CAN DRAC's Posts - SeaKnots2024-03-28T09:58:09ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAChttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2518398472?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=DRACVERD&xn_auth=noYOU BUILT THIS WELLtag:seaknots.ning.com,2011-12-24:900123:BlogPost:1833432011-12-24T13:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788991?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788991?profile=original" width="479"></img></a> It's been just two years since we completed our transatlantic trip for charity and at last we can show you the final result. This is a picture of the of the well that was built in <strong>Malawi, Africa</strong> with your funds. YOU BUILT THIS WELL by supporting Sail For Water with your donations, your messages and your encouragement. And because of that, the 166 people of …</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788991?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788991?profile=original" width="479"/></a>It's been just two years since we completed our transatlantic trip for charity and at last we can show you the final result. This is a picture of the of the well that was built in <strong>Malawi, Africa</strong> with your funds. YOU BUILT THIS WELL by supporting Sail For Water with your donations, your messages and your encouragement. And because of that, the 166 people of <a href="http://g.co/maps/azzx8" target="_blank">Walimabatha</a> now have access to safe clean water. As you can imagine, we can't thank you enough!</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789239?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789239?profile=original" width="479"/></a></p>
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<p>As most of you already know, a lot more has happened during these two years we have spent living by the Med in Barcelona. The most important of those are, of course, the births of our lovely new "crew members", Julia and Nora.</p>
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<p>We want to take this opportunity for our whole family to wish you a Happy Holiday, a Happy New Year and to thank you for making our dream for SailForWater come true! It has been such an amazing experience and we love that we have been able to share it all with you! </p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR DONORS:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br/> Ana i Andreu Roca<br/> Andres Martin Perez<br/> AnnMarie Weis<br/> Baldo & Nuria Quintanilla<br/> Bob & Debby from S/V Chimayo<br/> Bob & Mary MacEwen<br/> Boghigian Enterprises<br/> Brian Winter<br/> Bruno Salvia<br/> Carlos Quirindongo<br/> Carol Crifo<br/> Carolyn Williams<br/> Carrie Smith<br/> Chuck and Sandra Pirao<br/> Chung Lee<br/> Cris Hazzard<br/> Daniel Goldberg<br/> Daniel Goldman<br/> David Levy<br/> Denis Foster<br/> Dennis Kramer<br/> Dina Templeton<br/> Ed Rivera<br/> Eduardo Rivadavia<br/> Eileen Weinberger<br/> Esther Sanchez<br/> Freddy & Vicky Lithgow<br/> Gail Weintraub<br/> George & Mary Ann MacEwen<br/> Grace Cotto<br/> H C Levesque Jr<br/> Helena Grau Font<br/> Henry Schmitt<br/> Hilda Ferrer<br/> Howard Mah-Lee<br/> Jason Carrasco<br/> Jennifer Fowler<br/> Jessica Anderson<br/> Joannne Hayward Kippax<br/> John Trumpbour<br/> Joe & Carol Crifo<br/> Joe & Maureen Malone<br/> Joey & Debi Malone<br/> John Thomas and Emily Russell<br/> Josh Terrill<br/> Kathryn Olson<br/> Leah Bailey<br/> Linda Schofel & Jeff Green<br/> Lorenzo Grau<br/> Louis Hill<br/> Luis & Kika Carreras<br/> Luis Seguí Casas<br/> Marc Carreras<br/> Marc Fuste Boronat<br/> Maria Luisa Vives de Delás<br/> Marissa Mencher<br/> Mark Tavern<br/> Marsha Gayle<br/> Mario Mendolaro<br/> Mark Flaherty<br/> Mark Gazdik<br/> Maurici Blancafort Planas<br/> Melissa MacEwen<br/> Michael Kantrowitz<br/> Michael MacEwen<br/> Michael Scarola<br/> Nadia Majid<br/> Neus Pasamonte<br/> Patricia J DiNitto<br/> Patricia Ziegler<br/> Peter Verne<br/> Philip McBurrows<br/> Richard and Gay George<br/> Rishi Mirchandani<br/> Salvador Macip<br/> Sharyn MacEwen<br/> Sheila McPeak<br/> Stephanie Lopez<br/> Suky Cannon<br/> Tarek Al-Hamdouni<br/> Thad Miller<br/> Traci Connelly<br/> Vantage Technology, Inc<br/> William Hunsinger<br/> The wonderful District Office Ladies in Teaneck: Wendy, Minny, Shirley, Sheila, Liz and Eileen</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>Mile 10,000 on our passage to Barcelonatag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-10-26:900123:BlogPost:1136102009-10-26T12:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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It was as if the weather was trying to tell us something. After days of rain and gusty winds in Mallorca we started to listen. We figured it was time to move on so we decided to aim our bow towards Barcelona.<br />
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Our last stop in the Balearics was our favorite port: Andratx where we met Terry, a local diver that lives on a cat and owns a few mooring balls.<br />
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He was kind enough to let us use the last one and…
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It was as if the weather was trying to tell us something. After days of rain and gusty winds in Mallorca we started to listen. We figured it was time to move on so we decided to aim our bow towards Barcelona.<br />
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Our last stop in the Balearics was our favorite port: Andratx where we met Terry, a local diver that lives on a cat and owns a few mooring balls.<br />
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He was kind enough to let us use the last one and wouldn’t accept any money in return. We hope he didn’t trip on the bottle of Sardinian wine we left on his cockpit while he was not paying attention.<br />
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It was thanks to our friends John and Jodi, who were already there, that we got Terry’s treat. So we spent some time on board of their fabulous Island Packet called Jay Sea Dee. Nachos with home made salsa and a generous plate of pasta made for a very memorable meal in great company.<br />
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The next morning we sailed past the island of Dragonera, which was very appropriate, considering our boat name. We couldn’t see any dragons there but it seems that the name comes from its shape.<br />
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Once we left Dragonera behind, Barcelona was due North. No more islands on the way, no heavy weather on the horizon, just over 100 miles of blue Mediterranean waters between us and our destination.<br />
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But of course, it wasn’t going to be all that easy. When we tried to unfurl the mainsail we saw that it was jammed. We found a way to roll it back in and continued under jib alone the rest of the way.<br />
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The only other challenge was the amount of traffic in our path throughout the night. At one point we ended up very close to the point where the path of two massive tankers met. Not a good place to be on a slow moving sailboat in the dark.<br />
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The horizon broke at sunrise, slowly revealing Barcelona’s skyline, with a mix of familiar sights and a couple of new landmarks. When we looked at the log in port we realized that somewhere along this passage we had crossed the 10,000 mile line since leaving the New York Harbor. Not bad for 9 months of full time cruising at our own pace!<br />
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We arrived in the middle of Barcelona’s main holiday: La Merce. That made it all that much more special. We didn’t expect to be greeted with fireworks on our first night in port but we couldn’t help but feel honored.<br />
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And speaking about dragons, the streets were also filled with people running what’s called the Correfoc (or fire run) that night. That’s a local celebration where a fire-spitting dragon chases kids all over town. Not as dangerous as the running of the bulls but just as scary.<br />
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The Merce celebrations also included a wine tasting exhibit just steps away from our marina. We were delighted to find the wine made in Peralada, the castle where we got engaged in 2002. It is now one of our favorite wines and a great excuse to celebrate the years we’ve been together.<br />
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And to top it all off, Barcelona was the host of the final Red Bull Air Race that week. For several days, the sky was filled with planes doing acrobatics, sometimes just a few feet away from the masts in the harbor.<br />
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But of course, we had to have a celebration of our own. So on October 2, our friends Ana and Lu organized a Welcoming Party at the Real Club Nautico de Barcelona, which is the most well known yacht club in Spain.<br />
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It was great to watch old friends and family getting together for the first time in years thanks to the occasion. Seeing so many familiar faces gathering to celebrate our trip also made us feel very welcome.<br />
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We used the opportunity to thank the crew that helped us with the toughest challenge: the Atlantic crossing. We owe a lot to Bill, Marc and Lluis, who was the one there to pick up the official ARC Europe flag we had been saving for this moment.<br />
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Since most of our Barcelona friends had not had a chance to donate, we also used that opportunity to turn it into a fundraising event for charity:water. Kika, Franc’s mother, donated one of her paintings so we could raffle it at the party. We raised over $1,000 because of it so we are really proud of her. She’s never sold any of her work but now we know how much it’s worth! That made us feel extremely thankful to those that contributed. The lucky winner was Neus Pasamonte, a former colleague of Franc’s. Congratulations, Neus!<br />
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After a total of 10,012 miles of sailing in all kinds of waters, visiting 50 islands in 15 countries and sharing it all with 21 guests, our adventure continues. Just like our commitment with charity:water, which will soon allow us to turn our dream of funding a water well that can provide fresh, clean drinking water for a whole town a reality.Mallorca in September weathertag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-09-24:900123:BlogPost:1105892009-09-24T15:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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So far, passages in the Med have all been quite pleasant. Going from Sardinia to the Balearics was no exception. This time, we even had the opportunity to “buddy sail” with another boat going in the same direction.<br />
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Norbert’s “Mandula” is on its way to the starting line of the ARC, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers that takes over 200 yachts from the Canaries to the Caribbean in November. Wish we could have…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539793473?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
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So far, passages in the Med have all been quite pleasant. Going from Sardinia to the Balearics was no exception. This time, we even had the opportunity to “buddy sail” with another boat going in the same direction.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539793570?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
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Norbert’s “Mandula” is on its way to the starting line of the ARC, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers that takes over 200 yachts from the Canaries to the Caribbean in November. Wish we could have followed him West but we decided to stay in Mallorca.<br />
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We sailed along the East coast of the island with its numerous watchtowers and caves carved by the weather over the years.<br />
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And we stopped in Porto Colom, a small quiet village with a protected anchorage filled with Mallorcan type fishing boats docked along the promenade leading to the old center of town.<br />
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It was there that we stumbled upon a sister ship of “Freedom”, the 21ft boat Franc first skippered when he was just in his teens.<br />
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Then the weather turned downright nasty. The winds picked up quickly and the clouds gave way to rain, which in turn led to hail.<br />
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Before we knew it we were in the middle of a squall that had boats in the anchorage dragging into one another. We were lucky to stay in place and out of the way of others!<br />
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<b>VIP Guest arrives</b><br />
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The next day we went to the airport to greet our next guest: Mikey. He flew in in style, on business, courtesy of some unused airline miles.<br />
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Since the airport is in Palma, we took some time to walk its streets and visit a store called The Trading Place.<br />
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I am sure by now you’ve guessed what it is that is traded there. Books! Andrea walked out with no less than 11 new James Patterson books and was able to unload some of the novels she’s already read.<br />
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Unfortunately, all the walking we did that day took a toll on Andrea’s left foot. By the time we got to the boat there was no food in the fridge and the restaurants at the marina were a bit far so we decided to order take out.<br />
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What none of us expected was the restaurant actually sending a fully dressed up waiter to deliver the meals instead.<br />
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We certainly ate in style that night, enjoying paella, fish and chicken curry in the comfort of our own cabin without lifting a finger in the galley.<br />
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The next day the weather was just not good enough for sailing and swimming so we went with Plan B. We drove inland in search of something interesting to see.<br />
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And what could be more interesting than a small family owned Mallorcan vineyard?<br />
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We spent the morning walking the caves and cellars where the wine is fermented and stored while it ages. We even learned the whole process of making cava (the champagne from the region).<br />
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And of course, we had a chance to taste the final product “in situ”, right where it’s made.<br />
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No wonder we ended up with three cases to share our new discoveries with family and friends who were not there to enjoy the experience.<br />
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On our way back we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant on the side of the road with a familiar name. It was called Can Tapas. I’m sure by now you all know what it means: “the house of the tapas”, of course.<br />
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<b>Away to Cabrera</b><br />
As soon as the weather cleared a bit we went out on the water again and seized the opportunity to visit Cabrera, an island just South of Mallorca with a natural reserve. You are supposed to request permission to pick up a mooring ahead of time (in writing), which we did. But to our disappointment, as soon as we arrived we got word that we had been officially denied permission. So when we saw the authorities approach us on their dinghy we were expecting to be thrown out. Instead, they appeared to be fascinated with the fact that we came all the way from New York. They knew someone who lives in Queens and loved the city when they visited. When we asked what we should do they just waved their hand said it was OK to stay. We were there for two nights!<br />
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With Andrea’s foot still healing, Mikey and Franc took the dinghy and went to see the castle, built in the 1400s to protect the island and prevent the Moors and Corsairs from using it to launch an attack on Mallorca.<br />
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We climbed a narrow set of stairs all the way to the top where the view was spectacular.<br />
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You could see the whole anchorage, set on a natural harbor protected from all wind directions.<br />
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The castle was empty but you couldn’t help wonder what you’d learn if those walls could talk.<br />
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The only inhabitants we found were the lizards and the seagulls occasionally flying overhead.<br />
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From there we could see Can Drac in the distance, peacefully resting in the anchorage. We also noticed Cabrera was hosting another American vessel: John and Jodi’s “Jay Sea Dee” from Colorado.<br />
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As it turns out, they did the crossing just a week after us and apparently enjoyed a lot better weather than we did. It’s all about timing, isn’t it?<br />
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<b>VIP or VIP?</b><br />
We spent all week joking about the fact that we had a “VIP” guest on board. That’s not only because Mikey traveled on business and all, but also because Andrea kept treating him to gourmet meals and stylish appetizers.<br />
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But there was one day we wondered if VIP actually meant Very Important Problems instead. First, we woke up to find the dinghy had flipped overnight; with the engine on it, that is.<br />
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You’d think that marine engines are designed to withstand the effects of salt water. But not after being submerged for hours! Needless to say, the engine no longer started. With the tools and the knowledge we had on board, all we could do was wash it with fresh water and hope we’d find a mechanic before it was too late and the rust ruined the engine forever.<br />
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Then we dove to look for the oars that had been inside the dinghy. No luck with that either, but at least we were able to recover a rag and the boat hook we had also accidentally dropped. And then we discovered we had a line wrapped around the propeller. Why does everything have to happen all at once?<br />
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Watch Mike and Franc take turns at “going under” and cleaning up the mess.<br />
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<b>Off to Palma, the sailing capital of the Western Med</b><br />
On Mike’s last day aboard we woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs and home fries. What a difference from the day before!<br />
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Our VIP was treating us to his specialty: home made American breakfast.<br />
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After the big breakfast and a late start we spent the day sailing towards Palma. There wasn’t much sun but there sure was plenty of wind. Luckily we didn’t get wet but we could see some mean looking clouds in the distance.<br />
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One of them was even packing a waterspout. Pay attention to the center of the picture above and you’ll see the funnel shape of a tornado over the water. Scary!<br />
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Once in Palma we stayed at marina Alboran, where Marivi and Fernando run Franc’s favorite charter company in the Mediterranean.<br />
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Fernando’s team of riggers and mechanics are some of the best in the Med and quickly took care of our dinghy’s outboard, bringing it back to life after the Cabrera incident.<br />
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Since Marivi was out of town on a business trip we hosted Fernando for a dinner that ended in a rum tasting of all the unfinished bottles we had aboard.<br />
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Here’s Fernando with the official Can Drac shirt in recognition for his generous hospitality. After all, Franc’s first offshore passage was with Fernando, while delivering one of his boats from Barcelona to Palma ten years ago. Now, after crossing an ocean, the student meets up with the master. What’s not to celebrate?<br />
