We're BAAAAACK!!!!!

Sue Klumb (s/v Orion) came over today and figured out what I did wrong (see previous Blog entry below). So, hopefully that's behind me. By using a new iPad program, Blogsy, I hope to resurrect "The Adventures..." Plus, my mentor and nemesis, Rob Dehaan, sold s/v Arita, hasn't made a blog entry since December, and has been consumed and distracted by his new purchase and renovation of s/v Southern Comfort. Really his blog (to my knowledge he has not created a new one (Cruising on Southern Comfort ?) as yet: stay tuned as it will be a smashing one when he does.

A lot has transpired since last I wrote. We are still in Culebra, Puerto Rico and are still in the throws of olde, abused Volvo engines. A year ago we tried to head for the Classic Boat Race again in Antigua, but only made it to St. Thomas, USVI, 17 miles E as our port engine over-heated and cr..ped out. $2,000 Later we came back to Culebra, went to Fajardo on the mainland, returned half way and lost the port engine again. So, brilliant me decides to have it rebuilt; best place according to the worldwide web is in Maine, so off she goes. Turns out the head was warped again as were the cylinders: $12,000 to rebuild. Back to square two and find a used one on eBay for $4,500. Won the bid (I was the only bidder; should have told me something) and began the wait for the engine to start in CA. After 6 weeks we decided we'd been more than patient, cancelled the order, and decided to buy new Yanmar diesels with new sail drives. Ouch!!! Anyway given we plan to sail via Panama and Galapagos to Australia, having new, dependable, worry free engines makes the most sense: duh! Now we wait for the Miami dealer to deliver the engines to Puerta del Rey so we can haul-out and have them installed. While there, what the heck, let's paint the bottom, paint the top side, lengthen the sugar scoops on the stern, and do other various and sundry goodies.

Here we sit in paradise waiting, waiting... More next time.

at old ferry dock with engine on stern

Port engine out and on stern

 

We're Back and Playing Catch-up

Because I wrote the last few blogs in Word and copied them to the blogspot program, they all failed to print out: just the titles showed as you have seen.  Rather that going back and trying to reconstruct them, I'll summarize here.

We've been hanging aroung Culebra and Fajardo, PR dodging two TS, only one of which turned into a hurricane right over our hidyhole in the mangroves.  The winds at the top of the mast (67 feet up) got into the high 50s, but down where were never above 25 knots.  We were fine.  Dewey (a mile down wind/path) on the other hand got whacked.

Back in mid October we got a call from Jessica Fine - Ned (deceased) and Suzy (my sister) Von Geldern's daughter and step daughter, respectively - that Suzy was in Straub Hospital in Honolulu and not expected to recover.  She had redeveloped scoliosis from one of  two spinal fractures, a failed spinal surgery, partially repaired shoulder cuff surgery,extreme pain (neck, back and shoulder) resulting in alcohol and pain medication addiction, etc.  Her spirits were good, notwithstanding.  She realized her situation and decided that DNR was in her best interest.  We immediately booked tickets to Hawaii arriving Wednesday night, October 26.  We had a good visit.  Hospics was called in and Suzy was transferred to a facility in Kaneohe.  On November 9, with family at her side and under a hoku moon (Hawaiian full moon with a circle around it) Suzy left us for her soul mate, Ned.  Because the Death Certificate couldn't be produced for 10 days and because the Von Gelderns and Fines needed to return to the Mainland (business, family, etc. duties) we decided to have a memorial service at Suzy's request on January 14th.  So we returned to Orlando where we had already plannecd Thanksgiving. 
We checked with our friends Sue and Steve Pinhey, Loose Change, in Culebra to see if they would watch our boat which we had moored at SunBay Marina in Fajardo for $1/foot/day.  Steve offered to save us a round trip and move Kuhela for us plus keep an eye on her.  So, we hung out in Orlando nursing our dear friend Jackie Williams (1/6 of the SixPac: Jim and Jane Caltrider, the Arnolds and DuaneWilliams) who had broken her ankle.  We had Thanksgiving and Christmas with the whole family for the first tmes in a few years.  Linda's mom, Mildred "Millie" Welsh, had two strokes a week before Christmas, so with all that was going on, Linda was kept hopping. Millie in slowly recovering her speach and number comprehension: thankfully no paralysis.
Back to Hawaii on January 11 for the memorial service on the 14th with our daughters, one son-in-law (Mark), and five grandchildren.   Little did we know that the Sony Invitational (FKA Hawaiian Open) was on the same day a block down the road.  Kahala Beach Park is across the street from where Suzy, Johnny and I grew up.  Suzy wanted her ashes scattered off the park and beyond the reef.  Jessica made it all happen.  Family rode a sailing canoe out beyond the reef  on a mill pond calm sea where we dropped her li leaf urn over the side in 20 feet of water.  We were able to see her all the way to the bottom, it was that clean.  A honu (turtle) popped its head out of the sea just yards from us as if to say its goodbye, too. What a perfect time.  We then repaired to the Outrigger Club (guess who has a membership: ya Jessica) for a service with all of Suzy's friends and family.  After the service, three whales breached off shore to the delight oif everyone.  Usually whales are sighted between Maui and Lanai and not so much off Oahu.
By the time we god home, we'd been gone three months less a week.  Wow, way too long!  Now we sit and getting over miserable colds we picked up in the virus pool we'd been living in so long.  Cough, cough; runny, runny; itchy, itchy; pooped.
I've managed to reinstall the repaired watermaker so we are back up to half full.  The center console for the dingy is on hold for another part: motor conversion kit from Mi-jami.  I'm cleaning out the tool room, rearranging, putting away and cleaning.  We're both reconnecting with all of our cruising friends in the area.  For those who have sailed on, we'll see you later.

