On our way to Grenada‏ (August 12, 2009 5:05:44 PM)

Hi everyone!

We left Canouan this morning and are now spending the night at Union Island. We have checked out of the Grenadines and are leaving for Grenada first thing tomorrow morning. There is some nasty weather heading our way. There is a tropical storm off the coast of Africa that could become a hurricane and is heading for the Carribean next Wednesday, going through the upper Windard Islands, the Leeward Islands and heading west under the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Don't panic, hopefully we will only get some 30 knot winds from it in Grenada, that is what is being predicted. You can follow it on the National Hurricane Centre website: www.nhc.noaa.gov

Greg had some trouble with his ears following our diving and his left ear is still plugged. He got some drops and hopefully it will clear up soon. Our watermaker is not working, we think it may be the membrane. We will work on that in Grenada. We had a great few days in Canouan. It was a rolly anchorage, but the water was really clean in the bay, and the mooring we picked up was near the beach. The boys and I swam every day, sometimes to the beach and back to the boat. We saw two huge starfish, the boys dove down, picked them up and brought them up for me to see, then of course we put them back. The boys are such good swimmers, it is amazing to watch them, they can dive 20 feet to the bottom just with their masks. Dylan can even do this without fins. They cleaned the bottom of the boat again too. Handy guys to have around! The locals were really friendly here, Greg befriended this guy called Wilbur, he raced around the bay in this little contraption, two floats on either side of a door, a little engine, and a little seat for him to sit on. He would go way out to sea on this gizmo and go fishing. I think Greg admired the way he "McGivored" this little craft. One day he brought us two nice fish for supper, in trade for two drinks of rum. Can't beat that! He cleaned them for us, and I cooked them as directed by him, with heads, eyes, tails and all, in the frying pan. They were delicious!

Have attached a few pix. We will keep in touch, and will email once we get settled in Grenada. Love and miss you all!
The Dutch Dreamers

Ahoy from St. Lucia‏ (July 18, 2009 9:15:50 AM)

Hello everyone!

I wanted to send a bunch of pics with this email but I can't get a connection long enough to do that, so will send them next time. We arrived in St. Lucia late Sunday afternoon, the 12^th of July. We left Dominica early Thursday morning. I got my bothersome tooth pulled the day before, in a beautiful seaside dentist’s office. As you know, having a tooth pulled is not a pleasant experience, but I will say this was the most amazing extraction I have ever had. Brett sat with me in the waiting room, listening to the waves lapping the shore, the fresh sea breeze wafting in the windows... it was hard to believe this quaintly decorated room with comfortable couches was a dentist’s office. Even when I was ushered into the next room, it was hard to be nervous. A beautiful black woman (the dentist) pulled on some gloves, her assistant threw some music on the CD player and I closed my eyes and let things happen. In between jiving to the music, she froze me completely and gently tugged my tooth out, all the while speaking in a soothing voice, stopping in between and massaging my cheek, and admiring my short, spiky hair... it was a far cry from the Adam Dental Clinic back in Yellowknife! The price was right too, only $150 EC, which works out to about $55 U.S. About 2.7 Eastern Caribbean dollars make one U.S. dollar.

Thursday morning dawned and I was feeling pretty good. We decided to pull up anchor and head down island to Roseau, the capital of Dominica. Once we got going though, the weather was so perfect, we decided to keep on going and head for Martinique, a day sail away. We arrived in the bay there just before dark. The next day we got our dinghy in the water and headed to shore to find customs. As this is the slow season in the Caribbean, most places in the marina were closed, and we couldn’t find customs. We picked up a few things at a small grocery store, some more yummy bread from a French bakery, and headed back to the boat. The next morning we decided to go down island to le Marin, which is supposed to be a great marine centre. Again we were graced with a beautiful sailing day, so we headed instead for St. Lucia. The swells were pretty big, but we were travelling at just the right angle, heeled to starboard we were screaming along at 8.5 knots. I base all our travel times on six knots (on the conservative side) so instead of a five hour sail, we arrived in St. Lucia at 3:00 in the afternoon.

This was our second sail where nothing bad happened! How amazing to travel and be able to enjoy the sailing experience, without any major disasters! Hopefully, the worst of it is behind us...

We checked into the Rodney Bay marina here, which is a huge, gorgeous marina. We were amazed at the low rates so decided to stay a few days and take a rest from travelling. We will be here until Friday or Saturday, when, weather permitting, we will head for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We are getting closer to our stopping point of Grenada, which feels good. Here we have fresh water, shore power, and shopping and restaurants close by. We finally got our pile of laundry done as well. My washer has a leaky seal that needs replacing before we can use it again. We will try and get the part ordered and sent to us in Grenada.

One of the photos we have attached is of our floating fruit vendor, a tiny little boat with a mast of sorts and a half-assed roof of palms to give him some shade. This is all topped with flags from various countries and various signs of wear and tear. Well, we had to look twice when after we arrived in the marina, he appeared out of nowhere and asked if we wanted to buy some fresh fruit. He put together a fruit basket for us, the basket handmade, and filled with bananas, mangos, star fruit, passion fruit, prickly fruit, grapefruit and some sticks of sugar cane. We have enjoyed all of it, except didn’t care much for the prickly fruit, it tastes as bad as it looks! He has since returned and sold us fresh leaf lettuce, tomatoes, cukes and the like. Hey, everyone’s got to make a living!

Another great bonus about being here... there is a Spectra Water Maker dealer here and we got our water maker rebuilt. This is a major plus as we have not, up until now, been able to find a dealer anywhere near us, and would have had to pay mega dollars for duty and shipping. This guy fixed our unit, and tested it, and it is producing six gallons of fresh water an hour.

The boys have been enjoying the swimming pool here, they swim every afternoon after their chores are done, and then go to the bar next door called “Bosun’s”, to play a few games of pool. Greg and I join them there for happy hour, and Greg plays a few games with them while I sit and relax, looking out at the view over the harbour. Greg has been working on the exterior of the boat. When we were in Ponce, he picked up a few gallons of this amazing cleaner that takes off rust. He cleaned up the boat with that, and then put on some blue paint, and the white lines on the sides. She looks much better, and at a distance, even looks like a regular boat : )

We are off in a few minutes, going down the island to Soufiere and the Pitons, a national marine park for a few days, to do some snorkeling, swimming, sight seeing and R & R.

Love and miss you all.

The Dutch Dreamers

Hello from Paradise, Dominica‏ (July 8, 2009 8:32:40 AM)

Hi all:

We arrived in Portsmouth, Dominica yesterday afternoon, had a beautiful short day sail from Basset-Terre, Guadeloupe where we were holed up due to weather for almost a week. It was a good hidey hole to be in, but we didn't like the people at all. No one spoke English, only French and no one wanted to help, so we didn't have access to internet. We were a mile outside of town in a tiny marina filled with local boats so couldn't get anywhere. Lots of rain and high winds. Good news is Greg got the air conditioning working again, so we are alot happier and sleeping better.