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Today, as we leave the bay of Palma behind on our way to Barcelona, rain is still on the horizon. Only this time, the tornado has been replaced by a rainbow. September weather in Mallorca can be a hassle but there is also beauty in it some times.Between Italy and France: the Straits of Bonifaciotag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-09-16:900123:BlogPost:1095152009-09-16T07:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539797126?profile=original"></img></p>
There are certain things we take for granted on Can Drac. The fridge is one of them. We figured that out when a defrosting session went wrong. You see, when you use sharp knives to chip away at the ice forming around the freezer plates you run the risk of breaking something. So that’s what happened to us. Of course, nothing breaks during business hours when you are at a marina next to an expert that can fix it before your beer goes cold. For us, it…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539797126?profile=original" alt=""/></p>
There are certain things we take for granted on Can Drac. The fridge is one of them. We figured that out when a defrosting session went wrong. You see, when you use sharp knives to chip away at the ice forming around the freezer plates you run the risk of breaking something. So that’s what happened to us. Of course, nothing breaks during business hours when you are at a marina next to an expert that can fix it before your beer goes cold. For us, it happened on a Friday afternoon, in August (i.e. vacation month in Europe) and at anchor in a remote island.<br />
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After two days of begging for ice from our neighbors in the anchorage we were finally able to reach the folks at Vitrifrigo America in Florida early Monday morning. Special thanks to Doug and Dana for their excellent support and expedited shipment of the broken part!<br />
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The part came with our next guests: Jeff and Linda, who joined us again for a week. At the time, we were in the town of Cannigione, far from the megayachts and the glamorous scene that takes over this coast this time of year.<br />
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To celebrate their arrival our guests treated us to dinner at a peaceful waterfront restaurant called Entro Fuori Bordo, where chef Alberto recommended that we share a delicious sea bass for four.<br />
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On the way back to the boat we walked by the street markets, picking up a few hand made souvenirs along the way.<br />
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As August came to an end, we found that anchorages were not as crowded as before, while the weather remained superb. What a difference from just a week ago!<br />
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That peace and quiet allowed Linda to concentrate on her reading. She is preparing for a very important case and says there’s no better place for that than the cockpit of a sailboat. Who wants a big corner office when you can have a couple of cushions facing the crystal clear waters of Costa Smeralda?<br />
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In the mean time, Jeff discovered his new favorite summer drink in what Spaniards call a “clara”. No big secrets here: Just mix equal parts of ice cold beer and lemon soda and enjoy!<br />
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Thanks to another of Andrea’s exquisite fresh salads, the “claras” didn’t always fall on an empty stomach. Just take a look at that rich ménage of colors and flavors!<br />
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And then, to top it off, Linda ended up cooking us one of her signature vegetable omelets, just like she did on Sundays when we stayed at their house last December.<br />
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This week we also had the benefit of a full moon, rising over the horizon just before sunset.<br />
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What a perfect excuse for some lively “dancing in the moonlight” on the forward deck!<br />
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No matter how late we partied the night before, as soon as the sun was up, Linda and Andrea were out on the dinghy exploring each and every corner of these beautiful islands.<br />
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Between the rocks and the underwater grass, we found clear patches of white sand that made the water look like a swimming pool…<br />
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…except for the fact that we were not the only swimmers there!<br />
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<b>A la France, s’il vous plait!</b><br />
We didn’t realize how close the French island of Corsica is from Italy’s Sardinia until we saw it in the horizon. The Straits of Bonifacio are less than 7 miles wide. Perhaps that’s why they are known as a very treacherous waterway in high winds. Try squeezing the massive forces of a Mistral through that narrow passage and watch the surface winds increase substantially!<br />
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A trip across the Straits is never complete without a stop in the island of Lavezzi where a memorial commemorates the victims of the Semillante, which sank there in a storm in 1855 with over 700 souls on board.<br />
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But the sight that took our breath away was Bonifacio. No wonder these waters, the straits of Bonifacio, are named after this most magnificent port. This natural harbor is protected by high walls of rock on both sides and the town is perched upon a cliff. Talk about living on the edge!<br />
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As SeaKnots member and friend Art already warned in a comment on our previous blog, the entrance to this harbor is easy to miss. On our approach, we could see the classic yacht Kairos coming out so there was no mistaking the entrance for us. Unfortunately, a few days later we learned that this same yacht suffered a serious accident and hit a rock with such force that three of its guests suffered injuries to the head. We overheard most of the French Coast Guard rescue operation on the VHF. When we lost radio contact they were already taking the victims to a hospital but the boat was slowly sinking. We hope they are all OK by now and the boat was successfully salvaged!<br />
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Once inside the harbor, the atmosphere in Bonifacio is that of a French town. Cafes, bakeries and boutiques line up on the waterfront, just like they would on your typical Paris street.<br />
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But what’s really unique here is the citadel at the top of the mountain.<br />
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As you can surely appreciate, the view of the cliffs below is just magnificent, with all the jagged cliffs and the morning sun reflecting on the clear blue water.<br />
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From the little stores to the secluded cafes, each corner is filled with its own magic and charm.<br />
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It’s easy getting lost in these streets and wonder about what life was about hundreds of years ago when these walls were built and life on the water was a lot simpler.<br />
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And if after all that walking and shopping you end up working up an appetite, don’t worry: there are plenty of culinary choices here.<br />
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Being the wonderful tourists that they are, you can see Jeff and Linda in their new summer threads fresh off the shelves of Bonifacio.<br />
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As luck would have it, we ended up docked right next to the only charter boat in the harbor that was full of New Yorkers. What a small world! And what a hero of a captain they had: when we accidentally dropped the key for the water tank he jumped in and recovered it in one swift dive. Thanks!<br />
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<b>Hello Mistral</b><br />
After having spent so long in the Tyrrhenian sea, we had almost forgotten about the famous Mistral that occasionally whips the waters of the Western Med.<br />
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As soon as we saw the cigarette clouds in the afternoon sky we knew we were in for a couple of days of strong breeze. Back in the waters off Sardinia, the protection of the islands meant the waves were not too bad. Perhaps that’s why local dinghy races were not cancelled, despite the strong winds.<br />
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But when you are out on a small boat with sails that can’t be reefed there’s only one possible outcome of a strong gust. It was quite a show to see these poor kids being thrown in the water every five minutes.<br />
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And don’t think the wind gods spared the mighty megayachts either! Even the now familiar Maltese Falcon (the biggest private sailboat in the world) had to reef their colossal sails while racing in the same waters.<br />
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And speaking of megayachts: we thought we had seen it all until we witnessed a group of guests being dropped off by helicopter on this yacht. Who wants to sit in a limo in the middle of the mid-day beach traffic when you can get a ride on your vessel’s chopper??<br />
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<b>Arrivederci Italia!</b><br />
Once our guests disembarked on their way to explore Italy’s main land (Florence and Venice, we’re so jealous!), we started to make our way back towards the Balearics.<br />
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After crossing the Straits with a good breeze on our tail we landed in the town of Castelsardo, with its quaint town wrapped around the hill and a castle on top.<br />
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It was there that we met Richard and Willow from EcstaSea, only the second American boat we’ve seen in the Med the whole summer.<br />
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Today, as we look ahead at the last days of summer, we can almost see Barcelona in the horizon. But first, we’ll spend a few days in the Balearic Islands with Andrea’s brother Mikey as our VIP guest.<br />
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We are also very close to reaching our goal of raising enough money to build a water well for charity:water. If you have been reading our blog and haven’t made your donation yet, don’t wait any longer. Please, donate now at <a href="http://www.sailforwater.com" target="_blank">www.sailforwater.com</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Emerald waters in Sardiniatag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-08-23:900123:BlogPost:1040762009-08-23T14:53:08.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="245" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792651?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
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We are finally in Costa Smeralda; the north east coast of the island of Sardinia known for its emerald colored waters. Our plan was to spend our first few days on our own exploring the dozens of beautiful coves in this area. Instead, we fell in love with the very first cove we saw: Cala Coda di Cavallo.<br />
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It was not touted as being amongst the prettiest, yet it had it all: clear waters, all around…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792651?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="245"/></p>
<br />
We are finally in Costa Smeralda; the north east coast of the island of Sardinia known for its emerald colored waters. Our plan was to spend our first few days on our own exploring the dozens of beautiful coves in this area. Instead, we fell in love with the very first cove we saw: Cala Coda di Cavallo.<br />
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It was not touted as being amongst the prettiest, yet it had it all: clear waters, all around protection, beautiful sunsets. Why venture further when you’ve found what you were looking for?<br />
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Perhaps, the only drawback was how crowded the place gets during the day. But that’s to be expected on every cove in this area. It’s August in Europe, after all. Everyone is on vacation!<br />
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Crowded anchorages in Italy have some advantages, though: one of them is ice cream delivered right to your boat.<br />
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The other, for us was some interesting free entertainment:<br />
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<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
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<b>Meet Marta and Marc</b><br />
After a few days in Paradise, we had no choice but to move forward. Our friends Marta and Marc were coming to visit and we wanted to see more.<br />
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It was Marta’s first time cruising so we carried a big responsibility!<br />
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Marc, on the other hand, has many miles under his belt. He was our crew on the Costa Brava cruise where we got engaged in 2002 and has sailed on Drac Verd and Drac Blau numerous times. He is also the proud designer of the logo we’ve used on all the Dracs so we owe him big time!<br />
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<b>Exploring Costa Smeralda</b><br />
We got things started with a bottle of local bubbly as soon as they arrived from the airport. As this picture clearly shows, some people were in real need of a vacation in “the sun”! ☺<br />
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As soon as we went out to sea Marta got her first sailing lesson.<br />
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For someone who came aboard worried about seasickness, she did pretty well at the wheel!<br />
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She took us to beautiful new anchorages like Caprera’s Cala Garibaldi ...<br />
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...and famous harbors like Porto Cervo…<br />
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…where we got to cross paths with the big boys…<br />
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…and the “pretty” boys.<br />
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Marc and Marta had a chance to have fun at the table…<br />
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…in the water…<br />
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…under water…<br />
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…and of course, with each other.<br />
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<b>We got a swimmer!</b><br />
There was just no way to keep Marc on board for long, once the anchor was down. He was always the first one to jump in and the last one to come out of the water.<br />
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But Marc was not the only one to spend long hours in the water. Here’s Andrea swimming with the perfect Mediterranean backdrop.<br />
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Now that Marc and Marta have gone back to enjoy the rest of their vacation at home, it’s back to just the two of us for a while.<br />
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But sailing in these waters without our latest guests will always bring back the memories of this unforgettable week at sea.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539862583?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>Trapped by the magic of Sicilytag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-08-11:900123:BlogPost:1007912009-08-11T20:57:42.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="307" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539793791?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
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So much for “Destination: Sardinia”, as the last line on our previous blog post stated. That may have been our intention but the charm of Cefalu’s people was too strong a pull for us to leave behind. Once we delayed our departure, the weather window to cross the Tyrrhenian Sea was closed and Sardinia became out of the question for the week. So why did we end up staying as many as five nights on the hook in the same place (clearly a big departure from…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539793791?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="307"/></p>
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So much for “Destination: Sardinia”, as the last line on our previous blog post stated. That may have been our intention but the charm of Cefalu’s people was too strong a pull for us to leave behind. Once we delayed our departure, the weather window to cross the Tyrrhenian Sea was closed and Sardinia became out of the question for the week. So why did we end up staying as many as five nights on the hook in the same place (clearly a big departure from our usual pace)?<br />
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Well, it wasn’t because of our guests, Michael and Daniel. They showed up on time so we picked them up at the Porto Vecchio, right in the heart of town, as planned. They also made it clear that they were flexible with their schedule and willing to tag along wherever we decided to go.<br />
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It wasn’t until the next day that our plans changed. First we went to town to provision and introduced them to our new friends, Franco and Giovamaria from the local store that filled up our propane tank.<br />
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That turned out to be a group effort, since the refill would not have been possible without a critical part that Michael brought us from Connecticut. Big thanks to him and his boat’s captain Jeremy, who had to drive three hours to go pick it up in time for Michael’s flight!<br />
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Then we learned we had landed in Cefalu during the most important week of the year, when they celebrate the life of their patron saint, San Salvatore. With that came a whole set of events, including fireworks and a free dinner at the pier made with fresh pasta and local fresh fish. We couldn’t miss that, could we?<br />
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Especially after having been introduced to someone as welcoming as Laura, from Baltimore, married to Carmelo who was born and raised in Cefalu. Laura and Carmelo, together with their daughter Francesca (love the name, of course) have the fortune to spend at least a month a year in this charming little Italian town. So we stayed and let them be our hosts for the festivities.<br />
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<b>Back to the Aeolians, where we almost lost Can Drac</b><br />
Despite our delay, the time to say good-bye came much too soon. We may have missed our chance to return to Sardinia right away but the winds were perfect to go back to the Aeolian islands just 50 miles NE of Cefalu.<br />
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Of course, we didn’t leave empty handed. You just don’t leave the warmth of a Sicilian community without gifts from their own land. Giovamaria surprised us by not accepting payment for the gas refill and by giving us a nice basket full of fruits and vegetables from his own garden. He even threw in some caper seeds so we could grow our own once we settle back on land somewhere. Isn’t that generous? They saw Andrea, with her Sicilian heritage as one of their own and insisted on treating us like family, which really made us feel at home.<br />
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This time, the islands didn’t punish us with as much heat as the first time. Our second visit was actually rewarded with an almost constant breeze and occasional clouds covering the blazing sun.<br />
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And so we did our volcano tour again, sailing around Stromboli for the benefit of our guests. This time, the volcano with its constant puffs of smoke looked a bit less threatening. That was until we dared to get too close to stop for a swim.<br />
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Unlike most other anchorages, these volcanic islands have very steep shores shooting straight down to the depths of the Mediterranean. That makes anchoring tricky as it forces you to get very close shore to get a good hold. Unfazed by the challenge, we simply followed other boats’ example and chose a hole in the line of anchored boats. Well, it didn’t take long to realize why that spot was available. As we approached, we saw the depth abruptly jump from 80 to 13 feet. Then, right there, by our side, we all saw a massive rock in no less than 4 feet of water waiting to meet our keel. With all the power in our engine in reverse and the bow-thruster steering us away, we knew we could only pray that we hadn’t gone too far, too fast. Luckily, Can Drac started to slowly move away just inches before landing on top of the unforgiving edge of the volcano.<br />
