Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our friends around the world!

Wishing you all the best for 2011

Today an enjoyable and wonderful year is going to end. We had lots of adventures and fun on our way cruising through the Caribbean. We decided to say goodbye to the Year 2010 here in Tortola, West End with some friends that we have made here in the harbor. In between us we have 7 children, 5 young ones and 2 teenagers, so that promised to be fun. In the morning Jonathan and Monet from the Catamaran “Calibra” came over and asked me if I would like to go grocery shopping with them in Road Town. They had hired a car for a couple of days and the car was due back today, so they wanted to take this opportunity to do some provisioning. Of course I take every opportunity to go shopping. Jonathan knew his way around town and without any problems we went to the supermarket, did our shopping and went back to Sopers Hole. By the time I came back my family was awake and we had breakfast and I started to prepare food for our potluck dinner. I had a salad in mind, we bought steak, a chicken curry and for dessert I planned to have chocolate mousse and a Key Lime Pie topped with Raspberry! It sounded Yummy to me! It took a couple of hours to get ready and then we enjoyed a lazy afternoon until it was time to go over to Jonathan and Monet’s Catamaran, they had the biggest space to share between us. Bob and Jamie from SV “Starry Night” and their children joined us for the evening. We had a quiet but wonderful night with delicious food to share. We noticed that the harbor was exceptional quiet for a New Years Eve, the only commotion came from the ferry dock, picking people up for the parties on Jost Van Dyke. Being with friends and sharing a meal is a wonderful way of seeing the old Year out and greeting the New Year. I am very happy and excited of what 2011 will have in mind for us.

Embracing with delight

Wow the New Year is approaching fast and this is the time of reflection, regrouping and resolutions. It also opens up new opportunity, new choices and with that we open new doors for our path in life. We are so lucky to be in that position. Last year around this time I was busy organising, packing and wondering what the new Year will bring us on our sailing adventure. This time round I am wondering again what 2011 will bring for us. We are ready again for a change and have put our boat on the market, hoping that it will sell and we can settle back on land. Where will we move to ...back home to New Zealand.... I am still torn apart in my heart about this choice as I really enjoy this way of life, and for the first time in my life I am content....thank you Holly for pointing this out to me. The rest of the family is ready to let go of this adventure and are already making plans for our life on land. Sven, Julia and Carlos have enjoyed this year, but all of them are homesick and missing friends back home and that was the agreement, if only one of us wants to move back then we will do it, so with three I am totally outnumbered. However I know deep in my heart that this won't be the last time for me to live on a boat, I will do it again, thats for sure! Until JUCA is sold I will thouroughly enjoy every moment of living on board, she has provided us with a beautiful home, has sailed us safe over the Caribbean waters and has been a great tool to bring our family closer and I am sure we will benefit from that for a long, long time!

Making new friends and a sleep over

We have been in Sopers Hole now for 5 nights already and the weather has been acting funny. Speaking of wind in New Zealand, well I can tell you so much it seems more windy in the Caribbean that is for sure. I always thought there is always sunshine, clear sky and perfect weather conditions in the Caribbean, but the lush green vegetation has to come from something. Last night was very windy here in the Bay of West End and Sven and I have been up nearly all night to watch the boats swirl and dance around the mooring balls.

A couple of days ago a family with two girls anchored next to us. Finally some children to play with again. Alyssa is seven and Amanda is 9, so the perfect match and they seem to get on very well. Usually you make friends on the playground this time the first contact was shile swimming between the boats. Since then they have been nearly inseperable and they have been watching movies, playing games and extendendly with our Playmobil. I am very grateful that we took that with us on the boat, it has proofen to be very entertaining whatever age or gender. The icing on the cake has probably the sleep over last night. they were all very excited about this treat, and I have to say they were all very well behaved and they all went to bed fairly early.

Bob and Sven went fishing yesterday and came back with a full bucket of sea urchins. Yum Yum! We had just bought a fresh French Stick in the morning so we had that with fresh sea urchin roe, what delicatesse.

Art class with Holly Klass

When I met my sweet friend Aleatha in Daytona beginning of this year, she told me that homeschooling is teaching our children that the whole world is a big class room and everyone we met will be a teacher to our children. We are not just learning in the classroom between 8 and12. Our aim is to teach our children to be open to opportunities, be flexible and that they learn all day everwhere they go and everyone they meet will be a teacher in their own way. I really liked this idea and it opened up a great door for my homeschooling concept.

