High Five Sailing

i think that this should be blown up

2011-06-10T20:48:00.001-07:00

Grand Canyon 2011 Medium

2011-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

sorry folks I can't post the video with sound due to copyright issues. If you want to see it, friend me on Facebook, it is posted there. Janine

Grand Canyon

2011-04-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, we just got back from river rafting down the Grand Canyon. For those of you who don't know we were on the river for 20 days. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and there are 30 pictures a seconds here. Just for a little background info, this idea was formed 18 years ago. We just got the permit, applied for in 1993, this year. Signing off once more, Richy and family PS make sure your sound is turned on.

and a few more

2011-04-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

kiteboarding and windsurfing

2011-04-11T18:37:00.001-07:00

more Baja photos

2011-04-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

More Baja photos

2011-04-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

Baja Or Bust

2011-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

As Richy told you we went to Mexico for Christmas break. Now of course being us we couldn't just hop on a a plane and fly to an all inclusive. That would be relaxing I'm sure, but not quite up to our level of adventure. Also we couldn't afford the flights! So with our limited means Janine set to work figuring out how to get to the sun. We are used to traveling with our house(boat), taking the boat was not an option it would take months. So the solution was to become land cruisers. Now people will tell you you can't take a rental into Mexico, but have you ever tried to tell Janine "no"? So after a bunch of research, she found a rental outfit that will let their vehicles go to Mexico. Camping World if you are interested. Now when you tell people in 1st world countries you are going to drive to Mexico they start going on about the dangers and the shootings and the drug lords. Reality Check! The week before we left 10 people were shot at 22nd and Oak in a gang related shooting! Janine walks past this locale every time she goes to work. To ease some of the worry we got in touch with some total strangers via email, they were going to be heading across the border the same day as us so we arranged a caravan. Safety in numbers. So on Dec.15(janine's mom's birthday), we picked the kids up from school at lunch and headed south. Yes, they missed a couple days of school but we won't let school get in the way of their education. No offence to all you teachers out there. We crossed the border without incident. Actually it was a really nice guy that saw our surf boards and asked where we were going. a big change from the previous trip. We made it as far as Portland the first day. On Dec.16th we were up at 5:30 and on the road. We made it to Buttonwillow, CA. I bet you've never heard of it. It is just north of Bakersfield. It put us 4 hours out of San Marcos, CA which is where we were to pick up the RV by 11am on the 17th. Now when Janine booked the RV online she was comparing the length of RVs to boats. Our boat is 46 feet long so a 31 foot motor home didn't seem to be very big. We arrived at Camping World San Marcos and saw the 31 footer. IT WAS HUGE! The kids were so excited, it was better than Christmas morning, which is fitting because as I said to them "Merry Christmas guys this is your present!". Camping World expedited a speedy check in, including the Mexican insurance (even if you take your own car to Mexico you have to get this). We were on the road in our new home by lunch time. We then did what all land cruisers do, we headed to the closest Walmart. We stocked up on a bit of food, we had been warned not to cross the Mexican border with too much food, and some other bits and pieces. We then headed east towards Tecate as this is where we were to meet our posse the next morning. We spent the night in a Casino parking lot because it is free, and Janine loves Casinos. Unfortunately this Casino was too smokey to spend anytime in. We discovered the DVD player in the RV didn't work..oh well. It was surprisingly quiet in the parking lot, We had a great sleep then were up at 0600h to go meet the other people. We first met Rich and Sherry, they are from Idaho and were driving a pick up truck towing a home built trailer. They turned out to be a great decoy through all the check points. The soldiers always wanted to look in their trailer and then just smiled and waved us through. We had heard horror stories of the rough skinny roads, but the roads were excellent... until we got to Ensenada. They got a bit narrower after this and there was a lot of construction, at least they are working on making the roads better. We made it to El Rosario that night which is where we met our other caravan member. They were 2 couples from California who have houses in La Ventana. They were both driving pick-up trucks with pop-top campers(this would be the ideal Baja vehicle). Gary and Terry, and Joel and Gayle. Joel and Gayle were the veterans having made this commute numerous time. Gary was a very tall" kid". He instantly clicked with the boys and I'm pretty sure Terry was relieved Gary had some body new to play with. We went to the famous Mama Espinosas for dinner. They are famous for there lobster tacos. The food was good and the company was great. Again it was reinforced for us that the best part of traveling is the people you meet along the way. Rich and Sherry took a very early departure the next day as they were going to try to get further, faster than the rest of us. The rest of us hit the highway at 0700h, we had a brief but longer than expected stop at the local "Starbucks" , where Gary gave us one of his walkie talkies so we could chat along the way. He kept us entertained with his vast knowledge of birds( he is as he says a" bird nerd", he completed his graduate studies in ornithology). He also worked on expanding the kids vocabulary. We stopped at the boulders in Catavana, huge boulders in the middle of the desert. Janine very kindly stayed behind to fix some lunch as the rest of the gang went exploring in the boulders. Her sacrifice was only partially motivated by her dislike for snakes. While she was getting the lunch put together a raven came right to the door of the RV and started clicking and cajoling. It had clearly learned that RV's are a source of food. The guys came back excited and hungry, which is really why Janine stayed back to fix some food. We were back on the road in short order. AHH yes the road. Well when previous Baja veterans told us about the roads being skinny, they were right. The road past El Rosario is 9 feet wide, our RV was 81/2 feet wide and there are NO shoulders if you swerve off the road you will likely lose both tires on the passenger side of the vehicle. We saw several vehicles in this situation. This is manageable until you meet a semitrailer coming the opposite way, which you do a lot! Just past Catavina we were passing one of these monster trucks headed in the opposite direction when BANG! Our driver's side mirror was taken out by the truck. At this point it must be mentioned that Gary is an incredible driver! It sounded like some one shot out his window and the mirror slammed against the window but he didn't even swerve he just kept us heading straight. Janine had every intention of sharing the driving until this point, but after that, there was no way she was brave enough to drive our huge RV an the skinny roads with the monster Semis. So Gary drove the 2000 mile trip, without any further incident. Our plan that night was to head to a beach called......We ran out of sunlight... forgot about the time change heading east, and you do not want to drive the Baja highway in the dark! The cows come onto the road for the warmth, so now you are dodging semis and cows. Gary and Terry were about an hour ahead of Joel and Gayle and us, luckily, G&T saw us as we drove past the beach they had stopped at and was able to call Joel and Gayle on the walkie talkie right before his radio battery died. We turned around and found G&T by the aid of Gary flashing a search light from the beach as we approached. We spent a great evening, with wonderful people, camped right on the beach with the Sea of Cortes lapping gently on the sand. There were sailboats sitting at anchor, a couple of them were lit up with christmas lights. Did we ever miss High Five! We agreed one day we will definitely come hang out down here on our boat. The moon rose up almost full just to complete the picture. We all slept well except for the occasional interruption by the dreaded semis using their engine brakes. The next morning we parted company. The others were off by 0830h, we were slowing our pace now that we had found some warm weather and nice beaches. Of course the kids started the morning by jumping into the ocean. They didn't stay in very long, it is not Caribbean warm! Well I wrote this post months ago but out computer had run out space to upload our photos, we solved that problem so the rest of the trip can be told with photos. The highlights were surfing at Los Cerritos, Hanging with Terry and Gary at their place in El Sargente, hanging with Raphael, Sharon and the kids and Grandparents in La Ventana, the kids getting to drive, our kiteboarding lesson and the scenery, and the best part as usual was the quality time we got to spend together as a family.

Report Cards

2010-12-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Hi, Richy here I got my first term report card today, do you want to know what I got?... Thought so, here it is: English Language Arts A Mathematics A Science A Social Studies A Physical Education A French A Health and Career Ed. A Fine Arts B Yes I am aware that this is not straight A's, but alas I am only human, and no one is perfect... even me. Signing off, Richy and family

Mexico

2010-12-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

It's official now, we will be going to Mexico for christmas. It should feel good to get some warmth again! We should be gone for 3 weeks, and get back in January. Hope to see you before we go, Richy

Hi from Richy

2010-10-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

HI I am in Junior Band at False Creek Elementary. I am playing the tenor saxophone, and I practice on Tuesday and Thursday. I just started, and I still am not very good, but I am trying to get better and join senior band soon! I am also taking Piano lessons, (though I still need to hook the keyboard up) at Tom Lee Music. I am being very musical lately, and I am told it should improve my grades! I really hope so, because I have to take a few tests soon. lots of hugs, Richy

Hello

2010-09-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hi, Richy here. We are all settled in Vancouver now. I am going to False Creek Elementary, and the twins are at Kitsilano Secondary. Mom and Dad are back at work, and we have rented a condo for a year. Bradley and Tavish are doing competitive diving, as well as sailing lasers. I am racing 420's. We are having an awesome time. Our boat was shipped up here, and it is now moored in Coal Harbor. We are in the process of winterizing it. We will try to update as to what we do every so often. So long!! Richy

Back in Vancouver!

2010-07-13T10:46:00.001-07:00

Surfing Pics

2010-07-04T12:20:00.001-07:00

We spent a great week at www.playamarsella.com Our Hosts Roy and Karen, were great fun. We caught the surfing fever, and learned a lot. Scott and Liz were great teachers, and ex cruisers as well. They sent us a few pics of our surfing adventures.

Costa Rican Pictures

2010-06-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

We had a great 10 days touring Costa Rica. We were able to cover a lot of ground. So if a picture is worth a 1000 words, enjoy the novel.

2010-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Highfivers go on a road trip. Well Golfito is the wettest place on the planet, so we left. But our boat needs to be there to catch a ride on a freighter to Vancouver. Yes you heard it here first! High Five is going to the great white north. We have bought and paid for a spot on yachtpath transport. (www.yachtpath.com ) If all goes as it is supposed to , our boat will be in Vancouver around the middle of July. Meanwhile we didn’t want to stay in Golfito while we waited for this to happen. We spent 2 days scrubbing the boat with bleach to try to reduce the mould growth , although we were warned if we didn’t like mould not to stay in Golfito. We have rented a car, a Toyota Rav 4, and gone traveling around Costa Rica. On Saturday June 5 we left the boat and headed for San Jose. It was a 5 hour drive that we stretched into 6 hours by stopping in the town of Quepos for dinner. The interesting thing about stopping at Quepos was we ran into a couple from a boat called Will-o-the-Wisp. We have accidentally met this couple in Golfito, Puerto Jimenez, and now Quepos. They are a wonderful couple who have left their boat in Bocas Del Toro on the Caribbean side to travel inland for 6 weeks. Driving in a car is a bit over stimulating after traveling at 6 knots. On the boat we could see things coming for a long time. In a car things have come and gone before we could even process what it was. San Jose is considerably cooler than any place we have been in the last 7 months. It was all of 25 degrees Celsius (brrr). We went to the children’s museum, which is like science world on steroids. It started raining while we were there and it became clear we needed some socks, so we hit the mall. Latin American malls seem to be mostly about women’s high heeled shoes and fancy underwear. We sorted through these and found some socks, shoes for Gary, and umbrellas. Our next 2 nights were spent in Alejuela, a suburb of San Jose where the Volcano Poas is located. We checked into Villas Pacande, a very nice hostel 3km out of town towards the volcano. The next morning we drove 37km, and 2700 meters up a steep mountainous road to the volcano. Luckily for us the clouds were blowing in and out so we were able to see the entire crater including the boiling lake. The main crater measures 1.5 kilometers in diameter and is 300 meters deep, at the bottom there is a pit of water spewing steam and sulphorous gas. It was only 14 degrees we were cold and short of breath, but sufficiently awed by the sites. Tuesday we left the lovely gardens and friendly staff at Villas Picande and headed off to La Fortuna and another volcano. Volca Arenal is one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world, and has been actively spewing molten rocks since 1968. We checked into a cabina at Carlos Lodge. It didn’t look like much from the outside but inside it was lovely with tropical hard wood walls and cathedral ceilings. The real beauty was the huge windows looking right at the Volcano. It was shrouded in clouds when we got there but cleared after dark so we were able to see the glow at the top when it shot molten rocks into the sky. We moved around to the other side of the mountain the next day. We splurged for a hotel on this side as it is the side that the molten rocks are flowing down. Linda Loma Vista is a lovely spot with panoramic views of the Volcano, Lago Arenal and the surrounding valley. It has a nice pool, where you can swim or soak in the hot tub looking out at an active volcano. WOW!!

2010-06-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

Jimenez Across the Golfo Dulce from Golfito is Jimenez. From the ocean there is a pier, a few bars/restaurants and the approach to the airport. The airport is surprisingly busy……especially at 0600… once ashore, there is a nice little town of perhaps 6 or 7 000 people. The locals are riding bikes, fishing off the pieror kicking a soccer ball around the pitch. The main drag is complete with a: Mexican restaurant, Italian restaurant, 2 Pizza parlours, a large and well stocked super market, and a large variety of local shops……..but we were not here to shop or eat….we were here to SURF. After anchoring, (and spending the night) we headed out in a taxi for the 18km trip to Martina’s Cantina……in Matapalo. This, according to the people we had met in Golfito, was the center of the surfing world. We arrived, after a 1 hour trip along a bumpy gravel road to an empty restaurant….Hola?......Hola?.....anyone home? Someone appeared; we never did get her name, and offered us a very good lunch. After a conversation, we determined that the regular surfer guy was in San Jose, but “Axel” a German ex-pat who has been there for 18 years, was available to help us. (www.bocasombrero.com) She called him on the vhf, and called Gary into the kitchen to talk. High tide, when the surfing was best, was at 4pm he would meet us in 2 hours at Martina’s Cantina. After lunch we took a walk to Playa Pan Dulce. Sweet Bread Beach, along the road we met a few howler monkeys hanging from the trees. At 2pm we piled into the pickup and went to Axel’s place. The beach break was intimidating at first, but after watching it for a while there was a definite channel out in the middle of the beach and 2 breaks, one either side. Axel told us to paddle out the channel (where the waves did not break) and wait for him. He positioned himself and called for 2 people to come and sit on either side. Bradley and Tavish were there in a flash…..wait…….wait…..OK Paddle….HARD…..and off they went (oh to be 14) The waves were waist high or a bit bigger, but mushy and friendly, not really intimidating. Two hours later, we had all gotten many rides, it was time to go. We still had to make it back to the boat, 18km away. A quick rinse, change, and a goodbye later we were out on the gravel road with our thumbs up hoping for a ride. We were picked up in the bed of a small pick-up and piled in the back with 6 local workers from Matapalo. The driver let us off at the edge of town, so he would not get in trouble for giving us a ride. One quick stop at the grocery for cold drinks, and a walk to the local Italian restaurant for dinner. When we said we would go to the Italian restaurant for dinner Tavish stated this may be the best day of his life. Il Giardino had been recommended in our Lonely Planet Guide, the meal was incredible! Gorganzola gnocchi that absolutely melted in your mouth and homemade pizza with crust that was thin and crisp! We were joined by a cruising couple we had met in Golfito, whom we shared a bunch of laughs and great conversation with. This made for a great end to a great day. We pulled our dingy down the beach and collapsed into bed back on High Five. The next day was Sunday. Nobody was moving very quickly in the morning but we were less sore than we anticipated, especially those of us over the age of 14! We headed into town for ice cream, and to check the internet in the afternoon. When we returned to the boat the ocean was glassy smooth so some skurfing took place. Good fun! It was a quiet night spent watching a movie. Monday we returned to Golfito, on the trip back we were joined by three dolphins. They played at our bow and circled the boat for over an hour. This is the longest a group of dolphins has ever stayed with us. They kept turning on their sides and looking at us, it was an amazing experience that touched us all. They didn’t leave until we were almost entering the shipping channel into Golfito harbor. When we went into Land and Sea we learned there was a potluck tonight. Another nice evening spent visiting with fellow cruisers.

Golfito Costa Rica

2010-05-30T03:42:00.000-07:00

Golfito is a well protected bay in Southern Costa Rica. We arrived early in the morning after our second attempt at an overnight passage from the out islands of Panama. The first departure from Islas Secas was abandoned. After coming out from the lee of the island, we found the wind to be, as most cruisers will complain, coming from exactly the direction we wanted to go! No Problem, we will motor sail and tack back and forth. To further complicate things a large squall was also on our path. The combination of the large Pacific swells and the wind chop created by the squall made the sea state confusing and uncomfortable.Two and a half hours later, Islas Secas was still close astern, it was 3 in the afternoon and we were reaching the point of no return. If we turned back we still had plenty of time to get back to the anchorage before happy hour, get a good nights sleep and try again manana. If we continued we were committed to sailing all night, with the wind in our face and the squall, which had grown, but moved slightly south of our route. Decisions decisions......Common sense prevailed, and we turned tail and ran back. Turning 2 1/2 hours of pounding, into 45 min of running downwind. A pod of dolphins greeted us a we sailed into the shelter of the island, playing on our bow for 10 or 15 minutes.... always a good sign.

The next morning we again started out, this time a bit earlier, with enough time to stop at Isla Parida, an anchorage 17 miles along before dark. The squall was gone, there was no wind, and although the Pacific swells, are 8-10' high they are 17 to 20 seconds apart, making them comfortable. The glassy sea allowed us to see schools of fish, dolphins, birds and a turtle. It also allowed several fish to see our lures. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for the fish none were the tuna, or Dorado that we hoped for. Because of the easy traveling, our arrival to Golfito was going to be in the DARK...never a great idea, so we stopped off at Islas Parida.. The entrance, although a mile wide and 60 ' deep, combined with a falling tide, caused the swells to build in size and shorten in period, making it quite exciting. After some food and rest, just before dark, at the end of the ebb we departed for Golfito

The steep jungle surrounding the bay provides an earthy smell that greets you while still a fair ways offshore. We tied to a mooring ball out in front of "Land and Sea" which is a small clubhouse, with showers, laundry, and Wi Fi.
Checking in to the country was a 2 day affair, seeing Immigration and Quarantine, and returning to see Customs and The Port Capitan the next day, then going back to quarantine , to the bank, and back to quarantine. The bureaucracy, can be frustrating, watching them fill out forms in triplicate with ballpoint pens and carbon paper.
Golfito is a discarded Banana port, and shows the signs of any one industry town that the industry has abandoned. Although clean, there are litter cans all over, the buildings, roads and sidewalks are all in need of repair, even the resorts need a power washer and paint.
Tourism is the only growth industry, Golfito is a stop on the route to the Osa peninsula, and one of the many national parks.
Being such a sheltered bay there is very little wind, this combined with the rainy season makes the air stiflingly hot and humid. Add the daily rain showers and you have a very hot boat to live in.
After 5 days in Golfito we decided to go to Puerto Jimenez.This is a former Gold mining town accross the Golfo Dulce from Golfito. The anchorage is a bit more open than Golfito, but well protected from the Ocean swell. Here we hope to see the national park and some of the animals that Costa Rica is famous for. Maybe even do some surfing.

