Hot News

July 8, 2000~ November 9, 2000

Links: Hot News July 9, 2000 ~ Present, Hot News January 6, 1999 ~ September 23,1999, Julie's Home Page

November 9, 2000

Up early at 6am and left about 7:30am after we had everything ship-shape and I had made lunch. We had very little wind, so we were motor sailing and we still have that swell hitting us broadside; however, I was bound and determined to work on my emails! So, I sat here from 8 to 1:30 and accomplished alot, but did loose my breakfast!!! I wish my stomach would just understand that it needs to behave, because we are cruising now!!! We arrived in beautiful Bonaire about 3pm and tied up to a mooring across from the town of Kralendijk. The entire ocean off Bonaire and Klein Bonaire (island off of Kralendijk) is a marine preserve. We had fantastic diving just off the boat on the mooring; however, it is deep and mainly wall diving. We did not have time to utilize the super snorkel and were slightly disappointed by the lack of snorkeling locations. Part of the problem may have been major destruction of the reef during Hurricane Lenny last November. It is really amazing how many many fish are around if they are preserved and protected, and not fished out to extinction!

David and I dinghied into shore to check in with Customs and Immigration soon after we arrived and had readied the dinghy. We met Chris from *HiLoYo* at Customs. We had seen them in many anchorages, but had never connected before. We spent quite a while trying to locate Immigration, but finally managed to complete our checking in! Everything is very convenient and within walking distance within the town.

November 8, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEIDI!!! Have a wonderful day!

I cleaned and washed in preparation for departure and we all snorkeled for another hour plus. We found lots of interesting little reefs, very shallow, with lots of fish and corals. We could have spent all day in the water. We would have liked to have explored more inside the reef; however, we didn't venture too far from the mother ship because of the squalls with the fierce winds. We definitely would like to return to the Aves, and the other islands of Venezuela.

We found another lobster and grouper for dinner...for our last dinner in the Aves. Very delicious. We snorkeled for 2.5 hours all day!!! The water temperature is about 86-87 degrees! Just perfect!

November 7, 2000

We starting getting ready to leave, fixed filters, loaded diesel into our tanks from the gerry jugs, and did another load of wash. We were able to catch (I should say that ERIC was to spear with alot of hard work and determination!) four grunts and vecis for our dinner while we were swimming and snorkeling for over an hour.

We continued to work on boat projects and then had three BAD squalls which came through with 31+ knot winds and lots of rain! In addition, the Coast Guard boarded us to check out papers! They were very nice, young men in their 20's, and spoke some English. Thanks heavens! We had paid our $75 and our papers were all in order!

November 6, 2000

*Cherokee* left about 8am heading to Bonaire. So, we were alone again! We had a really BIG scare when we turned on this Compaq laptop computer and it FROZE!!! Eric spent most of the morning and was finally able to revive it and we were back in business. This one event made us realize how very important this computer is for our life...for our weather faxes, our email communication with the outside world and our digital camera, plus our emergency communication through Inmarsat. We will definitely need to buy a backup device and/or a new computer for safety.

We swam to the island and walked along the beautiful white sand beach, wondering how many others had gone before us? Then after lunch we went snorkeling for almost two hours in search of dinner with NO success...so we had to use some of our black fin tuna stash in our freezer! Boy, is that delicious!!! We watched one of our movies for a change: "Mickey Blue Eyes"! Very funny...we really enjoyed it and highly recommend it for everyone! Romantic comedy! We did another wash, since it takes quite a few days to do everyone's sheets in this small washer.

November 5, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRLEY!!! We hope that your day was beautiful!

We dinghied over to visit with Kelly and Colin on their boat. They gave us more ono :) and shared their fishing secrets and gave the boys some lures. Hopefully, we will start catching more fish. We spent the afternoon snorkeling and we caught a lobster and a small grouper (large ones are off limits because of ciguartera)! Julie and Barrie on *Cherokee* from Houston arrived to share our quiet anchorage. They are also in the Panama 2000 Group. We did another load of wash and had another delicious dinner: Eric's fourth! Lobster, grouper and birthday cake! Life is Great! The Earth is Bountiful! We can't complain!

November 4, 2000

We woke up to rain and a LARGE swell! Thank heavens, we were anchored out away from the island. We moved to inside the reef (really tricky going in through the pass through the reef with less than optimum sunlight) off of the island of Saki Saki (no, we have not traveled to Japan....I don't know the origin of this name!?) about two miles west. We snorkeled most of the morning after it cleared off beautifully. We found two huge spiney lobsters!!! Eric changed the oil in the generator, I made his birthday cake, Jason worked out, and David wrote emails! The guys went trolling again...thinking that they would catch more tuna!!! WRONG! No birds! No tuna! They caught a barracuda and when they were trying to get him off the hook, he put a hole in our dinghy and Eric's finger!!! They also lost a lure on the reef!!!

However, Eric had his third Birthday Dinner with lobsters and chocolate swirl cake!!! We also met Kelly and Colin on *Libertad de Caribe* who had just caught a huge ono. They must have given us half the fish!!! Thank you very much! Our freezer is getting full! We also did a load of wash and ran the water maker!

November 3, 2000

We were anchored at Isla Palmeras, Aves de Sotavento the eastern group of islands named Las Aves off the northern coast of Venezuela at 12:30pm. No one else was in sight!!! We had lunch and cleaned up the boat, which manages to look like a tornado went through it after one night's passage! I decided to try to make a dent in all my unanswered emails and didn't go fishing (trolling) with the guys on the dinghy. I usually don't go, because it is usually boring and they can go faster with one less person aboard. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! The tuna were running!!! They saw a whale shark!!! They saw flamingos and many other birds!!! I was sooooooo disappointed not to see all that! They returned after catching a very large black fin tuna and a spanish mackerel. We went snorkeling over to the island and returned to fix all the fish and fish some of it!!! Needless to say we had a delicious tuna dinner with wasabi sauce which Julie brought us in August (12 tubes to be exact...and we hadn't used any, since we hadn't caught any fish!). That was Eric's second birthday dinner! We were in bed early, but it was a very rolly anchorage, so it was difficult to sleep peacefully.

November 2, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIC!!!!! What a way to spend your 25th birthday - with an overnight passage!!! We were up about 6 and made ready and left about 8:45. When we made an overnight passage we have a watch schedule, which is 4 hours during the day and 2 hours at night. We were able to do a little sailing between bouts of no wind where we had to motor, using up out nice inexpensive diesel from Trinidad. We were told not to purchase gas/diesel from Venezuela because of its high sulfur content it doesn't burn well and hurts your engine and generator.For dinner we heated up rotis and made them in a bowl, so that they wouldn't spill while we all ate together in the pilot house, since it was to rainy to eat outside. We will have to celebrate Eric's birthday with a cake tomorrow evening, but we did sing to him over our cookies!!! I was on watch from 10am-2pm, 10-12pm, 4-6am, and then again at 10am. We had quite a few squalls and used the radar (you can see the rain on the screen!) to try to avoid them. During my early morning watch we were having tremendous squalls and thunderstorms, which seemed to be staying around us and building in intensity. They continued until about 9am and precluded us from turning on our SSB and listening to the nets and the weather. Being struck by lightning on a sailboat is a cruiser's nightmare! Something which we do not care to experience!

November 1, 2000

Happy 10th Birthday, Pumpkin!!! Hope you are healthy and happy!

We were up at 5am and left at 5:30 for an early start to sail to Los Tortugas. However, we had to motor most of the way due to lack of wind and it was VERY rolly because of a northeast swell hitting us sideways!!! We just squeeked into the anchorage behind the reef at Isla Los Palanquinas at sunset. We did catch three little tunies and two barracudas, which are always lots of fun to get off the hook and throw back! We do not eat them for fear of ciquatera poisoning. We checked the anchor and swam around the boat about ten times, but the water was not as clear as we had been told. Still no time to stop and explore, we need to go west!

October 31, 2000

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Ruth and Harvey!!! May you have a wonderful day together!

Happy Halloween! We would have had trick-or-treaters (there are quite a few boats with children under 16 aboard!) come to our boat if we had stayed in Porlamar; however, we headed west with an INCREDIBLY beautiful downwind sail to Isla Cubaqua. This island has quite a history! It is almost deserted today, but was the first settlement in Venezuela in 1522, because of abundance of pearls found in the local waters. However, the oysters were soon depleted and in 1541 the island was devasted by a tidal wave. There is also a car ferry wrecked on the reef! We anchored with about three other boats off a white-white sand beach. We did not put the motor on the dinghy and venture ashore, but we did swim a few laps around the boat even though we were being stung by no-see-ums!

October 30, 2000

We left the boat about 8am to check in to Venezuela with Juan as our agent and pay our $80 protection fee from the Venezuela Coast Guard for the cruising permit to the outer islands on our way to Bonaire. He told us that they were investigating fraud and corruption in the customs bureau and we might be board and inspected!!!! Wonderful!!! Thank heavens that did NOT happen! We went shopping on the bus from the marina, had lunch at the mall, and didn't have enough time in the store!!! We stocked up, but not nearly enough! It was a shock to see the cash register receipt read $165,793.89 for our groceries!!!!! (Remember $700/1...only $236..85!!!!:) We paid using American dollars and a few bolivars, because we did not want to have trouble with our credit card. Many cruisers had their credit card numbers stolen from banks here in Margarita where they obtained cash! One credit card was attached to his brokerage account and they stole $25,000! We had to stow and inventory everything when we returned.

We went to get our papers from Juan at 3:30pm as directed, but he didn't return until 5pm, but we had a nice dinner of rotis, before spending another rolly night in Porlamar ("Roll-la-mar!) Margarita.

October 29, 2000

I made rotis while I cleaned, wrote emails and worked on administration. The guys printed out my medical inventory (which took forever with the "stupid" program!) and tried to figure out the boom vang and a possible diesel leak! We were able to swim around the boat a few times before enjoying our delicious rotis. We enjoyed a fireworks display over the ocean at dark!!!

October 28, 2000

We dinghied into the marina and met Juan, who said that we would not have to clear in until Monday. We also met Monika and Ben on *Feist*, a German couple, who helped us take the bus to the supermarket and then sold us their remaining Venezuelan Bolivars ($1US=$700 Bolivars). We had quite a trip on the bus!!! And we even found our way home alone! Their diesel is 85 cents/gallon!!! We dinghied over to VEMASCA where many cruiser friends were having a pot luck, but we didn't realize it until too late. We stopped by to visit with *Good Company* whom we had last left in Grenada before they were hauled out at Grenada Marine on August 1! We swan around the boat and enjoyed watching tv in spanish!

October 27, 2000

We were up at 5 and left at 5:20am! We didn't catch any fish.:( Maybe it was because we were motoring alot, because of very little wind. We were anchored in Porlamar, Margarita, Venezuela at about 3pm. We had a busy afternoon and evening, with a swim, making water and doing a load of wash . We turned on the tv and all of their six channels were zoomed in on Fidel Castro making a speech before the Venezuelan President and his government. We did not understand any of it, but we were told it was some "sweetheart" deal about oil! We also discovered a leak in our hydraulic boom vang....now HOW do we fix that????

