2009 Travels and Older Logs
and Project Updates
Check out the new page we put together for the SSCA Annual Gam  down in
Melbourne, FL at the following link.
Another update this week is the "promised" skinny on the Food Saver vacuum packer.  
Boy, Ive been having fun with it.  Check out this
vacuum packing page.
New - Nov 13th, 2000:
New - Nov 17th, 2000:
New - Dec 4th, 2000:
This week I redid the boat pages and consolidated together the exterior/interior
projects so that it would be easier to see everything.

If you have been here recently, you might want to do a "refresh" to get the newest
version.
New - Feb 18, 2001:
The latest projects that we have been spending our time on are the rigging, and
continued esthetics down below.  As far as the rigging project, we replaced all the
standing rigging including Sta-Loks, and terminals, plus replaced our old
non-standard, didn't fit right roller-furler with a new Pro-Furl.   So far, we have restrung
new halyards all the way around but will wait until we are a little closer to jump-off to
replace the rest of the running rigging.  The sailmaker comes this week to measure for
a new headsail.

Making headway on deep-sixing the old, fabric-covered locker doors and replacing
them with our newly constructed teak louvered doors.  Added a couple of shots of that
under the
interior page.

We are one year out!!!
New - July 3, 2001:
Alot has happened since the last update, not the least of which has been the old
"work, eat and sleep" syndrome with every spare minute spent on board.  Granted,
alot of those spare moments were utilized to watch sunsets, grill steaks and drink
vino, but we have managed to still get a fair amount done.

The new headsail is installed and looks great.  We're enjoying the new furler alot -
the old one required someone to go up and guide the line onto the spool.

We have finished hanging the new locker doors and counter top tray.  Check them
out on the
interior page.  Curtains are in the works but haven't been installed yet.

The boat is on the hard now having the bottom de-gunked - lots of barnacle.  We will
also be re-sanding and Cetoling the mahogany rub rails, it's been almost 3 years so
they are in dire need.

I had some juicy email from a friend cruising the Med which definitely got us dreaming
about getting over there - or just plain getting retired and out  "there" anywhere!

We are 6 months out!!!   (Didn't work out that did it?)
New - July 30, 2001:
The past 3 weekends we have spent scraping, sanding and refinishing the mahogany
rub rail.   After 3 coats of cetol marine and cetol clear, we installed a stainless steel
strip to protect it from damage.

Check out the
exterior page for the details.
New - Nov 22, 2001:
The past month or so we have begun to work on the serious stuff - tearing out and
replacing the head!  Yeek! (I'm glad he's spearheading that job).

That involves getting rid of all the old plumbing, fixtures, wallpaper (25 years old and
well permeated with head smell); checking the soundness of the bulkhead pedestal
where the head will reside, and so forth.  We are installing a Lavac which will be
plumbed back to the engine room where the holding tank is now located (see Engine
Replacement page for those details).

Another project that is more within my talents and likings is the cleaning, painting and
general freshening-up of the salon storage areas.  After some pleading and cajoling, I
convinced the Capt'n to cut a hole in the boat!  Actually, I really wanted another
access point into the forward settee storage bin.

Check out the
Interior page for the details on both projects.
We also went to the SSCA Gam down in Melbourne and will soon have a link for
some of the details from that event.  Lots of fun.
This month marks a new beginning for me - I quit work!  Now I can concentrate on
those pesky jobs/chores that have been neglected for so long.  The Capt'n is still
doing the "daily 8" but hoping to break loose soon too, probably just in time to get
things squared away for the fall cruising season.

We're working on finishing up the head - part of the holdup is my lack of progress on
stripping and refinishing the head doorframe and door.  Once I finish that, the rest of
the wall coverings can be installed and we'll just about have it wrapped.
New - March, 2002:
New - June, 2002:
This spring and summer we are concentrating on the coaming and cockpit areas.  
These areas desperately need to be sanded and repainted, and treadmaster needs to
go down to provide a good non-skid surface - not to mention adding cosmetically to
the overall package.  Of course, this means a lot of manual labor due to the sanding
requirements on the existing surfaces, but hey, a good job to be doing, right?
Let's just ignore the fact that it's summer in Florida...  Actually, we've been pretty
gratified at the progress that we are making, and have plans to take the boat down to
the annual SSCA Gam in Melbourne this November.

