Fish Tale

 

This is a fish story, but not a common one.  I'm not going to exaggerate the size of the fish, but it was a nice one - a wahoo.

We were traveling the south side of Margarita, an island off the coast of Venezuela, trolling a line.   Seems that sailing is about the right speed for trolling most of the time.  The line hooked into a wahoo, a heavy fish.  Since I was at the helm, I slowed the speed of the boat while my partner tried to reel him in.  By the time all the sails were down and the motor started, the fish was still fighting and my partner yelled to back down on the fish.   Oh, great, I'm thinking fishing line in the prop.  I backed down so that the fish was closer, but he was way too big to try to gaff and bring aboard.  We had lots of freeboard - meaning we were not very close to the water level. 

All cruisers have a dinghy, and we were no exception, so my partner got in the dinghy and I handed over the rod that I'd been trusted to hold on to. I also handed over the gaff, hoping for no damage.  Our dinghy was inflatable and I was hoping that it would survive this procedure without any punctures or other damage.  After what seemed like a lengthy time, with much mumbling and grunting, the fish was gaffed and dragged into the dinghy.  Luckily, the dinghy was still inflated, much to my relief.

We were close to our anchorage, so we just motored in while we towed the dinghy with the wahoo's tail sticking up in the air.  After we anchored, the next problem was to get the fish on deck so it could be cleaned.  As we anchored, the cat knew we were done traveling and it was safe to come out on deck.  She had to do her usual tour of the deck, up one side and down the other.  She stopped at the back and stared at the dinghy with the fish staring back at her.  We had caught other fish and she absolutely loved it, so she looked up at us and demanded to know why we were not yet slicing up some fish morsels for her. 

My partner finally heaved the fish onto the back deck, with more mumbling and grunting.  The cat decided we were moving too slowly and decided to take matters into her own paws.  She went over to the fish and tried to take a bite.  Unfortunately for her, and strange as it seems to me - her mouth just wasn't big enough to bite off a piece of flesh, she couldn't even break the skin.  She was so insistent that I had to lock her in the head when the filet knife came out. 

As my partner cut the fish up into steaks and small chunks for the cat, we knew we didn't have refrigeration capability to keep it all, so I got on the radio and put out calls to other cruisers we knew in the anchorage.  I told them what we had and if anyone wanted some fresh fish, to bring baggies over.  By the time they started arriving, I had let the poor starving kitty out of the head so she could overload on fish pieces.  As she was inhaling them, she noticed we were handing over packages of her fish to people in dinghies.  She came over to me yelling about it and slapping my hand as I handed over a full baggie to a cruiser.  Guess who was caged back in the head?

With this much fish, we all decided to have a cookout on the beach with other cruisers we knew.  Everyone brought their drinks and a dish to share and we had a great evening.  And people wondered what we did all day!

Cattitude Adjustment - Sailing Kitty goes RVing

 

 

My Trinidad cat is now 14 years old, feisty as ever and believes that I am here just to serve her.  For the most part, she’s been healthy and hasn’t had to see the vet much.  But when she does – watch out!   As soon as I put her in her carrier and in the car, she howls all the way to the vet – thankfully a very short trip!

Because we will be traveling in a 5^th wheel, she needs to be trained to sit up in the truck with me – without the vocalization.  So I have a cage for her now instead of the carrier, maybe that will make her happier.  I’m putting her in it every day and sitting outside with her to acclimatize her to the cage and different scenery.  She doesn’t seem to mind, she’s had a strong interest in “outside” since she’s lived in a house.  She loved “outside” when we were on the boat and sat in the cockpit and watched other boats, dinghies, birds and fish in the water.

Yesterday, after sitting outside with her, I put the cage in the truck passenger seat, where she will be traveling (hopefully silent).  She didn’t seem to mind that either.  I found the seatbelt will go around the cage nicely to hold her in.  The true test will be when I start the engine – we’ll just sit there in the truck in the driveway.  After a few days of that, we’ll take a little drive around the neighborhood.  I’m hoping that this gentle, slow introduction to RVing will enable her to be a pleasant traveling companion instead of a howling monster. 

