world here. There is a DR gunboat docked a few hundred yards from us and they patrol the harbor at night looking for illegal Dominicans trying to leave the island. We have met the Navy Commandante, a young lieutenant, who is in charge of everything here. I made sure he knew I was prior military and he gave me a high five and a big smile. We were also invited to give a "donation" to the local military charity.  Although few people wear uniforms here, either military or customs, you can tell who is an official by the big pistol stuck in the belt of their pants or the shotgun they are leaning on.  But everyone is very, very friendly and you really feel very safe here.  The old-time cruisers here tell us that there is very little crime and everyone gets along really well.  The Navy assures us that we will be safe at night--they patrol the harbor. 

There are some new things happening here as well. There is a brand new yacht club with a beautiful view of the bay and it even has a big screen TV with Direct TV.  Since they have free internet as well, guess where Tony will be spending some of his time!  A movie theater just opened in town and it shows movies twice a week.  We ate at a local cafe last night, where a sailing buddy was the guest chef.

We are looking at staying here a couple of weeks and really want to do some touring of the interior of the country, and maybe even spend a few days in Santo Domingo or Santiago. Then we will head on to Puerto Rico.
 

• April 19-20--Anchor up at 7:45 this morning, and sailing out of the harbor toward Luperon, DR, 100 nautical miles away.  We are SO excited!  This will be our first foreign country.  Hope my high school/college Spanish comes back!  We tried to wait for Dance, but they are still in Provo and the weather window is in our favor.  We just can't wait!

We were able to sail all the way, with winds so in our favor that we had to reef the sails to slow us down!  We made time as we never have before, so at 12:30 a.m. this morning we hove-to about 13 miles off the coast, and took up our course again at 4:00 a.m. For you landlubbers, heaving to is arranging the sails against the rudder into the wind, and the boat calms down considerably and drifts very slowly with the current. We backtracked just 3 miles in 3 1/2 hours.

Landfall was incredible. There are mountains here, and just lovely green hills and trees.  What a delight after the flat, dry Bahamas! About 6:30 a.m., as soon as it got light, we looked behind us to see this line of clouds, which developed into some windy looking rain--the squalls we had been warned about. So we put the pedal to the metal and raced the storm into the harbor. It never did catch up with us. You could see the land breeze coming over the hills, blowing away the clouds over the island, so I guess that wind kept the storm out to sea. It looked like someone taking a dry paintbrush and slowly sweeping away the clouds. I have never seen anything like it. Still waiting for the camera to catch up with us somewhere.  Sigh. 

• April 17-18--Anchored in South Caicos harbor, went in for water.  This place is SO not like we expected!  The guide books talk about all the lovely snorkeling/diving places on "the Wall," and not to use their moorings during the day to be in the way of the tour boats.  We see moorings, but there are no dive boats.  There are no people, except locals and a couple of sailboats.  There is one hotel with a few people staying, but the place is so deserted and run down--it is so sad.  Dogs everywhere, from puppies to dying, sickly animals, lots of horse dung in the roads (the wild horses area a real problem here).  It took us half a day to get someone to bring us water, and then another local we happened to be talking to told us that they don't drink this water (which is brought in), they buy their water.  The phone booth next to the Marina is lying down on the ground, and the phone is long gone.  The Marina is just a building.  There are lots of local fishing boats, and we had a good show watching them drag and push a boat nearly twice the size of ours off the shore and back into the water.  Never mind that the water was shallow and already full of boats, some half sunk.  Thanks to the sailboat, Fulfillment, we had a delicious dinner, just us, in a local restaurant.  Can't wait to leave here to head to Dominican Republic!

• April 16--Lovely motor trip across the Caicos Banks!  We anchored at very lonely Long Cay, just south of South Caicos, where we are going tomorrow. 

• April 14--Checked into the Turks and Caicos.  Hitched a ride downtown with a very nice lady from Winston-Salem, NC.  Walked to the marine store, had lunch at a great deli, and found another local who tracked us down in the parking lot to offer us a ride home!

• April 13--We set out about 11:00 p.m. last night, and an 8-hour trip turned into an 18-hour trip.  The engine failed and poor Tony had to fix the fuel injector.  It's really hard to work in the engine room underway, between the fumes and the motion it's a guaranteed trip to seasickness.  We were sailing back and forth across the path we needed to be on, between the wind and the current.  He finally had to take a pill and fix the engine so we could get somewhere, and then had to sleep off the pill.  Consequently, I was on the helm for 11 hours, most of them in the dark.  Thank goodness I'd had a good nap first!!  Thank goodness for the autopilot!  Thank goodness for the kitchen timer, which can be set to go off every 10 minutes, right on my shoulder.  We anchored in Provo at 5:00 p.m. today, very tired and glad to be here.  Who ever said this is a vacation should have been on this trip.