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It was a close call. And it could have been the end of our trip. But we lived to see another anchorage!<br />
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That was also the turning point in our Med travels this season. Just like Antigua was the farthest South we went last winter, Stromboli is the farthest East we’ll go this summer. From now on, we’ll be traveling West. This time towards Barcelona.<br />
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<b>Seduced by the delights of local food</b><br />
When you travel with two gourmets like Michael and Daniel you know your senses are going to be rewarded. They have a talent for finding the way to best enjoy the culinary treats of the land they are visiting. So we got to experience that with them.<br />
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It wasn’t only in restaurants that we tried the most delicious dishes. We also got to shop for food in the most unlikely places, like the trucks that come to the streets of Cefalu directly from the nearby farms with fresh fruit and vegetables.<br />
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We tried the local meats…<br />
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…made fresh salads…<br />
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…and adorned even the simplest meals with the treasures of the local markets.<br />
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Of course, none of that tastes any good without washing it down with the best wines of the region. Below, you can see us tasting the delicious “vino dulce” we got as a gift from our friends in Barcelona.<br />
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It may not have been Italian but it sure is Mediterranean and it made for a fabulous dessert wine. This was definitely a week of delightful eating in the best of company.<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Sicily, the Aeolians and the search for family rootstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-08-02:900123:BlogPost:1002402009-08-02T09:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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It’s been two weeks for us on these beautiful islands in the South of Italy. Two weeks of flat seas, blurry horizons and the strongest heat we’ve experienced so far on this trip.<br />
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Ever since we arrived the passages have been short and we’ve had plenty of time to cool off by swimming and relaxing just like ever other European on vacation.<br />
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<b>Searching our…</b>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539793293?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
<br />
It’s been two weeks for us on these beautiful islands in the South of Italy. Two weeks of flat seas, blurry horizons and the strongest heat we’ve experienced so far on this trip.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539815237?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="300"/></p>
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Ever since we arrived the passages have been short and we’ve had plenty of time to cool off by swimming and relaxing just like ever other European on vacation.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539815379?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="284"/></p>
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<b>Searching our Italian roots</b><br />
For the last week, we’ve enjoyed again the company of family: Andrea’s parents (special thanks to Lu for her help organizing their arrival from Palermo!). With them, we went in search of relatives of Andrea’s grandfather, born in Patti, a small town by the water in Sicily.<br />
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To our surprise, the day we arrived was the celebration of Santa Febronia, the patron saint of Patti. Because of that, we were able to participate in the annual procession that carries the saint’s statue and relics all over the town.<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.7.2%3A25007" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A100213%26ck%3D-&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#06F8F8" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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The following day, Father Enzo, the priest in charge of the Cattedrale de San Bartolomeo was the first to help by diving into the church’s records for wedding or baptism records.<br />
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Our search also took us to the cemetery where we think Andrea’s great grandfather is buried. However, the cemetery records didn’t go back far enough.<br />
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So from there, the priest took us to city hall, where the secretary of the mayor led us to the city archive for further research. She even took it upon herself to call every resident sharing the last name until she can find a distant relative.<br />
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That’s when we learned that Andrea’s maternal last name is indeed, originally from Patti so it wasn’t hard to find others sharing it. Here, Andrea and her mother are posing next to two guys with the exact same first and last name as Andrea’s grandfather.<br />
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One person in particular was very interested in our search. His name is Nino and he owns a pizzeria, focacceria and hotel by the water. After sharing our family tree with him he was convinced that he knew a distant cousin of Andrea’s mother and is trying to get in touch with her now.<br />
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So we haven’t yet found the direct descendants of those in Andrea’s family that stayed in Italy when her great grandparents left for America but we have three new allies in our search.<br />
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What we know is that this will clearly not be the last time we visit the town that bears the Italian roots in Andrea’s family. Our search for family history has just began.<br />
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While in Patti, we also took the time to do some provisioning in the local stores, some of which have been around for many years. Luckily, the fruits and vegetables hadn’t and were fresh and tasty like nothing we’ve tried before.<br />
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<b>Escape to the Aeolians</b><br />
After a few days on land we were eager to get back out on the water. This time, we chose the seven islands just under 20 miles off the Sicily coast called Aeolians. Careful to avoid the hydrofoil ferries so popular in this area, we made our way to Lipari, the main island in the archipelago.<br />
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We anchored right in front of the center of town, which is filled with small local fishing boats, just like it's been for decades.<br />
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There, we found a nice little restaurant off the beaten path with a nice terrace, excellent pasta and fresh fish.<br />
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<b>Volcanos and jellyfish: up close and personal</b><br />
One of the most amazing sights of this impressive set of islands is Stromboli, apparently the only active volcano in Europe right now.<br />
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Stromboli’s last eruption was only two years ago, but every 20 minutes or so, a burp of smoke can be seen coming off the top. Not the most comforting feeling when sailing by on a slow moving sailboat…<br />
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The rock formations in these volcanic islands were nothing short of spectacular. Right behind that perforated cape in Salina we found one of the most beautiful coves in the Mediterranean.<br />
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The cove at Pollara, of the movie “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Il-Postino-Massimo-Troisi/dp/6305291403/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249204273&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Postman</a>” fame, still has the small storage space for local fishing boats with ramps going out to the water that have been used for hundreds of years.<br />
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It also has some long-tentacled friendly residents ready to give you a stingy hug if you get close enough!<br />
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But of course, that didn’t deter us from jumping in the water and swimming in those transparent turquoise waters. As long as we kept a careful jellyfish watch, the danger was manageable.<br />
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<b>Cefalu, true Sicilian charm by the water</b><br />
We chose the quaint coastal town of Cefalu as our final destination in Sicily for its charm and proximity to Palermo and its airport.<br />
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We already made a stop in Celfalu on our way to Patti. But no matter how many times we come back to this town, we always find something new to admire in its narrow streets and friendly people.<br />
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When Andrea’s parents left us on their way to exploring Rome and the Vatican, our new guests were already on their way, so off we go on our new sailing adventure with them. Destination: Sardinia.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539875571?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="312"/></p>In the Med, in the news, in the tabloidstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-07-24:900123:BlogPost:995852009-07-24T21:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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Yes, I know, it’s been a while. But our trip didn’t end with an ocean crossing. We still have a long way to go before we reach Barcelona, especially since we plan to spend a few weeks exploring some of Italy’s most fascinating islands.<br />
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So after a surprise going-away-breakfast organized by Josh and Giulia (now crew on s/v Gray Lady) we left Lagos for the Mediterranean sea.<br />
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But we were not to leave…
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Yes, I know, it’s been a while. But our trip didn’t end with an ocean crossing. We still have a long way to go before we reach Barcelona, especially since we plan to spend a few weeks exploring some of Italy’s most fascinating islands.<br />
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So after a surprise going-away-breakfast organized by Josh and Giulia (now crew on s/v Gray Lady) we left Lagos for the Mediterranean sea.<br />
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But we were not to leave Portugal without an unexpected visit. This time it was the Portuguese coast guard that decided to board us while we were underway. Unfortunately, the skipper of the patrol boat’s tender was in training and as you can see below, well… let’s just say he could use a few more lessons (and we could use some help cleaning up the marks he left on our stern!)<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.7.1%3A24936" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A98394%26ck%3D-&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#06F8F8" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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Once we were cleared to proceed we finally aimed our bows to the Strait of Gibraltar, leaving Africa to starboard and Europe to Port. We were blessed with a favorable current and calm winds; at least until we passed Gibraltar, where 24 hours of Westerlies pushed us deep into Mediterranean waters.<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.7.1%3A24936" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A98371%26ck%3D-&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#06F8F8" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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<b>In the news</b><br />
Our first official stop in Franc’s home country was in a new marina called Puerto Juan Montiel in Aguilas. Our arrival had been arranged by our friend Juancri who made sure we were greeted like heroes by the general manager of the marina as well as by TV cameras and local press eager to learn more about our trip and our cause.<br />
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And to top it off, the cava they brought to toast our arrival was from Peralada, the castle where we got engaged seven years ago. How thoughtful!<br />
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Below is a clip broadcast in the local news that day.<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.7.1%3A24936" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A97704%26ck%3D-&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#06F8F8" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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But the real treat for us was meeting the new addition to Juancri’s family: Blanca, who wasted to time in joining our crew and dutifully donned the official Can Drac hat.<br />
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Our welcome was not about to end at the marina, though. Soon after we arrived, Juancri and Lourdes invited us over to their house where Juancri’s mother treated us to a true Spanish home-cooked meal that will be remembered for a very long time.<br />
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<b>In the tabloids</b><br />
From Aguilas we sailed (I should actually say motored) straight to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands where we had a chance to meet up with our celebrity friends, stay at their house for a night and eat lobster paella at one of our favorite restaurants in the Med: el Moli de la Sal in Formentera.<br />
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What we didn’t expect was to be caught by the paparazzi. Those guys sure know how to hide because we had no idea our friends were being watched while they sunbathed on our deck. It only took a few days for photos to show up all over the Spanish gossip press. Sorry guys. Next time we’ll find a more secluded cove!<br />
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<b>Can Drac goes to the spa</b><br />
From the Balearics, we took a quick detour and sailed (I mean, motored) to Club Nautic Balis, home of Can Drac’s cousin Drac Blau, where a nice treat was awaiting. Can Drac got to spend some R&R time at the yard getting the hull cleaned, new bottom paint and a thorough engine inspection.<br />
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And we got to spend some quality time with family and the friends that came over for an impromptu barbecue.<br />
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Some even brought us gifts. Just look at Bruno and Natalia’s can of Spanish olives with their own custom art, dragon included!<br />
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Of course, with Andrea’s birthday just a few days away, there was lots of singing and even a cake in her honor.<br />
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We ended up spending a whole week at Can Carreras in St Vicenç, sleeping full nights (no watches!) on a real bed firmly attached to solid land.<br />
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During those days we took some time to provision from the local markets and stores. Take a look at Andrea buying white wine straight from the barrel in Can Figueras.<br />
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During these lazy relaxing days we also started researching the Italian coast and were able to acquire some valuable local knowledge from Llorenç and Tere from s/v Esprit de Vignemale, currently docked in Cagliari.<br />
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Likewise, a few days later we got even more recommendations from JuanRa and Pili from s/v Paladin, who had just returned from a circumnavigation of Sardinia. Thanks for all the tips and great advice!<br />
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<b>Last Spanish port of call: Menorca</b><br />
Before making the hop to Italian waters we stopped in Menorca, where family friends Freddy and Vicky welcomed us with open arms. This visit gave us the opportunity to give Freddy the gift we had been carrying for him since we visited the Dominican Republic, where he grew up. It was his father’s flute, built more than 100 years ago and recently found by his aunt Manolita in the house where his parents once lived.<br />
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As expected, Menorca didn’t disappoint, its turquoise waters and magnificent coves just as charming as always.<br />
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But we couldn’t stay long. Italy was awaiting and the weather window was wide open so we said our good byes and left for the first port in a very long time, where nobody would be waiting for us. No Olivier and Fionn from World Cruising Club, no friends or family, no press and of course, NO FISH! :-(<br />
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Just a whole new country to discover from scratch!<br />
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Andiamo! a la Italia!The story of our Atlantic crossingtag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-06-23:900123:BlogPost:957722009-06-23T07:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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After our first long offshore passage (Tortola to Bermuda) we finally faced the crossing of the Atlantic ocean on the morning of May 20. Coincidentally, Aunt Carol, Uncle Joe and not-so-little Joey were visiting Bermuda on a cruise ship and thanks to Bermudian (and Sailforwater.com sponsor) Joanne Kippax we were not alone that day. She had the courtesy to pick them up in Hamilton and drive them all the way to our dock to see us off on the Big Day!…
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After our first long offshore passage (Tortola to Bermuda) we finally faced the crossing of the Atlantic ocean on the morning of May 20. Coincidentally, Aunt Carol, Uncle Joe and not-so-little Joey were visiting Bermuda on a cruise ship and thanks to Bermudian (and Sailforwater.com sponsor) Joanne Kippax we were not alone that day. She had the courtesy to pick them up in Hamilton and drive them all the way to our dock to see us off on the Big Day! Thank you, Joanne!! You're truly amazing!<br />
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The start through the Town Cut under sail was spectacular and the 18 days we spent at sea were full of adventure. Watch the video below to see what our life was like every day, our autopilot drama and how we traded engine oil for some much needed fuel in the high seas:<br />
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<b>First stop in Europe</b><br />
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Being on land after 18 days at sea was real treat. We spent a few days rafted up in Horta, prisoners of Mid-Atlantic Yacht Services’ busy schedule, just like everyone else that was waiting for some repair.<br />
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To make matters worse, once the repairs were done and we were finally free to leave we dropped a vital screw inside the mast driving us to desperation. You see, that day all stores were closed due to Portugal Day. Little did we know that the solution to our problem was sitting just a few feet away in Mike’s “bag of screws” on Private Affair’s spares box. Ah, the wonders of crusing in great company!<br />
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Horta is also known for the artwork left behind by crews that have been there before. The whole marina is covered in paintings, some of which are real works of art. Where was Marc Fuste (the designer of the Can Drac logo) when we needed him most?<br />
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Another of the highlights for us was meeting Peter from Peter’s Café Sport, the most famous watering hole for sailors in the whole Atlantic Ocean. As you can see below, he was kind enough to post one of the flags we flew all the way across the ocean for everyone to see.<br />
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<b>The last leg: five days of Force 8 winds!</b><br />
Despite the Azores being our first European port of call, we still had another 800 miles of Atlantic Ocean to cover before reaching the mainland and we decided to bring some family along for the ride. Franc’s dad and brother, Lluis and Marc signed up right away, not knowing that could be the toughest leg of all…<br />
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And it was! They wished they had brought their thermals instead of bathing suits. We had a fantastic start proudly flying our baby spinnaker out of Ponta Delgada but soon the wind started to climb the Beaufort scale all the way to the high 30s and the going got tough.<br />
