log of the journeyd284f45nftegze.cloudfront.net/meazco/atlantic circumnavigationlog.pdf · log of...

Log of the Journey

6/9/2006 Greetings to All! We arrived in RocklandHarbor Tuesday afternoon, June 6, 2 weeksshy of being gone one year. We logged 9,600nautical miles. We saw many islands andmet so many wonderful people. It is hard tobelieve that the voyage is over. It seems asthough we just left last month!

It was wonderful to arrive to our home. Thecats seemed happy to see us, and it's greatthat water comes out of the tap continuouslywithout having to fill any tanks! And howabout that electricity that just arrives overwires, without having to generate itourselves...

On the other hand, the lawn really needsmowing, and the garden is full of weeds...

What's next: Jan will return to her job ofschool social worker. I will be joining my oldpartner Dina Jeannotte M.D. and DonDubois, M.D., at Somerset Primary Care, 4miles down the road. I do look forward toreturning to work.

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We look forward to sailing this summer in ourhome waters on the Coast of Maine- still themost beautiful cruising grounds that we'veseen.

So many thanks to all the people who havemade the voyage possible: to Darin andHarry, our trans-Atlantic shipmates; to Rita,who minded our home, kept track of our mail,and paid our bills; to Amber and Dave, whomaintained the website; to Karen, who keptmy professional paperwork up-to-date; and toall our friends and family who supported usemotionally on this voyage. And a specialthank you to all our cruising friends,especially those who are still out there, fromwhom we've learned so much, and withwhom we've had such fun: Come and see usin Maine!

Fair winds to all, Gust and JanS/V Bluebird

6/6/2006 Well, after 9,600 nautical miles, we haveclosed the circle of our Atlanticcircumnavigation off of Monhegan Island. It isdensely foggy. We will arrive in Rocklandsometime late this afternoon. It is hard tobelieve that this trip is almost over!Bluebird

6/2/2006 We are NOT in Block Island as the weathercoming in would have kept us there for aweek waiting for things to change. We sailedinto New Bedford, MA on Buzzards Bay andare looking forward to exploring this historicalplace for the next days of promised rain and


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wind. Next overnight sail will take us toRockland!

6/2/2006 ICW: After enjoying the Southern hospitalityof Beaufort, North Carolina, we entered thewaters of the Intercoastal Waterway for the300 miles trip to Norfolk, Virginia. Nicknamed"the Big Ditch", we were expecting aprotected but dull trip motoring behind CapeHattaras to the Chesapeake. Instead, we hada delightful time, enjoying the wild-appearingmarshy bays, rivers and canals, going underbridges and through one lock. We sawospreys, Canadian geese, herons. We sawlots of watermen (as fishermen are calledhere) harvesting crabs. After our wild nightsoffshore, we enjoyed being able to anchor atnight and enjoy a sunset.

Norfolk, Virginia: We exited the ICW inNorfolk, at the mouth of the ChesapeakeBay. This is home to the largest Naval basein the United States, perhaps the world. Wewere able to see aircraft carriers, nuclearsubmarines, many frigates and other navalvessels. We saw a frigate returning from along tour- the ship was greeted by tugsspraying salutes through their water canons.Families lined the dock ashore while thesailors were at attention in their dress whitesalong the rail. It was a very moving site,especially as it occurred on Memorial DayWeekend. Whatever one's feelings about thewar, one rejoiced in the sailors safe arrivalhome to their families.


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Chesapeake Bay: we debated sailing up theChesapeake Bay and into Delaware Bay- butwe had a good weather window, and in theend went out the mouth of the Bay, sailingalong the Maryland Shore. Our first night, wehad cold, dripping fog and wondered again,why had we left the sunny Caribbean? Thefog cleared at dawn and the next two dayswere pleasant. We saw the lights of AtlanticCity at sunset, rising from the Jersey shorelike the City of Oz.

New York City! What a great place. We hadclear skies as we sailed under the VerrazanoNarrows Bridge into the Upper Bay. What abusy harbor! We shared it with tugboats andbarges, freighters and tankers, ferry boatsand tour boats, and even a couple ofsailboats. We sailed past the Statue ofLiberty and Ellis Island, where both mygrandfather and Jan's mother arrived asimmigrants from Greece and Irelandrespectively. We sailed up the Hudson Riverto the Upper West Side of Manhattan,settling finally at the 79th St. Boat Basin,where at $30 a night for a mooring, one hasthe least expensive accomodations in all ofNew York City.I wish I could list all the plays, movies andmuseums that we visited, but all we really didwas walk around, enjoying all the views andpeople on the streets- we especially enjoyeda day walking through Central Park with ourgood friend and tour guide, Sylvia.And once again, we found that our visit wascut short by predictions of deteriorating


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weather in the next few days, with a goodopportunity to leave now-We departed the Upper West Side at 6AM,reaching the Battery (the tip of Manhattan) inan hour- the fog was very dense, and it wasvery intimidating rounding it with all theferries and tugboats coming and going,unseen until they cut across our bow orstern. There were too many to begin to trackwith the radar. We managed to get under theBrooklyn Bridge and into the East Riversafely, the fog finally lifted a little and wewere able to relax and enjoy the views of theEast Side of the city. Through Hell's Gate (anarea of swirling currents), past Rickers IslandPrison, we finally exited into Long IslandSound.

Long Island Sound: cold green water, fog, allwe can say is that we are getting closer toMaine! We will sail all night and arrive in themorning at Block Island, off the Rhode Islandcoast, where we will wait out the next coldfront.

Next Stops: Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod, thenMaine!

5/21/2006 Greetings to all! We have finally made it tomainland USA, arriving in Beaufort, NorthCarolina, after a 4 night sail from the Abacos.This was our most challenging passage todate- winds were much higher thanpredicted, usually 25-30 K, especially in theGulf Stream. We went through severalsqualls and recorded our highest wind


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speeds to date- 56K. fortunately, it was alldownwind with following seas and current.We arrived here at dawn after sailing all nightwith just a staysail (the smallest sail on theboat). We were glad that all of our systemsworked on this passage with no mechanicalproblems.

Beaufort is a beautiful and historic seaport,settled in Colonial days. It is just inside theOuter Banks, a region of sandy barrierislands exposed to the Atlantic. Wild horseslive on many of the islands. Like Maine, theseacoast has shifted from being primarilybased on shipping and fishing to tourism. Asin seacoast Maine, the area is "Downeast"from the rest of the state.

Local foods: the oyster season unfortunatelyended in April. Soft Shell Crabs are in!

Weather: It is really cold! What were wethinking?

Travels: from here we enter the IntracoastalWaterway and make our way to Norfolk,Virginia, in the Chesapeake. From there,weather depending, we will hopefully be ableto go offshore again for the trip to New York.

Fair winds to all, Gust and Jan

5/19/2006 Safely arrived 7AM after 4 days of stormsand squalls. Will write with details later. Love Gust


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5/11/2006 Well, it is hard to keep to a rigid schedulewhile cruising. In our last report, we hadarrived in Turks and Caicos, had replacedour alternator with the spare, and had set sailfor the Bahamas, which we did indeed reachat the island of Mayaguana. Unfortunately,after working perfectly for two days, the newalternator suddenly died. Since there was aYanmar (our engine) dealer at Turks andCaicos, we returned and ordered a newalternator, which did arrive easily in a fewdays. In the meantime, we hung out at thedock, doing odds and ends of maintenance-patching chafed sails, cleaning up the boatand ourselves. We watched an ospreyfeeding her chicks in her nest atop a powerpole. We watched the resident 5 footbarracuda patrol the dock. We patted theboatyard dogs, who slept by our boat inhopes of a repeat of the steak bones we hadgiven them the first night. We entertainedJohannes, a 20 year old German young manwho crossed the Atlantic by himself in his 26foot old production boat, in January, at theheight of the winter trades and gales. He hadworked in a shipyard for a year to raisemoney for this trip; he plans to continue toNew York, sell the boat there, and return tocollege to pursue a career as a navalarchitect. He enjoyed Jan's meals! He has awebsite (in German)- www.allein-auf-see.de("alone at sea")

Once the new alternator arrived, we werequickly off- we decided to take advantage offair winds and moonlit nights to sail through


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the Bahamas without stopping. Once again,3 or 4 days out, the engine wouldn't start- aclogged fuel filter and fuel line. It should havebeen easy to clear, but in the cramped spaceof the engine compartment, with the rollingboat, I just couldn't get things clear. Weturned West to the Abacos, just 100 milesaway, had a lovely overnight sail, tackedthrough the opening in the reef (we've gottenused to sailing through reefs in shallow waterat this point) and anchored in Marsh Town,Great Abaco Island. In the calm of theharbor, and help from friendly neighbors, theengine roared to life again. Engines aregreat! Besides propelling Bluebird, thealternator charges the batteries, which in turnkeep Ishmael the Autopilot huming, relievingus of the tedium of the wheel during thoselong overnight waches.

Now we have lost our weather window andare waiting for our last 500 mile dash to ourintended landfall in Beaufort, North Carolina.We are actually only 100 miles or so fromMiami, but it is out of the way for our return toMaine. There are worse places to be thanMarsh harbor. People are very friendly, boththe locals and the large population ofcruisers. We are eating conch and grouper.Lobsters are out of season. We went divingthis morning and saw our first shark, a 6 footreef shark- he was quite shy and quicklyswam away after checking us out. We dohave a picture of him that will eventually getposted. We saw a large Spotted Eagle ray,groupers, and a hoard of other fish.


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At this point, we will leave for another try assoon as the weather looks favorable. Wehope we are through with breakdowns- wewere getting discouraged, but it was allprobably for the best, we are glad to havehad a taste of the Bahamas and hope toreturn someday.

So fair winds to all and wish us good luck thistime! Gust

4/30/2006 We are again having alternator difficulties (nocharge coming out)- returning to Turks andCaicos from Mayaguana, Bahamas. All isotherwise well; we would not have been ableto make any progress north against the windin any case until later this week.

