Storyville

Provisioning

2012-01-15T10:31:00.001-06:00

We are finally back in Luperon and aboard Storyville once again. We had a wonderful visit with family and friends but it sure felt good to be back home too. You know the feeling. Anyway, now that we're back our plans are to get a few crucial boat projects done, get in some quick provisioning and head to Puerto Rico. We are hoping to get away within the next two weeks. We have a lot to get done but we are hoping to chip away at everything a little each day until we are done.

Troy will be replacing our running lights, anchor and steaming light. Today he installed a cool solar, motion activated light on our davits. The light will light up as we (or anyone else for that matter) approaches Storyville. Helpful to us and hopefully a deterrent to anyone with bad intentions). We still need to get the head sail back on, it's been off since Hurricane Irene gave us a wave as she swept by. We will need to top off all of our tanks, fuel, water, beer rum, etc. and of course give everything a once over.

I am getting ready to go through our provisions and make a list so that we can start provisioning for doing most of our cooking on board for the next 5 or 6 months. We hear that the Virgin Islands and other places that we are going can be really expensive so we are planning on cooking and not eating out for most of our meals. We did that in the Bahamas and found that we really didn't mind at all, especially when a hamburger can cost as much as $18.00 US!! We have gotten out of the habit here in the Dominican Republic because you can get a hamburger for about $3.00 US. What a difference!

If all goes as planned we will try to meet up with our friends Rene and Stacy on s/v Pipe Muh Bligh and Patrick and Darnell on s/v Island Dreams in the Spanish Virgin Islands, we are guessing in early February. We really try not to rush and make any kind of concrete plans. We will just look for good weather windows and go with the flow. But, we are looking forward to meeting up with them again, we have been cruising with them for almost a year now and we are looking forward to experiencing the Virgin Islands together. Many of the boats that we spent hurricane season with in Luperon will be in the Virgin Islands and we are looking forward to seeing all of our friends, meeting new friends and getting to experience the beautiful islands. We can't wait!

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

May I Present Mr. & Mrs. Rollins.......

2011-12-31T08:01:00.001-06:00

Our daughter Tory got married on December 15th. Tory and Danny have been planning the wedding for the last year. We flew home from the Dominican Republic so that we could give our daughter away and gain a new son.

The wedding was scheduled to take place on the cruise ship Carnival Triumph, sailing out of Galveston in the afternoon of the 15th. The plan was for the wedding to take place before the ship set sail so that guests that were not going on the cruise could still attend the nuptials.

Everyone that was planning on going on the cruise, and many that were in town for the wedding spent the night at the Hilton Hotel in Galveston. We had a wonderful rehearsal dinner the night before, hosted by the grooms parents Rick and Glenda Rollins. We woke up early to get ready for the big day. After everyone was showered, dressed and checked out of the hotel, we found out that the ship channel had been closed due to foggy conditions. The ship could not even make it into the dock. We were a little concerned since the hotel was on the sea wall and we couldn't even see the ocean across the street.

The bride and groom were impressively calm and composed, just communicating with the cruise line and waiting patiently. We waited most of the day and started getting concerned that we might have some timing issues with the wedding and reception happening on the ship. Plus, it was a little difficult to keep the bride and groom from seeing each other, since the only thing we could all do was wonder around the hotel lobby!

We were so impressed with the brides composure as she stared to contemplate alternate ideas for the wedding. After throwing some ideas around, it was finally decided that we would have the wedding at the Hotel. Everyone involved was just wonderful in helping make this happen. The Hilton let us use a room at no charge, the cruise wedding planners came to the hotel to conduct the ceremony and, thanks to Uncle Kenny, we even had a sound system delivered so we could play the wedding music through an iPod. The ceremony was beautiful and we soon learned that we would be able to board the ship that evening and have the reception there, as originally planned (just several hours later!).

The ceremony was beautiful and the reception that followed on the ship was a lot of fun. The VIP boarding that the wedding party received was nice too. We had a fantastic time on the cruise, it was wonderful to spend time with everyone!

I ask for your patience with the blog. I am learning to use the iPad to make posts to my google blog and I'm having trouble getting the pictures to post the way I like them. I'm sure there's an app for that, the search goes on. If any of my readers know something that I don't - please don't be shy. Help!!!!

Did You Forget About Us?

2011-12-30T20:44:00.001-06:00

So, I took a break. I know, I know, I've been chastized, threatened, begged - please, please start making blog posts again. I think that the time has come. We just got a new iPad and a new keyboard and we are getting ready to set out on some new adventures, plus we have just had some recent adventures, so the time has come to start blogging again.

We are currently in Texas, we came back for a visit for Christmas and New Years and, mainly, to see our daughter Tory marry Danny. The wedding was great and I am planning a separate blog post for that (I need to ease my followers back into this - and not just hit you with everything all at once).

Storyville was left behind in the Dominican Republic. Hopefully she is patiently waiting for us on her mooring. When we return we are planning to visit Puerto Rico, The Spanish, American and English Virgin Islands and St. Maartin.

So, get ready for some blogging in the new year. I think I'll make that my resolution - to keep the blog up to date. At least as much as possible considering that we won't have access to internet most of the time.

So - get ready to watch us sail the Caribbean!!!!!

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. ~Joey Adams

Trip to the Mountains

2011-06-29T13:41:00.000-06:00

We took a road trip with friends that we met here in Luperon. Cade and Lisa, who live on their boat, s/v Sandollar took their SUV and we met up with Derrick and Ester at their property up in the mountains. It was a great road trip and we had a wonderful day touring their new property that has been planted with coffee, bananas and avacados. The air was cooler up in the mountains and the views were spectacular. Derrick and Etster will eventually build there. They are currently renting a small house next to their property. We were very impressed with the view and with the fertile soil growing everything from ferns to mangos. The trees even had bromiliads and native orchids on them! We had a great day with wonderful hosts.

Flat tire - just a usual day in Dominican Republic

Tunnel on the way up the mountain

Yes - those are avacodos, just dripping from the trees! Can you tell that I'm excited about that?

Beautiful fern grown on the mountainside

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

More Bananas

Coffee Beans

Rene and Stacy - Check out the view!

These are grafts on native avacado trees. Making better avacados!

View from the mountain ridge

Derrick and Ester's sign

Derrick

Republica Dominica

2011-06-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

A view of Storyville - I love our backyard!

We arrived in Luperon, Dominican Republic on May 27th. Our trip from South Caicos was a little less than 24 hours of smooth sailing / motor sailing. We had timed our crossing in order to arrive at the Luperon harbor in the early morning hours. What a thrill it was to watch the sun rise and see the mountains growing in the distance. We could smell the land as well as see it. It took a couple of hours of sailing before we could really comprehend the perspective of what we were seeing and just how big the mountains really are. The Dominican Republic is beautiful, mountainous, green and lush. It is absolutely gorgeous!

I was a little nervous about getting into the harbor since everything that we had read told us that it could be tricky, with a dangerous reef on one side and shallow sand and coral on the other. Troy wasn’t worried though, he figured that if we could navigate Double Bayou, then we could get into Luperon! All those sails to Double Bayou were definitely good practice. Especially learning to navigate without the aid of channel markers, which, not surprisingly, are missing here, just like back home at Double Bayou!

We made it into the harbor without any problems and were guided in further by a friendly cruiser that was showering on his deck that morning. He shouted directions to us so that we were able to avoid some of the shallow areas in the harbor. As we were slowly making our way around the boats that are moored here, we heard another shout, two locals in a panga (a small local boat) asking what we needed. We yelled back that we were looking for a mooring ball. We were happy to hear their reply “follow us”! That’s how we met Papo and Handy Andy. They are well known in the harbor and own several mooring balls. They deliver diesel, gas, town water, drinking water, whatever else the cruisers need. Within 30 minutes of our arrival, they had our diesel refilled and we paid for our mooring for the next 5 months. The cost was $50.00 per month for the mooring. Less than $2.00 per day, when all through the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean the cost is $20.00 to $25.00 per day!

Department of Agriculture in Luperon

After a short rest we were ready to check into the country. We dinghied over to the dock and took a short walk to the edge of town where the check in process began. It has been quite a while since we have used any Spanish and we were feeling a little lost throughout the check in process. It didn’t help that we had to go through several different government agencies and fill out forms at each one. Let’s see, first there was customs, then immigration, then agriculture and finally the Navy. We progressed through each agency, filled out the required forms in carbon copy triplicate. At least all of the agencies are close to each other and everyone was really friendly. The man in the immigration office asked us for $63.00 to cover our entry fees. When we handed over a $100.00 bill (that’s all we had). A worried and confused look came over his face. Then, through his bad English and our, even worse, Spanish, he communicated that we would need to pay $10.00 to immigration, agriculture and the navy. He would let them all know that we had paid him and he would get our change later. Needless to say, we made a $7.00 donation, as the change was conveniently forgotten!

This way to the Navy!

Our last stop was the navy, where, once again we filled out forms and tried in broken Spanish to explain that we had already paid our $10.00 to the immigration office. Somehow we managed to get it all worked out and two of the navy officers then announced that there were ready to inspect our boat. We took them out to Storyville in our dinghy and they asked if we had firearms and made a cursory inspection of the boat. They did ask Troy for a “little something” but Troy fell back on the story about how we paid everything at the immigration office. Once they knew we had refused, them just said OK, OK, no problema.

After Troy took them back to the dock, we were ready to take down the quarantine flag, hoist the DR courtesy flag and begin our exploration.

So far, we love it here. The cruisers and locals are all very helpful and friendly. We are taking Spanish lessons along with Rene and Stacy and Gary and Barbara. We are all determined that we will use our time here to learn as much Spanish as possible. We are also doing Yoga and water aerobics three days a week. That is pretty much required because the beer is so cheap and so cold here that it is almost irresistible! In fact, everything is so affordable here. Since we will be spending the rest of the summer here, in order to wait out the hurricane season, I am looking forward to exploring this beautiful island and making many blog posts along the way.

Luperon

Stairway to the Yacht Club

Rene and Stacy enjoying a grande Bohemia (cost is about 70 pesos or around $2.00)

Storyville's Quarantine Flag

Dominican Republic Courtesy Flag

A view of the coastline

Farming in the hills

Turks and Caicos

2011-06-04T13:43:00.000-06:00

The Turks and Caicos are beautiful Islands that are a British Overseas Territory. They have a governor that is appointed by the Queen. Interestingly, the island natives or their descendants hold the nationality of British Overseas Territory Citizens and are called “Belongers”. Others that have immigrated there have a “resident status”. We checked in at Providenciales (also known as Provo) and anchored Storyville in Sapodilla Bay. The crescent shaped bay is a beautiful beach that is lined with villas that are mostly vacation rentals.

On our first afternoon there, we decided to head over to the beach with Rene and Stacy for a little beach and sun time. While enjoying ourselves there, Troy and Rene met Frank. Frank and his family were vacationing at one of the villas. You know, it’s really interesting to me how you can meet some people and just hit it off, kind of like you have been friends for years. Frank and his wife Angela were just those kind of people. Of course, they are Texans (from New Braunfels) so that may have something to do with it. Aren’t all Texans known for their hospitality? They invited us up to the beautiful villa to meet their family. It was truly a treat to see such a beautiful house and to meet them all. We are planning to stay in touch and even have plans to meet up in the Virgin Islands for New Years!

Frank and Angela invited the six of us to dinner the next evening. We had one of the most memorable evenings that we have had since we started cruising. Great food, wonderful company, plenty of wine flowing, all in the perfect atmosphere of a beautiful tropical island. Troy and Frank even entertained us with some singing and guitar picking. The next morning Frank and Angela, and their kids A.J., Ryan, Brianna all came out to take tours of Storville and Pipe Muh Bligh. I think we may have sparked a cruising dream with Frank! What a fun and interesting family. Anyway, I hope we can meet them again in the Virgin Islands. We are all looking forward to it.

It was great to meet you all, shout out to - Frank and Angela, A.J. (Frank's daughter), Ryan (future son in law), Cara (Frank's daughter), Dave (Cara's boyfriend), Brianna (Angela's daughter) and Brett (Angela's son)

We happened to be in the Turks and Caicos during the full moon and we had heard that the glow worms that live on the shallow banks mate at an hour after sunset three days after the full moon. Imagine, calendar reading, time telling, sea worms, that glow! This we had to see. There are even paid tours that take boats full of vacationers out to see the phenomenon. Sure enough, we set our alarms as reminders and at exactly an hour after the sunset we began to see glowing shapes in the water. You couldn’t see the worm because they are small, but you would see a glowing shape puff out a small glowing cloud (the female releasing eggs) and then a quick zigzagging glowing shape would zoom toward the glowing cloud (the male fertilizing the eggs). They were all around the boat and out into the bay as far as we could see, like glowing green stars in the water.

Meeting new friends and seeing the wonders of nature at work. Two of the reasons that we are out here cruising!
We spent about a week in Provo then we took a day trip across the shallow Turks and Caicos Banks to start waiting for a weather window to cross to Luperon. About 110 miles from South Caicos. The water was crystal clear and the snorkeling would have been fantastic, but we had another conversation with Chris Parker the day after we arrived in South Caicos and he had us on the move again with a three day window to cross to Luperon. That darn Chris, always has us on the go before we are ready to leave. Never the less, we were excited to make the crossing to Luperon where we will make our home for the next five or six months.

Angela, Deana, Stacy, Rene, Frank, Brianna, Gary, Barbara Troy

Frank and Troy

View of our boats from the balcony

Rainbow over Sapodilla Bay

Cara, Stacy and Rene

A.J., Barbara, Gary and Dave

Brett, Frank, Deana, Troy, Ryan and Brianna

Beautiful Turks and Caicos

Conception Island, Bahamas

2011-06-04T12:28:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, it’s been forever since our last blog post. In my defense we have been on the move a lot and haven’t had any decent internet connections. Plus, the more behind I get, the harder it is to convince myself to sit down and spend hours catching up. I just spent the last hour or so sorting through pictures and now I am determined to get the blogs written and posted before I forget where we’ve been and what we’ve done!

