genesisincalmh2o

2011-01-21T07:47:00.002-08:00

Ken's memorial was beautiful and he would have approved. Between 450-500 people turned out to help celebrate his life. I am sorry that I could not meet with so many but am honoured that people flew in for the day from BC, California, and Hawaii. It spoke volumes of the man he was and will remain in our hearts.
I have said that I am not going to continue this blog as it was a chronical of our journey together however I realize that writing helps heal and writing for me soothes so I am going to begin a new blog that will chronical Genesis and my journey. She still has work to do and she will be the healer along with my angels.
I willl return to the boat Feb 01 with Kenny (Our Bestman and friend) Ernie the (Cabinboy as he referred to himself) and together will bring Genesis to Everglades Florida for Apr. She will them be put on a ship and brought back to BC waters and will be live upon in Vancouver and cruised in one of the most beautiful places in the world. (Just cold water!)
Follow the journey and learn about the places and people we meet at HealingGenesis.blogspot.com

2010-12-28T03:16:00.010-08:00

Ken's first mahi mahi

Ken and I going around Vancouver Island

Alanna , Kens and I at the airport in Mexico

Ken with his Marlin Catch

RJ, Ken and I in Mexico

To a sailor a Green Flash can be an occurrence seen only once in a lifetime. Green Flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset when the sun appears to have just gone beneath the ocean. A green spot is visible for usually no more than a second. On our last night crossing to Grenada Ken and I witness the flash. We were jumping around like little kids. It was the first one we had seen in the 3 yrs.

Nature has a lot of wonders. We just need to open our eyes and see them.

Winds that are gentle breezes that turn into gales. Sunrises, moon rises, sunsets, moonset. Sea turtles, sea snakes dolphins doing tail walks.

Animals like crazy Lucy the monkey that attacked Ken for touching her yet when I fed her was as calm as could be.

Birds of many colours that have the audacity to sit right by you and crap on your freshly stained handrail.

We have been on the boat for 3 yrs getting her ready and cruising. It has been the best 3 yrs one could have asked for. Some would say living with a person 24/7 would be impossible. Not if you love that person and have the same dreams and goals. You want to explore what life has out there for you.

I have said many times that people out there told us we couldn't do this type of trip with our type of boat. I want to say to all those that try to hold people back,"Keep your opinions to yourself". Anything can be done with the will and desire and with proper weather indicators.

Ken did not survive his heart attack and on Dec 26 became my guardian angel. I am sure he is telling my Grandfather to move over!

No one could have asked for a better Captain and Mate. He touched everyone he met. His booming voice, his unforgetable 40 yr old mustache and his charm. I know that everyone that met him was fortunate.

With help from fellow boaters and friends Genesis will be brought up to Florida. I will be there with her. She will get put on a ship and taken back home to her slip where I will make her look pretty again. (She needs a face lift with all the rain). Ken was concern for her right until the end. She has played a big role in this dream.

There will be a memorial service in Calgary then in the spring the ashes will be put in the ocean to finish his dream.

I thank all those that followed the blog, for all the prayers and condolenses.

When I owned the flower shops a verse that stayed with me.

When you were born you cried and the world rejoiced. If you live your live in such a way that when you die you rejoice and the world cries your life has had meaning. That explains Ken to a tee. We have been told to expect many at his memorial, We have received hundreds of emails already and only some people know

He was my best friend, my love and my life. I promised him I would be strong and I will try.

For all those that have touched our lives, thankyou and I cherish everything. The nature, the friendships of the boating community and all who have followed the blog. This week there has been 250 people because of his health. What does that tell you. He was loved and respected

Time will only tell if I write about future boating on this blog but for now this was our chronical of OUR journey so I will end it here.

My aunt just sent me this message and I thought it worth repeating.

Where God puts a period, none of us must put a question mark.

2010-12-22T01:38:00.003-08:00

We arrived in Grenada on Dec 13th giving us a full day before RJ would arrive. We anched in Prickly Bay and proceeded to go into Customs and Immigrations for 1000 hr. First one must go to the Health part of Customs and show them your medical records and passports. After everything is in order you are now allowed to take your quaritine flag down. (This was the first country to actually ask for our medical records)

We then continued to finish with the paper work for Customs. All went quick with Customs but it wasn't until about 1300 hr that the women from Immigration showed up. By 1330 we were legal to go wander. Waiting patiently is one thing a boater must learn to do when traveling between countries it is nothing like entering a country by air.

Grenada is a beautiful mountainous, green lush country. It is referred to as the Spice Island as it provides 2/3 of the nutmeg to the world. It smells like bananna bread when you walk through the markets!

The evening on arrival we took the dinghy to the restaurant at the head of the bay and were entertained by a wonderful Blues band. It was a great way to start out trip.

We had decided to not do any touring, geocaching until the kids and Alanna's boyfriend arrived for Christmas.

The transportion to downtown St George's is simple and inexpensive. It is a collectivo bus (not sure what they would call it in English) basically a large van.

Grenada is very English. However it does sound like a foreign language. The difference is that they understand us. Now when the little girl points at my blue eyes and say something I know what she said and can reply!

When Ken and I embarked on this adventure we had researched and planned for many years. We knew all the risks that could happen and have tried to be ready if something should ever happen. Our boat carries and extra toilet! Just in case. We have had to replace 2 now. Salt water is hard on them. In fact it is lucky we float with all the extras. Grenada has great marine stores and guess what I am getting for Christmas. Boat Stuff! Anyways to continue you must have everything in order. We had our pirate bait, have embarked in Mexico and Panama for emergency dental work. Mexico health care for Ken's burnt leg. I write about this as my daughter had to remind me that we knew and wanted to undertake this wonderful trip.

This will be the last blog for awhile and hopefully not too long but realistically it will probably be awhile.

On Dec 18 we were having a normal evening and went to bed. Ken all of a sudden did not feel well and we took him to the hospital in St. Georges. Ernie our crew was still with us and my son had now joined us. Ken suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to the hospital. There were no rooms in the ICU so he was put on a male ward. This is 3rd world medicine. They have great doctors and nurses. A fact that Grenada has a Medical University accepting students from all around the world. However they do not have the equipment. The head Dr after checking the xrays said he would have to medivac to Barbados where they have the state of art equipment. Through insurance time went slow as they wanted him medivac to Alberta. The problem was the doctors would not release him for that as he was not stable enough. Eventually he was medivac to Barbados. I will not get into any of the details but it is very serious. The people in Grenada are very religous and the nurses would sing hymns to Ken as they went about attending to him. Total strangers wanted to know his name so they could pray for him. The taxi driver we found became our personal helper at our beck and call and would not let us pay him. He helped calm me down more than once. I will always be greatful to him

The facilities in Barbados are second to none. We could not ask for better care. Today he will be operated on an then I am sure we will return by medivac to Alberta on time will tell.

The Genesis has been put on the hard (land) and the boatyard will take good care of her until I can get back to close her up. This is no longer huricane season so the urgency is not there and can be dealt with at a later date.

I decided to write about this as we have between 150 - 200 people that watch this blog weekly. I started it originally as a way to keep family and friends in touch and let other boaters know what to expect. I have had boaters email me and tell me after following our journeys we have given them some courage to get out there on the water. To us that is what this is all about.

We have been blessed with 2 wonderful children that have medical knowledge and are keeping their mother grounded and informed. They are awesome.

This journey has been about the people we have encountered in all the countries. Their generosity and willingness to share their lives with us. Show us their culture which is not much differnent than ours in so many ways. The main difference to me has been that they have not lost their spiritual selves or their family values. I really do not see that in our culture now adays.

The boating community. Awesome, awesome people there to help when needed at any time. We have met cruisers from around the world. It is a very tight community.

We are not sure what will happen. We will return someday to the boat I am sure but only time will tell.

So again thanks for following the blog and I hope to be able to pick up where I left in the near future.

Ken anf Faye

And of Course Genesis the magic carpet.

2010-12-14T05:05:00.007-08:00

Flamingos at the Salt Pans

Salt Piles behind the Salt Pans

Slave Huts Used at the Salt Pans

Anxiety back to normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we are safely anchored in Prickly Bay Grenada awaiting RJ's arrival tomorrow.

We had one tense moment where we brought out our bearspray, flare guns and a plan. A boat was taking a little too much interest in us. We immediately got on the VHF and gave our lat/long to the other boats behind us. Now we know that the pirates have vhf as they take all the cruisers! Anyways as soon as we transmitted the lat/long the boat was gone. I will never know if it was curious fishermen or something else and I don't really care. We are now in safe waters. The real shame is that Venezuela has a wonderful cruising ground and the world would love to see it but until the government changes lesser and lesser people will travel this route.

Now back to why we are on this voyage.

We have just finished the most difficult portion to date. 1000 nautical miles. We were told by MANY we couldn't do it, we were headed in the wrong direction but we DID IT!.

These blogs will be behind for awhile based on what we have to write about.

Bonaire

We had planned on spending 2 days in Bonaire but it turned into 9 days due to bad weather. We made the best of it and didn't have a difficult time adjusting.

Bonaire's waters are a marine park and therefore you cannot anchor . They have set up mooring buoys to tie to and the charges for the useage goes to help maintain the marine parks.

The island is a snorkle and diving paradise. The parrot fish alone were enough reason to stop here. I have never seen a fish so beautiful. A rainbow of colours.

We rented a car and took our list of geocache sites along. We have learnt that geocaching takes us to some pretty awesome places.

Bonaire is a small island. It is 285 sq km. The main town is Kralendijk. The major road loops the island and the total island can be seen within a day.

There is no public transit and hitchhiking is a main stay for the locals. Hence we rented a car.

Our first geocache took us south to the salt pans where ocean water evaproates to produce salt . Metal windmills are used to transfer water out of the ponds. As evaporation progresses the water takes on a vibrant pink colour from tiny sea organisms. It is these sea organisms that the pink flamingos eat causing their distinct pink colour.

As you go down the coast you witness history. Slave huts that were used as shelters for the slaves that worked the salt fields. Living conditions in these miniscule shelters are hard to imagine now, but they were home to 100's of slaves. Ernie went inside one and he could only squat. 6 people would fit in each hut.

The pyramids of salt were breath taking. Hard to imagine that much salt.

The salt is bulldozed into the piles where they are put onto conveyor belts and put onto waiting ships.

Sea salt was very important to Bonaire's culture and history. Harvesting was heavy and all done

by hand.

Our next geocache site took us to Lac Bay. It offers nearly the perfect conditions for windsurfing. It is very shallow but gets great wind.

The mangrove forests in Lac Bay are one of the best maintained mangroves in the Caribbean. It is in here that you could see seahorses and turtles.

I do believe our highlight was seeing pink flamingos up close. We saw them wading in the salt ponds but did not get to see them fly.

Bonaire is a semi desert with cactus and shrubs. We however saw 9 days of continual flooding. It rained hard with no ground to absorb all the moisture.

I would recommend coming here if you love to dive as the whole island is a reef. The coral and fish are plentiful.

One of the things we like to do is try out the local dishes. This time it was iguana soup and goat stew, and salted fish which I had had as a kid. As the saying goes it tastes like chicken!

(no subject)

2010-12-11T13:00:00.001-08:00

Well it is a SSB week of the blog again.
I am writing this while on the way to Isla Testigos. (Witness Island)Our planned route had to be changed due to the weather. Instead of traveling along the Northern Outer Islands where we would be safe from piracy we had to head below 11 degrees to get out of the high winds and large seas.
We arrived at Isla Roques at an anchorage that was absolutely breathtaking. We were very happy to catch a very large dorado, a 50 pound marlin, 4 big eyed tuna and a sierra. Our freezer is finally filling up again with fish but we still have room for more. We have eaten fish everyday for a week now. Never get tired of fresh fish.
We walked the shores of the fine white sands and hiked the sand dune. Unfortunately we wore saddles and the burs were unforgiving. Conch were everywhere and we even saw a turtle. We were accompanied by 4 other boats in the anchorage all from France. When we left there were 7 one being a Canadian boat from Victoria heading West.
We have been using Herb from Southbound II on the SSB as a weather router. He is a Canadian from Mississauga that has won the Canadian Award of Honour (Can't remember what it is called) for his dedication in helping the boating community. Saving lives. His recommendation was to head south then cross from Testigos to Grenada on Sunday/Monday.
The seas were large crossing from the Roques - Isla Tortiga then onto Isla Margarita. It was basically a 2 day journey. We changed our shifts to be 2 people on at a time. 2 hour shifts with one hour off. This meant we would be tired but there would always be someone to spell you off for a bit. The autopilot didn't want to cooperate so hand steering through the night was the way to go. The blessing was that the waves were on the front quarter and we did not have to take any beam seas. Genesis also is very good at tracking without the autopilot so it wasn't too bad. It also helps that Ken and Ernie are very good at steering by compass. Me not so much I find I get turned around at night and disoriented to direction. Not a good thing but hey I can talk and keep them awake! Steer while nature calls and,fetch etc. I have found the difference between the Pacific and Caribbean to be very significant. Most the time on the Pacific side it felt like a Magic Carpet ride. On the Caribbean it feels like you are in a washing machine. But we are all use the the rhythm now.
This area is known as a very high security risk were there have been armed robberies on boats that are in transit. A Canadian boat traveling West was boarded by 4 gunman and everything taken just a month prior. We had been trying to avoid this area for this very reason and the fact that we now are in the area has left me not sleeping so well.
I have put together a pirate take list. A fairly new Sony camera that rusted out after 2 years, the dell computer that Ken dropped the coffee on (No insides, Debit cards and credit cards that are no longer used but good dates, a little bit of money from everywhere including some US money.
I have hiding spots that we only found after 7 years of owning the boat. If they find them good for them. Our good wallets, hand held vhf, this computer and Spot are well hidden. I still need to find a good spot for our camera.
We stopped at Isla Tortuga for 5 hrs before continuing on so that we would arrive during daylight in the pirate waters. Running at night with no lights on.
We arrived at Isla Margarita anchorage at 1000 in the morning. Had a good rest and filled up with fuel. The boys in the panga came by and asked how much fuel we would like. 600 litres. It is too bad that we were not empty as we payed 20 cents a litre. That is not a typo. In fact the actual rate is around 15 cents a litre if you were to go to the dock. However US currency is black market and it would be hard to get. Who could complain at 20 cents? We were immediately befriended by the boating community. They were a wisdom of knowledge but the best thing to happen was that we are traveling with 2 other buddy boats now to Grenada. I am still going to hide everything but there is safety in numbers and we will anchor together at Isla Testigos. We travel a little faster then the others but not by much.
We will hopefully be in Grenada Monday around 1600 hour and I will post an update on Tues as we received some emails with people concern about our whereabouts. I would also like to upload some pictures of these beautiful anchorages and describe what we have been up to.
Keeping Safe
Genesis

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(no subject)

2010-12-05T03:41:00.000-08:00

This blog is being sent over SSB radio and will be reformatted once we have internet.
Rain and Wind Go Away Come Again Another Day (Year)
We had planned on spending 2 days in Bonaire which turned into 9 days due to extreme winds and waves. I will back track to Bonaire and write about this wonderful place once we have internet.
We are currently making our way very slowly towards Grenada for hopefully the 14th Dec.;that is when RJ is expected. However should the weather continue to give us greif, he will have to get a hotel until we get there.
We left Bonaire at 0500 hrs and made a decision to stay at the first anchorage along the way. Waves were reaching 10' on 5-7 secs. Not comfortable but not dangerous. We are heading now into the wind and waves with the current against us. (Having the current against is actually better, because if they were with us they would kick up even larger confused seas).
Our first anchorage would be Aves de Sotavento. Isla de Aves are two separate little island archipelagos, separated by about 10 miles of deep water. They got their names by the large number of birds that make their homes here in the mangroves.
Mangrove Bay is the most protected anchorage in this area. A sailboat from Spain and a motor-sailor also made this anchorage their home for the night. As fate would have it we are all traveling the same direction which for us has been a 1st in a long time.
The Coast Guard came by to check our papers and advise us that there was a 40k system over the Roques and that they would like us to stay the extra day.
We checked 3-4 sources of weather but nothing indicated any system so the motor-sailor named Passage Maker and us decided to go 13nm to the next archipelago where there would still be some protection.(This would get us a little closer for the next passage). Isla Sur is now where we call home for another day or so. It is the most beautiful place. The island is very colourful, with patches of southern glasswort, seaside purslane, and saltwort all in different shades of green. Supposably fishermen use the saltwort for tobacco however I think they wait for visiting boats to supply them with free cigarettes.
The water is a quilt of different shades of blue. Coral just 50' from the boat comes in various colours. There are many different species of birds the most different being the Red Ibis. Normally they are white. Boobies with all different colours of feet.
Peter and Louise from the Sailing Vessel Passage Maker invited us over for cocktails aboard their boat. Now unbelievably this boat is how this dream of ours began! Passage Maker was a boat built by Robert Bebee and an article written in the magazine "The Passage Maker" was about the trip that we are now undertaking. They had however gone in the opposite direction. Peter is the new owner of the boat and he comes from Trinidad/Tobabgo. They are a very nice couple and we will travel probably the next few days together until we turn North and they turn South.
Well, as I have said before I believe we may have a few guardian angles that are staying on the boat with us otherwise we never would have found out about the weather and be in a very secure place to wait it out.
Our next destination is about 35nm to the Roques and we will head out when the weather looks favourable. Pictures of this place will follow with internet.

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2010-11-27T06:23:00.004-08:00

Waterfront Buildings

We left Aruba and traveled throughout the night to reach Caracao. Pronounced (Cay Oh See Ah Oh).

The seas started out a bit rough but subsided to what was comfortable. No lightning so all was well. We arived at Spanish Waters. A natural harbour where we would share and anchor with about 300 other boaters. Believe it or not we had a secluded spot. The bugs were crazy however. We had to break out the mosquito netting for Ernie.

We arrived on a Friday and Friday evening there was a happy hour for cruisers at one of the local restaurants. We were fortunate enough to meet Robert a local resident that would give us his wife's car.

Caracao pronounced ( Care ah say oh) is the largest of the ABC Islands. It is 60 km from tthe Venezuelan border. It is 65 km long and is 11 km at its widest spot. The lanscape is very barren because of the low rainfall. However since the rain from Hurrican Tomas (the one that kept us in Colombia) it has had more rain than any other year to date. Everything is lush and green.

There are 150,000 people that live on the island, and like Aruba they all speak many languages. Which just totaly amazes me.

The economy is very diversified with the oil industry being their largest employer. The take Venezuelan oil and refine it.

Coral reefs surround the island which adds greatly to the tourist attraction.

The next day we headed out with geocache lats/longs. These caches would give us both history and views not normally seen by visitors to the island.

Our first stop was the hiking area that would take us to the salt ponds where we hoped to see flamingos. When we arrived a local (I forgot his name on the boat and will fill it in this blank when I next have internet) with his two dogs took us for a hike that was not known to anyone but the locals. It gave us terrific views. Unfortunately due to all the rain we could not get near the sight of the flamingos. Ken did however find the geocache and we continued on. Our new friend was a wisdom of local knowledge both political and historical.

We happened to anchor just below a historical site. The building that kept slaves whom were sick after their crossing from Africa.

We learnt that the Spaniards and the Portugese were quite aware of the value of slaves and brought boat loads to help in the production of the salt pans. At one point 24,000 slaves in 7 years were brought in to be used or sold to neighbouring islands. Due to the lack of documentation there is still not a lot know to the full extent of the slave trade.

We continued our way to downtown. The city of Willemstad is the capital with a population of 140,000. Only 10,000 live elsewhere on the island. The architecture is a joyous tropical adaption of 17th century Dutch, painted in storybook colours. It is a delight to look at.

The floating market is a picturesque string of visiting Colombian and Venezuelan boats selling their fruit and vegetables from the mainland.

We headed towards the floating bridge to our surprise we became involved in a passing parade.

A Santa Clause Parade of types. I will try to explain it to best as we were told.

2 weeks prior to Dec 06 which is Sint Niccolas Day. In the Netherlands it was said that that Sintaklaus left by steamship from Spain 2 weeks prior with his helper Black Pete. Santa goes around at night and checks his book for the good boys and girls. He will leave candy and presents for the good ones butttttttttttttttttttttttt! the bad ones get bagged up and taken back to Spain with Black Pete. We were told by the family explaining this to us that 7 yr old boys are very scared of St Pete. For the 2 weeks these traveling duos visit the schools and can be seen all around.

The children trying to show how good they have been by singing traditional songs and leaving wooden shoes filled with hay and carrots for the horse or donkey that Santa and Pete use nightly. In return Pete fills the shoes nightly with Candy or gifts.

We were told that once kids or adults get older the gifts become more of a gag gift for fun. It was a fun thing to witness and a festival continued on the street with singing and kids dressed up as Pete's.

Weather kept us longer in Caracao than expected but we have been in Bonaire for awhile and I will write about here in the following weeks. The weather has not been good with high winds and very steep waves. We hope to have a weather window by Mon/Tues and continue going East. Like all that are going the other way have said you are doing it the hard way. Oh well.

The Black Petes cover themselves with make up to make themselves as black as they are. We were told they are black because they go down the chimneys before Sint Niccolas. Also Sint Niccolas is not fat he fits down the chimney without any problems.

2010-11-22T04:36:00.008-08:00

I have uploaded some pictures but they seem to have a mind of their own. The picture of the building is an example of the type of buildings typical of this area.

The lighthouse is the California lighthouse which is mentioned in the blog. It is still is opperational and is found on the most northern tip of Aruba.

The chapel is a Catholic church called Alta Vista (High View). It truly had a beautiful view of the East Shore of Aruba. The church uses both the interior and exterior to worship as seats are molded on the outside and would seat up to about 100 people. Not bad for such a small church.

The caves were truly amazing. With the natural light it was easy to see things. The paintings on the walls from years gone by were easily seen, unfortunately so was grafiti done in more recent decades. (Tell me if the indigenous wrote grafiti and it became history, why is todays grafiti not history for later generations?)

The next picture is another Gold Smelter Ruins. It was in opperation until the early 1920's. Think about it that is almost a 100 yrs.

The drive through the National Park took us through very unique valleys. It was a beautiful desert; because of all the rain the hurricane dropped everything is green compared to normally.

The final picture was the first gold smelter we drove to. It was more intact and was quite large. The full opperation was about an acre wide.

The blog that follows explains our trip to Aruba. I divided it into 2 because I was having problems with the internet going down and I wasn't able to upload the pictures.

We are currently in Curacao and have spent several days here. We will be leaving for Bonaire tomorrow. I will write about our great adventures here next week along with the great people that made our stay here interesting.

2010-11-21T07:05:00.004-08:00

The ABC Islands are 3 of five Dutch islands that are similar to provinces.

Aruba is an island that is proud of its multi-culturalism. Those people that are born here speak a minimum of 4 languages and it is not uncommon for many to have as many as 10 languages. It was amazing to watch. As a part of the Kingdom of th Netherlands, Dutch is the official language for government and public institutions such as schools but Papiamento is the language spoken on the 3 islands.

It was explained to us that the language is a language brought by the slaves from an area called Verde in South Africa. Over time the influence of Spanish and Portugese also mixed to create a very unique language.

We decided to rent a car and geocache our way through the island.

Aruba is the smallest and most westerly of the ABC group. It lies 25 km north of Venezuela and 68 km west of Curacao.

It is one of the very few Caribbean islands on which the Indian population was not exterminated however there are not full blooded Indigenous now as they have mixed with the Spanish and Dutch blood. African slaves were never introduced in Aruba.

Gold was discovered in 1725 and it would be our first geocache to go looking for. The Balashi Gold Smelter Ruins . We dropped off a Travel Bug and picked one up to continue its journey.

Santa Cruz mid island was a reminder of the economic crises that is effecting the whole world. Many businesses are shut down and buildings just left for the environment to reclaim. The sight of KFC, McDonalds surprised us as we haven't seen anything like this in smaller towns. The people living around this area are larger than elsewhere on the island so I would say they frequent the restaurants.

The Arikok National Park, a natural preserve covers one fifth of the island was our next geocache stop. The park contains forty species of trees and hearty desert vegetation that survive blazing sun and constant wind. Cacti in all shapes and sizes cover this desert landscape.

The area contains many snakes which luckily we only saw in the glass containers at the interpretive station. We did get to have a glimpse at the wild donkeys, many lizards and iguanas.

This area is rugged red dirt roads with valleys, ravines, terraces leading to the North shore with its natural bridges carved out by the pounding surf.

Aruba has caves that contained Indian Rock drawings. Natural light penetrates these caves so you can see around without flashlights.

We were pre-warned not to park on the sand dune sands as it acts like quick sand and they loose a few cars a year. All in all this area was beautiful.

As our journey continued north we passed the Ayp Rock Formations that are vey large rocks also used by the Inigenous people of the past. I am not quite sure how these huge rocks appear here. If we were in Canada I would say glacier waters moved them here but I do not believe that our iceage came this far south.

Bushinbans Ruins contained another cache and it was here that gold was smelted. There are many buildings still standing. They were built from stone in the 1700's and were used until the early 1900's when the mines were abandoned. The mines themself were about 20 km away from the smelter.

Alto Vista Chapel was our next cache and tourist spot. The view was outstanding and the little chapel charming. Ken went to retrieve this cache on his own as I was covered in burs. TB successfuly retrieved and we left a Canadian Geocoin to continue on traveling the world.

The town of Noord would be our next stop. What we all realized at this stage was that there were no shacks and windows no longer contained bars. The houses were individual not all together as has been the case since Mexico. The island is very clean with no plastic garbage littering the environment. The houses are all very colourful.

Next we ventured to the California Lighthouse. This lighthouse was named after a boat that crashed into the reefs in the night. The passenges started to through their belongings overboard and entered into the water when the locals came to the rescue. As it turns out the Ship the Californian was the ship that did not come to help the Titanic on that fateful night.

