Guanaja, Honduras
22 April, Honduras ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Sadly, El bight was the only anchorage we visited in Honduras. It’s the time of year when Brian is anxious to move on and make sure he is in the USA and away from hurricanes. We tried to check-in in Guanaja but they were having some political issues, and immigration was shut down on the island. We were told that we would have to check in at Roatan.
We had thought about going there and looked a marinas, as we were still concerned about the rudder sound.
On our first day we decided to drop our laundry off at Jessica’s and hike the highest peak on the island, Michel’s Rock. Brian stopped at the 2/3 point and I continued to 7/8th. The trail was difficult to see and we needed to us the All Trails app, but it was burning through our phone power. We both wore pants, but my solo expedition to the top had my arms covered in scratches, my pants throughly stained green and two ticks (one I only found days later).
We went snorkelling on the reef beside the ostentatious Dunbar Hotel. It was clear and felt like snorkelling in an aquarium — saw porcupine puffer fish, squid, angel fish and more. Our snorkelling attempt two days later was cloudy.
We went into the town, twice. The first time we walked around, picked up a few groceries, although not much fresh food. We walked around the town and landed on a large pool that had several nurse sharks, turtles, rays and other fish. We meant a boy named Edwin who was curious about where we were from and the traveling we’ve done. Our second time we came, hoping that the fruit and veggie freighter had arrived. We went to DeBella Cafe and waited, but decided we needed to get going. However, we did by 3lbs of red snapper and a few mangos. There was a lot of police and military presence, which was uncomfortable. We found out that the party that lost the elections had tried to take over again, and a school was burnt down. The main town is an island…. And beside the island are houses on stilts… a fascinating world!
The night before we left, we went to Jessica’s Restaurant (the same women who did our laundry, runs a restaurant). It was on a different part of the cove and once we found it the view was great. The food options were to risky, but we both had a drink and sat with Belgium cruisers from FOX (Carlos and Cathy).
Sadly we didn’t get to ceonnect with Pierre and Laura, although we messaged and saw them working on their forestay. They had problems with it enroute from Providencia and also had this occur:
“Apart this problem in the middle of the trip, we had some emotions when meeting some boats : most of them were fishermen or cargo, but at some point we saw a group of 5 small boats, not really moving, maybe half a mile away.
We continued on our way when one of this boat started moving in our direction. It took him maybe 15 or 30 minutes to reach us.
We kept on our way. The boat was strange with 5 or 6 peoples inside, and one standing on the proa and making signs. He asked us if we had something to give them, food or anything else.
We answered we had nothing.
He asked about cigarettes…
We don’t have. Finally he said good bye, have a safe trip and they went back to where they came.
So no problem but some emotions. We still think that we were far enough from the coast !
That is the story about our trip, not completely simple but interesting 🤔
Hope to see you again. Enjoy Belize
Laura & Pierre”
—————————
Our last foray was to get gas before leaving for Belize. The current was strong, but Brian managed it well. We got 130 gallons ($6usd/gallon), earlier in the day, on the dinghy, we topped up the gas and our propane. By 4:30 we were on our way.’Baca lagi
Pirates Passage
19 April, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
The convoy left Providencia on Wednesday morning, except Pierre and Laura, who left Tuesday afternoon and were taking a more direct route to Honduras.
Lady Hawke and Lorena leaving at 8am and the other two at 9am. They caught up to us fast and passed us early on. We had a WhatsApp chat group that I had set up and these were the terms we agreed too:
- We are leaving at 8am
- We will sail on the west side, close to Beacon Cay
- We will communicate via WhatsApp and channel 68 (with check-ins every 4 hours)
- We will stay in visual distance of one another (line of sight might be hard… so screen distance)
- We will keep on AIS but go dark (no lights).
- If any of us run into trouble the others will circle round.
- Brian to follow up with Chris and we will share the forecast.
- Brian will fill a float plan and send out Emergency number for Colombian Navy.
Fiona was the link that kept us together on Whatapp and channel 68, trying to communicate. We sailed initially, then motor sailed and then just motored for the day…. Still having trouble keeping up and running at 1400rpm’s verse 1100. That extra bit doubled our fuel consumption to 2gph. Unfortunately, LadyHawke was feeling the same but didn’t have as much fuel as we did…. So they decided to change course and sail. We continued to check in with them, and watched them in Marine Traffic. They did have an incident where they were approached by a fishing boat near Seranilla Banks, but headed into a squall to reduce visibility and the fish boat stopped the following. Turns out they had a fishing net around their property and that is what slowed them down.
By Wednesday evening we were in a tight pack and had the main out, triple reef and the staysail. We wanted to keep a 1nm distance as we had no lights, just AIS. Lots of cargo traffic through the night which was comforting!
In the morning, the current was helping and the flow seemed to be veering west. Pangolin and Carioca decided to take the cut by Thunder Knoll and maximize the current. We had to decide if we would follow as it was a more dangerous route (concerning piracy) or be left to sail solo. Since we would be doing the majority of it in the daylight, we decided to follow along. The shift helped us to sail better and by noon on Thursday we had overtaken the vessels and were moving along at 8knots. At around 4pm we noticed that Carioca was sailing slow Ina different direction (their mailsail furler wasn’t working). Sadly, they had to move through 35knot winds with full main and decided to go to the Lee side of the Caymans to take it down.
We had another 2 days of sailing…. But it was quiet with very little traffic. We arrived in Guanaja in the afternoon on Saturday.
We had made good time and even ran the whisker pole on the jib the whole night for a downwind run. It made a big difference in our speed (motor sailing at 6.5-7knots).
On Friday night I saw a light off in the distance and casually remarked. Brian tried to investigate and got worried quick. I had determined it was Venus, but he was sure it was an unmarked vessel. A quick check on Starlink (with lat/ long and bearing) suggested it was a planet and the anxiety faded.
However, the rudder noise we heard in Cartagena was back.
Our interaction with wildlife on the passage was neat. We had a barn swallow fist us again. This time perched on the wench and then inside the pilot house. It allowed me to pat it… and it was vocal although I didn’t understand what it wanted (I tried water and nuts), perhaps it just wanted rest. We then had a red foot boobie catch a ride with us in the bow. Sadly, Brian chased him away as he didn’t like that it was pooing on the bow seat. We also caught a Mahi.
Overall it was a safe trip with no issues. Once we got to Guanaja (two days earlier then Chris Parker the forecaster had predicted) we anchored beside Pierre and Laura who had arrived there through the night. A dangerous entry, through the reefs, I can’t believe they did it at night.Baca lagi
Providencia & Santa Catalina
15 April, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We left Linton Bay Marina on April 4th and sailed through Easter Sunday and arrived in Providencia on Monday morning around d 8:30am. The sail and winds were great, and we were on a close haul most of the time, one the same heading. We only ran the engine to boost the voltage for a few hours and arriving… otherwise it was all sail power.
We had a little bird, a swallow, stop on the Davits at the back of the boat, for a rest. So nice to see little creatures up close. It watched as we caught three Mahi-mahi in an 8 minute time span. They were small and a lot of work for Brian to fillet, but good eating!
The check in and out (Zarpe) of each country is a total pain in the ass. We had to use an agent again to check into Colombia, and we were meeting Mr Bush (72 years old) at the immigration dugout. An odd process where they video taped Brian giving the officer his passport, but more relaxed then other spots, perhaps because it was open air.
On Tuesday we went to Mr Bush’s store to pick up passports and we did some snorkeling (eels, rays and more).
On Wednesday we started approaching other boats to see if any were interested in travelling with us toward Honduras. Pierre (French) and Laura (Mexican) on Chogüi are going, but a more direct route through pirate land. Giorgio and Heyoung (Ladyhawke) are planning to go to Cayman ~ Canadian boat and they are Italian and Korean. We already knew Pura Vida (John-Michel and Kimberly) as they were beside us in Cartegena and are heading back.
We went to town and went to the hospital to check on my biopsy wound - it’s ok. Then continued walking and ended up at a Library. Brian was excited and we went back twice to donate 6-8 books in Spanish.
We stopped at a Cafe and meet Charlie Ottley (Film maker) and Guana from Romania (Transilvania). We invited them to the boat a day later and had sundowners, and then a couple games of pool back on the island. Interesting couple who film, Flavours of Romania.
The channel of the Bay is well marked with green and red bouts that flash in the night (and early morning), and for some reason make me feel safe. There is also a mother Mary statue on the hill above our anchorage (Fort Warwick, Santa Catalina). The island was hit hard by a hurricane in 2020 and is slowly rebuilding.