4/29/2006 We've arrived in Mayaguana, one of theBahamas out-islands. We are anchoredbehind the reef at Abraham's Bay. StrongNortherly wind and swells will keep us herefor a few days.04/29/200622° 19.50' N73° 01.82' W

4/28/2006 Yippee! The alternator is charging and weare off to the Bahamas. the weather offshoreis still poor and we will wait for a betterwindow for the trip to North Carolina.Gust

4/25/2006 Many of you have already received this, butapparently most of the first transmission waslost in cyberspace)- has communication


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improved from bottles? This was launched inSt. Barths, and recovered in Vieques:

All sailors take heed:We are not in troubleWe are not in need.Our boat is coping well.The wind is kind,and the seas are swell.This is just a noteto say halloto you there on your boat.If you discover this noteplease be kindand let us know your find.

04/25/200621° 29.91' N71° 45.49' W

4/25/2006 Greetings to all- our progress:Puerto Rico- a wonderful island, exotic andHispanic, but with US infrastructure, phoneservice, parts and supermarkets. We hiked inthe El Yunque rain forest. We arrived in OldSan Juan on Easter Sunday, and went tomass at the San Juan Cathedral, the oldestin the Western Hemisphere. Mass wascelebrated by the Archbishop of San Juan, acharismatic person who supported thenon-violent protests that ended the Navybombings of the island of Vieques. (While inVieques, we were able to visit with Rick andHonor of Last Unicorn fame- they live inVieques year round in a beautiful


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mountaintop home; we had a wonderfuldinner together). On Easter Sundayafternoon, we strolled in the park around ElMorro, the old Spanish fortress, now aNational monument; thousands of children flykites there every Easter. We saw old menteaching their great-grandchildren to fly!Flora and Fauna: Fern palms and orchids inthe rainforest. We hoped to see manatees atour anchorage, but missed them. Old SanJuan has a large population of feral cats,descended from ship-jumpers in the Colonialdays. They live in the rocks of thebreakwaters and the parks around the city. Atone point, the city wanted to exterminatethem; this lead to protests, and eventually toa "catch, neuter and release" program thathas worked very well. The number of catsare controlled, and they keep down the rats.They live independently and seemed proudand aloof, as cats should be.

Turks and Caicos: We set off from PuertoRico, intending on making the 1200 milepassage to Morehead City, North Carolina. Afew days out, we developed problems withour alternator and also ran into unexpectedbad weather. We changed course, had a wilddownwind ride and arrived safely to GranTurk Island. It is settled by descendents ofimmigrants from Bermuda and loyalists fromthe US, who came originally to "rake salt"from the shallow salt pans. It looks asBermuda might have 100 years ago. Peoplewere very friendly and gracious. The water isturquoise colored, and so clear that we can


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see the conchs crawling along the sandybottom while at anchor. It is fortunate that thewater is so clear, because we are crossingthe Caicos banks as I write, about 40 miles indepths of about 10 feet, with occasional coralheads and reefs here and there.From here, we will hop along a few moreislands while waiting for a good weatherwindow for the offshore trip to MoreheadCity/Beaufort.

Fair winds to all, Gust

4/12/2006 US Virgin Islands - St. John and St. Thomas:These islands were settled originally byArawak and Taino Indians who migrated frommainland South America. In one of our hikesin St. John, we came across ancientpetroglyphs, carved into smooth dark rock bya jungle pool. It reminded us a bit of thepetroglyphs on the Kennebec River nearSolon. Columbus landed on the islands in1493, and called them "The Virgins" allegedlyafter St. Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins.Originally occupied by Spain, the islandswere taken over by Denmark once theSpanish gold fleets stopped coming through.Eventually, large scale sugar caneplantations were established, using importedAfrican slaves as labor. Our sailing trip hasessentially reproduced the West Indian tradetriangle, in which, following the Trade Winds,African slaves were carried to the Caribbean,with ships returning to New England with rumand molasses. In the 1700's, opposition toslave traffic increased, until it was outlawed


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by England in 1772 (much earlier than theUS). Slave rebellions occurred regularly asnews of emancipation elsewhere spread. Therebellions were violently suppressed, butthey took their toll on the plantations. Theintroduction of the sugar beet in Europe inthe mid-1800's ended the profitability of thesugar plantations. The slaves wereemancipated in the 1840's, the small whitepopulation fled, and the islands remainedessentially undeveloped for the next 100years. the US bought the islands fromDenmark in 1917, theoretically to providebases for protecting the Panama Canal.Eventually their potential for tourism wasappreciated. This has reached its highestexpression (or is it the lowest?) in St.Thomas, were every day, up to 6 cruise shipsarrive, disgorging thousands of passengerswho "shop till they drop" in the hundreds ofduty-free stores in Charlotte Amalia. It's hardto imagine how so many stores could bepeddling expensive watches, jewelry, andperfumes. Despite the crowds, we did enjoyCharlotte Amalie- especially walking into thefully-stocked US style supermarket! We alsoenjoyed the old Danish buildings, and foundmany beautiful uncrowded anchorages andbeaches.

Culebra and Vieques- Collectively known asthe Spanish Virgin Islands, these are suchundiscovered jewels that I hesitate to evenmention them. Occupied by the US Navyafter the Spanish-American war, theyremained Navel Bombing ranges for


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decades. Bombing stopped in Culebra duringthe 1970's, after escalating protests by thelocal population and backed by the localCatholic Church, the Navy finally relinquishedits control of Vieques to the US Fish andWildlife Service. Now 80% of the island andits surrounding waters are preserved(although development pressures areapparently quite fierce). We have found veryfriendly people; miles of beautiful white sandbeaches (doted with the occasionalrusted-out hulk of a tank or landing craft),and crystal clear waters (albeit with theoccasional unexploded bomb to watch outfor). We particularly liked the little island ofCulebrita.

Wildlife sightings: wild donkeys, horses,goats, and even pigs wander about. They arequite destructive of the native vegetation. Wesaw a deer on St. John. We see mongoosesrun across the roads. They look like a crossbetween a squirrel and a rat. They wereintroduced by the British from India in thehopes that they would control rats (whodamaged the sugar crop). Unfortunately, therats and the mongooses avoid each other,and the mongoose instead ate lots of birdeggs.

Underwater: we were diving with friends fromanother boat on Culebrita. A very bold,roughly 5 lb. spiny lobster came out of hisledge to challenge us. One of the diversgrabbed him, and emerged triumphantly fromthe cloud of sea sand to carry him to the


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surface (this is perfectly legal here). They arenot as tasty as Maine lobsters, of course, butwill do in a pinch (they don't have claws).Sea turtles: we have enjoyed almost dailysightings of these magnificent creatures, bothabove and below the water. Usually we haveween green turtles, who graze on sea grass.We have also occasionally seen hawksbillturtles, who dine on sponges on the reefs.

That's all the news for now. From here, wewill leave for mainland Puerto Rico in a fewdays. We hope to visit the El Yunque RainForest Nat'l Park, as well as Old San Juan,site of the oldest Spanish fort in theAmericas, as well as one of the oldest cities.From there, we will begin our offshorepassages home. The sea still beacons, butso does the garden on the Back Road...

Fair Winds, Gust &Jan

3/30/2006 Greetings- our world has changed onceagain after sailing overnight from Anguilla toVirgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. We hadfirst sailed here now 12 years ago, onone-week vacation charters. We assumedthat development and overcrouding wouldhave taken its toll. We're happy to say that,despite the large number of charter cruisers(who provided nightly entertainment andexcitement in their attempts at anchoring),we found the BVI still a fantastic place to sail,with clear water, lots of reefs, and abundantfish. If anything, it seemed nicer-communities have made great efforts to


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clean up and recycle trash. We wereespecially pleased to return to Foxy's on Jostvan Dyke, and find Foxy still strumming hiscalypso tunes on his guitar. We were happyto find friends Norm and Pat fromSkowhegan aboard the Patti Dee in TrellisBay, and friends Dick and Moira fromFairfield aboard Equinox in Great Harbor.After 10 months of being out of US waters,we have reentered at the island of St. John.The customs and immigration agents werequite serious and armed, and asked that Ipresent Jan to them (everywhere else we'vebeen, the captain simply presents the crew'spassports). After that, we were stamped inefficiently and set loose. Almost all boats areAmerican flagged. NPR is on the radio.NOAA weather reports are on the VHF.Everyone speaks English.Most of St. John is a US National Park,consequently has been spared thedevelopment seen on the other islands.Despite having feral goats, donkeys, andpigs, the island has not been overgrazed; thewoodlands are much greener and have morediverse plant life than the other islands.There is little development in terms ofresorts, etc. Like Acadia National Park, it wasdonated to the government by theRockefeller family.From here, we sail past St.cThomas en routeto the Spanish Virgin Islands, Vieques andCulebra, then on to Puerto Rico itself. Wemay decide to bypass the Bahamasaltogether, and sail directly for NorthCarolina, a distance of a little over 1000


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miles.Cruising is in some ways a separation fromthe "normal" life ashore, in which we nolonger share directly with our communitiesthe flow of work, the celebrations of births,graduations and marriages, and themourning of those who have died. We missthis sharing and support now on hearing ofthe death of friend Richard. We will keep him,and all of you, in our thoughts, and continueto try to live fully in the moment.

Fair winds to all, Gust

3/28/2006 For Those We've Lost-poem by Henry Van Dyke

I am standing on the seashore. A ship at myside spreads her white sails to the morningbreeze and starts for the blue ocean. She isan object of beauty and strength. I stand andwatch her until at length she hangs like aspeck of white cloud just where the sea andsky come to mingle with each other. Thensomeone at my side says: "There, she isgone!" "Gone where?" Gone from my sight.That is all. She is just as large in mast andhull and spar as whe was when she left myside, and she is just as able to bear her loadof living freight to her destined port. Herdiminished size is in me, not in her. And justat that moment when someone at my sidesays: "There, she is gone!" there are otheeyes watching her coming, and other voicesready to take up the glad shout: "Here she


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comes!"

