2003-04 Logs

Cruising we discovered requires a valid passport. Since we didn't want to go home to sort out the extension, Sharon emailed the US Embassy in Caracas. Sharon's' passport was a limited validity while she waited for a replacement copy of her naturalization certificate. The problem was that they would not extend her passport without it and there is a 2 year wait ( 1 year passport, DUH!). The Chief Administrator Matt C. offered to contact the State Department after the predicament was explained. After about a week Matt responded saying that after all of the frustration of getting an answer, they told him the same thing! He was finally able to get permission to extend provided that Sharon could prove her identification.

Sharon made the arrangements. We would fly out Monday ($50 more than the bus and 45minutes vs. 5 horrible hours) and meet with the Embassy and return Tuesday night. Had to be back Wed to get our boat hauled, but that is another story. We stayed at the La Floresita adjoining the old US embassy grounds. It was a two star. That night there were a half a dozen large caliber gunshots. Venezuela is different than the US. There is the military carrying major firepower everywhere and no lawsuits for military negligence. After that shots we heard the sirens and then it was quiet!

We made it to the Embassy Tuesday morning only to have to wait until 8:30, over an hour away. The line for US Visas was loaded with people and moving along like a train. Finally got in and met with the Embassy folks. They were professional and quick. Sharon was asked to provide proof of citizenship and they accepted the passport as the proof (Matt also stepped in and confirmed the State Dept had agreed to the extension. ) So they held the passport to print and emboss the addendum page stating that the passport was extended for 10 years. No charge, but we had to get a receipt for the service from another window. The cashier gave Sharon a receipt for no charge. I love our government's need for paperwork.

While the Embassy folks were updating the passport the let us walk the grounds. We found a table with a shelter and had pineapple slices while overlooking the most spectacular view of Caracas. The Embassy is high up on the mountain. Unfortunately upon entering our camera was taken, along with our leatherman so I can not post any pictures of the awesome view! (we got them back when we left).

We left the Embassy with Sharon's full 10 year passport in hand to the mall.

At the mall we got lunch at Tony Romas and at the suggestion of the concierge at the Best Western we got a taxi and headed off to Avila Magica.

This is a cable car ride up to 7,000 ft to over look the ocean on one side and Caracas on the other. The view was beyond spectacular words and photos. We passed Santa on the way down. I guess he was taking a break before Christmas to get some sight seeing in! There is a hotel and a ice skating rink at the top. We enjoyed a cappuccino and the sights. Finally it was time to head back down and get to the airport. After another taxi ride we made the airport 1 hour away.

At the airport we checked in and went through the metal detector. The guard noticed something she couldn't id in our back pack. They ripped a part our bag and ran pieces though the x-ray. They finally narrowed down the problem, our leatherman. They made us check it. Since we had only our backpack which had our camera, boat docs, permits, etc I asked if I could check the toiletries bag. The reply was if it was wrapped. While having it wrapped a very large Guardia Nacaional soldier with a machine gun started talking to me. I didn't have any idea what he was saying and nerves were making it worse. It finally became clear that he was recommending I hold on to the bag very tightly. He was doing me a favor! Finally the bag was check and we made it down to our gate.

We were a couple hours early so we read and chatted with a couple of Venezuelans who were coming home from school in Louisiana. Finally as the departure time came our flight just dropped off the board. No announcement, no help desk or anything. About an hour after our flight was supposed to leave an employee of the airline came by to explain. We left the ground almost an hour and half late. The flight back was quick. When we landed Sharon went to get our checked bag. I went to see if the driver came back to get us and waited. Sure enough there he was. He waited, thanks goodness. He drove us to the boat and we were in bed by 10PM.

This trip head way to much excitement but a real eye opener. Everywhere we went everyone was great and very helpful. One thing we noticed while taking taxis everywhere was that traffic was as bad as DC (1/3 of the population of VZ lives in Caracas), yet there was no road rage, no honking, and no swearing. The traffic was less orderly than the US but the drivers here are nicer. There is a lesson to be learned here!

Location as of 12/12/04, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela [10 12.466 N 064 39.851 W ]

12/12: Sunday was another day. The water in PLC as been turned off for repairs and cleaning. It is expected to take 4-5 days. We played dominos at the El Ancla restaurant. I am getting better, came in forth out of 15 players. Sharon, well she had fun.

Just so everyone doesn't think we sit around all day reading and playing games, cruising is educational too! Tony and Benta from 'Side by Side' spent 32 days touring Peru. To help us expand our minds they created a 1 hour slide presentation of their trip. The narration talked about the travels, the people, a bit of history, and awesome scenery. They hiked the Inca trail 12-15,000 feet above sea level to Machu Pichu, saw Lake Titticaca, and the Nazca lines. I want to take this trip, but Sharon is not so sure with the very, very rough sleeping and travel conditions. We'll see........

12/9: Just bought a new Caribe 10cx dinghy. In the states it is almost $3,500 here it was $1,900. Quite a savings. We bought an old used 15 hp Johnson outboard from 'Mystic Adventure'. The 5 hp was to small to push us and our dive gear around. We will get rid of the other dinghy to make room. We named our new dinghy 'Mauka'. Which is "towards the land or mountains' in Hawaiian. [12/11: We have some problems with the lower unit, Jack is going to see if he can find a unit before we unwind the deal]

12/8: Life here has been busy. We are in port to get some boat work done. The prices here are amazing. We went to Orient Canvas to get quotes on custom made side curtains with windows for the cockpit and a custom sun shade to cover the boat. Though they needed to be followed up with, not quite hounded they gave us the price. Bs830,000 for the sides and Bs1,600,000 for the shade or a total of about $1,200 US. We couldn't get quotes of less than several thousand dollars just for the side curtains. Everyone we have met says their work is the best, but you have to stay on them. They are so busy that they are not talking with anyone else until mid Jan.

Sharon went off with Caroline on 'Wind Bourne III' to Plaza Mayor for shopping. We are still trying to get sorted on the haul out. After a lot of running around confirming time, rooms, etc.. we have been bumped to the 15th. Now we have to find out if we have a place to stay. If not 'Ia Orana' has a condo we can use, since they are the reason were bumped. This helps unscheduled run to Caracas to the US Embassy to get Sharon's passport fixed. That is another story......

12/6: We plugged the radio into Steve's boat. Since he had the same radio it was quick. We called 'Wombat of Sydney' in the Aves 450 miles away and another of Steve's friends in San Blas. Steve worked several different frequencies and did some long counts to ensure the transmitter would hold up. Both contacts said we were coming in clear and steady and the quality sounded good. Steve said that he thought the radio worked better than his. He usually has a hard time reaching San Blas. Rene on 'Aretha' has the same radio and has talked with France from here. Happy with the great buy! Now the work of installing it begins. These are big radios and the boat requires some work to get it ready. I will post my progress as I go.

12/5: Sunday is a day of relaxation. We played Mexican train dominos at the restaurant and came in forth! Sharon didn't do quite as well as last week where she came in forth. Dominos is popular here. We learned to play in Bonaire with 'Delphinus' and 'Natural Selection'. We also played full contact dominos with some other boats. This is an open warfare version. Loud and a lot of fun!

The evening was occupied with a Xmas sing along arrange by Cliff & Orma on 'Skylark'.

The sing along was to raise money for the local barrio kids living outside the Bahia Redonda Marina gates. Michael on 'Wind Witch' has been organizing the various events. It is a chance for the cruiser to give back to a country that they are visiting (some almost living here permanently, but that is another story). The sing along was fun as about 30-40 cruisers showed up. Cliff led and Orma played Mare Mare's grand piano to lead us in song. Sharon sang and had a lot of fun. I was requested by 'Second Lady' and others to lip synch and keep my hands at my side. Had fun anyway! We raised Bs110,000. This will go a long way for a Xmas dinner and presents for the Barrio kids.

