Blogging can make me nuts!

It's early November in Pittsburgh, the gold, red, and orange leaves on the tress are absolutely beautiful.
But we are really starting to yearn for the boating life, so I thought I would go onto my blog and do some work.  I have never liked how BIG the picture of our spinnaker sail is on the home page - I don't know how that happened and have tried before to change it with no luck.  But recently,  my new Dr. went on my blog for the first time while I was there and when that picture came up he went "Whoa -big!"  Sooo,  today I decided to try again.  That was an hour ago!  I couldn't access it,  had to change my profile,  then needed a new password - maybe for a 12 year old it would have been a cinch, but for poor old me it was a frustrating challenge.  I have been following a few blogs these past months and so admire their skills and creativity.  Maybe I am not so much a blogger but rather a blogee?

Nov.22  Hmmm - not much luck increasing my skills.  I even checked out other sites like word press and sailblogs but they didn't look much different.  So, sorry, you will just have to deal with the BIG spinnaker.  I did manage to add a few gadgets - a "favorite blog list", but would really like to add a weather gadget that would show the weather wherever we are, and also a map that could show where we are.  so if anyone wants to send me advice on how to do that I would love it!

Meanwhile, I'll practice a little by posting some pictures from this past hurricane season spent in Pittsburgh.

We started off the summer by attending our first grandchild's graduation from Upper St. Clair High School.  We just can't believe it!  She is now at Miami of Ohio and has made the transition really well.

A trip to Chicago in July (but it was chilly!) to visit Megan.  These were taken at Millennium  Park downtown - a truly beautiful place to listen to a concert.  When you ever go to Chicago don't miss it.

We left Chicago and followed the Lake Michigan shoreline, stopping wherever we wanted in small, cute and quaint towns.  We then finished the trip on Mackinac Island and this is the picture of our historic Bed and Breakfast.

I forget the name of this arch on Mackinac but it is awesome

The front of the Grand Hotel which has the longest porch in America.  We were told every room is decorated differently.  Very beautiful grounds and interiors.  Site of the movie with Christopher Reeve "Somewhere in Time"

View of Lake Huron from the top of the Grand Hotel

The town is filled with magnificent Victorian houses and the flowers are amazing.

We were just amazed by the foliage around this entrance.  Summers are short and winters are harsh up here but it sure produces some gorgeous landscaping.

Mackinac can only be reached by ferries and there are no cars or other motorized vehicles (except of course on the golf course), so all transportation is walking, biking, or by horse.  Here is a delivery being made to a grocery store by horse drawn dray after it met the ferry to get the supplies.

The middle of town, which has no less than 17 fudge shops and also 17 bars.  The smell of the fudge mingles with the pungent horse manure in abundant supply on the streets.  There are workers constantly shoveling it into wagons and then rinsing off the streets.  There are about 800 horses on the island during the season.

We all got together at my brother's house on the Chesapeake Bay and Mom got to crabbing again one year after her open heart surgery.
 Jim's crab boat "Bluegill" was my Dad's on Seneca Lake in Ohio.  Jim has completely redone it, including all the fiberglass.

boating on the Chesapeake in Jim's other boat, a Pursuit called "Day Dream".  His last name is Day

Sunset on the Chesapeake

In October we were lucky to be included in a family trip to La Jolla, California.  Alyza was in college by this time so here are Jane,12, Charlotte,15, Mac, 17, and Gigi 10.

Hanging at the beach

the beautiful La Jolla shoreline

A beautiful fall day in Sewickley, PA.  Notice this is a cemetery !  We went there to see the Tuskagee  Airmen memorial.  They were all African-American aviators in World War 2 who flew 1600 missions.  100 of them were from Pittsburgh.  What a beautiful spot for this memorial.

                                           Finally  -  a blast from the past    Finally  -  a blast from the past

We have been going through boxes of stuff from the basement and found lots of old pictures.  This is Ray on our first sailing adventure on Houston Woods Lake in Ohio - just a little sunfish but I guess we caught the bug.

Mission Accomplished - 1180 miles from Brunswick, GA to Tortola, BVI

Well. they say you can't go home again, so we were a little worried about returning to the Virgin Islands - would we think it was as good as we remembered?  Would we be disappointed and regret leaving US and Bahama friends behind?   No worries - it is as wonderful as ever !!!   In fact , it looked even better to us.  After the flat landscape of the Bahamas, the green high hills with ridges and valleys are so pretty and change colors all day long.  The water is clear and best of all, deep, so that we don't have to worry all the time about going aground in shallow water.  Also, love hearing everyone talking in British accents around the marinas or the musical speech of the locals.  They also love to sing, even sometimes when checking you out at the grocery store.  We are so happy to be back.  We WILL miss so many people - so "Come on Down!"

We only spent 10 days here so will have lots to do next year when we get back.  We spent about 3 weeks in Puerto Rico, cruising the south coast then anchored in the harbor of Culebra, a Spanish Virgin Island 20 miles east of Puerto Rico.  The town of Dewey always reminds me of a dusty border town and it has not changed a bit. There are some fun restaurants, basic stores, and a ferry to Fajardo on the PR mainland that costs us senior citizens $1/person.  So for $4 roundtrip we went to PR,  rented a car for $25/day,  shopped and then went to the El Conquistador resort to meet Megan and Judd for lunch.  Easy-deasy.  Judd won a trip through his company and after their 4 days there they took the ferry over to Culebra and joined us for the sail to St. John and stayed a week.  Highlights were Ivan's and Soggy Dollar on Jost,  lobster dinner at Abe's on Jost,  great beach day at Sandy Cay, wonderful dinner at Caneel.  Megan and Judd especially loved the night time rain squalls
 1) Close ports and hatches
 2) Open them back up 5 minutes later so you can breath again
 3) Do this 2-4 times a night.  Welcome to cruising  in the Caribbean.