We did more snorkelling, visited lots of grocery stores, especially after the fruit boat arrived (and tried some new fruit including yellow dragon fruit). We discovered the ice cream store and went nearly everyday… and we walked to Almond Bay and beyond, then a few days later, we took a tuktuk to South West beach for an hour, and came back the opposite way, full traversing the island. It is beautiful and I wish we had taken more time to explore beyond what we could walk too.
Two more boats, Salty Dawgs who we knew, Brian on Pangolin and Chris and Fiona on Carioca arrived. We talked to them about a convoy, even though they were also going to Cayman… we could go as far as 18N and then divert WSW. We organized a WhatsApp group, messaged Chris Parker and held a meeting at the ice cream shop. Chris suggested waiting till Friday April 17th, the group wanted to leave on Wednesday (even though there wouldn’t be as much wind). We agreed with 8am Wednesday although Chris wasn’t happy and said we wouldn’t arrive till Monday to Honduras (**we arrived Saturday late afternoon).
We spent a lot of time polishing the stainless steel in the boat, and doing some boat chores. We also bought a machete and more wasp spray for potential pirates. I think we both just wanted to be on the other side of this passage as we had a heightened fear of pirates given what happened in Chiquita Beach.
One the last two days before we left, I cooked enough food for 6 nights… plus boiled eggs and salad for 2-3 nights. I was pleased that we had provisioned well and were ready to go.
The time before we left was filled out with fundraising and work with FTHS, plus teaching RWW classes, although when we are in Belize and Honduras it will be the same as Calgary time and much to early to teach anything but a 9/10am class (which will be 7am).
In all we spent 9 days in Providencia, and enjoyed the people, the ice cream/ frozen yogurt (with currents), getting the boat shiny, and getting some FTHS stuff completed, along with both business and personal taxes. Brian drew portraits of John-Michel and Kimberley (and they were thrilled to get them, asking that he sign them), and a pastel. He hurt his finger on the passage (not wrapping the Genoa furler sheet around the wench when letting it out), so guitar was more difficult. Arrived on a Monday and left in a convoy of 5 on the following Wednesday.Baca lagi
Linton Bay
2 April, Panama ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
It was mid afternoon when we realized that it was Easter weekend in a few days and if we didn’t get to Linton Bay tomorrow (Thursday) we would have to wait till Monday for our Zarpe (Departure papers). We devised a way plan, and quickly left Chichime and the San Blas Islands, getting to playa Chiquita just after nightfall. We decided to keep our anchor lights off as to not call attention to ourselves as we were the only boat in this uncomfortably roll Bay. After dinner, we took some melatonin to offset the heaving of the boat and fell to sleep. I awoke at 10:30pm to pee and as I was climbing back to bed… I heard someone call out. Immediately I woke Brian and we yelled at whomever was nearby. Rapidly trying to find clothes in the dark and make our way to the pilot house. A man had climbed aboard the boat and said he was swimming, wanted to rest, wanted a life jacket, and upset that his cell phone was wet. I just stood there as they spoke Spanish. Brian had aimed a spotlight at him and calmly told him to leave a few times. Finally he jumped back in the water and it wasn’t untill we put the spotlight on him did he swim away.
We sat in the pilot house trying to decide what to do next, Brian asking me if I had heard the fireworks earlier. I didn’t. We agreed that neither of us would be able to fall back asleep….and we might be in danger if we stayed. So we weighed anchor at 11:15pm and went to sea. A bumpy night!!
We arrived to Linton Bay an anchored at 7am. I tried to sleep for a couple hours, then we docked…. With some struggle due to angle and current.
We spent two nights at the marina and it was great!! There was a chandlery, a cafe and small grocery store (run by Charlie and his cat Captain) . We hired Luis to take us to the grocery store in town (Portobello), although not sure it was worth it, although the drive was nice.
We shower often, even though they weren’t hot, and were able to get out laundry done. We also managed to get our Zarpe, but they charged $400usd verse $120 had we waited till Monday (claiming that it was a RUSH fee).
We met the owner of the marina, Allen, and told him our story about Playa Chiquita. We had learn from the Chandlery that the fireworks Brian heard were actually gun shots and someone had been murdered. We found the news report for it (https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/provincias/hom…) and tried to contact the authorities with no luck. Allen suggested we needed to have wasp spray on the boat as we had no weapons to protect ourselves. We walked to the small Chinese run grocery in Linton, but weren’t successful. In the end Allen gave us one of his bottles before we sailed off to Isla de Providencia.
We made a report of the incident in the Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN), and subsequently a sub stack article was written: https://open.substack.com/pub/loosecannon/p/pos….Baca lagi
Guna Yala Islands (San Blas)
22 Mac, Panama ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
The San Blas island are a throw back in time to an earlier century. One where people lived off the land, had little electricity or potable water, no cars only carved out logs, and rules that were developed and enforced by a congress of like people. There are nearly 50,000 Gina’s scattered across 350 islands (and the mainland), who still live life this way. Some islands only have a couple families, some have little bars or restaurants and running water.
We snorkelled and walked the beaches of many of them, some inhabited and others not.
We were in three main island clusters: Salaradup, East Holendes (Swimming Pool, Banadup and Bug island), Green Island, Lemmon Cay (and a quick stop in Chichime), plus a check out at Porvenir (where they hold congress). I wrote an article for the Salty Dawgs detailing our journey to San Blas and the joy of being in these safe islands nestled off the coast of Panama: https://sdsa.memberclicks.net/my-favorite-ancho….
Here we also found new marine wonders… like the mermaids necklace. It looked like plastic in the water, so I removed it and realized it was alive. We looked it up later and realized it is a whelk snail egg sacks. We also found a very rare tritons trumpet (Large snail shell used in Hawaiian ceremonies), lots of big and living conch and starfish and strange remora fish that have suction at the top of there heads to attach to other creatures or boats.
Our next stop is Linton Bay, Panama for a few days to provision and find a weather window to Isla Providencia (Colombia).Baca lagi
Panama Pacific
21 Mac, Panama ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Arrived to Panama (another delayed flight) and flew directly over the Panama Canal, which was awesome! Brian greeted me at the airport with some macrons, fresh OJ and an 🍏. Bernie (who join Brian on the passage from Colombia to Panama) was waiting in the parking garage and since my flight was delayed we hit traffic leaving the city. A nice drive to Rio Mar, where he has a beachfront house. The caretaker, Tiburcio opened the gates and to my wonderful surprise, a dog - Lassie. The sweetest, calm, loving dog I’ve been around in awhile! After a beautiful walk on the beach we had a nice meal prepared by his sisters (Maureen lived next door) housekeeper, and went for a walk afterwards.
My Wednesday 6am class was now 5am as Panama doesn’t observe daylight savings. Up early to teach the class and then off to a hike in Cerro Chame. It was a challenge, with lots of stops, but we made it up and it was easier then down as I already had chin splints from wearing tight footwear for Ashlynn’s wedding. I had been stretching prior to the hike…. So I walked sideways or backwards down the mountain.
We stopped at a store on the way back and picked up a few groceries, then back to home base and out to the ocean for a swim. The water was rough and the current strong!
The outside of this place is so amazing, several little spots to do yoga or meditation, little benches and private areas, an outdoor shower and direct beach access and a nice separate bathroom and shower from the house. However, the room configuration, water pressure and maintenance would need to be addressed before I could think about hosting a yoga retreat there.
We went for another walk to Bernie’s old homestead (he grew up in Panama) which is now rented. He also has a home that’s rented in Panama City (and two houses in USA, with Virginia Beach being his main residence).
Thursday morning Bernie, Lassie (the dog) and I did yoga and it was so great to “lead” a class again. Bernie has a daily practice but I struggle with the consistency.
Breakfasts were a delight every morning! I was once again spoiled by having my coffee made for me… and Bernie made eggs in a corn tortilla, arepas (which cheese inside), grilled cheese, fresh OJ and a mountain of fruit. This was fuel for our visit to El Valle. A community nestled into a volcanic crater. We hiked to the top of a hill (much easier then the previous day) and met some school children who were interested in chatting. Part way down we stopped at a cleared piece of land and I explored (spotting a Rufous Motmot bird) while the men stood beside the mud hut. Across the stream lived other natives, perhaps the ones that dragged drink up the hill to sell to the tourists. Near the bottom we stopped at a waterfall pool and took a refreshing dip!
