Stravaig's Travels

Panama Marquesas

2011-11-04T11:11:00.011-06:00

One of the many beautiful sunsets during our crossing

Panama - Marquesas

We decided to make a break from our busy lives in Panama by first calling into a remote part of the Perlas Islands for a well earned rest and some relaxation before the long voyage ahead of us.

After a pleasant two weeks anchored off Pedro Gonzales Island, we set out for HIva Oa on Sunday the 17th of July 2011.

As feared, the first couple of weeks were extremely difficult as we encountered difficult and adverse winds and currents and decisions were constantly made to go south or go west and anything in between. Our tactics for this part of the voyage turned out to be not particularly good and we put quite a few extra miles on the journey trying to outwit Mother Nature!

What we did achieve in that first couple of weeks was an escape from the thunderstorms which plague Central America.

our passenger for about 10 days!

We began to feel extremely relieved that we had spent so much time around such storms without being struck by lightning.

Many of the cruising boats close by were not so lucky.

The principal damage was always to their electrical systems which often costs thousands of dollars to replace.

Each day during our voyage we spoke on the SSB radio with the other boats that were making the trip across to the South Pacific at the same time.

Our friend Bill on Galena, was a week or so ahead of us as was Dylan on Uluwatu. Columbus, our Aussie friends Fitz and Trish left the Perlas the day before us but soon increased the lead and even caught up with Galena eventually.

We all motored a fair bit in order to escape the difficult area between Panama and the far side of Galapagos.

Our little group had decided not to stop to see Darwin’s famous islands as we could not afford the high prices they charged for heavily restricted visits. Our feeling is that Ecuador has turned the Galapagos into a tourist trap.

New moon

During our radio schedules we learned that Equa Regis, another boat we had met in Panama with Francois, a Frenchman on board, had broken a spreader and gone into Manta in Colombia for repairs. He then went south of the Galapagos as did Uluwatu and they made very good time indeed. We went north of the Galapagos and our trip was slower.

The rest of our voyage to the Marquesas was fairly uneventful apart from crossing the Equator on Tuesday the 2^nd of August at longitude 100.14W!!

We approached Hiva Oa in strong winds and big seas and enjoyed the spectacular views as we sailed along the rocky shore.

Our first view of Hiva Oa

Atuona is the port of entry to the southern Marquesas islands and we got our anchor down by 14.00 local time and our friends soon clambered aboard to welcome us to the island!

Entering Atuona anchorage

After a good nights rest we went ashore to complete the formalities at the Gendarmerie.

On our way to the gendarmerie

Whilst in the village of Atuona we took the opportunity to visit the new Gauguin museum and after shopping (French baguettes and pamplemousse!!!)

Our local diet

we had a very expensive Hinano beer with Fitz and Bill, after which we managed to hitch a ride to the cemetery where Gauguin and Jacques Brel are both buried.

More modern than 37 years ago!At the Gauguin MuseumThirsty!Gauguin's grave looking over the bay

Our driver turned out to be a guy Jeff had briefly met 37 years ago!

He is well known to yachties and now runs a taxi service.

The island has changed quite a lot since Jeff was here last; Atuona was a primitive village, now it is modernized with good roads and shops.

Stravaig at anchor

Stravaig's and Galena's dinghies

They practice every day, already for the festival in December

View of the high mountain in Hiva Oa

Our friend Hernan trying to row through the surf, yes, he did get wet!!

The bay was rolly and uncomfortable and we went around the corner and anchored in the beautiful Han Moe Noa bay on the island of Tahuata. Even this anchorage had changed a bit: a family had build a copra drying shed and strong a barbed wire fence around it. They did not live on the site, so it was still effectively uninhabited. The swell was still quite big but we managed to get ashore and find plenty of lemons and pamplemousse!!

Hana Moe Noa

Pamplemousse are oversized, thick skinned grapefruits with their own distinctive taste, very, very nice!

We were keen to move on to Fatu Hiva and we left Hana Moe Noa but bad weather around the end of the island send us scuttling back. The next day we decided to go to Hapatoni, the 2^nd biggest village on Tahuata, so we could try and leave from there for Fatu Hiva.

Resolution Bay on Tahuata

We anchored with Bill on Galena who had joined us and went ashore to explore the village.

So far all the people we met had been very friendly and here was no exception.

Copra drying shed

We bought some things in a very small shop, talked to some people and were told to come ashore the next day as there was a big artisan fair with free food and dancing etc.

The Aranui, a small cruise ship from Papeete was due to arrive, with about 150 tourists.

They also told us a safer place to anchor and we managed to re-anchor before dark.

On shore where we anchored

The next day we were all rowing ashore, which was a long way, when a landing craft showed up and offered us a ride to the village wharf! We went aboard, the dinghies were secured on the side and we went ashore!

Captain of the landingcraft

The landing craft was for transporting the tourist ashore form the cruise ship.

It was a very nice day, with lots of dancing

This man has half his body done with traditional tattoos

and music

and a very interesting selection of local artwork:

Carved wooden paddles

All made out of bone

woodcarvings, bone carvings and jewelry.

Kids in Hapatoni

There was large variety of local foods laid out which we were invited to share. A lot of new and interesting flavors and all good!

Tourists!

The plan was to try again to go Fatu Hiva the next morning early: if the weather permitted. If not, we would return to Hana Moe Noa and Bill would carry on to Tahiti. And the weather didn’t co-operate, so we went back and Bill was on his way to Tahiti.

We spend another 3 days in Hana Moe Noa before returning to Hiva Oa to check if our other friends had arrived yet.

We got word from them to say that they had gone on to Nuku Hiva with a few repair issues to deal with.

So we headed to Fatu HIva on Saturday the 1^st of October, were we anchored in the spectacular bay of Hanavave.

Hanavave

We were relieved to see Wadda, a cruising boat, anchored there as we had been asked by friends to keep an eye out for them since they were overdue from the Galapagos.

Stravaig in Hanavave, picture courtesy of Wadda

It turned out that Mo and Margaret had had a difficult trip with rigging damage that had which had caused the loss of their radio antenna and rendered them incommunicado.

One of the strange rocks in Fatu Hiva, this one a womans face

Scenery on a walk to the waterfall

Waterfall

The track to the waterfall was easy to follow with these stone markers

drying coconuts

Fatu Hiva is the island from where Jeff had taken 10 young men to play soccer in Ua Pou 37 years ago!!

He was hoping we would find some of them still around and he was not disappointed!!!

Hita, now a woodcarver

and some of his work

Of the 10 young men, we met with 6, all in their 50’s now, married with children and some even grand children!

Cristian and family

They all remembered him and we were inundated with Marquesian hospitality.

Madeline

We reciprocated as best we could but it was impossible to match their generosity.

Sopi and family

All of them were successful in various ways and we exchanged life stories over many a good meal.

Gilles and his wife on board Stravaig

Jeff still had some photographs of his previous visit and we took the computer ashore to show them. The guys were quite excited about the pictures as they showed their parents and grandparents, none of which their own children had ever seen and they had no other pictures.

Augustine

Since there is no internet yet in Fatu Hiva, there is only one young boy with a computer and we put all the pictures on a flash drive for him. Every one else then appeared with their own flash drives to get copies which they could display via USB ports on their TV’s.

What a change in local technology!!!

house in Fatu Hiva

When we left the boat was loaded down with 3 stalks of bananas,

about 20 pamplemousse, (which are very heavy!), oranges, lemons, fish and half a wild pig! Also numerous carvings, herbs, tapa cloth and black pearls. We were also given a little bundle of herbs, grass and flowers, which the girls and women put in their hair instead of using perfume; it is called”fleur d’amour” and smells wonderful! Part of the smell comes from Vetiver, a very hardy grass used against erosion of the soil, but here they just use it for the aromatic root.

We were sad to leave after 10 days of a wonderful time!

At this time we had not been able to find out the rules and regs for visas that would apply to us and the local opinion was that we would need to be in Papeete to extend our permits. This had really caused us to cut our visit short in Fatu Hiva, so we set off for the northern group of islands, en-route we stopped briefly-yet again- in Hana Moe Noa, considered a visit to Hanamanu on Hiva Oa, but found that the wind and waves would not allow safe anchorage in the bay., so we continued on to Nuku Hiva. First we went into the bay of Tai Pi Vai, the bay where Herman Melville was held captive by cannibals. We knew that our friends John and Zan on Demara were anchored there.

We had a great reunion and the next day we went ashore for a walk up to the Tiki site.

A long and uphill climb,

it was not very easy to find but thankfully a local gentleman let the way.

It was the same exactly as Jeff remembered it from his previous visit, except that the site was now far less overgrown and looked well cared for.

Zan, John, Jeff and our guide

a big pai-pai

ancient Tiki

En route to the Tiki site we saw the preparations of a new ceremonial site or Pai Pai for the upcoming Polynesian Festival of dance, arts and crafts etc.

This festival will host, Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand Maoris, Samoans, Tongans, Cook Islands and all the islands of French Polynesia for their 4-yearly festival in December.

We have decided to stay for this festival, having found out that our permits will allow us to stay in the Marquesas throughout the upcoming hurricane season, meaning till the end of March.

We are now anchored in Taiohae, a bay a few miles from Tai Pi, which is the main center of population of the island. Part of the festival will be held here and two sites are being constructed.

We are being treated to the practice sessions of the local dancers and musicians every night.

Miranda and Petra will be joining us here on the 19^th of December to spend 3 weeks with us in the islands, despite every effort they were not able to be with us for the festival, so we will have to document it for them!

Looking forward to seeing them and showing them around here!

And of course I had to put on a picture of my tattoo! I have always wanted one from here and finally got it in Taiohae, I am very happy with it!

No, it did not hurt!