We left Red Shanks anchorage in George Town, Bahamas on May 12th and sailed to Conception Island. We fished on the crossing, which took around 6 or 7 hours. I caught a cero mackerel and hooked a really big mahi-mahi. Unfortunately the mahi was so big that it took my whole rig (the leader - not the entire fishing pole!). It was exciting to see the beautiful fish jumping out of the water in Storyville’s wake. Luckily for us, Gary on Pa La Ola managed to hook a big mahi. The six of us (Troy, myself, Rene, Stacy, Gary and Barbara) all feasted on grilled fish for dinner and there was so much left over that we all took some with us and had lunch the next day. It was yummy!

Conception is an uninhabited island and it is pristine and beautiful. The water is clear and the beaches are powdery and white. We snorkeled and hiked and searched the beaches for sea glass, shells and sea beans. We saw beautiful tropical birds, sharks, barracudas, sea turtles. We really enjoyed the short time that we spent there.

We only spent one full day on Conception. We (the three boats travelling together, Storyville, Pipe Muh Bligh and Pa La Ola) all get our weather from Chris Parker on Single Side Band Radio. Chris broadcasts from Florida and most cruisers traveling in the Bahamas and the Caribbean listen to his morning broadcasts for weather reports. Pa La Ola has a paid subscription and can actually call Chris and talk to him and get advice for specific crossings (i.e. – we want to leave Conception Island and make our way to Luperon over the next couple of weeks, can you tell us if and when there will be a good weather window for the crossing?). Well, Barbara called Chris and asked him that very question on our second morning on Conception Island. We were not at all thrilled with the answer. Chris told us that there was a window of good weather right then, but that window would be closing and he didn’t know if there would be another one before the end of May. Our goal has been to be in Luperon in the protected harbor around the first of June, when hurricane season officially starts. We had a quick conference between the boats and decided that we needed to go ahead and make the crossing to Luperon. That meant that we had to skip a visit to Rum Cay and a couple of other Bahamas cays, which we were all looking forward to, and instead we would be making a crossing that would take several days. The good news was that we had a good weather window, so we could look forward to a comfortable sail (actually a motor sail most of the way).

We made it to the Turks and Caicos Islands where we all decided to stop for a few days. We figured that even if the weather window was closed, at least we were much closer to Luperon and we could afford to wait for another window to open within the next few weeks. Plus, we really wanted to check out the Turks and Caicos and do some beachcombing and snorkeling, and Rene and Stacy were planning to do some diving there. We sailed for 49 hours and overall it was an enjoyable crossing. We saw lots and lots of flying fish and, even though I kept a sharp lookout, I never did spot a whale. Troy thinks that he may have seen one, but he wasn’t sure. When we entered the Sandborne Channel to the Turks and Caicos Banks, we were escorted in by a pod of dolphins that were jumping and leaping out of the water.

Cero Mackrel = Dinner

Dinghies on the beach - our boats at anchor

Toes in the sand - not sure why this one is sideways - oh well!

Man - O - War

Lots and Lots of Reefs

Troy - Taking in the View

Nightly Visitor to Storyville

Pipe Muh Bligh and Pa La Ola - Headed to Turks and Caicos

Evening Watch - The small boat is towing the barge - big cables between them = DANGER!

National Family Island Regatta

2011-05-11T10:01:00.002-06:00

One of the reasons that we decided to spend so much time in George Town was so that we could be here for the National Family Island Regatta. This regatta is like the Superbowl of the Bahamas. How awesome is that, a country that prizes sailing over football? This year was the 58th annual regatta and it was obvious that the Bahamians take their racing as seriously as they do their seafaring heritage. Boats came to compete from all of the major islands in the Bahamas and many of the smaller cays and communities as well.

Sloop sailing in the Bahamas was originally the principal means of transportation between the 700 islands that are spread out over 100,000 square miles of beautiful waters in every color of blue that you can imagine. The sloops were originally used by the fishing industry as well as for the transportation of passengers and cargo between the islands.

The sloops are all built in the unique Bahamian tradition. I never could find the exact specifications but the boats are beautiful and the amount of canvas that they fly is amazing compared to the size of the boat. The boom hangs out over the stern of the boat by about half the length of the entire boom. The races start by lining all the boats up in an anchored position. At the cannon blast the crew must weigh anchor and hoist the sails starting the race on a starboard tack, with the exception of the first boat, chosen by lottery. That boat may start the race on either a starboard or port tack. It is so much fun to watch this type of sail boat racing, as opposed to the typical race with each boat assigned ratings, it’s kind of like “what you see is what you get” and you can actually tell by watching who is winning the race. We took our dinghy out into the bay (along with almost every other cruiser and Bahamian with a power boat) and took lots of great photos of the races. It was difficult and exciting to get the shots and still pay attention to the racers and the other dinghies, power boats, kayaks, etc.

Since the boats are all built by the same specs it makes for some beautiful sailing and great pictures. I took so many that I had a really hard time deciding which ones to post.

Race Start (from an anchored position)

Sailing downwind - they look like butterflies

Hiked out on the PRY - one of our favorites - Anna Nicole!

Our favorite boat - Red Stripe (they took 3rd overall)

Red Stripe rounding the mark!

The regatta grounds were filled with these temporary booths selling food and drinks

Check out the length of the booms

Gigantamous speakers so everyone could enjoy the Rake N Scrape music

Local entertainment!

The cannon used for race starts - surprisingly loud

Race boats catching a ride back home

Christie and Matt are Running Tide fans

Matt, Troy, Christie, Deana and Rusty enjoying the race on Sea Yawl Later

Adderley's Plantation

2011-05-05T13:52:00.000-06:00

We visited the ruins of Adderley's Plantation on Long Island. It was a cotton and live stock (cattle, sheep, and horses) plantation established in 1790 on 700 acres by Abraham Adderley, a British born subject from Nassau, Bahamas. By 1820 Abraham had enlarged the plantation to cover 2,500 acres. The plantation was devastated in 1927 by a hurricane that cost 200 lives on the island. Sadly, when the eye of the hurricane crossed over the island people collected stranded fish on the temporarily exposed sea bottom and were drowned when the sea suddenly returned.

We were surprised that the living quarters seemed so small. It's obvious that the plantation life was a difficult one.

St. Mary's Church

2011-05-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

Some of the pictures that I took at St. Mary's Church. It is actually the ruins of a church thought to have been built by the Spanish in the 17th century. It is the oldest church on Long Island.

Hamilton's Cave

2011-04-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

One of the side trips that we made while we had the car was a tour of Hamilton's Cave. The cave is the largest in the Bahamas and is owned by the Cartwright family. Our tour was led by Leonard Cartwright, he told us that his family has owned the land that the cave is on since 1847. They bought 90 acres from the crown for 27 pounds! The cave is home to 5 species of bats and lots of termites and other creepy crawlies! We spent about an hour with Leonard on our tour. The cave has been used as hurricane shelter since the Lucayan Indian days around 500 A.D. through the present day. In fact, Leonard told us that his family had weathered several hurricanes in the cave. There is no electricity in the cave, no lights other than the flashlights that Leonard handed out before the tour, no handrails or paths to follow other than the one that Lenoard led us down by memory. One other thing that I noticed: there was no gift shop and no T-shirts to buy at the cave entrance! It was just the 8 of us and we really enjoyed Leonard's tour.

Modern carving (1980) done by Leonard's brother

Freediving Competition at Dean's Blue Hole

2011-04-17T14:10:00.002-06:00

For the last couple of days we have shared a rental van with 3 other couples (Rene and Stacy, Terri and Ken, Stacy's parents, and L.A. and Susan) and we were able to watch the free diving competition today at Dean's Blue Hole. As I mentioned the other day, Dean's Blue Hole is the deepest blue hole in the world. It is 202 meters or 663 feet deep. We watched Natalia Molchanova of Russia set a world record with a free dive to 100 meters (over 300 feet). We could only see her descend to about 40 meters before she dropped out of site. Her dive took 3:42 minutes. It was incredible to be able to witness a world record. We also watched while William Trubridge attempted to break a men's record for New Zealand. He did not break the record today but he broke a world record last week by free diving unassisted (without the assistance of fins, using only breaststroke to descend) to 121 meters in 4:12 minutes, absolutely incredible! I was so inspired that I am considering attempting to break my personal best which is approximately 4 meters at 20 seconds!

For more information on this crazy sport check out Vertical Blue's web site: Vertical Blue

Dean's Blue Hole - Beautiful

Natalia with the judge showing a white card signaling a successful dive (WORLD RECORD!)

Natalia and William - both world record holders

Competition Site

I found a merman! Check out the fins on that one!

Divers making preparations

Plantains are Yummy

2011-04-08T12:52:00.000-06:00

I love fried plantains. Troy doesn't like them so much, but that just leaves more for me! They are great when you fry them with a little olive oil. They can be topped off with sea salt, nutmeg, powdered sugar.

Green, almost ready, need to cook now

Yummy

Long Island Road Trip

2011-04-08T12:12:00.000-06:00

We decided to share a car rental with Rene and Stacy and explore Long Island. The island is 80 miles long and about 4 miles wide at the widest point. I guess that’s why it’s called Long Island. We spent most of the day being chauffeured by Rene along most of the 80 miles. We all voted Rene as the driver because he was the only one that had experience driving on the left side of the road. It’s a little disconcerting to see cars coming at you on the wrong side of the road! (Especially when the fastest you’ve gone in the last three months is 5 or 6 knots, if you don’t count the dinghy rides)

Our first stop was at St. Mary’s Church. It is actually the ruins of a church thought to have been built by the Spanish in the 17th century. It is the oldest church on the island. We enjoyed exploring the tiny church and, although we weren’t there at the best time of day for photography, it was a really cool place to get some great shots.

Next we made our way to St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church. St Peter’s is a beautiful church with twin towers. Rene, Stacy and myself braved the narrow and rickety ladder to climb to the top. We were rewarded with a view that made the claustrophobic climb worthwhile.

Divers practicing

Dean's Blue Hole

Our next stop was Dean’s Blue Hole. At 663 feet, Dean’s is the deepest known sinkhole in the world with an entrance below sea level. We happened to arrive days before a free dive competition and there were several divers there practicing. At this site, in April 2010, William Trubridge dove 302 feet (92 meters) into the hole without fins, breaking a free diving world record. The divers that we saw were using fins so I can’t imagine what depths there were diving too. Seems just a crazy as mountain climbing to me!

Ruins of Dunmore Plantation

We tried to find the ruins of Dunmore Plantation. According to a local woman who pointed them out to us, we found them and they are now being used as a carport without a roof, and a goat playground! There are several plantation ruins on Long Island, but we didn’t manage to see any other than this one.

We made our way to the north end of the island and decided that we wanted to see the monument to Christopher Columbus. Little did we know that we would need to take our little rented Cavalier off roading for about 3 miles to get to the monument. Oh well, not a problem with Rene at the wheel. Rene is an excellent driver!

We had a great day exploring the island.

Road to the monument

George Town - Velcro Harbor

2011-04-06T13:08:00.003-06:00

We've spent much more time than we anticipated in George Town. I can see why it's called velcro harbor by cruisers. After spending so much time in the Exumas where there are few grocery stores (and the ones you can find have less than the local convenience store, with similar pricing) and no way to dispose of garbage. Some places will let you throw your garbage away at $5.00 per bag. Don't get me wrong, we loved the Exumas, it was beyond beautiful and the people were always welcoming and friendly. So far, it was cruising like we dreamed that it would be. Then we made it to George Town.......

At times there were over 300 boats in the harbor between Great Exuma (where the town of George Town is) and Stocking Island (where the cruisers party begins and never ends). We made it to George Town in time for the cruiser's regatta. This is an absolutely amazing annual event for the cruisers. Some boats have been coming to George Town for over 30 years to participate in the regatta. Most of them come here for the regatta and return to the U.S. or Canada for the summer months. For almost two weeks there are events going on every day. Sailboat races, dinghy parades, volleyball, poker, infosessions covering everything from photography to cooking on a boat. It's crazy, I tell ya!

We enjoyed most of the regatta and when we couldn't take another minute of planned activities we moved across the harbor to the quiet and sheltered Red Shanks anchorage. Still close the the town, where we could dispose of the garbage, get internet and shop at a real live grocery store, but farther away from all the constant radio chatter and daily activities.

We enjoyed the company of most of the Texas Navy in Red Shanks and spent our days swimming, working on the boat and playing Mexican Train with the Texas Navy. Boats in the navy are:

s/v Sea Yawl Later - Rusty and Linda Sitton from Beaumont, Texas (founding members)

s/v Anchor Management - Steve Schlosser from Kemah, Texas

s/v Storyville - Troy and Deana Jones, Kemah, Texas

s/v Kaleo - Matt and Christie Butcher from Dallas, Texas

s/v Pipe muh Bligh - Rene and Stacy Foree from Kemah, Texas

s/v Guiding Light - Shane McClellan from Golden, Colorado

s/v Morning Glory - Ted and Milie Cook, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Storyville at anchor in Red Shanks

We shared so many memorable days together, playing Mexican Train, helping each other with boat projects, attending church services and happy hours and just getting to know each other. It's been really difficult to say goodbye as we start to head out in different directions.

It was especially hard to say goodbye to Steve since we have been constant companions and boat buddies for at least the last year and a half, if not more. We are planning to remain buddy boats with Pipe muh Bligh and we will all catch up with Steve when we make to to the Virgin Islands for New Years.

I am amazed that we have made so many wonderful friends that we will never forget. It sure makes it hard to say goodbye. We are planning for a mini reunion of the Texas Navy in George Town for the Family Island Regatta in late April. After that, with the exception of Pipe muh Bligh, everyone will scatter to the four winds and that will be a sad day indeed.

Papaya growing in George Town

Yes, we are now members!

