Blogs (62,505)

Well, it's been fun reading some of the blogs and threads on here. Thanks for the good laughs and all that.

Now, time for this squaw (LOL) to move on...

Take care, GRW

Things have changed so much in the past few years.....How?......Why?

Dear women of the online dating world,

Please stop using the terms "Prince Charming" or "Mr Right". I would also greatly appreciate if you would stop describing yourself as "not a Barbie". Its the least you could do since many of you can't even acknowledge my existence with a "piss off" when I send an email.

Thanks

Ron

Wheedle Mooch and Connive….

Having spent some time in town, caught up on our rest, and decided what we want to see and what needs to be repaired and restocked on the boat, it is time to find our taxi driver. A good taxi driver is essential to any arrival in a strange port. If possible get a recommendation from a cruiser who has been there a while, but if not, get a taxi driver anyway. This guy can get anything and knows where everything and everyone is. Need a machine shop? No problem mon. Need a sail repaired? No problem mon. Need a left-handed thingamabob? No problem mon, my cousin make you one mañana. Remember, you’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy and you may need to be a bit resourceful in obtaining parts and supplies. Lots of trades and such will come to pass in order to find what you need. And the guy driving around in a 1952 Ford sedan with a John Deer tractor motor will probably be able to help you out.

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish……

So we have been here for six weeks now, been to most of the bars at least twice, and have the boat in as good as shape as we think we need to for the next passage. Have met the people, seen the sights, and it is time to move on. One last round of officials (easier now that we have a good driver), pay off our tab at the local cantina, and head out. Get ready to do the whole thing over again. And after reading all the reasons why not to do it, why would we do it again anyway? Because after all the inconveniences, there is nothing else like it in the world. The freedom to sail to strange places, meet new people and explore new ways of looking at the world, without the restrictions of just being a tourist. Being able to live within, and enjoy the local economy and customs. Just the sheer joy of being alive in a new and different situation and location. Some say, "Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure." I believe they are right. If you have the attitude, it is one heck of an adventure.

Fair Winds and Safe Passage
Capt David

I Must Confess, I Need Some Rest……
Having outfitted your beautiful boat to resemble a cross between a Grapes of Wrath pickup truck and a Gypsy wagon, we are off the dock and underway (only two weeks late). You are now ready to drop into the routine of day-to-day life underway. If you’re fortunate enough to have another fool onboard, it means you can get at least 4 to 6 hours of sleep between your watches. Sure you can, as long as nothing breaks, the weather doesn’t change, and your crew remembers how to check their position. So having had 2 hours of sleep behind the lee-boards of the pilot berth (two sail changes and a reef in 2 hours) you stagger into the****it after having spent 10 minutes making a pot of coffee and transferring it into a thermos without spilling half of it down your pants (always wear your oilies when making hot stuff) and immediately sit down in a puddle of your crewmate’s spilled beer. After half an hour, deal with leaking autopilot or other problem of your choice. Keep constant watch for enormous ships attempting to reduce you to flotsam. Check position and work your way below decks to mark on chart. Stay awake. Go below and thrash around in the dark looking for peanut butter crackers without waking crewmate. Put flying fish in pilot berth to see expression on crewmate’s face. Repeat for 4 to 6 hours, crawl into a damp pilot berth that smells like feet. Awaken 1 hour later as crewmate returns flying fish to berth. Repeat four to six times daily for 11 to 13 days.

Next :
Land Ho!
(or) Mañana Doesn’t Mean Tomorrow,
It Just Means Not Today

So Ya Wanna Be A Pirate?
(Part One of Four)

Throughout my years of sailboat cruising, one of the recurring comments I get is, "I wish I could do that." Now while I will admit it is the only lifestyle I can or would lead, it does require some serious adjustments in attitude and expectations. Things that are a huge problem ashore seem to disappear, while many things you just take for granted on land, become impossible underway.

It’s Not Like In The Brochure……
A robin’s egg blue sea with a light chop, a beautiful blond on the foredeck, palm trees in the background, you’re sipping boat drinks, all while making 7 knots in paradise. Or, 6 to 8 foot confused seas, blowing like stink, your crew (some dude in dirty cutoffs and a 4 day beard) is cursing on the foredeck while trying to douse the jib and you are making 2 knots over the ground 400 miles offshore. The first scenario is on the cover of Cruising Is A Wonderful Life magazine. The second is usually closer to the reality of making passage. Those days of calm seas and light air can be found on day trips between islands, or while making short passages behind the reefs of Belize. But first you have to get there. For instance, when and if I leave the Savannah area this fall, I plan to head to Puerto Rico. I could take "The Ditch" to South Florida; jump over to the Bahamas on a good day, and island hop down to the Mona Passage. Yeah, if I had 6 months to make the trip. But, I would like to get there before hurricane season arrives, and the money runs out, so we will take the direct route. Pretty simple really, head due east from Savannah for a hundred miles or so, and then turn right. In 11 days or so, we should be in the Mona Passage and then another day or so, on to Salinas. Eleven days of sailing on your ear in the open ocean. Interminable boredom punctuated by moments of absolute terror.