Curacao Panama City Part 2

2011-06-28T16:30:00.014-05:00

girls ashore to buy molas

We snorkeled, walked the beach, had BBQ’s, did washing in a well on a small island and generally unwound after the hustle and bustle of Curacao and Cartagena.

music evening on Reach

Chichime

Bill

We then moved of down the coast of Panama, stopping briefly in Portobello, a fortified town founded during the time that the Spanish god ships were assembling on that coast. From there we headed down to Colon, which is on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal.

Since this was our second time with our own boat doing the canal transit, we expected it to be a lot more enjoyable and it certainly was!

Galena on her way to the first lock

Our good friends Gil and Lexi, who have a sister ship called Sunday, came through from Panama city together with Buzz and Maureen of Encore to be our line handlers.

Gil and Lexi

Buzz and Maureen

Gil and Lexi we met in San Diego and we sailed down to La Paz with them; Buzz and Maureen were friends who Jeff had first met in American Samoa in 1978!

Such a wonderful thing to see them all again!

In the anchorage waiting the day of our transit we met and helped to organize some other boats and one called Detour with an Argentinian skipper, Hernan, went through the locks tied to us, while our friend Bill on Galena was tied on our other side. Each of these boats had 4 line handlers who had their own boats waiting to get through and gain experience before their own transits.

Our advisor

Hernan

Bill

Jeff

Bill had 2 French skippers and some mutual friends of ours from Hakuna Matata, a Singapore couple Yi Lin and Vincent, whom we first met in Cartagena.

Bill with Yi lin and Vincent

In the first lock

The men who throw you the lines

All in all there were 6 people on our boat, 10 from the other 2 boats and after passing through the first set of locks in the late afternoon of Wednesday the 1^st of June, all three vessels were tied up overnight to a large floating buoy in the Gatun Lake.

locks closing

our position in the lock

The 16 people gravitated to our deck where a great party ensued and too much alcohol was consumed and nobody went to bed till about 02.00!

left overs after the party

The next morning at 05.45 the 3 advisors (pilots) from the Panama Canal Company came on board and we all set of on the 40 mile trip through the lake.

daybreak in the Gatun Lake

5 minutes later our engine overheated and we then spend an hour or so finding and fixing the problem.

Our advisor was extremely sympathetic and allowed us to continue once the problem was sorted and he did not report the incident to the canal authorities which might well have cost us a great deal of money. They fine yachts heavily for holding up canal business.

two captains

still a bit apprehensive

traffic

a big dredge in the canal

a Dutch boat going the other way

Somehow we all ended up at the next set of locks at about the same time and we had an uneventful decent to the Pacific through the Pedro Miquel and Miraflores locks.

In the Pacific

A quick stop was made at the Balboa Yachtclub to leave Buzz and Maureen at their boat and to drop of our 12 motor tires and 4 special long lines. The tires are mandatory fenders that all yachts must use during transits and the 4 control lines that almost no yachts have their own on board.

So the lines and tires are constantly shuttled from one end of the canal to the other as each small boat transits to or from the Pacific.

A couple of agents arrange paperwork for the transits and make quite a good business renting out these tires and lines.

From the yacht club the last of our energies were used to motor through rough seas to the Las Brisas anchorage.

The rain started as we left Balboa and was quite torrential.

An hour later in the anchorage Jose was putting down our anchor wearing only her swimsuit! The rain continued to fall so heavily that she was almost invisible from the cockpit!

We set the anchor and waited for the rain to stop enough so we could put the dinghy down and take Gil and Lexi back to their own boat.

This was the end of an exhausting day and we happily fell into bed.

The moral of this story should be don’t party till 02.30 in the morning in the Gatun Lake!!!

For the next few days we were visited by our friends Chuck and Sharon who have recently build a lovely home near El Volcan in central Panama. They took us all over the place with Chuck giving running commentaries on the country side and its history. Chuck had been a Canal Zone police man as a young man, is a Panamanian citizen and knows the country intimately.

Chuck and Sharon

The locks seen from the top

A friends boat with Bill as line handler

They took us the the Miraflores Canal museum and described in detail their many voyages together on the ship Ancon, which was the first ship to pass through the canal. It took Panamanian residents up to New Orleans every year or two to give them a break from the tropical heat.

We also went up to the Gamboa resort next to the canal, overlooking part of the Smithsonian nature reserve…….. Absolutely beautiful!

They came by again the following morning with a car load of fruit and vegetables for us before returning home.

Since then we have busied ourselves with preparations for our 4000 miles trip to the Marquesas Islands!

Galena at anchor in Las Brisas

Thunderstorm over Panama City

Pelican on our bow, lovely, but very messy!

Columbus, our other friends we met in Cartagena

We know that the first part of this trip will be made frustrating as we shall be in the influence of the doldrums where there is little wind and lots of squalls.

Once in the South East trades things should get better.

Our estimated time for this trip is 4 to 5 weeks at sea.

The next entry therefore will be from the Marquesas!

Curacao to Panama Part 1

2011-06-28T15:42:00.009-05:00

Here we are back on board after having had a wonderful time in Holland and Germany. It is quite a rude awakening changing from holiday mode back to boat repair mode and at the same time acquiring re-acclimatization to the tropics after the snow and ice of Germany’s winter!

Our very small Xmas tree with angel.

In the two weeks following our holiday we managed to complete all the work below the waterline and after a lot of stops and starts the two rinky-dink old cranes managed to get us safely and virtually unscathed back in the water.

Despite all our efforts however to ensure that the newly positioned engine and drive train were in full working order the salt water pump failed catastrophically within a few days of our launch.

New Years Eve was coming up and our friend Wil who is an airhostess with the Dutch Martinair, came to our rescue by bringing in a new pump from Holland!

Along with the pump also came a first rate bottle of Scotch with which to celebrate the New Year.

Now it was time to rip of the most part of the old cockpit cover, the idea being to construct a

safer, more comfortable and more waterproof state of affairs.

It took a lot of planning and fiberglass work but after a month or so the job was done and on the first of March we finally sailed for Cartagena, Colombia.

Curacao

Ladies dressed up for the horse parade in Willemstad, Curacao

Hats were a big issue during the parade.

We arrived in Cartagena on the 5^th of March after a pleasant but fairly eventful trip.

The main event became apparent when the engine room bilge pump signaled it was busy.

Water was coming in very slowly through the new steering cable openings in the transom which in hindsight should have been made smaller then they were!

We pumped it all out and mopped it all up and went in to Cartagena to rendez-vous with a lot of old friends.

dinghies behind our boat during a full moon party

After one day with Kate and DJ of Hello World, they flew out for a 6 week stay in Atlanta, Georgia and we took advantage of this situation and asked them to bring back our Kindle E-Books for us.

The time in Cartagena was spent well! We completed our new windows in the main cabin and we are now able to see through all 10 of them where previously their old Plexiglas was long since opaque. Of course being able to see out in the daytime means that others can see in at night and now we are obliged to be more careful about our state of dress!

After some museum visits, sight seeing and shopping, lots of pizzas and ice-cream and lots of stimulating conversations with new friends around the “ table of wisdom” ( where cruisers sit and drink and tell lies to one another about storms and fish and love affairs!) and last but not least Jeff’s many, many visits to the dentist, we eventually tore ourselves away and after a quick visit to our old haunt in Cholon Bay, 20 miles down the coast from the city, we set out on May the 3^rd for the San Blas Islands with heavy hearts and Jeff’s new smile!

some of the lovely buildings in Cartagena

The San Blas are a beautiful group of atoll islands and their surrounding reef systems. The water is clear and blue and the local Kuna Indians are delightful.

Jeff and Bill on board Stravaig

A typical Kuna dwelling

We of course bought our fair share of the molas for which their culture is famous. These handmade embroidered pieces of art are traditionally used by the women as front and back pieces pf their blouses. They still wear them, but also make money by selling them to the tourists.

local fishermen

Jose getting a handmade anklet put on

Trish being dressed up in traditional Kuna costume

local fishing boat

Most of our time in the San Blas was spend in the company of Columbus, Fitz and Trish from Australia and Galena, Bill from the States.

Trish and Fitz

Having a great time!

2010-11-02T13:38:00.014-06:00

CURACAO

A long time since our last entry!

Whilst in Culebra and expecting visitors to come and stay, we took the opportunity to completely make over the port hand side of our main cabin.

Without this enterprise our poor visitors would have had nowhere to sleep!

We began the project by blanking out the side windows, then re cutting them to what we think is a more pleasing shape.

The head liners and insulation were installed and all the windows were re-glazed.

Everything was duly painted and now looks clean and inhabitable.

The aft part of the main cabin on the port side we completely gutted and created a very pleasant chart table with storage shelves behind, the most of which being closed by sliding frosted Plexiglas doors.

Behind all of this a large storage cupboard was retained for visitors bags etc. and other plunder!

Beside the chart table a new seat was build onto the back of the settee and a computer table now faces the seat.

Time for the visitors!!

Miranda, Jose’s sister and partner Petra arrived for a three week visit.

They were our first real visitors to stay on the boat and we were all hoping it would turn out ok; the trimaran being quite a lot smaller then the old catamaran, not as much privacy for visitors who sleep in the main cabin.

But of course all went extremely well, we are very much used to each other as they have spend lots of holidays with us before in Portugal in the house and on the boat.

The weather was fine, we did lots of snorkeling and swimming, some fishing and sailing. We spend a day touring in Puerto Rico and visited the rain forest, where, yes it did rain quite a lot!

Petra and Jeff made a trip by ferry to Fajardo on the mainland to pick up our new dinghy, build by Kenny, our good friend from Florida.

It arrived safely, all wrapped in bubble wrap and it was proudly towed back to Stravaig with a beaming Jose enjoying the ride.

For those interested in the dinghy, it is a St. Barbara 3 meter, designed by Jay Kantola back in the 1970’s.

We had the same design on our old trimaran but we had sold it after the loss of our boat in Gibraltar.

Since then we have always hankered after owing another one.

It is wonderfully stable and rows quite well and soon we shall rig it for sailing.

Kenny of course did a wonderful job of building it!

This is how she looked after 4 weeks in the water!