3/21/2006 In Marigot Bay, St. Martin, we had a joyousreunion with cruising friends Hamish (LowProfile), John and Angela (Galadriel), andDavid and Sue (Suerte, whom we'd last seenin the Canaries). We sailed together toAnguila, a beautiful low-lying island a fewmiles away. Anguila was forced reluctantlyinto independence by the British in 1967,forced into an alliance with the island of St.Kitts. This ended in an armed rebellion, inwhich the Anguillans forced the departure ofthe St. Kitts police force, and thenpreemptively invaded St. Kitts! Fortunately,no one was killed, the invaders returned, andEngland eventually agreed to resumeadministration of the island. At this point, it isa lovely peaceful place with miles of sandybeaches and beautiful coral reefs.

We sail tonight for the BVI, where we hope tosee our friends Norm and Pat of Patty Deefrom Skowhegan, and Dick and Moira ofFairfield, on Equinox. The trade winds havesettled down to a pleasant 10-15 knots, sowe hope for a good sail under the stars.Gust&Jan

3/15/2006 Greetings from St. Martin! This is an islandthat is half French, half Dutch. We are inMarigot, on the French side. We areexperiencing life in a boatyard, as we havehauled out to dry land to paint the bottom,


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replace zinks, and do other routinemaintenance jobs. We are perched on theedge of a canal that empties into SimpsonBay Lagoon. A bridge opens three times aday, followed by a parade of boats enteringand exiting. We have power and water to theboat, and toilets and showers nearby, soliving aboard is comfortable.. Best of all,there is a reasonable free wireless internetconnection, so we can get our mail, read theNew York Times, and even listen to MainePublic Radio from the comfort of our boat!

We are surrounded by other boats, all invarious stages of repair/disrepair. Some arein the middle of very long term projects:engines removed, storage and shadestructures built, some even have smallgardens with ripening tomatoes planted. Oneboat next to us has 3 cats and one dogaboard- the cats are brought out individuallyonce a day for a supervised yard stroll, thenreturned below. The dog seems to be able tocome and go and visit the other boatyarddogs. Another boat has a mom, dad and 3children aboard.

From here, we will sail to the British VirginIslands, US Virgins, and Spanish Virgins(Culebra and Viquiz) plus a visit to PuertoRico, before sailing for the Turks and Caicosand Bahama Islands.

3/2/06 Greetings allwe are traveling along:Antigua- this island is a favorite of ourEnglish friends. We anchored at English


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Harbor, headquarters of the British Fleetduring the various wars with the Frenchduring the 1700's. Nelson becamecommander here in 1784 after the previouscommander accidentally blinded himself witha fork while chasing a cockroach (hard toimagine that scene!). The harbor is anenclosed hurricane hole- very easy to protectthe fleet from both enemies and bad weather.The old fortifications and dockyard buildingshave been restored to a working waterfrontand the whole area is a national park. It is agreat spot for naval history buffs and JackAubrey fans. We were anchored in the outerharbor and enjoyed the parade of beautifulboats entering and departing. The snorkelingfrom the boat was excellent.Antigua is also endpoint of many transatlanticraces. One of the more unusual: the AtlanticRowing Race (you though sailing across washard?). 26 teams (singles, doubles andquads) left La Gomera, Canary Islands,November 27, the week after we had left.Many abandoned the race and were rescuedat sea. But many more actually made itacross. We were able to cheer on couple, aman and woman from Ireland, who arrivedearly one morning. 3 months together,rowing! There is still one solo woman outthere, who is apparently writing a book and inno hurry to arrive. She eats sproutingsoybeans and dried food. For the gorydetails, check outwww.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk

Barbuda: This is a very interesting island,


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very low-lying compared to everywhere elsewe've been. It is connected politically withAntigua. The original population wereimported as slaves by the Codrington family,who ran the entire island as a huntingreserve and were rarely actually there. Theslaves adapted to living on the island andlived independently, hunting, fishing andgardening. After emancipation, they held theland communally and this has continued intomodern times. Since there is no individualownership, land in general is not sold tooutsiders. A few small resorts where allowedby the town council. Variousmega-development projects encouraged bythe Antigua government where abandonedafter protests from the Barbuda people (theyapparently once occupied a construction site,demolished buildings and threw the remainsinto the sea). It is essentially a wild park, withone small town. Horses, wild donkeys anddeer wander about.In any case, we found a beautiful island withmiles and miles of pink-white sand beaches,fringed with coral reefs. Unfortunately for us,there was very heavy swell, preventing usfrom landing on the beach. We calledGeorge, who runs a water taxi and mangrovetour service ("Garden of Eden" is his callsign). He took us through a large mangrovelagoon to see the frigatebird rookery. Theseare very large black seabirds. The maleshave a bright red pouch on their chest; duringmating season (right now) they inflate thepouches and make strange thumping,drumming and clicking noises to attract their


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mate. They mate with only one partner (atleast for the season), and produce only oneegg. The male gathers the sticks for the nest,but the female builds it. The male does mostof the nest sitting after the egg is layed, butgets time off for good behavior to fish. Therookery was an incredible spectacle-thousands of frigate birds, all nesting in themangroves, clicking and drumming, preeningand mating, wheeling like bats in the air...

St. Barthalemy (St. Barts)- after being drivenoff by the swells on Barbuda, we had awonderful overnight sail to St. Barts. Alongthe way, we could see the smolderingvolcano of Monsarrat, as well as the islandsof St. Kitts and Nevis, Statia, and Saba. Thewinds were warm, pleasant and moderate fora change (we've been having relatively roughisland passages). St. Barts was originally abase for French pirates, but was eventuallysold by France to Sweden, who developed itinto a prosperous trading center (translation:smuggling base). Eventually in the 1800's itwas sold back to France. Today it is the"Riviera of the Caribbean", full of beautifulpeople, boutiques and restaurants, as well aslovely beaches. We are anchored outside themain harbor, Gustavia.

We arrived just in time to enjoy the last dayof Carnival, "Fat Tuesday" on Feb. 28. Wewere completely unprepared for this event-almost the only people on the island withoutcostumes. Imagine the West Athens Fourthof July Parade crossed with Mardi Gras and


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dropped into a beautiful Caribbean island.Floats, drummers, dancers, revelers andgeneral craziness... then Ash Wednesday,March 1st, we understood that there wouldbe some kind of burning ceremony on thebeach- with our poor command of French, weweren't sure exactly what, but knew wewould be there! A parade of revelers carriedthe effigy of Vaval, the King of Carnival, tothe edge of the beach and onto his pyre; tothe rhythms of masked drummers and firedancers, he was ignited. So we were able tohave a somewhat late Capricorn Ball.

Today we hope to have a quieter time onshore. Eventually, from here, we will go tonearby St. Martin, then a longer jump to theVirgin Islands. Maine is getting closer all thetime!

Gust&Jan

2/28/06 Hello- we left Barbuda because of heavyswell in the anchorages. We did get to see ahuge frigatebird colony. We had a wonderfulovernight sail to St. Barts.

2/20/06 Greetings- we're anchored in English Harbor,by Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua.

2/17/06 Hello allwe've had episodic problems withour email system and apparently our log andposition reports had not been going out, sohere's an update. Excuse any duplications!Our travels so far:

St. Lucia: we left at the beginning ofFebruary. We enjoyed our time there. Parts


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of the island, like the Piton Mountains ofSourfiere Bay, are stunningly beautiful. Wewere troubled by the contrast between thetourist resorts and the dire poverty andcrumbling infrastructure of the villages. Wewere glad to have worked at the hospital,although in the end, our biggest contributionwas to give the local doctors a break fromtheir work. We received much back infriendship from the people of St. Lucia.

Martinique: a Caribbean slice of France. It ismuch more affluent than St. Lucia, with goodroads, hospitals, schools, as it'sinfrastructure is supported by France. Thefusion of Africa with France produces CreoleCulture- spicy, vibrant and lively. We verymuch enjoyed the food, music and attitudesof the people. It was hard to leave!

Dominica (between Martinique andGuadeloupe, not to be confused with theDominican Republic between Puerto Ricoand Cuba): a very wild and undevelopedisland. There are many mountains rising fromthe sea, very few beaches, and consequentlyit never got developed for tourism withmega-resorts. The lack of flat land alsominimized it's colonization for sugar caneplantations in the 1800's. Instead, over thedecades and centuries, it had relatively smallscale coconut, citrus and banana plantations,all essentially abandoned as the variousforeign markets came to an end. Dominicabecame independent from England in 1978;subsequent land reform broke up many of


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the remaining plantations. Today, many(?most) people still make a subsistence livingas small farmers and fishermen. There aremany local subsistence industries, such asdistilling bay leaf oil, pressing coconut oil,weaving hats and baskets, grinding arrowrootand cassava, charcoal production.Ecotourism is being developed to providejobs and exploit, in a sustainable manner, thebeauty of the rainforests, rivers andwaterfalls.

We are currently in Iles des Saintes. Theseare a small group of steep, dry islands nextto Guadeloupe. They have always beenconnected to France, settled centuries agoby Breton fishermen. Like Martinique, it isvery civilized and beautiful. Are you detectinga bias for the French Islands? It's true...

From here, we will stop a few days in nearbyGuadeloupe before heading on to Antigua,where we hope to enjoy Carnival. Fromthere, our plans are vague (suggestionswelcomed!), except that we realize we needto keep moving North to be back in Maine byJune. Roughly, we will most likely see a fewmore Caribbean Islands (?St. Martin), thenSt. John in the US Virgin Islands, then a longsail to Turks and Caicos in the Bahamas,then another long jump to Beaufort, NorthCarolina, taking the inter coastal waterwayinto the Chesapeake Bay. We'll fill in thedetails as we go along...

Cheers to all- Gust and Jan


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2/8/06 Greetings from sunny Martinique! We areanchored in St. Pierre, at the foot of Mt.Pelee, which erupted in 1902, killing 30,000people in town and sinking 12 ships in theharbor. The only survivor was Cyparis, acondemned murderer whose stone cellprotected him. Today, the town is muchsmaller- turn of the centuries wooden housesare built into the stone ruins. A green cliffside wraps around the town. Red and yellowfishing boats are dragged up on the blacksand beach, which is lined with small cafesand restaurants. A cathedral with twin belltowers rises from the town square. To theNorth, up the flanks of the volcano, sugarcane is growing. The water under the boat isso clear that we can see fish around theanchor, 25 feet below.

