Bill
04/12/2012, off the Haiti DR border

We have fun most of the 15 miles between Ile A Vache and Cabo Rojo under power becasue there were winds less than 5knots on the nose. This, although tedious and loud was fine as the normals winds here are the Tradewinds which blow at 20 knots out of the east.... on our nose.

most of the nights watch was for little squalls which were popping up around us. we successfully dodged most of them. the worry is not the rain but the lightning or increased winds. We saw no lightning last night and in the few squalls we were forced through, only wind as high as 15 knots... so all is well and we will be in Cabo Rojo in a couple hours...

17 56.100'n 071 53.531'w

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Bill
04/12/2012, West of Cape Beata, DR

We have had a couple wonderful days. Lily is visiting with her friend Paul. We have been "stuck" here because there are gale force winds on the east side of the cape. So here we sit at 17 48.745'n 071 38.240'w with the most amazing beach, maybe 5 miles long, white and deserted. We went ashore early today so we could play on the beach before the sun was too hot.

Paul and I walked up the beach to see some turtle nests and talk with a fisherman. They fish mostly at night and spend the day ashore in the shade. The two guys that we spoke with spent 12 days fishing and 5 days at home in Perdenales.

When we walked back we found that all three girls, including Isobel had been snorkeling and eating sardines. I will post some photos and videos when we have an internet connection

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Lara
04/11/2012

Of all the numerous guys that came out to greet and ask for work or offer goods for sale, Walky was my personal favorite.

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Bill
04/10/2012, Ile a Vache, Haiti

Some of you may know that one reason we came to Ile A Vache was to bring some used sails for the local fishermen who make there sails out of whatever they can find. We delivered them this morning to Wagner Tanis, who is one of the organizers and coordinators here. The other thing we have found is that there are guys who are willing to do anything for a few dollars. The going rate is about a $2 per hour and we have had 4 guys on the boat all day cleaning and polishing. They are all very sweet and work hard.

One error I made was to allow an additional two guys start work this afternoon... the orginal 4 where upset and finally I had to give them their pay for an hour and send them off... Management again! And all done in french... which is really their second language, something that some of them learn in school. Wow... what a deal!

A happy moment at break time with bread, butter & honey, followed by... you guessed it - mangoes!

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04/10/2012

The 3 duffels of sails are finally delivered from the non-profit Sails for Sustenance, based in Coral Gables. Wagner Tannis of Friends of Ill e Vache will distribute to the most needy fisherman who will cut and build new sails for their boats. Great use for old sails - Keep them in mind next time you're replacing sails!

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04/10/2012

We've motored more recently than planned, so some extra fuel sounded like a smart idea. Mackede took multiple water taxis & motor bike taxi to bring us fuel from the mainland.

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04/09/2012

I call they guys naughty not because they were doing anything wrong, but because they were just having so much fun & being boys! They were jumping from the boats, eating mangoes, laughing, throwing mango pits at their friends in the water. All this in view from the market.

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04/09/2012

Sugarcane at market...

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04/09/2012

Local fisherman's sailing boats with backdrop of Ill e Vache. The fisherman use any material they can find to build sails, even pieces of plastic sewn together quilt style.

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04/09/2012

Local boats abound near the market. Much of the goods are brought from the mainland in Les Cayes

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