It is beautiful here, very friendly, English speaking people. We are at an internet cafe waiting for me to get in to see a dentist. I have a tooth that's been bugging me that's got to go. We are anchored in a big gorgeous bay here, a bit rolly but crystal clear blue green water. The boys want to swim this afternoon. We will be here a couple of days, and then will move on. We need a new aft blower motor so not sure if Greg is going to want to stop in Martinique or not for that. We can do an overnighter from here and be in St. Vincent in 26.5 hours, and then one or two more day hops and we will be at our hurricane hole destination, St. George's Grenada. We can move up and down through the Grenadines the next couple of months, while keeping an eye on the weather. We have major work to do on the boat. Probably will end up ripping up all the teak on the front deck as well, what a sin, but we need to fix ALL the leaks. We still have water coming into the bilge, Greg thinks it is the thru hull, so he will replace the packing on it and see. Other than that things are good on the boat, no major disasters thank goodness!

Will send pics with the next email when we have more time and I am not completely stoned on huge amounts of Ibuprofin and whatever else I could get my hands on, to help kill the pain in my jaw! Talk to you soon!

Love from the Dreamers

Greetings from the Homeland‏ (June 25, 2009 4:16:15 PM)

Hello Everyone!

We arrived in Sint Maartin (the Dutch side of St. Martin) yesterday morning at about 6:00 a.m. We decided to head here, as our salon was again drenched and we have to remedy the situation before heading south. The Dutch Dreamer just seemed to be drawn to Dutch waters, so here we are! We are at Bobby's Marina, reasonably priced, and handy, very close to everything. The best part is that Greg can work on the boat here. So yesterday we had to walk quite a ways to talk to customs people, to clear in. The lady was a complete bitch and that is putting it nicely. We had some lunch, and after being up all night travelling and bailing water, were quite exhausted to say the least. We headed back to the boat. Greg and the boys headed out to the marine store and I was rudely awakened from a deep sleep by customs officials. They wanted to confiscate our firearms as they felt they weren't well enough under lock and key. Well, I could hardly find the damn things, Greg has them stashed away in compartments under the mattress of our bed. Fortunately, Greg arrived back in the nick of time, and told them "No, my firearms are not leaving my boat". After much discussion,they decided that wasn't good enough, so instead they stuck them in our closet, in plain sight, with a customs bonding tag that screams, "Yes, there is something valuable in here, please steal it!!!!" After dealing with them, we wandered down the boardwalk, found a restaurant, had a few drinks and eats and then back to the boat for a good sleep.

First thing this am we had a visit from the Coast Guard. They wanted to inspect our boat and talk to Greg about the firearms. They were pretty much being complete jerks. It looked like a scene from the OK Corral Shootout, with the Coast Guard all spread out on the dock with their hands on their guns. The kids and I had to sit on the back seat while Greg took them through the boat. They inspected our passports like we were some kind of criminals. It's pretty ironic because we expected a lot of hassle in Puerto Rico and had absolutely none, and here, well, I figured we were all going to get tossed in the clink for goodness sake!

Anyhow, I guess we finally passed inspection. After many photos (including photos of our passports, Greg's firearms permit and the boat) they left. Greg managed to diffuse the situation, joking with them and telling them they are way too paranoid! The boys and I headed to a beach very close by and spent the day laying in the sun and swimming in water as warm as your bath. Greg stayed on the boat, pulled up all teak off the port side, and air chisselled the rust off the steel underneath. Found the source of the water leakage, the bolts were all rusted through, some were completely gone.

Tomorrow Greg will putty everything up, and paint it with rust bullet and we should be good to go. It would be such an absolute treat to travel without ANY FRIGGIN PROBLEMS!!!! Eventually, we know this will happen!

Right now, we are sitting in a restaurant/bar called the Greenhouse, sitting in the breeze enjoying happy hour cocktail and appies. We actually hosed Greg off on the dock before coming here, because he was even too dirty to get in the shower. We just gave him the shampoo and soap, and Dylan gave him a good hose down.The guys here at the marina have been great. I guess a few people complained about the noise from Greg's air chisel but they were really good about it. We are going to relax here, send this email, and wander down the boardwalk a bit. We might have to find a cart for Greg. He has been sampling the drink menu: firstly Bushwackers, then Painkillers, and now we are jon ust regular Cube Libres. Remember, that's two for one... and he had two margaritas before we left the boat. Oh well, the poor guy deserves some R & R, right?

We think we might be here until Monday. That's when the weather looks good, and hopefully out boat will be shipshape by then...

We will email again in a few days and send some pics... it is beautiful here, the beach today was white, white sand, the water turquoise, and the sky blue. What more could one ask for????? We have everything we need right here, and most importantly, each other.

Lots of love from the Dutch Dreamers

Crusin' St. Croix‏ (June 23, 2009 9:01:23 AM)

Hello all!

Just a quick email from an internet cafe in downtown Christiansted, St. Croix. We left Ponce, P.R. Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and arrived here about 10:00 a.m. Sunday. Very tired and an okay passage, but more water leaked into the salon, this time from the port side. Greg has patched it as best as he can. None of the porthole windows leaked which is great.

We have to pinch ourselves as we cannot believe we are here! God has been busy with that green crayola crayon again, it is lush and flowers blooming everywhere. I am not on our laptop so can't send photos but will with the next email, we have taken lots. We decided to stay one more day as we were just so bloody tired and needed a day off. We walked into town this am to do some bumming around, lots of neat shops. We are staying at the St. Croix Marina. Great marine store here, we have found some good cruising and dive guides. We are leaving here at 5:00, and heading to Saba, a small island 90 miles east of here, should take us 15 hours so we will get there at 8:00 tomorrow morning. From there we will island hop south as weather permits. At least we are finally in the islands and moving along in short hops.

Will email again soon as we can! Lots of love and hugs from the Dutch Dreamers

Would someone please turn the furnace down????‏ (June 20, 2009 8:17:22 AM)

That’s exactly what it feels like when you step out of a car or building with air conditioning into 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity. The hot, thick air hits you like a wave, and having been born and raised in Canada, the first thing that comes to mind is, the furnace is turned up too high!

Another strange occurrence is that coming from the cold air indoors into the hot air outdoors, my glasses fog up. The tables have turned! This girl is much more used to fogged up glasses coming in from the cold air outdoors to warm air indoors, not the other way around. Gotta love us crazy Canucks!

