We have also decided that from now on we will blog only when we have something interesting to say.
We have begun to bore ourselves with this blog-we can't imagine how you feel!!!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Change of plans...
Hello Everyone.
As some of you may know we have decided to change our plans. We have found the lack of security even in the Carribbean to be not so much fun. After the drink incident we have both felt very on edge. Things will only get worse as we go south. Additionally, we have found that boat life is also a bit too slow for us. There are only so many times we can go and hike the same trail, read our books, and go swimming in the ocean. We don't need to relax that much-we are in our twenties! It has also shown to not be the adventure we had hoped for-we haven't had many adventures at all in fact.
However our end goal was to travel and see the world and we are ammending our plans to do so. We are taking our boat to Tortola to have it pulled out of the water. After that we will fly to Buenos Aires where we have reserved a flat until April. We will work, learn spanish, learn to tango, travel within S. America and enjoy a return to civilization. In April we will return to our boat, take it to Bermuda, on to the Azores, then the Canary Islands, and on the the Med where our boat will stay for several summers while we explore the Mediterranean Basin.
It took us a while to broach the subject with one another. One evening we were both acting funny and the subject came up. We were so relieved and happy to realize that we were on the same page! We've learned that for us boating is wonderful for short periods of time. 3 years would have just been too long for us. We haven't slept on land since the 24th of October. We haven't even had easy access to news/newspaper/basic television since then. At this point we are both itching to get off the boat and back to civilization. We are waiting out some nasty winds and then are off tomorrow morning to Tortola and should arrive in time to celebrate the New Year.
We hope you all have a happy New Year as well.
As some of you may know we have decided to change our plans. We have found the lack of security even in the Carribbean to be not so much fun. After the drink incident we have both felt very on edge. Things will only get worse as we go south. Additionally, we have found that boat life is also a bit too slow for us. There are only so many times we can go and hike the same trail, read our books, and go swimming in the ocean. We don't need to relax that much-we are in our twenties! It has also shown to not be the adventure we had hoped for-we haven't had many adventures at all in fact.
However our end goal was to travel and see the world and we are ammending our plans to do so. We are taking our boat to Tortola to have it pulled out of the water. After that we will fly to Buenos Aires where we have reserved a flat until April. We will work, learn spanish, learn to tango, travel within S. America and enjoy a return to civilization. In April we will return to our boat, take it to Bermuda, on to the Azores, then the Canary Islands, and on the the Med where our boat will stay for several summers while we explore the Mediterranean Basin.
It took us a while to broach the subject with one another. One evening we were both acting funny and the subject came up. We were so relieved and happy to realize that we were on the same page! We've learned that for us boating is wonderful for short periods of time. 3 years would have just been too long for us. We haven't slept on land since the 24th of October. We haven't even had easy access to news/newspaper/basic television since then. At this point we are both itching to get off the boat and back to civilization. We are waiting out some nasty winds and then are off tomorrow morning to Tortola and should arrive in time to celebrate the New Year.
We hope you all have a happy New Year as well.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas day excitement
Hello everyone.
Dragging the boat in tight spaces.
Crash!
Untangling the anchors.
Tucana safely anchored once again.
We hope you are having a relaxing week.
We had a very nice Christmas yesterday. We woke up, opened presents, and then headed into town for a coffee and a juice. (they make really great fresh juices from the local fruits.) On our way back to our boat we noticed a man on a catamaran trying to anchor near us in a very small space. He nearly hit our boat and a few of the surrounding boats. Seeing that he was alone and strugging Walid offered to help. He also reccomended heading to a space with less boats around. They pulled up the anchor once again and took off while I read on the boat. Little did they realize that while pulling up the catamarans anchor they also pulled up the anchor of another small boat. The small boat was maybe 30 feet, hadn't been occupied the entire time we were here, and really looked like it had seen better days. Not only did they pull up the anchor of the small boat, Tucana, but it was attached to the catamarans anchor. I looked up to see Tucana essentially being towed into our boat. I grabbed a fender to try to protect our boat but it was coming straight at it! I called to Walid who quickly came back. He didn't realize right away that Tucana was being towed so the catamaran kept circling around us. We were hit once in the back of the boat-fortunatly there was a door that covers that outdoor shower that just was minorly broken. We were hit once more on the side of the boat with no damage. At this point other boaters saw the disaster that was taking place and came to help. After about 45 minutes of towing, circling, and trying to untangle anchors while avoiding all of the other boats the catamaran was freed and the anchor of Tucana was safely dropped away from the other boats and damage free. I was able to snap a few photos as I was on our boat trying to protect it!
Dragging the boat in tight spaces.
Crash!
Untangling the anchors.
Tucana safely anchored once again. After everything was under control again Walid and I headed into town to go for a hike. We had a little appetizer around lunch time but we were both saving room for the feast we were going to make on the boat. The best we could find was a small roast chicken, some canned spinach, and onions and potatos. Our Christmas dinner was very similar to our Thanksgiving dinner but it was still really nice. We spent the rest of the evening reading and playing some of the games we got for Christmas.
We are heading to Tortola either tonight or tomorrow. We are waiting for a file with the winds to download before we make our decision.
Our Christmas tree this year. (a tiny Jasmine plant we bought in St. Maartin)
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
update on Christmas Eve.
After going into town today and seeing how the locals celebrate the holiday we thought this may be more of an appropriate theme for an island Christmas.
You will be happy to know that we aren't following their lead. We are going to BBQ chicken-the best we could find was mini chicken basically on toothpicks, have curried veggies, cheese and crackers and mini pizzas tonight.
Tomorrow we have a chicken to roast, with spinach, and potatoes-very similar to our Thanksgiving meal.
We are beginning our Christmas party soon so I have to run. Walid had promised to take me caroling by dinghy tonight but as the day wore on has taken back the offer. Maybe I should take him to follow in the footsteps of the locals and we will be able to carol after all...
Just kidding!
Merry Christmas everyone.
Love,
Colleen and Walid
Colleen and Walid
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Dinghy disaster
Hello Everyone.
The interenet has been down in Les Saintes for the past few days so we have been a bit out of contact.
Saturday night we spent the day exploring the island with our MP3. It turned out to be a bit of a dissapointment. It was much cooler looking than it was to actually drive. It felt very unstable and made us both a little nervous. We hiked a few different trails around the island before deciding to return the MP3 early. The narrow, steep roads and the unstable device were not a fun combination! We spent the afternoon reading on the boat. In the evening we went into town to pick up something to BBQ for dinner. We had a small appetizer before heading back to the boat to have a quiet night.
At 3 in the morning Walid woke me up reporting that our dinghy was gone! We used our crime scene investigation skills to notice that everything was as it should have been to hook up the dinghy making it seemingly unlikely that a theif came in the middle of the night. Walid considered taking or kayak out to look for it but decided against it due to the heavy winds and lack of lighting on the kayak. The wind direction was in our favor-if our dinghy had floated away it would have washed up on shore. At sunrise Walid set out on the kayak to find the dinghy. He was able to enlist the help of another friendly American who gave him a lift on his dinghy. Fortunatly for us our dinghy had not only washed up on shore, but, a friendly islander had tied it up and removed the motor for us to prevent any damage. The biggest casualty of the debaucle was our hiking shoes which were getting worn down in any case after several years of use. We feel very lucky (and impressed/amazed) that there was no further damage to our dinghy.
We have decided to stick in Les Saintes for Christmas. We have found that it has the most holiday cheer and additionally it has been very windy and rough. We are keeping our fingers crossed to find a nice piece of meat for Christmas eve or Christmas day so we can cook on the boat. We aren't really in the mood for a creole Christmas!!
We hope that you are enjoying the days leading up to the holidays and that those of you with snow enjoy a white Christmas.
The interenet has been down in Les Saintes for the past few days so we have been a bit out of contact.
Saturday night we spent the day exploring the island with our MP3. It turned out to be a bit of a dissapointment. It was much cooler looking than it was to actually drive. It felt very unstable and made us both a little nervous. We hiked a few different trails around the island before deciding to return the MP3 early. The narrow, steep roads and the unstable device were not a fun combination! We spent the afternoon reading on the boat. In the evening we went into town to pick up something to BBQ for dinner. We had a small appetizer before heading back to the boat to have a quiet night.
At 3 in the morning Walid woke me up reporting that our dinghy was gone! We used our crime scene investigation skills to notice that everything was as it should have been to hook up the dinghy making it seemingly unlikely that a theif came in the middle of the night. Walid considered taking or kayak out to look for it but decided against it due to the heavy winds and lack of lighting on the kayak. The wind direction was in our favor-if our dinghy had floated away it would have washed up on shore. At sunrise Walid set out on the kayak to find the dinghy. He was able to enlist the help of another friendly American who gave him a lift on his dinghy. Fortunatly for us our dinghy had not only washed up on shore, but, a friendly islander had tied it up and removed the motor for us to prevent any damage. The biggest casualty of the debaucle was our hiking shoes which were getting worn down in any case after several years of use. We feel very lucky (and impressed/amazed) that there was no further damage to our dinghy.
We have decided to stick in Les Saintes for Christmas. We have found that it has the most holiday cheer and additionally it has been very windy and rough. We are keeping our fingers crossed to find a nice piece of meat for Christmas eve or Christmas day so we can cook on the boat. We aren't really in the mood for a creole Christmas!!
We hope that you are enjoying the days leading up to the holidays and that those of you with snow enjoy a white Christmas.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A few more pictures...
A view of our anchorage and the village of Terre Haute. Taken from the peak of our hike at 1,050 feet up. 
My hiking outfit-Walid cuts out the shoes in every picture for me. 
Walid standing on the remaining walls of a fort. Through the valley you can see Dominca in the distance. 
The kitten we came across on our hike. It loved playing with the line we used to tie our dinghy up while Walid tried to untie it.
Hi Everyone.
We are really enjoying Les Saintes. Yesterday we went hiking twice-once before and once after lunch. The second hike was more of a walk exploring a tiny island about a 3 minute dinghy ride away. The island has a very old fort at the top and is inhabited by goats and a small kitten we came across. We saw a stand where they sold clay pots for 10 euros but no one was there. We will head there tonight or tomorrow to anchor, BBQ, and enjoy our Sunday.
We ran into friends from Finland we first met in St. Maartin, then bumped into again in St. Barths, and now found once again at anchor here. They invited us over to their boat for a drink and after learning that they were out of coal for their BBQ we invited them back to ours for a BBQ. It was a fun night!
Today is like Christmas for Walid. The town is filled with moped rentals. Walid found and reserved an MP3 for today. The MP3 is like a Moped but instead of one wheel in the front it has two. We are going to tour the island, have a picnic lunch on the beach, and check out some more hiking.
We are really enjoying Les Saintes. Yesterday we went hiking twice-once before and once after lunch. The second hike was more of a walk exploring a tiny island about a 3 minute dinghy ride away. The island has a very old fort at the top and is inhabited by goats and a small kitten we came across. We saw a stand where they sold clay pots for 10 euros but no one was there. We will head there tonight or tomorrow to anchor, BBQ, and enjoy our Sunday.
We ran into friends from Finland we first met in St. Maartin, then bumped into again in St. Barths, and now found once again at anchor here. They invited us over to their boat for a drink and after learning that they were out of coal for their BBQ we invited them back to ours for a BBQ. It was a fun night!
Today is like Christmas for Walid. The town is filled with moped rentals. Walid found and reserved an MP3 for today. The MP3 is like a Moped but instead of one wheel in the front it has two. We are going to tour the island, have a picnic lunch on the beach, and check out some more hiking.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Les Saintes
Hello everyone.
We are in Les Saintes. So far it is the most charming carribbean island we have seen. From our anchorage in Terre Haute we are a 2 minute dinghy ride from the village which is one main street lined with restauraunts, unique shopping, fresh fruits, and wonderful Christmas decorations. Apparently things will really pick up on Saturday when people begin arriving for the Christmas holiday.
We are off today for some hiking and tonight we will have a BBQ.
We hope you have a great weekend!
We are in Les Saintes. So far it is the most charming carribbean island we have seen. From our anchorage in Terre Haute we are a 2 minute dinghy ride from the village which is one main street lined with restauraunts, unique shopping, fresh fruits, and wonderful Christmas decorations. Apparently things will really pick up on Saturday when people begin arriving for the Christmas holiday.
We are off today for some hiking and tonight we will have a BBQ.
We hope you have a great weekend!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Guadeloupe
Hello everyone!
We haven't been able to update the blog as often as we would like to due to spotty internet service. That also has made it difficult for us to post photos.