Oranjestad is the capital of Aruba. The population is about 25,000. The cruise ship business is alive and well here. We watched a minimum of 4 ships a day arrive.

The buildings in the city are very colourful and clean. They have a European look. Tourism is their number one industry so the usual Casinos are found in most of the High end hotels.

Fishing tours are plenty full and we watched as the Wahoo were being brought in, in record numbers. This only excites Ken in the hope to catch another Wahoo.

We are currently sitting in Caracao and will write about it next week. As it has taken me 2 hrs fighting with the internet, I will down load the pictures when I have better service.

I am adding the pictures to the new blog it may work better.

2010-11-16T12:53:00.004-08:00

Pictures are

Caba del Vela

Monjes del Sur from the Lighthouse

The lighthouse on Monjes del Sur
Venezuelan Fish Boat

Cinto Bahia

Monjes del Sur

Cinto Bahia

After waiting for boat repairs to be finished and the weather to turn favourable the day finally arrived. Nov 09th we awoke at 0400 and started underway. Cartagena has 2 entrances Boca Chica y Boca Grande. Boca Grande gets you out into the ocean much quicker but it has a very narrow entrance with shoals around it. As we approached we became aware that the entrance was breaking with very large waves so the extra 3 hrs would be necessary. When we were finally into the Caribbean the waves were much larger than the forcast has said they would be. We motored on in wet, wet conditions. Suddenly the Colombian Coast Guard appeared to our starboard side. They and the Port Authorities had been trying to radio us but we did not hear. Ken radioed into the Port Authority to be told that we were not authorized to leave as there was a large storm in the area. Turn around we must. CRAP. So back we went feeling that we were never going to get out of Cartagena.

The following morning we radioed the Port Authority at 0400 hrs and they said we could leave.

As it turned out that extra day made a huge difference in the sea conditions and also alowed us to check more info on the internet. Our plans are now slightly altered as we will go straight to Grenada and not attempt Trinidad this time around. There has been 4 more attacks by Venezuelans with guns being used. We do not feel that it is safe to travel this area and to get to Trinidad we would be right in the thick of things.

Anyways, our first day took us to an anchorage that was protected by a sand spit. It rained hard all night but quit by the time we had to leave in the morning. We were entertained with a Colombian Navy ship that had its cadets jumping off the bow and swimming around the boat. They appeared to be having al ot of fun with the task at hand.

Cinto Bay was our next anchorage. It's a beautiful anchorage with crystal clear water. The swimming was fabulous and it was a great anchorage to stage for our long overnighter to Caba del Vela.

We departed the next day at 1300 hr. The day was beautiful. Sunny very little wind and very small seas. But... at about 1800 hrs things began to change. There were some pretty serious low systems further north putting us in the ITCZ again. As you all know by now that means lightning. It also means squalls. Squalls contain, lightning, wind and torential downpours. It was now dark so we had our radar on which also allowed us to track the squalls. Squalls have a mind of their own and usually you can track the direction they are headed but sometimes they like to surprise you and chase you a bit. When all is said and done Ernie and Ken did a great job dodging as many as possible. We couldn't miss a total of five of them but we missed at least 12. Not bad odds. The lightning show continued for the next 3 days. We had plan on doing 1 1/2 hr shifts each but we had 2 on at all times and the shifts varied. Needless to say by the time we reached our destination we were tired.

The next leg would take us 80 nautical miles out of Colombia and into Venezuela to Monjes del Sur. We couldn't have asked for better conditions and we arrived and had 4 Venezuelan fishermen tie us up to the dock. It was a very interesting place. The Venezuelan Coast Guard take safety very seriously. We had to show them everything and they went through everything! We passed.

We took a hike around the island and were rewarded with great views. A geocache here would be awesome.

The fishing began to improve and we have been catching blackfin tuna and a small dorado. Filling the freezer with fish is now the challenge.

We are now in Aruba after a 52 nautical cruise in nice calm seas and lightning.

This portion of our travel is considered the 5th worst area for sea conditions. We transversed it at the right time of the year and watched our weather windows and found it to be pleasant with the exception of lightning. We stayed within 4 miles of shore and had plenty of depth. If a sailboat were to do this trip they too could stay this close as they would have enough depth with wind to push them along but gentle waves. It took us a total of 1 week to get here.

We will spend a week or slightly more in the ABC islands and will write about that next week.

2010-11-06T15:08:00.002-07:00

Cholon is a very interesting busy bay. The entrance into the bay is a bit of a finger nail biting situation.
You must hug these palapa bars in order to get by the shoal.

Once inside you see beautiful seaside homes along the beaches. The water is not crystal clear but it is very clean. You get wind but you do not get the waves as no fetch can occur.
It is a very secluded bay surrounded by mangroves. The water taxi takes the locals from the very poverish village Baru and the surrounding area through the mangroves into the town of Cartagena. To me this is quite cool. Their own water system that keeps them out of the oceans big waves. I am not sure how deep the water is throught the mangroves but we surely would get lost in the maze.

We spent the whole week in this bay waiting out the storm. The hurricane left its winds in the area and put us in the ITCZ. Those that follow the blog may remember that the ITCZ is the area of weather that has major lighning and thunder storms. I am starting to adjust to the storms and can now sleep through them without thinking I am going to get fried.

I am using new technology (to us) to write this blog and it may prove to be a very handy devise. A computer internet stick. It is tied into the cell phone. Now we were given 2 free weeks of use with the purchase. That will work great for downlowing internet weather sites that I cannot get on the SSB radio. When you get to a different country you put in a new sim card. We have already opened the cell phone to allow us to do this as we travel the Caribbean. All I can say is Canada is so far behind on internet. Our costs here are minimal compared to home.

Now on to a different topic. The plans are to now leave on Monday as the weather window looks quite favourable. Which is great as I have had enough of winds for awhile.
We have been in contact with a gentleman by the name of Herb that does SSB weather for cruisers and will be our own personal weather router keeping us safe. He works his magic from his home in Missisauga. How ironic a Canadian doing the Caribbean weather but he is good. He informed us we could leave Sun but unfortunately we would have to motorsail as there would be very little wind. We informed him we like it that way as we are a trawler. He just laughed and said that we were in luck then.

It should take 4 days to get through the rest of Colombia, enter Venezuela and get to Aruba. We will spend a little time in the ABC islands exploring then will continue on to the outer Reef Islands of Venezuela.
The song we want to get out of this place is playing loud in all our heads at the moment. We find it ironic that we first met Ernie our crew member in Charleston, Oregon where we both were stranded for 2 weeks waiting for favourable weather to depart. Now here we are again waiting for the favourable weather.
We always try to stay safe and do not take chances so here we sit. Oh well the swimming pool was 89F over in Cholon, there could be worst places to wait out the storms.

2010-10-28T09:06:00.005-07:00

A map to where we will be traveling

Well the transmission has been fixed and the cause of the damage re-evaluated.The alignment was totally out and probably has been for awhile. After a major retrofit of new engine mounts and much much more, many days of tweeking it should be done today. The steering has being looked after. It quite amazes me how when a boat sits gremlins begin to occur. I am starting to think this is the boats way of getting back at us for abandoning her for 5 months.

We will run over to Chalone a very secluded anchorage for a sea trial on the transmission and a much needed swim in clear crystal clean water.

I have been watching the various weather reports and I have determined that we will be around for probably another week as a tropical depression/hurricane has hit the area that we will want to transit. In fact it looks like poor Haiti may get hit with a hurricane in about a week. Lets hope not they really don't deserve much more to happen to them.

A hurricane warning has been issued for Barbados,Martinique, St Lucia, The Grenadines.

A Tropical Storm Warning for Trinidad/Tobago, Grenada and Dominica.

Had we made it to the ABC islands we would be preparing for heavy winds and rain. They will not get the hurricane but the winds will be felt here. If you are interested in weather you can check out the hurricane situation (as we must) at www.nhc.noaa.gov or passageweather.com

Hopefully the islands we want to visit will not have too much damage.

If this weather system proves to take the route it appears to be undergoing we may spend the five days in Chalone.

We are more than ready to begin the next phase of this trip which will take us aprox. 450 nautical miles from Cartagena to Aruba. We will spend one or two nights depending on weather in Venezuelan waters at a place called Monjes del Sur. It basically is two rocks that have been joined by a dyke and has just an outpost Venezuelan Naval Station. I would think it would be like a stint in Alert Canada for them. Not much there. At least no polar bears.

From there it is only a day trip to Aruba.

These change of events are putting us back and will not allow us to spend the time we wanted to in some of the places along the way. We must be in Grenada by the end of November as the winds change and the transit would not be fun. Only time will tell.

2010-10-24T13:45:00.007-07:00

Picture 1: The Mud Pool

Picture2: Ernie after his massage

Picture 3: Ken after his massage

Picture 4: Faye face down having a message.

Someone Out There Had Different Plans

Sailors are superstitous and believe that you should not depart a harbour on a Friday. Bad things will happen. We finished our boat chores and were ready to depart on Friday. At 0700 we headed out with the best possible weather prediction for the week. Flat calm seas and nothing over 10 knots. About 1 1/2 hours out the gremlins started to begin. They started off rather insignificant and grew. The first was an easy fix time wrong on computer, then came the right engine transmission's temperature rising. We made the judgement call to turn around and check things out. We were almost at the marina when the steering seemed just a tad too loose. You could swing the steering wheel right around and the boat didn't move. To make matters worse when we were just about at the marina, Ken went to put the engines in neutral and the right engine remained stuck in forward. Not a good sign. Luckily we have 2 engines and were able to get Genesis to the dock with the help of marina staff pulling hard on the ropes.

The transmission has been removed and has taken a trip to the transmission hospital. Prognosis will be given tomorrow. The steering was given a transfusion and the air removed. Seems stiff enough now. Special new brackets are being prepared for the new alternators that we purchased in Canada and they will be installed tomorrow. Now one could be dissapointed but you know the cliche when given lemons make lemon juice. We are taking the time to make lemon juice.

With the last 10 days fevorishly getting ready to leave no sight seeing was occuring and isn't that the reason we are here in the first place.

Today was an experience that we may never have the opportunity to do again. We visited Volcan de Lodo El Totumo.

Upon arrival, you change into your seim suit and ascend up the steps to the top of the volcano, climb down a little wooden ladder and then immerse yourself in a pool of mud the sonsistency of chocolate pudding. Before getting muddy, you give hyour camera to one of the locals who manages many other peoples cameras at the same time. Wonderful memory.

The depth of the hole is about 60', yet you are so buoyant that you float on top with ease. In fact it is difficult to get youself vertical.

Now the best part is that some YOUNG, GOOD LOOKING Local (if you are a chica) does a total body massage with gooey mud all over you. It feels great for the guys as well! We figure the temperature of the mud is around 80-85F. After about an hour you head down to the loal lake and get an OLDER LOOKING CHICA wash you down. You are told to take off your bathing suits so they can clean them. Very interesting concept.

What are Mud Volcanoes

At several points near the Caribbean coast between the Gulf of Uraba and Santa Marta in Colombia there are strange mud bolcanoes where warm flows of black, grey or brown mud rise to the surface forming small lakes or pools. Sometines a ridge builds up around the feature to form a cone that can be 20 metres or more above the surrounging area. One of the best examples is the Volcano that we visited.

The cause of these mud volcanoes is controversial. Most of them are associated with underground petroleum oil and gas deposits, shere bolatile gases combine with wter shales and mudstones and ooze to the surface. Many are found under the sea and have been an important hellp in the search for marine oilfields, such as in the Gulf of Mexico. Some recent explorations have been in the Caribbean near the coast of Panama and the NW of Colombia. Maybe there might be something similar in Fort McMurray and Canada would have a new tourist attraction.

Ken and Ernie both figure we should return for the mud treatment when the transmission gets put back on. All and all lemonaide was made from lemons in the form of mud.

2010-10-18T06:14:00.002-07:00

The Genesis has been undertaking a major reno. The teak boards all the way around the decks have been torn up and new fiberglass with anti-skid have replaced the old thinning boards.

Doing the work this time of year has its challenges. We are in the rainy season which means that there are torrential rains. Finished it now is! We have brand new decks a new propane tank container and a new freezer container.

We have been spending 10 hr days to try and get the boat ready for departure. The fibreglass dust was everywhere, so everything needs to be washed. Unfortunately there was a major leak (not sure if from reno or previously) that took its toll on several books. We no longer have cruising guides for Central America and Panama and will need to repurchase before the return trip.

Ken now has the outside of the boat painted and had the workmen here at the marina and fellow cruisers awed that the boat could be painted in one day. They all approve of the quality. Having 34 years of painting experience helps some!

The teak handrails will have to be a work in progress as we travel as will be additional painting of the upper white portion of the boat. We would never get out of here if we had to have everything done before departure. In fact no boat would get away from the dock.

The outer equipment took some beating with the rains and high temperatures. We didn't get the mold on the inside but not true on the outside. I have cleaned as much as possible but the mold leaves a stain. We will probably have to replace the seats once in Florida. While living aboard you continually are wiping them down but leave them and those spores take over. I really could have used the clean team this week.

We are still on the hard and hope to go into the water tomorrow. There doesn't seem to be space at the dock however so I am no so sure that we will be having the splash. We need to be in the water to test the engines, generator and we will test the water maker in clean water. Things should be alright but it is a boat and those that own boats know how that is! Other critical things needed to be tested out are the radio systems, radar and chart systems. Without these functioning properly we cannot depart. Receiving weather is critical in this area. The rains come down so hard it is like traveling in fog and there is a lot of freight boat traffic.

Provisioning still needs to be done, so today I have to make a loose menu plan to figure out what I need to buy. We have an empty freezer ready for the fishermen but that won't feed us at the moment. We will have to make several different stops to get the various things needed. Just stocking up and repackaging so as to have no garbage can take a full day if not 1 1/2.

Once Ernie is here we must get him added to our crewlist and get our Internation Zarpe to continue on to the next country.

Well, I better get going on the boat. We have hoped to be departing by Friday if things go well. I am telling myself I will not be dissapointed if the date is a few days delayed.

For all you armchair sailors consider yourself lucky that you do not have to participate in this part of a boaters life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-09T11:35:00.003-07:00

Tying Up Loose Ends

Lea and I wanted to get our geocache finds up to 50 before I depart for Colombia so it was off on a small road trip. We had planned on taking the grandchildren to this area in the summer but time got away on us.

These rocks known as Okotoks Big Rock is the worlds largest erratic rock. Erratic rocks are rocks transported far from its place of origin by glacier ice.

These rocks were dropped here as the glacier melted over 10,000 years ago. The rock weighs 16,500 tons and measures 9 metres high, 41 metres long, 18 metres wide.

The rock consists of hardened layers of sand, silt and pebbles. The heat and pressure generated by the weight caused it to become a durable rock called quartzite.

What is amazing about this rock is that it is in the middle of the prairies. A long ways away from any mountain.

I will be returning to Colombia with 5 Travel Bugs to place into caches throughout the Caribbean and Colombia. This will ensure that we get out there and hike getting our exercise in.

Well as I write this I have 2 sleeps left before I depart for Colombia and the next phase in our journeys.

This winter will see us traveling the Caribbean an I am sure that things will be very different than traveling Mexico, Central America and Colombia.

We will be reintroduced to English, French, Dutch and again some Spanish.

This week found me doing a little running around to meet up with friends, Alanna, and getting last minute things to take back with me.

Ken and I must thank Ed, Angela and Mark for the use of their vehicles during our stay.

We need to continually thank Paulette and Kenny for keeping our mail for us and the running around that Kenny did to make sure Ken got the proper Screws!

Finally a very big thank you goes out to Lea whom opened her home to us. We were very much a part of her family and will always appreciate everything. I will miss the grandkids they were fun. It is nice to do things you really want to do but can't because you are grownup! When you are with kids anything goes and no one questions what you are up to.

I am looking forward to getting home. Genesis is home. One month without Ken has felt very strange after having spent 24/7 for 2 1/2 years together.

The next blog will be us back on the boat, reprovisioning and getting ready to go. After some sight seeing of course. Stay tune.

2010-09-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Politics

Generally reading and learning about the politics of the country we are visiting ranks fairly high with Ken and I. Those that know us know we take our politics very seriously.

At the moment in Alberta the municipal elections are in full swing. Calgary for the first time in a very long time has something to talk about. The last Mayor and councilors ran the city into deficit and the tax payers have had enough. I really do believe that there will not be a single alderman re-elected. To replace the group are hungry eager new blood. I do believe all will turn around!

Now if you believe that I have some swamp land for sell in Florida. I would like to believe it was as easy as voting in new people but reality is that it is the people working in City Hall, the paid people at the top tat overspend and under deliver. The duplication of services for each different department costs $100,000's dollars. The kiss system should be implemented. The only down side I see to making it work is that there would be lose of some jobs. In the private sector a business must be financially solvent or it ceases to exist. Why do we allow our governments to spend beyond the tax payers means? Social programs are great but if we cannot afford the swimming pool without going into debt, then don't build it. A big controversy in Calgary right now is the Calgary Public School Board.

When the Provincial government gives the school board money and it is spent on a modern new building for administration please quit shining that the poor teachers have to many kids in a class etc, etc. if the taxpayers money had gone into the classes instead of a not needed building everyone would have been happier. Teachers, students, parents and non school attending kids taxpayers.

Why did I pick this topic?

Ken was lucky (a unique experience)to witness partying in the streets in Colombia. The reason? The number one king pin of FARC had been killed by the military. We are told as travelers to stay clear of any political rallies or demonstrations so Ken just did that but he couldn't help but witness the excitement.

FARC is a peasant army which has proclaimed itself as a revolutionary party. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, and the illegal drug trade. It is also known to exploit its own people with extortion. You could compare it to the Al Qaida.

Last week the number one leader Moo Jojoy was killed along with several other top people with a bomb by the air force. Colombia is taking a very serious approach to the stopping of drug trafficking. Zero tolerance.

The Colombian army this weekend stepped up efforts to capture or kill "Pastor Alape," a member of the FARC's secretariat and the presumed successor to Mono Jojoy.

This has all been reason for celebration and Ken says the partying has been going on the whole weekend.

Sometimes Current Events can be interesting. If we were not in Colombia we would not know this was even occurring. All this IS making Colombia a great place to go and visit becoming a much safer place than in the past.

2010-09-18T08:17:00.005-07:00

Winter scene driving down the Transcanada highway.

Spring scenes taken in Vancouver; Oriental Blossoms and bulb plants

Summer scene taken in Calgary. Fall scene taken on a highway in Ontario.

OK Ok OK I Missed a Week!

Ken has now returned to Cartagena, Colombia and has found the Genesis in ship shape. No mold, no bugs and best of all no animals that rhyme with cat. All the hard work cleaning and preparing her to be closed up paid off.

Ken went from 7 C to 43C. He is going through 4 pairs of shorts and at least 5 shirts a day. He can hardly keep up with the water intake.

The reason he flew back to the boat ahead of me was to make some changes to the boat. Genesis has teak on the outside walkways and dog house.

With the consistent sun teaming down on her and the salt spray the (sincoflex ) in between the teak boards heat up and can easily become dislodged. This allows rain or seas spray to get into or under the teak boards and could cause a lot of damage.
We made the decision to remove the outer teak and replace it with anti skid fiberglass. This will eliminated many foreseeable disasters. We did have one spot by the door where this had already began to happen to so we have caught the problem before it became a major work order.
Ken is working with 2 of the marinas men removing the teak. I dare say his Spanish will be much better than mine by the time I return as these fellow co workers speak very little English. A note to myself is to get practicing before I return, I would hate to be shown up by Ken! Pictures of the reno will be posted upon my return unless Ken can figure out how to send them to me by email. (Maybe Antonio when you talk to him you can explain to him how to achieve this.)
Unfortunately we were not able to see MANY people we wanted to while we were home. We were unable to make it back to Vancouver and missed out on several great opportunities to go boating with friends but Ken’s job took longer than expected and the cash will pay for the whole next year of boating. For you that means more BLOGS whether you like it or not.
Cartagena has 2 seasons; wet and dry. It is currently in the wet season which means very hot days with lots of lightning and rain. The dry season will begin shortly at the end of October beginning of Nov.
Calgary is supposed to have 4 seasons; winter, spring, summer and fall. I use the word SUPPOSED because this summer was very wet and cool. It seems that we have gone from summer straight into the beginning of winter. Overnight we had a low of -1C. It didn’t snow but it could have. Yesterday it snowed south of the city with a white out. There seems to be no Indian Summer here.
Canada has winter, spring, summer and fall. However the climate and intensity of these seasons varies across the country. The west coast of British Columbia, including Vancouver, has a moderate climate year round and thus the seasons are less distinct from one another. Overall, the west coast has summers that aren't as warm nor winters that are as bitterly cold as Eastern Canada.

The height of winter is freezing cold in most places except for the BC coast, where winters are moderate with little snow. In the Rockies, winter is long. However, snow stays around only in the higher altitudes. Calgary, does not get much snow. In addition, southern Alberta gets winter relief from warm Chinook winds. Calgary also has the occasional winter that will cripple the city with -40C that can last for days.
Eastern Canada, including Toronto and Montreal, has a short, fierce winter, below zero temperatures most of the time, and -20°C (-4°F) not uncommon. At least one or two snowfalls of eight inches or more will likely hit in January and February.
The Maritimes sees milder weather than Central Canada however not as mild as the Pacific Coast.
Spring is welcomed by all Canadians. Spring comes early on Canada's west coast, with February seeing the arrival of tulips and temperatures on average staying above O°C (32°F). Elsewhere in the country, spring shows up to stay in April and extends through to June. April usually sees the last of the winter's snow, except in higher altitudes like Banff or Whistler, both popular ski destinations where the season doesn't end until May. Calgary can also see freak, large snowfalls in May. Central and the Maritime’s weather is utterly beautiful beginning generally the end of March and early April. Flowers and the warming of the sun bring many people out of there houses and into the parks.
When I grew up in Ontario; fall, or autumn was my favorite time of the year. In central and eastern Canada, cooler temperatures in September provide relief from the heat and humidity of August and leaves on the trees begin their transformation to stunning shades of orange, red and yellow. Unfortunately in Alberta we do not have these great colours we have yellow with the odd red leaf. Vancouver's rain slows down to make September one of the city's least rainy months. We tended to do most our boating in September as the crowds were gone and the weather delightful. Temperatures continue to dip and bring the first snow flurries usually in November and more substantial snowfalls in December.

The amounts of sunlight we receive during the the year varies. There are four main solar events in the year: the Winter Solstice (around 21 December), the Spring Equinox (around 21 March), at which point we begin again to have more than 12 hours of daylight each day, the Summer Solstice (around 21 June), marking the day with most hours between sunrise and sunset, and the Autumn Equinox (around 21 September), when we once again start to get fewer than 12 hours of daylight each day. Here in Calgary in the early summer we can see almost 18 hrs of daylight. It still amazes me. In Ontario it never was so late. That is determined by the latitude in which the cities reside. The further north you go the longer the hours. However the winters are reversed with few hours of light. Calgary averages 7-9 hrs of daylight. This could be the cause of why so many Canadians go in search of sun and warmth.
In Cartagena and many of the places we have traveled we are closer to the equator and this allows for a less extreme variance of daylight throughout the year. They may have hotter and sunnier days but the hours are far less each day. The equator is unique as it has 12 hrs. day and 12 hrs. night all year. We are slightly above the equator but the effects are not much different. Currently the sun rises around 0530 and sets at 1745. This means our boating travels must start early as we have not much of an evening to travel without dark.
I decided to write about the seasons because in the countries we have visited the people are very interested in the differences between Canada and theirs. Weather is a universal language. However the concept of -40 C is hard to explain. Lets just say they should count themselves lucky.
Now you may ask. Do you miss the 4 seasons? The answer; I have memories that keep me warm even if they are of cold, cold days. No shoveling and no freezing. I just have to remember this when I’m complaining about melting!

2010-09-07T07:56:00.003-07:00

A picture of Medicine Hat's City hall and the wall in the park across from City hall depicting the City's history. (also where we found a geocache)

Ken and I took the 3 hr journey east of Calgary to visit his 2 Aunts. Auntie Edna will be turning 92 in a months time and Auntie Irene will be turning 91. The gals don't look over 60 and are feeling wonderful. Auntie Edna in fact looks better than the last time we saw her. She definately will be a candidate for a 100th birthday party.

Medicine Hat is a smaller city in the Province of Alberta. Its claim to fame is the natural gas deposits underneath its land, and rattle snakes.

Even a 100 years after the forming of Medicine Hat its population affords a very inexpensive heating bill compared to others in Canada. Once being a business owner in Medicine Hat I can definately say it was cheaper running a business here than in Calgary.

Medicine Hat is situated on the South Saskatchewan River and #1TransCanada Highway.

The coulees are filled with rattle snakes and a hike needs a stick.

The Canadian Pacific Railway plays an important role here employing many persons. It helped bring prisoners of war from Germany during the 2nd World War who made their homes in the area after the war.

The British army still practices in nearby Suffield.

Ken and I went geocaching to 3 different sites, 2 of which we had never been to before. It was a quick one day trip. It was sure nice seeing the aunts in such great shape.

Medicine Hat has a very hot, dry summer. This year has seen alot of rain.

2010-08-31T09:10:00.003-07:00

Well we got a few more people hooked on geocaching. Ken, Richard and I ventured out to Mable Lake to meet up with Wayne, Wendy, Bev and Larry. Off we went to locate 5 different caches in different areas. We found them all, some more easily than others.

Mable Lake is a lake that opens into the Shuswap River that feeds the Shuswap Lake. The lake is approx. 35 km long. A cold lake but that does not deter the swimmers, and water skiers. The Salmon find their way up into this fresh lake and right now they have returned in record numbers. Nice to hear that the salmon are indeed returning.