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The night of June 15 will be one to remember for life. That was when the waves started to build to match the strong winds. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luxury to turn and run with the wind because we had to stay North of the rhumb line to avoid the treacherous waters over the Josephine sea mountain.<br />
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This meant we had to sail close hauled all the way. We were dealt five days of constant pounding, much longer than ever before. In fact, some of the yachts that were returning home from sailing the World ARC Rally said they had never had to endure a leg this tough in any of the oceans they crossed during their whole circumnavigation.<br />
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Oh, and did we mention we didn’t catch any fish? We must have lost our mojo because all we saw was a calamari that decided to commit suicide on our deck. I don’t blame him. It was really rough out there!<br />
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<b>Dinner and a movie</b><br />
All it took was for the wind and seas to calm down a bit on the last night for us to go back to our usual cruising habits. As soon as we had a chance, we grilled some steaks and potatoes and played a movie for the crew that was off-watch.<br />
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What a difference it makes when your whole world stops rocking violently and you can finally enjoy some rest out on the water!<br />
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<b>Fog ho!</b><br />
The last morning was expected to bring us the long awaited “land ho” moment. Apparently, Cabo San Vicente, the South West tip of the Iberian Peninsula is a spectacular sight.<br />
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Instead, all we saw was the profile of a mountain below the sun as it rose, before a thick fog took over and covered our view all the way to the breakwater in Lagos. Oh well…<br />
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What matters is that we did it. It’s done! We’ve crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Some people only dare to dream of a challenge of that caliber. Others give up somewhere along the way. We just did it and no one can take that away from us. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t always fun. But it was all worth it!<br />
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If you want a 4 minute visual summary of this leg take a look the video below. As the lyrics go: It started as “a beautiful day” and ended with “the moment we’d been waiting all our lives”:<br />
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<b>Finally in the Old Continent</b><br />
Once we were all tied up at Marina de Lagos, all we could think was long showers, drinks that don’t spill and a full night sleep! Here are our friends Mike and Pat from Private Affair, bruised from a tough passage, holding a bottle of Catalan cava that Andrea decorated with band-aids.<br />
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Considering the damage other boats sustained during this leg, we must say we are quite proud of Can Drac’s performance. Everyone had some challenge along the way and so did we. One of the two bolts that holds the port back stay failed but we caught it during our routine rig inspections and were able to remove the pressure before the mast had a chance to come crashing down. It was a close call but all is well that ends well!<br />
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<b>If I had a dime for every friend we made…</b><br />
When you have a chance to share an experience like this with other cruisers, going your separate ways is always tough. That’s why we decided to have some friends over for some good wine and live music on the last night before the closing ceremony of the ARC Europe Rally. Want to take a guess of how many people we can fit in our cockpit? Nope. More… Keep trying… Higher…. Yep: 26 people!!<br />
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Special thanks to all who purchased charity: water bracelets to support our cause on this very magical night!<br />
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The last official event of the rally brought us a wine tasting, prizes and many heart-felt good byes. We must thank World Cruising Club for organizing such a unique adventure, for always being there for us and for recognizing our efforts to document our adventure with the Oscar for Best Motion Picture!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>First leg of the rally, Tortola to Bermudatag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-05-20:900123:BlogPost:833872009-05-20T01:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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We never intended to race. But as we set off on the first leg of the ARC Europe rally, we could not resist the challenge of a good start. Over two dozen boats eager to cross a short line between a committee boat and an orange buoy at the sound of a horn was sure to be exciting!<br />
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So we came out of the marina early and picked the best angle; one that would give us right of way and put us at the right place at the right time. Sure enough, our…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785860?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="300"/></p>
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We never intended to race. But as we set off on the first leg of the ARC Europe rally, we could not resist the challenge of a good start. Over two dozen boats eager to cross a short line between a committee boat and an orange buoy at the sound of a horn was sure to be exciting!<br />
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So we came out of the marina early and picked the best angle; one that would give us right of way and put us at the right place at the right time. Sure enough, our calculations proved to be right and as you can see above and on Andrea’s face, we went out front and center!<br />
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Of course, our conservative choice of sails and an autopilot issue soon placed us in the middle of the pack but unlike other more aggressive participants we made landfall with our rig and sails intact.<br />
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Watch this video to see the start in real time and get a sense of what life was like aboard Can Drac during this leg.<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.1.5%3A22017" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A82966%26ck%3D946984961&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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<b>Meet crewmate Bill</b><br />
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What does it take to go offshore for days on end with a married couple you barely know? It takes an appetite for adventure, tons of patience and a big sense of humor. And those are things Bill has plenty of! Poor man didn’t know what he was getting into; spending his birthday away from friends and family and in the middle of the miserable weather we had on our first day out. But hey, he seems to want to keep going so we still have a full crew after 5.5 days and 850 miles at sea!<br />
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<b>In the skipper’s words: Bermuda Triangle or simple logic?</b><br />
<i>The muscles in my arms were starting to hurt. Both hands on the wheel, trying to keep the boat straight in 25knots of wind with big swells on the beam was beginning to take a toll. Perhaps it was because I’d been at the wheel for hours. But all I could think was one thing: should we turn back? is this it? so many months preparing for this transatlantic rally and right there, on our first day, the thought of abandoning was haunting me.<br />
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The reason was simple: the autopilot was incapable of keeping a straight course. Every time we set it, the boat slowly turned to port and never came back.<br />
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The prospect of hand steering non-stop for six days was a daunting one, even for the three of us. Yet, neither Andrea nor Bill ever brought up the possibility of abandoning, despite still being close to land where the issue could be fixed. I knew they both had faith in our ability to sort it out underway. So I set aside all thoughts about abandoning and got to work on the problem.<br />
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After hours of sifting through all the manuals and trying different ideas we were clearly going nowhere fast. And then we had a Eureka moment. Earlier in the day we had noticed that the chart plotter was showing us pointing a few degrees in the wrong direction. We had already adjusted for it by recalibrating the system but we had never found the cause.<br />
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Now that the autopilot was also failing we knew it had to be related. That's what lead us to the autopilot's own compass which we knew was hidden away somewhere.<br />
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But where was it?<br />
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Well, that turned out to be the key that solved the mystery. As soon as we traced the cables from the autopilot we realized what was happening. It turns out that this sensitive piece of equipment is installed inside the closet in the aft cabin that we usually use for gear storage.<br />
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But we had just turned that into Bill's cabin and in an effort to make it comfortable for him, we had placed a large electric fan on top of the cabinet. Of course, as soon as we moved the fan away from the compass, all our autopilot problems went away. Apparently, the electric motor inside was acting as a magnet confusing the autopilot's compass enough to throw us off course. Sorry, Bill! No fan for you on this trip!</i><br />
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<b>Life offshore</b><br />
After the drama with the autopilot ended and Can Drac finally stayed on course, we got into the offshore rhythm and days started to go by easy.<br />
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The sailing was uncomfortable at first but as the wind and waves eased and we finally got our sea legs, the motion became more tolerable. At night the full moon helped our visibility, but not that of the ever-present flying fish that keep crashing into us at night! Luckily, this time they stayed away from our faces hitting only the window of the dodger or just plain flying over our heads.<br />
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Our watches began shortly after sunset, starting with Franc, who stayed up until 11pm. Then Bill and Andrea took over for 3 hours each until Franc returned for a second watch before sunrise. At 8am we would take our position and report it to rally control via satellite and to the fleet via radio. Then we would set our fishing line and do our best to enjoy the day underway.<br />
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Of course, it’s when you most need fresh fish that you don’t get any, and when you least expect it that you catch something. After a month in the Virgin Islands with a useless fishing permit we were craving mahi-mahis like never before. Instead, we found a sea full of Sargasso weed and no fish.<br />
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What we did see was an interesting kind of jellyfish called Portuguese Man-o-war that looks like a blown up plastic bag floating with the wind.<br />
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What appears to be plastic is actually a natural sail that allows them to move on a broad reach instead of simply downwind. Despite their beauty, however, these innocent looking creatures pack a deadly sting that is best avoided. As you can imagine, any thought of swimming was quickly discarded by all on board.<br />
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Lacking access to fresh fish we had no choice but to resort to chicken, sausages, pasta and other stores.<br />
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Cooking under way wasn’t always comfortable or easy but we got by. It was hard to properly celebrate a birthday and a wedding anniversary at sea but we made sure we had a big dinner as soon as we set foot on dry land.<br />
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Once the waves of the first two days subsided we kept ourselves entertained by doing lots of reading. We also took the opportunity to try our new spinnaker in light airs. The test was a success and now we have one more tool to tackle the North Atlantic during our upcoming crossing.<br />
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<b>Breakage, emergencies and other dramas</b><br />
During this first leg, three boats participating in our rally had to return to Tortola: two due to gear failure and the other due to a medical emergency. But it wasn’t until we received a call from our friends on s/v Private Affair that we realized how easy it is to get into trouble at sea. They were motoring just a few miles ahead of us when a fishing net got caught on their propeller. They were 400 miles from land, drifting without wind and with a dead engine so they called us to make sure we stood by while they attempted to sort out the problem.<br />
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We immediately deviated from our course and approached them but by the time we got there it was clear that the only way to solve the issue was with the use of diving bottles, which we didn’t have. Fortunately, s/v Quasar was also close by and had a diver on board with all the necessary equipment. It was a heroic mission of quick underwater work by an experienced crew that certainly knew what they were doing so all we could do was stay close until Private Affair was free.<br />
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Aside from the autopilot incident, we only had one brief moment of near panic. It all started when Andrea uttered the words that put all offshore sailors on their toes: “Honey, there is water over the floorboards on the cabin sole”. Fortunately, it was only a trickle and once we traced it we found it came from one of our reserve fresh water jugs.<br />
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<b>Arriving in Bermuda</b><br />
After several pleasant days at sea, approaching Bermuda felt more like a drag than a relief. The sky turned gray, we hit some rain and the wind got cold and turned on our nose, as if pushing us away. No wonder their most popular drink is called Dark & Stormy! Fortunately, Andrea was able to prepare a warm meal that made our night approach more bearable.<br />
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We have to admit we were actually tempted to veer East and keep going to the Azores but we knew it would be a mistake. We would have missed the charm of what we now call Sunny England. St George’s Harbour, where we are currently moored looks like a small English town on a sunny tropical island, something we haven’t seen in any of the British islands we’ve seen so far.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539791205?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="379"/></p>
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Thanks to the recommendation from SeaKnots member and Sailforwater sponsor Dan from s/v Another Miracle we were fortunate to have Sandra, Mark and Francis from Bermuda Yacht Services make us feel at home on their floating dock. It was there that we first attempted a med mooring using our own anchor and we’re very proud to say we did it on our first try!. Special thanks goes to Francis and his guidance from the dock. We were also very lucky to be there because they went far out of their way to make a last minute warranty rudder reinforcement on Can Drac. If it wasn't for Bruce at Winters Sailing Center and the guys at Bremuda Yacht Services we would be facing a delay on the start of Leg 2.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539791430?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="351"/></p>
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Our stay in Bermuda was full of fun activities organized by Fionn and Olie from Rally Control: from a fish fry and rum tasting to a visit to Bermuda Harbour Radio (the island’s vessel traffic control and rescue coordination center). Additionally, a special highlight for us was briefly meeting up with Hank Schmitt from Offshore Passage Opportunities, who was also in the harbor on his Swan called Avocation. He was not only the one who introduced us to crew mate Bill, but also one of our first Sailforwater.com sponsors and for that we’ll always be grateful.<br />
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<b>Andrea wins an award for Saildforwater.com</b><br />
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During our stay in Bermuda, our last stop this side of the Atlantic, Andrea took the time to fly back to New York to pick up an award for her efforts with Sail For Water. This was awarded by the mayor of the town of Aberdeen during “Women’s History Month” to women who make extraordinary contributions to society. We thank all of you who sponsored our cause because you are the ones making this project a success.<br />
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During her visit to Aberdeen she was asked to address the students of Mattawan High School so she played some charity:water videos and explained our project. She was particularly impressed by the depth of the many questions she was asked. Of course, she was also able to squeeze in some quality time to get together with her loving family one more time before the big passage.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539791886?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="300"/></p>
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<b>Ready for the Atlantic crossing</b><br />
The time has come. There is no turning back, now. Tomorrow we leave on what will be our longest sail for a very long time. We’ll start on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and hopefully end on the other. Close to 2,000 miles and about two weeks separate us from our goal. We are ready and excited and want to share it with you day by day. That’s why we plan to send a brief e-mail every day to each and every one of you who has contributed to our cause.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792041?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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Now you can also send us brief messages (150 characters only) for free while we are at sea by emailing 881631649150@msg.iridium.com<br />
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And if you want to follow our progress over the water, our position will be updated daily at <a href="http://www.worldcruising.com/arceurope/viewer.aspx">http://www.worldcruising.com/arceurope/viewer.aspx</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Last days in the Virginstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-05-06:900123:BlogPost:811832009-05-06T11:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="291" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785104?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
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What do you do if you only have a week left in Paradise? You call your family and have one last party in the Sun! So that’s what we did with our last few days in the Virgin Islands. We had George and MaryAnn (Andrea’s parents) on board for a week and went back to our favorite spots, as well as some new ones.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="212" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785306?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
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We treated ourselves to great meals like lunch at the Deadman’s Beach Bar and Grill at the Peter…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785104?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="291"/></p>
<br />
What do you do if you only have a week left in Paradise? You call your family and have one last party in the Sun! So that’s what we did with our last few days in the Virgin Islands. We had George and MaryAnn (Andrea’s parents) on board for a week and went back to our favorite spots, as well as some new ones.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785306?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="212"/></p>
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We treated ourselves to great meals like lunch at the Deadman’s Beach Bar and Grill at the Peter Island Resort.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785572?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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And we introduced MaryAnn to her new favorite drink: the Painkiller.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792139?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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There was also time for mother-daughter moments…<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792419?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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…and foot-massages.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792557?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="241"/></p>