We explored the market, and I had my first Guama (Ice Cream Bean) fruit. Then we visited Bernie’s property (Casa Pangea) where he will soon build, and off to an early dinner at a boutique hotel in town, before heading back to the beachfront.
On the way to El Valle, they were paving the road and there was an hour delay. We were stopped in front of a large haciendas and property (finca) for sale. Brian called to inquire and we stopped on the way back to talk to the gardener and tried to see the place but couldn’t reach the owners/ real estate folk. Back at the beach folk we talked real estate and I peeped for my Friday class while Bernie and Brian went for a walk.
We managed to do two loads of laundry while at Bernie’s, and they needed to be started at 4am due to the low water pressure. After my class, we went for a swim, showered, ate breakfast, went and bought groceries with Bernie’s CRV and back to the house to relax before the driver arrived at 12:30 to take us to Panama City.
The driver/ taxi that Bernie uses came with a nice van and it was a quick drive but for finding the self check-in hotel (Casa Arias) in Old Town, which frustrated him. We finally got there with out 10 pieces of luggage (2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 1 canvas bag, 1 bag with hiking boots, 1 brown bag, 2 grocery bag and 2 styrofoam coolers). Luckily our room was on the ground floor, although it was the size of a postage stamp. Oddly it was burning man themed, and had a beautiful courtyard, where plants hung from the balconies above and the rain fell into the pool. We spent the rest of the day, Friday, walking around old town, taking in the heritage…. Guessing about the shiny specs on the church turret was made of oyster shells. We stopped into small shops and ice cream stores and ate at a Peruvian/ Japanese restaurant before going back to the hotel. Our picture up was at 4:30am, so a hot shower and early to bed.
It seems the hotel was a popular pick up spot for people heading to the San Blas islands, as lots were up and waiting. The driver only arrived after 5am and only had room for 1 person. Brian. He took 5 pieces of luggage (my clothing), and drove off, leaving me with a number to call. I was pissed! I called Judy Lamb who runs the tour company and she wanted a photo of the luggage (I only took pictures of three). At the same time a driver was arriving (and my new friend of 30mins, Bonnie, was getting on). The driver started to grab my luggage and put it in the van. I went with it (quickly converting my final two bags into one). We took the very back jump seat and ended up with the cooler (which made a terrible styrofoam noise) between us and the canvas bag on the floor under the cooler and my backpack on top of me… with knees to my chest for 3 hours. Still upset but grateful I was enroute although I had no idea that we would be crossing the border back into Colombia, two hours into the ride, or need money. I scrambled to find my phone/ wallet and passport. Brian had called and messaged many times to check on me.
I arrived in Puerto Carti, hundreds of people milling about, wondering where to go, what Panga (boat) to get on. Finally I spotted Brian and we moved my load to his, realizing that our boots and my suitcase was missing an had been off loaded. Finally they arrived in another vehicle and after 60-90 minutes we boarder a boat to Salardup — where Lorena has been anchored alone for 5 days.
The trip reminded me of Ashlynn and I travelling from Hopkins to Glovers Atoll in Belize.
Relief for us both when we saw Lorena and once on her, the batteries had been sufficiently recharged by the sun.
Mentally and Physically exhausted — I went for an unusual afternoon nap, before Brian invited me to snorkel a distant refer that we swam to. Being back on the boat was so nice…. The sun, the sway, the rhythm, the ability to jump off when hot, and my bed all felt great ⛵️!Baca lagi
Montreal ~ Ashlynn’s Wedding
16 Mac, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Arrived to Montreal over an hour late, took an Uber to Ashlynn’s and enjoyed time with her, Hugo and friends. They had both just arrived back from Bachelorette/Bachelor parties. They took some down time while I socialized with the others…. Eventually, at 4pm, Hugo rounded up everyone except me, who were going to the Airbnb and took them over. I stayed and had some Ashlynn time…. A mini pedicure and metallic silver toe nails to match her fingers and my toes too.
Both her and Hugo needed to finish writing vows, once they were done, around 8pm, we walked to the Airbnb and Hugo’s parents joined (Robyn, Jeff and Aria were already there).
Ashlynn and Hugo were going to be separated…. So he didn’t see her until the “exchange of vows,” so he stayed at the Airbnb with Jeff and I, and Ashlynn, Robyn and Aria went back to the apartment. Jeff and I rearranged the living room so that the vows would take place in the most picturesque spot, and everyone would have seating.
On Monday morning at 10am, I joined them. Looking around, I decided that I would be most helpful by cleaning (LOTS of dishes, Laundry, bathroom, etc..) so they would have a clean space to return too after the marriage (and when they returned from the honeymoon). Robyn did Ashlynn’s hair, and Aria cooked Finnish crepes, eggs and sausages. Then it was makeup and getting dressed time. After trying on a few, I went with my old dress that I gave to Ashlynn for a wedding last summer, and her shawl. We all got in an Uber and went to the Airbnb where the “ceremony was held.
Brad (Ashlynn’s Dad) and Tracy, Chris and Mary (Hugo’s parents), Griffin (Hugo’s brother), Jeff and Aria (witnesses that went to notary with them), Erica (bridesmaid for BC) and Robyn (bridesmaid for BC), myself and Josh the photographer witnessed the exchange of vows and rings (from 2:40-3:20) Then they left for the notary.
We all met back at Starbar at 6pm. I realized at 4:45 that I hadn’t printed documents I needed for Panama… so a sprint up Saint Laurent to a print shop, arriving 2 mins before closing at 5pm! I went to the apartment afterwards and did a bit more cleaning, then Robyn and I walked to Starbar, passing and ultimately designing a flower bouquet for Ashlynn before arriving.
The first hour was the core group from the ceremony and then friend started to arrive… staying untill 9ish. Walked back to the apartment with Ashlynn and Hugo, to help carry items, and a big goodbye Hug…. Knowing I’ll see them in August for wedding event #2 in BC.
I returned to the Airbnb, chatted with Jeff, Aria and Robyn for awhile and then took my last long hot shower in Canada. My sleep was fitful as I was likely worried about my scheduled Uber and early morning pickup.
I’m sitting on the plane (Copa Airlines) writing this…. And going through the picture of the weekend. Ashlynn looked SO So happy and in her element. I am thrilled that she has celebrated her 10 year anniversary, the way that suited her and Hugo best ❤️❤️.
I haven’t finished my “gift” to them yet, but will continue to work on it for August. Off to Mexico they go, later today and I hope they don’t experience a flight delay, as I have on nearly every flight I’ve taken in Canada this trip.Baca lagi
Ashlynn’s Wedding ~ more pics
16 Mac, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
Bonus videos and photos
Moncton - Dad’s 80th Birthday
15 Mac, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C
Arrived in Moncton late on Tuesday (March 10th). Dad picked me up and we spent some time together before I took the Saturn to Pasq and Manju where I stayed for the next couple days. Gobi was happy to see me and consistently tried to sleep with me.
Wednesday morning I taught a class and then went to a class at Inspire in Shediac, and had coffee with Lisa G at the Tate House. I spent the afternoon with Sheila and we went to USVA, and had supper together at the condo with Jamie. Afterwards, I popped into Saint James Gate for a quick hello to Gail
Thursday was a Dr appointment (and surprise biopsy). It was freezing rain and I had to get Pasq to drop me off and pick up as the Saturn wasn’t up for the task. In the afternoon I headed to Melanie’s and then a meal at Moxies. Back to the OWE late in the evening.
Friday I relaxed in the morning (not teaching due to the biopsy), eventually catching someone home at Arlington to pick up my mail, and picking up cake and food for Dad party the following day. I also was working out the logistics to surprise Dad with Andrew coming home. Shelia dropped off van at the airport (with car seat), Andréia rented me her condo and I got groceries and child proofed it. In the evening Pasq and Manju hosted a dinner… with the Silva’s and Sheila and Jamie. The Silvas brought lots of food, including a cashew dish that I’ll have to learn to make as Brian would love it. Made my way to the condo, and Andrew and Kai had arrived and were still up. I got to read Kai books before bed!
Saturday was Dads 80th celebration and we were able to surprise him with Andrew and Kai. Pete and I were also there and it made it special to have us all together. There was about 80 people that dropped into the party. He is loved 💕. Once the party ended I went to Kirsten’s for a few hours to hang out and then back to the house to say goodbyes!
Pete came to the condo and we hung out for awhile, listening to Ms Rachel in the background, while Andrew tried to put Kai to sleep.