Random Pictures

2010-05-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Panama City Anchorage

2010-05-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

OK so we have gotten a lot of email asking us to update the blog. Sorry for the delay sometimes the days just get away from us. While in the anchorage at Panama City we discovered that the anchorage that 98% of the time is calm and tranquil if not a bit too hot can do an about face and within a very short period of time the wind and waves will pick up and blow the @#@%@%@ out of the anchorage. It was a peaceful Tuesday morning when we headed in to take care of some internet school and laundry. We left the boat in a slight chop but nothing dramatic. We had been on shore for about an hour; the wind was stronger on shore but did not seem dangerous. Suddenly Alex the 12 year old son from the Canadian boat Artemo arrived at the internet café in his life jacket and was as white as the Canadian snow, He shouted an undecipherable sentence we had to ask him to repeat it 3 times and finally understood that our anchor had started to drag and our boat was heading towards the rocks. Gary and Tavish kicked out of their flip flops and took off across the parking lot towards the dingy at a faster pace than the kids ever thought their father could run at. (He can run really fast!) When they got to HIGH FIVE Brian and Amanda from the sailboat Clara Katherine were on our boat, they had gotten the engine started and were in the process of lifting the anchor, and driving High Five away from the rocks.
Artemo had been watching other boats drag, and the people resetting their anchors, they even told us later that they had commented that High Five was OK...……moments later she was dragging across the anchorage. Artemo put out a call on the radio and proceeded to launch their dinghy, damaging their wind generator with a halyard in the process. Meanwhile Brian and Amanda had leapt into action and were on the boat trying to figure out how to start her and get the anchor up. Once Artemo got to High Five, the engine was going and they raced to get us.

We want to make it very clear that these people completely saved our boat from becoming splinters of fiberglass!

A lot of boats in the anchorage drug that day but High Five came closer to the rocks than anybody ever wants to see a boat get. We are very grateful that we still have a functional boat as a worst case and are not stuck in a boat yard in Panama fixing the damage the rocks would have done to High Five. Nobody in the anchorage could believe it but our boat did not suffer a single scratch that day.
Since we have arrived in Panama City we have met several cruisers who have tried to leave and run into various mechanical and environmental conditions that have kept them here or forced them to return (some three times over). We felt this place had some bad energy and really wanted to get out. Our planned departure date was compromised as we were waiting for a part for our autohelm. It was going to be the next business week before it arrived so we decided to go to Las Perlas Islands 35 miles away for a few days and return when our part was in Panama City. This would get us out of the anchorage (with all the garbage floating by) and to some beautiful islands where we can swim off the boat. It turned out to be an excellent decision. Las Perlas Islands were beautiful and the people were very nice. If you are looking for a vacation that is off the beaten path but still has modern day amenities check out Isla Contadora in Panama. It is actually where they film Survivor Panama the TV show. We met some of the participants and film crew from the Survivor Turkey version of the show while we were there. The beaches are beautiful, the water is warm and the fishing is world class. There are whales and dolphins as well as protected turtles. We had been given a surf board by the family on Artemo before heading out and we all put it to good use with our new sport which we call dingy surfing. We stand on the surf board being towed behind the dingy much the same as a wake board but minus the foot holds. It is a lot of fun! We spent 5 days in Las Perlas which past so quickly. On the Monday we called back to Panama City to learn our part had arrived. We returned to Panama City on the Tuesday, and spent a day and a half doing laundry, grocery shopping and boat maintenance. As well as the hard task of saying goodbye to the wonderful people we had connected with while here.
The highlights of Panama City would have to be first and foremost the Canal. It has a ton of history and is amazing to transit on your own boat. Panama is very lush and green so the city reminded us of Vancouver, also the city lights at night could easily have been Vancouver if you were anchored in English Bay( on a night hotter and more humid than Vancouver has ever seen). We must also give mention to the malls, they are huge, airconditioned and one of them has a full size carousel in the food court! The shopping in Panama City is very cheap so we were able to refurbish our wardrobes with new shorts and shirts.

On Thursday the 13th of May we left Panama City and headed 10nm to the Island of Taboga which isn't far but is a big step away from Panama and towards Costa Rica.

From the crew of High Five
svhighfive@gmail.com
www.highfivesailing.blogspot.com

Web cam shots

2010-05-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of shots that Gary's sister sent us from the Pancanal Webcam. Thanks Nancy!

Pictures of our transit

2010-04-29T11:58:00.001-07:00

Here are a bunch of pictures, in no particular order, from our canal transit.

Our first transit

2010-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

We have actually transited the canal twice. The first time with Jean Francoise aboard his self built catamaran. We left last Friday night and locked up to the lake, where we spent the night. Saturday morning, we headed accross the lake and down the Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores locks to the Balboa Yacht club. We boarded the launch and once ashore our taxi driver/agent was waiting, to wisk us back to shelter bay.

The Panama Canal (click for link)

2010-04-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Today (and tomorrow) is the day we transit the canal. Today (Mon April 26) at around 7pm local time (5pm in Vancouver) we should be transiting the Gatun locks! After that we spend the night in the lake and early Tuesday morning we travel south. If all goes well we should be near the Centennial bridge between 10 and 11, and in the Mira Flores lock around noon. The canal authority has some live webcams that can be found by clicking the title or going to http://www.pancanal.com/ and then click on multimedia. Last Friday night, and Saturday we went through with a single handed French catamaran. We have posted some pictures below, but our batteries ran out. Later this week we will post pics of our transit. Pacific Ocean here we come!

San Blas, and Canal pictures

2010-04-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

pics

San Blas river trip

2010-04-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

The Ulu (local boat) picked us and 2 other boats, up at 0800 and took us from our anchorage at Saladup through the reefs to the mainland, near rio Sidra. After an hour and a half of treking through the rain forest, we arrived at a small waterfall and pool. The cool fresh water felt so good, both after the steamy hike and also the layers of crusted salt that come with living on the ocean. Many jumps later, after lunch and playing in the pool and the waterfall we walked down the creek, and Lisa (our guide) took us back to the boat.

Panama Canal (click for link)

2010-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

We made it to Colon. Sadly we left the San Blas Wednesday morning and after a night at Isla Grande, we arrived at Colon, the north end of the Canal just before lunch time today. If all goes well we will transit the canal Tuesday afternoon, spend the night on the lake and arrive in the Pacific Wednesday. We will post pics and more info soon.

Grandma comes to the San Blas

2010-04-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

The Kuna Yala archipelago stretches from Colon to Colombia on the Caribbean side of Panama. At Panama City domestic airport on my first day here I met an amazing cross section of the small dark skinned natives. The women’s distinctive dress comprising of a colorful reverse appliquéd blouse, nose ring, red head scarf, and colorful beaded leg wraps is a sharp contrast to their children’s modern trendy clothes. Men are in western clothes. Young children are doted on and play freely and happily. A precious albino toddler was dressed in western style party dress. Three hundred and sixty five small white sandy islands are either unoccupied or jam packed with straw huts. We can see 20 from our breakfast table. Every day friendly fishermen approach our boat in their dug out canoes selling fresh fish, vegetables, bread and molas (reverse appliquéd blouse material) for US$. There are a few signs such as cell phones that, however hard the Kuna try, western culture is encroaching into their lives. It appears to me that the High Five V crew loves their lifestyle even more on this second trip. Every day school comes first, then enjoying whatever the day may bring. All the boys are now accomplished sailors and enjoy putting the sail up at every opportunity. Not a great number of cruisers spend time here; most are heading straight to the canal to cross the Pacific before the hurricane season begins. Never the less the boys have played beach soccer with Italian, French, and Brazilians of all ages. About once a week a boater will organize a pot luck supper where food, information and entertainment are shared. Bradley and Tavish played, guitar, fiddle and sang, for a very appreciative crowd this week. It’s been an idyllic holiday where the most energy I’ve expended has been opening and closing the hatches as the rainy season threatens. We’ve found a “restaurant” for Janine’s birthday dinner tomorrow. The following day I fly to Panama City assuming the plane is airborne before the runway becomes ocean. Janine’s mother arrives the next day to visit and crew through the Panama Canal and then High Five heads north. THANKS HIGH FIVE FOR A WONDERFUL VISIT. Grandma/Mom/Ladora

More San Blas Islands

2010-03-27T03:03:00.000-07:00

San Blas first impressions
It has been a week since we left Cartagena. We travelled 200nm to the San Blas Islands of Panama but it is like we have travelled to another solar system. We unfortunately will likely not be able to send any pictures for a while, so we will do our best to describe these amazing islands in words. The San Blas Islands are 350 small islands off the Mainland of Panama. They are property of the Kuna People, who fought ferociously through history to maintain their land. In 1935 they were granted self governing independence. They are a nation of 55,000 people who have a sociopolitical system that is equally if not more effective than any developed nation. Their laws and land belong to all the people so they see themselves as co-owners of these beautiful islands. Every village has a Sahila, or chief who presides over a local daily congreso, in which all members of the village can discuss concerns and grievances. The Kuna society is a matriarchal society, a new husband will move into the wife's family compound. Possibly he will only bring some clothes and a machete. A real asset for the man is a mask and snorkel as their main contribution to the family is to dive for lobster and octopus as well as fishing. The women are the major money earners for the families. The traditional dress for women is very colorful, they wear bright beadwork on their arms and legs, gold earrings in their ears and nose but their most famous article of clothing is their blouse which is called a MOLA. They are a reverse appliqué design often made of 5 layers of brightly coloured cloth and thread. The women, and some men, sell these Molas , and have become quite famous.
So what have we seen during our first week? So far about 10 of the 350 islands, of which only 1 was inhabited. All of the Islands have been covered with coconut trees that are loaded with coconuts and fringed with fine white sand beaches. The water is gin clear and about 85 degrees. We have snorkeled on several reefs seeing a huge variety of fish including a nurse shark. We have seen a few turtles while sitting in the cockpit having breakfast. On Monday we attended a cruisers happy hour on BBQ Island, where we visited with new people as well as cruisers we have met in the past and were thrilled to see again. At some point during the day we are usually approached by kunas in a dugout canoe, called an Ulu who ask if we would like to buy bananas, molas, Lobster, local kuna bread or whatever else they have that day. They are always polite and wear big smiles. Yesterday was the first day we saw and purchased molas. Florinda Salazar was the local kuna woman who with her family approached our boat. We happened to have an Australian family we have befriended visiting us. They had caught a fish earlier that day and had come to cook it on our bbq as they don't have one. Florinda asked if she could come aboard to show us her molas. We of course said yes and were then shown about a hundred different molas. These represent month's worth of work. We purchased 4 and the Australian family from SUNBOY purchased several as well. I think this was a good day for Florinda. Janine made it an even better day by bringing out some magnified reading glasses. We thought this would aid in our negotiations for the molas but 3 pairs of glasses were taken and the price of the molas remained the same. We definitely need to work on our bartering skills!
Florinda told us she was from an island called Tigre, we heard there was a transition ceremony happening on this island and tourist were welcome so along with 2 Australian boats, SUNBOY and GHOST, we headed the 7nm to Tigre. We caught a small Spanish Mackeral along the way but let it go as it wasn't big enough to feed us all.
Tigre looked pretty dilapidated from the water but when you went ashore and saw it from the inside out it was a very nice village. Most of the buildings are made of bamboo and palm fronds built on concrete slabs. There were a couple buildings made of concrete. The transition ceremony ( this is a celebration held when a girl enters puberty and is a big deal) was taking place in a Chichi hut which was a large palm frond meeting hut. It was very crowded inside with local kunas so we decided to just wander around the village until we found a "hotel" at the end of the island with a bar that served cold drinks. The hotel consisted of the bar/restaurant and a couple of huts. This was a pretty upscale hotel for here as there were actual beds for the guest to sleep in instead of the usual hammocks. The other luxury here was toilet facilities with an actual porcelain toilet, a door and toilet paper. The toilet required a bucket of water to flush it, but this was provided as well. Most facilities here consist of an outhouse built on the end of a dock with a hole in the floor. We had a few cold beverages in the restaurant and then decided we would have an early dinner there. They were sold out of fish but would make us lobster and octopus with rice. We gave it a try and were glad we did. It was delicious. (and yes the kids ate it too, and liked it!
) While we were there we met a young couple from Portland, Oregon who were vacationing here. They were hoping to get married while in the San Blas. The Kuna offered for them to have traditional Kuna ceremony where the bride and groom are prepared on opposite ends of the island and then get carried in the center of the island on platforms. A pig gets slaughtered and roasted and a party is had by all. We thought they should do this. They weren't sure they wanted that much of a ceremony. Oh well we hope it all worked out for them.
The next day we headed to an Island called Nargana at Rio Diablo which is joined by a bridge to an island called Corazon De Jesus. These islands have opted out of the traditional kuna lifestyle and in our opinion it doesn't make for as nice a village. There wasn't the same feeling of pride that we had noted on Tigre. There was a definite westernization in the demeanor and dress of the local people. We hope this isn't the beginning of the end for the kuna traditional life. It will be interesting to see how the next decade will change these islands. A lot of the huts on Nargana and Tigre had TV antennas, will this influence the young people of these islands to seek a different lifestyle. It is hard to believe that Club Med or a similar type resort hasn't found a way to set up a facility here. We hope the kuna can continue to keep these developments at bay in the years to come. We didn't stay at Nargana as the the water is murky from the river and the sound of the village generator was disturbing the peace. Sunboy and our selves travelled back to an anchorage called Coco Banderos where the water is clear, warm and the islands are uninhabited.

Farewell to Cartegena, Hello Panama

2010-03-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

We made it to the San Blas
Thursday, March 11, around lunch time we pulled into the Eastern Holandes islands of Panama.
(North 9 Deg 35 min, West 78 Deg 40.8min) This is a destination that we have looked forward to since we started sailing. Promises of white sandy beaches, palm fringed islands and warm clear waters have all come true.
The trip from Cartegena, was noisy and slow, there was very little wind and we motored the whoie way. A large pod of Dolphins came by just after dinner and swam and jumped alongside for 10 minutes or so.

Cartegena

2010-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Well we have now been in Cartagena for a month. Time sure flies by quickly! We have accomplished several boat chores and a lot of school work. We also took a bus trip to Carnival in Baranquilla a town a couple hours away. The boys actually had a live performance at a local restaurant and received rave reviews. This has inspired them to pull out their instruments so I am being serenaded as I write this blog. I wish I could include the music for you all to hear. We are thoroughly enjoying the old city of Cartagena. Most of it was built in the 1500’s and is like walking through a living museum. As Tavish noted he was in a washroom in a restaurant and the urinal was installed into a 500 year old wall. We just don’t have this kind of history in Canada. The architecture is Spanish colonial with balconies on all the buildings and bougainvillea flowers covering the balconies. As beautiful as the city is it’s real highlight is the people. The Colombian people have great senses of humour and are very easy to get a smile and a laugh from. They make learning Spanish fun for us all as they are more than willing to guess what we are trying to say and correct our mistakes with great patience and humour. On Feb. 15th 40 cruisers loaded on 2 buses at 9am and headed to Barranquilla with our guide Alex, his son and 2 assistants. The bus trip was very pleasant as the bus was air-conditioned. We stopped at a roadside empanada stand on the way for breakfast and arrived at Barranquilla at 11am. This was the day of the children’s Carnival parade which was meant to start at 1pm. We rented chairs to sit on under a canopy and as soon as we were all settled the canopy owners moved the canopy backwards so we were now sitting in the blazing sun. This didn’t last long as our man Alex jumped in and got our canopy back for us. There is enormous value in having a local advocating for you. It wasn’t long before the veteran carnival goers showed the rookies the ways of Carnival. We were covered in spray foam, water, and cornstarch in very short order. Unfortunately for the veterans we catch on quick and outnumbered them! We spent hours waiting for the parade to start having foam and water wars. The water here is sold in plastic bags which you drink out of by biting a small hole in a corner. This also makes for a great water gun when you squeeze the bag of icy , icy cold water. We were warned by the local military presence once that is was OK to spray each other but if we sprayed people we didn’t know they would have to take our weapons away. When the parade started at 3pm this rule no longer applied and then the only people not to be sprayed were the parade participants. This is a good thing as the costumes and makeup were very elaborate. The costumes generally used most of the material for the headdress which left very little to cover the rest of the body. This was a highlight for some of the members of our group, especially when Miss Brazil danced by! Janine was befriended by a local boy named Eduardo. Well the friendship started as a foam/water/cornstarch war but when Eduardo ran out of water he quickly switched alliances. By the end of the parade Eduardo’s mother decided Janine should adopt Eduardo as a 4th son. Janine was relieved when Eduardo’s mother gave her a pair of earrings instead of her son. It was just more proof that the people of Colombia really are it’s true gems. From the parade we climbed on the bus and travelled a short distance further into town where we had the option of going to the band competition. We all voted with our stomachs and chose to go for dinner at various local restaurants instead. At 9pm (which is like midnight for cruisers) we climbed onto our buses and had a quiet ride back to Cartegna and our boats. Of course a shower was required before we could crawl into our bunks. What a great day! While we have been in Cartagena we have been frequenting this great local restaurant called Pacho Y Guillos. It is owned and operated by a wonderful couple. Sandro the husband is Italian and his wife is from Bogota, Colombia. They lived in the States for several years and both speak Italian, Spanish ,English and Yiddish. Sandro makes wonderful thin crust pizza. Every day they have a lunch special for 5000 pesos which is about $2.75, this includes a large bowl of delicious homemade soup, coconut rice, beans, salad and your choice of chicken or meat as well as a drink of Juice. Again all this costs $2.75! It is not possible to go to the grocery store and buy the food for so little money. This what we have for lunch almost every day , and believe it or not the Minielly boys have finally decided they like soup! Pacho Y Guillo is also where Bradley and Tavish had their opening debut. After the crowning of the Cruising Queen ( maybe we will tell this story another time) the microphone was opened up and the boys were coerced into playing a couple of songs. They were awesome and that isn’t just their parent’s opinion. The boys left shortly after their set and their parents with Kevin and Melissa from Solange were left behind to collect the fans appreciation. The line of the evening was “yeah, were with the band”. As mentioned earlier this experience has had the bonus effect of inspiring the boys to dust off their very neglected instruments and start to work on learning more songs. Well now that we have been here for a month and our new mainsail has arrived (thank you Brett for getting it to us so quickly) we are getting ourselves organized to head out to the San Blas islands. These are a chain of over 300 islands off Panama that are inhabited by the Kuna tribe. They are remote and very limited supplies are available here. So how do you fit 6 weeks worth of food for a family with teenage eating machines onto a 46 foot boat? Stay tuned and we will let you know how it goes.

