Lucie
10/26/2009, Cartagena

Well, here we are again spending more money on our beautiful boat. It is pretty cheap labour here in Colombia so we thought that it would be a good place to replace what we have of teak decks. We were quite lucky in meeting with Alvaro the first day in Cartagena, it turn out that he had just finished replacing the teak on Simpathica, a Catana 47. After admiring his work, we decided that we should also get him to do ours. We also decided to get him to build us more storage space in the starboard hull. The work is coming along good. We also got some new cockpit cushions and some other sewing work done here and tomorrow morning, we have to pick up Estuardo who will clean and wax the hulls. We can wait to get it all done so we can leave for the San Blas and enjoy the boat with our next visitors who will arrive in El Porvenir on November 8th.
Cartagena is a beautiful walled city. The people are quite friendly and we always felt safe walking around town. The kids had a great time meeting up with some old friends that we had met in Bonaire. We had afternoon field hockey session almost everyday and since they left, the boys are missing it greatly. The boardwalk is good for scootering which they have enjoyed but not as much as hockey. We can wait to get back to clear water and swimming again. The Cartagena harbour is very dirty, to say the least and I would not bathe my dog in it. The heat is very intense with the humidex easily reaching 40C everyday, the water in the San Blas will be unbelivable when we get there.

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Lucie
10/03/2009

Well we are finally leaving Aruba. It has been great hanging at the beach kiteboarding. It's definetely a good place to learn with shallow waters and the wind howling everyday.
We are welcoming a change though and going to Colombia will certainly provide one. Aruba is very americanized with all big hotels like Marriott, Hyatt, Radisson right on the beach. The weather here is unbelievable, sunny, dry, warm all the time...No wonder it is so popular and busy, we are lucky to retrieve to our little island of Tyee.

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Lucie
08/18/2009, Montreal

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are in Montreal visiting with my family as my father is very sick and in the hospital. We will know more in the next few days as for his condition. We left the boat at the Renaissance Marina in Aruba and John will probably return in the next week.

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Lucie
07/29/2009, Curacao,Spanish Waters

We are once again back in Curacao.
After leaving los Roques and a great time kiteboarding, we continued on to Los Aves de Barlovento for a couple of days. The snorkeling there was good and we saw squids, turtles and again lots of parrots fish and barracudas. Then we continued west to Los Aves de Sotavento. The fishing between the two groups of islands was not so good, we only managed to catch some bubbies bird who are so stupid and dive for our baits. We had to bring one on board who had hook its neck.
On our first night in Sotavento, John manage to get his hand caught in the wind generator trying to stop it and slice his index finger pretty deep. His kiteboarding days were over for a few days as he wanted to keep his injury out of the water. My kiteboarding got suddenly better as I was the only one practising with a rescue team. We met another boat from Curacao, "Dutchess" and he was also keen to kiteboard. In the morning we would board and in the afternoon we would go snorkelling, hunting for a good diner. We had lots of lobster and fish. We spend a week there and it was lots of fun but the kids were longing for other kids.
We continued downwind to Bonaire where there was lots of kids and it was great. We met "Pickles" with 4 kids,"Stray Kitty" with 3 kids and "New Life" with one little one, all were under 10 years old. We had some amazing get togethers and nobody wanted to leave. Patricia from "New Life", John and I usually went for a dive everyday. We saw sea horses, octopuses, turles and rays. It was great!
We are now back in Curacao where we will do some replenishing before heading to Aruba and the Colombian Coast.

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Lucie
06/30/2009, Los Roques Venezuela

Well here we are again in Venezuela. Could not stay away. After our last charter, we went back to Curacao to pick up a new anchor, which we love. One of the best purchases we have made in a long time. Then we headed southeast to the mainland of Venezuela for some provisionning. We had a good sail, closereach to Puerto Cabello Marina where we stayed for a couple of days. We took advantage of the running unmetered water to wash everything down which needed it badly after being in dusty Curacao. The boat changed colour. The shopping was good, lots of beer, rhum and nice fruits and veggies for not much. We then left in the afternoon for an overnight sail to Los Roques. First we sailed east along the coast, we thought that we would have to motor up but the wind turn out to our advantage. It can out more southerly and we made good progress without the motors on. Once we reached Caracas' longitude we started our northern leg with a reef in the main. Soon we had to reef again and again. With the smallest mainsail and a couple of reefs in the jib, we were still going 8 knots to destination. We arrived in the early morning, the light was not great to go over the coral reef but we trusted to charts and guide book and headed in the protected anchorage. These islands of Los Roques are so beautiful. We are now at Los Mosquises, two small islands separated by a channel where the wind hollers through at 20 knots. The beach is the perfect set-up for beginner kiteboarders, which WE are. John did get a few rides and tumbles but he is getting the hang of it and by the time we leave this place, he should be able to control it fairly well. As for me, I got the courage to graduate from the training kite to a 7m. Tomorrow, I will let it launch me in the water and drag me around for a bit. See how long, I can last...Theo is a rock star flyer, he gets it from playing gameboy I think. We will see as he does in the water in the next few days. Again if you need to reach us, do so with our High frequency email address which does not need internet access. cfn5324@sailmail.com.

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Lucie
06/19/2009, Curacao

We had a nice visit with Bill. Maria and Sofia. After a few days in Bonaire, we did some good dives, we tacked south to Chichirivichi. The wind was over 20 knots and it made for some rough seas. We spent 2 days on the coast, which was spectacular. The islands are beautiful, the coast is lined with beaches and coconut trees. It was great to get back into the South American culture again. The ABC's are more Dutch, European and wealthier then Venezuela. The people are generally friendlier and I was happy to practice my Spanish again. We did some replenishing on beer and rhum and decided to continue on to los Aves. We left early and headed northeast. The seas became rougher as we got farther from the coast and the wind was also increasing. We reef the mainsail and continued on and after a full day of beating into it, we arrived just before dark.
The next few days were fully R&R. We did lots of snorkeling and manage to find some lobsters for a great feast. The kids had a great time playing in the water. John gave Bill and I a bit of a kite flying lesson and we also manage to get a tour of the mangroves for some birdwatching. On our last evening there, we had a visit from the Costa Guarda, which were very nice and invited us to return soon.
We made it back to Bonaire and the American trio organized their flights back home. It was great to have them visit us again.
We are now back in Curacao. We are picking up a bigger and newer anchor that we ordered from the States and also some sunbrella for some new shades. We are also taking some time to fix our new bimini which needed some stronger sides, the original was made of a foam trim covered with fiberglass. We caught out the foam to replace it with mahoganny. As soon as we are done with this carpentry work we will wait for a favorable wind to head east again. We will head to Chichirivichi and then to los Roques before coming back to Curacao to replenish for our trip to Cartagena and Panama. The kids have been having a great time here. They have met "Evolution" (3 kids) which are staying in one of the marina of Spanish Waters for the summer. Tomorrow, they have been invited to a overnight campout at Santa Cruz beach with our carpenter and his 3 sons. If only we could find a buddyboat with kids to cruise with...

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