X-Tropical Storm Maria

It's 7 a.m. in the mangroves at Ensenada Honda, Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico with mostly  cloudy (high) skies and no wind: calm!  Maria really did fell apart from the wind sheer that started yesterday.  Last night was to be her debut, but she was, thankfully, wanting having changed her mind and turned farther N than predicted even as late as yesterday morning.  Today's prediction is for her to change her mind again, reform, and head out above the Bahamas and E of the U.S. coast as she grows in strength over the last week or two of her life.  But, fear not, another bunch of storms (so far) are right behind her headed this way (N of us?  S of us?  Who the H... knows?)  So here we sit with balmy skies and Trade Winds waiting for Tuesday and our next go around with presents from Africa.  I am living me dream!

Would you believe - yes, you would - the port engine is still on the fritz.  Mister "Muskles" managed to over tighten the hold down bolt on #3 injector stripping out the aluminum threads with the metal 10mm X 1.5 bolt: see, I am learning all about diesel mechanics, even metric stuffs.  So, I'll Helicoil (put in new 10mm X 1.5 threads) it and try again to seat the currently leaking injector.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to tap (cut in new threads) it to 11mm for a new bolt.

And, not to be out done, the water maker died.  Leaks not only water from the piston,  but also oil (from the gear box).  So, I'll now learn all about desalination.  You know, high pressure pumps, 12 volt electric motors to drive same, and osmotic membranes to filter sea water. Thank God I have the basic assembly knowledge and piping from the first one.   The one good thing is that I'll up fresh water production from 6 gallons per hour to 40 g.p.h.  Man, with production like that I can wash the boat with fresh water any time and sell the remainder to my fellow cruisers.  Nothing like a little side job for extra income.

I doubled (double up) all the lines into the mangroves so I could just pull them back on board with out having to climb back in again.  Smart!!  Not only did it make it easy to untie, but also doubled the strength holding us in.

Culebra Continued

The sun is out and we are making electricity!!!  30+ amps/hour, NET!  Zowie!

Cat 3 Irene is over Eleuthra and Rum Cay Bahamas with TS winds out 225 miles...look out FL as even a near miss is going to be WET if not windy.  Keep an eye on Wunderground.com's blog by Dr. Masters.  He seems to have one of the best handles on it.  Good luck and keep thinking NORTH today and tomorrow and then EAST for the weekend.

Culebra, Puerto Rico

When we saw that Tropical Depression Irene was headed our way, we decided to bug to Culebra. We were still on one engine as I was unable to get the injector tubes connected, even though Fernando: The Boat Doctor had put the "new" injector pump and left the hook-up for ich. Irene was supposedly headed below St. Croix to our SE, then NE from there to the western tip of Puerto Rico and on to the W towards Hispaniola. Culebra is ENE of Fajardo and seemed to be a good place to hide out. Well as you know, the predicted course was just an intelligent guess and the ichtbay did her own thing and turned north faster than expected. Once we saw that we headed for the mangroves where our friend Jim Alimi on Zoya catamaran guided us to a shallow, narrow arm where we nosed in to a stand of mangrove roots. One small, shallow-draft sloop, Meander, beat us in and another sloop and a "stink pot" trawler, Mombo. , followed behind. We pulled the anchor into the root system and tied on five more lines to the larger trunks. From the beams and stern cleats we tied four more lines to more mangrove trunks. After lashing the sail to the boom and adding two more lines to augment the mail sheet, I spread the jib lines out to the mid-beam cleats to prevent the jib from moving. All of this took about three mosquito-less, dry hours in cooling breezes…man, what unbelievable luck. The only hard part was pumping the heads with the sulfur laden mangrove water. On reflection and further discussions with Jim, we should have put our no less than double the amount of lines we did: minimum of 20. Thankfully it turned out OK with the highest wind gusts in the early hours of Monday, 8/22/11, at 44 kph 67 feet above us. Down where we were snuggled in I doubt it got above 25 kph: a great spot with a hill to the E of us. Heavy rain filled but didn't swamp our new dingy. Dewey on Culebra 1.5 miles W of us saw sustained 67 kph winds, lost power, telephones, and water all due to poor planning and engineering: typical Puerto Rican as I'm told. Even the Post Office closed down for two days. What happened to "Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night…"? We came out to the lake in front of our canal unscathed at 3 pm (high tide) on Monday and anchored in the higher, cooling breezes, but still sheltered from the E and S winds and waves. On Tuesday we moved one bay closer to the entrance of Bahia Ensenada and across from Dakity where we normally hook up to a mooring ball. Still a little breezy and rough from Irene's bands: she's over Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas now! Huge! Monster! Hope she doesn't pull any more pranks and turn W again and hit FL.

One of the things we got done in the mangroves was to hook up the pressure and return lines to the injectors on the port engine. Hallelujah the engine started. BUT, the injectors leak so we can only maintain about 1,500 rpms. BUT, again, we can maneuver!!! What a wonderful feeling to be back in almost complete control.