When we met Holly and her husband Larry on their boat "Electra" we embraced this concept. Holly and Larry have been very welcoming and open to us and we warmed up to them very quickly. Holly is an artist and I totally loved her work. Living on the boat at the moment Holly creates her art around cococnuts and Conch shells.... very colourful and vibrant. I am not quiete sure whether she invited Julia and Carlos to come over for some painting or they invited themselves ! However way it came about, Holly took the time to do some colouring and painting with the children. She taught them how to draw a lions or a dogs and birds. Carlos was very inspired by her way of teaching and drawing and since has taught me how to do it. Unfortunately we had to leave Nanny Cay for a few days before we could spend some more time with Holly and Larry, but hoping to do it when we return to Nanny Cay in a few days. Thank you Holly for taking the time and effort, people like you make life and teaching fun!

Christmas in the BVI's

Merry Christmas to everyone and

all the best for the Year 2011.

Today is Boxing Day and with that Christmas is nearly coming to an end. We went away from Nanny Cay to spend Christmas at Sopers Hole. The mooring fee here is more reasonable then in Nanny Cay and we need to wait here until our part for our anchor winch arrives. Again we cannot keep going with our planned route as we have to wait for another part. There seems to be always something arriving or something to wait for. However we are using time wisely and enjoying our time here in the BVI's.

Since we had sorted out that there is no Santa Claus, it made life a bit easier in regards of Christmas on the boat. Due to certain circumstances Julia and Carlos had gotten a Nintendo DS a couple of weeks before Christmas. We told them that this would be their Christmas present this year. At that moment they agreed to anything and were really happy about their new toy. Coming closer to Christmas they got a bit upset that there would be no more presents and my heart starting aching, so we bought them a Booggie Board each and a DVD wrapped them up and had a bit of a Christmas lunch and then opened the presents. They were both happy as Larry and over the moon with their Boards and the movies. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, went for a swim and tried out the Boogie Boards and thereafter we watched the movies and let everything else be for that night. I am not really sure if I like to spend my Christmas like that, but for this year it was ok. I liked not to get hooked into the Christmas wave, but on the other hand do I like to decorate, bake, sing and be in that Christmas spirit. It is very interesting to experience how deep our roots are for routines and traditions.

Peter Island - Little Harbour and Great Harbour

Ouuhhi….What a night to remember! The wind got up during the night and because the way we had anchored we were lying against the wave and the wind. Sven was up nearly all night checking that everything was all right. The next morning we took the stern line off and tried to get our anchor up…..no way Jose…..guess what our anchor winch did not work, Sven had to lift the anchor by hand…same thing what happened before, the gear box had broken down again. Both Sven and I are falling into a deep whole, this will be another $ 1000 or more if we need to exchange the whole anchor winch itself. The other problem is where to stay if we have to wait for the part….oh no this is not a good start to a day. Finally we got the anchor up and instead of staying there we are trying to find a better anchorage in the next bay. We are hoping that the anchorages are not too deep so that it will be not too hard for Sven to lift the anchor up. Great harbor Bay is a nice little harbor, but really deep, so we investigated every corner, where it would be best for us to anchor. In the end we settled for a mooring, it said in our book that they are for the visitors of the Resort. Ok, we settle down and then go for a little while to the resort, we have a drink and enjoy the view on our sun loungers before we go back to the boat. We thought we will be all right until they come to collect the mooring fee, another $ 25….autsch…..the money is just seems to be drawn out of our pockets. Whatever you do wherever you go, it cost you money…..we are not very happy at the moment. I had visualized our stay in the Caribbean a bit different, but we have come to the conclusion that everything has changed, time and evolution has certainly not stopped in the Caribbean either…..

Tortola - Nanny Cay

This morning we got up and decided to go to Nanny Cay. We had discovered that they were a Fisher Panda Dealer that might be able to help us with our generator. It took us only an hour to get to Nanny Cay, for a change the current and the wind were in our favour. Nanny Cay is just a little harbor with a nice sophisticated Marina. We stayed on the dock to get our information about the Fisher Panda Dealer, Julia and Carlos squeezed in a little splash into the water on a white sandy beach and I did some window shopping and filled us up with water. We had been very careful with the water and to our surprise we did not use that much water in the last couple of weeks, well done family Oltersdorf.......
The new part for our Generator will cost us round about $ 1000, Merry Christmas I always wished for a new Generator Computer Display for Christmas, never mind if that will give us the ability to make our own power so it has to be done……we order the part and have to make a decision where to stay for the next two days, as it takes that long for the part to arrive, luckily we will still get it done before the Christmas season starts. Staying in the Marina would cost us $ 120 per day, at the moment they charge us $ 10 per hour to dock there, so we decide to cross over to Peter Island – Little Harbour, accordingly to our GPS they have got great little anchorages where we can stay. A couple of hours later we anchor in blue water and before we settle for the night we go for a swim and snorkel, we liked it very much here. Sven even manages to Speer a parrot fish for dinner and collects a few conchs, yummy, what a treat for us after so many months of no fresh fish and conch.

