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  1. Society Islands
  2. Aitutaki, Cook Islands
  3. Palmerston, Cook Islands
  4. Kingdom of Tonga

 

Tahiti onward to Bora Bora...

We have finally left the island of Moorea. We ended up spending a week more than we would have like but we didn't complain much since it was so much fun. We were about 20 boats in this anchorage where 10 boats had kids ages ranging from 8 to 17! Reminded me of my youth, ahhh the wonderful memories!!! Our passage was a weather window of just one night. It looks like 11 boats took advantage of this weather window, cause of the 5 I knew that were leaving, another bunch pulled out at the same time as us. NO one wants to have to use fuel since it's about 7 bucks a gallon.

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Before we left we wanted to load the boat up with fresh fruits so I went to the house that, sometimes, has a table with fruit out in front. It was early, 8am, and all was quite but I was able to get someone's attention inside. They knew I was coming for a stalk of bananas cause I came by the afternoon before to place my order. The mom came out holding a very large stalk of bananas and I became a bit nervous how much this was going to cost me. Considering that everything here is about 5x's as expensive than home!!! I started to ask her how much and she asked me if I had kids on my boat. I said yes, I have two and this is my daughter Seanna with me. Seanna always has to go with us on errands!!!! Then she said, "I would like to give you these bananas". I was shocked! I wanted to make sure there was nothing lost in translation and asked again, "how much"? She said she wanted no money. Then she floored me even more when she carried this big stalk to my dingy and said wait here. She came back with a large basket full of fruit. I don't know the names of them but one was their local apple, which look purple and green outside and the size of an apple, and Paul said it taste like a large concord grape on the inside. Then she gave me a few long green pods that she said the kids would love and she was right. The kids open the pod and take out the white cover seeds and eat the white. I took pictures of it. Then she gave me some ripe bananas for now, 6 papaya and two other fruit (I had different names for this one fruit but it's green with little soft spikes on it used for drinks). When I came home to tell Paul that I didn't pay a dime for this he couldn't believe it. I did leave the lady some gifts...I couldn't just leave her empty handed. I gave her wine, shoes and lipsticks. I think this made her happy.

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We had a Catana raft up last night. We met up with our friends on Da Mojo and Ocealys who each have two kids plus some guest on board. At around 5 pm we all rafted up and had a "pot luck" dinner. It was a bunch of fun. Total of 8 kids all the same age. I haven't laughed so much in a long time! Yesterday, we went surfing with Da Mojo (gosh, I love this family) and David, the dad, took Merric surfing on his long board. It was the coolest thing to see Merric in front surfing a wave. He also did some great boogie boarding. He already has incredible balance jumping on the surf board so now I know what to get him for X-mas!!!! I, on the other hand, paddled my Kayak to the surf spot and ate it on the first wave and lost my spare sunglasses, haha. I have been Kayaking for over an hour a day or swimming. Getting back on track...now if I could just quit the drinking every night! Mom, you would be upset with me...I didn't put sun block on that well yesterday and I am paying the price! OUCH.

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Yep, we have found Nemo in Huahine, Society islands. Just laying back enjoying life. Seanna says she is happy to be 4 but can't wait till she is 17. I told her she will get there one day! Don' know why she picked that age??? I preferred 23 myself.

We are on our way to Tahaa tomorrow and should be in Bora Bora by the 2nd or 3rd to pick up Alex and Kristin. We are REALLY getting syked up for that! Keep getting incredible reports on the beauty of that place. We also got word that if I thought Tahiti was expensive that Bora Bora will take my breath away. So, I stocked up here. Good think Alex and Kristin are staying on the boat and I love to cook, eh!

Thank you for all the cute emails to Seanna on her birthday. She really loved hearing them and was so excited to get them, she kept saying "Awwww". She is deeply touched by family. We always have to tell stories about family or I use threats that Pierre will come down on them if they don't eat their dinner. Merric loves that! He wants to be just like Pierre...big and strong. So, sometimes they ask me if Uncle Pierre eats certain foods and it's easy to say yes. All of you are always in our thoughts and daily conversations. Speaking of being attached to family. Seanna has a bathing suit that has seen much better days and the straps lost their elastic and the butt is sagging but since grandma gave it to her she never wants to give it away. She told me that, "I don't want you giving this to any Indians..I love it cause Grand mama gave it to me, okay mommy". I said, "Okay" We always gave away our old clothes to the Kuna Indians in the San Blas incase you were wondering why she said that...haha.

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We spent a magical two final weeks in the French Polynesian islands at Bora Bora. Alex and Kristen came to visit for 10 days and we had a blast. The weather was just perfect. The week before they came we had strong winds and it was hard to do anything with the boat so just a few days before they came I made a wish and threw a few coins in the water. The next day Paul got the report that the weather was going to be picture perfect the day after they arrive. It's one of those places where it's not hard to entertain guest...the island just does it's magic. The waters of Bora Bora are different shades of blue...it's not rare to be cruising on the dingy or big boat and see the wild life just below you. Although everything in Bora Bora is very expensive we didn't feel the pinch since I was stocked and being on the boat was better than any restaurant. You should have seen Alex and Kristen whippin out the home made tortillas for Fajita night. Coco coladas, mojitos, margaritas, tahiti beer, wine and shots toasted the sunset every night. It was very hard for me to let them go!

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We are now underway to the Cook Islands and are on day two of a three to four night passage. We have already skipped two islands because the weather isn't permitting us to get into the cut and we don't want to take the chance. As we passed the first island I spotted a whale doing a show. The humpback whale jumped up a few times then did the classic back flop. It was just beautiful. At the same time my line went out and had a Mahi on but just as I got it close to the boat it got off....

Aitutaki, Cook Islands

We made it(Aitutaki, Cook islands) into the Extremely narrow snakelike cut.... into a VERY small anchorage with three other cats and one small mono haul. It is full of coral heads everywhere and doesn't leave for any mistakes. You have to be able to turn on a dime. We hit the cut at high outgoing tide. Paul was full steam ahead and we barley moved. Most of the cats here anchored off the cut for two days before they were brave enough to come in. We saw them in here so we just progressed. We went to 6 feet (at full high tide) at the 1/2 way mark into the cut and didn't go above 10. We have two anchors out since there is NO swing space but we are not complaining. Everyone here was ready to lend a helping hand to get us in and anchored. It is just great! The view is spectacular beyond the rusty harbor. The lagoon is very shallow so it dries at low tide and so far the people we have met have just charmed us. They wave at us like they know us and we've been friends for years. The color of the water here reminds us of the Bahamas (every shade of blue) and there are tons of islands in the shallow lagoon, that we can reach with the dingy, to go visit. We plan to do some kayaking and snorkeling tomorrow. We had lunch at the wharf bar and had a full meal with beers for $32 NZ dollars. We are back to normal prices, yeah! I don't plan on cooking much here, hahahaah. After the huge $$ inflation we saw in the French Polynesian we forgot that there are places out here that are "affordable".... I am really happy we stopped.

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8/23/08

Still just relaxing here in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Did you know that this is where they filmed Survivor, Cook Islands. It's not rare to see a local with a Survivor hat or shirt on here :). They said that they filmed for 6 months and hired everyone on the island. They were a class act! Nice to know they were not taken advantage of cause the people here wear their shirts on their sleeves around here. The beaches and view here are incredible and I can see why they choose this place.

On the second or third day, we tried our hand at fishing but were not that successful. We caught one medium sized snapper and Paul didn't feel like cleaning it so when we saw a local couple coming back into port we went up to them to say hello and asked if they got anything? They didn't get much so Paul gave them our fish. Well, that ONE LITTLE show of generosity has then, over the past few days, landed us as the garden of Eden. Mii (Me'E) and Richard work by harvesting sea grapes, which is compared to caviar and sells to the local market, it then gets flown over to the other larger islands near by. We have had our share of sea grapes!! Which look like a small bunch of green grapes about the size of your thumb. They are very salty.... They sell it for $10 a pound. You can serve it as a salad but we really liked it on a cracker with cheese. Mii and Richard stop over every day and drop off grape fruit, passion fruit, bananas, guava, paw-paws (papaya), lemon, sour oranges, sea grapes, coconuts and star fruit. We told them we were leaving tomorrow and then they brought over more of the above but in MUCH larger quantities. Our water line is disappearing...haha. Shoot, I made a meat sauce and I put some papaya in it and you know what...it was awesome. I also made a papaya, banana and coconut cake that was out of this world (I used aunt Johanne's mango bread recipe and subsituted the mango for papaya...this time I had so much ripe banana I put one in too.... please pass that on to her and tell her I think about her every time I take out the recipe). Don't know what we are going to do with the rest since I have already donated it to other cruisers that have come by.

We are going to stat making our way to Palmerston Atoll and we have been given several boxes, stalks of bananas and other goodies to bring to them. There is quite the story behind the island and the people who live there. Try to google it and see if anything comes up. It's about an Englishman who worked on a ship back in the late 1800's who visited the atoll. He later went back with 4 wives and set up camp at each N, E, S and W motu and had a bunch of kids. He taught them about in-breading and forbade it and that kept them healthy and strong. They all have the same last name Marsters. Apparently, when a boat arrives a family will come out to greet you. The first family to great you becomes the "host family" and they take care of you from morning till night with parties, dinners and activities. They don't have much but love to have people come visit. I have cleaned out my lockers and have a huge bag of goodies myself to leave them.

8/27/08

Sitting here with about 8 other boats enjoying Palmerston atoll. On our way here we caught more than our share of fresh Mahi so we opted to donate a large ziplock bag and set up a fish/pot luck party on the beach with our host Edward and his wife Shirley and get all the cruisers together. Had a nice time dodging rain showers and having a BBQ.

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Imagine this, here I am in the middle of the pacific ocean, 1000 miles away from civilization and the Shirley was asking me if Angelina Jolie and Brad Pit had their babies yet! There are only 12 adults on the island and 25 children. It is a well structured island with the adults in all levels (secretary, customs, immigrations, inspectors, one police officer and teacher). The school is really nice and it set up with curriculum from New Zealand. The children here are just charmers and love to talk to the cruisers.

I am a little tipsy from a few rum drinks tonight so I will write you later....

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Homemade bbq with coconuts and palm leaves       Layer with more leaves and cook for 20 mins.                Enjoy!

The setting: Palmerston Atoll, Cook Islands

Dusk.... just as the sun it setting, we are anchored off the atoll since we cannot access it. That means we are literally anchored in the ocean on a shelf that drops dramatically. We have had a wonderful day on the island of Palmerston with Edward and his family along with all the other funny cruisers out here. We are happy to be back to the boat as it was a hot day with no wind this afternoon. A big change from the crap we were in this morning...rain, wind reversals and currents. In side the atoll has some of the coolest coral formations to snorkel and the water is extremely clear.

Well, back to where I started....

We were sitting off the back of the boat savoring the sunset and waiting for a glimpse of the green flash when I spotted Tuna's jumping behind the boat. I was tempted to grab a fishing line but this time decided to just enjoy the view. Then as the Tuna swam away a large Turtle surfaced behind the steps and just said hello...The kids got a kick out of him as he was pretty big. I was thinking at that moment how I wish I could see a whale. They are know to travel very close to the shores here and would love to see one up close. About 5 minutes later Paul says, "Look Michele, a Whale" There it was just blowing water out of this blow hole and swimming along just behind us. It came up about 5 times and the last one was a beautiful tail shot.

We are planning on weathering a heavy front that is pushing through here in a couple of days. Winds steady at 35 knots is expected for two days. We are out in the ocean but the direction of the wind is from the opposite side of the atoll so we hope that the reef in front will keep us comfortable. The only thing would be if the swell would come around but that usually doesn't bother us. We are six sail boats strong holding together planning all kinds of daily events here and will weather it together. We really don't have an option as the nearest safe port is 4 days away and from what we heard there are no moorings available in the deep water anchorage. In the mean time, before the wind, we are going to have no wind which makes for spectacular diving, snorkeling and land/dingy exploring. We will really get a chance to scope out this place without rushing.

Hope all is well with you all at home. Keep in touch.

8/30/08

Hotel California.....

Seems like we checked into Palmerston Atoll but we can't check out....

The weather that has been predicted is now coming in full force. We are not in a place that makes us warm and fuzzy but luckily we are not the only boat here. We are seven strong and we are holding a night watch during the strongest part of the high pressure. We are expecting winds in the 35 to 40 knot range for about 4 days. Palmerston would have been nice for three days but we are feeling our stay is going to be LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG! Tonight a mommy and baby whale came eerily close to the boat. We started to think she might get stuck in our mooring lines....

Speaking of mooring lines.... What they have here is coral that surrounds the island. Not the best anchoring condition so some of the locals decided to make 7 mooring balls. That's great but they are just chain wrapped around the coral. How good is that? Well most of us cruisers have been diving on the coral heads and adding more line, chain and tweaking the system. Paul is happy cause we are on quite a big piece and we now have 3 lines to it. The other night one boat here did run up on the reef. The line, at the mooring ball, snapped. YIKES! Luckily they were able to pull up their keel to get off the reef.

We are all having a good laugh out here and the spirits are high. Two of the boats here are real characters which helps and Paul and I can't help but make jokes ourselves. We are rocking and rolling quite a bit right now but better than being out in the 20 to 30 foot waves they are projecting. Looks like we are stuck in this not so ideal spot for a little while. When it blows over we are heading straight for Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga.

Tonga Bound...... A Whale tale.

We should be arriving by afternoon time (one day ahead of you) in the Kingdom of Tonga. Yep, we are now offically one full day ahead of you. Does that mean I am also one day older than I should be? When do I celebrate my birthday? The last two days have been wonderful compared to the past week and a half. The seas are still about 15+ feet but riding downwind is a breeze. There are times when Paul and I feel like we might have to run inside and close the door so we won't get flooded out but we never do. It's quite an amazing site to see this massive swell coming at us from behind and then since we have wing on wing with the gib and ginniker our speed is up and we surf them. So much fun.

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VaVa'u weekly race on DaMojo - 2nd place.            Local market                                              Mahi Mahi for dinner

Sept 26, 2008

I have been LAAZZZZZYYYYYY and just sitting back reading all day (The Poison Wood bible). I know it's driving Paul nuts cause he can't just sit around but there really isn't anything to do. The weather, since we got here, has been cold, rainy, windy and cloudy.

We are disappointed but lucky for us we are not on a charter here paying loads of money like a bunch of other "Moorings Charters" boats out here. I do feel really bad for them. They fly all the way from Sweden to sail Tonga and enjoy sun, whales and water but get the mentioned crap above.... We have been holed up here, at anchorage number 16, for almost a week. They have around 35 good anchorages but the names are so hard that moorings decided to number them years ago and it just stuck. It does tick some purist off but hey you try to pronounce Euakafa Eueiki. What zee heck!!!!!

Tonight is Pizza night. Did I mention to any of you how much the food stinks here. We are limited in selection and what they do have (chicken legs, Beef Ribs, and some weird cut of lamb) has been refrozen about 10 times and taste like game meat. It's pretty scary. I am thinking about hunting my own pig and becoming a butcher..there are more pigs than people on the island but they don't even have pork in the stores...go figure!

I HAVE BEEN MAKING IT UP WITH INCREDIBLE DESERTS> For example: Crepes for dinner last night with Nutella, bananas and strawberry jam along with the last cherished bottle of maple syrup from dad and a small glass of Port wine! But, what I failed to mention is that I tried to pressure cook the one of the three choices of meat, Beef ribs; Even drenched in BBQ sauce and trimmed of excess fat it was just gross. I couldn't even stand the smell so I ate Black beans and rice. For someone, like me, who loves to cook, this is just torture! I CAN'T wait till New Zealand and a decent grocery store....I am not asking for much!