Boat Sale - Therapy

 

 

Last weekend, I closed on the sale of my boat, a sad, but good, but  stressful time.   She is really a great little boat, comfortable, solid and great sailing.  I had her up for sale for about 4 months.  Many people came to look and everyone said she was beautiful.  Problem was, the buyer had to have a cash reserve set aside to buy her.  The boat was old enough that she couldn't be financed.

The man who finally bought her was a pleasure to work with, the communication was great and I know he will take care of her as she should be cared for.   When he first came to see the boat, we spent about an hour talking about the boat, cruising and sailing - and then went on to talk about other things for almost another hour.

On closing day, we did the survey, sea trial, and haul to check the bottom of the boat.   The buyer was on board, the surveyor, my friend and I.  It was a beautiful Florida day, bright blue skies, hot sun and no wind.  OK, we knew there was not going to be any sailing up to the boatyard.  We motored while the surveyor continued to poke around the boat, checking everything.  We got to the haulout and watched as the workers put the boat in the sling and raised her from the water.  The surveyor spent about a half hour checking the boat bottom and then she was put back in the water to finish the trip back to our marina, raising the sails to check them on the way. 

Back at the dock, we tied her up again, got the shore power all hooked up again as the surveyor continued to check things.  In all, the survey and haul took about 4 hours.  It was hot in the marina and we were all ready for a good rain shower.  It was another hour before we finished the exchange, signed papers and then located a notary to sign the documentation over. 

I am so glad that the buyer was someone I felt comfortable handing over possession of the boat I'd put so much hard work into.  I could tell he would be someone who took care of his things.


Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Boat Repo

This is a picture of the boat I was able to sell twice.  She was a storm boat, had been washed up on a seawall during a bad unnamed storm and had a 4' gash in her side.  She was taken to a marina, put up on stands and her owner was supposed to fix her.   Nothing happened for months and then the marina owner told me I could have her for storage fees.  OK, that wasn't much at all.

So, I got a fiberglass man to fix the gash, I had not yet learned the fine art of West System epoxy, and it was way beyond that anyway.  I cleaned up the interior, dried the cushions, cleaned them and made covers for them.  Got a bracket for an outboard for the back of the boat.   The day came when we were ready to put her in the water and get out for a sail.  Of course, we knew nothing about sailing, but hauled up those sails and figured out which way to turn to get the boat to heel over a bit and get going. 

After a few months, my partner said the boat was too small to spend a few months in the Keys.   HMMMM,   guess he didn't read those books about people crossing oceans in boats that size.  OK, so I put the boat up for sale and started looking for a bigger boat. 

The person who really wanted the boat, was really enthusiastic about it, was a young guy with a wife and a baby on the way.  He could afford a small down payment and some money per month.  He was so excited about it, I decided to give it a chance, against my better judgment.  I wrote up a contract stating the facts and that he would be in default if he was 30 days late on a payment.  I included a clause about notification and repossession, should he be in default.  I was really good at writing contracts back then. 

He paid on time every month for about 6 months.  Then one month, he was late and I sent him a late warning - no phone call or check from him.  I called him and reminded him that he would be in default in a few short weeks and he needed to come up with some money in order to keep the boat.  Since the contract also included a clause that I would be kept informed of the location of the boat, I went to check to see if it was safe.   It wasn't where it should be. 

Still no payment when his grace period ended, so a friend and I took off one morning in a boat loaned by a friend - a very cold day to be out on a boat trying to locate a boat when you have no idea where it might be.  We knew where he worked and lived, so we started checking all the little marinas and places there was dockage.   After a few hours, we located the boat, safe and sound in a tiny area that had multiple docks.  She was safe and all locked up.  We elected to come back that evening to do the actual repossession. 