We arrived in Guadeloupe Monday evening. We had dinner on the boat, read, and went to bed. Tuesday morning we got up and headed in to Deshaies to check out the town and clear customs. By the time we had done that it was lunch time. After a quick lunch we headed off for an afternoon of hiking. We had another night of dinner on the boat and reading.
We woke up this morning to a very rocky boat so we set off fairly early. We had a quick bite to eat in town and hiked until lunch time. After lunch we ran a few errands and walked to the botanical gardens just up the hill. They were really very beautiful, although, we have to admit the highlite for both of us was the koi fish pond. For 20 eurocents we bought a cup full of food to feed them and it caused quite a commotion. The fish have learned that when they see a hand out over the water it means they are getting food. They gather around and when the food is dumped they dive all over each other trying to get their share. After we saw the entire garden we went back to feed them one more time before leaving. The garden was shutting down for the evening and the woman who worked at the front desk asked us if we would mind feeding the fish for their nightly meal. We got several pitchers of food to throw to them. We took our job seriously though and were sure to evenly distribute it. That wasn't nearly as much fun though-so after we fed the fish their afternoon snack we bought another tiny cup to watch the fish flop all over each other. We headed back down, grocery shopped, and returned to the boat just in time for the sunset and another night of eating in and reading.
We are off tomorrow afternoon and over the next few days will be making our way to Martinique.
We hope you are all having a great week!
We haven't been able to update the blog as often as we would like to due to spotty internet service. That also has made it difficult for us to post photos.
We arrived in Guadeloupe Monday evening. We had dinner on the boat, read, and went to bed. Tuesday morning we got up and headed in to Deshaies to check out the town and clear customs. By the time we had done that it was lunch time. After a quick lunch we headed off for an afternoon of hiking. We had another night of dinner on the boat and reading.
We woke up this morning to a very rocky boat so we set off fairly early. We had a quick bite to eat in town and hiked until lunch time. After lunch we ran a few errands and walked to the botanical gardens just up the hill. They were really very beautiful, although, we have to admit the highlite for both of us was the koi fish pond. For 20 eurocents we bought a cup full of food to feed them and it caused quite a commotion. The fish have learned that when they see a hand out over the water it means they are getting food. They gather around and when the food is dumped they dive all over each other trying to get their share. After we saw the entire garden we went back to feed them one more time before leaving. The garden was shutting down for the evening and the woman who worked at the front desk asked us if we would mind feeding the fish for their nightly meal. We got several pitchers of food to throw to them. We took our job seriously though and were sure to evenly distribute it. That wasn't nearly as much fun though-so after we fed the fish their afternoon snack we bought another tiny cup to watch the fish flop all over each other. We headed back down, grocery shopped, and returned to the boat just in time for the sunset and another night of eating in and reading.
We are off tomorrow afternoon and over the next few days will be making our way to Martinique.
We hope you are all having a great week!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Triathlon news and other updates.
Hello everyone.
We hope you are having a great weekend.
We have been on a dock to have a few repairs done and clean up the boat. (and also enjoying air conditioning.)
As you know today was our triathlon. (with a 6:30 AM start time) We headed to Fort James to the beach we would be swimming on. We learned that there was a rule against bare torsos in the entire race. I had come prepared in my bikini and Walid in his swim trunks. We threw on shirts and made the best of it! The race was delayed as a result of one of the boueys floating away. Walid and I stuck together on the swim-I got stung by two jellyfish and Walid by one. We then ran to our foldable bikes (which we had unfolded in prepartion) and took off. The hilly 12 mile ride was very tiring on our foldable bikes. Because my bike hadn't been used in a while the gear shifter on the handle wouldn't work for the first mile or so. Walid didn't realize that his seat hadn't been tightened all the way so slowly over the 12 miles his seat sunk. We were the only competitors without racing bikes so we were the last of the pack-which turned out to be quite the treat. We had a police escort for nearly the entire bike and run. Any intersection where there was heavy traffic the sirens would go on and the cars would part for us. This did seem to upset some of the locals-one older local woman at a fruit stand actually commented to us; "they did all that for you idiots?!" She looked quite perturbed. We finished the bike, refueled with water and took off on our run. Little to our knowledge the final run was all up hill! By the time we finished our legs were very tired! We crossed the finish line and were greeted by very excited kids who attached our metals and gave us gatorade, more water, and some energy bars. We stuck around enjoying the from the top of the hill and waited for the awards ceremony. Our bikes got us a lot of attention-we were the most popular people at the event! The awards ceremony began and before we knew it my name was being called. I won 1st place in the 20-39 year old age group. It isn't anything to brag about though because I was the only person in that age group. Afterwards we hopped onto our bikes and cruised down the hill back to our boat. (The triathlon wasn't a circular course so it conveniently ended right near where our boat is.) We had such a fun time and really loved seeing the sense of community that it brought out on the island. The kids seemed to really love cheering everyone on and participating by handing out water, food, etc. It was really nice.
We are having a quiet Sunday-hoping we can find a movie to buy for this evening. Tomorrow we are heading off to our next stop!
We hope you are having a great weekend.
We have been on a dock to have a few repairs done and clean up the boat. (and also enjoying air conditioning.)
As you know today was our triathlon. (with a 6:30 AM start time) We headed to Fort James to the beach we would be swimming on. We learned that there was a rule against bare torsos in the entire race. I had come prepared in my bikini and Walid in his swim trunks. We threw on shirts and made the best of it! The race was delayed as a result of one of the boueys floating away. Walid and I stuck together on the swim-I got stung by two jellyfish and Walid by one. We then ran to our foldable bikes (which we had unfolded in prepartion) and took off. The hilly 12 mile ride was very tiring on our foldable bikes. Because my bike hadn't been used in a while the gear shifter on the handle wouldn't work for the first mile or so. Walid didn't realize that his seat hadn't been tightened all the way so slowly over the 12 miles his seat sunk. We were the only competitors without racing bikes so we were the last of the pack-which turned out to be quite the treat. We had a police escort for nearly the entire bike and run. Any intersection where there was heavy traffic the sirens would go on and the cars would part for us. This did seem to upset some of the locals-one older local woman at a fruit stand actually commented to us; "they did all that for you idiots?!" She looked quite perturbed. We finished the bike, refueled with water and took off on our run. Little to our knowledge the final run was all up hill! By the time we finished our legs were very tired! We crossed the finish line and were greeted by very excited kids who attached our metals and gave us gatorade, more water, and some energy bars. We stuck around enjoying the from the top of the hill and waited for the awards ceremony. Our bikes got us a lot of attention-we were the most popular people at the event! The awards ceremony began and before we knew it my name was being called. I won 1st place in the 20-39 year old age group. It isn't anything to brag about though because I was the only person in that age group. Afterwards we hopped onto our bikes and cruised down the hill back to our boat. (The triathlon wasn't a circular course so it conveniently ended right near where our boat is.) We had such a fun time and really loved seeing the sense of community that it brought out on the island. The kids seemed to really love cheering everyone on and participating by handing out water, food, etc. It was really nice.
We are having a quiet Sunday-hoping we can find a movie to buy for this evening. Tomorrow we are heading off to our next stop!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sunday race day!
Hello everyone.
We hope that you are having a nice week. We have been busy hiking, swimming, running, and doing boat chores along with other real work.
Today we were having lunch on the beach when we over heard chatter about a triathlon. After asking a few more questions we learned that on 6:30 AM, Sunday there is a triathlon-sprint or olympic distance. After a few more questions we were signed up and ready to go! We opted for the sprint distance however because all we have in terms of bikes is our foldable bikes. Tomorrow Walid is pulling them out of the forward bathroom (where we have been storing them) and we are going to get them ready. Even 12 miles on the foldables is going to be pushing it for our poor butts. The swim is 750 meters-we will use our snorkeling goggles. The run is only 2 miles and we obviously have all the necessary attire and accessories for that. We are really excited and are very much looking forward to the event. We had been hoping to find more fun events like this along the way. In NYC we loved the Central Park events, in fact, we were the champions of our age group in the couples biathlon!! Walid has done a triatholon before but this will be my first. I have done 2 biathlons-1 in Central Park with my Dad and Walid and the other upstate with just my Dad. (Upstate NY I set the course record for my age group! I don't usually tell anyone that it was the first year the race was held and that I was the only person in my age group participating.)
Here is Sundays race link for anyone who is interested. http://www.antiguanice.com/events/abta_triathlon/2008/triathlon_2008.htm
Tonight we are having tacos on the boat with home made salsa because we can't seem to find any premade anywhere. We had hoped our avocados would be ripe enough to make guacamole but its not looking promising.
Tomorrow we are heading to a dock so we can have a few repairs done. We are looking forward to that too because the marina has a gym, yoga studio, spa, and turkish bath!
We are off to town now to run a few last minute errands before everything shuts down for the evening. (and hopefully find sour cream!!)
Have a great evening. We miss you all.
We hope that you are having a nice week. We have been busy hiking, swimming, running, and doing boat chores along with other real work.
Today we were having lunch on the beach when we over heard chatter about a triathlon. After asking a few more questions we learned that on 6:30 AM, Sunday there is a triathlon-sprint or olympic distance. After a few more questions we were signed up and ready to go! We opted for the sprint distance however because all we have in terms of bikes is our foldable bikes. Tomorrow Walid is pulling them out of the forward bathroom (where we have been storing them) and we are going to get them ready. Even 12 miles on the foldables is going to be pushing it for our poor butts. The swim is 750 meters-we will use our snorkeling goggles. The run is only 2 miles and we obviously have all the necessary attire and accessories for that. We are really excited and are very much looking forward to the event. We had been hoping to find more fun events like this along the way. In NYC we loved the Central Park events, in fact, we were the champions of our age group in the couples biathlon!! Walid has done a triatholon before but this will be my first. I have done 2 biathlons-1 in Central Park with my Dad and Walid and the other upstate with just my Dad. (Upstate NY I set the course record for my age group! I don't usually tell anyone that it was the first year the race was held and that I was the only person in my age group participating.)
Here is Sundays race link for anyone who is interested. http://www.antiguanice.com/events/abta_triathlon/2008/triathlon_2008.htm
Tonight we are having tacos on the boat with home made salsa because we can't seem to find any premade anywhere. We had hoped our avocados would be ripe enough to make guacamole but its not looking promising.
Tomorrow we are heading to a dock so we can have a few repairs done. We are looking forward to that too because the marina has a gym, yoga studio, spa, and turkish bath!
We are off to town now to run a few last minute errands before everything shuts down for the evening. (and hopefully find sour cream!!)
Have a great evening. We miss you all.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Our past few days...
Hello Everyone!
We hope you had a great weekend. We have been out of touch the past few days due to the fact that we haven't been able to find any wireless networks or internet cafes.
After leaving St. Barthes we headed to Saba in hopes of finding some nice hiking. Unfortunatly, we found the anchorage to be rough and the walk to Bottom (the main village) was long on steep, narrow roads. Any hiking possibilites would begin in Bottom. We did get a 3 hour walk in to and from Bottom our first afternoon. That evening we had a BBQ on the boat and decided to head on to our next stop in the morning. After a very rough night at anchor we headed to St. Eustacia hoping for better hiking! We anchored in time to have lunch in town. After lunch we were adopted by a local dog. He followed us as we checked out the fort, and made out way to the trail we wanted to hike. On our way we noticed the other island dogs were very aggressive but they were all fenced or chained. We arrived to trail and there was the biggest dog of all not chained. (A german shepard/junk yard dog mix) He lunged out of the bushes-luckily the dog who adopted us began barking and we had enough time to back away. We abandoned our hiking plans for the day. Feeling discouraged we moved on the St. Kitts to arrive in time for dinner. We had a quiet dinner in a garden restaurant in St. Kitts and moved on to Nevis hoping to spend a night in the hotel though our american express points that we have been saving for something special. We were hoping for the 4 seasons but upon arrival we learned it was closed until April after Hurricane Omar damage. We spent the afternoon in Nevis grocery shopping, cleaning up the boat, and running on the beach. We had a BBQ Friday night and over our mahi mahi, cous cous, and brocolli brocolli we decided to head to Antigua the next morning. After a full day of sailing we arrived in St. Johns looking forward to going out to eat. We made the mistake of going to St. Johns because they are more of a commerical/cruise ship port. They didn't even have a dinghy dock for us! We ended up having dinner on the boat and heading to English Harbour in morning. We made it to English Harbour around 11 AM and are very happy we did. It is a charming harbour with sea turtles, a beach, and a nature walk-there is even a wifi network that we can pick up from the boat. It is a nice change from having to lug our laptops onto the dinghy than walking to the nearest internet cafe. We are going to stay here a few days, work on the boat, and enjoy civilization for a little while. Stay tuned for pictures of the past few days!