Crewing on High Five

2010-02-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

My name is Bob Matthews and I had the pleasure of sailing with High Five. I met the family in Curacao at the boat harbor yard on the evening of the 17th of January, 2010. You immediately got the impression that the family was very well liked as the night watchman escorted the cab through the yard down to dock and went to find the boat. Since he went in the opposite direction from where the boat was moored Caribbean efficiency was the second demonstration to occur. In the morning Gary checked the rigging and found some parts that were better in place than not while Janine looked after provisioning and exiting immigration and customs from Curacao. The boys helped both processes. In the afternoon High Five made a short hop up the island to a beautiful bay with an interesting entrance – hard left, hard right, keep close, OK we’re in. On the way the main went up to ensure everything was functional, only one item – the down haul – needed to be added. Refreshing (sort of in 28 C plus water) swims were the order of the day plus a few relaxing beverages and sustenance. High five and Solange 4 waited for first light to exit the harbor as the navigational aids for exiting were the same as entering – visuals on the bottom; sure a good thing the water is clear, then off to Aruba. Nice breeze so got the sails up and they gave this neophyte his first lesson in trade winds and islands. The waves go around the island and then get together from different directions as you leave the lee side and create quite a confused sea. The winds were blowing in the 20s and the seas were not small. Once we got well off the lee side the sea got organized and High Five enjoyed wonderful down wind surfing conditions although it was faster and more comfortable to gybe a few times. Every one drove – the boys are very accomplished helmsmen; arrival in early afternoon. The boys put the dingy in the water, the beach was nearby and the main airport runway just a short distance from the moorage; cruise ship coming and going, Solange arriving, dinner after cocktails at a beach restaurant. The boys provided the taxi service to and from the boats, all very laid back. Early departure for the “Rocks” – most westerly part of Venezuela staffed by the coast guard. Trades down in the morning so motored off in the dark and away from Aruba without experiencing too much confused sea. Lots of commercial traffic to watch out for. The breeze filled in fairly quickly about with first light and off High Five went for another downwind day with I think 3 gybes to get to the “Rocks”. Great sailing and the boys joined the 3 of us for breakfast and some fun driving in good breeze and surfing conditions – what a way to live!!! Afternoon arrival at the Rocks with the wind around 30 knots. There are 2 rocks which they blasted material from to make a breakwater between them and there is a rope strung across on half of the resulting harbor which you are allowed to tie to – interesting process as the wind compresses over the breakwater and felt to be in the 35 to 40 knot range. When we were tied on, the Coast Guard wished to come and inspect High Five; unfortunately the Coast Guard did not have a boat. So High Five had to drop the dingy in the water to get them. The boys normally do this task including putting the outboard on but given the wind Gary and I helped (I think they were interested in my ballast). It was a good thing as the dingy went air born as soon as it was over the water – about a foot and a half off the water with Gary and me hanging on. Passenger and motor stabilized the situation and Gary went in to pick up the Coast Guard. No customs papers were required but completed a safety inspection inventory, had a couple of beers and supplied one of the officer with a pack of smokes; nice guys and really impressed with the admiral (Janine) who signed all documents while the Captain (Gary) looked on. We then were allowed ashore for a look around but were told “no Picture” part way through the visit. Two fishing boats arrived and tied one on the other – long narrow vessels with crews of 8 or 10 individuals. Some of the crew were interested in staring at Janine in a less than casual manner. Given the strong wind and the neighbours we decided an early departure was warranted, after libations and sustenance and a sleep. I think we left around 03:30 in the dark and howling wind. The lee side of the Rocks provided a very disorganized sea which lasted for at least half an hour. New moon, little light, motor sailing with the jib only; big surfing and a few “by the lee” gybes while it was dark. Solange had decided to stay so we were off on our own; boys asleep, Gary trying to catch a few bits of rest. First light was really welcome. You could then see the waves and take the appropriate action. Another great sail to Cape Elna (?) (Just looked on Google and I can find the bay but no name). It is called Cabo de La Vela, (Cape of Sail) We arrived around early afternoon and decided to go to the village on the beach, Gary spotted a store so we headed for that part and we were greeted and helped up the beach with the dingy by the local children. The store was closed, indefinitely, so we were invited to the greeter’s restaurant – restaurant, family home, boarding house, provisioning area etc. Gary’s Spanish was quite functional and soon we had beer (warm) and advice on the town’s amenities. Almost immediately a lady approached Gary with a Disney book and wanted to practice her English – Gary read the Spanish, the teacher (the lady explained she taught primary school) read the English comparative. The Boys soon took over from Gary so school was in. The people were very nice and while the life style was very rudimentary the community appeared stable and functional. Lots of fish, lobster and fresh fruit was readily available. In due course we retired to High Five for libations and a lobster dinner. The next morning we returned to the village for a walking tour and provisioning including more delicious papaya which Janine had been serving to start breakfast – how decadent is that? We headed for the “restaurant” and were greeted again, escorted through the village on the tour and provisioning expedition; we even got ice for the beer which we froze hard using High Five’s freezer. In mid afternoon Solange came by so we headed off for Five Bays, an overnight passage - moderate breeze and wave pattern. The boys drove until around dark and then retired for movies and sleep. Janine and I took the 6 to midnight watch and Gary got a little rest. It was a beautiful clear night but no real star visible to steer to. The moon finally showed up shortly after I took over from Janine so I could steer down this broad highway of reflected moonlight – nature was taking it easy on the old guy. Around midnight Gary came up and I retired for a snooze. Around 4 I got up and found Gary relaxed in the cockpit – wind had dropped, sea was very modest and Auto was driving. Gary got a little more rest while I watched for freighters and tried to stay awake. Dawn brought a little more wind and Janine from her nap. Light breakfast, including papaya, and steadily increasing breeze. Gary had been counseling Solange on the benefits of gibing downwind rather than rhumb lining it for better comfort and greater VMGs. Solange arrived at Five Bays pretty much with High Five. The wind had really strengthened by this time and Gary was driving as we approached our destination. The seas were fairly orderly so good surfing conditions – Gary got the new record of 14.6 knots which is pretty impressive for a furniture factory! Five Bays (middle one) was very dramatic – deep fiord like bays, sand beach at the head and some very high mountains within 5 to 10 miles (one mountain is high enough to even get snow!). I stayed on High Five while everyone else went ashore – greeted again as they landed and again by a restaurateur. Friendly and hospitable and warned of significant outflow winds at night – no seas, just wind. Looked like a place to spend a few days and probably have dinner ashore the next night. Beautiful evening, dramatic tropical setting, how good does life get? In the middle of the night lights come on, people are on deck moving about, wind is loud, guess I better get up to see if I can help. Gary and Janine have righted the dingy which on one of the gust of wind had flipped over. The gusts bounce off the mountains and high valleys and thereby manage to come from every direction on the compass (randomly) at about 30 to 35 knots. We get the engine off the dingy and Gary commences full WD40 treatment. While looking after the engine we conclude that a second night in this bay may not be desirable. In the morning it is virtually calm; just a tropical paradise. How things change!! After breakfast and discussions with the crew of Solange we decide to head around the corner to a beach resort just south of Santa Marta. We motor sail to charge the batteries and as we are going past the main port Gary observes that a freighter is really close on shore (not in the harbor) and looks to be stopped; and has two tugs standing by. We hung around and watched the “ungrounding”. This cruising has all sorts of unexpected treats to fit into one’s days. Then we went around the corner to “Miami Beach”, Columbia. Beautiful beach, backed by high rise apartment blocks with mountains in the background; and then the paddle boats and jet skis. One paddle boat drove right into the side of Solange while they were videoing the crew of Solange. At this point we decided that a lot of cruising boats did not stop here. An enterprising restaurateur used a paddle boat to approach the cruisers and invite us to his restaurant. We visited later for a meal; good seafood, the ladies had mounds of shrimp. The 5 blond boys attracted a lot of attention – in particular 3 young girls stopped, stared and appeared to be discussing the boys. High Five’s engine did not start so we were very appreciative of the Solange “ferry”. All of the boys are just excellent around boats and dingys, capable and responsible. Early evening ready for an early start. Solange lead off in the morning (Kevin seems to hardly sleep) so we had a nice target ahead of us to steer for – stern lights going in your direction are so handy! Not much wind and quiet sea so we charged the batteries. As it got light the breeze started to fill; Gary made an excellent call to continue charging the batteries and use the head sail instead of putting up the main so as not to wake the boys. About an hour later the breeze was really up and big seas. Also this day we had to cross the mouth of a river which certainly steepened the seas. Estimated at 35 knots with larger puffs and seas running up to 14 feet on the weather side of the river mouth. The batteries were charged so we decided to shut down the engine; a really big puff just as a large confused wave lifted High Five and we basically rounded up. Engine back on for improved steering. Very challenging steering in these conditions and somewhat tiring. When we got past the mouth of the river the seas became somewhat more orderly and less steep but the wind held. We got around the cape and the seas flattened considerably and Janine took over driving and smashed Gary’s record surf of 14.6 knots by hitting 14.9 knots; great ride now and even caught a Barracuda(not for eating). The Mahi that was caught a few days previously was very tasty and the fish that broke the 150 lb. test line 4 times were never seen, thank goodness! Into an uncharted bay which was recommended (hand drawn chart with a turning point indicated on top of now an extended sand bar) and proved to be good anchorage in shallow water – dragged slowly on the first set, retrieved the anchor to discover a garbage bag, once removed we held nicely – nowhere is safe from our junk! Beverages and relaxation, some commiseration with the crew of Solange as it was a tough day and they sailed it with a reefed main which added to the tendency to round up plus it does not have the same tendency to surf and reduce the loads. Janine got some great pictures of Solange surfing a couple of time as we passed them. Gary got a fabulous picture of Janine steering the boat with a wall of water catching up to High Five, and that was when the seas had flattened out! Early night with the intention of heading to Cartagena the next morning. We were not sure if Solange was going to come or wait an extra day. Up early to leave and first to rise Kevin had Solange under way before us. We headed out very shortly thereafter making sure we avoided and “moving” sand bars as this time we were headed downwind. Relatively modest breeze in the high teens or low twenties for a very pleasant non challenging motor sail while charging the batteries. The entrance to the harbor is very narrow where they blasted a hole in the underwater wall protecting the entrance from pirate etc in olden days. The boats went through the pass in close formation and into the huge interior harbor. Very interesting approaching the city with modern buildings, then the historic fort and then more high rise buildings on the beach front. Gary tried to raise the marina on the radio but everyone was involved in the police return of a stolen dingy. In due course we learned that there was no room at the dock just then but that we were welcome to anchor and use the marina for dingy access etc. The marina was under construction and quite rudimentary but we could get ashore, go shopping, go to a cruises “pub night” which was fun and met a lot of very nice people. A day at anchor and shopping for groceries, time in a internet café answering emails etc, back on the boats when Janine alerts us to a person in the water with an over turned boat – rescue time for first the individual and then the boat and motor. We towed the inflatable to High Five and Gary got to work on the engine. We were still minus a functioning spark plug wrench but a call on the radio quickly remedied this. Spark plugs out and pull the starter for an explosion of water from the cylinders! More WD40, new spark plugs from another cruiser and it runs. The rescued lady, when showered and somewhat out of shock from flipping the inflatable, was most appreciative of Gary’s immediate and effective work in getting the engine cleaned of water and running. Janine, Gary and I went on a tour looking for spark plugs for their inflatable engine plus a wander to historic Cartagena. It was interesting and when we got to the walls overlooking the ocean we were happy we came in the previous day – the wind and sea were really up and looking a bit uncomfortable. Taxi back to the other (much nicer) marina to see about moorage there, with some success thankfully. We also encountered a very pleasant bar and restaurant which appeared to be patronized mainly by locals so we thought we might come back for dinner. After the odd beverage and discussions with Solange it was determined we would have an adult night and the boys would stay on the boats and enjoy movies so off we went to dinner at the marina restaurant; quite a good meal and great company. Following dinner we opted for a visit to historic Cartagena for a jazz concert but it was over when we arrived, very early for this part of the world! We went for a walk about and ran into a few local color people including a family who were partaking of ouzo and invited participation. Kevin stood in for all of us; it did not bode well for his morning! Eventually we took a taxi back to the marina, entered past the guard and called the boys for a ride home. Beautiful sunrise in the harbor with the contrasts of old and new. Another day of school for the boys at the internet café, a search for spark plugs (eventually obtained), food, beach volleyball for the boys, outboard repair for Gary (with enabling beverage to fend off the heat) and a sort of successful engine start (would not idle). Dinner out with cruising friends of Solange, they were in an apartment which they rented while there boat was in the boatyard for repairs and general maintenance. They had a good experience which was good news for Solange as its teak decks are being removed and replaced with fibre glass. Very enjoyable relaxed evening and Kevin had recovered from the ouzo enough to enjoy a couple of beer! Back to High Five, pack and be ready for an early ride to the airport on my journey back to reality. Up early, sad goodbye to the Canadian Family Minielly and many thanks for a great trip.

Aruba to the Rocks

2010-02-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Aruba to Columbia This was a “touch and go” encounter. We arrived in the afternoon, had some beers and burgers at the beach bar/resort, the kids had a swim in the pool, and at o’ dark thirty we headed of to Los Monjes, a small group of Venezuelan islands, also known as “the rocks” and rocks they are, lonely desolate rocks, in the middle of the ocean. The Venezuelan military have built a breakwater between two of them and created a small harbor. The boats are tied to a rope tied across the bay and the Coast Guard ask you to bring them out to your boat, for the entry/inspection, since, although they are a coast guard station, they do not actually have a boat of their own. The men were very polite, and accepted a cold beer and a pack of cigarettes , while the asked us some questions about the boats equipment. We then took a short walk on the island, and at 3am, dropped our lines and headed out for a boisterous sail to Cabo de la Vela, a well protected bay on the north coast of Columbia.

Re rigging the mast

2010-02-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Bonaire and Curacao Our plan was to get to Curacao and on the morning of the 4th remove the mast and replace the standing rigging. (just preventative maintenance) Gary had ordered the shrouds in December from Florida and was assured that they would be on island in plenty of time to start work. Well……….. The first problem was that the guy that promised to remove the mast was in Holland, and the boatyards equipment was too small to lift the mast anyways. We would have to rent a crane. The yard manager (the guy in Holland) had warned us that his crane may be too small but that there were several masts to be stepped that week, and we could share the costs of a crane. Well…except that the boats were in the upper yard and the trailer/travellift was broken and…………….the shrouds were not to be found. The local shipping agent took the tracking number and said “call me back in an hour”….an hour later ”I’m not sure where your shipment is” One long distance call to Fla “It arrived in Curacao last Tuesday”…..Well 3 or 4 days later we determine that the shipment did not leave Fla on schedule and that it might be in the container that was to arrive on Fri……We left the boatyard and motored up to “Spanish Waters” an enclosed bay near the eastern end of the island and had a nice weekend. To make a long story, well less long we got our packages the following Tuesday and the crane reserved for Wed afternoon, things were looking good. The local rigger, Gijs, was able to juggle his other work around so he was available. Wed afternoon arrived, and because of some rain in the morning the crane would be delayed until the next morning. Thursday morning the “crane” somehow arrived under its own power. In Canada this windshield missing rust bucket with exposed wiring, bald tires, and an absolute ass as an operator, would have been condemned as a vehicle, let alone as a crane. But by mid morning the mast was on the saw horses and the work began. Kevin from Solange, Gary, and Gijs worked tirelessly in the hot sun and by mid day Friday the crane arrived and stepped the mast, complete with a gold 5 guilder coin in the step. By the time Bob Matthews arrived Sunday evening the boat was re rigged, provisioned , watered fueled, and ready to go. Monday morning we checked out of Curacao and sailed to Baii Santa Marta, a secluded bay with a very narrow enterance near the Western end of the island in preparation for an early morning sail to Aruba.

Cartegena

2010-01-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

We are in Cartegena, Columbia! The sailing from Aruba has been great, We will post pictures and more about the trip in a few days when we are a bit more settled.

even more pics

2010-01-01T14:04:00.001-08:00

more scuba pics

2010-01-01T14:00:00.001-08:00

Scuba pictures

2010-01-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

Bonaire

2010-01-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

For the last few days, after a quick stop in the marina for some cleaning, provisioning and laundry, we have been moored off Kralendijk, Bonaire. The whole island is surrounded by the “Bonaire National Marine Park” From the shoreline to 200 ft deep, the park encircles the island. No Anchoring is allowed, the park supplies mooring balls for $10 US/day. Only 200 ft from shore, the mooring is in about 20’ of water, under our stern the color changes to a dark blue as the sea floor drops off creating a “wall” or reef of 100’ or more, most of the island is like this, creating incredible diving opportunities. All the popular dive spots are marked with a yellow spar buoys. “Something special” is 100 yds to our north. Jumping in off the back of the boat, we have seen eels, spotted eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, and a hundred species of reef fish. http://www.bonairewebcams.com/YellowSubPierCamLarge.php This link should connect to the dive shop webcam, 200 yds to our south. By clicking on the title, with any luck,you should link with the underwater camera, 100yds north of us. Gary and Bradley Scuba dove off the boat, Wednesday, and Thursday the whole family and our friends from Solange V went to Klein Bonaire, and dove “The Forest” and “Gerry’s Sponges” Because it is a park the fish are larger and more plentiful than other places we have seen are not timid. Our underwater camera……well is more of a paperweight now so when we can we will try to post some of Kevin’s pics.

Rico

2010-01-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

more pics

2010-01-01T08:03:00.001-08:00

random pics

2009-12-30T08:06:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone the very best Christmas and a Happy New Year
From the crew of HighFive V

2009-12-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

December 2 to 10

Well the last week has flown by and we should write an account of it. We had a wonderful time in LosTestigos but as usual we must keep moving along. We had planned to depart Testigos at 0600 but when we awoke at 0530 there were a series of squalls moving over us so we waited until 0700 when most of the squalls seemed to have passed. We Motor sailed down wind the 48nm (nautical miles, which are a bit longer than a mile) to Porlamar, Isla Margarita, Venezuela. We caught 2 small Mahi mahi at the very beginning of the trip but let them go as they were small and we still had a freezer full of Wahoo. It was a hot sail as we were travelling with the wind which means there is very little apparent wind. We all sat squished together on the shady side of the boat. As we got close to Isla Margarita we saw a military looking ship heading towards us at a fast speed. We were a little nervous as we had heard a report via email that Venezuela had declared war on Columbia. We were unsure as to where Venezuela stood on foreign vessels entering their waters. The radio squacked to life with a hail of " to the 2 sailing vessels heading towards Isla Margarita" , it turned out the ship heading towards us was the Venezuelan coast guard. The radio operator asked us politely who we were and how many people we had on board. They asked a few more questions and then welcomed us to Venezuela and said if we had any problems that we were welcome to call them. This is one of the friendliest reception we have received coming into the over 20 counties we have been to. The worst reception to date is still held by the USA. We were suddenly feeling much better about our decision to come to Venezuela. As we got closer to Porlamar we were able to pick up cell phone service with the iphone. Gary called Juan Baro, a man recommended in our cruising guideand by fellow cruisers, to help with checking us in. He answered his phone and informed us where we should anchor. He would not be able to check us in until tomorrow but we would all be allowed to go to shore and he looked forward to seeing us shortly. We set our anchor up close to the "marina" and Solange anchored just in front of us. I use the Marina liberally in this instance as Juan Marina consists of a dighy dock and an office with a small store attached (they sell pop, beer and chips). Next to Juan Marina was the sailing center, they had docks with larger boats tied to them but a several of the boats were sinking. The bay had probably 30 boats anchored in it. As we looked onto the shore it was apparent that, of the tall buildings around, very few of them were completed, and work seemed to have stopped.