Regrettably we had to say goodbye to all our friends in Culebra and head south to Curacao, generally considered to be a safe haven during the hurricane season. (June until December)

saying goodbye to Culebra

It was a very pleasant sail down and we stopped at The Aves for a week before heading over to Curacao by the end of July.

The Aves are a group of islands belonging to Venezuela, uninhabited except for a fishing camp and hundreds of birds.

The water was clear and blue and our stay there seemed like a well earned rest.

We came into Spanish Water early morning and spotted our friends Peter and Inge on Baerne who came over to welcome us immediately.

Later that day our friends John and Susan on Demara arrived as well and anchored close by.

We had not seen them since we sold the catamaran in Trinidad and are looking forward to spending some time with them here and in Panama.

Steve and Pat whom we met in Trinidad and Margarita are here in Curacao building a 60ft catamaran of Steve’s design.

Whilst visiting with them they suggested that we approach the owner of their “boatyard” to see if he would be prepared to haul us out of the water since the other boatyards could not lift us.

bridge they had to open in Willemstad for us specially!

It was a 5 week delay anchored in the little bay off the yard with daily promises to haul us tomorrow!

Just as we were completely out of patience they turned up on a Sunday morning and hooked up two cranes as we brought the boat in sideways within inches of the rocky shore.

They made a wonderful effort but discretion being the better part of valor, they chickened out and put us back in the water since their cranes, which were poorly positioned were struggling.

A new plan was made and they returned on the following Wednesday, when they slowly but successfully got us into the yard! A very scary time was had by all!

Once in the yard we started work on various repairs including making and installing a new rudder.

Since this rudder has a fixed skeg portion we decided to relocate the engine so that the drive shaft would be able to remove by angling it past the skeg.

For sailing people that also meant making a new stern tube.

This we fitted with a conventional stuffing box to replace the comparatively high tech shaft seal which was threatening us with a catastrophic failure!

We shall feel much more relaxed about the whole business what that piece of kit off the boat.

The new rudder is considerably larger then the under slung spade it replaces and is hung on the transom, improvement in directional stability and ease of steering should be very noticeable.

A trim tab has been added to the back and is operated by the wind vane so the auxiliary rudder we used previously is also surplus to requirement.

Some water had been sneaking into the boat in a mystical fashion and we discovered that its distribution was via termite tunnels, damage done years back, which were in the under wing plywood and the bottom of the main cross arm.

This was mostly rain water entering via a deck hatch and depending which way the boat was leaning it either ended up in the starboard float or in the main hull.

We tracked down the mystery and cut out the offending section and returned all to a safer and dryer state.

In between all our jobs, we had some good times: our friends on Momo, Barbara and Wolfgang arrived in “our “little bay to have their mast taken down and do some work.

They also needed to do some repairs on their dinghy and worked here with us for about 5 weeks. We had days of working really hard, then spent the evenings for dinner either aboard Momo or Stravaig to relax.

we built a dinghy dock for the time Momo was here in our bay( Wolfgang did the building!)

They have now left to go to Bonaire for a couple of weeks with their visitors from Germany but we hope to see more of them in the San Blas islands later this year.

We also had 2 visits from Wil, who flew here working with Martinair and spend a couple of days each time. Rented a car, toured the island, had nice dinners and Jose was allowed to spend two night in the hotel and enjoy long hot showers!!

Lots of our friends here, Emerald, Zeevonk, Baerne and Demara come to mind, came all the way here to our out of the way yard to help and encourage us to keep working!!

Steve has been incredibly helpful, with taking me shopping lots of times as there is no easy way here to get to shops at all.

We are looking at another few weeks of hard work before we can get back into the water.

Then it will be a matter of doing the necessary shopping for the trip to Cartagena and the San Blas and waiting for the right weather before we can leave.

Although nothing has been finalized, there is a strong possibility we will have company on the trip to Cartagena and maybe beyond as Evan, the son of the previous owners of Stravaig, has asked if he could do a trip with us to get some sailing experience.

Meanwhile we are looking forward to a trip to Holland to celebrate Jose’s parent’s 55^th wedding anniversary which will include the entire family staying in a large house in Germany for a week, will be wonderful to be able to spend time with everybody together!

2010-03-02T09:48:00.002-06:00

We are happy in Culebrita, working hard and having fun as well. Still together with our friends Robbie and Pete and Bob and Claudia.
We will be here till the hurricane season, then plan to go back to Curacao.
Here's what has happened since leaving Cartagena.

We made a decision to spend Christmas with Bob and Claudia ( S/V Flashback) in Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands.

Leaving Cartagena with the “promise” of a weather window of light winds and reduced current we sat of up the coast past Barranquilla with its dangerous river outflow of debris and on up to Santa Martha for a quick rest in Rodadero Beach.

Just around the corner of the coast from there lie the famous 5 Bays which offer good protected anchorages while we waited for favorable winds to carry us along the 120 mile stretch to Cabo de la Vela. We were unable to sail and were reduced to motoring into nearly 30 kts of wind with and adverse current. Eventually reaching Cabo de la Vela, we gratefully anchored under the protection of the cape. From there we bashed along the coast to Bahia Honda, a virtually unexplored bay in which we found shelter before attempting to round Punta Galinas, one of the most difficult upwind passages imaginable.

The currents are strong on the nose and we were lucky to only find about 30 to 35 kts of wind against us. To add to our discomfort we knew that we were on one of the most dangerous lee shores a yacht could encounter. Eventually the coast slipped away from us and the current eased and after an exhausting leg of the trip we arrived at Monjes del Sur.

This extraordinary place lies halfway between Punta Galinas, Colombia and Aruba. It consists of two barren rocks, one of which supports a Venezuelan coast guard station. Intriguingly they have built a stone causeway between the 2 rocks and on the leeward side have strung a rope a few meters behind the wall and also between the rocks. Mooring lines are attached to this rope which visiting fishing boats or yachts tie on to, there being room for 6 or 8 boats in total. We spend 2 anxious nights hanging there in howling wind, consolidating our strength and resolve to continue on to Aruba no matter what. We tried unsuccessfully to buy diesel fuel from the coast guard and other yachts and then upon asking a Venezuelan fishing boat if they had diesel to sell one of their deckhands swam a line over to us, got our jerry cans across to his boat and floated them back over to us. This topped off our tanks and to our amazement the captain refused any payment and was quite upset when a huge tuna fish he offered us had to be refused for lack of space in our fridge. What nice people!

We got out of MOnjes del Sur at dusk and after another terrible windward trip against 30 kts, current and high, confused seas, we got into Aruba where we were happy to stay for a few days in a calm anchorage. Aruba is rather Americanized but retains a bit of Dutch ness and is a place we would like to spend more time at as and when we go back across the Caribbean en route for the Panama Canal.

Aruba to Curacao was yet another thrash to windward and we got to the Spanish Water anchorage 3 hard weeks after leaving Cartagena.

Pete and Robbie were there to great us as was Baerne, a Dutch boat we had spend time with in Cholon.

The time in Curacao was mostly spend with stocking up on Dutch liquorice and cheese, items not available in South America!

Pete and Robbie, who by now had made their way via Jamaica, D.R., Martinique and Trinidad back to Curacao also wanted to go to Culebra for Christmas.

They needed to leave promptly because their visas had expired, so off we went, motoring due East past the southern tip of Bonaire towards the Aves Islands. The weather deteriorated and the big seas and strong winds on the nose combined again with the current slowed us so completely that we headed back to Bonaire and picked up a mooring which is compulsory ( there is no anchoring in Bonaire) and decided to try again another day if and when the weather improved.

That turned out not to be for another 2 weeks, which we spend exploring the island, snorkeling and relaxing.

A helpful cold front blew of the continental USA and caused a reduction in trade winds in the eastern Caribbean, a golden opportunity to sail north-east for Culebra.

The trip itself was upwind but pleasant enough especially when compared to all that had gone before.

Just before arriving in Culebra, Jeff crossed his track and became a fully paid-up circumnavigator, after 30 years probably the slowest ever!

We arrived the 24^th of December in the morning ( brinkmanship!)

In Culebra Bob and Claudia had every thing already organized for Christmas and after joyful reunions we enjoyed a great Christmas beach party with them, PR2 and other friends.

The time till New Year was spent having dinner on one or other of the boats, doing small chores, shopping and snorkeling. Although the weather was quite stormy for a few days, it cleared away mostly in time for a New Years Eve party on Stravaig, where a good time was had by all and Jeff piped in the New Year!

The last couple of months have been spend snorkeling, fishing, dinners and evenings with card games with friends and also lots of hard work to get the rest of the projects done, of which there are still quite a few!

But we are slowly working our way through them and the boat is looking nicer and nicer. We will stay here a bit longer, next stop will be Curacao again where we might haul out to do the bottom next.

Jeff " destroying" the cockpit seating and finding some old termite damage that was down as far as the outside paint on the underwing!

All this is now looking good!

Cockpit before the new seats are done.

Our geckos having a fight???????

We were going to have lunch here on our day around the island in Bonaire!

One of the many beautiful iguanas in Bonaire.

Just a little bird.

Our backyard view in Culebra, Dakiti Bay.

Pink flamengos in Bonaire.

The houses that the slaves lived in with 6 to a house in Bonaire!

Fences made from cactus, guaranteed to keep intruders out!

And here you can see how small the houses are!

Puerto Rico

2010-02-11T05:49:00.002-06:00

Here we are in Puerto Rico!
Most of you will have read our New Years letter, but I will do a short version next week.
We arrived in Culebra, Spaninsh Virgins, the day before Christmas, together with our friends Robbie and Pete from PR2 after a hard trip from Curacao.
Just in time for a big Christmas dinner with old friends Claudia and Bob from Flashback and a big group of cruisers!
We have been here ever since, anchored behind the reef and are having a wonderful time.
We ae now working hard again on the boat to try and finally get all the big jobs out of the way whilst also doing nice things like snorkeling and visiting with other cruisers.
Pictures will have to wait till next week also when computer comes back from service!