You can check out what we're up to on the
exterior page to see all the details about
this process.
Also added a recipe for a delicious and easy
Warm Shrimp Salad. It's on the
food/recipe page.
New - August, 2002:
As we stated below, the sanding and painting of the cockpit and coaming is ongoing,
but while it's just too darn hot to take, we do a few things to the interior to keep things
moving forward.  The biggest accomplishment (gratification-wise) has been to paint
the counter top surfaces.  They were old, dull, and greyed black formica.  Rather than
spend all the energy on prying off and replacing the old formica, we decided to try
some 2-part Interthane paint.  We hope the adhesion will be good, and plan to be very
careful not to ding it up too badly.  We'll keep you posted.  Check out the
interior page
to see the before and after photos.
New - January, 2003:
Well, here we are into another year already!  We've been busy staging for the
following projects: new refrigeration (Frigiboat keel-cooled system), new electronics
for sonar and gps charting (Lowrance) [see
exterior page for a brief bit about it],
building our own dodger (thanks Sailrite for the instructions and materials).  The boat
is on the hard while we install our new "through-hulled" components and re-cetol the
rails.  The new cast-off date is March 1st, but we'll see... Murphy's Law might come
knocking.

In December we had a chance to help crew a 37' Tartan from Jax to Nassau.  It was a
fun trip and was topped-off with a side trip via private plane to Georgetown! Check out
the photos on the
Exumas page.
New - February, 2003:
The past 6 weeks we have had the boat up on the "hard" and have been doing some
serious prep work on all the major systems; ground tackle, batteries, electronics,
refrigeration, cockpit drainage, fresh paint on the bottom, inside the salon, bilge,
anchor locker, lazarette etc.  The teak needed to be stripped, sanded and re-Cetoled
so that is finished.  The hull has been buffed and waxed.  Because we're having so
much fun, we're pushing out the cast-off date until the end of March.  Anything that
isn't finished by then won't get done until we get back!! Hopefully, I will get a minute to
update the interior and exterior pages with all the details about the projects recently
completed - but don't hold your breath!
New - April, 2003:
Well here we are at the middle of April, and we have continued to make really great
strides towards making the boat as comfortable and cozy as possible.  That's
important to both of us.  After about a month, I have completed the new dodger and
what a project that was! I have created a
sewing page to show those details.  I am
really proud of that particular "stretch" project.  In the meantime, the Capt'n has
handled reshelving our hanging lockers, installing the Lowrance, the raw water sink
spickot, the AC/DC rewiring, new masthead bracket and light fixture and more!!

Amazing how much stuff there always remains... I made it to the canning center and
had an epic event there putting up spaghetti sauce, chicken, a beef stew hybrid,
ground beef crumbles and italian sausage.  That was a great experience - lots of fun.
Check out the
food page for a couple of shots. Anyway, I'll correct the countdown
calendar yet again and maybe we'l make that date.

We have our Pocketmail Composer with 1 year's service to facilitate checking up on
things while we're out of pocket.  Stay tuned for more news.....
New - November, 2003:
Just got back in town after our 2 month shakedown cruise over to the Bahamas.  
The boat performed beautifully and other than encountering a few rain squalls
everything went great.

Started by going down the ICW to Lauderdale, then over to Great Isaac light. From
there, we headed to Great Harbor Cay in the Berries.  Spent around 2 1/2 or 3
weeks enjoying the Berries down as far as Devil's-Hoffman.  Afterwards we headed
up to Little Harbor in the Abacos via Hole in the Wall.  Then up to Marsh Harbor, and
another 3 weeks or so bumming around the Abacos up as far as Allens-Pensacola.  
Then back home via Great Sale to Fort Pierce.

We've included a new page with a few photos, so check it out...
Bahamas '03.
Our most recent activities have been happening at the boat yard - surprise, surprise!