Birthday in Paradise

2011-03-12T09:41:00.000-06:00

Birthday celebration on Pipe Muh Bligh

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day. We started the morning off with a trip into town with Steve and Rene and Stacy (s/v Pipe muh Bligh). Stacy and Rene made it to George Town yesterday and Rene's birthday was on the 10th so we had a little celebrating to do. After the trip to town I went to we spent part of the afternoon on Pipe muh Bligh (we: Me, Troy, Rene, Stacy, Steve, Shane and Michael). Steve made a rum cake for Rene and I and Stacy made us some guacamole and, of course we decided that we needed to have a little taste of Zaya to celebrate the occasion. Yummy, yummy afternoon snacks! I got some really great and thoughtful gifts and a great card from my cruising friends on Morning Glory, Kaleo and Sea Yawl Later. I was thinking that the day couldn't get much better, and then........

The late afternoon was spent at the Regatta Awards Ceremony. We were anxious to hear the results of the races and other events. Sea Yawl Later won first place and Guiding Light was second in the "In the Harbour Race" and Sea Yawl Later was second and Guiding Light was third in the "Around the Island Race". We raced with Shane on Guiding Light in the "Around the Island Race" so we were excited about our third place. That was also the race with the photography, fishing and cooking contests. We didn't place in the photography event (still keeping the N.N.G.P. credentials), but we won the fishing event, in fact we were the only boat to catch a fish! We caught a really beautiful mahi-mahi. The most exciting event for me was winning the "baking under way" event. I was told that every one of the judges voted my dessert 1st place! What a great way to cap the birthday celebrations.

We ended the evening with a round of celebratory drinks on Guiding Light with Shane, Michael, Steve, Rene and Stacy. What a wonderful birthday in paradise!

I have had many requests for my cheesecake recipe. It has now won two different cooking contests. It's called Sopapilla Cheesecake, but we took the liberty of renaming it for the last event. This years George Town Cruising Regatta theme as Gold, so we decided on Golden Creme Brulee Cheesecake. It is really very simple to make:

3 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 (8 ounce) cans of crescent rolls

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup sliced almonds

*Preheat oven to 350 deg.

*Beat cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups sugar and the vanilla extract until smooth

*Unroll crescent dough and press 1 can into the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking dish

*Spread cream cheese mixture over crescent rolls

*Cover with remaining can of crescent rolls

*Drizzle melted butter over the top

*Stir 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon in a small bowl

*Sprinkle over cheesecake and top with almonds

*Bake in preheated oven until crescent dough had puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 minutes

*Cool completely in the pan before cutting

George Town, Bahamas

2011-03-10T21:01:00.002-06:00

We've been anchored in George Town for almost two weeks now and I can't believe that I haven't updated the blog in all this time. My first and foremost excuse - lack of internet access. It's not as easy as I thought it would be to surf the WWW. Second excuse - we are just having too much fun to worry about it. Every day seems to bring a new adventure. We are here during the 31st Annual George Town Cruisers Regatta. There are activities every day, lots of activities. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Our hand from the Dinghy Poker Run

We entered our dinghy in the dinghy parade and poker run. We participated in the Coconut Roundup with our friends Ted and Millie from s/v Morning Glory. Our team name was Glory Story. We have hiked and swam and attended info sessions and yoga sessions and beach church. We see loggerhead turtles swimming around our boat every day. We see dolphins and lots of really big star fish.We've spent lots of time with our cruising friends and we wake up each morning and pinch ourselves to make sure this is for real.

Yesterday we sailed in a race around Stocking Island. We were on our friend Shane's Lagoon 41 Catamaran (s/v Guiding Light). Part of the race includes a contest for the best dish baked underway (I made my famous award winning Sopapilla Cheesecake), the best photograph taken while underway (I broke out my camera and will try to improve on my N.N.G.P. status - Non National Geographic Photographer) and a contest for the longest fish caught while underway. All while trying to win the race, of course. We won't get results until tomorrow night at the awards ceremony, so wish us luck. Word has it that we were the only boat to catch a fish, so it sounds like we will win that one at least! It was a rush to reel in a mahi mahi. I sure do look forward to catching more just like that one.

The winning fish!

We are planning to stay here for another week and then move on. We have loved the Exumas so much and the water is finally getting warm enough to enjoy. I am looking forward to doing more spear fishing and fishing in the next few weeks.

Click on the links to see photos:

Blackpoint, Exumas

Little Farmers Cay, Exumas

George Town, Exumas

Don't forget that you can leave comments on the blog posts, the photo albums, or even on each individual photo. I love getting comments - as long as they are nice ;)

Little Farmers Cay

2011-02-21T10:46:00.000-06:00

We spent several days at Black Point Settlement. We loved the friendly, small town feel. Everyone there was so nice and very welcoming to the cruisers visiting on boats. Lorraine’s was a great place to meet with other cruisers, get some internet and, of course some wonderful cracked conch. One day Troy and I, Shane, Steve, Rene and Stacy decided to see if we could spear enough lobster for dinner. We loaded our dinghies with spears and snorkel equipment and headed out. After finding a likely spot, we took to the water. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see many fish, and only a few lobsters. Steve, Shane, Rene and myself did manage to get one lobster each but Steve’s lobster was a gigantic one! Stacy cooked the lobster for us for dinner that night and we were all very pleased with ourselves for capturing a delicious dinner.

One day I paddled my kayak up to a pristine beach. The water was crystal clear and the sand was beautiful and white. The wind rippled the water with the same pattern as the sand below the shallow waves. My footprints were the only ones on the beach. What a wonderful time for relaxing and reflecting. I wandered along picking up a few sand dollars and other shells and thanking God for the opportunity for Troy and I to be able to share this adventure together.

We finally decided that it was time to move on so we weighed anchor and headed south to Little Farmers Cay. There is a very small community here and everyone who lives here (about 60 people) is related to each other. All descended from one woman, Chrisanna, a freed slaved who brought her two sons and one daughter here and settled the island. Everyone is very friendly and I even got a hand written recipe for Bahamian Peas n Rice from Tasha, the owner of the small store. She even gave me a papaya from the tree in her back yard, some bacon to flavor my rice and a couple of goat peppers (same as habanero peppers).

Inside the Oven Rock Cave

We had heard about a cave at Oven Rock, about a mile from where we were anchored. We met a couple, Jim and Nancy on s/v Solitaire who spend every winter here in the Exumas and a lot of time on Little Farmers Cay. They knew the location of the cave and offered to act as our tour guides. We had six dinghies flying over the waves and ready to explore. It was about a 10 minute hike up to the cave and we weren’t sure exactly what to expect. We were in for quite a surprise. We descended into the cave and found cool, clear water. The cave was full of stalactites and stalagmites and we had a great time swimming in the chilly water. It was a really neat experience and I don’t have the words to adequately describe the feeling of swimming in that cold, clear, underground cave. What an adventure!

It was great to swim in the cave

We are still having the time of our lives and loving every new adventure. We have been baking a lot of our own bread, something I never did at home, but we are having fun trying our different ingredients. We made cinnamon, raisin bread, jalapeno cheese bread and white bread. I am cooking a lot as there are not many other options, but I can honestly say that I am even enjoying that. It’s fun to cook when you have time and the stress level is non-existent.

We will need to make some decisions in the next couple of days. Mainly, North or South? Which way next? The next destination to the south is George Town, which is a major cruising destination where we will probably stay for a couple of weeks. We are not in any hurry to get there though and Rene and Stacy (s/v Pipe muh Bligh) and Steve (s/v Anchor Management) are planning on heading back North to Staniel Cay for a week or so. Decisions, decisions. Watch the SPOT to see where we go next!

Some kind of sea cucumber

Hiking to the Cave

Cleaning Conch

Papaya Tree behind Tasha's Store

Black Point Settlement, Exumas

2011-02-14T13:33:00.001-06:00

We ended our stay at Staniel Cay with a nice sail on Sea Yawl Later and then a quick trip over to an island called Big Majors Spot to see the swimming pigs that we had heard about. Sure enough, the pigs get handouts from cruisers so as soon as they see a boat or dinghy approach the beach they swim out to greet you and eat whatever you throw their way. Shane was the only one brave enough to get in the water with the pigs. They seemed friendly enough but they wanted food and I bet their hooves were sharp!

Rusty (on s/v Sea Yawl Later) has dubbed our group the "Texas Navy" since we are all from Texas. There are five boats in the navy so far – Storyville, Anchor Management, Kaleo, Sea Yawl Later and Guiding Light. We are looking forward to hooking up with Pipe muh Bligh this week so that they can be inducted into the Texas navy as well!

The Texas Navy decided to head down to Black Point Settlement since we were soon to be seeing strong north winds. There was no north wind on the way down though so we motored our way to the island of Great Guana Cay where Black Point Settlement is located. We found a very nice anchorage there and spent the first afternoon exploring the town. There is a great little café with internet and a book exchange. The café is called Lorraine's and let me tell you, Lorraine makes the best cracked conch in the world and her mom makes the best coconut bread in the world. If you think I'm exaggerating, then you will just have to come and try it for yourself! Lorraine's son Josh took a liking to me for some reason and sat in my lap and gave me lots of hugs. I think he recognized a lady that missed her grandkids and need a big hug from a little kid! He sure is a sweetie.

Josh and Me

Cracked Conch at Lorraine's

Diving for Lobster

Meeting on Storyville

Early the next morning we moved around to the other side of the peninsula where Black Point is located to an anchorage that is better protected for the north winds that were coming our way. The first thing that I did was dive into the beautiful clear water and check to make sure our anchor was set. Once I saw that the anchor was buried deeply into the sandy bottom, I grabbed my spear (Hawaiian Sling) for what I was hoping would be my first chance to spear a fish. I swam over to the rocky shore and within just a couple of minutes I had spotted a lion fish and a great big lobster. I was excited to have a chance to fulfill my biggest goal on this trip – to spear a fish and cook it for dinner. By the way, I have decided that a lobster would do just as good as a fish! Anyway, I started my hunt by trying to spear the lion fish. They are an invasive species here and in Florida and divers and fishermen as asked to kill them whenever they come across any. They do look really intimidating because they have lots of venomous spines. I have heard that they are good to eat and will attempt to clean and eat one if I can ever manage to spear it! I missed the lion fish and the lobster but I was still determined. After all, this was my first attempt to even use the spear gun. I managed to scare both targets back into the reef to I moved on to another area. By that time Steve had joined me and we were on the hunt while Troy managed the dinghies and provided support from above. We found several more lobsters and another lion fish. I hit one of the lobsters, but they sure do have a tough shell! It just bounced right off and moved all of the lobsters back further into the reef. Steve pointed out the lion fish and I made another attempt, but missed once again. Then, just as I was starting to get discouraged and decided that I needed a little more practice with the spear, we spotted a lobster on the move and out in the open. I headed over for and got a shot on him. The spear glanced off and I thought I had missed out again. I took another breath and dove again, I couldn't believe that he was still there. Maybe I stunned him the first time! Anyway, I got another shot and speared him straight through! I was so excited and couldn't wait to show Troy that I had speared a lobster! I surfaced with the lobster on my spear and looked all around me for Troy. He was over a little way and speaking to a woman on the shore. The woman lived in the house overlooking the anchorage and she had come out to tell Troy that it is illegal for non Bahamians to spear fish within 200 yards of the shore of the island. And here I was, waving a lobster around on my spear yelling "I got one!". The lady was very nice and we apologized and explained that we were not aware of the law. She told us to go ahead and keep the lobster and of course, we could spear as many lion fish as we wanted since they are considered an nuisance. I felt bad that I had speared my first lobster illegally, but it was unintentional and se we celebrated the victory anyway! Troy, Steve and I had lobster pizza for lunch. Yummy!

Matt, Christie, Shane, Deana, Rusty, Linda, Pastor Kevin Rolle and Troy

Shane had made arrangements for us to get a ride back into Black Point on Sunday so that we could attend the local church service. I think it may have been my fir st time to ride to church in the back of a pickup truck and to sit in church with sandy feet. We were all welcomed very warmly and we were in for a surprise. Shane had been to a service at this church a few weeks before and met the pastor and visiting missionary. The pastor asked whether Shane would like to give the sermon on Sunday. Shane is not a preacher and according to him, he would normally have said "no way" but since he had just finished a book called The Five Love Languages, he felt like the Lord had laid in on his hear to share what he learned. He didn't tell us that he was the guest speaker, but he did a great job and, since it was the Sunday before Valentine's Day, it was the perfect subject! We were all very proud of Shane!

All men should strive
to learn before they die
what they are running from, and to, and why.
~James Thurber

Pictures

2011-02-12T15:44:00.000-06:00

I finally got a chance to get caught up on some picture posting! Check out the links and don't forget to leave comments!

Warderick Wells

Shroud Cay

Staniel Cay

Black Point

Staniel Cay

2011-02-12T14:30:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Staniel Cay

We finally pried ourselves away from Wardrick Wells. It was my favorite place so far. There was so much to see and do and it was our first chance to get to do some snorkeling. The water is getting warmer every day.

We anchored out at Bell Island where we snorkeled at a place called Coral Reef Sea Aquarium. It was as beautiful as the name sounds and it did seem like you were swimming in a big salt water aquarium. The fish were obviously used to being fed and were not shy at all! We were the only people there so it was nice to get to spend a little time in a really secluded spot. We also snorkeled a submerged plane – it was creepy to see an upside down airplane in the water, but the surrounding reef was beautiful. Matt and Christie treated us to Chicken Vindaloo for dinner and we decided to move on to Staniel Cay where we would wait for Steve to get back from his visit to Florida.

We motored our way up to Staniel Cay since the wind was right on our nose. It didn’t take us long to get there though and we hooked up to a mooring ball right behind Thunderball Grotto, an underwater cave where several movies have been filmed. We were excited because we heard s/v Sea Yawl Later on the radio. Matt and Christie had been on the lookout for their friends Rusty and Linda on Sea Yawl Later since we made it to the Exumas. We were also looking forward to meeting them because they are from Beaumont and kept their boat at Waterford Harbor in Kemah. We had been following their blog for some time.