Juan Baro has been operating his Marina for a lot of years and he is a great resource for cruisers. He told the children to go off and play and the grown ups to pull up a chair. He said " I am going to give you a lesson and afterwards you can ask questions." So he proceeded to tell us that Margarita was a place like any other, that we had to be careful and not give "the Wolves" an opportunity to make us the victims . So we should not leave anything out on the deck of our boats, we should put or dinghies up on our boats every night and we should close our doors at night. When we are walking on the steets we should always be aware of who is around us. These precautions are no different than what people do everyday living in any city. I'm sure most of you lock your cars away in garages at night and lock your doors when you go to bed. Juan told us where we should go to change our money into Bolivars, the local currency and it wasn't at the bank. Venezuela operates with a black market so you will get a rate of exchange using it that is 2x the bank rate. So we were able to get 10Bolivars for $2US. We sat and had some beers with Juan and listened to some of his many stories. Before long the kids let us know they were hungry so we returned to our boats for the evening with the plan that we would go into town tomorrow to change our money and see what there was to see.
We decided that regular school today would be replaced by a field trip. We gathered all our ships documents and passports which we took into Juan and his assistant Tulio so they could fill out the paperwork and take it all to the appropriate authorities. Melissa, from solange, started talking with an English speaking taxi driver who turned out to be very helpful. He found a 2nd taxi as we wouldn't all fit in one and drove us to the money exchange place. To protect the innocent I will not publish where this was. He suggested we should just take the public buses from here and that Pampatar would be a good place to go as there was a fort and a church there worth seeing. We stood on the street to flag a bus and were befriended by an elderly drunk who was determined to help us find a bus. Finding a bus was not that hard as they passed by every couple of minutes and had the places they went to spray painted on the window. We figured our elderly drunk friend would want some sort of hand out but he was thrilled to just give Janine a hug and kiss her hand. He didn't smell very good but his big smile was worth it. Riding on the bus we were able take a good look at the city. It was a real mix of quite nice store fronts and shabby looking places as well. A lot of the apartment buildings don't have glass in the windows just bars. It was about a 25 minute bus ride. A couple of nice ladies got curious about us and asked where we were going. One of them would be getting off at the same stop as us so she would show us where to go. Of course this was all communicated in our limited Spanish. The bus stropped right in front of the fort so it wasn't difficult to find. we have seen a lot of forts through our travels, this fort was not that big and was in the process of being renovated so didn't rate that high on our list. The thing that always stands out when we are visiting these forts is that the visitors are able to walk anywhere they want including tall walls with huge drop offs. In any North American fort these areas are fenced off, to protect people from the danger. In all the places we have been people are expected to take responsibility for themselves. It actually is refreshing. As a parent of boys it is sometimes a little nerve wracking! A restaurant beside the fort was emitting wonderful smells, and got everyone's stomach rumbling. When we inquired about lunch they didn't open until noon and it was only just after 11, o we headed across the street to find the church. Before we found the church it was determined we needed to find el banos (washrooms) so we all traipsed into a gallery. There were paintings by a local artist on display. We got chatting with her husband who spoke English very well. He told us some stories and then informed us the church was right next door. We also asked him for a recommendation for a lunch spot. The restaurants on the beach front were his choice saying they had wonderful fish. We stopped by the church which was a nice little cathedral, but frankly I think we were all more interested in lunch. So to the beach we headed where we found a series of restaurants with tables and chairs set out on the sand. Ordering off the Spanish menu was a bit of a guessing game but with the waiters help and a platter of fish brought out from the kitchen we were able to order. The food was all delicious. Vendors kept coming by selling necklaces and bracelets. We negotiated with a vendor for a bracelet and got it for the equivalent of 3 dollars. We probably could have done better but Janine is not much of a help when it comes to negotiating.
After lunch we found a return bus to Porlamar, we stopped at a mall on the way to try and find Bradley and Tavish a pair of shorts, the shorts were ridiculously expensive. There was a McDonald's in the mall so we all had an ice cream…yum!
We found our way back to Jaun marina. He had told us we must be back by 3pm to complete our check in, so when we got there at 2:45, we were not suprised that the new time for going to the authorities was 4pm. We sat, had a cold beer, and chatted with some other cruisers while the kids were introduced by Jaun to a 5 week old puppy that he has. Of course the begging started to take the dog with us. The answer was a very firm no with a stern look thrown at Jaun. He told the kids that since their parents were so mean he would keep the dog but he asked the kids to name the dog, that way he would always be partly theirs.
At 4pm Gary and Kevin went with Jaun and Tulio to complete our check in. they were gone for about 4 minutes. Pretty painless.

Fridays Jaun Marina has a bus that takes cruisers to a shopping mall with a large grocery store. The five of us and the Solange crew got on the bus at 9:15 and headed off to the mall. The grocery store was huge. There were some familiar brands but they were twice the price of the local equivalent so we deciphered the Spanish labels and had a shopping cart that was over flowing by the time we reached the check out. We were thrilled to have the total come to half the price this amount would cost us anywhere else. It would have been good to buy more at these prices but already I don't know where we are going to put all this food on the boat. We wondered through the mall to find Bradley and Tavish some shorts as they left Vancouver with one pair each and these shorts have fallen apart. We were successful. The prices were good. Our stomachs informed us it was lunch time. There was a cafeteria in the mall where all the locals were lined up so we joined the cue. The food was fantastic! There was your choice between 5 or 6 different main courses including roast chicken, roast pork, and skirt steak. You could then choose 2 sides which included lasagna, rice, another pasta dish and 5 or 6 different salads. When we got all our choices to the table it looked like a thanksgiving feast. Unfortunately our bus was leaving in 20 minutes so we had to eat quickly.
The rest of the afternoon was spent stowing away the food, filling the water tanks and various other boat chores. Jaun Marina has happy hour at 5 pm so we headed in for that. This was also when we had to complete our checking out procedures, collect our laundry and our filled propane tanks. From Isla Margarita we will be heading to the out islands of Venezuela where there is not access to any supplies.
The Sailing center, next to Jaun Marina was hosting a cruiser appreciation night with free drinks, food and live music. They do this once a year and it just happened to coincide with us being here. What luck! We met a bunch of cruisers, a lot of them had been in Isla Margarita for a several of years. It was fun, the parents having a great time but the kids got hungry and it didn't look like any food would be served until quite late. So off we went to the boats to feed the hungry offspring.
There had not been a lot of actual school work done over the last few days so although it was Saturday the kids had to get some school time in. After school the kids and Janine went to say good bye to the puppy. The kids had picked the name "Rico" for him. Jaun thought this was a great name. In Spanish it has 2 meanings; rich and also tasty. In the afternoon we went to the beach with Solange. The beach had a bunch of restaurant shacks serving oysters and beer. No oysters were had by us.
We were all in bed by 9pm as it was going to be an early departure tomorrow. The music coming from the bars on the beach was really loud but fortunately it stopped by midnight.
The alarm went off at 0430. By 0500 we were underway heading down the South side of Isla Margarita. The mainsail was up but we were motorsailing with the wind behind us. The seas were so calm there was no motion to the boat. It felt odd as the anchorage in Porlamar was quite rolly. It is often referred to as Roll-amar by other cruisers. We cleared the end of Isla Margarita at about 1000h and the seas and wind picked up. It became a romping good sail in large seas doing 9 to 12 knots. High Five felt like she had her racing shoes on.
We arrived at Playa Cardero, Tortuga at 1700h. There were 2 other boats in the anchorage and a few fishing boats. It was a lovely bay with a beautiful sunset.
Although the next morning was a school day, the usual apathy was replaced by a great motivation to get the school work done. The kids were eager to try boogie boarding on the windward side of the island. Unfortunately when we got there the shore was too rocky. We had a nice walk around the point. We had lunch on the boats and then weighed anchor at 1300h headed to Cayo Herradura. It was a nice 2 ½ hour sail. The fishing line raced out when we were just heading out but it turned out to be a large Barracuda. We don't eat these as they can carry a toxin that is very bad for people. Besides that they have big ugly teeth and we think eating them would be bad Karma.
Our depth sounder and gps decided to take a holiday when we were entering cayo Herradura. Fortunately the water is crystal clear and the lighting was good so we could see the bottom clearly in 60 feet of water. There were a few more boats anchored here and the fishing camp seemed quite large. We set the anchor and went to snorkel on it. It was nicely buried in the soft sand bottom. Gary and the kids went to the beach. They came back immediately for the boogie boards saying it is an awesome beach for boogie boarding.
We had sundowners on solange. When we got back to our boat Bradley and Tavish started doing their school work while dinner was cooking! They decided they could do school work after dark but they couldn't boogie board then. If they got most of their work done tonight they would be able to go boogie boarding sooner in the morning. Wow imagine how much school work would get done if there were pretty girls going boogie boarding!
The next morning Tavish was finished school by 0830h, so he and Gary went to the beach. The rest of us joined them by 1000h. We all had a great time surfing the waves on the boogie boards. This is a beautiful spot with a calm anchorage clear blue water and soft powdery sand. By 1300h we had worn ourselves out and needed lunch so headed back to the boats.
After lunch the kids rigged our hammocks up on the boom and swung the boom out to the side so the hammocks were hanging over the water. The boys from Solange came over and they had a ton of fun swinging in the hammocks and off the halyard.
That night we grabbed a couple hours sleep before getting up at 2300h to head to Los Roques.
When we woke up the wind was howling through the anchorage. We decided to stick our noses out because the wind was probably just accelerating over the land. Getting out of the bay was a bit tricky as 3 sail boats had anchored behind us while we were there. We couldn't follow our track from coming in and our depth sounder is still on vacation. Solange had trouble with their windlass (the winch that pulls up the anchor) so we spun around in circles avoiding boats and the bottom while we waited for them.
Once we got underway the wind was blowing about 17 to 20 knots. We were travelling under reefed mainsail. The seas were quite confused with a swell of 6 to 8 feet and a wind chop of 4 to 6 feet. The motion of the boat was awful. Hand steering in these conditions was exhausting. By 6 in the morning the wind had eased a bit which at this slower speed made the motion of the boat so bad Janine felt ill even when she was steering. Gary came up at 0745h and we unfurled the jib, this increased our boat speed by 2 knots to 9 knots and made a huge difference to the motion of the boat. It felt like it was cutting through the water instead of wallowing in the waves. We arrived at our entry into Los Roques just before noon. The cut through the reef was quite narrow with the swell crashing on the shore on either side. It was fairly obvious by the colour of the water where to keep the boat. Once inside the reef the scene was incredible! I don't think we could do justice to the beauty of it with words. The water is shockingly blue in every shade you can imagine, we have never seen so many shades of blue in our lives.. It might be like living in the blue section of paint samples at Benjamin Moore, but the whole section is glowing. We had to be mindful to watch for the shoals but we were completely transfixed by the vividness of the water, and the shoals were very easy to see.
We anchored behind a mangrove island called Buchiyaco. There was a nice breeze to keep the boat cool and the seas were flat because we were behind the large outlying reef.
Janine decided to try her hand at bread making. It all went well until it was time to bake it. When she turned the oven on it made a funny noise and upon further investigation she found flames shooting out the bottom of the oven. Not good! Gary and Bradley were off snorkeling so she shut all the propane off and hoped the bread wasn't ruined. Luckily Solange were kind enough to bake the bread in their oven. It didn't rise as high as it should but everyone said it was delicious. As for the oven it was just a loose connection that once tightened had the oven working perfectly again.
After a resrfull night, We moved from Buchiyaco to another spot a few miles down where there is a blue hole in the reef. Yet another brilliant shade of blue. The snorkeling was good with some vibrant coral and lots of big fish. Our depth sounder seems to be broken not just on holiday. The water here is very clear so we are guesstimating how deep it is…so far so good.
Mostly the bottom is soft sand that grabs and holds the anchor tight the first time.
The tradewinds continue to blow at about 20 to 25 knots which keeps the boat nice and cool.

PS We are posting this through e-mail, and the sat phone. We will post pictures after christmas when we are able to get internet.

Boogie Boarding in Testigos

2009-12-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

Tuesday December 1st, 2009 Today, as usual, when we got up we did our school. Once we were done that, we went for a snorkel, it was pretty interesting, the water was crystal clear and we saw a huge puffer fish! When we got back to the boat we had some lunch and loaded the dinghy up with all our boogie boards and skim board, getting ready to go to the beach on the windward shore with Solange. Once everyone was ready we went to shore in the dinghy. Solange was already there waiting for us, ready to walk across to the other side of the island. We walked up the hill and asked one of the locals where the path was, it`s a really good thing that dad speaks a bit of Spanish. The walk to the beach wasn`t too hard but flip flops may not have been the best choice. When we hit sand everyone started to get a bit more excited, but it was nothing compared to when we finally saw the waves crashing onto the beach. All the kids ran down the hill, kicked off our shoes and sunglasses and sprinted for the waves. It was so much fun, we were there for hours, boogie boarding and body surfing. At one point a spotted eagle ray glided past, but we didn`t get to see it jump. We were all a bit disappointed when it was time to leave. As always, the walk back to the boat was much shorter and easier. When we got back to the boat we jumped in and soaped up to rinse the sand off, mum started cooking dinner because Solange was coming over to attempt at putting a dent in the crazy amount of Wahoo in our freezer. The rest of us started getting the boat ready to sail in the morning. Dinner with Solange is always fun, so we had a good time. When they left we finished getting the boat ready to sail and went to bed. It was a really fun day. Bradley

Play Time

2009-12-05T09:28:00.001-08:00

Hiking to the Testigos Grande Light

2009-12-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Monday November 30th ( mostly overcast with periods of heavy rain) We decided with the cooler weather this would be a great day to hike up to the light. The Mountain it is on top of is 807ft high. We set out at 9:30am. The vegetation in this part of the world is dramatically different from Grenada. Grenada is lush with topical jungle. Here it is arid with short scrubby trees and cacti. Along the way we saw iguanas and small lizards. The hike took about 2 hours round trip and if it had been a sunny day I don’t think we would have made it. The last 25 feet were terrifying for those of us afraid of heights ( Janine and Kevin). I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Grenada to Los Testigos,Venezuela

2009-12-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

November 29 Grenada to Los Testigos For Gary and Janine the day started very early at 0030h . We weighed anchor and hoisted the mainsail and headed southwest at 270 degrees. Solange had headed out an hour ahead of us as their boat tends to be a bit slower than ours. We could see their stern light on the horizon. The moon was 80% full so there was lots of light to see by. The first 2 hours of the trip were spent crossing the Reindeer Shoals. This is a shallow bank extending out from Grenada. When the water is shallow the waves tend to be steeper and closer together. Also the wind was almost directly behind us and too light to really fill the sail, this allows the boom to flop back and forth with the roll of the boat. It was noisy and rolly for the first few hours which was Janine’s watch, the moon was huge and bright shining on the water and even with the brightness there were still lots of shooting stars visible. As we approached the edge of the bank the lights of several fishing boats could be seen. The moon went down as a gorgeous orange ball at 3:20am which is when we cleared the Reindeer shoal and coincidently was when Gary started his shift. Janine came back up at 6:20 to find the sun and Tavish were both up. Gary and Tavish had set the fishing lines and we were sailing along without the aid of the engine. We started to see some flying fish, which are so cool. For those of you who haven’t seen one they are like a cross between a dragon fly and a fish, that rocket out of the water usually at the bow of the boat and fly across the surface sometimes for several hundred feet. Janine crying out about the flying fish brought Richard up from below. This was a good thing as Richard is more interested in the fishing lines than Tavish or Janine. As we sailed along at great speeds (we hit 11.5knots) Richard noticed a fish leap out of the water by the fishing lines. It was a Mahi and it bit our hand line! We were over the moon excited! We have been trying to catch a Mahi since Florida and had decided they were fictitious. We were able to land a beautiful 18 inch Mahi mahi! We let Solange know dinner would be on our boat tonight. Things went quietly along for quite a while. It got a bit more exciting when our course and a freighters’ crossed but we took some evasive action and watched it go by. As we approached the islands of Los Testigos a skip jack tuna hit our hand land. While we were pulling it in our fishing rod took off with something big on it. We were able to land the skip Jack but lost the fish on the rod.Then WAM! A big fish hit our other hand line! The excitement was incredible, we had a huge Wahoo on the hand line. Meanwhile the Skipjack was thrashing around the cockpit splattering blood everywhere. We were able to to land the Wahoo. Our technique for killing fish is to pour strong cheap alcohol into their gills. On this occasion we had 151 proof rum for the fish. It killed the Mahi instantly but for some reason it did not work on the tuna and Wahoo. They would seem dead but a few minutes later would start thrashing about causing blood to fly all over the cockpit and the crew of High Five to yell and jump around trying to avoid the blood and flopping fish. You have to remember we are still sailing towards the islands of Los Testigos and being set to leeward (towards the shore with the waves crashing on it) by the current. Gary cut off the tuna’s head so it was now dead. He then stuck a knife through the wahoo’s head which killed it as well. There was already so much blood coverint the cockpit this massacre didn’t really matter. The next hour was spent cutting (using a machete and 2 fillet knives) up approximately 40lbs of fish while sailing into a new group of islands. We didn’t see a lot of the scenery. We did notice that there were a lot of Frigate birds, so many that on the side of the mountain they looked like a swarm of bees. We managed to get all of the fish butchered and sealed in ziplocks just before we entered the anchorage. Thank goodness we bought the 12 volt Engel deep freezer or we wouldn’t have anywhere to put all the fish. We set our anchor just behind Solange at the island named Testigos Grande. There were about 6 other boats in the anchorage, most of them were French. We spent some time scrubbing the blood out of the cockpit and had a quick bite to eat. It was now about 2pm, we headed off to Isla Iguana, where the Costa Guarda had their office, so we could check in to Venezuela. This went very smoothly, thanks to Gary’s ability to speak some Spanish. We met the crew from Solange on the beach of Testigo Grande. We were walking down the beach saying “Ola” to the few local people we met. Truth be known we were searching for cold beer. We were approached by a man who was clearly not a local as he had light skin and red hair and spoke with a French accent. He very kindly gave us a quick tour of the local village, introducing us to the local villagers who are mostly all one extended family consisting of about 25 to 30 people. He tried to track down some beer for us but it seemed the island had run out of beer. We did see the Lagoon which is currently dry, 2 monkeys (one bites so you have to be careful), the trail that leads up the mountain and the trail that leads to a beach on the other side of the island. Our tour guide’s name was Mano, he has a lovely wife named Gabby who is Venezuelan, and a beautiful 3 month old daughter. Their daughter was born on Isla Margarita. They live on a 28 foot wooden boat called DUNE. After our tour and introductions we returned to our boat and cooked the Mahi, our skipjack tuna and a skipjack tuna Solange had caught for a delicious potluck dinner. It was a beautiful sunset, in a gorgeous place with great company and fresh fish.