Our weekend was filled with great food, golfing, quading, geocahing, hot tubing, Mexican train. and of course great entertainment.

Friday night we went to local eclectic restaurant where we were entertained by a 7 piece band. The dinner and music was terrific.

The next morning we ventured over to the hanger in golf carts for Bev's famous waffles. Of course add bacon, eggs, potatoes, fruit and you now have a breakfast that will last until dinner.

The women went for a round of golf, while the guys went miles into the bush overlooking the lake on the quads.

I have golfed once in my life, over 15 years ago so I think that the fact that I could even hit the ball should allow my score to be classed as under par. Lets just say it could have been much worse. The others well they know how to golf. They actually had a game. I give them credit for having patience with me.

The men had a blast and came back not to dusty as it had been raining and the dust was minimal.

We then retreated to the hot tub to ease a few sore muscles.

That evening we had a wonderful Alberta Beef steak dinner accompanied by the famous Wayne's band. It is always a treat to be entertained with the guitars. Unfortunately there is a fire ban on in BC so no campfire was allowed.

Sunday was spent geocaching and this brought us to wonderful, interesting view point. We searched in 50 year old cedar stumps, piles of rocks along the river, and the weirdness place to date a cattle guard. We stopped along the way at a camp ground and had a picnic. Who says being retired isn't fun! It was great exercise and it did take us to areas that you didn't know even existed. I found the old logging area the most interesting as the new growth is ready to be cut.

Mexican Train dominoes was on the evening agenda and I really do not remember who won so I know it wasn't me.

Fresh fruit is abundant in BC right now so the trunk was loaded down with cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums and BC corn.

Time with Wayne and Wendy, Bev and Larry is always a great time. We would like to thank Wayne and Wendy for being such gracious hosts, look forward to you visiting us in the Caribbean and enjoy the geocahing.

2010-08-24T12:29:00.004-07:00

I am trying to get to know google earth better as it will allow us to use the up dated info to overlay onto the very out dated charts to ensure us where we should actually be traveling. The chart beside us shows the area we travelled in Phase one of our trip. It was a total of 10,000 nautical miles aprox. This page will be updated as I figure out the various things I need to learn such as using U-Tube to get video on this site. Just click on the image to get a larger view.

Also, the calendar button on the side panel of this blog will be up dated as to show when people are coming and going and where we will be. I have not been using it so people do not check with it. I believe as we might be having more guests aboard this winter we will try and keep to a loose itinerary of where we will be. Currently I have filled in Ken's arrival date back to Cartagena (Sept), arrival dates of kids in Dec.

Hopefully this feature will be used.

The photo albums are still a work in progress since some of the pictures were on the hard drive in the laptop that saw coffee drown it. I hope to have everything caught up before we venture further.

It has been requested by quite a few readers to add more pictures to each actual blog. We will try to accommodate this where possible. I have to get into the habit of downloading my camera more often.

2010-08-16T07:56:00.004-07:00

These pictures have all come from the internet as I forgot my camera and missed fantastic opportunities for pictures.

As we have traveled Pacific Canada and North America we have been intrigued with the lives and history of the indigenous peoples. There are many differences in the culture but there are even more similarities.

We have lived in Calgary for 30 years but had never visited Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump before. It is located in Southern Alberta where the prairies meet the foothills.

This was the land of the Blackfoot Indians. They were prairie Indians that were nomadic. During the summer they traveled to the foothills where they hunted buffalo, cougar, bear, basically large game. This was also the area that contained many of the plants used for their medicines and berries that could be dried for the winter. During the winter they made their home in the valley by the rivers where there was some wood and small game.

Buffalo Smashed In is the oldest know archaeological site known that shows how these people lived. There are many sites throughout Alberta but this one best depicts the 1000's of years of history.

The archaeological facts show that the buffalo killings started 6000 years ago and ended in the mid 19th century. So what was the hunt like?

There were special tribesmen with great stamina (young) that would track the herds of buffalo. The wore skins of other animals to disguise themselves becoming human decoys and herded them to an area where they had set up corals , the buffalo would follow the path to try and escape only to plummet over a cliff to their death. Bows and arrows were used for the killings. The carcasses were skinned at the site. Pretty much the whole buffalo was used. The remains would then be burnt so as to not attract unwanted animals. The buffalo meat would then be smoked for the coming winter. The Indigenous people only took what was needed thereby the herds remained plentiful. Then came the introduction of guns.Once the guns were introduced the method of killing changed. This still did not deplete the herds.

Buffalo Bills wild wild west! The rail lines were built right through this area and the introduction to CP Rail hunting BIG GAME tours began. People were aloud to shoot from the train leaving the carcasses to rot. Within 10 years the animals were hunted to near extinction.

The Indigenous starved and small pox annihilated the villages.

The bone deposits are 12 metres deep and show both animal bones and artifacts of weapons and utensils used by the people of the past.

While we were at the interpretation venue we were lucky to take in aboriginal dancing. There were several of the dances demonstrated. The colour and the pageantry was well worth watching.

This was an afternoon well spent and I would highly recommend it. If you're in the neighbourhood, travel the back southern roads and participate in this World Heritage Site.

Ken is still in Fort McMurray and RJ's reno is coming right along.

Lea and I have been doing the teacher thing with the grandkids and setting up our own complicated geocache. The geocache is based on the Twilight Saga Series by Stephanie Meyer that is so popular with the teens these days. It has been fun but lots of work.

I am not sure what attraction we will be attending this week yet but stay tune there is lots to see in this great country.

2010-08-09T13:14:00.005-07:00

Fort McMurray Sand Dunes

The Northern Lights

Fort McMurray

RJ has been visiting and helping his Dad for the past 12 days. The two of them are now on their way to Fort McMurray to build an extra room in RJ's basement.

Ft. Mac has had a bad wrap for the last few years and depending on which side of the fence you sit you might not agree with my view. As an Albertan I am all for Ft. Mac and the exploration.

Fort McMurray didn't become a City until 1980, making it one of Alberta's newest cities. The city has played an significant role in the petroleum industry.

It is the oil sands with its abundance of oil that has created the stir. There is a 2.5 million a day supply of oil in the sands. This allows Canada to be second in the world for oil production. Unfortunately with this comes the bad press (some deserving) on environmental damage. What isn't getting out there are the great strides in scientific exploration. Much research and money is continually being pumped into better ways to produce oil with the least amount of damage to the environment. Why am I for the oil? It affords Canadians the privilege to a good life. A lot of cash is filtered through ALL of Canada due to this resource. Alberta in particular benefits with being a province with no debt. Oil and gas employs 100's of 1000's of people and even more in spin offs.

Oil and gas are just a little of what Fort McMurray has to offer however. There are the Athabasca Sand Dunes, Boreal Forest with its many trails for hiking and ATVing, and of course all the normal touristy things that one finds in a City.

2010-08-01T18:51:00.005-07:00

Driving into Drumheller and the Badlands Suspension Bridge

Canola Field

The Badlands

This week our outing took us past canola and wheat fields. The big open air of the prairie until you hit an area that takes you back millions of years.

The Canadian Badlands are breathtaking. Glaciers deposited mounds of rocky debris seperated

by depressions.

This land consists of coulees and sand dunes. Over thousand of years the wind, rain, frost have eroded the fine fine sandstone into steep slopes with very unusual shapes.

The most important finds have been the dinosaurs. Over 35 species have been found around the Badlands of Alberta.

Alberta's Badlands continue to erode at a rate of 4 milimeters per year and continually expose new dinosaur fossils.

Drumheller has a world class museum showing the varieties of the dinosaurs. We had Lea's grandchildren with us and enrolled ourselves in a fossil class. The kids where thrilled to make a fossil impression of various bones.

You will find many animals and plants in this area that can only be found here and nowhere else in the world.

We continued our journey to just outside of Drumheller to the town of Rosedale. A coal mine was opened in 1912 on the other side of the river. In 1919 a cable car system was built to transport the men and coal. Then in the 1930's the suspension bridge was built by the CPR with a rail line to the mine to help improve the transportation of the coal. The mine closed in 1957.

We did a little geocaching and enjoyed the hot day. Unfortunately we were not successful with finding this cache but there are millions our there to find.

2010-07-12T16:04:00.005-07:00

Lake Louise

Banff Spring Hotel

City of Calgary

The Chinook Cloud Formation

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Ken and I met 31 years ago here in Calgary. It is where we call home even though Ken was born in Kelowna, BC and I was born in Kingston, Ontario.

Calgary has been a great place to raise our children.

Ken himself has lived in Calgary since 1977.

Calgary is the largest City in the Province of Alberta situated in the south in the Foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the prairies.

When we first moved here the population was a mere 450,000 now it is approximately 1,500,000. Needless to say we have seen many changes.

Calgary's primary industry is the petroleum industry. Many national oil companies have their head offices here and there are many secondary oil related companies as well. Oil was first discovered in the area in 1902 creating the first boom. The 1970's created the second boom with the Arab Embargo. In fact Calgary is so tied to the oil industry that it booms when the oil prices rise. The economy slows down when the oil takes a down turn.

We have a saying in Calgary about the weather "If you don't like it wait 5 minutes". Due to the close vicinity to the mountains we have our own weather patterns that make any weather forecaster cringe. Summers average around 20-22C and cool at night,making airconditioners not necessary. Our winters can be mild OR a major endurance test. One day may find temperatures in the morning of -40C (NOT A TYPO,minus) only to have the temperature rise later in the day to +10C. Its called a Chinook and all Calgarians welcome the sight of Chinook clouds. Unfortunately we can also have the minus temps for weeks at a time without a Chinook. These cold spells could be the reason we are enjoying our trip! Calgary is one of the most sunniest cities with 2400 hrs of sunshine a year. Its hard sometimes to except that its really cold out when the sun is shining so brightly.

1988 was a year to remember in Calgary. The Calgary Winter Olympics. We were the first Canadian City to host the games. We were also the first Olympics to post a profit on the games with the expertise of Frank King. This particular winter was a mild winter and snow had to be trucked into many of the venues.

Calgary is a destination for its world class ski hills. A visit to Banff and Lake Louise leaves an impression with all that see them.

Calgary is known for its "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" The Calgary Stampede. The Stampede traces it roots to 1886. It sees over a million people a year pass through its gates to observe the rodeo, chuckwagons and exhibition. Many of us Calgarians leave town when the show comes to town, but for the kids, tourists and habitual stampede goers it is a 10 day party.

Calgary is a great place to live and visit and I would highly recommend a visit. As we tour our own city this summer I will publish more pictures of many attractions.

Sorry this is a week late getting posted as we went out of town with no internet.

2010-07-11T08:57:00.005-07:00

Arial view of Nelson BC

Kootneys British Columbia

Kaslo City Hall built in 1892 and still used. Made of wood from surrounding trees.

Hailies Cache Find

Leandra's Cache Find

Mountain Meadow

Babbling Brook

Kootney Lake

Creston Mountain

This week we left Calgary and went on a road trip to Kaslo. Kaslo has been called the quaint Canadian village similar to those found in Switzerland. Elegant Victorian homes, tree lined streets, mountain views and of course the beautiful glacier fed lake. This quaint little hamlet is nestled in between the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains. Its history is steep with mining lore. Silver ore created the boom that created the town. Later the thick forest sustained the town with the creation of the mill. Surrounded by wilderness and parks this area is finding a new found industry in the eco-tourism. Bears and Cougars abound. So BEWARE! We took to our new pastime and participated in 2 geocaches. A hike with a treasure at the end. The kids were thrilled. (Lea and I had fun also)

We ventured into Nelson to do a little bit of shopping. Nelson is known as the Queen City. It is situated on the extreme right arm of Lake Kootney. Silver and Gold were found in the area creating a boom in 1867. The town built its own hydroelectric generating system in 1895.

During the Vietnam war the draft dodgers made their way to Nelson and changed the dynamics tremendously with a more Liberal outlook and created major changes, culturally and politically. Today a resurgence of servicemen deserting the army to avoid Iraq have made their way to Nelson. Dredlocs are ramptant. Nelson is also well known for its alternative life-style. Hemp and its products are sold in many stores. The RCMP gave up in the 60's. Hence the term BC Bud or Kootney Gold. I am told very good quality.This was all part of the Liberal ways; with this came many wonderfully talented individuals with their artistic creations. One can find many beautiful pieces of art.

There is just so much to do in this area with so little time. A whole summer could be spent exploring and you would barely scratch the surface of things to learn about our past. We as Canadians need to read more about the past that have created our Cities and ghost towns and let our imaginations take us back to that era.

2010-07-03T08:02:00.008-07:00

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

Lunnenburg, Nova Scotia

British Columbia

Canada

Canada

We have been traveling through many Spanish speaking countries as you have read. There are extreme differences from Canada but many similarities.

On Thursday Canada celebrated its 143 birthday.

We have many people that read the blog that are from many different places and would like to learn about the place that Ken and I come from, the land we jokingly consider cold.

Canada is far from cold all year round. We have 4 seasons instead of 2. Our summer affords us many long hours of sunshine. Here in Calgary at this time we receive 18 1/2 hrs of sunshine.

The average summer temperature here in Calgary ranges around 22 - 25C, but because we are so close to the Rocky Mountains our nights cool off allowing for a pleasant nights sleep.

Canada is split into four very different regions that are quite different within themselves. We have Western Canada(where we are from) consisting of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan; Central Canada consisting of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec; Eastern Canada (Mari times) consisting of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland then we have our Northern Canada consisting of Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

Canada is the second largest country in the world. The land mass is approximately 9,985,000km2.

While we have been traveling throughout Central America and South America we have noticed that the people in these countries have been misled about our languages. The majority falsely believe that Canada is mostly French. The underlying reason for this is the majority of tourist that have visit have been from Quebec. We are trying to reverse this incorrect piece of information with the truth. The truth is according to the 2006 census, English as a first language is spoken in 67% of homes, French 21% and the balance being many different languages around the world. It was quite alarming to have people surprised that we don't speak French coming from Canada. Enough said.

Our politics function within the constitutional monarchy, federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Like all countries it is not perfect but generally speaking it works.

We are a country with large natural resources. Canada's oil reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia. We have minerals and metals. We are now a diamond producing nation and are the largest producer of uranium. Canada is also one of the largest gold producing countries and is the largest manufacturer of the world for gold coins and the Maple leaf bullion sets sold world wide.

The Canadian Mint produces many coins used in various countries.

Canada has a large lumber export in both softwoods and hardwoods. The Americans have been our main buyer but we are looking elsewhere for sales as there has been a long dispute with the American government over sales and a tariff has been placed on our lumber. So much for free trade.

The car industry also contributes to our export trades both in vehicles and vehicle parts. Lets hope the car companies can keep the momentum up and running. We cannot afford bailouts.

Now what really is Canada?

Its people.

We are a nation known as tranquil, compassionate and helping. We are respected on the World's stage.

It's Land?

We are surrounded by 3 oceans. The Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. We have 8 very large mountain ranges, share 4 of the 5 Great Lakes and have more lakes and rivers than we could possibly count.

The Maritimes

The Maritime provinces are our Atlantic provinces. They consists of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland.

I have only been to the Maritimes twice in my life, both in the summer. It is a wonderful part of our country. The people that live in this region find their ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, England and French(be it Canadian or France). The French here are known as Acadian. The industries here are fishing, agriculture, coal mining. The people are the friendliest in Canada and the saying you are always welcome could not be more truer than here. I have inserted some pictures that I got off the Internet.
Ken and I possibly plan on going through the maritimes on Genesis. That would occur possible August/2011. Stay tune for that.

I will be departing tomorrow for a road trip to the Kootney's in British Columbia for a week. I will have pictures to share of beautiful British Columbia.

2010-06-20T13:07:00.004-07:00

Happy Father's Day for those of you out there reading this blog that are fathers.

Well we fell upon a new hobby that will go nicely with the boating in various different countries. It is fun, interesting, uses your navigational skills (actually GPS skills), educational and best of all free.

GeoCaching!

What is Geocahing? It is a term used for both hidden treasures and the use of your computer. The game began in the year 2000 and has expanded around the world. The goal of geocaching is to locate hidden containers, called caches, using latitude and longitude coordinates found on websites, such as GeoCaching.com . The containers are watertight and are hidden in the wilderness, parks or even urban locations. Some are easy to find while others have clues that lead to coordinates, that lead to the treasure. The idea is that once found you take one thing from the treasure and put one thing in with equal value.

The game gets more interesting with the use of travelling bugs. This is where my interests were peeked. You can put a bug (Metal Chain Tag with ID number) in a cache with instructions to how

A travel bug

you want the bug to travel. For example, want it to travel to as many Caribbean Islands as possible returning to Calgary. I see potential with the boating community. I went on line and found that there are many caches to find throughout the Caribbean while we travel. Why bother? It takes you on hikes to places of beauty that you may not have visited or seen otherwise.

Mystery or puzzle caches can involve complicated puzzles you first need to solve to determine the coordinates. It might also involve performing some task at the cache location and taking a photograph or writing the online log in a format or with content that satisfies the cache requirements. The challenges are quite unique.

It is a great way to get exercise and something you can do together or with friends. You could go by yourself if you wanted but sharing is more fun.

Most of all you see places you didn't know existed.

This summer the blog will consist of pictures and postings of various places in Alberta and British Columbia. Surely Geocaching will be involved.

2010-06-05T17:57:00.005-07:00

How did you plan for such an extensive trip and do you feel safe doing it in a power boat versus a sailboat? Is a power boat not more dangerous with the seas?

Firstly we have a trawler style boat. It is a displacement hull and very seaworthy.

True or False: Sailboats rely primarily on their sails. They are not worried about fuel needs and engine maintenance and are happy in a wide range of sea conditions. Bull S-----t! Wrong answer. Not true at all. It has been our experience that except for ocean crossings, sailboats motor or motor-sail most of the time. About 75-90 percent of the time. Also the range of sea conditions that sail boaters find pleasing is even more constrained than for trawlers. I'm not a sailboat basher, most of our friends are sail boaters. What I do want to convey is that trawlers and trawler crews, both properly prepared, can safely and comfortably cruise almost anywhere in this hemisphere.

Extended cruising isn't for everyone, hands on maintenance and lots of preparation is needed. A 2 month trip in the BC waters does require preparation but 2 - 5 yrs takes on a whole different meaning. Close to home you can usually get by even with poor preparation. However, a long involved voyage to the corners of the Caribbean or beyond is quite a different animal and the happiest and successful cruiser has done their homework before leaving the home dock.
Where do you start? First have an idea of your planned cruising area. Know where your interests lie. Do you want to travel inland? What is the condition of your boat? Have an idea how much you want to spend. We have spent more than originally planned but have no regrets. What is your experience level? Take as many courses as possible prior to departure. Some people learn as they go but I don't recommend it personally.
For most of the places you might like to visit, cruising guides are available. They are invaluable as an aid in answering many or your questions as well as providing information about weather, sea conditions, safe anchorages etc. We like to carry the inland guides to attractions and accommodations as well. We started collecting guides and started to build a knowledge base.
For this type of trip we believe a SSB radio with a weatherfax is a necessity. It allows you to keep in contact with other boaters keeping yourself safe. There are many boater nets that help keep track of the whereabouts of boaters underway. Internet has a great source of information. Now you can google earth the anchorages you want to visit and have an accurate map to use alongside your charts.
You must have a good GPS and backup, a good supply of spare parts, tools, food stocks, a good dingy and motor, a clear understanding of your boat systems and an extensive maintenance checklist. Keeping track of your maintenance will help you throughout the journey. Ken keeps an extensive log book that he refers back to constantly. We have pretty much double of everything to ensure that we are covered should something malfunction.
Extended cruising is no place for someone who depends upon others to maintain their boat. Boat problems rarely involve significant engine or transmission failures and I'm not suggesting that you need to be a engine mechanic, but a reasonably good understanding of the care of your boat systems will help keep your peace of mind. You should be able to think outside the box. Often you must engineer a part from the things you have on the boat.
A cruising boat is a tiny town. You will find that there are many systems, hydraulic, sanitation, water, fuel, communications, electrical, etc. Rarely can an individual be competent in all these areas, but it is key to have some understanding and to have adequate documentation aboard to help guide you through repairs. Nigels book helps a lot and should be found on all boats.
We planned for many years and have learnt a lot however we are continually reading, and listening to fellow boaters as they are a wealth of information.
I hope this answered the question without being too long winded.

2010-06-01T16:11:00.008-07:00

Above are the flags of the countries we have been to. See If you can name the flags. It has been a challenge just finding out which way they fly, with which colour top or bottom.

As you know we have returned to WINTER, its frigging cold here, we had a nice week in Seattle, Vancouver and Kelowna, then we ventured over to Calgary, we haven't had a day above 12C, the night temps hover around +2 and one or two days it has snowed.....welcome home eh!

Ken has started his Reno's at the Calgary Downtown business and I am helping my friend with her grandchildren. They are very active and move about very quickly. As the summer progresses we will be taking the little ones to explore Alberta, as Ken and I did with ours.

Ken is enjoying the NHL hockey play-offs, something that he won't admit too, but I think he really does miss. We have borrowed a friend's (Mark) truck for the summer, thank you to all who have offered vehicles for us to use. We appreciate it immensely.

As things progress over the summer, I will post pics from Western Canada, to share with my world viewers, and also giving me the opportunity to learn my new camera, its systems and how to attach them to my blog. Our 3 yr old camera corroded. So stay tuned for upcoming Blogs from the West of Canada.

Keep the questions coming, I will be responding to them in upcoming Blogs.

Oh yeah, Lea (our friend we are staying with) has a 12 month old Husky. Luka is a super sweet puppy, yes puppy. We have forgotten how to puppy proof your possessions; cords, socks, shoes, clothes, objects on the kitchen counter (yes she can look directly onto the counter) Paper work, yes teacher the puppy did eat my home work. Ken had to take the puppy chewed car registration back to Motor Vehicles, for a new form to be re-issued.

I still have to get at all the pictures and I will get it done.

2010-05-25T08:21:00.003-07:00

Number One Question

The Number One Question comes in different forms.

How do you live in such a small space?

How do you not kill each other?

How do you live together in such a tight space and still talk to each other?

Are you not sick or tired of each other yet?

How do you put up with Faye? How do you put up with Ken?

How do you make your own space?

There were others but I do not want to put them in print!

Unfortunately we have witnessed many couples not making it in this enviroment. They split up or endure what must be. Their goals started out the same but their reality became different from the dream.

Ken and I went into this with a couple of rules or things we follow, that so far has worked for us.

1) If for any reason one of us feels uneasy about leaving an anchorage or moorage we voice our opinion and we respect the reasoning. We never leave if we don't both agree on leaving.

There have been times that my gut feeling was not to go and there have been times when Ken's gut feeling has had us not leaving. To date we have never regretted our choice.

2) There are no silly questions. (Sometimes this gets ignored).

3) We divided our jobs into pink/blue jobs so that we each feel that we contribute equally in what we bring to the table. There are crossovers and things that we both participate doing. The idea that everyone can do everything to me is quite nieve. There are physical jobs I cannot do and I am not mechanically inclined. That does not mean that I should ignore the engine. My smeller plays an important engine room check. Ken has learnt not to ignore "I smell something or something doesn't sound right".

I plan the route but we have determined a rough agenda, where we would like to be and the determining factor is weather.

Do we get tired of each other. Not that we admit too, around others! We do travel together and do things together but there are times we hang out with other people.

The living accommodations are more spacious than one would expect and there are spaces to be by yourself. Ken can always go to the engine room and "no I won't look for him there". I am sure he would like more head room down there.

One problem that I do see in us and most married boaters is that we finish each others sentences or stories. Something to work on.

Me I read for awhile and just disappear. It works and we can still brag that we have never had a fight. Not bad after 30 years.
All and all we work together.

2010-05-17T20:13:00.006-07:00

Were Taking a Vacation

Preparing to go home is no small task. Stan and Lynn Hommer joined us to help navigate the very shoaled area into the marina yard that will keep Genesis safe.

Genesis was put onto the slings of the travel lift and gently lifted out of the water and moved to her temporary spot. The bottom had some growth but not much for a year in the very hot tropical waters. Seems the hot sauce added to the paint really works. We will definitely try it again. The damage to the bottom from the reef was non existent.

The temperature on the hard was 110F with no breeze. We ran the 3 fans inside getting the temperature down to around 90F feeling much cooler but not enough to stop the puddles from appearing beneath our feet.

We spent the week with our lists. Ken with his blue list me with the pink list. Every inch of the inside of the boat had to be washed down with a bleach solution, all linens washed and put away, the exterior had to be stripped and put away and inventoried, freezer and fridge emptied and cleaned. The food was given to our new Colombian friends. The engine oils needed to be changed (and a bunch of other engine stuff I didn't pay attention to but knew were important.) I do know however Ken's list was longer than mine. The final task was to plug all thru hulls so no insects would make their homes in our boat.

We got a quote for the work we will want done when we return and have decided to go ahead with the work . Very reasonable. Marina Manzanillo was extremely helpful to us and I would strongly recommend any boaters looking for a haul out to consider this yard.

The heat was getting to us so we decided to take a room for the week with a pool. A decision we did not regret.

We were fortunate enough to get flights from Cartagena to Seattle for $329.00 plus taxes. We couldn't believe it. We would have to overnight in Miami but even with a hotel room it is still very inexpensive. We took our first ever flight on LAN. It is the Chilean National Airline and the best I have ever been on. The seats were comfortable and spacious, the flight crew wonderful, they served FREE meals with real plates and cutlery, free drinks including alcoholic drinks if you wanted one, snacks when you wanted them, blankets, pillows, tv, music and all for free. It was like we were in first class.

We were picked up in Seattle by Pam and Stu on a beautiful summer day. This however was not our final destination. Together the four of us continued another six hours to Kelowna, where the following day we would attend a family gathering. We surprised everyone as no one knew we were coming.

