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Easter Sunday Curacoa: 5pm up anchor w/2 others, Bora Fem speaks German & is learning English
should be interesting huh! Begin our 4 day sail w/a fish 1st hr out Ok we will eat. Hey where are ya going??
boat is swinging way off course! Auto on the fritz again, nice way to begin long sail. Some how after an hr.
of hand steering it works its way back. I take 12-6am shift no biggy coffee is a wonderful drug.
TUES.4-18. 6am the 2 boats who "are sailing with us" are now 11 miles behind. Umm the idea is safety.
ALRIGHT we do a u-e & sail w/ others. 30 lb dolphin on line at dusk.. Opps lost him as he was near the
transom for pick up!Really I saw him.
THURS 4-20 made it 4 days w/o rum but fabulous sail, flat seas often N even got to practice his SLING
SHOT! MORANT CAYS Jamaica really pretty sm Cay. Snorkeled to shore & picked a tons of conch up..
FRI 4-21: Umiak& Bora Fem left an hr earlier, as we see coast guard cruise by us. CG calling Umiak.
"where are you going/ are you w/ other boats? In charge of others?" We catch up & Umiak says he cant
talk, is waiting to be boarded & told to change course!! Wow high winds, big rollers this should be good
get the camera ready! After another 20 min they let him go w/out boarding. Entering Bowden Harbor
Jamaica: ok the guide is old but this looks like a ghost town. Turns out a nice quiet town,locals very nice
Robert(doc kid)hooked us up w/ local OYSTERS & the Jamaican Handshake 1st thing also hooked a ride
to town w/ Angie. Everyone duck& roll up tinted windows fast! N& Ingo (guy from Bora Fem are already
squished in back of hatch back)We pass police Angie says you are only allowed 5 people in a car or BIG
fine &/or jail.OK! Hit the local JERK CENTER pigged out/Port Antonio all closed up but street guy was
determined to find Bora Fem a Jamaican flag, 6 Whiteys hung on the corner while cars pulled up PISSST I
have a flag for you.VERY interesting ha!
RIECH FALLS: locals yelling hey you cant go the falls are closed Closed?? Boy on bike pedaling fast in
front of car "IM the guide" ok but if they are closed how can you guide? Nice sm falls N & Robert (umiak)
did the usual jump. It seems the falls are closed for rehab,its been 5 yrs,we were told they are thinking of
what they need to do. Island time mon. In true cruiser style it took us 3 days to figure out we were now in a
different time zoom. Now that is relaxing!
April 26th have seen the sites& scrubbed the boat,time to leave head to Coquar using our whisker pole,
finally figured it our w/ help from Ingo works great! On to Alligator Cay just heading out hand helm to N.
CRAP what was that?? We hit big time. Still moving though N dives over big dent but all is well.. All I can
say is Im SO glad I gave up the helm!!Dolphins along side for awhile, caught 2 baracuda & a cero!
Kayaked around a bit lots of sm rays AC is just a reef we anchored behind awesome. Anchored in
Bluefields & on to Bloody Bay NEGRIL.
for this mon. Meet Neil Farley no way! Ha.. Long day get to office in M Bay "where is the boat"? OH you for
this mon. Meet Neil Farley no way! Ha.. Long day get to office in M Bay "where is the boat"? OH you need
to go back to Negril & do this!! No WAY the 6 of us load back in & head back to Negril fast. In police
station for customs, long story but we messed up in Bowden & don't have all the papers we need. In
Jamaican style police chief is trying to help, taxi driver is trying to get his "connections" to help, I go to
beach alone talk on phone to a few "marine police" guys. Bottom line WE all sail in the am for Montego
Bay. Although N was told not to come back to beach to get me ,by the local beach bums!! It was tempting.
May 3rd & 4th drinks on Celtic Caper w/David a single hander. Farewell drinks w/ Bora Fem, they have
boat issues & need to go their separate way to get repairs. Neil was just getting decent in his German too!
May 5th Sailing off to the west.... to lands unknown!!! K&NMay 5th Sailing off to the west.... to lands
unknown!!! K&N
should be interesting huh! Begin our 4 day sail w/a fish 1st hr out Ok we will eat. Hey where are ya going??
boat is swinging way off course! Auto on the fritz again, nice way to begin long sail. Some how after an hr.
of hand steering it works its way back. I take 12-6am shift no biggy coffee is a wonderful drug.