2009-12-19T11:57:00.002-06:00

It's been a very long time since our last update!

We want to wish everybody a wonderful Xmas and great New Year!

The rest of the story will have to wait a few more weeks, but be patient, it will be there soon.

Bocas del Toro and Colombia

2009-08-28T15:00:00.008-05:00

Well, finally managed to get some pictures on the blog!

Jeff still demolishing the old galley, we took a lot of weight of the boat and they kindly burned it in the marina for us, the good bits of wood were rescued ofcourse and dissappeared very quickly!

An empty space, most of the new galley was designed, so all we had to do was put it back together. Good thing we both enjoy all those jobs most of the time.

The beginning of the support/divisions.

Well, you cant eat ashore every day, so we put the stove in the cockpit and I managed to get some pretty good meals from there, teaches you how little space you really need. Although now the galley is finished , its very nice to have more and better space!

New countertop with some of the essentials, fruit , avocados and wine!

All done, what a pleasure to cook there, what a difference with before, at least I have some counterspace now and proper storage. The cupboards are the next stage, but we are now waiting for epoxy etc, the repairs we had to do a few months ago needed all we got, so we are relaxing at the moment in a lovely bay about 20 miles from Cartagena where the water is clear and we can swim and snorkel. There are few other boats here, its very safe and beautiful. Once a month we need to go back to Cartagena for our visas and to do some shopping, then after a couple of days in the "big" city we come back here.

These pictures are taken in Providencia, where we spend a couple of weeks with our friends Robin and Pete on PR2,.

On the way to a beach, where we ate fresh fish and watched a two horse race!!

Iguana in Providencia

The bay where we are anchored now, seen from a friends house.

These are our pets, we have 3 of them on the boat and they provide lots of entertainment!

The bay again at sunset.

Cartagena with the old city in the background.

We will be here till after the hurricane season, so there wont be a lot of news for a couple of months as we will be up and down between Cartagena and our bay. We will do a couple of short trips to the other islands here, the Rosarios, and we will start some projects again once we have new supplies to work with.

Thats it for now!

Cartagena

2009-07-20T15:09:00.002-05:00

During the last few weeks in Bocas del Toro, we managed to get hold of sufficient materials, plywood etc. with which we were able to reconstruct the galley.
The stove was moved nearer the cockpit, the entire countertop was widened with cupboards and drawers below and a sparkling new sink installed and at last pressure water!
During the construction miraculously Jose was able to continue producing great meals despite the fact that the stove was jury rigged outside in the cockpit! No mean feat!
All in all a successful and worthwhile project.
Once completed we loaded stores, diesel fuel and water and set of belatedly for Florida.
Our first stop was the beautiful island of Providencia, off the coast of Niguaragua .
This island is part of Colombia however and we were delighted to find the local people kind and friendly and we never felt as welcome as this in the rest of Central America.
Our friends Pete and Robbie on PR2 had sailed from Curacao and were there in Providencia to meet up with us after long time no see ( about 3 years since we last saw them in Trinidad!)
Just before continuing our journey north we heard weather reports suggesting that early hurricanes might be imminent in the northern Caribbean, so we opted to head to Jamaica after much discussion.. So much for all the plans and long shopping lists for the States!
In the course of trying to get north against strong winds on the nose, we found that we had developed a leak between the wing deck and the main hull.
So we were forced to head down wind to the nearest haul out yard which was near Colon in Panama, to check was what wrong and do repairs where necessary..
Pete and Robbie continued bravely on and have since arrived safely in Trinidad, via Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Martinique!
Whilst hauled out in Shelter Bay Marina, ( the same one as in December), we constructed 2 new deck hatches which were always planned for but served a secondary purpose at this time since through them we had much better access to effect our repairs.
The boat is back in good shape!
We set of for Curacao, with the intention of going east along the southern coast of the Caribbean and visited Isla Naranjo, Portobello and Linton and from there went straight to the Rosarios, a group of islands just 25 miles south of Cartagena.
Our friends Kate and DJ from Hello World were there and we enjoyed a few days with them before going into Cartagena to check in.
What a wonderful surprise to find it was clean and friendly and the old walled city breathtakingly beautiful!
We have not seen a lot of the city yet, as we don’t feel very comfortable leaving the boat alone with all the squalls this time of year. But since the plan is to come back here after Curacao on our way back to Panama, we will have time to do the sight seeing then
The anchorage in Cartagena leaves a lot to be desired as the holding ground is poor. When squalls occur boats seem to drag al over the place.
A further problem seems to be that the barnacles grow faster here then anywhere else!
We have found a lovely, safe anchorage nearby in which to spend our time, only visiting the main harbor for supplies as needed. . At the moment we are doing more projects and are working to improve the cockpit.
Its nice being in the other bay where we can work, but also swim and snorkel!
At Club Nautico, the local marina, we met more old friends.
Brad and Gloria of Kindred Spirit we last saw in Barbados 5 years ago when we were there to apply for our American visas on Stravaig the Catamaran .
They plan to leave their boat in Cartagena and return to the US for a couple of months.
So with any luck we will see them when they will return as we shall delay our trip to Curacao until the end of the hurricane season. ( November).

PS. The pics will come next time, cant get this computer to upload them! Sorry!!!

2009-07-07T11:30:00.002-05:00

We are in Cartagena! What a wonderful place! No, no pics yet, not a long story either. We have been busy organizing supplies, like wood and fiberglass so we can go to one of the outer islands and do some work and swim and snorkel as well. We will also write the update since Colon, have been lazy I think!
But all is well, we are really enjoying Colombia, its a very nice and friendly country, contrary to all the bad stories, so far we think its wonderful. More soon, dont give up on the stories yet!!

Back in Panama

2009-06-01T21:17:00.002-05:00

hello to you all!

Its been a while since our last update, we have had some trouble with the boat, but hope to be at sea again as from tomorrow. On the way from Providencia to Jamaica we found some water in the main cabin and suspected it to come from the underwing hull connection. Not good, so decided the only safe thing to do was to go downwind and try to get to Colon, Shelter Bay Marina where we hauled out in December. Not our favorite place, but no other options that we could think of.
it was a good decision, we did have a crack in the underwing and after 17 days of hard work she is as good as new and we are ready to try and make our way to Curacao where we hope to spend the hurricane season. So, the rest of the story and the latest pictures will have to wait a few more weeks, just thought to update you all a little bit at least! Keep reading the blog, send a comment if you like!

Chagres River and Bocas Del Toro

2009-03-10T08:55:00.013-06:00

Here a few more pics from Shelter Bay, hauling the boat and my favorite sloth!

Thia liitle guy is o Coati-mundi and the next one a Capucin Monkey.

Leaving the Panama Yachtclub early in the morning we motored out and crossed the inbound and outbound shipping lanes for the Panama Canal and in quite strong wind made our way up to the breakwater which guards the whole canal approaches.
Although we knew there was plenty of room for a couple of ships and us, the big waves and a cross current made our exit feel quite precarious.
Once we had managed to get well clear of the pounding surf we headed almost south towards the Chagres river.

THE CHAGRES RIVER SEEN FROM THE FORT

This is only a mere 5 or 6 miles from the breakwater but to get there we had to pick our way between the anchored ships waiting for their transit.
The entrance to the river is quite difficult, the water about 15 ft deep but reefs on both sides tend to make breaking seas cross the channel almost constantly making the water hard to read. Once through the gnarly entrance the water is clear, smooth and deepens to 30 ft.

THIS LITTLE GUY WE SAW IN THE CHAGRES WHILE WE WERE EXPLORING.

Fort Lorenzo is on the bluff at the river entrance and is in fairly good condition considering the number of times it has been attacked. Although some was rebuilt between Morgan's pirate attacks when he raided Panama and when the English under Admiral Vernon took the fort in 1740. (see picture for more info)

SHORT HISTORY OF THE FORT

When we walked up to the fort we went into the company of our friend Ray, of Aventura. Ray is a single hander who writes for magazines, has a professional juggling act and is an all-round great character!

LOCAL BUTTERFLY

The road was mostly through jungle and we were able to see and photograph a troop of Capuchin Monkeys in the canopy above us.

Whilst clambering around the old building Jeff managed to terminally wreck the knee joint of his expensive new artificial leg.

JEFF AT THE FORT, LEG STILL WORKING!

We managed to hobble back to Stravaig. Luckily the San Diego Company who had made the leg had provided him with a peg leg which could be screwed in to replace the damaged part as a temporary fix. Did make him look like a pirate though!

STRAVAIG IN THE CHAGRES RIVER

FLOWERING CALEBASH TREE. PYGMEE KINGFISHER

TOUCAN

After a few days of exploring the river we headed of to Bocas del Toro.The weather was not very pleasant and we had strong winds and high seas but they were from behind us, so we made good progress. About 40 miles from Bocas the wind flipped around onto the nose and we started to realize that a strong current was also running against us. After bashing into all of this and getting nowhere we decided that discretion was the better part of valor and we turned around and sailed 100 miles back to the river Chagres!
We arrived back at the river mouth in heavy seas and whilst waiting for day light we managed to pick up a very large wad of seaweed on our folding propeller, which prevented us from using high rpm's on the engine as the weed was causing the shaft to vibrate and whip.
We risked it and managed to get into the river safely.
Now all the books say that the river Chagres is infested with crocodiles! So, as you can imagine Jeff cut the seaweed of the propeller in less then half a minute!
We tested the engine post seaweed and found that it was pretty much functioning normally. So after spending a few more days in the river we once again set out for Bocas and this time despite horrendous rainstorms etc. we actually made our landfall there quite safely.
Bocas is a group of islands that surround and create a series of lagoons, which are sheltered from the Caribbean Sea. The island group extends to a point very close to the Panama mainland.

OUR LITTLE FRIEND OF 4 YEARS OLD WHO CAME OUT BY HIMSLEF TO SELL US A BAG WITH 2 LIMES!