October 26, 2000

We were up at 2:30am and left at 2:45am!!! I had to put the patch on and slept some! I seem to have difficulty when we leave in the middle of the night! We caught FOUR fish!!! and arrived in Los Testigos at about 3:30pm. We went swimming and had a delicious fish dinner! Beautiful sandy beaches surrounded by aqua water! But no time to stay and enjoy!

October 25, 2000

We were up early, stowing everything, making lunches and heading to Cabo San Francisco about 9am. We said farewell to *Slipaway* and Graham on *Maya III*, but couldn't reach Sandy and Daryl on *Solitude* who had just returned from Cincinnati the night before. We will just have to talk with them on the SSB or on their new pocketmail! We really wish that they were traveling west with us. We arrived in Cabo San Francisco, a bay on the northeastern coast of Venezuela about 1pm. There was one fishing boat and another one joined us that afternoon. Unfortunately, we do not speak spanish. This bay was absolutely spectacular, one of our most magnificient anchorages! It was almost like a fiord with very high tree-covered cliffs. We could hear birds, growling (we have been told there are jaquars), but couldn't see any! We spent the afternoon working on emails and swimming in this beautiful place! We were all ready to leave tomorrow and were in bed at 8:30!

October 24, 2000

We said our farewells to our friends at TTSA and motored around to Chagaramas, where we purchased our final diesel and gas, and food at Hi-Lo (unfortunately, the really good bread truck didn't arrive in time!). We cleared out of customs. We motored to Chacachare where we had a nice lunch in the beautifully peaceful anchorage. I made a flag for Venezuela while David and Eric cleaned off the bottom and the prop. The coast guard did come by and ask if we were ok!

October 23, 2000

We did errands, shopping for food and boat parts and then we returned the car at noon. Jason and I dinghied into the office at TTSA for "good-byes" and to take the winch seat in to donate it...we arrived back just before a big squall. We spent the rest of the day making ready to head WEST!!!!

October 22, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AIDAN!!! One year old!!! Tell your Mom and Dad to send us a picture of you and Skipper and Squirt!!!

We were up at 5:30am and left TTSA at 7am for our island tour in our own car! We arrived at Asa Wright Nature Center at 9:40 in time for the 10am tour. We had enough time to enjoy a drink on the veranda and watch all the beautiful birds and animals at the feeders below! We had quite a tour through some of the grounds and then returned to the main house. We had brought our own lunches so we enjoyed them by the fresh water pool. We had to leave about 2 in order to drive back along the north coast with its very scenic coastline with beaches interspersed with cliffs high above the ocean. It is a very beautiful dense tropical rain forest. We drove past Maracas Bay, where everyone goes to swim, but unfortunately, we couldn't stay. We did stop at Fort George, which has spectacular views of all of Trinidad and over to Venezuela. We were home about sunset. What a spectacular day! Eric and David deserve medals for their driving...on the left side, through curving mountain roads slippery with rain, and through lots of traffic in Port of Spain and along the road to Asa Wright, through every town along the way!

We were just sorry not to have been able to stay overnight for several days at Asa Wright! What a magnificent spot! We were also disappointed not to visit more of Trinidad. We never seem to have enough time!!

October 21, 2000

We had appointments with Barrows and Junior at 9am and then we rented a car at noon. We had a real scare when Eric couldn't find his wallet with his license and credit cards!!! It had fallen through a little crack in his shelf! What an experience...driving on the wrong side of the road!

October 20, 2000

We were up at 4:30am to get into the dock!!!! *Naquita* was there before us!!! David just about flipped!!! Kent Barrows came out with the metal for the bimini to adjust the fitting (Remember it was to be finished by October 15?!) I finally managed to get all the cans stowed after they finally dried out! We went back out to anchor later in the afternoon, after we had our order from Trintrac, Junior for refrigeration parts and Echo Marine delivered our dinghy and the refrigerator panels.

I finished reading "Changing Course: A Woman's Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life" by Deb Cantrel. Remember? We met Jim and Deb in Virgin Gorda. I loved her book, just wish that I had it a couple of years ago. I am presently reading it to my crew after dinner, along with "Caribbean", and "Mary's Messages to Our Families."

October 19, 2000

Rain again for most of the day, but we had to head to town to pick up our airline tickets from Irena Travel (she did an excellent job!) and clear our dinghy through customs at Echo Marine. (The rain and the wind makes for a very rolly anchorage!!!)

October 18, 2000

We were up early and headed to West Mall (with pants, fleeces and down parkas after last time!) to shop.We spent not nearly enough time at a Wildlife Photo Exhibition! Some of THE most amazing photographs I have ever seen! We enjoyed gyros for lunch. We waited over an hour for Mr. Harris to return to drive us back to TTSA. It was VERY rough going out to our boat and everything got wet, so we had a difficult time removing the salt water (which can be a BIG problem on cans!), drying them all out, inventorying them and stowing them all. We had dinner early, left the cans drying on the floor and went to movie night at TTSA. This week was "White Squall" (I don't know what they were trying to tell us....or scare us to death!). This was much more realistic! Much more enjoyable than "Perfect Storm". Do see it!

October 17, 2000

We went to town early to do errands and had pizzas for lunch at Joe's Pizza. We had more rain, but had to do another load of wash and hang it up to dry inside. We were scheduled to get our new dinghy, but we had to wait for customs!

October 16, 2000

We were up at 5:30am in order to catch a maxi at 7am for our dental appointment with Dr. Narine at St. Clair Medical Center. We were very impressed with his cleaning method ...Chinese Water Torture!!! but my teeth have never felt so clean! We were early so we left there about 10:30 and went to down town Port of Spain, which is definitely an experience! We had rotis at the mall (definitely not as good as West Mall) and then purchase lots of fabrics for items for our boat. I have never seen so much material!!! I wish that we could have returned to purchase material to make some clothes for us! David and I had our eyes checked for vision and glaucoma (all ok)! We arrived back at TTSA about 5:45pm....What a day!

October 15, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YVONNE!!! We hope it was happy.

Pretty quiet day! I spent all day working on my inventory....will it EVER be finished????? while the guys worked on MORE boat projects! It is amazing how we are BUSY constantly!!!

October 14, 2000

I worked on emails, while David and Eric repaired the stay-sail. I worked on my inventory during the afternoon, while the guys worked on the refrigeration. Jason and I dinghied in (I drove all by myself!!!) and returned the video. We decided not to get another one since we needed to do a load of wash (whites tonight) and we also had to download the pictures in the digital camera. Of particular note:**** A BEAUTIFUL moon-rise!

October 13, 2000 Friday the 13th!

We FINALLY managed to go shopping with Jessie, but as usual we didn't have enough time. I find it very difficult to shop in an hour in a new store!!! We were back by noon, had lunch and had inventoried and stow all in time to head to town by 3pm. We did errands, made our final plane reservations to fly to Florida November 20, returning on November 30 from Curacao (The C of the ABC Islands of the Dutch West Indies) off the coast of Venezuela. We rented a Jackie Chan movie, "Shanghai Noon", which was really excellent. We think that you would all enjoy it! (There was LOUD music off and on until about 4am while they were practicing for a concert tomorrow night! It just BLASTS right out through the anchorage... and we were the furthest away!)

October 12, 2000

Happy Columbus Day!!! The real one! More rain while we spent the morning aboard working on the generator and the afternoon running errands and ordering our new Caribe dinghy. We did a load of dark clothes, hung them inside to dry after dinner.

We also heard the warning that part of one of the Canary Islands could fall into the ocean and generate a 1000 foot tsunami wave to the East Coast of the United States and all of the Caribbean Islands!!! Wonderful food for thought! Someone predicted the same fate for the coasts of all the Hawaiian Islands after a part of the Big Island of Hawaii could fall into the sea a few years ago . Hopefully neither will happen...as least in this lifetime!

October 11, 2000

We had MORE rain! David and I headed to town to do errands while Eric and Jason remained aboard doing projects. They finished fixing the windlass and installed our new seat at our desk, which is a HUGE improvement over the orginal tiny little seat! In spite of the rain we ventured in to TTSA for movie night to see "The Perfect Storm." It is definitely an exciting movie; however, if you know anything about weather and boats, it is really hard to believe that he would be soooo stupid or greedy!!!

October 10, 2000

Aunt Betty's cataract operation went very smoothly and was a great success! All her worries were for naught! But our prayers did help, I am sure. I am sooo pleased!

I cleaned and worked on emails, Jason worked out (he is our chief recreation officier!), while David and Eric worked on the windlass and the refrigeration/pump. We had to go into Marine Warehouse again at 5pm to clear items through customs.

October 9, 2000

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY! We have traveled to many islands which he first discovered! We are in awe of what he accomplished!

We had lots of errands to run all morning, including looking at the internet and realizing that this website has STILL not been updated! Julie and Chris as doing it for us, but they are sooooo busy....we apologize! I have the big problem of trying to do it here on the boat and then transfer to a disc and then hotmail it to her. We really wish that we could come up with another solution, but no luck! Any ideas??? After I finish updating this time, I am hoping to do it maybe once a week, but with no pictures, from here on the boat. We had lunch with Shirley and Sanford of *Slipaway* and did more shopping before we returned to the boat, where it was VERY bouncy because of the winds!

October 8, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELE and FERGIE!!! Happy day! I can't believe that she is 7 years old!

Haircut Day for ALL!!! Very nice to have a beauty salon right in your own cockpit...and the price is right! I made rotis while I did administration, worked on the medical list and wrote emails (I am STILL behind in everything!). We watched The Promised Land on tv.

October 7, 2000

We had another work day with cleaning and then I started typing out my medical kit for my inventory (including a list of all prescriptions aboard in case that is needed by customs somewhere). We had another major squall go through with 30 knots of wind and lots of rain! We went to Power Boats at 5:00 for Cruiser's Concert and met Shirley and Sanford from *Slipaway,* who had just recently returned from a couple of months at home in Tucson. They had a REAL horror problem with the work that was to have been completed on their boat during their absence!). We had rotis for dinner there and then stopped for some ice cream to have at home!

October 6, 2000

We were up at 5am in order to get a space at the dock!!! *Sequilla* heard us hauling up our anchor, so he yanked his anchor up fast (did not wash it off, which we have to do because we have no drain holes in our anchor locker) and pulled into the dock in front of *Naquita* who was STILL there from the other day! We pulled in and then had to move AGAIN while they hauled a boat out, because we were hanging over the haul out slip! However, we were able to get out batteries from Marine Warehouse...all eight, each weighing 180 lbs! We took out all the old ones and gave them to a member on the staff at TTSA, who wanted to use them at his home. They all had 50%+ capacity still and a few had much more than that! We just can't rely on them while we are out cruising! Eric installed all the new ones....I guess we know how to do that job after we have done it twice before! We had just about finished about 4pm, when Barrows came to put all our repaired sails back on!!! Thank heavens, that is one less trip into this dock!!!