Today, Pete picked me up…. I said bye to the brothers and off to Montreal for the next adventure!Baca lagi
Calgary — Welcome Baby Ella
10 Mac, Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C
Eight days… and sad to say goodbye after Ella’s 2 week check up. She is such a calm and quiet baby… I enjoyed holding her, and doing all the infant things. Playing with Kai was also lots of fun… it took him a few days to warm up to me, as he was adjusting to no longer having his parents full attention.
Once he did I could read to him and get up with him in the morning, feed him and play together. On Saturday, the family had a photo shoot in a beautiful location. It was the first time I’d experience something like that, and felt honoured and grateful that Amy asked me to participate! 🙏🏻
They have a rental duplex 5 minutes away that they have been renovating and I went there on three different days to help out. As always, I expect to get more done than actually happens… however, I managed to do lots of crack filling, prepped and taped the baseboards for paint, and edged most of the unit for rolling/ painting. It was nice to work with Andrew in this project and also nice to be alone, playing my music and enjoying solitude (something I rather ever experience anymore… It was so good for my soul)! However, I do t miss the winter driving… the truck, parked on ice on a hill, would not back up… and after an hour of trying to g with the help of neighbors… we shouted the hood to find the owner of the car in front of me…. So I could finally get home as Pete dropped by the house for an evening visit.
Amy and Andrew are pros at parenting now. It is so beautiful to see how much patience they have with Kai and one another. How relaxed they are with Ella and how much energy and time they devoted to the kids, their work (rentals and office), and each other ❤️.
Pete dropped by the Duplex with warm drinks one day, and came for lunch at the home on another. We met up with he and the boys, at Fish Park, after the photo shoot and went for a walk. Nice to connect with everyone together! I will see both of them in a week for Dads birthday.
On my last evening, I also got to see long time, admired friend, who helped me start Otesha Consulting— Susannie! I was thrilled to connect with her.
Off to Ottawa for a layover, and quick visit with Rachel before continuing East.Baca lagi
Montreal - Part 1
2 Mac, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ -8 °C
Wonderful but altogether to short a visit with my beautiful offspring. A direct afternoon flight from Cartegena to Montreal. I arrived around 10pm to the Plateau and dug into some of the thoughtful gluten free snacks waiting for me, while catching up with Ashlynn and Hugo.
On Saturday Ashlynn had a full day planned! We went wedding dress shopping, then did a somatic art and movement class with Erica. Which was so much fun. It made me want to reconnect with scribbling and abstract drawing. Then to the bookstore in Saint Henri to pick up the latest Emily Austin book and have a Taco meal at Freda’s with Erica and Des.
Sunday is apparently Bridge, so Hugo, Ashlynn and I played… she won. We headed to Mile End to visit a GF bakery with a few stops along the way, and after at consignment stores, shoe stores and COTN. Hugo was making Lamb and Risotto so I picked up a bottle of Amarone for the meal.
On Monday I had said I would caulk the bathroom since Ashlynn had just painted it (the color of our wall in the den/ burgundy). We went to the Hardware store and Tapi Go for some Cassava Chesse balls. I worked on clean the bathroom which took longer then extracted, so promised to do it upon my return in a few weeks. Off to the airport, with a layover in Toronto. Sadly my flight was delayed for 2 hours (which meant there was a point where my close friend Kim, from Barbados, and I were only 4 gates apart and didn’t realize it till we were on our planes 🙁). It also meant arriving after midnight in Calgary, where Andrew picked me up. While I was flying… Brian and Bernie were sailing from Colombia to Panama — San Blas Islands (Guna Yala).Baca lagi
Cartegena
27 Februari, Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Feb 16- Walked to Old Town again. Went to Epoca and had the oat pancakes, went to the bookstore and Pezatarian.
Feb 17 — Hired varnish guy, taught a class, walked to the fort and through another neighborhood (Popa). Loud and smelly. Did laundry. Didn’t feel great today, slept a lot and had stomach issues.
Feb 19- Fasting all day as I didn’t feel well yesterday (very bloated). We went for a walk and Brian ate at the Art Hotel rooftop… a fun view of Old Town.
Feb 20- Getsemani, Old Town… went to Cande Restaurant but they wouldn’t let us dine as Brian had sandals (dress code). Oddly I was wearing sneakers as I had a blister trying to break in my new Birkenstocks. We ended up dinning at Pezetarian again… even though I resisted and didn’t want to as I thought I may have gotten “glutened” and realized that I indeed had as I ate something that had cross contamination. The most exciting news — I have a niece (Ella Jane).
Feb 21 - Went to the beach (foot and back massage and Brian had his hair done) went and got groceries and I found a dress for the wedding at the mall. Brian found more books at the bookstore.
Feb 22- Bernie arrived at noon. We lowered the dinghy to test the outboard and ended up rowing all the way back from Old Town, as it died and we couldn’t get it started. Walked to Old Town… went to book store. Bernie made fajitas.. so good!
Feb 23 - Tried to decide what we would do for the week and if we would travel to the Sierras or see something. I booked horseback riding as no one was making decisions. Steak dinner
Feb 24- , went horseback riding, Brian fell off horse dismounting… found our starboard bow line snapped and we hit the old boat beside us, and crushed the back of the transom into the concrete. Got back, traffic bad, so Brian got out and walked while I stayed in cab, Bernie also out and walked to Jumbo grocery store. Started to disassemble bent stations and Brian took outboard to Yamaha shop. Went for coffee in Old Town and bought some coffee at Saint Alberto. Then went for Asian food (Ana)
Feb 25- Taught class. Tracked down workers to fix stantion and to fix the paint and wood in the transom . Brian went up the mast twice to try and fix the steaming and anchor light… didn’t work… Bernie and I went to the Marine Store across the street to get bolts for the stantion and a new LED. Brian went for a shower, and Bernie and I were starting to put the newly varnish flooring into the rudder room when we were swarmed by bees. The… like 500 or more, settled on the aft davit. Brian came back from shower but couldn’t get on boat. He and Bernie got into it, as we were trying to find an unharmed way to get rid of them and Brian wanted to be consulted… as he just wanted them gone. He boarded the boat once they settled, and took the pee jug (a vinegar jug with a she wee, that we use in the middle of the night as it is easier and less noise then pumping the toilet)… he grabbed the life line as we was doing it… and fell in… forgetting they weren’t attached. He had to shower again. He began putting the floors in again, and I got stung by a bee in my palm. Had Tacos in Getsemani.
Feb 26 - Packed, Indian restaurant that was under construction. Gave Javier picture. Customs offical came to inspect the boat hull number and engine.
Feb 27 - taught class, shower … Brian bought a new outboard and I got on the plane to Montreal.Baca lagi
Cape Horn of Colombia
15 Februari, Caribbean Sea ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
We attempted to leave Curacao early on Wednesday morning…. But in the process of hoisting the dinghy we maligned the arm of the wind turbine…. So we replaced the parts and continued onward. We went to the Curacao Yacht Club only to realize they had 5ft depth, so we back tracked to the other fuel dock… and over flowed the tank. Not a great start to the voyage, but we persisted, nearly missing the channel and getting into the shallows — the frazzled captain made the turn, put up the sail and we were OFF!
We sailed into the night, beyond Aruba, making good time under sail. We were goi g to Jib at 2-3am but waited till dawn, to move the preventer (keeping the boom from an accidental jib). Once we jibbed, it was evident that we would need the engine as we were no longer on a broad reach but full downwind.
Eventually we took the main sail down and put out the geneoa on the wisker pole. We motor sailed like this all day…. However, in the morning we noticed an odd noise coming from the rudder which was a cause for great concern. I asked Brian to check it out, and he didn’t think much of it…. But as the day progressed, and he heard it consistently, he worried. By dinner he had called his friend (Migel from Colombia) and had them put us in touch with the coast guard. They suggested we go into Puerto Bolivar (Cabo de la Vela), but it was not a lite entry and too dangerous for us. We decided to proceed toward Santa Marta. We asked our weather guru, Chris Parker, for an updated forecast — but he was slow to respond.
We took the pole down, and motored with the stay sail through the night. The next morning Brian was anxious that the Gudgeon was the problem. I had no such concern. We checked it out again and finally I put my phone in the water (with a case), and Brian stuck his head in the water…. Relieved that it was not the rudder itself. With that information in hand we decided to proceed past Santa Marta and head directly for Cartagena, aiming to arrive on the afternoon of the fourth day.