We notified the police that we had a contract that was in default and we were planning on repossessing the boat that evening.  It's standard procedure for repo people to notify them so that when the defaulting party calls in saying the car or boat was stolen, the police will tell them what happened.  We came back at dusk, I climbed back onto the boat I had sold and disconnected the dock lines and tied a line from the boat we were towing with.  I felt like I was stealing my own boat.

Everything was going smoothly until we came to a bridge that we had to have open in order to get under it.   We called the bridge tender, telling him we had a boat in tow and needed an opening.  He said to come on and he would have it open when we got there.   We kept moving toward the bridge and didn't see the gates coming down.  We called again and the tender again assured us he would have the bridge open before we got there.  By the time we were almost at the bridge fenders, it was either go under or turn around - he still had not put down the gates to open the bridge.  We made a hard turn back the way we had come, just in time. 

We called the bridge tender and told him we had to abort because we felt it was unsafe since he didn't even have the gates down  and there was no way the bridge would have been opened by the time we needed it.  He made the excuse that he had someone on the bridge and couldn't get him off.  We told him that as soon as he had the gates down and we saw the bridge opening, we would be coming through.  Everything went through on the second try, but we were not rushing it since we waited until we were sure the bridge was actually opening.

We towed it to a marina that was close to the house where we had dockage for our "new" boat, a 35' Morgan.  The next day, we talked to the owner of the dock about having 2 boats now.  He later called us to tell us his neighbor wanted to buy the boat we just repossessed and he was going to buy his neighbor's little boat.  What a great deal! 

We cleaned up the boat again and a few days later, made the sale.  That's the only boat I was able to sell and made money on it.  What a deal!

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Vacation!

Vacations are great.  Weeks before you leave, you find yourself getting more excited about leaving.  You're deciding what clothes to bring for the destination you planned.  You might even go out and buy a few new things to take with you.  Be sure your camera batteries are charged, the camera is clean and you have enough memory cards to take with you.  Get out the passport, can't forget that.   About this time, I have my suitcase in my extra room and I have tossed things in there that I absolutely can't forget.

Finally, the day arrives and you get up extra early for the drive to the airport, doing a last minute check of all the things you need to remember.   Don't forget the pre-printed boarding passes, what a great idea they came up with!  I usually find myself driving to the airport in the dark, reaching the parking area at dawn.   Even though I've allowed myself plenty of time, I always think there will be a holdup.  Security is always a holdup - even though I have nothing on but my clothes, when I go through the scanner, it seems that they always have to pat me down.  I don't think I fit their profile, but something prompts them.  Or their scanner is defective?  This time, they even took my glasses and put them in a container to go through their scanner with all the other luggage.  I'm sure there's a reason for that, I just can't figure out where I'd hide anything in my glasses.

Then you sit and wait to board the flight and endure the change in planes at another airport and finally arrive at your destination.  Within hours, you are whisked away from your life and have been placed in a totally different location with a totally different agenda for the week.  It feels great!  You just know you're going to have a great time and things will look different when you get back home.

You do all the things you planned - hiking, snorkeling, sailing, eating the local food so different from where you live.  You're happy and content just sitting and gazing at your surroundings for extended times.   It's so different from where you live, and you want to imprint it in your memory because you know a photo will only be a reminder of the great view you are seeing. 

Too soon, it's all over and you're packing to go home.  In some ways, it feels good to be going home because you're relaxed, you just know that things will be easier to deal with.  OK, so maybe you haven't missed your job, and you're not anxious to get back there, but maybe it won't be so bad when you get back.  Maybe they've kept up the work so you don't have a stack of it.  You can always hope. 

All too soon, you're back home.  The house is the same, the cat is whining that you left her for a full week.  It doesn't matter that she's had company once in a while and she's had food and water and sleeps most of the time anyway.  What she's really upset about is that YOU weren't there to be with her, but she gets over it and is much more affectionate than usual. 