Tortola - West End - Sopers Hole

We have been here in Tortola now for three days. It’s kind of pretty here but not really our cup of tea. You have to tie up to a mooring, as anchoring within the mooring field is not allowed and anyway made nearly impossible. A mooring cost $ 25 per night so it’s adding up when you are staying too long. We also have noticed that people don’t really great each other, unless you have known each other from somewhere else, but in general everyone keeps to themselves. They have got a nice store here, which supplies the harbor with free Wifi, so that is an absolute bonus and the prices in the shop are decent too. Having been so long in the DR with no Ice Cream available in the shops, Pusser’s grocery store is the non plus ultra, they have got yummy ice cream, therefore we have been treating us to one each day. In the morning of our first Wedding anniversary we met Stefan and his wife Beatrice from Germany and celebrated with them here in Tortola our special day. We had a nice evening in the Jolly Rogers restaurants, just on the other side of the harbor. They both work for a German Television Company (ZDF, Auslandsjournal), so they were really interesting to talk to and we enjoyed each other company very much. They left the harbor the next morning, but we stayed for another day. On our last night in West End we watched the sunset with a bottle of wine, read and chatted in the cockpit, until it was time to go to bed.

A relaxing day in the Bay of Jost van Dyke

We all slept in this morning and started our day very slowly. It was windy and cloudy and looked like we were getting some rain on top. After breakfast we went to shore with Steff, Avery and Kaylee to shore and for a walk. Everything is on Island time here; there is no rush, no one moving fast and no stress in the air. After our walk the girls came over for a play and while I cleaned up the boat they enjoyed playing Board Games, Nintendo, Playmobil and jumping off the boat for a swim. The children really enjoy playing with each other and having some fun time. At night we went over to SV “Happy Hour” for dinner and a good chat. Our plan for the next day is to sail over to Tortola and to take the ferry from over there to St. Tomas, this trip will then give us a weaver for the States for three months as well as some shopping possibilities for some fresh products.
A big yacht arrived in the harbor today, it has got a beautiful design and is from Australia with the name Twizel; guess where part of his crew comes from …Matakana and Whakatane…..yuhhu some country fellows in the same harbor then us! We had a little chat to them and admired the beautiful yacht.

St. Tomas to Jost van Dyke

We woke up very early after a restful sleep. We had a cup of tea and noticed that the boats were all turning and since we had anchored to close to other boats, we decided to have another early start. We lifted the anchor and were on our way to Jost van Dyke at quarter to seven. It is noticeable warmer here than in the Dominican Republic. When we came around the corner of our bay the cruise ship “Explorer of the Sea” came into our sight. The huge Cruise Ship was just heading inside St. Tomas and as we had just crossed its entry line to the harbor it moved into the harbor; it looked pretty impressive. Wow, moving around the island it felt like being on the Autobahn, they came left, right and center. One idiot came so fast and so close to us, I was still shaking minutes after we had gone over his huge wake. There was no wind today and the Islands were lying peaceful around us. There were lots of cruise ships and ferries’ moving around in the early hours of the mornings and it was so different and we needed to get used to being on our own on the big wide ocean for so long. Julia and Carlos were so excited to see SV “Happy Hour”, that I could hardly calm them down, especially Carlos was like a huge energy bundle ready to get fired up. Unfortunately we had a huge blow up just after we had anchored on the mooring ball, before everything settled down again. I had to explain to them over and over again that we had to check in first, before we could move of the boat to meet our friends Jay, Stefanie, Avery and Kaylie. We have finally arrived in Jos van Dyke on Tuesday the 14th of December at 10 o’clock in the morning.
Wow, it is so nice here and the beaches are beautiful….I think we hit it very lucky to be here and spend some special time with SV Happy Hour. First we checked into Jost van Dyke and shortly after we all jumped into the blue clear water. After we had a swim we went to see Jay, Stefanie, Kayle and Avery and caught up with news from Luperon. Thereafter they took us to Foxys; the famous bar on the beach of Jost van Dyke. I don’t really know who Foxy is, but we took a picture of him anyway since he is so famous. After that we went to the other side of the Island, White Bay, to have a drink and another swim. The water is so inviting and clean and the kids had a ball. The famous drink in Soggy’s Dollar’s is called Painkiller….uuiiii that was very delicious, once we finished our drink we walked over to the next Bay, where another famous bar is located….Ivan’s stress free Bar….. and then we went back to our boat and shared dinner with our friends from SV Happy Hour. We had a pretty relaxing evening and we enjoyed each others company.