From here, we will sail on to Dominica-reported to be wild and undeveloped, full ofwaterfalls, rivers and rainforest.Gust & Jan

Because Martinique is a department ofFrance, it seems much more prosperouscompared to St. Lucia. Roads, schools,hospitals, water and sewer systems, are allmore modern and well maintained. Peopleare very friendly, most speaking no English atall but encouraging of our feeble efforts atspeaking French. The open air markets arefull of local fruits and vegetables, thefishermen sell their catch right off the beachafter the boats land.


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1/14/2006 Greetings from sunny St. Lucia! This is oursecond week at St. Jude Hospital, so a reportis long overdue:

History: The hospital is 3 miles outside ofVieux Forte, a poor fishing/commercial porttown at the Southern end of the island, awayfrom the tourist developments in the North.the hospital was first built by the US Armyduring WWII, in anticipation of receivingcasualties from the invasion of North Africaand Italy, this being one of the closest spotsin the Americas to the Mediterranean Sea.Apparently, it was supposed to have beenbuilt in Trinidad, but, due to a code mix up,the construction crew landed here instead. Inany case, it was never used, as thecampaign was over before the hospital wasfinished. In the 1950's, it was used briefly asa base for tracking Russian communications,but reception was poor and the projectabandoned. In the 1960's, it was acquiredand rehabilitated by the Sisters of theSorrowful Heart as a Catholic charityhospital. They began the tradition ofrecruiting foreign volunteers. As the numberof sisters dwindled, it was taken over by theSt. Lucia government as one of the twopublic hospitals on the island. A few sistersare still here and it retains its roots as aCatholic service institution.

Our setting: a sprawling 2 story brick and tilebuilding with multiple wings and outbuildings,breezy open hallways, ward rooms ventilatedwith fresh air through windows screened


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against mosquitoes (much less densecompared to Maine in June). We live in "TheDorm", which we share with the othervolunteers. We have our own bedroom, butshare a common room, bathroom andshowers. The common room has a fridge,hotplate, and small library- just like being incollege again. Some nights, it looks like thenight before term exams, with everyone ishanging out and reading.

We are in a residential area. Cars cruise bywith stereos booming, complementing themusic wafting from small neighborhood bars-Country and Western seems as popular asreggae. It does quiet down at night. Goats,cows and ponies are tethered along theroadsides grazing, while chickens and dogswander about freely. Exotic flowers grow inthe ditches, coconuts tree, mangos andbananas in the vacant lots. At dawn, wewake to a cacophony of roosters, songbirds,and cows that want to be milked.

Our Crew: most of the doctors are local. Mosthave gone to medical school in Cuba, andappear to have had excellent training there.Others have gone to the University of WestIndies in Trinidad. A few are from India orother former English colonies. After a rotatinginternship, they progress through in-housetraining as "house officers", more or lessequivalent to residency. Eventually, they canbecome "registered" and practiceindependently. To specialize, they have toseek training elsewhere. They have all been


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friendly and welcoming, and appreciate anyupdates that we can offer.

The volunteers are a diverse lot, in age,background and experience: Anna, a youngdentist from Germany, with Tom and Tom,dentists from Chicago; Mona and Mohamed,medical students from England; Daisy, athird-year pediatrics resident, and Tracy, anER doc, both from Chicago; Kathy, a retiredOB/GYN from Idaho, here for a year; Bill, aretired surgeon "promoted" to family practice-he's been here many times and seems toknow everyone on the island; Jim, aorthopedic surgeon from Maryland. Most stayabout a month, although a few specialistsometimes volunteer for a few weeks. Fewpeople come during the summer.

Our work: The hospital is organized aroundthe usual departments: a walk-in outpatientclinic, ER, surgery, medicine, pediatrics,OB/GYN, orthopedics, dental, as well asclinics for occasional specialist: ENT, urology,psychiatry, etc. . The hospital has about ahundred beds, but most seem not to be inactive use. There are 2 operating theaters.The maternity ward is quite busy, with a halfdozen deliveries a day. Caesarian Sectionsare relatively rare- women are attended bymidwives and are allowed to labor as long asneeded- "Failure to Progress" is a rarediagnosis. Pain control during labor: "Dealwith it, girl". The nurses do give goodemotional support. Women routinely have8-9 children.


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My own work is primarily in the outpatientclinic. It is amazingly similar to my practice inSkowhegan- the same common complaintsand problems, with the occasional moreexotic or dramatic disease thrown in.Because of the decreased (but not absent)availability of laboratory tests and x-rays,diagnosis are made clinically and empirically.Just as in Skowhegan, patients are awareand concerned about the costs of tests andmedicines, which they usually have to payout of their own pockets. There doesn'tappear to be a Medicare-type system for theelderly. Many have no pension or retirementplan, and rely on their children for support.As in the US, treatment of chronic diseases(diabetes, heart disease, lung disease) takesup a lot of resources, and long-termmanagement systems would be helpful.

In all, patients are very respectful andappreciative, but most of the volunteerswould agree that we are getting more out ofthe experience than the patients are.

Fun: After work, those who can head for "TheReef", a very pleasant beach about 5 milesaway. There is a small windsurfing/kitesurfing establishment there, with a nice cafewith wireless internet. The local people arehere playing basketball, riding ponies downthe beach, and generally enjoying the water.I've developed a sideline treating neck andback injuries among the surfing instructors inexchange for windsurfing lessons- yes, I'm


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riding now! On weekends, we have gonescuba diving, climbed the Piton mountains,and hiked through the rainforest in the centerof the island. Tonight, we are being dragged(kicking and screaming) by the youngervolunteers to the Karaoke Club- apparentlyit's very popular with the islanders, and willgo on all night- we'll try to slip out early...

Well, that's enough for now. We are veryhappy to have come here and are againgrateful to have this opportunity. Before wearrived we were very apprehensive, even alittle afraid, of what we might be getting into-but it has been a great experience. I wouldencourage any health care professional withsome time (a month or more) to considervolunteering here or somewhere elseoverseas. More information is available fromLucilia at [email protected]

Cheers to all, Gust

1/7/2006 Amber writes:

Jan reports via telephone that she spent herbirthday scuba diving for the first time in theCaribbean. The colors were amazing andshe saw lots of fish and explored the oceanfloor. They celebrated with a big dinner, lotsof friends, champagne, and chocolate cake! She also said that the only internetconnection is at a beachside cafe where youcan lounge in a beach chair, sip a bananashake, bask in the sun, watch the crystal blueocean - and as an added bonus write hometo your family and tell them you really have


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found paradise. Ahhh - the island life... Enjoyand Happy Birthday!

1/4/2006 We are having our hospital orientation andtoday Gust begins work. Rich is also workingat the hospital and it is good to have himhere with us. The hospital is very poor as isthe area but the people are so kind andfriendly. It is going to be an interestingmonth. We share a common room andbathroom with 3 other people but have alocked bedroom, and have our meals in thestaff cafeteria- like dormitory life all overagain! We have been for a lovely walkthrough the rain forest with anotherventuresome couple.

12/24/2005Greetings to all! The ARC festivities finallysettled down in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. In theend, after all the adjustments, we ended up6th in our class of 25 boats, 43rd overall outof 200+. While we didn't win any awards, wewere happy that we arrived safely and in areasonable amount of time, 21 days foralmost 3000 nautical miles.

Once we were rested up, we left Rodney Bayand anchored in nearby Marigot Bay- verybeautiful but somewhat developed. Wesailed on to Soufriere Bay at the foot of thePiton Mountains- incredibly beautiful peaks,rising out of the water and towering abovethe bay. The inland areas are lush tropicalrainforest- we walked to a small waterfall,heated by thermal activity, for outdoorshowers. While we were there, a group ofDutch sailors with children arrived, and while


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swimming, burst out spontaneously inChristmas Carols- we joined them for "I'mdreaming of a white Christmas"...

We stopped for one night at Vieux Forte, thetown where I will be working at the hospital. Like all areas in St. Lucia outside of thetourist resorts, it was desperately poor. Opensewers ran through the town, dogs andchickens rooted about, people lookedsomewhat desperate- even though we hadprepared ourselves for this, we were a littleshocked. We talked to the head of thefisherman's cooperative, and he felt itwouldn't be safe to leave Bluebird in theharbor while working at the hospital. So wewill have to bring her back to Rodney Bayand then stay in the hospital housing.

In the meantime, we've sailed on to St.Vincent, the next island: it is very wild andundeveloped, dominated by the stillsomewhat active volcano Suffriere. Westayed one night at Wallilabou Bay, wherePirates of the Caribbean was filmed- the setsare still there with the dock in active use!From there, we've sailed to the island ofBequia- a wonderful spot for sailors, veryprotected and friendly. The people here arevery active fishermen, have beautiful colorfulwooden boats that they build by hand on thebeach. They have a whaling tradition here,developed from their historical contactwith New England whalers, and are allowedto harvest 4 humpback whales a year fromopen boats using hand harpoons.


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Apparently the whaling skills are dying outand last year they did not harvest any-probably the best thing for the whales!

We are missing our families and friends forChristmas. But, today we have been invitedby our Norwegian friends for a traditionalSkandanavian Christmas Eve on the beach. Tomorrow we will join our English friends andtheir numerous children for a Christmaslobster broil on the beach. We will only beable to think of snow, fir trees, sledding andskiing, wood fires...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years toall,

Gust and Jan

12/15/2005 Greetings, everybody- we have safely arrivedin St. Lucia and are very happy to havearrived safely. 3 weeks is a long time at sea-it is hard to believe that we did it! We are nowsurrounded by lush green volcanic hills, rainforest, clear blue water. Jan, Harry and Lauraare off biking in the rain forest and swimmingunder waterfalls; I'm on the boat with variousrepairs and projects to recover from the trip. They say that the essence of cruising isdoing maintenance in paradise.