Back at work for the first few hours, or maybe even a couple days, work doesn't even seem that bad.  Then you realize no one kept up with things and you have a pile of problems to deal with.  Did you really think that someone would take care of things like you did?  Silly thought.  After a few more days cleaning things up, you're pretty much as stressed as before you left.  Then you start thinking you maybe should have "missed" your flight home.  

Most people go back into their lives, happy with the memories and stories and they will be content to wait for next year's vacation.  I never quite get that feeling.  You realize that the wanderlust you've kept hidden deep inside has surfaced, like a monster you've kept at bay.  You want to become the perpetual tourist, the permanent traveler.  No one understands except possibly another kindred soul. 

Betty Karl

http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Lost in Georgetown, Bahamas

Georgetown, Bahamas is a gathering place for cruisers who come down from the northern states, stay for a few months and then go back to the northern states for the summer months.  Some cruisers do this year after years, but a small percentage of adventurous cruisers go further south to the island chain.

Because cruisers keep coming back year after year, it's a very social place.  Cruisers are a social bunch anyway, but while staying in one area for months at a time, it becomes more social than usual.  There are multiple beaches in the area, Volleyball Beach and Hamburger Beach are a couple popular beaches.  Yes, there is volleyball at Volleyball Beach and there is food at Hamburger Beach.  There are cookouts on the beach, get-togethers at the local eateries and happy hours happen on lots of boats in the different anchorages. 

There are multiple anchorages in the area and as many as 500 boats at any time during the season.  Unless you're paying strict attention, or have your GPS with you, this could be a problem getting home after dark with the forest of masts that don't look familiar, especially if you've had a few.

Cruisers usually have their VHF radios on when they're home and awake.  It's like a party-line, everyone can hear what you're saying.  One night, we were home having a quiet evening and it was probably about 10 PM.  A call came on the radio requesting the location of a certain boat.  After listening to numerous conversations with a few other boats, we learned that the owner of the boat mentioned had been circling the area in his dinghy and couldn't find his way home.  One of his neighbors took pity on the guy and went outside to signal him with a flashlight.  Turns out he wasn't even in the general area, but did find his way eventually.

Everyone we saw the next day was chuckling about it and teasing the poor lost soul.  We shared our secret of finding our way home - we had put reflective tape around the top of the mast.  That works well, we found it helpful a few times.  Of course, that's assuming you remember to have a flashlight with you.

Betty Karl

http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

The Urge

Most of us have urges – they could be as benign as a shopping spree, you just had to do it. A lot of my urges have to do with food – mostly things that are poisonous – cookies, candy, sweets of all kinds. I know they’re bad for me, I know it as I savor the taste of the chocolate. When the urge strikes, sometimes you just have to go with it, it’s unstoppable.

My most powerful urge was so strong it could be labeled a “force”. Once started, there was no stopping me. That would be the urge to go cruising on a sailboat to the Caribbean. I dreamed about it for years and finally, I realized I absolutely HAD to do it! There was no waiting until retirement – I kept thinking I may never live that long. This force became so strong that I had a panicky feeling that if I didn’t take steps to make this long-time dream come true that I would regret it forever.

It didn’t matter to me that I had to sell numerous houses (some of them producing income). Didn’t matter to me that I had to sell my 1966 red convertible Mustang that I loved. I was determined, I was going to do it, no matter what. I realized that we would lose track of friends when we left, they would keep in touch for a few years, but then life would get in the way and we would lose touch with them. People always say they’ll stay in touch, but usually they don’t. As far as I was concerned, I knew I was never coming back to the same place.

Now if you’ve read this far, you’re thinking about what a stubborn person I can be. I’m not really, but like I said, this powerful force was driving me and I’d I had convinced my partner that I would take care of everything, if he would go with me – I told him how much fun it would be and the wonderful places we’d get to visit. Unfortunately, even though he did go with me for a time, he would have been happy to stay behind and keep on working and having two days off per week and maybe a week off sometime during the year.