We did a little exploring of the town in Staniel Cay while we waited for Rusty and Linda to get to the anchorage. The town is small and we were hoping for a little more selection in groceries because we had not seen a grocery store or market since we left Nassau. You can find what you need here, but nothing near what you are used to back home. Everyone is really friendly though and you can buy freshly baked bread right out of the bakers kitchen.

One other reason that we wanted to make it to Staniel Cay was so that we could watch the Superbowl. We watched at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and we finally got to meet Rusty and Linda. We hit it off with them right away. They are truly wonderful and special people, we made friends really quickly. Linda invited us over to their boat for dinner the next day, along with Matt, Christie and another cruiser, Shane on s/v Guiding Light. We had the best time, sharing a wonderful meal of spaghetti complete with Linda’s home made bread. We played a game called Catch Phrase (tons of fun) and then watched a movie on their big screen TV. Life is good!

The next morning we got a call from Linda and Rusty inviting us to spend the day on their boat to take a ride through Pipe Creek. We had one of the best days ever! Troy, myself, Matt, Christie, Shane, Linda and Rusty spent the day exploring in places where catamarans with a shallow draft can get to lots easier than a monohull sail boat. We even got to park Sea Yawl Later right up almost on the beach so that we could go for a swim. We saw starfish by the hundreds and even got to feed some sharks!

We got back to our anchorage in the early evening and since it was slack tide we knew it was time to explore Thunderball Grotto. What an amazingly beautiful place. It’s an underwater cave that’s full of fish. There are several ways into the cave, some of the only accessible by swimming underwater. Later that evening Shane cooked us all steaks and fish on his boat, Guiding Light. Did I mention lately that life it good????

We are still just loving life and the adventures that it brings every day. I am amazed at how busy we stay. There is just so much to see and do and so many wonderful people have entered our lives. We sure do feel blessed.

Please take a look at Kaleo and Sea Yawl Later’s blogs. I know that they have done a much better job than I have in describing the wonderful days that we have spent here at Staniel Cay.

Sea Yawl Later

Kaleo

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. ~C.S. Lewis

Allen's Cay, Shroud Cay and Warwick Wells Cay

2011-02-02T16:42:00.002-06:00

It feels like the cruising has finally begun! The cays of the Exumas are breathtaking. Each new one is even more beautiful than the last. Small little white sand beaches and clear blue water with mangroves and other short but green vegetation along the shore. This is what we’ve been dreaming about.

Allen's Cay Iguana

We left Nassau early in the morning and had a perfect six hour sail over the Bahama Banks to Allen’s Cay. We set our anchor and dropped the dinghy to head over to Leaf Cay to see the iguanas that we had heard about. Tourists in “go fast” boats (think Boardwalk Beast) are brought over from Nassau each day and the iguanas are used to handouts. They come out on the beach and will run right up to you if they think you have food. We stayed at Allen’s Cay for two nights and spent the days exploring the surrounding cays by dinghy. The water was still a little too cold for swimming and snorkeling. The second night brought a tightly packed anchorage. Both Kaleo and Anchor Management had to move their boats. Between the strong wind and an opposing current no one got much sleep and we were all ready to move on the next morning.

Next on the chart was Shroud Cay. Shroud is part of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. The motto is take only photographs and leave only footprints. We had another great sail and were happy to see that the park had installed mooring balls. We were all glad to pick up a ball so that we could get a decent nights sleep. We were amazed at the beautiful clear water with a deep sandy bottom.

On the way to Shroud we heard our friends Rene and Stacy on s/v Pipe muh Bligh on the radio. They were our dock neighbors at Watergate in Kemah and we were planning to find them since we knew they were cruising in the Exumas. Luckily they were just over at the neighboring cay and they came over to join us at Shroud.

We had a great reunion with them and then we all took an awesome dinghy ride through the mangroves of the park and all the way to the other side of the cay where we hiked a small hill and got some great shots of the water. That evening we enjoyed happy hour on Pipe muh Bligh with Rene and Stacy, Steve from Anchor Management, Matt and Christie from Kaleo and L.A. and Susan from Genesis. Good thing Rene and Stacy have such a big boat! We spent the next day at Shroud exploring by kayak and hanging out on the beach. This is the life!

Storyville from the top of Boo Boo Hill

We were on a waiting list to get a mooring ball at Warwick Wells Cay where the Exuma Land and Sea Park headquarter is located. Our sail over was picture perfect and once we arrived we just could not believe that a place could be so beautiful. We are planning to stay here for several days because there is so much to see and do. All of our buddy boats are here right now, Anchor Management, Kaleo, Pipe muh Bligh and Genesis.

Troy with a bananaquit

We made a hike up Boo Boo Hill where the views are absolutely breathtaking and we got some great shots of our boats out on the mooring field. Boo Boo Hill is a hilltop where cruisers make signs out of driftwood with their boat names on them and leave them on a cairn there. We made our signs and hiked back up to leave them this morning. It sort of feels like a right of passage as a cruiser to leave our sign up there.

Adding our Sign on Boo Boo Hill

We found some tiny little birds here called bananaquits. The love to eat sugar and will sit right on your hand to eat it or to drink water. We had fun feeding the bananaquits on Boo Boo Hill!

This afternoon we finally got to do some snorkeling. We snorkeled a small reef and saw many beautiful fish and coral. I even saw a school of squid that changed color as they moved from the coral to the sand. After the snorkel trip we all went back to Storyville to swim and play on the little sand beach that appears each day behind our boat at low tide. While we were there a sting ray and a nurse shark both swam right under our boat.

I still cannot be believe how beautiful it is here. We are loving every minute of this so far. I apologize if I am overusing words like amazing, breathtaking, awesome, but I really don’t know how else to describe the things that I am seeing!

We have very limited bandwith here so I will not be able to post all of my pictures. I will get them posted with a link on the blog as soon as possible.

The ocean looks like a blue rainbow! ~Stacy Foree

The World Famous Straw Market and Other Adventures in Nassau

2011-01-25T17:20:00.000-06:00

Storyville - crossing the Great Bahama Banks

We are still in Nassau and have been here longer than we expected. One reason for the delay is the weather, it’s beautiful and sunny here but windy and we are expecting a front to come in on Wednesday. We got a good price on a dock in a marina here and decided that we would rather be here than anchored out during the front. It has also worked out well because we figured out that we need to replace our batteries and it will definitely be easier to do here in the city.

The other day we (Troy, myself, Matt, Christi and Steve) were looking for something to do and decided that we would walk down to Potter’s Cay which is a market where fruits and vegetables are sold and there are rows of tiny little restaurants selling conch salad, conch fritters, fried fish and other Bahamian specialties. We had a hard time choosing which place to order from, but we finally made our decision and ordered conch salad, conch fritters, peas and rice and some fried plantains. Of course we had a couple of cold Kaliks (Bahamian beer) to wash it all down. The conch salad is a lot like ceviche, which I love, but Troy is not so fond of. The fritters are much better here than the ones we had in Key West. The Key West ones were more like hush puppies with a conch flavoring thrown in. The ones we had here definitely have more conch in them. It was a great lunch and we moved on to shopping for some fruits and vegetables. We bought goat peppers (habanero), some dried thyme and pigeon peas. The pigeon peas are the peas used in the Bahamian side dish peas and rice.

I wanted to keep walking down to the World Famous Straw Market. I read about it in some of the literature that we had and it was described as a market place where local Bahamians sold their handmade straw products (purses, hats, etc.). It turned out to be quite a long walk but eventually we found ourselves right in the tourist area where the cruise ship terminal deposits visitors so that they can spend their money in Nassau. We saw Coach stores and jewelry stores and liquor stores and T-shirt stores. Finally, at long last, we made it to the straw market.

We knew we were at the straw market when a man came up to us and said “Welcome to the Straw Market. I have a free necklace for you.” He then proceeded to pick out a beaded necklace and put it around my neck. As he did so, he said “All I ask is a small donation for the island kids”. Not knowing exactly who the “island kids” were, I offered him all the change in my pocket which turned out to be a total of 26 cents. Apparently he was offended by that and I learned that 26 cents is not enough for a free necklace! That free necklace was whipped off my neck with lightening speed and he was on to the next tourist.

The straw market was a huge disappointment. I am willing to bet that there was not one locally made straw product in the whole place. In fact, I bet most of the products came from China. It was like a great big flea market with stuff piled as high as the ceiling and the rows so close together that you could only walk single file down them. It was stuffy and didn’t smell all that great, like a maze of flea market T-shirts and trinkets and junk. All of the vendors are calling out to you at once trying to get your attention. It is impossible to tell where one booth stops and another one starts. At one point I looked behind me at Steve and I thought I saw a look of panic on his face. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

We’ve been here for several days now and are more than ready to move on to the Exumas where we will find beautiful beaches and clear water for swimming and snorkeling. As soon as the batteries get replaced and the weather cooperates we will be moving on.

Click here for Pictures from Nassau

The Bahamas

2011-01-22T09:03:00.000-06:00

Bahamas Greeting Committee

At long last, we made it to The Bahamas. Our crossing from Florida took two days. We crossed the Gulf Stream and the Great Bahama Banks without any problems. This was the first multiple day crossing with just Troy and I and Storyville. We had a perfect crossing. We took three hour shifts at night and shared the day shifts while taking turns napping. The sail across the Great Bahama Banks was just absolutely amazing. This is what we’ve been waiting for. Beautiful water that is so clear and blue it looks like a swimming pool. We were even greeted by dolphins. They escorted us for quite a ways, playing in our bow wake.

We made the crossing with several other boats and we were able to stay in touch with all of the boats, checking in with each other on the radio every three hours. Steve, on Anchor Management was single handing so we wanted to make sure to keep him in sight if we could, just in case he was trying to get a little sleep. The moon was full and moon rises and sets were stunning, so were the sun rises and sets. On both days I was on watch for the sun rise. It was awesome to see the full moon setting behind me and the sun greeting the day in front of me, both at the same time. Just beautiful, and absolutely incredible.

Sunset

I wish I had the words to describe the colors of the ocean. We were in water that was around seven thousand feet deep and it was dark, dark blue, almost black, but still clear, reminding me of an obsidian blade, then we would cross over into water that was twenty feet deep and turquoise blue with patches of green, with white sand on the bottom. Such a change from the brown waters of Galveston Bay and Clear Lake.

We’ve been here in Nassau on New Providence Island for a couple of days. It is a busy city and we are anxious to move on to the Exumas, a chain of islands (or Cays – pronounced Keys) with beautiful beaches and great anchorages. We plan on spending the next month or so exploring all of them. We’re looking forward to swimming, snorkeling and exploring.

s/v Kaleo

We plan on buddy boating with Steve on Anchor Management and Matt and Christie on Kaleo for a while. We also hope to meet up with some other friends that are already in the Exumas, Rene and Stacy on Pipe Muh Bligh and Steve and Alice on Ocean Star.

I can’t wait to get out there and try to spear a fish. We feel like the cruising has finally begun!

Unbeing dead isn't being alive. ~e.e. cumming

Marathon and Beyond

2011-01-17T20:12:00.001-06:00

We've been here for almost a week now and really still haven't seen much of the town. It's a long stretch of Highway 1 and we're back to foot power. Plus, I hate to complain since most of our blog followers have been in freezing cold weather, but I guess I'll whine a little anyway, it's been windy and a little chilly here. Not much fun for dinghy exploring and way to cold for swimming. Fortunately taxi service is cheap here and we have been able to complete our shopping and provisioning for the extended Bahamas cruise (more on that later).

The first thing we noticed when we made our way into Boot Key Harbor here in Marathon was how organized the City Marina is compared to Key West. We called the marina on the radio as we entered the harbor and were assigned mooring ball number Sierra 7 and Steve was assigned Sierra 6, right next to us. We dinghied into the office where we were checked in, given magnetic card keys to the showers and laundry room and received a nice welcome package from the local cruisers net which meets on VHF channel 68 at 9 AM every morning. They have wireless internet service and even a couple of TV viewing areas.

We tuned in to the cruisers net the next morning. This was our first experience with a cruisers net. Each day of the week there is a different moderator running that days net. They are very organized and they welcome new boats to the marina, have a "buy, sell and give away" time and also local announcements. Here are some of the fun things we did that we learned about on the cruisers net:

• Every Wednesday there is a pot luck at the marina. We attended the dinner and on the way in to the marina we met Matt and Christie on s/v Kaleo. They are from Kemah and kept their boat at Legend Point Marina, right around the corner from our home marina. They are also headed to the Bahamas and will be crossing with them tomorrow. We have had lots of fun getting to know them and have done some provisioning together. We look forward to spending some time with them exploring in the Bahamas and hunting lobster and fish.

Troy - It's a Good Day for the Blues!

• Every Saturday there is a gathering at the marina and everyone brings their instruments and plays music. Troy took his new guitar up and played a couple of songs. Of course he played Good Day for the Blues. We had a great time listening to everyone sing and play. We are looking forward to lots more times like this in the weeks and months to come.

• The day after our arrival the net announced a meeting for anyone interested in crossing to the Bahamas on the next weather window. We went to the meeting and found 11 other boats that are interested in crossing together. We have met a couple of times since then and I think we will have around 6 or 7 boats crossing together. Some of the boats have the same general itinerary as us so I have a feeling that we will get to know the people well as our paths cross along the way. Just one more great thing about cruising!

It looks like tomorrow is our big day. Everything is falling into place to make for a good crossing. There is not much wind predicted but and Gulf Stream should be calm and that is a good thing. We plan on leaving Boot Key at around 2:00 PM tomorrow, we will spend the night crossing the Gulf Stream and our plan is to arrive at South Riding Rock (apparently that's all that is there - a rock). It's important to arrive there during the day because the water depth will go from around 2500 feet to around 8 feet (or less) very abruptly. Then, suddenly - you are on the Great Bahama Bank! In clear, beautiful water!

We will take our time crossing the banks because our next arrival is at the Northwest Channel. It's about another 12 hours and we also need to arrive there in day light because it is a narrow channel from the Banks into the Tongue of the Ocean (I love that name, don't you?). Anyway, It's just the opposite of getting onto the banks, you go from really shallow to really deep through a narrow channel. We figure Steve will need to get some rest since he is single handing now so we will take most of the rest of that day and night to rest and cross the Banks to the Northwest Channel.