We are not sure how we've done in the racedepartment- we think we are in the top of ourdivision but we definitely did not win.Handicaps and motoring time still notfactored in, and some boats are stillfinishing. Cheers, Gust


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View Current Location

12/11/2005 Gust and Harry caught a 4ft. wahoo thisafternoon. To get it aboard, we had to dousethe spinnaker, losing some time. We had agreat dinner and Mad Max is flying again!

12/10/2005 Greetings- a cold front had swept down fromthe US, bringing 3days of winds of 25-30Kwith higher gusts, occasional squalls. It isfinally passing and we expect things to settledown a little. No more Greek alphabetstorms. We are making good progress withdouble-reefed mainsail and the small staysailjib. We are only 400 nm from St. Lu andexpect to arrive by Tuesday.Today we are all taking showers, whether weneed them or not (we are getting a littlecrusty)! We still have nearly 50 gal of water inour tanks. We are almost out of diesel buthave enough to keep batteries charged andget into port. After 3days of eating instantmeals 3 times a day, this morning Jan madepancakes. We enjoyed them withSkowhegan maple syrup- thank you Sherrie,John, and Iver!Cheers from the crew!

12/8/2005 More blustery conditions, winds 20-25K withhigher gusts. We are moving along withdouble-reefed main and staysail. Only 720nm to go! It is very hot and sunny now.

12/7/2005 890 nm to go! all ok on board, making goodtime in NE trade winds, on a broad reachwith reefed jib and main, winds 20K.

12/6/05 A 40 knot squall forced Mad Max down thisafternoon. We are sailing along nicely on a


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reach, looking for a quieter night with reefedjib and mainsail; we are hopeful of goingback to the spinnaker tomorrow. Bluebird gota nice freshwater rinse. Cheers from thecrew!

12/5/2005 Harry caught a 4.5 foot bull mahi-mahi, ordorado or dolphin-fish. It was a beautifuliridescent blue. It took about an hour to landand in the end we had to take down thespinnaker and stop the boat to be able to getit aboard.

12/5/2005 Greetings from the high seas! At this point,we have been at sea for over two weeks,have sailed nearly 2000 nm, and are about1200nm from St. Lucia. We made 154 nmyesterday, and if we can keep this pace upshould arrive in 8-9 days. We are goingdownwind in brisk trades, and have had"Mad Max", the full spinnaker, up for the last3 days. At first we were intimidated, but noweveryone seems comfortable dealing withhim. We hit a top speed of 9.4k this AM,surfing down a wave. Usually our speed is6-7k.We are very settled into our offshoreroutines- standing watch, sleeping, eatingtogether, reading, doing chores (laundry,patching sails, looking for chafe and riggingproblems). In the first week, despitephysically being ok, we all had to dealpsychologically with being so far from shoreand not totally panicking, worrying about allthe potential disasters. We all seem morecomfortable now. We are seeing newSouthern constellations at night, new birds (a


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forked-tail tropic bird came by this AM). 4birds have landed on the boat, rested andthen flown off. We still have plenty of water,propane, and food, although the fresh stuff isall gone. The water temp is 90*F, air temp80's-90's. That's the report.

12/1/2005 We are now in the trade winds, blowing asteady 20-25K towards St. Lucia. We havetaken down the spinnaker-too much!-nowwith reefed main and poled-out reefed jib. Itis a little rolly be we are used to it. It hasbeen too fast and rough for fishing, but Harrycontinues his fishy ways, was pelted by 3flying fish attacking him in the cockpit lastnight. One of these days we'll cook them forbreakfast ("right", says Jan). There are 3sailboats in sight around us, keeping pace.As we move west, we need to start resettingour watches to East Coast time. That's thenews!

11/29/2005 After 2 days in the doldrums, we are finallymoving again- 7K in brisk NE winds,spinnaker flying. Could we have finallyentered the trade winds?

We are just N of the Cape Verde Islands,close enough to think about stopping forlunch! We are seeing some signs of land- abutterfly flew around us this morning.Yesterday, at dawn, Jan reports a white egretlanded on the boat, rested for an hour, andthen flew off.

Harry has been proficient in providingdorados for lunch. Now that we are moving,we wonder if the fish will rise to the bait.


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As the water rushes by the boat at night, wedream of fast freight trains, stampeding herdsof buffalo, toboggan runs...Cheers

11/28/2005 Gust Writes:

We've been at sea one week now.Unfortunately, our progress has been slow-we've had periods in which we logged a lot ofmiles; other times, as now, we sit and wait forthe wind. We have enough fuel to charge ourbatteries, but not enough to motor longdistances. On my watch tonight we logged 4miles in 4 hours. But the winds will comeeventually, and we hope to reach the tradewinds by Tuesday or Wednesday. And weare safely past tropical storm Delta, which isslowly dissipating North of us.

We have traveled 765 nautical miles sinceleaving Las Palmas- only 2000 to go! We are85 miles from the Cape Verde Islands, 140miles from Dakar, Senegal.

Wildlife sightings: about 24 frolicking dolphinsyesterday, 1 large but slow shark, 1 largedead octopus. This morning we found 2squids and one flying fish on deck. We didn'teat them; Jan made scrambled eggs andbacon instead.

The water temp is now 86. Nights are still alittle cool and damp.That's the news...

11/24/2005 - PM We are becalmed again. Harry decided tofish and caught a lovely Mahi-Mahi


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(dolphin-fish or dorado) in about 5 minutes.In another five the fish was in the frying panwith olive oil and garlic. Delicious! Now wejust need wind.

11/24/2005 - AM Greetings to allwe have enjoyed a great 24hour sail, finally with favorable winds,cracking 100nm in 24 hours for the first time.Winds continue fair and we are boomingalong under spinnaker. We have enjoyed anight of shooting stars and phosphorescentdolphins.Several have written concerned abouttropical storm Delta. We are south and eastof the danger area and should be able to stayclear. But we will keep close watch.We will be eating roast pork loin, babyCanary potatoes, and stuffing for ourThanksgiving feast, prepared by Chef Jan.

11/21/2005 Gust Writes:

Greetings! The rally start wasspectacular-250 boats going downwind,about half, including us, with spinnakers up.After getting out of the wind shadow of GranCanario, the wind shifted and increased up to25-30 k- fortunately we saw this coming andwere able to get the spin down and sailreefed in time. The first night was rough,winds on the nose in the mid 20's, with gustsup to 35. Jan was the rock at the helmthrough the worse of it.

At this point, winds are very light but we aremaking slow headway to the West, awayfrom the coast of Africa. A few boats are insight which is reassuring. We all have our


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sea legs now and were able to enjoy Jan'schicken soup. The boat is warm and dry andeverything is working. Our progress will beslow for awhile until we get into the tradewinds.

11/21/2005 Jan Writes:

Hello All! We are off with an up wind start! We are getting our sea legs-small meals, lotsof sleep. It is great having Harry on board. Soon we will be into our routines; this meanswe read lots of books! Today we still haveSW winds which are light so we are motorsailing. We are in fine fiddle and send ourlove.

11/16/2005 Jan Writes:

These are our last days on the Spanishislands of the Canaries and the. Our fourweeks in the city of Las Palmas come to anend Sunday when we head to St. Lucia with200 plus boats. Gust, speaking fluentSpanish, has made friends with our localneighbors on the pontoon, talked with canvasmakers, mechanics, shop owners, waiters,car rentals and is greeted with smilesbecause he is an American speaking theCanarian language. I, with my limitedSpanish (I wish I had paid more attention tothe those classes at MES!) have negotiatedfood provisioning, a haircut (with many handgestures!) and a library card (had to presentmy Irish passport, drivers license, andcolored photo ID - what!? for a library card?)The most fun has been the aerobics andspinning classes with Carmen. She does not


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speak English so we work on the universallanguage of aerobics. Arleen and Kelly, youwould love Carmen and I am so grateful tohave both of you for a teacher of bodymovement. The Techno music is an additionI was a bit hesitant about, and I needed earplugs some days, but we always had a lot offun.

There are many school aged children sailingwith their parents, bringing with themcurriculum from home. We have met familiesfrom the UK, Canada, and Norway. Thechildren have endless ways to entertain eachother. There was a dingy water fight-who cantry to get the most water in the next boat witheveryone getting soaked. The chorus ofchildren's laughter could be heard all overthe marina. Local children spend a lot of timein boats and in boating activities. TwoOlympic gold medals have been won by LasPalmas young sailors.So we leave the city and sail South.

Gust Writes:

Greetings to all! We are in our last days inLas Palmas, as we focus on a last-minuteflurry of repairs, provisioning andpreparations. Crewmate Harry arrived safely,bringing his guitar and good energy aboard. We are now surrounded by about 250 boats,all frantically making the same preparations.People are loading mounds of food, going upand down their masts, furling and unfurlingsails, all the while talking, yelling, and cursingin many languages. We have friends now


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from Finland, Norway, Germany, Spain, andof course the English and Irish...

As many of you know, we have joined a rallycalled ARC, Atlantic Rally for Cruisers: a wayof sailing somewhat in the company ofothers, keeping in touch by radio and satelliteposition reports, sharing resources. There isa racing division that is not allowed to useengines; we are in the racer-cruiser division,which allows us to motor but counts againstour time if we do. The ARC maintains awebsite with lots of information, includingdaily position reports- check it out atwww.worldcruising.com, and follow the linksto the ARC.

The distance to St. Lucia is roughly 3000nautical miles. Our probable course will takeus to the Cape Verde Islands, a formerPortuguese colony off the cost of Africa, dueSouth form here. At that point, we should bein the westerly-blowing trade winds which willtake us across the Atlantic. In the old sailingrouting, the advise was "go South until thebutter melts, then turn right..." We will haveour butter out.

Once in St. Lucia, we will be joined byHarry's wife Laura for a week, then we will beon our own again. In January, I will bestarting work at St. Jude's Hospital.

11/7/2005 Greetings! Our first report apparently was

lost somewhere in cyberspace - maybe thiswill get through...