We hope you have a great week!
We hope you had a great weekend. We have been out of touch the past few days due to the fact that we haven't been able to find any wireless networks or internet cafes.
After leaving St. Barthes we headed to Saba in hopes of finding some nice hiking. Unfortunatly, we found the anchorage to be rough and the walk to Bottom (the main village) was long on steep, narrow roads. Any hiking possibilites would begin in Bottom. We did get a 3 hour walk in to and from Bottom our first afternoon. That evening we had a BBQ on the boat and decided to head on to our next stop in the morning. After a very rough night at anchor we headed to St. Eustacia hoping for better hiking! We anchored in time to have lunch in town. After lunch we were adopted by a local dog. He followed us as we checked out the fort, and made out way to the trail we wanted to hike. On our way we noticed the other island dogs were very aggressive but they were all fenced or chained. We arrived to trail and there was the biggest dog of all not chained. (A german shepard/junk yard dog mix) He lunged out of the bushes-luckily the dog who adopted us began barking and we had enough time to back away. We abandoned our hiking plans for the day. Feeling discouraged we moved on the St. Kitts to arrive in time for dinner. We had a quiet dinner in a garden restaurant in St. Kitts and moved on to Nevis hoping to spend a night in the hotel though our american express points that we have been saving for something special. We were hoping for the 4 seasons but upon arrival we learned it was closed until April after Hurricane Omar damage. We spent the afternoon in Nevis grocery shopping, cleaning up the boat, and running on the beach. We had a BBQ Friday night and over our mahi mahi, cous cous, and brocolli brocolli we decided to head to Antigua the next morning. After a full day of sailing we arrived in St. Johns looking forward to going out to eat. We made the mistake of going to St. Johns because they are more of a commerical/cruise ship port. They didn't even have a dinghy dock for us! We ended up having dinner on the boat and heading to English Harbour in morning. We made it to English Harbour around 11 AM and are very happy we did. It is a charming harbour with sea turtles, a beach, and a nature walk-there is even a wifi network that we can pick up from the boat. It is a nice change from having to lug our laptops onto the dinghy than walking to the nearest internet cafe. We are going to stay here a few days, work on the boat, and enjoy civilization for a little while. Stay tuned for pictures of the past few days!
We hope you have a great week!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Je t'aime
We have very much enjoyed St. Barth. The number one thing about our visit here is the people. We have run into New Yorkers, crazy locals, strange topless young women doing water aerobics to show off their boobs, and one 50+ woman who has had every single kind of plastic surgery and has lips to puffed that the only thing she can do with them is smoke. We watched her for three days at Eden Rock just trying to figure out if she is actually human!!!!
Colleen figured out a great secret of life... how to be sure to get some free drinks!!! She has been working very hard on her French which has been coming along well. She can now order, as directions, find the bathroom and tell me to jump off the boat and drown. Soooo... we were having lunch at Eden Rock and we had a very nice, attractive young waiter who clearly had an eye for the young women, including Colleen. He brought us a complimentary Hibuscus rum shot after lunch which we very much enjoyed. When he took them away Colleen pointed at him and declared in a loud voice so all could hear, je t'aime!!!!!! (I love you!!!) he responded 'Je t'aime aussi maddam!!!!! He then blushed, bowed and ran off. I told Colleen what had happened and she turned into a very attractive tomato. Moments later he returned with a whole bottle of this special rum, winked at Colleen, bowed and said it was on him. Now every bartender on the island thinks that my wife loves them.
Colleen figured out a great secret of life... how to be sure to get some free drinks!!! She has been working very hard on her French which has been coming along well. She can now order, as directions, find the bathroom and tell me to jump off the boat and drown. Soooo... we were having lunch at Eden Rock and we had a very nice, attractive young waiter who clearly had an eye for the young women, including Colleen. He brought us a complimentary Hibuscus rum shot after lunch which we very much enjoyed. When he took them away Colleen pointed at him and declared in a loud voice so all could hear, je t'aime!!!!!! (I love you!!!) he responded 'Je t'aime aussi maddam!!!!! He then blushed, bowed and ran off. I told Colleen what had happened and she turned into a very attractive tomato. Moments later he returned with a whole bottle of this special rum, winked at Colleen, bowed and said it was on him. Now every bartender on the island thinks that my wife loves them.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Happy Monday!
Hello Everyone!
We hope you have a great after Thanksgiving week.
We have spent most of this morning hard at work at an internet cafe in St. Barthes. I finished most of my (online) Christmas shopping and as you can see below posted some pictures onto our blog.
The conditions today aren't so comfortable for sailing so we are going to take off tomorrow instead of today as we had originally planned.
We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the beach enjoying the holiday crowd. We rented an ATV which was the most uncomfortable ride ever! We zipped around the island though for the past 3 days and had a lot of fun.
Today we will grocery shop for the week and head off tomorrow. We haven't decided exactly where we are headed off to next but will update soon.
Happy December 1st!
We hope you have a great after Thanksgiving week.
We have spent most of this morning hard at work at an internet cafe in St. Barthes. I finished most of my (online) Christmas shopping and as you can see below posted some pictures onto our blog.
The conditions today aren't so comfortable for sailing so we are going to take off tomorrow instead of today as we had originally planned.
We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the beach enjoying the holiday crowd. We rented an ATV which was the most uncomfortable ride ever! We zipped around the island though for the past 3 days and had a lot of fun.
Today we will grocery shop for the week and head off tomorrow. We haven't decided exactly where we are headed off to next but will update soon.
Happy December 1st!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving in St. Barthes
Hello everyone.
We hope you all had a really great Thanksgiving. Let us fill you in on the past few days.
Tuesday we pushed off the dock in St. Maartin as you know. We originally intended to head straight to Gustavia, however, in our crusing guide we read about a tiny island with an anchorage about a 2 miles off the northern coast of St. Barthes called Ile Fourchue. We arrived in the dark and made dinner on the boat.
The next morning we awoke surrounded by the beautiful rocky cliffs of the island. The island, once occupied by only goats, is now empty. A few years ago the goats ate all the vegetation off the island (even the cacti) and began to die. The goats were removed from the island and slowly the vegetation is returning. We tried to hike around but the rocks were sliding beneath our feet we got pricked a few times by cacti. It just wasn't pleasant. Instead we grabbed our snorkeling gear to check out the reefs we read about. Sadly, it appears that a lot of. them have been destroyed from human carelessness. We saw a lot of fish none the less. Around 11 we pulled up our anchor and went to Anse de Colombier. It is an absolutely charming beach/anchorage in St. Barthes that can only be accesed by boat or foot path. We went kayaking and on a hike to Anse de Flamand. That evening we had a BBQ. It was the first time we ate red meat in a while and neither of us realized how much we missed it.
Thursday morning we headed to Gustavia to clear customs. We cleared customs and went on a ensure that we were very hungry for our feast. Around 11 we returned to the boat to begin preparing our feast. We had a chicken-it fit in the oven! We stuffed the chicken and surrounded it with potatoes and onions and let the oven do its work while we enjoyed the sunshine. An hour and 45 minutes later the chicken looked ready! We made a bit of extra stuffing, steamed spinach and gravy. Walid carved carved the chicken up and we dug in! We had a great feast followed by a nap. We have pictures that we will post within the next few days.
We have seen a nurse shark swimming around our boat and got fairly close up from the dingy. We've also seen a lot of sea turtles. We are very careful in our dinghy because they swim all over the anchorage. We have developed quite a liking to them. It makes me very sad though because every year they are injured or killed by jet skiiers and speeding people in their dinghys.
Today we are going to go snorkeling then to the beach for the afternoon. With in the next few days we will be heading to Saba. We are having a great time but missing everyone.
We hope you are all great and that you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.
Stay tuned for our picture postings. (We have some good ones!)
We hope you all had a really great Thanksgiving. Let us fill you in on the past few days.
Tuesday we pushed off the dock in St. Maartin as you know. We originally intended to head straight to Gustavia, however, in our crusing guide we read about a tiny island with an anchorage about a 2 miles off the northern coast of St. Barthes called Ile Fourchue. We arrived in the dark and made dinner on the boat.
The next morning we awoke surrounded by the beautiful rocky cliffs of the island. The island, once occupied by only goats, is now empty. A few years ago the goats ate all the vegetation off the island (even the cacti) and began to die. The goats were removed from the island and slowly the vegetation is returning. We tried to hike around but the rocks were sliding beneath our feet we got pricked a few times by cacti. It just wasn't pleasant. Instead we grabbed our snorkeling gear to check out the reefs we read about. Sadly, it appears that a lot of. them have been destroyed from human carelessness. We saw a lot of fish none the less. Around 11 we pulled up our anchor and went to Anse de Colombier. It is an absolutely charming beach/anchorage in St. Barthes that can only be accesed by boat or foot path. We went kayaking and on a hike to Anse de Flamand. That evening we had a BBQ. It was the first time we ate red meat in a while and neither of us realized how much we missed it.
Thursday morning we headed to Gustavia to clear customs. We cleared customs and went on a ensure that we were very hungry for our feast. Around 11 we returned to the boat to begin preparing our feast. We had a chicken-it fit in the oven! We stuffed the chicken and surrounded it with potatoes and onions and let the oven do its work while we enjoyed the sunshine. An hour and 45 minutes later the chicken looked ready! We made a bit of extra stuffing, steamed spinach and gravy. Walid carved carved the chicken up and we dug in! We had a great feast followed by a nap. We have pictures that we will post within the next few days.
We have seen a nurse shark swimming around our boat and got fairly close up from the dingy. We've also seen a lot of sea turtles. We are very careful in our dinghy because they swim all over the anchorage. We have developed quite a liking to them. It makes me very sad though because every year they are injured or killed by jet skiiers and speeding people in their dinghys.
Today we are going to go snorkeling then to the beach for the afternoon. With in the next few days we will be heading to Saba. We are having a great time but missing everyone.
We hope you are all great and that you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.
Stay tuned for our picture postings. (We have some good ones!)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Off to St. Barthes
Hello!
After a great weekend and day of work yesterday we are off to St. Barthes this afternoon. Sunday we hiked about 6 miles around the tip of the island so we were able to see the atlantic side as well. Today we are running final errands to pick up the spare parts, picking up groceries, and then are pushing off.
Today we are picking up our Thanksgiving dinner. Our oven is too small for a Turkey but we are hoping we can fit in a roast chicken. If not, we will downsize a step further to cornish hens! Walid is a bit worried about running out of propane if we run to oven for the time needed to roast a chicken but I feel that Thanksgiving spirit will prevail for us! (and if it doesn't we have extra propane tanks.) In addition to our bird we are going to make stuffing, creamed spinach, and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. We are really looking forward to our first Thanksgiving in boat land. If we don't find an internet cafe before Thanksgiving we hope you all have a great holiday and long weekend!
After a great weekend and day of work yesterday we are off to St. Barthes this afternoon. Sunday we hiked about 6 miles around the tip of the island so we were able to see the atlantic side as well. Today we are running final errands to pick up the spare parts, picking up groceries, and then are pushing off.
Today we are picking up our Thanksgiving dinner. Our oven is too small for a Turkey but we are hoping we can fit in a roast chicken. If not, we will downsize a step further to cornish hens! Walid is a bit worried about running out of propane if we run to oven for the time needed to roast a chicken but I feel that Thanksgiving spirit will prevail for us! (and if it doesn't we have extra propane tanks.) In addition to our bird we are going to make stuffing, creamed spinach, and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce. We are really looking forward to our first Thanksgiving in boat land. If we don't find an internet cafe before Thanksgiving we hope you all have a great holiday and long weekend!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Our weekend in St. Maartin
Hello Everyone.
I am back to blogging and feeling better! It took a few days but I feel that my energy along with my spirits are back to normal.
We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend in St. Maartin. We spent it in Ft. Louis marina which we will leave tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning for St. Barthes.
Friday day Walid spent a lot of the day working on the boat. I found a great path up to the fort on the top of the island so I ran up and down the hill for a while to get my exercise. I explored the city in the afternoon and ran some errands. Friday night we had dinner at a french cafe on the water in Marina Royale in Marigot.