12/4: The mini mart sponsor a swap meet. Of course we had to go. What other junk could we load onboard?? We found an Icom M700 SSB radio (HAM bands opened) and tuner. We currently have only a receiver and the incident with 'Windbourne III'(see 11/6) and the trip to the Aves convinced me we needed longer two-way communications. The boat selling the radio had upgraded their radio. This radio is the workhorse of the cruising world. Indestructible! Steve on 'None Such' looked it over and said if it work it would be a great radio. New they are over a $Grand, they were asking $350 and I offered $275. After some dickering we settled on $280 with a final check to ensure the radio worked. Everyone we walked by on the way back to the boat couldn't believe the price.

12/01: We are back to the boat our floating home. It is now time to get to work. Even in paradise reality bites! The schedule of events, oil changes, fuel filter changes, finish plumbing the water maker, prepare for the haul out and bottom job and clean. Makai will have Blue Water paints put on. They have recently started their own line but are the OEM for West Marine & Boat US. The prices are good and came with a recommendation from Victor over at Aqua Vi Marina.

Sv Wind-Bourne III just arrived after their rough start from Bonaire. It was good to see them. We helped them dock and chatted over cafe con leche. This afternoon we will break to the pool for the 2PM siesta.

Location as of 11/23/04, Canaima National Park, Venezuela [Angel Falls 05º59´N 62º32´W ]

We made the trip to Salto Angel (Angel Falls). The falls is the tallest in the world and it is a primitive trip right out of National Geographic

(this trip is not for the weak of heart [or leg] or afraid of challenges). We went by car, bus, and small plane to get to Canaima National Park. This Park is very primitive.

Once there, we boarded an outboard powered dugout canoe for the 4 1/2 hour trip into the jungle. Our guides and porters were local Indians who live in the settlement. The trip up river through the rapids, the twists, and turns were a blast. After the canoe trip we walked into the jungle to the falls. The trail is rough and very difficult. But once at the falls we were awe struck!

After the falls we headed back down the mountain. It was getting late as one of our party was slow. Four of us headed back down as it got dark and started to rain and lighting. We made the river at the pickup point and waited and waited for our canoe to pick us up. We finally made it to camp where we had an excellent local chicken dish with rice and potato salad.

This is just a brief outline of our trip. More details and photos are on the Side Trips page. This trip was an interesting and challenging, as well as very educational.

Location as of 11/18/04, Bahia Redonda Marina, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela [10 12.466 N 064 39.851 W]

11/18: We have made the arrangements to go to Angel Falls with Jaime. He is offering the same trip as the travel services for bs150,000/person less than the travel services. He comes highly recommended. We will leave this Saturday for 4 days. Karen who runs the mini mart will check on the cats while we are away.

Jaime did a money exchange for us and we are now worth 1.17 MILLION b's. We are rich.....well ok it is only 500 bucks.

Went to Plaza Mayor to do some shopping and get a hair cut. It hasn't been this long in 20 years. The hair salon had 12 seats and all were busy and there was a wait. Had my hair cut, styled, poofed, and moussed for Bs4,600 or a little less than 2 dollars! She did a great job. Much better than most of the salons in the DC area.

11/16: Even in paradise there is work and frustrations. Trying to get our boat scheduled to be hauled and get the bottom painted. For the first time I am letting someone else do the work (Sorry Jenn and P, you can still come to help if you want). The marine stores don't carry everything so we spent most of the day running around trying to locate the paint. We finally settled on Blue Water Paints, the OEM for West Marine and BoatUS. Some things here are very expensive. The paint is about 3 times as much as the US, but the labor is so cheap that a crew can do the whole boat faster than us. This actually saves on the expense of sitting out of the water.

Makai also needs exhaust elbows. Can't get them here! so I have called Torrsen Marine in the Midwest, the pasts will be shipped to my parents, and then to FL, where a marine store will crate them for shipment to Venezuela (without duties and taxes). This can take 1-2 months..........if you're lucky and this is the fast way.

But, there are some fun activities. We are planning a 4 day trip to Angel Falls and a trip to the Amazon river. Thr trip to the falls is by bus, 5 seater plane, outboard powered canoe, and foot. We will have 1 nite in a hotel and the others will be hammocks in the camps at the falls. It is pretty reasonable as it includes all the food except the first day. Cost 600,000bs or about $255 dollars!

11/12: We have cleared in and today made our first foray out into PLC by dinghy. The La Guardia watches the cruisers very carefully for speeding and equipment violations. We haven't had any problems but others have. It almost always results in several hours at the station and some financial fee!

Steve from 'None such' stopped by for breakfast and then guide us to Plaza Mayor for shopping. The exchange rate here officially is 1,900bs to $1, we are getting 2,350bs/$1. Things here are definitely less expensive. Several cruisers call Venezuela a trap. You come for the inexpensive goods and stay forever. This is a great place to stretch your money. We have been eating out. Dinner for 2 and drinks has been costing us about $10-11/day. Food is not bad. We have been working on our Spanish, slowly.

We were turned onto a great VOIP service called Skype. Computer to computer it is free. Computer to phone is about 2cents a minute anywhere in the world. We have been calling out for the last 3 - 4 days to WI, CA, VA.. and so far we have only spent 3.50euros or less than 4bucks.

Boat: Bottom paint, engine impellers, oil changes, exhaust elbow, finish plumbing water maker, SSB radio, Wind generator

Location as of 11/11/04, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela [10 12.466 N 064 39.851 W ]

We made it, but this trip was for the birds.

This is the first continent we have stepped on since May. We left Crasqui at 12:22PM and arrived 25 hours and 30 minutes later. We were going to do the trip in 3 hops but the Tropical Wave north of us altered the winds. Instead of East trade winds we had NNE winds. Perfect beam reach. We boomed out of the gate at a comfortable 8 1/2 knots for several hours. This put us at our first stop in Los Tortugas at 2:30-3:30AM. So we decided to press on.

2:30AM we were hit with a fast moving squall. The winds went from 2-3knots to almost 30. We reefed the foresail and kept trucking at 8 plus knots occasionally hitting 9. To add to this excitement we were just passing by Los Tortugas in the dark, with wind howling and the rain interfering with the radar. Even at 5 miles were having difficulty picking out the island. Charts in this area can be off quite a bit, i.e. several miles. Some areas haven't even been surveyed. Most navigation in the Carib includes eye ball nav. Big worries of running aground or hitting an island were in the top of my mind. We kept watch for lights (very few), watched the depth gauge, and altered course to the west to make sure.

This trip was literally for the birds. We had a Golden Finch stop by the boat. It moved around the boat and even sat on Sharon's hand, leg and shorts. Friendly fellow. It then jumped up to her shirt top and looked down her shirt. Dirty Bird! He made several trips checking out the boat and taking flies from Sharon. He left a couple of times but came back. It was easier to ride than to fly, but were going in the direction he just came from so he departed.

We also had a big black bird just swoop into the cabin. The cats lit up like fireflies. Fur poofed as the bird flew around the inside of the boat. I finally cornered him in the kitty litter room and carried him out. He flew off without a squawk of thanks but it left a couple of tail feathers. At least the Finch was nice enough to visit with both of us and nosh a few flies before departing.

We made it to Bahia Redonda Marina. Bob from 'Pipe Dream' relayed instructions from Arnoldo the Dock master until we were close enough to speak with him over the radio. Along with Arnoldo, Carl from 'Starlight Dancer' and Dave from 'Sylvester' helped us get med moored to the dock without embarrassing ourselves.