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We arrived in Las Palmas at dawn about twoweeks ago, after an overnight sail from theisland of Lanzarote. The city appeared grimyand industrial, sprawling North and Southalong a strip of coast, and extending inlandinto the foothills. The port is quite large, witha steady stream of cargo ships, tankers,Navy ships, pilot boats and tugs entering andleaving at all hours. The sailboat anchorageis tucked into one corner, next to a nice sandbeach (although as our cruising guide says,"some would chose not to swim there...). There are at least 200 sailboats here, eitherat anchor or in the marina, preparing to makethe crossing to either the Caribbean or Brazil. The Canary Islands is a perfectly situatedjumping off point, just south of the terribleweather tearing across the North Atlanticright now, just North of the trade winds thatblow straight to the Caribbean. Columbus leftfrom here.

We have been diligently preparing for thepassage, checking all of our systems, gettingspares, looking at the weather, talking to theother sailors. Lots of socializing.

We have enjoyed Las Palmas and the islandGran Canario very much. the people arevery friendly and pride themselves on theirindependence (they don't really considerthemselves part of Spain, and indeed manyhave immigrated from South America, Cuba,Morocco and other parts of Africa). Theinterior is quite diverse: there are deserts inthe South; rain, fog and even snow at the


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mountaintops (over 5000 ft); pine forests,vegetable farms in the valleys.

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Harry,his guitar, our mail and spare parts!

10/22/2005 Greetings! We've arrived safely in LasPalmas. Getting our bearings around town.More updates once we find land internetaccess.

10/11/2005 Greetings from Lanzarote! This is a desertvolcanic island that saw its last eruption in1730. It covered the fertile land of the islandwith volcanic ash and lava. Grapes are stillgrown- they dig a pit through the ash, 5-10 ft.diameter, plant the vine, and surround the rimwith a stone wall to protect from the wind.Dew trickles down at night. Water for thepopulation is obtained from desalinationplants. Tourism has long ago replaced fishingas the main industry, and condos andhigh-rise hotels cluster along the primewaterfront spots. This is a favorite place forBrits to retire - kind of like Florida forAmericans.In the last few days, we've explored theinterior, even taking a camel ride up "FireMountain" in the Timafaya Nat'l Park. Wealso explored a 7 km long lava tube cave,"Cueva de los Verdes". Other events: wesaw the start of the Transat650, a 4000milesolo race in mini-transats (21 ft. long). Therace starts in LaRochelle France and ends inBahia Brazil, with a short stop inLanzarote.There are 70 racers, most of themFrench, including 4 women. We got to meetAdam Currier, the lone American. He worked


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for a bit at Wayfarer in Camden. The boathas no engine, no head, no bunk- they startwith a required 100liters of water, but dumpsome after the start to lighten the load. Theseboats can surf at 18K! To follow the race,check:www.minitransat650.comWe will stay here in Lanzarote a day or twolonger before sailing to Gran Canario, about100nm away.Amber has posted new photos and other infoon the website-Cheers, Gust

10/2/2005 Safely moored at La Sociedad Harbor,Graciosa Island, off Lanzarote, Canaries,Spain! Only 180 miles to Morocco from here.We had a good passage.

10/1/2005 We had a boisterous night with winds over 20K, a few gusts to 30, but made excellent ifsomewhat roly time, logging 150 nm, abouthalfway now to the Canaries. Winds andseas are calmer now and the sun is shiningagain.

9/29/2005 Greetings to all-we are leaving for the CanaryIslands in the morning. They are about 300nm away, a 2-3 day sail if all goes well andthe winds are as predicted, 15-20K from theNE. We have enjoyed our stay in thePortuguese islands of the Azores andMadeira, and are eager to see enter Spainnow.

We have had many on board adventureshere, none of them ending with any mishaps.While we were sailing down the coast, Inoticed a Portuguese Navy patrol boat slowly


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change course and start following us- then,accelerating and taking position directlybehind us. They sent an inflatable with 3sailors over (I was quite afraid they'd boarddirectly from the ship). The sailors verypolitely asked if they could come aboard (likewe might say no?)- they checked our papers,asked where we had come from (quitesurprised at Rockland Maine), then wishedus a good trip and were off. While we hadnothing we should have been worried about,it's always a little unsettling when armed menare on your boat asking questions. However,I feel the same way when we've beenboarded by the US Coast Guard. In general,we have to check in with the Maritime Police,Customs and Immigration agents at everyport. And the police usually walk the dockswith a check list every day. While this issometimes a bother, I don't think foreignnationals are allowed to enter the USA byboat at all right now.

Other adventures: driving around the hairpinturns up and down the ravines andmountains of Madeira. The smaller roadshave room for two very small cars to passeach other- not taking into account cementtrucks or buses, especially at the blindcurves. The trucks give a warning honkbefore roaring around. Finally, the growing conditions here are trulyastounding, with rich volcanic soil gatheredinto cliff side terraces, well watered by theaqueducts- warm-weather crops down by theseaside, cool-weather crops higher up. The


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hillsides are covered with grapes right now. Gust

9/27/2005 Greetings to All! We are currently in Calheta,a small port about 16 miles from Funchal, thecapital city of Madeira. We anchored in theharbor of Funchal one night as the marinawas full with boats rafted up to each other 5deep. We watched the city come alive withlights, making the steep sloping residentialstreets look like streaks of light headed to thesky. The city proper is along the tree linedwaterfront with open air cafes andrestaurants. A hot air balloon is permanentlytethered there to give one a spectacular viewof the city. We left the anchorage the nextmorning under calm clear blue skies andmade our way along the southern coast ofMadeira. Here, the mountain cliffs goingstraight to the sea, are the 2nd highest in theworld. Madeira has 5000 foot mountainpeaks and snow covers the top during theirwinter. This mountainous island hasengineering achievements ancient andmodern. The mountain sides are terracedwith gardens that grow grapes, bananas,vegetables, and flowers. The modern roadsystem has miles of tunnels and bridgesconnecting one coastal town to anotheravoiding the treacherous winding steeproadways of the interior. Cable cars are usedto get from some of the towns down to theshore. Houses are built into and extendingout of the cliff sides. Vertigo is somethingMadeirans know nothing of! I spent a lot oftime holding my breath as we drove to


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Funchal! Our present marina sits at thebottom of a cliff side with the 85 degreeocean waters around us. Fresh water comesfrom the mountain springs and makes its waydown via a system of aqueducts calledlevadas, some built hundreds of years ago toirrigate sugar cane. They make excellenthiking trails now, but continue to be used tobring water down from the hills. Right nowgrapes are being harvested, rich clusterspurple black red and yellow hanging downfrom the vines.

9/22/2005 Anchored Funchal, Madeira, after a nice 45nm spinnaker run here

9/21/2005 We are sitting in the boat, still in Porto Santo,waiting out one of the very rare rain showers.The town is getting ready to celebrate theirColumbus Week Festival, complete with thearrival of a replica of the Santa Maria. We aresurrounded by Norwegians and Sweds andDanes, who say "Leaf Erickson arrived first,didn't take any gold and didn't leave anydiseases"... we are staying neutral.Columbus lived on this island for a few yearsafter marrying the governors' daughter. Healso stopped here before going to theCanaries, his actual departure spot in 1492. The rain is also wetting down the fine goldensand that blows about. The wind supposedlycarries sand all the way from Africa, 500miles away.

Food reports: I am enjoying mangos again, afruit I enjoyed growing up in Venezuela. Theyhave yellow-red skin, rich succulent juicyyellow flesh, somewhat like a cross between


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a peach and an orange. We have also triedthe christophene, a prickly-green pear-sizedfruit, tasting somewhat like a cucumber. Wehope to leave for the main island of Madeiratomorrow, weather and wind permitting.

9/15/2005 Greetings from Porto Santo- this is a smalldry island about 20 miles from the mainisland of Madeira. We are sitting under palmtrees in the park, while a brass band isplaying in the back ground. We arrived at3AM, after a six day sail from the Azores. Weare anchored off a 2 mile long gold sandbeach. We don't have many impressions yet,except that people are very friendly. We areabout half a mile away from the town, whichhas the usual red tiled and white washedbuildings, a central square with old colonialbuildings and palm trees providing shade.

At our anchorage, we met a French womanin her 60's. She is sailing around the Atlanticby herself, in a very small and old boat. TheFrench have a long tradition of solo sailing,and also apparently a long tradition ofwomen sailors- she did not think it was at allunusual that she should be doing her trip byherself. We've also met several youngFrench women who were delivery captains,returning yachts from the Caribbean to theMed.

Other interesting people: after asking aboutplaces to eat last night, a man named Migueldrove us to his son's restaurant. Miguel is inhis 50's, and fled Portugal in the 1970's to


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avoid conscription in the Portuguese army,which was at that point engaged in fightingcolonialist wars in Portugal's former Africancolonies. He moved to South Africa, wherehis son was born. They moved back afterdemocracy was eventually restored inPortugal, but the son is still a South Africancitizen and has to return there once a year toget his visa renewed. He is trying to getPortuguese citizenship as well, butapparently this is difficult. The food wasexcellent- beef and chicken grilled onskewers on a wood fire.Back to the marina/anchorage- Out of about40 boats, we are now the only Americans (inthe Azores, there were usually quite a fewother American and Canadian boats)-apparently most of them headed for the Med,rather than the trip South to the Canaries andthe Caribbean. There are still lots of Frenchand Brits, but now we are seeing lots ofNorwegians, Swiss, and other NorthernEuropeans.Our friends David and Susan aboard Suerteare celebrating "tying the knot" of the Atlanticcircumnavigation that they started a yearago. They will continue on to the Canariesand eventually Brazil.All for now, Gust

9/14/2005 Safe arrival at Porto Santo, Madeira.