We are leaving Ponce, PR this morning. The boat is ready and the weather looks good. We plan on heading east along the coast of Puerto Rico, and across to St. Croix. Depending on the winds, we hope to head from there to Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia and finally the Grenadines. This trip is roughly 500 miles, with prevailing east trade winds 10 to 20 knots, seas hopefully about 5 to 10 feet.

We have again been delayed due to mechanical and electrical issues. I know, you’re surprised, right? : ) We, or rather I should say, El Capitano, has fixed the leak in the boat where water came through into the salon, and then down into the engine room. There were a couple of holes on the starboard side under the teak deck, where rust had eaten through the steel. After pulling up all the teak, Greg hammered, chiselled and wire wheeled the rust away, plugged up the holes and painted the area with our infamous Rust Bullet. Once we are in Grenada, we will do the same to the port side, and as the teak cannot be saved, we are going to put down some heavy duty rubber walkway material, which will be very practical as these areas serve as walkways along the sides of the boat.

Our poor old boat has a lot less paint on her than when we left Charleston. Thanks to a crappy quickie cheap paint job by the previous owner, we have left a trail of paint crumbs all the way here. The Atlantic has been harsh to our old girl, and she brings quite a few stares here in the marina. Greg, being a professional painter (having owned and operated a body shop for 10 years with his brother David) really appreciates all the helpful advice from fellow cruisers and locals on how to rectify the peeling paint. We got an email from our friends on Opus (fellow cruisers in our tax bracket) who met and befriended the people on the boat Hanco, a $3.5 million dollar motor yacht in the slip kitty corner to us. They passed this along to us... "There's a boat here now that I think you know but I'm not sure of the name. A couple and their two young teenage'ish sons aboard what charitably could be called a floating 'project'. Captain Ron would have loved this splotchy blue hulled sail boat that's "a work in progress". Nice family aboard who certainly have their work cut out for them." As a professional painter and welder, Greg is only too aware of how rough she looks and it bothers him to no end. Our plan has always been to refinish her in Grenada during hurricane season when we have the time. Goes to show how in this day and age, image is of utmost important to most “yachty” people. Greg’s concern, first and foremost, has always been the safety of his family. We have been so busy repairing the “necessities” we can’t be bothered to worry even a little how she looks to them. The Dutch Dreamer is 30 years old, and has sat with very little use for many, many years. Now that she is being used the way she was meant to be, she is telling us she needs some tender loving care.

The cupboards in the salon have dried out and been put back together. This was the perfect opportunity for yours truly to excel in her organization skills and go through these cupboards properly, with the help of plastic organizers from Walmart. I did the same in the aft cabin, with supplies and tools, which really pisses Greg off because he can’t find a thing, he is always asking “Carol, where are my red handled pliers”, etc. . Last weekend we rented a car. Enterprise Car Rental has a weekend special, and Greg had a long list of parts and supplies he needed for the boat. We ended up keeping the car for another day and driving to San Juan, which is about a 1-1/2 hour drive. We went to West Marine, where Greg was able to get a new water pressure pump. Yes, we actually have regular running cold water again, what a pleasure and doubly so as the water is free here. Any kind of movement one makes here causes a sweat, so it is wonderful to be able to shower off in between, and the cold water so refreshing! Greg will pressure test and reinstall the hot water tank in Grenada. We sure as hell don’t miss it yet! Yesterday Greg spent in the engine room, cleaning all the salt water off his baby Mercedes, and getting the generator going again, which also got a good soaking. All is running 100 per cent.

The drive to San Juan though the mountains was beautiful. Everything is so incredibly lush and green. Seen through the eyes of someone who lived in the Northwest Territories and is used to seeing a lot of white, it’s like someone has taken a green Crayola crayon and just coloured everything in sight! That being said, Greg had his eyes peeled to the road, as the drivers here in PR are completely insane. Turn signals are not used, and when they want to switch lanes, they do so, assuming you will simply get out of their way. Oh and did I mention they don’t believe in many street signs? Makes things interesting, that’s for sure. Then there are the lanes that simply disappear without warning. Driving in San Juan, well, I could write a book about that. Twelve lane highways going through the city, filled with a million insane drivers. You get the picture. Greg was exhausted when we got back to the boat that night. The next day when he woke up, he had a big red blotch in the white of his left eye. Poor guy just about blew a gasket, yikes! Needless to say, we much prefer sailing a boat these days... much bigger area and less traffic : ) Can’t wait to get back on the open ocean again...

We have provisioned at Sam’s and Walmart, and another place like Sam’s called Santiago Cash and Carry. I have a new wardrobe of shorts, skorts, tank tops and short PJ’s, thanks to Walmart. I have melted off about 20 lbs and two sizes which is awesome! We have a few more things to finish on the boat, and then we will be ready to set sail once again. We are nervous being inside the hurricane belt and want to get down to Grenada as soon as we can. We looked into getting a cell phone here, but can’t find anything that will work in the Caribbean, so will pick up something there.

Oh, almost forgot to tell you some very exciting news! We bought an air compressor for diving! Greg got a super deal on it, it is like new, the guy just never used it, so we bought it. It was being stored in a storage unit just at the end of our dock, so it was very convenient as well. It is a Bauer Junior, not too big, so we will be able to store it in the aft lazerette (sp?). The diving is supposed to be spectacular in the Grenadines, so we are pretty excited. Other cruisers have told us the sand beaches are pink from the conch shells. For those of you that are not aware, in January of 2008 our family took the PADI diving course in Edmonton, and then got our Open Water Certification in the Mayan Riviera in March. As a result, all four of us are now certified divers. We have all of our own equipment including BCD’s, regulators, wet suits, weights, masks, snorkels, fins, and tanks so now we are all set and can’t wait to dive again! We are so looking forward to some much needed R & R and FUN!!!!

We love and miss you all, and think of you daily. Keep those emails coming, we love to hear from you!!! It’s so great to hear about you, your families, and what’s happening in your lives. Enjoy the photos! The ones taken at the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club are labled “PYFC”, just in case you were wondering what the heck that meant. We will email again as soon as we can.

Love from The Dutch Dreamers

Hello from Puerto Rico!‏ (June 11, 2009 8:49:19 AM)

Hello all:

We arrived here safe and sound at 4:00 a.m. Monday morning. We waited out in the bay until daylight, and then headed into the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club. We were exhausted to say the least. The trip went fine, we left Samana at 6:30 p.m., and motored along the coast. There were squalls along the way, the seas were a bit rough at times, (up to 12 ft.) but our Dutch Dreamer handled them fine, just as she was built to do. Our trip across the Mona passage was great. As predicted the weather calmed in the afternoon and we cruised along with one foot seas. The rest of the way was fairly calm as well. None of us got sea sick this trip, but we took lots of pills.