From there we have a few options but we are hoping to make it to Nassau on New Providence Island. The capital of the Bahamas, where we will check into the county and plan on where to go next. Watch the SPOT updates!

Fuzzy Stanley and Steve

Oh, yeah, I did mention provisioning. We started provisioning back in Kemah and continued in Key West and in Marathon. I believe that everything that we need will be available in the Bahamas - for a price. We figured that the more that we can buy here, the less we will need to spend later. Makes sense, right? So we have purchased everything from shampoo to rice and anything in between that we could think of. I hate to think of all the money we've spent, but hopefully it will save us in the long run. One thing we learned was that, while rum is cheap, beer can cost as much as $40.00 a case. We just can't seem to get our minds around that, and since we have been known to drink a beer or two, we started planning to see how much we can put on the boat. The last count was that we have over 272 beers on Storvyille. It will be interesting to see how long that will last. I have also bought as many 2 liter diet cokes as I could. I think I have about 15 of them.

I feel like the adventure is finally beginning. Getting across the Gulf was great and we have had lots of fun in Florida, but somehow getting to the Bahamas feels like the beginning of real cruising!

Click here to see more photos from our time in Marathon

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. ~Alan Alda

True Story

2011-01-11T17:13:00.000-06:00

The wind created just enough of a gentle breeze to lightly ripple the water and the moon shone just enough to make the tiny waves glisten like diamonds. The water, clear and green in daylight, was dark and black under the night sky. Boats were lined up on their moorings in neat rows, their anchor lights glowing like stars. All around Storyville we could hear the whoosh of dolphins as they broke the surface for a breath of air. If we looked closely we could see their backs in the path of the moonbeam. We could hear thousands of fish churning the water, trying their best not to become dinner for the dolphins. Swirling, puffing, churning, activity everywhere in the water. We were mesmerized by the magical moment.

“Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on...while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man...for precisely the same reason.” ~Douglas Adams

This Is The Life!

2011-01-10T12:57:00.000-06:00

We are still here in Key West. It's been so much fun but it's time to move on. We will head out tomorrow for Marathon and Boot Key Harbor. One step closer to getting over the Bahamas.

We enjoyed spending the last couple of nights on the town in Key West with our friends Christy and Allen Huff. They just happened to be here on vacation to celebrate Allen's 50th birthday. We have also had a blast hanging out with our friends Ron and Karen Parsons from Kemah, they are here on their boat, m/v Summertime. They have a truck here and have been wonderful about helping Steve and ourselves with last minute provisioning.

Troy and I finally got to go on a kayak adventure the other day. We paddled over to some mangroves and had a look around. It's so darn cool to be able to see what's in the water. We saw several horseshoe crabs and lots and lots of sea grass. No manatees yet. We did find a really nice dinghy that had washed up into the mangroves. It was a Caribe with a 15 hp Yamaha motor. It was obvious that someone had lost it. We called into the City Marina to ask if anyone had reported losing a dinghy. They said that, yes, there had been a call. The marina gave me the number to the person missing the dinghy and I gave them a call. Boy were they glad to hear from us! We rescued the dinghy from the mangroves and towed it back to the rightful owner.

Key West is an interesting place to visit. We have really enjoyed all of the live music, everywhere you turn there is music. Everyone is really laid back and, even though some parts are really touristy, we have never felt pressured by anyone to buy anything. The bicycles have been the perfect way to get around. The weather has been gorgeous, just a little chilly at night, but, as I was riding my bike home last night, I was thinking that I need to enjoy the chill in the air, soon enough we will be wishing for a little cool breeze!

Here are some links to my Image Event site with photos that I have taken in Key West:

Key West Photos

Welcoming in the New Year on Duval Street

Check out the site and live comments on the photos if you want to. I love comment (as long as they're nice! LOL)

Life is Good! ~Jake

Key West

2011-01-03T10:31:00.000-06:00

Here we are in Key West. We're settling into the cruising life quite well. It is really amazing to wake up in the morning and look out the ports on Stovyville's stern and see the sea grass on the bottom of our anchorage! This is what I've been waiting for, and I know that it will only get more beautiful as we go. The weather is perfect, just a little chilly at night, but shorts and swim suits during the day. Too bad we are not brave enough to swim. The water is too chilly!!!

Our crossing from Venice, Louisiana was great. Once again, we didn't get too much sailing done, more motor sailing. As a result we decided to duck into Ft. Meyers, Florida for fuel. We stayed just long enough to tour most of the marinas looking for one that actually had diesel in their tanks! We were waiting at one marina for 20 minutes because we called them on the radio and they told us there was a boat taking on fuel, just a short wait. As soon as we saw the boat leave, we headed for the dock, lines in hand. We made it to within 20 feet of the dock and the attendant was yelling at us that they were out of diesel! Darn, we spent the next 30 minutes or so calling the area marinas on the radio, only to be told that most of them were out of fuel as well. We were starting to get discouraged when we hailed Salty Sam's Marina on the radio and we given the thumbs up. It was a tight fit getting Storyville in there but not to worry, Troy knows his boat and works well in those situations.

I was happy to find that there was a ships store and was looking forward to getting some bread and diet Coke. We we're about 6 hours out of Venice when I discovered that there was no diet coke on board. I couldn't convince the crew to turn around so I was in withdrawal for 4 days. So, while we were taking on the fuel, I headed straight for the store. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the only things stocked in the store were T-shirts and other souvenirs, they did have a cold case with a few beers and some sodas, but, alas NO DIET COKE! Well.... I'm happy to report that I survived without a diet coke for a whole week!

We made it to Key West in time to welcome in 2011 on Duval Street with all the crazy people! We had a blast. We partied all night long and were amazed to discover that it was 4 am when we made it back to Storyville. I don't remember that last time I stayed up all night. Needless to say, we spent the first day of the new year recovering from the last day of the old year! I did manage to cook cabbage and black-eyed peas for my crew.

I have taken lots of pictures, but haven't had the time to get them sorted, edited and posted. Too much to see and do here. I promise that I will work on that soon, but right now, there's a beach with my name written all over it!

Pay attention to your dreams - God's angels often speak directly to our hearts when we are asleep. ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

We're Cruising Now!

2010-12-26T15:36:00.000-06:00

Anchor Management

We finally took the plunge and cut the lines in Kemah. It was a crazy madhouse at the last minute, we were literally throwing stuff onto the boat and into the V berth to be sorted out later. When it's time to go, it's time to go. Several friends showed up at the dock to see us off and wish us well. Darryl, Dawn and Matthew, Cory and Tammy, Kat, Ted. Thanks everyone!

We knew we wouldn't have the right weather to make it all the way to Key West so our plan was to head to Venice Louisiana where we would wait for the front that was predicted for Christmas Day. We are traveling with our friend Steve on his boat s/v Anchor Management. Steve had our friends Trey and Rick for crew. Troy and I had our friend and dock neighbor Alan. With the three of us, we decided on a 3 hour watch schedule with 2 people in the cockpit at all times during the night. That meant that each person would only get 3 hours of sleep at at time, but it really worked out well, especially considering that we had one night of fog that was so thick you could barely see 50 yards in front of the boat. That was a little nerve wracking because there were lots of oil rigs everywhere. Most of them have lights and even a loud horn to let you know they are there, but some don't. The last minute purchase of a new HD radar proved to be a good decision.

We had a good crossing, we weren't able to sail very much, but over all everything went smoothly. Troy did have to change out the alternator belt while under sail one night. I don't think he had much fun laying on top of the engine in the rolly sea. I know I wasn't enjoying playing the part of "tool fetcher and hander" by the time we were done with that project we were both feeling a little ill. After a little time in the cockpit with some fresh air we were feeling better. Fortunately, no one was seasick for this part of the trip.

Captain Troy at the helm

We were a little worried because we knew that it would be the middle of the night when we made it to Tiger Pass, our channel to get us to the marina in Venice. The channel is about 12 miles long, fortunately the channel was well marked with many lighted channel markers to guide us and we had a nice full moon. We just took it slowly and I stood on the bow with a spot light to point out the channel markers to Troy at the helm. We had dolphins on our bow for most of the trip up the channel. It was really cool, they stayed with us for so long that it seemed like they were guiding us in.

We made it to the marina at about 3 AM, tied up to the fuel dock and got some much needed rest. Unfortunately, we have been stuck here for several days. We were hoping to head out today, but the winds just haven't died down enough and we don't feel the need to get out there in heavy wind and seas, not to mention the fact that it's about 45 degrees. Burrrrrr. We are watching the weather closely and it looks like we will be able to get out of here tomorrow and head for warmer climates. We're not sure whether the winds and weather will cooperate enough for us to make it all the way to Key West. We would like to be there for New Years Eve, but we will just have to see. Alan has to be back home by the 3rd so we will make it as far down the Florida coast as we can.

We had Christmas dinner on Storyville with Alan, Steve and Rick. We had a very nontraditional dinner of a giant pot of Stew and cornbread. We also enjoyed Steve's famous rum cake and my "award winning" sopapilla cheesecake. Then, we watched some movies, starting with Captain Ron (of course) and decided to open a bottle of Zaya to celebrate the beginning of our cruising. It was a fun night, spent with great friends.

A rig in the fog

Alan handling sails

This boat is named after our grandson! LOL

Don't go between those rigs!!!

Fuzzy Stanley - The Sock Monkey

Venice Marina
We are the only sail boats here

This guy hitch hiked with us

We are about 20 miles offshore

Guess he needed a rest

Fuzzy Stanley and Troy

To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach. ~Havelock Ellis

Still in Kemah

2010-12-14T15:09:00.002-06:00

Storyville's Cozy V-berth

Well, we're still here. The time is getting close though. We are working frantically to get all of our ducks in a row and get Storyville ready for departure. We were hoping to get out of here this weekend, but that is looking unlikely. For everything we get done, there seems to be 2 more things that we need to do. Everything from banking to provisioning to putting the last few items in the ditch bag. It just never ends. If we don't leave this weekend, we will be out of here early next week - no, really. We are planning to leave.

I will say that I am not looking forward to our Gulf crossing. We will watch for the best weather and hopefully it will be a pleasant trip. I guess you never can tell.

It's been really hard over the last couple of weeks to say goodbye to our friends and family. It's so hard to leave our kids and grand kids. I will miss them so much, but we will be back, it's not like we are leaving forever!

One of the many projects that Troy has been working on is the addition of aluminum tubing to replace the lifelines on the stern of Storyville. This will give us places to attach important things like our gas grill, its propane tank, fishing rods, etc. It will also make the stern of the boat more secure when we are underway. I think it looks great with our davits. Storyville's stern is starting to look like a work of art.

New Stern Rails for Storvyille

I don't think I mentioned it before, but our friend Steve on s/v Anchor Management will be heading out with us. I don't know how long the two boats will stay together but we plan to make it to the Bahamas and then see what happens. Steve is working on getting a blog started and I will add a link to our blog when he gets it online.

Don't forget to watch our SPOT by clicking on "Where is Storyville" at the top of the blog.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

Can miles truly separate you from friends.... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there? ~Richard Bach

The Latest

2010-12-02T13:18:00.001-06:00

Amy, Stacey and Zada (my sister and nieces)

Preparations are still underway. We keep thinking we are down to the last few things but the list keeps growning. I think it's just like anything else in life, one day soon we will just have to declare Storyville (and us) ready to go. If we stay here until everything is just right then we will be in Kemah for the rest of our lives. We are still hoping to leave sometime after the 15th of December, however, I am worried about my mom. Her health is not improving and I believe that we will be looking at another hospital stay soon. We are planning to be ready to go and we will just have to see how the situation with mom works out.

Stacey, Ronda and Deana

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We spent Thanksgiving day in Conroe at my mom's house. It was great to see everyone, but a little sad too because we know that we will be sailing away soon. I sure will miss my daughters and nieces and grand kids. So far, that is the hardest part of leaving.

Lisa and Johnnie (my Aunts)

Ethan, Kayla and Shawn

Kayla Joe with JJ

The rest of the weekend was spent at Double Bayou with some of our sailing friends. We had a great weekend with campfires, good company and good food on the bank of the bayou. It's one of our favorite places to be. What more can you ask for?

A great view of the boats on the banks of Double Bayou

You don't want to get to the end of life's journey and discover you never left the interstate. ~Robert Brault

Preparations Continue

2010-11-20T12:37:00.001-06:00

I added a link to the top of the blog. Click the link called "Where is Storyville" to see our SPOT link. It will take you to our SPOT page and you can see where we are. If you choose the satellite version on the SPOT page, you will be able get a look at the beautiful blue water we are in..... Not yet, but soon!

Preparations continue for us and for Storyville. I went to Sam's Club the other day and bought rice, beans, pasta and some canned goods. Yesterday I spent several hours vacuum sealing rice, beans and pasta. Today, we bought 8 pounds of coffee, wonder how long that will last? I just couldn't sail away without some of our favorite coffee, sold by a local company, El Lago Coffee Company. I still have more provisioning to do (Peanut Butter being at the top of the list - in case Shirley reads this blog post!), but provisioning the boat is one thing that is making cruising a reality for me. It's starting to sink in that we will be leaving the comfort of Kemah soon and heading out into the unknown (unknown to us anyway). Exciting and a little scary at the same time.

We got the dinghy bottom painted and we are having chaps made that will fit the dinghy. We will depend on the dinghy like everyone else depends on their car so we are trying to make sure that we have it in good working order. In case you're wondering, chaps are a custom made canvas cover that will cover the inflated pontoons of the dinghy and protect them from the harsh sunshine and other weather.

We bought a new chart plotter the other day and I am planning to spend some time learning how to use it. I'm really excited because this one has a touch screen and it seems very intuitive so maybe it won't be too difficult. Troy and Steve installed it the other day and have been trying to figure out how to make it "talk" to our other electronics, such as the autopilot and the vhs radio. For some reason, they don't want to "talk", no matter what we do. Maybe they just need to get to know each other better!