We'll hang here under cloudy , wet skies 'till Thursday to hopefully pick up our mail and packages. Then back to SunBay in Fajardo to have The Boat Doctor remedy the leaking injectors, Papo install an injector on the outboard, and have the old injector pump rebuilt for a spare. So, come one, come all starting next Monday when we'll be in San Juan for a pickup: we gots da space.

Fajardo and Salinas, Puerto Rico

Over the past month we have had both daughters (sans husbands, unfortunately),  four grand kids, and Kathy and Lee Maidenberg (dear friends from Clearwater, FL) stay with us.  Kathy and Lee had the pleasure of riding out tropical storm Emily at Yobos just E of Salinas.  Lee was most helpful helping me survey the nooks and crannies for a snug hiding spot in the mangroves. Thankfully we didn't have to "repair" to them and the skeeters as Emily never quite got up to speed as she passed to the S and W of us.  One early morning of high winds and torrential rains and she was gone over Hispaniola.  We made it to the bioluminescent bay at Las Carobas near Fajardo with Aimee and the g-children, and Mosquito Lagoon, Viequez with Marnie and the boys. Now that's a sight to be seen: light blue "fire" as you cut through the water with hand or paddle.  The boys had to try peeing, but without success as the dinoflagilates were under the surface a few inches.

Our port engine has been out the whole time.  We finally believe it is the injector pump that needs to be rebuilt.  I have been trying to get out, but have had to tap and spray (Blaster: it really works, but slowly) because of the corrosion caused by the raw water pump's (it's situated over the engine so when it failed several years ago, it sprayed the entire engine with sea water) failure.  Anyway I'm down to one more nut which should come off this morning.  Then I'll put in a pump I got with the purchase from the local Volvo dealer of another engine for its parts.  We HOPE this will do the trick.  The Boat Doctor, Fernando, has been immensely helpful through all of this.

So hear we sit at SunBay Marina monitoring the weather every morning watching the waves pour off Africa waiting for the engine to be fixed and debating whether nor not to flee back to Salinas and Yobos, a days sail (10 hours) S and W of Fajardo.  It rains on and off so we have the AC going at night in our cabin and endure the heat in the salon as we button up periodically.  Truly is isn't as big a deal as I make it sound.

Oh, let me bring you up to date on the dingy.  After a call to West Marine HQ in California I got not only satisfaction but a new, upgraded RIB 350 for a nominal price.  Yes, it comes with a five year warranty which should outlast the glue as, yes, it is still a Zodiac.  Much better boat which is a foot longer with a seat, oars and oarlocks, and a forward, built-in locker.  Only downside is the self-bailer which leaks like a sieve.  I'll call WM to see what their "fix" is.  I must say that when HQ learned what was going on, they stepped up and did the right thing without any hesitation.  Let's hear it for West Marine and Port Supply!

Fajardo, Puerto Rico

We got back to PR and Culebra June 10. Our tip to central Florida - we stayed with Jackie and Duane Williams - was successful: doctor appointments seemed to work for both of us; money was well spent at West Marine and Harbor Freight; the kids were all fine as were the g-kids and mother-in-law; the "Hood" was open-armed and gracious; and the weather was mostly good. As some like to say, "A good time was had by all." While we were lounging around, Jim Alimi, Zoya, was refinishing our interior saloon woodwork. He did such a great job we hired him to redo our saloon cushions, too. Wow, what a difference. You'll love the sight if you ever stop by.

After our return we waited a week trying to fix the dingy which has sprung the seams that glue the pontoons to the hard bottom. In other words the glue failed and it leaks water, not air, like a sieve. No amount of 5200 (sealant that dries in 24 hrs.) seems to do, so I found the 5-year guarantee (thank God!) and took the collapsed sinker in to the repair shop in Carolina (San Juan) in a rental pickup. Of course this necessitated sailing back to Fajardo on a lovely downhill run in squally weather, where we took up residence again in SunBay Marina. We were greeted as long lost family by Doña Olga, the owner and manager. What a place: single slip pricing (we usually have to pay 1.5X or 2X 'cause our 28' beam takes up more than a single slip), free water, free electricity, free Wi-Fi and Cable, and patrolling security: almost too good to be true.

Debbie and Rick Lehto, Miss Heidi, came back with us, but are staying at Puerto del Ray Marina S of us by a few miles: much more expensive and far less friendly and secure. They are having warranty work done, too, on their transmission. Seems when the new one was put in no one looked – and who would – to see that the drain plug was put in correctly. We've also made a few runs to dinner, Wal-Mart and COSTCO together since.

We have been thru three tropical waves (basically windy rain storms lasting less than 24 hours) to date and have not made up our minds what we'll do for the rest of the season: stay put in PR; sail around PR, SVI, USVI, and BVI; or head back S slowly towards Grenada. We want to be close to Salinas in case we have to duck into the mangroves at Lobos 'cause of a hurricane alert. I think we can make it back in plenty of time from the Leewards or Windwards which are basically "full" and no good places to hide left. Linda feels they're too far off. We both agree that the PR, SVI, USVI, BVI sail plan is doable. We'll keep talking.

While waiting for Zodiac to make up their minds – fix or replace, and we're sure it'll be fix and a 1 year warranty – we've been doing projects. We installed a HDTV, Dri-Decked the cockpit in Kuhela green, set up a wireless network with a 1 terabyte (remember 16 byte computers from Texas Instruments?) wireless hard drive, put in a security camera, ordered more paintballs and cayenne pepper balls with 200 round hopper for my long barrel paintball pistol, ordered an ozone generator, and cleaned, straightened, cleaned, straightened, cleaned...