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Day reading…<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539794479?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="340"/></p>
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…and night reading.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539800273?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="320"/></p>
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In fact, we soon found our perfect daily routine: We would look for a good beach to spend the day…<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539800406?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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…and a happy hour to spend the evening.<br />
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One of the most entertaining ones was Michael Beans’ show at Marina Cay. His pirate inspired songs and never ending “aaaaarrrss” made for a fun-filled night of music and rum. And yes, Mary Ann was having her favorite drink, the Painkillaaaarrrr.<br />
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But of course, it wasn’t all partying and relaxing. Watch George going to work, picking up a mooring…<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539824608?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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…and Andrea playing “taxi-driver” each time we dinghied ashore.<br />
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As you know by now, there is no better way to describe a week on Can Drac than with a short video:<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.0.12%3A21498" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A81147%26ck%3D198913898&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
We are glad we were able to share pieces of our trip with family.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539830248?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="237"/></p>
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We miss you already and cannot wait to see you in the Med!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539830559?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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<b>On to new waters</b><br />
Throughout the week, there was always one thing in the back of our minds. We knew the fun in the Sun was not going to last forever.<br />
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The storms in the horizon were a clear reminder that the time to leave the area was getting near. Hurricane season is just around the corner and although we like our wind to get us moving, we have no interest in experiencing one of those first hand!<br />
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So, after toasting with our fellow friends and cruisers at Soper's Hole, we set our minds on the next phase of our trip.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539859500?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="267"/></p>
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As we leave on the first leg of our Atlantic crossing this week, we’ll be thinking of all of you who have been taking the time to follow our travels, leaving us your comments and wishing us well.<br />
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Keep up the prayers and the good vibes and if you are a sponsor of Sailforwater.com, stay tuned to our daily ocean reports starting tomorrow. If you’re not yet a sponsor, donate now so you can get our daily reports on our next leg!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Sisters in Paradisetag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-05-02:900123:BlogPost:805732009-05-02T20:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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Ladies and gentlemen, please, welcome Sharyn, this week’s blog star and our guest for the past few days. Sharyn is Andrea’s sister and as you’ll see below she is an expert sailor, a brave swimmer and she sure knows how to party!<br />
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We spent Sharyn’s first night by Cooper Island, where we met up again with our friends Debby and Bob from Chimayo, just in time for Happy Hour.<br />
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We hadn’t seen them since Luperon,…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539782825?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
<br />
Ladies and gentlemen, please, welcome Sharyn, this week’s blog star and our guest for the past few days. Sharyn is Andrea’s sister and as you’ll see below she is an expert sailor, a brave swimmer and she sure knows how to party!<br />
<br />
We spent Sharyn’s first night by Cooper Island, where we met up again with our friends Debby and Bob from Chimayo, just in time for Happy Hour.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539783166?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="325"/></p>
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We hadn’t seen them since Luperon, where Andrea and Debby were queens of karaoke for a night so we had a lot of stories to exchange. The next day, we all went to the Baths at Virgin Gorda together. The baths are an unusual formation of granite boulders where the sea washes in creating natural pools. The water is often sparkling with the light that filters in through the rocks creating some interesting dramatic effects.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784455?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="357"/></p>
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Later in the day, Sharyn took the wheel and sailed Can Drac to the North Sound of Virgin Gorda, where we spent a couple of days relaxing at anchor in our favorite spot, a shallow patch between the Bitter End and Biras Creek.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784689?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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Appetite for island food and our adventurous spirit took us to the Mangrove Trail leading to Fat Virgin’s Cafe. Not surprisingly, our hike on the wild side of Virgin Gorda didn’t lack excitement. See the video below for a vivid illustration:<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.0.12%3A21498" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A80251%26ck%3D167833703&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
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Of course, we were not about to do that long scary walk again so swimming to the boat became the best alternative. Although, as you can see below, perhaps walking would have been a “safer” option…<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.0.12%3A21498" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A80548%26ck%3D206056753&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
Back on board, and safe from all land and marine dangers, Sharyn did something she hasn’t done in a very long time: read a book. Cover to cover in just four days!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784916?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="308"/></p>
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That afternoon we paid a visit to Saba Rock, the smallest inhabited island in the area where we got a glimpse of the wild life in the sound. No more swimming after that!<br />
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So soon we were sailing again, setting course towards Norman Island, which is very close to the South Drop, where deep-water fishing is possible.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539785805?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="501"/></p>
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So we tried and we tried but luck was not on our side this time. Seems that paying for the fishing permit for the BVIs is the worst investment we’ve made in a very long time. Luckily, here in the islands they have the best remedy against such woes. They call it rum and they serve it in buckets!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786079?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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But of course, our nights of partying weren’t just about tasting island spirits. Sharyn is very creative. Take our visit to the Last Resort in Trellis Bay, for example. There, Andrea was able to persuade the band to play Billy Joel (took a few tries!) while Sharyn persuaded the singer to take a break and took over the stage. We’re not making this up! We have pictures to prove it!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786330?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="305"/></p>
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Whether it was singing, drinking, swimming, fishing, reading, tanning or sailing, Sharyn didn’t do that alone this week. Just like sisters in paradise, she shared all of that with Andrea, making this dream vacation one to be remembered for a very, very loooong time.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786504?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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Wish you could join us in Europe too, Sharyn and thanks for your donation!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Trading guests for dolphins and pigeonstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-04-24:900123:BlogPost:791892009-04-24T21:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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This week was our last chance to be alone on Can Drac for a long time. So we spent it chilling out in Marigot, discovering Anguilla and sailing back to the British Virgin Islands, where we’ll welcome family visits right until we pick up our crew for the crossing.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="338" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789046?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
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We spent Easter weekend in Marigot, on the French side of St Martin and attended a local church on Easter Sunday.…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788897?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="320"/></p>
<br />
This week was our last chance to be alone on Can Drac for a long time. So we spent it chilling out in Marigot, discovering Anguilla and sailing back to the British Virgin Islands, where we’ll welcome family visits right until we pick up our crew for the crossing.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789046?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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We spent Easter weekend in Marigot, on the French side of St Martin and attended a local church on Easter Sunday.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789535?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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It was also in Marigot that we finally met up with our mentor in full-time cruising. Michael, owner of the 57 foot Splendido, who was also on his way North in the company of Jeremy, his full-time Captain.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789632?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="317"/></p>
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Michael was the one that shared his first-hand experience and patiently answered all our questions during the outfitting of Can Drac. He not only provides us with useful advice and valuable recommendations but also with great inspiration. He was also the one that introduced us to Tni and David, from S/V Rosario, who followed almost our same course just two years ago on a very similar boat so we have a lot to be thankful to him for.<br />
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You can see Michael and Jeremy in their favorite hangout in Marigot: the best French bakery in the Caribbean.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790216?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="338"/></p>
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And you can see Jeremy climbing Can Drac’s mast and signing the article he wrote for Crew Life magazine. Go Jeremy!<br />
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Of course, Splendido is never complete without Daniel aboard so we are very much looking forward to meeting up with the whole crew later on this month.<br />
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Read more about Splendido’s team and their charters by checking out their SeaKnots page <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profile/Splendido57">here</a>.<br />
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We’ve really enjoyed the French islands in the Caribbean despite their particular and unusual habits. We’d never seen a marina that closes for lunch, for example. Try to find help to dock stern-to sideways to the trade winds at a French marina at 1pm and you’ll know what we mean.<br />
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It was also surprising to learn of the new policies at local supermarkets. Using the protection of the environment as an excuse they stopped using plastic bags. But instead of replacing them with recyclable paper bags or any other green solution the only alternative to bringing your own bags is buying theirs for $1 each. Sounds like a cost-cutting/revenue-generating scheme at the expense of the environment!<br />
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Of course, their cheeses, baguette bread and fresh croissants more than make up for those idiosyncrasies so we decided against a boycott of French supermarkets, for now.<br />
<b><br />
Downwind to Anguilla</b><br />
Anguilla, in the British West Indies, is an island just under 10 miles North of St Martin known for its fine dining and unspoiled natural beauty. We decided to skip the fine dining and concentrate on the natural beauty.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790494?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="313"/></p>
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Our sail was short and pleasant and mostly downwind. The biggest surprise was seeing our first pod of dolphins since leaving Florida. Dolphin visits are always exhilarating so we thought we’d share this one with you:<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.0.11%3A21171" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A78675%26ck%3D1399783483&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://shop.myplay.com/Free/A/B001T4MT64.htm?utm_medium=d2c-website&utm_source=gavindegrawo">Music by Gavin DeGraw</a></small><br/>
Once we got there we went to clear in and met Anita, whom we’d read about on an article that talked about the day she had to process about 100 passports from the Manhattan Sailing Club Caribbean Regatta. Being former members, the story caught our eye so she was very impressed that we knew all about her and made our check in easy and quick.<br />
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We spent a day visiting the best anchorages on the island and saw Brown Booby birds fighting for their pray at Prickley Pear and after relaxing on the beach for some time, we snorkeled around hundreds of fish by Little Bay.<br />
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<b>Back to the Virgins</b><br />
Our final passage before the crossing took us from Anguilla back to the British Virgin Islands and featured two unexpected visits.<br />
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First a couple of birds that after circling the boat for a few minutes decided to land aboard to take a break. We were probably their only option as there was no land or other boats anywhere close. They looked like city pigeons, which made us think they might have come from very far away. They were either very accustomed to humans or extremely tired because they let us get close enough to touch them before taking flight again.<br />
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Our next visitor was a cutter from the US Coast Guard. They intercepted us when we were still in international waters and questioned us in that authoritative tone that makes you feel like a material witness on the stand.<br />
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We expected that when entering the waters of Puerto Rico in February or when we sailed the US Virging Islands in March, but not all the way out by the British Virgin Islands. They may have been looking for smugglers or illegal immigrants, which probably travel in the same direction when headed for US waters. But other than the two pigeons that had already left, we’d had no other stowaways on Can Drac so they left us alone and went away in search of more dangerous targets.<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>France in the Caribbeantag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-04-13:900123:BlogPost:774452009-04-13T13:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="267" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539787704?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
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There is only one thing better than traveling to some of the most beautiful places in the world aboard your home: It’s doing that with the ones you love. That’s why this week was so special in many ways, as Franc’s parents joined us while we visited the French islands of St Barts and St Martin.<br />
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We were lucky enough to find a mooring right in the middle of the Port of Gustavia, which felt like moving into…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539787704?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="267"/></p>
<br />
There is only one thing better than traveling to some of the most beautiful places in the world aboard your home: It’s doing that with the ones you love. That’s why this week was so special in many ways, as Franc’s parents joined us while we visited the French islands of St Barts and St Martin.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539787866?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="260"/></p>
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We were lucky enough to find a mooring right in the middle of the Port of Gustavia, which felt like moving into a big square in the middle of a French town. We were surrounded by French restaurants, cafes, bakeries, fancy stores and even two beautiful churches.<br />
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Lluis and Kika arrived by plane, experiencing the roller-coaster-type landing the island’s airport is known for and even had the heart to video tape it:<br />
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<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
Given that our home was so well positioned in the center of all the action we decided to explore part of the island on land so we hopped on a jeep and drove around.<br />
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That allowed us to get to beaches that would have been too rolly by boat like Saline on the South side. Other than a Frenchman randomly asking Kika to put sunscreen on his back and a couple of nude sunbathers we had the beach all to ourselves.<br />
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We then drove to the other side of the island and tried the famous beaches in St Jean bay where we had a fabulous lunch at Eden Rock’s Sand Bar. Both Kika and Andrea opted for the lobster and watermelon salad skewers: an unusual but delicious combination.<br />
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Ahhh, the French glamour… it’s so contagious. Look at Andrea trying on new looks in the most fashionable islands in the Caribbean:<br />
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<b>Home away from home</b><br />
Just like Oyster Bay became our home base in the Long Island Sound when we were in New York, we’ve been finding other “homes away from home” down here in the Caribbean. Those are favorite anchorages we find ourselves going back to when we have to wait for weather or guests. In the Virgins that was the North Sound in Virgin Gorda and down here it’s been Anse Columbier in St Barts. We went there for Franc’s birthday on the way South to Antigua, we came back right before Kika and Lluis arrived and we went there again with them. This time we were in the company of the Maltese Falcon (again!). You know you are in the right place when the largest sailing boat in the world chooses to anchor right next to you!<br />
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Mega yachts aside, most of Anse Columbier’s beauty comes from the cheerful company of its turtles. Below is the one that was guarding our mooring. You can feel safe when you know the locals are watching out for you.<br />
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But the trait that makes Columbier so special is the view of the sunset. As you can see below, Lluis almost filled his camera’s memory card with hundreds of pictures taken from the stern.<br />