What was going through both our minds were the changes. Vancouver has a lot of much needed road and bridge construction finished and being completed. (Government incentive money).It must have employed or kept some employed. The most important thing we saw however was the beauty. The mountains with glacier snow, the flowers and trees all in their spring splendor. I could smell the pine. Yep we were in Canada. No noise. No honking car horns.

We asked for you to send us questions and the first question is ...........

What do you miss about Canada the most after being gone for such an extended time?

The answer of course would be family and friends first, some types of food products, like pickles, some cheese's, blueberries, blackberries and brussel sprouts. We can find pickles but it has been quite difficult. Now there are 2 types of boaters; one who must have your typical brand names found in North America and the others who adapt. We are the adapters. People in these countries do eat. So as the saying goes "When in Rome eat what the Romans eat. I am sure that I will miss the fresh mangoes off the trees, the bunches of bananas turning in front of your eyes. As we drove through the Rockies I however realized that I missed the beauty of our country, the glacier topped mountains, rivers, beautiful trees, the valleys and all the spring flowers.

We are in BC for another week then will continue to Calgary where we will continue to see more family and friends. Our number 1 thing that we miss.

2010-05-09T11:30:00.003-07:00

We are we Now?

We are still in Cartagena Colombia.

Monday we found ourselves in a situation that was bound to happen some day.

At 0400hr we were awaken to some people talking loudly. The wind had shifted and increased. A single hull sailboat had become unanchored and drifted down and ended up on the bow of a catamaran. The single handler of the catamaran was trying to dislodge the sailboat from its bridal. Unfortunately the 2 sailboats were both drifting towards us. The first sailboat had dislodged the cats anchor and now they were both drifting; because the cat was single handling he could not put the engine on to steer until he could get free of the sailboat.
Quickly Ken and I threw down fenders on the side of our boat that it would hit. We had extra fenders in hand to put where needed. Of course it is raining very hard, lots of wind and lots of adrenaline.
The cat owner managed to get the sailboat off of his just in time. The sailboat however, engine stalled and began the magnetic pull, back to the cat. The sailboats dinghy and motor were tossed wildly between the bow of the cat and the sailboat. Things looked bad but they seem to be behind us now and we should be okay. The sailboat kept drifting back missing other boats when finally it was able to start its engine.
It was about at this time the wind started to shift again bringing the cat closer and closer until we touched. Luckily there was no damage and we were able to get more fenders down until the sun could come up. The problem was that the anchor of the cat was now probably too close to us. Andy (the owner of the cat) would get some friends onto his boat and gingerly lift his anchor. When all was said and done there was no damage to anyone.
Meanwhile in the anchorage the same scene was playing out for up to ten boats. When the sun came up with all the movement it appeared that we had many new neighbours from around the world.

Tuesday we sat for an hour on the upper bridge watching navy maneuvers. It involved 2 Frigates, 2 fast Navy boats, a Navy helicopter and a bad ass drug smuggling fast boat. Two persons complete with pretend drug packages acted out a water pick up. The 2 Navy boats hid in the weeds watching the score. Then just like in Miami Vice the chase began. The Navy called in the helicopter and the Navy trapped the drug boat between the two boats. The Marines then went on to the boat an arrested the bad guys. They practise this for at least an hour. At first I thought it was for real until it happened over and over again. Not to mention they let the drug boat go home.

Now for the Boat"They Said Couldn't But Did"!

I have yet to talk about Genesis. She is a CHB Universal Trawler. She is 49.9 feet overall. Before beginning our journey we joined a group of like minded adventurers. They however didn't believe Genesis was the type of vessel to take us on our adventure. Little did they know that she is a sea worthy girl. She tracks true without touching the wheel. She takes heavy seas in stride. Following seas are like riding a magic carpet. Beam well ........... no one likes that!

She runs on two diesels and uses just 2 gallons an hour, helping us keep some money in the bank.

She is a tri-cabin. She has a forward stateroom with head/shower, galley with pull out couch and an aft a living room area and another head with shower. Up above she has two levels of outdoor living. Total space would be like an 1200 sq foot condo.

To operate daily we have a 25 gal/hr watermaker; making us clean drinking water and more than enough water to take continual showers to cool down.

We have both AC&DC electricity. The inverter takes our battery current and switches it into 120 volt. We have a genset to run 120V, plus shore power should we be at shore.

Genesis has been working hard for the last 2 years. Like a child that has tantrums, Genesis has alternator fits. (Similar to hissy fits) If Ken had hair to pull out he would be bald, so its a good thing he has none. He's in the same place without the pain.

We are traveling in an area known for its steep seas and high winds; however like everywhere there is a proper time to transit with the least effects. Here it is the end of April and May or September through November.

Ken and I have decided to give Genesis a much deserved rest, and much like the spa treatment. We are going to put her on the hard. Try to keep her dry for the rainy/lightning season and re-fit her with new decks, where the teak currently are. She will have new larger alternators put in and a total check up.

If we continued as planned to Trinidad/Tobago we would only have 1 month to see the ABC Islands, Venezuela and all things in between and that is weather permitting. We have also talked to other boaters and they say the weather here is less rainy and Cartagena has better security. Work is also much cheaper here.

So after almost 2 years on the water we are going home for 4 months. Prove we are Canadian, hug a tree (pine) update our health care and make some more dineros to pay for the trip.

I will continue to write and post blogs on subjects not yet mentioned, get after the photos and catch up. Now!

This Is Your Chance!

There are up to 180 people a week reading this blog. I want you to send me an email with questions you would like answered etc. Send the emails through the comments on this blog or calmh2o.genesis@gmail.com

Questions can be of any nature but please nothing vulgar.

Until next week we will be busy getting Genesis ready for her vacation.

2010-05-02T08:47:00.006-07:00

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

In Cartagena there are a handful of impressive Spanish forts, including the 17th century Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, undoubtedly the greatest and strongest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in their colonies. We began our site seeing at the historical Spanish Fortress Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas. It majestically stands guard on a hillside overlooking the city and harbour.

Many Spanish Galleons, laden with riches from the new world, were attacked and seized by Pirates and English war ships. King Ferdinand ordered the city to be fortified to protect Spain's treasures. The fortress you see today and the Castillo took nearly 200 years to build and housed 245 tons of gold. Cartagena suffered invasions and sackings in 1544, 1560, and in 1586 (Sir Francis Drake). This fort is by far the most impressive fort we have ever seen. Massive.

We were guided through the fort by Edison, a local taxi driver/cruise ship tour guide. He took us into the bowels of the fort, down many levels of dark, musty, wet slippery tunnels and pathways. Edison explained that the Spanish built these long tunnels that wound and twisted through the dark basement so as when the British attacked, they could spring out of the cross channels and spear them to death. We walked all the way down until sea level. Yes we hit water.

Close to the fortress is the 150m high La Popa hill, which offers great views over Cartagena and the harbour area.

The 17th century Santa Cruz monastery is here, which has a beautifully restored courtyard and a fine image of the Virgin of La Candelarisa. The views were outstanding. This is the site that Pope John Paul held a Mass, in which over 1 million attended. Each Easter a procession of hundreds of thousands follow the cross being carried to the Cathedral upon the hill.

Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities of South America. The city was formally known as Cartagens de Indias. Founded in 1533 by Don Pedro de Heredia, and named after the port of Cartagena in Spain's Murcia region, it was a major center of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and continues to be an economic hub as well as a popular tourist destination.

Clock Tower in the Back Ground. (The Edge of Old Town.)

Old town consists of several public squares. The Plaza de Santo Doming; the church Santo de Domingo built in 1539 is the oldest in Cartagena. Legend has it the devil was so unhappy he tried to twist it off its foundation. If you look at the building it looks like it is not sitting square and it is one of the most attractive buildings in the Old Town. The square has 4 water features. The Plaza Fernanez Madrid; had its church completed in 1736. The Plaza Bolivar;is the place that the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The first execution was carried out on this site in 1614 and became the center for bullfights. Today it is flanked by restaurants, shops and the gold museum. Plaza de San Diego; was originally an orchard. It now houses the School of Fine Arts.

The Young Children Dancing Caribe

The Port of Cartagena is one of the busiest in South America, there are huge container ships being loaded 24/7. The major exports of Colombia are coffee, tobacco, petroleum products, cosmetics, fertilizers, textiles and coal. There is a Cruise Ship per day docking and the tourist flock to the old town, cathedrals and tourist sites. The largest shopping district is the Emerald area in Old Town.

The music of Colombia is a varied as the cultural dancing. We watched young dancers performing a very traditional Caribbean dance. Salsa music and dancing is everywhere. Ballet is common with children of all ages participating.

Yesterday being May 1st and a holiday afforded us the privilege of watching a waterfront fireworks show.

2010-04-26T06:48:00.005-07:00

Island we Anchored off in Rosarios

We continued from Isla Fuerte to the San Bernardo islands. We stayed several days here enjoying the tranquil anchorage. There were several large resorts that seemed to be closed either for the season or permanently.
There is a boating saying that "It's not if you are going to go aground but When" Well when happened as we approached Islas del Rosarios. We lost our lighting and before we knew it we kissed the ground. Nothing happened. We were going extremely slow and just had to back out.
The Rosario Islands were declared a Colombia National Park in 1977 for the purpose of study, protection, and preservation. The Park's coral reefs, sea flora and fauna, mangroves and lagoons contain more than 1300 species of plants and animals, native to the islands. All the islands are surrounded by coral reefs.
the Natural Park Regulations protect the sea floor and its ecosystem, the islands, wildlife and preserve the overall ecology. Tourists from around the world come to learn, admire and enjoy the underwater Natural Park.
Park visitors are encouraged to protect the delicate environment by not littering, not buying any animals or plants (dead or alive) and respecting the flora and fauna. This was pleasant as there was no garbage in the water. Something we haven't seen since Mexico.
We hired a couple of locals for a day to tour us around instead of using our own dinghy. This turned out to be a great thing to do as I believe we saw more than we would have had we tried to explore ourselves. Unfortunately I was not vigilant enough and burnt. I am paying for it still 4 days later.
I know we have said we have fallen in love with all the countries we have visited but I truly believe the media has done an injustice to many countries. It's not scary, the PEOPLE here are WONDERFUL and helpful.
The promise had been made by President; Alvaro Uribe that he would be tough on crime and he is keeping to his word. The mafia is being dismantled; the prostitution has been legalized with strict rules thus keeping people more safe. US currency is kept to a minimum and the businesses dealing with the currency must be able to show the paper work trail. This explains why the fishermen trying to sell their catch wanted pesos only. It seems to be working for them and crime is way down.

We continued our track into Cartagena. WOW WOW WOW.
Cartagena is an old Walled City. It was the fortification Spanish town that was so important to the Spanish Empire.
Ken and I will be taking a tour tomorrow with a guide and will have lots to write about next week.
Just a few facts:
Colombia is bordered on the northwest by Panama, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil and on the southwest by Peru and Ecuador. Through the western half of the country, three Andean ranges run north and south. The eastern half is a low, jungle covered plain, fringed by tributaries of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, inhabited mostly by isolated tropical forest Indian tribes. The fertile plateau and valley of the eastern range are the most densely populated parts of the country. The capital Bogota has 12 million people. Cartagena 2.5 million.
We are looking forward to learning all about this city and passing it on. It appears to be one of the nicest cities we have yet to visit. I posted a video of Ken being attack by Lucy the monkey on a previous blog. So go check it out. I have to organize my 1000 pictures so it might take a while to post some of the pictures. Have patience. It will happen. We haven't had Internet for almost 5 weeks.

2010-04-18T11:06:00.001-07:00

We entered Panama on Feb. 17th and departed Apr. 16th. Our arrival in Panama began in a wonderful bay whereby a family invited us to their home and came to our boat with gifts. (Not to mention we raised our waterline quite a bit.) The final anchorage had us entertaining a total of 20 people on our boat from the time the anchor hit the water until just before sunset. People brought us gifts of fruit and vegetables. We gave away towels, books, rope, fishing hooks and lots of cold juice. We were invited to go into the village but with people coming and going we didn't make it. This last harbour was Puerto Perma. It is a two year old traditional village on the mainland with plenty of space to have garden plots. At the moment they are cutting down trees, selling them and cultivating the land to be able to grow corn and various vegetables. There is no electricity so at night the sounds consist of jungle noises along with the lightning and thunder show.
Colombian ships bring them the basics from canned and paper goods to different types of vegetables.
Our memories of Panama will again be the wonderful people we met in the villages, cities and the other boaters that are headed north as we head south, that gave us so much useful information. Panama allowed us to see jungle close up; transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic, take in a culture that is rapidly changing and in my view will probably not be nearly as traditional in 10 years. We were privileged to share with family and friends the Panama Canal crossing and some of the Panamanian anchorages.
Our weather window arrived and on Friday we headed out on more firsts. We are now in our 10th country counting Canada. We have gone from Pacific to Atlantic, North America to Central America and now enter a New Continent; South America.
The most important first was Ken finally caught his Wahoo. It was 40lbs and 48" long. He no longer can fish for awhile as this gives us 24 meals alone. I know how to make breakfast sausage with it, lunch tacos, and of course many different dinner meals. Do you think we will get sick of seafood? Never. This is the land of lobster that we can try to capture.
Our first night we stayed at Puerto Escondido which is just an open roadstead. The houses ashore were banana plantations and it appeared to be cattle ranching. The anchorage proved to be very rolly. More things creaked all night on the boat than I could imagine. The following morning we headed out and arrived at Isla Fuerte, which is an island surrounded by reefs and sand. This island has great contrasts. It has 2000 inhabitants. There is a large contingency of holiday homes. The pueblo has a real mixture of thatched houses with dirt floors, wooden houses, cement houses and let's not forget the ones that probably have Italian marble throughout. There are resorts, bread and breakfasts and several restaurants, several tiendas, a police station and a fairly large school. No internet however. If there is internet they are receiving it over their phones.
The people here are very West Indies looking and are very friendly. There is a large population of Europeans which own the larger homes.
Donkeys are used as beasts of burden. The men ride them down to the beach, bag up sand and put the sandbags onto the donkeys. They are then led through the streets to the construction site where the sand is made into cement. (It doesn't last long due to the salt content)I hope the houses were not made with this cement. While this action was unfolding in front of us a panga filled with at least 50 large bags of top soil was being brought in to help with a garden. This island is volcanic rock and sand. It is very tropical and all types of fruit trees grow. Right now mangos and papaya are very much in season. There are breadfruit trees, banana trees, coconut trees, limon trees and other fruit that I do not know their names. Let's just say they won't get scurvy.
The money used here is the Colombian Peso. 2000 pesos is about $1.00 American. They do not like taking American money on the island as they have a hard time dealing with it and explaining why they have so much American money. Can we say Drugs! The Colombian Marines have a detachment on the island.
One of the very valuable pieces of information given to us by fellow boaters is that Colombia is SAFE. So for all those concerned, don't be; at least not while we are on the water. In land may be different. We have both the Colombian Coast Guard and the US Navy. They both monitor VHF 16 24/7 and the Colombian government has set up an email address to send the coast guard your float plan so that they can follow your progress. Should you see or have anything happen that makes you uncomfortable they have a place to contact them. It does add to the feeling of being safe.
We will be out for about a week before we finally will have internet, so once again this is being transmitted through SSB Radio and pictures and editing will occur once we have internet.

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2010-04-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

Heading Out

We are edging ourselves further south towards the Colombian border. The weather has been tricky with very sloppy seas. At times we have had waves in the 12' range fairly close together. The weather patterns do not follow what we are use to. Nights have LOTS of wind. We have had our noses buried in Caribbean weather books to get a handle on what we should be looking for and what to expect. On the Pacific side a rising barometer means good weather on the Atlantic side it means that stronger winds and larger seas are likely. Another factor that is affecting us is that the (ITCZ) Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is lying on the Panama/Colombian border. Normally this time of year it should be closer to the Equator. The reason this is important is that the ITCZ brings rainfall and convection activity. (Thunder and lightning). THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE however is the low pressure systems that lay in the Venezuela/Colombia border that cause Large, Steep waves and strong winds. Luckily these begin to diminish approximately mid April. It looks like our weather window is to enter Colombia on Tuesday and Wednesday with 2 - 4' waves. 5 -10 knots of wind. Perfect.
Another learning experience has been the reefs and reading the water. The charts are bad and the reefs plentiful. Polarized sunglasses have been a God send. It is these reefs that keep the nasty waves out of most anchorages. I have a problem judging the water depth and we generally have way more water than I think we have.
Kids are kids no matter what country you are in. They love pop, candy and playing in the water. Today it was interesting to watch a tropical version of a snowball fight. The six boys picked up wet beach mud formed a ball and started to pitch them at each other. Laughter filled the anchorage. I couldn't help think of the snow version we have all participated in as children.
Currently there are 7 boats anchored here at Isla Pinos, as the weather has put breaks on movements. We are the only boat going south the rest are heading north to the Rio Dulce, Guatemala for the hurricane season. We do know that there are others planning on heading south in a few weeks.
As you can tell we are still have no internet connection therefore this is coming again through the SSB radio.

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2010-04-04T15:39:00.001-07:00

Kuna Woman in traditional clothing selling Molas

Happy Easter to everyone.
This week had us implicated with organized get togethers. We have not been involved much with other boaters on the Pacific side as they were far and few between as we headed south by ourselves. Now we find ourselves amongst 150 other boaters that come from all around the world; the majority coming from France or the United States. There is a contingency from Canada and surprisingly mostly from BC.
We finally met up with fellow boaters from Calgary, Stan and Lynn Holmer who have been traveling the world since 2004. We knew of them but had never met them over the years. As it would be they remembered us from the days we attended St Peter's in Calgary. It is truly a small world.
We have now ventured further south in the Kuna Yala and the people are more traditional. The boaters fewer. The Kunas are accepting of visitors and have tried very hard to learn English. These people are physically small, very healthy and live long lives. They are peaceful, non aggressive and crime is rare.
The Kuna number around 55,000. They are a very determined nation and are united within a strict hierarchy of tribal leaders. Each village has 3 chiefs who hold the highest authority at village level. 3 high chiefs rule the nation as a whole, with one being elected supreme leader to deal with the Panamanian government.
These chiefs also hold the spiritualism, medicinal knowledge and history of the people. (We visited a village that has chosen not to be traditional, the western world shows in the tv sets, clothing. The chief here holds no power and in fact has proclaimed Mormon as his faith.)
The mainstay of the Kuna economy is coconuts, lobster, crab and octopus sales caught by the Kuna skin-divers.
The women make money selling molas. These beautiful appliqués are intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colourful cloth. Each Mola is unique and they usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals, or marine life.
Kuna Yala is a matrilineal society. The women control the money and the husbands move into the women's family compound.
Traditional Kuna villages are picturesque, clean and blend into the landscape. The huts are made from fast growing materials like bamboo. The floors are slightly elevated with compacted sand while the walls are bamboo cane. The roof is artistically fabricated from a special palm leaf found in the jungle. There are no nails; everything is fastened by jungle creepers. The roofs have a least 15 year expectancy. We observed a man making many trips into the jungle to obtain the palms needed for the palapa he was building.
Hut interiors are sparse with no furniture. Hammocks are hung to be used for lounging or sleeping in.
There are two oversize huts that are used as the "congress" or town hall. The other hut is the "chichi" A ritual intoxicating brew is made here for spiritual events. The spiritual event happens but twice a year but takes several months to prepare.
The dress of the women is very unique. They wear colourful molas, glass beads around their arms and legs, black face paint and gold nose rings, earrings and breastplates. We have seen a rare man wearing the traditional loin cloth and beads. When we have seen them it has been while they were fishing. They tend to be dressed in shorts and t-shirts, even in the traditional villages.
There are transvestites in Kuna Yala. They dress like the women with beads on the arm and legs. We were told there is no stigma they process both spirits.
Cayucos are the most common form of transportation in the San Blas. These are narrow dugout canoes with sails attached. Every morning at sunrise fleets of dugouts head to the mainland to do some farming. Most cultivate yucca, plantains, breadfruit and bananas. They return around 1300hr. We were told that there was an explosion of motors until the price of gas went up and they are going back to their traditional boats. There are no cars, buses the waterway is the only way with the exception of planes that will take them inland to Panama City.
We are currently anchored in Snug Harbor where a traditional cemetery exists. I can see it from where we are but I am looking forward to visiting this unique site still do not have internet so the many pictures showing the culture of these wonderful people will be added in the future. Please go back to see if there are any additions. Currently it looks like we could be 2 weeks before we are in Cartenegna with internet.

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2010-03-30T05:11:00.002-07:00

This is being sent over SSB Radio so once in internet area pictures and film clips will be added.
Weather delays, boat repairs, canal delays all led to our late departure out of the Colon canal region, but finally the day came. We headed south with our crew now consisting of Wendy, Wayne, Paulette and Kenny.
Our first port of call would be Isla Linton. It is one of the best anchorages along the coast to the San Blas islands. It has excellent shelter from the wind in all directions. The island is uninhabited, except for a few monkey families that live in the hills. These monkeys are the real owners of the island; they usually come down to the dock by the anchorage in the afternoon.
We Canadians know not to feed wildlife, after all "cuddly bears" are not pets but creatures to be feared. I have watched Ken stop tourists along the Trans Canada Highway that thought they would get a close up picture of a black bear and warn them of the danger that that were inflicting on themselves.
Why do I bring this up? Because of a Monkey we have named Lucy!
Kenny took the sea kayak out for a trip around to discover that the monkeys were down by the shore. Ken, Wayne, Wendy and Kenny jumped into the dinghy and went to investigate. Upon arrival, they tied the dinghy to the dock, Wendy and Kenny got out onto the dock to video the monkeys. One monkey, the female nasty one, came strutting down the dock to be fed. Not knowing that they get angry if not FED. Lucy ignored Ken, so Ken tried to get her attention, he touched her shoulder and SHE attacked him. That's what Wayne caught on home video; That's what's on U-Tube, That's what's on Worlds Worst Video's. That's what's in the BLOG.
The following day we made it to the Eastern Lemmon Cays. This delightful group of islands has several well protected anchorages. Kenny spent hours snorkelling over the reef behind our boat.
Our final day was spent at the anchorage in front of the airport. The island of Porvenir has a Kuna operated office where both the immigration papers and cruising permits are obtained. There is a restaurant and hotel along with an airstrip that has one plane a day going to Panama City.
We took the dinghy to Isla Wichubhuala to check out the store and what it had for supplies. We spent hours wandering around the village. I will describe the Kuna people in more detail in a future blog when I have observed more traditional villages.
The crew departed early in the morning and it feels strange having the boat to ourselves. It has been an interesting 3 months since we started with our first guest Alanna, then Janet and Jerry, Brenda and Doug, Angela and Ed, Wendy and Wayne, RJ, Kenny and Paulette.
We thank you all for sharing in our adventure and hope to see you again soon somewhere.
Now........................................
Greek mythology called it Nirvana; the Kuna Indians refer to it as ban nikia; Espanol s' name for it is ciclo; the English word for it is heaven.
Close your eyes and imagine entering into an area with a mosaic of different shades of blue water. Each colour has its own message to what lays beneath.
Imagine anchoring in 15 feet of the most turquoise water you have probably ever seen. The water is so clear that you can see every link in the chain you have let out.
Imagine looking at the land and seeing an uninhabited island covered in coconut trees and surrounded by white sand. Small reefs come off the beach to add to the mesmerizing sight.
Imagine donning ones snorkel and fins and swimming into the beach observing vibrant species of fish, star fish and so much more. The temperature of your aquarium is a mere 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
Imagine dining on the fresh caught fish you collected along the way.
Imagine a light breeze blowing as you listen to the surf crashing against the outer barrier reef that surrounds the island, all the while you are tucked inside safe and sound being lulled to sleep.
Imagine 400 of these islands some inhabited and some still oh natural.
This area exists and it is known as Kuna Yala by the natives or the San Blas Archipelago. Panama's own South Pacific.
We are now anchored in the Swimming Pool, its directly beside the Hot Tub, it's as clear as any swimming pool, and the water temperature in the hot tub, well its correctly named.
We will be in the San Blas and heading south for a least a couple of more weeks before heading to Colombia.

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Don't Mess With Lucy

2010-03-20T12:02:00.001-07:00

This blog was a collaboration from the crew of the Genesis and Faye still takes no responsibility for its content:
Transiting the canal
March 15, 2010 was the apparent day to run the trench, however due to a work to rule traveling bug it was postponed to the following day. The crew of Genesis was up bright and early at 0600 in anticipation of the day that was to unfold. Alonzo our line handler arrived at 0645 after having spent the night sleeping on the fuel dock. Then we hurry up and wait...... for the advisor Ricaurto as he was at the wrong marina.
Slipped the lines from the mooring ball & we’re finally off. Arrived at the Miraflores Locks approx 1000 hrs; the first & second lifts from the Pacific side to fresh water in the Miraflores Lake. We safely transited the first two chambers in approximately 45 minutes then proceeded onto the Pedro Miguel Locks. The third step or lift from the Pacific to the 85 ft level of Gatun Lake, from this point we followed through Grillard Cut Canal. It was dug through the hills a distance of 9 miles where crocodillos are abundant throughout the canal and are among the only creatures that get through the locks free of charge. R.J. was fortunate enough to capture a picture of one. We have been told that they are one of the most advanced of all reptiles despite their prehistoric look. While anchored at Gatun Lake they sometimes get curious and swim around the boat around sunrise. It was at this point, we were advised that we would not be transiting all the way through, but would be staying overnight in Gatun Lake as we were the only pleasure boat transiting at that time. We would spend 24 hours listening to the Howler monkeys, swimming with the crocs, playing Mexican train, playing guitar and maracas & singing to pass the time. Alonzo, our line handler was still with us & now was becoming part of our family, participating in all activities as well as watching for crocs as we swam & frolicked. Our advisor Roy came at 1600 hrs to transit the final lock at 1700 hrs. Gatun Locks has three chambers; ships are raised or lowered three steps – sea level to 85 ft. We were intrigued at the whole process of the locks filling & emptying with water, lifting & lowering us through the canal. The directions from the advisor to the line handlers; (Wayne, Kenny, R.J. & Alonzo) ran very smoothly & we were all given an A+, even Captain Ken! Upon exiting the last lock a pilot ship picked up our advisor and we made our way to the Shelter Bay Marina. For the first time since leaving Vancouver we are now amongst cruisers from all over the world!