Location as of 11/09/04, Crasqui, Los Roques, Venezuela [11 53.481 N 066 44.153 W ]

We moved to Crasqui, one of the many little islets in the archipelago. This is the beach where all of the Venezuelans come on the weekends. We have heard it is not uncommon to see float planes and helicopters here. The weekdays are quiet. Thank goodness. We haven't seen any park officials yet. The fees for the park are $2 per ft and $12 per person. They normally give you 48 hours to pass through, otherwise it would be a very expensive couple day stay! We are taking advantage of that while we wait out a weather window that should be here towards the end of the week.

The next run will be to the western end of Isla La Tortugas. We will make the 20 miles though the reefs of Los Roques and anchor behind Buchyaco until late afternoon. Then after some naps and passage prep we will make an overnight run to Tortugas. As mentioned in the past it is important to watch the weather and to plan your arrivals so that you end up getting to your destination in the light. A lot of the charts here are not accurate or complete and it is important to follow eyeball navigation when entering an new island. Technology, GPS and chart plotters, will get you close but if you blindly follow them in you will end up aground, Coral reefs are sharp and hard and will do damage to a boat. Out here you can't call for a tow like in the US. This could turn your boat into salvage assuming anyone was with in hearing distance to help!

Location as of 11/06/04, Isla Sur, Aves De Barlovento, Venezuela [11 56.674 N 067 26.304 W ]

11/6: Yesterday had supper aboard the German Boat 'Amazone' with Helmut, Bridget, and the 3 kids. Enjoyed cole slaw, potatoes and fresh mullet Helmut caught. Our tuna ran out and we are back to eating from the ship's stores.

Today we are heading to our next stop in the Roques. Before 'Panda' headed north to Puerto Rico they passed on the email saying that 'Windbourne III' hadn't left Bonaire yet. With the weather we figured that they probably went south to the coast and are making their way along the shore. So we decided to move.

We raised anchor a little before twilight and made our way out. The winds were blowing 18-22knots from the east and the waves were 3-6ft and a little confused. Sharon had only coffee for breakfast and with the rolly ride ended up sick. Asked if she wanted to return but she is a trooper and we continued on the way. It was a rough 36 nm. The winds and the waves didn't let up.

The whales are supposed to be migrating, but with the rough seas I still wasn't able to spot any. Around 2PM we finally dropped anchor in a cove created by the islands and reefs at the southern end of Carnero. The cruising guide said there were 6 moorings, we saw only 3 and they were not very good. We worked Makai up to t he windward side of the island pretty close and dropped the hook in 17' of water. Kind of weird being that close and having the water that deep. A couple of steps off the island and the drop off is straight down. We did anchor securely in sand for the night.

Location as of 10/31/04, Isla Sur, Aves De Barlovento, Venezuela [11 56.674 N 067 26.304 W ]

10/31: Happy Halloween!!! We have our Jack-O-Lantern Mom brought to us in Aruba. Here is Biff hanging around with Jack waiting for the Trick or Treaters. They did a great job of scaring them off as we didn't have a single one knocking on our hull!

We are anchorage off some mangrove swamps surrounded by local fishing boats. These boats are from 25-40' long. Open and are crewed by 3-8. These guys are traveling in basic conditions. Some have a small cabin enclosed about the size of a small tool shed others are wide open. Open boat anchored off our starboard side had everyone sleep in hammocks or on the deck. They fish and lobster until their holds are full or they run out of food. (they want to trade cigarettes for lobster, we have none onboard). Then they head back to Venezuela 70 miles away. I am not sure that I would cross the Potomac River in one.

'Elbita' was anchored here when we arrived. Juan Carlos came over to see if we would charge is cell phone as their engine was dead and they were trying to contact friends to bring parts. Out here there are not stores, houses, phones for help so you count on friends to help you out. their friends showed up with the parts and they were able to fix the boat and get underway.

It is a small world when cruising. We went out to look at another anchorage and we saw a boat we knew from Bonaire, 'Panda'. We buzzed over to say hi and were invited onboard to chat. They had cold soda with an ice-cube. Out here that is a treat!

We got caught up and played with Bella the boat dog before heading back home to let the cats out of the cabin. They hate being locked up inside.

Location as of 10/29/04, Round Island, Aves de Sotavento, Venezuela [12 01.224 N 067 41.069 W]

10/29: Round Island is no a great anchorage. Ok in good weather from the east, otherwise it is exposed to the open ocean from the other directions. We decided to move on for a better place to layover.

Headed out about 7AM 'ish. Cloudy again with the wind on our nose. Some rain clouds but with radar and luck we missed most of them. No whales, but about 3 miles from the anchorage 3 - 24" black fin Tuna hit the lines. Makai was throttled back and went into fishing mode as we each reeled and landed a tuna. The third has on a handline. Got to play 'Old Man and the Sea' and we both worked the line hand over hand to bring the fish to the boat. These were full grown tuna. Sharon gets to cross another off her list of thing s to catch and we will have fresh tuna for lunch and dinner for the next couple of days. The 3 tuna netted us about 12lbs of very fresh sushi!. Don and Sandy you are missing it!!!

10/28: Got up at 4AM to prepare for departure. Checked the weather. Skies were mixed clouds with heat lighting to the south and thunder heads with lighting to our northwest. Spoke with 'WindBourne III' and agreed that the weather looked acceptable to travel. Cast off the mooring at 4:20AM and with a cup of Starbucks in hand (last 15lb bag..what am I going to do!) Headed south-east along the coast of Bonaire doing 7 knots on a beam reach, before turning due East into the wind to make our 43 mile trip to the Aves. 'Windbourne III' followed us out.

Wind were light and we motor-sailed towards our destination. Somewhere along the coast we passed 'Aleluya' tied to a morning. They headed over to the Aves the day before but had to turn back after there engine started smoking and then quit 12 miles from the island. Bummer. Bob said everyone did good and the sail back was great. They got to see a whale breach and several flukes (we did get to see whale at all!).

Makai anchored off the edge of round island. Identified by 3 palm trees on the island, good thing as there was much else and the island it self isn't much bigger than a 7-11 parking lot. After anchoring, a message was relayed via another boat that 'Windbourne III' had to turn back as they were having problems with fuel. The quality control standards are not quite as good as in the US. We double filter all of fuel and it still looks rough. 'Windbourne' was going to have the tank pumped out and polish job done to clean up. We will move on to the next group of islands and wait for them to arrive.

10/27: Had our flotilla meeting on 'Sylvester'. We were planning on departing for the Aves Thursday morning at 5AM, but now we are getting reports of 10' swells coming from the north caused by weather over Bermuda. Cruising you need to be aware of what is happening almost everywhere as far as the weather is concerned. It all has impacts on how you plan. 'Aleluya' headed out this morning.

Everyone is checking the weather and if we decide to delay departure we will have to clear back into Bonaire and wait it out. We hope that will not be the case as we are excited to be heading out, but don't want to court trouble if possible!

10/26: We are clearing out of Bonaire today for a 5AM departure with Windbourne III. Had problems with the dinghy engine. Would not start. Got it working..... Need to visit Immigrations and Customs to clear out and get my Hawaiian sling back. Time to start hunting for lobster and fish!

We are heading to the Aves if the winds hold. If not we will head south to Venezuela and work our way along the coast to get to Puerto La Cruz. The Aves & Roques don't have a permanent population as they are primary a group of small reefs or tiny islands. Everyone says it is the most beautiful place in the Caribbean. We'll see.

We are excited to be leaving, but said to go. Bonaire has become like home. During this passage we will be out of touch for 2-3weeks until we get back to civilization.

10/23: Today was a work day to give back some to the Bonaire park that we have been diving in. We volunteered to help with a sponge recovery dive on t he Town dock. The diving is restricted and requires special permission and a local guide to dive. We had to provide our passport info just to prove we were not terrorists bent on damaging the dock.