As exciting as this adventure is, we are getting tired of living in a construction zone. Hopefully we are nearing the end of the boat work and we will be ready to set sail soon.

New Garmin Chart plotter - Ain't she pretty?

Troy's efforts at making all the electronics "talk" to each other

A sample of the mess we are living in!

On the Hard

2010-11-09T21:16:00.000-06:00

The other day someone asked me when we were leaving to go cruising. I calmly replied that we would be leaving sometime in December - the words came out like they have for the last three years, like December is some date far off in the future. Then, as my heart skipped a beat, I realized that December is mere weeks away! The time to live our dreams has arrived, almost.........

Just a few more things to do. As I type this we are sitting in Storyville on the hard in Seabrook Shipyard. For all the land lubbers reading this, that means Storyville is sitting on stands in a ship yard. You have to climb a ladder to climb another ladder to get into the boat. We're getting a getting lots of good things done while we're here. A bottom job and a dripless packing gland are the two major reasons for the haul out, plus she's getting waxed and shined up too.

The ship yard allowed us to stay on the boat and we are able to hook up to power so, here we are, climbing ladders to climb ladders. Needless to say, we better be careful! We're hoping that Storyville will be back in the water on Thursday. She really is a mess right now, I'm living way up high in a construction zone and I can't wait to get her back in her slip and all cleaned up.

As soon as we're back in the water Troy will finish up the rigging replacements that he started prior to our haul out and then, we will be ready to head out. We still have plenty of things that we want to get done, but there comes a time when you just have to head out and worry about the rest later. We really want to get out of here in December and would like to spend New Years in Key West and then head on to wait for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.

I really will try to do better on keeping the blog up. I'm still working a few days a week and plan on doing that for the rest of November. Troy has some last minute jobs to do for Gulf Coast Composite and then, we will be cutting the dock lines - - - in just a few short weeks, you know, in December.

Storyville with a naked bottom (don't look Ethel!)

Nice new bottom paint - Ain't she pretty?

See, I told you, climb a ladder to climb a ladder!

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. ~Grandma Moses

Amy and Bobby's Wedding

2010-10-17T12:34:00.000-06:00

My beautiful niece Amy got married on Friday (October 15, 2010). The wedding was in Galveston at the San Luis Hotel. The bride was beautiful and the location was perfect.

Beautiful Bride!

My sister's family

Zada, Stacey, Amy Dave

Samantha and Caden

Paw Paw and Caleb

The Brocks

Traci, Matt, Delilah

Shawnace Joe

Lindsey and Ronda

Ronda and Kenny King

Dad give's the bride away.

Zada and Kayla

Kayla Joe - Beautiful Flower Girl

Presenting Amy and Bobby Patterson

Madison and Kendra

Silly Girls!

The Wedding Party

Bride and Groom's First Dance

Danny and Tory

Samantha and Zada

Dad dancing with his Daughter

Crazy Girls!

Beautiful Girls

Samantha, Kayla and Tory

Troy and Tory

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig

Work in Progress

2010-10-09T15:04:00.000-06:00

Water Maker Installation in Progress

Some of Storyville's New Rigging

Will we EVER be ready?

2010-10-08T08:55:00.002-06:00

It doesn't seem like it today. There is so much to do and time is getting short. Troy is working on installing the water maker, re-bedding leaking hatches and getting our anchors lined out and that's just the beginning. I am still working at making some money for the cruising kitty. We are both a little anxious about the day when our bank account has debits only! LOL

We still have many projects to complete before we feel like we (Me, Troy, Storyville) are ready to go. We will haul Storyville out in early November for a bottom job and some other projects that can only be done when we are on the hard. The list seems to be never-ending and I feel like I am living in the middle of a re-model. I will be glad when most of the inside projects are done so that I can stop climbing over tools and stuff. (Troy - when you read this, it is not a complaint - I'm just sayin', it will be nice).

We ordered all of the chart kits that we will need for navigation all the way from the Bahamas to Grenada and most of the cruising guides. That was exciting, even if it was a big dent in the cruising kitty. We got our EPIRBS and a SPOT tracker. Also ordered our quarantine flag and, thanks to Steve and Deb, we have several other courtesy flags. I also ordered some books to help me figure out the SSB, which, by the way, has yet to be installed.

When I get time I need to start thinking about provisioning the boat. Actually, I have been thinking about it, but that's the extent of Storyville's provisioning so far, thinking about it. I'm starting to realize that many things that we will need will be really expensive on the islands in the Caribbean, after all, they are islands and most things must get there by boat. Like, what about sunscreen, bug spray, my favorite (fill in the blank). I told my sister the other day that she could buy me a case of sunscreen for a bon voyage gift. LOL

These are some of the things that are swirling around in our heads right now. We feel the pressure of getting everything ready, but, just like everything else in life, we realize that you will never be completely ready to go. There comes a time when you just have to cut the dock lines.

I was thinking the other day, as I grumbled to myself because I had to drive 20 MPH through a school zone when I was already running late (rush, rush, rush). During our cruising, it will be a rare occasion when we move faster than about 15 MPH, and that will be when we are in the dinghy. Storyville can make about 7 knots, that's her hull speed, (but usually we are going much slower). I don't know how fast I can paddle my kayak, but I am guessing nowhere near 7 knots. Then, of course, there's the walking, lots of walking. Short Story (Storyville's dinghy) might make 20 MPH when she's on plane. I sure am looking forward to the day that our lives slow down.

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. ~Lillian Dickson

Labor Day

2010-09-13T14:54:00.001-06:00

As usual, I'm way behind on blog posts. I really hope that I will be able to keep up with the blog when we're cruising. In my imagination there will be more time for photography, writing and blogging while we are out there having fun.

We sailed down to Offats Bayou for Labor Day weekend and spent the weekend on the hook there. Lots of friends took their boats down too and it was quite a fun filled weekend.

One of the coolest things that happened was seeing a pink dolphin. It was jumping in the bow wake of a big tanker in the ship channel. I had to google to see if there really is such a thing. Apparently they are very rare and are albino dolphins. I know I wasn't seeing things because Troy saw it too. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready, once again earning my credentials, Deana Jones, N.N.G.P. (Non National Geographic Photographer). Anyway, that was pretty exciting.

Here are some of the sights we see in the Houston Ship Channel. It can get really busy out there with all of the barges and the gigantic container ships headed into the Port of Houston.

Two container ships meeting in the ship channel.
Better stay out of the way!

Dolphins - these aren't pink but at least I got a shot of the them.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Storyville

Storyville and friends at anchor (Portofino F Dock South)

That's me - headed for Storville

Cory and Tammy from s/v Menestheus

Deb and Steve from s/v Anchor Management

A tortise that lives in someone's back yard. We saw him from the dinghy.

Party at Blue Hole
Now I know the meaning of Red Neck Yacht Club!

There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease work and become stargazers. ~H.M. Tomlinson

Weekend in Austin

2010-07-19T16:23:00.003-06:00

When we heard that Storyville would be playing at Antones in Austin on our 13th anniversary, we decided that this was a show that we couldn't miss. Storyville hasn't played together in three years and we were very excited to be able to see them live one more time.

We bought tickets online for the Friday night show. No sooner had I bought the tickets than Steve and Deb decided that they would love to see the show too, except they could only make it on Saturday. No problem - we just bought tickets for that show too. We didn't mind at all seeing them two nights in a row.

We hadn't been to Austin in several years and were really looking forward to the long weekend away. We booked a room at the La Quinta in downtown Austin, just blocks from 6th street and from Antones. We were able to walk everywhere and we had an amazing time. It was really a perfect weekend. Both shows were fantastic and South Austin is a great place to spend some time. Live music everywhere and plenty of interesting things to see and do.

One evening we decided that it would be fun to wait for the bats to fly out of Congress Avenue Bridge. This bridge contains the largest urban bat colony in America. We had seen them once, years ago and it was a pretty cool experience. This time we got there a little early and the bats were not in any hurry to come out. We saw a few but lost patience and left before they really started coming out in any big numbers. It's hard to say if there were more bats or more people!

Deb lives in Austin and one of her best friends, Mateo, is moving away. He had a surprise for her and his instructions were to go to a place on one of the walking trails in Austin where they sometimes walked. She was to go between the hours of 10:00 and 2:00 and find a man named Woode Wood who sings and plays guitar there. Mateo told Deb that Woode would have a gift for her. Deb invited us along for the adventure (and maybe for a little moral support). We arrived at the designated spot and found Woode sitting atop some rocks and playing for the walkers / runners / bikers that happened by. Woode is quite a character and Mateo's gift to Deb was a song sang especially for her. It was a very special moment from a good friend. Deb invited us to her house the next night and we met Mateo, he made us dinner and we had a wonderful time. Deb is fortunate to have Mateo for a friend.

Steve and Deb listen to Woode Wood sing Mateo's song

Storyville was awesome, just like we knew they would be. It was great to hear them play. I took my camera on the second night and got a couple of decent pictures. On Saturday, we were standing at our hotel valet stand, waiting for our car. We look up and see Malford Milligan and his wife waiting for their car too. They were staying at the same hotel as us! We had a little chat with them and told him about our boat and our plans for cruising. I think that they thought it was really interesting that we had a boat named Storyville and we are planning a cruising adventure, then again, maybe they just think we are crazy!

David Grissom

Malford Milligan

David Grissom and David Holt

We didn't want the weekend to end, even though it lasted for four days. It was great to celebrate our anniversary. It seems like we are happier today than ever before. Maybe it's because Troy really is a cancer survivor and we are so close to living out our dream of sailing away on Storyville. We definitely feel so fortunate to be at this place in our lives. All I can say is: Life is good!

The only disappointment of the weekend was the fact that we did not manage to have a meal at Juan in a Million. We saw this restaurant featured on Man vs. Food and we decided we wanted to try one of their burritos. Unfortunately, we never got too give them a try - you can see for yourself why we decided to skip out:

The line is wrapped around the building!

Check out a collage of my photos from Austin and 6th Street:

A picture collage by Smilebox

Life Changes

2010-07-13T15:14:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a surprise for me. I was laid off from my job as Vice President and Commercial Escrow Officer for American Title Company on June 14th. I have worked for American Title for 17 years, in fact, I was there when the doors to the company opened for business. I think I can safely blame this lay off on the economy and big business. It took me about a week to get over the shock of losing a job that I had held for so long. It just seemed like that company was part of my life. More so the people that I have worked with on a daily basis for so long. I definitely went through a range of emotions.

There has been at least one positive effect of this job loss: I can finally talk (and blog) about our future plans without feeling like I am jeopardizing my job. I always felt like it was better to keep our plans on the down low, or else, I might lose my job. (haha - now that just strikes me as funny). Anyway, no need to worry about that now!

In case I haven't mentioned it before - Troy and I will be leaving on our sailboat to cruise to Mexico and South America and wherever the winds blow us. Our plan is to leave at the end of this year. I have come around to thinking that this lay off was a blessing in disguise. I just wish they would have waited another few months. Anyway, I hope to start updating the blog more (I know, I know, you've heard that one before) with our cruising preparation. We are really getting excited as we realize that we are closer than ever to our goal. December will be here before we know it and we need to be ready - and have Storyville ready.

I was looking forward to having some time to work on my photography and start getting our storage unit pared down to a manageable size, but that was not meant to be. I was without work for just a few short weeks when I got an offer to work for an abstracting company doing title research, some of which can be done from my boat. It is contract type of work, getting paid per tract sort of thing. The owner knows about our crusing plans and this job is really just to help him get through a major project that he has due at the end of August. It just seemed too perfect to pass up, so here I am, employed again!

One more piece of really great news. Troy had another PET Scan in last June. He remains NED (No Evidence of Disease) and his doctor was really positive about his situation. In fact, in place of my usual quote, I will leave this blog post with a quote from Troy's oncologist:

"I see nothing that would preclude you from dying of old age." ~ Dr. Robert Amato

Pine Gully

2010-06-13T13:42:00.000-06:00

Kayla and I took an unexpected and spur of the moment side trip to Pine Gully the other day. Despite the humidity and the fact that we weren't dressed for the occasion, it was a nice little excursion.

KAYLA JOE

Ominous Sign

The only reptile in sight! (Kayla was disappointed that we didn't see an alligator)

The poetry of the earth is never dead. ~John Keats

You must not know too much, or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and water-craft; a certain free margin, and even vagueness - perhaps ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things... ~Walt Whitman, Specimen Days, "Birds - And a Caution" (Thanks, Corinne)

Caden's Adoption

2010-06-10T10:40:00.001-06:00

After lots of waiting, the time has finally arrived. Caden's adoption was final on Tuesday (6/7/10). He became Jessica and David's son, Caleb's brother and our grandson and gained a whole family of aunts, cousins and various family that seems too complicated to even try to explain! His name was also officially changed to Caden William Evans. He has been a part of our family for almost two years now but it sure feels good to have the official paperwork done.

During the official proceedings the attorneys were speaking and asking all the required questions. Jessica and David were standing before the judge and Jessica was holding Caden. Jessica started to tear up a little and Caden was wiping the tears from her eyes. It was a very touching moment.

We are so very proud of Jessica and David and excited for Caden and the wonderful family that he has been adopted into. We love you Caden!

The judge commented that we already had a village!

Caden and Caleb - The Evans Brothers!

Caden, Kayla and Caleb - Cousins (These are my three grandkids. I will be tongue tied forever trying to say their names!)

Aunt Shawnie celebrates with Caden at Cici's Pizza

Adoption is when a child grew in its mommy's heart instead of her tummy. ~Author Unknown

A Day With the Grandkids

2010-06-06T11:51:00.004-06:00

We spent yesterday with all three of our grandkids. It was the first time that we have been in charge of the little two. Caden is three and Caleb is 17 months. They are both a handful and I was really nervous about it. Fortunately for us, Kayla is 10 and she is a big help with the boys. We spent most of the time in the pool. The all loved the swimming, Caden was just a little nervous about getting in too deep. Caleb is still at the age that he is fearless and ready for anything. It was a fun but exhausting day.