Please follow onto the next blog and watch our transit movie

2010-03-20T11:47:00.004-07:00

Please join our adventure by watching a small video of our journey through the last lock of the Panama Canal. WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON THE OTHER SIDE. THE LEFT SIDE!

2010-03-15T16:23:00.005-07:00

This weeks message has been writen and authorized by our crew member and guest Wayne Mikkelsen. I hold no responsibility for the following information that you are about to receive.

Sincerely,

Faye

I spent my winter planning a trip to Alaska, charting over 2200 miles of routes and studying guide books to go north. Now I find myself sitting on a mooring buoy at the Balboa Yacht Club in Panama, looking out at the Bridge of Americas. Sometimes you have to go south to go north. Friends, Faye & Ken invited us along with their son R.J, Paulette & Ken to transit the Panama Canal. The Bridge of the Americas reconnected east & west Panama which had been separated during the digging of the canal. It was finished in 1962, spans 5425 ft from abutment to abutment, and has a clearance of 201 feet, and the traffic load of 35,000 vehicles a day.

Unfortunately, the day after we arrived, Faye returned to Calgary for a funeral, leaving Ken, Wendy & I to care for ourselves. We took advantage of the time and motored out to the Las Perlis Islands-stayed at Isla Contadora anchored out, looking back at the expensive houses on shore. The second night we travelled to Isla Viveros where a new resort is being built. Again we anchored out looking at the beautiful sand beaches. The forecast was for high winds so we returned the 40 or so miles bucking into the 25 knot winds. An experience, not conducive to convincing Wendy to travel around the world in our boat.

Ken, Wendy & I toured the Informative Centre at Mira Flores locks. The original canal construction, started by the French and taken over by the Americans was completed in 1914. At present the locks are each 1000 ft long and 110 feet wide and will accommodate ships up to 980 ft long. New locks are under construction which will be 1400 ft long and 180 ft wide. The Americans controlled the canal until December 31, 1999 when it was returned to the Panamanians. Our guide told us that the average vessel pays $100,000.00 US to transit. We paid $1250.00 US for broker fees, permits and our transit. The least ever paid was an American swimmer that paid $0.35. and the largest fee that was ever collected was $385,000.00 US. The canal employs about 240 highly trained and experienced pilots who steer the ships through the water way. Some of these pilots make $14,000 per month which is reportedly a higher salary than the President of Panama. Average wages for locals are $1.50 - $1.80 per hour. In three locking steps ships are raised 85 ft up to Gatun Lake and then lowered down to the other side. More than 14,000 ships per year transit the canal. Crocodillias transit for free.

Upon Faye’s return & R.J.’s arrival we toured Casco Viejo-the Old Quarter, including the Simon Bolivar monument, The National Theatre, two cathedrals and the outside of the President’s Palace.

When Ken & Paulette arrived we went on a jungle tour to the Chagnes River in dugout canoes to visit the Embera tribe. We first went to swim at the waterfall and then we were welcomed to their village for lunch, which was a rolled up leaf with fried fish, plantain and fresh fruit. Houses were built on stilts traditionally to protect from jaguar, wild boar, and rodents. This also avoids flooding in the rainy season & prohibits the invasion of insects. They are basket weavers and wood carvers, scantily clothed who do not marry but live with their women as long as they get along, but can change mates at any time.

Tomorrow at 7:30 am we transit.

2010-02-28T08:20:00.004-08:00

The Panama Canal

Arriving here is a great thrill as it is the furthest south we will go on the Pacific side (as of now). We are proud of the accomplishments we have made to this point and look forward to the Atlantic side.

We have to appoligize to those who wanted to help transit the canal with us that we could not accommodate. However we will be coming back through in a couple of years.

I am pre writing this blog to post prior to our crossing as I had to fly home as my best friends' husband passed away suddenly and I need to be there. I will be publishing it from Calgary and returning a few days later. I will ask Ken, Wendy and Wayne to write about the Perlas Islands where they will be visiting while I am away.

Panama is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. Its location on the Isthmus of Panama is strategic. By 2000, Panama controlled the Panama Canal which connects the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea to the North of the Pacific Ocean. Panama, at 75,420 sq km, is ranked 124th worldwide on the basis of land size. We were told by the admeasurer that it has been a very good thing for the country as it put billions into the coppers. When the Americans owned the canal they paid the government $388,000,000 a year. A big difference.
The spine that forms the divide is the highly eroded arch of uplift from the sea bottom, in which peaks were formed by volcanic intrusions. The whole area was once volcanos and by looking at the land mass it is obvious.
Panama's wildlife holds the most diversity of all the countries in Central America. It is home to many South American species as well as North American wildlife.
Panama has a tropical climate. Temperatures are uniformly high—as is the relative humidity—and there is little seasonal variation. Diurnal ranges are low; on a typical dry-season day in the capital city, the early morning minimum may be 24°C (75°F) and the afternoon maximum 29°C (84°F). The temperature seldom exceeds 32°C (90°F) for more than a short time. Temperatures on the Pacific side of the isthmus are somewhat lower than on the Caribbean, and breezes tend to rise after dusk in most parts of the country. Temperatures are markedly cooler in the higher parts of the mountain ranges, and frosts occur in the Cordillera de Talamanca in western Panama. After our stay in Golfito the lower temps are much appreciated. The water temperature is lower by 10 degrees.

Panama had a population of 3,360,474 in 2009. As of the year 2000, the majority of the population, 50.1%, was Mestizo. African and Mulatto were together the largest minority, accounting for 22%. For the remaining groups the percentages were: native Central American 6.7%, European 8.6%, Asian 5.5%, and other 7.1%. The Amerindian population includes seven indigenous peoples
The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean and Spanish. Spanish is the official language. We are finding the Spanish/Carrib accent difficult to understand at times. Most of the Panamanian populations of West Indian descent owe their presence in the country to the monumental efforts to build the Panama Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Our observation has been that the majority are of West Indian descent.
Once I get back and RJ arrives (same day) we will tour the historical museums and check out the canal while waiting for Paulette and Kenny to arrive.
We have a transit date of Mar 15 and will keep all informed as to what is happening. Ken will be sending out an email with an uplink to the canal cam that will allow anyone wanting to watch us transit to watch in real time. More on that to come

2010-02-27T15:42:00.002-08:00

Domingo's Three Grandchildren

We Made it to the Canal

I will start this blog out firstly by saying that we do not have any effects from the earthquake in Chile. If a Tsunami was to come here the word is that it would have been here by now. If things change we will let you know. Thanks to all those that have emailed to see if we are ok.
Our entry into Panama was not very smooth. Another overnight passage not knowing which way the waves were coming from. We traveled as close to shore as we felt safe diminishing some of the motion. The areas from the Costa Rican border to Panama are filled with islands. This area is well known for its scuba diving and is now a Marine Park.
Our first stop would be Bahia Honda. This bay is very protected and as it turned out a great introduction to the Panamanian people.
The people in this area are very isolated. There are no roads leading out and their only means of transportation is by boat. The rivers are the highways for the indigenous that live here. The terrain is mountainous and jungle. Many wild animals call this area home. Jaguars are everywhere. Fishing, tropical fruit, beans and rice are their staples. They have their chickens for eggs and a larger brood and then used for dinners.
What these people may lack in processions they make up for in generosity.
We had only been anchored for about a half hour when our first visitor came to call. Domingo. He is a pleasant, talkative gentleman in his 70’s. He wanted to do some trading. Flashlights, batteries, fishing hooks, and clothes would be traded for fresh fruit.
The next visitors were a family in their dug out canoe. I rummaged through the boat and managed to find some things to give this family. Kennedy and his family are the son, daughter in law and grandchildren to Domingo. We had one more family visit that we gave fishing line; fishing hooks some food and books.
The weather was blowing gap winds through the Gulf of Panama so we made a decision to stay put in this secluded anchorage and let the bad weather pass us by.
We started stripping teak and doing maintenance chores on the boat. Continually we had visitors to come and talk to us. I am actually amazed that I understood about ¾ the conversations. When I didn’t understand I would have them repeat it again so I could grasp what they were telling us. They really like Canadians as we are quiet and peaceful.
Over the next couple of days we were brought gifts of hand carved animals, fruit, vegetables, fish and a lobster. Kennedy felt bad because he could only get one lobster. We were delighted with one lobster, Kennedy and his wife invited us to come to their home. He is extremely proud as he has built it all himself. It is a beautiful home and to date has taken 15 years. He manages to get things! He had used kitchen cabinets that he was ready to install in his kitchen. He has made his home as modern as one could have with no electricity or generators. Their view is of a beautiful beach within the bay. Now by going to his home we actually were not following the letter of the law as we had not yet checked into Panama and were waiting until we got to Panama City.
We were well back on the boat when a huge fish killer with 2 smaller fish killers came into the bay. They were obviously rich Panamanians, quite a difference from those that lived in this area. They stayed the next day and observed the visitations. Kennedy finally went to see if they needed anything only to find out that it was the President of Panama and his security on a fishing expedition.
We invited Kennedy’s family onto the boat and served them some of our type of food. Pickles they were not too fond of. The ice cubes and cold watermelon were a hit!
They are trying very hard to learn English and we are trying very hard to have someone understand our Spanish. Our three days spent with these people was truly remarkable and when we come back we have been requested to stay in their home and have a fiesta with them. We will do it!
It was off on another overnight journey this time the seas were calm but an electrical storm was catching up to us. It was sheet lightning so I wasn’t too concern. However the rain came with the lightning and we had to put in the windows. We arrived at Ensenada Naranjo and to our surprise fellow boaters whom we met in Mexico were at the anchorage.” Stettler” is a powerboat much like ours and the owners are also from Alberta.
The weather for the Gulf of Panama was perfect for a crossing so we spent only a few hours checking the systems, catching a cat nap then headed out the same day. One couldn’t have asked for better weather. Flat, calm, a moon shining and no rain. We were making such good time that Ken had to slow down so as to arrive at sunlight.
Isla Bona was once mined but is now abandoned. A boat with 7 guys came by and was coming close to our boat when one jumped in. They were after an iguana. That iguana went under our boat and was not coming out. Well the iguana thought the coast was clear and started heading to the shore when the guys spotted it trying to make its escape, they pounced on it like a cat on a mouse. Dinner that night was going to be iguana.

Proudly Showing the Iguana they Caught

Well we are now moored at the Balboa Yacht Club, outside the Panama Canal awaiting our crews’ arrival.

2010-02-22T07:19:00.001-08:00

A path not travelled

Shampoo Plant

Costa Rica Finally
Our adventures with Angela and Ed continued. We went fishing but could not catch the elusive fish.
As what seems so often to happen with us our plans did not quite materialize as planned, however the substitute turned into a real treat. We were taken to a private farm (teak) which also has zip-lines and waterfalls in the jungle. The hike up to the waterfalls was very interesting with Kennedy (the interpreter) explaining what different plants and trees were and what they were used for. A special leave is used for toilet paper. It has a "Detol" smell to it. Interesting! Unfortunately we did not see any wild life. Angela took off her shoes and ventured into the water, but the consensus was not to go swimming. Angela mentioned that she would like to see some wild animals and birds etc. so we were taken on a real walk over paths that had to be cut by machete and checked for snakes. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at things no snakes were seen. We make way to much noise for anything to stick around. All and all I don't believe that most tourists can say that they walked through jungle that was not groomed in any fashion. It was well worth the visit. We returned to a traditional Costa Rican lunch complete with 50th wedding anniversary cake.
The following day we took a taxi from Golfito to a small pueblo Rio Claro (Clear River). Here a gentleman by the name of Robert Beatham owns Paradise Tropical Gardens. For 2 hrs he took us on a world wind tour of ¼ of his "garden in the jungle". We were introduced to new species all prevalent to the rainforest of Costa Rica. I found the Ginger Shampoo Plant the most interesting. You squeeze it and a soap like substance and water escapes from the plant.
We also learned that a banana tree is not really a tree. Robert had his son cut a piece of the trunk; in actual fact it is similar to how a celery stalk grows. We also learnt that there are 4000 species of bananas. ( I am going to research that when I have internet as it seems high, maybe it should be 400). Robert was the plant engineer for United Fruit in Golfito. When the banana prices took a tumble and the constant labour strikes seem to have no end, over night the company closed its plants and farms. The trees were eventually torn out and replanted into palm trees for oil. We were treated to the harvesting of these palms and tasted the fruit before they are pressed for their oil. It tasted like sweet potato.
Roberts's interests and hobby has turned his farm into a science research station. Over many years of research, trials and observations based on years of cultural medicines; he has come up with many remedies that would alleviate many medications. One such remedy is for diabetes. The ingredient is the house plant the Wandering Jew. The most common way it is used is to make a cup of tea using 3 leaves. Drink 3 cups a day. If you don't want to make the tea just eat 3 leaves of the Wandering Jew a day. The results to be expected for most people this will help lower their blood sugar levels. It will help so much that many people have been able to stop injecting themselves with insulin. The source of this remedy is based on local folklore.
Our week with the Looks was now up and they caught a plane into San Jose to do a little touring inland. Our only regret is that Ed did not catch his fish. (Sorry Ed, a side note on our way out of the bay Ken caught 3 Sierra)
We got ourselves ready for our International Check Out. Luckily all went smoothly. The Port Captain said to us "Look out my window, that mountain is called The Sleeping Dragon". Sure enough it looks just like a sleeping dragon.
We are now on the move to Panama City and are just 2 sleeps away. This is being sent through SSB radio so when internet is available I will add pictures and re-align the text.
We were in Costa Rica for approximately 2 months and saw many wonderful sights. The people are definitely more affluent than the previous countries we have visited.
Another country well worth visiting.

Ken Playing Tarzan on the swing. This was a riot over a small creekand raveen

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2010-02-14T16:29:00.004-08:00

Not Just a Pretty Face

Rainforest Animals

Angela and Ed arrived on time and are sharing this weeks adventure with us. We have more victims for Mexican Train.
As Angela says no one can sweat this much! The humidity is high and the temperature in the shade is at least 90. Everyone glistens.
We decided to visit a wildlife sanctuary to observe some of the wildlife of the Rainforest. The Osa Wildlife Sanctuary was established by Carol and Earl Crews in 1996.
Originally, the sanctuary was focused only on birds. Then, after Poppy, the spider monkey arrived on October 29, 2003 - the flood gates opened. The sanctuary is now home to a wide variety of orphaned and injured animals (about 70 animals in residence). The sanctuary is situated on the Golfo Dulce coast at Cana Blanca; a 45 minute fast panga ride from Golfito.
There are 4 species of monkeys in Costa Rica. They are the Central American Squirrel, White Face, Spider, and the Howler Monkey. The refuge had 3 of the species to observe and learn about.
The White Face monkeys were kept in cages to protect them from other healthy white face monkeys in the wild. We witnessed a wild one trying to get into the enclosure.
These small primates are widely recognized as the most intelligent New World monkey. White Faced are highly social animals and live in troops of 10 to 30 individuals. The average group has roughly 15 members led by a dominant male. They are arboreal creatures and seldom descend to the forest floor. The monkeys use chatters, shrieks and other sounds to communicate with one another. They are omnivores and eat everything from insects and invertebrates to flowers and fruit. They prefer their fruit ripened and will often smell, squeeze or bite it before consumption.
These primates have also been known to eat bird eggs, crabs and small lizards. They play an invaluable role in seed dispersal as they often discard fruit pits on the forest floor. Although they get moisture from fruit and animals, they have been observed drinking water from tree holes and other sources. White-faced monkeys inhabit diverse areas and can thrive in high-altitude cloud forests as well as wet lowlands along the coast. They are also prevalent in both wet and tropical dry forests
Females mate with several males in the troop and give birth to one offspring every two years. Baby capuchins cling to their mothers’ backs for the first three months while they are still nursing. Infants are weaned by one year of age and reach sexual maturity when they are five to seven years old.
In the wild, white-faced monkeys are preyed upon by boa constrictors, large raptors and jaguars. Their population in Costa Rica is currently considered healthy and stable. The biggest threat to the capuchin species is habitat destruction. With increased development, humans are slowly encroaching on their territory.
It was the two Spider Monkeys however that gave us the most pleasure. They would demand your attention, wanting for you to scratch and play. We got great

pictures of Ed and Angela with their new found friends.

Spider monkeys live in medium-sized, loosely associated groups of about 30 individuals, which fragment into subgroups of varying smaller sizes and composition. Unless there is an abundance of preferred food available, the subgroup size will consist of fewer than 4 animals. These groups will roam independently in the same general area; the only persistent association is that of a female with her offspring.

The refuges birds are helped and released when possible however many are hurt to a point they would only die in the wild. There has been a successful breading of the Scarlet Macaws and released in the area.
The Scarlet Macaw lays two or three white eggs in a tree cavity. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days, and the chicks flee from the nest about 90 days after hatching and leave their parents about a year later. By the 1960s Scarlet Macaws had been decreasing in numbers due to a combination of factors, particularly hunting, poaching, and the destruction of habitat through deforestation. Further, the spraying of pesticides by companies cultivating and selling bananas for export played a significant role in decreasing Scarlet Macaw populations. Interestingly the Macaws remain in the area they first take their first flight.
I found it very interesting to learn more about the Toucans. The toucan's diet consists of fruits, bird eggs, insects, rodents, reptiles, and other weaker birds. The predators of the toucan are humans, big cats, and its worst enemy is the jaguar. Toucans have three adaptations that help them survive. The first one is that they have bills in order to eat food. They are similar to a saw. Earl mentioned that this bird, while sought after for photos and pets, is often very fierce and should not be trusted. The second adaptation that they have is the claws on each leg. Two claws in the front and two in the back. This helps them stand on trees. The last one is the color of its feathers changed, in order to blend into its surroundings. There are 37 different species of toucans. They are solitary or live with a mate. They are frugivors (animals that eat fruits.)
They sleep in holes that are in trees. If they don't fit, they turn themselves into a feathery ball to make their body smaller.
Our next adventure took us with our driver to Puerto Jimenez. This town seems much more vibrant than Golfito. We walked the streets until the real meaning of Rain Forest came to be known. Within minutes the ditches that were wide and deep were filled and overflowing. The residents whom are accustomed to the weather sat back and enjoyed each others company while drinking their pops and treats, waiting for the storm to pass.
The seas were beginning to add a little height. If you have ever rode on the back of a motorcycle while it was raining you would understand our 45 minute ride back to Golfito. We looked like 4 drowned rats.
Fishing has not been so good. No big ones yet, but I know Ed will get the big one before he leaves.
Tomorrow we will be heading towards another waterfall. Hopefully we will see more monkeys and birds. Time will tell.

2010-02-08T12:55:00.003-08:00

Do History Lessons Change Depending on Where You are From?

We hastily checked in with the Port Captain receiving our National Zarpe to continue on to Quepos and Golfito. We took the opportunity to drop off our bimini for repairs, did some provisioning for the next 8 days and were ready to depart by the rising tide at 1400 hr. Puntneranas was an interesting stop.
We headed over to Isla San Lucas. This island was once the site of a forbidding prison. Central Americas answer to Alcatraz. It was abandoned in 1991. It is now a National Heritage Site and a National Wildlife Preserve. I am not sure what kind of animal that we could hear howling that night.
The following day we motored to Bahia Herradura. This protected bay is a hot spot for fishing. Many large vessels were anchored along side us. The very expensive marina was not an option for us. They ask $4.25/ft . That would put us over $200.00 a night. Our pool was just fine, a balmy 87 degrees, and free.
Quepos was our next stop. They are building a massive marina here. It was scheduled to open 2005. I think they missed their target. The locals figure it will be opened by next year.
Quepos is a quaint little town with lots of restaurants and tourist activities. I am not sure how this new marina is going to effect the town but it has effected the anchorage by pushing boats further out into the open sea making it not quite as calm as it once would have been.
Bahia Dominicalito is hidden away from tourists in a very quiet protected bay. It was obvious to us that this little bay isn’t visited very often by cruisers as we were checked out by the local fleet of boats. They all liked the name Genesis. I do believe it could keep us safe. Who knows? This by far is one of my favourite anchorages. That evening the night winds came off the land but not where we expected them to come from. We were abeam to the swell. Not a comfortable way to try and sleep. The sounds in the boat were keeping me awake so I opted to sleep up top. This made the side motion exaggerated. Needless to say I did not sleep well. We wanted to stay another day, so in the morning we put out a stern anchor and had a much needed comfortable sleep the next evening.
Our next destination has me checking the internet for history as what I learnt in school is not what they are taught down here. Bahia Drake.
In Canadian history we learnt that Sir Francis Drake was a hero. He is famous for (among other things) leading the first English circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. Queen Elizabeth "I" knighted him for his accomplishments. Not to mention the large amounts of cash he brought back to her. In 1577 Elizabeth"I" sent Drake to start an expedition against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Did she know what he was up to? Only she knows!

His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English, but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'.
In 1579 Francis Drake landed in Bahia Drake. The history here says that he attacked and stripped a boat named Nuestra Senora de la Conception, in Ecuador before reaching Isla del Cano. It is said that he snuck up on this ship pretending to be a merchant vessel. The surrender was quick. As a result, Queen Elizabeth scored a fortune worth in today’s terms $200 million. It is believed that he took some loot for himself and buried it in Bahia Drake located 12 nm from Isla Cano. We didn’t go treasure hunting. Maybe we should have, any extra cash would be nice.
We are now in Golfito after a very bumpy ride south. We were having inverter issues so Ken sourced the problem and today is re-routing wires to have the inverter now rest in the salon. The problem seems to be that it was too hot in the engine room to allow it to work properly. I know the feeling. We have 90 – 105 degree days. I am not working too well these days either. For the first time since we began this trip I got burnt. It was a deceiving cloudy day, still in the 90’s. I now look like a red panda. Raccoon looking.
Sunday was an election in Costa Rica. A woman was elected President for the first time in Costa Rican politics. Things are a changing; maybe the all ole boys’ clubs of the world will be replaced by people that want to help the people of their country. No I didn’t fall and bang my head, it’s just a wish.
Our next guests, Angela and Ed Look arrive tomorrow and we will spend the week in the Golfito Dulce area fishing and checking out the jungles and towns.

2010-01-31T07:35:00.003-08:00

Doug with His Pet Toucan Dinner

Where did the month of January go?

Time is just flying by. This week our crew consisted of The Bowers from The Airport Yacht Club in Vancouver. We started our journeys by meeting up at a B&B owned by former AYC members; Lyle and Debbie. They own the B&B and a construction related company in San Jose.
We headed towards Volcan Poas following the snake like roads.
I had read up on the Volcano and was quite looking forward to seeing this active volcano.
Botos Lagoon is a filled-up crater in the Parque Nacional Volcan Poas. Its deep blue waters contrast with the dense tropical forest that surround it, making it the perfect spot for the stereotypical Indian sacrifice- throwing a young maiden into the mouth of a crater or a lagoon. Volcan Poas is one of the most visited volcanoes in Costa Rica, because of its proximity to San Jose and because of the luxuriant forest that surrounds the two craters. The park measures 5600 hectares, and this basaltic volcano stands at an altitude of 2708 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level.
We arrived with approximately 200 other tourists from around the world. What did we see? FOG The cloud had just rolled in and we could not see a thing. Not wanting to make this a wasted trip we opted for another tourist attraction in the vicinity. La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This facility is wonderful. The resort rests within the rainforest jungle.
An on-site laboratory is a breeding ground for the countless fluttering species of butterflies. It offers an interesting perspective into the stages of development of the most colorful species in Costa Rica. With over 4,000 of the flighty creatures in the observatory at any one time; one must be careful not to step on the butterflies taking their first steps.
The Hummingbird Garden attracts 24 different species of the birds, more species than any other in Costa Rica and quite possibly the world. Approximately 57 different hummingbirds have been reportedly seen in Costa Rica and it is possible to see over 40% of them here.
I found the snake and frog exhibits to be quite interesting. There are 30 exhibits of the most beautiful and deadly snakes of Costa Rica. The exhibition puts you face to face with such famous snakes as the Bushmaster, Terciopelo, Green Vinesnake, and Golden Eyelash Viper to name just a few. They also have one of the few Serpentariums in the world to host the colorful but venomous sea snake found off the Pacific Coast of Central America. (Yes Gerry the one you were up and personal to).