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Of course, the highlight of that night was again, Andrea’s cooking. This time it was a cero fish we caught on the way from Antigua. Getting cheers from two gourmet connesuers like Lluis and Kika right after having tried the best French restaurants in St Barts is no small feat and Andrea truly deserved the praise.<br />
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<b>From one French island to another</b><br />
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Another favorite anchorage for us was Ile Pinel in St Martin. Despite being shallow and only big enough for a dozen sailboats the small island is a real treat.<br />
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Lunch at Karibuni gave our guests a taste of a true Caribbean beach joint. Hey, looks like Andrea is not the only one that screams at the sight of live lobsters kicking around in her proximity!<br />
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The swimming and diving was also superb there, with crystal clear warm waters. Watch what Andrea was doing while Franc was scrubbing the growth below Can Drac’s waterline.<br />
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Our next stop was Grand Case where we struggled to find a place to watch the FC Barcelona soccer game. After an endless walk in the mid-day sun we ended up finding a Portuguese bakery with some locals willing to let us watch it in their company. Presidente beers in hand (it was really hot in there!) Franc and Lluis cheered as if they were in Barcelona’s Nou Camp. What a game: 4-0! Definitely worth the effort it took to find a TV.<br />
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And now, as we say good-bye to Franc’s parents we know we are going to miss them. But soon, Andrea’s sister and her parents will also join us so we have that to look forward to.<br />
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And that made us think about those who travel with family but with a different purpose. Water. Our trip is dedicated to those who do not have access to safe, clean water and have to travel miles and miles every day to get it. So far we’ve raised just under $5,000, which is close to what’s needed to build a well that will solve that problem for a whole community. Why not be the one to help us cross the $5,000 line and get closer to our goal? Make a small donation today and make a big difference that will last a lifetime!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>Barbuda, Antigua and the turnaround pointtag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-04-01:900123:BlogPost:754502009-04-01T17:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792727?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
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After a week in Antigua and Barbuda we are finally headed North!<br />
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Ever since we left New York we’ve been charting a course leading us South East. That is, directly into the wind, which as you know, is the one thing sailboats hate to do. Antigua was at the end of that road for us.<br />
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<b>From the BVI to Antigua, our last passage South East</b><br />
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After our previous guests left us we spent a few lazy days in the North Sound of Virging Gorda in the company…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792727?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
<br />
After a week in Antigua and Barbuda we are finally headed North!<br />
<br />
Ever since we left New York we’ve been charting a course leading us South East. That is, directly into the wind, which as you know, is the one thing sailboats hate to do. Antigua was at the end of that road for us.<br />
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<b>From the BVI to Antigua, our last passage South East</b><br />
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After our previous guests left us we spent a few lazy days in the North Sound of Virging Gorda in the company of our friend Mark Hill of the “Down Island” novel fame.<br />
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It was there that we also enjoyed the company of one of the most remarkable sailboats in the world today: the Maltese Falcon. With three impressive masts and a sail configuration reminiscent of the pirate ships of yore it was certainly a sight to see in the contemporary Virgin Islands.<br />
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As we waited for weather we also took the time to explore Sir Richard Branson’s new purchase: Moskito island, with its unspoiled beaches and peaceful corners.<br />
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There, Andrea could not contain her creativity and decided to leave a masterpiece behind. I guess this takes the place of any snow men we could have built up back home!<br />
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We sailed down island as soon as the weather allowed and took the time to spend a day anchored in St Barts for Franc’s birthday. It was another great yellow flag day, like Valentine’s Day in the Turks & Caicos. Yellow flag days are those we spend in transit between countries, wearing the Q flag signaling that the boat is in quarantine until we clear into a country. They are sort of like days spent outside “the system” because even if we are in the territorial waters of one of the islands we can’t leave the boat unless we are going to clear in. Sometimes it isn’t worth it just for a day so we just stay aboard and swim off the boat. Those are the days when Can Drac is our only country and the two of us its only citizens.<br />
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<b>The Crown Princess and the fish in the face</b><br />
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Crossing paths with the Crown Princess reminded us of what we were thinking when we sailed these same waters on that same cruise ship last Spring. Looking out to the dark ocean from the safety of our cabin’s balcony we pictured ourselves in our little sailboat, slowly making headway towards the destination of our choosing. Now looking back at the exact same cabin from the cockpit of our boat feels very gratifying.<br />
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The only incident on this passage was actually more funny than scary.<br />
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When you sail at night in these waters it’s not uncommon to receive the unannounced visit of a flying fish or two on deck. Well, this passage had the largest flying fish we’ve seen so far. And we had plenty of time to contemplate the foot-long one that landed in the middle of our cockpit sending Andrea for cover down below. But it was the second visitor that really hurt when it hit Franc smack in the face while standing behind the wheel. It felt like an invisible punch in the face leaving a terrible fishy smell behind!<br />
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<b>Back in port</b><br />
When we reached Antigua we had plenty of time to recover from our night sail and prepare the boat for our next guests in the comfort of Jolly Harbour Marina. Boat projects got taken care of, including trips up the mast to fix the radar reflector, and we were able to go back online, sleep in perfect still waters and even watch cable TV!<br />
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Our guests Jeff and Linda, from S/V Daisy Mae joined us for a few days exploring both Antigua and Barbuda, the island 25 miles to the North of Antigua.<br />
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We started the week by following the recommendation we got from Iris, the dock master at our home marina and went up to Shirley Heights, an old lookout spot from the days when Nelson’s ships dominated the harbors. The place has a perfect view of the famous English and Falmouth harbors and great live music all night on Sundays.<br />
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It also had the largest crowd we had seen in weeks!<br />
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This was also a special Sunday, as we learned on our way up the hill. Crowds were filling the streets in celebration of their party’s victory in the election. Music was playing loud out of car stereos and people were all dressed in the colors of the party. They all looked like fans of a local sports team celebrating a championship victory. It was great to see democracy celebrated in such a big way, especially knowing that by then, the election had been won for over a week!<br />
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<b>Lobsters, mackerels and hungry predators</b><br />
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After a pleasant day sail North to Barbuda we took some time to explore the long unspoiled pink beaches of this remote island. Jeff and Linda took the island tour, visiting the bird sanctuary on the North side while we moved the boat to our next anchorage. At the end of the day we convinced the local fishermen to get us some fresh dinner and we ended up with seven live lobsters in the cockpit. Cooking them in the grill was a memorable experience and sharing them amongst the four of us definitely satiated our appetite for seafood for a while.<br />
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The next day, on our way back, we were blessed with the best fishing we’ve had in a while. We kept pulling in mackerel after mackerel until our biggest catch got murdered by a predator.<br />
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As Jeff was reeling it in he felt the strong pull weaken and when we got the fish aboard we noticed its tail had been snatched away by a shark. Oh well, I guess we can now say we are sharing our meals with the local creatures of the sea!<br />
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Back in Antigua we visited its famous harbors and coves, snorkeled and tasted the local foods. Check out this video for a visual summary of the week:<br />
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<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.0.6.1%3A19639" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A74986%26ck%3D521448616&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off" width="456" height="344" bgcolor="#99FFFF" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br/>
Finally, on Saturday, as we rounded the South side of Antigua we made the final turn North. From now on we’re headed back towards Tortola in the BVI where we’ll start the Atlantic crossing in May. On the way there we’ll be hosting family and plan on hitting the islands we skipped on the way down like Nevis, St Martin and Anguilla.<br />
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Stay tuned to our upcoming adventures and don’t forget to make a donation at Sailforwater.com<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a>World Water Day on the watertag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-03-22:900123:BlogPost:687542009-03-22T10:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
Today is World Water Day.<br />
<br />
So our blog is not about us. It's about water. Charity water.<br />
<br />
Please, take a minute to watch this:<br />
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<object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DEnlrE4iMBU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="never" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DEnlrE4iMBU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" wmode="opaque"></embed> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"></param></object>
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<br />
If you haven't had a chance to do it yet, today is the day to donate.<br />
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It's easy, quick and cheap. Remember: $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years.<br />
<br />
Become a part of our journey today.<br />
<br />
…<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img alt="" height="46" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" width="111"></img></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img alt="" height="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792146?profile=original" width="400"></img></a>
Today is World Water Day.<br />
<br />
So our blog is not about us. It's about water. Charity water.<br />
<br />
Please, take a minute to watch this:<br />
<br />
<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DEnlrE4iMBU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DEnlrE4iMBU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>
<br />
<br />
If you haven't had a chance to do it yet, today is the day to donate.<br />
<br />
It's easy, quick and cheap. Remember: $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years.<br />
<br />
Become a part of our journey today.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539792146?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/><br />
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</a>The return to the Virginstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-03-13:900123:BlogPost:671562009-03-13T14:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="267" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539797567?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
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Eight years ago, just about two months into our relationship, we chartered a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands for a week. It was our first experience cruising together. We had such a great time that when we were on the plane on the way back browsing a brochure of the islands, we took a pen and we wrote: “We have to go back!”<br />
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Today, as we enter the waters of the British Virgin Islands, that old brochure sits on our chart table.<br />
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We’re back!…
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<br />
Eight years ago, just about two months into our relationship, we chartered a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands for a week. It was our first experience cruising together. We had such a great time that when we were on the plane on the way back browsing a brochure of the islands, we took a pen and we wrote: “We have to go back!”<br />
<br />
Today, as we enter the waters of the British Virgin Islands, that old brochure sits on our chart table.<br />
<br />
We’re back!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539797763?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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Yes, we’ve completed our passage south. We plan to visit islands further south like St Martin, St Barts and Antigua but the so-called “Thorny Path” is now behind us.<br />
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Since we left Luperon we have dealt with the trades on the nose on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, crossed the infamous Mona Passage and slowly navigated the South Coast of Puerto Rico. We did that relatively quickly with a particularly successful Mona Passage, considering its reputation.<br />
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Across the infamous Mona Passage</b><br />
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Our strategy was to sail 40 miles North East during the day and about 90 miles South East over night, thus avoiding the high seas that form in the shoals East of the DR and the evening thunderstorms that drift off West of Puerto Rico in the evening.<br />
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By the time the winds picked up at night we were close hauled on our long tack to Puerto Rico making really good speed. We had 20 knots on the port quarter and 4-6 foot waves on the port beam. No big deal, just uncomfortable. If you want a sense of what that’s like just take a 4x4 SUV going cross-country off road and put your house on top. Then tilt it 20 degrees to the right for good measure. And then turn all the lights out except for a little red bulb over your desk and try to go about your business by cooking, using the bathroom or getting some sleep. That’s what it was like for us to cross the Mona Passage.<br />
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<b>Whales, Horses and Mahi-mahis</b><br />
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You know you’re sailing by the Dominican Republic when you start seeing white horses on its cliffy shores. I’m not talking about the wild horses we saw on the roads and fields further inland, but the optical effect of big waves splashing against the rocks along the coast.<br />
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But worse than that were what we call “black horses”, which is the profile of big waves, at night, occasionally raising above the horizon and covering the lights on land. When darkness fell on our first night out of Luperon and we were blind to the waves that hit us, the sight of those fast moving monsters against Puerto Plata’s lights sure felt like a herd of black horses galloping by.<br />
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During our last few hundred miles, we were also visited by whales and even caught a 5-foot mahi-mahi, our biggest catch so far!<br />
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<b><br />
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Graduates of the Bruce Van Sant school of passages south</b><br />
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Bruce is this old salt with a bag full tricks and the generosity to share them in the form of a book: “A gentleman’s guide to Passages South”. His wisdom comes wrapped in a “you-gotta-do-it-my-way-or-else” tone that makes you want him to be wrong. But other than the occasional typo, the guy is always on the money! And believe us: we dared to test his methods and still carry the scars of the thorns we were served each time we strayed.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0944428797?ie=UTF8&tag=seak-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0944428797"><img src="http://www.pilothousecharts.com/images/VirginIslands/gentlemansguide.gif"/></a><p></p>
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Following Bruce’s advice from Florida all the way to the Virgin Islands was like studying one day and taking the test on the water the next. Today, we feel like we’ve just graduated from his school of thought. So valuable was his advice that Franc put Passages South besides Higgins’ <i>Analysis for Financial Management</i> and Clive Davis’ <i>Inside The Record Business</i> on the “Lessons for Life” section of our library!<br />
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<b>Jacuzzis and Bubbly Pools</b><br />
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Nature has a way to create special spaces. What we found on Culebrita and Jost Van Dyke could very well be the ones that inspired man to invent the Jacuzzi. Long treacherous hikes aside, these were excellent natural pools with a hole in the rocks where the wild braking waves crashed adding foam and bubbles for the lucky swimmer’s delight.<br />
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<b>In good company</b><br />
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As soon as we arrived in St Thomas we got the pleasant surprise of finding our friends Rick and Gay from Island Time, who had arrived the night before. So we took that opportunity to share with them cocktails and tapas at The Ritz, courtesy of a corporate award Andrea received from her company.<br />
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These past few days we’ve also enjoyed the visits from SeaKnots member Suky in Culebra and Ed and Jo-Di, who joined us in the BVIs. With them, we toured all the beaches and bars of Jost Van Dyke, courtesy of our local expert guide Mark, author of the sailing novel named like his boat: Down Island.<br />
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From the original painkillers at the Soggy Dollar to the Bushwackers at Cynthia’s bar in Harry’s Place we tasted almost every drink on the menu. And that’s without skipping Jo-Di’s fabulous home-made “margaritas at five”, a tradition we followed aboard every day of their stay!<br />
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After we left Mark in Jost Van Dyke, we had some exciting sailing, including an improvised race with a sister-ship in the Sir Francis Drake Channel. It was a tough chase where we gave it all we had and got our competitive juices flowing. It’s not often that you get a chance to beat a boat of your exact same make and kind!<br />
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Ed and Jo-Di also allowed us to cruise in style for a few days, treating us to the gourmet menus of the Peter Island and The Bitter End resorts. We sure miss them now that we’re back to being on the hook and eating turkey sandwiches!<br />