I was tired of working to pay for a house, cars, insurance and all the things necessary to live on land and keep a job. I was never getting enough time off to recharge. Every year, I had taken trips to the islands, diving or Windjammer cruises. Every year, I was so unhappy to be headed home, it was all I could do not to cry on the plane. When I took a vacation, I tried to convince myself that I didn’t mind being back at work – for about 2 hours and then I realized how far behind I was. It felt like punishment for being gone for a week and having a good time.

Obviously, I have a bad case of wanderlust – I always want to go places and see things I’ve never seen before. Possibly I have gypsy or nomad blood somewhere in my past. Maybe in my previous lives, I never got to go anywhere and I’m trying to make up for it in this life. Whatever it is, it’s a very strong force – the urge to travel.

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

How To Buy a Boat

  Sea Turtle

Back in time, I was looking for a sailboat to go cruising in.  You know, just sell everything, hop on the boat and get out of the States for an unknown time frame.  Destination – Caribbean!

We went to a large yacht sales office in St Petersburg, Florida and one of the salesmen started showing us some used sailboats, about 35’.  We spent a good part of a day looking at all kinds of boats.  The only thing that caught my eye was a 35’ Morgan with a centerboard and an aft cockpit.  It seemed solid and the layout was pretty good, although I grew to hate the fact that the galley was along the starboard side of the boat instead of being a little U or L shaped area near the companionway. 

We were going through the storage lockers, looking under the cushions and generally poking through things.  My partner found the cable that brings up the centerboard or lowers it and started playing with it and checking the little winch for it.  He jiggled things around for a while, then left the cabin to talk to the salesman on the dock. 

I sat down and looked around, just soaking up the atmosphere – it really didn’t have a bad closed-up-boat smell.  Then, I realized I heard an alien noise, there was water gurgling and it wasn’t the waves lapping the hull on the outside.  This was inside the boat!   Not a good sign! 

I called up to the guys on the dock – “Hey, I hear water running in, you better check it out!”  I heard the salesman make a comment to my partner, “She’s just hearing the waves on the hull.”  Furious, I stuck my head out the companionway and said “You can think that or you can stop this boat from sinking, it’s up to you.”  And I climbed out and got on the dock with them. 

Something about my attitude worried the salesman and he decided to check below and see what was going on.  Sure enough, when my partner was checking out the cable for the centerboard, something snapped and allowed the water to leak in the bilge from the tube encasing the cable.  It was the last touch that it needed to break apart from age and use.

We left the salesman there dealing with the problem and went home.  I did like the boat and it was the only one I liked that was in my price range.  The next weekend, we called the salesman to see if the boat had been saved and what the story was.  The problem had been fixed and the boat was still available. 

We went to see it again and decided to make a low offer, figuring the owner would be glad to get rid of it because it was just costing him money at this point.  The offer was accepted and in a short time, the boat was ours and would take us from Sarasota, Florida and on to the Bahamas, through to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and then to the Virgin Islands and down the island chain to Grenada.  And that’s where I found another boat I liked…….

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G
 

Nassau Rum Factory Tour

                                   

 

We got into Nassau at the end of a long day, just squeaking by a cruise ship that was on the way out the pass.  We anchored near town and got settled for the night.  The next day, the captain searched for an old mooring, the best way to stay put in Nassau since the tides run through the anchorage at a good pace.   He finally found a giant old ship’s anchor and attached our anchor chain to it.  We were now stuck for the duration.
 

We got together with a couple off another cruising boat and decided we should do a tour of the Bacardi Rum factory.  We found out from the locals which bus to take to get close, then we would have to walk up the road to the actual factory.