October 1, 2008

We were due for a good day over here! We endured a system of rain and wind over us right at dinner time with wind clocking into the 50 knot range. We have one report on a boat that they saw 60 but who really knows. It was a wicked storm. We have already been holed up on the boat from icky weather so this just topped it. This is supposed to be the end of the crap weather for at least two days and then we have to tuck in for another low pressure coming in three days....

Yesterday, we decided since there was no wind and settled seas that we would attempt an out island that has a matrix of reef around it that you have to find your way in. It was exciting to get there, in and jump in the water. It has been the first time we all went snorkeling in Tonga. The sun is out, the birds are singing and the whales are jumping. This island is also bringing us 15 miles closer to the middle group of islands Ha'apai(sounds like Ha'pie) where we plan to head for the next day. This is the first time, in a long time that we have done a passage under no wind and seas. It reminded me of the many passages to Bimini (and it's the same distance) but, here are the differences.... First off, this is whale breading ground. In the first four hours of the trip we saw 10 whales (breaching, finning, laying, and spouting). Then the second half we must have gotten in the middle of a breading area and we had several large male whales fighting each other off the female and as we looked around us there were whale spouts everywhere and a few slapping their tails and breaching. We shut off the engines and let them do there thing but as we were sitting up front watching the show one decided to scare the shit out of us...he popped up right next to us and spouted. It is so loud and these babies are just huge. The cute thing is watching the little babies mimic their moms and breach. One actually swam under the boat at around 25 feet and we measured it using the boat and rounded off at about 40 feet long and about 12 feet wide. We got a shot of the whale tail and they all were Fin whales (the fastest whale in the ocean). AMAZING! All in all, I think we spotted about 50 whales. Then, to top it off, we caught 4

10 lb Rainbow Runners and landed two on the boat and then ended the day with two 25 lb Mahi Mahi's. We settled in for the night in the Ha'apai islands and enjoyed a great rainbow runner on the grill. Like I said, we were due for a day like this. Since the storm we endured in Palmerston many weeks ago, the weather has been awful. It has been too long and not at all expected. But, now we have to get prepared for the next low pressure coming....UGH!

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         Paul's rainbow runner                                        Breachin'                           Sleepin'....watch out!!  Paul, go right!

October 4, 2008

The coolest thing happened to us at the first anchorage here. We were all on deck doing chores when a baby whale came breaching towards us. We didn't see momma until she decided to pop up right next to us (not even a foot from the boat) and stayed there while the baby breached all the way around us. They were in 50 feet of water and we were not even two football fields away from land. I got an incredible picture of the kids up front watching and the baby coming up out of the water. PRICELESS! We still can't believe it and we lived it. The crazy thing is the mom just floated next to the boat (parallel) for about a minute and just spouted. Can't wait to send you the picture.

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October 11, 2008

It has been a quiet week with a break in the wind since yesterday. We have decided to high tail it to a desirable location that is the best in Tonga but can only be visited in settled weather. It is just beautiful and breathtaking here. The view of the little island and all different color blues is what we need after being blown for the past week. We were invited to lunch at a locals house a couple days ago and enjoyed a traditional Tongan feast. We got there in a little rickety shack with banana leaves on the table without any plates or utensils. They dumped out huge baked yams, and something else similar to a potato. Then they brought out taro leaves in a lamb broth and something wrapped up in a banana leaf. As we unwrapped, the frightening substance appeared. It's called something Kakaiti and it looks like "kaka" Its brown and green in the not so desirable shades and was even frightening for my culinary pallet. Paul dug in and surprised me and said it was good. It's taro leaves with flour and baked over night in coconut milk. The coconut milk gets kinda brownish and the large curdled substance was greenish. I tasted it and it was okay but not something I would try and replicate. Merric told us that he didn't want to experience another Tongan lunch, thank you very much. Not even two days later Merric and I are sick with a 24 hour bug and paying the price. We should be in Tongatapu, which is the final destination for Tonga before our big departure for New Zealand. We will keep you posted on our weather for departure.

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Before the meal....                                                    It looks decent enough....                           "KaKa" Wow, need I say more.....

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1.   Passage to Marquesas emails

2.  Marquesas

3.  Tuamtou

 

 

 

June 29, 2008

Marlin Way

We are on our way to Tahiti.  It's a 2 night/3 day passage going down wind.  Really can't complain about that.  The temp is cool enough that Paul and I have long sleave shirts and pants on.  That is one thing I failed to mention is the incredible temperature around here.  At night we are usually dressed and with sheets on.  I sometimes have to close my window!!!!  We have meet a few new cruisers from France and England.  All of us have caught huge Marlins on our lines.  We almost lost everything today but when it jumped we lost it.  There is no way we would have been able to get that monster in.  The French couple got two Marlin and everything (lure and line).  So, we have decided to name this section Marlin way.  We should be in Tahiti tomorrow early morning.  That would be 6 hours later for you guys on the East coast.  So, while you are digesting your lunch, we will just be watching the sun rise and coming into port.  We were going to opt out of Tahiti since it's just a large industrial port and we really didn't need anything but then we got wonderful news that Alex and Kristin will be coming to visit in Bora Bora and now I want to get some good stuff!!!!!  YEAH! 

 

We have just learned that a friend of ours that we didn't think to bump into again is here in Papeete, Tahiti.  Not sure if you remember I mentioned the Australian family, Da Mojo, on the 47 ft Catana that we met in Bocas Del Toro, Panama...  We also heard they were cruising with another family from the US with kids the same age as ours and have the same exact boat...imagine that!  Hope to meet them for the kids sake.  They love to make new friends.

 

Hope all is going well with you...  Hey, by the way, what's in the news???  Who is the Democrat candidate?  It's MaCain on the republican side, right?  Anything else I should know?  Been so far away from the news...

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June 25, 2008

The island of Tahanea, Tuamotu

 

This island has gotten more Wow's out of us than any other.  We arrived here about four nights ago and we spent the first three near the passe (entrance) of the atoll.  The wind was almost non existent which made the water like glass.  This is the clearest water I have ever seen.  We opted not to snorkel around here since we have had a heavy shark presence!!!!  But, we did go fishing in the passe.  We started in about 80 foot of water and could see our bait go all the way to the bottom and we could see the fish hitting the bait.   The fish here are huge and plentiful considering that there is about 30 boats that visit every year and a small group of copra growers that come for the short season.  Every time we caught a fish (which was every drop) we had to change locations since the reef sharks started to group in the area.  The second time we moved I spotted a big shark near the surface and almost choked...It was a VERY LARGE Tiger shark.  He was gracefully moving along as we circled him.  We were all, happily, enjoying him from the view of our dingy!  As we got in front of the passe (entrance) the tide was slowly taking us out and we caught grouper...after snapper...after grouper.  We even spotted two big tunas in 80 foot of water but they are the Dogtooth tuna.  A species that are usually found in passes, and deep lagoons.  They, unfortunately, didn't hit our baits.  But, I have to say, I couldn't imagine having one of those on my spinning rod trying to land it on the dingy! 

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The winds kicked up dramatically the night before last and our glassy water and calm anchorage when to a very bumpy one.  The wind was around 20 knots from the  SE coming from the opposite side of the atoll so we had a good wind chop.  We heard from another boat that there was some beautiful beaches on the SE end of the atoll so by morning we were up and at it.  5 miles and 10 reef patches later we had beautiful beaches, calm water to anchor and no sharks!  We played on the beaches and couldn't get our selves to leave.  Every turn of the motu was something different.  One side was bright blue water with beaches while the other side was exposed reef with the tide water rushing in and felt like you were walking on the moon.  The effect was incredible.  Paul and I saw the endangered Tuamotu sandpiper.  Apparently, there are only about 100 left in existence and are able to live here since there are no rats on the islands.  We love it here so much that we are thinking about passing on visiting Tahiti and spending more time here but our plans change constantly so I will keep you posted. 

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June 22, 2008

4 Black tip Salut

We arrived in Tahanea, Tuamotu this afternoon at high sun and were welcomed by incredible beauty.  The water is clear and bright blue.  We were all excited to reach this untouched piece of paradise.  No one lives here!!!!  I take that back, Sharks live here!  While I was dropping anchor in front I heard the yells from the kids, "Sharks".  Not one, Not two, NOT THREE but 4 black tip sharks wanted to stop in an say welcome to their piece of the reef.  It was so much fun to watch them swim around the boat and grab some great pictures.  I dipped my hand into the water with the camera but got a bit freaked out when they started coming towards my hand in different directions.  I got a couple good pictures and video.  We got the kayak, careful not to tip over, and headed to the beach.  The Hermit crabs here are the size of your hand.  We are in search for nice, yummy, coconut crabs to go with dinner but not tonight.  Hamburgers are on the menu.  Need a break from all the seafood. 

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June 21, 2008

We are on the move again....

 

We have finally heaved our anchor that was tangled in a web of rocks below and set out to a new home.  Leaving was just as nerve racking as it was coming in.  The sun was in my face and I couldn't read the water.  There are reefs everywhere inside the atoll and you have to come into the pass at a certain direction.  Hitting ground is not a option around here or in my book!  When we got to the pass the water was rushing out of the atoll.  This is the only cut in the whole circular reef.  Water rushes in and out at a speed of 8 knots...yes, I said 8.  That is about how fast our boat goes under power!  We did just fine and I was ready to throw in a line just as we cleared and drink a beer.  Paul did mention something like sails first and it's only 8 am and I said, "Oh, yeah". 

 

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We will be underway for about 28 hours, downwind.  Our current wind is about 10 knots so we are motor sailing to get in at a decent hour.  We need to time the tides in the atolls to be able to get in or out (as mentioned above).

 

Yesterday, we went fishing and Paul caught a very large Camouflage grouper to add to our collection in the bucket.  Maybe because it was a full moon but the sharks were out!  First, Seanna spotted a big black tip circling the dingy when we were getting in and then the first grouper we pulled in got eaten by a shark and I had a fish on at the same time so I was really pulling fast to get my big snapper in.  We also saw tons of Sharks prowling the shallows of the reefs.  Pierre, I wish you were here!!!!!  You would just love the friggen fishing around here.  I made a cornmeal crusted grouper for lunch yesterday that was to die for...  Today we caught a Tuna and I cooked that up for dinner.  Paul put me on fish probation in the kitchen...I guess fish everyday for lunch is okay but throwing it in for dinner was tops for him.  Seanna and Paul were both wishing for my traditional Cheeseburger underway.  I promised them both fresh baked rolls with juicy cheeseburgers for dinner tomorrow night.  The Tuna was darn good tonight so Paul didn't complain to much.  I made a Thai peanut sauce for the noodles and then I cut the tuna in squares added sesame oil and hoisen and threw them in a very hot pan for a few seconds.  The fish topped the noodles and put the sauce over the top.  I was going to add green peppers and chopped cabbage but they were both growing hair in the fridge so I had to make it simple.  I am down to my last carrot then all we have is canned.  Rough life, eh! 

 

 

June 17, 2008

Remora Bay

 

My favorite part of traveling like this is all the different cultures we have come across.  Having children and visiting less traveled spots have also given us a much warmer welcome.  Just yesterday, a local name Gilles, that we befriended here on the island of Rarioa, came to visit with his 2 friends on their unique style Kayaks (total atoll population about 75).  It is long and sleek with a little pontoon off the side for stability.  He jumped out of it and made me race the others.  I had such a blast.  He is about my age and both arms are covered with the local style tattoos.  He is into fitness and eating what comes from the land and the ocean...which means, fish, crab and coconuts.  Two days ago another local caught wind that I had a stalk of bananas on the boat and came over to present me with a beautiful black pearl about the size of a nickel.  All he wanted was 8 bananas!!!!!  Nuts!!!  He invited us to go visit his other island here on the atoll to go spear fishing and hunting for big coconut crabs.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and we had to pass but he came back after and gave us a huge surge grouper, two spotted unicorn fish and three large coconut crabs.  He free dives up to about 75 feet for the groupers and says he has to get the fish out quick before the sharks see him (he already lost 3 spear guns to the sharks in the past and doesn't want to lose anymore).  Even after all that he still gives some fish to us....they are so giving.  The fish here are much different than I am used to.  It's a lot of fun to go snorkeling to see the different species they have but the darn sharks still spook me.  We saw three sharks in a 20 minute snorkel off a reef right by the boat.  Makes you think what else it out there.

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Today, we went and did some fishing on the dingy and caught two nice Ambon snappers and two camouflage groupers.  I guess you can guess what we had for lunch!  We will leave here when the wind blows us and plan to head to Tahanea, Tuamotu.  It is about 180 miles from here.  It is an uninhabited atoll that we heard was just spectacular.  Gilles jokes with us about the size of the coconut crabs that we will get there...he says it's the grandpa's.  Since no one lives on this atoll he said just be ready for really big fish and crabs.  YUM! 

 

The view here is just picture perfect.  We are in a lagoon about 10 miles long and 5 miles wide.  It is completely surrounded by a reef and has some patches of land with palm trees.  We are anchored in between two reefs in the lagoon and have a beach and palms just behind where the sun sets.  Every picture I take still make me sigh!  There are a about 40 atolls in the Tuamotu and not all have a pass to get into them and not even half are populated.  You are really on your own out here!  This atoll just started a Pearl farm 9 years ago and before that they never had a plane land on the island.  We have been here for a week and have not seen another boat.  Our friends, BeBe, went to an atoll that was an easier passage and easier to get into but they have not had the same experience we have.  Sometime you really must "pay your dues" to experience something incredible. 

 

P.S.  We nicknamed this place remora bay since we are loaded with Remoras under the boat...Where there are remoras there are sharks....  For those of you who asked me what a remora is...It's a shark sucker.  They are the fish that attach themselves to sharks.

 

 

 

June 13, 2008

Kura Ora

I guess I will be learning a new way to say hello in every set of islands we go to.  We finally made it to our destination and happy to be just relaxing.

 

Speaking French has been a big advantage to us really enjoying the people and the island.  Everyone speaks French and their local language.  Yesterday we went for a tour of the Pearl farm here.  The S. Pacific are known for the most expensive black pearls.  We watched the whole operation and was quite impressed.  I can now see why they are expensive.  I am not a huge pearl lover so it's not a must have for me but a local man who harvest his own gave me a couple as a gift.  It was really nice.  They are very giving people and don't ask for much but love to receive.  Funny thing is I traded for a stalk of bananas that were too big for just us and Paul said, "what are we going to do with all of those" when we were still in the Marquesas.  The locals here came up to the boat and you can see them eyeing them with watering mouths so I have been passing them out.  They are soooo excited.  They live off fish, coconuts, rice, flour for bread and that is all.  Not much variety but them seem content with that.  They can't grow much but cucumbers and melons since it's just sand and rock.  Speaking of cucumbers...we have never seen so many sea cucumbers in one place.  One the beach there are hundreds of them and Paul saw the biggest one he has ever seen (about 4 feet long and 1 foot thick). 

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Paul has nicknamed this section of the atoll "Remora bay" because we are swarmed with Remoras.  My motto is...where there are remoras there are sharks, yikes.  The local here name Gilles told me the are used to humans on this side of the atoll but on the unpopulated end they are more curious.  They like to come up to you and bump you...OH great!!!  Thanks for the info...Now I AM NOT JUMPIN IN!!!!!!  AUUUGGGHHHHH.  Paul went snorkeling yesterday and right when he got into the water he popped back up and said, "Black tip".  I will really have to work against my fear cause the reef and tropical fish look really nice from up top. 

 

The wind has calmed down and we plan on getting some much deserved R&R after that rough passage.

 

 

June 11, 2008

Thank you all so much for the beautiful birthday wishes.  My birthday isn't one for the memory books, though!  It has been a rough and we are taking a beating out here.  It is a 350 mile passage to this set of islands.  To get to the nice ones that are not as populated you need to take a harder beat into the wind and waves.  We decided to go for it.  We have been double reefed on the main and triple reefed on the gib.  Even with that little sail out we can go up to 8 knots.  Tonight the wind has been steady at 28 to 30 but it is supposed to settle...  It did last night and we thought we would have a nice rest of our passage but that was just wishful thinking.  The kids have been real troopers.  We are looking forward to seeing land this morning.  The kids had a celebration...Yeah, one more sleep and we get to the beach.  I just look around and think of how much I need to clean up.  The window in the guest room was windward and just found out it was leaking.  The bed is saturated with salt water....Gee, I love sailing.  hehe. 