Saturday we spent the morning emailing and doing some (online) Christmas shopping for our families back home. In the afternoon we tried to dinghy to a beach that was near our marina but the surf was too rough to safely get the dinghy pulled out on the beach and there was no dinghy dock. Saturday night we had dinner inland at a great restaurant called the Tree Lounge.
As you can see it is surrounded by forest and has the feeling of being in a tree house. We spent a few hours sharing tapas before heading home.
Today we are trying to decide what to do. It is partly cloudy and rain showers have been passing through all morning. We have to get to the grocery store at some point and have also been wanting to go hiking along the coast.
We are having a great time in St. Maartin. We saw a big sea turtle on Friday swimming around in the marina. Yesterday as Walid was driving the dinghy I saw a baby sea turtle but it was gone by the time we turned around. We are feeling very positive about our trip and are having the time of our lives. We have fallen into a nice routine and coexistence and have even been getting along great!!
Over the next month in a half we are going to push through the carribbean to get to South America where we will explore inland a bit. We are both missing the cool weather and would love to do a little mountain climbing or hiking. We've tossed around climbing in Boliva or hiking the Inca trail in Peru. We are sitting down tonight to make a tentative schedule.
We are off to enjoy our Sunday and are hoping that you've all had a fabulous weekend!
I am back to blogging and feeling better! It took a few days but I feel that my energy along with my spirits are back to normal.
We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend in St. Maartin. We spent it in Ft. Louis marina which we will leave tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning for St. Barthes.
Friday day Walid spent a lot of the day working on the boat. I found a great path up to the fort on the top of the island so I ran up and down the hill for a while to get my exercise. I explored the city in the afternoon and ran some errands. Friday night we had dinner at a french cafe on the water in Marina Royale in Marigot.
Saturday we spent the morning emailing and doing some (online) Christmas shopping for our families back home. In the afternoon we tried to dinghy to a beach that was near our marina but the surf was too rough to safely get the dinghy pulled out on the beach and there was no dinghy dock. Saturday night we had dinner inland at a great restaurant called the Tree Lounge.
As you can see it is surrounded by forest and has the feeling of being in a tree house. We spent a few hours sharing tapas before heading home.
Today we are trying to decide what to do. It is partly cloudy and rain showers have been passing through all morning. We have to get to the grocery store at some point and have also been wanting to go hiking along the coast.
We are having a great time in St. Maartin. We saw a big sea turtle on Friday swimming around in the marina. Yesterday as Walid was driving the dinghy I saw a baby sea turtle but it was gone by the time we turned around. We are feeling very positive about our trip and are having the time of our lives. We have fallen into a nice routine and coexistence and have even been getting along great!!
Over the next month in a half we are going to push through the carribbean to get to South America where we will explore inland a bit. We are both missing the cool weather and would love to do a little mountain climbing or hiking. We've tossed around climbing in Boliva or hiking the Inca trail in Peru. We are sitting down tonight to make a tentative schedule.
We are off to enjoy our Sunday and are hoping that you've all had a fabulous weekend!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Hi All,
We are currently sitting in St. Martin waiting for our windlass to be repaired. A couple of days ago we planned to spend a night at the dock cleaning the boat and making some repairs. When we went to pull up the anchor there was no power at the windlass and I almost broke my back pulling up the 60 pound anchor. It turns out that salt water somehow got to the wiring and short cuircuited everything. We have desinged a simpler way of wiring it and are waiting for the electrician to do the re-wiring on Monday. We have, however, had some eventful times getting here.
The big fight...
The sail from Bermuda to Anguilla was less than perfect. Though any sailor should not complain about being on a beam reach, 25kts and big seas for 4 days without a change can be trying. Around day three we were both hit with a general crankiness about life. The boat was heeling too much, it was impossible to do anything comfortably, sitting outside was just too wet, and the walls of the boat seemed to be closing in on us. We expected a lot of ups and downs but when the downs hit sometimes sheer reason just doesn't work. It was early afternoon and we had barely spoken all day when I heard a loud crack. Colleen slipped while making a sandwich and banged her head quite hard in the kitchen. I looked up to see the angry contorted face of my wife glaring at me, a moment later a string of expletives too bad to write here came crashing down on my head. 'How dare you laugh at me, you stupid, fat !@#%$ idiot'. I answered 'what are you talking about, I'm not laughing, calm down'. I should have known never to tell a person with a banged head on a rolling boat to calm down. After being yelled at again I went totally over the edge and we started screaming at each other. Doors were slammed, by both of us I might add, so hard that we broke the door frame. Ten minutes later we were best friends. As we expected, placing two people in small boat necessitates a fight once in a while. What we did not expect was the intensity that can build while people's nerves get shattered by an endlessly rolling ocean. After our explosion we realized that this is just what we need to force us into some intelligent reflection about ourselves and each other. It also forced us to go from knowing in theory that this trip will build tolerance and patience, to knowing it in reality. One can wax poetic all day long about patience but actually being patient is something all together different.
Scarry drinks...
After our long trip to Anguilla we were very happy to finally arrive, however, our second day on shore proved to be very unexpected. We went out for a couple of drinks at sunset on a beautiful beach with a nice little bar. Colleen ordered a rum punch, which is the drink of choice on these islands. She drank her first over the course of more than an hour, then we ordered one more round and the check. Half way through her second drink i noticed she was worse for wear and suggested we go home. Halfway to the dinghy, about 150 meters away, she collapsed on the beach. I was surprised at her state of inibriation, but figured that she must have had an empty stomach or something. With much effort I got her to the boat, where she vomitted and then collapsed in bed totally unresponsive. I called 911 where the local operator berated me for being a bad husband and said that there was nothing they could do until I got her to the main road. I must say that carrying a 120 pound unconscious person is not so easy, especially from boat to boat in the dark. I was able to contact my GP and another friend who is a toxicology professor at Harvard in Boston. They both told me that even if she were drugged or over intoxicated it was very improbable that there would be ill effects lasting more than a day or two. Considering the situation they both thought that a date rape drug may have been given as she had the exact symptoms. I was also told to wake her every two hours and monitor her breathing. Horribly, while trying to get her to bed she fell and I caught her only after she banged her nose quite hard, and to wake her I had to slap her quite hard as well so now she is a little sore in the head. (I hope that that is the last time I have to beat my wife!!!!) Anyway... she is fine now and we are convinced that the bar tender was trying to drug me as he most likely assumed that I was having the stronger drink and that would have given him a chance to take advantage of her on a relatively empty beach while I was incapacitated.
We have no idea what actually happened. We went to the clinic to have blood tests but the wait was so long that we eventually left and Colleen is now totally recovered after two days of rest and a lot of water. It seems unlikely that 2 rum punches would have this effect and whether there was maliscious forthought we will never know. What we do know is that we now are very much on alert that a young couple travelling together are likely and easy targets of people's bad intentions. We find it funny that while we brave the open ocean together on a small boat, all along, we still have more to fear from our fellow man. Despite this sad commentary we still have our youthfull optimism!!!
Once we have a functioning anchor we are off to St. Barthes for Thanksgiving, then we will spend a couple of days hiking on Saba Island to recover from whatever festivities may find us in the coming days.
We are currently sitting in St. Martin waiting for our windlass to be repaired. A couple of days ago we planned to spend a night at the dock cleaning the boat and making some repairs. When we went to pull up the anchor there was no power at the windlass and I almost broke my back pulling up the 60 pound anchor. It turns out that salt water somehow got to the wiring and short cuircuited everything. We have desinged a simpler way of wiring it and are waiting for the electrician to do the re-wiring on Monday. We have, however, had some eventful times getting here.
The big fight...
The sail from Bermuda to Anguilla was less than perfect. Though any sailor should not complain about being on a beam reach, 25kts and big seas for 4 days without a change can be trying. Around day three we were both hit with a general crankiness about life. The boat was heeling too much, it was impossible to do anything comfortably, sitting outside was just too wet, and the walls of the boat seemed to be closing in on us. We expected a lot of ups and downs but when the downs hit sometimes sheer reason just doesn't work. It was early afternoon and we had barely spoken all day when I heard a loud crack. Colleen slipped while making a sandwich and banged her head quite hard in the kitchen. I looked up to see the angry contorted face of my wife glaring at me, a moment later a string of expletives too bad to write here came crashing down on my head. 'How dare you laugh at me, you stupid, fat !@#%$ idiot'. I answered 'what are you talking about, I'm not laughing, calm down'. I should have known never to tell a person with a banged head on a rolling boat to calm down. After being yelled at again I went totally over the edge and we started screaming at each other. Doors were slammed, by both of us I might add, so hard that we broke the door frame. Ten minutes later we were best friends. As we expected, placing two people in small boat necessitates a fight once in a while. What we did not expect was the intensity that can build while people's nerves get shattered by an endlessly rolling ocean. After our explosion we realized that this is just what we need to force us into some intelligent reflection about ourselves and each other. It also forced us to go from knowing in theory that this trip will build tolerance and patience, to knowing it in reality. One can wax poetic all day long about patience but actually being patient is something all together different.
Scarry drinks...
After our long trip to Anguilla we were very happy to finally arrive, however, our second day on shore proved to be very unexpected. We went out for a couple of drinks at sunset on a beautiful beach with a nice little bar. Colleen ordered a rum punch, which is the drink of choice on these islands. She drank her first over the course of more than an hour, then we ordered one more round and the check. Half way through her second drink i noticed she was worse for wear and suggested we go home. Halfway to the dinghy, about 150 meters away, she collapsed on the beach. I was surprised at her state of inibriation, but figured that she must have had an empty stomach or something. With much effort I got her to the boat, where she vomitted and then collapsed in bed totally unresponsive. I called 911 where the local operator berated me for being a bad husband and said that there was nothing they could do until I got her to the main road. I must say that carrying a 120 pound unconscious person is not so easy, especially from boat to boat in the dark. I was able to contact my GP and another friend who is a toxicology professor at Harvard in Boston. They both told me that even if she were drugged or over intoxicated it was very improbable that there would be ill effects lasting more than a day or two. Considering the situation they both thought that a date rape drug may have been given as she had the exact symptoms. I was also told to wake her every two hours and monitor her breathing. Horribly, while trying to get her to bed she fell and I caught her only after she banged her nose quite hard, and to wake her I had to slap her quite hard as well so now she is a little sore in the head. (I hope that that is the last time I have to beat my wife!!!!) Anyway... she is fine now and we are convinced that the bar tender was trying to drug me as he most likely assumed that I was having the stronger drink and that would have given him a chance to take advantage of her on a relatively empty beach while I was incapacitated.
We have no idea what actually happened. We went to the clinic to have blood tests but the wait was so long that we eventually left and Colleen is now totally recovered after two days of rest and a lot of water. It seems unlikely that 2 rum punches would have this effect and whether there was maliscious forthought we will never know. What we do know is that we now are very much on alert that a young couple travelling together are likely and easy targets of people's bad intentions. We find it funny that while we brave the open ocean together on a small boat, all along, we still have more to fear from our fellow man. Despite this sad commentary we still have our youthfull optimism!!!
Once we have a functioning anchor we are off to St. Barthes for Thanksgiving, then we will spend a couple of days hiking on Saba Island to recover from whatever festivities may find us in the coming days.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A few pictures...
The morning before our arrival to Bermuda.
Hanging out on the boat in Anguilla.
Sunset in Anguilla.St. Maartin
Hi Everyone!
We have moved from Anguilla on to St. Martin. We will update more later on everything that has happened in the past few days. We've had some definite excitement (not so great though.) We are now just relaxing in St. Martin enjoying the french side Marigot.
We've found an internet cafe so in the next few days we should have some pictures up along with the story of our fight at sea and our time in Anguilla.
Stay tuned!!
We have moved from Anguilla on to St. Martin. We will update more later on everything that has happened in the past few days. We've had some definite excitement (not so great though.) We are now just relaxing in St. Martin enjoying the french side Marigot.
We've found an internet cafe so in the next few days we should have some pictures up along with the story of our fight at sea and our time in Anguilla.
