Sailing with Lala

Vessel Name: Lala
Vessel Make/Model: Tayana 42 Vancouver CC
Hailing Port: Kelowna , Canada
Crew: Ata , Mama , Misiu & Lala
About: Mama,(Mariola) the Admiral "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" , Capt.Ata (Henryk) Two bilge rats , Misiu (13 ) and lala (9)
Extra: We are an average family from Kelowna, British Columbia , on the mission to change our lives ,make them more interesting and funnier . In a few weeks will be departing for southern latitudes to our boat in Florida ,outfitting her , do a crew training and sail away.
05 September 2009 | Luperon, Dominican Republic
24 August 2009 | Luperon Dominican Republic
04 June 2009 | Turks and Caicos
18 April 2009 | Georgetown - Bahamas
24 March 2009 | Staniel Cay - Bahamas
24 March 2009 | Nassau
16 February 2009 | Key West - Florida
20 January 2009 | Florida
21 December 2008 | Palmetto Florida
14 December 2008 | Palmetto Florida
Recent Blog Posts
05 September 2009 | Luperon, Dominican Republic

Not sailing

9/5/2009 Hello Everyone !!!!!

24 August 2009 | Luperon Dominican Republic

Lala on the way to school.

First day of school in Luperon,

04 June 2009 | Turks and Caicos

Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos

Turks and Caicos !

18 April 2009 | Georgetown - Bahamas

Southern Bahamas

We are in Georgetown now, the biggest city in the southern Bahamas. This Place is known to every cruiser as the best, long term anchorage. In full season there can be as much as 500 boats anchor here. It's sort of like a day camp for adults, full of activities of all kinds. Our favorite is beach volleyball [...]

24 March 2009 | Staniel Cay - Bahamas

Bahama Mama !!!!

Bahama Mama !!!!