TUES.4-18. 6am the 2 boats who "are sailing with us" are now 11 miles behind. Umm the idea is safety.
ALRIGHT we do a u-e & sail w/ others. 30 lb dolphin on line at dusk.. Opps lost him as he was near the
transom for pick up!Really I saw him.
THURS 4-20 made it 4 days w/o rum but fabulous sail, flat seas often N even got to practice his SLING
SHOT! MORANT CAYS Jamaica really pretty sm Cay. Snorkeled to shore & picked a tons of conch up..
FRI 4-21: Umiak& Bora Fem left an hr earlier, as we see coast guard cruise by us. CG calling Umiak.
"where are you going/ are you w/ other boats? In charge of others?" We catch up & Umiak says he cant
talk, is waiting to be boarded & told to change course!! Wow high winds, big rollers this should be good
get the camera ready! After another 20 min they let him go w/out boarding. Entering Bowden Harbor
Jamaica: ok the guide is old but this looks like a ghost town. Turns out a nice quiet town,locals very nice
Robert(doc kid)hooked us up w/ local OYSTERS & the Jamaican Handshake 1st thing also hooked a ride
to town w/ Angie. Everyone duck& roll up tinted windows fast! N& Ingo (guy from Bora Fem are already
squished in back of hatch back)We pass police Angie says you are only allowed 5 people in a car or BIG
fine &/or jail.OK! Hit the local JERK CENTER pigged out/Port Antonio all closed up but street guy was
determined to find Bora Fem a Jamaican flag, 6 Whiteys hung on the corner while cars pulled up PISSST I
have a flag for you.VERY interesting ha!
RIECH FALLS: locals yelling hey you cant go the falls are closed Closed?? Boy on bike pedaling fast in
front of car "IM the guide" ok but if they are closed how can you guide? Nice sm falls N & Robert (umiak)
did the usual jump. It seems the falls are closed for rehab,its been 5 yrs,we were told they are thinking of
what they need to do. Island time mon. In true cruiser style it took us 3 days to figure out we were now in a
different time zoom. Now that is relaxing!
April 26th have seen the sites& scrubbed the boat,time to leave head to Coquar using our whisker pole,
finally figured it our w/ help from Ingo works great! On to Alligator Cay just heading out hand helm to N.
CRAP what was that?? We hit big time. Still moving though N dives over big dent but all is well.. All I can
say is Im SO glad I gave up the helm!!Dolphins along side for awhile, caught 2 baracuda & a cero!
Kayaked around a bit lots of sm rays AC is just a reef we anchored behind awesome. Anchored in
Bluefields & on to Bloody Bay NEGRIL.
for this mon. Meet Neil Farley no way! Ha.. Long day get to office in M Bay "where is the boat"? OH you for
this mon. Meet Neil Farley no way! Ha.. Long day get to office in M Bay "where is the boat"? OH you need
to go back to Negril & do this!! No WAY the 6 of us load back in & head back to Negril fast. In police
station for customs, long story but we messed up in Bowden & don't have all the papers we need. In
Jamaican style police chief is trying to help, taxi driver is trying to get his "connections" to help, I go to
beach alone talk on phone to a few "marine police" guys. Bottom line WE all sail in the am for Montego
Bay. Although N was told not to come back to beach to get me ,by the local beach bums!! It was tempting.
May 3rd & 4th drinks on Celtic Caper w/David a single hander. Farewell drinks w/ Bora Fem, they have
boat issues & need to go their separate way to get repairs. Neil was just getting decent in his German too!
May 5th Sailing off to the west.... to lands unknown!!! K&NMay 5th Sailing off to the west.... to lands
unknown!!! K&N
March 2006
Spent skiing in Whistler, B.C.
Spent skiing in Whistler, B.C.
Jan 5th
Slowly leaving Venezuela,well it took us a while to get here so we figure we need to linger!!