Stay tuned!!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
80 Miles to go...
Hi All,
We are 80 miles away from Anguilla and hope to arrive by 10 or so tonight. I wish I could say that things have gotten smoother but it is still really bumpy. Peter and Jane and Carol and Jesse thanks for your comments it alsways nice to hear from people when you are being tossed around and getting cranky... Peter you will appreciate why we can only write periodically, as we are hard heeled on port tack and I can't keep my butt in the nav station seat. I am going to rig a harness right away. Everyone will also be happy to know that we had our first real sea fight... I will describe it in more funny details once this silly boat stops flopping around so much. Colleen recovered in 24 hours and is now in fine form sitting outside reading happily in the sun as I have used a whole roll of duct tape to secure her from falling overboard (just kidding). We have not seen anything but flying fish and not one boat for 5 days, strange but at least we can't get run over that way. Also, peter again you will appreciate, our toilet does not flush on port tack properly and now smells like a truck stop bathroom, nice!!!! Once we arrive we are going to have a nice sleep, clean the boat and ourselves, send some emails, and go running in the morning. Then I am going to eat 7 whole lobsters as we ran out of fresh food yesterday. All the best to all
We are 80 miles away from Anguilla and hope to arrive by 10 or so tonight. I wish I could say that things have gotten smoother but it is still really bumpy. Peter and Jane and Carol and Jesse thanks for your comments it alsways nice to hear from people when you are being tossed around and getting cranky... Peter you will appreciate why we can only write periodically, as we are hard heeled on port tack and I can't keep my butt in the nav station seat. I am going to rig a harness right away. Everyone will also be happy to know that we had our first real sea fight... I will describe it in more funny details once this silly boat stops flopping around so much. Colleen recovered in 24 hours and is now in fine form sitting outside reading happily in the sun as I have used a whole roll of duct tape to secure her from falling overboard (just kidding). We have not seen anything but flying fish and not one boat for 5 days, strange but at least we can't get run over that way. Also, peter again you will appreciate, our toilet does not flush on port tack properly and now smells like a truck stop bathroom, nice!!!! Once we arrive we are going to have a nice sleep, clean the boat and ourselves, send some emails, and go running in the morning. Then I am going to eat 7 whole lobsters as we ran out of fresh food yesterday. All the best to all
Thursday, November 13, 2008
First Tough Weather
Hi All,
Please excuse us for not posting for a bit... no one said double handed ocean sailing was easy!!! Colleen unfortunately caught a cold in Bermuda so our boat is a little infirmary at the moment. This is doubled by the fact that we are experiencing 25kt winds and 10 foot seas that are throwing poor little sandwitch around like a cork on the ocean. We have been relegated to reading, sleeping and eating out of cans as anything else is close to implossible. Sitting outside is ok during the day as the sun is out to warm you every couple of minutes when a wave comes into the cockpit but now the inside of the boat is all salty from the water we have dragged in while dripping. At night we are currently stuck inside the cabin, which is a sweaty 80 degrees and we can't open the windows because of the on coming water. It should be noted that the conditions are quite normal for the open ocean and are not unreasonable. We are sailing hard at 7.5 to 8 kts and the seas are uneaven so the motion is not uniform, which makes it so uncomfortable. Luckily we expected all this and are in high spirits, we just wish we could shower as we are starting to stink!!! We expect to be in Anguilla around Sunday night or Monday morning and the conditions are expected to be exactly like this, not a shift in the wind or the waves, until we are in the lee of the island. We hope all is well back home.
Please excuse us for not posting for a bit... no one said double handed ocean sailing was easy!!! Colleen unfortunately caught a cold in Bermuda so our boat is a little infirmary at the moment. This is doubled by the fact that we are experiencing 25kt winds and 10 foot seas that are throwing poor little sandwitch around like a cork on the ocean. We have been relegated to reading, sleeping and eating out of cans as anything else is close to implossible. Sitting outside is ok during the day as the sun is out to warm you every couple of minutes when a wave comes into the cockpit but now the inside of the boat is all salty from the water we have dragged in while dripping. At night we are currently stuck inside the cabin, which is a sweaty 80 degrees and we can't open the windows because of the on coming water. It should be noted that the conditions are quite normal for the open ocean and are not unreasonable. We are sailing hard at 7.5 to 8 kts and the seas are uneaven so the motion is not uniform, which makes it so uncomfortable. Luckily we expected all this and are in high spirits, we just wish we could shower as we are starting to stink!!! We expect to be in Anguilla around Sunday night or Monday morning and the conditions are expected to be exactly like this, not a shift in the wind or the waves, until we are in the lee of the island. We hope all is well back home.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
As planned we woke up this morning and prepared to got ready to head to St. Georges to check out of customs there. We were held up for about an hour by a sailing school who had set up their course right over our anchor! By 11 we were on our way and by 1 we were to St. Georges where we had a final lunch with Susan and Munir. After lunch and goodbyes we refueled and refilled our water tanks, cleared out of customs and were on our way by 3:30.
We enjoyed another beautiful sunset at sea and have settled in with our books for the evening. The first passage was a really interesting passage in terms of coexisiting in such a small space. Out to sea Walid and I fell into very separate routines. We sat in different parts of the boat to read, took turns being below and above deck, ate breakfast and lunch separatly having only dinner together. Some days we found we wouldn't say a word to each other until dinner. We never felt cramped or in each others way and were really looking forward to getting under way for the next passage. (which should take 5-7 days.)
We have decided to change our first stop from St. Barthes to Anguilla which is 50 miles closer instead of heading to St. Barthes than backtracking to Anguilla and St. Maartin we will hit those 2 islands first.
Good night!
We enjoyed another beautiful sunset at sea and have settled in with our books for the evening. The first passage was a really interesting passage in terms of coexisiting in such a small space. Out to sea Walid and I fell into very separate routines. We sat in different parts of the boat to read, took turns being below and above deck, ate breakfast and lunch separatly having only dinner together. Some days we found we wouldn't say a word to each other until dinner. We never felt cramped or in each others way and were really looking forward to getting under way for the next passage. (which should take 5-7 days.)
We have decided to change our first stop from St. Barthes to Anguilla which is 50 miles closer instead of heading to St. Barthes than backtracking to Anguilla and St. Maartin we will hit those 2 islands first.
Good night!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Taking off tomorrow!
We have had a great time in Bermuda but are now ready to get underway and head further south. Sunday morning (yesterday) we had hoped to get underway this morning, however, further in the day postponed that because Walid wasn't feeling great. Today we ran last minute errands (post office, grocery shopping, etc.) and are all set to take off tomorrow. Walid is still not feeling 100% but thinks he should be back to normal by tomorrow. This afternoon we are reading, cleaning, and going on a run before a a final dinner on land with Susan and Munir.
We hope you have a great week and will be updating once we are underway.
We hope you have a great week and will be updating once we are underway.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Life in Bermuda
Hello everyone!
We are having a fabulous time in Bermuda. Susan and Munir (Walids parents) are here coincidentally on vacation as well!
Wednesday afternoon after blogging we went to the bookstore in Hamilton. They import from the UK and USA so some books were pricier than others. However, we learned an interesting fact-some books have different titles in the USA and England. The staff was complaining about accidently double ordering books. It is quite common with James Patterson and several of the "chick lit" reads. For example, on the way over to Bermuda I read Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I saw it in the bookstore here but it was shipped from England and called Shopaholic Abroad. Wednesday evening we went to Tuckers Point to visit Susan and Munir, check out their new place, and had a really nice time with them.
On Thursday Walid and I went to a used book store called The Barn. We stocked up on a few more books-and at 50 cents for a paperback and 1 dollar for a hard cover we did quite well. I got a bit nervous about books because on the way over 6 books in 4 and a half days. I read easy, fun books during the day and in the evenings have been (still) taking my time and enjoying The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Long story short, I worried about running out of books by the time we were in non-english speaking countries where restocking may be more difficult. So, after the used book store we met up with Susan and Munir and had a lovely visit at the zoo and aquarium followed by a relaxing evening on the boat with a great thunderstorm that came through.
Friday Walid and I found a rail trail that was for pedestrians only. We got up, packed a picnic lunch, and took off to the rail trail. We ran about 3 miles before cutting off the trail and heading to Warwick Bay. The beach had maybe 2 other people on it! We found a quiet cove and set up camp for a few hours in the sun. We had a picnic lunch, swam and read. Unfortunatly we forgot water, so, after only a few hours we had to leave because we were so thirsty. The late afternoon was spent running errands and doing work on the boat. We had BBQ salmon for dinner (we were finally able to use our grill again!!) and then hit the town for a night of dancing. We got in late and I went to bed. Walid was full of energy so he stayed up doing boat chores. At some point he thought he would give himself a haircut, something he had been meaning to do...
This morning I rolled over and woke up to the disturbing sight of my husbands head that had transformed from nice bleached hair to something that resembled a dying hedgehog. Apparently, the clippers died half way through because his hair was so thick. He recharged the clippers while he slept and we tried our best to fix it this morning. Again, the clippers died. At this point at least Walid could leave the boat with a hat on. (Earlier this morning he had tendrils of long hair flowing from random locations.) We made our way to land, had a quick bite to lunch, and then found a nice hair salon with a woman who fixed what had been done in no time. This afternoon we are planning on swimming around the boat and relaxing. The weather is great so we are going to have another BBQ tonight which we are looking forward to.
We hope that you are all having a great weekend and missing us terribly.
(just kidding)
We are having a fabulous time in Bermuda. Susan and Munir (Walids parents) are here coincidentally on vacation as well!
Wednesday afternoon after blogging we went to the bookstore in Hamilton. They import from the UK and USA so some books were pricier than others. However, we learned an interesting fact-some books have different titles in the USA and England. The staff was complaining about accidently double ordering books. It is quite common with James Patterson and several of the "chick lit" reads. For example, on the way over to Bermuda I read Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I saw it in the bookstore here but it was shipped from England and called Shopaholic Abroad. Wednesday evening we went to Tuckers Point to visit Susan and Munir, check out their new place, and had a really nice time with them.
On Thursday Walid and I went to a used book store called The Barn. We stocked up on a few more books-and at 50 cents for a paperback and 1 dollar for a hard cover we did quite well. I got a bit nervous about books because on the way over 6 books in 4 and a half days. I read easy, fun books during the day and in the evenings have been (still) taking my time and enjoying The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Long story short, I worried about running out of books by the time we were in non-english speaking countries where restocking may be more difficult. So, after the used book store we met up with Susan and Munir and had a lovely visit at the zoo and aquarium followed by a relaxing evening on the boat with a great thunderstorm that came through.
Friday Walid and I found a rail trail that was for pedestrians only. We got up, packed a picnic lunch, and took off to the rail trail. We ran about 3 miles before cutting off the trail and heading to Warwick Bay. The beach had maybe 2 other people on it! We found a quiet cove and set up camp for a few hours in the sun. We had a picnic lunch, swam and read. Unfortunatly we forgot water, so, after only a few hours we had to leave because we were so thirsty. The late afternoon was spent running errands and doing work on the boat. We had BBQ salmon for dinner (we were finally able to use our grill again!!) and then hit the town for a night of dancing. We got in late and I went to bed. Walid was full of energy so he stayed up doing boat chores. At some point he thought he would give himself a haircut, something he had been meaning to do...
This morning I rolled over and woke up to the disturbing sight of my husbands head that had transformed from nice bleached hair to something that resembled a dying hedgehog. Apparently, the clippers died half way through because his hair was so thick. He recharged the clippers while he slept and we tried our best to fix it this morning. Again, the clippers died. At this point at least Walid could leave the boat with a hat on. (Earlier this morning he had tendrils of long hair flowing from random locations.) We made our way to land, had a quick bite to lunch, and then found a nice hair salon with a woman who fixed what had been done in no time. This afternoon we are planning on swimming around the boat and relaxing. The weather is great so we are going to have another BBQ tonight which we are looking forward to.
We hope that you are all having a great weekend and missing us terribly.
(just kidding)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
We made it to Bermuda!
Hi everyone!
We hope you are enjoying your November!
We are sorry for having not updated the blog while we were out to sea. The morning we left (at 6 AM) the password was no longer accepted. It was too expensive to fix at sea via satellite so we waited until we were on land. It took us a few days but we've found an internet cafe to get our work done at.
Let us fill you in on our journey!!
We left Thursday morning of the 30th from Newport around 6 in the morning. It was a beautiful day but rather chilly. Dolphins joined us and swam along the boat the first day. I put music on for them when they came for a second visit later in the afternoon and they jumped in the air all around the boat. That night we slept well in between watch.
The second day it was a little bit warmer but we still needed to bundle. We hoped the dolphins would come back but they didn't. Our sighting for the day was a school of flying fish who whizzed right past our boat. The second night we passed through the gulf stream and we had a great current in our favor. We hit 11 knots that night!
Day 3 and 4 were calm and uneventful. Walid and I got a lot of reading done and enjoyed the warming weather. By the afternoon of the 4th day we were finally able to sit out in our bathing suits and work on our tan. The evening of the 4th we watched High Society on our computer and as soon as it ended the wind really picked up. It was a nasty rough night (but luckily it was our last.) We were both up most of the night pushing onwards to Bermuda.