"A person's a person, no matter how small." ~Dr. Seuss (Horton Hears a Who!)

Memorial Day - Offats Bayou

2010-06-01T12:43:00.006-06:00

We spent the Memorial Day weekend anchored out on Storyville at Offats Bayou in Galveston. Troy recently finished installing our new windlass. That is a device that pulls the anchor up and down and helps set the anchor. We previously had a manual one that I call Troy! Windlass Troy complained a lot about how heavy the anchor is and how muddy it is when he had to handle it himself. Our new windlass did not complain one bit (and neither did Troy). Between the new windlass and our great new anchor, I have a feeling that we will be spending a lot more time on the hook.

We decided to head out on Friday night and anchor out wherever we found a good spot. The evenings have been very calm with very little wind so we figured we would motor out and anchor somewhere around Bacliff. Well - no sooner did we get out of our slip and into the bay before the wind picked up and we could see lightening in the distance. The bay was white capping and the wind picked up to 25-30 knots for a little while. We were lucky that we never got any of the rain, just wind. We motored into it for about an hour and then headed over to Bacliff and set anchor for the night. Our friends Cory and Tammy on s/v Menestheus were with us. You can see that they were catching air:

Troy was up and working that new windlass at sunrise. We headed out to the Houston Ship Channel and towards Galveston. We had quite an incoming current that we were fighting against and not much wind to work with. We motor sailed all the way to Galveston. It was a very nice trip though, shrimp boats working and lots of dolphins playing in the wake of the tankers in the ship channel.

Shrimp Boat working the Houston Ship Channel

Dolphins playing in the bow wake of big tankers in the ship channel

To get to Offats Bayou you have to pass under the Galveston Causeway Bridge. The bridge is lowered for oncoming trains and, when no trains are on the track, the bridge is raised for boat traffic. Just our luck, we had to wait on a train. We just drifted around for about 30 minutes until it was our turn to get through. It sure is funny to listen to the bridge operator. Depending on which one is on shift, you can get a really cranky guy that doesn't want to get out of his recliner (and will be happy to tell you so), or a younger sounding guy that is really nice and willing to help out in any way. I will point out that it is not the bridge operators job to help recreational boats get back and forth under the bridge. His job is to make sure the bridge is down for trains. It was quite amusing to listen to the old curmudgeon griping to the tow boat operators about all the recreational boats. Guess he doesn't like anyone out having fun while he is at work. Can't say that I blame him too much for that!

We were just waiting on a train

The weekend was way fun and relaxing. We anchored out near 61st Street in Galveston with Cory and Tammy on s/v Menestheus and Trey, Kat and Anne on s/v Dawntreader. Saturday in Offats Bayou was really busy with lots of boats anchored out and lots of jet skis and skiers and wake boarders. We spent the weekend swimming, relaxing, partying with friends and just having a good time in general. The weather was perfect and so was the company.

Storyville at anchor in Offats Bayou

Dawntreader at anchor in Offats Bayou

Menestheus at anchor in Offats Bayou

Cory going for a swim

Anne came to visit Storyville

The only problem was that the weekend wasn't long enough. We all weighed anchor and headed back up the ship channel on Monday - back to reality.

Dawntreader headed back to the ship channel -time to go home :-(

Monday was Memorial Day, a day to honor our veterans, particularly the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free to enjoy the freedoms that we have today. I am definitely proud to be an American!

And I'm proud to be an American,where at least I know I'm free.And I won't forget the men who died,who gave that right to me.~Lee Greenwood

Lookin' for Lunch!

Texas Panhandle

2010-05-03T11:34:00.003-06:00

I have a family connection to the Panhandle of Texas. My mother was born in Amarillo and my dad's family has lived there for generations. In fact, while I was visiting my family recently in Pampa, my uncle gave me some family information that I thought was interesting. My great, great grandfather, Newton Franklin Locke was born in Alabama but he lived in the panhandle of Texas he was a Texas Ranger for a while and even took part in the Oklahoma Land Rush.

We took a trip to the Palo Duro Canyon as well. I haven't been there since I was a child and it brought back memories of visits there with my grandparents. The Canyon is 120 miles long, as much as 20 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Its elevation at the rim is 3,500 feet above sea level. It is a beautiful place to visit.

Check out the photos from our visit to the panhandle and to Palo Duro Canyon:

http://imageevent.com/deanaj/texaspanhandle?n=0

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. ~John Lennon

In Memory of my Grandparents

2010-04-29T07:17:00.002-06:00

Vivian Weckesser Locke

May 6, 1916 - April 22, 2010

John Thomas Locke

July 1917 - January 14, 1985

When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. ~Author Unknown

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:1-4

Relay for Life

2010-04-27T14:15:00.006-06:00

Jessica - First Bank and Trust Relay for Life Team Leaders

We participated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Montgomery County on April 16-17. Troy's daughter Jessica was a team leader and we are very proud of her for being so committed to raising money to find a cure for cancer. Troy and I donated a chance to "Sail with a Survivor" and Jessica sold almost $1,000.00 in raffle tickets with the winner going with us for a sail on Storyville.

Relay for Life is a 24 hour long event beginning at 7:00 in the afternoon on Friday, April 16th. Each team is a relay that walks around the track at a high school football stadium. The object is to have team members walking for the whole 24 hours. We managed to have members walking most of the time but by about 3:00 in the morning we were just worn out. I can't remember the last time I stayed awake for 24 hours. It sure served as a reminder that we aren't as young as we used to be!!!!

It really is a fun event and we had a great time. The Relay does a lot to honor cancer survivors and that makes it great for Troy and anyone else that is a survivor, giving them a chance to be appreciated and also taking time to honor those that have been taken from us by cancer.

Our team raised $1,800.00 for Relay for Life. We are so thankful for all our friends and family that participated in the event and those who bought raffle tickets and made donations. We just couldn't be prouder of Jessica and the rest of our family for taking time out of their busy lives to help eradicate cancer from our lives.

Troy and Jessica

Cancer is a word, not a sentence. ~John Diamond

There's an App for That!

2010-04-22T07:57:00.015-06:00

I've been having fun lately with my iPod Touch. There are many many photo apps that can do some pretty amazing things with photographs. Here are a few examples:

Storyville sailing in Galveston Bay

Same picture turned into a drawing by Zoom Camera app

Orignal image of Snowy Egret (just cropped a little in photoshop)

Same image drawn using SketchMee app

Original image of White Pelicans in Galveston Bay

Same image - altered using PhotoStudio app

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret altered using Pic Grunger

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. ~Ansel Adams

Pampa, Texas

2010-04-16T10:45:00.021-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I got one of those phone calls that you know is coming sooner or later but you still hate to get it, just the same. My grandmother, who is 93 years old, had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer. The doctors say there is nothing they can do except keep her comfortable. My sister, Stacey, and my two daughters, Shawn and Tory, decided that we needed to take a trip to Pampa, Texas, where my grandmother has lived almost all of her life, to say goodbye.

City Hall - Downtown Pampa, Texas

What a sad reason for a trip. We decided to drive up there. It's a 10 hour drive but we figured that it wouldn't be too bad if we all took turns at the wheel. We set out on a Wednesday evening after work. Even though the reason for the trip was a sad one, it turned out to be a wonderful trip and such a great time spent with my girls and my sister. There is nothing like a good road trip to get in some good quality time.

We made it to Pampa with only one speeding ticket and an overnight stay in Henrietta, Texas. (Stacey will never speed through Decatur again!). We drove straight to the hospital and found our grandmother sleeping quietly. She was amazingly coherent when she woke up to find us there and I think she was very pleased that we made the trip. I find comfort in the fact that one of the first things she said to us was: "it's time". We had a good, but very sad visit with her. The hardest part was when she gave me a necklace and earrings that were given to her by my grandfather. She wanted me to have them and I will certainly cherish them, but it was just really hard to have that moment with her and to know that it was our "goodbye" . I will always remember her as a strong and independent woman. I feel proud to be her granddaughter.

We spent two days with her at the hospital. We also got to take a couple of side trips that were really fun. We had read about a little town called Groom, Texas that is just outside of Pampa. Stacey had heard about a 190 foot tall cross there. We decided that since it was Good Friday, this would be a perfect stop for this trip. Check out the web site: http://www.crossministries.net/ . What a wonderful place. We really enjoyed the stop and especially the reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.

Our next stop was The Big Texas, home of the 72 oz. sirloin steak in Amarillo, Texas. If you eat the 72 oz. steak and the meal, you get it free. Fun place to visit if you don't mind feeling like a tourist in Texas! LOL

The next morning we pointed our car to the south and headed home. This trip was long but short and very sad but also lots of fun.

To live in hearts we leave behindIs not to die.~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

BIG DAY!

2010-03-19T08:50:00.003-06:00

Today is a big day for the Jones family. We will close on the sale of our house. One big giant step towards our dream of going cruising. We are both really excited and really nervous at the same time. I'm sure we are going against any prudent financial advice by taking this path. At the same time, we have a dream and it has never felt so close or so tangible!

When we found out that Troy had cancer we felt that our future was so uncertain that we could not continue with our plans for cruising. We spent a year concentrating on defeating the cancer and at least another six months getting Troy healthy again. We decided that the doctors try to kill the cancer AND you with the chemo, radiation and surgery. Thankfully they only managed to kill the cancer. Then, of course, the cancer is trying to kill you too. Once again - God had other plans for Troy.

The lesson was really driven home to us that we only have a limited time on this earth. You know the saying, you only regret the things you didn't do. We are determined that we will follow our dream and see where it takes us. We feel so blessed that we have been given another chance to live life to the fullest. And so, today, we celebrate being one giant step closer to following that dream!

Troy worked really hard on this house. He made it our dream home. We will miss it (until it's time to mow the grass again!)...

Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning. ~John Henry Cardinal Newman

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older. ~Larry McMurtry, Some Can Whistle

When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch. ~Author unknown, from a television commercial

We Went Sailing!

2010-03-01T15:04:00.014-06:00

Finally, at long last. It was the first time we have had a chance to get Storyville out of her slip this year. We've had a really cold winter and between Troy working on the house and working his real job, there hasn't been much time for any fun.

This weekend was a little different. I don't recall any work, just lots of fun, and it was high time for some sailing and some fun. We led a TMCA cruise to our favorite cruising destination, Double Bayou. There were 12 boats on our cruise and because of the strong north wind, there wasn't much water in the bay. Double Bayou can be a little tricky getting into with a sailboat, especially when there are really low tides.

If you sail you know the saying - if you ain't been aground then you ain't been around. Trust me, this weekend, we got AROUND. Us and the other four sailboats that were with us! Nothing serious, just had to feel our way up the Double Bayou channel.

We had a decent motor sail over on Saturday, got all the boats situated, put our dinghy in the water and opened our first beer of the weekend. Ahhh, sunny weather, a cold beer, a dinghy and a bayou. Life doesn't get much better than that. We had a wonderful time that night with our TMCA friends and our friends at Channel Marker. It was Ernestine's birthday and there was a DJ at the bar and lots of dancing and having fun.

TMCA Cruisers and Cruise Leaders!

Sunday dawned bright and clear and we shared a great breakfast aboard s/v Waltzing Matilda. About the time we headed out for home a nice east to southeast breeze was blowing. After feeling our way out of the channel again, we set sail and headed back to Kemah. It was a beautiful day and the wind cooperated to create a perfect sail all the way home and into the Kemah channel and past the boardwalk, all under sail. Just wonderful!!!

Troy had great news from his doctor last week. The PET Scan was all good and he received the coveted NED (No Evidence of Disease). His doctors seem to feel like the three year mark is a milestone for him and we are very glad to hear that. He will be back for another PET Scan in June.

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

Where Have We Been?

2010-02-19T10:49:00.002-06:00

So much for my promise to blog more. I guess the problem has been that I don't seem to have much to write about. We've been dealing with a few personal issues, plus, it's been a long, cold winter and we've basically been hibernating on Storyville and dreaming about sailing in warm weather.

We signed a contract to sell our house this morning! That's exciting news because it puts us one giant step closer to our goal. This is what we've been wanting for so long, but now that we signed on the dotted line it all seems so much more real and just a little scary. First time in a long long time that we won't have any real estate to call our own. Just a floating house that is full of dreams and plans for the future!

We're planning a move to a new marina in March. We will be moving Storyville to Portofino (still in Kemah). We will be on a floating dock and that will make us safer for the upcoming hurricane season. We're looking forward to the change but at the same time it's so hard to leave the comfort of our marina that we've come to know as home. The hardest part is leaving our great friends and neighbors. I have a feeling that we will be spending plenty of time back at the old stomping grounds this summer. They can't get rid of us that easily. It's gonna be a fun spring and summer, making new friends, keeping our old friends and making plans for our future.

Troy has a regularly scheduled PET Scan on Monday. As usual, we are hoping and praying for good results (NED). I always try to pretend that the tests aren't coming, that way I don't worry about them so much. It's kind of easy when they are months or weeks away. It gets a little harder when you are down to days. It's always an anxious time. We really do appreciate the thoughts and prayers of our friends.

Looking forward to a spring and summer filled with sailing and photography and fun and blogging!

As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do. ~Zachary Scott

2009-12-15T09:17:00.004-06:00

Storyville

I really do promise to start blogging again. I am wrapping up some business that has kept me busy over the last year. It's almost done and I really want to be able to devote more time to my photography and sailing and getting Storyville ready for cruising and blogging and........ :-)

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:8-12

2009-11-03T10:27:00.001-06:00

STORYVILLE

Final Isla Post

2009-08-20T14:33:00.021-06:00

I gotta wrap this up. We've been back from Isla from over 6 weeks and I'm still trying to finish the blog posts. This post will just be some of my favorite pictures that didn't make it to the other posts. In no particular order:

Seahawk Dive Shop - This is where we stay while we're on Isla. The owners, Ariel and Bonnie Barandica have become good friends over the years.

A beautiful sunset from the roof of the dive shop

What a pair!

Catchin' some rays!