2009-12-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

Grenada to Los Testigos,Venezuela

November 29 Grenada to Los Testigos
For Gary and Janine the day started very early at 0030h . We weighed anchor and hoisted the mainsail and headed southwest at 270 degrees. Solange had headed out an hour ahead of us as their boat tends to be a bit slower than ours. We could see their stern light on the horizon. The moon was 80% full so there was lots of light to see by. The first 2 hours of the trip were spent crossing the Reindeer Shoals. This is a shallow bank extending out from Grenada. When the water is shallow the waves tend to be steeper and closer together. Also the wind was almost directly behind us and too light to really fill the sail, this allows the boom to flop back and forth with the roll of the boat. It was noisy and rolly for the first few hours which was Janine's watch, the moon was huge and bright shining on the water and even with the brightness there were still lots of shooting stars visible. As we approached the edge of the bank the lights of several fishing boats could be seen. The moon went down as a gorgeous orange ball at 3:20am which is when we cleared the Reindeer shoal and coincidently was when Gary started his shift.
Janine came back up at 6:20 to find the sun and Tavish were both up. Gary and Tavish had set the fishing lines and we were sailing along without the aid of the engine.
We started to see some flying fish, which are so cool. For those of you who haven't seen one they are like a cross between a dragon fly and a fish, that rocket out of the water usually at the bow of the boat and fly across the surface sometimes for several hundred feet. Janine crying out about the flying fish brought Richard up from below. This was a good thing as Richard is more interested in the fishing lines than Tavish or Janine. As we sailed along at great speeds (we hit 11.5knots) Richard noticed a fish leap out of the water by the fishing lines. It was a Mahi and it bit our hand line! We were over the moon excited! We have been trying to catch a Mahi since Florida and had decided they were fictitious. We were able to land a beautiful 18 inch Mahi mahi! We let Solange know dinner would be on our boat tonight.
Things went quietly along for quite a while. It got a bit more exciting when our course and a freighters' crossed but we took some evasive action and watched it go by. As we approached the islands of Los Testigos a skip jack tuna hit our hand land. While we were pulling it in our fishing rod took off with something big on it. We were able to land the skip Jack but lost the fish on the rod.Then WAM! A big fish hit our other hand line! The excitement was incredible, we had a huge Wahoo on the hand line. Meanwhile the Skipjack was thrashing around the cockpit splattering blood everywhere. We were able to to land the Wahoo.
Our technique for killing fish is to pour strong cheap alcohol into their gills. On this occasion we had 151 proof rum for the fish. It killed the Mahi instantly but for some reason it did not work on the tuna and Wahoo. They would seem dead but a few minutes later would start thrashing about causing blood to fly all over the cockpit and the crew of High Five to yell and jump around trying to avoid the blood and flopping fish. You have to remember we are still sailing towards the islands of Los Testigos and being set to leeward (towards the shore with the waves crashing on it) by the current. Gary cut off the tuna's head so it was now dead. He then stuck a knife through the wahoo's head which killed it as well. There was already so much blood coverint the cockpit this massacre didn't really matter. The next hour was spent cutting (using a machete and 2 fillet knives) up approximately 40lbs of fish while sailing into a new group of islands. We didn't see a lot of the scenery. We did notice that there were a lot of Frigate birds, so many that on the side of the mountain they looked like a swarm of bees. We managed to get all of the fish butchered and sealed in ziplocks just before we entered the anchorage. Thank goodness we bought the 12 volt Engel deep freezer or we wouldn't have anywhere to put all the fish.
We set our anchor just behind Solange at the island named Testigos Grande. There were about 6 other boats in the anchorage, most of them were French. We spent some time scrubbing the blood out of the cockpit and had a quick bite to eat. It was now about 2pm, we headed off to Isla Iguana, where the Costa Guarda had their office, so we could check in to Venezuela. This went very smoothly, thanks to Gary's ability to speak some Spanish.
We met the crew from Solange on the beach of Testigo Grande. We were walking down the beach saying "Ola" to the few local people we met. Truth be known we were searching for cold beer. We were approached by a man who was clearly not a local as he had light skin and red hair and spoke with a French accent. He very kindly gave us a quick tour of the local village, introducing us to the local villagers who are mostly all one extended family consisting of about 25 to 30 people. He tried to track down some beer for us but it seemed the island had run out of beer. We did see the Lagoon which is currently dry, 2 monkeys (one bites so you have to be careful), the trail that leads up the mountain and the trail that leads to a beach on the other side of the island. Our tour guide's name was Mano, he has a lovely wife named Gabby who is Venezuelan, and a beautiful 3 month old daughter. Their daughter was born on Isla Margarita. They live on a 28 foot wooden boat called DUNE.
After our tour and introductions we returned to our boat and cooked the Mahi, our skipjack tuna and a skipjack tuna Solange had caught for a delicious potluck dinner. It was a beautiful sunset, in a gorgeous place with great company and fresh fish.

preparing to move on

2009-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

We have spent the last couple weeks continuing to get the boat ready to do what it is supposed to do, sail across bodies of water. The weather has provided us with a good window so we will be leaving Grenada Saturday night and sailing to Los Testigos, Venezuela. It will be about a 10 hour passage. We need to leave here after midnight in order to arrive in good daylight. We will be traveling with a boat called Solange, a family with 2 boys ages 11 and 12. They are from Courtenay BC. We are currently anchored in Prickly Bay. It is a busy anchorage, where we have been able to meet up with lots of other cruising boats. The last few days have been very busy, besides fixing things on the boat, we have tried to stock the boat with enough food to last for the next month as the out islands of Venezuela do not have any amenities. If Bradley and Tavish want to eat more than we have they will have to catch fish! We can only physically put so much food on this boat! We have been able to make time for some fun. There was a dinner for American Thanksgiving on the 26th where everyone brought a side dish. There were 60 cruisers gathered so a good time was had by all. Thanksgiving is fun with rum punch! Gary and Janine also went out with Kevin and Melissa, from the boat Solange, for a cheap but delicious curry dinner. The restaurant was the families house and as we ate our dinner off styrofom plates they watched indian soap operas on the TV over our heads. DE BIG FISH is the restaurant close to where we are anchored they had a live R&B band playing the other afternoon. The lead guitarist/singer is a chiropractor from Vancouver who has relocated to Grenada. The band was great! They played a lot of Muddy Waters, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. People were grooving and dancing. There has also been a lot of jumping off the boat and swimming, especially by the kids.

Welcome to Grenada

2009-11-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is out of order, we have finally got around to writing. Our first morning in Grenada, we all slept until 11 am on Monday morning(7 am pst). It was a beautiful sunny day when I opened the curtains, and yes we were facing onto the most beautiful beach in Grenada. I could see some sail boats anchored out in one of our favourite anchorages. We caught a taxi to Grenada Marine in St David’s where High Five V was waiting for us. It is about a 25 minute drive from the hotel. When we got to the marina we didn’t see our boat right away, there were a lot of boats in the yard. We decided to get some lunch while it was being served. The chicken roti here is very good! After lunch we wandered around the yard looking for High Five, you would think finding a 46 foot boat would be easy. After 30 minutes of wandering around in the hot sun we found her buried behind 4 other boats. We were excited, and the boat could be heard breathing a sigh of relief when her family returned to her. We climbed up the saw horse and ladder and unlocked the door. On first look she looked pretty good. Once we looked closer we could see all the evidence of the mouse party that had taken place in our absence. Now you may wonder how mice could get onto a boat that is locked up tight and not touching the ground except for steel frames that it is sitting on. Well in Grenada one of the things done to protect the boats during a hurricane is they are strapped down to cement blocks buried in the ground. These straps act as highways to the boat for rodents and insects. A hatch or port must have been left open at some point (workers were coming in and out) and the mice found their party place. We have a theory that they got into the coffee first and once they were all hopped up on caffeine they attacked the styrofom parrot because it was looking at them sternly. They ate the tortilla chips which made them a bit thirsty so they ran all over the tops of the water tanks because it smelled like water (there are 3 water tanks under the floors throughout the boat). They chewed any containers with moisturizer in it, and the tetra packs of old French Rabbit red wine did not make their judgment any better. They got a nasty shock when they bit the stash of spare batteries which caused much defecation. We think one of the last things they ate was the 10 packages of roach killer. This made them very thirsty and they wobbled off the boat forgetting about that very large step to the ground. So we are left to clean up after the mouse party, as well as, do all the rest of the very long list of things to be done before the boat can float again. We decided renting a car would be the most efficient way to get to and from the boat and to all the stores we would need to visit. This is also the most adrenaline producing means of travel we could find. Grenada is a left hand drive country, there are no sidewalks on 99% of the roads and the roads are about as wide as a single lane in North America. Janine is Right Left dyslexic so you will be happy to know there was no way she was going to attempt driving. In fact she preferred have a stiff drink before getting into the car. For some reason every time we started to drive back to the hotel it coincided with school dismissal. So take narrow roads with cars going really fast (because the locals all seem to only have 2 speeds, stopping and going fast) and send schools full of small children looking lovely in their uniforms out to walk along the non existent sidewalks. The roads here make the old SEA TO Sky highway look straight. Every corner seems to have a cement truck or a flat bed truck with workers hanging off it coming around it. But surprisingly enough there are very few car crashes. We were told there have been only 4 fatal crashes this year. Really amazing given the number of cliffs! So we settled into a routine of getting up around 7:30 stopping at various stores to support the local economy, getting to the boat around 10 and working like dogs until 3:30 or 4 when we would climb into the Suzuki ( same car as Sue) Vitara and thrill ride our way back to the hotel, dodging school children and trucks, for a swim in the pool. Usually Gary and Janine would head out to get some food while the kids chose to stay in the air conditioned hotel room and get their last fill of cable TV. We found a great Sushi restaurant that had a pizza restaurant next door. So we could have some sushi and order the pizza to be ready to take back to the kids when we were finished. Except for the hours of sweat spent scrubbing the boat it was a like a vacation.

Travelling to Grenada

2009-11-23T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well after weeks of organizing, sorting and packing we managed to squeeze all the things we had acquired to take to the boat into 10 bags to be checked and a couple carry-ons each. Only 2 of the bags were overweight. Kate Douglas and her son Robert kindly gave our luggage and some of us a ride to the airport. The rest of us got a ride with Grandma (Ladora). The checking in process was very easy, Westjet took our word on the weights of the bags so we didn’t have to worry about the accuracy of the bathroom scales we had been using. Grandma treated us to dinner at the Milestones at YVR, thanks again. Going through security we discovered we had broken a few rules. I had a tube of toothpaste that was a large tube that had a very little amount in it and Gary had mistakenly left a knife in his backpack. We shuffled some stuff around and Gary went to check one more bag. This cost us some money but lightened all of our carry on bags. It wasn’t long before we were settled into our seats on the plane, we were all very excited but new this would one of our only chances to sleep in the next 20 hours. The plane took off at 11pm. Now why do people keep their lights on and read during an entire night flight? Isn’t the point of a night flight to sleep while you travel? Wouldn’t you look around and see every other person on the plane is snuggled in to sleep and think “ wow maybe my light is bothering all these people trying to sleep”. OK that is enough ranting. I don’t think any of us slept very well. We arrived in Toronto at 6am EST (3am PST) bleary eyed but still excited. We grabbed breakfast while we waited for the next flight. We watched our luggage get loaded onto our Westjet flight to St Lucia and were relieved to see all 11 pieces! We hadn’t reserved seats on this flight so we ended up at the back of the plane, but were all able to sit together. The flight went well with just a bit of turbulence to keep it interesting. All of us but Bradley were able to grab pieces of sleep. Once we got down over the Caribbean Islands it was fun to try and recognize the islands by their geographic characteristics. Monserat was the easiest as it was smoking. We landed in St Lucia at 2:10pm, immediately after walking out the door of the plane that warm tropical air envelopes you. Oh it felt and smelt so good! Our flight arrived at the same time as a 747 from Europe, so the customs line up was really long. Fortunately a nice customs officer sent us to the “family” booth with no lineup as we were travelling with children. This is something we have experienced often while travelling with kids. Canada customs should take note. If you have never been to St Lucia, I should explain, St Lucia has an international airport and a domestic airport and they built them at opposite ends of the country. Economically it makes sense as a taxi must be hired to drive people from one airport to the other. This deposits about $100.00US into the local economy. It also allows the traveler to see some of St Lucia and possibly stop for a drink or a bite to eat along the way depositing more into the local economy. The problem with this system is you need to have enough time between your flight connections to allow for the hour and half taxi ride. Fortunately we had time for both the taxi ride and a stop for a cold drink. We had pre arranged for our taxi before leaving Vancouver and made sure he had a vehicle large enough to accommodate all 11 of our bags. This went amazingly well. Upon reaching the domestic airport we had to check all our bags which was a bit expensive. Liat airlines only allows 1 bag per person and charges a hefty fee for extra bags. We knew this was the case but it was still the cheapest way to get all the gear to the boat. Liat couldn’t guarantee all our bags would make it on to our flight but said that they would get there some time. What can you do but smile and hope for the best? It was a 30 min flight to St Vincent where we waited for 2 ½ hour for our flight to Grenada. I was nervous about this flight actually happening as Liat is well known for planes not arriving when they are supposed to. We had now been traveling for 20 hours with very little sleep and not much food since breakfast in Toronto. In our family the potential for people to start falling apart at this point is huge. I am happy to report that everyone held up incredibly well. As parents we couldn’t have been more proud of our kids, they are hardy seasoned travelers. Our flight showed up at 9pm and took 30 min to reach Grenada…our final destination by air! A miracle occurred! All our bags arrived with us! Customs was a little sticky but they let us go with a small donation to the local economy. We grabbed a cab to get to the hotel and picked up some dinner to go on the way. I had booked the hotel rooms on a site called skyauction. I had never used this site before and was nervous if it would actually work. I am happy to report that it all went smoothly our rooms were ready and waiting for us with killer views of the best beach in Genada. Or at least as good as the view can be at 10:30pm but the tree frogs sounded awesome. We had now been traveling for 2 4 hours and were ready to collapse.

2009-11-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

All polished and painted

2009-11-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

2009-11-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

First coat of paint is on. There is a paint shortage, so only the
second coat will be blue.

2009-11-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

We are here!

The Countdown

2009-10-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

It is 1 week until we leave Vancouver. People keep asking me if I`m excited. On one level I am but it is way over shadowed by the long list and piles of stuff that need to be taken care of in the next 7 days of which I am working 2 so that leaves me 5 days! Yikes! Luckily I am not doing this on my own. The High Five crew is getting back into working together as a team. The boys are actully a lot of help, a big improvement from when we left in 2007. I would write more but the lists aren`t getting shorter and the piles of stuff actually seem to be growing. Gotta Go!

Getting Out of the Freakin' Cold

2009-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

We are leaving on November the 7th. All of us are so excited to go back to the warmth. Has anyone noticed that it is getting cold again? I most certainly have. Walking to school in the morning is freezing, and i can't just run for 3 minutes to the elementary school. It takes 20 minutes to walk to school and I can't run it because it is all up hill, (and I don't really want to run that far). Anyways, life is pretty good, high school is fun,(I know at least half the people in my grade and they all think that Bradley is me!) Richard is enjoying his school as well but will be incredibly happy when we leave. Richard has started a climatization process, he is wearing warm clothes so that when we get to the tropics he will not be to hot. The cool part of it is that it's working, the other day he wore pants and a sweater in 24 degree heat and was not overheating. Talk Later -Tavish

school's out

2009-07-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

WOOO HOOO!!!!!!! No more school until september! It's way warmer here now than when I last posted, it's 25 degrees most days all we're wearing is shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. our time in vancouver isn't total hell, it's actually really nice, we've made a bunch of new friends and they're all super nice. we're enjoying our summer here.

Summer Time

2009-06-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

It is finally summer time in vancouver! School is out and we left with a huge water fight and an awesome dance. Bradley and I are going to Kits High in September and are very excited about that, and Richard is going back to False Creek for Grade 6.

We don't have a whole lot planned for summer, Bradley and I are going to do some diving and are hoping to join the sailing team at RVYC, we are also going to take Bronze 4, (You learn to use a Spinnaker). Richard doesn't have anything that I know of planned but he might do Bronze 4 with Bradley and I.

Later this month we might go up to shuswap lake to our cabin with our cousins but we are not used to planning quite that far ahead.

Anyways, that is all I know so far.

Bye

-Tavish

HI, FROM BRAD

2009-04-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

HI ALL,

I HAVEN'T PUT ANYTHING UP HERE FOR A WHILE NOW.

We're all in school now (my brothers and I), we're enjoying it. Track season just started and I'm looking forward to it. It's starting to get warmer here in Vancouver (10-15 degrees C) not as warm as I'd prefer but it'll have to do. Talk to ya later,

Brad

one year later

2009-04-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe that a year ago Sue and Steve joined us on High Five in the BVI. They returned the hospitality last weekend and generously shared Steve's condo at whistler with us.

It was a great weekend made even better by Sue's daughter Hilary and her friend Dylan. Saturday we skied in fresh snow as it snowed all day. We may not have sea legs anymore but our ski legs felt very rusty!! We mostly skied cruiser runs on Blackcomb Mountain and saw each other getting more comfortable and improving through the day. We took a ride on the Peak to Peak gondola over to Whistler Mountain after lunch. This is the longest unsupported cable gondola in the world. In the middle of the ride Gary says " I would hate to have to do an air evacuation off of this." Seconds after the words were out of his mouth the gondola stopped!!! We were 1400 feet above the valley below, with the gondola car slowly bouncing with the cable. We couldn't believe Gary said that out loud. After what seemed like an hour but in reality was only five minutes the gondola commenced moving again and we all breathed a sigh of relief as the gondola moved to where it was only 50 feet off the ground.

We spent the rest of the day skiing Whistler Mountain until our legs were jelly.

We were a quiet crew on Saturday night, but the kids did muster enough energy to walk into Whistler Village for some famous Cows ice cream.

It snowed all night and we awoke Sunday morning to glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky..a skiers dream day. We lathered our faces with sunscreen and hit the slopes! It was an amazing day. We were all more comfortable on our skiis and were able to take on some more challenging terrain. At the end of the day we rewarded ourselves with some cold beverages on the patio at the top of whistler. Beer was excellent, the scenery breath taking and the company fantastic.

We returned to the condo to pack up, have some dinner and hit the highway back to Vancouver. On the ride home our faces all had big smiles remembering what a great time we had.

Thank you Sue and Steve for great weekend!

We added some links

2009-03-15T13:46:00.001-07:00

We have added some links to blogs belonging to people we have met along the way. Maybe it will give you adventures to read about until we can resume our travels. We know it helps us on cold, wet days to read about our friends in warm places.

Gary has commenced work on a new movie and Janine continues to work at Children's Hospital. We are living close enough to the hospital that she is able to walk to work and get some exercise in the process. The kids are enjoying their new school and have met some nice friends. The community center across the park has open gym with youth workers after school so the boys are working on their floor hockey and billiards skills. Bradley and Tavish have recommenced springboard diving and Janine has to hold her breathe with each dive! It is Springbreak in Vancouver this week so the boys and Janine will try to have some local adventures.

Hi from Richard

2009-03-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hi I'm at the False Creek Community Centre with Bradley and Tavish's friends but we are going home soon,Bye!!