Day 5 we arrived into St. Georges in Bermuda around 11 and cleared customs. After clearing we decided to move Sandwitch to Hamilton. We anchored in Hamilton and enjoyed a celebratory glass of champagne. (Thanks to the Buggs!!)
On the trip we had only 1 (serious) casualty which was our dinghy motor. On our way out of Newport early in the morning it hit a piling and cracked. We have been running around Bermuda trying to replace the part which has proved to be rather difficult. Bermuda doesn't have any second hand shops and the motor hasn't been made since 2006. The wind picked up yesterday making it too difficult to row back and forth to our boat so we are on a dock. Fortunately we someone is coming to help us out with our dinghy motor so we should be anchored again tonight.
We have been having a great time in Bermuda and are enjoying being on land, however, our boat is so comfortable it wasn't such a bad passage!!
The only other sad casualty was my pumpkin which we had strapped to the front of the boat. It made it 5 days but was lost only hours before arriving to Bermuda because of the rough seas. At least Halloween had passed!!
We hope you are all wonderful and will update more often now that the password situation has been resolved!
We hope you are enjoying your November!
We are sorry for having not updated the blog while we were out to sea. The morning we left (at 6 AM) the password was no longer accepted. It was too expensive to fix at sea via satellite so we waited until we were on land. It took us a few days but we've found an internet cafe to get our work done at.
Let us fill you in on our journey!!
We left Thursday morning of the 30th from Newport around 6 in the morning. It was a beautiful day but rather chilly. Dolphins joined us and swam along the boat the first day. I put music on for them when they came for a second visit later in the afternoon and they jumped in the air all around the boat. That night we slept well in between watch.
The second day it was a little bit warmer but we still needed to bundle. We hoped the dolphins would come back but they didn't. Our sighting for the day was a school of flying fish who whizzed right past our boat. The second night we passed through the gulf stream and we had a great current in our favor. We hit 11 knots that night!
Day 3 and 4 were calm and uneventful. Walid and I got a lot of reading done and enjoyed the warming weather. By the afternoon of the 4th day we were finally able to sit out in our bathing suits and work on our tan. The evening of the 4th we watched High Society on our computer and as soon as it ended the wind really picked up. It was a nasty rough night (but luckily it was our last.) We were both up most of the night pushing onwards to Bermuda.
Day 5 we arrived into St. Georges in Bermuda around 11 and cleared customs. After clearing we decided to move Sandwitch to Hamilton. We anchored in Hamilton and enjoyed a celebratory glass of champagne. (Thanks to the Buggs!!)
On the trip we had only 1 (serious) casualty which was our dinghy motor. On our way out of Newport early in the morning it hit a piling and cracked. We have been running around Bermuda trying to replace the part which has proved to be rather difficult. Bermuda doesn't have any second hand shops and the motor hasn't been made since 2006. The wind picked up yesterday making it too difficult to row back and forth to our boat so we are on a dock. Fortunately we someone is coming to help us out with our dinghy motor so we should be anchored again tonight.
We have been having a great time in Bermuda and are enjoying being on land, however, our boat is so comfortable it wasn't such a bad passage!!
The only other sad casualty was my pumpkin which we had strapped to the front of the boat. It made it 5 days but was lost only hours before arriving to Bermuda because of the rough seas. At least Halloween had passed!!
We hope you are all wonderful and will update more often now that the password situation has been resolved!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Weather for our departure on 10/30
Hi All,
We use a service called Commander's Weather to get very accurate forcasting information during out trip. They provide service to many racing and cruising boats world wide and greatly improve our safety by making sure that we are not out in the worst conditions. Here is what they have to say about our departure tomorrow:
To: Walid Abuhaidar on SY "Sandwitch"
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda then St. Barts, Venezuela, Panama
Depart: approx 0800edt Thu, October 30, 2008
Prepared: 0915edt Wed, October 29, 2008
Summary…Very rough conditions offshore today will improve significantly by Thursday with a good pattern to head south!
1) The current weather map features a deep gale centered across southern Quebec.
a) Central pressures are around 980mb or 28.95 inches.
2) An occluded frontal system is well east off the coast and headed for Newfoundland.
3) High pressure is well back to the west across the central U.S. with somewhat of a weak ridge axis extending east across northern Florida and passing the northern Bahamas just to the north near 29n and out into the central Atlantic.
4) Rough weather will continue through tonight offshore with strong westerly gales of 25-35 knots gusting into the 40s along with seas up to 12-18 feet!
4) By Thursday the gale will have moved way north up into the Davis Strait and high pressure will be building into the eastern U.S.
5) A weak trough will be off the east coast and this will have clocked winds into the WNW to NW by Thursday morning.
6) There will still be a fresh NW breeze for much of Thursday with the high building into the eastern U.S. compressing the gradient off the east coast.
a) Expect wind speeds in the 15-25 knot range all day Thursday.
7) The high will then build S and SW into the SE U.S. on Friday but with a ridge axis extending ENE from the high center running off the Mid Atlantic coast and up to Nova Scotia.
a) This will lead to decreasing winds with speeds dropping into the low to mid teens and direction
mainly NW to NNW.
8) On Saturday the high pressure ridge axis will have shifted southward kind of moving along with you and will be oriented mainly west to east along 36-35n while another cold front comes SE through New England.
a) This will keep winds on the light side and mainly from the N to NE.
b) Speeds look to be mainly 10 knots or less and this will make for a good Gulf Stream crossing.
9) Light air conditions will continue into early Sunday with the ridge still close by, however this ridge will be weakening and falling apart by late Sunday with a new area of high pressure building into New England.
a) This will be another strong high like the others this past few weeks that have come down from
Canada.
b) Also on Sunday the tail end of that cold front will pass just to your N and NE.
10) Expect this high to start increasing the trades Sunday night and into Monday with speeds coming up to 20-30 knots by Monday PM around Bermuda.
a) Direction will be NE initially and then will clock to more ENE by late Monday.
11) Seas will start out around 5-9 feet on Thursday with a NW swell and some wind wave chop, then will come down significantly by Friday and will be low for crossing the Gulf Stream (around 3-6 feet) and remain low into most of this weekend, then as the trades increase early next week expect seas to begin building again and could reach as high as 8-12 feet next Tuesday.
12) General weather should be mainly quiet with high pressure in control for the most part.
a) However you may see some showers on Sunday with the tail end of that cold front.
13) Please keep us well advised of your progress and check in with us and let us know when you need any updates enroute.
Routing:
1) Recommend coming mainly S out of Newport aiming for around 37 30n/70 15w to enter the Gulf Stream in a favorable location.
a) East of that waypoint you could have foul current and you would also get into foul current from a
warm eddy centered near 39n/69w.
2) Have you exiting the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 50w.
3) Once south of the Gulf Stream you can aim directly for Bermuda.
5) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT/EST
Wed, October 29 – offshore Newport
14: 250-270/25-35, gust 40-45
20: 270-290/20-30, gust 35-40
Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of sprinkles
Seas 12-18 feet, W swell and very rough wind wave chop!
Thu, October 30
02: 270-290/20-25
08: 280-300/15-25 approx departure
14: 300-320/18-25
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas decreasing to 5-9 feet, W to NW swell and wind wave chop
Fri, October 31
02: 330-350/15-22
08: 340-360/12-18 near 38 50n/70 35w
14: 340-360/10-18
20: 330-350/10-15 approaching Gulf Stream
Weather: Partly cloudy to fair
Seas down to 3-6 feet, NW swell
Sat, November 1
02: 330-350/ 7-14 on Gulf Stream
08: 330-350/ 7-15 near 36 10n/69 40w, south of Gulf Stream
14: 360-030/ 5-12
20: 020-040/ 5-10
Weather: Fair
Seas 3-6 feet, NW to N swell
Sun, November 2
02: 030-060/ 5-10
07: 050-070/ 5-12 near 33 30n/66 30w
13: 040-060/ 7-15
19: 040-060/12-18 near Bermuda
Weather: Increasing clouds with a chance of showers, possibly a squall
Seas 3-5 feet, N to NE swell
Mon, November 3 – vicinity Bermuda
07: 050-070/18-25
19: 060-080/20-30
Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of scattered squally showers
Seas building to 6-9 feet, increasing NE to ENE swell and wind wave chop
We use a service called Commander's Weather to get very accurate forcasting information during out trip. They provide service to many racing and cruising boats world wide and greatly improve our safety by making sure that we are not out in the worst conditions. Here is what they have to say about our departure tomorrow:
To: Walid Abuhaidar on SY "Sandwitch"
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda then St. Barts, Venezuela, Panama
Depart: approx 0800edt Thu, October 30, 2008
Prepared: 0915edt Wed, October 29, 2008
Summary…Very rough conditions offshore today will improve significantly by Thursday with a good pattern to head south!
1) The current weather map features a deep gale centered across southern Quebec.
a) Central pressures are around 980mb or 28.95 inches.
2) An occluded frontal system is well east off the coast and headed for Newfoundland.
3) High pressure is well back to the west across the central U.S. with somewhat of a weak ridge axis extending east across northern Florida and passing the northern Bahamas just to the north near 29n and out into the central Atlantic.
4) Rough weather will continue through tonight offshore with strong westerly gales of 25-35 knots gusting into the 40s along with seas up to 12-18 feet!
4) By Thursday the gale will have moved way north up into the Davis Strait and high pressure will be building into the eastern U.S.
5) A weak trough will be off the east coast and this will have clocked winds into the WNW to NW by Thursday morning.
6) There will still be a fresh NW breeze for much of Thursday with the high building into the eastern U.S. compressing the gradient off the east coast.
a) Expect wind speeds in the 15-25 knot range all day Thursday.
7) The high will then build S and SW into the SE U.S. on Friday but with a ridge axis extending ENE from the high center running off the Mid Atlantic coast and up to Nova Scotia.
a) This will lead to decreasing winds with speeds dropping into the low to mid teens and direction
mainly NW to NNW.
8) On Saturday the high pressure ridge axis will have shifted southward kind of moving along with you and will be oriented mainly west to east along 36-35n while another cold front comes SE through New England.
a) This will keep winds on the light side and mainly from the N to NE.
b) Speeds look to be mainly 10 knots or less and this will make for a good Gulf Stream crossing.
9) Light air conditions will continue into early Sunday with the ridge still close by, however this ridge will be weakening and falling apart by late Sunday with a new area of high pressure building into New England.
a) This will be another strong high like the others this past few weeks that have come down from
Canada.
b) Also on Sunday the tail end of that cold front will pass just to your N and NE.
10) Expect this high to start increasing the trades Sunday night and into Monday with speeds coming up to 20-30 knots by Monday PM around Bermuda.
a) Direction will be NE initially and then will clock to more ENE by late Monday.
11) Seas will start out around 5-9 feet on Thursday with a NW swell and some wind wave chop, then will come down significantly by Friday and will be low for crossing the Gulf Stream (around 3-6 feet) and remain low into most of this weekend, then as the trades increase early next week expect seas to begin building again and could reach as high as 8-12 feet next Tuesday.
12) General weather should be mainly quiet with high pressure in control for the most part.
a) However you may see some showers on Sunday with the tail end of that cold front.
13) Please keep us well advised of your progress and check in with us and let us know when you need any updates enroute.
Routing:
1) Recommend coming mainly S out of Newport aiming for around 37 30n/70 15w to enter the Gulf Stream in a favorable location.
a) East of that waypoint you could have foul current and you would also get into foul current from a
warm eddy centered near 39n/69w.
2) Have you exiting the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 50w.
3) Once south of the Gulf Stream you can aim directly for Bermuda.
5) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT/EST
Wed, October 29 – offshore Newport
14: 250-270/25-35, gust 40-45
20: 270-290/20-30, gust 35-40
Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of sprinkles
Seas 12-18 feet, W swell and very rough wind wave chop!