October 5, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KUMI!!! Hope you had a wonderful special day!

More rain, so we did boat repairs and administrative work, until 3:30 when we had to go to Marine Warehouse to have our batteries cleared with Customs. We stopped at Joe's Pizza for dinner! This is nice here in Trinidad....could get to be a real habit...eating out all the time!!!! :)

October 4, 2000

We went into TTSA to pick up the cleaning solution that they were dispensing to all of us to clean the oil off our boats and dinghies! (We found out that the chemical ruined inflatable dinghies and also removed anti-fouling bottom paint!!! Thank you very much!) Then we took a maxi to West Mall. While we were standingnext to the road.....the earth started to shake! It felt like there was a train in a tunnel below and we couldn't figure out what was happening!Hello! It was an earthquake of 6.1 on the Rickter Scale at 10:40am! We are beginning to wonder when the locusts and pestilence will strike!!!

We looked around West Mall, had a delicious lunch of gyros and rotis (for about $5 for all of us!), but we FROZE to death (the air conditioning was freezing)! We went shopping at the larger Hi-Lo Store and were given a free ride back to TTSA by Mr. Harris.

October 3, 2000

We were up at 6am and into the dock at 6:30!!!* Naquita* was there first...again! We can't understand why there isn't a better system! Junior was there about 9 am to work on our refrigeration. Jason and I took papers to Marine Warehouse to clear our batteries. I did two loads of wash there, but I had to hang them on the lifeline to finish drying!

October 2, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SALLY and NANCY!!! Hope that your special day was beautiful!

It continued to rain (and rain hard) most of the day; however, we needed to go into town to make a claim at YSAT (I can't remember their name but they act as a mediator for cruisers having a problem in Trinidad) for the oil spill and to talk with Barrows Sails. We ran into Penny and Fred from *Mango Latitudes* at Peakes and then met their daughter Christina at Joe's while we were eating lunch. They were being put back into the water and then leaving. We always seem to be out of sync with people we would like to travel with! We did go back in and meet Sandy and Daryl for dinner at Joe's...since they were heading to Cincinnati early the morning. We had planned on spending lots of time with time, touring the island, etc, with them but the hurricane had other ideas!

October 1, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELLEN AND WIN! We hope that yours was much much better than mine!!!!

We were up early listening to weather on SSB at 6:30, 7:15, 8:15am and then Eric was on Trinidad television every hour with hurricane updates for Joyce. She was completely downgraded to a tropical depression and turned slightly north, so that she did pass through the islands between Trinidad and Grenada, with winds gusting to 30. Thank heavens!!! All your prayers worked! The devastation to the people, property, and the land (with thousands of birds, animals and plants) on the islands of Trinidad and Grenada would have been catastropic! Between the two islands there could easily be 5,000 sailing vessels, and we are all here to avoid hurricanes!!! The lost of boats and crew would have been devasting to the cruising community!

It was just a very windy rainy day for us, so we made use of the rain by cleaning and scrubbing the decks and doing a wash with the collected water (hanging inside to dry ...again). I made myself a cake, which we enjoyed while watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Actually, my best present was NO Hurricane Joyce!! Thank you!

September 30, 2000

We listened to all the weather forecastes and decided not to get the sails back on....we would just stay here. It was really too late to run. The oil came back in with the tide! Jason and I went over to Peakes in Chagauramas to give SOLITUDE our package of mail which we wanted them to mail in the USA, since they were hauled out Friday morning (BEFORE the oil slick!:) and were heading to Cincinnati on Tuesday morning! David and Eric made PEACE AND ALOHA ready, with two anchors with LOTS of chain, stay-sail down, everything taken off or tied down. Many other boats were preparing also, but many weren't doing anything!!! We just battened the hatches, listened to the weather on SSB and TV and watched the Olympics!...and wrote a newsletter....asking for prayers!!

September 29, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LESLIE!!!! Hope it was happy!!! We hope that your day was better than ours!!!! Actually, many cruisers ended up calling this day "Hell Friday!" Joyce became Hurricane Joyce, located at 10.5 degrees N and 51.0 degrees W, heading SSW directly towards us, expecting to arrive at 2am on October 1 (Happy Birthday, Ellen!). Hurricane Keith, with winds of 100+ was located in the Gulf of Mexico! Then we had an OIL SLICK come into Carenage and Chagauramas Bays!!!

We tried to leave, because we could SMELL it coming, but couldn't get the anchor up in time, so it splashed all along the starboard side of the boat and of course, was all along the water line. We motored to Chagauramas (where is didn't come in until after lunch), where we jerry jugged some diesel and gasoline out to the boat. I went to the supermarket and stocked up the best I could there. Then we went to Barrow Sails to find out about getting our sails back....remember, we couldn't go anywhere which might have been safer, since we STILL didn't have our sails repaired and back on board. They said that IF we wanted them, they would bring them to the dock tomorrow (NOT repaired yet). Really not much of a help, since we should have left Thurday or Friday.

We went to Five Islands (further off the coast) and spent the entire afternoon cleaning off the side of the boat, inventorying and stowing items, cleaning barnacles off the prop, and cleaning the inside. Then the deck wash pump died!!!!!:) (saltwater pump on the bow used to clean junk off the anchor and front of the boat!) We went back in and anchored at TTSA.....and watched the tide bring the oil in .....and out..... for the next couple of weeks!!!!! so everybody's waterline was a mess! We cancelled our dinner plans with SOLITUDE and listened to weather at 4:30 and 6pm on the SSB and 7pm on tv. Then watched the Olympics in between!

September 28, 2000

We had a VERY stormy windy day with winds to 35 knots! Several boats and the docks at Power Boats in Chagauramas were severely damaged. Everyone was fine at TTSA, in fact, I don't think that anyone even dragged! I just continued to do administrative work, like balance check books, etc. etc. and it finally cleared enough for the guys to take it over to be repaired. Marine Safety did an excellent job of repairing the high pressure floor!

Joyce is at 11.5 degrees N and moving SSW directly towards us and building in strength!! (Possibly because the abortion pill was approved???)

September 27, 2000

We spent most of the day working on all the administration, bills, etc. which were in the mail, plus Eric and David put the brushes into the "Windbugger", wind generator, but it STILL doesn't work!!! David keeps threatening to throw it overboard!!!

We had an early dinner and went into TTSA (Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association) for movie night to see "Being There" with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine, one of David's all time favorites. We came back to the boat and enjoyed more of the Olympics.

September 26, 2000

We talked with Wendy on KAMYTOO on the SSB this morning and they arrived safetly in Grenada! We also heard on the net the Joyce and Isaac were forming! The sump pump broke and we had a mess that we had to clean up before we could head to town!!! These kinds of repairs make cruising such a joy!!! Just ask Eric!!!!! :)

We were able to pick up our mail delivery at Customs (must have weighed 75 lbs...and cost a fortune!!!), so we spent the afternoon going through all of that! Thank heavens! No BIG surprises...ie BIG PROBLEMS!!! We had been having trouble with the email system and we received 14 new messages when we logged on...and I got behinder and behinder!!!

Aunt Betty's cataract operation was rescheduled since they had a power outage at the hospital in Boston. Now she has to go through all the preparations....again!!! We are sending all our prayers...loud and clear!

September 25, 2000

We went into Chagauramas to tell Nau-T-Kol Refrigeration that we were not going to change our system! Our money was refunded and we went our merry way...still needing to fix our refrigeration! We stopped at the customs dock to bid aloha to Wendy and Loren on KAMYTOO, who were heading back up to Grenada to be hauled out at St. David's for their bottom work. We had planned on spending much more time together...we only went to the Hawaiian luau together!!! It is really a shame because everyone is so VERY busy doing boat work, we have no time to spend getting to know each other. They will head back north along the island chain, like most of the other cruisers. Hopefully, we will see them after we go ALL the way around and end up back here in Trinidad.

September 24, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHY AND RACHELL!!!!! Hope that your special day was very special for both of you!!!

Very cloudy morning, which I spent working on my medical inventory, Eric and David spent discussing the refrigeration, and Jason worked out. Daryl and Sandy came over to TTSA about 2pm and we sat and talked, especially about the refrigeration!!! We left about 3pm to go to Port of Spain to see "The Patriot,." which we all really enjoyed. It was actually much more intense and emotional than I had expected. When we left, we actually felt like we had been through a war! We were wondering if this is based on a true person???? Does anyone out there know the US history surrounding this movie? We would love to have some answers.

We arrived home about 9pm and just had some eggs for dinner, since there were no restaurants open for us on Sunday night. We went non-linear when we came in and turned on the light and saw a couple of roaches on the counter.....and we had been sooooo careful!!! Get out the boric acid and the spray!

We unfortunately had some sad news from my Dad via email (Thank heavens for this ham email system direct to our boat!) that my Uncle Tom Hayden had passed away earlier that morning under Hospice Care. We share our prayers and love for the wonderful family whom he left behind! We were lucky enough to share one day during August 1999 with him and his family at their cottage at Dennis on Cape Cod! We are all still raving about his root beer, beach plum jelly, and peach ice cream!!! He will be missed ....he was very special! Our special love and prayers to my Aunt Din and to all my cousins and their families.

September 23, 2000

David and Eric spent the morning working on the engine and I started working on the inventory for all the medical kits!!! We had LOTS of rain in the afternnoon, so we read the guide books for other (that is opposed to boat repairs!) things to do in Trinidad! More Olympics and we were VERY impressed with Ato Bolton, the runner from Trinidad. He has a terrific attitude, especially in comparison to some of the atheletes from the US.

September 22, 2000

Jason stayed aboard to do his workout, while David, Eric and I were given a ride to Marine Safety (the dinghy repair outfit) by a fellow cruiser...from England, who knew how to drive WELL on the wrong side of the road! We found that Marine Safety could repair our floor again and would try to find out if we could purchase a harder floor. We then took a "maxi" (small vans which cost 2TT or 16 US cents for a ride) back to Chaguaramas to see about purchasing a floor or a complete new dinghy. As we are riding back home we saw Sandy and Daryl from SOLITUDE walking along the road.

We spent the afternoon working on emails and this website and the guys worked on the dinghy repair. More Olympics after dinner as we are watching the weather as more tropical storms are forming and being named....Helene and Isaac. It had been a pretty calm season!!!