We expected the wind and swells to recede after we past Barranquilla, however the swells seemed to get bigger and the wind only backed off slightly. The highlight on day 3 and 4 were the dolphins!! 4 different and distinct looking pods visited us over a 36 hour span. The entrance to the Cartagena harbour at Grand Boca, is very narrow, and has no physical bouys, only marks on the GPS. The charts showed that we had depth to cross prior to the green, but it was wrong and we saw 4ft under the keel… and quickly motored away with me shouting “starboard.” Although we had a slip at Club de Pesca, the wind was high and we opted to anchor and try in the morning. We arrived, ate and went to bed.
Sleep was SO good!!
Today we messaged for help as we knew it would be a tight squeeze and Robe came out with his tender. Unfortunately, with an enclosed pilothouse, Brian cannot hear the shouts of Spanish, and I could not understand. After we burst a fender, I asked Brian to reverse and talk to the workers who were hollering instructions I did not understand. Once we knew what we had to do, the process went smooth and although tight, we managed to get into dock 123. Once in, and caffeinated, Brian dove the rudder again to see if it would give a clue to the noise, we then bleed the lines and tightened the stern gland. Tomorrow we have a guy coming to the boat to help us.
Afterwords, we both had a long shower and washed our hair at the marina… such a highlight. We hadn’t taken an unlimited water shower since Trinidad, over a month ago… the little luxuries!!
After getting the electric hooked up, we turned on the A/C and went for a walk in the old city, having a nice dinner at Mar Y Zielo.Baca lagi
Goodbye Curaçao
11 Februari ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
It has been a jam packed time in Curacao…. And I’ve enjoyed every moment!
Christel gave us her car, and much was amazing!! Although I used it to get to and from the Studio (Movements Yoga and Pilates: https://www.movementscuracao.com/). I went to Christel’s Power Yoga class on a Sunday and taught the following Sunday. I taught two classes on Monday (Feb 2nd and 9th), a Yin in the morning and Flow in the evening, was a second set of hands for Christel’s waitlisted Yin and Sound on Wednesday night (which is how we started 3 years ago), I helped with an influencer event on Friday night and had a meeting with Edward and Kim (Kura Botanica and Spa 8) about running a retreat in October. Sadly I didn’t attend any classes (but also taught my regular Wednesday and Friday morning classes for RWW).
With Brian, we went snorkelling to Tug Boat Beach and to Mambo a couple times. We also drove to Piscetera (but didn’t swim), and swam also on the last day at playa Caracasbai, with Joeny, Wouter and Christel. We swam often around the boat, however, the current was really strong!
Friends came to visit the boat: Diana and her two daughters, Ingeborg, Michelle (Christel’s mom), and Wouter, Joeny, Christel (and their friend Dave). As that crew was leaving (they swam/ SUP to the boat), Coast Guard decided to board us (but Brian was taking Wouter back to land as he was starting an on call shift. We had the papers they asked for, although it was blowing hard that day and I was upset that their boat may have scratched Lorena.
One of our days was spent trying to get our yellow fever vaccination, make sure we had the “card” and see if mine could be updated (as I had the card but it says in expires after 10 years, but Doctors now say it is lifetime). Luckily we ended up at Dr Allard office. I knew both his (Chris) siblings (Harry, whose house I stayed at when Christel was pregnant, and Eline who helped us build the website for Movements). It took the whole day, but we were grateful to get it done…. Although we are no longer in need of it, as Santa Marta (our original plan for Columbia) is now off the table due to weather and we are heading to Cartagena.
I got to show Brian the two yoga studios, Peitermaii and Otrobanda, and both bridges. We actually got to see the Queen Emma Bridge opening.
We went to La Reina and the Nut Boise for gluten free treats. We went to 4 different grocery stores while on the island and of course Budget Marine (and Freedom Marine).
The last day, our outboard stopped working so we took it to Yan Tuk and not only did he get it to start spitting water again (the thermometer was gone), he taught us how to do it and how to change the impeller! He was very very kind and we were grateful… although we still ended up rowing back as something else seems to have gone wrong.
We went for dinner with some other sailors (Burger Haus), went to Disboer with Christel and gang, and Nut house with just Brian and Hofi Cas Cora for bunch and a tour of the farm. We also had a meal (wraps) at Christel’s house… and swam in the pool with Joeny who is so adventurous and growing.
We climbed seru kabritu… a had a great hike with Michelle. We also explored the fort on a different day.
I enjoyed watching Brian with Joeny… he will have fun as a grandpa someday.
We stayed the entire time in Spaanse Waters and Brian seemed content there. The wind was wicked for a few days, but there was no swell and good sleeps! There was also always LOTS of activity happening: racing, wind surfing and wind foil, tour boats and more. Anglo, from the Mermaid, took us to our boat the night it died (we rowed the whole way next night). He came on board for awhile and he also lives on the boat.
Brian thought Curacao was like Southern California and loved the climate, and the bay. I was worried he wouldn’t like it… but it was magical for him too!Baca lagi
Klein Curaçao 🇨🇼
29 Januari, Curacao ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
We arrived at dusk, had supper and went to SLEEP! So grateful for a safe, and relatively quiet passage. We had a few rigging things to adjust and fix (our errors), but otherwise, we rested!
We were concerned that we may have dropped anchor too close to the tour boats (9 in total showed up), but they all maneuvered around us. We set to shore, and enjoyed walking around the island, seeing the lighthouse (1850) which we observed sailing towards the island and actively flashing through the night.
As we swam to shore, we noticed that an anchor was tangled in containers/mooring, so Brian set about finding the owner. We chatted for a few minutes to owners/ captain of Aqua Azul business and adult son Jacob…. Who had placed the anchor on purpose.
With all the people and the boats I expected an increased noise level, but it was just a humm on the boat, and enjoyable to people watch after we swam back. We also worked on getting all our charts in order, syncing with the chart plotter and updating active captain and Navionics app. This met Brian had to reach out to his ex-wife for the Apple password in order to do a much overdue update. She graciously obliged and I don’t think we will have any glitches with Active Captain again…. and we now have charts on Navionics and the Chartplotter for the rest of our journey through South and Central America.
At 4pm the last boat left and all was quiet again. The anchorage was a bit more rolly in the evening…. But we were still grateful to sleep in bed! 🛌 Only some music and a dog wandering (must be the caretakers) were signs that someone was still on little Curacao!
After two nights, before the Mermaid and other tour boats arrived, we hoisted the anchor and headed to Spaanse Waters, dropped the dinghy and headed for Customs & Immigration (after I filled out Sail Clear and our Digital Immigration cards online).
Christel is in Miami and returning to Curacao on Friday… and we will use her car, and then figure out our time on the island. It feels so strange to be here on Lorena, to share this Alice of heaven with Brian (and hope he loves it as much as I do)! My 4th time here since 2023.Baca lagi
Double handed passage
27 Januari, Caribbean Sea ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
Day 1 (Jan24) - beam reach, great speed (8-9knots). Wind speed not working well. At dusk we lost the outhaul and turned engine on… spent over an hour trying to fix it as the sun was going down, and was able to fetch it out of the boom using a snake and then using stainless steal wire, get it up through the pulley and attached back on the main sail clue.
We decide to just deploy the geneoa as it was a broad reach with not a lot of wind. By 8:30pm, we had to turn the engine on again as we were back winding.
We usually use active captian…. And Brian turned it on, but the main screen started flickering and I think he finally believes me that it is causing problems with the Gramin….so he turned off the iPad, and we will sail/ motor through the night.
Day 2 (Jan 25) - We had a great day of sailing (although motored last night and will motor through the night tonight. Lorena has difficulty on a downwind run and the autopilot doesn’t work well. We only encountered one vessel, a passenger ship, that came within half a mile of us… we hailed them on the radio a few times but they didn’t answer so we adjusted our course untill they passed. All systems are working well!
Day 3 (Jan 26).. the morning started with making coffee while Brian was in the head. Suddenly I heard a ratcheting sound, and within moments realized “fish on,” I quickly stored the coffee (things spill easy when you are sailing), raced up to the deck … but just as I was getting to the reel, and tried to tighten the drag, all the line was out and it snapped off. Brian, who LOVES catching a fish 🎣, had tried to make quick business of his morning ritual and was sad to learn that no fish and the line and lure were gone…. As was the lure on the second fishing line. The poles go out at dawn and come in at dusk. He spent the morning repacking the spool/ reel.
With the wind behind us, the lines were getting tangled often, and at one point, when Brian was trying to clear them, they got tangled in the wind turbine. It has now stopped turning.