After our shakedown cruise, we decided to enhance our onboard power generation
by adding a wind generator.  Additionally, the portlights (plexiglas) were terribly
crazed and badly needed replacement, so we decided to tackle that and paint the
area between the toe and rub rails while we were at it.  Wow, fun and rewarding, but
more time consuming than we thought.  We found a spot that had been bondo'd
over, so that necessitated a strip-down and new fiberglas repair to make it sound.

While out, we also decided to sand, paint and reletter the transom, lubricate the
through-hulls and hit the teak with some cetol.  All in all, as any boat owner knows,
there are always more projects!  One of Murphy's laws.
New - July, 2003:
New - December, 2003:
The past month has been busy with the activities mentioned below.  We have finally
finished those chores plus performed the makeover on the transom.  Soon we will
relaunch and head back to the dock.

Check out the
exterior page for the pics & details, it looks marvelous, dahling!

I also moved the various
sewing projects onto their own page, the exterior page was
starting to take a loooong time to load!
New - May, 2004:
The past six months have been crazy.  We spent a lot of time and energy on the
cockpit redo, including lots of grinding, fairing, sanding etc.  We finally finished all the
prep work plus 4 coats of primer, and 3 coats of Awlgrip.  Shiny and beautiful!  Had
some of the stern rail components rechromed before reassembly.  We have almost
finished the installation of the wind generator.  Soon we will epoxy the treadmaster to
the cockpit seat bottoms.  We took out the hatch over the galley, had it sandblasted
and repainted, installed new plexiglas and the Capt'n built a primo teak spacer to use
in the installation (since the surface is curved).  We'll finish up the treadmaster up on
the combing within the next week too.

We finally finished up the head makeover AND have pics up on the new
head page.

We will soon have the after pics of the cockpit makeover on the
exterior page!
New - June, 2004:
We now have the after pics of the cockpit makeover on the exterior page!  
Additionally, I've added a couple of projects to the sewing page - a rainy day
companionway flap and the very versatile vinyl storage bag.  Check them out with this
link.
New - Feb, 2005:
Well time flys when you're having fun.  We have been working on some boat projects
such as installing a Air Marine wind generator, a Skymate Sattelite email/weather
system, adding some additional ventilation in the salon and so forth, but the lion's
share of our time has been spent on household projects in preparation for getting our
house on the market - which it now is.. hopefully, we'll be selling soon and on our way
south for some spring cruising.
New - May, 2005:
Hooray, the house has been sold and we are living aboard!  Now comes the fun part,
wrapping up various projects like adding the new whisker pole and radar installation,
plus stowing all the extra tools and unneeded junk in the utility trailer that the Capt'n
has setup as a mobile workshop.  Check out the new binnacle cover and bridge
between the dodger and the new mahogany boom gallows.
New - August, 2005:
Well, here we are in Newport RI enjoying the beautiful, cool temperatures - quite a
departure from the trip up through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and the
Chesepeake.  We've had a great time, especially enjoying the Cape Lookout Bight
and the great cruising on Long Island Sound.  Probably stay south of the Cape this
year and just enjoy the acclimation process (to liveaboard status).  I will try to get
some shots up here soon....
We finished up our wonderful summer cruise up to New England and have the photos
to prove it.  I will be adding a page with the best shots.

