Several more months

                                          14 Oct. 2017
Greetings loved ones, 
Since the end of may, when last I posted, we've continued to stay busy. With some work, some travel and some working travel. 

In March, a young couple, Jordan and Desiree, arrived in Isla Mujeres on their 30 foot sail boat, Atticus. Shortly after their arrival a "nortè" blew through and Atticus drug anchor. She ended up dragging into one of the marinas, doing a bit of damage to a couple of other boats. This is how we met them, as they were going around thanking everyone who had helped, with apologies and assurances that Jordan would repair the damage they caused. When Capt Johne found out Jordan has fibre glassing skills, he asked if Jordan would want to work with him on an up coming rudder job. Jordan was excited to have the work even after I told him that Capt Johne is a perfectionist and can be difficult to work for. Within a month they had moved to the dock here and have been our next door neighbours ever since. 

This past year has been the year of the rudder. Johne has built, or rebuilt, 5 rudders in the last 18 months. After we got back from Ft Myers, early in June, he and Jordan started on a huge rudder for a 55 foot sail boat that had run aground off of Cuba. 

At the same time, our friend Melissa, a Nova Scotian, who spends quite a bit of time here on Isla, came to stay aboard Second Star for a bit to learn more about boat life and whether it suits her.

June 6th I made a trip up to VA to help my family with huge, on going, project of clearing out the house my parents moved out of after 37 years of stuff collecting. When I got back on the 13th, the welding work was almost done and it was time to start foaming and fibre glassing. It took a couple more weeks to finish the rudder (I don't think Melissa is so sure about this part of boat life) at which point Bob arrived for a couple of weeks of "vacation". I don't think Bob has ever made a trip to Second Star that he hasn't done boat work and bled, and this was no exception. While the guys finished up the keel work Melissa and I started getting Second Star ready for sea. When the job was completed, both Second Star and Atticus headed down to Bahia Ascencion for some fishing, snorkeling and much needed relaxation. It had taken a full month (a little longer than expected) to completely rebuild the rudder, pull the boat out in the yard, fix the damage to the keel and re-launch. 

The trip down to Ascencion was pretty nice. Melissa hadn't done much if any boating and, while we had some rougher conditions in the evening, overall it wasn't a bad trip. She said she enjoyed the good parts enough to make up for the not-so-good parts.
We had a very pleasant week down there. Bob and Johne got to do some good bone fish stalking. Jordan went with them for one of those trips. Jordan, Desiree, Melissa and I got some good snorkeling in. There was reading time, dolphin watching, some napping and some good meals.

We headed back a couple of days before Bob was flying out so we could troll on the way and stop in Cozumel over night.  The weather was beautiful and the fishing wasn't bad. They were catching a bunch of frigate mackerel and a couple of false albacore. It was all catch and release, but I think they had fun.

When we got back in cell phone range, we received the very sad and shocking news that Johne's cousin Armida had passed away. As I mentioned in the last updated, we had just seen her on our trip to Indian Wells in March. It was very difficult to wrap around the idea of her being gone. 

When we arrived at the marina in Cozumel I boched a simple docking and damaged the starboard bulwark by putting too much pressure on the cleat. Trying to set all that aside, we went into town and had a pleasant dinner. And the next day we had more great weather to finish the trip back to Isla Mujeres. Bob headed home the next day and shortly after that Melissa went back to Canada for some family stuff. 

As soon as we got settled back in it was time to start the next rudder job. This one was a pair of small rudders for a 42 foot sailing catamaran. Johne made templates and got the "back bones" welded. Then Jordan made "foils" which hold the shape. After that comes foaming, sanding,  glassing, sanding, fairing, more sanding...and bottom paint.   

Before mid - August we'd finished that job and we were waiting for the next weather window to make another run to Ft Myers. Jordan and Desiree needed to take care of some stuff in FL also, so, while Desiree needed to be there by a set date, they decided Jordan could ride up with us. 
The weather was mostly great for the trip and Jordan was excited for the chance to fish on the way. The first day, less than 40 miles out, they caught some nice tuna. The second day we came across a big box of some kind floating in the middle-of-nowhere gulf of Mexico. We trolled passed it and right away they called "fish on". I brought the throttles back, put her in neutral, and watched a very excited Jordan bring in his first Mahi-mahi. We made a few more passes and they brought in several more Mahi before we moved on. All in all a successful trip up. 