After they left to go back to Chicago we then had three days of intense boat work (cleaning, taking off jib sail, engine maintenance,etc.) , which we did while anchored at Maho Bay, St. John.  Next and last stop was Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola, BVI, where we had the boat hauled out for hurricane season.  Nanny Cay is our most favorite place and it is looking better than ever.  It felt like a homecoming, we ran into so many people we used to know.  Out on the beach we found Jose, who was my brother and our favorite bartender at Peg Legs, so right then and there he called my brother Jim to tell him we were together.

Ray with the island of Culebrita behind him.  It is about an hours sail from Culebra and a beautiful place to anchor while waiting for company to come.  It is uninhabited, therefore quiet beaches and trails.

We dinghy to the town of Dewey thru this canal dividing the island of Culebra.  The American Navy put this drawbridge in accommodate fishing boats but is never used now.   

Megan and Judd on Megerin

Megan found a perfect place to hang her feet!

The busy lawyer at work on Megerin.

The view from the upper deck of Caneel Bay on St. John, USVI.  We love this place.  Even though it is a resort, no problem to go there for drinks and delicious food.

Caneel Bay

Megan the dinghy captain

Ray in his favorite place to sneak a cigar - the swim platform

Ray talked Judd into playing dominoes

A drink called "The landscape" at the Peter Island Beach Bar

Girls drink.  Ray had Heineken (shocker) while Judd loves the "Painkillers"

Megerin at Maho Bay

While walking around the boat yard at Nanny Cay we saw this horrible sight.  A brand new 45 foot catamaran went on a reef off of Jost Van Dyke and ripped the whole bottom off.  Supposedly the captain went below to take a leak!  Now he has a leaky mess on his hands.  We couldn't believe  the wiring and hoses hanging out of it

Love this sign - the islanders keep it simple

Nanny Cay Marina

Steelers hat at Nanny Cay beach looks right at home

The crew at Gladys's restaurant on St. Thomas.  We used to go here a lot and when we walked in after four years they said "Welcome Back".  We were surprised they remembered us.

With Megan and Judd at Peter Island

  In conclusion - five things we can't live without on a boat
1  Beer
2  Wine
3  Ritz crackers &/or chocolate
4  Chart plotter
5  Head phones

Anyone care to tell us theirs?

Mona passage - DONE

A great weather window popped up, so Megerin left Luperon  last Thursday and arrived Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Saturday morning - a 38 hour trip.  After an annoying customs/immigration encounter (but free!), we proceeded to make our way slowly down the west coast and around the southwest tip to the southern coast of Puerto Rico.  We are lovin' life right now, with no long passages ahead of us.  Every day we wake up early, go about 10-12 miles to the next anchorage before the easterly trade winds start, and then we have the rest of the day to do whatever we want.  Each stop has been fun.  Boqueron had a nice street fair going, Capo Rojo was a serene anchorage under a lighthouse and had a nice little resort for happy hour.  La Puerega was only 8 miles away and it is very unique - many mangrove cays and waterways between them to explore.  We think we heard the monkeys but coundn't see them.  Next was Gilligan's island with pretty beaches and a nice resort for dinner out.  The south coast of Puerto Rico is gorgeous but also quiet, with few tourists or boats.  So welcome after the noise of the DR.

Houses in La Pageura are built right on the water in the mangroves.  

We dinghied through the many mangroves

Time to leave Dominican Republic

Cows in the street - not a rare sight in Luperon.

We took a cable car to the top of a mountain for amazing views of the area.

We stayed in Luperon, Dominican Republic for one week, and though it is a  beautiful country , we are so glad to be out of there.  It was interesting to see people on horses or donkeys carrying old fashioned metal milk cans hanging over the side, Haitians who carrying baskets of goods on their heads,  2-3 people on a motor scooter carrying bags and baskets of stuff.  I saw someone transporting a washing machine on a scooter!  Often a small herd of cows will be coming down the same road as the vehicles.  We took an island tour  in a 13 year old car fueled by a propane tank installed in the trunk because the poor people cannot afford fuel.    But the dirty conditions of many places and lack of good sanitation plus the language barrier made it pretty easy to leave.  We loved the people and will have good memories of them.  and luckily, we have some Santo domingo coffee to help us remember too.

This lady, who everyone calls "Mama" does laundry right on the sidewalk.  Usually hoses are stretched across the street.  

Then the laundry gets hung up on any fence available.  But look at the great view in the background.

Outside of the town it is farming country and we saw people on horseback all the time.  Notice the dilapidated structure on the left.  There are so many abandoned  houses.

Horse with amazing straw saddle.  Most ride bareback.

Typical fruit and vegetable stand outside Luperon.

Ray playing first base on the "Gringo" team.  Baseball is a passion here.  Most are NY Yankee or Boston Red Sox fans.

Ray and Nino, our guide, who did speak English fairly well, which keeps him busy taking gringoes wherever they need to go.  It is cheaper and easier to hire him than a rental car plus he knows where to go.

Nino took us to the town of Sosua, which was founded by European Jews fleeing Hitler.  I thought the sign so funny but guess it reflects the ethnic heritage of the people who live here.

Street in Sosua

The beach in Sosua is lined with vendors who are very aggressive salesmen.  We think they should realize that they are all trying to sell the same things at the same time at the same place.  Oh, and of course it is all on sale - "cheapy, cheapy" 

The beach at Cabarette, near Sosua.  

Comfy beach lounge in Cabarette.

Wendy serving coffee to Ray.   She owned the bar but just walked across the street to her brother's when Ray requested coffee and brought this nice tray.

Gladys, who followed me around whenever she saw me.  Couldn't understand a word of English.