September 21, 2000

We all went to Chaguaramas to get engine parts, plus Barrows Sails, Budget Marine and Marine Warehouse and we also picked up some food at the HI-LO shop at CrewsInn and arrived back to our boat, just as a HUGE storm, with lightning, winds and rain arrived! We discovered a bad leak in the high pressure floor of the dinghy. I stowed all the items, while the guys worked on the generator. We had lightning and rain all night and heard on the weather at 6:30 am that parts of Trinidad had hail and roofs were ripped off of many homes. We did another load of wash (we can only do wash when we are running the generator and have enough water....we had collected enough to completely fill out tanks, which is wonderful, since we cannot run our water maker in these polluted waters) and continued to enjoy watching the Olympics on two different channels - Canadian and US!

September 20, 2000

A boat workday: washing and cleaning and working out problems with the computer and the generator!

September 19, 2000

We had to be at Barrows Sails by 8:15am to discuss the contract for the bimini with Kent, so we took a maxi taxi (big van!) for $2TT each. We agreed to the contract and they have promised (???)that it will be finished by October 15. There are definitely NO deals on this type of work here!!! We purchased some diesel at about 80 cents/gallon!!!! That really beats the $2.69/gallon which we had to pay in Grenada!

September 18, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEVON and MORA JO!!! Hope they were both happy!!

We dinghied over early in order to fill up our 4 jerry jugs with diesel, but they were OUT!!!! Can you believe it!!! The only fuel dock here in Trinidad, right next to all their oil wells???!!! We went to Barrows, Budget and the Supermarket to pick up a few items. Jason and I walked home (about 16 minutes from Crews Inn), while David and Eric took the dinghy around, and we managed to arrive back at PEACE AND ALOHA before the 31+ knot winds and the rain poured down in buckets!!!!

The guys worked on the generator while I worked on emails and the magazines. Then we defrosted the refrigerator! (I haven't had to defrost my refrigerator since married student housing at CU!) We ate dinner early so that we could go into TTSA and watch two videos on Polynesian Islands and New Zealand with the Pacific Group. They were ok, but definitely not that good of Tahiti....but we still want to go there...since we know how great it is!

September 17, 2000

A very quiet day - we just read (I am reading magazines, tearing them up and filing them under categories for future reference in our file cabinet) and watched the Olympics all day and night! Not being able to swim is tough !!! Thank heavens! We have rain storms which come through every afternoon and cool things off! A real problem if you are trying to paint your bottom or varnish!!!!

September 16, 2000

We decided to dinghy over to Chagauramas in order to get gas from the fuel dock at Power Boats. It took us 25-30 minutes, just the same as walking!!! The only problem is that you can catch a maxi taxi for $2TT, but our dinghy only goes soooo fast....so after we had visited with SANGARIS, the guys had arranged tickets for Alice DJ concert at the Base that night with Danielle, talked with Nau-t-kol again about the refrigeration, and had chicken hoagies for lunch at Joe's, we ended up arriving home in the pouring rain!!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Olympics from Sydney on two different stations: NBC and the Canadian Channel feed. We are soooooo tired of commercials, we could scream!!!! It seems like we see 5 minutes of Olympics for 10 minutes of the same Trinidad advertisements over and over and over again!!!

The boys went to the Alice DJ concert about 7:30 and arrived home sometime around 2:30 or so...the wee hours of the morning, when us old folks are being smart and sleeping!!! They were VERY impressed by the people: they are all very friendly and the girls were VERY beautiful! We should remind you that Miss Universe is from Trinidad and Tobago!!! Trinidad is a melting pot similar to Hawaii, with roots in Africa and India, plus European (alot of French), Middle Eastern and Chinese countries. They do speak English, but sometimes they are difficult to understand and we find ourselves saying, what and huh???? many times during our conversations. Dawn explained to us that in their culture it is very impolite to speak loudly. A security guard will not shout at you, he will clap his hands to get your attention!!!!

September 15, 2000

We are desperately trying to figure out how to optimize our refrigeration! We are changing from DC to AC, where it will run off the generator, twice a day; therefore, the refrigeration will NOT kill our batteries. Nau-T-Kol will be doing the refit. Jeff and Dawn Stone are from San Francisco, have sailed to Tahiti and Hawaii and then back to California. Dawn is bird sitting for this little Amazon, that is going through a 2 year old stage at age 15!!! What she really needs are some pelletts and a better diet!!!! Maybe I should be carrying some pellets to help all my feathered friends in need around the world!!!! Dawn (who has two boys the same age as Eric and Jason) also helped the guys by introducing them to Danielle, who works at The Inn Place at CrewsInn.

We had lunch at Joe's Pizza again and cancelled our solar panels at Marine Warehouse.We walked home and picked up some charts for the Northstar from Henry on MARITIME EXPRESS.

We all went in to TTSA for a luau at 6pm. Wendy and Loren from KAMYTOO who are in the marina at TTYC (Trinidad and Tobago Yacht Club) came, so I was able to give her "Close to the Wind" to return to Liz when they return to Grenada the end of the month. There were quite a few people there!! The dj did NOT have any Hawaiian music so Eric and Jason went back out to the boat to get Jason's cds!!!! Jason was in Heaven!!! The dj allowed him to mix several times!!! He didn't even have time to drink his delicious Hawaiian Jibe drink with Malibu rum and coconut cream for $10TT which is approximately $1.62!!!!! The fish dinner was $30TT or $4.84 US....rather different from the prices on Maui!!! Can't beat that....We stayed until after 10pm visiting with everyone and watching the fireeaters and limbo dancers (NOT exactly Hawaiian!!!???) and the guys enjoyed the Malibu Rum girls!!! Lots of fun was had by all!!

September 14, 2000

David and Eric went into the dock by dinghy first and NAKITA, the fellow we had spoken with last night, had left, so they returned and we headed in with all our fenders and ropes ready. We were coming in very well...it is like parallel parking a car, but not exactly...and there were two boats already on the dock, which meant that we were going to hang over into the haul out slip!!! Then this man starts yelling and screaming, waving his arms at us saying that we can't come in because he is going to be put into the water RIGHT NOW!!!!! We just kept coming in and completely ignored him until we had PEACE AND ALOHA secured at the dock. You NEVER bother someone while they are coming into a dock!!! Kent Barrows was there with his two men and he squared things up with this fellow (Kent is a member and his father is one of the founding members of the Association). They came aboard and took the main and the genoa, which needed to be resewn where the uv protective material is coming off, billowing and making it very difficult to reef the sails! Ullman Sails has agreed to have them sewn under warranty. We are thankful for that!!!

We went back out and reanchored in the bay and then Kent came back out to the boat in order to measure and discuss a bimini. We had lunch, waited for a squall to go through with 27+ winds (but thankfully no one dragged...Trinidad is known for very poor holding!), and then walked back to Chagauramas to go to Budget, Coral Cove, the hardware store, CrewsInn, the video store and Supermarket. We stopped to visit with LADY JO and EDGE. We had a quick bite for dinner and really enjoyed the movie "Anna and The King". If you haven't seen it, do rent it! But I must admit that "my" king of Siam, still looks like Yul Brynner!!!

September 13, 2000

We listened to the regular nets and weather and Trinidad has their own local cruisers net at 8am. We found out that Craig on SANGARIS is the weatherman...a VERY entertaining one at that!!!! We talked with them after the net and found out that there is now a group of 20+ boats here who meeting and pooling ideas, charts, etc. in preparation to meet on this side of the Panama Canal about the first of February. So after completing a list of everything that we needed to purchase and also checking the depth into and around the dock here at TTSA, we went back to Marine Warehouse, Barrow Sails, Budget Marine, and Echo Marine. We had a pizza at Joe's Pizza at Coral Cove and then went to the meeting with the Pacific/Panama Canal Group there at 6pm. We made alot of nice people and I am sure that we will stay in contact with many of them! We walked back to TTSA and talked with the boats who were on the dock overnight, since we had scheduled with Barrows and the office to come in at 8am to take our sails off. We were told that overnighting on the dock was only for emergencies!!! Guess we will sort it out in the morning!!!

September 12, 2000

We were up early in order to go the Chagauramas in order to check in with customs. INKWAZI (we were next to them "on the hard" at Grenada Marine) and TAOA 8 were just arriving from Grenada. We find that it is less stressful to get regrouped before heading in to the customs dock. As it was we had to wait for about 45 minutes for the two boat ahead to finish. We were lucky that they both left so that we could reverse out, since it was very shallow in front of the dock. We checked in for three months (!!!!), got some TT's ($6.2TT= $1.00US) from the ATM machine and picked up some food at the supermarket, all there at the Crews Inn Dock, where Customs/Immigration is located.

We motored between Point Gourde and the Diego Islands, where on the southern one they mine for a special ingredient used in cement to cap oil wells, while the northern island houses the prison. We passed by the long chute down into the sea which is only a drain; however, rumor says that it is used to take the heads of guillotined prisoners!!!??? We anchored on the east side of all the moored boats at TTSA (Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association) in Carenage Bay. After lunch we went into the office and paid $60US/mo to belong and have use of their facilities for a month. We then walked to Chagauramas to meet Kurt at Marine Warehouse (to check out the status of our batteries), to see Barrows Sails about the repair under warranty on our sails; and to see what they had in Budget Marine.

We had a quick bite to eat and went to bed early again!!! That is alot of stress and walking (in this 90 degree heat with 110% humidity...Thank heavens it does cool off nicely for sleeping at night...to about 75 degrees)!!!

September 11, 2000

We were up at 1:00am....WONDERFUL!!!! We checked everything....and decided to leave. We all helped to get out through the reef, with lights, chartplotter, etc.

We made record time and arrived in Scotland Bay, Northwestern Trinidad at about 1:30pm...only 11.5 hours! According to our speedometer (which Eric says isn't completely accurate!) our average speed was 10 knots with a maximum of 13.2!!! WOW!!! Thank heavens for a clean bottom! We actually had low winds of 20 knots (one squall with winds to 40 knots!!!) and small seas! I had LOTS of problems - I put on an old patch, thinking that I would be fine!!! I think it was tooooooo old, so I did get sick several times! The other problem was the lack of sailing for quite a while and being in such a stable anchorage for months! So, I need to get my sea legs back (not sure that I ever had them????!!!) I am also looking into the Relief Bands....has anyone out there used them? Do they work for you? They are quite expensive, but they would be worth it...if they work. I would love to hear from you if you have tried them. Thanks.