We had a great time but now we are back at work adding a bunch of new gear such
as a water maker, SSB, removable dinghy davits and solar panels.  We also installed
a new fully-battened mainsail with a strong, low-friction sailtrack (Battslide), and took
delivery of our gorgeous, new asymmetrical spinnaker  while in Annapolis.
New - Nov, 2005:
Well, after a really nice Christmas, albeit enjoyed on the hard, we are within a week or
so of being back in the water.  I have had a chance to work up some pictures from the
trip up north, so here's a
link to it.
New - Dec, 2005:
Well, finally we are underway south, and are currently in Georgetown, Exuma in the
Bahamas. I have put a few pics up and provided a
link to it.  Don't have much tme to
elaborate, but really having a great time!
New - March, 2006:
We're now in Grenada and getting ready to head to Trinidad/Tobago.  I have been
extremely lazy on the website updates, but have finally started to put some of our logs
and photos together.  These are under the new section "About our Travels", and may
also be accessed by the Country flags travel links .  Hope you enjoy..
New - August, 2006:
The days are passing quickly in beautiful Tobago, where we are enjoying the
amenities of the Sandy Point Beach Club around the corner from Store Bay, on the
southwest corner of the island.  In between touring the island and lazing about pool
and beachside, I'm adding more logs of our travels.  Here's a video of the property
here in
Tobago, a first blush of publishing these videos.  
New - September, 2006:
We left the southern Caribbean for cooler weather and secluded beaches, and have
made our way to Antigua.  It's really beautiful here, and calls for an update to the
Antigua page one of these days.  Meanwhile, I have added our log and pics for
PR &
the Spanish Virgins, the USVI's and St. Martin/St. Barts.   So please enjoy them, and
check back again for additional updates - Trinidad for example, is going to be
fantastic!
New - December, 2006:
After our winter season making our way north to St. Martin we then headed back
down to the southern caribbean for the upcoming hurricane season.  On the way we
spent quite a bit of time in Guadeloupe, and on the windward side of Martinique,
which is really beautiful and natural, not many towns and no other cruisers seen in
the entire week we spent on that side (the east coast of the island for you
landlubbers).  I will post an update to the Martinique page with pics (soon maybe, in
"island speak").

Meanwhile we are back in Grenada and plan on heading for Venezuela, the ABC's
and beyond during the course of 2007/08.
New - June, 2007:
We had a busy and fruitful stay in Grenada, managing to get our bottom repainted with
antifouling paint, Linda sewed our new sun awning - a monster at about 12' by 18'.  We
also did some interior painting to freshen things up.  After all that hard work, we decided
to take off to Los Testigos in Venezuela for a much needed break.  After spending a few
days there, during which we had the opportunity to watch a leatherback turtle come
ashore and lay her eggs, on a beautiful moonlit beach, we headed on to Isla Margarita,
the mecca of shopping and a haven for the hurricane season.  We'll post some pics within
a few days.

Meanwhile we will be checking out some of the other out islands such as Blanquilla oand
Tortuga within the next month or so.
New - July, 2007:
After a great visit to Los Testigos and Blanquilla, plus the great reprovisioning stop here
in Margarita, we head south for the Golfo de Cariaco, Laguna Grande and Medregal
Village, prior to heading down to Puerto La Cruz.

I added a new section for our travels in Venezuela, so check out those shots.  Enjoy.
New - August, 2007:
I've added new sections for our stops in the Golfo de Cariaco and down through Medregal
Village to Puerto La Cruz.  Enjoy, and look forward to our next post about Caracas and
Colonia Tovar.
New - September, 2007:
We are still enjoying the amenities here in Puerto La Cruz, and taking advantage of the
location to do some land travels.  We had a great, although somewhat short trip to
Caracas and the mountain town of Colonia Tovar along with 3 other cruising boat crews.  
It was fantastic, which I'm sure you will see when you check out these new sections:  
Caracas and Colonia Tovar   I hope you will enjoy them.

I've also rearranged all the
Eastern Caribbean travels on a separate page to de-clutter the
main page a bit, and added new pics to Antigua, plus new pics for the Grenadines.

Also, I added a new recipe under the Recipes section.
New - October, 2007:
Wow, I've been way behind on site updates!  We've taken 3 really great trips and I have
yet to get the pics and blurbs up here.   I have finally managed to get together the page
for Merida, a great university city in the Venezuelan Andes.  Here is a link to it -
Merida.

The other travel pages that I am working on right now are for the fabulous 10-day trip we
made to Angel Falls and the Gran Sabana, and our short cruise to Mochima and Tortuga.