After getting settled into our slip at the marina, we had to call customs. They met us at the boat and we filled out all the necessary paperwork. Declaring our firearms was absolutely no problem as they are all licensed and registered. We cleared customs with ease. After that, we just kind of wandered around in a daze, had supper and went to bed early. Tuesday was spent on the boat getting her all sorted out. I did a major cleaning down below and Greg and the boys scrubbed and cleaned the deck. Our only problem this trip, was water leakage. Somewhere there was water coming in the starboard side of the boat, into the salon. Not a major amount, but enough to soak through the floor and into the engine room, which is not good. We have to look after that before leaving here. We are renting a car this weekend, great deal through Enterprise for only $14 bucks a day. We plan on touring around, and most importantly, looking for the stuff for the boat that we need. We may go to Suan Juan (about an hour away) and Salinas (1/2 hr. drive).

The rates here at the dock are very reasonable and the water is free, which is amazing! Being hooked up to shore power is just such a treat! Today I am doing laundry. The wind and sun are being very cooperative in drying everything as fast as my wonderful little washer can clean everything. With the free water I finally get to use my washer! I know most women might not be as excited as I am, but I actually love doing laundry, and miss it. Crazy, I know! Plus we get to take long showers which is another treat.

The grounds her are lovely, and they have a beautiful pool, tennis courts, a restaurant and more. The boys are practically living at the pool. We will take pictures and send another email soon. There is only internet at the office here, so we won’t have it on the boat. The weather is very hot and humid, but most places have air conditioning. It is simply beautiful here, very americanized. If it weren't for the spanish signs, you wouldn't know it wasn't a city in the U.S.

Lots of love from the Dutch Dreamers

Our Trip to El Limon‏ (June 6, 2009 9:09:33 AM)

Friday was quite an adventure as El Capitano decided we all needed a day off and head for the waterfalls. We met our favourite rickshaw guy Juan No. 7 at the dock at 9:00 a.m. It was about an hour’s drive up into the mountains. We saw some incredible scenery! Especially beautiful were all the huge coconut palm plantations throughout the hillsides. The four of us and our bags were quite a load, and in a couple of spots where the mountain road was really steep, we had to get out and walk, as the poor motoconcho sounded like it was going to blow a gasket! We took a lot of pictures, to give you an idea of what the countryside is like here.

We arrived at our destination, which turned out to be a restaurant/gift shop, where you rent horses, to take you through the mountains, and then to the falls. We had no idea, we assumed the rickshaw would take us directly to the falls. We browsed through the gift shop, where Greg bought me a beautiful Amber and Larimal necklace, with a bracelet and earrings to match. These are both local gemstones, a very nice keepsake of the Dominican Republic, as well as a beautiful gift for the galley wench from El Capitano! The guy of course sold Greg some cigars, and made a deal for the horses to take us to the falls and back for $40 U.S. While in the gift shop, Greg and I tried a local treat called “mama juana”. You drink a wee bit in a shot glass, it is pretty strong and supposed to be very “potent”, in an aphrodisiac way. It is in a large glass jug stuffed with 25 different leaves and herbs. Then they add two fingers of honey, two fingers of red wine, and fill the jug with rum. It was delicious!

We made our way to the horses and climbed on. We were escorted by a local, his two daughters and young son. This was the boys’ first time being on a horse, and for Greg and I, many years since we had rode. I was a little nervous, and then when I saw the narrow, rock strewn mountain path we were to travel on, my nervousness progressed to a near panic. Up and down we went, all the while I prayed fervently for God to deliver us safely. We crossed a stream and dismounted our horses. Then we had to pay another $50 pesos each and walked down a steep path to the falls. The falls were incredible, 150 feet high. They fell into a large pool with clay rocks around. The water was cool and very refreshing, to say the least. The boys and I had a great time swimming, and we even managed to swim underneath an overhang to be behind the falls, too cool! There were alot of tourists there, most with wristbands from the all inclusive resort in Samana, most likely. It was pretty crowded, and nowhere to sit. We swam awhile and then decided to head back and have lunch. The trip back was much more relaxing and enjoyable, as we knew what to expect. I think Greg was a cowboy in a former lifetime because I couldn’t get over how relaxed and natural he looks in the saddle! Brett fell off his horse on the way back, he just kind of slid off with the saddle, fortunately right onto a high grassy area. He was not hurt at all, and the girls were holding their sides laughing at him, I guess it was quite comical. Greg and I were up ahead so couldn’t see what happened, but Dylan filled us in, and I guess it was quite something to see... these little girls trying to get Brett’s big foot out of the stirrup, he is lying there cursing and swearing... and everyone is laughing. Wish I’d been there to take a picture. At least he was fine and not hurt, but as he said, trust him to be the one to fall off the horse!

Back at the restaurant, we had a fantastic lunch of fish, chicken, rice, salad, etc., and lots of cold drinks. Fully sated, we headed back to Samana, and the boat, to have a good night’s sleep.

We are now at Hotel Bahia View, checking the weather and it looks like we have a window to leave tonight. We just have to get a few supplies, pick up our laundry and get back to the boat to get ready. We will leave around 5:00 tonight, hug the coastline heading south, and then cross the Mona passage Sunday. The wind and weather looks really good. We will continue on to Ponce, where we should arrive sometime late Monday or Tuesday. We will email from there as soon as we can. We have had a great time in the DR but are eager to move on.

Lots of love from the Dutch Dreamers

Samana‏ (June 4, 2009 9:46:59 AM)

Hello everyone:

Hope this email finds everyone happy and well. It’s hard to believe it is almost two weeks since we arrived in Samana. We (or should I say Greg) have been busy working on repairs to the boat, mainly the fresh water pump and the hot water tank. Greg ended up taking both completely apart. The hot water tank had many leaks, so Greg has repaired them with a welding like compound called JB Weld. The tank itself cannot be welded. Greg is going to put the tank back in today. As for the pump, there was a spare pump on board but it didn’t work properly. So my dear husband the “McGivor King” took both apart, putting together all the working pieces. What we have ended up with is a working pump with no sensor. It will give us water pressure, but the sensor does not work, so it will not shut off. So when one of us showers, another has to be “at the switch”, ready to turn it on for a minute, and then shut it off again.

We have looked into getting a new pump from West Marine flown in here, but it would take about a month, and at what cost we are not sure. Customs is so corrupt in the Dominican Republic it is unbelievable. They simply charge you whatever they feel like. In Luperon friends of ours ordered in a thru hull fitting. The part itself was only worth $20. Customs demanded $100 or they wouldn’t hand it over. She politely told them to “stick it”, and is still without parts.