The 2 weeks in Ft Myers was hectic. We had lots of stuff to gather up and get loaded aboard. A road trip to the east coast for supplies for the next big job. And trying to get in as much visiting friends time as possible. 

Desiree was able to join us for the trip back which made for a luxurious 3-on 9-off watch schedule. There was more successful fishing and we made the trip in record time for this direction. Capt Johne managed to use the gulf stream in our favour which is almost impossible coming this way. (For more detail on the trip back see the Captains log, posted in September).

We got back at the end of August and I had less than 2 weeks before I was flying up to VA again for my family "beach week ". There was a damper on this year's gathering because Darrin couldn't come due to some major issues his girlfriend is having. But the rest of us had a lovely time.  The weather was mostly beautiful in spite of the threat of hurricanes. We had beach walks, pool time, puzzles and games, Thai body work, stories, movies and lots of great meals. I'm very close to my family and it's wonderful to get to spend time with them. 

More sad news came while I was at the beach with my family. Our friend Kay, who had travelled with us through the Panama canal a few years ago, had a heart attack and passed away suddenly. Kay was very loved here on Isla, in TX, and, I'm sure, everywhere she touched. She is missed.

I got home from that trip on September 18th. Since then, most of the focus has been on the current big job, which is a wet deck extension, similar to the one on Second Star, for a 58 foot Bertram. The first part of the frame work is shaped and welded, and some preliminary fibre glass work is done. Now we're waiting for the boat yard to be ready to haul her out.

When this job is finished, we're planning another run to FL. After that there is talk of heading south again. Colombia, Panama...who knows? The adventure continues.  

The latest

May 26 2017

Greetings loved ones, 
Okay, an update every six months or so is better than nothing, right?

We've just gotten back to Isla Mujeres after a trip to FL with Second Star. We left April 22nd to head up there. Our friend Phil came down to ride back with us. So, with three of us to share the watches, it was a pretty easy trip.  It was a little rough the first day, but very nice the second. 
Our time in Ft Myers was very busy and productive. Picking up parts and things, seeing friends, getting things loaded aboard the boat...the almost three weeks we were there flew by. Thanks to Phil asking, we were able to dock at the same place we always have in spite of the fact that the Whitesmans sold the house. David and Denise, the new owners, are lovely people and we're looking forward to a beautiful new and on going friendship with them.
Aside from all the stuff we loaded aboard, we also towed a 23ft Sea Pro back for our friends from Monterrey. Going against the current, heavily loaded and with the tow, it took us almost four days to make the trip back. With just the two of us, 3 hours on watch, 3 hours off, we were pretty tired when we got back. We also had a stanchion and rail break from how the tow was tied and some rougher conditions than were predicted. Of course the failure happened at about 0300 hrs so I had to get the Capt up from his much needed sleep to get it re-secured. 
But the trip had lovely moments as well. Of the four days, Saturday was rougher than predicted but we had dolphin. Sunday calmed down a bunch and was pleasant. Monday was fabulous. Calm, flat, beautiful weather. Tuesday, coming in, we had some odd currents and it got a bit rolly, but overall it wasn't a bad day. 

Going back in time; in March we went up to Indian Wells CA for the big tennis event. This is our second year of enjoy Bob's hospitality but this time my brother Darrin was able to join us. We had a wonderful time both at the event and spending time with family. We got to see Johne's Aunt Hope and his cousins Dick and Armida Johnson, my sister Ellen, as well as Darrin and the Deller family.  And I got to see Roger Federer play live. Overall a really great trip. 

Before that, our friend Kate was aboard with us for a month. It hadn't been planned that way. She and James were planning to come and spend a couple of days with us. Then they were going to take a long road trip around the yucatan, returning to Second Star at the end for a few more days. But James lost his passport at the airport and couldn't get on the plane. Thinking he could get it straightened out quickly, Kate came on down expecting James to join her soon. But, as it turned out, it took too long to get his passport back so he didn't come and Kate stayed with us. 
During that period, Johne had to renew his mexican visa, so he flew up to Phoenix for a few days and spent time with Jeni and Carson. And Kate and I had good "girl time" while he was gone. 

Other than that, we've been doing daily life stuff. Work, boat maintenance, a little socialising...and, at least mostly, enjoy life. 

Year end summary

                                                            Dec 10 2016

Seasons Greetings loved ones, 

This year has had its ups and downs as, I guess, most years do. We're still on Isla Mujeres, and probably will be for a bit longer. We've looked at the possibility of making a more permanent base here but haven't had the right opportunity show up just yet. So we'll see what the new year brings and move on when the wind and waves call us.