January in Vancouver

2009-02-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of January in Vancouver

tag

2009-02-08T12:00:00.001-08:00

Hello from Richard (again)

2009-02-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

HI everybody we are staying at grandma and grandpa's condo in false creek and we are going to stay here untill further notice. ps bradley and tavish are in real school. sorry to be brief love Richard

Hello from Richard

2008-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody! Just thought I should update you on were we are are and what we are doing. We are still living at the Cooks house but are going to go to N. Van over the christmas holidays Bye

Hello from Richard

2008-11-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hello to everybody! Incase you didn't know I am currently taking Tae Kwon Do lessons at a place called Trancending Martial Arts. I have learnt a lot and have recently broken a board!!!

Hi Everybody

2008-08-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone it's Brad. we're in the the middle of sailing lessons, but we get the weekend off so we're staying at the Cooks (Jim Tam James and Aidan)for the weekend, they're a lot of fun. Anyway I just thought i'd tell you where we were and what we were doing. Talk to ya later, Brad

We're back

2008-07-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone this is Brad! After a very,very long flight we arrived at midnight (vancouver time, 3:00 am E.C. time) on the 25th. Grandma & Grandpa were there to pick us up and we're staying at their place for a couple of days. We're at the Grandparents place now and excited to see everyone. Talk to ya later Brad!

Turtles (click for link)

2008-07-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

We toured to Levera Beach at the north end of the island twice, trying to see a nesting leatherback turtle. The second time we were rewarded with a 5 1/2 foot turtle crawling up the beach to select a nest site. Once the turtle started digging she seemed unconcerned with the humans standing around watching and the researchers let us approach very close. Unfortunatly this mom-to-be chose an area that was a bit wet and the nest kept caving in on her as she was digging. After trying 4 times and being out of the ocean for about 90 min she gave up and headed back into the surf, to try again another night. We then collected ourselves and headed back to the marina. The kids, were so excited about seeing the turtle, none slept on the way back. It was 3am before everyone was in bed.

Justice on the frontier (click here for Gouyave website)

2008-07-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we all travelled back to the scene of the crime to get case numbers, and talk to the Sgt etc. Expecting North American efficency we were slow to realise that the 4 guys in the jail cell were our robbers. After an hour or so of "processing" for them and lunch for us, Denny and I were in an office with the police, the 4 guys and most (but not yet all) of our stuff. The court date is next Monday and the police were apologetic that it would be so long. While we were there one of the young men's memory improved and two officers stepped out and returned with a satt phone and a pair of binoculars. It turns out that Gouyave is not such a bad place after all. We will report after our court date.

Trouble in Paradise

2008-07-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone is OK Friday night another boat,(Salt and Light) and ourselves were broken into by theives. We were anchored off a small town in Northern Grenada to attend the "Fish Friday Celebration" While we were in town somebody broke into both boats and stole our computers, IPods, satphone, cameras, binoculars. They messed the place up really bad. Actually the kids rooms did not look that much different. Although everyone was upset it is only stuff, no one was ever in danger. We cannot let a few "tiefs" ruin an otherwise beautiful country. Unfortunatly with all our communications and pictures gone or blog updates will be even less frequent. We will be back in Vancouver the 25th of July and look forward to seeing everyone.

St Lucia to Tobago Cays

2008-06-13T10:10:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, our whole St Lucia experience was only 12 hours long, we pulled into Marigot bay, in the late afternoon, had a swim, a beer, dinner, and a good nights sleep before heading off early the next morning for St Vincent. Marigot Bay is an absolutely beautiful setting. It is a deeply indented harbour so is very sheltered with steep hills coming right out of the water. It seems to be a rather exclusive area. We didn’t feel we could afford the time here as our weather reports indicated Tropical wave formations off the coast of Africa therefore we felt we should be moving further south closer to the southern end of the hurricane zone. Our visit to St Vincent was even shorter, sailing along the western shore, we ducked into Wallilabou bay just after lunch, to see the set from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. This is the scene in the beginning of the movie where the pirate skeletons are hanging in the arch and Jack Sparrows sad little boat sinks. The dock and some of the town are still standing, as well the rock arch is impressive. By nightfall we were safely anchored in Bequia. Port Elizabeth in Admiralty Bay Bequia, is a typical West Indian town, complete with produce market, taxi stand , a bunch of rum shops, restaurants, internet cafes, and a couple of dive operations. Port Elizabeth also has a couple of reasonably well stocked boat stores, so a few boat parts were able to be had. We visited the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, where they raise turtles until they are around five or six years old and then release them into the wild. The animals are marked with 2 holes punched in the back of their shells and from what they can tell, their survival rate is good. In the wild only around 1 in 3000 gets to reproductive age which is 25 years old. It was a good field trip, it is good to see an effort is being made to increase the numbers of these amazing creature. Although there are rumours that without more funding this sanctuary could be in jeopardy. Ethan, from Salt and Light celebrated his 6th Birthday while in Bequia. It started with the field trip to the turtle sanctuary, then lunch at a local bbq and then the big event, a treasure hunt on the beach where a chest full of pirate booty was found along with a treasure map leading the band of marauders to Macs Pizza for the rest of the party. Steve, Kathy, and Emmett, from Uliad joined the party as well. Happy Birthday Ethan! The older two kids, Liam and Michaela, and the dad from Salt and Light took a SCUBA diving course on Bequia. So one afternoon the crew of High Five and the crew of Salt and Light enjoyed a dive near Moon hole, on the western tip of the island. As always, the kids young and younger had a great time. Bequia is one of those places that makes time stand still, a year could go by and you would not realize it. We do not have another year, so the morning after our dive we left Salt and Light to finish their course and we headed south to the Tobago Cays to meet up with Losloper, our friends from Calgary. They are soon headed to Grenada to put their boat on the hard and head back to Calgary for work and school. The West end of the Tobago cays are protected by a series of large reefs, and although you look out at the open Atlantic Ocean, you are well sheltered from the swells. It is a national Park and is well protected. No fishing, lobstering, shell collecting, or littering allowed. Boat boys zip around offering T-shirts, garbage disposal, and Wally, who was introduced to us by Losloper arrives every morning with fresh croissant and baguettes. There is a large area of “turtle grass” similar to what we call “eel grass” in BC that is roped off, not allowing boats to anchor. Here we were able to swim with at least 6 or 8 different Green Turtles. They would eat, and swim around, pretty unconcerned about the 5 of us watching them. If you got too close, they would just swim away a few feet and continue eating. Although they appear unstreamlined, they are capable of blinding speed when necessary. A few snorkel trips on the outer reef showed us a multitude of tropical fish. Tying to the bouy just outside the cut in the reef, Magnus Gary and Janine jumped in. The reef drops off from the surface to a dark blue abyss, dramatically reminding us that we are not always at the top of the food chain. That and a little bit of current had us head back to the protected waters inside the reef for more exploring. The spectacular colours of the fish continue to amaze us. A small eel was spotted amongst the coral, as well as a lobster and some very large parrot fish. This was Loslopers last day in the cays, they left early the next morning for Union island, and then Grenada. For us it was one more swim with the turtles and then off around the corner to Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau. A picture postcard bay, well protected, rimmed with white sand beaches and palm trees, eight or 10 boats bob peacefully at anchor. There is a strong French influence here so the only thing hard on the eyes is the occasional very large Frenchman in a very small speedo or nothing at all! Some people really need a mirror! We were joined on our second day here by our newly dive certified friends on Salt & Light.

Reality Sucks

2008-06-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

REALITY SUCKS Well it is official our vagrant sailing lifestyle is going to be put on hold for a while. Gary has accepted a movie job, and will be back at work in Vancouver the beginning of August. Our plan is to return to the boat after Christmas and continue sailing the first half of 2009. We would love to stay out, but at this time, the realities of the world will not allow us. We plan to put the boat up at Grenada Marine around the last week of July and fly home to Vancouver, buy some shoes and go back to work. This last year has been the adventure of a lifetime, our boys have grown, learned, and flourished in this environment. We as parents have had the opportunity to really get to know our kids, without all the pressures of urban life upon us. It truly has changed us all. We do look forward to seeing all our friends and family back in Vancouver. We also look forward to coming back to High Five and continuing this amazing adventure.

Guadaloupe to Dominica

2008-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

The marina in Guadaloupe is home to several huge French multi-hulls, and a few transient open 40 ‘s and 50’s. For the non-sailors, these are very sexy state of the art racing machines. Very interesting to see up close. Some of our friends were headed for the Iles de Saints, we had been here already with Doug and Suzanne but as this was on our way south, off we went. Many of these islands are little blobs of Europe scattered throughout the West Indies, stinky cheese, cheap wine and expensive everything else. Iles de Saints is no exception. They are all very beautiful and deserve more time than we were able to afford them. From the Saints we sailed to Dominica, which in contrast to the “Joi de Europe” is much more of a third world country. We were lucky and caught a black fin tuna on the crossing. Doug and Suzanne had left us with a bit of luck. As we got close to the bay, a small wooden boat zipped up along side with a local man, who we would later know as Jerome, waving and yelling, offering us a mooring ball, and anything else we needed. After we were safely anchored, several other locals came by on various craft such as kayaks and surf boards, selling us fruit, and offering services. Albert had befriended our friends Salt and Light. Both Albert and Jerome were very determined to sell us various tours of the island. The local guides have formed an association, which supplies mooring balls, tours, fuel, water and anything else you could want as well as a night time security patrol of the anchorage. Since a few locals were jailed a few years ago there have been no problems with petty theft or harassment. The first day we took a tour up the Indian River with Albert. After leaving the ocean, he rowed the 10 of us up through the swamp forest. Along the river we saw birds and fish as well as a few of the locations from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Our guide, as well as many of the locals were employed by the movie. I’m glad that the locals were treated well by the film company. All the locals we met were proud that their town was in the movie and many were able to be employed by Disney. Albert’s knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Indian River was excellent. At the head of the river there is a Restaurant/Bar that has a garden with many examples of local plants. The flowers were spectacular with lots of brightly coloured hummingbirds buzzing around them. It was here we met Greg, our bartender who as it turned out would be our Guide for the next day’s adventure. We were back to the boat at 7pm for a quiet night, to rest before our next adventure. We lent the DVD of the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 to Albert as he was not able to get the movie in Dominica. He and his 2 kids really enjoyed the movie they actually watched it at night and were up at 5am to watch it again the next morning before returning it! The next morning Jerome picked us all up at 9am and shuttled us to the beach where Greg and his van met us, for our tour of the north part of the island. Volcanic in origin, it is steep and lush green. Bananas and limes are their primary cash crops. Plantations consume a lot of the countryside. Greg knew incredible amounts about the local flora, every so often he would stop and pick stuff off a tree for us to sample. Mangos are everywhere now, as well as nutmeg, lemongrass (growing as weeds at the side of the road), tamarind, grapefruit, oranges, papaya and limes. Along the way we saw the local fishing villages, and Greg very proudly showed us his house which is part of a government initiative, he bought the land and house for $85,000 and pays $400 a month as mortgage. He took us to a pair of 100’ waterfalls, where we could stand underneath and rinse the salt and sand from our bodies and hair. A local Caribe family had a small roadside stand that offered crafts, spices, and a few fruits and vegetables. Similar to indigenous populations throughout the “new world”, after their discovery they were virtually exterminated by disease and warfare.

We had a late lunch at a restaurant owned and operated by local Dominicans, Randy and his wife. Randy had spent several years in the USA where he had worked mostly as a chef but also as a Chippendale dancer. We were given some mangos and bananas from the backyard tree, as well as some herbs for Richard to grow on the boat (he misses gardening). We then finished our tour. Jerome met us back at the beach and motored us slowly back to our boats in the dark, We were all full and tired. Further south along the coast of Dominica, we anchored off a black sand beach that Greg had showed us the previous day. Snorkeling along in the shallow water we found some great sea glass. Sea glass is broken bottles and ceramic that has been polished by the waves and sand until it is very smooth. Connoisseurs of sea glass can date many of the finds back close to a hundred years. We collected a large Ziploc full of shiny smooth gems. From here we traveled to Roseau, the capital of Dominica. Upon entering the bay we were again met by a small wooden fishing boat. Our host this time was Octavius of Sea Cat Tours. We tied to his mooring buoy and were told he could provide us with all we needed. There was a local soccer game that night that Octavius need to get to, he invited us to go see it but we were not up to it. The next day after some school we headed in to explore the town. The kids on Salt & Light were in need of some new clothes as they keep on growing, so we were on a mission to find these. It was more interesting to walk through the city than to wade through a mall like you would at home but there is not the choices that we have in north America so we were not very successful. It was another example of how our lives back home are made much easier by all the amenities and conveniences. Leaving Dominica we spent the next few days on Martinique. Legend has it that before the last local Caribs were killed at St Pierre, in 1658 they invoked horrible curses upon their murderers. 344 years later Mt Pele erupted and destroyed the village of St Pierre, killing 30,000 people in a matter of minutes. Twelve ships in the bay were also destroyed. History states that only 2 people survived the eruption, a cobbler who happened to be in his cellar and a murderer who was locked in a stone prison cell. We explored the town and climbed through the ruins of the prison and theater.

Marinique is very European, baguettes, espresso, Renaults, and Citroens, with a busy modern infrastructure. Customs and immigration in St Pierre is handled by the local internet café. Sipping on a cold bierre Janine filled out an online form, which the waitress/owner/customs officer then stamped, signed and then offered to pour us another glass (Robin I think Canada customs could take a lesson). A marked contrast to many other countries. Life cruising has been described as “fixing your boat in exotic ports around the world”. Martinique was no exception. After passing the 570’ Diamond Rock, which oddly enough was once commissioned as a warship in the British Navy, Marina Marin was our home for 2 days. Fred from Tillicum helped us sort out some electrical problems, install a new battery charger/monitor, and recharge our fridge, which seemed to be the root of the problem. Refrigeration on a boat in the tropics is difficult. The compressor has trouble cooling with 95 degree air and 82 degree water. Fred was able to sort things out pretty quick. It seems these cooling problems are not unique to High Five. With the fridge cold, and all of our Euros gone we bid au revoir to Martinique the last of the French islands and headed south toward St Lucia.

Guadeloupe

2008-05-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

As the latest guests of the Minielly’s on their sailing adventure, we have the pleasure of posting an update of their cruise and our week’s trip. We went aboard High Five on Saturday, May 10th in Bay Mahaut on the north end of Guadeloupe. The next day we sailed south to Baie Deshais in search of a good anchorage, a good swim and provisions for the next few days only to find as we would for the rest of the week that most shops are closed for most of the afternoons although there was always a place to find a cold beer much to Gary’s delight. On our way we caught our second fish, a black fin tuna (our first was a barracuda which we let go) which was soon to become dinner but only after Gary got it drunk on cheap vodka! The next day we headed to Basse-Terre and stopped on the way to the Reserve Jacques Cousteau on Pigeon Island for some great snorkeling. The area had a great variety of beautiful colourful fish, coral and we even got to chase a turtle around. Back on the boat, Richard was able to identify and name all of the fish we saw. We continued south the next day to Les Saintes. The crossing, as would be all of them, was very pleasant notwithstanding that the wind was on the nose most of the time. It was sunny every day and temperatures averaged 30 degrees. The sea entertained us with flying fish and a big sea turtle. We spent a few days in Les Saintes, swimming and snorkeling and visiting the local villages. We took a stroll to the windward side of the island which was spectacular but unfortunately the currents were too strong for swimming. The Guadeloupeans are French and all very friendly. We very much enjoyed practicing our French at the villages and bars. On our last night in Les Saintes, we went for a stroll in the village and enjoyed a cold drink at the “in” bar with the locals and other tourists. We continued on to Marie Galante for more great swimming and snorkeling and on our crossing caught our second fish, another black fin tuna which we feasted on that night in a great asian-fusion dish thanks to Richard’s soon to be famous marinade (most ingredients of which you could find in the rum drinks he prepared for Doug). We rose early the next day to get fresh croissants, baguettes and a few other provisions and returned to town later on for some soccer on the beach and another cold drink at the beach bar. We finished our last few days returning back to the main island at Pointe-a-Pitre where we said our goodbyes and returned home. We had a fabulous week. Gary & Janine were very gracious hosts and the boys were absolutely a joy and delight to be with. They were a lot of fun and entertaining. All are well, happy and truly are thriving from this adventure. We wish you all a continued safe journey on your way to Grenada and now that your fishing luck has changed, we look forward to seeing pictures of the Mahi Mahi you are soon to be catching. Thanks for a wonderful time. Doug & Suzanne

Montserrat (click for link)

2008-05-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Montserrat is a beautiful green island with an Irish heritage dominted by a large active volcano. The volcano had been dormant until 1995, when it erupted and destroyed the main town of Plymouth Over half the population left and those that stayed are now living on the north coast, in a somewhat protected area. We took a van tour of the island with Joe Phillips who is said to be the premier guide of the island and knew a great deal about the history as well as the plants and animals. He showed us a cashew tree with its bright fruit, wild bay leaves, cut up a coconut, and picked us some mangoes out of his friends front yard. He even knew where to find the home made ice cream, which is sold out of a van after the store in plymouth was destroyed. After the volcano, rains mixed with the ash and caused some flooding. The hotel in the picture is three stories high with only one and a half visable above the mud. There is a picture of the hotel before 1995, and as the hotel looks today. There is also a picture of the bay as it looked before the eruption and a similar picture taken by us. The island has grown over a hundred yards due to the ash. Joe was able to drive out on to the beach along the old pier which is completely land locked, onto the ash which covers the bay. It was very humbling to see the massive power that a volcano has. and the vastness of it's destruction. Looking out from the hilltop overlooking the ruined city (you are not allowed to go there) you could see the burned out buildings, the steeple of the church, houses and buildings covered in ash. It looked like a moonscape. After a potluck dinner with Migo and Salt and light, High Five rose early to head for Guadaloupe to meet Doug and Suzanne who flew in from Vancouver to visit for a week. S&L and Migo are headed to St Johns Antigua and possibly Barbuda

St Somewhere

2008-05-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

We left St Martin and headed out for St Bart's anchoring in a small bay on the north side. A boat near us took their dinghy into Gustavia to check in with customs and were told not to bother until they brought their boat to Gustavia. There was a path from the anchorage that led along high cliffs, the scenery was incredible looking down to the surf pounding the cliffs below, to a town called Colombier It was a small resort town that had a stunning beach with large surf. People were boogie boarding and skim boarding. We found a small general store where we sampled some french popsicles..yum! After the hot walk back to the boat we were glad to take a refreshing bath in the ocean. After 2 days in the bay we again headed off. This time to St Kitts. Here we joined up with Migo and Salt and Light and hired a van to tour the island. Our 3rd tour with the 3 families together. Brimstone hill fortress is a British built fort that sits atop a large bluff overlooking the ocean, and surrounding area, it is an impressive sight with the valcanoe towering behind it. We were all amazed that the whole fort was completely constructed by hand(slave labour of course) We also toured Romely manor, home of a world famous Batik artist. The highlight for the kids was seeing small monkeys in the trees, eating mangos. The main street in front of the marina in Basse terre came to life on Friday night and was full of music and bbq food, and cold beer. It was a lot of fun, we all enjoyed dancing together with the locals. Moving down island we found a great snorkel spot and a salt pond to explore. We hiked up to some old ruins but had to be very careful of the giant thorns that would poke right through the bottom of our shoes...OUCH! Unfortunately Johnathon on MIGO suffered 2 flat tires on his wheelchair. Nevis was the next stop, a quaint town that was celebrating "labour day" every thing was closed. dogs slept in the street. The four season's hotel put out a series of free mooring balls in front of their hotel, we took the mooring but went down the beach to a local spot for a snack and a beer. We had to stay a little longer as a short but very wet rain storm blew through. the next morning we headed in to customs to clear out, before we headed off to Monserrat to see the active volcano.