I hope to have those finished within the next 2 weeks so stay tuned.  Merry Christmas to
you all...
New - December 20, 2007:
Still behind on the site updates.  Lots of great pics to share, but I haven't done much lately.
After a great 6-week loop out of Puerto La Cruz to El Occulto, Mochima, Margarita,
Blanquilla, then back to Margarita, and Coche, we were dismasted while heading down
the Araya peninsula towards Laguna Grande, where we were to meet up with friends.  We
were on a beautiful beam reach in brisk conditions (18-22knts) when a big gust hit our rig
breaking the port upperstay chainplate.  The mast broke just under the spreaders.  We
were lucky enough to be able to secure all sails and rigging and motor down to Mochima
Nat'l Park, a lovely and quiet anchorage.  After a few days spent triaging the sails, roller
furling, Furuno radome & reflector, etc. we motored back into Bahia Redonda Marina in
Puerto La Cruz to lick our wounds.

We are at present attempting to work our way through the insurance claim process and
hope to have things resolved soon.  It's a drag being stuck in a marina during "prime time".
Spring is such a great time to be out and about... but there are definitely worse places to
be stuck than Bahia Redonda Marina & Venezuela.  Keep your fingers crossed..
New - March, 2008:
Wow, I've been way behind on site updates!   We've been getting ourselves settled-in
here in Bahia Redonda Marina - plugging in the A/C, getting the awnings up and
generally lazing about.  We are making progress on the mast splice, however we are just
taking our time and working on it in the cool portions of the day - 6AM - 8AM and 4PM -
6PM.  Took the boom and whisker pole off and continuing on with the sleeving.

I have been gathering a lot of recipes, and inventing a few too, which is always fun.  I
have updated the
recipes page with a couple of new ones for your enjoyment.
New - May, 2008:
I've done a few site updates while Ed works on the mast splice.  Added some shots for
the newest sewing project - a dinghy cover for the Carib.  I also added shots of a few
other sewing projects as well.  Enjoy them
here. Plus I added a few new projects on the
exterior & systems page; a new sub-page for the battery compartment upgrade, and
some shots of the new electronics bay that Ed built when we did the cockpit makeover.  
Enjoy them on the
exterior page.  It's the rainy season here and that makes it easier to
find time for doing the site updates.
New - June, 2008:
New - September, 2008:
Well, we have finished up the mast splice and have finally put the details in a new page
that can be accessed via the
Captain's Corner.   Additionally, I am in the process of
sewing the new bimini since the old one was 12 years old and leaked like a sieve.
New - October, 2008:
Well, we have finished up our maintenance chores.  The boat was hauled and bottom
painted with SeaHawk 44 ablative, and I finished up all the bimini components fore to aft.  
It will really be nice to stay dry.  We installed the new salon table, a "new to us" wooden
table that fits our needs a lot better than the original, rather limited table. One of the great
things about it is it allows much better access to the storage beneath the starboard
settee. I've made a naugahyde cover for it when it's in it's normal configuration.  Probably
have it sanded and refinished when we get to Trinidad. That's the next stop, and we
should be heading out for Margarita within the next couple of days to provision and wait
for a weather window SE to Chagauramus.
New - November, 2008:
By the middle of October, we left Puerto La Cruz and headed out for Isla Margarita to
stock up on duty free stuff before heading back into the Eastern Caribbean.  After a 2
week stay there we left Isla Margarita at midnight on Halloween, being driven out by the
extremely loud bad beach bands - 3 of them competing with each other.  Actually that
wasn't the only reason we left, the weather was just right for our run NE to Los Testigos,
some 85 miles away.  A star-studded sky with just a sliver of a moon accompanied us on
our journey - some of the best stargazing we have had in quite a while.  We enjoyed a
wonderful 5-day stay in Los Testigos while we awaited our weather window to Trinidad.  
With quite calm winds and seas, we managed the 110 mile trip motorsailing overnight
right on the rum line with only a slight current against us.  So here we are in Trinidad,
working on acquiring the parts necessary for repairing the roller furling headsail,  having
our new salon table refinished and doing some fun shopping for galley replenishment.  
We expect to be here about a month.
New - January, 2009:
After just a month in Trinidad our chores were completed and it was time to hurry north
before the Christmas winds set in.  Those winds blow like crazy 24/7 and cause the seas to
really build up.  Great for generating power but lousy for travel NE up the island chain.