• April 12--We have moved to the other end of Mayaguana, Southeast Point, this afternoon.  We will eat and rest and prepare for a night sail to Providence Island, Turks and Caicos.  Tony went under the boat to cut a line off our propellor, and encountered another shark.  Only this one was not a nurse shark feeding on a reef--this one was attracted to Tony's thrashing and circled the boat looking for his meal.  Tony was, of course, out of the water by this time, having made eye contact with this predator under the boat, and got out of Dodge.  I took a nap so I could do the first watch.

• April 9--Set sail for Mayaguana, Bahamas.  Several squalls, the sails had to be reefed, but the enclosure kept us dry.  An overnight sail brought us to Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana.  We followed our guide book, and it looked like we were anchored in the middle of the ocean we were so far away from the island, but we were tucked up pretty close to the reef, and we discovered that the winds can blow hard, but the reef breaks up the surf and it's a good anchorage in that the boat doesn't move much.  Which I really appreciate.  We were in the middle of nowhere, as the town is at the other end of the bay and we didn't go in.  We liked it so much we stayed another day! 

• April 2-8--One week in Clarencetown.  Again, the weather is not cooperating.  We have enjoyed this quiet harbor.  There is a lovely marina, fairly new, with a nice laundry room, showers, and several grocery stores within a good walk--everything a cruiser needs!!  The restaurant is a plus, and we should avoid it and eat on the boat.  I am really feeling the heat here, although I have stopped being sick.  Not much energy, as a lot of muscle mass has been lost during the past few months. 

• April 1--Have spent two days at Conception Island.  Spent some time with Purrrfection and Nottus, whom we met in Georgetown.  Tony snorkeled while I gathered seashells.  He ran from a shark; I got some pretty shells.  Heading south to Clarencetown, Long Island.

• March 30--We are learning that it is very easy to spend a lot more time in certain places than we intend.  What we thought would be a couple of weeks in Georgetown turned into a month and a half.  As we clear the harbor we have a lot of good memories of this community.  We were visited by Sandy's brother Drew and our daughter, Page, and her friend, Jessica.  It was great having them here to experience the cruising life.  We participated in the 25th Annual Georgetown Regatta.  Tony entered the Conch Blowing Contest and along with the girls we competed in the Scavenger Hunt.  Boy, was it tough!  We thought we might at least win the booby prize.  We snorkeled and fished, met lots of new people and deepened friendships with several cruising families.  It was also nice after so much traveling to sit and relax and do nothing for days at a time.  I finally was diagnosed with an ear infection and lots of fluid in my ears, and we are hoping that this will be the end of the nausea.  I have lost so much weight, but this is not the diet of choice. 

We also had the opportunity to experience Beach Church, which was really special.  We joined the "choir" and had the opportunity to hear some very good sermons by Pastor John.  The Easter Sunrise Service was simply breathtaking as the sun came up over the ocean.

Today we have set sail for Conception Island, the first stop in our journey South to the Dominican Republic.

• February 13-- Georgetown!!  We left Little Farmers on the outside and had a wonderful 42-mile sail, broad reach with fore-beam seas, down to Georgetown.  We are currently anchored off Sand Dollar Beach.  Georgetown is a quaint village just big enough to have a bank, two nice grocery stores and even two hardware stores.  There are about 200 cruisers in the harbor at this time.  We washed clothes for two days and did just a little grocery shopping.  We also had lunch at the Peace and Plenty Restaurant with some cruising friends.  We bought home made bread from "Mom's" and also had coke and french fries at "Chat and Chill" on Volleyball Beach.  We will be here for a month.  Our daughter is scheduled to fly in for a visit on March 10th and the big Regatta is that weekend with all kinds of activities.  They are expecting 400 boats at that time.

• February 9--We sailed to Little Farmer's Cay, where we stayed for several days.  This was one of our favorite spots.  About 50 people live on the island, there is one grocery store, a restaurant, and a yacht club.  JR sells wooden carvings, and we managed to avoid him.  The lady who runs the grocery store lost her husband last year and she is looking for help.  She has 15 children, all but one of whom have moved away.  Her son runs the liquor store, and was very kind to us.  We had run out of cash, and he took a check for $50.  Tony did some more snorkeling around coral heads in our anchorage.  We bought 2 huge lobsters from Little Jeff for $15 and had a great meal. 