Nov 12 sailing into Puerta La Cruz we had the coolest guides 20 DOLPHIN hanging on the bow jumping all over, I like a kid could not
stop taking pics & movies absolutely never get tired of it. Since we were heading to the states for t-day we went to a marina boy talk
about fancy, a pilot came out got on board & directed us in wow!! he was even cute! Did the world wind tour NY. Georgia,&
Cincinnati all in 10 days. Back to Ven. went to see great friends from when we lived there. Thanks to Juan Carlos & Valentina & Joan
& Courtney for putting us up. I was able to hook up w/ old girl friends for an 8hr lunch(just a bit of wine)Well we still love Ven. all of it.
Dec.17 stage from Isla Barracha(drunken woman ha go figure) The bay is beautiful but known for its vampire bats!!! Next day all is
well I see no teeth marks on Neil! From there an overnight sail to Los Roques (an archipelago)1st stop tricky reef at Boca de
Sebastopol You need good light to see your way in. Well huge thunder cloud & big rains didn't help us much but we made it!! A
dolphin family greeted us there too. Hopped from Isla to Isla. Noronqui,Sarqui,&Espanqui fishing ,CONCH'IN,& finally learning how to
CATCH water. Its raining windy we try to get tarp up & tied down Neil is naked & wet at last tarp is up BUT rain stopped oh well ,hold
the image its funny w/o rain!
Landed on Carenero for Christmas Eve. walked around this sm. isla talked w/ the only people living there. Sm. shack but had a
conch shell christmas tree & a manger made totally out of foil!! Had Lobster,& baked apples w/ rum for Christmas dinner now thats
an Island Christmas dinner,Santa even found our boat!
Dec 31 heading to Cayo Elbert we ended up w/ 4 big Barracuda we kept & 2 we let go.. We ate that for a while Not quite to
barracuda on a shingle but close.
Jan 1 off to snorkel on reef.... but wait what are those 2 big shadows????? way cool 2 big ,I mean 4 1/2 ft. stingrays cruising around
.They were eating the left over barracuda N had cleaned. The water was super clear & only 8 ft so we just dropped in &
watched..awesome!!
Jan 5 on to Las Aves (Barlovento)w/ many stinky but beautiful conch shells. No wind need to motor for 5 hrs. Crap!! auto pilot
stopped working!! ok lets learn to keep on course sure!!. Cool make it into Isla Sur ,again big storm as we try to enter tricky reef so
we waited a bit on the outside.. Fantastic bay zillions of birds(Bird Island) Went for a dingy ride saw some cutie baby boobies(its a
type of bird! you all).back to boat N cut conch shell so we now have the horn to blow at sundown ,before we have to much happy hr or
it wont work
Jan 7 heading to Las Aves (Sotovento) after 2 hrs of "steering" (need to wait for a part for autopilot) as we are entering another tricky
reef ZINGGGGGG fish BIG fish!! lost him, NO another hit ,crap lost it NOOOOO hit last line(we have 3 out ) N grabs the strap on(fish
belt :) N--" slow down ,go left .go right. bring in jib." Me " I am,which way right or left,I am bringing in the jib, we cant go that way we
are heading into the reef". AND our radio is going this is the coast guard please identify (in spanish) OK ignore the radio I don't care
which way you go but the fish is heading right!! bring it around.. get the picture?? SO 3 new lures gone, 45 minitues to bring the 50 lb
tuna in,1 1/2 hrs to cut him up into at least 60/70 2in steaks but oh soooo worth it.. Neil & I ate 2 lbs of sashimi for a start
YUMMMMM.
THIS IN NOT A FISH TALE... we have been lucky so far dont need to make them up yet.
Off to Bonaire/Curacao( I have my sister trip) in a day or so Still eating fish & having fun.
NEIL & KATHY (Hey can ya get protein poisoning? )
Slowly leaving Venezuela,well it took us a while to get here so we figure we need to linger!!
Nov 12 sailing into Puerta La Cruz we had the coolest guides 20 DOLPHIN hanging on the bow jumping all over, I like a kid could not
stop taking pics & movies absolutely never get tired of it. Since we were heading to the states for t-day we went to a marina boy talk
about fancy, a pilot came out got on board & directed us in wow!! he was even cute! Did the world wind tour NY. Georgia,&
Cincinnati all in 10 days. Back to Ven. went to see great friends from when we lived there. Thanks to Juan Carlos & Valentina & Joan
& Courtney for putting us up. I was able to hook up w/ old girl friends for an 8hr lunch(just a bit of wine)Well we still love Ven. all of it.