BVI To St Maarten

2008-04-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Janine. April 14th marks 41 years old for our intrepid Admiral, mother and wife!! It seems like just yesterday………. Unfortunately for Janine and Granny (who is in for another visit) we took a marina in Roadtown, Tortola for the 13, 14 and 15th. This meant working. Cleaning, fixing, laundry, grocery shopping and stowing away all the stuff. We also got our boom sorted out once and for all, as well as buying new house batteries for the boat. True to form on the 14th itself it poured rain all afternoon (as it almost always does on Janine’s birthday),but at least we were quite sure it wouldn’t hail! It was a very busy day without much time for birthday revelries. We had a birthday dinner in the restaurant at the marina with Granny, Rennie, and Denny. It was a nice dinner but we were all very tired. With Granny aboard and all our chores done, it was time to start heading east again. We have been in the BVI’s for nearly a month. These are a very beautiful group of islands and despite the large number of boats (think Ganges on August long weekend) and that everything out of the main towns is overpriced “No I will not pay $12 for a hot dog!” We have really enjoyed ourselves here. Snorkeling and diving in these crystal clear waters is truly amazing. We have also been able to meet up with family and friends (see Sue and Steve’s post). Although you could probably spend a lifetime here and not see it all, it was time to move on.In preparation for our passage to St Martin we spent 2 nights in Gorda sound at the eastern end of the Bvi. The Bitter End Yacht Club is a five star resort that welcomes charterers, cruisers, and their families to their facilities. The mooring balls are only $30 a night. On our previous visits the boys really wanted to sail one of the Hobie Cats the club had to rent. Up steps Granny “ Oh I’ll rent one!” Yippee !! Dad and Granny got the first ride. Zipping across the bay at full speed, water spraying everywhere, was lots of fun. Our friends and us all got a chance to sail. Thanks again Granny! There was a photographer out in a dinghy taking pictures of the fun www.yachtshotsbvi.com is their website and if you search April17, and I think the subheader is “watersports fun” you can see the pictures. We left Gorda sound and the BVI on the afternoon of the 18th and by dark we were well on our way to St Maartin. Again it was a motorsail into the wind with lumpy seas. Not very exciting, or comfortable but in the morning we were able to anchor in the lagoon at St Martin. The crew, along with friends had a great breakfast of Ham and cheese Croissants, Pain au chocolate, Café Latte, and other such luxuries. After checking out the Dutch side of the island ( you can pass freely between the 2 countries almost without notice) we sailed to Ille Tintamarre and played on the beach. Some of the others on the beach introduced us to a strange custom, the cliffs are made of a reddish clay and we all had a “spa” treatment. We looked pretty funny all covered in mud, but it was a lot of fun. Grand Casse was our next stop, a small beach town on the French side, on Tuesday nights they close the street to cars and the restaurants and shops spill onto the street. A drum band paraded with a large variety of dancers. Our friends on Migo (www.migo.ca) I’m sure have posted many pictures of both the street festival and the mud bath adventures. We rented cars and took a tour of the island, the highlight of which was the beach bar at the end of the runway, where you can lie on your back in the sand and have large planes fly right over top of you, so close it feels like you could reach out and touch them. All too soon it was time for Granny to take that long lonely plane ride back home, early the next morning we loaded into the rental car and drove across the island to the Airport. After a tearful so long it was off to the grocery store to refill the pantry, and the cooler and a few more boat chores. It is now Monday April 28 (Happy Birthday Vance!) and we are getting ready to move along to St Bart’s and then St Kitts and Nevis. We must get moving to customs and check out, as well as find internet to post this blog. Cheers from us until we find internet again, the crew of High Five.

Cruising the BVI's with the Minielly's

2008-04-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Sue and we've just returned from spending 12 amazing days cruising the British Virgin Islands with Gary, Janine and the boys. Gary asked me to download some photos as communication connections are very slow and difficult to access these days, and they've not been successful in uploading much lately due to technical issues. I said I'd be happy to take on the assignment of Guest Recorder/Reporter upon my return to the world of high speed 'everything', and isn't that the truth -- after enjoying twelve days of slowwwwww, I must say it's a bit of a shock to get back to the world of alarm clocks, cell phones, schedules, deadlines etc. etc. which is a major contrast to life on the boat where the days events and activities were planned each morning, sitting on deck with a coffee, looking at the waves, weather and every conversation started with, "Well, where are we going today?" It actually took us three days to discover that the only clock onboard was out by two hours (due to being accidentally readjusted during the Pirate Takeover and Treasure Hunt, but that's another story...)

Here's a photo of the crew of the SV High Five, taken on April 12th.

Bradley, Tavish and Richard have all grown at least 4 inches taller, it seems. Everyone is a golden brown, in spite of the 30 SPF sunscreen. Clothing choices consist of sunglasses and swim shorts/suits which makes it much quicker when going for a swim, snorkel, swinging from the halyard (what a blast!!) or diving off the front of the boat.

We spent a good deal of time playing in the water; the snorkelling was amazing. We had the opportunity one afternoon to swim with a sea turtle, who was not bothered by 7 people following behind, over and under him as he lead us around the cove. That same afternoon we swam with fish that looked like salmon (sorry I can't remember their name; where's Richard when I need him!!) and were approx. 4-5 feet long, which was a little awkward at first until we realized that they didn't care about us either. Then there was the day we snorkelled over top of the stingray for a while-- snorkelling in the BVI's is truly like swimming in the tropical fish tanks at the aquarium with no boundaries. You can see to the bottom of the ocean at 50 feet the water is so clear!

Live entertainment at Happy Hour!

I am also pleased to report that the boys are working very diligently on their schoolwork each day (right boys???!!!)

Oops, that's better!!

We met up with Gary's sister Nancy, Bob,Catherine and Alex for a few days. We also had a chance to meet some of the wonderful new friends the Minielly's have made along the way from SV's Salt and Light, Losloper and Migo.

Anyway, enough chat from me, but suffice to say that we had an unforgettable time cruising the BVI's with our dear friends. They are all healthy and happy together in paradise and most definitely having the time of their lives!

The end of another beautiful day in paradise!

Thanks for all the wonderful memories,

S&S

Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic

2008-04-06T05:56:00.000-07:00

We took a trip on the local bus from Luperon to Santo Domingo on the South coast of the DR. Bus ride was an experience in itself. The rules of the road are different in the DR in that there aren't any. The bus is like an old Greyhound only they put benches in the aisle as well so 6 people sit across each row. Janine had the seat directly behind the maniacal driver looking out the front window. The trip was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride with a twist --for the first hour we acted as the local school bus and stopped every quarter mile to pick up children as the occasional grandma with a live chicken. After this we got onto the highway where our speed excelarated and the lines on the road got fuzzy. The driver proceeded to pass cars down the middle of the highway, forcing the cars on BOTH sides of the road onto the shoulders where families on motorcycles (5 people per cycle) were travelling the wrong way against the traffic. It was mayhem!! After five scary, long hours we finally arrived, with quaking legs, in Santo Domingo. We took a taxi to the hotel we had heard about but when we got there it was a different hotel but it was clean and reasonable and they provided us with an extra bed so we stayed. We headed out to find dinner and were immediately approached by a local 'tour guide' who, after helping us find the hotel, took us to a local dominica restaurant where we sampled some of their local fare (beer). It was late by the time we finished dinner so we headed back to the hotel room and enjoyed some cable TV--what a luxury!!! We slept amazingly well, considering the hotel room did not rock and enjoyed long, warm showers in the morning. Clean and rested we set out to explore the city. It is very old with a lot of history involving Christopher Columbus. Again, we were approached by a tour guide who spoke english, french and spanish. He guided us through churches, forts, the old mansion of the dictator, a cigar factory and a few gift shops. After the tour, we took a taxi to the waterfront where the large hotels are located. It was expensive and 'touristy' there but gave us the opportunity to walk several miles back to the colonial district where our hotel was located. It seems no matter where you go we keep bumping into people we know -- Santo Domingo was no exception as we kept bumping into our cruising friends from Luperon throughout our stay. We stayed in Santo Domingo one more night and took the luxury bus back to Luperon as we could not face the local bus trip again. When we arrived back in Luperon we had a special surprise waiting for us -- Salt and Light and Wandering Dolphin had caught up to us at last!

Approaching the Turks and Caicos

2008-03-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

We left Rum Cay early in the morning, at high tide, with the guide boat again, and set sail for Mayaguana in the company of Losloper (from Alberta) , Migo, and Beach Magic, both from Quebec. It soon became apparent that we had left too early and that landfall at Mayaguana was going to be in the DARK! Not being big fans of darkness and coral reefs we chose to continue sailing on to Turks and Caicos. As we sailed along the North side of Mayaguana, blotches appeared on the radar. The first one was a cruise ship who’s upper deck disco reflected off the clouds providing an interesting light show. The second one was a squall. We quickly started the engine and rolled up the genoa, the main was already reefed, and the wind piped up to 25 or 30 knots. We motorsailed for a few hours, our autopilot keeping us close to the wind and away from the land. Around 3:30 am the engine sputtered and then was silent………..I hate it when that happens……... Fortunately we were clear of the island and there was good wind. So we were able to bear off a bit and sail for Provo in the Turks and Caicos. After the sun was up Janine piloted the boat and Gary spent time in the engine compartment trying to figure out what was wrong. It seemed there was a blockage at the fuel intake, inside the fuel tank. After a few hours it became apparent that a good plan B was in order. After a call to the shipyard/mechanic we were able to arrange for a towboat to meet us in the Sandbore channel. Arriving early, we proceeded to short tack up the channel, trying to shorten the tow as much as possible. The sailing was great until we heard Bradley exclaim “hey dad the spreader fell off” Gary jumped to the leeward side and….well….the spreader had fallen off.! ………..I really hate it when that happens……... Quickly we furled the jib (one small rip), dropped the main and set the anchor. We were able to get the spreader reattached just as the towboat arrived. Once in the Shipyard, the mechanic, Ryan, was able to clear the fuel intake. Then the tank was drained and all of the fuel filtered (twice). We found a small piece of chain that used to hold the fuel cap to the boat lodged inside the intake of the transfer pump. We believe this to be the culprit. With the engine now in working order, Gary replaced all the retaining bolts on all of the spreaders (one of the rivets had corroded out) and took the jib off to the shop to be fixed. We were lucky, the problems we had, although potentially big, happened at times when they were least threatening, and we were able to handle them without major difficulties. We have now reviewed and checked everything we can think of (again) so the next thing to go wrong will be something we have not thought of yet.

We are still out here

2008-03-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

It´s been too long since our last post. We are alive and well in the Dominican Republic. We are doing well. We will be in Puerto Rico in a week and communications will improve. We have pictures, and stories to tell but can´t seem to get them uploaded.

Escape from Chicken Harbour

2008-02-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

The Great Escape We Made it out of Georgetown!! Early Tuesday morning we pulled anchor and headed out of the anchorage. We were joined by Losloper and headed out Conch Cut together. We had to sail very close to the wind (and there wasn't much of it) so we kept the engine going and motor sailed. The fishing lines out right away and within the first hour Losloper called us on the radio to say they had landed a nice size Mahi Mahi. We were very excited for them and happy that they were willing to share it with us as we didn’t have any action on our lines at all. By 1pm we had arrived at our intended destination, Calabash Bay on the Northern end of Long Island. The North entrance looked a little sporty with the huge swells breaking on the reef to the lee of us. The prudent (scared) sailor in us decided we should go around to the southern entrance which was much wider. It turned out to be a good decision as we discovered the south side of the bay had less swell. With the anchor set we had a nice afternoon/ evening with the crew of Losloper. We bbq’d their fish on our boat as we have the bigger bbq. This big bbq has proven to be a good investment as twice now we have friends who have caught fish too big for their own. The MAHI WAS FANTASTIC!! There truly is no comparison to fish that is freshly caught. We were all very tired and had another day of travel the next day so it was an early night. Unfortunately it was not a restful night as the Northeast swell met the southwest wind chop and the boats spent the whole night rolling. We hoisted our anchors at 7am and headed out of the bay enroute to Rum Cay. To get there we headed around the north end of Long Island where the shallow bank meets the open ocean and produces large swells. We watched the swells that seemed the size of buildings approach us, and then we gently rode up the front and down the back sides. As we got into deeper water the swells subsided. Open to the Atlantic Ocean the wave period (time between the waves) is long, so even though the swell was 8 – 10 feet high they are 10 seconds apart (100meters or more) and the ocean feels reasonably flat. Sumner Point Marina in Rum Cay welcomed us and even provided a guide boat to bring us in the channel through the reef. If you know where you are going it seems easy, but here really is no room for confusion. We planned our arrival for high tide but at times we still only had a foot or so under the keel. It was Wednesday night, so the marina’s restaurant was closed as “everyone” went to the Oceanside for the Bahamian buffet. There were 3 catamarans in the marina, and they had rented golf carts, so we were treated to a ride down the dirt track to the restaurant. A good time washad by all. The next morning we slept in and made the boat ready for our next passage.

Georgetown

2008-01-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

When we arrived at Georgetown the second time there were 25 other boats that arrived on the same day, bringing the total close to 150 boats!!!! This time we anchored a little further away from the action, around the corner at Sand Dollar Beach. We soon however found ourselves back on Volley ball beach sipping blender drinks, talking with other cruisers, while the kids swung, (again) unsupervised, from the trees. Georgetown is a highly organized place, kinda like summer camp with booze, many cruisers make it the focal point of their winter itinerarys. The 8am cruisers net on the vhf radio is awash with the activities of the day: Iron Yoga at 8:30, Bridge at 1300, Volleyball (it is volleyball beach of course) from 2:30 onward, Beach church, Trivial pursuit, Texas hold’m, Potluck from 4pm onward at sanddollar beach, an outboard for sale, someone looking for a part for a wind generator, propane truck 11am Saturday, fundraiser for a local business on satuday afternoon, etc ,etc. you need a daytimer just to keep up!!!!! We don’t have one. Several of the kid boats we met in the US (Salt and Light, Solange, San It I, Sucia, Meander) are a week or 2 behind us and it is tempting to wait for them, but if we stay here too long then we won’t have the time to spend at other places further south. It is a tough decision We are watching the weather and hope to move south east to Rum Cay, and the Turks and Caicos soon.

Grandpa and Grandma’s visit

2008-01-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

Gary’s parents flew into Staniel Cay (www.stanielcay.com) a few days before Ina flew home so we were able to celebrate Christmas, and birthdays for both grandma’s (Dec15th and 16th) Bradley and Tavish (Jan 7th) and Richard (Jan14th) with a great meal at Staniel Cay Yacht Club (thanks Grandpa). We stayed in and around Staniel cay for a few days before a leisurly sail across the banks to Blackpoint Settlement. Sailing on the banks is still difficult for west coast sailors. The water is between 12 and 20 feet deep and is crystal clear, with a bright blue hue. It looks like you are sailing in the shallow end of a swimming pool and we find ourselves constantly checking and rechecking the charts and the depth sounder. The winds were 5 to 10 knots and the sky sunny, making it a brilliant first sail for Grandpa and grandma. After anchoring in 9 feet of water and snorkeling out to check the anchor, we went ashore Joan, the manager at Staniel, lived in Blackpoint and had recommended DeShamon’s restaurant for great pizza. Asking about the restaurant at the top of the dock we found Diane, the owner/chef and her husband Simon, who showed us, were their place was and said for us to come back at 5:30 when Diane was finished her day job and could come and open up. This gave us time to walk through the town. Dinner was spectacular, cold beer and Pizza…….. Two of our favorite food groups. Blackpoint Settlement is home to a great Laundromat so the next day was filled laundry and boat work. Little Farmers Cay Yacht Club was the next stop. (don’t let the name fool you) The approach off the bank is shallow, even by Bahamian standards, so at high tide we approached the cay from the west. The charts of this region are notoriously inaccurate, and here there was some disagreement with the paper charts, the cruising guide, and the electronic chart plotter. The first thing you believe is your eyes, and after averaging out all the other inputs we were soon around all the hazards and enjoying a cold beer at the Yacht Club. . Little Farmers Cay Yacht Club consists of a run down fixed dock that cold hold 4 or so boats and a bar/restaurant with a couple of rooms attached. Our host, Roosevelt Nixon, was the dockmaster, bartender, and innkeeper. Although he claimed to have “the best chef on the island” we chose to wander down the road to the Ocean Cabin restaurant where we all enjoyed Carribean lobster and other local cuisine. Here we met a danish couple with a 5 yr old and a 5 month old girl. Soon the 5 yr old was playing games with the boys and Cadeesha, the owner’s daughter. Little Farmers Cay was a quaint little town, the only sour spot was paying our bill at the Yacht Club when the propieter tried to short change us. The weather was fairly calm the next day, the 14th of January, the 9th birthday of one Richard Keith Minielly. It was a great day for the ocean run to Georgetown. With fishing lines out we exited the cut at Little Farmers with 3-4 knots of adverse current out into the Atlantic, in search of fish! Along the way we talked on the VHF with Sunspot Baby, a couple we had met in North Carolina as well as numerous spots along the way. They mentioned that they were going to stop a few miles north of Georgetown at the Marina at Emerald Bay. This is a newly built high end marina with a “no frills” dock that has no services, but is very reasonably priced. This and the promise of FREE showers and laundry was all we needed and into the marina we went. The wind was forcast to build and clock to the west and then north the next night so we stayed and crashed the pool at the Four Seasons Resort next door. The next day we walked 2 miles north to have lunch, with Sunspot Baby, at “Big D’s” beachside conch bar. A spectacular setting with great local food. Georgetown Great Exuma is a sort of Mecca for boats cruising in the Bahamas. Stocking Island, which protects Georgetown and Elizabeth Harbour from the Atlantic Ocean is home to the; Chat and Chill bar and Grill, several completely enclosed harbours and several miles of sand beaches with good anchorage/protection. When we arrived there were close to 125 boats already here. We found a spot just off of “volleyball beach” and soon were enjoying a cold drink on the beach while the kids met some other kids and were soon swinging from the trees. Keith and Ladora were scheduled to leave on Monday morning, just as another “norther” was scheduled to arrive with 20-25 knot winds. Not wanting to see them arrive at the airport soaking wet from the dinghy ride across the bay we sailed back north to the marina at Emerald Bay, had free hot showers, did some laundry, and had another great meal. Monday morning came too soon. Two weeks of Grandma and Grandpa had gone far too quickly. It was sad to see them go but this was all the time their busy travel schedule would allow. After a week in Florida with Pat and Jim they are off to Palm Springs with Ron and Erica, then after Keith’s University Engineering reunion, May 24th, they are planning to come find us again. With Grandpa and Grandma on their way we took the next weather opportunity and returned to Georgetown.