We did some travelling away from Second Star this year and plan more for 2017. Our first big trip was to Indian Wells CA in March for the big tennis event. Bob has been telling us to come for years and now that we have it may be an annual event for us (as long as the invitation lasts). We had a great time and got see some family and friends while we were there.
For three months, Madison, Capt Johne's latest apprentice, was living abroad, working and learning about the boating life. In July, after we did a delivery job to FL, she moved on to other adventures. 
There were visits from friends and family including Danile and Larry coming to do some diving which resulted in my first night dive. That was very exciting and interesting and there were lots of turtles. And Carson's first solo visit to fish with Grampa Johne. 
There was also a trip with Bob to Bahia Ascencion in October for a week of great wild life spotting(my first wild flamingo and pilot whales, roseate ibis and roseate spoon-bills, bull sharks and lots of dolphin), a lot of bone fish stalking and a little catching. And a bit of just relaxing. 
In doing the delivery job to FL we also made new friends. Kate and James (Magic Badgers people) are kindred spirits and we're looking forward to seeing more of them in the near future. 

On the down side; in April, Eve, our cat, who had been with us for 17 years, past on. She was a wonderful part of our life and we miss her.
I also lost one of my best friends do to complications from heart surgery. Teresa Bryan-Burns was one of the brightest lights in the universe and, November 14 was a very dark day for those of us who love her. I'm trying very hard to celebrate and honor her life while I learn to deal with her absence from this plane of existence. 
Some of our family have also had some difficult things to deal with. We've tried to be as emotionally supportive as we can through some trying times. It's always tough when people you love have issues, and you can't make it all better.

Over all life is very good. We're happy to continue enjoying each day as it comes and see what the universe has in store for us tomorrow. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and all things bright and beautiful in 2017.  

Work and play update

29 June 2016

Greetings loved ones,
I'm writing this entry from the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. We are delivering a boat from Isla Mujeres to Ft Myers. It's a Beneteau 38. It's my first long passage on comparatively small sail boat. We have perfect motor boat weather conditions. But little to no wind so we're motoring our way along.

Madison, who has been with us on Second Star for the last 3 months, is, right now, sitting her first solo watch. She has been with us learning about boating and, when we get to Ft Myers, will be leaving us to join the crew of another boat.

Kate, the owner of Magic Badger (the boat we're on), is also aboard. With Madison now able to stand her own watch, we're doing 2 hours on watch, 6 hours off, which is the easiest watch schedule I've ever had. 
It's been a beautiful trip so far. We've seen lots of dolphin, a fabulous sunset, lots of stars, and miles and miles of blues, calm water. And the next 2 days promise more of the same. I'll continue writing this when we get there...

Aug 7 2016
Oh well, so much for continuing writing when we got to FL. I get side tracked. 

So, when we did get there, there was lots of work to get Magic Badger ready to put on a truck so she could continue her trip to Canada and get settled into her new home. Kate, Madison and I were there for about a week helping with the preparations. We all left on the 8th of July (Kate up to Canada to get ready to receive the boat when it arrived. Madison to Curacao to start her new job, and I came back to Isla Mujeres to take care of things on Second Star) while Capt Johne stayed on in Ft Myers for another ten days finishing all the work involved in getting a sail boat ready to be demasted, lifted out of the water, and properly secured on the truck. 
I'm happy to report that Magic Badger is now re-masted in Canada where I'm sure she will do much happy sailing the rest of this season and in summers to come. 

When Capt Johne got back to Isla Mujeres he had some jobs waiting. As we've worked our way through those we've also started to work on "what next". Until we figure that out, we're taking a little time to have some fun. Like going with friends to anchor up at Isla Blanca, just north of here, for the weekend. It was lovely and relaxing. So nice to just get away. 

I would say I'll post more soon, but we all know that it will happen when it happens. So, until then... 

In mourning

                                                             April 19 2016
Greetings loved ones,

20 years ago Johne and I met. A couple of years later our little family grew when a wonderful little kitty cat, whom we called Eve, came to live with us. She travelled from Reno to Ft Myers with us when we got this crazy idea to rebuild a boat. Over 11 years ago we all moved aboard that boat and she has been aboard ever since. She has travelled around the Caribbean and enjoyed watching the birds in many different countries.

For several months Eve has been showing the signs of aging. At over 18 years old she was having some difficulty with her balance and problems with her back hips and legs. It had gotten to difficult for her to go up and down the stairs so we had blocked them to keep her from falling down them.