Ivan damaged most of the sponges that were attached to the town pier. Along with a dozen other divers under the leadership of Susan we broke into several groups. One set dove for sponges in the 45-90' level (that was us) and the other group tied the sponges to the pier with fish line. Each group of 3 had a tarp to load sponges that were picked up loose from the bottom. We transferred the found sponges to the second group who then tied them to the pier. It was an incredible effort, being deep and working, I burned through my air in 42 minutes. I usually get more than an hour from a 80 cuft tank. Sharon got a 15 more minutes then me.

10/22: The gypsy life is getting ready to start up again. We are beginning preparations to head to Los Aves, Las Roques, and then Porta la Cruz, Venezuela. The Aves and Roques are reef islands that are uninhabited. The water and the scenery are supposed to be the best in the Caribbean. Can't wait. We received and email from another boat 'Panda' saying that they speared a 4lb lobster. Cant' wait. Have my butter in hand and am ready to eat. My kind of forage. We are planning a flotilla with Windbourne III, Sylvester, possibly a couple other boats. More to follow...

Saturday we will help with the sponge recovery dive. The purpose is to dive and collect sponges that were ripped off or loosened because of Ivan and then transfer them to others who will retie them. The replant will help fix the damage. It looks like we will be diving in the 45-90' range. We willing be diving with Master Divers, but still need to be careful so that we don't get Narc'd (nitrogen narcosis).

10/21: Winds have been almost no existent here. 99.9% of the time winds bellow form the east 15-20 knots. No wind is unusual and wind reversals or shift can be dangerous. The winds create swells from the ocean which roll in to the mooring field. This puts your back on the lee shore (downwind shore) and large swells which can damage a boat. If the mooring break we would be sitting up against a concrete bulkhead (100' away) with large waves pounding the boat. If a wind reversal happens we will cast off and sail offshore until it settles. There is no warning and it almost always happens late at night. More excitement!

10/17: Another tough day. Sat around and read and then joined Windbourne III, Prism, Ti Amo, Aleluya in the pool for the 2PM daily drink and soak hour (ran into 4 hours). Talk about pruney fingers...

Onboard we have the opportunity to read a lot. The library of Congress doesn't have enough books. I think I have read all of the books on Bonaire and almost, but not quite, looked at Sharon's romance novels....I am reading some of her fantasy books though, wizards, druids, magic, and such.

10/16: K1 from 'Delphinus' was stopped by after their return from Peru. They spent a month there site seeing and hiking. They really recommend it as a place to visit. While we were chatting in the cockpit and K1 trying to drink is frozen beer (had to cut the top off to get the beer out) we noticed another cat coming in. Lots of boats come in and out so you don't take to much notice, but you always watch just in case. Double Magic tacked back and forth and finally anchored down by 'Delphinus'.

Anchoring in Bonaire is prohibited so we jumped into the dinghy and buzzed over to help him get squared away. Upon arriving we saw that we was very close to shore and several nasty looking coral heads (they can hole a boat quickly). He relayed he lost both engines and this was the best he could manage. We went to the marina, 100 yards away for help. 'Harbor Queen' dive boat was there and offered to render assistance. I jumped aboard, cleated, and managed the lines. Captain Irwin handled the tow just like a tug boat master. Impressive! 'Double Magic' was delivered to the dock where Sharon and Alfonso secured the boat. We chatted with the Captain and crew. They were from Switzerland and had been out for several years.

That was the excitement for the day. We went out to BobbieJan's for ribs. Best ribs in the Carib. Cheap too!

10/12-13: We checked the weather and determined that the winds were going to be light with clear skies. We decided Tuesday morning that this was our weather window, so we had better head out. Made arrangements to get some fuel and with the help of the guys from 'La Bella' (62' Halberg-Rassey) we cleared out of the dock and moved to the fuel dock. After fueling up for the trip and paying our bill, Makai was moved over to the commercial dock to clear customs and immigration. The dock was designed for the big cruise ships and commercial vessels. It's a difficult and potentially dangerous place to tie up. We were stressed and worried that we would damage our boat. But we made it ok, just barely.

Aruba requires all boats to go there coming or going before doing anything else. Immigrations came to visit us at the boat. We found out that we had not actually cleared into Aruba. The office where our passports and boat papers were taken upon arrival was only for customs. Nobody told us. With all of the stamping and such I thought the passports were stamped. Wrong!! Immigrations made me fill out the exact paperwork that I filled out in customs, but was told it was 2 different offices. They were real nice and gave us an exit stamp as a souvenir.

We headed out at 6pm instead of the 3pm I was trying for. The winds were light and the waves we 1-2'. We motor sailed up wind and took turns on watch. Biff was ok for the trip. Kat was not happy. She has had it so comfy she forgot what pounding to weather was like. We had planned on anchoring in Spanish Waters, Curacao but we made good time and decided to continue on the last 40 miles to Bonaire. As we headed around the east end of the island in the straights the winds picked up to 20-25 knots with 2-3' waves and an occasional 4'. Of course on the nose. We averaged 6 1/2 knots across to Bonaire. Once we got behind Klien Bonaire the waves dropped to less than a foot and we had a great sail up to the shoreline.

We moored mid afternoon in beautiful blue and turquoise water. Went to Pasa Bon for PIZZA with 'Delphinus', 'Natural Selection', and another couple, Katie and Jeff, who were on their way west.

Location as of 10/11/04, Renaissance Marina, Oranjestad, Aruba [12 31.010 N 070 02.291 W ]

10/11: My parents made it off to the airport yesterday. US Airways was very helpful and escorted them to the gate. Received and email saying they made it, but their luggage took a separate flight.

We were planning on casting off the dock to anchor at Surfside and wait for a weather window, but we decided to stay one more day. XJ, gave us the day for free. This gave Sharon another opportunity to extend our trip (let's hope).

Note from Sharon: Nope didn't win at the casino, but did meet some nice people...Hi Lois and Pat. Hope you gals had a nice trip back to the states...Hi Ralph, did ya get a chance to go fishing?

10/9:

Friday we took my parents sailing. We had to move our boat from our med moor to another dock to pick them up.

We sailed out of the harbor and went out to go sailing in international waters. Off to port you could see Venezuela and a bunch of LARGE container and oil ships. We sailed up to the west end of the island and anchored off Mom & Dad's Hotel for lunch of Gado-gado. A local dish made by Admiral Sharon.

After lunch we headed back to the marina. Sharon put out some lines and caught an 18" Rainbow Runner. It is a member of the mackerel family and is tasty (you're missing it Don). Upon entering the harbor we passed two cruise ships at the dock.

10/8: Went out to visit the Ostrich Farm. Did the tour and got to see some big stupid birds. Harold the

guide explained that their brains are so small they will forget him between breakfast and lunch. We got to feed them from a bowel. This farm has only about 50. Curacao's farm (we were there but didn't want to pay 15 bucks to see them) has 800. The eggs are equivalent to 2 dozen chicken egg and the Ostrich is a very tasty and tender red meet. Sharon and I had shoarma and Mom & Dad had ostrich burgers.

Location as of 10/07/04, Renaissance Marina, Oranjestad, Aruba [12 31.010 N 070 02.291 W ]

10/6: Went and did the tour of the island. Saw the California Light house. Named after the ship 'California' wrecked on the point. It was at midnight when they ran aground. It wasn't until the next morning that the found that they ran into the reef surrounding and island. No Radar or GPS then! We did a run down the coastal road. Road was a vague description of the rock and sand filled path we traversed. Four wheel drive territory for sure, not Suzuki Baleno station wagon. We ended up having to turn around we hit a point the car would not go through.

The shore line on the windward said is rough. It looks like a cross between Arizona and Vermont. We got lost looking for the National park. After getting directions from a local we made it to the park. We stopped at the Tunnel of Love cave. Aruba's biggest cave. If you are ever here do not waste your time and money on the tour. It was terrible. The next cave was free and it was spectacular. It had multiple rooms that had openings to the sky.

