All Hands On Deck   Adventures on land and at sea

We didn’t think Vieques was going to be our destination yesterday. There was no wind and an intermediate harbor on the mainland looked inviting, that is until we got there and realized it held a marina rather than space for anchored boats. Instead, we found ourselves motoring out to the largest of the Spanish Virgin […]

I kept finding myself humming that tune while Lee and I packed our possessions. We employed some of our best problem solving skills to figure out how to get our stuff back to the mainland. First, there was the question of how exactly to ship everything. I spoke to several international moving companies and the […]

Salinas is…interesting. Like all cruiser stronghold’s we’ve visited, it has it’s popular cafe where everyone goes for internet and refreshments. It has local characters, a crowded dinghy dock, and a colorful surrounding neighborhood. So far, my favorite thing about this place is the wandering animals. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of these animals, as […]

Lee and I make such a great team. We certainly have our moments, as a couple, when communication breaks down and things get rough. That never seems to happen when we’re sailing. I don’t know if we’re just lucky or if spending a large part of our formative years together on the boat has made […]

It’s hot. I’ve been hot before. Chesapeake bay was hotter than I this, mostly because it was unbearably still and windless. The south coast of Puerto Rico seems to be experiencing an atypical lack of trade winds just in time for our journey East. The resulting high temperatures are starting to get to me. I’m […]

All clean! We gave Pirat a good scrub in ocean world. Last Tuesday evening, after another long check-out process with Ocean World, Lee and I set out for our longest passage yet. We were prepared for the worst, even though the forecast gave us no reason fear. We had about 260 nautical miles to go […]

This post is a bit behind but an updated one will follow shortly! Approaching Ocean World. It needs that enormous breakwater to keep out the giant waves! What a difference a few miles down the coast make. Three hours of early morning motoring brought us to Ocean World Marina, just West of Puerto Plata, in […]

Waterfalls

Carnival mask in the Museo Folklorico.         Everything about Santiago was frenzied. Hopping from one cramped form of public transportation to another, finding a hotel, walking down the street. I guess the only thing that went down at a relaxed pace was our communication. People speak to us, we look at each other, say a few […]

The local scenery.   The Dominican Republic may have caught Lee and I a little off-guard but I’m happy to say that things do get easier. They get so easy, apparently, that many sailors set up residence here. They stay for a hurricane season that lasts years instead of months. We have no intention of […]