There is a huge marine store in Ponce, in Puerto Rico. We originally were not going to stop in Puerto Rico, but plans have changed. As soon as we get our weather window, we will leave here and head for Ponce. Apparently they also have a Walmart and Sam’s Club, so it is a good place to provision. From there we will continue on through the Caribbean, to Grenada, to wait out hurricane season. We are way behind schedule, due to mechanical and waiting for weather, both completely out of our control. We will just have to do the best we can under the circumstances.

The weather here continues to be hot and humid, usually in the 90’s. Some nights are quite uncomfortable with the humidity, but it does usually cool down enough to sleep. We will acclimatize eventually! We plan on doing a day trip to the waterfalls before we leave here, while waiting for weather. It is about an hour out of Samana and supposed to be gorgeous and a lot of fun. We are looking forward to that! While here, we have learned a bit about the area. The three main products Samana produces are 1) Coconuts 2) Coffee 3) Chocolate. We have tried the coffee, it is all delicious and very strong. The chocolate comes in big bars and is completely unsweetened, it is pure cocoa. I am looking forward to doing some baking with it to try it out. The prices here are relatively inexpensive, but you have to make sure you keep out the middle man. Everyone has their hand out to make a buck. We got completely hosed by a guy who did our laundry when we got here. He told us it would be 100 pesos (about 3 bucks) for 12 pieces. When we picked up our laundry the price suddenly changed to 500 pesos. He wanted $100 US for doing our laundry! We told him he was out to lunch, and finally settled on 1500 pesos for the lot, which is still a complete rip-off. We avoid this guy like the plague now! There is no such thing as a Laundromat here, unfortunately. But we did find a laundry place that will only charge 30 pesos per pound, much more reasonable. It is like that with everything, so one has to be careful. Anyway, we are about to head into town to do email and check weather. We will email again before we leave.

Ummm hi. This is Dylan and I just got a spear gun as a late birthday present. I named it Timmy and mom thinks i’m crazy but don’t listen to her, because she doesn’t know what she’s saying. Oh and dad says i’m not supposed to shoot Brett (DARN). But he didn’t say i’m not allowed to shoot him for not letting me shoot Brett! Ha! Samana is really cool. Instead of motoconchos like in Luperon a motorcycle tows a little carriage but it has no doors or anything. They are awesome! Samana is a big place so we get to ride those all the time! We call them rickshaws. You see a lot of guards walking around with shotguns, M16s and AK47s. It was funny the day we got Timmy because I would walk around with him on the streets and in the markets and nobody cared! People would go ballistic in Canada if somebody was walking around with a spear gun! The Dominican Republic is sure a third world country. I really like it. I don’t want to go spear fishing in Samana bay because the water is so mucky. I’m not swimming here! I always have a handline out with a bucktail jig and a bit of chicken. No luck with that yet. I really hope Ponce in Puerto Rico has clear water in the harbour so I can spear fish. Dad says we are going to go to the waterfall before we leave. Bruce Van Sant is some weirdo retired cruiser that wrote a book about cruising telling you exactly what to do going through the Dominican. Anyway he says the waterfall here is 150 feet high! I can’t wait. We are going into town today to check the weather so i gotta go take a shower. We can actually have a real shower now just no hot water. For the last two weeks we have had to pour some water into a pot and you dump that over yourself. We used about 2 gallons of water for a shower. Bye!

Lots of love from the Dutch Dreamers

P.S. We just noticed the dollar is at 91 cents! Yeahhhhh!!!!

P.S. P.S. We are at the Hotel Bahia doing emails. See pictures attached.

Life in Luperon‏ (April 21, 2009 12:43:33 PM)

Hello from Luperon!

Thank you all for your emails and birthday wishes. We hope you are well and happy, and enjoying spring, wherever you are. We’ve had a wonderful time here since our last email to you. My 50^th birthday was a perfect day. Greg’s friend Cory from the Turks and Caicos flew out for my birthday weekend. We spent the day wandering around town, showing him the sights, and then ended up at Captain Steve’s for dinner. We had a lovely dinner, Greg and I had lobster, shrimp and grouper. We indulged ourselves with a decadent cherry cheesecake for dessert. A local baker and ex-cruiser Marty made the cake for us. All and all it was a wonderful way to spend my “bi-centennial”, surrounded by family and good friends, in a beautiful and lush environment.

Easter weekend was very different for us, but in a good way. We are finding that the further away from North America we are, the less we miss the hustle and bustle, and the commercialized holidays that we have all been brought up with. On Good Friday the town of Luperon closed down, and everyone went to one of the beaches close by to spend the day relaxing and partying with their families and friends. Friday night the boys were invited to a “jam session” with some of the local musicians at Puerto Blanco Marina. They were pretty shy, but Brett learned quite a few new chords and played along when he could. It was more difficult for Dylan though, as he plays the soprano saxophone. There were three guitars and one flute so Dylan had a hard time trying to fit in. He is used to reading notes, and playing music from books, not “winging it”. Still it was a good experience for both of them, we are very proud of them, and it was a very enjoyable evening for all of us. On Sunday I made some “Paska”. For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, it’s a sweet bread that is a German/Mennonite tradition at Easter. I put the traditional icing and sprinkles on the buns, and the boys ate their fill. I haven’t made paska for years, and what a treat it was. So our Easter was spent without any chocolate goodies, just being thankful for each other, for all that we have, and enjoying the beautiful setting we are in here in the Dominican. What more could one ask for?

Our first 15-day Visa here expired so we have now renewed it for 3 months. We don’t plan on being here for that long, but just followed standard procedure. Greg has been making quite a bit of progress on the exterior of the boat. He has been working on the exterior of the pilot house, the starboard side and the two rear portholes, sanding and grinding and getting rid of rust. On Friday he managed to get a coat of primer on the side of the pilot house. He says it makes him feel better to have some visual progress! It has been really, really hot, so he has to pace himself. A few days we have hit 100, but most days it is between 85 and 90. Inside the boat is fairly cool, we have fans running but our air conditioning is not working, as there is a problem with the salt water pump, another project. We had our refrigeration quit on us again, and it turned out the sea strainer was filthy and clogged up, so Greg cleaned that all up. It worked for a while and then quit again so Greg changed the electric pump. The new one we bought in Ft. Lauderdale has been nothing but a problem. Greg now has the old pump, which he fixed up, back on and everything is working 100 per cent once again. Other than that, things have been working fine on the boat. Last week we had Papo, a local, come over and clean the bottom of our hull and dinghy. The water in the harbour here is dirty, and we had lots of algae and barnacles growing. We will have it done again before we leave. Papo also sells bottles of drinking water, the large blue ones, for about 2 bucks for a 5 gallon jug. He delivers to your boat so that is a pretty good deal. He also sells and delivers bags of ice and diesel.