The internal waterways of Bocas are constantly frequented by high powered open speed boats which are taxis ( pangas) and small groups of local Indians fishing from dug-out canoes. . The internal waterways of Bocas are constantly frequented by high powered open speed boats which are taxis ( pangas) and small groups of local Indians fishing from dug-out canoes.
Bocas town is situated on one of the islands and has numerous groceries and hardware stores interspersed with bar, restaurants and tourist shops. It is quite a surfers hang-out and the streets are full of young people here for water sports.
When we first arrived we managed to arrange for a temporary replacement knee to be shipped here for Jeff's leg while his broken part was being assessed. We called the company and inquired about warranty for the part and would you believe there were 3 days only left on its warranty!
They were very nice, honored the warranty and send me a proper replacement part.
Altogether a very lucky bit of timing!
The weather here has been wet, very wet and unbelievably wet!! We have not seen a single 24 hour period without at least some heavy rain. None the less, this is a delightful place with friendly fellow yachtsmen and an active social community.

GREEN POISON DART FROG

We have made a couple of excursions to other bays and enjoyed visiting a Chocolate Factory and some great nature walks.

LOCAL PETROL STATION

Some new friends on a catamaran called Wanda Jeane, Randy and Mary Ellen, were heading up to their new home at Boquetee and offered to take us with them as far as David, the second largest city in Panama. There our friend Chuck picked us up and took us to Volcan, where he and Sharon have their new home. Boquete is one of two fairly new communities, high on the slopes of the volcano, where many Americans have chosen to build second homes.
Our friends Chuck and Sharon live in the other development called Volcan, which is about the same distance from David as Boquete, but on the opposite side.
VIEW FROM CHUCK'S HOUSE, THE VOLCANO

CHUCK AND SHARON'S HOUSE

We flew back to Bocas where the rain was still raining and has done ever since. In between cloud bursts we installed the new self steering wind vane which we will try out as soon as we have a sunny day!
Jeff has been somewhat under the weather as he had 3 teeth out and almost immediately ended up in bed for a week with a bad case of the flu. He is doing a lot better and Jose will soon send him back to work.
We are looking forward to sailing up to the Colombian island of Providencia where we hope to meet Pete and Robbie, old friends on their boat PR2. From there we shall all be planning some sort of a brief trip we hope to Florida, always bearing in mind that we shall be in a safe part of the Caribbean ( Curacao?) for hurricane season.
FRESH LOBSTER WE BOUGHT FROM THE LOCAL INDIANS

Bocas town is situated on one of the islands and has numerous groceries and hardware stores interspersed with bar, restaurants and tourist shops. It is quite a surfers hang-out and the streets are full of young people here for water sports.
We have made a couple of excursions to other bays and enjoyed visiting a Chocolate Factory and nature walks.

VOLCAN

We had a delightful visit with Chuck, despite it being a lot colder then we had anticipated. The wind was also blowing strongly and they had experienced hurricane force winds the week before we arrived so there was still a lot of damage to be seen around the country side on the drive up.
We flew back to Bocas where the rain was still raining and has done ever since. In between cloud bursts we installed the new self steering wind vane which we will try out as soon as we have a sunny day!
Jeff has been somewhat under the weather as he had 3 teeth out and almost immediately ended up in bed for a week with a bad case of the flu. He is doing a lot better and Jose will soon send him back to work.
We are looking forward to sailing up to the Colombian island of Providencia where we hope to meet Pete and Robbie, old friends on their boat PR2. From there we shall all be planning some sort of a brief trip we hope to Florida, always bearing in mind that we shall be in a safe part of the Caribbean ( Curacao?) for hurricane season.

2008-12-30T20:44:00.006-06:00

Well, we hope you all had a great Christmas and we wish everybody the most wonderful New Year.2008 for us was far too exciting for our liking and we are hoping for a quieter life in the year to come, ie no whales, no storms and no equipment failures would be much appreciated. We did enjoyed most of it though and are just very happy and grateful that we are here to look forward to a next year, it could have been very different.
In order to transit the Canal we first were required to be measured and generally checked out by a Canal official and upon receiving his paperwork blessing we were then permitted to pay the fees and agree a date for our transit. Just before we were due to go, there was a very bad spell of significant weather which caused landslides and other catastrophies and for us such high winds that we cancelled the trip and opted to go a few days later when things had settled down.

OUR CREW FOR THE TRANSIT

We picked up our advisor( pilot)and four friends to act as line handlers at 7.30 in the morning, headed for the Miraflores set of locks. The boat was dressed with 12 motor tyres wrapped in plastic to act as fenders and four 125ft lines were strategically positioned fore and aft on both sides.

THIS BOAT WAS IN THE FIRST LOCK WITH US, PLUS A 96 FT SAILBOAT BHIND USThe first 2 locks are interconnected, whilst the 3rd Pacific side lock, the Pedro Miguel lock, is a mile or so from the Miraflores complex.Once a chamber is entered , 4 lines are thrown to the boat and the boats lines are quickly attached and hoisted up and secured on the lockwalls high above.

THESE TRAINS CONTROL THE BIG SHIPS AND THE LOCKS AND KEEP THEM SECURELY IN PLACEOnce all is secure and the boats position is stable, the gates are closed and water rushes in lifting us up about 9 meters in each of the chambers.Each chamber is 33.5 meters (110ft) wide and 304.8 meters (1000ft) long.In some of the locks we were lucky enough to be tied alongside a tug boat, which was itself secured to the wall. This made the work for our line handlers much easier, for when we were center tied by oursleves as the waterlevel rose, the lines needed constant attention in order to keep us in position.

HERE YOU CAN SEE THE TURBULENCE OF THE WATER ONCE THEY LET IT INTO THE LOCKOnce through the first 3 locks we had climbed 26 meters or so to the Gatun Lake, through which we motored and since we arrived too late to transit the last three locks, we spend the night tied to a mooring buoy in the lake and went down through the Gatun locks the following day.The Gatun locks are a 3 lock complex, all of which are part of the same concrete structure.Somtimes we would share the lock with ships or other yachts and on one occasion we were the sole occupant of one huge chamber!

HERE WE ARE, JUST OUR LITTLE BOAT IN THE PEDRO MIQUEL LOCKYOU SEE ALL THE SHIPS WHEN YOU TRAVEL THROUGH THE LAKE TO THE NEXT LOCKS, THIS IS AT THE FAMOUS GAILLARD CUTAND THE LAST SET OF LOCKS THE FOLLOWING DAYTHE TUGBOAT THAT WE TIED TO FOR THE LAST THREE LOCKS, WE HAD TO UNTIE AND RE-TIE FOR EVERY CHAMBER

ONE OF THE TUG BOAT CREWMEMBERS HAVING A GOOD TIME

AND THE GPS DOING ITS JOB!

THIS BOAT WAS GOING THE OTHER WAY, HE IS BEING LIFTED AS WE GO DOWN

Once safely out the other side, we chugged on down to the Flats, a yacht anchorage area near the Panama Yachtclub. Our crew , Michele and Robin from Warrior and Susan and Graham from Chandrika had been great help and wonderful company and we sadly said goodbye to them as they needed to get the bus back to the Pacific side in order to return to their boats.We were so very grateful for all they had done!We also were pleased to divest ourselves of 11 motor tyres and four long lines; the tyres being picked up by a friend who will be doing the transit the beginning of Januari and the lines needing to go back to the Yachtclub from where we had rented them.

THIS IS HOW WE LOOKED WITH ALL THE TYRES ON WHEN WE CAME OUT OF THE CANAL

Our first priority upon arriving at the Caribbean side of the Canal was to get ourselves out of the water in a repair yard, so that we could fix all the damage done by the whale and Alma. We went to Shelter Bay Marina and spent a few days there before being hauled by their travel lift

. SOME OF THE DAMAGE AFTER THE STORM

It took us 2 weeks of hard labour to get the boat back in order and then just before Christmas we were returned to the marina to spend the festive season with our friends.

NOT A TREE, BUT HAD TO HAVE SOME DECORATIONS ON

BOARD

After a wonderful Christmas party we crossed the bay and took up residence at the Panama Yachtclub which is more conveniently situated for shopping. We have been able to fix an annoying leak in an engine waterpump and now the boat is ready for sea again.

ONE OF THE SLOTHS IN THE WILD

JUST HANGING OUT

THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE

Whilst at Shelter Bay the wildlife locally was fascinating and within a few minutes walk from the boatyard we were able to see sloths and howler monkeys, toucans and coati-mundis (racoon like animal) in their natural habitats.Under foot were fascinating trails of leaf cutter ants.

THIS IS THE NOT SO NICE SIDE OF THE FASCINATING

WILDLIFE!

BIGGEST MOON OF THE YEAR, BUT I CHEATED , THIS WAS THE DAY AFTER, I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE ON THE NIGHT IT WAS THE BIGGEST

We shall be spending New Years Eve celebration at the Panama Yachtclub (which is the oldest yachtclub in Panama) and hopefully, weather permitting, we shall sail for Boca del Toro in the first week of Januari.Meanwhile we shall be thinking of you all and we wish you a very happy,safe and prosperous New Year!

Caribbean

2008-12-05T11:55:00.002-06:00

Have gone succesfully through the canal, will get whole story online asap! had a great time!

Costa Rica to Panama

2008-10-07T13:20:00.007-05:00

BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS
RAINSQUALLS
OLD AND NEW
IN THE PORT OF PANAMA WHERE WE HAD TO FIND THE PROT CAPTAIN FOR OUR CRUISING PERMIT
ON SEPTEMBER CELEBRATING HANS BIRTHDAY

A ROCK THATS ONLY VISIBLE WITH LOW TODE, SO THANKS VERY MUCH FOR GPS!
SEPTEMBER MOTORING ALONG ON THE WAY TO PUNTA GUANICO, THE LAST NIGHT STOP BEFORE PANAMA
IS THAT A SHIP??????
PANAMAX (WHICH IS THE BIGGEST SHIP THAT FITS THROUGH THE CANAL), SEEN FROM WHERE WE ARE ANCHORED
THE BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS IN A RAINSQUALL, ALSO SEEN FROM OUR BOAT IN THE FLAMENCO ANCHORAGE, SORRY HAD THIS ONE ALREADY!