There are 137 Species of Snakes in Costa Rica. There are 22 Venomous Species in Costa Rica, mostly from the Viper family with a few Coral Snakes and the Sea Snake from the Elapid family. 92% of the Snakes in Costa Rica exist between sea level and 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) in altitude, primarily in the Tropical and Subtropical Forests. There are 15Species of Venomous Snakes on the Pacific side of the country.
This research is done for Gerry. (After the visit of course). Sea Snakes live in the waters off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica (not along the beaches). Although feared for their extremely potent neurotoxic venom, the Sea Snake has very limited ability to bite a human because of its small mouth and rear fangs. Even if one did manage to bite you, there is an 80% chance that this would be a “Dry” bite with no venom introduced.
The frog exhibit had an interpreter giving us information about the frogs. My Spanish is improving because I understood. There are about 190 species of frogs comprising the family Dendrobatidae and living in the rain forests of tropical Central and South America. These amphibians are distinctive owing to their small size (being no larger than 2 inches or 5cm), the majority for their brilliant and beautiful colors, and because some species possess specialized glands in the skin that produce some of the most toxic substances known in the animal kingdom. The function of the poison on their skin is strictly defensive in nature to discourage predators, and these frogs do not possess any type of organ or structure that allows them to inject or transmit the venom. However, this defensive venom would not be effective if it were not immediately recognizable to predators. Therefore, to display their venomous nature to predators these frogs have evolved brilliant color patterns.
We came close to the Toucans on our previous excursion, but not this close! I fed a Toucan while sitting on my arm. They were tame. The scarlet Macaws were quite beautiful.
We followed the hiking trails to the 3 sets of waterfalls. Breathe taking. It was several hours well spent.
The next few days we motored out into the sea again experiencing the Papagallos. We anchored in Bahia Tamarindo for 2 nights. Tamarindo caters to foreign tastes so one can find many different types of restaurants. People come here to surf. The swell and chop can make a dinghy landing exciting so Ken and Doug paid a local to take them into town.
Carlos explained that if we traveled early in the morning, close to shore for 20 miles we would be out of the Papagallo waves and so it was. We had a beautiful cruise to our next port Bahia Carillo.
Bahia Carrillo had long white sandy beaches. The water was a sparkling blue colour. You could see all the way to the bottom. It took Doug about 2 minutes to be in the water. The anchorage was a little rolly so our Mexican Train game was substituted with cards. The girls ruled!
Bahia Ballena was our next destination. This was one of the most tranquil bays we have been in since the Sea of Cortes. It is well protected. We were able to get the sea kayaks wet, something not done since Alanna was with us.
Our week with Doug and Brenda was drawing to an end and we had to get them to a shore that they could catch a bus back to San Jose to get to their flight. Puntarenas would be that shore.
Puntarenas was once a busy commercial port, but now the large pier is used by cruise ships. The locals are trying to get the tourist dollars here. The area is still a fishing community. We were told that this year being an El Nino year, the fishing is not so good.
We arrived here at low tide and had to wait two hours before we could venture up the estuary. This estuary has several rivers dumping into it. It resembles the Fraser River in many ways; muddy and a working river being 2 of the main comparisons.
We said farewell to Brenda and Doug. They added to the memories we will have of this trip and we hope they enjoyed themselves!
We will be here for a couple of days reprovisioning, continuing our National Zarpe and doing much needed boat chores.
We will be heading south towards Golfito where we will pick up our next guests. The Looks.

2010-01-23T06:34:00.007-08:00

Toucan Wild Boars

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world; Costa Rica boasts only 0.03% of the earth's total land mass. It is home to more than 500,000 animal species, which represent an incredible 4% of the world's total.
In comparison to their neighbours, they are not poor, illiterate or beleaguered by political instability. They enjoy the highest standard of living of the Central American countries. Primary education is free and compulsory, and a nationwide system provides free health care. Like all free healthcare systems, it is overburdened.
Costa Rica’s National Park system began in the 1960’s and today there are 35 parks covering 15% of the country.
Costa Rica used to be known principally as a producer of bananas and coffee. Even though coffee, bananas, pineapples, sugar, wood products and beef are still important exports, in recent times electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica's economy.
We left Playa del Coco and steered Genesis to Marina Papagayo so we could begin a tour inland.
We rented a car and off we went to see waterfalls, fumaroles, tepid springs, steaming mud pits, and volcanoes in Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja.
The park is reached by poor roads and we managed to take the backside road. This however proved to be an education opportunity. The road looked like we were traveling through a natural limestone area. We later found out that this area was actually the result of a volcano explosion in Nicaragua 1000’s of years ago and we were actually traveling on volcanic ash. The area around was not fertile and looked like a bomb had hit.
We arrived at the east end of the park which was not where we wanted to be and the road that cut through the park has now been closed by the owner, changing our plans drastically. We decided to have lunch at the Rinconcito Lodge. www.rinconcitolodge.com
Rinconcito Lodge is set in the middle of beautifully landscapes grounds, close to rainforests and mountainous terrain. Rinconcito Lodge, once lush farm land, is now an ecotourism site. The cabins are attractive and rustic. The scenery awesome. Some farm activities still take place at

the Lodge and the animals are part of the adventure

at this venue. The staff bent over backwards to make our stay memorable.
After lunch we were off on a 6 km. hike to the hot springs which was very refreshing. We wandered along to see a waterfall but chose not to climb down under it as it could be an accident waiting to happen with me sometimes being a klutz. The hike overall was quite enjoyable as we had not done any hiking in quite sometime. It was not a difficult hike, fairly flat. What became the biggest thrill was a herd of Wild Boars that had come to the river to drink. We managed to get a few pictures before they were scared off. Luckily they ran away not towards us. The guide said that it was the first time he had seen the boars.
Our next thrill was to see a Toucan. He is living in the wild but at a home. He had been injured and fixed up by this family and when released decided he wanted to stay. He stays his distance but does not fly away when you want to take his picture.
The following day we headed towards Parque Nacional Volcan Poas. This took us through the central valley and highlands. The country is trying to go green with its energy wind farms appearing in the very windy mountains. We went higher and higher into the mountain range. Costa Rica has six active volcanoes and over 100 volcanic craters scattered throughout the country. Volcan Poas is one of the active volcanoes and it is reached by travelling 37km on a very winding road. The views were remarkable. Unfortunately it was late in the afternoon when we finally reached our destination and the cloud coverage would not allow us to see anything, so down the hill we went to get a hotel room close to the airport. This adventure will have to be made on a different day.
The following morning before we took Janet and Gerry to the airport we visited The Butterfly Farm.
This one hour informative tour was extremely interesting. Costa Rica has over 13,000 species of butterflies and moths. We were informed that each species has its own host tree and vegetation that it uses to provide it with the necessities of its life.
We went through the stages of a butterfly. Witnessing butterflies taking their first steps. I would recommend that if you are ever near a butterfly farm go and see what happens at these farms. Costa Rica exports its butterflies all over the world.
Well we said goodbye to Janet and Gerry, and today will pick up our next guests The Bowers from Vancouver.

The Hot Springs

2010-01-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

Unofficially in Costa Rica
We have now been in Costa Rica for 9 days and yet to have full tourist status.
Since beginning this journey, we have followed the wisdom of those that have gone before us. We have found that guide books are just GUIDES. It is the opinion of the authors at the time they visited the area, if they even visited the area. Boaters also have their opinions based on their own experiences. Sometimes you are told to skip a bay because our fellow boater found it too bumpy; too buggy etc, only to find when you get there it is one of the best bays you have visited. Ken and I have decided along time ago that we will make our own evaluations, and keep an open mind.
The first week was spent in Bahia Santa Elena. In the guide books this bay is described as the most beautiful bay in Costa Rica. The bay is well protected from the winds. The natural scenery and wildlife are the reasons people visit here. You can hear the Howler monkeys, see whales, scarlet macaws etc, etc. Well we heard the HOWLING winds. For 7 days we were boat bound. We sustained winds of 20 – 35 knots with gusts 50 and occasionally 60 knots. Luckily there was no fetch so the waves were just wavelets. It did sound like a freight train running through the boat at times. It was a weird sensation, you first heard the winds coming through the jungle hitting the water then reaching the boat. It came in gusts, not a constant wind. The only damage was some stitching on the bimini zippers that will have to be fixed when we find a canvas guy in our travels.
Time was passed by the crew sleeping and playing Mexican Train. The boat became cramped with the time having to be spent inside due to the strong winds. We all came out of it unscaved. Still talking to each other.
We anticipated the weather to be bad as we went around Cape Santa Elena however I think someone above maybe thought we had enough wind for awhile. The seas were tranquil and wonderful.
We are now anchored in Playa del Coco (Coconut Beach) which is the bay on the outside of Bahia Culebra (Bay of Snakes). This bay is rightfully named. Sea snakes there are and I am not going swimming off the boat here. Watching them from the boat is as close as I want to get to them.
We are being ferried by panga into the beach by a family that has managed to keep their home on the beach not giving in to tourism.
We arrived on Friday at 1400 hrs. We quickly changed into our Sunday best so we could make our mandatory visit to the Port Captain; only to find out that we could not get the Customs out the same day and as it was a weekend they would be closed. This would change our check in procedures slightly. We went to immigration and checked in receiving the much needed paper to ensure we won’t get arrested. On Monday a trip by bus into Liberia to report to customs, then return to the Port Captains office with the paper work from customs and immigration will have to be made. We are allowed to go into the land but we are not to take the boat out of the bay.
Playa del Coco is a beautiful horseshoe shaped beach with steep hills and impressive cliffs dotted with upscale resorts. We have met many Canadian here. We find it rather ironic that people of Central America think all Canadians speak French because of the strong Quebec presence here. We are doing our best to set things straight. The fact is that there are more Chinese. East Indians, etc. than French in our country.
We will be moving to the marina on Tuesday so that we can travel inland to visit the jungle and see how the people of this country live, not how the tourists recreate.

2010-01-10T12:51:00.001-08:00

ERROR of Judgement

We spent a wonderful month in Nicaragua and KNOW we will be back. The people again make this country. They are a proud people and have to work very hard just for survival. A very large portion of the population is not educated thanks to the wars from the 70's until the 90's. There is now free education for the country and hopefully this will help them realize their full potential. Let's hope other countries STAY OUT of their politics and let them do what is best for them, if they want to help let it be through programs with no political strings attached. We actually went to look at some property while here and who knows the potential to help teach English, fire department work and orphanages are all possibilities in the future. We had the privilege to meet one of the sons, whose family owns most things in Nicaragua. He is a very down to earth person. We talk to him about things within the country that are in need of volunteers, it would be an honour to help. Who knows, we still have much travelling to do.
We would like to thank Robert and his wonderful staff at Puesta del Sol for a month we will never forget.
We checked our sources for weather and determined Fri was the day to leave as the Papagayo winds were picking up Saturday and Sunday.
Papagayo winds are unusually gusty and they can turn on and off in an instant. In the sailing directions they are referred to as the dangerous north winds known locally as Norteros. They are gap winds. Predicting the Papagayos usually isn't difficult, although they can start up earlier than expected. The winds are generated by the high pressure system sitting in the Caribbean. At the same time the Tehuantepec is usually also blowing hard.
As we traveled south the winds began to pick up, we moved closer inland to within 1 - 1 ½ miles. We decided with a short weather window we would go straight to Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica in 24 hrs with no stopping.
Closer to the land the winds were still there but the waves were almost non existent. Gerry had caught a bug and was not feeling great so we sedated him. He slept pretty much the whole day and night.
The winds were now picking up with gusts from 15 - 25 knots. We changed our cruising plans to follow the shore. As night came on we got into our three hour shifts and started to have 30 - 45 knot winds. The papagayo winds are very strange. There will be 5 minutes with no wind then all of a sudden a 30 -60 sec gust of wind. Close to shore I am still surprised at how little wave action there was, making for a comfortable ride just noisy and cool.
There was no moon again so spotting the hundreds of fishermen was quite a challenge. During one of Ken's shifts he went over a net but it did not get caught in the props. However, the biggest challenge was travelling outside the 2 mile range to be out of the fishermen's way. Waves were much larger as you ventured out; needless to say we tried very hard to stay within the close range of shore, only venturing out for rocks, reefs and the odd fishing net. The gusts were happening more frequently and at higher knots; as we approached San Jan del Sur the waves now where a bit choppy. 0500 hr both Ken and I were navigating the water and analyzing the waves. At 0600 hr they started to calm down and that is when I made the decision that the seas were now flat and it was only 2 hrs until we would be in Santa Elena crossing Bahia de Salinas. ERROR, ERROR, ERROR
All the books and guides say if there is a Papagayo blowing hug the shore and follow into Bahia de Salinas DO NOT cross the bay. Well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We scared the crew! Baptism by fire; Gerry will have something to talk about for some time.
The waves started out benign increasing instantly (no return point) to Easterly 45 knots 10 foot on 5 seconds. The swell was Southerly 6 - 8 feet on 10 seconds. You boaters know what that means. CRAP. Those non boaters, not a place you want to be.
We arrived to Bahia Santa Elena in Costa Rica. It is a beautiful bay inside a National Park. It is protected from most directions of wind. You receive the gusts but there is no swell or waves making it a very safe and comfortable anchorage to wait out the storm. It is a bit windy but that just cools things down somewhat. It is looking like we will be here for almost a week. Time to relax.
This is being sent over the SSB radio. I will change the format when I have internet.

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2010-01-07T07:24:00.004-08:00

Cathedral in Leon

What One Can Do in a Week

We had to take Alanna back to Managua to catch her flight but we had not finished exploring yet. How much can you fit into 10 days including having a family Christmas?
When we visited Granada we had been told that Leon was a must see; as it was the opposite in pretty much everything. Granada has the conservative, Leon the liberal.
These two cities have been opposed to each other since the beginning, sharing the title of Country Capital until it was moved to the present day Managua.
The city of León is located about 100 km from Managua and can be easily reached by the new highway. The City of Leon was originally founded by the Spanish in 1524. This city however, was threatened by the erupting Momotombo volcano in 1610 and its citizens decided to leave, to the location where it is today.
León was already a well-established city when it was attacked by pirates in 1685. The cathedral, a school, a hospital, and several churches and colonial houses were burned to ashes. The pirates left a ruined city behind them.
The Sandinista-movement was started in the area; which emerged mostly from the students who studied at the University of León. It is one of the first universities in Central America. There are still many related museums and monuments to be found in the city.
We stayed at a beautiful hotel on the main highway. Unfortunately our view of Leon was not favourable. We found the city to be very dirty and run down compared to most places we have visited. It is still worth checking out. There are many activities to pursue involving the volcano area like snowboarding, hot springs and much more but we didn’t have the time as we had to carry on to Managua.
We returned to the same hotel in Managua New Year’s Eve. Alanna wanted to do a little shopping for art or something for her new apartment from Nicaragua. We read that Masaya had a very large Artisan Market so off we went by taxi.
Masaya and its historical neighborhood Monimbó were the center of the most important indigenous tribe, the Dirianes. During the colonization, the Spanish founded a small village on these fertile lands. This village became more and more important as time went by and in 1839 it received the status of City of Masaya. The differences between the two cultures resulted in a colored and friendly city, where there are still strong expressions of traditions.
One of the most interesting attractions in the city of Masaya itself is the old cultural market. This market houses a variety of little shops where artisans, furniture, shoes, hammocks, clothes, musical instruments, and many other types of products are sold. This is a perfect place to get some Nicaraguan souvenirs. The market is housed in the original Mercado building from the 1500’s.
I now have a couple more pieces for the boat as well.
We wanted to take Alanna to a restaurant we had found within walking distance for New Years Eve. NOTHING was open. We hailed a taxi and drove all around Managua. We finally found an open restaurant which proved to be beautiful and very expensive. I would imagine the clientele would be the politicians or the very influential.
The saying “New Years Came in With a Bang” must have been invented here in Nicaragua as at precisely midnight for one hour I thought we were in the middle of a civil war. The whole city was celebrating with a bang. Fireworks everywhere.
The following morning we took Alanna to the airport and bid her farewell and welcomed our next guests. Janet and Gerry, our sister and brother in law from Pitt Meadows (Vancouver) will be staying with us for 3 weeks traveling inland and cruising to Costa Rica.
Our first destination would be to take them to Masaya as we had been quite impressed. It would be a good way to introduce them into the Central American lifestyle without to much of a shock. That evening we decided to give the government a bit of our money in the form of gambling. We found a clean casino and played the typical American slot machines. The difference however was that the quarter slots cost more like a penny. We played for hours only spending about $20.00.
We returned to the boat but for only a night and to ditch the suitcases and to repack lighter to head up North into the mountainous region just south of Honduras. This area is much cooler than the Coastal lowlands.
We started the ride by catching the chicken bus. I think a record of how many on one bus could have been broken. We then took a collective van made for 17 with 21 to the town of Leon where we were to catch another express bus only to find out there wasn’t one, so we rented a taxi.
Matagalpa is the coffee capital of Nicaragua. It is 682m above sea level. It is surrounded by mountains and is a bustling prospering town. The Germans came here many years ago and its influences are still apparent. It is not uncommon to see Nicaraguans with blonde like hair.
Matagalpa makes a good destination to go explore the coffee fincas (farms) and cocao farms.
Most local plantation owners on Nicaragua run cooperatives that pay them for their yield. The village we visited had a population of 285 persons with 25 homes.
Coffee season runs from October to January sometimes until February. The other months the cooperatives plant corn, beans, and other sustainable crops.
The coffee is usually wet-milled at the farm and dried on patios down to 12-13% moisture content and deliver it to the mill wet. The further drying takes place at a central mill. These mills were in the city of Matagalpa and the surrounding area. Farmers on Nicaragua property have learnt that care and attention to detail will produce better coffee. Since 2000, the quality of coffee produced on Nicaragua property and farms is judged at the annual Cup of Excellence contest held in partnership with Asociacion Cafes Especiales de Nicaragua.
The coffees in Nicaragua have a sweet flavor and rich aroma and the contest helps to identify the best coffee produced in the country and make these available to top specialty roasters worldwide. The unique top quality coffee beans selected as the top ten winners are auctioned to the highest bidder at significant premiums. Buyers from the United States, Europe and Japan bid on the top coffees.

Inside of a Cocao Bean

Another cash crop that this particular cooperative yields is the cocoa plants. Chocolate is now demanding $3800/ton for the beans. I was quite surprise to see how cocoa grows.
To the Aztec people cocoa was a spiritual product that brought them wisdom and strength. To the people now living in the area it is a new crop that could help in a better lifestyle.
We visited a chocolate factory in Matagalpa called the El Castillo del Cocao. It makes the best chocolate in Nicaragua using organic cacao harvested just two hours away from the small factory. Roasted and processed in a traditional manner, they mix the fine cacao with sugar, a variety of nuts and dried fruits to make an excellent selection of Bonbons and Chocolate Bars. As an environmentally conscious business they aim for 100% organic ingredients and international certification of authenticity for all their products. This was a very interesting and informative tour.
The trip back to the boat started at 0515 in the morning. First was a taxi to the bus station, then a chicken bus to Leon (not crowded), a bicycle taxi, another chicken bus (complete with flat tire) then another taxi. We arrived at the boat at 1230. Not bad for the distance we travelled.
We are busy getting the boat and ourselves ready for the next phase. Moving on to Costa Rica. The Papagallo winds are still blowing, but tomorrow seems like the best time to leave. The next blog will be through sailmail as we hope to be anchored in a nice quiet bay.
Toto fortify them on military campaigns.

2009-12-26T15:47:00.007-08:00

Water Falls We Hiked

Nicaragua is a country with many contrasts.
While driving down the main highways you will share the road with people walking, chicken buses, luxury buses, horse drawn carts carrying people and supplies, bikes, scooters, motorcycles, cars, oh yes cows, pigs, chickens, goats, dogs and occasionally something you might not know what it is.
Nicaragua has widespread unemployment and 48% of its people live below the poverty line. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal in the world. Rolling blackouts are the norm here and generally they happen daily if not every other day.
The people however carry on. By observation much of their day is spent doing the necessary things to survive. Collecting wood for their fires for cooking, washing clothes in the rivers or lakes, cleaning their yards and floors (dirt ) continually. We watched children swimming in the lake but this were not just for fun it had a duel purpose. They were fishing for dinner. Families generally have chickens, horses, dogs and cats. None are pets. Horses are used as transportation, working the fields, carting things, lawn mowers and fertilizer. Chickens are for eggs, reproducing and consumption. Dogs are for protection. Cats do not get fed, thus they will mouse or get rid of unwanted insects. Others are lucky they have pigs or cattle. The community has a barter system that works for them. One will do something or trade something for something else. The land is very fertile so fresh fruit and vegetables are not a problem.

Christmas is celebrated like North America for the Upper Middle and Upper Class. Very much commercialized. However the majority of Nicaraguans celebrate Christmas in the same traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. The process was explained to us by Jamie who you will read about later.
The last month of the year is full of parties, happiness, family traditions, and religion. Massive processions take place all over the country. An inevitable and popular aspect is the gunpowder used in fireworks and firecrackers that loudly accompany the Nicaraguan celebrations.
Imagine ‘La Purísima’ like this: a richly decorated altar is placed in a corner of a family house, with a statue of the Virgin Mary‘s image. In front of this altar, a lot of chairs are arranged, that will be occupied by family members, friends, and neighbors invited by the house owners to celebrate its ‘Purísima’. Once all the guests arrive, the celebration starts with prayers to the virgin, but these are alternated with traditional songs. All the assistants accompany with whistles, tambourines and other instruments. While this takes place inside the house, outside some family members fire rockets and the so called ‘caraga cerrada’, (firecrackers) that contribute to a lot of boisterous celebration. Meanwhile the singings and prayers take place, the host distributes to his/her guests fruits, traditional sweets, caramels, traditional drinks, sugar-cane and many other gifts. Generally the more the family has the more they give, however it is not a contest and is not observed that way.
‘La Purísima’ is a celebration to the ‘purest conception of Virgin Mary’, taking place on December 8th, according to the Catholic calendar. ‘La Purísima’ is a tradition celebrated in all parts of Nicaragua by thousands of Nicaraguan families. These celebrations take place from the end of November and during almost all of December.
‘Purísimas’ are made for devotion or for gratitude to miracles that persons attribute to Virgin Mary. The families, or a couple of members of a family, realize a "novenario" of prayers to the Virgin lasting nine days. Sometimes, the first eight days the prayers are private, but the ninth one is celebrated as described previously, but every family puts a little of their own style. It is interesting how each family inherits the image of the Virgin from their ancestors; some of these images have been in the same family over a century. Some of the churches have the Virgin Mary to go! The statue is taken to the home where the Purisima will be then after the celebration will be returned to the church where the next family will bring it to their home.
The families celebrate Christmas on the 24th. The small villages with all the families get together for church, dancing, singing and fireworks. The official meal is not eaten until midnight.
The traditional food is the Nactamale. Nacatamales are a dough which is prepared with ground corn and butter. This is then filled up with small pieces of pork or chicken, rice, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper (all in slices). This mixture is packed in leaves of plantain trees (not edible), tightened with a small thread, that makes it look like a tiny pillow. It is then cooked inside the leaves and boiled during five hours. They are very tasty. Somewhat bland but one fills you up.

This week has been busy. After picking Alanna up we ventured further inland to partake in what Nicaragua has to offer. Our first stop was the City of Granada.
Granada is located on Lago Nicaragua. (Lake Nicaragua) It was founded in 1524. The colonial style homes are painted in bright colours, showing off their architecture. Tourism has had a significant role here. We took a horse drawn tour of the city but unfortunately most things were closed being that we arrived on a Sunday. The following morning we were able to explore a bit more. Alanna found a dress for her birthday, and a woven cloth for a Christmas present. I found a bright coloured painting depicting Granada which will adorn a wall on The Genesis.
That afternoon we caught a 3 hr ferry over to the Island of Ometepe. By the time we arrived it was dark so we opted for a mid island accommodation. Casa Hotel Istiam. This accommodation cost $8.00 per person. Alanna’s room was ok. Ours was, well different. I needed to relieve myself, and as I stood up something was swimming in the toilet. A small frog. We fished him out and let him survive. Next it was a Mexican Hat dance with a few cockroaches. That night I slept with the sheet over my head as to not hear the mosquitoes that were doing aerial maneuvers above us. Ken at one point in the evening got up to put on "OFF". This hotel however had excellent food, inexpensively. They did not have a cake however to celebrate Alanna’s birthday.
The following morning we boarded the chicken bus to go further into the Island in the small Village of Merida. Luckily the first place we stopped at was full. They graciously phoned our other choice which was a wonderful find.
To just back up a little; Isla Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of a lake. It is still very unspoiled and the people live the way their ancestors had. The 2 volcanoes are Concepcion which rises 1610 m above the lake and Mederas at 1394m. The island includes Howler monkeys, green parrots, blue tail birds and numerous of different colour butterflies. The island is great for the outdoor enthusiast, so the general age of the tourists seems to be about Alanna’s age.

We arrived at La Omaja where we shared a cabana. This is a very attractive hillside hotel with excellent cabins and fabulous views. The restaurant was fabulous, but what truly makes this place is its owners and staff.
The owner, Jamie was a lawyer who practiced law for 8 yrs in Omaha Nebraska. He had I guess, maybe a crises or a need to travel and arrived on this island taking Spanish lessons, then helping out in the orphanage. He fell in love, both with the country and his soon to be wife. He explains it that his parents thought he had lost it. All that schooling for what?
An opportunity arose to buy this piece of property from a local that needed the money. Well he sold what he had back in the States and now has the most wonderful piece of paradise on the island, a wife – Roxanne and two wonderful boys, Christopher and Aces. I sure believe he made the right choice.
Upon our arrival Jamie drove us to the hiking trail of la Casada de San Ramon. ( San Ramon Waterfalls) This was a 3 hr hike up to the falls. I now know what my New Year’s Resolution will be. No more drinking, restaurants, and a fitness plan! Out of shape is an understatement. We all made it up to a rewarding cool falls. Going down was much easier. On our trip home we mentioned that we still wanted to try the Nicaraguan Nactamale and in passing that it was Alanna’s birthday.
The following day Alanna was taken by a tour guide up to hike Volcan Maderas. It is an 8 hr, very difficult hike. The crater at the top has a lake but she said you would have to climb down into it so it wasn’t worth the extra four hours. That evening for dinner we were treated to the traditional dinner and Jamie had brought a women in to especially make Alanna a birthday cake. The Nicaraguan birthday song was sung to her then the Canadian version. I must admit I enjoyed theirs more. What a wonderful and thoughtful gesture.
If you want to stay at a wonderful place with wonderful people, learn some Spanish, volunteer, check out Jamie’s web page at http://www.laomaja.com/ . It was definitely well worth the visit.
The next morning Jamie had arranged for a taxi driver to pick us up from the ferry and drive us direct to Chenendaga. This would be a 4 hr drive. By bus it would take us all day and we possibly couldn’t have made it back to the boat, as it was Christmas Eve. We made it back and had a lovely dinner at the resort restaurant. We are the only boat in the marina so this Christmas is being spent together just as a family, missing RJ. We hope everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas.