At dusk, we decided to drop the sails and point in the direction we wanted to go verses jibbing the entire time. We have been consistently moving at a good speed (6-8knots) — rigging and bottom paint has helped.
Day 4 (Jan 27) — final stretch! My calculation is that we will arrive before dusk, which is a big relief! Usually we both sleep in the helm and watch the iPad (active captain) every hour or so. However, my shoulder and neck has been really sore. I’ve had to take pain relievers but so far nothing has dulled the ache.
Brian is able to sleep in most conditions… however, my body takes a few days to find the rhythm. My nervous system is hyper vigilant and simply won’t allow me to find a restful state, resisting my bodies plea for sleep. I also have an aversion to the auto pilot squeak/moan. It reminds me of the noise of monitors in a hospital room. It is mounted right behind the aft cabin wall, so unless the engine is on, or my ear buds in and music is full blast, I cannot lay in my bed.
Around noon, as we were drawing close to Bonaire and other Venezuelan islands, I noticed that we didn’t have the full detail in the chart plotters map. When we zoomed in… same issue as Trinidad, although I KNOW we had purchased the map. We called Garmin and they were great! Explained how to download the bits of chart we needed. Thank goodness — as even with the charts (with inaccurate depth reading) anchoring was tricky! We tried to anchor, then moor, then back to anchoring again.
I knew the boats left Klein Curacao at 4pm…. So we slowed our approach (as I wanted to stay two nights — without checking in). The island (small reef) is uninhabited except for a caretaker. By 5:30pm we were settled at anchor and had dove in to ensure the anchor was set.
The water is blue /turquoise, full of fish, and a delight to swim in after a long passage!Baca lagi
Peakes (#2)
24 Januari, Caribbean Sea ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
Just more videos and photos….only 2 videos and 20 photos allowed per post.
Peakes Yacht Services (#1)
23 Januari, Trinidad dan Tobago ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
I no sooner got back to Trinidad and Lorena then I hoped into boat chores for a full two weeks!
Some days were easier than others, with a break at the “study hall” to work, read or write, while Brian drew. A chance to get away from the noise, the chemical smells and the heat of the yard.
We had a lot of work done in Lorena:
- mast taken down and new rigging, new mast head (for code zero), Genoa wire halyard, fixed furler on intermediate fore stay and painted parts of the mast.
- painted lower half starboard and polished the boat.
- bottom paint (using Carolina riper) in a burgundy color
- had stay sail re-sewn and taupe covers for the windlass and mast boat made.
- had a worker shine the portals
- We had the transom, tea seats, helm floor, helm table and drawers, crows nest, forward hatches and vents all stripped. We then put 2 coats of primer, sanded, 3 coats of gloss, sanded, and 3 more coats of gloss.
- we had teak gaskets made for the helm windows and epoxied them in. We also replaced pieces of teak veneer in the crew head and bunk (which we had to prime and gloss).
- cleaned, painted and lubricated the prop
- washed the dinghy, upholstery, and carpet.
Except for hiring a taxi for a few hours to take us to the Macqueripe beach and the Bamboo Cathedral… we were in the Yard. I did escape for a grocery run each week, which was provided by the Peakes shuttle (Mr Errol). We went to Massey, Price Smart (like Costco), Westbees, and Blooms (frozen high quality meat).
We also frequently went to Patches, the restaurant in the yard, and had a mango (Brian’s) and passion fruit (mine) smoothies. Our server was Natisha a sweet lady with a big heart!
Tim & Babs, who we visited in the Chesapeake last year were at Peakes, and so was Jim and Arden. We went to the Wheelhouse with them once (and on our own another time).
I felt sick one day (after returning from grocery shopping) and the smell of bottom paint and varnish was too much… so I took a room for a night. The a/c was nice and I taught yoga the next morning and Friday morning as well. I continued to teach RWW classes on the boat too.
The best part of staying at Peakes was the great bathroom and shower facilities all over the yard. I truly enjoyed LOTS of hot showers in an air conditioned bathroom. We also had to pee in a bottle at night (on the boat, on land)…. So the gallon vinegar bottle got trekked to the toilet each morning.
We splashed on Wednesday, Jan 21…. And I got to drive the boat to the well. Brian posted a video of it on FB, but I felt bad as the guy could lose his job for doing such a thing. It was FUN though!! As soon as the boat went into the water, we hoped aboard to make sure it was ok…. I was particularly worried about a through hull fitting that we (I) had epoxied and put back it. Sure enough, it was leaking worse than before. We had to get hauled back out and with a wonderful crew (Shiva … who does glass work) got the problem fixed (we tore out the thru hull and replaced it with a valve), and we’re back in the water within 90minutes.
We got the premium dock, the facedock, which was awesome, as the rest were med mooring.
The riggers came back to the boat to finish up and of course we still had lots of varnishing left.
On Friday afternoon we checked out of Trinidad, took one last shower, said goodbye to Danielle, Purusha and Christopher in the office and planned to leave early Saturday morning (Jan 24th) and head to Curacao.Baca lagi
Barbados
10 Januari, Barbados ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
I was in Barbados from January 7-10th to visit a friend, Kim, who lives part time in Barbados and the other in BC. She lives on a farm and is currently building her home in Saint Lucy.
Tristen took me to the airport (taxi) at 10am, after I taught an early morning RWW class. My flight left at 1:30… Ricky picked me up at 2:30 as he was closer and didn’t have time to pick Kim up and get back. He had brought Bond (Kim’s favorite Bull) to the abatoir.
It was a nice drive, an hour, back to Plan B. I got the tour and the grand vision of the home and farm (a lot of work so far, and still much more to go). We walked out to the tree and the swing to watch the sunset, and got the tent set up on the second story. So much fun to just hang out with a friend.
On Thursday we went to the beach and Speighttown, We feed the sheep babies (Sunshine and Lollipop), and Kim feed the chickens. Then we took a drive down the west coast stoping at a beach to swim and take a long walk, then another beach for a ginger beer and swing.
I slept so well while I was there, barely waking up to even go pee— very restful.
On Friday we went to Cluffs (a local beach) that is hard to find and beautiful! I did some yoga on the cliff top and down at the beach. Ricky cleared the walking path for us, and had cut some hay that he was pilling into the trailer. We then went to a beach and restaurant called Larry Rogers in Mullins Bay. Right left to finish feeding the animals and we attempted to catch a bus to Spiegttown, but ended up walking. We hung out at Little Bristol’s and met many of Kim’s book club friends. Ricky picked us up.
Saturday we went for a long walk past the animal flower caves and to an old deserted hotel, and beyond. It was a great 7 hike, and my day started with warm Brownies and coffee for breakfast!! Mmmm
Kim, Ricky and I drove the east coast (Atlantic side) down to the airport… making a few stops along the way. The line up at the airport (for security) was horrendous. They waited for me untill I was through the security doors. We arrived two hours before and I basically had time to walk to my gate and board the plane back to Trinidad.
I had no problem getting back into the country as I had a letter from Peakes stating I was crew on a vessel in the yard.
Errol, the Peakes driver was picking up another person at 8pm…. We didn’t get back to the yard till 9:30ish. Brian was going to make supper, but I didn’t want to eat much that late… so we ate light and went to sleep!Baca lagi
Trinidad
7 Januari, Grenada ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Turns out Flamingo Bay is private and during a morning swim with the fish, Dwight came by in his dingy and told us to move to Dragon Bay and come to the underwater sculpture gardens. He indicated that he would be there to help us grab the mooring, but he was not. We ended up grabbing a dicey mooring where the line was fraying and decided to go for another snorkel…. We went out around the point and into the next Bay… where lots of boats moored to take advantage of the sculpture gardens. My favorites were the mermaid, person in prayer, turtle and dancer. We had been in the water for the better part of 2 hours when we decided to head back. At the point the current became fierce…. Brian, also struggling, suggested we swim out and then back in. We tried for awhile but for every 10 strokes we only moved a foot (like being in a lap pool). Finally, fatigued, I stopped and started to flag down a boat (a family we had briefly chatted with earlier … 8 year old son named Crew and his parents). They eventually realized that I was asking for help and came over with the dinghy. I climbed in and then they fetched Brian who was still unsuccessful trying to make some distance. They took us back to Lorena and we chatted for a little while (Dwight also visiting for payment).
We did some light boat chores, and then smoke started to roll in from the dump, so we moved to St George’s to grill the steak and get some sleep…. Brian ready to sail and me holding back to sleep. During the day we got the news that the USA bombed Venezuela — the American and the Canadian had very different views on what this meant for our safety.