At Sea: May 4, 2011

It has been a very long time since I last wrote…I have been bowled over by Lauren and Rob Dehaan's aritacruising.blogspot.com. I have been so out classed by them that I got into a blog funk. But, I realized that there a few people that simply want to know where Linda and I are, so, here goes again. BUT, PLEASE do go to Rob's BLOG for details missed here and Lauren's PICTURES! He and she have the gift…fabulous!!

Since last I wrote back in P.R., we buddied up with Debbie and Rick Lehto of Miss Heidi and set sail for parts unknown to us, but not to them. Via St. Thomas and the northern BVI to gain an edge on the mostly easterly wind, we headed SE to Majors Bay, St. Kitts. This was a long and arduous over-night trip where we couldn't keep our course because the wind veered a little SSE forcing our course further S. We crossed the Saba Bank – a shallow area which pushes up the wave heights – at night in 5-6' choppy seas ending up 38 nm S of our target anchorage. The book said we should make the first tack the longest, but not how to compute the next tack. Anyway we motored into the wind the final leg to Majors Bay where we met up with Miss Heidi and spent the night. Next morning we sailed windward of Nevis and Montserrat down to Deshaies, Guadeloupe. Montserrat is stunning with its perpetual steam vents and mud flows that buried an entire town. In Deshaies we rented a very expensive car and went S to Basse Terre where we had a very French lunch overlooking The Saintes. On March 23 we checked in to Antigua at English Harbour to await the arrival of the Vaughn family (Marnie & Mark and our grandkids, Kyler, Dalton, and Parke)r. We had a fun time with them for 9 days of fishing, snorkeling, sailing and their favorite, swimming with the stingrays. We stayed for the Classic Race week after they left and then the following week's just plain old races, "come one come all". We also had the boat hauled at North Sound Marina for a bottom job and work on the port rudder which had developed a wobble: seems the key had either slipped out or had not been replaced when we had work done on it in P.R. We also took a side trip N to Barbuda, a flat and uninteresting place famous for its frigate rookery: woo, woo!

Today we are headed back to Culebra completing a wobbly circle. We have just passed windward of steaming Montserrat and Redonda. I can see Nevis with St. Kitts behind. Once again we are heading for Majors Bay for sundowners (G&T for Linda; R&T for me), dinner and some sleep. From there it is a 165.6 nm shot past Saba (missing the bank this time) to Dakity, Culebra, Puerto Rico. At 5 knots we should get there in 30+ hours.

We are planning a trip back to the good olde U.S. of A. on the 16^th so we can share a car to the aeropuerto with Debbie and Rick. We could be in Orlando for up to 2 months if Linda has her knee worked on. It's been giving her trouble for a couple of years and has now progressed to the "maybe it's time" stage. Only the doctor (and Blue Cross) can tell. We'll be staying with our dear friends Jackie and Duane Williams who have offered to nurse Linda if need be. We'll activate our phone again: (772) 559-9375.

Waiting…again…

We're still in Dakity, Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands E of Puerto Rico. This anchorage is nearly perfect with its barrier reef, clear blue waters, and hilly, green backdrop. We'll be here probably another week even though we have (or will as it got sent Thursday) get our mail from the Caltriders in Florida. We've been doing maintenance and projects when we're not reading, socializing, or playing Spider solitaire on the computer: yah, loads of fun. The winter weather (winds) have started. They're off and on 25+ knots mostly from the E and NE. Makes for great sleeping (mid-70's). The sun still shines and there is little rain which makes it more than bearable given the North American alternative. We heard the groundhog came out and thumbed his nosed at Al Gore. Given our nightly display with Jupiter at our stern, Venus at our bow, the Milky Way, and thousands of stars to include around dawn the Southern Cross, we truly don't have it so bad.

Our friends on Arita, Aussie Rob and Jacksonville Lauren Dehaan, are having a ball according to their blog, aritacruising.blogspot.com, which you shouldn't miss. You'll see why when you get there. They are headed down Islands ahead of us and we hope to catch up before we get to Granada or Tobago. I don't think we'll sail all the way to Trinidad for the Carnival in March, rather take a ferry. We hear that the oil rigs around the Gulf of Paria near Port of Spain are rife with fishermen/pirates waiting to pounce of us cruisers. It's just too close to Venezuela and senior chavez (yes, lowercase, ze leet'l plik) to take any chances, especially after talking with a couple who were boarded, terrorized and burgled a month or so ago. A terrible, terrible experience which they thankfully lived through is spite of the pirates' plan to torch the boat. Poverty sure is a bitch.

We're off to COSTCO, West Marine, Wally World, Homo Depot (yah, we saw tee shirt in Key West at Fantasy Fest), etc. on Monday with Zoya, Albanian Jim and Chicago Debbie Alimi, to provision. This entails taking the 6:30 ferry to Fajardo, renting a $25 car (with $25 for insurance from our AmEx card), driving 75 miles, and taking the 5:00 p.m. ferry back to Culebra. It is mitigated by being able to BUY, BUY, BUY!! all of our favorite things, plus the essentials.