 

A congrats to you Nataly on your graduation.  I am so happy for you.  You can come celebrate your graduation out here in Tahiti!!! :). 

 

I will write you more when I get there. 

 

P.S. In case any of you want to google where we are going it's an island called Raroia.  You will probably get something back also on Kon Tiki.  The raft that a swedish man named Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru back in the 40's to prove migration.  He ran aground here and it was the end of his trip.  I have the book somewhere....I will try and find it and read it.

 

 

June 8, 2008

Ka O ha,

 

How many languages can you say hello????  Ka O'ha, I am spelling it the way it sounds.  We spent the past three nights on Oa Pou, Marquesas.  The passage to here was downwind with very steep waves about 8 to 10 feet.  We sailed very comfortably until we rounded the south side of the island then we had some strong wind gust from the mountains and then as we rounded the point to our anchorage we were on the nose with steep waves (luckily, it only lasted about 10 minutes).  The anchorage looked opened and exposed but as we rounded the bend we didn't care what the conditions were...the view was incredible.  Hard to describe but it is large mountains with large "tiki's" sticking up to the clouds.  They are very tall and steep points that shoot out of the mountain reaching up into points that touch the clouds and sometimes hidden by them.  We heard there were a few rock climbers that came out one year and reached the top on the steepest one.  Not the kind of thrill I am willing to look for but amazed that someone can.  Well, like I mentioned earlier, the anchorage was a bit rolly so we planned on spending our day on land and "scope it out".  Not even 2 minutes down the road and a local by the name of Holler-pronounced Ho'LEr (real name Hokaupoko) He is 28 and both arms are full on local tattoos and looks like a surfer.  He invites us to his home and we accept.  We climbed the mountain to his flat that over looks the bay.  Most locals here have a kitchen/dining area outside the house.  We sat and chit chatted about how beautiful the view was and other things when he just started cooking.  So, he's a cute surfer looking guy and he likes to cook, wow!  He even showed us his "Herb" garden and used some for lunch.  We got to his house at 10am and we didn't get back to the boat till 8pm.  We had such a great time. 

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Maybe the boys had to much "Herb and beer" cause they made plans to go fishing the next morning at 6am.  Did I say it was windy and rough.  Oh well, I am staying on the boat with the kids so it's up to them.  We will be up at Holler's house again today. 

 

We are now underway to the Tuamotus islands about 300+ miles south of the Marquesas and it's a bit rough.  We are trying to get to there during daylight hours so we are only doing 6 knots.  As I was typing this last line a 40 knot gust of wind in front of a squall hit us.  Good thing we were already reefed in the main and had about handkerchief of gib out.  Sounds like this is a normal occurrence out here but it's a first for us.  I am happy we were prepared. 

 

 

June 1, 2008

You are all on my mind today and Grandma is in my heart.  I hope that everyone was able to say goodbye in their own way.  Today, the kids and I looked at pictures of Grandma and talked about her. 

 

We are still at Manta Bay (so we have named it) but it's actually something completely different.  Every morning the mantas are out if full force.  Today I swam with two bigger ones.  I tried to bring my camera but they were kinds shy today and it was murky.  We were only going to stay here two nights but can't get ourselves to lift the anchor.  Today we went out bottom fishing with the dingy and caught an 2 nice Peacock Groupers, 2 Red snappers, 1 Humpback snapper, and 1 yellow lip Emperor all in the matter of 1 hour.  And the fish were not small, my wrist hurts from pulling the rod up!!!  It was fun!  When we go fishing we always drift out since the wind is pretty strong lately.  On every drift, we caught a fish or two and then a big manta would swim by.  I asked Paul to pinch me to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  We are getting the kids back on a routine and discipline.  We have slacked in the past two months.  We have started school and will start Monday and do the week.  Merric is starting to buck a bit in school now and looses interest but everyday it's 10 minutes longer.  Seanna is a bit slow on the letters but blows Merric away in Math.  Paul was shocked today when I had him do a drill with the kids.  Seanna kept blurting out the correct answers while Merric was whining.  But, then when it comes to letter and reading Merric has always been stronger.  I will work on their strengths and weaknesses to make them great!  I have to learn not to get frustrated and just move on or stop for a break and then start with something else.  Merric has been stuttering like crazy and we are trying to get him to slow down.  Genevieve, if you can talk to your speech therapist to see if there are any exercises we can do.  I am doing great!  probably the best I have ever been.  I am really happy that we made the jump.  I was really getting tired of Panama and needed some new excitement.  Every set of islands we are going to are so different.  The Marquesas are high mountains with dramatic views, the tuamotu island are low and surrounded by reefs, then we get to bora bora and Tahiti and it's high mountains again but these are surrounded by reefs that circle the island.  Very cool.  I love being with my family and just us.  We have not even said hello to the boats in the anchorage cause we are all enjoying our time together.  Funny how we all feel the same.  Seanna literally jumped off the dingy by herself today to swim with the mantas and then we couldn't get her back in.  Merric and Paul say a 5 foot black tip shark...good thing it wasn't me but I better start getting used to them cause they are abundant out here.  No spear fishing for Paul!!!! Momma won't allow that!  Unless, I am just above him in the dingy at all times and he bring the fish up ASAP then we move locations.  Can't be to careful. 

 

I better stop rambling or this email will never get out.

 

 

May 30, 2008

We have been really enjoying out stay so far in the Marquesas.  Today was one for the memory books...

 

We are at a nice little beach with big surf.  Yesterday we took the kayak to the beach and didn't time it right...we ended up taking a nose dive right into the beach and flipped.  The kids thought that was fun!  I just wanted to make sure we didn't get hit by the kayak. We couldn't stop laughing.  Afterwards, Paul went into the bush behind the beach and came back with a few dozen limes, two grapefruits and a nice big coconut.  What a garden of Eden!

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I woke up this morning to one big happy family and as I was enjoying my coffee outside I notice a few swirls in the water.  I said, "Paul, look at the fin".  I wasn't sure if it was a shark or a manta.  Of course, I was really hoping for Mantas cause my dream is to swim with them.  So, Paul, being the brave soul that he is got into the kayak and paddled over.  I watched as he carefully tried to snorkel and peek under to see what it was.  I am guessing if it was a big shark he wasn't interested in swimming with it but as he got further away and all of a sudden he jumped I was getting my gear ready.  After waiting for about 10 minutes he came back with a huge smile on his face.  He said there was 5 to 6 Mantas and they were swimming around and coming right for him before turning off.  Oh my god!!!! My dream come true.  He brought us to the place and I jumped in with my babies.  Wow! Wow! they started swimming around us and Seanna had a major death grip on me while Merric was just in awe.  I was speechless.  One of them flipped over and show us his belly just under our feet while most of them would come right for us.  We were right in the middle of the plankton so they would just circle us.  I was too happy to cry!  Just beautiful.  They had about a 6 foot wing span and were dark blackish gray on top and white on the undersides.  They stayed around for a few hours and I could have spent the whole day watching them. 

 

 

Just before lunch time I asked Paul if we could go fishing with the dingy and try to catch fish for lunch.  We headed out of the anchorage and saw a few birds circling.  Paul cast out a line with a hook and tuna for bait.  Not even 30 seconds later Paul got a hit and a Mahi Mahi flew out of the water.  WOW!  We started to head back into the anchorage to try and fish for snapper and an even larger Manta came by the dingy.  The wing span on this one was about 10 feet.  I am not making this up guys...I am just as shocked writing this...  We had Poisson Cru and Mahi on the grill for lunch.  Paul loved my Poisson Cru so much we went back out fishing at sunset and caught another large snapper for lunch tomorrow.  What we are catching is called a (or so my book states) Yellow lip Emperor.  If anyone wants to google it for me to see if it's edible before we eat too much of them please do. 

 

We are trying to decide if we are going to move tomorrow but we are in no rush.  We just got here and stopped moving.

 

 

May 27, 2008

We are on a little island just off Hiva Oa and have been enjoying the beach and getting fresh limes and grapefruits out of the trees.  BeBe is still around and have went over to Fatu Hiva which is just beautiful.  We were boarded today by the customs and they went through a bunch of stuff.  Luckily, they didn't find our rum or we would have lost most of that!!!!! 

 

May 26, 2008

This is what we sailed 4000 miles for!  We arrived in Fatu Hiva at 7:30 am.  The scene was dramatic, steep, foggy and mystic.  We rounded the corner expecting to see a village but what we saw was more steep volcanic rock.  Three boats were anchored off the village which we couldn't see in the little slit of a valley they lived in.  Once we dropped the dingy and pulled behind a steep rock did we see the village.  Amazing....just like the people.  We quickly made friends with other boats and local families.  We found our best bargaining power came from our beer and rum.  We traded for beautiful Pareos, wood carvings and huge grapefruits.  This place is like the garden of Eden with fruit and flowers everywhere you turn.  The day we arrived they were having a celebration...how lucky were we!  They had the girls dressed up in their grass skirts, heads surrounded by wonderful flowers and the band played with hand made instruments.  They danced and sang for us for about an hour.  Click, Click goes the camera!!!!! 

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Last night we had dinner at the family we befriended...Poisson Cru, boiled bananas, breadfruit, coconut milk chicken, rice and a wonderful lemon cake.  Just wonderful people!!!!!  We are on our way to Hiva Oa as I type...will fill you in on that later.

 

 

May 24, 2008

When you get this email we will have one more day left before we arrive in Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.  Yes, I am still out here (19 days)!  I know it seems like forever ago I said we were on our way.  The excitement is over but the anticipation has started.  I am ready to get there and stop the movement.  3823 miles done since we left panama and 160 left to go.  We have decided to slow down our pace at a whopping 4 knots so that we will arrive during daylight hours Friday morning.  We are now 4 hours ahead of Florida and when we reach the Marquesas we need to go back  another 1/2 hour.  It's the only place we know of that changes their time zone by half.  The time change is what me feel even further away.

 

Things here have been slow since we caught the 50 lb tuna.  Just today, Paul was allowed to put the lines in for Mahi or Wahoo and we had two strikes but no takers.  There was a sigh of relief and no one even jumped up to see what it might be.  We made an incredible Coquille St. Jacques with Tuna, clams, escargot, mushrooms and green beans.  It was awesome!!!  We are living large on the high seas and my freezer is still fully stocked.  We were laughing at the table setting cause we never pictured ourselves having lunches like this...white wine in a wine glass sitting on the table with full table setting, outside with the sails up.  It has been paradise and truly has been "pacific".  Oh, I also made an incredible balsamic roasted pepper sauce to go with our grilled Tuna yesterday...Pierre remind me to make you this one day!!!!

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Some very sad news came my way yesterday that my grand mother passed away.  On that same day, just as I was sitting down for dinner, an amazing shooting star came down right in front of me.  It had a red tail behind it that lasted a few seconds.  It was still quite early in the night to see them and the moon was full so we didn't expect that.  We called it a sign from her saying goodbye.  I will miss her terribly....

 

Our current position is 9.51 S  136.06 W for any of you that are tracking us on Google earth.

 

 

May 16, 2008

The weirdest thing happened to me while I was in line at Starbucks this morning.  There was this older bearded guy in front of me ordering and picking up his cup of coffee when I looked beyond and the guy behind the counter look sooo familiar.  As the older guy when out the door I stepped up to place my order.  The man behind the counter looked at me with smiling eyes and tilted his head to the side.  Hum, maybe he knows me too.  Feeling the heat between us I started to get a little nervous and decided to break the tension and place my order.  "I'll have a double, grande, skim, caramel macchiato, extra hot, with whipped cream", I said in my sexy just woke up voice.  I never broke eye contact and completed my line but now he was looking at me like I lost my marbles.  Wait, that wasn't the expression I was working for...  He didn't say a word but started to back away from the coffee machine.  I said, "wait, I have money to pay for that".  Again, he had these eyes on me that said a million words and started to grab my favorite coffee cup.  What? What? I started to feel self consious, do I have a booger in my nose, is there sleep in my eyes, What?  The guy behind the counter said, "Wake up Michele, we are 3000 miles in the middle of nowhere."  He then placed a warm cup of strong, bitter coffee in my hand and said, "This is the closest thing to starbucks honey".

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Things here are still the same.  We are offically 2/3 done.  We have less than 1000 miles to go.

Oh, and we caught two more Mahi Mahi yesterday….Yeah more fish on the menu. UGH! 

 

7.17.56S  124.01.60W

 

 

May 14, 2008

 

We are still chasing the sun and in search for the perfect sunset.  We have seen two green flashes but I have yet to have a sunset top the one I loved the most in the Bahamas.  Our days are just routine out here but I am starting to look forward to getting there.  SOOOOOOO much water out here.  We have spotted a two Japanese fishing boats out here with long lines.  Wow, talk about a long way to get tuna for sushi.  I remember watching a documentary on the over fishing of Tuna near their shore lines.  Well, if that is true they are now going over 6000 miles to fish. 

 

We have about 6 more days out here....  I really can't complain since the wind has been light and the ocean is almost flat.  Yesterday, I cleaned up a few compartments and wiped out a couple cabinets.  We have to keep an eye open for mold on the boat since the humidity gets into our clothes and things and creates a perfect home for mold.  So far, we have been doing great.  We run the air every few days to dry out the boat and sheets. 

 

I can officially say I am addicted to Sudoku.  Gerry taught me how to do it and everyday I try to complete one or more.  I am now on Medium!!!! 

 

The kids have been doing great using their imagination, doing school, playing together and watching movies down below.  I haven't given Merric any seasick medicine for the past 10 days.  I gave him one pill since we left the Galapagos and I am not sure if he was really sick or just tired since it was the evening.  I am so happy since that was the main thing keeping me up at night before we left.  I didn't want to have to drug up my son the whole way.  He has actually outdone me in being able to go down below in the bedroom to watch a movie when it's really rough.  AMAZING!  Seanna on the other had is our just pure entertainment and sass!  She runs the show here and that's the truth.  Man, I love my kids. 

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Tonight is going to be an easy night with light winds and following seas.  The pacific is just great!  I am so happy we came.  I wrote in my personal journal the other day on how I used to fear the night watches and dread them.  Fear things I can not control like weather, whales, semi submerged containers ect...  But, I had to put it into perspective.  I didn't fear going on 1-95 everyday to Miami for work and there are more chances of a serious car accident than anything happening out here.  It's amazing how things change... I now look forward to them.  The day the last locks opened up at the panama canal was like my rebirth.  I don't want to be plagued with fear, I want to enjoy what I set out to do. 

 

We are 11 days out with about 6 to 7 more to go.....

6.38.31 S  119.47.29 W

 

 

 

May 10, 2008

We are day 6 in our journey across the pacific.  Every morning it is something new.  The seas are calmer than we have ever expected and we have about 10 knots of wind.  You would think we would be slowing moving at 4 knots or less right!  Well, that is not the case.  We are a steady 6.5 to 7.5.  This ocean has really amazed us.  It might be a long passage but I have never sailed better waters.  Makes the roughness of the Atlantic a dread to return to.  The only way to get calm seas in the Caribbean is to have no wind.  We are averaging 175 miles a day with the top so far being 188.  We are now 1/3 done with our passage and if we continue with the average we have been banking we will have a total passage of 18 days.  But, we know it could be more if the wind dies.  We have plenty of fuel on board since we have only used the engines for about 3 hours total.  We swap sails every once and a while from the ginniker to the jib.  We typically leave the jib out at night in case a squall would pop up since it's easier to get in. 