We arrived about noon the next day and walked into the welcome center.  It was set up as a small bar, with all the products displayed against a mirrored wall behind the bar.  The friendly bartender gave us a great big smile when we asked about the tour.  We weren’t smiling when he told us that the factory was closed for another two weeks.  But, he said, have a seat and I can serve you some of our products, whatever you want, mixed with whatever you want.  OK, then we started smiling.
 

We sat there for a few hours, listening to his stories of the island and the factory.  He was the perfect spokesman for the factory, he kept us entertained and made sure we weren’t upset about the lack of factory tour.  We sampled quite a few of their products, and of course, bought some to take back to the boat. 

Later in the afternoon, we decided it was time to wander down the road to the main road to catch our bus.  He told us he was going to close up anyway, and he would take us to the bus stop so we didn’t have to walk.  Good thing, I was really too relaxed at that point to think about walking very far.

No factory tour for us that trip, but we sure did have a nice relaxing time with a good storyteller from the islands.

 

Betty Karl

http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Arriving in the Dominican Republic

We left Sandy Cay in the Turks and Caicos right after noon - weather report says 10-15 knots of wind, 5' seas, sounded good. Reality is another story altogether - 20-25 knots of wind, and over 8' seas. We were making good time with double reefed main and tiny part of the jib, about 5-6 knots.

 At over 30 miles out, I was off watch, trying to nap in these lumpy seas and smelled electrical wires burning. Of course, my first thought was that we were hours from land in any direction and the water was VERY deep where we were – all in a flash. I kept sniffing, trying to locate the source of the smell – of course it was in the engine area. I finally located the general area and called my partner down to investigate further while I went up on deck to be sure everything was OK.


The problem turned out to be a faulty monitor that was supposed to check for fumes in the bilge area. Luckily, it wasn’t something critically important and since I couldn’t sleep, it was found right away when the problem happened.

I was sitting at the wheel when my partner came up to the cockpit to tell me what it was and that it could remain disconnected until it could be fixed. As the nervousness left my body and I relaxed, I realized I could actually smell land. It smelled distinctly like rich garden soil, green growing things, very lush vegetation smell. We had heard and read that this would be noticed, but I didn’t realize how powerful the smell would be. Possibly it smelled even better after the scare we’d had.

By dawn, we were only about 5-6 miles out, and in the distance we were seeing very high hills, then more mountains in the background. The smell of land was definitely more noticeable.

So much of a change from the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos - what a nice difference in its own way. We found our way into Luperon harbor with no problem and went into the inner harbor and anchored. The hills all around the anchorage were lush green vegetation, palm trees on the tops of hills, so very different from Florida and the Bahamas. 

Such a great landfall, a new island, new country, new day and so different!   So happy to have arrived safely.

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Beach Shopping

 

 

All through the Bahamas we walked beaches and the shores that were lined with porous rock known as “ironshore”.  On many of these beaches, especially in the outislands, we found objects on the beach, trash thrown over by boats, lost overboard, or tossed into the water from an islands east of where we were and guided by winds and currents to distant shores. 

Yes, it was litter that didn’t belong in the ocean, most of what we saw were plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes and colors.  Every once in a while we found plastic fishing floats, some covered in a line net and others not.  I was hoping that one day I’d find a glass fishing float covered in net, but I was never that lucky.  I spent quite a bit of my cruising life on these beaches, just looking for one. 

While we were in the Turks and Caicos, we went for a hike with a singlehander we knew.  The three of us walked quite a long way and ended up on a rock bluff on the windward side of the island.  The singlehander decided to climb down to the rocky shore where the surf was breaking against the rocks below.  After a while, he climbed back up to the top of the bluff where we were, grinning like he’d won the lottery.  In his hands, he had a small glass float, about 8” across, that he’d found down on the rocks.  It was a little scratched up, but still whole.  You could tell it was hand blown, a pontil mark on one side and the glass was thicker on the opposite side than the rest of the ball.  It had a little bit of a green tint to it and there were ripples in the glass that were on the inside surface. 