24 March 2009 | Nassau

Bahamas

Bahama Mama!,Riding on the city bus in Nassau

Not sailing

05 September 2009 | Luperon, Dominican Republic
henryk
9/5/2009 Hello Everyone !!!!!

Sorry for late reports, but we had been here for almost three months and are slowing down on everything, just like the rest of the people that live here. There is always maniana when it comes to do something you don't like to do.
Finally I had to get out of the boat to write this e-mail, away from all the distractions of the boat life. I'm seating at this moment in the Dominican home where I just had a massage and the rain is coming down in the buckets.
Something happen to my back yesterday and I can hardly move. Some Dominican friends recommended this lady as the best massage therapist in town. The lady is blind, has unusual touch and talent, and I'm already feeling better. We did really sunk in to a local life and feeling like a part of the community. The summer holidays for the kids are over now and they are back at boat schooling. Lala decided to go to the local public school and has been attending the school for the last week and just loves it. Misiu being in grade 9 this year doesn't have as much time for doing extra activities. In addition to schooling he's taking a private guitar lessons from a professional guitar player that happen to be living on the boat next to ours. His passion with the guitar is still very strong and is occupying almost all of his free time. Lala is very busy too because she has to do her Canadian schooling in the mornings and by 2 PM her Dominican school starts, but is done by 5. To addition to that, yesterday on the way home walk into a restaurant where she makes radio calls to the boat for lifts, and got herself a job there, waiting tables and moping floors along with two other girlfriends from "Rebel Razor", another boat with kids that's spending a hurricane season here too. For two days work she made 150 pesos (just under $5 Canadian dollars) and was so proud and happy about it.
She already had made arrangements for this evening too. Her co-worker is an 8 year old owner's son who's been working there probably since he could walk. We already are seeing the benefits of that, Lala; a big time spender doesn't want to touch this money, just packing in to a zip lock bag.
In Canada we would be probably thrown in jail and kids put in to a child's protection services for letting a 10 year old work at the restaurant. Misiu on the other hand said he's not that stupid to work for $1.20/h. He already had made 2000 pesos looking after 'Sussura", our friend's boat when they were away in the states for a few weeks. He's having a good time too in here. We have now four fourteen year old teenagers in the harbor, two boys and two girls. They are a good pack, hanging out together, playing all sorts of games, playing guitars, strolling the streets of Luperon in the evenings and doing a lot of talking of course. Having teenagers on the boat versus in the house is, that you don't have to drive them around all day, all of them, including Lala know hot to drive a dinghy to get where they want to in the harbor. I just walk her to school today, and oh boy, is she ever so popular. Kids were greeting her from everywhere calling Lala!, Lala!, Lala! One day she came home and was very sad. They had the test in math, and she was shocked by how little those kids know math, even that some of them are already twelve they don't even know simple multiplications. Another day, she said, when the school principal walked into a classroom and slaped a boy in the face for not being in his seat. I bet his parents thanked him for doing their job.
For us, the biggest challenge at the beginning was to shop and getting the provisions. There are no supermarkets here in Luperon and one just has to know where to go, what to buy and how to buy. We figured out the 'meat department', how to cook it, as the beef here is fresh, un aged, kind of chewy and it needs a lot of cooking time. This is when the pressure cooker comes handy, cutting cooking time to half. On the good side, all the food here is organic as they don't have any money to spend on any herbicides or any artificial feeds for their animals. All the fruits are seasonal too. We are over the mango season now that we enjoyed it so much. We were eating them by the dozens every day and Misu is a master smoothie maker, blending them, mixing with yogurt and other fruits. Passion fruit is still available and we use it for making juice, the only beverage we have on the boat beside a home made lemonade, and the tastiest. We are enjoying fairly affordable prices here too, but only affordable to us, gringos. The local population has to really struggle here to make a meat ends. Average wage here is about 400 pesos (around $13 Canadian) a day, and here are some of the prices:
1 gallon of gas 145
1 barbecue chicken 200
1 gallon of milk 200
the best cut of beef is 50 pesos per pound
pork is 60
Steve's restaurant where Lala works has nice meals for around 100 pesos and that includes fries, meat, salad and a piece of fruit, all nicely served on the large platter. No wonder why many cruisers don't even bother to cook on the boats for that money. Some of them had been here longer than us and had never cooked a single meal on the boat. The restaurant also has a covered swimming pool, so after the meal, they will relax in the pool, have shower and go to another bar for beer and socializing with other cruisers.
We go there only on Sundays, as this is our dedicated 'lazy day', to sit around, chat , Lala soaking in the pool with other kids, Misiu listening to adult's conversing at the table or playing pool with the others .Just having a relaxing afternoon for the whole family for under $20 including beer for the parents and smoothies for kids.
Another popular hangout is "Shaggy's, the bar stool sailor". This is like a rec center or a second home, where we go to just have a beer and have a good time. Once a week we have "a games day" there when people play all sorts of games, dominos, cards and what have you. On Saturday there is a jam session and anybody who wants to play any instrument can attend. Those are Misiu's favorite activities there as this is an excellent opportunity to play with other guitarists.
My favorite activity is walking around Lupern, or the country sides, talking to the local people, see how they work and live. Many of us can't even imagine how poor some people are. I have been in houses that didn't even have a floor, same dirt on the outside as on the inside, but everything in it was so clean and tidy. The people that live there are extraordinary, simple, honest, proud. I feel very privilege by getting to know them and calling me 'amigo mio' They are very happy too to have a gringo guest in the house that doesn't mind to sit down, talk and share a glass of water with them. When you look inside the fridge in one of those shacks (if they have one) , you wouldn't find in it more than a water. They live on the day to day basis and are only buying just enough to make a single meal. It's not uncommon to see a person carrying just two eggs and a handful of rice from the store to fix just one meal. And the stores! I'm not kidding you, but it got to be at least a hundred grocery stores around here, some of then not bigger than four by four feet, with no power or refrigeration in many of them, selling just a basic essentials. Because of that, we have absolutely no need to have a car here. Everything is within a 15 minute walk around town, but the local population just hates walking, anything would do, but not walking. The majority of them get around on little scooters or small motorcycles, cars are few. For us, when we need a ride around here we use a 'moto concho',a small motorcycle that besides the driver can take two or three passengers and it costs very little. It's not uncommon to see a family of five, cruising happily on those small motorcycles. When we'll have to go to the big city like Santiago or Puerto Plata we'll take 'gua gua'. This is how they the call
a mini bus. Misiu checked it on the internet and said that DR is the only place in the world where they called a mini bus 'gua gua'. When there is no 'gua gua', we'll take the taxi, but there is catch 22, it got to be at least 7 passangers, plus the driver to make a trip worthwhile. And I'm not talking about some big honking cars, Toyota Corolla being the most popular among taxi drivers.
Oki doki ,this would do for now. You'll have to come down and visit us, the words won't do.
All the best from the S/V (sailing vessel) 'LALA' and her crew.


P.S. Lala just quit her job. The pool and playing with the kids was to tempting.

Lala on the way to school.