Behold and lo, Thursday's Priority Mail arrived before noon, and fortunately West Marine dropped one of the orders, the in-line fuel (gas) filter for the outboard. Oh, well, Monday for that is probably better as there are two necessary fittings not included in the package. I did install the new Hellamarine port light (red). Unfortunately, it was just ever so slightly smaller than the original. Otherwise, I could have just put the new lens cover on and been done with it. The dingy navigation lights (bow: red and green; stern: white) did arrive and now work perfectly. I even put dielectric grease on the AAA battery ends hoping that it will protect the circuits/workings from the leaking batteries that destroyed the previous light set we had.

Awaiting our Next Jump-off

Since I last wrote we have been sailing with our dear friends (and hopefully someday co-owning live-boards) Betty and Byrle Raper to St. Thomas, St. Croix, Vieques, and back to Fajardo and SunBay Marina.  St. Croix was the most fun.  We sailed down on a beam reach (wind blowing on our Port (left side looking forward) with winds gusting to 26 kph and seas 3-5’…”we be smoking!”... averaging over 8 knots the whole way.  The weather helm (tendency for the sails to turn us into the wind) was strong so we put in a reef (made the sail shorter) and still flew.

Sea plane

Cops at Frederiksted parade

Christiansted was lovely and we went into a marina, (Jones Maritime for $55/night) just across from the seaplane commuter terminal.  There are multiple flights daily between Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie, St. John.  We rented a car and toured the island absorbing its Danish heritage.  We went to the Estate Whim Plantation (museum) and were regaled as to the sugar/rum history of the island.  We visited the Cruzan Rum distillery and found some Danes we had befriended on the way to the car rental agency on Centerline Rd. who told us to forget the tour and just see if we could have a rum drink instead.  Low and behold, for a dollar less ($4) we could drink all day sampling their various rums: banana, pineapple, cream, amngo black cherry, etc., a great deal without the walk. 

Christiansted Marina from fort

Christiansted Government

 Frederiksted was holding the last of the Christmas parades consisting of two flatbed 16-wheelers decked out in huge boom-boxes and dancing people plus crowds of marchers also dancing fore and aft of each truck.  We stayed as long as possible (about 45 minutes) and had to turn the car back in. 

St. Croix rain forest

Los Palominos

From there we motor/sailed to Puerto Ferro, Vieques in calm seas with light winds.  This “luminescent” bay turned out to be a bust even on a night with no moon.  Very few luminescent critters even in the toilets (we flush with salt water): quite disappointing for all of us.  From there we sailed back to Fajardo and took the Rapers back to the aero Puerto via El Junque, the PR rainforest.

Los Palominitos

From there we took Kūhela back to Salinas on the south coast to rent a car to go back to the aero Puerto to pick up Steve Pinhey who had taken us there when we returned to Florida at Thanksgiving.  On the way to pick him up we stopped not only at Fuddruckers and COSTCO, but also at the Arecibo Observatory.  Wow, what an interesting place.  Their Visitors’ Center is a two story affair that is spell bindingly full of fascinating displays of the planets, solar system, galaxy and beyond.  Well worth the hike up from the parking lot to the rim of the huge sink hole they constructed it over.  It’s a definite “Don’t miss”.  I finally got Volvo aboard to fix the oil leak from the oil sensor when we got back to SunBay.  It took them 5 days to do a one day job, but at least they did it right.  Also had the zipper replaced on the sail cover as it had slipped a tooth and broken off trying to re-seat it.

Linda and Betty at Los Palominos

We are back in Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands waiting for the playoff football games this afternoon (nah, really the weather).  Our plan is to head for St. Maarten (the French side as they have their entry procedures down pat compared to the Dutch side) to catch up with Arita on her way down islands to carnival at Trinidad in the first week of March.  After that we will probably come back up the islands to Antigua for Classic Race week where classic wooden sail boats congregate in April to race each other.

Merry Christmas

Richard & Shara \Waas at Crown Bay, St. Thomas, USVI

 Two days before Christmas and we haven’t even “Decked the Halls”.  It seems that cleaning and painting have overtaken Kuhela.  Boy does she look sharp!

Main (shopping) street, Charlotte Amalie

Last week we sailed over to St. Thomas to meet the Wasses from Miami on their cruise aboard the Allure of the Seas: 7,000 passenger ship.  We toured Charlotte Amalie together visiting shops; the second oldest sand floor synagogue - symbolic of the 40 years the Jews wondered in  the desert - in this hemisphere; and Wikked, a wings restaurant at Havensite Marina.

Oldest sand floor synagogue

Cruise ships (3) at Havensite, Charlotte Amalie off the back of Wikked

This dock and the one below are the same, just different directions

And where there were none a month ago, now 'tis the Season 

We’re still in Culebra at Ensenada Dakity attached to one of the mooring balls provided by the Puerto Rican government.  How nice to see where our tax money is going.  Speaking of that, Stimulus Funds of over $273,000 were used to renovate the lift bridge at Dewey even though there is a fixed 12” steel pipe protected by a steel superstructure in case hit gets hit at the lowest level of the bridge.  Result: even if the bridge is raised, the pipe still blocks the waterway 10 feet above the water.  Reminds me of the “bridges to nowhere” we’ve heard about recently.  Isn't our government wonderful?

Speaking of our government (yes, the lower case “g” is intended) we all need to read Glenn Beck’s book, Broke.  You can get it at your local bookstore.  What a great and frightening read!  We all need to be re-educated and informed as to what is happening (has happened) to our country AND what we all need to do about it.  He documents and footnotes all his observations in great detail.  Please do yourself a favor and get a copy.  You may think he’s purely an entertainer, BUT…  Believe me, you’ll thank me (and Glenn).