We talked about it all the way back to our boat, wondering about the origin of the float.  We wondered where it had traveled on its way to the rocky shore where it had been found.  We had found many of the large plastic ones, but none of them could compare with this treasure.

We got back to our boat and climbed into the cockpit to have a drink and admire the treasure.  Imagine my surprise and delight when he handed it to me and told me that he found it for me because he knew how much I wanted one.

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Seasick? Landsick.

 

Many people get seasick.  They leave the dock or a calm anchorage and get out the pass to the heaving, rolling ocean and the motion makes them seasick.  I've heard that it gets so bad that some people wish they were dead.  People who know that this happens to them decide to put on a patch, take a pill or some other precaution to alleviate the symptoms of mal de mer.  Of course, many people don't even bother with boats if this happens to them.  Unfortunately, they're missing out on some good experiences as well.  I have also known people who have crossed oceans or have sailed around the word, popping a pill before each long passage.  They say it goes away in a few days when they keep sailing day after day.

I'm the opposite, I have not yet been seasick.  I actually find the movement of the boat through the water, up and over the waves, heeled over and sliding along, to be very calming and relaxing.  I have been known to sit up in the cockpit on my watch and get so relaxed that I find my eyelids closing, then I shake myself awake.  When it gets to the point that the waves are crashing on the bow and tossing water over the bimini, it does get a little annoying, but it still doesn't make me seasick. 

After a passage where the waves have been active, I do have a different problem.  I get landsick.  My body gets so used to the motion of the boat sailing along that once I reach dry land - it's not moving but I feel like I still am.  I get vertigo if I go into a building and am closed in.  I once had to leave the customs office in St Lucia because I was getting nauseated and feeling dizzy.  I have trouble walking a straight line, and no, I didn't have any rum before I landed and went ashore.  One evening, we went to dinner with a few other sailors after a passage between islands.  The restaurant was nice and they put us at a corner table where the lights were low.  I sat there for about 5 minutes before my stomach was sloshing around way too much for me to eat anything.  I had to get out of there, it was getting worse the more I sat there. 

Other people have reported the same symptoms and whenever I've talked to someone about this, it's always the people who never get seasick that will feel the landsickness coming on once they get on dry land.  I always feel much better out in open air, even though I will still have some slight dizziness.  My only total cure comes when I get back to the boat and step aboard. 

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Bahamas

 

 

Everyone thinks of Bimini, Freeport or Nassau when you mention the Bahamas.  They’re too civilized and touristy for me.  When we cruised through the Bahamas, I loved the out islands, the southern islands that never get any tourists except by small boats.  Places like Acklin Islands, Mayaguana and Rum Cay, plus uninhabited places like Conception and the Plana Cays.

At one of the islands, instead of ice cream, they had frozen Koolaid in a cup, only $.25 each.  They also had a small souvenir shop called "Everglades Souvenir Store", with knick knacks for sale, all covered with small shells.  It didn’t look like they sold much, since they were pretty well covered in

dust. 

On Rum Cay, we were walking along the road exploring and an American man in a Jeep stopped to talk to us about living there.  He told there were about 6 couples/families living there, some of them have their own planes.  He got a phone a few years back and power was brought to the island in the past few years.  Before that, everyone had solar panels, and some are still in use on houses.  He said the locals were very accepting of them and very friendly.  Before deciding to build a house there, he had been cruising for 12 years in his sailboat.

On another island, some locals stopped to see if we needed a ride and asked us if we were on the yacht out in the harbor.  We were the only boat out in the harbor.  They see so very few people that they’re overly friendly and helpful.  We found a store on that island and bought some eggs.  The refrigerator at the store smelled funny when we got the eggs out, but I didn't think much of it.  Luckily, I looked at the eggs before I put them in our refrigerator - they had a couple maggots crawling on them.  We ditched the container and washed the eggs off.  Such is life in an island where the mail boat still only shows up once a week.