Thu, October 30
02: 270-290/20-25
08: 280-300/15-25 approx departure
14: 300-320/18-25
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas decreasing to 5-9 feet, W to NW swell and wind wave chop
Fri, October 31
02: 330-350/15-22
08: 340-360/12-18 near 38 50n/70 35w
14: 340-360/10-18
20: 330-350/10-15 approaching Gulf Stream
Weather: Partly cloudy to fair
Seas down to 3-6 feet, NW swell
Sat, November 1
02: 330-350/ 7-14 on Gulf Stream
08: 330-350/ 7-15 near 36 10n/69 40w, south of Gulf Stream
14: 360-030/ 5-12
20: 020-040/ 5-10
Weather: Fair
Seas 3-6 feet, NW to N swell
Sun, November 2
02: 030-060/ 5-10
07: 050-070/ 5-12 near 33 30n/66 30w
13: 040-060/ 7-15
19: 040-060/12-18 near Bermuda
Weather: Increasing clouds with a chance of showers, possibly a squall
Seas 3-5 feet, N to NE swell
Mon, November 3 – vicinity Bermuda
07: 050-070/18-25
19: 060-080/20-30
Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of scattered squally showers
Seas building to 6-9 feet, increasing NE to ENE swell and wind wave chop
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Departure 10/30/08
Hello All,
We are set to depart on Thursday morning. The weather forecast shows a large high pressure system coming over our route following the departure of a nasty low today and Wednesday. As the high settles in we will have following winds to the gulf stream, moderate winds while crossing the stream and favorable winds afterwards. The sea will be somewhat lumpy from the low during our start but will lessen as Thursday continues.
The image is a screen shot of our navigation software and shows quite a lot of information. The red boat is Sandwitch and the red line is our proposed route. The red dot shows the optimal location to cross the Gulf Stream and Bermuda is at the end of the red line. The colors show the sea surface temperature so you can see that warm water is flowing up the coast and into the north Atlantic (the gulf stream). On the left of the image you can see the two Hs. This is the high that we are waiting for. We will update you along the way...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Safety Equipment
Hi All,
As we prepare to leave in the coming days I thought you should all know what we have on board to keep us safe.
As we prepare to leave in the coming days I thought you should all know what we have on board to keep us safe.
- Life Raft: If the boat sinks we can jump into our 4 man life raft (or in this case 1 man and 1 woman). The raft is in a medium sized suit case and inflates via CO2 cartridge. It has a rigid top with a full canopy and it uses water ballast to right itself in case it is flipped by a wave.
- EPIRBS: This stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon and we have three on board. One in our ditch bag, or bag we grab when jumping into the life raft, and both Colleen and I have a small personal one attached to our auto-inflating life vest/harnesses. When in distress we can activate these beacons and they will alert the US authorities to our whereabouts and they will send the appropriate help. If we are near land the Coast Guard will come and if we are in the middle of nowhere they will contact the nearest vessel to divert it's course to help. These devices have saved many lives and we hope to sell them on eBay at the end of our voyage!
- Jacklines: These are long pieces of webbing that stretch the length of the boat starboard and port and we can tether ourselves to them to prevent our falling overboard.
- Life Vests/Harnesses: We each wear an inflatable vest that doubles as a harness to attach to the life lines. These are the latest models and have strobe lights, a cushion to keep one's head above water in case of unconsciousness, and can hold thousands of pounds under pressure.
- Satellite Phones: We have two satellite phones so that we can communicate with local authorities, get medical advice, and generally stay in touch.
- Life Tags: We each wear a small device similar to a watch that sets off an alarm if it goes farther than 30 feet from the receiver, i.e. falling overboard. Once the alarm goes off it places a way point in the GPS and allows the person on board to steer Sandwitch back to that exact spot. These are relatively new devices and make double handed passagemaking much safer.
- MOM8: This stands for Man Overboard Module (no idea what the 8 means) It is a small white box on the stern that can be activated to deploy a life ring, a six foot tall marker, and other items that the person in the water can swim to while awaiting help.
- Lifesling: This is also a small white box on the stern and when used allows the person still on board to retrieve the person in the water. The MOM unit is for the person overboard the the Lifesling if for the rescuer.
- Flares: We have enough flares on board to blow up a large container ship, which is obviously not their intended use. In the even that we need to indicate our location to rescuers we can set off a multitude of different flares to make our whereabouts known.
- Radar Reflectors: We have four reflectors in our rigging that allow ships to see us on their radar. If Colleen and I are below chatting and another boat sees us they can call us up and ask our heading and speed and we can avoid collision. Our boat is not tiny, but clearly on the open ocean it does not win in the law of greater tonnage.
- VHF Radio: We have a normal VHF that can transmit to a range of about 12 miles, allowing us to contact any vessel we see and are curious about. All vessels are required to monitor VHF Channel 16 while under way so it is fairly easy to call them up. Ours is also plugged into our GPS so if we call the Coast Guard they will know our position and heading.
- Radar: At night or during fog we can activate our radar to set off an alarm if another ship gets too close thereby avoiding collision.
- Medical Kit: Thanks to Dr.'s Parker and Harris, Dr. Mike (Colleen's Dad) and the advice of our friend Heik we can extract teeth, perform neurosurgery, and do breast augmentation.
- Repair Equipment: We have on board tools and equipment that will allow us to fix small holes in the hull, repair our engine, water maker, etc. Whether or not we know how to use everything is another question, but, as they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions.
- Bazooka: No explanation necessary...
- Sea Anchor: This basically looks like a large parachute with holes in it. In adverse conditions we would deploy this from the bow and go below and drink tea. It works just like a normal anchor by keeping our bow into the waves and allowing the boat to weather the storm. During its deployment we would only make minor leeway.
- Good navigation equipment and weather reporting: As they say the best medicine is preventative. If we don't hit a reef or run into a storm the likely hood of having to use the stuff above becomes much less. And as you can tell from our long wait up here in the cold we are not in a hurry to get ourselves into trouble.
- Redundancy: Almost everything on board is redundant. We have 5 GPS's, two which are hard wired to the boat, three boats (Sandwitch, the dingy and the life raft), two sources of propulsion (the motor and the sails), all lines are pre-rigged with spares, two computers identically set up, two sources of charts, two phones, two battery banks, two alternators, two solar panels, three water tanks, foot pumps for the water tanks in case the electrical system goes down, and on and on...
- Common Sense: Lastly, we strongly believe that a good dose of common sense and awareness will keep us out of trouble.
Our greatest worries, as many of you may be surprised to find out, do not come from the sea itself. Wind and waves are unlikely to sink Sandwitch and we are unlikely to be in too bad conditions. They may tear sails and cause some damage but that is preventable with good seamanship and preparation. Our biggest worry is falling overboard. We have very strict rules aboard regarding being tethered, wearing life vests, and not going forward without supervision from the other. The next biggest worry is collision with a sunken object or whale. There is nothing we can do to prevent this and the likely hood is low so keep your fingers crossed. Our boat is well built and should be able to handle a collision without sinking too fast (and we always have our life raft). We also worry about collisions with other ships, but as technology gets better and better this is less of a worry. We also keep a good watch which is the best prevention. Another fear is that the engine dies while we are near a leeward reef. This would mean that we could possibly be pushed onto the reef. This is not so much of a life threatening situation as a potentially disastrous situation for the boat. Thank God for insurance!!! Pirates are no worry as we have a bazooka. All in all, I believe that we have done everything possible to ensure our safety and must rely on a little luck for the rest. Of course luck is when preparation meets opportunity!!
Till the next time...
Hi Everyone!
Sorry to have been out of touch for a while. Without a set departure date in sight we took a final trip upstate to visit our families, and had a fabulous one night extravaganza at the Clarkes house on Friday night.
It is Monday night and as some of you may know we are still in Newport. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a Wednesday or Thursday departure.
We have been really lucky to have the excitement of so many people who are following our trip. Our parents are all really excited for us. Of course, as parents they have their concerns but if they didn't we don't think they would be normal! Michelle, Lisa, Allyson, and Ramzi (our siblings) have also been really great, supportive, and excited. At times I think they have been very helpful in calming our parents nerves as well! Our friends have been really excited as well and we are keeping our fingers crossed that everyone will come visit us at some point. We haven't even left yet and are excited to talk to anyone besides each other!! (Just kidding-but I'm sure it won't be that long.)
We've managed to keep the peace on the boat the past few days but are looking forward to sailing off. We are a bit antsy which I'm sure you can imagine.
We hope you are all well and will be in touch soon with updates.
Have a great work week!!
Sorry to have been out of touch for a while. Without a set departure date in sight we took a final trip upstate to visit our families, and had a fabulous one night extravaganza at the Clarkes house on Friday night.
It is Monday night and as some of you may know we are still in Newport. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a Wednesday or Thursday departure.
We have been really lucky to have the excitement of so many people who are following our trip. Our parents are all really excited for us. Of course, as parents they have their concerns but if they didn't we don't think they would be normal! Michelle, Lisa, Allyson, and Ramzi (our siblings) have also been really great, supportive, and excited. At times I think they have been very helpful in calming our parents nerves as well! Our friends have been really excited as well and we are keeping our fingers crossed that everyone will come visit us at some point. We haven't even left yet and are excited to talk to anyone besides each other!! (Just kidding-but I'm sure it won't be that long.)
We've managed to keep the peace on the boat the past few days but are looking forward to sailing off. We are a bit antsy which I'm sure you can imagine.
We hope you are all well and will be in touch soon with updates.
Have a great work week!!
How Sandwitch Works
It is Monday morning October 27 and we are still here in Newport waiting for the weather to clear. As we have a lot of new gear on board we are unwilling at the moment to push it too much untill everything is tested. I thought that this might be an appropriate time to give a rundown on what we did to the boat to get it ready for extended cruising.
One of the most important things for us is renewable energy. We are going to be in places where we can't find good diesel, wont have access to a dock and will not be able to find high end mechanics to help if things get too complicated. The only two steady sources for renewable energy come from solar and wind power so we installed one wind generator and two solar panels on the Sandwitch's stern. Sandwitch did not readily have a place to install this items so we bolted in a large stainless steel frame that doubles as a lift for our dingy. The top portion of the frame, or arch, houses, from port to starboard, a wind gernerator, a solar panel, two GPS antenas, another solar panel, and a KVH Satelite phone dome. The dingy hangs bellow on two block and tackle pulleys.
Now that we have a convenient way to make energy from nature we need a good way to store it. We expanded our battery bank so that it now has 1150 amp hours of capacity. While we are underway using a normal amount of electricity we can last over 48 hours without charging. Last Friday we went sailing in 15kts of breeze with all the electronics on and the autopilot driving and we were able to actually produce more energy than we were using.
Batteries are very reliable, especially if they are well monitored, so we installed a Mastervolt 2000 watt inverter/charger/monitor. This allows us to see how much charge is being produced, how much energy is being consumed and how much power we have left. It also changes 12 volt DC into 120 volt AC so we can run our microwave, blender, and other normal household appliances.
We opted against a gernerator because it's only use would be to run our Air Conditioning and we knew that if we had it we would use it thereby consuming a ton more fuel.
In the same vain of trying to consume less electrcity we installed LED lights inside Sandwitch and also for all the running and navigation lights. Regular halogens use ten times as much electricity as LEDs therefore we now can enjoy our lights much longer without worrying about too much consumption.
As we are planning on travelling to very remote places where there may not be reliable sources of water we also installed a Spectra watermaker. This amazing device uses reverse osmosis to create perfectly drinkable water from normal seawater. Also, it runs on 12 volt dc which means that we can run it off of either our battery bank or our alternator.
Stand by for another blog about all the safety equipment we have on board and how we navigate from place to place...
One of the most important things for us is renewable energy. We are going to be in places where we can't find good diesel, wont have access to a dock and will not be able to find high end mechanics to help if things get too complicated. The only two steady sources for renewable energy come from solar and wind power so we installed one wind generator and two solar panels on the Sandwitch's stern. Sandwitch did not readily have a place to install this items so we bolted in a large stainless steel frame that doubles as a lift for our dingy. The top portion of the frame, or arch, houses, from port to starboard, a wind gernerator, a solar panel, two GPS antenas, another solar panel, and a KVH Satelite phone dome. The dingy hangs bellow on two block and tackle pulleys.
Now that we have a convenient way to make energy from nature we need a good way to store it. We expanded our battery bank so that it now has 1150 amp hours of capacity. While we are underway using a normal amount of electricity we can last over 48 hours without charging. Last Friday we went sailing in 15kts of breeze with all the electronics on and the autopilot driving and we were able to actually produce more energy than we were using.
Batteries are very reliable, especially if they are well monitored, so we installed a Mastervolt 2000 watt inverter/charger/monitor. This allows us to see how much charge is being produced, how much energy is being consumed and how much power we have left. It also changes 12 volt DC into 120 volt AC so we can run our microwave, blender, and other normal household appliances.
We opted against a gernerator because it's only use would be to run our Air Conditioning and we knew that if we had it we would use it thereby consuming a ton more fuel.
In the same vain of trying to consume less electrcity we installed LED lights inside Sandwitch and also for all the running and navigation lights. Regular halogens use ten times as much electricity as LEDs therefore we now can enjoy our lights much longer without worrying about too much consumption.