If It Ain’t Broke, It Ain’t A Boat…..
Before we can make this wonderful passage from Savannah to Puerto Rico the first thing we have to do is get off the dock. Always the most difficult part of the trip. Now a cruising sailboat is always in a state of constant repair. Much worse than a house, trust me. No matter how much time or money you spend on maintaining your vessel something will break every day. And that is just while sitting still. Get underway where you can’t get supplies, and the rig and gear are under constant strain, it is not unusual to have something break hourly. And remember, whatever spare parts you bring will not be the ones you need. Best you can do is spend all the money you can (and some of what you can’t) on whatever you think best, knowing that it won’t be enough anyway. Remember, you might be a boat-bum if you consider duct tape a long term investment.

Dear, We Need To Clean The Garage…..
Now that we have our huge cache of spare parts, (none of which we will need, remember?) all we have to do is find a place to stow them. "There Is Never Enough Room" should be one of the laws of the universe. Remember, we have to stuff enough clothes, food, gear, spare parts, alcohol (sailboat engines run on diesel, cruisers run on alcohol), books, charts, instruments, tools, lines, sails, life raft, propane tanks, spare water and fuel, etc. etc. etc. to last a minimum of 6 months to a year into a space the size of a one car garage (with no attic). It can be done, but you must remember what ever you need will be at the very bottom of the locker you stowed it in. Underway, everything has to be stowed in a locker, rack, or tied in (this includes you and the crew). Otherwise, it will end up on the cabin sole, or over the side.

i'm 20 years old. i like older
women whats wrong with that? i
always been this way. all my
girlfriends have been at least three
years older than me. young girls
can't do nothing for me. am i
wrong for feeling like this?

with a squall of rain and wind that tosses the mango tree out back enough to shake loose blossom, filling the air with fragments that were meant to be succulent, fragrant fruit.Some of which would have ended up on my breakfast menu eventually. Rain is different here in the Caribbean. Yesterday I drove around the corner from one patch of sunshine to another, but the second patch was filled with a driving rain impervious to the highest thrust of windscreen wipers. Another 100 yards and it was done, road dry as bone. We say 'the devil is beating his wife with a cou cou stick' when rain and sunshine come together. Cou cou being made of cornmeal and okras and churned with a flat paddle like a tiny cricket bat. Delicious with steamed flying fish or salt fish in a butter sauce with onions. For some reason my cou cou turns out green which is not standard issue. Maybe too many okras.

Another week. My tape recorder ordered six weeks ago has not arrived and I am shackled to the studio not truly designed for production work. Am currently doing a Heath Robinson with extra cables, pulling the mic out from the console and creating an area where I can sit face to face with a guest but with the current configuration there is no way to make it look natural which further stresses those already nervous; and it is hard to make things look and feel effortless with one's back to the controls that need monitoring. I tried a mirror in an experiment and it is just not on as an option. I tell myself to breathe, pull my shoulders down from around my ears and ply myself with platitudes about Rome and ancient and modern building practises. Sometimes it helps but I need content and I have all these people eager to give it to me and nowhere to gather it effectively. Of course there is the loose cannon option...rent studio time from my competitors. Maybe I can suggest that and see what outrage can achieve...

Last week I went camping with my friends and it was nothing like the movie "the great outdoors" Not one raccoon going through are garbage, no bald headed bear... so other then those disappointments I had a lovely time.peace

The other night was quite amusing at the little community that has eveolved around one of Hamiton's favourite taxi stands. One of the drivers was hanging moons.

We have drivers from almost every conceivable ethnic background who have imparted a richness to the experience perhaps not equalled in any other area of Canadian life.

I am thinking of getting some kind of video recorder and using it to post select moments on YouTube or my own website.

I was having a conversation with one of the more erudite members of our community on Saturday when this, almost distraught, woman approached and interupted us.

She wanted to know if we had seen a red Jeep in the area recently.

I explained to her that we see thousands of cars in the area on a daily basis and it would be highly unlikely that we would notice any specific vehicle....

....unless there was a naked woman in the back seat.

She walked away spouting profanities. I could not be sure whether they were directed at myself, or the driver of the red Jeep she was looking for.