Let us take a moment to wish all our family, friends, and loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Profitable New Year.  Even though you are far away, you are always in our thoughts and hearts.

Sunset at Salinas barrier island, Los Rattones

We're Baaaack...

We returned to Salinas, PR a week ago from a wonderful 6 weeks in the good olde U. S. of A., central Florida to be exact, where we celebrated Linda’s Mom’s 86th B-day and Turkey Day with family and friends. By the way, car rentals are best for a month as the last two weeks are almost the same price as the month: stay one or two months, no fractions. Kūhela was in great shape thanks to Steve and Sue Pinhey on Loose Change, who not only looked after our home, but also had taken her into the mangroves when Tomas turned menacingly north towards Hispaniola and PR. Unfortunately because we weren’t moving except for the once over and back to Jobos’ mangroves which are moderately close, the barnacles and seaweed grew in horrendous profusion. The sound, like crinkling cellophane, of shrimp dining on our hulls was almost deafening as we tried to get to sleep the first night back. Even so, it took two days to get in the water, which was surprisingly warm, and start scraping with a putty knife and scrubbing with a brush. By the time, I got pooped, probably 2 hours, I’d managed to get about 70% of the starboard hull, step and rudder done. The rest was to wait ‘till the next day when I’d get 70% of the port hull done. Then the NEXT day, I planned to get out my “Hooka” (It’s a 125 psi oil-less electric air pump with 70’ hose attached to my SCUBA regulator) and do the remaining 30% of both hulls that was out of reach from the surface. What a delightful way to spend the next three days! Although it wasn’t planned, we figured our friend Steve could use some cash for his and Sue’s upcoming trip home, so I offered him the work. Thankfully he took me up on it and polished off the rest of the bottom in jig time. Thank you Steve! Now all I had to do were menial chores and make water which is only noisy.


The weather has been perfect the last week, but has turned cloudy with 70% chance of rain today. Eat your hearts out: the day temperatures have been in the mid-80’s, and the nights in the low-70’s; clear skys and lovely sunsets; gentle breezes; warm waters; you know, “I’m in Heaven…” I keep telling everyone, “Come on down!”

Tomorrow we drive Steve and Sue to San Juan and then stock up at Costco for our expected company: Betty and Byrle Raper and possibly Ron Hurtle and his gal Linda and Paula and John Godfrey from Titusville via Canada (they may join us for Christmas). Most everyone is expected on the 29th. By the 15th we will be in Charlotte Amalie, USVI to hopefully meet up with Shara and Richard Waas from Miami who are coming in on the cruise ship Allure, sister ship of the Oasis, one of the largest cruise ships in the world.

USVI



Looking E to USVI 1/2 way from Culebra



Looking W to Culebra





While Earl only gave Puerto Rico and us a slight shot, it whacked the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) much more severely. We saw way more a dozen sailboat wrecks on St. Thomas and St. John plus devastation to the reefs.

Along the shoreline we saw evidence – mainly brown bushes and shrubs – above the beach of the 12’ to– 18’ waves that swung in from the south ripping up the coral, flinging it onto the shore and discoloring the vegetation. Needless to say the snorkeling was lousy.





After a ride over to Cruz Bay, St. John and the National Park Headquarters for information, we motored into the 20 to 25 k wind past Caneel Bay, too rough; Hawlksnest Bay, too rough; Trunk Bay, too rough; and half way to Francis Bay, also too rough.



Charlotte Amalie



Charlotte Amalie



We turned tail and sailed back down wind past Great St. James Island, Jersey Bay, Packet Rock and Barrel of Beef into Charlotte Amalie Harbour where we anchored across from the cruise dock with just one (it can handle two) ship, Carnival Victory, tied along side. I have never seen so much shopping, both at Havensight (east of downtown) and Charlotte Amalie. Literally hundreds of jewelry, liquor, clothing, tourist junques, etc. stores are one right next to another with some stuffs all in the same store. How they survive I do not know, and everything is closed on the 3 or 4 non cruise ship days. It’s all very orderly and friendly with no shop owner hawking his wares from the front of the store.



Linda and Pinheys at 99 Steps





Linda below Blue Beard's Castle



 Police are everywhere you turn which seems to have tamped down their poor reputation for crime against tourists. However, the locals do tell you to be smart jus’ like seeing any large city.



Linda's new dress - Woooow!!!



We took the “Dolla’” cab/bus – a heavy truck pickup with rows of seats and a metal roof - to Red Hook on the southeast end of the island. By the way, cab/taxis are quite expensive and heavily and loudly solicited on every street, doorway, shady spot and corner. The ride turned out to be two dollars as the price and distance went up. Very cute place which was in the throes of a chicken wing cooking contest (feeding frenzy) for the benefit of a childrens’ home. We people-watched from a bar overlooking the parking lot where it was held. Boy, those Hooters girls sure are scrimply stacked. Seems there are to be elections shortly as a Democratic candidate for office was glad-handing crowd with his “I’m your best friend and will take care of you” smile.



Brewers Bay



 

We’ve anchored since yesterday in Brewer Bay, right next to the airport and runway, just west of Charlotte Amalie. It has a park and beach at its head and is very lovely with clear water and a sand bottom. You can always tell a good anchorage if we make water, and we are. The noise which one would think would be terrible is not at all. The planes come in mostly during the day (none after 9 p.m.) and with noise abatement are rather quiet. Don’t tell anyone (the cruising guide hasn’t figured it out either) ‘cause we’re the only ones anchored here very close to Charlotte Amalie. Monday we’ll head back to Culebra where I hope to find my meds at the post office General Delivery as the Rx company screwed up the last order and I’m about to run out.