Mayaguana has an airfield which is no longer in use.  There were a couple airplanes off to the side, hadn’t been used in years.  There are a lot of stories about small planes and drug runners from a few decades ago.  We assume these were from that time, although we don’t know for sure. 

All these islands are sparsely populated and the locals are friendly.  Most of them didn’t have what we would consider a grocery store, but they had the basics.  Sometimes it’s nice to get off the beaten path to find out what a place is really like and what the people are really like.  And how simple life can be.

Betty

Island slide shows at http://www.youtube.com/user/IslandFeverCruising/videos?flow=grid&view=1 
Island Fever, the book at http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

 

 

Sloopy

SLOOPY 

                                                                                 

Sloopy is the tiny kitten I adopted in Trinidad when she was about 4 weeks old.  She and her brothers had been living under a pile of dinghies at a marina when the staff evicted them and took them to their animal shelter.  Another cruiser convinced me we needed to bail them out of kitty jail, so we did, found homes for the 2 boys and I kept the female. 

She liked living on the boat, except for rough passages, she was always intrigued by what she saw in the water around the boat.  When she was young, she fell off a few times, but always managed to rescue herself with her kitty ladder we had tied to the stern rail, some braided line.  She finally learned to stay on the boat. 

There's a chapter about her adoption in my book, Island Fever.  She wrote another chapter in the book, called "Security Officer", since that was our nickname for her.   When we left the boat, we always told her she was in charge.  Her idea of that duty was to take a nap. 

She was so cute and always getting into everything.  She absolutely loved it when we caught fish and cleaned them on the back deck - the girl loves her food!  She was a great companion on the boat and loved sitting in the cockpit watching everything going on in the anchorage. 

I put together her own slide show on You Tube - check it out at this link http://youtu.be/ZlPNmFKOmTI

Our book is at Amazon - http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G

Island Fever - The Beginning

Many years ago, I got hooked on books about traveling by sailboat. Mostly, the books in the library were about people sailing around the world, visiting remote islands and telling how beautiful everything was. I read them all. And then I started thinking it would be great if I could do the same thing one day. The idea kept growing.

Whenever I took a vacation, it would be to the Caribbean islands, there were pretty beaches, clear water, good hiking and exploring - and great photos. I was sitting with my partner one day on the balcony of our little house up a steep hill in Marigot Bay in St Lucia, looking at the boats in the harbor. I convinced him that the cruising live would be great and I could sell everything: my house, my rental houses, vehicles, everything - and buy a sailboat to live and cruise on. That started this wonderful plan.

I started selling things, looking at sailboats to buy, preparing to leave. It took about two years to get everything done and we moved onto the sailboat and left the dock for the last time.

Along the way, I decided to create a narrative log - to keep memories of what went on, what we did, who we met and where we were. Then I decided I would write articles about different subjects, but all concerning living and cruising on a boat in the Caribbean. This is how Island Fever was born - and it has now been published, both in Kindle and paperback.

For 7 years, my partner and I traveled together, exploring islands, meeting other cruisers as well as locals, having great times. Then one day, he decided he no longer wanted to continue and left the boat. Instead of heading the boat to the nearest boatyard, as a normal abandoned female would have done - I decided to find crew to help, after all, it was a 47' sailboat. More stories to tell about that! I finally decided it was safer for me and the boat to just do it alone, so I did. I rationalized that I really had been doing it alone since the crew I found were not much help, so it wouldn't make much difference. The last 3 years after my partner left were accomplished either with non-helpful crew or by myself.

If anyone has ever had any interest in travel by sailboat, wants to know what it's like, what we did all day and what we saw - this is the book. I address all sorts of subjects - scenic island tours, boat projects, having pets on board, hurricane evacuations, and some funny anecdotes.

Betty Karl
http://amzn.com/B009RCO02G