Last Monday, our friends Opus sailed into the harbour, a very welcome sight. We haven’t seen them since we left the dock in Georgetown. They are anchored nearby and we have been taking them around town to help them get oriented. It’s amazing how many people we know here. Opus commented on the way we are greeted by so many people. Tuesday morning we took them into town to do the “produce truck”. That was a kick for them. One of the locals there likes Greg, so as soon as we arrive, he pours him a strong coffee in a little cup, (like an espresso) and Greg sits down by the side of the road with his coffee in one hand, cigar in the other, and watches me shop. Another truck pulled up so Jim and I went to check it out, and it was a guy selling fresh chickens so I bought one. It was a good size, two pound chicken with the head lopped off, cleaned out but still had the feet. The boys got a kick out of that. We cooked it up that night and it was delicious. I am so enjoying the different produce and meat here, and cooking things in new ways. I find I am basing my meals around vegetables with meat as a side dish, instead of the other way around. We are all losing weight, which is wonderful. Last week I had to find some line to put around my shorts to keep them from falling off. Maybe we are just melting from the heat, but I think it is the combination of both heat and lots of healthy food. My men are so enjoying the food that I have now been promoted to Galley Admiral, from Galley Wench!

Last week the boys were invited to a local outdoor bar called Shaggy’s, to play. There were about 8 people there, just a casual group, and they all got a real kick out of hearing the boys, and were very impressed by them. We are of course, very proud of them. Spending time together as a family, and especially, a lot of time with our boys, has made us appreciate them so much more. Not that we haven’t always loved them dearly, but all their lives people have told us what good kids they are. Now that we are together 24-7, Greg and I see it first-hand. They are really great kids! They are polite, intelligent and compassionate. They devour books, and carry conversations with adults like mini adults. They are responsible. We have been letting them get out on their own with the dinghy. They spend their mornings doing schoolwork, and then have the afternoons free. Greg works on the boat most days, so on days when I am too busy or just don’t feel like going anywhere, we give the boys a few pesos and they take the dinghy into town. They go over to Captain Steve’s, have a coke and play a few games of pool, and then come back to the boat. They have also been doing a bit of fishing. We are told that the mangroves here filter the water, so I told the boys if they catch fish, I will cook it. Everyone else here eats the fish and they haven’t died from it, so it must be okay! So far no luck, but I am sure they will catch something one of these days.

I always have chores to do on the boat, which I do between helping the boys out with their schoolwork as needed. My “housework” is definitely scaled down from our 2500 square foot house in Yellowknife. I vacuum the floors about 2-3 times a week. It’s amazing how much crud can get on a boat in the middle of a harbour! I wash the floors weekly, as well as clean the fridge on a weekly basis. Then there is always dusting and polishing, windows to clean, and heads to scrub out. I also do a lot of baking, our bread and buns and the occasional cake and batch of cookies to keep the crew happy. That plus cooking three meals a day keeps me pretty busy and out of trouble for the most part. The time just seems to fly by, and before you know it, another week has gone by. We plan on being here roughly another two weeks, and then heading for the Virgin Islands. We only plan on stopping by Puerto Rico for night if need be. Here is a website that will tell you more about the area we are in: www.luperoncruising.com.

I have attached some photos of the area as well to give you all an idea of where we live for now. We will be going into Santiago, one of the larger cities, to provision before we leave here. We will email before we leave, so you know we are underway. Love you all, and miss you so much. Keep the emails and phone calls coming, we love to hear from you. Our phone number again is: 809-203-5609.

The Dutch Dreamers

Lovin’ it in Luperon!‏ (March 31, 2009 2:05:22 PM)

Hello everyone! Hope this finds everyone happy, well and warming up with the spring weather. We are still in Luperon, DR. We are quite enjoying it here. The harbour is very protected, the people are great, it is inexpensive and the country is beautiful.

Yesterday we took a day and went by Guagua (a large van) into Puerto Plata. We were with our friends from Water Music, Michael, Fiona and Sheena who are from PEI. Greg or should I say, “Gregorio” made a deal with the driver and for 250 pesos each (about 7 dollars), he took us to the city, wherever we wanted to go, and brought us back to the government dock. The drive along the way was very interesting. Very lush country side, and lots of farms with cows, chickens, goats, etc. We saw huge royal palms, banana plantations, sugar cane fields, orange and lemon trees along the road. There were many small villages along the road as well, and so many people and kids right by the road. Everyone drives like bloody maniacs here. It is a two lane road, but the line in the middle means nothing. It’s really like three or four lane traffic. Motor Conchos (motorcycles) zip in and out of traffic and very few wear helmets. We hit and I am sure killed a dog on the way back to Luperon, it was pretty sad. The driver slowed down a bit, but then just kept on going. We are not going to rent a car here, who would want to drive in this insanity, when it is so cheap to hire someone to take you around. The trick is surviving the trip!

Our first stop in the city was an old Spanish fort that had been turned into a bit of a museum. It was built in the 1500’s. The walls were several feet thick, and it had turrets with tiny holes where one could look out and stick your rifle to fire at invaders. When you first walked in, you walked across a bridge. Back when the fort was in use, this was like a drawbride, and below the bridge, was a sort of a moat. The moat was filled with sharp coral, and back in the day, spears were stuck in the coral. So when enemies did break into the fort, the bridge would open and they would fall in. Inside, there was a doorway into each side of the fort. The doorway was only about four feet high, so you had duck down to enter the next chamber. This way, back in the day, when enemies tried to come through, someone would be waiting on the other side to chop their heads off! It was quite something to wander through here, thinking back to long ago, and the battles fought and bloodshed right under our feet. Outside the fort was a statue of General Gregorio Luperon, who along with his army, defeated and expelled the Haitians in 1844.

Our next stop was the city square. Our driver dropped us off and agreed to come back in two hours. We walked through the streets and checked out the shops. We went into a couple of “cigar factories”. These were actually a small room in the back of a shop where a local sat and made hand rolled cigars. This was really neat to see, and in one of the shops, they let Dylan roll a cigar. Greg got a few free samples, and also bought some different kinds. They come in a variety of flavours, cherry, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate just to name a few. The shops are very “touristy”, most of the stuff is pretty gaudy. Even saw a few framed tarantulas... can’t say I’d want one of those hanging in my living room!

We met our driver and Water Music back at the square and they drove us to a restaurant for lunch. We told him, as best we could, we wanted to go to a local, cheap, but clean place. It worked out well as we all had a great lunch and frosty cervesas. Then we were off to do some shopping at Puerto Plata’s new shopping centre, La Siena (which means mermaid in Spanish). This is the Spanish version of a Walmart super centre. The confusing part is of course, translating the prices into U.S. dollars. Then trying to find what you are looking for. It was a great experience. We even found Brett and Greg a new charger for their laptop, for only $45.00. We bought a few things and after loading our purchases in the van, headed back to Luperon.