2009-12-21T07:19:00.005-08:00

Traditional Dances

Nicaragua
Our home for the next 3 -4 weeks in Puesta del Sol. Nestled in a beautiful azure lagoon on the pristine north Pacific coast of Nicaragua, this 600 acre picturesque resort offers the luxury and amenities befitting a world class hotel while retaining the “off the beaten path” exclusivity of a remote paradise. Unfortunately the recession is here and the tourism is down to about 1%. We were the only guests at the resort enjoying this wonderful place. Robert the owner has spent much time with us explaining the politics and much more to us about this wonderful country we are exploring.
Nicaragua takes its name from Nicarao, chief of the indigenous tribe then living around present-day Lake Nicaragua. A friendly and peaceful country that at times, received an undue share of negative press, Nicaragua is really one of the safest places to visit in Central America. With more than a decade of political stability, this democracy has moved steadily forward, leaving behind the war-torn ‘80’s, remembered as one more chapter in it’s turbulent past.
The nickname “land of lakes and volcanoes” describes this beautiful and fascinating country well. Two great lakes, Xolotlán (Lake Managua) and Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua) occupy roughly 10 percent of the countries surface area, and are the largest in Central America. Running nearly parallel to the pacific coast is a chain of 58 volcanoes, six of which are active. The country also boasts the longest rivers, vast coastal lagoons, and hundreds of miles of sea coast. As the largest and lowest Central American country, Nicaragua is essentially an emerging “land bridge” between Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Centrally located between North and South America, Nicaragua has benefited from the astonishing blend of flora and fauna from the two continents.

We set out for the town Chinandega on the chicken bus. Remember in the 70´s when there was contests on how many people you could fit in a in a Volkswagon Beetle? Well we had 103 in a school bus for 1 ½ hours. The department [Province or State} of Chinandega is characterized by spectacular scenery, beautiful beaches, and a multitude of relatively unexplored attractions. The department features Nicaragua’s highest volcano, the San Cristóbal, among several other magnificent volcanoes. Pristine beaches, historical towns, estuaries filled with mangrove forest, and some of Nicaragua’s finest churches can all be found in this department. The main city of the department, also called Chinandega. Nowadays, the city is an active commercial center where all types of mostly agricultural products from the region are traded. The city’s good connection with the port of Corinto and the city of León make Chinandega an important hub in the area. Large trucks carrying gasoline or sugar canes are a common sight. Within the city, however, pedestrians and cyclists rule the streets. Tourism is not really very big here.
We returned to the boat to get it ready for Christmas. The lights are on the boat and the decorations are out. It is really hard to believe it is Christmas with temperatures in the 90s.
Robert the owner of Puesta del Sol was going into Managua to catch a flight so he so generously offered us a ride into the City. He so graciously bought us lunch at one of the many steak houses in Managua. We were surprised to learn that Nicaragua exports its beef to most Central American countries and some South American countries. It is every bit as good as Alberta beef. The animals are fed pretty much the same diet as at home. In fact the land is very fertile here.

Alanna arrived right on time and we are busy traveling around the south of Nicaragua. I have lots to write about in the next blog along with pictures. As I am at a internet café I will stop the blog here and continue when we get back to the boat. As I write this Alanna is hiking a volcano for 8 hrs. She will see monkeys, and many bird species. Nicaragua again is a must see country. Awesome.Ken, Alanna and I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas

2009-12-12T15:39:00.003-08:00

El Salvador; a Place We Want to Go Back To

Our week stay was much to short. We crammed as much into a week as one possibly could. Knowing we needed to be in Nicaragua for Christmas pushed us out of a place you could spend years in.
We stayed at Bahia del Sol, an RCI all inclusive Hotel and Marina. The service was truly magnificent. We met many new friends both boaters and other guests.
We hired Miguel and Martin to tour us around El Salvador. We were joined by Martin’s son Jonathon and Lucien a guest we met by the pool from, Vancouver. Our gracious hosts racked up the miles.
The tour began with the “Ruta de Las Flores” (Route of the flowers). Unfortunately the blossoms of the coffee plants had finished in November. We however were far from disappointed. This is a pleasant route from Sonsonate to Achuachpan that includes five destinations full of cultural traditions, history, archeological sites and natural attractions, cooler climate and gorgeous scenery. The five towns: Apaneca, Juayua, Ataco, Nahuizalco and Salcoatitan, located in the mountain range Ilamatepec - Apaneca have been named the Flower Trail due to the nice crispy weather and amazing floral scenery. The trail will take you through two departments (States/Provinces) in the western part of El Salvador: Sonsonate and Ahuachapan
Nahulzalco was founded by four families from Izalco. It is a town of Indigenous tradition which main attractions are the night markets and the crafts. The wood work was beautiful and the pottery unique. We purchased ceramic butterflies to hang in Genesis to represent El Salvador, and maracas for future music ho-downs.

Salcoatitan is a small coffee production town; its main attraction is the colonial church in front of the town square. They get three coffee crops a year. Salcoatitan was the first place in El Salvador where coffee bushes were planted in the 1860s. Salcoatitan is also well known for its many handicraft stores, even though relatively few people stop on their way.

Juayua, which means river of purple orchids in Nahuatl, is located at 1060 meters above sea level. Juayua is a city that has become so popular over the last few years and most of it is probably due in part to its many small hotels and the food festival held every weekend for the last 13 years. In Juayua you can also practice many eco-tourist activities such as hiking the Chorros de la Calera, a natural waterfall located at approximately 2 kilometers from the city center, was attempted by us but the road had been washed out and we had a difficult time getting to it. The Black Christ Church (Iglesia Del Cristo Negro) is a Catholic church built more than 500 years ago where the image of a Black Christ is solemnly venerated here as well as in the city of Esquípulas in Guatemala. The church has been rebuilt three times in the past. The Black Christ is erected at the head of the church and is carved from ironwood.

Apaneca is the highest located city in El Salvador. This is a place where some of the best and award winning coffees are produced due to its height. We have bought some and are enjoying in immensely. The city welcomes visitors with picturesque tile roofed homes and astonishing views of the mountains and hills. Apaneca means "the river of winds", and the city pays respect to the meaning of its name. Along the mountain range you can see many wind barriers made from coffee bushes which add an additional beauty to the panoramic views. Many of the berries were red and ripe adding to the colour. February is the main month for harvesting.
We ventured to Laguna Verde" (green lagoon) one of the most popular places visited in the area. This lake is a naturally spring fed. It is in a cone of a volcano. We hiked around the lake with a park employee and learnt much about the vegetation. Due to the altitude they actually have peach and wild banana trees. The water itself is piped down the volcano to the town of Apaneca. The church of Apaneca used to maintain the original structure, but unfortunately was demolished and built all over again only to have to be redone again, due to the damage done in the year 2001 earthquake and most recently by a seismic wave that originated in the Apaneca region. It was closed and services were being attended in the court yard.
We wanted to find a hotel with a pool so that we could treat Martin, Jonathon, and Miguel. We were in the mountains and it was cool. I had to put on a jacket and there was no way Ken, I or Lucien were going in the pool. The others spent hours enjoying themselves. It was a great place to stop for the evening.
The following day we headed out to do the “Ruta Arqueologica” (Archaeological Route). This route leads you to the main archaeological sites of El Salvador which are part of the Mayan World and surpluses of the colonial time. Civilizations such as the Maya, Pipil and Lenca, settled on this land where there are still remains of their ceremonial centers such as:
Joya de Cerén: Located in the Department of La Libertad, just 30 minutes
from the capital, it was declared Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in
1993. There you can see the daily life of the native dwellers that was
interrupted by the eruption of Loma Caldera Volcano around 600 AD. Joya
de Cerén has 18 edifices, ten of which have been excavated to reveal
corridors, doors, benches, steam-baths, corn fields, and vegetable gardens.
Apparently at the time of the volcanic eruption the inhabitants left their
belongings and dropped everything, even the meals that had been cooking
on the fire, to flee. Everything had been preserved by 10 layers of ash that
covered it all for over 1,400 years, until its discovery in 1976. One of the dwellings was a wealthy inhabitant with the multifamily dwellings around it. The witch doctors dwelling was still intact. They know there is more to uncover but until they can find a scientific way to preserve the clay they are leaving it buried.
San Andrés was the regional focal point for government, ceremonials, and administration from 600 to 900 AD. There is also a colonial-period indigo manufactory that was buried under by the “Playón”
Volcano’s 1658 AD. Eruption. The series of important findings at this site also include
a religious scepter made of flint .The complex spans approximately 35 hectares, and is
one of El Salvador’s largest pre-Hispanic centers. The museum attached was very interesting.
Chalchuapa, some 79 km from San Salvador, Chalchuapa is the largest archeological area in the country. In Chalchuapa there are archeological sites like Tazumal, Casa Blanca, Trapiche, Pampe and Las Victorias.
Tazumal, 80 km from San Salvador, was first noted in 1892 and was formally registered in 1940. Human settlement of Tazumal began in 1200 BC. Within the over 24-meter high structure, tombs were found containing over 116 vessels, jade jewelry, pyrite iron mirrors, ball-game artifacts, and lizard shaped ceramic figures.
Casa Blanca I believe was my favourite site. It was the first settlement that dates from 1500 BC. Remains of the fifteenth century náhuatl culture have been found there. There is a museum where four carved stones are on exhibit measuring over a meter tall. Also there is an indigo-dying workshop where visitors can create their own stamped piece, hands-on. The interpreter showed us how the indigo was crushed from the leaves of the plant and made into dye. Talk about a flash back. All of a sudden I remembered doing this very thing with my Aunt when we were both teenagers in my Grandmother’s kitchen. I had forgotten that I even knew how to do this. I believe Lynda had learnt to do it in Art class then passed it on.
The best part of El Salvador was like everywhere else we have been the people: kind, helpful anxious to show the best of their country. The beaches are wonderful, hotels modern, ready to serve.
We stayed an extra day as a special meal was being prepared for Ken and I. Our friends from Canada were invited and we dined on the best food I have tasted in my life. We did a photo op the next day and Martin’s Dish will be the cover of my travel cookbook. The friendship that Ken and I garnered with Miguel and Martin will be cherished forever and I know that we will be back to this place.
Again do not listen to the media, do not be afraid of Central America come help their economy and enjoy the people and countries.

Chef Martin (and our great friend)

2009-12-06T08:33:00.003-08:00

We are actually further south than the red dot. We are located where the blue water appears by the shore. (I couldn't find a map with the actual location)

A Week in Review
(Sounds like a news report)
We threw off the lines and headed out Sunday to start our 3 day 11 hr journey out of Mexico. The weather window could not have been any better. A full week with no wind expected. A full moon. As luck or (good planning) would have it the trip was non-eventful. It was such a pleasure to be guided over the water with a full moon lighting the way. We entered Guatemala around 1230 in the afternoon, thus we transited most during the evening and some into the next morning. The fishermen here have a very unique and wonderful system. They have their nets attached to poles that have flags and at night flashing strobe lights. Red and green; thus allowing you to know where to pass. The fishermen themselves have a flashing white strobe to indicate where they are floating. I seem to have the shift that transited through the Guatemala fishing fleet. I was happy to see the lights and the full moon helped tremendously.
We were just having breakfast when we were approaching the Guatemala / El Salvador border. The Guatemalan Navy came close, checked us out but never boarded us. Thankful not to have to stop we continued onwards. The coast here is wonderful, green lush forest of various types of trees. We had the current pushing us and it looked like we would make it for the right time to cross the bar at a high slack tide. Unfortunately we were out by an hour. We had to anchor out in the open. No problem! We had a calm night with small swells and just enough breeze to keep us pointed in the right direction to keep the boat from rocking.
Twenty-three hours later we were crossing the bar into the most gorgeous estuary. We met our pilot at the point required and followed the seadoo over the bar. Surfing. Great fun.
The description of this place would be WOW! We awake to the back drop of two volcanoes, very lush vegetation and wild parrots. Colourful parrots, doves cooing ever so loudly but NO DISCOS, tranquil and quiet.
We have befriended the cook and food and bar manager. (Seems to be a trend with us) Maybe it’s the cookbook of our travels we plan to write that draw us to these people. Anyways, we have hired them to take us around El Salvador on Monday and Tuesday. They can use the extra money and it is less than a tour and we will learn through the eyes of the people that live here.
Last night we learnt a little about the history and politics of El Salvador.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It has the third largest economy, but growth has been minimal in recent years.
The people seem to be genuinely happy with the new President as he is trying to make life easier for the people; starting with the future, the children. Education has becoming a high priority. It has however a long ways to go as it is expensive to equip a child with uniforms and books. The average wage is $1.00 per hour. It was explained to us that when El Salvador took the US dollar in 2001 as its money, the people suffered. They have not yet caught up to the standard of living that they had before.
Money sent home from El Salvadorians that live abroad is creating a boom in everything from commerce to construction. New resorts are popping up along the coast with families returning home. Crime is prevalent but in the seedy tough neighborhoods. No different than any city in the US or Canada.
El Salvador has emerged from a decade long civil war, and various natural disasters. They had war, two major hurricanes and some earthquakes but the people are resilient. The US government pumped millions of dollars into the Salvadoran military when in 1985 it was concerned with the Nicaraguan social revolution. (Regan’s era)
The influence of the US is very apparent. No comment on how it is perceived. I am sure you can guess.
We met a Canadian couple and boarded a chicken bus to go to the nearby town of Zacatecaluca “Zacate” to the locals. This meant taking a bus to a stop, walking up over a hill over to another highway, catching a bus with actual chickens in ladies hand bags to the town. Once we were at the town we got off and proceeded to head to the local market. Always interesting. El Salvador has a national dish called Pupusas. This food is made by filling a mesa ball with beans, cheese, chicken, pork or fish then carefully shaping it into a tortilla. It is grilled and served with tomato sauce and cabbage. The cost for 4 of these and four bottles of pop was $3.00. It was a meal for the four of us.
The way back was the reverse. As we were ready to get off the bus, I notice the lady directly across from me bent over and she was either having a miscarriage or a baby. Tears were streaming from her. I asked if she needed a doctor. (In Spanish) I wanted to get a taxi for her but there was no way to call for one. She would have to climb onto another bus to get to the hospital. I felt helpless. A male was helping her stand and get to where she needed to be but it was frustrating to not be able to help.
The music on the bus, you guessed it Disco. I now just have to chuckle when I hear disco. I guess it will never die.
I now have a lot of editing to do with pictures, stay attuned for them on the blog in the photo albums within the next few weeks.

2009-11-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

Adios a Mexico

We have spent 13 months in Mexico, traveled 4800 nautical miles on her waters.
Mexico consists of 31 States and the DF. We visited 15 of them by car, train, bus, and boat. We plan on visiting many more when we enter the Gulf of Mexico in a few years.
The world news (American and Canadian mostly) has done a great injustice to this country, painting it as a lawless society. A tourist destination to be avoided due to violence, drugs and of course the LAZY Mexican. They work 6 days a week at a daily wage that is less then our hourly wages. We are here to say that this is the furthest from the truth. Make Mexico Your Tourist Destination. Much news is made about the people trying to get North to the Great Promise Land. As a Mexican said to us if they opened the border we probably wouldn’t go there. Mexico is no longer a third world nation; it is struggling with low wages and an influx of something I believe to be even more damaging to their society. The BIG BOX Stores.
This nation was set up with the towns surrounding the town squares. Generally the church was at the head, the government or municipal buildings at the side and shopping. In the area would be the Mercado. The large building holds the stalls for the fresh food and clothing to be sold and purchased. The businesses owned by Mom, Pop and the kids learning the value of hard work. Lining the streets, store fronts with homes behind. A living where everyone smiles, greets and visits. The super grocery store; Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club are eroding the fiber that make up this unique system. They are large, sterile, uncaring places that employ 1 person for every family that has to close their business or live on much less. The fruits and vegetables are gassed to be ripened versus the freshly grown market. Us North American’s look at hanging chickens and meats and turn up our noses, after all it could not be safe to eat. Everywhere else in the world it is done this way, our whose system is wrong. Just look at the deaths caused in Canada by listeria.
To explore Mexico is to kayak its lagoons, walk through tropical rainforests and along tropical beaches, traverse deserts and gaze at volcanoes, walk on Colonial cobble streets, learn about the indigenes’ ways of life and experience some resort living, visit Mayan and Aztec ruins from centuries past. To learn about Mexico is to listen to the Mexicans tell their history, explain their customs and festivals. What makes Mexico? It is the people; a hard working, caring society that put family, church and friends first. Their homes are open to you if you give them a chance. It is the people of Mexico we will cherish; from the pangareos that took us inland to fix a starter, the women who stopped me every morning in Guaymas to chat, families that shared their lives with us, all to eager to help with our ongoing Spanish lessons.
Food plays an important role in Mexican lives. Not only does it provide daily nourishment but it is used in ceremonies like the Day of the Dead.
Each area seems to have its own specialties.
The fishing was outstanding. The ocean provided us with many meals. More importantly we observed and learnt about the many different ways fishing is performed along the coast. We never got tired of watching.
There was so much wildlife; butterflies, birds, insects, turtles, whales, whale sharks. However nothing will match the Tail Walking Dolphins.
Sunrises, sunsets, moonrises and moonsets.
Musica, musica, musica. Salsa, romantica, karaoke, mariachi bands, religious, flaminco and good old disco to keep us awake. Some good and some well ………………… Always loud and proud.
Weather played an important role in which direction we travelled. Chubasco, Northerlies, Tropical Depressions, Hurricanes and the Tehuantepec. We had maybe 2 days of rain in the last year and it was only for an hour or two. We have had one season. Summer.
Our plans originally were not to be in Mexico for a full year, but I am glad we took the time explored inland, met the people of real Mexico. Please make Mexico a destination but look beyond the fancy resort or gated community, here lays a beautiful country and people.

2009-11-22T13:00:00.004-08:00

Traditional Aztec Dress

Oaxaca State

Our last destination in Mexico has proved to be one of the most interesting areas we have traveled. The rugged southern state of Oaxaca (wha-ha-ka) is separated by barriers of sparsely populated mountains that have allowed the people to pretty much retain their traditions.
Oaxaca has a large indigenous population, which is the reason behind the fine handcrafts that are everywhere. Fine linens, carvings, paintings and jewelry are just a few of the crafts found here.
Huatulco is Mexico’s newest travel resort area. It is nine bays that have fine white sand beaches and lots of coral to snorkel around. There are family businesses and the large all inclusive hotels.
The history here to the Central Valley where the Zapotec and the Mixtec cultures entangled until the Aztecs conquered them in the 15th and 16 centuries. Today the Mixtec’s and the Zapotecs still exist but in much smaller numbers. Unfortunately this state is one of the poorest in Mexicio and land ownership still remains a source of conflict today. Many Oaxacans leave their homes to work in the cities or the USA.
This week has kept us busy walking daily into the town of La Cruceita.
La Cruceita is the town where the people working in the tourist industry live. It contains the town square, church, many restaurants, inexpensive hotels, grocery stores, banks and the mercardo. We have spent much time sourcing out things. The restaurants are wonderful here.
The cuisine here changes considerably from the cuisine we have experienced in the rest of Mexico. In fact even some of the Mexican words are different here. Good Oaxacan cooking is spicy and delicious. There are 7 different traditional Moles(sauces) that are renowned. The best (in my opinion) is the Mole Negro. This sauce can be made with up to 72 ingredients in it. Some of the ingredients are chilies, bananas, pepper, cinnamon, but the main ingredient; chocolate.
This weekend there was a competition between hotels with foods from the Aztecs. We tried many different things including drinks made from cactus however we could not bring ourselves to try one of the common dishes; chapulines (grasshoppers). They come fried, often with chili powder, onion and garlic.
The salt process is still much maintained. You will find salted fish, pork, and beef. Many of the meals use the salted dishes.
One display showed how many centuries ago, people were on the menu. We asked if now a days they use touristas!
We celebrated Ken’s birthday by being shot. Antonio’s brother, Louis dropped by DHL; picked up the serum then proceeded to pick us up and drove us to the Resort doctor. Dr Andres Gonzalez Ayvar was wonderful enough to give us our Yellow Fever shots. A great way to celebrate a birthday. The only payment the Dr. wants is updates and pictures of our trip. We then graciously were driven around and shown the wonderful area. Louis gave us the history as we went. In the afternoon we went to the Best Western Hotel where the owners have so graciously allowed us to use their pool and internet during our stay here. We had lunch and the owners (3 brothers, Carlos, Ricardo, Hector) each came by to wish Ken a Happy Birthday. When were ready to leave when a Mexican City Harley Davidson motorcyclist broke out in his tenor voice and sung Happy Birthday. All in all it was quite fun. Later in the evening, Louis, his wife Sylvia and son Daniel came to the boat. Fellow Canadian Boaters baked a cake for Ken so we sang Happy Birthday then took Louis and wife for dinner at an authentic Oaxcan restaurant. Needless to say Ken had a lot of birthday. (Actually the next day he would get sung to again!)
The Marina is in the small town Chahue. Around us are the small towns of Santa Cruz, and La Crucecita.
Santa Cruz has the big cruise ships. One day the town’s population could be 1000 and the next day 5000. It is a typical tourist trap. However it has a very safe, nice swimming beach. Chahue has mainly small hotels, restaurants but beautiful parks.
The town of La Cruceita has everything else. We love the town.
Many of our evenings have been spent playing Mexican Train Dominoes with fellow cruisers, eating and having fun. We need to be back out on the water in order to get back in shape.
We missed our weather window to leave (we had to wait for our shots) so it looks like it may be Sat or Sun. We just know it will be when it is safe.

2009-11-18T08:04:00.002-08:00

The Dreaded Tehuantepec and Papagallo’s are Here
The gradually curving northern shoreline of the Gulf of Tehuantepec(tay-WAN-tay-peck)
measures about 275nm, it’s more of a navigational hurdle that boaters must get across in order to proceed into Central America.
At the head of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, we find the narrowest span of land between the Pacific and Atlantic (120 nm). The high mountains stop for approximately 75 miles leaving flat land and a gap for the winds to blow across.
Winds average force 6 (22-27knot) but during the T-Peckers they rise to Force 8 – 9. The winds raise treacherous, short, high seas which can be experience offshore 500 miles.
A Tehuantepec blow begins suddenly and lasts anywhere from a few hours to several days.
The winds are created when an intense continental high pressure over Texas causes strong north winds in the Gulf of Mexico. The higher the high the stronger the resultant winds. Once the wind funnels through the isthmus, it fans out to the southwest on the western shore of the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
There are 2 strategies for transiting, 1- (the one we will do) is to hug the shore at about ½ mile. This is in the lee of the land and you should get only wavelets if the wind kicks up. It will still not be comfortable but it won’t be dangerous. This means that many fisherman will be out if the conditions are favourable so watching for nets will be an issue. 2) Travel 500 miles offshore. (I think not)
Luckily there are many ways to receive weather for this area, and we are hoping for a good weather window around Tuesday.
Once you get through the Tehuantepec, another weather phenomenon known as the Papagallo can occur. These too are gap winds but do not generally get as windy. The driving force for these winds are the Caribbean Trade Winds. These winds can be felt as high as Guatemala but general are more pronounced in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As with the Tehuantepec the tactic is to hug the land.
We have been told that cruise ships have come in that were hit with the winds to have the people kiss the ground. A Canadian couple we met drove their car through the area when a gale was blowing and said they were scared in their car. They had kayaks on the roof and thought the whole roof was going to come off the car.
We have been pretty much been studying this area for the year and feel we are ready. My stomach actually doesn’t even hurt. The weather window will be right or we won’t go.
Now for all the people reading this blog; while we do the dreaded T-Pecker cross your fingers and toes maybe say a prayer or two for all who are travelling around here, not just us.
I have chosen to write this extra blog this week as there will be lots to write about Huatulco.