At 11:30pm after messaging surveyors for insurance, and trying to figure out the Trinidad immigration requirements… we left Grenada. It was a beautiful sail during the night and Brian slept most of the time while I was in watch, starting to nod off around 6am.
I went below after breakfast to get some sleep in the forward crew bunk (as the noise from auto pilot in our aft room is so loud). Unbennounced to me, Brian had landed a tuna and when I got up he was just finished filleting it. I took over and prepped it for freezing.
We filled out the float plan and health clearance and sent it to all 5 people on Saturday evening… on Sunday we started calling to find out next steps. Jesse James finally indicated that we could not clear customs untill we had health clearance which the marina would have to do… so we needed to run the Q flag untill the morning. With that info, plus the fact that out Garmin Chart-plotter maps were good for Tobago, but not Trinidad…. Lead us to Scotland Bay. We arrived around 2:30pm and anchored. We went for a swim in the murky waters (although saw lots of fish), and tried to relax. Unfortunately the party noise got incredibly loud and Brian could not bear it. The bay was small and very deep and we were big (with three other boats in the area)…. We tried several times, into the dark of night to anchor but ended up back in the same spot. About 30 minutes later the noise died down.
The sleep was divine…. The first time since Saint Lucia that we were not rocking. The Bay reminded me a lot of Cape Brenton and it was a magical morning! As we left the Bay, moving 3nm to Chaguaramas, dolphins joined us, to my delight! 🐬
We got to the well to be hauled out and had to wait so thought about grabbing a mooring, but the boat around d us was empathetic that we were to close. We got to the well and were told to go to the office to get out haul-out card. We went to see Danielle and she realized that we were no checked in. There were not hoppy, but started the process — we needed health clearance before going to custom and immigration…90 min later we got it and we’re heading via dinghy to the office. Customs was fine, although so many paper forms to fill out. Immigration asked for papers we did not have, so we had to go all the way back to the boat and return. It was already past 11am (and they had another boat scheduled to splash). Finally we were cleared into the county and got hauled out at 12:30.
I had secured a room for two nights and the motel on premises and once the boat was on the blocks we inspected the damage we did hitting the rocks in Mystic. Nothing structural, but we will need a glass guy to fix it. That day and the next two days spend hiring contractors to do various things to Lorena: re-rig the boat (remove the mast), fix the code zero attachment, paint the bottom, repaint starboard side below the rub rail, remove varnish on the chairs, crows nest and helm floor, plumber for aft head, carpet for aft cabin, carpenter for teak in forward head and cabin…
On Wednesday I taught a class, packed and left for Barbados for 3 nights.Baca lagi
Happy New Years!
2 Januari, Saint Vincent dan Grenadines ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
It has been a few days of consistent sailing. We left the Pitons and Saint Lucia ad had a fantastic sail to Bequia, dropped the hook and settled in for New Years Eve.
The fireworks were at midnight, so we went to sleep and once the clatter started we arose and watched the spectacle. The next morning, after some reading and writting we set sail again, and the wind God’s were kind. We journeyed to Petit Saint Vincent and marvelled at the pristine beach on this exclusive private island. We, went for a swim in the turquoise waters and although not much marine life, the water was crystal clear!
This morning I taught a fitness class and after sweating profusely, I jumped into the water in my birthday suit.... Cooling down, before heading to the next destination. Today’s sail had more swell then wind and it met motoring for the majority of time.
We were going to anchor in Halifax Harbour, Grenada, but the smell of farbage was overwhelming.... So we decided to head to Dragon Bay and pick up a mooring ball. We took a few tries to grab it, but finally got secure, but not without my reading glasses flying off my head. We went for a swim, as it was 5pm, and lots of fish welcomed us in this Marine Preserve Bay. All the boats left the moorings, which made me suspicious... Turns out we are in Flamingo Bay, not on the charts (the bay before Dragon). This Bay is rolly as well. It woll be nice to have sleep in a calm anchorage or on the hard soon.
Tomorrow we will head to St Georges, only another 10miles... And at midnight we will set sail for Trinidad.Baca lagi
Good Bye Saint Lucia
31 Disember 2025, Caribbean Sea ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
So nice to finish the year 2025.... Waking up on the last day, at the base of the Pitons!
Sadly, we said goodbye to our friends, proud Canadians on Rhodopis, Mark and Kris on Dec 29th. We had a large check-list and recruitedthe help of Gaza and Anthony to finish the scraping and sanding of the toe rail. As our last meal in Rodney Bay, we went to the Spice of India... Always a hit (although it was Brians last meal with his ex-wife, Karen).
On Dec 30h we completed the chores, checked out of the country and Marina, moved the boat forward to lift the dinghy, took down the Christmas decorations and headed 20nm south to Soufrière. We read the No Forgien Land blog and sawthat many people us Jahleel to help find a mooring ball. There are security concerns and talk of boatboys hustling people, but we were greeted by a rainbow and had no problems. We got a mooring at the base of the Piton and went for a swim, and saw 100,000 or more small fish in the clear waters. The Marine Patrol came around 5pm to collect the park/ mooring fee (54ec).
The night was rolly and I was up at 3am, and noticed the moon setting, a spectacular sight! Once up, it was time to leave and continue towards Trinadad with our next stop being Bequia...Enroute, we caught a Mahi mahi... Which we enjoyed for Supper.
The anchorage in Bequia was very full, known for its NYE fireworks, so we stayed further out on the northeat side of the bay (Port Elizabeth), to the lee of the headland. As we arrived we saw a giant turtle swimming close to the boat, and decided to go swimming ourselves and make sure the anchor was set.
Sailors midnight is 9pm, and strangely I abide by that timeline, although on land I am usually awake untill midnight, on the boat I am nodding off early. The fireworks were set to ring in the new year, and I was set to nap untill 2026 was ushered in....Baca lagi
Saint Lucian Christmas
28 Disember 2025, Saint Lucia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
We left Dominica on Saturday, December 20th weren't sure if we would stop in St Pierre (Martinique) for a day or so as Brian has been reading alot about the origins of the Caribbean and it was prominent in the early days, known as “the Paris of the Caribbean,” until Mount Pelée erupted in 1902, killing all but 2 residents.
The winds were good for sailing from Portsmouth to Rousseau and then died off. Between Dominica and Martinique we hit a squall and we lost our GPS and autopilot forcing us to handsteer by compass. At that point, and knowing the sea state had higher swells then we suspected, I opted to continue to Saint Lucia. We would have gotten to Saint Pierre at dusk or dark and it was another 50nm to Saint Lucia so we pressed on, motoring, but then later in the evening put the main up again and had a great run untill close to Rodney Bay, when we were hit by another squall.
We anchored in the dark around 1:30am, wind blowing to 25knots, and went to bed. On Sunday we did lots of boat chores, went for a swim, lowered the dinghy and went in to the marina for dinner with friend, and fellow Canadians, Mark and Kris Richards.
They are farm owners from Drysden, Ontario and we met then in Antigua and spent lots of time with them in Saint Lucia last year. They are heading north and us South... So we are overlapping for a week during Christmas 🎄. The boat, now that we are in one spot, is decorated with lights up the mast in a triangle (tree), lights along the boom and in the helm, lite bulbs in the salon and forward head (bathroom), and a small Christmas Tree in the salon with a mermaid & crab decoration (from Oxford, MD) and the boat treetopper (Mystic, CT).... And my meditating Santa (Moncton).
On Monday we were supposed to have a reservation at the marina, but they were full and F2 wasnt available. At the end if the day (Mark and Kris had already gone in), we were given the option of G23 (smaller dock), or I dock (concrete with the super yachts). Brian wasnt happy with either, so we stayed in the harbour and swam, for that night. Mark and Kris send pictures of G dock and told Brian he could make it.... So he decided to try early in the morning.
Tuesday, with the help of lots of hands, and Mark pushing the bow with his dinghy, we got in by 9am... It wasnt pretty but we made it unscathed. We checked in, lowered the dinghy, and then I went with Kris to Ojas Spa for a pedicure and massage. Afterwards we walked to the grocery and Mark was supposed to pick us up in the dinghy, but it wouldnt start, so we had to walk back... Laddled with our groceries. Kris has a bad hip so I tried to carry most. Gaza saw us and came over, close to the Marina, and helped carry the rest of the way. I had seen him the day before. He had done varnishing work for us the year before and we had great conversations and stayed in touch via WhatsApp.