Pirate ship motoring over to cruise ship dock



 

OK, it’s time for the Great Haircut Debate to begin. Does Harry’s crew cut win out for convenience (no combing in the a.m.; after a wind tousle; a hat muss; a swim; a rain; etc.) or lose to past beauty (no vanity/conceit intended)? Here are some pictures, I hope, to help you decide. Please comment on the blog and I’ll publish the results after a modicum of time, but not so quickly that it’ll gown out before October 22 if long hair wins.

 

 

Culebra Revisited






Salinas harbour and Marina





Rob and Lauren Dehaan of Arita



Steve and Sue Penhey of Lose Change

We’re baaack! Anchored (on a DRNA free mooring ball behind Rob's head) to the left of the entrance and behind the reef at Ensenada Honda. After our stay in Salinas with all its nutrients Kūhela developed a moss and barnacle skirt. I know, all boats do this, but Kūhela does it twice. So I mask, fin and rub from the surface as low as I can go. Then get out the SCUBA regulator and the oil-less air compressor with 70’ hose and do the bottom ⅔rds. Oh woe is me having to “cut the grass” every month or so, unlike Florida in the day when it was every 4 days in the summer. That’s the price we cruisers have to pay to stay afloat. Oh, hum.


I went into the local post office and retrieved my very late (lost) birthday card from my dear friends Peggy and Jack in Titusville. Seems a very green iguana holding a frozen margarita is asking, “Got lime?” Inside it says, “Celebrate like the cold-blooded party animal you are! Happy Birthday.” Cute, huh?!?! All the rest of the cards seem to have been returned or are still lost. No, I don’t get it either.

The weather has been wonderful this past week, so on top of relocating to Culebra via Vieques we are going to make a 12 nm passage to Charlotte Amalie, USVI and St. Thomas. We might take a peek at the BVI in spite of their cruising permit fee, too. I was sorry we couldn’t stay longer at Vieques – just one night - but Linda is still hurting from the accident and didn’t want to bounce around the island on a motor bike or golf cart just yet. We’ll go back later when she’s better healed.

Although I’ve heard about it I have never seen (been near) someone who came down with a recurring bout of malaria. Rob Dehaan of Arita got his in New Guinea years ago and it’s come back. Poor guy is down for the count with all the classic symptoms. Thank God he has his beautiful wife, Lauren, to nurse him back to health. Too bad she spells her name wrong. Should be like me, “Loren”.

Post Hurricane Earl - Salinas, PR

Well, we made it to the mangroves at Jobos in plenty of time: that is it wasn’t dark yet. Just inside the barrier islands and channel is a large 50+ acre lake with branches off it driving deeper into the mangroves where we’d normally hide. Listening to the National Weather Service we thought that Earl would keep heading NW of Puerto Rico and not be much of a threat to us on the S side of the island. We were right…winds never got to 40 kph even in the gusts, and we were able to stay in the lake away from the mangroves and their resident mosquitoes and no-see-ums and light airs. While we have “no-see-um screens” (very tight mesh screens), they also cut down the breeze that can pass thru so badly that we don’t like putting them up unless it’s absolutely necessary: hot, hot, and hotter! In the lake they, thankfully, weren’t necessary. At least twenty boats were snuggled down in the mangrove fingers with the skeeters and no-see-um. We went to bed with a stiff breeze and rain bands coming over every 20 or so minutes: no big deal, again very thankfully.


It seems at least that my children don’t understand about “the mangroves”. They lie behind barrier islands (Cayos de Barca) and inland another mile from the sea. They are trees with extensive root systems that thrive in salt water. Boats are able to get in-between the root systems (like into a cul de sac) and tie to them in multiple directions with multiple large lines. Add to this several anchors in the direction and counter direction (the winds switch as the ‘cane passes) of the winds and one is as snug as a bug can be it its rug. The trees block the wind and the roots not only break up the waves but also hold you gently – they are quite pliable - as you move (are pushed) up against them. Definitely better than a marina with all their risks: boats breaking lose; rigid dock lines over-riding the pilings; docks breaking up; etc.

Another question is what do we do when we need to evacuate from the boat to the nearest casino/hotel: hay, gotta go first class in these conditions ya know. Well we have our “Ditch Bag” with all our necessities: insurance and boat papers, cash, credit cards, passports, medicines, toiletries, etc. We dress as if we were going to make a run for it and make sure the dingy is ready to go. Then when we make the decision to evacuate to higher ground we step into the dingy with our bag and make a run for it to the nearest dingy dock and transportation further inland.