About a week ago she seemed to be getting worse so called the local vet.  He came and said that this type of neurological degeneration might be worsened by inflammation around the brain. He gave her a shot of corticosteroid and said if it was going to help we'd know in a couple of hours. It didn't help and she got worse quickly. Over the weekend she stopped being able to stand on her own. By Sunday I was hand feeding her.
Today, just before 1:00, Delfino, the local vet, came to Second Star to help Eve pass gently from this life. He was lovely in his manor with her and with us. She passed quickly and peacefully when he gave her the shot.
We feel fortunate to have had her in our lives for so long. She's been a wonderful part of our family and we will miss her.

Rest in peace beloved companion. 

New crew

                                                           March 25 2016
Greetings loved ones, 
What, another blog post, so soon! Yes, I know it's shocking. But we have more news on Second Star. 

During the long break in my blogging last year, back in June, Alexis, our crew/apprentice we'd taken on in the Dominican Republic, returned home.  It seemed his family needed more than he could provide from here and, while he'd learned a lot, he wasn't making enough progress on his English to be able to learn all he would need for getting his Captains license. He left us as a better, more experienced mariner than he was when he came aboard, and I believe that, overall, his time on Second Star improved his life.

So, coming back to the current news. We've just "adopted" a new crew/apprentice/project. Madison is a 22 year old, college graduate from Missouri, who decided that she wants to become a mariner. We met her parents here in Isla Mujeres last year, and when she started thinking about learning to be a boater, her father suggested that she get in touch with Capt Johne for advice on how best to proceed. She did, and the more they talked (exchanged emails) the more Capt Johne thought Second Star might be the place for her to get started. We agreed to have her come down for a week to see if she fit in our world and if we, and Second Star, would give her what she was looking for. She came aboard on March 16th and we started getting her accustomed to how things are done on a boat. On the 22nd, after lunch, the three of us discussed where we stood. None of us had any major hangups, so we committed to her being with us for the next few months. She will be learning navigation, boat handling, maintenance inside and out including cleaning, polishing, engine maintenance and repair. She's learning about the electrical systems, the plumbing systems and about how to read/predict the weather. She wants to learn to weld. I'll teach her how to splice lines. She's is a very excited and enthusiastic student. 

Indian Wells trip

                                                  March 18 2016

Greetings loved ones, 

We have arrived back in Isla Mujeres after a trip to Indian Wells CA to watch some tennis and visit some family and friends. It was a really fun trip. 

We left Second Star early on the morning of the 9th and it was a long travel day. We got to the Cancun airport plenty early, got checked in and had breakfast. The flight to Mexico City was uneventful. We thought the connection was going to be tight, but when we got to the gate we found the next flight was delayed. So we had time to grab a sandwich for the ride to Tijuana. With a good tail wind we made up some time in the air and only got in a little later than expected. At the rental car place they had our reservation but wouldn't take the voucher and prepaid insurance we'd gotten on line. It took quite some time to get things sorted out and get on the road. By the time we left there to cross the border it was almost 1700 hrs. The border crossing at Otay isn't very well marked if you don't know where you're going and we accidentally ended up in the line for people with passes who go back and forth a lot. We were very apologetic and asked how to get back where we supposed to be. We were told that we'd "passed the point of no return" and that at this point they would give us a warning and search the car. That was fine with us especially when the warning turned out to be "don't do it again" and the whole thing saved us at least an hour over doing it right. 

It was a long drive up to La Quinta and we needed to stop for food. When we got off the highway, and made sure we were heading the right way we'd passed all the fast food places but we saw a little Mexican restaurant on the side of the road. I told Capt Johne "we are in southern California; this will be good Mexican food." He thought it was funny to come from Mexico to eat Mexican food in California but agreed that it would probably be good, and it was there. We enjoyed the meal very much and got back on the road. 

We arrived in La Quinta about 17 hours after leaving the boat. After another hour or two of visiting with Bob and Karen it was definitely time for bed. 

The next day we had a lovely morning visiting over coffee, sitting out on the back patio, overlooking the mountains and the golf course. Bob had to be at work (the Plexipave booth in the tennis gardens) by 1030 hrs. He had gotten us tickets for every day we were going to be there, which were general admission to the whole event with reserved seating in stadium 1. We ran a couple of errands on the way in and, once Bob was in the booth working, we had the rest of the morning to explore the event, watching practice sessions and matches as we chose. My sister Ellen was driving down from Sunland to visit for the afternoon so we got back to Bob's booth before noon so Johne could have lunch with Bob, and I could hook up with Ellen. She and I had a wonderful afternoon visiting and taking care of more errands we both needed to do. 