Salina (Puerto Rico) to St. Tomas

This morning on the 13th of December the alarm clock went off at 4 in the morning. It was overcast and a slight breeze. At half past four we lifted we lifted the anchor and headed out towards the sea. The sea was calm and then a few miles out the sky cleared and we could see the Southern Cross, lots of other stars and Venus very clearly. I made us a cup of tea and it was a stunning atmosphere gliding through the ocean, talking, listening to Deva Premals chanting and watching the sun rise out of the sea.
The whole day was pretty and peaceful and towards 2 o’clock we looked at anchoring in a little bay just at the end of Puerto Rico. It was a pretty bay and after we had set the anchor we sat there for a while. There were lots of signs of the beach about explosions devices and it did not feel very good to be there, so we decided to lift the anchor again and move further on and find an anchor place near Calebra. Once we came around the corner of Puerto Rico we realized that we were not that far off St. Tomas and that it would be better to find an anchorage near St. Tomas. At 5 pm we arrived in St. Tomas….wow… we had made finally to St. Tomas……lots of houses on a hilly Island…..and lots of boats all around the anchorages. We were lucky and found a good quiet anchorage in a little bay. We settled our JUCA on an anchor for the night and then had something to eat and our treat for the night was a family movie. Since our generator is not working at the moment and we have to really be careful with our power and water, this was a real treat for the night. After the movie we all settled for an early night in St. Tomas…..feeling that we achieved quiet a lot today.

Cayas de Cana Gorda to Selina

Today is the 12th of December and we have decided to take it easy. We got up just as the sun was rising out of the ocean…..wow it was simply stunning……while I was doing my yoga Sven made us a tea and then we sat in the cockpit enjoying listening to the sound of the ocean and mother nature. Julia and Carlos were still sleeping and it gave us some quality time as a couple. At 8 o’clock we lifted the anchor and motored through the reef back into the Caribbean Sea. Our destination Ponce was only 16 miles away, so we estimated to be there at around 10 o’clock, just in time to have breakfast.
We arrived in Ponce as calculated and got our fuel...its much cheaper here then in Luperon. We met up with our friends from High Heels....so nice to talk to them and to catch up. However we decided against to stay here and moving on to Selina, to maybe catch up with SV "Sandy Dreams"......what a shame that we have to check in otherwise we would stay here a bit longer...we both like Puerto Rico....so I have to go now as we are moving on....a big hug to anyone who reads this blog right now...thank you for following us and sharing our adventures..
3 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived in Selina. We found a pretty safe anchorage and I made us a cup of tea and the passionfruit cake was still hot that we had been baking earlier. In the evening we went to see Marylin and Jennifer and had something to eat and a good catch up. Thats where we are right now and enjoying each other company.......

Mayaguez to Cayos de Cana Gorda

Today is the 11th of December and when we got up this morning there was no wind and the ocean was calm as a fishpond. We had a quick breakfast and then decided to go over to Julio again to check the weather, to call Fisher Panda in the States to see if they can help us how to reset our Generator and if possible a new diesel filter and a spare chain for our autopilot. Julio and Brenda were already up and so we had a little chat and then while I checked the weather and our emails, Julio drove Sven around to get the needed spare parts. Julio and his friend Carlos had invited us for a Puerto Rican Christmas party that night, but after checking the weather we had to make up our mind, whether to use that weather window to move on or to attend that Christmas Party……the weather looked to good and so we had to say good bye to our new friends and maybe we might meet them again one day. We went back to our boat and made everything ready to leave. We lifted the anchor without any problems and left the bay at around noon. The weather was perfect and hardly any swell; we really enjoyed the comfortable ride along the coast of Puerto Rico. We saw pretty beaches, rugged coastline and even a couple of dolphins. An hour before sunset we anchored in a little bay called Cayos de Cana Gorda and we were greeted by a few Manatees. It was very peaceful and pretty were we anchored and we enjoyed a relaxing evening with eating dinner and reading in the cockpit. This was exactly the way I had visualized it, finishing a harmonious day cruising along the coastlines of the Caribbean and regrouping the day while watching a beautiful sunset. I have just finished reading the book that my friend Shanti gave me just before we left Luperon. It’s called “The Lost Symbol” from Dan Brown….thank you Shanti …. I loved that book and was hooked from the first moment I started. I can highly recommend this book to everyone! After I went to bed I was lying there thinking about what I have just read and even though I know it is a fiction it has given me some food for thoughts and I even shared them with Sven which was fun! I totally enjoyed this day.