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We want to give a big special thanks to all of you who made a donation this week. Thanks to you we are now well past the $4,000 mark in funds raised via Sailforwater.com. If you haven't donated yet, please, help us reach our goal of $1 for every mile of our journey. We plan to sail 6,300 miles so please, contribute!<br />
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See previous posts <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=DRACVERD">here</a>The ballad of Luperontag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-03-04:900123:BlogPost:656792009-03-04T15:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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I can't believe we almost missed it. For a moment, we considered taking I-65 from the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands. What that means is taking advantage of the North winds that come with a front to go as far East as meridian 65 and then turn South straight to the Virgins. Never mind the fact that this is a long offshore passage and that these North winds don’t usually last long at this time of year, causing hours of motoring into Easterly winds and…
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<br />
I can't believe we almost missed it. For a moment, we considered taking I-65 from the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands. What that means is taking advantage of the North winds that come with a front to go as far East as meridian 65 and then turn South straight to the Virgins. Never mind the fact that this is a long offshore passage and that these North winds don’t usually last long at this time of year, causing hours of motoring into Easterly winds and waves. The reason that would have been a big mistake is that we would have missed Luperon, in the Dominican Republic.<br />
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For us, the discovery of the island of Hispaniola started with the smell of wet land, cattle and camp fires that snuck up on us long before we could see the profile of its high mountains in the moonlit horizon. What a difference from the low-lying cays we had sailed by throughout since leaving Florida.<br />
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But one thing did not change, at least not yet. Having already survived some of the shallowest waters a cruiser will ever find (the Bahamas) we almost run aground three times in 15 minutes, entering the bay! The only thing that saved us was a stranger’s voice on the radio: “vessel entering the bay of Luperon, you are headed straight for a shoal”. You see, up until then, at least you could read the water by looking at the colors in the bottom through the clear waters. Not in Luperon. The water there was dark green, concealing the secrets of its depths. We later found out the local knowledge was coming from Thomas, from the sailing ship Ciganka, with the first of many displays of friendliness from the cruising community in the bay. Of course, it wasn’t long until we learned about Handy Andy, the guy that gets you anything you want in Luperon. In a matter of minutes we were guided to our spot and had Andy in our cockpit chatting in Spanish with the cold American beer we’d offered him. It wasn’t even 10 am.<br />
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We had expected to find a big harbor with hundreds of boats spread out, where we could be anonymous and go about our business and get out in a couple of days. Instead, we found a good size cove with a tight-knit community, where we spent a full week.<br />
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<b>A day in Santiago</b><br />
Our “business” in the Dominican Republic was a visit to the town of Santiago de los Caballeros where grandpa Lluis Carreras was exiled during the Franco dictatorship.<br />
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Family friend Freddy, a Dominican also from Santiago who lives in Barcelona had it all arranged for us. He put us in touch with his friend Omar, who made sure Lenin, owner of Marina Puerto Blanco would be waiting for us. Lenin’s hospitality went beyond a slip at the marina. He cooked some of the best steaks we’ve had in a long time! Freddy also put us in touch with his aunt Manolita who hosted us in Santiago and was generous enough to show us around, feed us and even give us some parting gifts.<br />
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Venturing inland in a country like the DR took us into a whole new world. As we left Luperon in the early morning we drove by the sugar cane fields and the little huts on the side of the road and saw the children in their uniforms walking to public school.<br />
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The roads were often cut by cows walking from one field to the other and we even bumped into the milk man making his early morning delivery mounted on a horse.<br />
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It was surprising to see so many “motores”, the Dominican word for motorcycles. They say they replaced the horse in the countryside, as the favored means of transportation. Unfortunately, helmets are not in vogue, which is probably one of the reasons hospitals have a special emergency room for motorcycle accidents.<br />
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<b>New friendships</b><br />
Back in Luperon, we made a bunch of new friends. We found Bob and Debbie from Chimayo, who we had briefly met at the fuel dock in George Town and were generous enough to let us borrow their long hose to fill our water tanks. As we were thanking them with a beer at Shaggy’s, the local hangout for cruisers, we met another interesting couple: Pam and Graham from Hot Latte-Tudes. Despite being retired and having grown children, those two looked like a couple in their twenties just having fun. Not only did they brew their own beer but they never missed a chance to party and dance anything from old time rock & roll to merengue. And they told us about cold water coffee too! Something we’ll have to try… some day.<br />
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We also met Thomas and Linda from Ciganka, a 78ft steel gaff rigged ketch usually chartered to groups of teenagers. Their tales of inspiring the young to become boat designers and full time sailors were really moving. What an amazing way to make a living on the water!<br />
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And of course, we also encountered the biggest celebrity in Luperon. The guy “that wrote the book”. Literally. That’s because every boat transiting these waters carries a copy of “Passages South” by Bruce Van Sant. But we’ll save our thoughts on the masterpiece for a later blog, when we finally complete the route south.<br />
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We got to know other South bound boats like "the islanders": the crews of Down Island and Island Time, two boats that were traveling together in the same direction and on the same schedule as us. I am sure we'll be in the same waters as we keep going down island.<br />
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We also took some time to visit the Charcos de Imbert, a series of waterfalls and natural pools up in the mountains. As you can see in the video below it was like a natural water park. We shared that experience with the French Canadian crews of Lady M I, Cheznous and Tenasse, who also introduced us to Louis Ribe, a Catalan that broadcasts free customized weather reports from Quebec.<br />
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<b>Providing live entertainment</b><br />
Of course, there is no tight-knit community without some live music and partying. And there is no lack of live music in Luperon. Merengue and Bachata aside, the marina hosts jam sessions and a karaoke night. The lack of Billy Joel repertoire did not discourage Andrea on Karaoke night. She grabbed Debbie from Chimayo by the arm and took over the stage for a memorable rendition of Copacabana that had the whole crowd on a conga line.<br />
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Franc chose to participate in the jam session instead. It was generously organized by Puerto Blanco Mac on our last night and attended by Jeff, with his British accent and his skillful hand on the strings and Lucy, the gifted flautist from S/V Joanna.<br />
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Now, as we sail on to Puerto Rico and then on to the Virgins we feel the void of leaving a magic place. As the images of the week flash through our minds and the mix of sounds and music rings in our ears, a melody of memories starts to form in our heads. We like to call that feeling the Ballad of Luperon.<br />
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We want to give a big special thanks to SeaKnots member Suky for taking us past the $3,000 mark in funds raised via Sailforwater.com. Have you made your donation yet?<br />
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See previous posts <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=DRACVERD">here</a>In a boat's own words: Thoughts from underwaytag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-02-19:900123:BlogPost:629892009-02-19T18:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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We spent the last few days adding miles to our journey. We did about 120 miles with our guests Chuck and Sandra from Eliora so they could experience both George Town and the remote islands farther North. And then we took off on a 400 mile sail to Luperon, in the Dominican Republic, where we are now.<br />
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The sails with Chuck and Sandra were memorable. We had no choice but to deal with what forecasters called…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788290?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="236"/></p>
<br />
We spent the last few days adding miles to our journey. We did about 120 miles with our guests Chuck and Sandra from Eliora so they could experience both George Town and the remote islands farther North. And then we took off on a 400 mile sail to Luperon, in the Dominican Republic, where we are now.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789426?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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The sails with Chuck and Sandra were memorable. We had no choice but to deal with what forecasters called 6-8ft swells but looked a lot worse, particularly when going through narrow cuts with wind and current opposing each other. The thing is that there’s really no way to measure the size of a wave from a boat in motion but when the wave in front of you covers the ones on the horizon you know they are big! The 20-25 knot winds had a lot to do with that too, but they also helped move us along nicely. Once my sails were properly reefed I leaned on my side and took each wave in style and with speed. We even overtook a trawler beating into the waves under power. I don’t know why they were all so surprised. I guess they didn’t know what a sailboat like me is capable of in these conditions…<br />
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After our guests left us, we set our sights on our next goal: the Dominican Republic. We got lucky with the weather window, as it opened wide right away, giving us just enough time to top off our tanks. We also got to meet a bunch of other boats getting ready to go the same way like Hanna Hou, Beach House, Snowaway, Going South and Broad Reaching. We also met Gord and Sue from Lady Simcoe during lunch at the Chat n’ Chill and had a laugh recounting scenes from the sailing movie Captain Ron.<br />
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The next morning we set sail bright and early for what was to become Andrea and Franc’s first two day sail non-stop with no crew. This was the first time they had to figure out a watch schedule for night sailing.<br />
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The passage took us to where Columbus arrived when he discovered the New World. There is debate as to which island he landed on first but there is no doubt that these are the waters he sailed with La Pinta, La Nina y La Santa Maria.<br />
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<b>On top of the world</b><br />
Despite having islands close by, most of the sailing was with no land in sight. For a 10 month old boat like me, that still feels like something new. When that happens and the depth sounder can no longer reach the bottom you know you are truly surrounded by water.<br />
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The curvature of the Earth became all that more apparent when we literally saw the catamaran Hanna Hou drop below the horizon. At first, we could see the hulls and the sails in the distance. Then, looking through the binoculars you could see the hull disappear but the sails still visible over the horizon. And then, just like when the sun disappears at dusk, there was nothing.<br />
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We were surrounded by water and alone.<br />
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This was when we noticed the silence. All we could hear was the water being pushed aside as we sliced the ocean and the sounds of the rigging as the wind leaned on the sails spread out like wings.<br />
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Then we realized that everyone we know, everything we know, every place we’ve been to was below the horizon, just like Hanna Hou. If we wanted to point to home on a straight line we had to point down at the water somewhere. Even the tallest building or the highest mountain was somewhere under us.<br />
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And then it hit us: we were at altitude zero but on top of the world. I guess we no longer need to climb mount Everest to get that feeling…<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789718?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="169"/></p>
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Now picture the Earth as seen from space, blue, round and with a tiny sailboat on top. Imagine the Earth slowly turning until the sailboat is upside down, at night, attached to it only by the force of gravity. What would happen if gravity suddenly let go for a minute? Would the sailboat slowly fall into the night sky and swim for ever in a sea of stars? Is that what happens when boats disappear at sea and leave no trace? We like to think so.<br />
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<b>Night sailing</b><br />
Sailing after dark is as if you learned to do something and then had to do it all blind folded. The light goes off and you still need to know where you are, where other possible traffic could be, trim the sails, stay on course and hope you won’t hit anything on your way. You can use a flash light and point it at the sails or a spot light pointed at the waves, but that doesn’t work very well. That’s when you develop your other senses. Especially your hearing, as you must rely on the sounds of the rigging, the sails and the waves around you. The sound of an engine in the distance is amongst those that will startle you the most. Perhaps that’s why Andrea and Franc pay so much attention to the brightest lights in front of them: their instruments. Granted: they help by complementing your senses but sometimes they also get in the way of USING your senses. That’s why Franc was got so nervous the second night, when a series of showers passing by disrupted the prevailing wind patterns. And then the strangest things started to happen. The GPS started misplacing us all over the chart, making 20 nautical mile jumps, as if we were a pin that could be moved from one end of the map to the other. My self steering was also all over the place, incapable of keeping us on course. When these things happen in the dead of night in the middle of the ocean, they get a little spooky. Did we drift into the Bermuda Triangle? Was it just an offshore nightmare?<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539789908?profile=original" alt="" width="200" height="324"/></p>
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So I made an unusual suggestion. I asked Franc, who was on watch at that time, to turn all instruments off. It’s not like they were of much help anyway! I said: try to navigate by the stars. Just pick one that’s in the direction you want to go, turn everything off and take the helm for Pete’s sake! And so he did. Then all the spookiness went away instantly. Yes, the wind was flakey and the waves a bit confused, but the sky was clear and the hand at the helm was firm. With no instruments there was no glare of distraction in the cockpit, so Franc’s eyes adjusted to the darkness and the stars suddenly became much brighter. He still couldn’t see the sails very well so I would just flutter the jib whenever he steered to far into the wind, alerting him with the gentle sound of my forward canvas. What an amazing couple of hours we spent!<br />
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<b>Valentine’s Day on a Desert Island</b><br />
What do you do if you want to spend Valentine’s Day with the love of your life on a desert island in the middle of the ocean with no one else in sight? Well, for us, it was just a matter of easing the sheets and throwing the anchor, as French Cay, at the edge of the Turks & Caicos bank was awaiting.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790341?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="223"/></p>
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That was where we had a much needed rest after 48h at sea non-stop. Franc got a haircut, courtesy of his Valentine, which is best not shown here. However, the real treat was a potato pancake that Andrea made with the first Mahi-Mahi we ever caught, a really colorful and tasty catch!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790614?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="284"/></p>
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As you know, we are donating $5 for every fish we catch so this Mahi Mahi will be no exception. Please, consider joining us with your donation.<br />
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We have raised $2,993.12 so far. Be the one to take us past the $3,000 line with your contribution!<br />
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<br />
See previous posts <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=DRACVERD">here</a>In a boat's own words: Destination George Towntag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-02-11:900123:BlogPost:604172009-02-11T16:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786975?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
Approaching George Town under sail and making power<br />
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We finally reached Elizabeth Harbor. That’s the anchorage in George Town, the main town (400 residents) in the Exumas island chain, where dozens of cruisers congregate in the winter months. With its own daily radio net and a calendar of activities that could rival that of a summer camp, George Town is its own world, especially when compared to the more remote islands farther North. Here you can…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786975?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
Approaching George Town under sail and making power<br />
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We finally reached Elizabeth Harbor. That’s the anchorage in George Town, the main town (400 residents) in the Exumas island chain, where dozens of cruisers congregate in the winter months. With its own daily radio net and a calendar of activities that could rival that of a summer camp, George Town is its own world, especially when compared to the more remote islands farther North. Here you can participate in the daily beach volley ball clinics, learn yoga or join the beach choir, all without leaving the comfort of a snug harbor. Thanks to this great community you can count on the help of other experienced cruisers, should you be missing a part or need advice on your next passage. Also, as you can imagine, for a boat of my age and size, that’s a lot of new friends to play with in just one place!<br />
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But first, let me tell you about these past few days on our way down the Exumas. After leaving Allens Cays we spent a couple of nights in Highborne Cay, where we could safely sit out a strong front that was approaching from the North. Thanks to their strong internet connection, we were able to send some emails, update our Facebook status and of course, videochat with the family on Skype.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539787118?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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We also took some time to go for a few hikes and discover an island with some interesting marina guests and its own sense of humor. Check out the video below and see it with your own eyes.<br />