Bob's daughter Lindy had arrived from Reno sometime in the afternoon and that evening we all got back together at the house, got cleaned up, and Bob took us out for a fabulous dinner at Arnold Palmer’s restaurant. There was lots of laughter and the food was outstanding. After that Ellen had to head home. The rest of us were pretty tired so we called it a night. 

Friday and Saturday brought more great days of visiting and watching tennis. It was very exciting getting to watch some of the big name players live in person. Sunday our friend Janet came up to see us and we also got to have lunch with Johnes Aunt Hope. Hope is the eldest living member of Johnes family. It had been several years since we had last seen her. She is doing great and it was wonderful to see her and have a chance to catch up. We had to leave very early (0430 hrs) the next day so that evening after dinner was for getting everything organized and packed. 

The drive back down to the boarder had some small stress with weather (a bit of fog and rain) and heavy (but not horrible) traffic. We got to the boarder before 0700 hrs and, after choosing the nothing-to-declare lane, we were waved on through without even stopping. I had a small freak out about being in Mexico without a visa. But Johne said we'd find immigration at the airport and get it straightened out. So after we'd return the car, we got to the terminal and the first thing you see is the immigration counter. The sign says, if you need a visa go there before checking in at the airline desk. Since you can walk or drive across there they just have it before the check in. But it would be very easy to be an illegal coming in there.

The flights were, once again, uneventful. So, after another very long travel day, we arrived back at Second Star, worn out, but in the best way. 

Live your dreams...

Holiday's

                                              Jan 22 2016
Greetings loved ones,

Here we are almost a month into the new year and life continues to be fun and busy. After the trip to Monterrey it was time to get ready for the holidays, our solstice party and the string of company we had coming. We had the party on Dec 21st and, as usual, it was a blast with lots of interesting friends, old and new. Ava and Mike  (friends from Ft. Myers) came down on the 22nd and Janet  (who lived and traveled with us for four months last year) arrived on the 23rd. Sharon joined us for Christmas eve and the six of us had a wonderful lobster dinner on the aft deck. 

Ava and Mike left Christmas day but we had the pleasure of Janet's company until the 5th. During that time we enjoyed several great meals, some fabulous music, catch-up visiting and fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Janet left on the 5th and Jeni and Bill arrived on the 6th. It was a brief but fun visit with a trip out on Second Star to see the turtles and for Jeni to catch what she is sure was a sail fish (although it got away before we could see it to know for sure). On the 9th Jeni and Bill left and Capt Johne went to AZ to visit the Nolans and meet his youngest grandson.

He returned on the 13th and now we're just getting back into "normal" (whatever that means) mode. The weather here has been rough for paradise. With one norther after another we've had high winds and/or stormy conditions for much of the last three weeks. But no complaints. Life is good. 

Trip to Monterrey

                                                           Dec 15 2015

Greetings loved ones,

Last week we left tropical paradise for a few days. We took a trip north and west and up into the mountains to Monterrey MX. We went to visit our new friends César and Sylvia and their lovely family. Capt. Johne had met César on Isla last summer. César (a professor from the University Tecnologico de Monterrey) wants a boat but has very little boating experience. So Capt. Johne has been him teaching him boating skills. They invited us to come to their home in Monterrey,  so on Dec. 4th we flew up for a long weekend.

Flying in we could see how rugged the mountains were on both sides of the city. The Sierra Madre mountains are shear rock cliffs that rise thousands of feet from the valley. They are very young geologically speaking. The city of Monterrey and the surrounding metropolitan area, which has a population of about four million, sprawl in the valley between the cliffs.

When we arrived, they picked us up at the airport and took us back to the house to drop off our bags. Then we took a drive up the closest part of the mountains to a water fall called Cola de Caballo (horse tail falls). It is stunning. The weather was beautiful, fresh and chilly. The rocks are huge and the clear, clean water flowing around them is gorgeous.
They live south of the city, in Santiago. After the falls we went to the old plaza of Santiago where the church from the 1700's was getting all dressed up for Christmas. The plaza has charming restaurants and shops. We got to look through an art gallery and saw some beautiful courtyards. Then we went back to the house and César grilled s​t​eaks for dinner. 

Saturday they drove us to the NW side of town, back up into the mountains to Grutas de Gracia park. It has a cave with huge stalactite and stalagmite formations. There's a cable car from the parking area up to the entrance of the cave. There's also a walking path, if you feel up to the climb, but they said it would take about an hour and we opted for the ride. The tour of the cave also takes about an hour but they've put in stairs and paths and the guide stops often to point things out so it's not too tiring. After the caves we had dinner at a local brew pub with their son and daughter-in-law whom we had met before on Isla. That evening they had a wedding to go to so we had a quiet evening at the house, reading and relaxing.
Sunday was another trip up into the mountains. This time to a family gathering. Their son-in-law's family has a house way up past the horse tail falls next to a dry  (at this time of year) river bed and a canyon that is a rock climbers heaven. We loaded up four vehicles with enough food for an army, and about 15 people, and drove up switch-back roads for over an hour. When we got to the house we unloaded everything and they lighted wood fires in the beehive-oven-thingy and the grill. (A little tip for wood fire cooking. Vegetable oil works as lighter fluid and doesn't make the food taste like gas.) Then cooking started (and continued all afternoon and evening). Potatoes, onions and beets were wrapped in foil and put in the beehive. The elotes (mexican corn on the cob) were roasted in the husks on the grill. After the elotes were done the steaks went on. While all this was going on there was much visiting, munching on snacks, laughing, watching the kids and dogs romp, drinking and fun. During that time Johne and I took a brief walk in the river bed and enjoyed the surroundings. When the steaks and potatoes were done, we all sat down and enjoyed the meal and the company. Conversation was in both English and Spanish. We tried to use our Spanish but everyone there spoke better English than our Spanish so it kept switching back. They were all really great about making sure we were included. We were made to feel like part of the family, not just visitors. (We have had the privilege of being invited to, and included in, several different family events and homes throughout Latin America. At some I've felt like an observer. At some like royalty, which is very uncomfortable. But in this case we were just part of the family and it was wonderful.) Half of a huge pumpkin had been put in the beehive to roast and after dinner some of the ladies made dough for pumpkin empanadas which were also baked in the beehive-oven-thingy. The smoky flavor added by baking both the pumpkin and the empanadas in the wood oven was wonderful.
After dinner they loaded everyone into two 4x4's and drove us farther up into the canyon to see some amazing rock formations cut by the waterfall  (when there is water).
After a long, fun and exhausting day, we loaded everything up to head back down the mountain.

Monday, Sylvia took us downtown to see the historical area and do some of the museums. When we got there we discovered that Monday all the museums are closed, so we saw some of the historic part of town, did a bit of shopping, then met up with more of the family at a local restaurant that speciali​z​es in goat. During the time we were there, we got to experience a lot of food indigenous to the area. They introduced us to several dishes we hadn't tried before and it was all good.

We spent that evening quietly at the house, visiting and watching Monday night football. Then it was time to pack and sleep before the early trip to the airport in the morning. 

Overall it was an amazing experience and we're very grateful to our hosts for sharing their home, their family and the area in which they live, with us.

Live your dreams...

I'm back

                                                                    Oct. 6 2015

Greetings loved ones,

          Okay I fell off the face of the earth. But I’m back now. I realize it’s been almost a year since my last post. I apologize for that. My excuses are computer problems and being too busy living life to write about it.

At this point Second Star is back in Mexico. From where I left off last year, we came through Haiti and Cuba arriving back in Isla Mujeres in mid Feb. I have a lot to catch up on so my plan is to give you a little on what’s going on right now and go back to stories from this past year (and there are some good ones) over the next few months.

Right now Bob is here visiting. Yesterday we cruised down the Maya Riviera coast to Bahia de Ascencion. It was a stunningly beautiful day. The water was about as calm as the Yucatan channel ever gets. The current was against us which slowed us down a bunch but it was a lovely trip.

We’ll spend the week here. Johne and Bob plan to do a bunch of fishing while Sharon (Kokomo Kat also came down from Isla) and I plan on diving, after which we’ll head back up to Isla.

For the health report: My Graves disease seems to be under control. My eye is still wonky (although it seems less so) but I’ve been having acupuncture treatments twice a week (when I’m not in the middle of nowhere) and the blood work is all coming back in normal ranges. My thyroid is functioning and my immune system has stopped attacking it. Yea!!!

So that’s it for now. I’ll try to post again before late next year.

Adventures with Immigration

                                                                    Nov 28 2014

Greetings,

          We had a happy Thanksgiving aboard Second Star. It started with a very pleasant passage from Las Salinas across the bay to Barahona. There was a rolling swell but it wasn’t too big and it was a following sea which is so much more comfortable. The weather was beautiful. Capt. Johne and I got to see a sperm whale resting on the surface. We could see part of its back and every so often it would blow. The book said they dive deep then they’ll rest on the surface for a while to catch their breath before diving again. When we first saw it we thought it might be a big log because it was just something big floating in the water up ahead. But as we got closer and could see the shape better, and see when it blew, we could tell it was in fact a whale.

          When we arrived in Barahona the officials came out right away to check our paper work. We thought we had everything in order but as it turns out when we’d last renewed our visas we had thought they’d done them for three months but they’d only done a one month extension. So we were, technically, in the country illegally. The Immigration official started to get his back up and it looked for a moment like it might be quite expensive for us to get out of trouble. But Johne is VERY good at being diplomatic in these situations and with some good schmoozing and ass kissing the official turned from foe to friend and has helped us get back on the right side of Dominican law.

          After that we had an awesome dinner of turkey sandwiches with fresh cranberry sauce that I had made, a wonderful salad that Janet made and mince and pumpkin pies for dessert. We all had fun trying to explain to Alexis what Thanksgiving is all about and why it’s on the fourth Thursday in Nov instead of on a date. For me Thanksgiving has always been a time for family to get together over way too much food so it was fun to share our meal last night with our growing Second Star family.

More Crew

                                                                   Nov 6 2014

Greetings,

          Well, our Second Star family continues to grow. Our friend Janet, who is a professional musician we know from St Thomas, has come to spend an undetermined amount of time traveling with us. She used to live aboard a boat and missed the lifestyle. She’s brought her guitar so we’ll be singing our way westward.

          The last parts we’ve been waiting for came today so, if all goes well with installation, we’re hoping to be on the move again this Sunday. We’ll be making several more stops in Dominican Republic and then a couple in Haiti. I’m looking forward to having more adventures to report, and to seeing how our new crew members blend into our life. So far it’s going great. Alexis is learning a lot and working hard. Janet is a big help in the galley and with any projects I need or want a hand with. Alexis still goes home at night but as of Saturday he’ll be move aboard. (Is this boat getting smaller?)

         

I’ve had to do a bit of rearranging and purging so that neither the VIP nor the fore peak is a big storage area. Usually one, the other or both are piled with what-do-we-do-with-this stuff. We’ve pawned some stuff off on Alexis’s family and, whatever they can’t use or don’t want, they can sell, donate or throw away, as they see fit. Hopefully most of it will go to better use than when it was stuffed under our berths.

Until the next report…

Mexican visa adventures

                                                                   Oct 24 2014

Greetings,

          We have big news aboard Second Star. We have a new crew member joining us. Alexis is a 34 year old, Dominican “marinero”. He has been working for us here, in the marina, cleaning and polishing the boat. He wants to get more boat experience, learn to navigate and get enough sea time to get his captains license. We have decided to sponsor him and teach him so he can get the experience he needs. And, as a bonus, our Spanish will improve. While Alexis understands a lot of English, he doesn’t speak much.

Unlike traveling on a USA passport, a lot of people have to get special visas to visit most other countries. Alexis needed such a visa to go to Mexico with us. And getting it wasn’t easy. It was quite a process with lots of questions to the port captain’s office here, phone calls trying to get information from the embassy on what he had to do, and a long day in Santo Domingo jumping through Mexican embassy hoops.

When we arrived at the embassy and, after a long wait, they told Alexis he wasn’t on the list. He needed to have made an appointment online. “No, we can’t see you. NEXT!” You would have thought from the look on his face that someone had just killed he’s puppy. He would have given up but Capt. Johne said “wait. Being American Captain carries some weight if not much. Let me see what I can do.” He put on his best Captain-manners and schmoozed his way in, passed the little security guy and the round guy at the front desk, to see the Consul. He explained how important it was for this young man to have the opportunity to further his education and better his life; that we could only be there that day and wasn’t there anything the Consul could do to help, Please? He was told “Maybe I can fit you in at 11:30. Come back then. No promises.” (That’s not really a quote, it’s a translated paraphrase).

 So, Alexis stressed while we had a bite to eat waiting for 11:30 to come. When they went back to the embassy they got to meet with the Consul. The next hoop to jump though was they needed to see three months bank statements to show he wouldn’t be ending up indigent in Mexico. Since we were sponsoring him ours would do. So, then it was off to a little mall-internet-place to get printouts of our bank statements. But we had to be back before 1300 when the Consul was going to lunch. More stress.

We got it done and were back at the embassy by 1230. They took all the information, his picture and his passport. The Consul signed his application and said come back at 1630.

At that point Johne said it was a done deal. Alexis relaxed some but he was still antsy. We went and did our Pricesmart provisioning and at 1500 hrs Alexis started pointing out the need to get back. Now, Santo Domingo is a big city and there was lots of traffic, but we had an hour-and-a-half. I tried to reassure him but it wasn’t until we got back to the embassy with ten minutes to spare and they had his passport, with a beautiful visa in it, almost as fancy as the main picture page, that he believed it. Then he looked like a kid at Christmas.

After cocktails to celebrate, we headed back home. We had left Second Star at 0540 and got back at about 2100. A long but very productive day.

On Sunday we will have Alexis’s family over to the boat so we can meet them and so they can see where/how he will be living. We’re already starting to integrate him into daily life. We’ll try it until we get to Haiti. If it’s working well he’ll be with us at least until X-mas. If any or all of us are hating it, he can take the bus back from western DR or Haiti and life will return to “normal”. But I think it will work out well for all of us.

                                                          Oct 28 2014

On Sunday Alexis’s Mother, Father, Sister and Brother-in-law, three nieces, his wife and two sons came to Second Star. On Monday he said they had all talked and talked about it all evening. They felt much better about him coming with us having met us and seen the boat. I showed them how to follow the SPOT on the blog so they can always know where Alexis is. So I guess I have to be better about sending out a weekly SPOT even when we aren’t moving.

It looks like we’ll be move on later this week. First out to Isla Catalina then back to Boca Chica…Stay tuned for more.

Still alive

                                                                         Oct 6 2014

Greetings,

          The longer I go without writing an update the more difficult it gets to do so. I get overwhelmed with trying to recap all we’ve been doing. So, as always, I’ll tell myself, as well as you, that I’ll try to be better at keeping up to date more often.

          At the moment, and for the last month and a half, we’re in Casa de Campo Marina, just east of La Romana, Dominican Republic. Most of the time in the marina has been project/work oriented.  But I’ll come back to that. Let me pick up where I left the last update.

          In early Aug we were in Puerto Rico headed west. When we got to Parguera just past Bahia fosforescente we found that the fact that it had been stormy meant it wasn’t the best time for diving because the visibility was way down, and we could anchor in the Bio-luminescent bay but the tour boat ran through there from about 1800-0100 and it was likely to be more aggravating than it would be worth. Plus we had good weather to move on.

 So we went to Bahia de Boqueron on the west end of Puerto Rico. It was a very calm, well protected, beautiful anchorage with a cute little town and a nice beach.  After a quick road trip up to Mayaguez and back, to pick up a Fedex delivery, we enjoyed a little exploring of the local bars and restaurants.

Then the weather said it was time to make the jump across the Mona Passage to the DR. First we went to Boca Chica. My brother was flying into Santo Domingo to come for a visit and Boca Chica was an easy place to hook up with him. We got to do some diving there while Johne took advantage of time at the dock to work on both Second Star and Kokomo Kat.

A few days after Darrin arrived we moved back east to Bayahibe and anchored with all the day-trip catamarans. We did some more diving there. By then Johne was well into installing our new R/O water maker and didn’t feel he could take time off to come with us. The diving was fun and it was great to have time with Darrin.

The day before Darrin was leaving a storm came through and the anchorage at Bayahibe got really rough. We were planning to come over to Casa de Campo soon anyway, and between having anchor-holding issues and needing to get Darrin ashore for his flight it just made sense to go head and come in.

Darrin left on Sunday Aug 24. Johne got the new water maker up and running that afternoon so now we can make about 50 gallons of water per hour of run time. This will cut the need to run the generator substantially.

Also, since we’ve been here, we’ve gotten our new solar panels up and charging. So now we’ve cut our generator time by more than half. This will make a huge difference in our fuel consumption which is great environmentally and financially.

Right now Kokomo Kat is hauled out for sail-drive maintenance. While she’s out they’re doing new bottom paint and she’s getting all new Garmin electronics. They are almost done with the work that has to happen out of the water and she should “splash” on Friday (fingers crossed).

After Sharon’s sea trails we’ll be moving west again. I’ll really, really try to update as we go and share our adventures through the Dominican Republic and on into Haiti and points west. Until then…