24 August 2009 | Luperon Dominican Republic
Mariola
First day of school in Luperon,

Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos

04 June 2009 | Turks and Caicos
Henryk
Turks and Caicos !

We left San Salvador, Bahamas, on Saturday morning with the same boats that we had been traveling with since Georgetown. Ahead of us we had almost 190 nautical miles to sail non-stop to the Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. The sailing was OK, but we had to fight the current and waves almost all the way. Misiu was again crewing on 'Opal' with Mark. The very first night we were all without sight of each other. The sailing was tough, we motor-sail at 2000 RPM hardly making four knots. Also the seas were fairly high, waves up to 8 feet and higher. The Admiral didn't like this at all, Lala didn't care, she slept all night and half the day without leaving the cockpit. On the second night we started to worry about the rest and especially 'Opal' and Misiu. We made a contact a few times with 'Gravy Boat' on the SSB radio and they said that 'Opal ' is ahead of us. The last night was very hard, the seas got even bigger and it seamed like we'll never make it to Provos.
We were sailing in a lee of Mayaguana Island, but knew, once we'll get to the easternmost point, the heading will be more to the south and the waves on the beam. Those were the most remote places of the Bahamas and we wanted to get out of there. It was so different when we finally got there, the sailing became smoother and faster and when everything was going so good, the bolt on the boomvang fell of, so our main was out of commission. We flew genoa only and were motoring hard to be before 8 AM at the Caicos banks, ahead of the daily strong trade winds. After forty some hours I finally went down below and had a couple hours of sleep. At daybreak we saw two sails ahead of us and it was 'Sousurra' and 'Gravy Boat'. What a nice feeling to be in their company after fifty some hours of sailing in total solitude. They said everybody is back together, and as usual we are the last boat in the fleet.
Misiu didn't have a really good passage this time, the sail was long and hard and he was getting seasick, and maybe home, or 'boat' sick too. The place were we are anchored it's not as nice as we are used to. Far away from town, no bus service at all and the anchorage itself a bit rolly. We hitchhiked to town and went strait to IGA, as Misiu couldn't wait any longer to get fresh supplies of bacon and meats. We were shocked, this IGA had more stuff and choices than the one we have in Glenmore. We were devouring on a freshly baked baguettes as the bread in the Bahamas was terrible. There isn't much to do here if you are not a guest at one of the many resorts. We rented together a van for one day, did some shopping and just drove around. Maybe we just got spoiled in the Bahamas and it's hard to get back to the real world.. As for now we are waiting for the next weather window to hop over to the Dominican Republic, and it looks like next Thursday we'll be under way again. Last night we had a torrential downpour, a mother of all rains. None of us ever had seen a rain like this. Two boats had dragged their anchors, and nobody really slept. It was so much rain, that we toped of our tanks for the trip, as water is hard to find in our 'neighborhood'. Also we had many leaks inside the boat that we didn't know about it, now we do.
I and the crew (Misiu and Lala) went to do last grocery shopping for the passage. As always we went hitchhiking and got the ride from the fellow Canadian who's building a house in Provos. Of course we went shopping at IGA and had quite a load. In the Parking lot we asked a lady with a small child if she could help us. She offered to drive us all the way to the anchorage, even that she lives on the other side of the island. Jana happened to be from The Czech Republic and was happy to speak Czech to us. We invited them on 'LALA', but Jana got sea sick in the rolly anchorage and had to live, but invited us for supper for next evening . Jana's husband, Gordon and their little son Julian came to pick us up and of we went. They live in the very nice apartament, right on the beach. Mama and Misiu hoped in the shower right away and I and Lala couldn't understand why they didn't shower before we left. Last time they were in the real shower was in Nassau, over two months ago. We were there for almost five hours, and all the time Jana was cooking, and we were eating. We were treated like royalties, with the best dishes that you can't get at the best restaurants. It was nice to be 'on the solid ground', seating at the table that wasn't bouncing. It was actually weird. Gordon is also a good guitar player and has few of them at home, so him and Misiu had a little 'jam session'. Misiu was in heaven. For the way home Gordon presented Misiu with one of his guitars and actually 'landed' to him, so he can better take care of it. That kind hospitality we don't encounter very often, and we were very thankful for that.
That would be it for now, got to go to town in search of wi-fi signal and send some e-mails. Our booster antenna caput and no more internet on the boat.
Sorry, no luck, we'll have to do it when we'll get to the DR.
Best regards, S/V, LALA and the crew (Henryk, Mariola, Misiu and Lala.)