A LOCAL HOUSE ON THE LITTLE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF BAHIA HONDA, WHERE WE HAD A TOUR AND VISITED THE SCHOOL
GABY WITH SOME OF THE CHILDREN WHOM ALL WANTED TO HAVE THEIR PICTURE TAKEN
JEFF IN THE LOCAL BAR IN BAHIA HONDA AFTER OUR TOUR
THE REEF NEXT TO ISLA CATALINA WHERE WE SPEND ONE NIGHT ON THE WAY FROM
SUNSET IN PLAYA PLANTANAL (BANANA BEACH) ANOTHER OVERNIGHT ANCHORAGE

JEFF ASHORE IN THE ISLAS SECAS FOR A WONDERFUL BBQ
STRAVAIG AND SEPTEMBER AT ANCHOR IN THE ISLAS SECAS, SEEN FROM THE BEACH WHERE WE HAD THE BBQ, TOGETHER WITH THE HUNDREDS OF HERMIT CRABS
ALSO UNFORTUNATELY A LOT OF RUBBISH ON THIS BEAUTIFUL BEACH
ONE OF OUR DINNER GUEST, ARE THE COLORS INCREDIBLE?
DEBATTING WHO GETS THE BEST PIECE

GABY AND HANS WITH THEIR CATCH, VERY TASTY!
IN NEILLY, A SMALL VILLAGE IN COSTA RICA WHERE WE SPEND A DAY PLAYING TOURISTS
JEFF SURVEYING THE BEACH

BBQ BEACH

We left Golfito in a big rain squall, no visibility, so we were very happy to have our GPS chart plotter to keep us of the rocks! Once in open water it was good to find that the autopilot still functioned in part and on the way out of Golfo Dulce we reprogrammed its little box of tricks.You may recall that we had waited in Puntarenas for the delivery of a replacement for the autopilot only to find that the new one did not work either,not even a little bit!We un-installed it, put back the old one and we shall hope for better luck when it is replaced yet again in Panama.Meanwhile, our voyage through the islands on our way to Panama City was very enjoyable. The islands were beautiful, as were the anchorages on the mainland where we occasionally stayed to avoid overnight sailing. In the Islas Secas we finally encountered water clear enough to enjoy snorkeling and to clean off the bottom of the boat. Stravaig was by then covered in barnacles which were dead thanks to the fresh water anchorage in Golfito. This made our work much easier. In the Secas our friends Gaby and Hans on the Prout catamaran September caught 2 good size fish and invited us to BBQ them on the beach. We had a great evening, sharing it with several thousand hermit crabs and several spectacular land crabs as you will see in the pictures! Amazing colors! A hermit crab race was planned but somehow became forgotten as wine and conversation flowed.September left the Secas before we did and at an anchorage outside Bahia Honda on the mainland they had the misfortune of dragging their anchor and damaging their rudder on the rocks.We received an email on board from them and of course went to see if they needed any help. By the time we got to Bahia Honda they were already safely re-anchored and the damage had been surveyed and in fact did not look too bad. So all four of us after a few days exploring the local village etc. pressed on towards Panama City.During the night before our arrival at Panama City we ran into the mother of all thunderstorms and spend several hours trying desperately to keep away from the incredible bolt lightning which at times was all around us. Luckily neither September nor ourselves were hit but it came very close. Without further incident we reached Flamenco anchorage off Panama City and have been enjoying access to real supermarkets etc, although they are quite far away and our dinghy access is expensive, $5 a day for the dinghy and $5 for a bag of garbage!At this time we are making final arrangements for our new wind-pilot to be delivered and also yet more arrangements for the next replacement for the electronic auto-pilot!Hopefully these 2 issues will be resolved before we transit the canal.Sometime before we make our transit we expect to spend a few weeks in the Perlas Islands, but meanwhile we are enjoying the company of other cruising friends, new and old.

Golfito

2008-08-26T13:47:00.007-05:00

Very sad, this was what happened to our flag in Alma! We now have a new one, swapped it for a very big British flag in the yachtclub in Puntarenas.

Hello to all our family and friends!

We are on the move again! We finally got our parts, what a lot of problems and delays, but at last everything is there. Now we just have to install it all, but we decided we wanted to get out of Puntarenas. We had a great time there, but there is not a lot to do and we really would like to find some nice, clear water so we can go snorkeling again.Left early morning; you have to leave with high tide, the river is very shallow in places and high tide was at 07.00.They give you an escort in a panga, the guy will guide you out. We could have done it ourselves, but they are very happy to provide the service and you can then blame someone else instead of yourself if you run aground!

SOME OF THE FISHINGBOATS COMING OUT OF PUNTARENAS

Well, that was some weeks ago!

Since then we have had a small engine problem, yes of course during the night! Trouble with the fuel line, but it all got solved after 5 hrs! Jeff was in the engine room most of that time and think we got some bad fuel from somewhere.

DRAKE'S BAY, VERY PRETTY!

We ended up in Golfito, southern Costa Rica and have been here for a while. Nice place, made new friends and have seen a bit of the town. Not much here and its not really the right time of year to go and do inland trips; too much rain every day. Doesnt even clean the boat anymore, it causes more trouble with mildew everywhere.

When we got here, we installed the new autopilot and found out this one doesnt work at all! We will wait till we are in Panama before trying to get another sent, here it is too difficult and expensive. Luckily the first one does work as long as we keep it at a minimum. We are not going very far in the next couple of weeks, so not a big problem.

THIS WAS TO BE PART OF AN ARTIFICIAL REEF, BUT SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ATTACH ITSELF TO OUR ANCHOR!

Plan is to leave in a couple of days, go the the Islas Secas for a while and do some swimming and snorkeling for a change! That will be really nice and we are looking forward to nice clear water.

THE BIRDSNEST JEFF TOOK OF THE MAST WHEN INSTALLING THE NEW WINDVANE!

We have managed to almost repair the rubber dinghy, still a small leak somewhere that we havent found. But what a luxury again to have a good dinghy, after weeks with the small Sabot, this is bliss!

THIS ISLAND, ISLA CANA, GETS HIT BY LIGHTNING THE MOST IN THE WHOLE OF CENTRAL AMERICA.

We havent done much, so not a lot to tell, hope there is once we are in Panama. Enjoy the pictures!

The next pictures show Gaby and Hans, an Austrian couple on a Prout 37ft catamaran. We spend quite some time with them here and are hoping to see them again in the Islas Secas, on the way to Panama.

GABY EMPTYING THEIR DINGHY AFTER HOURS OF RAIN.

JEFF AND HANS IN NEILLY, A SMALL TOWN ABOUT AN HOUR FROM GOLFITO, WHERE WE SPEND A DAY LOOKING AROUND.

A LOCAL BAR, IT WASNT OPEN AT THE TIME, SO CANT TELL YOU IF IT WAS GOOD!

Jose and Jeff

Costa Rica

2008-07-11T12:35:00.005-05:00

Here we are, in Puntarenas, Golfo de Nicoya, Costa Rica.
We are on a mooring in the river in front of the Costa Rica yacht club. The river we have to share with some crocodiles!

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TEHUANTEPEC, VERY BIG WHITE SANDY HILLS.

Nice place, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, showers, diesel and gas on the premises. We are almost the only cruisers left, most boats are further south in Golfito, where we hope to be going in a week or so, we are still waiting for some parts to arrive from San Diego.
The time between us leaving Huatulco and arriving in Costa Rica was interesting to say the least!
The weather window we took advantage of as we crossed the gulf of Tehuantepec turned out to be well chosen and we had no unpleasant Tehuantepecer winds to content with. We continued down the coast, past the Mexico-El Salvador border and eventually we began to make our way down the Niguaraguan coast.

We encountered huge squalls with strong winds on the nose and 2 to 4 kts of adverse current.
We were not making good progress at all despite our attempts to motor sail. In order to be able to switch of the engine, having already used a lot of precious diesel fuel getting nowhere, we headed out to sea, cutting across the wind and current until it seemed there was a better possibility of tacking to lay a course for Costa Rica.
A low pressure cell was reported on the Panama Pacific radio net in the morning of the 28th of May.
We duly plotted its position on our chart, added some wind arrows and figured that it could well produce more favorable winds as the day went on.
The squalls got even bigger and as night came on we decided to heave to under a staysail alone as the wind had picked up to 40 kts.
We found that being hove to on the port tack allowed us to work our way to windward on a course for Costa Rica.
By about midnight our situation of being hove to was untenable and we took down the staysail and let the boat run before the building wind and seas under bare poles.2 or 3 hours later we realized that we were headed towards the eye of something far more violent then the unnamed low we had been expecting!
By 03.00 we registered gusts in the 70 kt range, the average wind at that time being 65kts.
Suddenly the wind died away to a mere 16 kts, we were in the eye!
As the storm moved over us, the winds came back and gusts up to 88 kts became frequent. During this time the dinghies broke lose, the smaller Sabot managing to snare its painter under the edge of a ventilation hatch of the main cabin. The hatch was ripped out and the waves sweeping the decks poured in through the opening.
The inflatable rib crashed into the side of the cockpit and by sheer good luck it did not crush us where we stood trying to steer the boat.
The engine by this time had died and where it had been a useful aid to steering by pushing water passed the rudder we now had lost all control of the boat.
The submersible pump in the engine room was running and we assumed that the engine had aspirated water.
We decided that Jose would call a Mayday on the VHF, but we had no response.
Fearing capsize was imminent with seas in access of 50ft and winds of 80kts, Jeff went below at 08.00 and called a Mayday on the Pan Pacific Maritime Mobile Radio Net.
The purpose of the Mayday was not a forlorn hope of being rescued, it was to inform people where to look for us should the worst happen. By the time Jeff got back to the cockpit the winds were down to 73 kts average and Stravaig was still on her feet despite the conditions. As the day progressed news came that a USA Coast Guard airplane would soon be overhead and indeed they arrived in the afternoon and kept us company for about 4 hours. Before leaving they had calculated our drift and were concerned that we were headed towards the rocky coast of Niguaragua.
Without the engine and insufficient fuel anyway, we were a pretty lame duck. We had learned that the US Coastguard Cutter Chase was heading to our assistance and we could expect their arrival by about 22.00. By the time they had got to us the seas were down to 15 ft and the winds in the 30 kt range.
Just after dark we had got the engine going again; it had not been inundated with water after all.
Two US coast guard Watch Keepers came aboard, making the dangerous jump between the 2 vessels to bring us 10 gallons of diesel fuel and to assess our situation.
They examined the boat and talked to both of us separately and together to decide if we were fit enough to go on to the first anchorage in Costa Rica by ourselves, which was another 14 hrs away.
One of the men gave us his cap, as a memento, they wished us well and continued with their other missions.
As you know we did finally make it to Costa Rica and after 60+ hrs of constantly struggling with Mother Nature, it was wonderful to be able to anchor and get some sleep! We found later that the storm had been given the name Alma and that NOAA had briefly raised its classification of Tropical Storm to Hurricane, just before it had reached the Niguaraguan coast.
Alma was the first tropical storm in 125 years of record keeping in this area!
Cruising sailors have always trusted that these tropical disturbances do not occur in northern Costa Rica. When we encountered Alma, our latitude was approx. that of the Costa Rican border. Times have changed!