When you come into the channels (called bocas) between the islands, Venezuela, and Trinidad, there is an incredibly strong current (always against you)! Trinidad is a continuation of the Andes from Venezuela as recently as 10,000 years ago. Trinidad does not have white sand palm fringed beaches like the islands to the North. Trinidad has rainforests, which cling to hills and cliffs falling directly to the sea, filled with towering trees, ferns and bamboo and home to 2,300 different flowering shrubs and plants, 700 species of orchids, 433 bird species (250 bird species breed here)(parrots, macaws, golden orioles, hummingbirds, bananaquits, honey creepers, black vultures or corbeaux, falcons, hawk eagles, pelicans, boobies, frigate birds, scarlet ibis, heron, coot, toucan, trogon, oilbird or blind birds in caves, bellbird, manakin), 41 species of hummingbird, 620 species of butterfly, 108 mammals (ocelot, howler and capuchin monkey, opossum, armadillo, preccary, deer, manatees), 70 different reptiles (caiman, alligator, giant anaconda and leatherback turtle) and 57 species of bat. We are looking forward to land tours of the Caroni Swamp to see the scarlet ibis, which is Trinidad and Tobago's national bird; Asa Wright Nature Center, a 200 acre preserve at an elevation of 1200 feet, where one can hike and see many birds, etc; The Pitch Lake which is a pond of asphalt; Maracas Waterfall; Fort George; Turtle Watch Tours; Nariva Swamp to see monkeys; and to Port of Spain. While in Scotland Bay, we heard many birds, but no moneys. We could only see corbeaux and frigate birds, but nothing in the trees! So we have alot to look forward to AFTER we finish all out boat repairs.

We spent the afternoon of our arrival straightening up the boat...she ends up being a BIG mess, even after a short passage! David and I swam 20 laps around the boat. This is one of the few bays where we can swim in Trinidad. The waters are VERY polluted by the run off from the Orinocco river and the oil wells, etc. We kept hearing machine gun firings and saw smoke rising from an inland valley. Finally, several dinghies started shuttleing the soldiers back across the bay to the military headquarters in the next bay. They were obviously Americans.

We had showers, left over rotis for dinner and went to bed EARLY!!!

September 10, 2000

We were up early to listen to the weather and different nets and to also talk with Wendy on KAMYTOO, who are already in Trinidad. We stowed alot in preparation for our passage and did our regular cleaning. Then we took a trial run out through the reefs of Clarkes Court Bay using the Northstar GPS to see if we could safetly leave during the night. We are able to plot our course on the chart which is in the computer (Northstar) (I think that Northstars are also installed in many Cadillacs, so check them out...maybe you can find your way to the supermarket!!!!) and follow without being able to see where we are going, such as in a fog or squall. The problems with GPS's (Global Positioning Satellite) is how accurate the position is in relation to the chart. Many places (such as along the US east coast) it is accurate to a couple of feet; whereas, there have been times in the Caribbean where we have anchored on land or sailed across reefs!!!!! It turns out that the GPS is VERY accurate in Grenada, so we concluded that we could leave the anchorage at night. We also have a spot light and the moon was almost full! We turned around out past the reefs and returned to Clarkes Court Bay to reanchor (so we could have a nice spot to get some sleep, even for just a few hours, since it continues to be rolly over on the NE side of the bay) in our old spot near MAH JONG. We felt that the danger had past.

It was a rather cloudy rainy day, so I worked on emails and this website and also finished reading "Close to the Wind" by Pete Goss, which Liz had loaned me. Quite an amazing TRUE adventure about Pete Goss, who saved the life of another single hander in the Vendee Race in the Southern Ocean!!! I was VERY impressed and I am sure you will be too! Definitely a MUST read for sailors!

I tried my hand at making chicken rotis for us. They were quite good, even if I do say so myself!!! I did have to add more curry!!! We had some showers, so didn't go to Hog Island for the regular Sunday get-together, where I had planned to say good bye to everyone! Deb and Diane on ZEPHYRUS came over to bring some pictures of us, which Deb had taken (She has a really neat printer and the pictures almost look like photos! Another item for the wish list!!!) She also bought our last EC's...it is a little hard to fine tune the amount of cash from one country to the next! We had time for 10 laps around the boat and headed to bed about 8:30!!!

September 9, 2000

33 YEARS AGO WOULD I HAVE EVER DREAMED THAT WE WOULD BE SAILING AROUND THE WORLD IN OUR OWN SAIL BOAT??????!!!!! Yes, folks...we have been married for 33 years!!! Should be a special year with 33 on 9/9/00!! (It would have been #61 for Aunt Alice and Uncle Bill!)

We spent the morning getting ready to leave for Trinidad...but didn't really know if or when we were really leaving!!! We did a load of wash and made water. We went over to Moorings to pick up a few items and stopped by again to say goodbye to MYSTIQUE. While we were there, the skies got very dark and we realized that we were not going to make it back to the boat, before it started to pour. But then Jim on MAH JONG came over the VHF stating that the trawler (Kramme Lenke) was dragging again....and into US!!!! David and Eric left immediately...to go faster in our dinghy...without the heavy-weights of this crew! By the time they arrived at our boat, the wind had stopped blowing, the rain had stopped and the trawler had stopped dragging. However, they felt that the safest idea was to move the boat away from harm's way to the other side of the bay on the northeast side where we had anchored when we first arrived in Grenada after the tropical depression/hurricane scare back in June. Eric and David returned for us...Jason and I were thankful to have a little more time to visit with Liz and Willie. Then we stopped for another quick visit with MAH JONG...another goodbye!!! We had a chance to swim 10 laps around the boat and to listen to George on the weather net. Still not good weather.

We had tacos for our anniversary dinner! We watched some tv and we started reading Michener's "Caribbean" aloud after dinner. We thought that it would be good reading entertainment and also give us some local history.

September 8, 2000

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (I think???, so I don't know how many???), Aunt Kay and Uncle Dick!!!

We were up early in order to catch Darius's bus to town to shop for the last time in Grenada! Jim and Deb were up early also, which was a good thing, because the HUGE trawler, almost dragged into them in about 20-25 knots of wind in a little squall!!! The trawler was in Clarkes Court Bay for months, left about a week ago to provision and get diesel in Trinidad. (They got stuck on the reef as they were leaving!) They had just returned yesterday afternoon. Jim had dumped almost all 200+ feet of anchor chain and was prepared to cut it and tie it to a buoy, if they got any closer. They FINALLY got their act together and pulled their anchor up and motored further out into the bay and reanchored. We are learning that there are lots of idiots and incompetent people out here!!! Any boat dragging down on you can cause lots of damage....it is NOT like the good old USA, where you just get a lawyer! You are on your own!!!

We only went to Grand Anse Shopping Center, because they take credit cards and we were almost out of EC's. We stopped AGAIN at the doctor's office to see about the biopsy report, but still not there. We shopped and then had bbq chicken sandwiches at the little restaurant there. Actually they were quite good! We stopped to say hello and goodbye to Liz and Willie on MYSTIQUE, then went home to stow and inventory it all. Then David and I walked over to Prickly Bay and checked out of Grenada, so that we could leave at any time, and not have to pay overtime charges for the weekend departure. Liz and Willie were making phone calls and were at the Moorings Bar, so we sat and visited with them for a while. Then over to MAH JONG for more visiting and farewells!!! We only had time for 10 laps around the boat and a quick dinner of tuna salad. We watched "Bowfinger" with Steve Martin on tv. Really crazy funny movie!!

I received an email several days later from Kathy Wilson saying that her Mom has passed away very peacefully with her family nearby after 24 hours under Hospice Care. We send our loving prayers to Kathy and all her family.

September 7, 2000

A very abnormal day --- I worked on recipes, emails and my inventory. The guys spent the day reading! Jason is still studying Spanish! We had left over rotis (compliments of Chef Deb!) and brownies for dinner and watched tv, after swimming 20 laps around the boat!!! A much preferrable day to last's years when David was in the hospital with his heart problems!!!! Thank you!

September 6, 2000

We were up bright and early to listen to the weather, still need to head south! We also found out that Eric from Barbados is back on the air with his excellent weather at 6:30am. The problem wave is now a tropical disturbance, but is going further north and should miss the entire island chain. Thank heavens...again.

The guys are busy working on the propane stove...one of the burners will not light! Yes...this is a boat problem that we can't blame on Kanters!!! This is progress!!! We wrote an email to Force 10 stove and they immediately responded by sending us a replacement plug under warranty to our Florida address. Thank you very much! That is the kind of service that we REALLY appreciate!!!

We went over to the Woburn and purchased some eggs, mangoes, avos and bread! We tried to contact Defender and our VISA card ( we heard that someone was duplicating cards here on Grenada, so we were concerned) but had no luck. We also checked the internet, and realized that Julie STILL has not updated this site. I apologize and we are becoming a little concerned....we haven't heard from her via email either. We are assuming that she is just terribly busy!!!

David and I swam our 20 laps around the boat and then quickly made the boat ready for Jim and Debi to come over again. I had made some brownies (they were good, but not as good as the Ghiradelli ones!!!), plus snacks and lots of veggies to go along with the chicken rotis which Deb made. They were excellent and when I get the recipe from her I will share with you all!! It is basically a tortilla around a curry stew. They brought over a MILD variety of Caribbean hot sauce and it was HOT! Eric put alot on his roti and we thought his eyes were going to bug out after he took his first bite!!! It was just a good thing that they didn't bring the hotter one...which is labelled DAMN HOT!!!

September 5, 2000

We are still here in Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada doing boat projects!!! We expect MAH JONG to arrive this afternoon. The wave at 10 degrees N moved further north and did NOT develop into a tropical depression as most of the weather forecasters had thought last night. We will continue to watch it, as anything is possible with these storms!

The guys worked on problems with the autopilot. I continued to answer emails, update this web site, and finalize my inventory!!! I can't believe that I might actually finish it!!

Jim and Deb anchored in front of us about 4pm. We dinghied over to say "aloha" and ask them over for "sundowners" at 5:30. The boys made a run into Moorings with the garbage while David and I swam around the boat 10 laps! Showers and everything picked up and ship shape for company!!! We enjoyed all their tales of their last 7 months, 1 week, 5 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes (Jason's calculations!!!) since we left them at Bruno's slip in Ft. Lauderdale last January! We talked and talked until about 7:45pm, which definitely interfered with David's scheduled dinner time, so we plan have dinner together tomorrow evening! Deb says she knows how to make rotis!!! Maybe I will have a new recipe. We had a quick (but not quick enough for the crew!) salad, while we watched the tv program "Touched by an Angel", which we had never seen before. Quite a moving show!!!

September 4, 2000

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!! We hope that NONE of you are out there traveling on those Firestone tires!!!! We wish you a safe and happy "last day of summer" holiday!

We were very excited to find that the television worked this morning!!! So perhaps a movie tonight! And we are VERY thankful that we do not have to replace the tv antenna with all the expense, hassle and being without television news, which we have started to rely on here in Grenada.

We also listened to the weather this morning to hear of a very worrisome wave which is presently along 10 degrees N and 42 degrees W. This one COULD develop into a hurricane and be affecting us by Thursday. It is also further south than most of the other waves. So, we are staying here in Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada for probably another week, until this passes through. We are MUCH safer here than in the anchorages in Trinidad. We were also thinking of staying for a couple of days because Jim and Deb on MAH JONG, who were next to us all those months at Bruno's in Ft. Lauderdale, are arriving here in Grenada tomorrow afternoon. They are FINALLY catching up to us and several other friends who are also here in Grenada. It also looks like they might not go to Trinidad or head west and go through the Canal as they had first planned, so this is possibly the only time we will get to see them for a very LONG time!!! So, we are really looking forward to our reunion with them!!!