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Yesterday morning we had a spectacular show when a large pod of pilot whales started to follow the boat.  After about 30 minutes they decided to get braver and approached us broad side and about 3 feet away from the boat.  I got some incredible shots of them surfacing.  They ranged in size from 6 feet to about 20 feet, had a distinctive marking of a white patch behind the dorsal fin and rounded heads.  They made me a little nervous when they started to go under the boat.  They seem so big to be able to move out of the way quick enough but they did.  Other than that the day became quite and relaxed.  We started to make our lunches late and have just a light dinner which is easier.  When it gets dark out we can't judge the movement of the boat which makes it tough to cook.  It's worked out really nice. 

 

This morning I woke up to air conditioning!  That was nice but it's really just to take the humidity out of the rooms cause it's been cool out.  At night I usually wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Last night I was even cold wearing that. 

 

We have been losing our friends BeBe.  They are now about 80 miles away from us.  They are on a more northerly track and yesterday they didn't do good time.  Only about 100 miles! 

 

We also changed time zones today so now I am 3 hours ahead of time from Canada and Florida. 

 

Current position is 4.12.091S  106.07.871W

 

 

May 7, 2008

We enjoyed one of the most perfect evenings last night.  Every star was out, the milky way as streaking through the sky and shooting stars (total count of 16).  Everyone bragged that their watch was best. 

 

When we woke up this morning, Paul, our sport fisherman at heart had to put a line in.  Not that we don't already have too much fish (30 pounds of tuna, 10 pounds of Mahi Mahi).  Not even 20 minutes after the line was in we got a strike and a BIG strike.  Paul was giddy!  He said he put on his wahoo lure and we were at a great speed for wahoo at 9 knots.  With the reel on full drag it was still taking off.  It didn't help that we can't slow the boat down!  Finally, he gets an edge to start reeling in the fish.  At first we suspected Shark because of how strong it was but we were incorrect.  As we brought it closer we could see the open mouth and shape of a wahoo.  WAHOO!  And this sucker wasn't little.  Paul tried to gaff it but it still, incredibly, had a lot of energy.  Okay, now what do we do.  Paul was finally able to gaff the tail and it started to drag backwards.  Just as he gaffed it his metal wire snapped off.  That is how close we were to loosing it.  Unfortunately, Paul did loose his favorite Wahoo lure but at least we got the fish.  Paul hauled the fish into the cockpit and we all looked at each other and said...."That's a lot of fish".  Sushi is on the menu for a late lunch/dinner tonight and will be on the menu for a while.  Anyone want to send me some good wahoo recipes we will gladly except them.

 

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The Wahoo was at a weight of approx. 35 lbs and was 55 inches long. 

 

We put Paul on Fishing suspension until further notice.

 

Current location 3.26.83S  100.36.70W  about 650 miles into our 3000 miles passage.  We did an average of 190 miles yesterday. 

 

We are all doing well and enjoying life out at sea...thank goodness cause we sure do have a lot of time out here.

 

May 6, 2008

It's amazing how the scene scape changes out here.  One minute is can be one thing and the other minutes it's another.  It's due to the clouds, wind and waves.  Today we woke up to go solid winds at a beam, with one reef in the main and doing a steady 7.5.  Last night during my watch we were flying at a steady 9.  After Paul's watch I couldn't sleep, the war was waging between the pontoons.  Paul was narrating the war; it was really funny.  Cannons a go!  Siege fire!  We decided to slow down a bit to make it a more comfortable night.  So, with all hands on deck we reefed the main and gib and we were happily going 7.5 as we are right now.  It has been a little bit bumpier but everyone is doing great.  It's a day when we all sit and read.  Merric and Paul are reading about Crocodiles and I read him a book on Bears.  Seanna is playing house and running all over the boat like we were on land.  Doesn't faze her.  Paul and I can't stop laughing at each other about her.  As I write, she is fixing herself a little snack of cheedos.  She climbed up the counter and got her own bowl and served her self.  Poor thing cause she just told me they are a bit stale but they are still yummy tasting with her head tilted to the side.  She is a mermaid.  That's what you used to call me, dad, when I was a little girl.  I remember when I would get sea sick and you would stop the boat and let me swim in the water to make me feel better.  When I would get on deck you would tell me it's because I am really a mermaid and do better in the water.  It's the little things like that, that I remember out here.  You have so much time to think and remember.  

 

our current position is 2.49.285 S  97.15.958 W if your keeping track on the map. 

 

We have been getting hit with squid and flying fish all night.  The boat is a little fishy smelling and so are some of our clothes.  Last night I was doing a little "peek" and I stepped right on a moving flying fish.  Enough to make me jump high enough to fly right out the boat.  I was laughing about it later as I grab some kitchen tongs to pick him up and throw him back in the water.  Paul wants to keep some of the squid to cook for lunch so tonight we might put on the deck lights for about 30 minutes and pick them up and stick them in the fridge.  Talk about fresh calamari, eh! 

 

Still haven't put a line in for more fish.  Can't seem to figure out what to do with it all.  If and when it calms a bit we will make a big sushi night. 

 

500 miles done...another 2500 more to go!

 

Better go get some fresh air.

 

 

May 5, 2008

We are a few hundred miles into our 3000 miles passage from the Galapagos on our way to the Marquesas.  The seas have been great and everyone is doing excellent on board.  I still can't believe I am doing this and I am on the friggen boat!  We are doing really good speed right now and hope to make it there in 20 days or so.  It's really nice out here...today we spotted a really large shark.  It passed behind the boat but we are not sure if it was a whale shark.  We had a bird stay with us for the day and we named her Sunday (she survived).  Real pretty sea gull with big black eyes that were surrounded by red circles.  My watch is the first one from 9 to 11:30 and the nights (except for last night, my watch was full of rain) have been incredible with so many stars you don't know where to begin.  We don't see the North star anymore (haven't for a while) but we now see the southern cross up high.  Behind and around the boat we always have loads of glitter since we churn up the phosphorescence. 

 

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We caught 4 tuna (one was half eaten by a shark) and 3 mahi mahi since we left.  Needless to say, we are not fishing anymore since we don't have any more room to store it.  We eat fish for lunch and dinner everyday.  I made some incredible spicy tuna that you guys would have loved!  Today I made Dolphin sandwiches that everyone raved about with cheese, avocado, tomato and a lite herb Mayo.  The rolls were home made by a local bakery in the Galapagos and they were sweet and buttery.  I made a fish chowder, like white clam but with fish instead and that was awesome.  I am thinking about making some fish enchiladas tomorrow for lunch.  So, that is the excitement of my day!  I read my only two English magazines a few times already.  Heck, I know what I am asking for x-mas....Magazines.  It's so easy to read on the boat and I love the variation of it.  But, really think about it...I am reading during 15+ knots of wind with about 8 foot waves with heavy chop in between and we are cruising at around 8+.  Not a lake out here by any means but comfortable enough to read...maybe I am just getting used to this.

 

I miss you guys and thanks so much for writing me back.  Especially you Tara!  It was so nice to hear from you and now have your address in my sailmail address book.  I changed your address name to Tara Desmarais, see above.  It's so cool to see that!  I miss that last name....

 

Just went outside to do a quick peek around and MAN it is dark out there.  I like it when there is a bright moon so I can see but the pro is the stars.

 

Well, everyone just went to bed early to catch some zzzzz's before their watches.  I do a bit of a longer one since mine is first.  I am up anyway and I get to sleep the rest of the night.  I do from 8 ish to 11:30 and sometimes I am wide away and don't wake up Paul till mid night.  It is really nice sometime just to sit with him outside when I get relieved from my watch.  It's the only quite, alone time we get. 

 

I really can't complain since my crew is really great.  We are all getting along great and give each other space when we need it.  We have excellent silent communication.  Except when Gerald sees us going over 9+ knots then he is yelling, "ALRIGHT, 9.3 COME ON 9.4". 

 

Better get to my watch...

 

 

 

May 3, 2008

Day 1 of .... (Gerald is estimating about 21 days)

 

Okay, so as of today, 3:00 our time- 1:00 Canada time, we lifted both anchors and set out of the port.  We put the fishing lines in the water not even 30 minutes later and then "Fish ON!!!!!"  We caught two - 10 lbs Yellow fin Tunas.  As we put the lines back in, finished taking pictures....Zoom the lines went out again.  Two more 10 lbs tunas but just as Gerry was reeling in his line a shark ate the whole thing but the head.  That's fine since we have more than enough tuna for a couple of dinners and I have no room in the freezer right now. 

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We are at a steady 7 knots with the wind at about a beam to close reach.  We should start feeling the regular trade winds soon which will be about 15 to 20 from our stern quarter.  We are happy to be back out again and in our little cocoon.  It's a dark moonless night and the stars are just spectacular.  The glitter (phosphorescence) in the water is sparkling all around the boat and the breeze is cool.  Enough to put on a long sleeve shirt and pants and I am still chilly. 

  1. San Blas

  2. Colon/Canada
  3. Free Spirit is born
  4. Bocas Del Toro
  5. The Wedding
  6. Patrick and Julie
  7. Waiting for the Canal
  8. In route to the Galapagos- emails
  9. Galapagos - emails

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We got a slip at Panama Canal Yacht Club (PTYC) and yuck is that a dumpy place but we really couldn’t beat the price and location.  The upside of things, right now, is that we are going to Canada for the holidays and we will be able to purchase or order things we need and figure out what we have to do.  Canada was just spectacular! 

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The few days before we arrived they had a good snow storm which left a few feet of snow on the ground.  Enough for us to play with for the next few weeks and a few more dumpings of perfect snow to top it off.  We spent day’s snow shoeing, hiking up mount Pinnacle, hanging with family, and enjoying the big beautiful house.  We had perfect weather all the way till the day I left (I was the last one to leave out of the big gang they made it up there). 

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When we arrived back to Colon there was one big thing, along with the huge order of replacement parts and electronics, we had to change our name.  Yep, we have changed the name of the boat.  After Paul and I talked for a long time about the meaning of us and our trip and how much we loved the boat, we wanted to give him a name that fit us.  

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We came up with Free Spirit.  Because we just are Free Spirits who don’t conform to what is expected of us or what is considered the norm.  We are Free Spirits!  Sailing Earth!  We are happy with the change and the letter just looks AWESOME on the side of the boat. 

 

We set off for Boca’s Del Toro, Panama to leave the boat, once again, for Pierre and Tara’s wedding.  We ended up spending a week in Rio Chagres (more on this awesome place later) and then up to the Boca’s area.  We had the worst passage (130 miles) with confused seas, winds on the nose after 12 hours and to top it off we had a strong 2 knot current pushing us backwards.  We couldn’t move this boat over 3 knots.  Could you imagine the frustration?  When we finally arrived to our anchorage in Bluefield’s I was ready to throw in the towel.  It was there and then I told Paul, after the Storm and passages like that, we better transit the canal and get me far away or I am going home.  So, our plans were born.  After we come back from Pierre’s wedding we will head back to Colon and Transit to the Pacific and beyond. 

 

Boca’s Del Toro is a lot of fun!  What a great place for beaches, sailing, surfing and partying.  I could live here if it were not for the no-see-ums….

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Now, we came up this way since it was a short flight to Costa Rica and then we could take a cheap flight with Spirit airlines to FLL for Pierre and Tara’s wedding.  Well, of course, our luck was not on our side.  They cancelled the flight to Costa Rica and now the only affordable way to get to San Jose, CR for our flight to FLL is to bus it up there.  YIKES, do you realize what it takes to do this????  He is what it entails… Boca’s is an island and we are on another smaller island just next to it at the “cheaper marina”.  So, the morning we left here is a quick summary of what my itinerary was.  6:00am pick up by Bill (S/V BeBe) to the water taxi.  Take a water Taxi to Changuinola (1.5 hours) to a taxi to bring us to the board town to grab the San Jose bus.  Now when you arrive to the boarder you need to grab all your stuff, check out of the country, walk across a bridge that is so rickety, big gaping holes with all your luggage and holding your kids hands to get the other side to check in the CR.  NOW!!! What I didn’t mention is that that night a heavy rain storm came in and never left.  So, yes, we did all this in heavy rain showers. 

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Our rolling luggage in garbage bags shoes sliding on the slick wood of the bridge practically ripping Seanna's arm off with one hand to make sure she wouldn’t fall though the cracks with a heavy back pack on and rolling a 50lbs luggage.  NICE huh?  Paul had one more luggage than me and Merric so he wasn’t in better shape.  I had to laugh once we got across the bridge and looked back at what we just did.  Am I on survivor and don’t know it?  The rest of the trip was fine and the bus drove through Banana plantations and the most incredible mountain side ever (5 hour bus trip).  We went from 90 degrees to 60 degrees on our way to the city.   Grabbed our last taxi to the hotel and crashed. 

 

We flew into Fort Lauderdale and got ready for the busy schedule before the wedding.  As we got in the first thing I did was try on my brides maids dress to find out my boobs were too big for the dress and although we got the dress up the zipper got stuck.  I couldn’t breath and I swore I was going to die.  After many failed attempts by my mom my dad and Paul came to the rescue.  Only a man could really get a dress off if they needed ha-ha. 

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The Wedding, Wow the Wedding!   It was perfect in so many ways.  I am in dream land just thinking about all the little details and all the big details that went into this wedding.  I have to give it to them for making it just magic.  I think if I had to point out one of the best Wow moments of the wedding it would be when Pierre surprised Tara and put a special song on for her.  The song from Elton John, Your song, as it was sung on Moulin rouge.  Pierre twirled his girl and started singing it to her.  We all disappeared from their sights as they shared a special moment.  I couldn’t believe this was my brother.  WOW!  Oh, and I sure did look great in my brides maid dress but Genevieve stole the show with her natural beauty.  Just look at her in the pictures.  Okay, I always gush about my family, I’ll stop...

 

When we came back to the boat the trip was in reverse, with out the rain and was much better.  I took a picture of the bridge this time as we were rushed across by the waiting semi-trucks just behind us as we walked the bridge.  YIKES!  When we got “home” we quickly got ready for Patrick and Julie to arrive. 

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They plan to spend a week with us and I plan to fill up their days with memories they won’t forget.  It started with Wizard beach surrounded by jungle and surfers on horse back, then we sailed to a little island and did snorkling, and made the passage to Rio Chagres.  Oh, the Jungle!  When we arrived at day break Julie and Patrick were greeted by white faced monkeys, squirrel monkeys, toucans, parrots, and the howl of Howler monkeys.  We went croc hunting at night to discover Patrick to be the best spotter and we found a few.  It was so much fun to have them with us.  It was the first time I got to spend time with them above and beyond the family parties.  I will cherish that week forever and hope they come again. 

 

We made it back to Colon to get measured for the transit thinking we could get trough in 10 days to find out that the waiting list was at 6 weeks.   That is really going to push us back and give us one month less to play in the S. Pacific.  Not only that but Gerald (a friend of the family) and his girlfriend Lucie wanted to transit with us and Gerald already bought his ticket for that week.  He didn’t seem to mind and ended up spending a great 3+ weeks with us before Lucie came and we even went back to the Rio Chagres.  We almost couldn’t get Gerald out of there.  He kept calling us the “Hilton Charges”. 

 

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Emails to family and friends during our canal experience

:

We are finally going through the Panama Canal Tomorrow night.  We have been waiting here in Colon for so long......

 

Tomorrow night at 7pm (Texas time) our advisor should be arriving to get us ready to go.  We will then approach the locks and wait till the ship we are going with is ready.  Once we transit the three locks (Gatun Locks) we will then anchor for the night in Gatun Lake.  We will start our morning at 6am to do the 20 mile trek to the western locks (Pedro Miguel and Mira Flores Locks).  Our time there should be sometime around 11 to 1 ish.  We heard there is a website that you can actually see us going through the locks.  www.pancanal.com. The boat name is "Free Spirit" and it should give you a closer time on when you will see us go through.  I also heard that the last locks, Tues Afternoon, they have better live cameras.  We will have our kayaks on deck and we will try and wear bright clothes.  If we can we will try and wave to the camera.  Can't believe we are going to be in the Pacific, Finally. 

