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

Hello Everyone!!!!!!!

14 December 2008 | Palmetto Florida
Henryk
Hello Everyone!!!!!!!
Almost four weeks had passed since we came to Florida but it feels like we've been here for months. We had a pretty crazy time here . Me and Misiu arrived in Tampa Monday morning and started day from car hunting. We drove down to Bradenton to check used car dealers, but selection in our price range was really limited ,so we hit a Craig's list and there was one car for sale in Brandon . Off we went and an hour later were knocking at the door .The people had a sign on the outside wall , "Gone Sailing" , so our confidence improved .The car owner were very nice ,Jenny spend years living on the 24 foot sailboat with her husband, and later upgraded to 30 some footer . She's been to almost every island in the Carabiens . The car wasn't as nice as the owners, but we bought it anyway, we needed wheels .What a hassle for non resident to register a vehicle in Florida .You have to get your insurance before registering the car, and insurance company will only insure foreigners for a month, than you have to get Florida's driver's licence, have you car inspected, etc. All that due in one week and no licence yet, and to have that beast to pass the inspection will need invest in it more than we paid for it. The next day we went to pick up the beast and Jenny was very disappointed that we spend the night in the hotel .She wasn't really disappointed at the fact that we spend the night there, but the fact that we had to paid for it .She offered to contact her best friends who live not far where the boat is and asked them if we could spend the night there. From there we went straight to Palmetto, where the boat was and took all the tarps down and took pictures of the boat that were need it to finalize our Canadian registry. Jenny called and said that her friends will be waiting for us tonight. They live on Anna Maria Island, right on the Gulf of Mexico. John and Kay are another bunch of great people and the house itself is very unique, entirely build out of cedar. The next day in the morning off to Tampa again to pick up Will. Skipper Will is my sailing buddy and a boat guru, and offer us his help in sorting out all the systems. Straight from the airport to Palmetto and we started to work on it right away. First we pulled the sails out of the cabin and hang them, than we started from the bilges. There was lots of water in them from the time when I and Paul had brought the boat from Saint Pete and I never taught of pumping the water out. Boy, there was a lot of water there. I started to worry that the salt water could affect the diesel engine. When I was in the bilges, Will started to work on building the battery shelve and anchor locker for a new windlass. For the night, three of us went to John and Kay's. Will really enjoy their company. Misiu was a bit bored with the whole ordeal and helping us whenever there was something to do for him. We we in a hurry to have a boat ready for lunch on Friday because in the section of the boatyard nobody is allowed in on the weekends. Friday we weren't ready, but boatyard's manager said he can put us on the travel lift and move us to a weekend accessible part on the yard. I was so thankful to Will for coming along; I don't know what I would do without him. That weekend was the most depressing. I decided to change the packing gland on the propeller shaft and the thing just didn't want to come out. Normally this is a 15 minutes job, but it took us two and a half days, on our knees with head down in the bilge pecking the gland piece by piece. Monday morning we were ready and LALA finally was in the water. We were towed to our slip and continue to work on her. Misiu gave her a good scrub and wash and skipper Will said no more shoes on deck. I couldn't believe it how much we accomplished in such a short period of time. Will had sorted out all the systems and the next day we are going to fire up the diesel. And she huff, and she puff and off she went. I was so happy to hear that motor running again. Friday we went sailing. Will was teaching me how to navigate such a big boat in small quarters'. After some practising of we went, down the Manatee River towards the gulf. Grounded only once that day. The navigation on the river is only in the dredged channels because waters here are very shallow. On Sunday we didn't work, took a day off, went to Missies' favourite Mexican supermarket "Bravo, picked up to oven baked chickens and went to visit John and Kay. I talked to the boat yard on Monday morning and the allowed us to stay here for another month and that made my day, because can't imagine a better place to live and work on the boat. We are actually living on the island which is like an oasis compare to the rest of the town as Palmetto is rather poor. The admiral and the cabin girl arrived on Tuesday. I went to Tampa to pick them up with rather mixed feelings as the boat was still a mess. What a nice surprise when we got back to the boat. Will and Misiu were hard at work tidying and making order. The admiral was impressed too because last time when she saw her, LALA looked more like a storage than a boat. A same time we got that cold snap, so the whole party right after supper hit the Wal-Mart to buy a space heater. But the next day was nice and sunny and admiral cooked her first supper on board. We invited our next door neighbour, Jonathan and his friend Roy. They both had been living on boats for years and Roy, who's a leg amputee, said that after sixteen years of boat living he can even imagine on living on land. Misiu also finally got himself that long dreamed electric guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, so a few times a day we are treated with a free rock concert and his really getting better at it. Lala is as usual happy as a clam ,roaming the grounds is search of new sea shells for her friends back home .Here we also have a nice little private beach that nobody goes to and it's the best place to watch the sunsets .As for our long distance plans we are still not sure . From here we'll sail south for sure and probably head out for Dry Tortugas, a group of tiny islands west of Key West. As for me, I can't wait to get out of here, but the project list is still long. I don't to be perfectly ready , because people who wants to be ,never live the dock ,but there are few major things that we'll have to do it . The home schooling resume on Monday, and it wasn't easy for the cabin girl and first mate but they are slowly getting back into the routine. They had started going to our local library to study and the admiral found this more productive as the kids can concentrate better, and there is a free wireless. Un fortunately we don't have that on the boat and are in a process to get some sort of long range antenna .There are so many of them on the market , and so many different opinions , that we simply don't know what to get ,so any advice on this subject will be highly appreciated . It is so weird to be in that Christmas spirit down here, like something is missing in this picture, wearing shorts and t-shirt to go Christmas tree shopping, or looking at the big plastic snowmen under the palm trees. It will be a very hard time for Mama; you all know how much she loved that time of year. Last Sunday we all went to Polish church in Sarasota and there was a Christmas play preformed by the children from the local Polish school ,it was very nice .We talked to the teacher and tomorrow Lala is Going to Polish school too .On Sunday we are going with the visit to see my school friend from Poland . Janina and her family lives only fifty miles north of here and we haven't seen each other for thirty years .Thanks God that we moved half way across the world, because if we still be living in the old country, I don't think we'll bother to see each other .That should do for now, it's almost eight in the morning, the crew is sound asleep and there is a bunch of projects to do for me. From now on I will try to keep you inform more often.
sv LALA and crew
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