Southern Bahamas

18 April 2009 | Georgetown - Bahamas
Henryk
We are in Georgetown now, the biggest city in the southern Bahamas. This Place is known to every cruiser as the best, long term anchorage. In full season there can be as much as 500 boats anchor here. It's sort of like a day camp for adults, full of activities of all kinds. Our favorite is beach volleyball and everyday in the afternoon we all go to the beach and play, including Misiu. There are not that many cruising kids his age and if there are any, they are all the same and have a problem to make a relationship. But "uncle" Kenny and Everett are filling the gap and Misiu really is enjoying their company. Lala on the other hand has no problems at all. Every time she sees a boat with kids, she hops in the dinghy, fires up the motor and goes to "meets and greets". This way she gets to visit and spend some time on all different boats, including huge mega yachts.
But the best playing buddies are the cruising like her, happy and respectful to each other.
Georgetown among the cruisers is also called a "chicken harbor" because many cruisers don't venture any farther. From here south all the islands are more remote, without any services and places to provision. We might live tomorrow if the weather will be OK, if not we'll wait a couple more days. From here we'll go east towards Long Island, Rum Cay, Mayaguana Island, Turks and Caicos and planning to arrive in Luperon in the Dominican Republic. We heard from other people that fishing there should be better. So far we didn't have much luck. We only got one small shark and a huge monsters barracuda that we gave it back to the sea.
Got to go again. Bye!!!

Bahama Mama !!!!

24 March 2009 | Staniel Cay - Bahamas
Henryk
Bahama Mama !!!!

The captain is getting really lazy this days and writing is no more a priority. My last report was from Key West and we had a wonderful time there. We met lots of cruisers there had suppers with them and learned a lot. After two weeks it was time to move on and of we went to Marathon, a small town in the middle keys. It's a basin, fully protected from all directions and there were about three hundred other boats there. There were also cruising kids there and Lala had a good time there. Every morning at 9 AM there was a cruisers net and Lala was the most popular participant on it. In the marina we had a board that you could put your name on it in search of the "buddy boat".
We hooked up with another boat, "LOON" from Maine. Skipper Kenny and his brother Everett. We decided to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas together. To be able to cross it, the weather has to be just right; otherwise it can be very dangerous.
The day was Saturday, we packed the dinghy, said to our traveling companions "se ya on the other side, and of we went. It started beautifully with good wind and not much wave action, until we got to the centre of the stream. The wind wasn't from the direction like it should be; waves were bigger than in the forecast and as the night started, and they even looked bigger. The whole crew got very sea sick from all the pounding and they wouldn't dare to go down below. That night we saw a dozen cruise ships and countless freighters and tankers. Thanks to our radar, we were able to keep an "eye" on them in the darkness. The current was so strong that we couldn't reach our destination on the Bahamian side and ended up 20 miles further north than planned. We also lost contact with our buddy boat and had no idea where they were. We dropped the hook around 7PM the next day and were very happy to be there. We were so hungry, as we didn't eat for over 24 hours, I can recommend this trip to any one trying to loose some weight. Next day I went to clear in, got our cruising permit and of we went again. Sailing on the banks was unbelievable, we were in 20 feet of water and could clearly see the bottom, corals, fish and turtles. We were heading towards Nassau, the capital of Bahamas. When we got there, our dinghy motor wouldn't work, so on the first day there, we ended up buying a new one, a 15 HP Yamaha. I was looking at one in Florida and thanks God didn't buy one because here there were almost $500 cheaper. We were amazed with the island, the people, and little cars and driving on the 'wrong side". We were anchor right down town and even had the internet on the boat for a few days. Some e-mails were send, including one to LOON, our buddy boat. One morning we were awaken by some noises and shoutning. Somebody was yelling Lala! All hands on deck!.
It was LOON, our buddy boat. We had a happy reunion. In front was one of the fanciest tourist resorts in the world "Atlantis". We were sneaking there in our dinghy through the marina and enjoyed all the thrills at no cost. Aquarium there was one of the best we have ever seen. Full size sharks, manta rays and all sorts of other fish. Lala even gambled at the casino and won $5. To tour the city, we hoped on the regular city buses and travelled across the whole island, north to south and east to west. After two weeks in Nassau we set the sail for our next destination, Exumas, the chain of over 300 islands south east of Nassau. We are still here and waiting out the weather at this moment. It's blowing over 25 knots and we bumping all over. Exumas are so pretty, that I don't even know the words to describe it. We are in Staniel cay now, famous for the Thunderbolt grotto where James Bond movie "Thunderbolt" was made. We went snorkeling there and it was something unreal, especially thousands of those tropical fish that we were surrounded with.
Got to go now. Wish you all the best and Happy Easter.
S/V LALA and her crew (Henryk, Mariola, Misiu and Lala)

Bahamas

24 March 2009 | Nassau
Mariola
Bahama Mama!,Riding on the city bus in Nassau

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