10/5: My parents arrived safe and sound after a 6 hour flight from Milwaukee, WI. Got them settled in the Marriott Stellars on the beach. It has an awesome view of the beach and the ocean.

Makai is now med moored at the Renaissance marina in downtown Orjansted, Aruba. A med moor is where you dock the boat stern to the dock. One set of lines runs from the boat to the dock and another set is tied to a mooring 40-50' in front of the boat. you have to be careful not to back into the dock while picking up the mooring from the bow while passing it under power. At the same time not drift into the million dollar boats on either side. Tough on the nerves. Thanks to the guys on 'La Bella' we docked and un-docked without to much embarrassment and no damage.

Today we dove on the Penderalis wreck about a mile offshore. We rented tanks from the Pelican Pier

(Nice people, they have been letting us land our dinghy there-Thanks Ella) and we motored our little dinghy out to the site. We dove in 30' of water. Sharon did her Arubian fish survey and we swan around the wreck. It is pretty spread out on the bottom. We went back to the surface and dive boat had picked up the mooring we were tied. They just tied us to their boat. But, looking up from the bottom it is a shock to see a BIIIGGGGG boat where our little dinghy was.

9/29: Well another tough day in paradise. We scraped the bottom of the boat. The bottom paint is in need of renewal (Jenn and Parimal where are you when work needs to be done). While we were only in Spanish Waters, Curacao for a couple of weeks the algae and barnacles moved aboard. So our first dive in Aruba's turquoise blue water was to scrape and clean! Who said cruising was laying back and seeing the sites. It is working on your boat in exotic places.

9/24: We cleared out of Curacao on the 22nd and prepared to depart for Aruba on the eve of the 23. Because of the distance and the need to arrive at sunrise we headed out at about 5PM AST for and overnight run. About 70 miles almost due west. Since it was downwind and the winds were light, we motored all of the way. It was a pleasant sail. Spent most my watch [Bil] watching movies and watching for other traffic. It was a clear evening and there was just enough traffic to keep me alert. With us sailing so close to Venezuela we worried about pirates. But alas we didn't see any pirates of the Caribbean this trip.

We cleared in with Aruba Port Authorities after taking a wrong turn. Picked the wrong marks and turned into an un-surveyed channel. The Aruba Coast Guard came to visit us and ask where we were going. Very friendly, but professionally, made sure that we visited immigrations and customs before going anywhere else. Aruba cruisers are required to clear in before anchoring or going to a marina. In Curacao and Bonaire we anchored and then went to clear in (Curacao we were there 4 days before clearing in). They understood and waved to Sharon and Biff as they waved thanks for the help!

Location as of 09/18/04: Spanish Waters, Curacao [ 12 05.029 N 068 50.573 W ]

9/18: We have been working on the boat and hanging around reading. We stopped at Sarafundys Marina to do laundry. It is an institution in the cruising world. Went and sis some snorkeling over the sunken tugboat. It is pretty neat. It sit in about 17ft of water and has been a dive attraction. The batteries in my camera were not up to the task and getting batteries here is expensive.

We are preparing to leave for Aruba. It will be an overnight run. This will be as far west that we will go. After visiting with my parents we will begin our slog back up wind to the east back to Bonaire and then to the Aves, Roques, and Porta La Cruz Venezuela.

9/13:

Our group of 4 boats rented 2 jeeps to get around the island and to sight see. They we 20 bucks a day, no contract, just hand the money and take the car. It was an old Suzuki Samari and a non US Vitara (sidekick). Both well used.

We initially had problems with the Samari. When we turned the wheel wouldn't straighten out. Made for a few heart wrenching moments. Went to see the northern shores to see the parks. Waves crashing on the shores and exploding upward. Our fearless leader Tony from Side by Side was the guide. He had been here before. We stopped at the Ostrich Ranch.

Neat but way to expensive, stopped by the herb garden for lunch, and the Seaquarium. Here Sharon got to feed the sting rays and get bumped by the pink flamingos!

It took several days to get cleared in. First we anchored, Force Majure, preparing for the hurricane and then it took 2 tries and lots of running to even get to immigrations. Customs did not really want to see us, but the cleared us in any way. Immigration is set up for cruise ships not visiting yachts. It took a lot of running around to find the building, but we finally got legal. It is really amazing how easy it is to show up in a country and go ashore without ever being questioned or anyone even stopping by the boat.

9/11: IVAN came with in 105 miles of us. We had a good hole and other company in case of problems. The biggest winds we saw were 32 knots. What a relief! but we did hear via HAM and SSB the more than a hundred boats in Grenada we lost and 90% of the houses had damage. Grenada was supposed to be our stop for sitting out the hurricane season. Glad we went to the ABC's.

9/8: Makai and her crew packed up and headed to Spanish Waters, Curacao to find a hurricane hole from IVAN. We

weathered the storm well, though Grenada was slammed! With hurricane IVAN following a track further south than ever before, the computer models and the weather man could not predict with much confidence. So along with Side by Side, Infinity, and Starlight Dancer we left Bonaire, very quickly (1 and half hours to clear out, prep, and depart, thus ending our 2 month stay in Bonaire) and go to Spanish Waters as a hurricane hole. We deployed two anchors (much more useful than an EPIRB), and stripped the boat to wait. This evening IVAN is 12.7N and 67.7W and we are waiting and watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

Location as of 09/07/04: Kralendijk, Bonaire: [12 09.115 N 068 16.723 W] (our time here is coming to an end)

9/6: IVAN is still approaching so we went diving.

We dove with Ray & Gale of Precocious Gale (Ray was our dive instructor) on Small Wall. Interesting vertical dive with cave @ 60'.

9/1: We are preparing to sail to Curacao about 40 miles away. We have been waiting for a starter solenoid (2 weeks) and an engine stop solenoid (7 weeks). We have be able to get updates from FedEx on world travel of our starter solenoid. It was shipped from FL on 8/23 to Memphis, TN, then to Carolina, Puerto Rico, back to Memphis, back to PR back to Memphis, then to France and back to Memphis, then to PR and back to Memphis where it has been handled a couple time tin Memphis, and now it is in transit again. This is not unique. Our zincs did the same travel and took 2 weeks. This is a common story in the cruiser community. FEDEX s---s, and we have to pay for the privilege of the their service. The delivery is more than the part costs.

We are planning on leaving Monday or the first weather window there after to head to Curacao then Aruba to meet my parents.

We dove again today with Delphinus. Our deepest dive yet @110ft (5 min). Saw garden eels, shrimp, and other neat fish. Sharon worked on her fish survey and is getting close to the level 3 fish surveyor. Me I am looking for pirate treasure!!

Hurricane Francis just sucked the wind out of our area. The sun shown and the cooling trade winds (or lack there of) made it warm. But luckily we just step into out back yard for a refreshing snorkel or swim. We have been swimming every other day about a mile. It is great in this clear water. Not like the Bay! Good day visibility is 50 -60 yards or more.

Location as of 08/16/04: Kralendijk, Bonaire: [12 09.115 N 068 16.723 W] (still, can you tell we like it here?)

8/16: Tropical storm Earl passed by - none event cause he was such a weakling. We are planning to head to Curacao and then to Aruba to meet my parents for a week of fun. After that we will beat back upwind (again) to Bonaire where will meet up with other boats to travel to the Aves and Roques before going to Puerto La Cruz Venezuela. Looking forward to seeing Angel Falls and getting some boat work done. Last we heard the un-officially exchange rate was 2900/1. $5 gets a very good steak dinner, 93c for a bottle of rum and beer is 19c a can. Our money will stretch there.