Dec.17 stage from Isla Barracha(drunken woman ha go figure) The bay is beautiful but known for its vampire bats!!! Next day all is
well I see no teeth marks on Neil! From there an overnight sail to Los Roques (an archipelago)1st stop tricky reef at Boca de
Sebastopol You need good light to see your way in. Well huge thunder cloud & big rains didn't help us much but we made it!! A
dolphin family greeted us there too. Hopped from Isla to Isla. Noronqui,Sarqui,&Espanqui fishing ,CONCH'IN,& finally learning how to
CATCH water. Its raining windy we try to get tarp up & tied down Neil is naked & wet at last tarp is up BUT rain stopped oh well ,hold
the image its funny w/o rain!
Landed on Carenero for Christmas Eve. walked around this sm. isla talked w/ the only people living there. Sm. shack but had a
conch shell christmas tree & a manger made totally out of foil!! Had Lobster,& baked apples w/ rum for Christmas dinner now thats
an Island Christmas dinner,Santa even found our boat!
Dec 31 heading to Cayo Elbert we ended up w/ 4 big Barracuda we kept & 2 we let go.. We ate that for a while Not quite to
barracuda on a shingle but close.
Jan 1 off to snorkel on reef.... but wait what are those 2 big shadows????? way cool 2 big ,I mean 4 1/2 ft. stingrays cruising around
.They were eating the left over barracuda N had cleaned. The water was super clear & only 8 ft so we just dropped in &
watched..awesome!!
Jan 5 on to Las Aves (Barlovento)w/ many stinky but beautiful conch shells. No wind need to motor for 5 hrs. Crap!! auto pilot
stopped working!! ok lets learn to keep on course sure!!. Cool make it into Isla Sur ,again big storm as we try to enter tricky reef so
we waited a bit on the outside.. Fantastic bay zillions of birds(Bird Island) Went for a dingy ride saw some cutie baby boobies(its a
type of bird! you all).back to boat N cut conch shell so we now have the horn to blow at sundown ,before we have to much happy hr or
it wont work
Jan 7 heading to Las Aves (Sotovento) after 2 hrs of "steering" (need to wait for a part for autopilot) as we are entering another tricky
reef ZINGGGGGG fish BIG fish!! lost him, NO another hit ,crap lost it NOOOOO hit last line(we have 3 out ) N grabs the strap on(fish
belt :) N--" slow down ,go left .go right. bring in jib." Me " I am,which way right or left,I am bringing in the jib, we cant go that way we
are heading into the reef". AND our radio is going this is the coast guard please identify (in spanish) OK ignore the radio I don't care
which way you go but the fish is heading right!! bring it around.. get the picture?? SO 3 new lures gone, 45 minitues to bring the 50 lb
tuna in,1 1/2 hrs to cut him up into at least 60/70 2in steaks but oh soooo worth it.. Neil & I ate 2 lbs of sashimi for a start
YUMMMMM.
THIS IN NOT A FISH TALE... we have been lucky so far dont need to make them up yet.
Off to Bonaire/Curacao( I have my sister trip) in a day or so Still eating fish & having fun.
NEIL & KATHY (Hey can ya get protein poisoning? )
Nov 10, 2005
All right! Our run without boat issues ended sail up leaving Margarita (dropped C&D off) Main sail is a flappin'!!! quick get it yells N
the battens are sliding out. We are both jumpin on deck like fools as we watch one batten disappear into the deep. CRAP the clew
lashing broke (or ended tied on) It only took 4 attempts in 2 days & a few choice words to get the sail back after N sewed all the other
battens in DUH! Always fun on Attitude. Onto Tortuga N was a happy camper 3 dolphin, 1 barracuda, 1 little tunnie we even threw
some back!! Protein High again yea! Love these islands I had a cool kayak dump hit by a huge wave as I was checking out Herradura
who had tons of stingray cut up like fans drying out to sell. We cooked some fresh on the beach they were delicious. Nice reunion
with Umiak of course drinks were involved. boat maintenance N has the winch taken apart all oiled cleaned putting back together all is
good. SHIT I hear & much more. A 3/4 in (tiny) bearing just "flew" off the boat. Quick mark the spot! I throw in red pliers, they should be
easy to spot. Mask, snorkel and dive hum where are the pliers? Eagle eye Farley finds the thing! yea it's another good day.