 

We have our friends Gerald and Lucie with us for the past few weeks and we have been busy everyday with provisions and getting the boat ready for over a month at sea.  Our first stop will be in the Galapagos and then on to the Marquesas. 

 

We will keep you posted when we can.  Please pass the word around to your friends and family who are keeping us with us since I can’t update the website. If you would like to write us back please note the message below our names.  We are sending on a high freq radio.  Thanks.

 

Until then,

 

Michele, Paul, Merric and Seanna. 

 

April 14, 2008

We lifted anchor at 6:30 pm and set off for the canal.  Our pilot, Julio Rodriguez, greeted us with a smile and was just the same thought out the night.  We rafted up to two boats.  Rhythm, a monohaul, in the middle of us two catamarans.  The wind was strong tonight and added to the level of skill for the boats to stay where we needed to be.  By 8:30 the ship was in place and we jumped in right behind him.  Quickly after, the locks closed behind Paul and we started to rise.  The water pressure being pushed in is a bit scary and you feel that the boats are going to get pushed everywhere but we all were fine.  We did have one close chance of hitting the wall but Lucy was in charge of the "Oh shit" bumper.  The key word here is "Oh Shit" and she jumped to the stern of the boat and made sure we were okay.  The wall is rough, jagged and you don't want to hit it!  Other than that we Gerald and I up at the bow lines and our helpers, David and Christine, at the stern.  Paul just listened to the multiple demands from all the pilots on each boat and did AWESOME as our side was the windward and had more stress and needed to do the most correcting during the locks. 

 

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We are the cat on left,See the water level?  On the second picture the locks are opening. 

….

The canal experience was neat!  Amazing that the locks that are in use are the original from over 100 years ago.  We had no accidents and did really well.  I as a bit emotional when the last lock opened into the Pacific Ocean.  The water was rushing from the lock since fresh water, from the lake, was mixing with the salt.  Just like my emotions they were all mixed up.  It's a new place, new people, new waters and bigger ocean.  I am excited, scared and happy all mixed together.  Once again, I am leaving my circle of friends I have come to discover the past 3 years.  I only know about 2 boats on this side.  I met a few new cruisers that were waiting to transit and most likely, if I don't see them in the islands, we will meet again in New Zealand for the season.  That is where most of the cruisers go for the typhoon season.  I am sure I will make new friends along the way. 

 

We got our visas for the French Polynesian islands.  They gave us 90 days which is great.  We plan to do le Marquesas, Le Tuamotu, and Isle Society (Bora Bora).  After that, we will head to the Cook Islands, Tongo and maybe Fiji if we have the time.  Then we will head south to New Zealand.

 

April 19, 2008

We are on our way to the island of the Galapagos.  They are about 800+ miles SW of Panama.  If you want to see where we are via Google map you can put in these numbers:  4.55.96N 80.25.23W

 

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We are on our third day out and plan to be out another week until we start to see the Galapagos.  The weather is very calm and flat.  The kids are enjoying the calm seas.  The first day out Merric spotted a hammerhead shark in front of the boat.  It was on the surface just swimming and fining.  That was really cool.  We caught a few small fish the first day but nothing since.  We had four birds come sleep on the boat last night and one is still with us.  We gave it some water and now it doesn't want to leave.

 

Yea-haw!

 

We are sailing away now!  We are sailing hard into the wind but staying on our rum line.  Bill and Judy do have to fall off the line a bit to sail but not us!  It's a little rougher so my email will probably be shorter than usual.  I will go for as long as I can...

 

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We had some drama on the boat a couple days ago I forgot to report...

Just as the sun was setting we had three little birds (yeah, just like the Bob Marley song) land on the boat to sleep for the night.  They were really cute and didn't mind us getting close.  They stayed the night all cozy!  The next morning the two birds flew away leaving behind one.  Gerald mentioned that he might be sick or dying.  So we gave him water and he drank (too cute). Lucie named him Friday because that was the day he landed on the boat.  So, Friday found a little spot on the step leading to the top decks.  We gave him water and he just hung out there.  Lucie was watching over him while on the helm.  Paul was busy fixing something up front and then he was walking back and Lucie tried to stop him but didn't get there in time....Paul stepped and killed Friday.  It was very dramatic since Lucie saw Friday take his last breaths and Paul said he could feel all the bones crush.  Lucie was in tears and Paul felt horrible.  Gerry said well we might have just put him out of his misery.  I am just glad I didn't have a view of it.  Poor Friday!

 

2.03.75N  4.31.43W

 

Better go, getting a bit woozy,

 

Michele

 

April 22, 2008

Our current position is now 1.30.81N  85.36.33W you might be able to plug it in on Google map to see where we are.

 

We are now on day 6 to the Galapagos.  We plan for another 2 days or so depending on wind.  The wind has been variable and light but that all changed last night just after my watch.  It kicked up to 20 knots and we were under full sail moving fast.  It was Awesome!  Considering we have been motoring a good portion of the time out here it was a really nice change.  Moral is great!  Everyone is doing phenomenal!  Merric didn't even need medicine today and it was quite bumpy since we were booking at a close reach.  Sleeping down below felt like we were at war.  It is now my watch again and tonight the winds are around 15 knots and it makes for a real smooth ride.  (p.s. Annie, we have plenty of fuel, enough to drop our waterline a few inches. hehe)

 

Today Gerald and Lucie spotted a Marlin jump out of the water.  No hit on the fishing poles today so we plan to change the lures for tomorrow.  For the past few nights our sunsets have been for the story books.  The weather settles and the sky does its trick.  We all sit back and just enjoy.  Lucie and I reflect on how the heck we could have made that quiche in such bumpy weather this afternoon.  I am sure I added a bruise or two somewhere!  Heck, to be honest, we reflected with a rum and coke in hand, HA!  Funny that on the roughest day we have had this passage we were all having so much fun. 

 

Life is good out here in the middle of no where.  We saw our first ship in days since leaving the Global Highway in Panama.  Our friends on BeBe, Bill and Judy, have been close since we met up in the ocean somewhere 100 miles SW of the Los Perlas.  It sure is nice to have someone to chat with and compare weather reports with.  Safety in numbers, I always say!  I did check into a morning net for the S. Pacific today.  It's a net that keeps track of boats sailing the pacific.  Everyone reports in their current location and weather conditions.  We seem to be the only ones who have found a pouch of wind out here in route to the Galapagos. 

 

We are looking forward to crossing the equator and celebrating.  A bottle of bubbly is already waiting!  It should be sometime tomorrow afternoon.  If the conditions are great we plan to zig zag over the equator so we can have an excuse to open another bottle. 

 

I will keep you posted! 

 

Love,

Michele, Paul, Merric, Seanna,

Gerald and Lucie.

 

I am not really sure what that means but we have heard from several people that once you have crossed the equator into a different hemisphere you become a Shellback.  You are a Pollywog (check spelling) if you have not crossed.  I am not sure if that is only on water or if you become a shellback over land and by air.  Feel free to Google the history of the Shellback and give me some real info, I would really love it. 

 

April 24, 2008

Early this morning, 4:30 am, we got a wake up call from Gerald and Lucie (it was the change of shift for them) saying we had 5 minutes.  We reduced speed so we could enjoy seeing the final 00.00.000N.  It switches over to S. I can't believe it!!!!  We are finally south of the equator.  We popped a bottle of bubbly and tossed our coins to King Neptune and hope that our previous donations of an anchor, electronics, my cutco knife, brand new digital camera, water maker, Bikinis, shirts, under ware, caps, and many other odds and ends we have given him in the past will be sufficient enough.  Our current position this morning is 0.14.06S 88.19.40W.  We have reduced speed to arrive tomorrow morning.  At our current speed we would have gotten in at 9pm and we don't really like coming into an unknown port in the middle of the night.  Especially, when it has a reef and rocks in front of the entrance.  So right now we are slowing down enough for us to arrive at 9am or so. 

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We have really enjoyed our passage and have come to love the sea.  I wouldn't have said that three years ago during the Carib 1500 passage!!!!!!! 

 

Talk to you again soon,

Love,

Michele, Paul, Merric and Seanna

 

 

About two more days to go till we reach the Galapagos.  The weather and sailing have been great!!!  Merric, without medicine, has been watching movies down below with Seanna. I love it out here.  I think day 5 was key for me to start feeling good and enjoy the ride.  I am so happy to be doing this with my family.  Crazy to think that the next portion of the trip after the Galapagos is three times this trip.  YEP, 3000 miles!  Panama to Galapagos is about 1000 and the next leg it 3000.  YIKES!  The beauty of the next leg is the wind is from the back and you

have a 2 knot current pushing you in the right direction.  So right now we average about 130 miles a day but after we leave the Galapagos and get south to the trade winds and current we will average close to 200 miles a day, YEAH!  It should take us about 3 weeks more or more...ha-ha; not more or less!!!! 

 

April 25, 2008

Arrive in Cristobal, Galapagos.  Miles done since Panama = 963.

 

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We are here and already have seen a manta ray, sea lions and mosquitoes.  Yesterday, we spotted a whale or Killer whale about a couple hundred yards away and we saw the spray and its tail.  It was too far to distinguish but they say only sperm and killers are around here.  Today, once we arrived we had the customs guys come out and take care of all our paperwork but we decided to stay only one day here and move to another more central anchorage to arrange tours.  Today we did a tour and went to see a Tortuous nesting ground.  We saw ages 1 to 100 today.  They are huge and I got a great picture with the kids and a big one. 

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We then went to the beach with lava rocks and saw the oceanic iguanas.  They are black to match the black lava rocks but apparently they change color to their habitat.  Paul is now jerry jugging fuel at $2.50 a gallon.  Better than $4 back in Panama!  Ready to hit the sack for a full night sleep, which none of us have had in 9 days.  But, I have to say that was a very easy and nice passage.  The days flew by and the highlight of our days was when did our morning and night emails.  Thanks for writing and making my day.  Our next leg after we leave here in about a week is 3000 miles.  Yep, that's right!!!!  What we just did was only 963.  We will be out at sea for about 25 days more or more.... but I have to say I am already looking forward to it.  Last night on our final approach I was fearing the land.  I don't want to hit it and I know that there might be fisherman out here.  It's just so much easier in the middle of nowhere at night then near land.  Might be hard to understand but, Dad, I know you do because I remember you saying something like that to me when you came across the Atlantic.

 

Well, going to hit the sack early after this rum and coke.

 

April 26, 2008

We had a sea lion party on the boat last night.  When we came back from our tour we found a sea lion lounging in the cockpit at the table waiting for his fish dinner.  Apparently, it is a big problem around here but we found it funny.  Last night, we heard them all over the back steps of the boats but we had everything roped off so they couldn't get up.  The sea lion hair and smell can get old real quick so we are taking proactive means.  But, they are soooo darn cute.  I was helping Paul get some fishing line off the propeller in pretty chilly waters when a sea lion came right under my feet.  Paul and I couldn't stop laughing cause I really freaked me out to see something big and darn fly below me like that.  Plus, I keep thinking about those darn Killer whales. 

 

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April 28, 2008

After living with the Sea lions in Cristobal, we decided to move on to Isla Santa Cruz.  It is the main port of entry for all tourist and is more central to do other island travel.  On our way here we ran into a huge pod of Dolphins.  They were very large in size with a shorter blunt nose so I assume they were not bottle nose dolphin.  They were mixed in with a few sea lions and blue footed boobies.  We caught a few medium sized Tuna along the way and Sushi was quickly on the menu for dinner. 

 

Upon arrival to our Puerto Ayora we noticed we would have to do a stern anchor which we have never had to do before.  It was easy enough and was necessary since we are in an exposed anchorage to the swell.  It keeps our bow into the swell so we don't notice it much but this is the first time I have stepped foot on land and actually feel "Land Sick".  I can't get my balance and my body wants to move but can't.  A few beers later I am all cured, so don't worry!!!

 

We have been busy cleaning up a big water mess and really haven't had the time to enjoy the island but lunches here are cheap and great.  They have a bunch of stores for shopping.  Today we plan to go to a bay that we can swim with the sea lions and white tip sharks.  Speaking of sharks, we are surrounded here with little Black tip at the anchorage.  Merric spotted them again.  It's so cool to see him spot the wild life and call them by the correct name.  Just today he said he wants to go sailing again.  I can't believe the big change in him but the ocean on this side is so much better than the Atlantic and think that really helps. 

 

So far clearing is pretty pricey... 150 for the agent, about 200 for the boat, 30 for immigrations and 100 per person for the park fee.  For the 6 of us we are looking at $500 just for the park fee.  The kids are $50.  So, yes Annie, it is pretty darn close to $900 just to clear in.  Then, most tours, you need to have a tour guide to take you.....  The only other thing I would love to see before I leave here is the Penguins and swim with them if I can.  We are trying to arrange to have 24 hour permission to anchor on the island of Isabella where they are.  They are pretty strict here and nothing is done without a guide or permission $$$.  Gerald and Lucie left us yesterday afternoon to do a tour of Isabella and a few other stops.  Then, We have our Big 10 year wedding anniversary on Friday...Genevieve and Jason, happy anniversary to you, too!  We have Bebe watching the kids for us, yeah!

 

Michele

 

 

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April 30, 2008

Yesterday we spent the day on one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen after Harbor Island, Bahamas.  We hiked a nice paved path through some of the most interesting cactus trees, lizards, butterflies and bird life for about one hour and arrived a Tortuga Bay.  One the beach we were greeted by blue footed boobies, oceanic iguanas, and some nasty horse flies.  After running around like crazy people waving our arms like crazy we ate our lunch and set off.  Some people approached us asking if we practicing a dance ritual and joined us, haha. 

 

I had to take the camera away from Paul as he couldn't stop taking pictures of the cactus and lizards.  I have to admit it was a spectacular site.  I have never seen an actual cactus tree.  We have been really busy heading into town on a schedule Merric put together.  Lunch, stores, Ice cream and then the park.  So, for the past two days that is what we do.  There is ice cream here at every store.  You walk into the hardware store and bam there is a ice cream cart.  You walk into the shoe store and bam there is an ice cream cart...you get the picture.  Everyone you see walking the street has ice cream in their hands.  I am going to get fat here!  We have got to go! 

 

 

 

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On Friday we are sharing our 10 year wedding anniversary.  For anyone who came to the Keys to celebrate with us...yes, it was 10 years ago Friday.  We couldn't have imagined 10 years ago that we would be celebrating our anniversary in the Galapagos.  But, I knew, when I said the vows to Paul that there would be a world of adventure ahead of me and I was ready.

 

Our plan is to head out Saturday and start our passage to the Marquesas.  We will keep you posted as much as we can.  We don't plan on finding much internet once we leave here so the updates will be few and far inbetween. 

 

P.S. To all of you who said they enjoyed the site and wanted more pictures... I added some various shots in the photo gallery.  Thanks for all the compliments! 

 

Michele

 

 

 

December/Januaray

 

Some of my Molas

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These molas are all hand stitched with multipul layers of material.  It can take a month or more depending on detail. 

 

October 19, 2007

 

We have been here almost a month and are itching to move on.  We have enjoyed our stay in Cartagena but we feel the need to go.  The highlight of our stay “Centro” is the heart of it all with all the stores, street vendors, architecture, history and most of all Food!  Where the beer is cheaper than water, where all meals are $4 no matter if it is fish, chicken or steak. I wake up every morning to my hot cup of coffee; watching the little city of Manga come alive.  Watching and sometime joining the walkers along the boardwalk and hearing the streets wake up with the constant yells from the street vendors selling, fruits, coffee, snacks, drinks, ice cream and men waiting on bikes to give you a ride to school, work or where ever you need to go. 

 

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We have been living in a tornado.  Yes, it feels like it!  We gave away all of our cushions to be redone and have been sitting on folding seats, bean bag chairs and what ever else we can find.  We have gotten some of them back and the rest should be complete today. 