A day in Puerto Rico with Julio

Wow, what a day and experience. Sven worked really hard this morning to fix our Autopilot and the engine. He had to bleed the engine, as we had a lot of air in it. We got it all sorted and then finally we could hear the sound of the engine again....what a lovlely sound.... I never new how much I would appreciate the sound of an engine .... Our plan was to go to Julio's house today and check on our emails and the weather, so I made something to eat and thenw e went in our Dinghy all four on land...to Puerto Rico. Julia and Carlos were quiet excited to stretch their feet out again on land. Julia welocmed us warmly and while we were checking the emails and the weather he got the kids soemthing to drink and fix us all something to eat.... yum.....it is amazing to come across such nice, helpful, hostile person after such an adventure. After we had eaten soemthing he took us around town for a drive and to get some spare parts. While we were at it he drove us to a shopping mall .....oh my good.... civilisation....hundreds of people doing their Christmas shopping..it was strictly overwhelming..... I bought a couple of new Chapter books at Borders for Julia and Carlos and their Christmas present...who know if we get such an opportunity for a while....Back home we met up with some friends from Julio we had so much fun and it was a very nice evening.......we love Puerto Rico

Damage Control

9. December 2010

We got up fairly early this morning. After a quick breakfast Sven went to work to fix the generator, the battery, the engine and the autopilot. First he had to get all the 4 liter of oil out of the engine again, that he had poured in the night before. Unfortunately we cannot check the engine as the starter battery is not working, so we need to buy a new one. Autopilot, the chain is broken and luckily we found some spare parts in our many draws. It took him not too long and he got the chain fixed and while he was fitting in the repaired chain and checked it stability… two new pieces broke off, so there was no way around it, we also needed a new chain……that meant Sven had to go to shore to find some help and new parts. By the time we got organized, and the Dinghy down it was already 2.30 pm… I really was hoping that he would be successful in his mission. A bit of anxiety was there, what if….but we would deal with it when it was there to deal with…..I left the VHF on just in case he needed to get in contact with us. By six I heard Sven coming back from shore…. With a smile on his face… he got a new chain and a new battery and again he even managed to make some new friends in the Puerto Rico Fishing Club. He is amazing…….he even organized for us to go there tomorrow to have a shower and to check out internet….. What a day….but now I am very tired and need to get some sleep……I just said one thing to Sven…if we can avoid it I would not want to do any overnight trips for a while or if ever again…… he totally agreed with me…..

