Thursday, December 22, 2011

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad
Portobelo, Panama
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011























“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”
- Jean-Paul Sartre
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Monday, November 14, 2011

We are tied to the ocean. 
And when we go back to the sea, 
whether it is to sail or to watch - 
we are going back from whence we came.    


Monday, November 7, 2011

Log on Blog

I've been transferring our original 1994 cruising log/newsletters to this blog bit by bit over the past few weeks.  You can find the logs in the tabs at the top of this page.  I've been rummaging through our picture archives as well, and am adding photos to the log. (Keep checking back as I continue to add more pictures to the log pages.)  I'm kinda digging the vintage look of the old photos, especially since that faded, scratched look is so "in" right now.  But, no Photoshop action here...the look has been achieved through honest-to-god aging.  Here's a few samples:

Chamela, Mexico

Acapulco, Mexico

Playa Audiencia, Mexico

Monday, October 24, 2011

Market Marvels

Traditional markets in Central America are marvels of sensory input.  


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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Arrrg.

                            
                                   Evidence of real-life pirates recently spotted in Key West...


  Yes, those are brands burned into his arms and back.  That's some seriously bad-ass arrrg.
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Dinghy - diving platform.

We call this the "Bird-Poop Boat".  Obviously.

Keys Colors

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Other Blogs and the Magic Hour

I spent a good share of yesterday afternoon surfing the web for cruising blogs.  I found some great ones and added a links section in the sidebar.   One website, The INTERVIEW WITH A CRUISER Project, (and companion site Newly Salted) was chock-a-block full of great info from a variety of folks who are out long-term cruising.   Great stuff. But,  Bumfuzzle's sweet, compellingly written blog stole away most of my Saturday.   I spent hours reading - it was just simply lovely to look at.

One of the best things about cruising is the chance to witness the beauty of the sun setting over the horizon every evening.  And sometimes the best view is to the east as the last rays light up the clouds.  I love the magic hour.  Here's a sample.

Looking east over Fleming Key.


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Friday, September 23, 2011

Some History, and The Plan

Almost 20 years ago our first experience with traveling aboard a sailboat ("cruising") began.   It was October of 1993, and we set off from San Francisco on a course of adventure with our cat "Spaz", and pug-dog "Chloe".  We spent about 9 months exploring the coasts of Southern CA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama (including the San Blas Islands), Columbia (Isla Providencia),  the Bay Islands of Honduras, and Guatemala.  We had the time of our lives, met some amazing people, and vowed to do it again.  Soon.

Well, the years fly fast.  And before we knew it we had added two sons to the mix.  They grew and started school.  But our plan to "get out there" again never died.  We have a new plan, now.  We will go cruising again in the fall/winter of 2012.  We will start with the Bahamas and then head toward the eastern Caribbean to revisit some of  spots we loved so much the first time around.  But this time we will go as a family of four.  Well, five if you count Sophie the Pug.

The first time around there was no "internet".  No wifi, no cellphones (none smaller than toasters, anyway), and blogging was not yet a word.  But during our 1993 cruise we did keep written record of our adventures and sent them home via "newsletters" that arrived by post (remember that?).  It's still fun to read back over these notes and remember all the fun we had.  In fact, I am going to post excerpts of those old newsletters on this blog to give a little taste of what we experienced back in the day.  Perhaps it will explain why we are so keen to do it all again.


Our Deckhands.

Sophie Sailor Pug

Where the rainbow ends.




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