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The teak work isn’t done yet and we are hoping to have that start this weekend.  I went to the market yesterday to shop with some of my boating friends and although I feel like a local I sure as heck don’t look like one.  Walking in San Diego, it’s like walking in Walt Disney during the busy season.  It is wall to wall people no matter what time it is.  All kinds of stores from fabric, electronics, shoes, thrift shops, restaurants, then jammed packed with the street vendors selling fresh squeezed juices (not sure what the fruit it), 2 foot long hotdogs fried in a dough, sausages on a stick, arepas, DVDs, cell phones, did I say shoes and much much more.  I have never seen so many shoe stores on one street in my life.  Speaking of streets; be sure to stay off of them!  Pedestrians do not have the right of way here and crossing the road feels like a game of frogger, except, I am the frog.  Funny how quickly we understood the rules of the road!  Couldn't imagine what they would do with out thier horns!!!!!!

 

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Today was another trip to the market.  One that is like Costco/Bj’s at home.  We stocked up on some beer which is about $.50 a can, loads of Parmalat and plan on doing a taste test of the wines they sell.  Wines here are about double what they are everywhere else.  We are going to be out in the San Blas, where there’re no grocery stores or restaurants so we need to be prepared.  Plus, we are going to be enjoying some special company at the end of November when Annie and Danny come to visit.  The kids already have the sleeping arrangements thought out and, sorry Danny, but Seanna doesn’t have you in the same room as Annie.  Haha.  Don’t worry; I am sure we will figure something out! 

 

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          Paul and his beer                                                   more beer down below            and for all you milk drinkers...we got you covered!

 

Last week, Merric and I went to the mud baths with a few friends here and had a BLAST!!!  Come-on, what a kids dream…to play in mud and have your mom join you.  I wish Seanna wasn’t so sick with a fever so that Paul and she could have joined us but I am open to going again.  I am sure we won’t have any arguments from Merric.

 

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Passage to Columbia.  Sept 2007

 

After we weathered Hurricane Felix, in Aruba, we decided it was time to head west.  Not even three days later, the fridge and freezer were stocked and ready to set sail.  This passage has been noted as one of the roughest seas in the world.  This brings a bit of worry and slight fear to most cruisers but with the right “weather window” it can be one of the best!  A boat named S/V Pizzazz has done this passage numerous times and has discovered a few “safe” areas to tuck into.  Making this passage, not only pleasant, but fun too!  Our first stop was "The rock" in the middle of no-where!  Monjes de Sur is part of VZ and is home to 25 military personnel. 

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They live on the island for 30 days and go home for 20.  The Rock, as we like to call it, has one big dock for a military ship and a rope that is tied from one side to the other.  We were supposed to actually tie off to the rope but since they were not getting any ships in they let us dock.  Now, keep in mind, the wind is blowing at 25 to 30 knots steady.  When the wind blows over the rock it feels like 40.  Makes you feel like it is going to be one heck of a ride when you leave….  The salt on the boat after two nights was enough to make me scream!  We took a hike up the “Rock” to the light house and that night enjoyed an incredible Blackened Mahi-Mahi picnic on the docks with the Maddox Family on S/V Red Thread. 

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Speaking of fish… I kind of wish I didn’t have my freezer stocked as much as we did cause we just loaded up on mahi-mahi and Tuna on the first two legs of the passage.  When we left Monjes Del Sur for Bahia Honda, Columbia at 7 am, we had lines in.  Red Thread made the first call at 7:10 “FISH ON”.   We made the final "Fish On" call at 8:30 am and at that point we both decided that our freezers were overstocked.  Paul and I decided to go for the Trophy fish out there and put out our “Mack Daddy Lures” and figured we wouldn’t get one.  We were wrong and landed a beauty.  At that point we decided to end the fishing tournament and just sail.  I already had Sushi, Sashimi, seared Tuna, Tuna fish salad and everything else you can imagine on the menu. 

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The view of Columbia changed drastically during our trek south and west.  First was dry, orange colored stone and dirt with sheep and as we sailed to Five bays, Columbia we were rewarded with the most incredible sea side mountain view ever.  These mountains climb up to 18,000 ft and some are snow peaked.  Imagine that!  It was hard for me since I was sweating buckets on the boat and kept soaking my self to stay cool.  We ended up staying at this anchorage for about 3 days and met a friendly local named Reynaldo.  He gave me his extremely sharp machete after our hike so all you pirates out there, BEWARE!  

 

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A short hop over to Rodedero beach located in Santa Martha, Columbia was another drastic scene change.  This is a hot vacation spot with loads of high rises, street vendors and paddle boat traffic.  It wasn’t uncommon to see about 3 or more full paddle boats just hanging out beside our boat looking at us and even bumping into the boat.  We even have a few photo shots of groups of people with our boat as the backdrop.  A big catamaran out here must not be common.  Seanna got her hair braided and looked like a mini Bo Derek!  I was busy shopping away as all the vendors could notice the sucker!  We were happy to go and get some of our personal space back and finish our passage to our final destination, Cartagena, Columbia.

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As soon as we arrived, we were busy getting ready for Annie to fly in for the weekend.  We had fun shopping in old town and admiring the architecture and balconies.  Leather here is top notch and we bought a few pieces.  I have been pampering myself since we arrived with a manicure/Pedicure that cost only 10 bucks total and I got my hair done for $6.  I had a maid come for an 8 hour day to detail the boat for $25 bucks.  Paul and I had a romantic dinner with an appetizer, bottle of wine, filet, fish dinner, dessert with impeccable service for $34 including tip.  Needless to say, I don’t cook much anymore.  We put the kids in a bi-lingual school for two months.  Now I can see why the Spanish women around here are beautiful.  I just love the style, the voluptuous shapes and curves they celebrate and the high self esteem they carry along with it. 

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We are getting our living area couch redone in Ultra leather, a canopy up front, dingy cover and new teak put on the transoms.  The only challenge is arranging the work only in Spanish.  Since barely anyone here speaks English!  Susanne, you would be impressed with my level of Spanish now! 

 

 

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As I write this posting, I am sitting in my galley listening to the sounds of the Hurricane Felix blow over. 

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We are secured at anchor with our trusty Bruce and our Danforth.  We are enduring winds up to 45 mph at peek storm conditions.  Luckily, the storm is tracking North West and moving fast so we won’t have to deal with this for long.  This is the second time in a week that we had to secure ship.  The last time was not as well thought out…  Here is what I wrote….

 

Quite an exciting day yesterday.  We left the Santa Cruz, Curacao anchorage at 8am with no wind and flogging sails.  No wind ever picked up!!!  Merric got sick...don't know how we are going to sail the world with him.  As we do our final approach to Aruba we leave two other cruisers (Jedi and Gecko) at the Rodgers beach anchorage and continue on to the main anchorage in Aruba called Oranjestad about 8 miles away.  The sky is turning black and wild with lightning.  A huge water spout forms just in front of Jedi and our fishing line starts going out. 

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We land a nice big eyed Tuna and already dreaming about sushi when about 4 miles away from Oranjestad we got a call from the Port Authority saying to go back to Rodgers Beach.  Now the storms brewing in the distance are upon us.  The seas which were calm have started to build quickly!  We are fighting our way back, head into the wind and waves, to the cut and now a squall is bearing down on us.  35+ knots of wind and rain are pelting my face and burning my eyes as I stand on the bow ready to drop the anchor.  Paul shouts out "Drop it" and I do.  Paul is in forward at 2000rpm and we are still going backwards which is too much pressure for the anchor chain and windlass.  We get it down and pray to the wet heavens above...please hold. Please hold.  And Bruce (our anchor) does!  As we wait to see how the boat reacts we notice some spear fishers swimming towards the boat.  Holy Cow, we could have ran them over, what the heck are they doing out here in this storm.  Three locals are so winded and full of fish on a stringer from the reef that they need a break.  They, thankfully, hop on the boat and wait out the rain, wind and heavy chop.  Needless to say…Tuna Sashimi was on the table about an hour later...  Our friends, Gecko and Jedi took some pictures of us coming in during the storm.  The last picture is of our friends on Gecko just before the storm unleashed on us!

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Besides the wet welcome the anchorage...the water is crystal blue this morning and the huge refinery is right behind us.  It was quite a spectical of lights and flames of different colors. 

 

Since we have left Bonaire we have been enjoying the island of Curacao.  We spent a month just chilling, learning Spanish, hitting the happy hours and downtown.   Merric and I went with some friends to the Movies to see Ratatouille and loved it. 

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We had some issues with our propellers and had to get them changed out so we located a spot in Curacao to get them changed out.  We ended up getting hauled out for a few days to get our bottom paint done along with the other work.  We have to say this was the best Haul out experience we have ever had.  The workers were great and quick and the place was clean.  When we splashed (get put back in the water) we cleared out of customs and headed to the north anchorages to wait our weather window to Aruba. 

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Aruba is a fun island that reminds us of “little America”  They have Taco Bell, Dunkin donuts, Tony Romas, haggen Daz and HOOTERS!!!  You haven’t been to hooters until you have been to the Hooters in Aruba.  Not one blond head in the crowd but these girls love to dance and sing and hoola hoop!  I have to say the Spanish know how to have a good time.    And I know that we sure did!  pict4369.png   pict4366.png

 

Once this storm blows over in the next couple of hours we will begin our plan to head to Columbia.  I think that by this Wednesday we should start our passage to Cartagena, Columbia.  It should take us about 7 to 10 days to get there doing the coastal route. 

 

P.S.  Here is the fish Merric and I caught off the back of the boat with Merric's new fishing rod and 2lb test...  Nice Bone fish, eh?  Check out what else we caught on the last picture.  This iguana swam out quite a bit to meet us.

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July 21, 2007 Still in Bonaire….

 

Two months later and we are still here in Bonaire.  We have not yet cut the lines from Bonaire.  We have gotten used to swimming off the back of the boat, Thursday night happy hours at the pool/bar, Saturday night bbq rib night and all the diving you can handle.  As for diving, I have been searching for the infamous “Frog Fish” since I bought my new fish book.  Well, guess what????  I found one.

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They camouflage themselves so well that it is almost impossible to find them.  They also tend to change color to match the sponge or reef they attach themselves to.  Now I can say goodbye to Bonaire and not feel like I missed out on something.  A fellow cruiser, S/V Reality, created a beautiful montage of the reef system here in Bonaire.  I am happy to have video footage of almost everything I have seen on the reef.

 

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We are preparing ourselves for Seanna’s birthday this Monday and have already received a few gifts from friends we have made here from England.  Jay and Lee, hope to see you again!

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 We are heading out to Curacao sometime next week and look forward to a new island.  We have a few friends waiting for us and getting ready for the crossing to Columbia.  Things here are great…hope that it’s the same with you!

 

Check out my photos page for other things I have spotted underwater.  Keep in touch!  We always love to hear from you.

 

Michele, Paul, Merric and Seanna.

                                                                                                  

Bonaire, July 2007.

 

We have now been moored in Bonaire for over a month and are back to our normal cruising routine.  We rented a car last week and toured the island.  Let me just start by saying, this is an island for diving not exploring!  It is loaded with cactus, Flamingos, dirt, rock and salt.

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We did have a great time at Lac Bay on the windward side of the ocean.  It is a natural lagoon protected by a barrier reef.  The lagoon is about 3 feet deep for over a mile and dotted with little beaches.  If you don’t already know, the ABC islands have a steady trade wind that blows over 20 knots daily and we have seen up to 35 on a “windy” day.  This lagoon is ideal for Windsurfing and three of best windsurfers in the world come from that very lagoon.  You can sit for hours, with a nice cold cocktail in hand, watching the windsurfers do their tricks.  They race, they dodge each other and they fly.  Amazing!  As we finished our tour of the southern tip of the island we found another beach with kite surfers.  Now that is something I would love to try! 

The kids have been having a blast with their new friends on ‘S/V Red Thread’.  They are a family of 4 from Colorado.  Pam and Glenn are great drinking buddies for us and Linzi (5) and Mai Ling (3) (aka Maymay) are Merric and Seanna’s new best friends.  They are also heading west and should bumping into each other all the way down to Panama.  

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We plan on staying in Bonaire for a few more weeks enjoying the easy access diving and snorkeling and then off to Curacao. 

 

Nice to be home!

 

Michele, Paul, Merric and Seanna.

                          

Return to Bonaire

 

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Our return to Bonaire was a joyful experience until we stepped foot onto the boat.  I know, you would think the opposite but a big mistake I made when I left is leaving some pasta on board.  After breaking up the weavel party and cleaning up all the mildew and mold everywhere we broke free from the dock and headed out to the beautiful moorings in Bonaire.  Every mooring is in about 15 feet of water but you end up drifting out over the reef.   This time our mooring has a little reef right under the boat which makes for excellent snorkeling which the kids love.   While Paul as cleaning the bottom of the boat today he told us to get our gear on and jump in.  When we did we were surrounded by millions of sergeant majors, angel fish, yellow tail, trumpet fish and some others that I don’t know the name of.  The sergeant majors are not shy and come up and bump you.  It was a really cool experience for the kiddies. 

 

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As you can see in the picture above  the water color change is the reef is just off the beach.  Just as it is everywhere here.  You can jump off the pier, boat or beach and swim 20 feet to the drop off.  The marine life here is incredible.  I couldn’t name all the fish we see just off the back of our boat let alone what we see during a dive.  Any of you who are dive enthusiast must come visit Bonaire.  Paul and I are planning a dinner and dive night sometime this week.  Yes, that means a night dive.  It will be a first for me but knowing that the boat is just above and I can high tail it home if needed makes me feel a bit more comfortable.  I will let you now about my experience.  Every night we see night diver lights surrounding us so it can’t be that bad.  Actually, I hear it’s better than the day time cause that is when all the night creatures come out and play so it’s an opportunity to see different marine life.  Especially octopuses!   

 

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The winds are at a steady 20 + knots and we are expected to get stronger winds in the next few days.   We are happy here at the mooring enjoying our daily jumps into the water, spending quality time with the kids and baking cookies. 

 

We are extremely happy to be home. 

 

Michele, Paul, Merric and Seanna.

 

Tampa, Fl

May 2007

It's been a while but we are having a blast in Tampa, Orlando and Canada.  We are counting down the days till we head back to Bonaire...

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Walt disney with the Curran Family                           Busch Garden with the Kolmans                   Daddy's work
 

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Dreaming of...

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Since our path change over a month ago we have been busy bees.  We changed our life style from typical cruiser to city slicker in the blink of an eye.  It took almost two years to get to Bonaire but only 3 hours fly time to get back, imagine that.  As we drove into downtown Tampa, to our temporary home, we passed high rises, Mercedes, and loads of clay tennis courts.  What a culture shock!  We easily got into the swing of spending lots and lots of money and now have put a stop to the hemorrhaging.  It started with cars, new clothes, household supplies, shoes, and new toys.  Before we knew it we were just like everyone else.  Rushing around to get things done, talking on the cell phone all day, eating out morning, noon and night and constantly on the internet. 

 

The things I love and hate about the city life:

  1. I love the washing machine
  2. I love the dishwasher
  3. I love Busch Gardens and Disney
  4. I love the convenience of stores around the corner
  5. I love the current weather
  6. I hate the traffic
  7. I hate the hectic ness
  8. I hate big crowds
  9. I hate not having something to do that doesn’t cost money
  10. I hate Paul having to leave us 5 days a week for work

 

Things I love and hate about boat life

  1. I love the water front view
  2. I love the freedom of moving my home when I want
  3. I love the sunsets
  4. I love snorkeling, diving and beaches
  5. I love the time I spend with my family
  6. I hate the heat of the day
  7. I hate no air conditioning at night
  8. I hate no dish washer
  9. I hate when someone anchors to close to us
  10. I hate dragging anchor in the middle of the night

 

We have only been here a month and we are already counting down the days to head home.  This has been a real eye opener for us and made us realize how much we love our time together on the boat and sailing around.  The highlight of our adventure so far is the Orinoco Delta, VZ.  If you haven’t read about it in my site I will post a few pictures and what I wrote.  Also, since I am updating my website for other reasons I will give you a quick history of the places and people we have met along the way. 