Since we have been here, we have been doing some maintenance on the boat. Just after arriving here, our gray water tank macerator pump went on the fritz. This meant our gray water was backing up into the shower and required an immediate fix. Greg hooked up a 12 volt pump to a garden hose and we pumped out the tank. Whew! It’s amazing how much dirty water stinks! Upon further inspection we realized that we have not one but two holding tanks that feed together. Greg had cleaned out the one under the shower stall when we were in Charleston, but not the other one, so it was pretty nasty. Greg had the lovely job of cleaning the crud out and scrubbing the tank out, and sterilizing it with bleach. Then he checked the pump, and it turned out it was just so dirty and plugged up, it has stopped working. After a good cleaning, it is all operational again. We also decided that our holding tank for our water had never been cleaned, and as the water in the Bahamas was not the greatest, we let it run dry, and then Greg gave it a good cleaning. Here a local guy by the name of Papo delivers drinking water in the big blue plastic jugs you can use on water coolers to the boat. So we ordered a bunch of those and now have nice clean water on board. Our water tank holds 350 gallons, which is huge, but it is a big boat! Then the other day Greg worked a bit on the outside of the boat, on the starboard side of the salon. He scraped and sanded and put a coat of Rust Bullet on the bad spots. Tomorrow and the rest of the week he will continue to work on the exterior.

Friday night we had quite a party on our boat. Our friends from Water Music, and Chocobo came over, and we partied until 3:00 a.m. It’s been a looooong time since any of us had done that, and we were all worse for wear the next day. It was great connecting with a bunch of crazy Canucks though.

Another great place we have found here is called Agugu, which is a tiny little restaurant with great fried chicken, and rice and beans, for “cheapy cheapy” “almost free” (as the peddlars will tell you!). Their beer is the cheapest around, only 70 pesos, which is two bucks, for a 22 oz. Beer. In the back yard is a big chicken coop, so you know the chicken is really, really fresh!

The boys have been busy at their school work, that is going really well. We have a good routine going. Dylan has been busy practicing making me a rope mat, and he finally got one put together. It is a little small, but it is a first try, and I think it is beautiful! The boys had their instruments out the other day, practicing on the deck. On Sunday at the Flea Market we ran into a musician, and apparently there is a bunch of cruisers that get together occasionally at a local bar called Shaggy’s to jam. So the next time they play, they are going to give us a call on radio and the boys will join in. They are pretty excited about it.

Saturday is my birthday, the big 50, and we are going to celebrate here at Captain Steve’s, with a bunch of our cruising friends. It should be a blast.

Oh, and we went out today and bought a cheap little cell phone, and a phone card. I think it is about 27 cents a minute for us to call you, but there’s no cost to us to receive calls. So here is our phone number: 1-809-203-5609.

Love you all lots, and miss you tons!

From the Dutch Dreamers

Buenos Dias from the Dominican Republic!‏ (March 22, 2009 11:35:16 AM)

We arrived safe and sound, but very tired yesterday morning at about 6:30 a.m. It was a long journey. We left Clarence Town on Long Island on Thursday morning, went past Crooked and Acklins Islands, and after motoring through the night, arrived in Mayaguana. We had planned to overnight here and rest up, but after listening to the forecast, we realized we had better keep moving as our weather window was about to close. High winds and rain squalls were forecasted for the Dominican for Saturday afternoon. We kept going, motored past Haiti, and arrived at Luperon early Friday morning. Everything worked just great on the boat, and that big old Mercedes engine purred like a kitten (well tiger maybe!), we averaged almost 8 knots.

After a few tries, we anchored in the crowded harbour and were so relieved to hear nothing but quiet when we turned the engine off after 48 straight hours. We were exhausted but had to get our dinghy into the water and our engine mounted so we could go to town to clear customs. As soon as we arrived, people started coming over to the boat. Papo, a wheeler dealer who sells diesel, water and God knows what else delivered to your boat stopped by to give us a sales pitch. Then friends of ours from the Catamaran Chocobo stopped by to say hello. Then three guys posing as Customs boarded our boat. They managed to get $20 from Greg, and took some of our paperwork. Something didn’t seem right, so Greg called them back over and we got our paperwork back, and asked to see identification. They all worked for the navy or police, but had nothing to do with customs, as far as we could tell. So we were out 20 bucks and learned a lesson.

We finally got our dinghy ready, and motored just up the bay to the government dock, and the short walk to customs and the town. Everything went smooth as silk at customs, and about $120 later, we were cleared to go. Agriculture came to our boat in the afternoon, check out our produce, cheese and milk, declared everything safe, and out went another $20. Then we went back into town, and came to a restaurant/bar called Steve’s place. He is an ex cruiser who married and local girl and bought the bar. Nice big wicker rockers, a pool table, small pool out back for the kids. Plus they have free showers, and will do your laundry for 20 pesos per pound. Price is the same if you do it yourself. Exchange works out to 35 DR pesos to the American dollar, so we brought our laundry here today. We are sitting here now, using the free internet on our laptop, having just enjoyed lunch and some President beer. They are huge beers and only 95 pesos and yummy! The prices here are so much more reasonable than the Bahamas. Cheeseburger and fries for $180 pesos, all homemade. This morning we went to a flea market at one of the marinas. I got a really nice, short haircut for ten bucks and we bought some homemade bread. We stopped at the other marina and met a lady named Marty, who sets up a table there Sundays. She also sells home baking as well as jams, jellies and salsas. She and her hubby came to Capt. Steve’s and joined us at our table for lunch. She is also an ex cruiser who has been here for six years, bought a house and runs her little bakery.

Greg found out that he can work on our boat here, so he will be busy scraping and sanding soon. There is a lot less paint on our baby since we left Georgetown, it keeps peeling off, and like I tell Greg, just that much less to take off. Our customs permit says we can stay here for 15 days, but we might extend it, if things go well. So far it is a great place.

Will email again soon!

Lots of love from the Dutch Dreamers

Finally Leaving Georgetown (March 17, 2009 3:49:04 AM)

Hello everyone!

Hope this email finds everyone well and happy. Sorry we haven’t emailed for awhile, the internet here is terrible and we have had a lot going on. To get a proper connection, you have to walk up to a tiny green shack called “J & K Productions”. It has a dirt floor and a narrow counter. You sit down with your laptop (about two inches away from the next person) and then he signs you in, and for $5.00 you have internet. There is usually a lineup outside the door, so you don’t want to take too long. They also have a phone where you can call out. The wait to use the phone is about an hour as most times there is a long lineup ahead of you, it is only 20 cents per minute. The good part is they have a couple of huge fans going and it is actually nice and cool in there!