We have omitted here to give any of the details of the wonderful help and support we got from the yachting community and the various radio nets that provided the links to the US Coast Guard initially and gave us so much comfort and good advice.

We are completing a full report, which when finished we hope to publish.

So, that was all the technical part of things, the emotional one is more difficult.
We just are so happy that we came through this in one piece
We had quite some time where neither of us thought we were going to get out of this safely; we were ready to abandon the boat if help had been able to get to us in the worst part of the storm. We talked about what we needed to do if the boat were to capsize, what would be the best way to stay with the boat etc. I was very scared, Jeff less so, but I think we kept each other going by talking about what was happening and what we could do to improve our situation. Which was not a lot! I thought a house somewhere in the country started to look really nice!
I had managed to get some things like our papers together in case we did abandon the boat, so we would at least have some identification and credit cards with us.
Later, when it all got slightly better and we couldn’t physically steer the boat anymore because the engine had stopped, I decided to keep sane I would start cleaning things up a bit! Really, you do strange things when you are in such a situation.
It was incredibly comforting to see that US Coastguard plane for the first time and talk to the guys; they kept passing over us and talking to us for hours, when they left we knew it was only a few more hours before their cutter would be with us to give us some diesel.
We were extremely tired and had to keep each other awake and alert. After the cutter left, we had another 14 hrs or so to get to the closest anchorage and we took turns to have short naps to try and feel a little bit better.
Anyway, after about 20 hrs sleep, we left for the next anchorage where we needed to check in. We got so much help and support from all the cruising boats that were there, really wonderful, we don’t know how to say thank you to everybody.
Now we are in a safe place, waiting for our parts to arrive, we are doing some jobs on the boat and relax, will go south to Golfito maybe end this week and from there we will have to see, no real plans yet.
We will let you all know what’s going to be next when we have figured it out ourselves!!

THESE PICS ARE BERFORE THE STORM, THIS WAS WHAT THE SKIES LOOKED LIKE MOST OF THE TIME!

OUR FIRST SUNRISE AFTER ALMA

ONE OF THE MANY LOVELY ANCHORAGES WE FOUND ON THE WAY DOWN TO PUNTARENAS

THERE ARE SO MANY BEAUTIFUL BUUTERFLIES AROUND, DONT GET MANY CHANGES TO TAKE PICTURES !

AND HERE WE ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME ON SUSEA AND GENE'S BOAT MOODY BLUES!

Costa Rica

2008-06-09T13:53:00.002-05:00

Well, just a short note today, there will be a long story soon, but will need to write it all down first.
We managed to sail right through tropical storm Alma, the first tropical storm to form this far south in125 years! When we went through it, she was a hurricane and we are happy to have made it in one piece. We have some minor damage to the boat, nothing we cant repàir or has been repaired, a bit shocked ourselves, but just very thankful to be alive. Are now safely anchored in northern Costa Rica , have been looked after by lots of other nice yachties and will be going a bit further south tomorrow. The whole story will be posted soon, have patience, we are still recovering!
Love to all, more in about a week!!
Jose and Jeff and Stravaig, she helped us getting through it all!

Zijuahatanejo

2008-05-02T17:40:00.013-05:00

You might want to zoom in on those pics, the top one is a bird on top of a turtle, we saw so many of them, very funny!
This little guy hitch a ride for a while, the next one was trying to, but couldnt find a good spot!

CABO SAN LUCAS

Its been a while, we have not had much luck with internet connections.

CABO AT NITE

We are doing very well, the bay we are in now is about 100 miles north of Acapulco, which will be our next stop, need to get fuel there, some shopping and do some washing.

WHALES TAIL

Its the end of the cruising season and we only meet boats that are going north, away from the hurricanes.

We go south to get away from them and there are quite a few boats ahead of us, we hope to meet some in the next couple of weeks.

From Cabo San Lucas we set of to go to Los Frailes, about 45 miles north, on the way to La Paz. Left with Gil and Lexi on Sunday, but after half a day of motoring and then lots of wind on the nose, we decided to turn back, it was only going to get worse!

LOS FRAILES

Spend couple more days in Cabo, left again, this time a very nice trip up to Los Frailes, very pretty bay, where there are lots of baby manta rays. We had the most incredible display, like a ballet the way they all jump together! They gave 2 shows a day and on the way up we saw lots more. There is so much fish around, whales, rays, also saw some small ones in a big school, rightunder the boat, very nice to watch.

RAYS BALLET

Two nights in Frailes, second nite we stayed in anchorage around the corner, the wind had changed to the south and it was getting very uncomfortable there. Had a long walk on the beach and collected lots of great shells.

Dinners are either on board Stravaig or Sunday, nice, so we dont all have to cook every day! We have been very spoiled, Gil loves to fish, so every other day there is fresh fish on the menu!
Los Frailes to Muertos, another nice bay. Went ashore with Gil the first afternoon, next day with Lexi, collected shells again ofcourse!There is a small restaurant there and a new hotel complex, seems like somebody did a good investment!

From there the next morning, wednesday now, dont know what day it is half of the time!, to Balandras Bay, just about 10 miles from La Paz. Didnt want to get to La Paz in the dark, so spend one nite there and left the next morning to do a short trip to La Paz.

SUNDAY

Very nice place, when we arrived, we were following Gil and Lexi, they managed by sheer luck to get over the sandbank, which is not marked, you need to know where it is and it moves ofcourse! We turned around and anchored way behind them and didnt move till we knew exactly where we needed to go! Stayed the rest of the day on board and had dinner @ Stravaig.Friday up early to listen to the local radionet for the yachts; we had gotten a wrong chart for the GPS, not our fault, the box and label were right, but the chart itself was wrong, we now had 2 for California and Mexico!

Our friend Roy had already managed to get us the right one and was waiting for an address to send it to. We decided to ask around in La Paz, you never know. Were very lucky, there was another boat who didnt need his anymore, his plans had changed, so he was happy to sell it to us!Great, now we did not have to wait for it to arrive from the States and could leave when we wanted.

We still had not checked in, the boat was done, but not yet immigration. Neede to do that in La Paz. No problem at all, except they had run out of papers, so we had to come back twice, they didnt tell us why though, not till the third time! But very nice all the time!

Saturday was washing day; the marina La Paz had a laudromat, do it yourself for 2 dollars a wash and 2 dollars a dry, if you paid 5 per load it was all done for you! Not a difficult choice and what a luxury, just drop it of and pick it up. Afternoon shopping trip to big supermarket, we walked there, but needed a taxi back, too much to carry!

Sunday was storage day on the boat, all the food neede a place , also all the inter clothes, well almost all of them, could be stored. I made a boterkoek for dessert, which will only mean something to Dutch readers and we had dinner on Sunday.

Stayed 2 more days in La Paz, cleaned the boat and went to the fuel dock with Gil and Lexi to help, is always nice to have some extra hands going into a strange marina and dock! Fuel and water, back @ anchor and had a very nice lunch ashore with Gil and Lexi, dinner was ashore as well, they wanted to treat us, after having spend so much time together they much have been happy to see us go!! FERRY ACROSS SEA OF CORTEZ

We finally left monday mid morning and had decided to spend one nite in Muertos again, from there we would cross the Sea of Cortez to Chamela Bay. COULD BE A DOLPHIN!

Not a lot of wind, so we did motor a bit at times. Again saw dolphins, rays, flying fish and an almost full moon, which I love when we sail overnight!

All was well till friday evening, at about 20.15 we hit a whale! It was already dark and we were sitting in the cockpit when there was this big crash and the boat stopped dead in the water. We were sailing along @ about 4 to 5 kts. Jeff saw a big tail go down in front of the boat, so at least he knew what is was, but it really scared me, we think the whale must have been pretty upset as well!

Could find any serious damage, all bilges were dry, only thing was the starboard bow, a big chunk out of it, but not all the way through. Couldnt do anything in the dark, so motored for a bit, till we calmed down, mostly me, Jeff doesnt really get upset very easily!

Next day showed the damage, the bownet had snapped as well, but only the lashing, so not a problem. Nothing else to do till we would get some where to do the repair.

Tuesday in Chamela Bay, stayed the nite and CHAMELA BAY went on to Tenacatita, very nice . Met with some of the people there, went ashore the second day to go 5 miles through the mangroves to go shopping and have lunch ashore. We got very wet, the surf was big and you had to go through it to get to the mangroves. Got swamped going in and out!