2009-11-15T14:30:00.005-08:00

We are located on the water below the red dot

Our next passage brought us to Zihuatinajo. This was the destination that RJ and his friend Mike met us back in Feb. and was the furthest south we had travelled. A huge cruise ship was in port so it was a bustling place.
Onward we pushed into new territory. Acapulco would be the next destination. The moon did not make an appearance until 0345 and it was only a quarter moon not giving off much light. Things went smooth. The AIS picked up several cargo ships en-route. Ken had to make an adjustment for one. We were almost 2 miles away from it but the wake woke me up. It was a challenge but “Auto” did his job and kept us heading in the right direction. A note to ourselves: Be More than 2 Miles Away from Big Boats!
We made great time in fact arrived a little too early to enter the bay. We slowed down and watch the sailboat ahead of us drift closer. They also had arrived early and whee just waiting for sunrise. The sight was fabulous, a million lights lit up the mountain side.
As the sun was beginning to rise we headed into Performance Marina. This marina is an old government dock that was taken over 2 years ago. It offers Med ties and has a wonderful helping staff. Best of all it is downtown Old Acapulco where the locals hang out not the gringos. No Senior Frogs around there. The manager Rene speaks perfect English which always helps when you need to search out repairs and purchase new extra parts. We are actually getting to use our Spanish more than we have to date.
Upon our arrival we took a walk to the Cliff Divers. The La Quebrada cliff divers are a group of professional high divers. They perform daily shows for the public, which involve diving 45 metres (148 ft) from the cliffs of La Quebrada cove, into the sea below. It was worth watching them scale the cliffs to get to their diving platform. They first pray at an alter that

is set up on the mountain. They came awfully close to the side of the mountain for my liking.
We took a walk to the old Fort San Diego. A museum is set up with the history of the area.
Acapulco was inhabited by the Nahua Indians (the predecessors of the Aztecs). Recent discoveries have surfaced in the form of Petroglyphs which may indicate even previous settlements around 3000 B.C.There are even theories about early encounters and commerce with the Chinese culture as early as 412. Although testimonies of this exist in several Chinese records, physical evidence is scarce. The name the Chinese gave Acapulco was “Ye Pa Ti”, or the “Place with Beautiful Waters”. Centuries later, Acapulco was conquered by the Spaniard Hernan Cortes when the Aztec Empire fell in 1521. Conquered, but not colonized, Acapulco was turned into a big shipyard where Cortes built ships in order to conquer more territories. Spanish settlements and colonization began in 1550 and it was until then when the Nahoa Indians were enslaved and displaced from their more than 1000 years homeland.
Since 1571, Acapulco retained its importance as the most important commerce and trading port for Europe with the Philippines and other Asian and South American ports for the next 400 years. During that time, Acapulco became a haven for pirates including Sir Francis Drake. The Fort of San Diego was built to defend the city from their attacks. I find it ironic that Drake was knighted for his thieveries, killing and all in the name of England.
The tourist industry started in the 1930’s when the road from Mexico City was built. The rich and famous decided to make it one of their main destinations.
We spent a whole morning getting an unexpected tour. Ken had heard that there was an Auto Zone where he could purchase a new alternator. This would give us a new spare and a reworked spare. Well it wasn’t in Acapulco. As we travelled the high cliffs with awesome views and an hour later we arrived. They didn’t have the alternator we needed but they sent us to where they thought we could find one. That took us to MANY places. In the end we have a new alternator. The taxi driver made a full days wages, had lunch paid for and numerous waters purchased. I got to attempt my Spanish. Ken loves it he lets me try then just holds up the part. That always works. My Spanish not so much! We ordered the same lunch as our taxi amigo. We had beef parts. I tried not to think too much about what we were eating. It was a fun time and quite the experience. Oh our driver spoke no English. He has 3 kids. He has lived in Acapulco all his life. He knows someone in Toronto. Mostly he was very patient. The taxi was a Volkswagen Beetle with no air conditioning and it was 90.
When the sun went down the people came out of their homes in droves. The town square was alive with buscars. A professional band from Mexico City played for hours. It was a wonderful 3 days.
Onward we went. We now sit in Huatulco, our last Mexican stop, waiting for the right weather window to cross the Tehuanepec. Our good friend Antonio has arranged to have Yellow Fever Shots administered here for us. We anticipate being here for at least a week then leave at the right time to make the 3 – 4 day passage to El Salvador. There will probably be multiple postings this week as for once I have a few topics to talk about while we have internet.

2009-11-07T13:10:00.007-08:00

Dia de Meurtos Alter

Where we are today

Getting South
We are on a fast track heading South making marvelous time. The weather has been great for the overnighters that we are doing.
We headed out of Mazatlan to La Cruz a 30 hr trip. It was Nov 01 which is a 2 day celebration of Dia de Meurtos. This would be Mexico’s most characteristic yet oddest fiestas. It is the festival of the Day of the Dead. It got its origins from the pre-Hispanic people of Michocan that the dead could return to their homes one day each year.
The underlying philosophy is that death does not represent the end of a life, but the continuation of the same life in a parallel world. The occasion called for preparation to make sure the spirit came back to the world. An alter was set up with bright yellow marigolds. Tamales, fruit corn and salt were in each home, Containers of water were always present as it was believed that the spirits were thirsty. The spirits of the children visited on the first night and the spirits of the adults on the second day. They join their living relatives for dinner, drinks , singing and dancing in the cemetery.
The combination of the Dia de Meurtos and All Saint’s Day with the Catholics joined the holiday together to become what it is today. It was very interesting.
Now we have been catching muchos peces (fish). American Thanksgiving will be here and a bird would be nice. Well Ken fished and caught a bird. Thanksgiving ……. Not. It did deserve its fate. We tried to get it to go away.
We are now in Zihuatanjo and head out tomorrow for Acapulco. Another long night. I am looking forward to the cliff divers. As a kid I remember watching them dive on CBC Sports.

Sorry but it drowned!

2009-10-30T14:25:00.004-07:00

We are now heading south from Mazatlan.

Moonrise and Moonsets:

The moon rises and sets every day, appearing on the horizon just like the sun. The time depends on the phase of the moon. It rises about 30 to 70 minutes later each day than the previous day, so the moon is out during daytime as often is it's out at night. At the time of the new moon, the moon rises at about the same time the sun rises, and it sets at about the same time the sun sets. As the days go by (as it waxes to become a crescent moon, a half moon, and a gibbous moon, on the way to a full moon), the moon rises during daytime (after the sun rises), rising later each day, and it sets at nighttime, setting later and later each night. At the full moon, the times of moonrise and moonset have advanced so that the moon rises about the same time the sun sets, and the moon sets at about the same time the sun rises. As the moon wanes (becoming a half moon and a crescent moon, on the way to a new moon), the moon rises during the night, after sunset, rising later each night. It then sets in the daytime, after the sun rises. Eventually, the moon rises so late at night that it's actually rising around sunrise, and it's setting around sunset. That's when it's a new moon once again.
This was a phenomenon I was not aware of until the other night. It was frustrating and fascinating to watch the moon set at about midnight. The moonset was as glorious as the sunset but with its departure the seas were black.
I have to thank my Uncle Ned for his advice to learn my radar well; Mexican charts are filled with errors. Land is not where the charts say they are, in fact can be out by miles.There has been many times that we have been anchored in the middle of an island on land. We have a Koden Radar which overlays onto our Coastal Explorer software. It is fabulous as you can see where the land really is on top of the chart. This is quite important as we will need to travel with one foot on the shore when we do the Tehuanepec. The boat will appear to be traveling on land when in fact it will be 1 mile offshore.
We will probably have internet service most of the time; however it has been a surprise quite often at where we have been able to pick up the internet.

We are using several different methods to receive our weather while underway. We have a subscription to Buoyweather.com that allows us to imput our data for our whereabouts; Lat and Long then put the aprox area we will be in the next 24,48,72,96 hours. It then sends us the weather through our ICOM Single Side Band. We listen to the nets that are brodcast on the SSB . A weather person informs us to what is happening out there. We have the Xaxero's WeatherFax 2000 program that allows us to pick up weather. There are also many stations on the SSB that broadcast voice weather, so we are as ready as we can be.

We have said goodbye to many boaters that we have spent the year with in the different anchorages. There are a few doing the same trip as us and there is a new group that are arriving anyday from the Baja Ha Ha. Some of them will also head south and I am sure new friendships will be made.

We would like to say that there a few couples we will truly miss and we know that they will follow the blog. Please drop us an email and let us know where you are from time to time.

2009-10-26T14:27:00.001-07:00

Aren't you scared?
One of the great teachers of religion and mythology, Joseph Campbell, said, "The meaning of life is to feel alive." Modern life offers people few opportunities to feel alive. Nothing about going to the mall, watching movies, sitting in front of a tv (watching programs of others sailing), working 40-50-100 hours a week with a 4 week vacation did it for us. I think the pursuit of feeling alive pushes some people to jump off bridges secured by a rubber band and do other crazy life-risking stuff. (Which I would never dream of ).
Boating is far safer than doing most of the things we do everyday -- driving, flying, crossing the street. About 95% of the time boating is done in normal conditions; the other 5% is the challenge. While that 5% includes some conditions we have yet to experience, we have studied what others have done and are prepared for the worst. Our boat is strong and so is our determination. If all we feared was the unknown, we would have never left the house. We would not be on this interesting journey.
We attended a seminar highlighting Central America to Ecuador with several other boaters from our dock and were somewhat disappointed in the lack of concrete information; however it served to be the catalyst to the sharing of knowledge. This week has left us excited about the continuation of The Genesis.
We met many new and wonderful people in Guaymas. We hope to someday meet up with these new boating friends again in different anchorages along the way. The locals that we met have enriched our lives in so many ways. This is a town we could live in if we ever wanted to re-locate.
So, after spending 5 weeks in Guaymas, secured to a dock, we threw off the lines and headed into new territory. It wasn't planned that way but it is working out that way! The mainland portion of the Sea of Cortez has very few anchorages, and the ones that do exist have their challenges. Bar crossings, silted in waterways and much shoaling are the largest challenges. We have a distance of approximately 450 nautical miles to get to Mazatlan. The forecast for Thursday, is calling for Northerlies at 35 knots. A decision was made while underway to practice for the Tehuanepec. (You will learn more about this nasty when we are ready to leave Mexico) The longest passage Ken and I have made at one time is 56 hours when we had to get to an airport so Ken could fly home for his Mom's funeral. This passage will be 75 hours. The 56 hours was also shared with our friends Wayne and Wendy. This passage will be done by us.
We left Sunday at 0530 hrs and traveled until 0800 hr this morning. (Monday) We stopped for 1 hr to have supper and participate in the SSB net so that we are being tracked by fellow boaters. This is a wonderful practice that we will continue to participate in on the whole Central America trip. This morning we anchored in an open bay caught a bit of a catnap, maintain the engines, get tomorrows meals ready and will depart at 2000hr. The reason for the break is so that we arrive in day light at our destination. We will have a bar to cross and we would never attempt this at night unless in an emergency. There are no good places to stop but you can just drop an anchor in the shallows while you check things out before continuing, it just means a little or a lot of rolling. The plans are to be in Mazatlan by noon Wednesday. I guess when you add the pit stops it will be more like 90 hours.
The daytime is a normal boating day with us sharing the driving. At 1800 hr after dinner we begin our 3 hr shifts. I begin with 1800 - 2100 hr then 0000 hr -0300 hr. Ken does the in betweens. Ken has the male sleep gene and can sleep at a drop of the hat. Me it is not so easy but it is getting much better.
We actually do not mind the overnight passages. Nature is amazing and I am sure next weeks blog will be about some of the things that have come to join us to keep us VERY MUCH awake at night. I have yet to come close to falling asleep.

AN UPDATE TO THE ABOVE BLOG

We made it to Mazatlan in record time. We had a current pushing us to speeds above 7 which got us in at 0100 at night. The seas were calm and the tide was a flood allowing us to get over the bar in safety. Total time including the 8 hr stop (would have gotten in at daylight had we not stopped) was 72 hrs. Not bad.

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2009-10-18T09:46:00.005-07:00

Hurricane Watch

The new stainless steel bimini is now completed and the canvas almost finished. It will provide us with the much needed shade that we will encounter on our travels. This summer we used tarps hung with lines. It worked and helped us determine how we wanted the new bimini engineered.
What can I say, boating is similar to writing a message on a sandy beach and watching the waves erase the message. Here we will stay for awhile longer.
Tuesday WAS the day planned to depart and head south. However Hurricane Rick has changed our plans.
THE SATELLITE PRESENTATION OF HURRICANE RICK CAN BE EXPRESSED IN ONE WORD...SPECTACULAR. THE EYE IS QUITE DISTINCT AND IS SURROUNDED BY VERY DEEP CONVECTION. ON THE LAST AVAILABLE VISIBLE IMAGES ONE COULD SEE THE SUNLIGHT REFLECTING OFF THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE EYEWALL AND THE STADIUM EFFECT THAT IS TYPICAL OF INTENSE HURRICANES. MORE IMPORTANTLY...SUBJECTIVE T-NUMBERS ARE 7.0 AND 7.5 ON THE DVORAK SCALE FROM TAFB AND SAB RESPECTIVELY...AND THE OBJECTIVE T-NUMBERS HAVE REACHED 7.7 AND A 3-HOUR AVERAGE OF 7.4 DURING THE PAST HOUR OR SO. BASED ON THESE DATA..THE INITIAL INTENSITY HAS BEEN INCREASED TO 155 KNOTS. THIS MAKES RICK THE SECOND STRONGEST HURRICANE ON RECORD IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC AFTER LINDA IN 1997(Information put out by the Hurricane Centre)

If we departed on Tues. we would be smack in a Hurricane Category 3 or 4 by Thursday, the way it currently is being reported. Soooooooo, we stay. We have made a decision to be taken out of the water and put on the travel lift. They will keep us on the lift with blocks under us. It is as stable as we could be on land. We will then strip her down totally and wait for the winds and rains and hope for nothing at all. There are many boaters currently returning to their boats after a summer hiatus. It will be a very crowded yard as I believe all of us in the water have made the decision to be hauled out.
This hurricane is expected to pack a punch even harder than Jimena. When Jimena hit here, it had been down graded to a Tropical Depression. They expect Rick to hit as a hurricane 3 or possibly 4 arriving on this side of the Sea of Cortez on Thursday. It is too early to tell as hurricanes are very unpredictable at this time of year.
Currently, the storm was generating waves up to 50 feet (15 meters) high near its core, with reports of 16-foot (5-meter) seas off the Mexican coast and "large and dangerous surf" along the coast.
Mexico, lying between two warm oceans, has been battered throughout its history by the storms that form as the oceans heat in summer, sending humid air up like a hot-air balloon, gulping more humid air to generate high pressure and screaming winds. These tempests are categorized according to wind strength, from Category 1 (73 mph) to Category 5 (155 mph or more)
1959
Mexico (Named Mexico) Oct. 27: Hurricanes are less common, and Category 5 storms extremely rare, on Mexico's Pacific Coast, making the Mexico hurricane one for the record books. Hitting western Mexico with 162 mph winds, it took at least 1,000 lives and possibly twice that many, while destroying one-fourth of the homes in Cihuatlan (Jalisco state). A massive landslide near Minatitlan (Colima) alone killed 800. Venomous snakes and scorpions uncovered by the slide killed still more in the aftermath. It remains Mexico's deadliest Pacific hurricane. 1,000-2,000 dead, $45 million damage.
Rick is expected to be worse.
Again you can track the storm at http://www.eebmike.com/
We will keep our heads down and try and stay dry. We will be safe and I hope I have NO pictures of the storm to share.
Until next week.
.

2009-10-10T15:52:00.007-07:00

An Insight to the Future and A History Lesson in the Past

A Picture of 1/2 The Biosphere 2

This week we wandered north to the City of Tucson, Arizona. The city has a population of approximately 1,000,000 and is the second largest city in Arizona, and is the home of to the University of Arizona.
We had many boat parts ordered from West Marine and charts sent to the Motel 6, where we were staying. On our arrival the manager went out of his way to make sure our stay would be enjoyable. The first two days were spent shopping and buying things that we have found difficult or impossible to find in Mexico, and anticipate to have more problems finding them in Central America.
Tucson is a very clean and busy town. The city’s geography is cactus forests, rolling hills and to our surprise mountains. We were informed at a ski and golf store that there are several downhill ski resorts in the area.
Tucson lies in the border land area and has a blend of American Indian, American and Mexican heritage.
Tucson was founded in 1795 when it was American Native agriculture land, it then passed to a Spanish outpost, then to a frontier town with gambling and silver, copper mines, to what it is today, a thriving city.
The City of Tucson is 2400 feet above sea level and covers more than 500 square miles of land.
Tucson is the sunniest city in the United States with 350 days of sunshine. It is warm in the day but cools at night making it a pleasant place to visit. It did make the pool cool however as there was no heating.
We did play tourist for a full day. Our first visit was to Biosphere 2. This unique structure was created to better understand how natural environments create habitable conditions for human sustainability.
It was used to explore the complex web of interactions within life systems in a structure that included five areas based on natural biomes (ecosystems) and an agricultural area and human living/working space to study the interactions between humans, farming and technology with the rest of nature. It also explored the possible use of closed biospheres in space colonization, and allowed the study and manipulation of a biosphere without harming the earth.
The first closed mission lasted from September 26, 1991 to September 26, 1993. The crew were a medical doctor and researchers, a total of eight persons.
The agricultural system produced 83% of the total diet, which included a wide variety of crops including bananas, papayas, sweet potatoes, beets, peanuts, lablab and cowpea beans, rice, and wheat. No toxic chemicals could be used, since they would quickly impact health. During the first year the eight inhabitants experienced hunger as they adapted. During the second year, the crew produced over a ton more food, average caloric intake increased, and they regained some weight lost during the first year.
Some of the domestic animals that were planned for the agricultural area during the first mission include four pygmy goats and one billy goat, 35 hens and three roosters, two sows and one boar pig, as well as tilapia fish grown in a rice and azolla pond system originating millennia ago in china.
A strategy of “species-packing” was practiced to ensure that food webs and ecological function could be maintained if some species did not survive. The desert area became more failed due to condensation from the space frame. The Savannah was seasonally active; its biomass was cut and stored by the crew as part of their management of carbon dioxide. Rainforest species grew rapidly, but trees there and in the savannah suffered from lack of ultraviolet rays and weakness caused by lack of stress wood, normally created in response to winds in natural conditions. Corals reproduced in the ocean area and crew helped maintain ocean system health by hand-harvesting algae from the corals, manipulating calcium carbonate and pH levels to prevent the ocean becoming too salty. We were told that this alone created a tremendous amount of work for the marine biologist. The mangrove area developed rapidly but with less undergrowth than a typical wetland, again possibly because of reduced light levels.
Biosphere 2 suffered from CO2 levels that "fluctuated wildly" and most of the vertebrate species and all of the bees used for pollinating died. It was explained to us that bees need the UV Rays in order to have good eye site. The bees kept flying into the windows and all died. Insect pests, like cockroaches, boomed. In practice, ants, a companion to one of the tree species in the Rain Forest, had been introduced. By 1993 the tramp ant species became dormant, therefore several bird species were lost.
Due to the decrease in CO2 levels the scientist began showing signs of mental anguish. It was decided when the Doctor could not answer what 2+2= that oxygen would be introduced into the biosphere. They noticed that with the increased oxygen the plants also began to change.
It was deemed that this 2 year mission was a failure, however through time and research that was gathered many scientific breakthroughs have occurred. It was a failure as far a space station but it pushed science much further and still is teaching the researchers a great deal. We could have spent a week here learning so much but with only 1 ½ days to take in as much as we wanted to see 3 hrs was all we could give this unique place.
We traveled from Science and the future to History with its past.
Tombstone, Arizona. “The Town Too Tough to Die” Home to legendary men of the American West like Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp, and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Tombstone sprang up around the mines discovered by Ed Schieffelin in 1877. The settlement became a village in 1879, and a city in 1881. It had a population of 10,000 people during its hay day now 1200 people call Tombstone home.
In the 1880s, Tombstone was a booming mining town that brought a rush of those looking to strike it rich. Gold and Silver was the lure that also became a magnet to thieves, card-sharks, murderers, rustlers and an abundance of unsavory bad guys. The streets came alive with hundreds of saloons, gambling halls and bawdy houses. Chinese were brought to the country to work in the mines, and with this came the opium dens.
A trip to the Boothill Graveyard is a travel back in time to when the graveyard overflowed with those shot during poker games, killed in drunken-induced gunfights and even hung for simply becoming a public nuisance. Undertaking was no doubt a lucrative profession. One headstone reads “ Lester Moore-Here lies Lester Moore, 4 slugs from a .44, No les, no more.” Moore was a Wells Fargo agent and had a dispute with a man over a package both died.
Tombstone is perhaps most famous for its Gunfight at OK Corral when the Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan, along with friend Doc Holliday shot it out with the Clanton and McLaury Gang. The fierce gunfight was quick and when the bullets stopped flying, Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury lay dead. Billy’s brother, Ike Clanton kept his life that day, but was eventually murdered near Springerville Arizona. Virgil and Morgan Earp needed weeks to recover from serious wounds, but Doc Holliday was barely grazed by a bullet. Surprisingly, Wyatt Earp was unscathed.
On the highway back to Mexico we passed the Titan Missile Museum. The Titan II missile was the largest missile ever built by the United States. They stood alert during the Cold War to protect the country. You can tour the underground silo but we ran out of time. They have now been deactivated.
Our return to Mexico was painless and we had our 180 day tourist card reissued allowing us to stay longer thereby not rushing our departure in November.
Well its time to get back to travel mode in the ocean which means checking out all our systems and securing everything for the swells. Until next week.

2009-10-04T10:45:00.004-07:00

We are just North of the red dot in the larger indent. I couldn't find the perfect map to show Guaymas.

The threat of Tropical Storm Olaf coming our way is now just a memory. It became a remnant low having come to land in Topolobampo 160 miles south of us. The low is however bringing rain and wind. I never thought I would welcome rain but we basically haven’t seen much for over a year.
I think that as a coastal town Guaymas has become my favourite to date. This community has not seen the Americano influence and is very Mexicano. We are a rarity but have been welcomed by everyone we have met. They love to know that you are from Canada. This is probably the most interaction we have had with locals, being invited to their homes, their church, and their favorite restaurants.
Ken had his final Doctors appt. on Friday and the Doctor was very impressed with the outcome. To celebrate we were to go to an outdoor concert, but it was cancelled due to the threat of Olaf. We instead went to the bar with friends we have met here. Karaoke in espanol. It was funny when the only English song appeared and the guy with the mike came straight to us. Racial profiling at its best. I just said “ No hablo inglis” He laughed. Everyone at the bar knew the words to Hotel California. I found that reading the words helped understand a little bit more and we had a translator Huratio to help. They are passionate about their music. We left at 0100 hr, they at 0400 hr. It was a hoot. I never would go to a karaoke bar at home.

Huratio and his family. A man with a big heart!

I have been walking with Gail from the boat next to us every morning. It is not uncommon now to have the locals we have met honking their horns and waving as they pass by, the newspaper sellers stop us and have a conversation, the policia talk with us about how we are enjoying Guaymas. Again my blue eyes enter many conversations. I finally am thinking Spanish again after not hearing it for months. I try hard to speak it when I can and appreciate the helpful corrections on pronunciation. I am more impressed at how much Ken has picked up. Usually related to parts he needs. I don’t think he realizes just how much more he understands.
Ordering things to be done on our boat have been successful. We have the canvas guy ready to go. The stainless steal for the bimini is being started Monday. New plexiglass for the helm is ordered and Ken also will have it cut on Mon.
All the various packages we have ordered from across the US are all being shipped to the hotel we will be staying at in Tucson. The only glitch seems to come from Canada when RJ tried to send a parcel. I believe even that is worked out now however. I try not to look at the hemorrhaging bank account.
We are working also on how we can get our Yellow Fever shots and certificate done while we are in Mexico. This is necessary for many countries we will be transiting from Panama on. Our good friend Antonio (Mexican Dr) from Vancouver will try some medical friends in Los Mochis.

2009-09-27T11:48:00.008-07:00

Plaza 13 de Julio - The Gazebo was built by Eifel. The Sacred Heart had roof damage and the masses are being held outside in the park area.

The Bank built also by Eifel

Municipal Building

Guaymas is an interesting city with an exciting past, rich with stories of priests, pirates, soldiers, villains, and heroes. During its turbulent history, more than one country has tried to grab the treasures of the gold, silver and copper mines of Sonora and to gain control of the seaport. Guaymas has one of the most beautiful harbors in the Mexico, with the small town clutched in an encircling ring of mountains. Some mornings the water is mirror smooth and reflects with unbelievable reality the ships in the harbor. However due to Jimena the water is very dirty.
In the 1700’s the Jesuit missionaries were established and included the Iglesia de San Fernando and the Iglesia Sagrada de Corazon. (Sacred Heart Church). They are both still in use today, however services for Sacred Heart are being conducted outside due to Jimena. So much rain fell in such a short period it caved the roof. There is talk of repairing the church due to its history and the fact that it is still in use.
By 1823 the customs house was built.
Today Guaymas is Mexico’s second largest port on the Pacific.
This is a bustling little town. There is a large navy base, navy school and supply centre. Luckily the Gringos have left Guaymas alone, opting for San Carlos instead.

The large shrimping fleet make their home here. Shrimping season has just started and these very large vessels are making their way out to the Sea of Cortez.

Ken and I are trying to get canvas and stainless steel work done while we are here. We want to extend the bimini out to the mast to provide for more shade. Currently we have been using a tarp and it seems to work well. Things are not done quickly here and we HOPE that it can be done before we want to leave.

A 10 peso bus ride took us to San Carlos where we met up with Michael from SeaVenture.

San Carlos is well noted for its beautiful protected anchorages. It has become a very popular tourist destination. The fishing here is phenomenal. We were somewhat disapointed. I believe we expected a little more.

Multi coloured salt water pearls are cultured in this area. There is Perlas del Mar de Cortez pearl beds and display room in Bacoshibampo near by but we have yet to make it there.
The cactus are amazing. They can grow to heights of 60 feet. We saw homes that were built around the cactus.

We have befriended the neighbours on the boat moored beside us, their names are Gayle and Dave. They own a trawler that Dave has built himself. He should be very proud.

Gayle and I have been walking every morning for exercise and I have been trying to do laps in the pool daily. This is not always possible as the pool is quite often occupied.

It is while I have been on these walks that I have seen the restoration progress from Hurricane Jimena. The mud came sliding down the mountains taking cars, animals and any thing else to the bottom (sea) that may have been in its path. The sewers backed up and now the problems are respritory. You see many people walking with masks on their faces.

They have manage to get most things back and opperational.

Many people lost everything.

Gayle and I have been traveling on the local buses for 5 pesos to the supermarket.

Ken and I found out today that their open market is on Wednesdays, so we will have to check it out. You always find fruit and vegetables cheaper at the markets than in the store.

Ken and I decided to go out Saturday night to get him off the boat. (His leg is recovering nicely). The band was very good but we are now the old people. Where did the time go?

All is well with us. Ken is doing well and by later this week we both should be out exploring and getting the boat ready for the next phase.

Bye for now