8/14: Happy Birthday Angela! We went on our first deep dive - 90 feet! we went with 3 dive masters so we felt pretty safe. Neither of us got nitrogen narcosis. Too bad Bil and I both forgot our camera. We saw the ugliest frogfish. Kim on Delphinus calls it a novelty fish. It's so ugly, everyone wants to look at it.

8/11: Hurricane Charley came through the Caribbean last night. We had to pull into the marina since the storm passed within 100 miles of us. Even though we are in a hurricane free zone, the ocean swells can still do some damage. Luckily we didn't see much by way of storm surges.

Sharon and I just completed our scuba classes and we are now open water certified divers. Bonaire is the place to do it. Our dive instructor Ray from s/v Precious Gale set us up with a great cruiser price. Our confined dives were in shallow, 15-20' of water inside the reef where we are anchored. Our open water dives were at dive sites called Something Special, the Cliff, and Front Porch down to 60 ft. Spectacular way to learn and get great sights. We saw 2 octopi and many new fish (Sharon and I are level 2 fish IDers with Reef.org). WaterToy you need to come visit to dive, it is awesome. Bonaire is supposed to be the best diving in the world. People travel here from around the world for the diving, there is not much else to do!

7/26: We still are relaxing Bonaire. We have been reading a lot and socializing with other cruisers. Last nite we did our first night snorkel @ Captain Don's with Kimberly and Kevin, friends of Linda and Chili on s/v Natural Selection. They picked us up in the their rental truck ( while cruising getting around usually means walking, dinghying, or both. A ride in a truck is a treat!)

The dive area is just of the back of their bungalow. It is lit with a flood light and it attracts the fish. One in particular is a very

large 4.5-5 ft Tarpon. He is very intimidating. Even though you know that he doesn't eat people you just hope he does change his diet while you are there. He swam less than a foot away from us looking for the little herring to eat. The herring would be attracted to the dive light and the Tarpon would be attracted to the herring. Needless to say I know what Jonah was thinking when the whale came at him (though we weren't swallowed). (also went to Oil Slick and Windsock)

7/20: We finally got our waterproof camera case. Nothing happens fast around here. In the US a FedEx overnight is just that here it is 4-5 days and a regular FedEx can be two weeks. Once it leaves the US it can travel anywhere before it gets to you. On Dalphinus their prop was sent to the Netherlands, US, back, etc before being delivered to the islands. We are trying to hunt parts down for Makai. What an effort just to see if anyone can get them shipped in, much less the cost and the time. Emergency hear means days and weeks....

7/4: Happy Independence Day. The American contingent here had a small gathering on Klein island. Several Boats shows up

including some Canadians (they were upset that Bonaire did not throw a Canada Day party. just kidding..) We played bocce Ball with 16 players. Sharon carried our team. Luckily we lost and got to go chat with the other boaters. Bird of Paradise, Dolphious, Windmiller, Wind Bourne III, Trio, Sojourne and Shiraz

Did find .25 guilders with the metal detector. can't wait to go back for the gold doubloons.

We have been snorkeling a bit. We did a cave snorkel. Bonaire is loaded with some excellent caves. Saw stalactites, mites,

and

bacon draipiers. We saw several fruit bats too. The snorkel was awesome. Just Sharon, the guide, and myself. The water was fresh and looked like glass. The caves are very wild. The government has restricted cave entrance so there is very little damage and they are in a very natural state. The locals do not go into the caves. They believe that when a bad person dies the spirit goes to caves. If you go there the spirit jumps on you and follows you out.

6/25: We made it after 3 days and the last 400 miles of rough and confused seas to Bonaire in the hurricane free zone. The weather forecast as usual wasn't 100%. The was no real bad weather just higher than forecasted wind speeds and higher the predicted waves, 8-10' instead of 2-4' and 16-27 knot wind speeds instead of 10-15. The last day we made great progress as the winds and the seas laid down, but we still ended up arriving at 1AM. Lot of stress going into an unknown anchorage in the dark. We worked our way in and picked up a mooring. Sharon did a great job of getting us hooked up. Otherwise we would have had to stand offshore until sunrise. We were already tired (Sharon getting over being sick and I got sick en route) and would have meant keeping on watch for another 6-8 hours. The cats just wanted to get feed!

This concludes Part I. The journey. All of this describes the decision to go, preparations, and the journey. Part II continues with making our way around the Caribbean. Cruising Begins Jun-04-Present

But we are here and now the relaxing will begin as Part II of the trip is done and Part III, the leisurely sightseeing and island hopping, for the next 8-12 months begins.

6/19-21: Docked at the largest marina in the Caribbean. 1000 slips. It's huge! There are golf carts racing around everywhere! For the last several days in San Juan our boat was filthy. We would wash it and by the end of the day it was dirty. We thought it was from the city and the construction, but we learned that Montserrat erupted. That and we are getting fine dust from the Sahara that is carried all the way from Africa on the wind.

Went to El Yunque to hike.

It is the only Rainforest in the US national parks system and has been protected since 1903.

We hiked the Big Tree trail and the La Mina Falls trail. Heard the coqui (little frogs) singing that sounds like a bird song. We also trudged up to Mt Britton. (At this point, Sharon was chanting again - are we there yet? are we there yet?) The view was hazy because of the Montserrat eruption and the Sarah dust. But this will be our last walk for a week as we prepare to head to Bonaire in the ABC's. This will be our first destination in the hurricane belt. We originally going to the Grenada but we have had enough of heading up wind. Bonaire is a beam reach from east PR. This should be a fast ride with less pounding.

6/13--We have been enjoying our first break from traveling. We visited old San Juan and saw Fort El Morro

which has been at the same site since 1507. Old San Juan is quaint (but I would not come back just to visit) and very crowded. We had some excellent Puerto Rican food at Cafe Amadeus.

Streets are very narrow and traffic is thick. Al, you would like this, vendors hand rolling select leaves for your choice of cigars. Haven't been able to try one yet.

We have getting around by bus, mostly the B21. The drivers move through traffic at the same speeds and nimbleness of a Formula 1 driver. We blew through stop lights raced around corners and honked at anyone doing under 100 mph! All this for a quarter!

Visited the Bacardi Distillery. Toured and got free samples. They were not short on the rum, I can see why this is a popular trip. Free also, except having to take the bus 25 cents and 50 cents for the ferry. This mass transit is killing me. Miss my convertible, but don't miss driving in the traffic.

6/12: We are in San Juan, Puerto Rico. it took 5 days of sunrise and sunsets beating against at 25knot East wind with waves 10-12 feet. Because we were headed East the wind and the waves have naturally been coming from the direction we wanted to go. As often quoted 'Gentleman do not sail to weather' has taken on a new meaning. It is rough, wet, and tiring, but wouldn't have wanted to do it in a mono hull. Love the catamarans! We anchored on the west end and then beat the last 67 miles to get to San Juan.

We have cleared customs and are now waiting for immigration. In the mean time we are stuck on the boat. Worked on a few projects and have many more. Cleaning, salt just tears everything up, have an inverter problem, need to replace some line in the trampoline webbing, and on....

This will be our first opportunity to hang around for a couple of days and sight see. We only need to go another 399 miles south to get out of the hurricane belt. Aruba here we come and then will be able to start do more interesting things. The cats will finally have a home where the back yard doesn't change every day.

Passage making is pretty much watching the weather, the boat, reading, and sleeping when ever. With two of us and one always on watch, it can tire you out. It is neat to sail with no light pollution, see stars and constellations very clearly. Watched the phosphorescent algae glowing in the wake of our boat.

Food underway has been courtesy of all those who brought cans of soup at the food drive. The variety has been great and has made it easy to eat underway. Preparing food in 8-12 foot seas with the boat pounding can be chore.