Old friends on Williwaw pass us as we are hanging in Tortuguillas N hunting fish while I sit in the dinghy trying to cover up with my fins
cuz it is stormin' Los Palaquinos hunting conch w/Dutchess and Williwaw 21 of those suckers which took forever to clean but was
soooo worth it. Nice calm overnight sail to Mochima head to Puerto la Cruz and off to US for T-day...In the COLD layers, layers, layers
right?
All right! Our run without boat issues ended sail up leaving Margarita (dropped C&D off) Main sail is a flappin'!!! quick get it yells N
the battens are sliding out. We are both jumpin on deck like fools as we watch one batten disappear into the deep. CRAP the clew
lashing broke (or ended tied on) It only took 4 attempts in 2 days & a few choice words to get the sail back after N sewed all the other
battens in DUH! Always fun on Attitude. Onto Tortuga N was a happy camper 3 dolphin, 1 barracuda, 1 little tunnie we even threw
some back!! Protein High again yea! Love these islands I had a cool kayak dump hit by a huge wave as I was checking out Herradura
who had tons of stingray cut up like fans drying out to sell. We cooked some fresh on the beach they were delicious. Nice reunion
with Umiak of course drinks were involved. boat maintenance N has the winch taken apart all oiled cleaned putting back together all is
good. SHIT I hear & much more. A 3/4 in (tiny) bearing just "flew" off the boat. Quick mark the spot! I throw in red pliers, they should be
easy to spot. Mask, snorkel and dive hum where are the pliers? Eagle eye Farley finds the thing! yea it's another good day.
Old friends on Williwaw pass us as we are hanging in Tortuguillas N hunting fish while I sit in the dinghy trying to cover up with my fins
cuz it is stormin' Los Palaquinos hunting conch w/Dutchess and Williwaw 21 of those suckers which took forever to clean but was
soooo worth it. Nice calm overnight sail to Mochima head to Puerto la Cruz and off to US for T-day...In the COLD layers, layers, layers
right?
May-September 2005
Well it only took us 2 years to get here but we finally made it. Sailed into Los Testigos(Venezuela) Sept 22nd,will be here a few days
than off to Margarita. Hung in Antigua did a cool 2hr. hike to SHIRLEY HEIGHTS along rocky cliffs. We even had a KID (as in
goat),only a few days old, follow he was lost & thought we were his mother. We all tried to out run it on the cliffs DUH! its a goat!
Well it only took us 2 years to get here but we finally made it. Sailed into Los Testigos(Venezuela) Sept 22nd,will be here a few days
than off to Margarita. Hung in Antigua did a cool 2hr. hike to SHIRLEY HEIGHTS along rocky cliffs. We even had a KID (as in
goat),only a few days old, follow he was lost & thought we were his mother. We all tried to out run it on the cliffs DUH! its a goat!
Bay(French side of St Martin) at 5:30am to check in. Great sunrise,fantastic clear beautiful water,Turtle & a rainbow, all things we have
missed while in the BVI's. Decided to whip over to Simpsons Bay(Dutch side) for bridge opening at 9:30 next was at 11. So N gunned
it & we flew through the bridge at 7 1/2 knots. Hooked up w/ people we had met in Luperon DR, checked out some marine stores Back
to Attitude for happy hr & PASSED out!!( the drink was not that strong but the over night pass was!) Next I know its 7:30 Im drooling on
the sofa N is still in the cockpit. ahhh the sailing life!!!!
missed while in the BVI's. Decided to whip over to Simpsons Bay(Dutch side) for bridge opening at 9:30 next was at 11. So N gunned
it & we flew through the bridge at 7 1/2 knots. Hooked up w/ people we had met in Luperon DR, checked out some marine stores Back
to Attitude for happy hr & PASSED out!!( the drink was not that strong but the over night pass was!) Next I know its 7:30 Im drooling on
the sofa N is still in the cockpit. ahhh the sailing life!!!!