As we are planning on travelling to very remote places where there may not be reliable sources of water we also installed a Spectra watermaker. This amazing device uses reverse osmosis to create perfectly drinkable water from normal seawater. Also, it runs on 12 volt dc which means that we can run it off of either our battery bank or our alternator.
Stand by for another blog about all the safety equipment we have on board and how we navigate from place to place...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Newport to Bermuda
Hi All,
We are departing tomorrow... below you will find what the weather forcasters say...
To: Walid Abuhaidar on SY "Sandwitch"
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda
Depart: approx 2000edt Sun, October 19, 2008
Prepared: 1030edt Sat, October 18, 2008
Summary…
1) The current weather map features large and strong high pressure ridging from southeast Canada southwestward to the southern Plain States.
2) Low pressure is organizing just east of Cape Hatteras heading ENE.
3) A weak and broad high pressure ridge is located to the south of the developing low covering much of the western Atlantic.
4) The low offshore will continue to intensify into Sunday, but it will not become a particularly strong system.
5) The main factor for the developing rough conditions will be the strong high to the west which will continue pushing eastward while the offshore low does not move very fast and this will set up a strong pressure gradient.
a) Already right now winds are NE at 20-30 knots not too far off the coast of southern New England.
6) By Sunday morning, 30-40 knot NE gales will not be too far offshore.
7) By late Sunday when you depart, the low will be centered about 300 miles SE of Newport and pulling away with the high pressure ridge just inland of the coast.
8) Winds will be NE building to 15-25 knots as you head out Sunday evening.
9) These wind speeds will continue for all of Sunday night and into the predawn hours on Monday while winds back from the NE to the N as the low pulls further away to the east.
10) Conditions will continue to settle down on Monday as the low continues to move away and high pressure builds off the New England coast by late in the day.
a) Look for winds to back into the NNW and decrease into the teens Monday PM.
11) The ridge of high pressure will rotate over you Monday night with winds backing to the W and WSW and becoming fairly light for a time.
12) By Tuesday morning the ridge will be to the south near 35n oriented more west to east and this will bring you westerly winds for much of Tuesday.
a) Speeds look to be mainly in the 10-20 knot range.
b) So this looks like good wind directions for crossing the Gulf Stream.
13) Meanwhile, another strong cold front will be coming through New England on Tuesday and this will approach you on Wednesday with winds clocking from the W into the NW and freshening behind the front.
a) Speeds look to be around 15-25 knots behind it.
14) Another big and cold high pressure system will be building across southeast Canada and looks to ridge SE toward Bermuda into Thursday so winds should clock your winds into the N and then NE.
15) Seas are going to be quite large to start your trip building to 9-13 feet Sunday night, then up to 10-15 feet on Monday with large NE swell and some wind wave chop, then by Tuesday it will be mainly just leftover swell around 8-12 feet on the Gulf Stream and this swell will continue to gradually decrease into Wednesday and Thursday.
16) General weather will be mostly cloudy Sunday night with a chance of showers then decreasing clouds on Monday with fair weather early Tuesday, then a chance of showers later Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of the approaching cold front.
17) Please keep us advised of your progress and recommend giving us a call sometime tomorrow before you leave to make sure there are no big changes to the forecast.
Routing:
1) You will not want to take a rhumb line to Bermuda as this would take you through a large meander with current coming from the S to SE.
2) Recommend aiming for 37 20n/70w coming out of Newport which is about where you can expect to enter the Gulf Stream, then once at that point aim directly for Bermuda which will have you coming out of the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 15w.
3) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT
Sun, October 19
08: 020-040/15-25
14: 030-050/15-25
20: 020-040/15-25 approx departure
Weather: Mostly cloudy, chance of a few showers offshore in the evening
Seas building to 9-13 feet, large NE swell and wind wave chop
Mon, October 20 – winds stronger to the E and lighter to the W
02: 360-020/18-25
08: 350-010/15-22 near 40n/70 50w
14: 340-360/12-20
20: 340-360/10-18
Weather: Decreasing cloudiness
Seas 10-15 feet, large NE swell and choppy early, but chop will decrease PM
Tue, October 21
02: 300-320/ 7-14
08: 260-280/10-16 near 37 20n/70w, entering Gulf Stream
14: 240-260/12-20 near 36 40n/69 15w, exiting Gulf Stream
20: 250-270/12-20
Weather: Fair early, then partly to variably cloudy with a chance of PM showers and possibly a brief squall
Seas 8-12 feet, highest on the Gulf Stream with NE to N swell
Wed, October 22
08: 270-290/15-22 near 35n/67 35w
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Mostly to variably cloudy with scattered showers and possibly a squall earlySeas 6-10 feet, continued N swell and some wind wave chop especially late
Thu, October 23
08: 340-360/15-22 approaching Bermuda
20: 010-030/12-20 Bermuda
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas 6-9 feet, N swell
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda
Depart: approx 2000edt Sun, October 19, 2008
Prepared: 1030edt Sat, October 18, 2008
Summary…
1) The current weather map features large and strong high pressure ridging from southeast Canada southwestward to the southern Plain States.
2) Low pressure is organizing just east of Cape Hatteras heading ENE.
3) A weak and broad high pressure ridge is located to the south of the developing low covering much of the western Atlantic.
4) The low offshore will continue to intensify into Sunday, but it will not become a particularly strong system.
5) The main factor for the developing rough conditions will be the strong high to the west which will continue pushing eastward while the offshore low does not move very fast and this will set up a strong pressure gradient.
a) Already right now winds are NE at 20-30 knots not too far off the coast of southern New England.
6) By Sunday morning, 30-40 knot NE gales will not be too far offshore.
7) By late Sunday when you depart, the low will be centered about 300 miles SE of Newport and pulling away with the high pressure ridge just inland of the coast.
8) Winds will be NE building to 15-25 knots as you head out Sunday evening.
9) These wind speeds will continue for all of Sunday night and into the predawn hours on Monday while winds back from the NE to the N as the low pulls further away to the east.
10) Conditions will continue to settle down on Monday as the low continues to move away and high pressure builds off the New England coast by late in the day.
a) Look for winds to back into the NNW and decrease into the teens Monday PM.
11) The ridge of high pressure will rotate over you Monday night with winds backing to the W and WSW and becoming fairly light for a time.
12) By Tuesday morning the ridge will be to the south near 35n oriented more west to east and this will bring you westerly winds for much of Tuesday.
a) Speeds look to be mainly in the 10-20 knot range.
b) So this looks like good wind directions for crossing the Gulf Stream.
13) Meanwhile, another strong cold front will be coming through New England on Tuesday and this will approach you on Wednesday with winds clocking from the W into the NW and freshening behind the front.
a) Speeds look to be around 15-25 knots behind it.
14) Another big and cold high pressure system will be building across southeast Canada and looks to ridge SE toward Bermuda into Thursday so winds should clock your winds into the N and then NE.
15) Seas are going to be quite large to start your trip building to 9-13 feet Sunday night, then up to 10-15 feet on Monday with large NE swell and some wind wave chop, then by Tuesday it will be mainly just leftover swell around 8-12 feet on the Gulf Stream and this swell will continue to gradually decrease into Wednesday and Thursday.
16) General weather will be mostly cloudy Sunday night with a chance of showers then decreasing clouds on Monday with fair weather early Tuesday, then a chance of showers later Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of the approaching cold front.
17) Please keep us advised of your progress and recommend giving us a call sometime tomorrow before you leave to make sure there are no big changes to the forecast.
Routing:
1) You will not want to take a rhumb line to Bermuda as this would take you through a large meander with current coming from the S to SE.
2) Recommend aiming for 37 20n/70w coming out of Newport which is about where you can expect to enter the Gulf Stream, then once at that point aim directly for Bermuda which will have you coming out of the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 15w.
3) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT
Sun, October 19
08: 020-040/15-25
14: 030-050/15-25
20: 020-040/15-25 approx departure
Weather: Mostly cloudy, chance of a few showers offshore in the evening
Seas building to 9-13 feet, large NE swell and wind wave chop
Mon, October 20 – winds stronger to the E and lighter to the W
02: 360-020/18-25
08: 350-010/15-22 near 40n/70 50w
14: 340-360/12-20
20: 340-360/10-18
Weather: Decreasing cloudiness
Seas 10-15 feet, large NE swell and choppy early, but chop will decrease PM
Tue, October 21
02: 300-320/ 7-14
08: 260-280/10-16 near 37 20n/70w, entering Gulf Stream
14: 240-260/12-20 near 36 40n/69 15w, exiting Gulf Stream
20: 250-270/12-20
Weather: Fair early, then partly to variably cloudy with a chance of PM showers and possibly a brief squall
Seas 8-12 feet, highest on the Gulf Stream with NE to N swell
Wed, October 22
08: 270-290/15-22 near 35n/67 35w
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Mostly to variably cloudy with scattered showers and possibly a squall earlySeas 6-10 feet, continued N swell and some wind wave chop especially late
Thu, October 23
08: 340-360/15-22 approaching Bermuda
20: 010-030/12-20 Bermuda
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas 6-9 feet, N swell
Friday, October 17, 2008
As we watch the weather we have decided to push our departure to Sunday afternoon as the low front in the gulf stream is moving slower than we initially had anticipated.
This afternoon we are picking up our foldable bicycles (which we had serviced), filling our prescriptions (an entire years worth!), and filling up our propane tanks at Agway (so we can have enough to cook our way to Bermuda).
Tomorrow we are doing a final stop at Clements (our new favorite grocery store) and then are off to sell our car back to the dealership.
As we have been preparing and getting ready to take off the past few days in the boat yard we realized how much we are going to miss everyone from NEB! We are going to miss Bob Sharkeys reports on how fast he runs, Young Bobs reports on his engagement, Tony's morning wake up visits (when he isn't dropping our pumpkins in the water), Sue from the office, the visits from Buzz and Phip, our visits to Andrew, Bill and Nathan at the Ship Store, and Matt, Scott, Jackie, and everyone else from the Melville Grille. After some careful consideration of all the great things NEB has to offer (people, services, etc.) we have decided that we will miss the spinach and artichoke dip most of all.
This afternoon we are picking up our foldable bicycles (which we had serviced), filling our prescriptions (an entire years worth!), and filling up our propane tanks at Agway (so we can have enough to cook our way to Bermuda).
Tomorrow we are doing a final stop at Clements (our new favorite grocery store) and then are off to sell our car back to the dealership.
As we have been preparing and getting ready to take off the past few days in the boat yard we realized how much we are going to miss everyone from NEB! We are going to miss Bob Sharkeys reports on how fast he runs, Young Bobs reports on his engagement, Tony's morning wake up visits (when he isn't dropping our pumpkins in the water), Sue from the office, the visits from Buzz and Phip, our visits to Andrew, Bill and Nathan at the Ship Store, and Matt, Scott, Jackie, and everyone else from the Melville Grille. After some careful consideration of all the great things NEB has to offer (people, services, etc.) we have decided that we will miss the spinach and artichoke dip most of all.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Other blogs...
If you have a chance to check out the other blogs we are following we have linked them on the right hand side of our blog. My sister Michelle has a blog about peace and justice which she has been working on, and our friend Max has put together a site together in effort to raise money for his trip to Everest in 2010 along with breast cancer.
Only a few days to go...
We have been hard at work preparing all week. After a phone call this morning with commander weather we have learned that we should be able to take off Saturday morning. By leaving Saturday morning we should be able to avoid a low pressure system in the gulf stream and at the same time miss a hurricane that is coming from the south.
We have stocked up with enough groceries and canned goods to last us at least a year. Every nook and cranny of our boat is filled with food, spices, tabasco, and Chanel liquid black eyeliner.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Happy Columbus Day!
We apologize for our slow update since our engine failed us. Monday morning after the incident a mechanic was on our boat first thing and we were back in action within the hour. Simply a small screw wasn't on tight enough after the tune up.
Since our last blog we've been in NYC for a few final Doctors visits, goodbyes to our friends, and upstate New York saying goodbye to our families.
Saturday afternoon we returned to the boat to finalize the preparations for our first leg of the adventure. Since then we have been working non-stop. Today we had a bit of a forced rest thanks to Columbus Day, however, tomorrow we will pick up in full swing.
You will now find the latest addition to our blog-the iBoat track at the top right hand corner of the page. Once we leave our position and speed will be updated every 4 hours so you can follow our adventure.
Happy Columbus Day! (and Canadian Thanksgiving)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