The guys are sitting around reading and complaining that they do not have anything to do!!!! I have this web site to update, the emails to answer, the emails from maui net to answer, inventory to finish, plus I was working on a storelist so I could try some new recipes (KEEP THOSE RECIPES COMING IN....AS REQUESTED!!!! Please....I haven't received any...come on...you must have ONE that we could use while cruising!) I keep reminding them that there are floors, ceilings, walls,and teak to clean, lots of metal to polish, lots of cabinets to be cleaned out!!!! But they claim that is woman's work!!!! Hey! I thought I was the ADMIRAL?????? So much for delegating work....

I finished all my emails and updated this site, swam 20 laps around the boat, made blueberry muffins, and we had tacos for dinner! We were lucky enough to have a movie on tv last night. We enjoyed watching "Runaway Bride" with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. It is such a funny romantic comedy that we enjoyed watching it a second time. So if you haven't seen it yet, you might want to rent it!

September 3, 2000

We listened to the nets and weather and "Ernesto" is going far to the north and is not a threat to us. I don't know what he will do to Bermuda or the east coast of the US, hopefully, NOTHING! I worked all day on making the flag for Trinidad and repairing the Grenada flag, which had be ripped to threads on our short trip up to St. David's during that squall. David painted the stars back on. We won't be putting it back on unless the Coast Guard approaches us. We are keeping all our flags as momentos of our journey!

We went over to Hog Island for the cruisers barbecue at about 4pm. We saw lots of friends and made some new ones! The dinner looked better (barbecued chicken, rice, potato salad) than it has in the past, but since we had no money...and there were NO plates to wash!....we went back home for a quick swim (only 10 laps because the sun was setting!) and turkey salad, a la chef of PEACE AND ALOHA! We were all set to watch a movie....turned on the generator and the tv at 7 pm for CNN news first.....and NO PICTURE!!!! Just snow and a few ghosts! In spite of Jason saying that his radio station had gone off the air at about 6:30pm, Eric checked all sorts of connections and they decided that the Shakespeare tv antenna had gone!!! so I wrote emails instead....maybe there will be a movie review tomorrow evening! Sorry!

September 2, 2000

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, JULIA!!!! Hope it was happy!!!

Saturday morning, the boys drove me over to Mt. Hartman Bay and we picked up Liz on MYSTIQUE and went in to the Moorings dock. Liz and I walked up to the Hotel and just sat and talked "girl talk" for a couple of hours, in preparation for our departure on Tuesday morning for Trinidad. They will not be going any further south this season, so we are concerned about not seeing each other any time soon. She is planning a trip back to Boston in October to visit family and friends.

I spent ALL afternoon trying to answer all my emails in my in-box!!! We ought to change our address more often, since many of you wrote short notes...Thank you!!! Please, be patient while I answer them. Please remember I STILL have ones on Maui net that haven't been answered. Do NOT use that address, we really have no means to access it.

We were able to get in 20 laps around the boat and had a nice chicken dinner. We also heard on the 4:30 weather that "Ernesto" Tropical Storm #5 (that means 6 more to go to reach the predicted number of named storms, according to Dr. Gray at CSU!!!! I sure HOPE that he is wrong!!! Keep those prayers coming!!!) was alive and well, but quite far north and would probably miss the island chain.

I will bring you up to date for August 31: We dinghied over to the little town, named Woburn, at the edge of this harbour. We found a one computer internet cafe and emailed the updates to Julie. She has been REALLY busy getting moved and settled into their new condo and figuring out her schedule of courses, but hopefully, they had time this long weekend to update it for all you web-fans! We were talking to a single hander, Hank on CASSIDY from Annapolis. Small world! He spent a few years living in Haiku and now his sister is living in Lahaina and working at Bubba Gumps!!!! We swam 20 laps around the boat...the water temperature is now 87 degrees!!!We started to read Michener's "Caribbean"...which will hopefully provide an excellent story, but some of the history for all these islands. We were just wondering the other night????? What would these islands be like if there had been NO slavery???? Food for thought!

September 1: We were up early and went to town with Darius, since we did not have to go to the internet cafe, we spent all our time at the co-op fruit and vegetable market and then Food Fair. I was trying to use up my EC dollars ($1US = $2.67EC) because Trinidad uses TT's, but I needed to keep some in case of emergency and places where I needed to use cash...so we walked around the supermarket with a calculator, so we would spend just the right amount!!!! We arrived home just in time for lunch and then we had to inventory and stow all our purchases, plus run the generator, do a wash (actually this was my LAST load - sheets covering pilot house and main cabin cushions- from while we were hauled out!) and make water. I had all of them hanging nicely on the lifelines and genoa sheets, when, you guessed it!...it started to rain!!! so we put up the inside clothesline and they dried inside!!!

September 1, 2000

Please note our new email: KH7JL@winlink.org

Hopefully, we will be going to town and updating this site and you will be seeing and reading all by the weekend!!! Hopefully, I will have answered all of your emails by the time you are looking at this. PLEASE CONTINUE to email us...we LOVE hearing from you all. Do not be afraid to use that address! Just remember: NO attachments (they will be deleted), NO pictures, NO forwarded messages! Just text!!! It should not be LONG, since we only have 30 minutes per day of air time...but you don't have to write in code!!!! So, keep them coming!!!! We hope that all of you are healthy and happy! We are enjoying our travels (we are NOT enjoying the boat problems!) and meeting lots of wonderful people, seeing lots of beautiful places, and experiencing new cultures. We are enjoying new areas of learning! However, we miss our friends, family, birdies, and our country!!! We think of you all, often and with love and aloha! God bless!

August 31, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUSIE!!!!! Wish we could be there on Maui to help you celebrate!!!! Harvey, you treat her like a queen today!!!! Hope it is happy!

We had quite a surprise (unpleasant!!!) this morning when we accessed our emails: W4NPX is no longer going to be part of the email system starting TOMORROW!!! Eric spent all morning trying to work out who will be our new link. So.....our new email address, effective immediately, will be KH7JL@winlink.org (which is easier to remember actually!!!). We assume that mail addressed to the other address will be forwarded for a time.

Of course, all my plans and schedules for today went to pot (that's why everyone says their plans are set in "jello" out here! Also, David made the mistake of telling Wendy on KAMYTOO yesterday that he didn't have any more boat projects!!!! She corrected him and told him NEVER to say that....see, what happened!!!) I did another load of wash (the boys' sheets) and cleaned the boat. I had planned to have this site all updated until tomorrow when we will head into St. Georges and update (to Julie, who will actually update from there) at the internet cafe. Our plans are to head to Trinidad probably Tuesday at 2AM (it is about 80 miles...too long for a day trip, allowing a safety margin of arriving during daylight, and too short for a real overnight...and you know how David HATES overnights! Many cruisers leave about 5-6pm.) We will check out on Monday, and not pay overtime by checking out on Sunday, as first planned. It is also dependent upon the weather and there might be a tropical depression forming off the coast of Africa....so we shall see. Anyway, this site should be updated by the weekend. Then I was going to sit and answer a TON of emails, which I have received since we have been back in the water and haven't answered, because I needed to update this first to take it to town. We were watching battery consumption, so we didn't have the computer on much while we were hauled out. "The best laid plans...."

So, it looks like the rest of the day will be website, emails, and inventory, plus the washing, and getting ready to head to town tomorrow!

August 30, 2000

Another busy cleaning and washing day!!! (actually think that we will be finished in two more days...) We have to run the washer when we run the generator to charge up the batteries, and make water and hot water. It might be shortly that we have to run it a couple of times a day, because the batteries are just not holding their charge, and now we have to make it another month. I also spent the rest of the morning working on this web site. Wendy and Loren on KAMYTOO stopped by before lunch and invited us to a get-together on Calivigny Island. Dane (age 15) and Lonnie (age 10), brothers aboard GENESIS built a cabana, The Calivigny Yacht Club, from the palms etc. on the island. We are now charter life time members since we helped celebrate its opening and we have reciprocal priviledges from Lahaina Yacht Club!!! We had fun this afternoon and met some more cruisers!

We made a decision to probably leave at 2am Tuesday from Prickly Bay and head to Trinadad. We would really love to go to Tobago, but it is a tough beat into the wind, and we would hate to be caught without batteries there. KAMYTOO might go also. Now it just depends on the weather and when I make our Trinidad flag.

August 29, 2000

We were up to listen to weather (Thank Heavens! It is wonderfully quiet for usually the beginning of the worst month of hurricane season...let's keep it this way!!! We welcome all prayers!!!)

I spent the morning cleaning, washing towels, and working on this website. David and I went back over to Moorings (and decided to stand in the HOT sun making phone calls!). Outfitters International here in Grenada could get us 8 batteries to arrive in two to three weeks, but we had to pay cash. They don't have a very good reputation...so we decided not to go that way. We finally decided to place our order with Kurt at Marine Warehouse in Trinidad. However, his distributor will not have them in Florida until September 14 and then they will arrive in Trinidad either Sept 29 or October 6. I also notified Defender to ship the whisker pole which was to be shipped to the Virgin Islands back in February to the distributor in Miami Beach and will arrive with the batteries (if Defender can get their act together!!!). So now, we are in a quandry about when to go to Trinidad. We have a nice clean bottom and the pollution there is terrible. Also, the holding is not good in several of the main anchorages and there can be a large swell. There are no safe places during hurricanes. We still have to have the bimini made and have our sails repaired, plus lots and lots of other projects and items we need to purchase before we head to the Canal. We will just have to sleep on it!!!!

August 28, 2000

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF CLASSES, JULIE AND ALL OTHER STUDENTS!!! Where has the summer gone? GOOD LUCK, STUDY HARD AND DO WELL!

We were up early and at Moorings by 8:45am to catch a ride to town with Darius. We first went to Grande Anse Shopping Center to pick up the biopsy report on the mole removed from my back by Dr. Radix back in July before Julie arrived. It seems some machine broke down and they haven't even typed up the report yet!!! I am sure they won't have it by Friday, so they can just mail it to Florida. I just hope that they did the biopsy correctly.... We then walked over to the new mall with a new supermarket, designed after Publix Supermarkets in Florida. We were very disappointed....I needed lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken breasts, ground turkey/chicken and crabmeat. They had a few grapefruit and apples and not much else. We did manage to get some cans, etc., but it was too late to go to another store before Darius would pick us up at noon for the return trip to Moorings. So, hopefully, we will have better luck shopping on Friday!

We returned to the boat for lunch and then David and I went back to Moorings Secret Harbour Hotel and made our phone calls from there. We called in regards to batteries and biminis. We contacted several people and we need to contact them again tomorrow. We returned to the boat to do another load of wash, after stopping by to see Liz and Willie on MYSTIQUE, still anchored near Moorings in Mt. Hartman Bay. We had a nice dinner and looked through (and deleted alot --- Eric and David are very quick on the delete button!!!) the pictures on the digital camera, so I am all set for another incredible sunset and rainbow like last night!!!