9/12/2005 Greetings to allwe are into day 4 of oursecond attempt on reaching Madeira-nowabout 200nm away, but the wind is on thenose so the distance we still need to travel islonger. We are happy to have left the Azores,


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with 4 major storms swirling around theAtlantic, collapsing the protective AzoresHigh. Our own weather has been good,except for the direction of the wind. We havesettled into our offshore routines, sleeping in4-6 hour shifts, reading lots of books andtrying to keep up with the never-ending boatmaintenance and problem solving. Right nowthe water looks deep blue and is 86*; the skyis clear with 360* visibility. Fabulous stars atnigh; sunrise is late by Maine standards,7:02AM. We still see dolphins almost dailyand still have our flock of Cory's Sheerwatersabout. Best to all, G&J09/12/2005

9/5/2005 We are back in Porta Delgada due to abackstay problem. it happened where wewere close enough to come back and as oftoday the problem is partially fixed. At thispoint we do not know when we will leave asthe weather window and repairs will keep ushere. That is ok. We have met the mostwonderful people who are also cruising andhave been so helpful in fixing our problem.Gust has sent a quick up date but we willsend more info as we head out. I will emailagain from the library - it is a 16th centuryJesuit college, now taken over by the city andit has not been with the Jesuits for sometime. We wonder where the Jesuits havegone since on each island the Jesuits hadbeautiful buildings of learning taken over byother organizations.

9/4/2005 Just a quick note: broke backstay fitting insquall 150 miles offshore, but jury rigged it


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and made it safely back to Punta Delgada,Azores. Will send details soon. We and theboat are ok.

9/1/2005 We had set out for Madeira with a goodforecast, but found winds on the nose as alow pressure system pushes through(possible remote hurricane effect?) Aftersailing overnight, we have anchored at Baiade SLorenso on St. Maria Island. From thecruising guide:"one of the loveliestanchorages in the entire Azores, with cliffsterraced into a lacing of black lava walls andtiny vineyards where the locally famous'vinho de cheiro' is produced...fine sea cavesand nesting birds...water is exceptionallyclear..." Christopher Columbus landed hereon his return trip in 1493. We'll stay a fewdays until the wind improves.

8/31/2005 We are departing the friendly shores of theAzores under clear skies and light winds,bound for the Island of Madeira about 500miles away. We were shocked to hear of thehurricane devastation in New Orleans andsend our prayers and thoughts to the peoplethere. We give our thanks also to thewonderful people of the Azores who were sofriendly and helpful, and hope that we get achance to return again someday.Gust and Jan

8/26/2005 Greetings! We have been driving aroundSao Miguel with our friends David andSusan. Like all the islands, there is muchevidence of volcanic activity. Besides theusual cones and calderas, Sao Miguel hasmany hot springs and thermal vents. At the


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town of Fornas, we swam in a pool of hotspring water, very rich in minerals (especiallyiron). By a nearby lake, there were bubblingsulfuric springs and mud pots. A localspecialty is called "Cozido das Casdeiras"- aclay pot is buried in the mud of the hot springand cooked all day- usually a mix of beef andvegetables. The best thermal spring is atFerreira- we walked down a cliff to a spotwhere lava had flowed into the ocean,forming a natural pool. A hot spring enters atthe bottom, warming the ocean water to avery comfortable temperature. The fishseemed to like it as well.

Other volcanic curiosities: an island off thetown of Vila Franca, actually a drownedvolcano- the cone rises out of the water butchannels enter from the ocean. The interioris a beautiful warm shallow pool of water. Afisherman takes people out for daytrips, sowe went out for a picnic.

At another caldera, Sete Cidades, there aretwo lakes, the Blue and the Green, theircolors originally because of different mineraland algae concentrations. Both looked greento us, probably because of an invasiveaquatic plant that's taken root. There is amile-long tunnel cut through the Caldera foran aquaduct, with just enough room to walk. No lights; we followed a family with aflashlight through, but found out they weren'tcoming back. We walked back in the dark-very glad when we emerged on the otherside!


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Food notes:The local pineapples are delicious. They aregrown in greenhouses."Steak on a Stone"- a slab of lava is heatedin an oven and given to you on a board. Youare given your meat raw; you cut slices, cookit on the stone, dip it into sauces.Octopus: "tastes just like chicken"- actuallysaltier, very rich.Salt Cod, or Bachalao: The Portuguese reallylove this. It appears on every menu, usually4-5 dishes, and every cook is supposed toknow 365 ways of cooking it. Supermarketshave 6-10 different grades, sizes, types. Ikeep trying it, but it hasn't risen to a highplace on my list of favorite foods.

There is a big religious festival this weekend,then we will be moving on to Santa Mariaand eventually Madeira. The hurricanehitting Florida does not seem to be affectingus. We are surrounded by a huge area ofhigh pressure (the Bermuda-Azores High)that insulates us from storms.

8/18/2005 Today we arrive on the island of Sao Miguel,leaving behind Terceira under a full moon.We motor the 88 miles as there is no wind. The port of Angra has been our home for 24days. The wonderful people of Angra gavetheir friendship and unconditional kindness,making arrangements for me to return to theStates to be with my family for my momspassing. We will miss the hourly ringing ofthe bells of the beautiful blue Church of


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Mercy that stands as a sentry over theharbor's clear waters and welcomes all to hercity. Angra's many open air cafes andrestaurants gave us respite each day as wewalked the lava cobblestone streets linedwith white washed, red tiled residences andbusinesses intermingled to create theneighborhoods of Angra. Jan

8/15/2005 After many hours/days? I have just put myfeet on Bluebirds decks. My Sweet Gust wasat the airport waiting with a taxi to wisk meaway. It is 2:30am. I met the the nicestpeople, the first were from... Albuquerque!Small world over and over again I amamazed at the human connection.

8/9/2005 Greetings from Angra, Terciera Islands,Azores. While waiting for Jan to return, I'vepolished the boat, fixed everything thatneeded fixing, touched up the woodwork, andin short have been running out of things tostay busy with. Today on my morning runalong the breakwater, I met a fellow who wasgetting ready to go out on the water, loadedwith diving and fish-spearing gear. It turnedout that he is a marine biology/ichthyologyprofessor at the University of the Azores,named Joao Pedro. He earned his PhD inEngland, so language was not a problem. He invited me along; he was involved with aproject that involved monitoring juvenilegroupers, which live in large cave nurseriesunderwater. We went by inflatable back toBluebird, where I got my snorkeling gear andwet suit.Manuel, the boat operator, took us along the


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cliffs of Terciera to a series of underwaterlava flows, riddled with caves and holes. Jaoa prefers to do his research free diving(wet suit and lead weights, but no air tanks);he was able to easily dive 30-40 feet down,enter a cave, spear a grouper, and comeback up on one breath, while I mostlywatched from 10 feet below the surface(although I didn't have weights, so couldn'tovercome the buoyancy.So I've learned a lot about fish in the Azores:this is a convergence point for tropical fishfrom both the Caribbean and from Africa, aswell as the North Atlantic. Because of theGulf Stream and the Azores Current, its localbranch, the water is much warmer than you'dexpect for this latitude. Today we saw parrotfish and clown fish, normally associated withCaribbean reefs. We also saw a barracuda,which we've also actually seen right in themarina. Moray eels. All this in waters thatalso have sperm whales and even theoccasional stray orca.

Joao has a very interesting life. He was bornin Macao, a former Portuguese colony that isnow part of China. His father was a doctor inthe Portuguese Air Force, so they lived inmany of Portugal's former colonies(Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde Islands).He has been diving all his life, doing researcharound the world. He spends May-Sept. inthe Azores, then goes to warmer climes- hisproject for this winter will take him to both theAmazon Basin in Brazil, and to Mozambique. He is also part of an ongoing multinational


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study of fisheries in Viet Nam and Indonesia.

Anyway, my personal fishing jinx didn't affectthe expedition at all. Joao easily spearedjuvenile groupers at each of his sites- theywere to be weighed and measured, withparticular attention to their livers and gonads. Meanwhile, while we were in the water,Manuel was happily hauling in dozens ofsmall silvery fish (looked like mackerels ofsome type). Were they for research also?"No, these are for supper!"

8/7/2005 I wanted to let everyone know that Jan'smom, Catherine McCormick Parke, diedyesterday at the age of 93. She had declinedin the last few weeks, after having suffered ahip fracture. Jan was able to be there withher in New Mexico, along with her family. Jandescribes her death as a blessed releasefrom her suffering.I never got to meet Kay, as she was called byher friends, but know from Jan's stories thatshe was a great spirit and a brave traveler. She is off onto her next voyage.Jan will be rejoining our own voyage nextSunday, on the island of Terciera in theAzores. She can be contacted directly [email protected]

7/27/2005 Today will be our 3rd day in Angra, but beforewe arrived here, we were on the island ofSao Jorge, first the town of Vela and the nextday Calheta. While in Vela we were asked tojoin a flotilla/race of boats to Calheta 10 milesaway. It was Calheta´s festival weekend andthis was part of the events. We arrived at a


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port big enough to anchor one boat or tie upagainst the cement wall so with a rolling,windy, crashing sea around us we choose toanchor. We had entered the playground ofthe community and it's festival. Daring waterskiers, sailboard kite fliers, and rock climbingcable launching along with chamber musicand tents with assortments of Azorean foodsfilled our senses to the extreme. We wereinvited to join the group of sailors who racedfor a dinner and award ceremony, taking aprize back with us for crossing the finish linefirst! Around 11:00pm the main street waslined up with people waiting for a parade. We were delighted, as we had no idea whatthis parade was a! bout, to see school children from the islandsschools singing and dancing, dressed incostumes, filling the street with music. Theirteachers and parents followed with them andeach community had a band to accompanythe children. The parade ended around1:00AM! A professional group of musiciansentertained the festival goers with traditionalPortuguese music until 3:00AM and then themusic changed to new age hard core rockand roll until 7:00AM (yes, that is 7:00Am inthe morning!)What Spirit these communitieshave, to honor their children and theireducation along with the festivities of theirheritage combining the young and the old. Needless to say Gust and I got little sleep asthe music took place on the waterfront. Weleft the anchorage after a few hours sleep asthe wind was changing direction making itimpossible to stay there. We want to thank


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the communities of Sao Jorge for treating usto a wonderful celebration.