We have eaten out at Sea Salt (w Paul & Deb... Kris cousins), Razmataz (Christmas Eve), Ritual Sushi, Market Place Sushi (at Harbour Hotel and it was terrible), and La Mesa. Of course the ice cream shop was also frequented, and the grocery store (Masseys). On Christmas Day, we had a potluck with Kris, Mark and their friend Thomas Perkins who has a boat in Grenada called Halcyon. We had ham, scolloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole and salad. I also made brownies with walnuts and cranberries, and an appetizer - a combo of avaibale items in the fridge (base was cottage chesse, yogurt, oatmilk and spices), cranberry sauce in top and then roasted pecans. Fun evening!
Thomas was an interesting guy, a navy seal diver, a Bronze Star recipient (for removing mines underwater in Iraq, so that Aid boats could get in and rescuing people in a russian submarine). He has a daughter who is paraplegic and has a book coming out in March called “A Life Not Worth Living.”
On Christmas Eve we meant Clint and Dani... another interesting pair on a Gulf Star 80. Dani was in finance and corporate in Brazil (Chinese decent) and tossed it in to sail... She met Clint a year ago. He left the world of bike gangs, and owned one of the largest Harley Shops in Texas (and did custom choppers). By 38 he had the dream business, dream house, dream life but wasnt happy, so at his moms suggestion he put the business for sale at 3x its worth and there was a bidding war. He walk away and started a new life, crewing on boats and is now the captain on the Gulf Star after chartering and getting his license in Hawaii.
Brian and I havent left the compound much. In fact, Brian has only been outside the gates via taxi when we all went to a resturant. We did take the dingy to Pidgeon Beach and along that left side of the Bay on Christmas Eve, we also went to the right side to take a nice long walk on the beach two days ago, via the dinghy. We met a man name Phillipe (s/v Better Times) on a Trimaran.... He was from Luxembourg and had lived in the Bay for 4 years. He has a dog (french bulldog) who LOVED the water and would find big waves coming to shore and “fly” over them... Jumping high with her paw stretched in either direction, a joy to watch.
The rest of the time here at IGY Rodney Bay Marina was long conversations with family and friends and boat work: replaced the gypsy, tightened the stern gland, scraped, sanded and spot primed the port and starboard toe rail and pilothouse, then light sanded (220) those ENTIRE areas and put two coats of gloss on them. We are now working on the rub rails and have finished scrapping, sanding and priming the starboard side.... Today the port and then some sanding and gloss for both. Trying to get it all done before we leave for Bequia (Saint Vincent & Grenadines) tomorrow.Baca lagi
Dominica
20 Disember 2025, Dominika ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We toyed with the idea of stopping in Grand Burg, Marie Gallant, but decided against it and left Monday morning. We had great wind and a quick 20nn sail to Portsmouth, Dominica. It was a beautiful day and an easy sail….unlike the squalls we are currently facing as we cross from Dominica to Martinique… as I write.
We were meant by Nigel (a.k.a Action Pack) who guided us to a mooring ball. Once we got settled, sails put away and Sail Clear completed, he came back and took us to town. There is a group called PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security) which Nigels is with…. We were in their mooring and had them do our check-in, dropping off our passports. We could pick up the clearence at noon on Tuesday. The 5 days of mooring, plus the check-in & out, was 265ec ($98 USD).... A good deal! We walkd through the town and back to the boat, arriving just as “Action Pack” was leaving for the day, so he took us back to the boat.... For super, Christmas shopping online, and sleep.
I rented an Airbnb.... A treehouse in the rain forest, https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/4332955?viralityEnt…, for three nights. On Tuesday, we had our coffee, read, wrote, had breakfast and then packed our stuff and headed to PAYS to pick up our clearence (Felica was the girl at the desk and she stated that her brother & cousin had been shot and killed on the weekend 😞). Our car was waiting, and Davo, the owner of the small company, drove us to the Hideway at Tibay Heights. He and Crispin (& Jenn -- Airbnb owners) are bothers and he built the cottages.
We arrived early and were so relaxed, we decided to just stay.... Read, write, Brian played guitar (Christmas tunes) and relax to the sounds of birds and rain. We took a short and scary trip into Picard to the grocery store (as that is usually our favorite outing). The road to the Hideway was dirt, uneven, washed out, steep and about 1.5 miles long. The driving is also left hand side. We bought some yogurt and fruit and I wanted to make our way back before dark.
On Wednesday I taught a class and it went well (I was worried about the bad wifi signal).... And then we relaxed all morning, engaging with nature as the birds were always in the same space with us. Unfortunately, the bats were too at night.
We went to Syndicate Falls.... And as we were going down the long awful road, a heavy lorrie was coming up.... I needed to back up the narrow hill (with drop offs)... Intimidating! The road to the Falls was the same... Steep, narrow and only built for one way (so you backed up or pulled over when you met another car). At the top was the Zen Cafe...lol... I wasnt feeling to zen.
A quick hike to the Falls and we decided to take the plunge. There were kids from Germany on a classroom at sea (Thor Heyerdahl boat), who took some pictures for us. We wanted to do the nature trail, but it was another 20 min... UP, and it was getting late. I was fed up with driving so Brian took over and we headed to Portsmouth beach for a long walk and another swim before heading back to the cottage.
We toyed with the idea of climbing a mountain or boiling lake on Thursday.... However it rained hard throughthe night and much of the day. I was grateful as hemmroids were afflicting me (TMI 😏) pretty seriously! We lounged all day (except a trip to the pharmacy), and then went to the Steakhouse for super and had ribeye. It was good and the sunset was beautiful. Back to the cottage for the final night! Brian was doing great -- I thought he would want to check on Lorena, especially given all the rain we had, but he declined.
The cottage is two story, above the tree tops and open air. Its like you are witnessing nature from the inside verses an outsider looking in. The rain on the metal roof was melodic and the sound of the birds so peaceful!
Friday I taught a plank class, but it didnt go well as the connection was bad. Then we made lunch (as Jenn gave us a late checkout), had a tour of the other cottage (we stayed at FouFou, and the other is called Máde). Since Davo was on the land working on cottage #3, Jenn drive us back to the boat.
I think Lorena was in better shape then both of us expected, dry and Rod (the lithium problem child battery) was at 64%. We had turned off one of the fridgesbefore leaving --- but I forgot to empy the tiny freezer that had broccoli in it, which now smell peutrid!
After washing the fridge and putting away our belongings, we decided to go for a swim.... Over to the Canadian boat, Danu II, that had come in. We donned out “teletubby” snorkel gear and got some excersize. We were met by Zach, Jayda and 7 month old Owen (Emberson) who lived aboard and were from Barry, Ontario. We showered and reposed before supper, and were greeted by a “hello” from the Canadians who we invited aboard for a few hours.
A late super, some dancing and then to sleep for aday of travel... Unsure whether we will stop in Martinique or go all the way to Saint Lucia.Baca lagi
Marie Gallant
14 Disember 2025, Guadeloupe ⋅ 🌬 28 °C
Well we have been on Marie Gallant for four nights and have not gone ashore or seen anyone. Tomorrow we leave for Dominica and will get off the boat for a couple of days next week.
We arrived in Anse Canot on Wednesday and stayed untill after my fitness class on Friday morning. It was a beautiful anchorage, with about 10 other boats. However, we just admired it from Lorena, as we did t even drop the dinghy. It was rolly as all the anchorage in Guadeloupe have been so far.
On Friday we moved to a remote anchorage, near Pointe de Maréchal (between Saint Louis and Grand Burg). The sail over was only motoring as we dodged traps for 5nm… not fun! We were going to only stay for a day or two and then move to Grand Burg but decided against it.
Instead, we swam, wrote, read relaxed, sanded, and varnished. We also took the dinghy and walked on the beach & I put on the registration numbers and T/T Lorena on it. I also decided to try washing clothes by hand the way the Montreal sailors (Chris and Denis) had suggested. However, on opening I inhaled it and it burnt my nose and lungs and made me sick. We had to call poison control.... Who advised that if I started getting more symptoms (ammonia inhalation) to head back -- hmmm.... It would take us 2-3 weeks to sail back to the USA, I guess she didnt understand geography when we said we were in Guadeloupe.
Today was sluggish.... I wrote, read, finished Christmas shopping online for family, did some sanding and napped. We also went for aswim and made water-- it is so clear here!
Both yesterday and today, I got to go virtual shopping with Ashlynn and Robyn for wedding dresses. Although, In person would have been nice, this was also awesome!! 💕Baca lagi