• February 3--Then we went down to Big/Little Majors, and spent too many nights rolling in an uncomfortable anchorage--we have learned that when the chart says "surge," we won't anchor there!  We spent several days on Staniel Cay--3 great grocery stores (the Blue store, the Pink store, and Isles Grocery--each different and charming in its own way), lots of rental cottages, and the Staniel Cay Yacht Club bar and restaurant, where we watched the Super Bowl with about 100 people.  Our highlight of the evening--since we couldn't care less about sports and didn't even know who was playing--was the aborted trip back to the boat!  We left after halftime (thank goodness, or we would have really been in a fix) and it was so dark we couldn't get back to the boat!  No moon, pitch black, all you could see were anchor lights, and you couldn't see the big rocks that we knew were between us and our boat.  The harborage was very rough and we got soaking wet, and Sandy was as scared as she has ever been--and not ashamed to say so--so Tony did the manly thing and turned around and went back to the Yacht Club.  Thank you, Lord!  There was a "shuttle" going around after the game, and this guy took us home--and scared us again in the process, but he sure knows HIS geography!  This was another learning experience, and this will not happen again.  We pride ourselves on being self-reliant, and we sure messed this one up!  On Monday we picked up the dinghy and moved closer to Staniel Cay and were much happier.  We anchored behind Thunderball Grotto, which is the cave where they filmed the underwater sequences in the James Bond Thunderball movie.  It looked much bigger in the movie.  But it was gorgeous snorkeling--lots of colorful coral, lots of beautiful fish, who didn't much care that you were flopping around a couple of feet over them. 

• February --After Shroud we went to Warderick Wells Cay, which is the headquarters of the Exuma Park.  They have some educational things, and several great walking paths.  We walked to the top of Boo Boo Hill (it's supposed to be haunted) where cruisers have for years left some momento of their trip to the Exumas.  We saw some impressive momentos--some people left a plaque and add another year label every time they come.  We saw several friends' things who had been there ahead of us.  We left a small ballast rock we had picked up in Beaufort, NC, after writing our names and the date on it. There was a clearing called Pirates' Lair, and it was a beautiful spot, complete with a fresh water well.  The south anchorage at Warderick Wells is very well hidden--you can't see the turn until you are almost on top of the rocky shoreline.  The Explorer charts have proved to be right on, and we sure had to trust them this time!  But it's a great place for pirates to hide, 'cause you couldn't get in unless you'd already been there. 

• January 31--Our next stop was Shroud Cay, which is just mangroves and slow creeks.  We followed one to the beach on the Exuma Sound side, and it was a great morning.  We were all alone for the first time, discoverers of more beautiful water and deep sand.  Sigh. 

• January 28--From Allen's we went to Norman Cay, and found enough conch to have our own conch fritters.  So now we know how to clean conch!  Slimy, tough buggars, but they make great fritters once you get them taken care of. 

   

• January 26--From Nassau we sailed to Allen Cay--there be prehistoric iguanas here, and they are used to being fed!  Beautiful water and beaches here--who knew there were so many colors of blue, and none of them the same as the sky!  We are learning to read the water--which actually means you can see what's on the bottom, and how to avoid things you don't want to run into.  A very important skill in such shallow water.  In Tampa Bay when you run aground you just turn the wheel, pivot off the sand and drive on.  Here the bottom is just as often rocks or coral--we have heard several horror stories, so are better prepared when it comes our turn.  At some point everybody becomes the day's entertainment. 

• January 24, Monday--WE MADE IT!!!  We are anchored in Nassau Harbor, Bahamas!  We are still pinching ourselves! A weather window opened up Friday, the 21st, and we took off.  The wind was very light so we motored the entire time, but we are used to that and it doesn't bother us--we're still getting where we want to go!  Crossing the Gulf Stream wasn't terrible, although it was rough enough to make us both queasy.  We left Key Biscayne at 6:45 a.m., and we made our turn onto the Bahama Bank just south of Bimini at 2:15 p.m.  It's interesting to suddenly find 7-10 feet of water after there hasn't even been a reading on the depth meter for most of the day!  It was a much smoother ride.  We traveled with 35 boats who were also taking this weather window, and they did a roll call every 2 hours in daylight and every hour after dark.  We sailors do take care of each other.  We arrived in Nassau at 8:30 a.m. and checked in with the authorities very easily.  We will stay here until the winds are good to get out to less inhabited places. 

It has been very windy with some sprinkles of rain, and we are still waiting for the big weather system coming in.  I know that our families are having a cold time of it in NC.  We walked into town a bit, although we have been to Nassau before.  We are planning to check out the straw market, since it was burned and replaced since we were here. 

We had a great time in Miami spending time with Ray and Peggy on Jellicle Cat.  They helped us run around and get things done. 

• January 11th--We are headed south on the ICW in Florida, headed for Miami and a weather window to the Bahamas!