August 27, 2000

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, KATHY AND STEVE!!! 34 YEARS!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! My how things have changed since then....in our wildest dreams would we have envisioned our lives today?????

We were up about 7am, so that I could clean the entire boat. I think that we have enough wash to do every morning for the rest of our lives!!! We had the generator on and made much needed water and did a load of wash. We had to hang them inside, because of all the rain outside. It rained enough for us to really top off our water tanks!!! In fact it rained so much that the water turned reddish brown from the runoff of the nearby hills! However, we did swim for about 15 minutes and do 10 laps!

During our sundowners, we experienced the MOST incredible sunset, I think we have ever had!!! It was yellow to orangey, but looked like there was a torch on the other side of the mountain, where the sun was setting. Then on the other side of the bay was a COMPLETE rainbow, arching up and over PEACE AND ALOHA and with a little more rain and sun, it become almost a complete double rainbow. I had used up all my pictures in my digital camera....so you will just have to believe me...no pictures for show and tell!!! It is just entrenched forever in my memories, definitely the unforgetable ones!!! After dinner we were sucked into another movie: "The Thirteenth Warrior", but at least, there were no commercials and it was over about 9:30. Both Eric and Jason had read the book by Michael Crichton, I think. It is an adventure story, a little gory, but interesting and exciting.

August 26, 2000

We were all ready to splash at 8am....but it was about 11!!! KARMALADEN had to go back into the water and then they had to get us in the sling and paint the bottom of the keel and the bow, where a stand was placed which could not be moved, like the others and painted underneath. Then we had to deal with more rain!!! Out in the rain, so I guess we had to go back in with more rain!!! We spent the time saying good bye to all at Grenada Marine (Jason, Laura and Saundra), Island Water World (Trevor and Edison) and Fred at Shipwright's and to friends we had made while we were there: Dorothy and Russ on INKWAZI, Ingo and Stephanie on ADVENTURESS, Laura on MUNA, and Rixzene on KARMALADEN.

We painted the keel and then the travel-lift gently lowered PEACE AND ALOHA into the water, we hopped on, and after the straps were low enough, we motored peacefully out into St. David's Harbour. She was sooooo happy to be back in the water....and so were we! David and Eric set up the backstays, Jason stowed all the fenders and ropes, while I made lunch. We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch....with a nice cool breeze over the ocean. We headed back to Clarkes Court Bay about 1pm and had to motor, because of no wind. We were settled and anchored about 3:30. We were just about ready to swim our 10 get-back-in-shape-after-10-days-on-the-hard laps when Wendy and Loren on KAMYTOO stopped by to welcome us back! They are scheduled to be hauled on October 2.

We did swim 10 laps (we saw two little tiny squids by the anchor chain...they were so neat and cute!), had left over chicken salad, and were so tired that we just sat and vegetated in front of the movie "Michael" on tv until 10:30pm....because there were sooooo many commercials! Then we really crashed!!!!!! It was soooo nice to have our OWN facilities ...and so nice and close!

August 25, 2000

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, PETER AND SUSIE!!!! 27 years is quite a milestone!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We didn't even listen to the weather or the nets, we hauled all eight of the old batteries back on board the boat. Thank heavens, they had not gotten around to picking them up to dispose of them!!! Then we went over to talk with Edison and Trevor at Island Water World with our catalogs which described the different batteries. David talked with the representatives in St. Martin and then directly with David Meade at the Battery.Com Warehouse in Miami. David Meade agreed that they were starting batteries and said that he would check the warehouse for the correct batteries (8G8D), call us back and he would take the PV-8D's back for a refund. Then he simply faxed the copies of the two different specifications and finally talked with David on the phone. He did NOT have the correct batteries so he sent the PV's, which are about $100 cheaper and he has lots of them, assuming that we had to have batteries and we are at the end of the world here in Grenada, so we will keep them!!! He cost everyone lots of time and money!!!! I just can't believe that someone would do that....Greed is a funny thing! (Actually it is NOT very funny...when your batteries could go at any time!!!)

We took the new batteries out and put the old batteries back in....another day of work!!! We were really exhausted...and now we have to do it all again, all because of some incredibly dishonest person in Miami!!! I wonder how he sleeps at night???? Island Water World refunded our money, but we are still without batteries which we desparately need!

Then Johnny Sails came with his estimate for our bimini of $10,000 EC or $3742US...obviously, he doesn't want the business, so we will go to Trinidad. We went over to the restaurant for a nice COLD drink....please remember it is about 95 degrees temperature, 98% humidity, and not much breeze in this protected harbour!!!! I don't think I have ever sweated so much, just sitting!!!! John of DRISANA joined us. He and Ricarda had just returned from their visit back to family and friends in Connecticut. Now they have about a month's work on their boat!!!

We settled up with Grenada Marine and Jason Fletcherwanted us to go back in about 4pm, but the guys wanted to do it in the morning, even though they were scheduled to haul a 55 foot catamaran and also have the travel lift serviced. Actually it was a good thing, because KARMALADEN needed to come back in, because they had serviced their max-prop and put it back on backwards....so instead of reversing out of the slip, they went forward and hit the cement wall!!! They were hauled out and spent the night in the sling while they retouched their ding in her bow and put the max prop on correctly. Boy...you should have seen how fast both David and Eric went out to double check that they had put ours back on correctly!!!!! They had!(Of course, David and Eric wouldn't put it on backwards....but Mark at Chuck Paine's office had warned them when he emailed about the prop pitch. Thanks Mark!)

So we had a nice dinner, enjoyed our last LONG showers on land....and our last LONG walk down the ladder and over to the "heads," and made the boat ready to be put back into the water about 8am tomorrow.

August 24, 2000

We were up early and ready to go...to install our new batteries!!! First of all, we had to remove our linens and mattresses, plus everything which is under our bunk (David says that there is entirely too much STUFF!!!). Then Eric had to disconnect the two batteries located there, haul them out from their location under the bunk and then pull them up out of the main cabin and lower them to the ground, below the boat. We then put the two new batteries in that location. Then the real fun began! The remaining six batteries are located beneath the pilot house floor between Eric's and Jason's cabin. We were supposed to have access through a panel of wood at the end of Jason's cabin. This piece of wood was off until launch date. There are screw holes for easy on and off! However, Kanters took the easy way....they slapped some glue on it and stuck it on!!! So, we couldn't get the panel off, unless we destroyed the woodwork on that side of the cabin. We took the stairs out, roped up the pipes for the diesel, and pulled them out that way!!! The first couple weren't too hard, but after that Eric had to squeeze into this narrow passage, disconnect them, and then pull them out. His arms are covered with scratches and he was continually being zapped because his sweat was acting as a conductor between the boat and the batteries!!!!! And then they all had to be replaced and connected up. He was sooooo sore. Are we having FUN yet?????????

We spent ALL day installing all six batteries, putting the old ones down on the ground (with no electric winches), and putting the boat back together. We were TIRED!!!! I worked on my inventory in between helping. Then the real fun started when we tried to figure out the charging for these new batteries.....These are the WRONG batteries....they are fast charging, combination starting and deep cycle batteries. We need 8 deep cycle batteries to run our house bank with a 12 volt refrigeration system. We do no starting with these batteries. So....what to do???? Sleep on it and deal with everyone in the morning!

August 23, 2000

Johnny Sails came to measure to give us a bid for a badly needed bimini to shield us from the sun, while we are sailing. Pilot house is great, but just gets too HOT inside in the tropics. The guys worked on boat projects and I worked on cleaning and inventory-ing (is there such a word???) the cabinets under the sink and under the garbage in the galley. The GREAT news was that they located our batteries, delivered them to our boat, and we hauled them aboard using the halyard and electric winch and lowering them down a hatch into the main cabin. We had them lined up all along the walkway (see pictures). Everyone had their position...worked as a great team!!! Remember these batteries weigh 170 pounds!!!

We finished reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, which Julie highly recommended we get and read. I thoroughly enjoyed the book; however, the guys felt that it was a "girl" book...but it is HIGHLY recommended by the women of this crew!!!!

August 22, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM ERNISSE!!!! 79 and still going strong....we wish you many many more happy years! We were able to figure out how to use our phone card from the marina and gave her a call! She is really progressing in her use of pocket mail and so we are able to "talk" lots that way! Her address is: lionhillroad@pocketmail.com for those of you who would like to contact her via email.

I worked on the cabinets in both "heads" all day, while the guys worked on the bottom painting. STILL, no batteries and we should be back in the water, since the bottom work is almost completed. (The job really doesn't take that long...for example, Rob and Patty on ELAN, were hauled Monday afternoon and they were back in the water on Friday! Of course, another problem that we have is that our boat is almost twice as long as many others at 35-45+ feet. We also have a huge keel and lots of area to cover. We also raised our water line....since David has so much STUFF on board!!! From what we hear, most cruisers do this ...sometimes two and three times!)

August 21, 2000

Hurricane Debby was making a path, heading west, northwest from Guadaloupe and north, across the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Thank heavens!!!! Everyone was prepared and the winds were no stronger than 25-30 knots in many places where they had been forecaste to 65 and higher! But then Debby was forecaste to be heading straight to southern Florida, where David's parents live in Bonita Springs. We were concerned for them, since this is their first hurricane season (they have always gone north to their cottage on Lake Ontario in Sodus, NY, outside of Rochester). We were also concerned with their prefab home construction and the lack of facilities for pets (Feezer, their puppy dog!) at centers and his father's Alzheimers.

I worked on the storage under the floors in the galley, main cabin and the master cabin. I cleaned them all out and revised my inventory. The crew was working hard on the bottom paint. The method is the power wash all the stuff off first. Then we had the special areas ground and sanded down to the bare aluminum, and then those areas had to have several coats of Interlux 2000 applied and then a primer to bring it up to the level of the rest of the bottom. The entire bottom was lightly sanded and then the antifouling bottom paint (we used Biotin by SeaHawk....which costs $220/gallon!!!!) is applied. They first applied black and then blue (so that you can tell when it is about time to do the bottom again). This paint is ablative, meaning that it is soft and wears off. It also comes off each time that you scrape off a layer when the bottom starts growing. Aluminum boats are different than what has to be done on fiberglass. One also has to be careful about the compatibility of the paints, with what is already on the bottom. Fiberglass boats use copper in their antifouling paint, whereas, aluminum needs tin, because copper reacts badly with aluminum. We were planning on two coats on the bottom, however; the blue paint did not cover the black. So we needed to put on three coats, which was 10 gallons!!!

Jason allowed us to use his battery charger to keep our batteries functioning, since they still couldn't find our new batteries!