We had a great trip and arrived in Prickly Bay, Grenada mid-December and here we still
sit.  It's really great here, beautiful scenery, friendly people, lots of tourists via the cruise
ships that come in, which makes it pretty relaxed for us gringos as we're run of the mill for
the locals.  Our anchorage spot allows us to swim, make water and see the sunset and yes,
4 out of 7 evenings we see a green flash - no kidding!  Anyhow, we're hanging out here for
a while and will comtemplate our options as weather windows approach.
New - March, 2009:
This is an excerpt from and email back to our family summing up what we have been up
to in our latest adventures since our escape from Trinidad................. We are now in
Carricou, just north of Grenada and plan to head up island to visit the Grenadines yet
again before hurricane season gets started.

It's been a while since I wrote so I thought I'd play catch-up and get an email off to you.  
It's been very busy around here and we're huffing and puffing trying to keep up.

Sunday before last there were several things going on such as the Grenada Sailing
Festival, the Biannual Flower Exhibition and the Superbowl.  We left the marina with
several other cruisers heading to the Grand Anse beach where the day's race activities
were scheduled to be held.  I parted ways and went by myself to the Flower Exhibition.  
It was very enjoyable - lots of orchids, bromiliads, ferns, ginger, heliconia, and other
tropicals, plus this killer display of all the weird fruits and veggies grown around here.  
Fun.  I took a few pics before the camera pooped out and will be trying to get them up
on the website sometime.  I then hopped on a bus and headed up to meet the group,
bus fare is just under $1, so there's no guilt in hopping on and off whenever you want.

Meanwhile Ed and a bunch of other folks went up to a local B&B and eatery on Grand
Anse  beach which provided a good venue for watching the sailboat races.  We had a
great lunch and spent the afternoon watching the races offshore while a blues trio
played some really great blues. The lead guitarist is an ex-cruiser and now has his
chiropractors license for Grenada, but he's a dynamite lead player and has a fantastic,
gravelly voice - perfect for stuff like Muddy Waters, BB King, etc.  eventually it was time
to move on and at about 4:45 the bus arrived to take us back to the marina.  From there
we split off from the group and walked 2 blocks up to the restaurant called Banana's
(local college hangout for St. George's University ) to watch the game.  Great fun, we
ended up schmoozing our way into the VIP seating area where the really big TV is, and
drank beer and ate pizza, but we were ready to leave at halftime, plus the crowd was
getting rowdy as only college kids can do.

This week was also a very busy one.  Tuesday night we went for dinner over at our
friends on "The Road", a great couple our age from South Africa via Wales. By the way,
The Road is actually R.O.A.D., an acronym for Royal Order of Ancient Druids.  "Taffy",
the captain is a really humorous fellow who keeps us in stitches, Shirley has the cool
head and is a great cook, and "Rubbish" their African Grey parrot provides additional
entertainment with his shenanigans.

Wed night we went over for "Burger Night" at a marina on another bay, where we
visited with our friends that are anchored there, and exchanged books at their
mini-book exchange - I managed to find 4.

On Thursday night I went with 7 other women to a Rituals coffee shop where they offer
a buy 1 bottle/get 1 bottle free wine tasting - so we buy a very nice bottle which split 8
ways came to about $7US each and have an opportunity to try some higher end
wines.  They also have sandwiches and nice a cheese plate.

On Friday night we went with several other cruisers (which we hadn't met before) to a
beautiful resort called Bel Air Plantation, which sits on some really lush & lavish
grounds with self-contained bungalows, a restaurant and a fabulous infinity pool up
high enough to see the entire bay of St. David's, which is at the tip of the most
southeasterly bay.    They offer a good cruiser discount for lodging as I understand it.  
The website is http://www.belairplantation.com   Anyway they had a very good vocalist
and a guitar trio, so the evening was very relaxing.