DAMAGE FROM THE WHALE

One more stop before here, Las Hadas, in Manzanillo, were they filmed "10" ( with Bo Derek, old film)

LAS HADAS

And now we have been here 3 days, will probably leave on monday to go to Acapulco.

So, thats it again, hope the next one is less interesting with a view to whales!!

Keep in touch!

Cabo San Lucas

2008-04-02T14:15:00.000-06:00

WILDERNESS

Here we are leaving San Diego, escorted by our friends boat Wilderness. They gave us each a lei ( on the water, with the boathook!)

We look quite nice , dont we???

We think they only escorted us to make sure we were really leaving!

Its never easy to leave friends behind, but we will keep in touch as much as we can and just keep hoping to meet again someplace someday.

On the trip from San Diego to Magdalena Bay, weather was mostly like this during the days, but the night were pretty cold, needing lots of sweater, foulweather jackets and even occasionally gloves and hats!

Almost at the entry to Magdalena Bay. The bay is enormous, almost as big as San Francisco Bay and is full of whales , if you are there at the right time! We were a bit late, but did take a trip and saw some whales, no, no luck with pictures! To me still very spectaculair, I had never seen them before.

The little village in Man of War Cove, one of the anchorages is Magdalena Bay. Very small shop, I didnt go ashore there, but Gil and Lexi, our friends on Sunday, our sistership, ( for whom we brought a new autopilot) had been and said there was enough food to feed half a family. We dont feel good to buy things then, the locals need them more then we, so a couple days later we went to San Carlos, a slightly bigger village, to do some shopping. Half an hour in a very fast and bouncy panga got Lexi and Joe ( Gils brother, just to keep you all informed!) and John and Fran of the boat Gosling from Canada and me safely but with sore bottoms! ashore.

Did our internet and made some calls, some shopping and had some lunch, the best tamales in town according to yet another yachtie we met!

Here are Lexi and Joe enjoying lunch.

While we were out watching for whales, we came past a fishingboat, they were fishing with a big net, cant think of the name at the moment, it will come back to me! Anyway, a long circular net, that they when it is full close underneath and then haul it in. All the fish are trapped and when the have hauled most of the net on board and all the fish is at the surface, they put a big pump in and suck out all the fish. Its fun to watch, there must have been 30 pelicans in and out of the net, 40 frigate birds circling around and a whole lot of seals jumping in and out as well. One of them got trapped in the net, but as far as we know they let them free when the finished with getting all the fish on board.

CABO SAN LUCAS

It's finally warm!!

We are in Cabo San Lucas, a very busy little town. We share the bay with about 2 cruise ships a day, 5 or 6 more sail boats, what seems like at least 100 jet skis, glassbottom boats that double as water taxis, probably more then 100 as well. Then a few para sailing boats, the odd sea lion and some fish. All in all enough to keep you busy!

neighbours!

We will go on to Los Frailes tomorrow,about 40 miles, so should be an easy day sailing.

then direction La Paz, where we hope to receive our chart for the GPS,we ended up with two the same ones, both for Mexico, not good when we go down to Costa Rica!

Nights are still chilly, so we wont pack up our woolly things just yet, days are nice and warm.

Jeff caught somebodys cold and didnt feel too well for the last couple days. So, left him in charge of the boat while I went ashore yesterday with Gil, Lexi and Joe. We took a bus to the shops, but ended up buying too much to carry, so needed a taxi back!
Very much a tourist resort, everybody speaks english and most prices are in dollars. Interesting to see, but not a place to spend a lot of time.

Jeff was happy with the papaya I bought him, we had it for breakfast this morning!

Thats it for the moment!

Magdalena Bay!

2008-03-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

HI!
Well, here we are in Magdalena Bay. We had a good trip, learned a bit more about the boat and are very happy with here!
The crew is doing wonderful, we are in the company of Sunday , our sistership and will be going further south tomorrow. Internet acces here is not too available, so it might be a while before the next info, will hgave some pics reday as well then. Plan is to go to Cabo San Lucas, around the corner into Sea of Cortez for a little while. Staying with Sunday for a bit, its nice to share all this with good friends. Meeting lots of new boats again, even a guy who plays the bagpipes, am sure he and Jeff will have lots to talk about!

Yesterday we took a panga ( local fishing/transport boat) out with about 9 people to go whale watching. Its the end of the season, but still saw about 6 whales. I had never seen them so close up before, they are very big and beautiful!
Anyway, not a lot more to tell, the trip was lovely, but apart from lots of cruiseships, one turtle and loads of birds, we didnt see much on the way down. Were too far from the coast maybe to see whales, they tend to stay closer inshore.

Next stop, Cabo!

Jose and Jeff

Going south at last!!!!!

2008-03-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

Yes, we know, we have had too many departure dates and not enough updates on the blog!

But, tomorrow we will get of the dock and go south. First stop is planned to be Magdalena Bay, Mexico, about 600 miles south. The weather forecast is beautiful for the next days, so we should be able to get there in about 4 days. We are meeting some friends there, they left just over a week ago, but their autopilot stopped working; they managed to contact us and we will take them a new one!

We have really enjoyed our year in the USA, but it is time to explore new places now. Its also pretty expensive to live here. We were very lucky to find the mooring at an affordable price, marinas are not available here, if there is a space its way too expensive!

We managed to sell our little car, not too good because the incredible inflation here, but there was no point in keeping it here. Had a great party to say goodby to all our friends and we will be escorted out by our friends Roy and Penny and Bob on Roy's trimaran. We think they just want to make sure we really leave!!!

Not much else to tell you all right now, but we hope to have lots of stories the next time we find a place to do some emails etc.

Please keep in touch, let us know if you like the website!

love to all, till the next posting,

Jose and Jeff

Happy New Year!!!!!

2008-01-15T11:38:00.000-06:00

Well, here we go, the first try @ a blogspot!
We hope that by writing a bit every month, you will all know where we are and what we are up to and that we are ok. Also it will give you the opportunity to react or just email us direct.Lets see what will happen, here the first installment, which is about all that happened since we sold the catamaran in Trinidad and came back from our trip to Holland and Portugal.
Its been a great year, lots of hard work, not quite enough play,(but we hope to change that around very soon),visiting old friends and making new ones.
We had not planned to stay in San Diego for a whole year, but thats what happened and we have enjoyed it here.
Whilst visiting with friends in Pensacola, we had already found some boats we were intersted in online, all trimarans.One of then happened to be in Holland of all places, so we did go and see it, made a nice trip all the way to the north of Holland. Boat turned out to be too expensive, but was nice to see and give us some ideas as to what we looking for.
Flew back to the States, Los Angeles, in November and ended up staying with Tristan and Nance and Zach, our very good friends here. They were great and let us stay way too long and ended up being our storage room for the year! Couldnt have done it without them!We had seen a couple boats on the way from LA to San Diego, too small and went up to Ventura with Tristan to look at the boat we did buy. She is a 42ft Norman Cross trimaran, needed a lots of work and love and we have given her both this last year, so now she looks a lot better then a year ago!
Jeff sailed her down to San Diego where we rafted up in the Yachtclub next to another old friend of Jeff, Roy, who has a Jim Brown 42ft trimaran, which he build at the same time as Jeff build his old boat here in LA about 30 years ago. Had found a yard to haul out and spend 3 months there, yes, way too long, but it all needed doing. She started to look much better on the outside, had a new engine installed and we made a start on some of the interior.
We managed to get a mooring in the bay, which is more then difficult here, were very lucky to find this one. Its not a very nice place, right in the entry channel to the bay, so all warships and big fishingboats go in and out all the time, the mooring area is know as "Rock and Roll" and it really is, I dont think I would want to be here in a monohull and have to do any work!! Its pretty bad at times, but we are used to it now and able to do all the work thats neccesary.The mast was put on and again she is starting to look good.
Then it was time for some play and we went of to see another friend of jeff, this time up north. Spend time with Steve and visited Death Valley and Grand Canyon, how incredible!!
Back to work, took the boat back to the yard , this time only on the dock to rebuild the aft cabin, where we now have a wonderful bunk with head room and plenty of space and light!We also had the sails delivered while we were there, so now we could go and do some trial sails, only a couple so far, seem to be too busy working still.
The summer seemed to be over before we noticed, plans had been to go south before the hurricane season, but the 3 months boatyard had made that impossible. So, after the hurricane season it would be, now we are in januari 2008 and we still havent gone! What is wrong with us?? Wanting to do too much before we leave, now though its cold and raining here so more urgent to go south and get warm!
We had 2 visits from the old owner of the boat; one while we were in the yard and one a couple weeks ago,with both their sons and some friends, had a great timer and they are just so happy to see the boat shaping up.Xmas was spend up at Steves, sitting in front of a fire place with a glass of wine was a great way to spend those days!
Few more jobs to do in the next weeks , but it shouldnt be too long now, we will see some of Mexico, Costa Rica, then the Panama canal and up to Cuba, anyway, that is the plan so far, we will keep you all up to date what really happens.
We do hope that you will all mail us and stay in touch, it is so nice to come ashore somewhere and find all emails waiting for us, we love to hear all your stories, even if they seem routine to you, for us its nice to hear how everybody is doing.
We will start using a new email address once we leave here, yahoo will be checked for a while, but we want to go over to gmail.
The new address is; svstravaig@gmail.com
When travelling and internet is too expensive, the svstravaig@pocketmail.com will also be used, dont forget, you cant send attachments there!
Once again, a very happy 2008 for everyone and we hope to hear from you or see you sometime soon,
Jose and Jeff

San Diego

2007-10-06T11:45:00.000-05:00

Well, here our first try to do a website! Picture of the boat as she looked just before we put the new mast on. Since then a lot of things have changed, there will be more pics and info later. Hope a lot of family and friends will enjoy this site and use it to keep track of where we are and what we are up to.

Till the next update,

Jose and Jeff