6/3: Left Mayguana Island, Bahamas and headed to the Turks and Caicos. It ended up be a long day sail. We anchored of Provo in the dark in 25 knots winds with 2-3ft seas. It was a rough night. The morning brought us turquoise waters and blue sky. We anchored out of the island. Glad we didn't try to work our way in. Lots of unlit boats and ships! motor-sailed to the southeast side and anchored for the nite behind Long Island. Made water and again used our spade anchor. IT was worth every penny (thanks everyone). It sets fast, digs in quick and holds strong. We have yet to drag on it. I have started diving on the anchor to check it set, never would have done that in the Bay. Mostly you wouldn't be able to see it in the water.

On Grand Turk, we met Sam who helped us find fuel (a tough thing to do on a Sunday) and gave us a great tour of the Island. Stopped by Columbus' cut. There is a small historical disagreement. It is beloved that Columbus landed here first when he discovered the New World. It is widely accepted that he landed at what is now cal San Salvador Island.

Sam is hoping to build a restaurant at the light house on the north end. Good luck to you Sam on that restaurant! I looking forward to trying on the way back north.

5/30-31: The next day saw Makai fighting the wind and waves all the way to Little San Salvador. The island was bought by Holland America cruise lines and is now a day stop for the cruise ships. Fortunately, for us, the ship was not in. We had the harbor pretty much to ourselves. Early morning on Sunday 5/30 Makai was once again hitting the waves all the way to Cape Santa Maria on Long Cay.

Memorial day(5/31) found us in Clarence Town midway down Long Cay. We docked at the Flying Fish Marina. Very nice people and nice facilities. We took on fuel and got a good nights sleep in preparation for a tough overnighter in the Atlantic. Mayguana, our next destination, is over 120 miles away.

Bil's big barracuda caught while leaving Nassau . I thought it was a wahoo at first, both have massive sharp teeth.

Hiborne cay was next, and guess what, we beat into the wind the whole way there. We dropped anchor amidst some super mega motor yachts. I mean MEGA yachts! I think the smallest yacht was easily 75 to 80 ft.

So far, we have not had favorable winds since we left Charleston S.C. We hope to have fair winds soon... We left Dennis and Beth of Twilight at Hiborne.

Beth is looking forward to doing absolutely nothing for a few days. It's been a tough journey so far and Makai still have 1000 some miles to go.

5/25: After recovering for a day at S. Cat Cay Twilight and Makai made out way across the Great Bahamas Bank. We anchored right in the middle of nowhere to rest for the night. Kind of weird to drop the hook the nearest land 25 miles away. Got up at sunrise and continued on to Chub cay to check into customs.

We did some great snorkeling for Bil's birthday. Now he wants an underwater camera! There would have been some awesome pictures. The fish were incredible and not afraid of us at all. I baked a German Chocolate cake and we celebrated Bil's 43rd in warm tropical breezes. The folks from Trilite shared dinner on their boat and dessert on ours. Almost everyone on the dock had cake!

After recovering at Chub Cay for 2 days we beat back into the wind and headed for Nassau. As soon as we cleared the banks, Bil and I landed to Massive Mahi's or as some folks call 'em Dorados. Mine was about 3.5 ft at 20+ pounds and Bil's was well over 4 ft and 30+. We stayed at Nassau for the night at Nassau Harbour club, nice place with nice people. Met a cruising couple the was in short supply of wasabi, so I gladly shared some of mine (Thanks to Mr Ryou of Sho Chiku and Tomo Sushi restaurants, I have 2 lbs of the stuff!) Norman was so happy he donated some of his Admiralty charts to us.

We headed over to Nassau to get the cats cleared in. Bahamas wants pet owners to pre-clear your pets and then upon arrival visit a vet for a certificate. Since we were just passing through we went to visit the Agriculture people. The lady in the office as nice as you could be asked when the animals were going to be brought in. We told her that they were here on the boat. Quickly and loudly she said she would get fired if she did the paper work on the cats and made us feel like we were going to hauled off to jail for violating the rules. We explained the Custom Agents in Chub recommended we come straight to Nassau to get it fixed. So she looked around and then handed us the papers fill out. Quickly she went to her boss and got it signed off. After that it was $23 and we were set. We tipped her 20 bucks. She didn't ask, but she made it quick and easy.

5/21: We have finally made it to the Bahamas. It took for ever to get a weather window. It was as much as a window as the pane was cracked. We sailed over with a buddy boat, Trilite (Dennis and Beth from San Diego).

Beth and Dennis on Trilite, our taxi service in Key largo and our buddy boat through the Bahamas.

After spending a couple of days on the mooring at PenneCamp park. ( we did get to snorkel on some 16th century cannons and anchors). We moved to Rodriguez Key and anchored in 20 knot winds. Weatherman and Politicians just can't tell the truth, it was supposed to 5-10 kts.

When we finally made it across the gulf stream, 16 1/2 hours up wind with some 8-10 waves, (for those of you not familiar with the conditions, it means tooth jarring, wave crashing, kitty cat tossing ROUGH) we did the one thing we were told never to do - approach and anchor at night. It was pretty nerve wracking. Even with the radar and spot lights, you just can't tell if you're about to crash into something. Glad we made it through that!

May 2004

5/21: From Pumpkin Key we headed south again to Key Largo. Anchored in Pennecamp State park. This would be our jumping off point to the BAHAMAS.

5/15: Left Key Biscayne and headed off to Pumpkin key. The next time you guys see Bil, ask him about the dinghy motor on this leg of the trip. I won't go into horrid details on the web... [Sharon]

[6/15: Broke one of my rules of never towing the dinghy with the motor attached. Everyone said they tow with the engine attached, well... We were sailing at 7 plus knots, the dinghy trailed about 30 feet behind when Sharon through she heard something funny and looked back and noticed the outboard was missing. We hauled up, swearing, by the time we turned and started to back track we had gone a mile. we motored up passed the area we thought but didn't see it. With Sharon on the bow we turned around figuring is was lost for good. (do you KNOW how much a dinghy motor costs?!?!) We kept on the track hoping to spot it in the water. I spotted the fuel tank floating just at the surface. Dropped anchor and dove on the outboard in 7-10ft of water. We were able to recover it, luckily. It was almost a very expensive lesson. Cleaned the engine out, flushed it and it doesn't seem the worse for water!

LESSON LEARNED!!!!!]

5/11: Weather is excellent, except the winds are dead out of the East. Tough to sail straight up wind. We the forecast is predicting winds from the East for the week so we decided to head further south to Key Biscayne to try to jump off from there. It also gets us closer to out goal.

Winds 20-25 knots, wave 6-7ft averaged 6.5 knots saw 8plus for a bit. It was a rough ride, but the weather was clear. Made a quick trip to Miami.

5/10: Left lake worth where we have been anchored for a week awaiting a weather window. Winds were from the ESE @ 15-20knots. Waves 3-5 ft.. Gave an offering to gods of the sea. We lost the kayak when some lashing broke in the heavy seas and tore the side out. The seat and a piece of the body is all that we could save. Gonna miss that little boat.

Docked in Lauderdale Marina. $100 bucks. what a dump! Most places were 2-3 times and there are no anchorages.

April 2004

4/30: Making final prep for the gulf crossing. Just waiting for a weather window now. Until then we are hanging out in Palm Beach Gardens w/ our old slip mates on Water Toy from Deale, MD. We hope to be in the Bahamas by 5/3.

4/15-18: Left Charleston for a 2 day trip to Daytona Beach FL. 270 Miles open ocean and 55 miles offshore. The weather was clear, the water is a deep indigo blue. Sailed some and motored some. We bagged 9 big fish that we think are kawakawa's or mackerel tunas (2-3') and one Mahi-mahi about 2 1/2' long. Made 2 dinners out of him. Cats were happy!

Can someone tell me what this fish is?? [6/25 per Ben W. this is a false albacore. One comment Ben -my book shows spots on the belly for false albacore???]