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<embed src="http://static.ning.com/seaknots/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.13.4%3A15557" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A61437%26x%3D7ymRtC5uhQZCHySW6MUyErCMD0TmRtr1&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&layout=external_site" width="448" height="364" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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Our stay at Highborne also provided a great opportunity to meet the folks at other boats like Snow Bird, Mayakoda, Serenity, Trinity and Indigo. Friends we’re bound to meet again further down the island chain. We find that we are always encountering the same boats as we proceed South. Since most boats come from Florida only when the weather in the Gulf Stream is settled, perhaps we all crossed on the same weather window so I guess you could call us “the class of 2009, window two”<br />
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After Highborne, we took a swim in our computer wallpaper. Yes. You read that right. Let me explain: since first visiting these islands with Michael and Daniel on S/V Splendido in 2007, our laptop’s wallpaper has been an amazing shot of Butterfly beach, by the Warderick Wells in the Land and Sea Park, with its turquoise waters as seen from the dinghy.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539787293?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="250"/></p>
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Well, this week we finally crossed the path we followed on Splendido and returned to the place we’d been dreaming of ever since.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790562?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="225"/></p>
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This time, we shared our visit with Kevin and Sharon from S/V Serenity and Jim and Betsy who hosted a Super Bowl party aboard Feelin’ Lucky with home made nachos and margaritas to die for! The following night we corresponded with some Spanish wine, olives and breadsticks accompanied with some live music and ended up having a memorable evening under the stars.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539790732?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="267"/></p>
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Next up was Little Farmers, a settlement of just over 50 residents established by a freed slave called Chrisanna. We picked up a mooring from Little Jeff (apparently not so little anymore) and took the dinghy ashore to explore. At first it was a bit intimidating because we were the only cruisers walking around a small town filled with kids playing in the streets and chickens wandering around freely. But then we stumbled into a local tavern called the Ocean Cabin with an interesting approach to business hours.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539797400?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="274"/></p>
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As soon as we walked in we felt fully welcome and ended up meeting half the town. Terry Bain, the owner, proudly showed us the story of the island’s flag and played us a song about Little Farmer’s Cay that still rings in our minds.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539798050?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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The next day, we had a fantastic sail with 20-25 knots behind us but very little luck on the fishing department, as we didn’t catch anything other than seaweed.<br />
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Next week we’re taking a break from our progress South to host our first guests. One more week in the Exumas and then we’re on to new places again!<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539798175?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="267"/></p>
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Stay tuned for our next update and in the meantime, please, remember to make that donation to charity: water you promised. Every dollar counts!<br />
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See previous posts <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=DRACVERD">here</a>In a boat's own words: Barracudas, iguanas and shallow waterstag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-01-30:900123:BlogPost:559782009-01-30T13:52:30.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="267" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539783995?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
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And so we're in the Bahamas now, anchored in Allens Cay where the water is clear as air. Check out the video below and meet the new “friends” we just made on the beach.<br />
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<br></br><small><a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>SeaKnots</em></a></small><br></br>
We spent our last day in the US in Ft Lauderdale, where I got my teak cleaned (thank you very much!) and met Jan and Nancy, the online editor…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539783995?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="267"/></p>
<br />
And so we're in the Bahamas now, anchored in Allens Cay where the water is clear as air. Check out the video below and meet the new “friends” we just made on the beach.<br />
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<embed src="http://static.ning.com/seaknots/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.12.2%3A14258" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A56004%26x%3D7ymRtC5uhQZCHySW6MUyErCMD0TmRtr1&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&layout=external_site" width="448" height="364" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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We spent our last day in the US in Ft Lauderdale, where I got my teak cleaned (thank you very much!) and met Jan and Nancy, the online editor of Blue Water Sailing magazine, as well as Ginger and Michael (and birthday girl Merry) for one last meal before leaving the US. We had a blast and got plenty of Bahamas advice and a valuable fishing lesson from our guests.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784168?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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After that, there was no waiting for a weather window, as the conditions for crossing the infamous Gulf Stream were prime the next morning. The crossing was so easy on my skippers that it wasn't even fair! So as soon as we reached the other side I started playing some tricks on them.<br />
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You see, the Bahamas are known for their shallow waters and tricky entrances to sheltered harbors. In those situations, the boat's depth sounder is critical. Check out the picture below to see how close my keel and rudder can get to the sea floor depending on where we’re anchored.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784555?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="169"/></p>
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Well, as soon as we left Bimini, our first port of entry, I let all my cockpit displays go blank. You should have seen Franc and Andrea's face. I also made sure to turn off the autopilot display, adding some drama to their various attempts to fix the problem, as one of them had to always be at the wheel. Of course, I did it in deep waters (I have no intention of damaging my keel by running into a coral head) so as soon as we entered the shallow Grand Bahama Bank, my displays mysteriously came back up. It was funny to see Andrea and Franc congratulating each other when they thought they'd found the problem, only to discover the next day that my displays weren't working again. This time, I did it right as we were entering a shallow anchorage. Lucky for them, we were following the One Eyed Parrots, another vessel going in the same direction.<br />
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The fun ended as we were approaching Allan's key and Franc found the loose cable, not before going into some uncomfortable positions. Check him out in the picture below... :-)<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539784857?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
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So, depth pranks aside, the big news this week was catching the first fish. I know that I am more fortunate than my two older sisters, Drac Verd I and II. They were never allowed to fish onboard. I am breaking my owners in very well. Fishing is new to them. I heard them telling the story of when they bought the fishing gear and I almost laughed my keel off. "I need the thing with the hook that goes like this [and she waved her fingers like an octopus]". I was so surprised that the salesman did not burst out laughing himself. I make fun of them, but I do have to give them credit. The closest they got to fishing at home was going to the fish market to pick out fresh fish that was just flown in from the Med. They were always so proud to tell their marina neighbors about this wonderful little fish market.<br />
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I am not sure that I even need to describe the experience. They have video that sums it all up! You have to hear it just like I did.<br />
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<embed src="http://static.ning.com/seaknots/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.12.2%3A14258" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A55643%26x%3D7ymRtC5uhQZCHySW6MUyErCMD0TmRtr1&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&layout=external_site" width="448" height="364" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
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It's really neat how they are linking the experiences on their trip to charity: water. Since they didn't plan on fishing and "didn't budget for the savings they get from not buying another meal" (their words, not mine), they will be donating $5 for every fish that they catch. I feel accomplished and proud of my owners for what they are doing. Not many boats get to be connected to such a worthwhile cause. But don’t tell them I said that! ;-)<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788323?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="401"/></p>
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Have you made your donation yet?<br />
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See previous posts <a href="http://seaknots.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=DRACVERD">here</a>In a boat's own words: Sunny Florida! What sunny Florida?tag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-01-23:900123:BlogPost:546222009-01-23T16:00:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539795394?profile=original" width="400"></img></p>
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Well, here we are. Finally anchored in Florida waiting for a solar panel. You'd think that "sunny Florida" would be close enough to paradise, where the air is warm and the breeze is gentle. Well... not really. We have 20 knots gusting from the North and evening temperatures in the 30s.<br />
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I know, I was the one that wanted to go South to escape the cold. And now, Andrea and Franc blame it on me because it's MY solar panel that's holding us back. But for…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539795394?profile=original" alt="" width="400" height="300"/></p>
<br />
Well, here we are. Finally anchored in Florida waiting for a solar panel. You'd think that "sunny Florida" would be close enough to paradise, where the air is warm and the breeze is gentle. Well... not really. We have 20 knots gusting from the North and evening temperatures in the 30s.<br />
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I know, I was the one that wanted to go South to escape the cold. And now, Andrea and Franc blame it on me because it's MY solar panel that's holding us back. But for a 43ft sailboat, I have very thick skin. So I don't care. I like my alternative energy, thank you very much! I know these two are going to be thirsty for my battery power over the next few months so they will have wait.<br />
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<p style="text-align:left"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2313471272?profile=original"/></p>
Cameron from Transmarinepro.com installing solar panel<br />
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The good thing has been getting to know Cameron and Leighia and their children Fynn and Maya, from Tranquility, as well as their guests Sam and Jamie and the little 1 year old "Captain in training". Cameron is the boat doctor that's installing my solar panel. He has a whole workshop on board Tranquility and makes a living doing all kinds of work on boats. And Leigha is the one that cooked the fabulous lentils with chicken and salad we had for dinner last night. She even makes her own bread! Franc and Andrea have soooo much to learn from these guys.<br />
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<p style="text-align:left"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2313471268?profile=original"/></p>
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And we can't forget about SeaKnots member Stu from S/V Shearwater. His generosity, driving Andrea and Franc around town to provision was very much appreciated. Just check out the amount of stuff loaded on the dinghy!<br />
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<p style="text-align:left"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2313472408?profile=original"/></p>
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So once Cameron is done we'll be heading South a bit further and then cross over to the Bahamas. But first, let me tell you about the first thousand miles. Those were done by Franc and his buddies Bill, Tom and Dan G, delivery style. No mercy. Let me put it this way: we pretty much motored from Maryland to well into Florida. No fun for me. And one more thing: those guys are heroes. Franc had no choice but they volunteered and put up with the coldest temperatures any of them have ever experienced at sea. Kudos to them!<br />
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The other highlight was the people we met in Beaufort, SC where I spent a few days. Pierre and Kim from s/v Victoria recommended Port Royal Landing and boy was that good advice! From Kelly offering to pick Franc up at the airport to Gene fixing my reverse cycle heating system for free, including Ryon from Port Royal Lannding Marina and Brian from Dock Supply and Boatworks for staying open late to allow us a last minute purchase. And let's not forget about Chuck from Beneteau in Charleston, who had my rudder reinforced before the Holidays as promised.<br />
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<embed src="http://static.ning.com/seaknots/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.12%3A13995" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Fseaknots.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D900123%253AVideo%253A54467%26x%3D7ymRtC5uhQZCHySW6MUyErCMD0TmRtr1&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&layout=external_site" width="448" height="364" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small>Dolphins (or sharks?) in our way</small><br/>
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But now that Andrea is here, it's just the three of us. I can see how intimidating this is for them right now. They come from sleeping on steady beds and sitting behind desks, their skin white as snow and their fingers tender to the touch of my lines. Their muscles ache with every pull of my jib sheets. But now they're signed up for the real deal. And I'm not sure they know what they're in for. They think that having been out in the middle of the Western Med while a Mistral was blowing is indicative of offshore sailing. Wait until they see the size of the Atlantic waves. They don't call it the high seas for nothing!<br />
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And their increased concern for my well being is not lost on me either. They pay attention to every noise I make, double up on every knot and stress about all the little things. That must be because when I was their summer toy I was only part of a bigger picture. If I got hurt I could ruin a weekend or two and cost them a few bucks they could earn easily by just waiting for their next paycheck. But not now. From now on I am their home, their only vehicle, their shelter to a foreign world. Heck, there's no Sail for water without my sails! So now I'm front and center of that big picture. And I intend to take advantage of that. :-)<br />
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<p style="text-align:left"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2313471357?profile=original"/></p>
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Andrea and Franc would like to thank the following donors:<br />
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Andres Martin Perez, Bob & Mary MacEwen, Boghigian Enterprises, Chung Lee, Daniel Goldberg, Dennis Kramer, Dina Templeton, George & Mary Ann MacEwen, Henry Schmitt, Jason Carrasco, Joe & Carol Crifo, Joe & Maureen Malone, Joey & Debi Malone, John Trumpbour, Mario Mendolaro, Melissa MacEwen, Michael Kantrowitz, Michael MacEwen, Patrice Malone, Phillip McBurrows, Rishi Mirchandani, Sharyn MacEwen, Stephanie Lopez and The wonderful District Office Ladies in Teaneck: Wendy, Minny, Shirley, Sheila, Liz and Eileen.<br />
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Have you made your donation yet?<br />
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<a href="http://candracblog.com/"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539788346?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a><br />
<a href="http://www.sailforwater.com"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2539786608?profile=original" alt="" width="111" height="46"/></a><p></p>In a boat's own words: I Want to go South now!tag:seaknots.ning.com,2009-01-01:900123:BlogPost:514552009-01-01T12:30:00.000ZCAN DRAChttp://seaknots.ning.com/profile/CANDRAC
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Hello. My name is Can Drac and I was born in March of 2008 measuring 43 feet 2 inches and weighing 19,566 pounds. Since then, I haven’t grown much but I have definitely gained quite a few pounds, mostly in equipment and gear for the voyage of a lifetime. A voyage that, unless I do something fast may never even happen.<br />
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I am writing this as I freeze my keel off in my slip in the New York Harbor. Franc and Andrea, my owners, already left for the day.…
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<br />
Hello. My name is Can Drac and I was born in March of 2008 measuring 43 feet 2 inches and weighing 19,566 pounds. Since then, I haven’t grown much but I have definitely gained quite a few pounds, mostly in equipment and gear for the voyage of a lifetime. A voyage that, unless I do something fast may never even happen.<br />
<br />
I am writing this as I freeze my keel off in my slip in the New York Harbor. Franc and Andrea, my owners, already left for the day. They’re both at work. They are always working. I am puzzled by their courage to abandon the warmth and comfort of my cabin at this time of year. But the reason why they would leave me sitting at the dock in warm windy summer days escapes me. They just keep saying that they HAVE to work, that I don’t understand because I am a sailboat built to wander the oceans but they are not, that someone needs to pay the bills, including my next bottom paint job…<br />
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See, the thing is that I refuse to sit here all winter and wait for The Spring covered in wrapping paper like my neighbors at the marina. I have to get out of here. Seems to me that what Franc and Andrea need to do to feel good is just be busy. Do something. Not only do they have these intense jobs that keep them away all day but they also had to go and create this site called SeaKnots. They say they did it so all the cruisers in the world have a place online to “socialize”. Socialize?! Sailors socialize at sea! In anchorages or marinas, if you must. But not tethered to the internet by sinking their heads in their laptops as soon as they get close enough to land to get some signal.<br />
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So I am determined: I’ve decided I am going to convince them that there is a lot more to do out there. That I can take them places they have never even dreamed of. That there’s more to this world than Fifth Avenue offices with views of Central Park or “leading a large district to drive profitability for a top 20 fortune 500 company”. That they can be busy and helpful to others out there too. All they have to do is take a look at the site I created for them at CharityWater.org and leave their jobs today-even if it is just for a year. Oh, and release me of these three strand shackles tying me to the dock and let me take them South ASAP!<br />
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S/V Can Drac<br />
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Check out the site Can Drac created for Andrea and Franc at: <a href="http://CharityWater.org/pages/sailforwater">SailForWater.com</a><br />
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