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.
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