Entered the Ponce de Leon inlet around 7:30 AM from the Atlantic. Ran aground on hard sand. Tried winching and motoring Makai off. Had to break down and call for Towboat US for assistance. Mike came and expertly towed us off (though he had to work at it). It was a good thing we called as the tide was going out fast and we would have been stuck there for 6 hours waiting for the next tide. He led us out of the area and up to Daytona Beach. Without local knowledge we would have probably run aground again, and again..... The tides shift the bottom so often the charts only warn but give to no other indicators of depth. Kind of nerve racking.

Glad to See Dawn and Tim. Sorry we didn't get to catch with other old friends from our days in Orlando.

[NOTE] Still having outgoing email issues.

4/11: Makai is docked at the Charleston Harbor marina across from Fort Sumpter next to the Yorktown air craft carrier.

In Charleston we did the tourist thing, horse drawn historic carriage ride through the downtown area. Pretty neat! Walked through the market place. This is the tourist craft area and has everything. There is a group of ladies (descended from slaves) that make baskets in the traditional fashion whose process was handed down from mother to daughter. The work is so unchanged that historians were able to determine that this group originated in Angola. The baskets are beautiful and take 30-40 hours to create for a small dinner plate size.

4/9-10: Admiral Sharon took the helm and delivered us into the Atlantic. This was our first offshore overnighter with Makai. The weather was beautiful, clear, good even winds on the beam. During the night Makai had a dolphin escort. They were gray torpedoes surfacing and diving along the side and back of the boat. We actually did better that initially estimated so we had to slow down. Makai was averaging over 7 knots (for a sailboat that is cooking).

Side note. We have been able to download email and update the website but have not been able to send out notices. We are working to resolve. This update is via an unprotected WIFI network at the marina!

4/7: Drawbridge after drawbridge. Bil and I would have made it to Southport today if it weren't for all the blankity blank bridges! C'est la vie. Well we are tide up at the Wrightsville beach marina. Nice place, we got to do laundry and they have WIFI access so we can actually upload the updates to this site! woohoo. Tomorrow we will try to hop out into the Atlantic for the first time (weather permitting). I may even get a chance to catch a yellowtail or two. [Sharon]

Location as of 04/07/04: Wrightsville Beach , NC [LAT:34° 12'N -- LON 077° 48W]

4/5: Really enjoying Beaufort. Met some nice folks , Ann and Harry on Circe and a couple from VT(thanks for the guide).

Saw the wild ponies on Shackleford Island. And more dolphins.

4/4: Made it Beaufort NC. Saw our first dolphins. Lots of them. Tried anchoring in 30 plus knot winds on the nose. Bottom soft and wouldn't hold. Moved and tried to find another anchorage. On the way out I hit bottom. Hard! bounced off like a pool ball off the rail. Tried another place but bounced off the bottom there too. Ended up at the city dock. The tide came in with the wind and was it ever strong, water level was up 3 feet in a hour. [Bil]

4/2/04: Docked in Belhaven. Fueled up 67 gallons diesel and 75 gallons of water. Heading out to Oriental SC. Expecting a wind shift. Maybe even get to sail!

4/1/04: Again with the winds on the nose as we left Elizabeth City. Did motor sail @ 7 plus knots. Passed through our first swing bridge. The Bridge tender held the bridge open and made traffic wait! Anchored at Tuckahoe point on the Alligator River (didn't see any gators though). Got buzzed by Tomcats practicing bombing runs. Pretty cool. It was very dark. Just 3 little lights and one was ours.

[Biff & Kat log entries]: Made an appearance while underway. Made the Admiral and Captain happy. Next will try to figure out how to get into the fridge while our crew is busy sailing. Mean furless ones stopped feeding me canned food. still thinking of ways to make them pay!

Free Dock maintained by Rose Buddies in Elisabeth City.

Mar 2004

3/31/2004: Still tied to Hospitality Docks @ Elizabeth City waiting out the weather. Met Fred Fearing of the Rose buddies. 20 years ago, after visiting his wife's grave, he saw several boats anchored and decided to get some wine a crackers and have a party. Now he and several others take visiting boaters to his house for a weekly meeting. They also meet everyone at the docks and present the First mate (Admiral in our case) with a rose. Since roses were out of season he presented Sharon and the first mate of the Meridian, with Carolina cotton pods.

03/28/04: headed down the ICW from Norfolk. Saw some big ships and entered the Dismal Swamp Canal. Need to get Rob the Lockmaster, Dam-master, and bridge tender a conch shell on our return trip from the island.

Makai's first Lock and Rob playing the conch shell. Pretty Good!

Water in the dismal swamp is loaded with tannin. It's like sailing in a cup of coffee.

03/25/2004: Docked in Hampton Roads. Visited with Sharon's cousin Marty & Mike, did boat stuff and cleaned. Cats much happier when docked.

03/24/2004: Again light winds to the south. Motored to Antiposion creek in Fleet's Bay. Got a little rough, cat's were not happy. Anchored (love that anchor) in the creek for a quiet, very dark night. Used the Follow-me-TV. Love DirecTV on the hook. Try that with cable.

03/23/2004: Cast lines off about an hour after sunrise. Light winds from the south. Motored to Solomon's Island for the night. Broke in the new anchor. It sets great. [Bil]

03/15/04: Well the Launch Brunch was wonderful, we want to thank everyone for coming and wishing us farewell. As always, food was in abundance and Paul was the Omelet King! Bil and I want to extend our gratitude for all the great food everyone brought. We will think of you guys as we go through the soups, mac and cheese, and SPAM. And a special thanks to Phil and Debbie!!! The new photos on the web will be all with Phil's Camera! And a big thanks to Paul, Richard, Bonnie, Amy, Erik, Martha, Mike, Angela, Mark, Zachary, Parimal, and Maia for the anchor (we'll send you pictures of every time we use it -which will be ALL THE TIME).

Feb 2004

2/1/04: Moved onboard Feb 1st. Inch of ice on the inside. Since we aren't spending anymore time here the needed we opted for 2 space heaters and a 9000 BTU propane. It cost $378/mth to keep it cool enough for sweat shirts and sweats. The Ice is 6 inches thick arounds us and our bubble that keeps the ice away is making the ducks very happy.

02/11/04: I said good-bye to all the good folks at Fannie Mae today. Thanks everyone for the wonderful sendoff party. I can't say I'm gonna miss work, but certainly will miss my friends. Although, some folks still want to give me a 07:30 wake-up call occasionally - you know who you are....[Sharon]

02/27/04: Bi'ls last day of work. So far we've got the Radar mounted, a/c is mostly in, Water maker is here as well as the new dinghy motor. So our to do list is finally getting closer to becoming a "done" list.

Jan 2004

01/01/04: News Years Day was spent at Phil’s for the Lobster feast. Awesome time as always. It will be our last for a few years. He will just have to come to the islands to dine with us.

01/05/04: Listed the house for sale today and got 3 offers within seven hours. Woohoo. Ratified contract and our closing date is set for 1/30.

01/15/04: Preparations for the departure have been coming along. Still a long way to go and many projects to be done. Sharon and I have officially cut the ties with work. We now are working out the last days. [Bil]

01/31/04: Our first night of homelessness. Our first day as boat people. Feels a bit strange, but good. The cats are not so happy with us at this point. Biff is feeling confined, he's used to lots of room to run around. Now he's confined to the little salon and berths. Kat on the other hand is just mad cause she had a tooth pulled. She couldn't care less where she is, only that there is food and a warm bed and the occasional treat!

To Do:

Re-stow and GO!

~~~ _/) ~~

Sept 2003

9/03: Sharon came home from work and asked 'Can we go sailing'. My response we go sailing every weekend. Her's was 'For a year'. Mine ' YES'.

This is the start of the preparations for the trip south on Makai.

This site was last updated 12/24/05