I forgot to mention our car accident: yes, Crash Arnold did it again. For those of you who do not know where this moniker came from, let me take you back to the 2004 and my Aunty Sally’s 90th birthday party in Honolulu. Seems I had a little too much to drink there and backing up was a challenge. At Coco Isle where were staying at my sister Suzy’s condo, I managed to back into the power distribution box for several of the condos across, thankfully, the street from my sister’s. Oh, did I mention it was Super Bowl Sunday morning and all the freezers, frigs, and TVs went out! I think you can guess how popular I was that day. So back to the present and we are headed to COSTCO and Homo Depot for some things. Three miles out of Fajardo I decided to change lanes around a PR driver (really, he was doing 30 mph in the 55mph SLOW lane).  I looked in the mirror and even turned my head (as Linda will testify) and missed seeing the car in my blind spot. Kias have a very, very tight turning radius and I managed to over steer when Linda yelled “Car, Car!!” As we spun to the right, we went into the concrete bridge barrier, bounced off and headed down the road backwards for maybe 20 feet. The air bags deployed (that’s for you, Jack) and Linda was sure she was in Heaven. She had the wind knocked out of her from the seat belt and the air bag and all she could see was white. In a moment she realized it was just the white air bag in her face surrounded by talcum powder. We both were bruised and Linda discovered a torn intercostal muscle or a broken rib three days later. She’s wearing a back brace that gives some support making the pain mostly bearable. Best part, it was a one car accident and no one was seriously hurt.

Gaston is looming E and S of us, but is having a hard time getting organized. Looks like it’ll just be a tropical storm when it passes S of Puerto Rico. But TS is just one mph below a class 1 hurricane so we’ll keep a wary eye on it over the next few days.

Happy Labor Day to all.

Hurricane Earl...Fiona (?)...etc.

Just a quick note to say we are heading for the hurricane holes 2nm East of Salinas on the South coast of Puerto Rico.  It just the smart thing to do.  We'll anchor behind one of the out islands to catch the breeze until it is more definate (like Monday) that we're going to get it.  We'll then take the high tide into the middle of the mangroves and hunker down.

Fajardo, Puerto Rico - II

Ensenada Honda, Culebra

Ensenada Honda, Culebra

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 Linda, Steve and Sue Phinney at Culebra

Dr. Job & Teresa Andujar with Linda
and Consuelo Adan of Stella Maris

Rob & Lauren Dehaan of Arita with Angelica
Adan of Stella Maris at the Andujar's home in
Luquillo

Us at tower in El Unque Rain Forest

We came ashore for the first time June 29th when we needed to have our sails re-stitched – our feeble attempts on our own SailRite sewing machine finally caught up with us –, our alternators checked (and subsequently rebuilt), the roller furling (a device to roll up the jib) fixed and jib stay replaced with a larger (10mm to equal the main stays); battery alarm (?), and the raw water pump rebuilt (which I can now do thanks to Steve Phinney’s, Lose Change, expert help: just once even and I remembered/learned). We took up residence at the Fajardo Inn for a week running back and forth to West Marine, Wal-Mart and the marina. When they put us back in (splashed us) we discovered that neither engine would start: seems the Volvo guy had a look without a fix. Oh joy and rupture! SeaTow (we have BoatUS, of course) came to our rescue towing us 75 feet to a T-dock (that’s the shape of the dock) across from the splash slip for $350. Linda then asks, “Why am I hearing a pump?” I opened a hatch in the sole of the port pontoon and there it was again: a hull crack just like the one we had on our way to the Bahamas last summer. Well at least we weren’t sinking in the Gulf Stream like last time, and the flow was about the same: three or so gallons an hour controlled by our trusty-dusty dingy bilge pump and outboard battery. After Volvo fixed/rebuilt the alternators and we started the engines, we took the weekend to relax for free at Palominos, a small island off of the Conquistador Hotel, with Stella Maris. Back Monday morning to re-haul and fix the hull again. In the process we learned/discovered that both engines were in pretty bad shape after years of being sprayed periodically with sea water from the raw water pumps that are on top of the engines (some brilliant Volvo designer needs to be fired!) and a sloppy job of corrosion control by yours truly. So we bit the bullet, had the engines pulled (by fork lift) out of the boat and re-furbished by Volvo. And good we did: carbon buildup had nearly closed the exhaust manafold; barnacles and raw water pump impeller blades and nearly closed the heat exchanger along with corroding some of the fittings; and rust had taken over the electrical system and the engine mounts. The only thing that was good were the sail drives, that part that sticks down and has the propellers attached. We met Rick and Debbie Lehto of Miss Heidi, a sloop on the hard next to us who turned us onto a weekly on the beach in the barrio at Playa de Fajardo, not a half mile from the Inn, at 2/3rds the Inn’s fee, and with a kitchen. Not so clean - we had to sweep, dust and mop – but comfortable (A/C no less) and well worth the price. We were next to the Lehtos and had cocktails and pupus every night on the patio/walk facing Palominos and Culebra.

So, now its 45 days later (August 12th) and we splashed again: wow, how great it is to be afloat again and not leaking! Now we are now about destitute, but what the Hell, “Its just money (that the kids won’t get)!”, the engines won’t fail us, the sails won’t rip and we won’t leek on our fantastic journey.

The weather has been fine up until the last few days with tropical depressions having gone north, sheered apart, developed in the Gulf or Pacific leaving us with only a few thunder storms. Believe me when I say we live and die by weather reports every morning and evening. Why can’t the Africans keep their damn waves?!?! We’re turning into a pair of meteorologists watching clouds, barometers, the web, and discussing hurricane strategies with anyone who’ll listen. If one develops, looks like we’ll beat a hasty retreat back to Salinas and Aguirre where there are a bunch of hurricane holes in the mangroves which we can anchor in and tie off to. After taking everything down from outside, we’ll head for the hills to wait it out: hopefully it won’t come to that.

We still haven’t gotten any takers for a fun filled week or so in the environs of Puerto Rico…we’ll be here until October 20th when we fly back to Florida. Come on down!!!!!