This old guy lives on the patio of our room. He really likes tortillas, chicken, ham. He charges the patio door if he sees you coming with food in your hand.

Love the view!

Check out the handsome guys on the golf cart!!!

So many questions! Why does Steve have four arms? Why is he wearing a dress? Why, why, why?

We wanted to stop at this place, but there were too many rules for a bunch of yahoos!

Each side had the same message in a different language.

Barco de pesca

Really big turtle at the Sea Turtle Conservation Farm

Crab dodging the waves

Guarding the nest from a bunch of yahoos

We discovered the site of the mysterious flip flop graveyard (moment of silence please)

Patrick is practicing the ancient art of crab taming. He put the crab to sleep

Sleeping Crab

View of Isla Mujeres from the plane as we flew away. Can wait to return with Storyville!

If once you have slept on an Island, you’ll never be quite the same; you may look as you looked the day before and go by the same old name. You may bustle about in street and shop, you may sit at home and sew, But you’ll see blue water and wheeling gulls wherever your feet may go. You may chat with neighbors of this and that and close to the fire keep, but you’ll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell and tides beat through your sleep. Oh you won’t know why, and you can’t say how such a change upon you came, but once you have slept on an island, you’ll never be quite the same. ~Rachel Field

Spiral Island

2009-08-02T13:15:00.006-06:00

On this trip to Isla we met a very interesting and special person, Richi Sowa. Richi built a floating island in the lagoon on Isla. The entire island floats on plastic bottles. This is Richi's second island. The first one (the original Spiral Island) was near Puerto Aventuras and was destroyed by a hurricane.

Richi is an artist and musician and it was a privilege and honor to meet him and get a tour of his incredible island. The island contains his home complete with a composting toilet, a solar oven and several other interesting accouterments. Richi was very friendly and gracious. We were sad that we met him on our last full day on Isla as he invited Troy and Colleen (and the rest of our group) back to jam with him. That would have been an experience to remember. Hopefully we will be able to meet him again when we return to Isla.

Here are a couple of web sites for more information on Richi and his island:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Island

http://www.spiralislanders.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvn9l1pJ3-A

Some pictures from our 3 hour tour! LOL:

Foundation of the Island

View from the shore

View from the lagoon

View from the lagoon

View from upstairs

Richi giving us the tour

Steve and Richi have a conversation on the conch phone

Steve and Colleen enjoy the view

Floating bed
Shower and sink

Solar oven (the cake was pretty good)

Guest quarters

Richi's wish for us all!

Sol Zorro

2009-07-22T07:17:00.008-06:00

One reason we love to visit Isla is because we've made so many friends there over the years. It's fun to walk down the street and see someone you know and to catch up on their lives from the past year. This trip was no exception. We found our friend Ariel working at one of his many jobs. In the evenings he works at a restaurant. He's the guy that tries to convince you that he has the best menu on the street. Kinda like the host in a restaurant that you would visit here in the states except he has to work at convincing customers to check out his menu. There is a lot of competition on Hidalgo (the main street in town) because July is low season and between swine flu and the ailing economy tourisim is down. Lots of restaurants and not as many tourists. We've known Ariel for years, he was the dive master that took us on our first SCUBA dive.

Ariel and Rosie on Sol Zorro

The restaurant gig is only one of Ariel's jobs. He arranged the whale shark tour for us and he also told us that he just bought a boat. The other news was that he got married since we had seen him last. He invited us to take a little ride around the island on his boat and we jumped on the chance to take a relaxed tour of Isla by water. The knowledge that we gained will be helpful when we finally get to sail there.

A couple of views of the south end of Isla (Punta Sur) from the water.

Ariel picked us up at about 4:30 in the afternoon and we loaded up our cameras and gear on his boat, Sol Zorro, for a boat ride around Isla Mujeres. Ariel brought his wife Rosie and plenty of cerveza for us. He also brought fishing gear. We fished all the way around the island and on a couple of reefs. I was the lucky pescadora that managed to snag a barracuda.

Troy tries his luck as Ted (known to some as Sweet T) looks on

Steve looks a little worried about what might be on the other end of the line.

My barracuda!

We caught a glimpse of a school of flying fish. They were an awesome sight, about the size of small birds and they spring out of the water and it's cool to see them disappear just as quickly back into the waves.

Colleen and Steve enjoying the afternoon

We also saw several very large sea turtles and they were all mating! We probably saw about 5 or 6 mating pairs. We thought this was a really a fantastic thing to be privileged to see. This is the best picture that I could get. As you can imagine, they didn't wait around to pose. After all, we were interrupting their sex life!!!

We stopped at a restaurant for dinner and really had a blast eating ceviche and crab with Ariel and Rosie. I was brave and ordered ceviche mixto with octopus and conch - mmmm good. Also, there were plenty of margaritas to go around! This was one of my most memorable meals of this trip. Lots of fun.

Ted drank all the margaritas, he wouldn't share!! LOL

Patrick didn't have any margaritas!!

Swimming With Whale Sharks!

2009-07-12T10:30:00.017-06:00

I've been wanting to swim with whale sharks for years but for one reason or another I've never done it. Whale sharks are the largest shark species and the largest fish in the world, they grow to 40 to 45 feet. Thank goodness their diet consists of plankton and not people! They were really really big! These sharks are migratory, traveling around the world, staying in temperate, tropical seas. Unfortunately they are only protected in about 10% of the 100 countries they visit in their journeys. They are listed as "vulnerable" under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. I cannot take credit for this picture, but here is a whale shark:

Troy and I and Steve and Colleen set out on a swim with whale sharks adventure. We had a great boat ride out to Contoy Island, we even caught a glimpse of a school of rays and saw a couple of sea turtles. The water is incredibly beautiful, so many shades of blue.

Finally we made it out to the area where the sharks are usually seen. It didn't take long before a few of the giants were spotted. There were several boats with about 10 people on each boat but the Mexican government does a great job of protecting the fish. Only 2 people and 1 guide are allowed in the water around one shark at a given time. We received extensive instructions from our guide, Jose, which included: try to stay close to the head and swim, swim, swim. Don't ever touch the shark (those are the ones that I remembered anyway). The boats circle around and cooperate with each other to minimize the stress on the sharks. All the while the sharks swam around eating lunch without much notice of all the little people staring at them. The boat captains and guides seemed to do a great job in working together and trying to make sure everyone got several chances to swim with the sharks.

Troy and I were Team Number One on our boat. We put on our fins and snorkel and mask and sat on the side of the boat with Jose while the captain positioned the boat right in front of the shark. The giant beast was swimming right at us! Suddenly Jose was shouting "jump, jump, jump". For a few seconds I questioned my sanity, but before I knew it we were plunging into the water and looking at a huge fish swimming towards us. It was awesome but it didn't take long before the shark was leaving us in its wake. We got a pretty good look but it all happened so fast. I realized that this was gonna take some effort on our part and the shark was not gonna just stop and let us get a good look. After we climbed back aboard Jose was excited because the shark was swimming slow today. I think Troy's comment was something like "yeah, slow like a freight train"!

It took three times before I got a really really good look at the shark. They are absolutely huge and there are many smaller fish swimming along with them. I had to swim like crazy to try to stay near the shark's head long enough to get a good look at him. All the while trying not to drink the whole Caribbean through my snorkel. It was all worth it. I was close enough to touch him, but of course I didn't. They are really majestic creatures and it was an experience that I will always remember.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. There are all mine (well, Troy did take the one of me)!

Troy's picture of me

My picture of Troy

Colleen

Steve

Whale shark pictures:

Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, Mexico

2009-07-09T17:22:00.006-06:00

We just got back from a wonderful, fun, relaxing, exciting, entertaining and even educational vacation on our favorite island, the Island of Women in Mexico. I'm happy to report that the beaches are still white and beautiful and the water is just as fabulous as I remembered. We shared our vacation with all the members of Smorcalyana: Steve and Colleen, Patrick and Ted.

Now it's back home and back to work on Storyville. We just bought her a brand new autopilot and we still don't have the generator running yet, or the radar installed, or the....... (insert name of endless boat project here). We decided to make a push and try to have Storyville ready to sail the Harvest Moon Regatta in early October. Let's see if we can get it all done!

I'm also in the process of editing about 500 photos that I took in Mexico and sorting through another 200 or so taken by Patrick and Colleen. After I sort and edit I'll make some new posts sharing our adventures on Isla Mujeres.

In between all this boat work and other fun we're still working our real jobs and also both officers of TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association). Never a dull moment. Stay tuned for Historias de Isla!

Patrick, Steve, Colleen, Ted, Deana, Troy

Medical Update

2009-06-23T06:54:00.003-06:00

I don't know why I didn't post this news when we found out. I guess it's because I just couldn't bear to see the words on the screen. We got a call a couple of weeks ago from Troy's oncologist. They had reviewed the last PET Scan and decided that there was an area in his throat that they were concerned about and wanted another look at it (even though we had already gotten the "all clear"). They called him and left that message on a Friday afternoon at 4:30 and then closed down their switchboard. We were obviously concerned and worried and when Troy finally got in touch with them on Monday (late afternoon by the time they called back) we didn't feel much better about the situation. We had been looking forward to four months without any poking and prodding and of course, we couldn't even begin to imagine that the cancer had returned.

Anyway, we tried our best not to worry about it and mostly succeeded. I say mostly because you just can't put something like that out of your mind, no matter how hard you try, you just keep wondering and worrying.

Well - the PET Scan took place yesterday and I am ecstatic to announce that there was still no sign of cancer. What a relief! The doctor believes that it is just some scaring from the radiation and the surgery. No more scans until October. And some really good news - the doctor told us that with esophageal cancer recurrence is 80% more likely to happen within the first two years. Troy was 2 years from his surgery in May!

Now we're in vacation preparation since we leave for Isla Mujeres on Sunday. It's wonderful to be able to look foward to our vacation without this black cloud hanging over us. Look out Isla, here we come!

Major Catch Up Time

2009-06-14T10:15:00.027-06:00

It seems like the same old excuse - we're too busy, don't have time to post on the blog. Well, it's true. Life seems to be passing by at breakneck speed. It's not all bad though. We're working hard but playing hard too. Sailing, paddling, anchoring out, taking pictures. Spending as much time as possible on the water. Here's some pictures of the fun that we've been having so far this summer (and technically it's not even summer yet):

Anchoring at Baycliff

Sailing Chicks

Armand Bayou Paddling

The Dinghy Gang

Sailing on Anchor Management

Major Project

2009-05-20T14:10:00.013-06:00

Troy got started on one of our major projects for Storyville. He began the task of installing the generator that will power the boat while we are at anchor. It's heavy and not only did Troy need to find a way to get it into the boat, he also had to get it over the engine in the boat's engine room and onto a pad on the opposite side of the engine. Not much room to maneuver in there!

Thankfully Troy had lots of great help from John, Patrick, Frank, Ted, Trey and Jim (hopefully I didn't leave anyone out). We were very appreciative of all the help! Here are some of the pictures of the installation process:

Lots of discussion at this point

He looks a little nervous!

Ready, Set

Here she goes!

Thanks Everyone!!!!!

New Post - No Pictures

2009-05-07T06:47:00.002-06:00

It's been so long since I've really posted a blog entry. The blog feels neglected! No pictures this time, just words (like a grown up book!).

Troy and I have had a lot going on. Seems like we are constantly on the go. I have some good news to report. Troy had another round of tests including a PET Scan on May 5th. His status remains NED (No Evidence of Disease). We are always so happy to get that result. It's been 2 years this month since Troy's surgery. We feel blessed and excited with each good test result that we receive. We were hoping that the doctor would let him go for 6 months before the next round of tests, but he only gave him 4 months. He has been going every 3 months so I guess that is some improvement.

I have kept a secret from my blog but I think it's time to come clean! I kept the secret because we weren't ready to let my employer know our plans and I try to keep in mind that the internet and this blog are not private but I've also come to realize that people probably don't care enough to reseach the plans of the Jones Family! :) The secret is that we plan to leave to go cruising in December of 2010. We are making plans for that date every day. We have so many boat projects in the works now so that Storville can be ready when the big day arrives. Here is a list of the current projects:

1. Generator (purchased but not yet installed)
2. Watermaker (won at Miami Boat Show but not yet installed)
3. Chartplotter (purchased but not yet installed)
4. Radar (you guessed it - we have it but not yet installed)

Those are the projects for the immediate future. There are plenty more waiting when those are finished. We haven't been able to sail as much as we would like because of the ongoing projects but we realize that it is for a greater good, i.e. lots and lots of sailing in the future.

We are excited and counting down the days until our crusing dreams come true. Only 18 months (82 weeks) to go. Our general plan is to leave Clear Lake and sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. After that, we will plan as we go. We are making these plans with our great friends Colleen and Steve on s/v Anchor Management and Patrick on s/v Wheee Doggiee. We even have a name for our group - Morcalyana. The boats that are planning to leave together are a Morgan (Storyville), a Cal (Wheee Doggiee) and a Tayana (Anchor Management) hence the name Morcalyana. We are having a great time getting our boats ready and counting down the weeks until departure. In fact, we are all planning a vacation to Isla Mujeres in July and we are calling it our recon trip!

Those are the current and exciting things going on with us right now. Since the secret is out I will try to start posting more information about our cruising preparations. This is a dream that Troy and I both share and we can't wait to get out there on our boat. I want to dive off the stern of Storyville into crystal clear blue water. I want to spear a fish. I want to cook it for dinner.

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau

Tall Ship Elissa

2009-04-06T14:36:00.013-06:00

I realize that our blog has become an outlet for my photography lately. That's because nothing too exciting is going on in our lives right now. We're just spending time working on Storyville and working at making a living. We would love to get out on the water more often. It's really a challenge to balance work, boat work and having fun. Somehow we manage. Life is good!

Here are some pictures that I took a few days ago when Colleen and I toured Elissa. She is the official Tall Ship of Texas and was built in 1877.

Yellow Rose of Texas!

Bird Pictures

2009-03-31T09:24:00.011-06:00

Some of my recent bird pictures

If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff. ~Jim Richardson