Shit happens

The authority came for a final inspection at around one, thereafter we had lunch and then we only had to wait for Handy Andy to return with the gasoline. We finally left Luperon at 4 o’clock in the afternoon on the 6th of December. It was so nice to hear the swooshing sound of the waves underneath our boat again. We looked back and you could hear a sighed of relief…. After 5 months of being here we managed to find a suitable weather window to continue our journey. We have made a lot of friends here in Luperon and so we left with one sad eye and one happy eye.
Everything went smoothly…. There was no wind and the sea was calm, just as the weather sites had predicted… all you could hear was the sound of the boat cutting through the waves. We passed Ocean World near Puerto Plata round about 6 o’clock and Captain Sven was very happy with the way JUCA moved through the waters. Julia and Carlos fell asleep in the cockpit at some stage during the evening and Sven and I enjoyed a quiet evening and the soft breeze, while the autopilot was set towards the Moona Passage and final destination St. Johns. We motored along the coast of the Dominican Republic for a while and it showed clearly the long coastline of the Island. Round about midnight we passed Samona and that meant we are coming close to the Moona Passage. The swell was quiet big and our JUCA went up and down that big swell. The next morning we entered the Moona Passage and the day went without any major incidents….as I said everything went smoothly. Once we passed the Passage and came to the north coast of Puerto Rico at round about midnight it started to get uncomfortable. The sea became quiet rough and the wind had picked up and being new moon it was dark outside… you could hardly see anything beyond the boat….from there on everything went down the hill or if you like the shit hit the fan….first Sven noticed that the oil temperature and pressure went down, so he took away the power and told me to watch the rudder while he was checking the motor….he added some oil and when he came back up we crancked up the motor and went on. An hour later he checked again and we still seemed to have a problem with the motor…by then it was pretty windy and the sea was very bumpy and it started to rain….again he said to me to watch the rudder that it does not move to much from side to side….I had my hands on the rudder and it moved from one side to the other so I tried to hold and it made a big bang……the autopilot broke down…oh great….by then we had a serious problem with the motor…the boat was going from side to side that it was not funny…I could hear the stuff down in the boat flying from side to side…. By then Sven had tried to check the autopilot to find that the chain was broken and unfixable for now….he left the covers open and some of the books and other stuff went into the whole of the rudder system which was filled with water…so maybe you can imagine what kind of state that put everything…. The boat was a total mess by then…. Sven hadn’t had any sleep for the last two nights and now the motor did whatever he wanted and it felt like we were standing in the waves…..it was horrible. Sven and I huddled behind the rudder to keep us awake and we had to steer the boat manual which was not easy. Half an hour later (approx. 2 am) we had to make a decision what to do….we had to go into the next harbor to look for shelter….but where should we go….we had a quick look on the GPS and our maps and during the time the waves and wind were playing with the boat….we decided to go to San Juan (Puerto Rico), but it was hard working the engine had a hard time to move against the current and the wind….at some stage it felt like we made no way at all. Half way there we decided to turn around and go to the west side of Puerto Rico moving with the wind and hoping for calmer sea, protected from the high swell of the Atlantic. We weren’t quite sure if that was the right decision, now we had the waves (15 to 20 feet) coming 100% from behind. It was pitch black and round about 4 pm and while moving towards the west coast we waited urgently for daylight to show up and giving us an indication where we heading. Finally it started to get light and I was searching in our books which harbor we could go to. The problem that we had… Puerto Rico is US and we did not have a VISA….but I said to Sven no one would deny us entry in an emergency like that. We motored slowly along the coast. Puerto Rico looked pretty and after that stormy night it also looked very inviting. We had left the Atlantic and were now in Caribbean waters. When we finally moved around the corner of the Coast we felt safer already and by 11 o’clock we anchored in the bay of Mayaguez. It was now the 8th of December and by the time we had everything cleaned and tidied up, it was time for lunch. Luckily I still had a Chicken Curry in the Freezer which I just had to warm up. After lunch Sven and I collapsed briefly on the lounge and a couple of hours later Sven had a look at the engine and our autopilot again. I said to him to leave it until tomorrow as he could hardly think straight ….however he did do damage control and it did not look very promising. The starter battery seemed to be damaged, so we could not start our generator so we did not have enough power to start the engine and to run our freezers and fridges. We had to really conserve water as we did not know when we can make water again, so no lights and just a cat wash to save water. We went to bed totally exhausted when it got dark. A couple days and nights we won’t forget for a while.

We celebrate St. Nicolaus

Today is St. Nicolaus and he came to drop up some presents for Carlos and Julia. Carlos does not believe in Santa Claus anymore, but St. Nicolaus seemed more real to him (his words). Usually you polish one pair of shoes to put out in front of your door, but Carlos wanted to make sure that he did not miss out so he polished 3 pairs. Carlos has been playing with his new Lego Truck all day and Julia knows already all the words of her new Barbie movie (Barbie and the three Musketeers).
So this will be it for today because I have to help Sven getting the boat ready..... we are untying the boat in this moment as I write this .....

We will take a little break from this blog until we have got internet again, until then all the best to all our followers and have an enjoyable festive season with family and friends.

Once more saying goodbey to Luperon

When we got up this morning we could hear the surf bashing into the harbor entrance and the wind was up already. We had a slow start and began our day with a very cozy breakfast. Carlos made some banana passion fruit smoothie for us and afterwards we went over to Puerto Blanco for the Swap market. Today we did not take anything to sell, as there is nothing anymore on the boat that we can sell that we do not need. In Puerto Blanco we met Stocki and his family and so we decided to meet up with them at Capt. Steves Place for lunch. After lunch we had a lazy day hanging around the town of Luperon, meeting people and saying goodbey to friends and people we have met during our 5 months stay here. Sven is going to the commandante tomorrow morning at nine to see whether we can get our Dispatchio.......