We are happy to say we are finally leaving Georgetown today (Tuesday morning). We have been waylaid here due to electronics issues on the boat. Upon arriving in Georgetown (thankfully not sooner!) our GPS died. It had been freezing up off and on since leaving Charleston and then the little button that moves the cursor around fell off. Greg went into town and used the phone and ordered a new one from West Marine. We had it shipped here to the major grocery store, Exuma Markets, by Fedex and it arrived in a few days. The duty here in the Bahamas in painful, 46%! Only part of our order came though, we were missing the black box fish finder that we ordered with it to give us depth readings. Our old GPS gave us depth, and we relied on it totally as our depth instrument on the boat was not working. About this time our wind instrument, that tells us what the wind speed is in knots, quit working. So we decided to order a new set of Raymarine instruments to replace the old set so we would again have depth, wind speed and boat speed. While we were dealing with this, we noticed our boat batteries were not charging properly. Upon inspection of the four huge batteries, Greg found that one was bulging, and one was leaking and they were not keeping a charge.

We decided to come into the marina here and tie up to the dock, as running back and forth in the dinghy from our anchorage in the rough water (lots of wind here) was getting to be a pain, and we needed to be at the dock to take delivery of the new batteries. There is a NAPA store a few miles up the road, so Greg and Dylan hitch hiked there (a common thing here, they always pick you up) and bought four new lead acid batteries. They are a different type of battery so we had to replace them all. These were the only kind they had. As they weight 130 lbs each, the NAPA guy loaded them up in their truck and delivered them and the guys to our boat. Jim from Opus came over and helped Greg to lift the old batteries out of the engine room, with help of a block and tackle off the main boom. We had to take our table down in the salon, and take the floor panel out so the batteries could come out. The old batteries were even heavier, 160 lbs each, so Greg was glad to have some help with this job!

I don’t know if you have been counting, but that makes three: the GPS, the wind instrument and the batteries. Trouble comes in threes, so we hope we are done!

Greg did a great job installing the GPS and the new instruments. He took panels off the helm and inside the boat. There were wires everywhere, as he had to trace the wires throughout the boat. With the prospect of having to go up the 58 foot mast in the bozens (sp?) chair to install the new whirlybird, Greg was very motivated to match up the old wiring with the new. He managed to do this, so we are using our old wind instrument with the new electronics. He did the same with the transducer for the depth instrument which also saved a pile of work and hassle for him.

In spite of our electronics issues, we have had a lot of fun here in Georgetown. We have been to Volleyball beach a few times, and went on a great snorkelling trip with Gordon and Debra. We hopped in our dinghies and motored a couple of miles through the bay to a cut in the ocean. We got in some awesome snorkelling over a few reefs. Gordon and Debra left Georgetown to head back to the States, it was soooo hard saying goodbye and we sure miss them and their two cats T.C. and Witchy Bitchy. Hi Debra and Gordon!

While we were here the cruisers here hosted their 29^th annual Regatta. There were different events throughout the first two weeks in March. Most of the participants are from the states, and they come south every winter to Georgetown for the Regatta. They are a close knit, rather “clicky” bunch, and we just didn’t fit in! They have a cruising net every morning on VHF radio and let me tell you, these people remind me of the Stepford Wives movie. They are all way too nice and way too happy! We have met lots of “real” people though. As we have been in the marina for about 10 days now, waiting on one part or another, we have met many people. Everyone seems to love our boat! We usually end up on the back deck sitting on our lounge seat around 4:30 to have our daily cocktail and watch the sunset, and there is always someone walking the dock that will see us relaxing and will come on board to share a drink and visit with us. We have met people from all over the world, and even from Winkler! We met a guy who’s Dad was born and raised in Winkler, do you know him Dad, his name is Richard Toews and he would be in his late sixties??? His Mom’s maiden name is Dyck. What a small world! There are lots of Canadians here, but mostly from Ontario.

We always get a kick out of the neat boat names. Here are a few: Idunno, Nice Butt, One Eyed Parrots, Holy Smoke, Hullaballo, Better Than Working, Gotta life, Plan Sea, Never Bored, Nauti Nauti, Son of a Sailor, Feelin Lucky, Bird on a Wire and my personal favourite, Hormone Hotel! There are cute stories to go with some of them whom we have met. Nice Butt are a retired couple from Ontario travelling with their 17 year old granddaughter. They had a hard time coming up with a name, and their conversations always ended with.... “nice, but”. So one morning she said, that’s it, that’s going to be the boat name: “Nice Butt”! As for the One Eyed Parrots, they are a retired couple whose last name is Parrot, and each of them are blind in one eye. Go figure!

The one event we did participate in the regatta was the Coconut Challenge for kids. Brett, Dylan, Jennifer and her friend Mara used Jim’s little dinghy. A few sacks of coconuts were thrown in the water across a shallow bay, and the boat who collected the most coconuts won. You were not allowed to have a motor on board, and you had to use a swimming fin to paddle. It was quite hilarious to watch. The kids’ boat managed to collect 32 coconuts. They didn’t win, but had a blast anyways.

We have made good friends with Jim, Linda and Jennifer from Opus, a 25 ft. Sailboat. Jennifer just celebrated her 12^th birthday on Sunday (same day as Linda’s birthday) so they parked at the dock beside us and we had a great party. I baked a huge birthday cake for them and the boys and I decorated it with a beach theme.

During our stay here Greg, along with Dylan attended a weather seminar put on by Chris Parker, who airs the weather on the SSB radio for the Caribbean and the Bahamas. We listen to him every morning at 6:30 to get an up to date weather forecast, and if you subscribe, you can call in and ask for specific weather for your area and wherever you are heading. It was very informative and Greg bought his book on weather.

Now that we have our boat put together and everything appears to be working, we are going to take advantage of a good weather window we have from Tuesday to Friday and leave for the Dominican Republic. If you want to follow us on a map, we will be travelling from Georgetown which is at the bottom of the Exuma chain, to Long Island, then Crooked Island, Acklins, Great Inagua and then to the Dominican. It is a long haul, a total of 375 miles, which at 6 knots per hour, will take about 62 hours. I have made a sail plan, and have all the waypoints entered into the GPS as well as a paper plan for backup. We will likely do an overnight or two, where Greg and I will take turns being on watch. We have stayed about three weeks longer than we anticipated here in Georgetown and are anxious to move on. From the DR we will head to Puerto Rico, and then at last into the Virgin Islands. Doug and Lois, when are you going to be in St. John???? It would be great if we could hook up with you there!

We love and miss you all. In spite of all the challenges, we are having a wonderful time. After all, you just have to look around at all the white sand beaches, the turquoise waters and think, how bad can it really be....

Love from the Dutch Dreamers