Saturday we had committed to our rugby friends that we would go watch the
Wales/England match at Clark's Court Bay marina, so we were there until about 3pm.  
It is amazing what those players put up with physically!  By the end of the match we
were fairly clued-in on what was hapenning and enjoying it quite a bit - Wales won,
which wasn't unexpected.

So that about wraps it up - a week or more in the life....
New - April, 2009:
After a few weeks of sailing and snorkeling and otherwise having fun on our way north from
Grenada, we are now hanging out in Bequia, which is just south of St. Vincent.  It's a very
nice island, and now that the Easter regatta is over and the excess of boats have left it's just
right (boat) population wise.  There are a lot of charter boats in this area due to fact that the
beautiful Tobago Cays are within 20 miles of here, but they cause more entertainment than
heartache (usually).

By the way, on our way between Mayreau and Bequia (a passage of roughly 20 miles) we
caught 2 really nice black fin tuna - yes!! We haven't caught many fish this whole time in the
Caribbean so to catch 2 in one passage was really exciting.  It was a tag-team event to land
them; there's the reeling-in, gaffing, dosing with alcohol (kills them quickly), bleeding them
(important for tuna) and tying them off by the tail (hanging overboard) for transport into the
anchorage to be cleaned. And we were under full sail at the time!  So we now have quite a
few very nice tuna fillets and medallions in the freezer.

We are going to spend a couple of weeks here catching up on laundry, internet and
shopping.  In fact, on Monday we plan on taking the ferry up to St. Vincent as they are
reported to have "American-style" grocery stores which will box-up and deliver your order
back to the ferry for you.  I'm low on cold-cuts, packaged cheeses, ethnic foods and
chips/snacks etc. which I can't find around here.  It should be fun as we're going with our
good friends on '
Casa del Mar', a couple we met on the way south in '06 and have been
catching up with here in Bequia.
New - June, 2009:
We had a great time up in the Grenadines and on our return
south through Carriacou to Grenada.  The fishing has been
stellar this time of year and everyone is catching something.  
We came down the windward side of Grenada and caught 2
blackfin tuna and 2 just right-sized barracuda - one of which
we kept.  Barracuda is delicious fish, quite mild and flaky, just
eat the smaller ones and you shouldn't have any problems.

Here's a shot of Ed with the bigger of the tuna.  We had a fun
time of cleaning it.  I will put some other shots on the Captains
Corner page sometime in the next few weeks.  We will be
staying here in Grenada until it gets too hot, then we'll figure
out where we want to go next.
New - August, 2009:
Well, with temperatures steadily climbing into the high 80's and the hurricane season upon
us once again we head down to Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela to take our summer vacation at
Bahia Redonda Marina.

It's always great to be plugged in, with the A/C keeping us cool and drying out some of the
moisture that builds up after months at anchor in humid conditions.  We enjoy having nice
shower facilities, an on-site restaurant and pool, wifi, and neighbors who like to swap
DVD's, play dominos and just visit.

We will be taking this opportunity to catch up on some of our projects such as refreshing
the varnish on the exterior teak, breaking out the sewing machine for any canvas work that
needs to be done and other "spring cleaning" activities.

I have changed the "great personal pages" page to feature many of our friends blogs or
websites.  It's a really great way to keep up with cruising friends.
The summer season is long gone and we have escaped from Venezuela unscathed, a feat
for which we are thankful!

After an uneventful sail up the Eastern Caribbean we are now ensconced in Antigua, where
we enjoyed a very nice Christmas Day over in Nelson's Dockyard, in English Harbor.  It's an
annual charitable event, where there is live music, food and bottles of champagne are for
sale to raise funding.  Quite a big event, and great people watching.

Our plans are to wait here for our friends on s/y Attitudes, then eventually travel up to
Barbuda for New Year's, assuming the weather cooperates.

From there we will play it by ear and either head further north or just mosey our way back
south enjoying the snorkling along the way.  At any rate, I will be uploading some photos
soon and making a stab at rebuilding the functionality of the website in the aftermath of the
conversion off Geocities and onto Yahoo Web Hosting...it's going to take time - sorry!
New - December, 2009: