There is a superstition that changing a boat's name is bad luck. We are fairly superstitious sailors, but this is the one thing we don't subscribe to.
Our first boat was named 'HI-C' when we bought her, we were not impressed! So, we christened her 'NoNews' shortly after buying her. We brainstormed many different names before ordering the graphics, but NoNews really seemed to fit. She was a Wauquiez Pretorien 35' performance cruiser. We kept the systems fairly simple aboard, which meant no SSB or Satellite phone- basically no way to communicate with the outside world while we were on passage. Well, No News is Good News right?? (If I hear that joke one more time I might scream). After we had owned NoNews for awhile, we found some interesting facts about her (its was 2002 after all, before google searches were so easy!). The original owner, Peter Brown, had commissioned her new in France and sailed her through the Caribbean and across the Pacific, finally selling her in South Africa (cool fact- he and *our* boat are mentioned in Lin Pardey's book 'The Care and Feeding of the Sailing Crew' Cool huh?). He was a lawyer from San Francisco, and had originally named her Emerald City. That is a cool name! If we had known her original name we would have changed it back- not sure what the superstition on that is though.
Our next boat, also a Wauquiez but an Amphritrite, a 42' center cockpit ketch was named Bon Vivant when we bought her. This was the name from the factory in France, apparently they named each boat upon launching. The direct translation is: 'bon vivant - a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)- huh, maybe we should have kept it! But we didn't. We bought her while we were at anchor in Tonga after sailing across the Pacific. Its terrible to say, but after seeing so many beautiful atolls and sandy islands with volcanic peaks, one gets jaded and a bit picky about what constitutes beauty. I know, I know. Everyone should be so lucky! Anyways, after seeing many islands we sailed to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Rarotonga has the reputation for being a good (cheap) place to re provision mid-ocean. This is old information and is no longer cheap- in fact its quite expensive. The island, although pretty, doesn't hold a candle to many of the other places we had been in the past months. However, we met many expats in Rarotonga- some from the US but most from New Zealand and Australia. We were told this many times over:::
'You might as well swallow your anchor, this is the LAST PARADISE on Earth'
Well, when we were brainstorming names for the new boat we kept remembering this advise. The fact of the matter is that each person has an idea of what paradise is, and most likely no two are the same. For us, our 'Last Paradise' is sailing, exploring and being together.
Now on to the 'new' boat. WAKA. As some of you might know we are Residents of New Zealand and plan on living there for some portion of John's school years. The Maroi are the indigenous people in New Zealand and the Maori language is leaned in schools. Translation:: Waka (English pronunciation: /ˈwɒkə/, Maori [ˈwɒka]) are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes (waka tīwai) used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes (waka taua) up to 40 metres (130 ft) long. In recent years, large double-hulled canoes of considerable size have been constructed for oceanic voyaging to other parts of the Pacific Ocean.
Seems perfect, right?
Showing posts with label No News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No News. Show all posts
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Monday, October 5, 2009
Fast Forward
So this fast forwards us to the Pacific Crossing. Someday I'll catch up on everything but summer is wrapping up and I'm running out of time! This is something I wrote a few years ago about our crossing, it still makes me smile :)
Peace!
Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 11AM we left Isla Isabella for what was to be our longest passage to date, and possibly ever. The day was sunny and on the way out we saw a few sea turtles and some dolphins, and we actually had some wind to sail! We started fishing right away, and even had a big tug on the line, but ended up losing our lure, whatever it was must have been big! We had leftover pizza and canned fruit salad for lunch and then settled into what was to become our routine. We tried flying the main and spinnaker in the evening but ended up taking both down and motoring through the night, and ended up keeping it on until midday on day three! The waves were fairly large, but far apart so it was quite rolly without any sail up, but the slapping was too much to handle especially when sleeping. In the afternoon of day two, April 8th there was a solar eclipse, but the sun was so bright it was almost impossible to see, and because of our position we didn’t get the full effect, but still cool! On day three it started raining and the wind finally came up a bit so we were able to sail, but there was a chop within the swell of the waves, making things even more uncomfortable. We quit fishing because neither of us was feeling very well with the roll and chop, and didn’t feel up to killing and gutting a fish. Squalls started moving through during the night, and they kept rolling through for the rest of the passage, although we never once had a squall with any wind in it, only rain! We had heard on the SSB Net that some of the boats ahead of us had squalls with 40 knots of wind, luckily we never did! Day four we noticed that the refrigeration compressor was running all the time, so Jeff changed out the thermostat thinking that was the problem, which it wasn’t. the wind was light so we decided to try the spinnaker, but as soon as we got it set the wind shifted and it started raining, what a way to make a bad mood worse! We retreated below and watched an episode of Family Guy to cheer us up and then I took a nap before making dinner. By 7PM dinner was over and cleaned up and Jeff was in bed, I took the first shift. That night, just before 10PM I noticed that the water was full of phospheresence, and then I noticed that it was moving in patterns- dolphins! I had a few minutes to enjoy them before waking Jeff for his watch, they were playing all around the boat, you could just barely see the outline of their bodies gliding through the water. This experience greatly improved my mood, even if Jeff couldn’t see them.
On April 11th Jeff saw this rainbow (I was sleeping) it was rainy and rolly, but this helped the spirits.
On day six I moved over to the starboard side of the boat to sleep, we were barely heeling so it wasn’t a problem to be without a lee cloth- and I was tired of “hot bunking” there is something to be said for having your own sheet to sleep on! Day six we also passed the 1/4 way mark, which boosted our moods a little bit more, along with the showers we got to take! The sky was still overcast with occasional rain, not so good for the spirits.
Day 7- Wednesday, April 13th we celebrated Parkers (my nephew) birthday with banana pancakes with the super sweet Galapagos bananas- so sweet that syrup was almost not needed! It rained all day again, still waiting for those tradewind conditions! 173 Miles in 24 hours!!! That was our best run to date- between day 7&8, and that was with just a poled out genoa up! The seas were still large and rolly, making life a bit uncomfortable, and the skies still overcast and rainy, but we were moving fast!
Day 9- the tradewinds finally arrive!!! The sun came out and the sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, no more grey monsters. Today we also noticed that Jeffs bunk was smelling even worse than normal, more than just human stinkyness, so we peeled off his sheets and took the cushion out in the sun- somehow the bottom was all wet! It seems that the water tank that is under the bunk was a bit too full and was coming out of the air vent on top, soaking the cushion and getting really smelly. Jeff washed his sheets and dried out the cushion (its easy to do laundry without the main up, pleanty of room to hang!) the whole boat smelled 100% better after this! We were very glad to figure out where the funk was coming from, no more blaming Jeff. To top off a good day, we caught a fish! We had just barely finished the laundry when there was a bite on the line “fish on!!!” I reeled it in while Jeff got the gaff ready and slowed the boat down- MahiMahi for dinner! It was fairly small, enough for 4 fillets- perfect for us. In the afternoon we put the reefed main back up and rolled in the jib part way, the wind shifted a bit, but it made the motion less rolly so no complaints here!
Saturday the 16th- day 10. We are in a pretty good schedule now, sleeping enough and still managing to do things during the day. Today was hot and sunny, we played scrabble in the cockpit and had shrimp pasta for dinner (yes, we eat well). At 8PM we were only 20 miles from the half way point, that’s a reason to celebrate! Sunday dinner is homemade pizza and a small glass of wine- happy 1/2 way!
Monday, April 18th- day 12. we read most of the day and we both took naps. We were playing a game of Scrabble in the afternoon with a bowl of popcorn when I looked behind us and said “look, it’s the clouds from The Simpsons!” but this is really what the sky looked like for the last two weeks of the passage, the puffy tradewind clouds and blue skies.
One might think that we might get bored at sea for so many days, but really there is something new every day. Take day 13 for example. I was sleeping in my bunk when I woke up to a rancid smell, kind of like apple cider. I looked in the galley and in the nets full of fruit, but couldn’t find the smell. Finally I thought about everything we had stored in the bilge, I followed my nose and pulled up the floorboards right by my bunk, and BINGO. “Uh Jeff, we have a problem, you know that beer in the bilge??” yep, it seems that the Balboa brand beer that we had bought apparently costs less because they use really thin aluminum for the cans, there was beer everywhere! Some of the cans were totally empty, and some were still spraying through pin holes. This was the only brand of beer we ever had a problem with, others were also stored in the bilge with no problem. Anyways, I got a bowl of water and a sponge and started cleaning out the area most affected while Jeff disposed of the cans and got a bucket of seawater. He flushed out the deep bilge with the bucket and then poured some bleach in with it to deal with the smell- I’m glad we found it when we did before there was time for it to mold, which doesn’t take long in the tropics!
Another part of the passage that kept us laughing was Maya, our cat. She is an amazing boat cat, as I’ve mentioned before, but this trip was especially fun with her. The first part of the passage I had her in her harness and on her leash at night because it was rolly and there was no moon, I wanted her to know that we stay in the cockpit at night. When the motion smoothed out I let her off the leash, but kept the harness on her and clipped her in if she got a little too adventuresome. There were times she had us both laughing so hard! One time, I was cooking dinner and had my little galley fan on and she got curious and stuck her paw in the blades, got startled and jumped back, and then did it again! I had to watch whenever I had the fan on because she kept doing it! She was also very curious about the flying fish that landed onboard during the night, she liked to try to get them and bring them below. She only succeeded once, but she put the little bugger in my bed! YUCK! Luckily I put my hand on it while climbing in so I did find it before it had a chance to get stinky. Her favorite place though, was in the net I have hanging nearest the galley, it holds a lot of the everyday things like crackers and cereal etc. Maya takes a running jump and lands with her front paws over the net and swings- once she missed and landed in the sink, thoroughly embarrassed.
(notice Maya just inside the Diesel cans, enjoying the view and waiting for flying fish!)
The wind died on us after 18 days, the last 6 flying the spinnaker non stop, that last night we worked hard trying to keep the boat going without the motor, but after hand trimming the kite all night we gave up and started the engine, at least we kept the boat going! “LAND HO!” on day 19 we finally spotted Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas and we putted our way into the little crowded anchorage at 11PM, almost exactly 19 1/2 days since we left the Galapagos, not too shabby for our little NoNews!
Peace!
Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 11AM we left Isla Isabella for what was to be our longest passage to date, and possibly ever. The day was sunny and on the way out we saw a few sea turtles and some dolphins, and we actually had some wind to sail! We started fishing right away, and even had a big tug on the line, but ended up losing our lure, whatever it was must have been big! We had leftover pizza and canned fruit salad for lunch and then settled into what was to become our routine. We tried flying the main and spinnaker in the evening but ended up taking both down and motoring through the night, and ended up keeping it on until midday on day three! The waves were fairly large, but far apart so it was quite rolly without any sail up, but the slapping was too much to handle especially when sleeping. In the afternoon of day two, April 8th there was a solar eclipse, but the sun was so bright it was almost impossible to see, and because of our position we didn’t get the full effect, but still cool! On day three it started raining and the wind finally came up a bit so we were able to sail, but there was a chop within the swell of the waves, making things even more uncomfortable. We quit fishing because neither of us was feeling very well with the roll and chop, and didn’t feel up to killing and gutting a fish. Squalls started moving through during the night, and they kept rolling through for the rest of the passage, although we never once had a squall with any wind in it, only rain! We had heard on the SSB Net that some of the boats ahead of us had squalls with 40 knots of wind, luckily we never did! Day four we noticed that the refrigeration compressor was running all the time, so Jeff changed out the thermostat thinking that was the problem, which it wasn’t. the wind was light so we decided to try the spinnaker, but as soon as we got it set the wind shifted and it started raining, what a way to make a bad mood worse! We retreated below and watched an episode of Family Guy to cheer us up and then I took a nap before making dinner. By 7PM dinner was over and cleaned up and Jeff was in bed, I took the first shift. That night, just before 10PM I noticed that the water was full of phospheresence, and then I noticed that it was moving in patterns- dolphins! I had a few minutes to enjoy them before waking Jeff for his watch, they were playing all around the boat, you could just barely see the outline of their bodies gliding through the water. This experience greatly improved my mood, even if Jeff couldn’t see them.
On April 11th Jeff saw this rainbow (I was sleeping) it was rainy and rolly, but this helped the spirits.
On day six I moved over to the starboard side of the boat to sleep, we were barely heeling so it wasn’t a problem to be without a lee cloth- and I was tired of “hot bunking” there is something to be said for having your own sheet to sleep on! Day six we also passed the 1/4 way mark, which boosted our moods a little bit more, along with the showers we got to take! The sky was still overcast with occasional rain, not so good for the spirits.
Day 7- Wednesday, April 13th we celebrated Parkers (my nephew) birthday with banana pancakes with the super sweet Galapagos bananas- so sweet that syrup was almost not needed! It rained all day again, still waiting for those tradewind conditions! 173 Miles in 24 hours!!! That was our best run to date- between day 7&8, and that was with just a poled out genoa up! The seas were still large and rolly, making life a bit uncomfortable, and the skies still overcast and rainy, but we were moving fast!
Day 9- the tradewinds finally arrive!!! The sun came out and the sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, no more grey monsters. Today we also noticed that Jeffs bunk was smelling even worse than normal, more than just human stinkyness, so we peeled off his sheets and took the cushion out in the sun- somehow the bottom was all wet! It seems that the water tank that is under the bunk was a bit too full and was coming out of the air vent on top, soaking the cushion and getting really smelly. Jeff washed his sheets and dried out the cushion (its easy to do laundry without the main up, pleanty of room to hang!) the whole boat smelled 100% better after this! We were very glad to figure out where the funk was coming from, no more blaming Jeff. To top off a good day, we caught a fish! We had just barely finished the laundry when there was a bite on the line “fish on!!!” I reeled it in while Jeff got the gaff ready and slowed the boat down- MahiMahi for dinner! It was fairly small, enough for 4 fillets- perfect for us. In the afternoon we put the reefed main back up and rolled in the jib part way, the wind shifted a bit, but it made the motion less rolly so no complaints here!
Saturday the 16th- day 10. We are in a pretty good schedule now, sleeping enough and still managing to do things during the day. Today was hot and sunny, we played scrabble in the cockpit and had shrimp pasta for dinner (yes, we eat well). At 8PM we were only 20 miles from the half way point, that’s a reason to celebrate! Sunday dinner is homemade pizza and a small glass of wine- happy 1/2 way!
Monday, April 18th- day 12. we read most of the day and we both took naps. We were playing a game of Scrabble in the afternoon with a bowl of popcorn when I looked behind us and said “look, it’s the clouds from The Simpsons!” but this is really what the sky looked like for the last two weeks of the passage, the puffy tradewind clouds and blue skies.
One might think that we might get bored at sea for so many days, but really there is something new every day. Take day 13 for example. I was sleeping in my bunk when I woke up to a rancid smell, kind of like apple cider. I looked in the galley and in the nets full of fruit, but couldn’t find the smell. Finally I thought about everything we had stored in the bilge, I followed my nose and pulled up the floorboards right by my bunk, and BINGO. “Uh Jeff, we have a problem, you know that beer in the bilge??” yep, it seems that the Balboa brand beer that we had bought apparently costs less because they use really thin aluminum for the cans, there was beer everywhere! Some of the cans were totally empty, and some were still spraying through pin holes. This was the only brand of beer we ever had a problem with, others were also stored in the bilge with no problem. Anyways, I got a bowl of water and a sponge and started cleaning out the area most affected while Jeff disposed of the cans and got a bucket of seawater. He flushed out the deep bilge with the bucket and then poured some bleach in with it to deal with the smell- I’m glad we found it when we did before there was time for it to mold, which doesn’t take long in the tropics!
Another part of the passage that kept us laughing was Maya, our cat. She is an amazing boat cat, as I’ve mentioned before, but this trip was especially fun with her. The first part of the passage I had her in her harness and on her leash at night because it was rolly and there was no moon, I wanted her to know that we stay in the cockpit at night. When the motion smoothed out I let her off the leash, but kept the harness on her and clipped her in if she got a little too adventuresome. There were times she had us both laughing so hard! One time, I was cooking dinner and had my little galley fan on and she got curious and stuck her paw in the blades, got startled and jumped back, and then did it again! I had to watch whenever I had the fan on because she kept doing it! She was also very curious about the flying fish that landed onboard during the night, she liked to try to get them and bring them below. She only succeeded once, but she put the little bugger in my bed! YUCK! Luckily I put my hand on it while climbing in so I did find it before it had a chance to get stinky. Her favorite place though, was in the net I have hanging nearest the galley, it holds a lot of the everyday things like crackers and cereal etc. Maya takes a running jump and lands with her front paws over the net and swings- once she missed and landed in the sink, thoroughly embarrassed.
(notice Maya just inside the Diesel cans, enjoying the view and waiting for flying fish!)
The wind died on us after 18 days, the last 6 flying the spinnaker non stop, that last night we worked hard trying to keep the boat going without the motor, but after hand trimming the kite all night we gave up and started the engine, at least we kept the boat going! “LAND HO!” on day 19 we finally spotted Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas and we putted our way into the little crowded anchorage at 11PM, almost exactly 19 1/2 days since we left the Galapagos, not too shabby for our little NoNews!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Rock Bottom
As I read back in my journal about this passage, I get chills and a bit teary eyed. So vivid are the emotions that Jeff and I experienced during these days....
Leaving Guatemala, we nearly hit the (unlit) buoy, and maybe we should have used that incident as an omen to STOP. But alas, we kept on going. Remember, we were leaving on the moon tide, which happened to be late(it was dark, I don't remember what time exactly, maybe 11PM?) We had anchored in Livingston and Jeff went ashore to check us out. I stayed aboard and made scones for the passage, not knowing what we were in for. We were heading to Cartagena, Columbia- approximately 800 miles- our longest passage so far. The weather the first night was pleasant, a few rainy but warm squalls that only required a spray top and crouching under the dodger. We made two stops along the way, the first in Utilla, Honduras for fuel. Again, Jeff went ashore and brought the fuel back in the kayak- I stayed aboard and washed out the cockpit. The second stop was on the Island of Roatan, again just for an overnight.
From Roatan we still had to sail East a fair way before heading more South towards Columbia. We were also careful to stay fairly far off the Nicaraguan coast, for fear of pirates. We did get lucky that the wind shifted in our favor as we rounded the point, this passage is known to be a rough one and rarely does one get to sail the entire way. However, for 6 days we had around 30 knots (about 35 miles per hour) forward of the beam. Living our life heeled over about 25 degrees was a bit difficult, especially when I was seasick and trying to figure out meals. I had a pressure cooker, but so far had not really learned to use it properly and could only make one thing at a time. We basically survived on water and hard boiled eggs.
It was during this passage that our (now running) joke began that the squalls only happen on Abby's watch... See, at this point we were standing 2 hour watches. The weather was so rough that that's about all we could handle, and even went down to single hours during the roughest weather. Jeff would often have a windy but otherwise beautiful watch and just as he was waking me the clouds would start to roll in. It was truly bizarre, he could almost set the clock by it! I would come on deck dressed in every piece of wet weather gear I had just knowing that I was going to get pummeled. For real. To this day, when the clouds roll in Jeff knows that it must be nearing my watch! Oh, and we were sharing MY 10-year-old heavy weather gear at this point as well, Jeff only had dingy racing gear!
When I read back in my journal to this passage the words are shocking...
"...We have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that cruising may not be for us..." This was written on Jan 18, 2005 with approx. 180 nautical miles to Cartagena. The one question that remained was, what do we do now? Then, Jan 22, 2005... "We made it to Cartagena, Columbia after 6 days of sailing, wow. The weather was so bad that the port here was closed to boats under 60 tons leaving!" We made it in. Still outside of the port entrance we turned a bit and the motion of the boat was not so violent. Within a few hours we would be anchored and eating a hot meal. The waves were awesome. Jeff called me on deck to point out a ship. There was green water breaking over the bow and running all the way back to the pilot house. Wow.
Anchoring around 11PM (twice because we were dragging!) A dingy came over to welcome us in. We made hamburgers and inhaled them and then slept hard. The next day we checked in and explored Cartagena with some new friends. There was no more talk of selling the boat, in fact we were already planning our next stop. With new found confidence in our abilities, each other and the strength of NoNews we were ready. All it took was hitting Rock Bottom.
Ironically, this was our first passage with our new kitten Maya, and she was great! She managed to use her (corn) kitty litter pan in the head (bathroom) and was begging for meals throughout the passage. She didn't seem to notice the heel, but got into major trouble when she chewed through the chart that we were using!
Not suprisingly, we don't have any photos from the passage- we got better at taking photos, I promise!
Leaving Guatemala, we nearly hit the (unlit) buoy, and maybe we should have used that incident as an omen to STOP. But alas, we kept on going. Remember, we were leaving on the moon tide, which happened to be late(it was dark, I don't remember what time exactly, maybe 11PM?) We had anchored in Livingston and Jeff went ashore to check us out. I stayed aboard and made scones for the passage, not knowing what we were in for. We were heading to Cartagena, Columbia- approximately 800 miles- our longest passage so far. The weather the first night was pleasant, a few rainy but warm squalls that only required a spray top and crouching under the dodger. We made two stops along the way, the first in Utilla, Honduras for fuel. Again, Jeff went ashore and brought the fuel back in the kayak- I stayed aboard and washed out the cockpit. The second stop was on the Island of Roatan, again just for an overnight.
From Roatan we still had to sail East a fair way before heading more South towards Columbia. We were also careful to stay fairly far off the Nicaraguan coast, for fear of pirates. We did get lucky that the wind shifted in our favor as we rounded the point, this passage is known to be a rough one and rarely does one get to sail the entire way. However, for 6 days we had around 30 knots (about 35 miles per hour) forward of the beam. Living our life heeled over about 25 degrees was a bit difficult, especially when I was seasick and trying to figure out meals. I had a pressure cooker, but so far had not really learned to use it properly and could only make one thing at a time. We basically survived on water and hard boiled eggs.
It was during this passage that our (now running) joke began that the squalls only happen on Abby's watch... See, at this point we were standing 2 hour watches. The weather was so rough that that's about all we could handle, and even went down to single hours during the roughest weather. Jeff would often have a windy but otherwise beautiful watch and just as he was waking me the clouds would start to roll in. It was truly bizarre, he could almost set the clock by it! I would come on deck dressed in every piece of wet weather gear I had just knowing that I was going to get pummeled. For real. To this day, when the clouds roll in Jeff knows that it must be nearing my watch! Oh, and we were sharing MY 10-year-old heavy weather gear at this point as well, Jeff only had dingy racing gear!
When I read back in my journal to this passage the words are shocking...
"...We have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that cruising may not be for us..." This was written on Jan 18, 2005 with approx. 180 nautical miles to Cartagena. The one question that remained was, what do we do now? Then, Jan 22, 2005... "We made it to Cartagena, Columbia after 6 days of sailing, wow. The weather was so bad that the port here was closed to boats under 60 tons leaving!" We made it in. Still outside of the port entrance we turned a bit and the motion of the boat was not so violent. Within a few hours we would be anchored and eating a hot meal. The waves were awesome. Jeff called me on deck to point out a ship. There was green water breaking over the bow and running all the way back to the pilot house. Wow.
Anchoring around 11PM (twice because we were dragging!) A dingy came over to welcome us in. We made hamburgers and inhaled them and then slept hard. The next day we checked in and explored Cartagena with some new friends. There was no more talk of selling the boat, in fact we were already planning our next stop. With new found confidence in our abilities, each other and the strength of NoNews we were ready. All it took was hitting Rock Bottom.
Ironically, this was our first passage with our new kitten Maya, and she was great! She managed to use her (corn) kitty litter pan in the head (bathroom) and was begging for meals throughout the passage. She didn't seem to notice the heel, but got into major trouble when she chewed through the chart that we were using!
Not suprisingly, we don't have any photos from the passage- we got better at taking photos, I promise!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Guatemala
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Motoring up the Rio Dulce, or Sweet River was so different from everything we had experienced so far. The river winds narrowly to the SW and we were flanked on both sides by thick rainforest. Looking into the foliage we could see the colorful feathers of tropical birds and we could hear the calls of the Howler Monkeys. Wow.
The Rio Dulce has been a refuge for sailors for hundreds of years. It is a very unique place in the world in the simple fact that there are few roads, the main form of transportation is boat! We spent our time tied up at Mario's Marina. It is possible to anchor off the main town, but due to some security incidents we decided it was better to stay in one of the many marinas available there.
I was particularly thankful for the hot showers available at the marina because I managed to contract head lice! I managed to get rid of it quickly using horse shampoo. Seriously. We went to a vet supply (really a feed shop) and got horse shampoo for $7 when lice shampoo costs upwards of $25- and mine worked quicker! But enough about that.
No News and Moonshadow med-moored together at Mario's in the Rio Dulce
We caught up with Moonshadow, and Tiffany went 'home'- 35' is really small for 3 adults! We checked out our surroundings, the market in the little town was packed with fruit and veggies, something we hadn't seen a lot of in awhile. Two weeks there was enough for us, we were new to this cruising life and had very 'itchy feet!' We did, however, take one land trip during that time.
Antigua, Guatemala. A city rich in history, it was the third capital of Guatemala, serving as the military seat for 200 years during the 15th and 16th centuries. We missed the famed New Years festivities, but throughly enjoyed our (small)taste of the arcetecture and tradition still very much alive there.
Tiffany also accompanied us to Antigua, but treated herself to a 4-star hotel while we stayed in (private room) hostels! This is also the city where Jeff and I adopted out kitten, Maya, who was to be our companion on No News for the next few months. Jeff and I braved the bus system for our trip back to the Rio. We had to change busses in Guatemala City, not one of the safest places in Centeral America! The 3 of us (Maya included) made it home unscathed and within 2 days we were loaded up and headed back out to the salt water. We were limited by the moon cycle for the highest tide, so if we didn't leave when we did we might have been 'stuck' there for another 2 weeks.
Our next adventure was a tipping point in our cruising life... stay tuned!
Christmas and a Sand Bar
View Larger MapWe parted ways with Moonshadow after Belize City, with plans to meet up again in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. It was important that we meet back up with them because we had Tiffany, their crew! When we parted ways, we were headed out to some of the outlying Cays (pronounced Keys) to do some extra snorkeling. Tiffany was pretty keen to get some more time in the water before heading up the murky river so we invited her along, it was only a week after all!
We'd never had crew before, and boy did we learn a lot- but I'll get into that later.
We did end up getting into a few good anchorages and got some snorkeling in. Belize is riddled with large Barracuda, so I didn't spend too much time in the water, but I was happy to man the dingy for Jeff and Tiffany! It was now December 23, anchored in a small lagoon with a small pass through the coral reef. Another boat (a Moorings charter boat) was anchored next to us. During the night the wind shifted and picked up, the charter boat dragged anchor and ended up leaving in the middle of the night. We were stuck because we couldn't make it over the submerged reef (the other boat was a catamaran) with our 2 meter draft. I remember that night to be one of the longest of our trip- Jeff and I took turns on 'anchor watch' all night, and first thing in the morning we were out of there!
Christmas Eve 2004 was a long day... Exhausted from a long night. I climbed up a few of the mast steps to help read the water depth from a higher vantage point. I put my foot on one of the winches on the mast the wrong way and it spun around.
I fell. Hard. within a few minutes I had a colorful bruise stretching from my ankle to my neck- OW! Luckily Tiffany was there with us, Jeff was working on getting us safely into deep water while I went immediately down below to cry. I didn't want Jeff to know how badly I was hurt until we were safely away from the coral! We made it out. I had ice (again, I had an amazing freezer that Jeff built from scratch!) on my wounds and Tiffany to fill in the gaps. She made us pancakes for breakfast (I can't believe I remember all of this so vividly!) and we headed towards the entrance to the Rio Dulce in Livingston, Guatemala.
The entrance to the Rio Dulce is guarded by a sandbar. A shallow sandbar. Remember, we draw 2 meters at this point, weighed down with all of our cruising gear. The bar is reportedly between 4 and 5 feet deep, but it shifts. There is a GPS way point and heading that, if followed exactly, will get larger boats over the bar. Also, the locals have a booming business pulling sailboats over the bar with large fishing boats. Being frugal cruisers, we did not want to pay someone to help us. Luckily as we were approaching Livingston the wind shifted and picked up. We were able to sheet the sails in hard and heel over at an amazing angle. Jeff kept the engine on full throttle and we sailed/pushed ourselves over the bar! It was thrilling, exhilarating, and empowering that we did it ourselves.
We anchored off Livingston that night. Jeff launched the Kayak and went ashore to officially check us into Guatemala, and he came back with lettuce and fruit, what a Christmas present! We put our twinkle lights out in the cockpit that night, I made a Christmas meatloaf in my pressure cooker, and we had many celebratory drinks. I don't remember what gifts we exchanged that night, I think a seashell was involved, maybe a treasured CD passed forward. Truly a great night after a long few days.
Captain Jeff, in total concentration steering over the 'bar'
Yes folks, this is what you call 'heeling'!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Adventures in Belize
View Larger MapIn our final Mexican anchorage, Xcalak, we made our first 'real' cruising friends, a family on a 50' boat named Moonshadow (more on them later). Howard and Sheira, their daughters Rachael and Jocelyn, and crew Tiffany. We were going the same basic direction, Howard is from New Zealand (a Kiwi) and they were making their way there to live. We didn't realize it at the time but I had actually met them on our shakedown cruise in the Bahamas 2 years prior! We ended up cruising the coast of Belize with them, sharing laughs, meals and a lot of rum!
(Rachael and Abby)
Belize has the longest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere, the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We chose to sail inside the reef along the coast, which was a little dicey at times with a 2-meter (6'8") draft! There is another gem in Belize, aside from the great diving and snorkeling that can be done here, the Belize Zoo.
Anchoring off of Belize City is an adventure in itself, but we added to it by taking public bus, also known as the 'chicken bus' (an old US school bus, painted fun colors commonly used throughout Central America) out to where the zoo was, which ended up being more of an adventure than we bargained for!
The bus broke down.
In the 90 degree heat.
With NO shade.
We waited about 45 minutes for another bus to come rescue us, and then we finally made it to the zoo. We hadn't really planned on actually visiting the zoo that particular day. We went to the bus station with our friends from Moonshadow to check out the prices and ended up on the bus, ready to go! Well, we arrived at our destination and the price had gone up. None of us had enough cash to get in, and they would not give us any leeway. What to do? After such an interesting afternoon on the (broken down) bus we really wanted to actually see the zoo! Well, we hemmed and hawed for a long time, and finally the person behind the desk (who had been so unbending before) felt guilty or something, and she let us all in! I highly recommend anyone going to Belize visit this little zoo, it is truly a magical place.
The other highlight of Belize was Sapodilla Lagoon. We went there because it is one of the most protected areas of Belize and we had heard that there was a large weather front heading out way. We were all snug in the lagoon, I wasn't feeling well so Jeff went out exploring in the dinghy, picking up the Moonshadow clan on the way. When they didn't come back for hours I started to get a little nervous, Tiffany was on board Moonshadow so at least we could chat via the VHF radio (both of the dingy's were gone so we were stuck on our own boats). Finally Jeff arrived home and told me all about his adventure...
Motoring around in two dinghy's, they had found a large canal which was obviously man made. Curiosity took over and Jeff and Howard steered up, finding a guy in a pickup truck at the end. After a 3 hour tour of Herman Hanley's shrimp farm they 2 boats finally came home, with plans to go back the next day. Herman is a pretty interesting character, he described himself this way, through what his wife said about him in retirement "Most people retire and buy a Lazy Boy, you retire and start a shrimp farm in Belize".
All of us went back to Herman's Shrimp Farm the next day. He was headed into a little Mennonite (yes, Mennonite) town about an hours drive from the farm to pick up some supplies. We were all excited for a little road trip to see more of the country side! Driving along the rolling hills, as far as we could see were pineapples. Herman stopped at a little roadside stand where a man with a very large machete hacked off the bottom and prickly skin of the pineapple- leaving the leaves (stem?) as a handle- we had pineapple Popsicles! They were so juicy that we all had pineapple down our chins, I have never, ever, ever tasted a pineapple so amazing. Pretty amazing snack for 50 Cents!
Arriving back at Herman's farm, we were treated to a grand tour of the gardens, the house (where I got to take a shower!!!) and finally the shrimp pools. Jeff can write someday about the technology Herman was using to grow shrimp there, it was pretty amazing. While at the house Jeff had inquired about buying a small box of frozen shrimp, but Herman couldn't "sell" us any due to local laws. So he did one better... He took us out to one of the pools where the shrimp were big enough to be harvested (a few weeks early, but still big enough) and he got one of his guys to cast his net. We ended up with a 48 Quart cooler FULL of whole shrimp!
Probably the best, and worst part of the shrimp was sitting on Moonshadow, surrounded by friends, working on shrimp. I'm not sure how long we were there, but hours were spent de-heading and peeling shrimp. Moonshadow had no refrigeration at the time so they ate their fill that first night (we all did, even Amos the cat!). We thought that cooler would never be empty! Eventually is was though, and there were a lot of shrimp still to be eaten. So Jeff and I went home to No News, pulled out our vacuum sealer and packed 12-15 shrimp per bag to be frozen. Yes. I had a freezer! Let me tell you the best part, we ate the final installment of shrimp- grilled and over pasta- 9 months later in Tonga!
Shrimp.
One of my favorite stories to tell from our adventure. Unfortunately that part of Belize has been developed in the last few years. I was unable to find out any information about Hanley Farms Limited on Google. Maybe someday we will show up there again and check it out, maybe not. Sometimes it is better to remember the great times, not try to replace them.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Setting Sail- Mexico
November 2004 was an adventure. We set sail from Fort Lauderdale on a sunny day, a day later than we had *planned.* One of the first things we learned about cruising is that plans are always subject to change, mostly due to the weather.
We sailed down the Florida Keys, stopping each night- we're cruisers now and in no particular hurry! Jeff's parents met us in Key West and treated us to a few days RnR, taking showers in their hotel room and dinners out. When we were ready to go we pulled up our anchor and went into the marina to fill our water tanks one last time. Little did we know that this would be the worst water we'd have for the next 2 years, thanks Key West!
Jeff with our MUMM Champagne, left over from our wedding! We toasted our first anchorage after setting sail, and saved one bottle for our first anniversary.
Our first stop was Isla Mujeres, Mexico which is an island just off of the Yucatan Peninsula across from Cancun.
View Larger Map
Before we left the US, I had gone to Costco and provisioned the boat like a madwoman. I borrowed a friend's freezer and I spent a whole day cutting, seasoning and vacuum sealing a lot of meat. When we arrived in Mexico we *almost* lost all of our meat due to quarantine regulations! Luckily we somehow managed to talk the officials into keeping it, and now we know. If we had it to do all over again we'd provision in Cancun- there is a well stocked WalMart!
My Galley, where the magic happens!
We spent a few weeks sailing the coast of Mexico, experiencing unmarked reef passes, high fees and corruption of officials. We also experienced Mayan ruins, the best Cevieche we've ever tasted, and cheap beer. You take the good with the bad!
Jeff and I in Tulum, Mexico
We sailed down the Florida Keys, stopping each night- we're cruisers now and in no particular hurry! Jeff's parents met us in Key West and treated us to a few days RnR, taking showers in their hotel room and dinners out. When we were ready to go we pulled up our anchor and went into the marina to fill our water tanks one last time. Little did we know that this would be the worst water we'd have for the next 2 years, thanks Key West!
Jeff with our MUMM Champagne, left over from our wedding! We toasted our first anchorage after setting sail, and saved one bottle for our first anniversary.
Our first stop was Isla Mujeres, Mexico which is an island just off of the Yucatan Peninsula across from Cancun.
View Larger Map
Before we left the US, I had gone to Costco and provisioned the boat like a madwoman. I borrowed a friend's freezer and I spent a whole day cutting, seasoning and vacuum sealing a lot of meat. When we arrived in Mexico we *almost* lost all of our meat due to quarantine regulations! Luckily we somehow managed to talk the officials into keeping it, and now we know. If we had it to do all over again we'd provision in Cancun- there is a well stocked WalMart!
My Galley, where the magic happens!
We spent a few weeks sailing the coast of Mexico, experiencing unmarked reef passes, high fees and corruption of officials. We also experienced Mayan ruins, the best Cevieche we've ever tasted, and cheap beer. You take the good with the bad!
Jeff and I in Tulum, Mexico
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Catch Up
During 2001-2004 Jeff and I bought a house in Fort Lauderdale (a great place to outfit a cruising boat!) on a canal where we could tie the boat up. With the amount of re-fit work we did on No News, it was an ideal situation. Our 'shakedown' cruise was in July of 2002 to the Bahamas.
We arrived home in August with a full notebook page of things to do before we set off permanently. Jeff is amazing with tools, a sewing machine, and basically everything marine, and he managed to make our boat a home.
In March of 2004 Jeff and I tied the knot.
On the Schooner America, in Key West. Fitting, no?
On July 1, 2004 we moved aboard our 35' Wauquiez Pretorien, No News. We sold and gave away all of our possessions which was incredibly liberating, I cried when one lady bought all of my shoes, but I truly felt lighter afterwards.
(Cute huh? We're having cocktail hour on our front lawn because we had no furniture inside the house!)
In November when hurricane season was over (and we voted in Broward County, Florida) we set sail. The PLAN was to sail to New Zealand and apply for residency. We truly were not thrilled with they way the political situation in the US was headed and felt that residency in a neutral country couldn't hurt....
We arrived home in August with a full notebook page of things to do before we set off permanently. Jeff is amazing with tools, a sewing machine, and basically everything marine, and he managed to make our boat a home.
In March of 2004 Jeff and I tied the knot.
On the Schooner America, in Key West. Fitting, no?
On July 1, 2004 we moved aboard our 35' Wauquiez Pretorien, No News. We sold and gave away all of our possessions which was incredibly liberating, I cried when one lady bought all of my shoes, but I truly felt lighter afterwards.
(Cute huh? We're having cocktail hour on our front lawn because we had no furniture inside the house!)
In November when hurricane season was over (and we voted in Broward County, Florida) we set sail. The PLAN was to sail to New Zealand and apply for residency. We truly were not thrilled with they way the political situation in the US was headed and felt that residency in a neutral country couldn't hurt....
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