Granny's Visit

2008-01-16T06:46:00.001-08:00

We picked up Ina a few days before New Years in Nassau. We spent 3 nights here. After a bit of shopping many loads of laundry, and a walk around the mega resort Atlantis, we filled the boat with water and fuel and headed off to the Exuma cays. Our first stop was Allan’s Cay, home of the endangered iguanas. We anchored late in the day after a great sail across the yellow bank and then a 3 hour motor straight into the wind. Losloper, from Alberta was already anchored. This was New Years Eve! After a nice dinner, we got together with Losloper for some New Year’s bubbly and cake. As we were about to retire for the night we heard a boom and looked out to see a fantastic fireworks display on nearby Staniel Cay, what a great surprise, by about 10:30 we were all asleep. Happy 2008!! In the morning we swam and visited the beach. As we arrived at the beach the iguanas came out of the scrub looking for hand outs. Although you are not supposed to feed them, many of the tourist boats feed them grapes from a stick. Here we met a family from England, with 2 kids, aboard the catamaran L’Adventura. They, unfortunately, had been struck by lightning earlier in their trip, and ended up spending a lot of time fixing, and replacing all the electronics. This is the second boat we have met that has been hit. We were able to exchange some books with the kids, which is great as we were in need of some new ones. This family is on the same itinery as us so we will see them again in the future. New Years Day, we exited Allen’s Cut out on to the ocean. The weather forcast was for a “norther” to blow in, the next day so winds were calm and the sea reasonable. After a couple of hours fishing,we didn’t catch anything but saw a bunch of bait fish and several “fins”, which would be from schooling tuna. We entered Highbourne Cut and found our spot at Highbourne Plantation Marina. Other than the dinghys from some of the yachts we were the smallest boat in the place. Several of the big (120’ – 150’) charter yachts were in as well as a dozen or so 50’ – 75’ trawlers and sport fishers. Only 2 other sailboats, a 50’ and a 60’ both from Nassau. We hung around for 3 days, because of the front passing through. The winds clock around from the usual east, through the south, west, and then the north and build in strength as they shift making many of the regular anchorages uncomfortable, and some dangerous. This was a very nice place to be weathered in. The island is 3 miles long with paved roads for walking and some beautiful beaches. Although the weather was cooler than usual the boys were still keen to skim board, they had fun until they were a little blue with cold. There was a lovely deck to sit and have a sundowner on. By the 4th, things had moderated enough for us to go. On our way out of the marina we bought 2 lobster and 3 conch from a local fisherman and later Janine and her mom whipped up some curried lobster the next day we had cracked conch and fries, both spectacular meals. Our raw water engine cooling chose today to quit so as Janine and crew sailed the boat Richard and Dad changed the impellor. Losloper, who had been anchored at Highbourne followed us into the anchorage at Skipjack point, Normans Cay. This Cay once belonged to a drug lord and was the center of a huge smuggling operation. All that remains today is an airstrip and a crashed DC3 in the lagoon. McDuff’s Bar and Grill has sprouted up between the airstrip and the beach, a nice little restaurant with 4 cabins for rent. Over our years of planning this trip we have often read about Macduff’s so it felt like we had reached another milestone. After we anchored we took a short walk and had a couple of beers and a snack. The next day we took the dinghy around to the lagoon and saw what was left of the plane. It was still fairly windy so we did not snorkel at the plane, but let Janine and her mom out at the dock, while the boys and dad took the dinghy back around to the anchorage. The race was a tie and we all walked into McDuff’s at the same time. Losloper was already there, having had lunch. After a visit and the requisite couple of drinks we were back to the boat for our cracked conch and fries for dinner. Leaving on the high tide in the morning we sailed south and took a mooring at Warderick Wells, in Exuma Park. Right underneath out boat was the remains of an old boat sunk as an artificial reef which protected dozens and dozens of small fish. Even Granny put on her snorkel gear and although she is not used to getting into the water very quickly, she jumped in to see, she provided us with some comic relief with her squeals and squacks. We had several laughs at her expense over the next while. It’s a good thing she is such a great sport! The Cay has many trails, one of the biggest hills in the Exumas,(almost 75’ high) and a mangrove swamp in the middle. Many of the plants have signs telling all about them. Richard took a real interest in the plants and compiled a list of useful plants incase we get shipwrecked. He has learned about plan “B” from his dad. After walking up the hill and seeing the outer coast, we went around to the sheltered side and tried to find some coral heads to snorkel on. Mother Nature had different ideas, and covered the sky with clouds, taking away the light and the warmth of the sun. Only a few brave souls got wet andwere rewarded with some colorful fish and coral but not the turtle we were hoping to see. After a while we were back to the boat. Staniel Cay was the next stop. The first night we anchored in the bight at Big Majors Cay, a quarter of a mile away and the next morning at high tide we pulled into the marina. Low Slack water was in the early afternoon and gave us the chance to snorkel the Thunderball Grotto of James Bond fame. We were able to swim into this underground cave and saw hundreds of fish. Including a Lion fish, Trigger fish, an angel fish, and countless others. Because it is a park site and there is no fishing, and because many people feed them, the fish have no fear and swim right up to and around you. The current was strong by the time we were going so we all had a good workout. The morning of January 9th we tied to the dock at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, and we set about cleaning the boat up and organizing all our stuff. At 3:30 pm Keith and Ladora (Gary’s Parents) arrived in an 8 seater Cessna belonging to Flamingo Airlines. After we got everyone setteled back to the boat Grandpa treated us all to a spectacular dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. The next day we celebrated the boys birthdays and they opened a bunch of presents. In the afternoon we went to the beach to see the free range pigs. Granny was not quick enough with the food scraps we had brought along and the boar took a nip of her wrist. Fortunatly, although he did break the skin, she was not badly hurt. Because of the aggressive nature of the pigs, our beach trip was shortened. Janine and Granny tracked down the local nurse and Granny got an overdue Tetanus shot. That night a bunch of Ladies from the island put on a beach BBQ, and the whole group of us and a dozen or so other cruisers had a great meal. Friday morning we went to the airport again and said a tearful goodbye to Granny. We wished we had a camera with us, seeing granny standing on the wing of the small 6 passenger airplane with her hair blowing straight back is a vision we are not likely to forget. It was a great visit, and we look forward to seeing her again in the spring. She later told us she settled in as the copilot/stewardess for the rest of the flight!! Grandpa and Grandma are here!

Only a few more days till Christmas.

2007-12-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

This morning, Dec 22 there were Christmas stockings hanging in the salon, although it’s only a few days till Christmas. Although we watched ELF on the computer last night, it does not seem real as we are sitting around in our bathing suits, snorkeling and going to the beach. Dec 23, Frosty the Snowman was the movie of choice and a few presents were wrapped, ginger bread cookies were made, and candy canes were revealed from their hiding places. With or without decorated trees, lots of presents, snow and all the commercial hype, it will be Christmas in 2 days! Christmas Eve Solange and Salt and Light arrived at White Cay. Denny and crew had landed a good sized blackfin tuna, and since we have the biggest bbq dinner was on High Five. We made the mistake of leaving the boats rafted together after dinner and at 3am, when the tide turned and a squall came through, the anchorage got too rolly for a raft. Fortunately the moon was full, so light was not a problem, and after a few tense moments the boats were apart and a bit more sleep was to be had before Santa arrived. Christmas day, Santa and his elves had found us and found a way to park the sleigh to deliver some boogie boards for the boys and some other presents. Dvd movies were a big gift on all the boats and before lunch 10 kids were hanging out on our boat watching the new Pirates of the Carribean movie. The adults took this opportunity for some exploring in the dinghys and some snorkeling. Hoffman’s Cay is home to a “Blue Hole.” A short walk from the beach, in the middle of the island the trail comes out onto a bluff overlooking the pool. Less than 100 yards across with 20’ vertical walls the water is over 600ft deep and a brilliant shade of blue. After an hour or so of swimming and jumping off the cliffs into the water it was back to the boats. All the boats brought their food to the beach in the anchorage for Christmas dinner. Ham, pork loin, tandori chicken, rice, bread, and of course the traditional Christmas s’mores, were enjoyed around a campfire. Losloper was the first to head the 7 miles south to Cabbage Cay, followed by Salt and Light, and High Five, and the day after by Solange. Dinner was at “Flo’s Conch Bar” a small family run restaurant. Alone at the top of the dock, surrounded with a midden of conch shells the family serves up a feast of conch fritters, cracked conch, lobster, fish, conch salad, and hamburgers. The beaches were popular spots the next day, the kids were practicing with their Christmas skim boards, everyone enjoyed snorkeling in the shallow water. Bands of coral contained dozens of brightly coloured fish, and the nearby grasses gave up 8 conch Some of which we butchered into our own conch salad. We were given some lobster from another cruiser, bbq’d up some steaks, and had a great dinner, for in the morning it was off to Nassau to pick up Granny……..but that will be another blog entry.

The Bahamas

2007-12-30T08:37:00.000-08:00

We left West end and sailed southeast to Port Lucaya, arriving in early afternoon. The wind had clocked around to the north so the swells were blocked by Great Bahama Island and we were able to broad reach in 18 – 20 knots of breeze and virtually flat seas. Passing the industrial harbour of Freeport, we made the narrow, but well marked entrance into Port Lucaya, and the Grand Bahama Yacht Club. The harbour itself is about the same size as False Creek, but is connected to the east with a series of canals that were excavated for various housing developments. The marina’s water taxi took us over to the Port Lucaya Market Place, and Count Base square. Here we found a collection of nice restaurants, and a bunch of tourist stores. After dinner, in a very nice Greek taverna, we ran into a family we had met in West End, and enjoyed a drink aboard Equinox, their new Kady Krogen trawler. The boys were entranced with Ally (their 15yr old daughter) and her 48” plasma screen TV, while Janine and Gary admired the other features of this fine yacht. In 2 or 3 years when their daughter goes off to university they plan to do a long slow circumnavigation. Leaving to catch the last water taxi, it was back to the TVless High Five for the night. The next day we caught a bus into Freeport for some shopping at Kelly’s, and the Ace hardware. The fish that we had hooked on the crossing from Florida had taken our best blue and white “Cedar Plug” so some new fishing lures were in order, and as we were unable to find Janine’s mask and snorkel, Santa showed up and we found her a new one. At 0230, yes 0230 the next morning the alarm went off and High Five left Port Lucaya headed for the Berry Islands. A little after 0300 we were motor sailing towards Great Stirrup Cay 56 mile to the SE. Little Stirrup and Great Stirrup Cay, are used by the cruise ship lines as their “beach resorts” so as we passed we could see the cruise ship anchored, some development on the beaches, and parasailers flying around. Continuing south down New Providence Channel we joined Losloper, an Albertan boat whom we had met in West End, at anchor in behind Market Fish Key. Here is where we saw the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas for the first time. Although we have read countless descriptions of the clarity of the water, none can adequately prepare you. Pulling in the fishing lines as we prepared to enter the anchorage the bottom suddenly came into view some 75ft below. Navigating to the anchorage we must have checked the chart and the depthsounder a hundred times as we could not believe the water was deep enough. After anchoring in 12 ft, we donned our masks and snorkels and jumped in. You could easily see a hundred yards and felt like you were flying instead of swimming. After swimming around and around the boat, and checking the anchor, we took the dinghy ashore, ran on the beach and talked to the crew of Losloper. As the anchorage was a bit rolly, the next morning we headed further south to White Cay, at the south end of Hoffman’s Cay. As we were leaving Gary started to put out the fishing lines and in a few minutes one of our hand lines had hooked a 2 ft Barracuda! Teeth and attitude, along with the possibility that Barracudas carry Ciguatera poison, it was released. Moments later another strike, and an identical fish was pulled up to the boat, and spat the hook at the transom saving us from another battle with the teeth. Within 5 minutes we had another strike this time on the rod, providing us with a 2-3 lb Spanish mackerel, which Janine had for dinner the next night. After sailing for a few hours, and no more fish, we entered the cut between Devil’s Cay and White Cay. Again careful attention to the depth sounder, as our eyes cannot, or will not believe what they are seeing. 25 ft of water looks like 4’ or 5’. White Cay sports a fine sand beach, which we quickly covered in footprints. The area around the anchorage includes at least 10 similar beaches contained on half a dozen cays. Friday night we talked to Salt and Light on the Satellite phone. Early Friday morning Salt and Light, Solange had left Florida and were now anchored north of Bimini! Also San-I-Ti, Meander, and Sucia II had left an hour behind them and were all at the docks in Bimini. It was such good news to hear that everyone had made it across safely. Hopefully we will see them all in a few days.

Bahamas at last

2007-12-15T06:01:00.000-08:00

Dec. 13-14th Thursday at lunchtime we left Lake Worth and headed south on the ICW for what would be our last day in the ditch. As we got close to Fort Lauderdale, the dinner boats appeared. Large, and covered in Xmas lights, they made for some challenging navigation. There are at least a dozen lift bridges, all with different schedules, some on the half hour, some on the quarter hour, and 1 every 20 minutes. All the operators were nice except for one who was asleep and did not answer the radio or open when he should, and another who started to close the bridge as we approached. If Janine had not stopped the boat we would have been severely damaged. Around 11:30 pm and tied to a dock littered with 100’ – 200’ mega yachts, and before sun up (0530am) we were on our way again. We passed one more bridge and transited Port Everglades harbour in the dark, dodging cruise ships (they are really easy to see), and headed out. At 645am, after passing one more inbound cruise ship we were on the open ocean and motor sailing close hauled into 15 knots ESE of breeze and disorganized 4’ swells, with the sun just starting to rise. Our plan was to head south for a couple of hours and then east to Bimini, but by the time we were 2 or 3 mile offshore the Gulf Stream had us in its grasp. Our boat speed was still 7 knots but our speed over the ground was only 3 - 4 knots. This would mean our trip to Bimini would take 14plus hours. Plan B…..At about 0830 we tacked onto starboard and close reached NE toward West End. West End was further away but this put the effects of the Gulf Stream behind us and our speed over ground jumped to 10 – 12 knots. The GPS calculated our arrival in less than 8 hours……..As they say ‘it’s important to have a Plan B’…….. The ride was still bumpy but after a while the seas became more organized, and the ride more comfortable. We had put some fishing lines out earlier in the day as the Gulf Stream is supposed to be where all the fish are, but were still surprised when we got a strike. The fish stripped off 100 meters of line and as the chaos subsided and we slowed the boat, there was no line left on the reel, the leader broke, and the fish was gone. The brief view that we got of a dorsal fin, makes us think it was a billfish of some kind. Arriving at Old Bahama Bay Marina in East End, we tied up. We had made it to the Bahamas!! While Gary cleared customs everyone else gave the boat a quick clean before we treated ourselves to a dinner out. Everyone was ravenous as eating had not been a popular sport during the day. Our first night in the Bahamas was a very quiet one with everyone in bed before 9pm!

Tia the Wonder Dog

2007-12-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

December 5, 2007 This was the date of Tia’s last day with us. When we left Vancouver, her prognosis was not good, but the boating life agreed with her. After a breakfast of steak and rice, we went to Cocoa beach. Here after a hot dog for a snack Tia spent several hours playing on the beach with her family. Ice Cream for everyone. Tia had her own cone and got to finish the last of a few others. Later, we all made the trip to the vet, and stayed with her to the end. It was peacefull and painless, she was surrounded by those who loved her. She will be missed.

Cape Canaveral and Disney World

2007-12-08T08:04:00.001-08:00

Disney Land and the Space center With the stove installed it was time to go to the Kennedy Space center. An all day affair, we saw; the Saturn V complex, Went for a ride in the “Shuttle simulator”, and saw the shuttle sitting on the launch pad awaiting next week’s launch. The tourbuses ran every 15 minites around the base and each showed a short movie about the space programme. Everyone was impressed. After a day of rest it was off to the Happiest Place On Earth. Disney World was a splendor of commercial delight. Home of the $6.00 hot dog, we raced around and around riding the rides and taking in the sights. Dancing with the Stars was filming their season opener so the place was busy. Space Mountian was a particular thrill, Gary remembers riding it with his mother 32 years ago in 1975! It was very difficult to convince the boy’s that Grandma had ridden a roller coaster. The Marina in Titusville has a few Manatee swiming around. They are large slow moving creatures, who don't seem to mind us humans at all.

Florida at last

2007-11-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

At first light Solange and us left Cumberland Island and returned to the ocean for a day sail to St Augustine Florida. This was to be our first port in Florida, our 20th and last US state. Arriving in early afternoon, we anchored and went ashore to explore. St Augustine claims to be the oldest European settlement in the United States, settled by the Spanish in 1565. Although a bit touristy for my liking, with horse drawn carriages, and tourist trains, the central square and architecture of the town are undeniably beautiful. We arrived the day after the Christmas lights were lit in the main square. (It’s hard to think about Xmas when you are looking at palm trees) The highlight of the boy’s visit was the Alligator farm. This park contains all 23 species of Crocodilian species. The highlight was the main pool which held 40 American Alligators ranging from 8 – 15 feet long. The trainer walked around inside the pen, and threw food at several of the animals. Suprisingly, most of them were quite well behaved. He was able to call them by name, and they responded. “Hey Skipper turn around” and the 1000 lb lizard did!! and was rewarded with a large dead rodent. The park also contained Scarlet Macaws, some small monkeys, Storks as big as Janine, vultures, and a 10’ANACONDA. On the day we were going to leave, we got a call from Salt and Light, and San-I-Ti. They had got up early in St.Marys, and were on their way to St. Augustine. Our departure was delayed for one more day so we could have a Pizza party with all 9 kids. Early the next morning we were off down the ditch to Daytona Beach, and Titusville

South to cumberland Island (link)

2007-11-23T05:47:00.000-08:00

Leaving Beaufort South Carolina, (bew – frt) , not to be confused with Beaufort (bow – fort) North Carolina after lunch, when Denny installed his new starter. High Five, Solange, and Salt and Light headed out for what would be a 19hr passage to Cumberland Island, on the southern edge of Georgia. The sail was largely uneventfull, motor sailing for ¾ of the way, cold, even by Vancouver standards, the seas were calm and the wind light. A lot of traffic and a half dozen anchored freighters kept it all interesting. Sun up saw us at Cumberland Island on the border of Georgia and Florida. This sandy barrier island offered great protection and good anchorage..A national park, Cumberland Island is home to, acres of wild sand dunes, miles and miles of “long beach” type beach. After some rest we all went to the beach, where we found ray eggs, horseshoe crabs, shells of every description, a turtle shell 2 feet long, and saw pelicans fishing, and dolphins. A very cool place. The second morning 3 wild horses came to the beach in the anchorage to forage for food. Gary and Richard got some instruction on the “cast net” shrimp fishery, Throwing a 12’ diameter net for an afternoon resulted in 2 (this is not a typo) very small shrimp, and a very sore back. Fortunately a couple of locals took pity on us and gave us a handful from the 15 or 20 gallons of shrimp in their boat. Meanwhile the rest of the gang explored the island. They found the ruins of on of the original homestead and saw a real live armidillo.