I tried a new tuna salad recipe with limes....really tastey!!! If anyone has any EASY recipes...I would really appreciate them. I am trying to go through some recipe books to get some new ideas...but then I also have to have the ingredients on board!!! Please email them...KH7JL@winklink.org. ...do NOT make it an attachment or it will be discarded!!! Thanks so very much....and the rest of the crew thanks you.... We also had LOTS of mosquitoes that night!!! we have been using the mosquito netting which we have for our entrance and all the screens on hatches and ports...but they seem to get in anyway!!! We are pretty nervous with dengue fever out there...and possibly malaria!

August 20, 2000

We turned on the SSB to listen to the situation with now Hurricane Debby!!!! It was several miles north of us; however, we were very concerned about friends in the Virgin Islands, etc, which was in the direct path!!! We also did not know how much effect would be felt here from winds and waves. We listened to the weather at 4:30pm also.

Nobody came to work on the bottom, as promised. David and Eric continued with their "lists....which is never-ending!! David did some of the bottom painting and then it rained!!! I continued my "fall" cleaning...with the storage area under one of the sofas, with the additional changes to my inventory.

August 19, 2000

I spent my day cleaning out the vitamin/toileteries area behind the sofa, fixing our vitamins that we use daily and updating my inventory. The guys worked on lowering the anchor and then repainting the chain (it is painted at 25 and 100 foot increments, to know how much is out). It again rained on and off most of the day...so it was VERY HOT and HUMID!!! We would just sit and sweat (very lady-like!!!)!!! We had so many dirty clothes from this adventure...it will take me a month to wash it all!! We were also warned that there was a Tropical Depression #7 out there!!! The crew continued to work on the bottom paint job...but they don't work too hard or too fast around here! and STILL no batteries!

August 18, 2000

We were up at 6:30am!!!! We were conserving battery power, since we could NOT hitch up to shore power because of the difference between 50 and 60 cycles...we have 60 and they have 50! So we could not use the SSB for weather, nets or email. You also have to remember that the "heads" do NOT function, either. So we had a LONG walk to the restrooms, down the ladder and across the boat yard!

I didn't have any time yesterday to pick up and organize anything. So I spent the morning, cleaning and hanging out towels and clothes to dry (NO washer, either!). The guys worked on the bottom of the boat, sanding and grinding. We ended up paying them to do all the work, because of the toxicity of these paints! They had to do sanding and grinding all the way to bare aluminum on the spots where Kanters has repaired the diesel tank leaks. They had incorrectly slapped on some blue bottom paint, without primer, etc. David and Eric worked on the windlass and discovered that the problem was again the Kanters....they had put in too much oil and it was leaking. Jason worked all day on shining up all the stainless!!!

Meanwhile, Island Water World was desparately trying to locate our 8 gel cel batteries, which we had assumed were all ready there, since we were told that they were on island on August 9 and just needed to clear through customs, which would be a problem with Carnival. They had all the paper work....but NO batteries! They had everyone searching containers and warehouses! Jason Fletcher spent his days on the phone trying to locate them for us!!!

I cleaned out my "larder" and made another inventory list, and much to David's disappointment, I didn't find anything spoiled or that could be thrown off the boat! We had rain on and off all day and learned that "Chris" was further north in the Atlantic! Since we could not run our refrigeration and didn't have short power to run the little 12v cooler which we had purchased at the SSCA swap meet, we had to purchase ice from the store and keep it cool that way. We just used the refrigerator, not like Camden where we used the freezer. Unfortunately, they did not carry BIG blocks of ice, they were cubes, which melted faster, especially, in 90 degree temperatures!!!

We were tired and went to bed early again, after nice long water-running showers and a turkey salad for dinner!

August 17, 2000

We awoke to nice weather, which quickly deteriorated as we left Clarke's Court Bay at about 9:30am. We had to motor into the wind, quite far from shore, because of the winds (to 33+), torrential rains, and white-outs during the squalls. We even had our radar on! When we arrived in St. David's (which is actually only a couple of miles east along the southern coast of Grenada) about 11:00, we discovered that my beautiful Grenada flag was in shreds!!!! (It was perfect before we left!!!) I will try to repair it, when I make our flag for Trinidad/Tobago. We are keeping them as momentos of our journey!!!

Grenada Marine told us that they would haul us about 2pm, after they hauled LUNA. LUNA had a terrible time, since it was still very rainy. He was having a great deal of difficulty backing into the slip. About 2:30pm, we were told to come in, but when we were close, we were told to go back out for about 10 minutes, since there was some problem with the lift. After about 45 minutes, we radioed to find out what the problem was and were told to come into the slip and they would work it out. It turns out they were missing a part, since they needed to add two more straps to haul us. They finally jury-rigged up a solution and we were ready to go!!! Eric and David had to take down the back stays....and then hammered out the screw....right into the ocean!!!! (and the second one, almost went in, also!). We assumed that we could dive and find it, but there is just so much silt here in the bay....no way! Jason Fletcher (the owner/manager of Grenada Marine) immediately had two made for us! It rained off and on, the rest of the day, so Jason and I sat by the office and talked with Norman on BUTTERFLIES and Ingo ADVENTURESS, while David and Eric supervised the guys power washing the bottom. After power washing and removing the incredible growth which we had on our bottom, we were finally put in our place by the travel-lift, held up by stands, and a ladder placed on our stern for easy (??) access about 6pm, just in time for a shower and back to the boat, before the mosquitoes came out ...in force! We had a quick bite to eat and crashed!!!!

August 16, 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!!!! Enjoy your year off!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAPTAIN DAVID!!!!!! We still have to get him some presents...very hard to purchase a gift, when you aren't off the boat!!! Maybe we can get something in Trinidad that he wants!!! something other than necessities for PEACE AND ALOHA!!!!! I did make him some of the delicious Ghiradelli chocolate brownies, which have become the traditional birthday treat for us on the boat! We used up the last package which Julie brought!!! We had also used up all our frozen/refrigerated meats for our haul out.

We cleaned the entire boat, did a washload of towels, and went to Moorings to purchase gas and a few fruits, vegetables, and bread. We were walking over to Prickly Bay to go to their market, because there was nothing at Moorings because of Carnival the last four days. We met Darryl and Sandy on SOLITUDE, walking towards Moorings, because there was NOTHING at Prickly Bay!!! We were able to get some bread, when the order came into Moorings about noon. We said "aloha" to SOLITUDE and MYSTIQUE. We had all the wash to hang up to dry, brownies to make, and we decided to head to St. David's in the morning because the weather was so unsettled. So, we had a very nice dinner and birthday party and were all ready to head to St. Davids in the morning.

August 15, 2000

We are not accomplishing too much waiting for our haulout on Thursday...I cleaned the entire boat this morning, while Eric and David tried to organize all the Pacific charts which we purchased yesterday from Doug on LOBO, from Wilmington, NC. We just heard that Chris Brooks, my brother's son who just graduated from Cal Tech, has accepted a job offer from Corning, located in Wilmington, NC!!! There are some 285 charts, plus four large cruising guides. Then we have to figure out WHERE to stow them! We have lots...of things to do, but can't seem to get motivated to do them!!! Must be the HEAT!!! Now we know why there are siestas!

I worked on emails, this web site, and my inventory (all end-less jobs!!!), swam around the boat 20 times for about 30 minutes, enjoyed our dinner of chili, avocadoes, plantains, and nutmeg jam (Delicious - made from the "fruit" or pericarp of the nutmeg), before watching "Toy Story", which was on the local tv station, with NO commercials. It was a fun movie for us to watch, since our kids had most of the toys in the movie!!!

August 14, 2000

We listened to weather and heard that Hurricane #2 - Beryl - is approaching the Texas and Mexico coast line. We have been VERY lucky so far with hurricanes. Thank you We went to see Doug on LOBO to purchase all his Pacific charts and guide books. He is a single hander and had planned on going to the Pacific, but is running short of cash, so will head back to the US to add to his cruising kitty and might set out again. We then went to Moorings Base to make some phone calls: we are having difficulty reaching Jim Leech at Ullman Sails (we are not sure what the problem is???) and we needed to order some brushes from Windbugger on warranty. But they are exceedingly difficult and want us to Fed Ex the burnt out brushes, which will cost as much with the phone call as the amount of brushes!!!

We had lunch and went to the beach on Calivigny Island. We met Wendy and Loren from KAMYTOO, Bev and Roy from AVION, Diane and Harold on ZEPHYRUS, Dorothy and Bob on BLUE STAR, and Tom and Vickie on TEMPEST. We all played bochee (? spp) ball on the grass, while Kamy barked and guarded our grass playing field from the cows, which usually occupy this beach area. We excused ourselves after one game (which David and Diane won!), and went snorkeling around part of the island. Swimming east we encountered nothing but grass and a very strong current, so we turned around and practically drifted back along the beach and swam along the south western coast of the island. We saw lots of little fish and an incredibly beautiful intermediate age angel fish. There is quite a bit of coral, but the visibility is terrible and the temperature variations are incredible, from top to bottom, and in spots (upwelling or fresh water springs?). The surface temperature is about 86 degrees+, which sometimes is too warm to cool off!

We watched some of the Carnival Festivities on tv. It was the Javva (?sp) parade which started at 4am (I think they had been up all night). They cover themselves with oil, grease and dirt, carry chains and snakes...it looked VERY scary to us. We have been told that it is necessary to SCARE away the devil in order to enter heaven??? While we were making phone calls a band troupe, in complete colorful costumes, arrived at Moorings, sang a few songs, had some drinks at the bar, and then left for the stadium and competition in their truck. Many cruisers had gone to town to watch the concert in the stadium from 12 until 6pm. We decided that was TOO long to be out in the hot sun, etc. So, we were pleased to watch the band at Moorings and the tv rebroadcaste. Hopefully, there will be more tonight.

August 13, 2000

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, JULIE!!!! We wish that we could be there to celebrate with you, but I am sure that Chris and Nalu have something very special planned!! And to top it off, your birthday message came back as undeliverable this morning...this email system is having a BIG problem right now!!! But please continue to write to us...we love to receive mail.

CHRIS FINALLY MADE IT OFFICIAL! HE GAVE JULIE AN ENGAGEMENT RING! WE WILL BE PLANNING A WEDDING ....who knows where or when!!! Congratulations and best wishes......(check pictures for ones of Chris)

The captain changed roles today...and put on his hairdresser outfit (!?) and cut Jason's and my hair. He does a pretty good job!!! Maybe he should go into the business and help pay for this adventure!

August 12, 2000

We were really dragging this morning ...it took me all morning to clean up everything and to get out some items! (Sometimes I wonder how I ever took care of all my birds, the house, and had the events at our house, etc. etc...when I can't keep up with everything on a 60 feet sailing vessel!) On our boat if we run out of paper towel or quart bags for example, I have to pull off the cushions or pull up someone's mattress, pull up the plywood cover, and find the item after I have checked the inventory for its location. On land it is MUCH easier to simply remove the paper towel from the closet or cabinet shelf!!!