 

Give me a few weeks to get everything back up and running...

 

Until then,  Happy holidays to you and yours.  You are always in our thoughts.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Grego Family.

 

Orinoco Delta Adventure

 

 

We have just spent the two most magical weeks in the Orinoco Delta located in Venezuela.  I know, you are scratching your head because we were supposed to be in Tobago.   We met a few friends at the dock in Trinidad they were headed to the Orinoco Delta and after going back to the boat to find out what and where this place was, we were ready to go.  We set sail early Wednesday morning with two other boats; Stewart and Sheila on Imagine and Paul and Maureen on Calypso.  It was a short 50 mile run to the mouth of the river and made it there before 4pm.  I will try to keep this short but if anyone wants me to send them the daily emails I sent to my family, that were much more detailed, let me know.  The Orinoco delta was listed on the 1000 natural wonders of the world and is posted on the National Geographic site-for a good reason.  Although this is Venezuela, the inhabitants in this area are Warao (Wad-OW) Indians which have their own language.  They live in open huts (survivor style) with only hammocks for each family member stung up.  What I realized later, when I visited a friend I made in one of the villages, is that this is all they have plus a small Tupperware of some sort to hold papers and special items.  They are rich with family and nature but lack bare necessities.  As we cruised by these sparse villages scattered through out the many creeks tons of these little canoes, which are dug out by hand from a big log, would come out filled with kids to bring gifts.    These gifts were ranging from handmade necklaces, baskets, bowls, and hand carved wooden boats.  In exchange we would give them what they needed; such as clothing, ointments, toys, food, and tools.  The parents loved us since they really needed children’s clothing so I have to say I am loaded with beautiful baskets all over my boat.  The Warao Indians are the nicest people I ever met!  “Danny” from the Wanamacana village gave us a personal tour of his “Casa” and village.  He was the only person we met that spoke fluent Spanish (I did my best).   Most of the Warao Indians don’t know how to read or write but some are educated in the Spanish language (the men) so they can take a boat to a near by factory and work.  We met a lady in the village who made hammocks and could resist buying one.  It took her 30 days to make ours.  I could go on and on but I haven’t even started on the wild life…

 

Every day the wildlife changed.  We started our trip surrounded by Scarlet Ibis. 

   They are birds that resemble the flamingo but smaller.  They are Scarlet red and just burst with radiant color against the greenery.  It is quite a jaw dropper when you see them.  Just beautiful!  During the entire trip we did daily 6am tours down small tributaries to explore.  During the first couple days we saw screecher monkeys, fresh water dolphins, parrots and one mystery water creature.  Howler monkeys were constantly growling in the forest but couldn’t see them.  As we went deeper into the jungle the wild life changed again.  Toucans, parrots and birds everywhere!  At one time I was sitting in the front of the boat and a Toucan flew just a few feet in front of my face to cross the river.  The tributaries were like getting on a ride at Disney.  As soon as you would enter it was a different world.  At times we would cross areas that were filled with buttercup colored butterflies that were also crossing the river like a mass exodus.  The last tour of our trip we finally encountered a family of howlers in a tree.  The tree was open giving us a full view of these magnificent creatures and we watched them for over an hour.  Our finally was the family of Toucans.  There were at least 50 of them flying over head and hopping along the branches. 

 

Needless to stay, we didn’t jump into the water much since they have piranhas and crocodiles. The only time one of us jumped in was for a favorite hat.  The kids loved the monkeys, toucans and macaws the best.  Merric was so excited to find a Toucan.  Seanna was a celebrity here.  All the Indians and animals loved her and wanted to touch or talk to her.  She took it all in stride until this one big bird started to chase her and a monkey kept pulling on her dress.  I got it all on video!!! 

 

You should look this place up online (Google it!)  Orinoco Delta, VZ.  They will have a more details on what I missed. 

 

I am glad we made the detour from Tobago and headed south.  This trip will live fondly in my memory bank for the rest of my life.

 

Dominica Part 2

We have been reading about this hike since we bought the book, ‘Hiking the Caribbean’.  It was rated the best hike all around but a tough one too.  We where up to the task!  I had been dreaming of how Paul and I could do this hike together and did my homework on Preschools in Dominica.  We found, with the help of our guide Seacat, not only a daycare but a preschool that would take both children.  We went to go visit and all the students were wearing uniforms and sitting at their desk.  The head mistress said sure and for how many days?  My eyes lit up and I said 3.  So, we were all set.  The afternoon before our big hike, Seacat came over to the boat to see if we wanted to do something.  I looked at Paul who quickly helped me pack up the kids and we were off.  We jumped into the van and headed for the hills, um here its mountains.  I don’t think I noted any part of Dominica that was flat.  We drove thru town and headed for Trafalgar Falls.  With Seanna high up in her backpack and Merric on Seacats shoulders we started our trek through rainforest and then big boulders.  I was amazed how Seacat was able to climb these boulders and balance without any hand and then have Merric on his shoulders on top of it.  I was just managing on my own with all four of my limbs.  Shortly we spotted the two waterfalls that are known as the Mother and the Father.  The Father waterfall was easier to access so we went up to the base of the fall.  The water and spray was very very cold so Paul was not stepping foot in the water, Merric was wide eyed and scared of the massive waterfall and the energy of the water that came crashing down.  I turned to look at Seacat, who reminds me of a 13 year old with full of life, jumping into the water.  Of course, wanted to get out of my shell, I followed.  We climbed over tree stumps that have previously fallen down the fall and swam hard to the base of the fall.  The water was roaring around my ears and water was pushed in my face.  What was I doing?  Then I heard Seacat, “Michele, turn your head and face away from the fall then swim towards me.  We got to the base of the fall on a rock and held on for dear life.  Now, Seacat yelled, “I am going under the fall, and you will follow.  Just keep your face away from the fall push off the rock and swim in backwards.  Then reach back and give me your hand.”  I was off and just filled with adrenaline.  I swam back and reach out my hand.  When I did he grabbed on and pulled me in.  I had to hop up a rock and we both sat behind the fall.  Seacat started howling to let Paul and the kids know we where alright.  I couldn’t believe I just went behind a fall from the front.  I have always seen in movies the ledge that you could like in from the side.  Seeing the force of the water, one foot in front of my face, brought on a whole new feeling of respect for water.  From where I was Seacat said stand up.  I stood up thru the fall and could see Paul and the kids.  I did it!  Paul was just laughing at me and Merric was surprised.  Okay, that is not the end of it.  Now we have to get out of this thing and we are not low.  Seacat said “Come this way and watch me.”  “We are going to jump out.”  Okay Michele, don’t think about it and just do it. “It’s not really deep so you don’t want to jump in straight.  You have to watch me and do exactly as I do.”, Seacat went on.  Oh boy!  Now, I am looking at my family and a lagoon full of tree limbs.  Was I going to jump in and get my leg stuck around something and keeps me under?  I was going to get this right so I watched with 100% when Seacat left me.  He looked up and knew I couldn’t hear him so he gave me the eye signal.  1, 2, 3 Jump.  Now I am living.  The view of my jump was heavy water on my back, Seacat urging me on, my family behind him smiling up at me and the massive mountains and rainforest.  When I surfaced I knew I just opened a new page in my life.  I was in heaven!  Was this what heaven is like?  Well, this would be my idea of heaven.  I was hooked and ready for more.

 

Victoria Falls Tour

 

Two days following our Valley of Desolation and Boiling lake tour my legs were still sore.  I was loading up on Advil every 4 hours just to keep the pain bearable.  But, since we were here for only a few more days I wanted to get in as much site seeing as possible.  Paul didn’t want to go since his knees were so bad he couldn’t walk down our two stairs on the boat.  I convinced him to at least come and could hang out at the base of the river.  Seacat, our friends on Dragonfly (Rick and Cindy), and our troopers from the Valley Dan and Debbie we ready to go.  As we drove to the opposite side of the island, Cindy made a comment about learning about local fruits and veggies on different islands and how it would be nice to know how to cook them.  Seacat said, “Oh, I can help you with that.” And he wasn’t kidding!  It took us an extra hour to get to the falls since Seacat kept stopping to show us and let us taste the island.  Everything growing wild!  It started with Guava, lemon grass, grapefruits, cashews, papaya, cocoa, tamarind, mango, coffee, almonds, coconuts, arrowroot, bananas, bay leaves and cinnamon.  Then we arrived at Mosses.  He has a little hut with a coconut burning stove.  Moses is one with nature in every way possible.  I spent about an hour with him in his vast gardens.  He was growing everything from pumpkins to herbs and dashine (yucca) to lettuce.  I am sure there are other fine herbs growing somewhere he didn’t show me but he was enjoying it while we where walking around.  He even grows his own rolling papers with fresh dried tobacco leaves.  What a life.  He said he would make us lunch for when we returned and we were all looking forward to that.  We set off and made it to the first river crossing.  Seacat shook his head and looked up at us.  He said, “We are going to have to swim across and we will cross the river about 7 times.”  We packed up all the cameras in Ziploc bags and started to cross.  Every time we looked up we were in awe of the beauty of Dominica.  Victoria falls is the most photogenic falls in all of Dominica.  For over an hour we crossed rivers, shuffled up boulders and scaled muddy banks to reach the most breathtaking view ever.  We all jumped in and let the cold water refresh bodies.  Seacat being the adventurer he is made us swim to the base of the falls which was much stronger that Trafalgar.  The water came from so high with a straight drop down that by the time the water reached the end it was a force to reckon with.  The spray was so heavy that you could drown from that alone.  We swam to a cave at the base of the falls and all jumped in to take a break.  That was when Seacat said “We go in?”  I was game, of course!  Cindy was a bit nervous and wanted to see us first so we followed Seacat and got to the middle of the falls swimming under rocks and diving under the water to avoid its pressure.  We held on for dear life under the fall with the rush of water pushing us up against the rocks.  We sat there laughing for about 10 minutes and then pushed out and swam under to get out.  Debbie was a bit nervous when Seacat and Dan headed up the fall by rock and planned on jumping.  They scaled up more rocks to about ¼ way up the fall.  Now they got to the edge of the rock and jumped off.  We were all cheering Dan on while Debbie was screaming NO!!!!  I don’t think I have ever seen someone smile so much after what he just accomplished.  Not a bad for their 25th year anniversary.  We hiked back for lunch with Moses.  We all walked into his kitchen and sat at the table.  The bowls and spoons were made of Calabash.  Moses is vegetarian so the meal was a mixture of everything from his garden and just plain amazing.  Veggie stew I would say!  Sweet potatoes, dashine, bread nuts, herbs, onions, plantains, squash and coconut milk were the main ingredients that I could detect.   I am sad to know this is my last day here.  I wish hurricane season wasn’t on our tail and making us move.  This will be a location that I will come back to and save more time for.

 

 

Dominica Part 1

After dropping off the kids and wishing them a great, fun filled day, we hopped in the van and we were off to the Valley of Desolation and Boiling lake.  Another couple joined us from a local hotel.  Dan and Debbie are on their 25th year anniversary vacation and where looking for adventure.  As the van climbed up the mountain, Debbie and I quickly started talking about how nervous we where and who got more sleep last night.  We both couldn’t stop thinking if this was a hike cut out for us.  What we both read was the hike had no flat land for rest.  It was up and down mountains both ways for about 7 hours or more.  I had the added pressure of having to be home to pick up the kids by 5pm.  It was 9:00 when we officially started the hike.  Seacat disappeared for a few minutes when we came out of the van and returned with fresh watercress for our lunch and grapefruits.  I wish my backyard was loaded with fruits and veggies like Dominica.  Our hike for the day was about a hour trek to the breakfast river then another hour to the peak of the mountain top then a steep decent to the valley of Desolation.  It’s a 20 minute walk through the valley then a short 40 minutes to the Boiling Lake which is our final destination.  Oh, Of course there is the return after that.  We where off!  We where surrounded by rainforest and light misty rain for the first hour up hill.  It was an easy up hill since the step where broken up in segments.  But, we where going up!  I was already huffing and noted that Dan was really huffing behind us.  We where not even to the breakfast river yet.  The views where fabulous and breath taking.  The rainforest was filled with Tree Ferns and covered with moist moss.  Some of the trees where rooted on rocks while other trees roots where suspended in mid air trying to find the ground.  The birds welcomed us and made the first hour of our hike the most hypnotic.  I started to hear rushing water and knew we where finally approaching the breakfast river.  We found our seats on various rocks and sat sipping the water rushing beside us.  Seacat started cutting up some grapefruit, which we all welcomed with open hands.  We passed the first and easy phase and where still smiling.  The second phase we did a big decent in which I mentioned would be quite the dozy coming up.  Seacat said from the front of the pack, “It will be the last hard part on the way back” Oh! How many of these are their going to be?  He just laughed.  We stopped and enjoyed all the views which became welcomed breaks from the climb.  The views where of vegetation every shade of green and another mountain straight in front of us.  Like I mentioned before there are no pieces of flat land here.  Its just peaks and valley and they are really steep.  A picture will never be able to show the beauty of this land but I kept snapping shots anyway.  Just when we thought we could go any higher we found the peak.  It was windy and high with the best view in the house.  We could see water everywhere with the boiling lake in the far distance and below, which was too steep to look down, the Valley of Desolation awaiting us.  We drank some cold fruit juice that Seacat had stashed in his magical backpack.  We drank and drank and regained some energy from all the sugar.  And Down we went with a vengeance.  The steps where steep and spaced out a bit to wide.  What I read was that they where not made for our convenience but for the benefit of the trail during the wet season.  We did a steep decent for over a mile.  Boy, I was dreading the return.  But all of that was quickly forgotten when the valley of Desolation came into view.  We scaled down an old river bed with purple rocks everywhere.  As we got lower the rocks turned into gold.  We reached the valley and looked around us.  Wow, the ground was bubbling everywhere, steam was pouring out of vents and rivers of warm water where mixing in with the cold water rivers.  Seacat wanted us to stay close and follow each step he took.  The ground below us was hot, over 200 degrees.  There where patched of ground that where just crusts that would break on impact.  As we started to walk through the smell became very strong.  The smell was in the range of rotten eggs to boiling rotten potatoes.  The natural smell from the core of the earth; that is what we where smelling.  We came to a big vent and Seacat started pulling out eggs.  He must have placed a few eggs when we arrived and now they where soft boiled and perfect.  Some of the streams where pitch black and mixed with bright white.  The contrast of colors amazed us and we asked why.  The black was very hot water while the white was cold.  Easy as that but it just seemed like much more.  As we moved on the river became bigger and Seacat pointed out the river of warm sulfur water pools.  There where three of them that dumped into one another.  We were happy to hear Seacat say we will stop and go in on the way back.  So on we went through the rough terrain of dry rocks and open to the hot sun.  Not only where the steam vents hot but now the sun was in full force.  There are no trees, shrubs or plant life in this area because of the heavy sulfur, heat and minerals.   I guess that is why they named it Valley of Desolation.  Desolation means: a state of ruin. To make uninhabitable.  We ran into a few more hikers on their way back from the boiling lake and said we where almost there.  Yeah!  Around the corner, nothing, another corner, nothing and around this corner and there it was, a boiling lake.  It looked just like a big huge pot of the stove of boiling water.  The lake is about an acre and is bottomless in most areas.  We had to wait to see the boiling water when the steam was pushed over towards us.  The wind was strong enough to give us a few minutes of pictures before we had a big white out again.  The air smelled of sulfur and was much more pleasant then the Valley of Desolation.  We sat down, opened our backpacks but no ones was as magical as Seacats, which produced fresh loaves of bread, salad,  and cod.  We ate lunch to refuel and relax.  Paul added a few ace bandages to help his aching knees and popped a few Advil.  Dan started rubbing some miracle ointment on his sore muscles while the rest of us watched.  Seacat seems to think it is funny that we need all this stuff to survive.  People in Dominica take medicine from the earth and it works.  One of the oldest living women in the world was from Dominica.  We sat talking about the force of nature and how lucky we where to be able to see it.  Dan was envious of us since we are living his dream but his life didn’t seem too shabby.  He is quite the adventurer and Debbie was right along with him.  It was her choice to come to Dominica and I applaud her decision.  I would recommend everyone and anyone to come visit Dominica before they die.  We where procrastinating because we knew what was ahead of us.  But first we had to stop at the hot tubs.  We sat in the tubs which where nestled deep into the rainforest surrounded by vines, trees and ferns.  This can’t be real!  But it was!  The sulfur tubs where heaven to my already blister feet and all of our aching muscles but we couldn’t stay forever so we got dressed and headed back to the Valley of Desolation.  Seacat brought us through a different section with more incredible sites of the bubbly earth and another whiff of her natural perfume.  I don’t think this would be a very marketable scent but maybe the more earthy people would get a kick out of it.  Then ahead of me was the view of the death climb.  The song from sting kept replaying in my mind, ‘Every step you take’  and the classic, ‘what goes up, must come down’ and it helped me take that one more step I need to get to the top.  Over a mile later, crawling up the final steps I could see Paul on the peek of the mountain with his stick in the air waving me in.  He looked like a mountain man worshiping the wind.  I had to stop and take a picture of him while the sweat was dripping down my face.  I did the worst of it and was still smiling.  I have never felt more alive in my life.  We will talk about how alive I felt a day later but let me get back to the end of this hike.  We did a steady decline back to the breakfast river and knew that we where almost done.  Paul and I, with our sticks, talked about everything and nothing, enjoying the final moments of this intense hike.  We reached the gorge and I was going in.  The cold mountain water burned my blistered feet but I still jumped in and swam into the dark cut into the mountain.  As my eyes adjusted to the light I turned on my back and just floated.  The view was of smooth black rock that was split in two and was about 50 feet high.  The rainforest was above on the crest of the rock trying to reach in but unsuccessful.  I swam further down cause I heard a water fall and reached the end and curved around in full view of a small waterfall which I swam up with no fear to receive my well earned back rub.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect day of hiking. 