7/21/2005 Notes from the cruise: besides standingwatch and sleeping, we all spent a lot of timereading, each going through 3-4 books onthe trip across. We all thought The KiteRunner by Khaled Hosseini, an incrediblebook, and recommend it to everyone. It is atale of growing up in Afghanistan andAmerica, but above all a novel of life- verypowerful. Other favorites for me where Actsof Faith by Phil Caputo, and The Things TheyCarried, by Tim O'Brien, a Viet Nam warmemoir.

As the mood struck, and as we rememberedreferences, we occasionally pulled out sailingclassics- Moby Dick, Lord Jim, for readingaloud.

At most marinas, there are book swaps. Ifwe don't find an English-language bookstorein Punta Delgado, we'll be desperate on thethree week crossing to St. Lucia inNovember. Hopefully Harry will bring us acare package!

Music: in our preparations for the trip, werecorded a lot onto our iPod, but neglected toget speakers or any external listening devise,other than the headphones. So the onlymusic we could all listen to at the same timewas Bob Lovelace's Hold on Tight, which hegave us as we were leaving- fortunately it ispretty good! Thank you, Bob!

We have been talking about leaving Horta for


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days now but I think we are getting close- weare planning on leaving tomorrow for the nextisland, Sao Jorge (St. George), town of Viladas Velas. Of course, it depends on theweather...

7/20/2005 Greetings- today we finally climbed Pico, the2351 meter (7800 ft) volcano that we'veadmired daily, across the bay from Horta onthe island of Pico. We joined up withThomas, a solo Polish sailor en route fromthe Caribbean to the med. We got up at 6AM(still dark here) to take the early ferry to theisland of Pico. It was raining lightly, butclearing. In Pico, we got a ride to the trailhead, only 1500 meters to go! The climb isvery dramatic, up a 40 degree slope of lava and pumice, past small caldera cones, allcovered with pink mountain thyme andred-blossomed heather. After 3 hours wereached the large central crater, about 30meters deep and 300 meters across. Wereached Little Pico, the 70 meter cone, justas the sun came out of the clouds. Beautiful! It is the highest point in all of theAzores and all of Portugal, with great viewsof the surrounding islands. We had lunchsitting on top of a steaming fumerole- thevolcano is dormant but not extinct!

The trip down was quicker, with a death-defying ride in a taxi back to the ferry. Weare now recovering back on Bluebird.

7/18/2005 Walked the volcanic ash and pumis hills ofthe most recent creation of Faial's island andthe 1957 volcanic eruption, on to the black


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sand beach and lava rocks, and a hikethrough the beautiful cedar forest andhydrangea hedgerow fields of northernFaial. Darin, Tony, and Graham madearrangements to hike with Duncan and Ruthand invited Gust and I to join them. We aregreeted at their beautiful home with gorgeousgardens that face the sea and the island ofSt.Jorge. Robin and Christine join our partyof six. We are treated to a supper, at the topof a field looking to the sea, by our gracioushosts. Good conversation, food, friendship,and the love of nature and her beautycomplete our hike and we head back downthe mountain-did I mention our 6 doggiecompanions?-as the sun is setting into thesea and the 3/4 moon is rising behind thecaldeira rim. Thank you to our Faial friendsfor sharing this beauty with us.

7/18/2005 Miscellaneous log notes: everywhere we'vebeen, people comment on what a greatlooking boat our Morris 36 Bluebird is. Weappreciate the comments very much- butmost of all, we've appreciated how safe,stable and sturdy Bluebird is, and howquickly and comfortably she got us acrossthe Atlantic. We always feel that she istaking care of us, rather than the other wayaround. So thank you, Chuck Paine, fordesigning such a functionally andaesthetically pleasing boat; thank you, MorrisYachts, for doing such a great job buildingher; and thank you, Morris Yachts and OceanPursuits, and everyone else, for yourexcellent maintenance.


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7/14/2005 Hello! in the old days, sailors searched forfood, water, maybe diesel; now we search forwireless connections. I'm sitting on theseawall overlooking the harbor, with 6000+foot Pico, a volcanic mountain, looming upacross the bay. And here I find a wirelesshot spot! The seawall is covered withhundreds of paintings commemorating boatsthat have passed through. Jan is working onours.

Some observations about Flores and Faial:these are very agricultural islands. Everyonehas a garden, and in addition to the usualproduce, they grow pineapples, bananas,even tea. They love their animals, especiallythe cows, which move from terrace toterrace, often herded through the streets bythe Azorian cattle dogs- very muscular, shorthaired dogs with cropped ears and tails,square-muzzled faces. All work. Pigs arealso pampered and have nice lives until theinevitable end... Some goats are about,mainly for cheese production. Very fewsheep.

Winds have been blustery from theNortheast, but the marina is snug andprotected. We have bought a transformer sothat we can hook up shore power and nothave to run the engine to charge thebatteries. Our solar panel is also workingnicely, giving us 2-3 amps/hour over thecourse of the day. Water is free as well.

7/12/2005 Greetings- just a quick report from an internetcafe. We can't seem to get our wireless


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systems working from the boat (other thanSkymate).We had a pleasant overnight sail here, andare now berthed in a marina for the first time. This means that it is quite calm, and that wehave plenty of water and electricity hookup tocharge our batteries. The biggest advantageis that we can all come and go as we please,without having to dinghy in to the shore. Weare rafted up to another boat, as the marinais full.

There are over a hundred boats here (asopposed to about 10 in Flores)- fromAmerica, Canada, France, Holland, Italy,Norway... in the course of a day, we are (atleast trying) to speak Portuguese (fallingback on Spanish works most of the time)German and French. Most cruisers actuallyare young to middle aged, many withchildren, even babies, aboard. Many havebeen sailing for 2-3 years. All seem to haveshore lives that they eventually plan on goingback to. We've heard many tales...

Life here: most chores (shopping, repairs,etc.) get done between 9 and 11 AM, theneveryone disappears until about 3 PM. Another little period of work in the afternoon. In the evening, people start to appear on thewalks around the harbor. The earliest youcan even think about supper is 8 PM, andthat's considered early. We walked aroundlast night at about midnight, families andchildren are still enjoying the cool breezes inthe park.


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Food: we continue to explore local delicacies,last night broiled squid, shrimp, meat broiledwith fruit. You never ask for salt, pepper, etc,this would insult the cook. Main course ispreceded by garlic-grilled fresh bread, 2-3cheeses, olives, sometimes tibits of sausageor cured ham. Meals always end withespresso, but it doesn't seem to keep usawake.Now that we've gotten our land legs, we aregoing to take the ferry across to the Island ofPico, which has the tallest mountain inPortugal, an almost-extinct volcano.

7/10/2005 Bluebird setting to sea for overnight passageto Horta, leaving the flowers and blackvolcanic sand of Flores. Met many peoplehere-sailors from England, France andGermany, as well as Canada and USA. Manycouples with young children who have beencruising for 2-3 years. All with great tales totell.We enjoyed the food here- limpits, octopus,fresh fish, as well as the local pork and beef.Wine is very good and very cheep. Dinnersstart at 8pm at earliest, often went tomidnight, ending with aguardiente (a brandy)or grappa (white, clear, very strong). Thepeople here are so friendly! They want us tostay for their "emmigrant" festival nextweek-returning islanders from abroad, mostlyUSA. More details from Horta.

7/4/2005 We are here Monday July 4th. BeautifulFlores! We have had many adventures sincearriving, like the dingy not working because


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of a broken valve, but we have met manygreat and interesting people already. Tryingto learn Portuguese--fast with tapes welistened to while sailing.

7/2/2005 We are 150 nm from Flores-progress hasslowed as we're in the Azores High, withmuch lighter winds. Hopeful of arriving in aday or two.We have seen at least one large tanker orcontainer ship a day. They usually respondto our radio calls and are sometimes quitechatty. We are also traveling with othersailing vessels, a day or so behind Bear ofSouth Portland, a week ahead of Indra ofRound Pond, and Reveille of Mass. We talkdaily to Herb of Southbound II for weatherupdates.Wildlife: a small turtle floated by,?loggerhead. No fish caught yet.Other events: studying star charts, findingnew (to us) constellations. Jan locatedCorona Borealis using Dorcas Miller'sexcellent star guide.Gust and the crew-39° 16.57' N34° 22.99' W

6/29/2005 16:49:01 GMT41° 04.59' N43° 14.21' WCalm day to take showers and dry dampgear. Sun is finally with us but so are thefluky winds so the spinnaker is pulling usalong. Two days ago we had 10 to 15 footseas and 20k winds. The wind Goddess has


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her surprises as God sends his graces.

6/28/2005 Our progress slower today in lighter shiftywinds. But it's warmer. We saw ships in thenight: we have seen at least one large tankeror container ship a day. Sometimes I thinkthey've changed course to check us out alittle. Some are quite chatty on the radio,others ignore our calls.We are also traveling with two othersailboats, both bound for the Azores: Bear onSouth Portland, one couple on board, a dayor so ahead of us, and Reveille, of Boston,3-4 days behind us. Good moral support.

6/25/2005 Hello Dear OnesI've just come off watch, it's12:30am. Thesails are reefed for 20k winds, its warm andBluebird is slicing through the night. Moonnot up yet. Its inky black but thephosphorescence lights up the waves andspray. It is quite magical.Jan

6/25/2005 We are approaching the Gulf Stream-weather getting muggy and squally.

6/22/2005 19:25:46 GMT41° 56.44' N63° 47.70' WA lovely day- spinnaker up since 6 AM, warmsteady SW wind blowing us towards the GulfStream, which we should reach latetomorrow.Many dolphins today, and a very large (?70ft.) finback whale and calf breeched aroundus 4 times.


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6/21/2005 After two nights, we all have our sea legs. We have had fair winds and have madesteady progress. Everything seems to beworking.We have rounded Cape Sable of NovaScotia and are headed for the Gulf Stream.

6/19/2002 Bluebird at sea, Penobscot Bay, headingsouth. All's well.

6/16/2005 blessing the boats

(at St. Mary's)

may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you kissthe wind then turn from itcertain that it willlove you back may youopen your eyes to waterwater waving foreverand may you in your innocencesail through this to that

by Lucille Cliftonfrom Blessing the Boats: New and SelectedPoems 1988-2000


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