 

We picked up the kids who also had big smiles on their faces.  They had a blast at school.  The local kids invited them into their school and made them feel at home.  We came back to Blueprint Match and sat on in the cockpit and watched the sun set.  The sky was perfect for the green flash.  Would today be the first time we see it?  Paul was armed with his binoculars and I sat back staring at the sun afraid to blink.  Then the sun dipped down and I thought a saw a slight change of color and green at the tip but it was so faint that I must have imagined it but Paul turned around and looked at me with wide eyes.  “I just saw the green flash.  I was a green swirl at the top of the sun.  I can’t believe it!  I have been so skeptical all this time but now I know it’s real” He said.   I couldn’t believe the day we had.

 

 

Guadeloupe and Isle de les Saints

 

We just left the Kolman family at Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe and I have a heavy heart and tears in my eyes.  The last 11 days have been filled to the max with everything imaginable.  Fishing villages, Incredible dives, snorkeling trips, fishing, hiking, wave surfing, tubing, heavy weather sailing, seasickness, sunny days, perfect beaches, kayaking, hiking waterfalls, rainforest, driving in the mountains on a one lane highway and poker.  Did I miss anything?  Guadeloupe has so much to offer a cruising family like mine.  It’s almost like a one stop shop for vacations.  One side of the island is mountains and Volcanoes and the other is Flat swamp land like Florida.   I got Paul to finally take the time to write so here is his point of view.

 

Hello everyone,

 

It’s been almost a year of cruising and we are finishing up the Virgin Islands and Leeward Islands which include St. Martin, St. Bart’s, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica. We just arrived in Dominica yesterday and are planning a guided tour of the Indian River tomorrow. The terrain is very mountainous and green with volcanic sand beaches and rain forests. The boat boys come out to your boat daily and offer services such as fresh bread, fruits and vegetables, laundry and just about anything else you may need. Their boats are made of wood and some paddle out on old surfboards. We spent 2 weeks in the French Island of Guadeloupe and the Iles Des Saints with Michele’s sister and 2 boys. We rented a car and toured the interior of the Island. The rain forest and waterfalls were spectacular. We anchored off the tiny fishing village of Deshaies and spent a few days before picking them up at the airport. Deshaies was a sleepy little village with nice little French restaurants and open fruit and vegetable stands. We then headed to Pigeon Island to dive the Cousteau Underwater National Park. We dove in 40 feet of water and saw incredible types of coral, sponges, towering coral heads with all species of tropical fish. 

 

Most cruisers don’t visit Montserrat. They only acquire how far off shore they should stay to avoid the ash and soot from the active volcano. So we decided to anchor off Montserrat and find a guide that would take us to the Volcano. It was one of the most memorable tours in our travels. In 1995 the volcano erupted destroying the capital city of Plymouth. The city looked like a nuclear bomb had exploded. We were looking down at hundred’s of homes and buildings that all standing was the cement foundations covered with gray ash and soot. Some homes were covered with mud up to the roofs. Most roofs were made of galvanized metal which was severely corroded or gone. We left Montserrat feeling sorry for the people that lost their homes and businesses. It took a full day and about 200 gallons of soap and water to get all the ash off the boat.

 

Our next leg of cruising will take us through the Windward Islands which include Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines down to Grenada. We have reservations at the Trinidad and Tobago Yacht Club located in Bayshore Trinidad. We will be leaving our boat and flying to Canada for a family reunion. I hope to see some of you in the summer. I will let you know more when the dates are confirmed.

 

March 5, 2006

St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat

They say it keeps getting better the furthur south you go!  Well, there not kidding!

We arrived in Montserrat after spending about a week enjoying St. Kitts and Nevis.  St. Kitts was spectacular to see upon arrival.  I was struck by the beauty of the huge mountain in the clouds and the vast green fields.  It reminded me of the pictures I see of New Zealand.  I will let you know if it compares when I get the New Zealand!!!!  We went on a tour of the sugar plantations and up the rainforest.  It took us about 5 hours and could have been longer.  We did a short sail over to Nevis and WOW!!!  what a place.  7 miles of beach backed up by loads of Palm trees and as you look up one of the largest green mountain.  We beached our dingy and headed to Sunshines.  A place famous for their killerbees drink.  We stumbled out of there to see A big white super Yacht with a big green helicopter taking off.  Guess what???  It was the Dolphins helicopter so it must have been Wayne.  Makes me miss not being able to watch the games on Sunday and my brother.  The two always went hand in hand.  The pictures of Nevis will probably not do the island justice but we have to say this is one of our favorites.  The weather turned to crap with a huge north swell which is not protected enough for us in Nevis so we headed back to a bay in St. Kitts.  This is the second time we where pushed to go somewhere because of the weather and stumbled upon something great.   Anngela at Lion Den and Lenoard who played dominos till sunset.  I will always remember them and the people we met there.

Montserrat was a bit tough getting to since the wind wasn't in the direction it was forcasted to be but we made it.  We are anchored off of a cliff with the water rushing into little caves.  The bay is really deep and  blue and feels like I fell into a big blue hole surrounded by white birds with really long tails.  They are called the Tropicbird and are really pretty to watch fly.  We did a tour of the island with our guide Christian.  Driving through the rainforest towards the volcano was breathtaking.  It was when we arrived to the devistation of Plymoth and the surrounding areas.  It was amazing to see the effects of Mother Nature but sad to see so many dreams and lives wither down to a pile of ashes.   The current standings as we read was that the volcano was settling to sleep.  Well, that is not the case now.  The latest report is that it might errupt again.  Everyone is in a safe zone and is strictly enforcing the safe zone.  We have to be 2 miles off shore in the maritime exclusion zone.  After the tour we came back to a boat full of ash and soot.  So, I am sitting inside in the air with all the windows closed while Paul is slaving away cleaning the deck.  But, someone has to keep this website posted :). 

We are heading to Guadaloupe tomorrow and will get ready for our big visitiors coming in.  We are beside ourselves with the arrival of the Kolman group minus Jason :(.  Jason will have to see us in Aruba when we plan on stopping mid fall. 

Miss you all,

Michele 

 

Trinidad and onward to Tobago...

We originally thought we’d spend two weeks prepping the boat for our second season in the Caribbean but here we are now, 4 weeks later, still backed into a dock.  I am not complaining since we have air conditioning 24/7 and a pool for the kids to play in.  The only thing is that we quickly missed being able to jump off the back of the boat and go to a beach and play.  We have met some incredible people (the best part of this trip) with dreams and goals that are similar to ours.   We are still on the hunt to find cool parents cruising with kids.   

 

We will be heading out to Tobago early this week and will spend about a month there.  I really can’t wait to swim with the mantas (which Tobago is known for).  I know I will freak out when I see them next to me but I will try and remember to breath.  I can’t wait! 

 

Trinidad has been great to us but not others.  We have been able to fix and upgrade a few items on the boat.  The highest ticket item was the Stainless Steel Titanium chain.  This time we opted for 200 feet since we sometimes felt we ran short in deep water.  We just replaced our chain last November but in Guadeloupe we anchored in water that must have had strong chemicals on the sea bed and it ate away our chain. 

 

I have been restocking the boat with food, diapers (which are almost done) and goodies.  I found my day at the Market quite an eye opener…  The first section is Seafood, then Pork and Beef and finally Chicken.  For anyone who has shopped in an outdoor market for fresh food will know what I am talking about….But it is the whole animal there, guys.  They have all the parts for sale, which would you like?  The smell is a bit hard to inhale at 6:30am but you just follow along with the locals and buy your stuff.  One whole Carite (Cero Mackerel) for 1.50 per pound.   5 pounds of Jumbo shrimp for 5 bucks per pound.  Whole filet mingon at 6 pounds for 3.50 per pound.  I will pass up the big cow heart that is just lying there, thank you very much!  I refuse to get the chicken since they are sitting there in a basket for you to pick.  Sorry guys can’t pick a live animal to be plucked for dinner.  I will go to the store where I didn’t see the face that went with the legs.  Ah, finally done with that section.  Off to the beautiful veggies and open air.  I could spend my whole time there just looking at how perfectly everything was placed on the tables and the colors.  My backpack is starting to get VERY heavy but there is the Curry guy.  Wow, fresh curry that smells out of this world.  I will take a big baggie for $1.50.   All done, I did it!       

 

I am glad a got a taste of market shopping because from what I read it only gets, hum, shall I say, “Better”?  I think they mean more gruesome.  I will have to toughen up the skin a little more.  

 

See you in Tobago!

 

Michele, Paul, Seanna and Merric

 

 

One Year!

  We have marked our one year anniversary of our adventure.  I can sum it us as the first year of marriage.  We had our ups and downs and adjustment stage.  I can tell you that it wasn’t exactly as I planned it to be and have just started to finally get into the grove of things.  People often ask me what I miss about home.  My answer always changes depending on my moods.  So, sometimes it’s family and friends other times it can be a decent grocery store and then of course I miss Starbucks frappacino on a hot day.  For example; the grenadines were great for beaches, snorkeling and beautiful anchorages but extremely remote so I could barley find food to eat.  After a month of living with what we where able to purchase at a 7-eleven type store I was ready for something more.  Only one person can live off frozen whole chicken and canned ham for so long.  Oh, that is another thing I miss Steak.  We have not seen a decent cut of steak in months.  Watch out Houston’s Steak house here we come. Haahaha.  We also miss dropping the kids off at Grandmas and going out to Dinner alone.  We sure can’t get that out here.  Although, we do have our special friends Chuck and Pam on S/V Helen Louise who will take our kids any day of the week, but we don’t want to impose too often. 

 

The second most popular question I get all the time is what has been my favorite spot.  Another tough question to answer since it can be complex.  For “Party time” I would defiantly say the Virgin Islands.  There is no better place to get drunk, enjoy the sites and great anchorages.  For Eco-tourism, hands down, bar none, Dominica is the place and this goes hand in hand with Seacat as your guide.  I would recommend anyone who loves nature from the mountains to the sea (diving) that this a stop before you die.  I plan on making this a place I need to come back to and spend more time.  Now, If you like to eat, any of the French Islands will surpass any of your wildest dreams and they have nice views at the beach too. (If you know what I meanJ).  The one island that gave us a little bit of everything we could desire is Guadeloupe.  They had rainforest, waterfalls, great diving, swamp tours, excellent beaches, wonderful food and the people where great.  Can’t go wrong there!  The one island we didn’t enjoy but also didn’t give it a chance was St. Vincent.  For what they lack the Grenadines made up for it big time.   St. Lucia was nice for being able to just jump off the back of your boat and snorkel into paradise. 

 

It was also coincidental that Annie planned her third trip with us this year right on our anniversary.  She was part of the original crew and left with us from Ft. Lauderdale.  She can, first hand, tell you the adjustment phase I had to overcome.  She hacked it with us for over a month and still don’t know how she did it.  We surprised her with a couple bottles of sparkling wine when she arrived.

 

So, Do I want to come home?  No!  I am enjoying what the world has to offer.  I would have never seen this much of the world if I stayed home.  There is so much more to out to see and I want to do as much as I can.  Last night I went to go see the Leather-back Turtles nest on the beach of Trinidad.  Watching this huge 700+ lbs Turtle lug herself up the beach and occasionally turn back around because she didn’t like the spot.  Once she found her little spot and start digging a hole for her babies that she will never see. On this night we could see up to 6 Leather-back come up and we where only on the beach for one hour.  Our guide said he counted over 90 in a night.  One in every 1000 hatchlings live to adult hood.  Next time you see a plastic bag floating in the water try your hardest to make a point to pull it out.  Leather-back are in danger of extinction and eat jellyfish.  They mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and die.  Ever since I started this trip Turtles have followed me and even popped up during hard times to wish me well.  I now have a large fondness for these amazing sea creatures.  To thing that once they hatch from the beach and set out to sea, 25 years later and many miles behind them, they will come back to the same beach and start laying their eggs.  What an internal GPS, eh?        

 

 

Our Summer Vacation back to the states

 

We have returned from our vacation to the US and Canada.  What a blast it was to hang out with Family and Friends.  It was easy since we had two huge family reunions, back to back, in Canada.  We did everything from hikes to lazy rivers and eat to sleep.  Our days were full since the sun light appeared at 4:30 am and set well after 9pm.  Check out the load of new pic's in the Photo and kids photo section.

 

The day I said goodbye was a hard one for me but as soon as the mountains and coastline of Trinidad were in view a smile spread across my face.  The kids were thrilled to see Blueprint Match and both ran down to their rooms to play with all of their toys.  Seanna was giddy and Merric kept asking about all his stuff.  Unpacking our 80lbs luggages was a breeze and all was put away by the evening.  We all crashed around 7pm to catch up on all our missed sleep while away. 

 

I never slept so good…. Until, the dock master came over and asked us if all was well.  “Yeah, everything was great”, Paul said.  Well, last night there was a hold up in the marina and the guard was held at gun point while they robbed a boat of their engines.  “Oh, great!”  Then he told us about our sail that unraveled during a storm which they could not get in for 2 days.   

 

So, that was it.  Other than the minor issue with the sail, the Blueprint Match held up great.  I am happy being home and now have cured my homesickness.  We have decided to stay for about two weeks, or more, in Trinidad to fix a few things and just get situated before we head over to Tobago and then westward.

 

A special note to all my family and friends.   What a great time we had together.  Can’t wait to see you next year! 

 

For more pictures of Annie's trip to Grenada check out her site: 
http://web.mac.com/amd2/iWeb/Site   There are more pics then what I posted on my site.   She focus on the incredible island we discovered on Grenadas windward side. 

 

Until next update,

 

The Grego's

 

 

 

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