Cannibal is “home” in Kemah, Tx at a marina for a few months. We will be in the process of transitioning back into “normal” life. Currently, we are in OKC picking up our boys, our dog, and our truck. We really like the marina so far. The pool is right by the boat, the restrooms/showers are nice, the other liveaboards are nice, there are a few other doggies… I think it’s going to be good.

Now it’s time to raise ministry funds and acquire a vessel large enough to carry supplies to missionaries. We have plenty of items ready to go… we just need God to provide the ship and the funds. John will be working on raising funds and booking speaking engagements, and looking for a ship. Vacation is over, its time to work!! You can keep up with the ministry progress at www.sevenseasministries.us!

Other exciting news: Travis threw out an 80lb. line as we approached the Great Bahama Bank and caught a HUGE mahi-mahi fish (aka dorada, aka dolphin–but not the porpoise kind.) John was able to get 3 meals worth of meat for our family of five. That’s a lot of fish. I fried some of it for Father’s Day and it was delectable, which made “Father” very happy, as well as the rest of us.

We are in Marathon, Fl. We arrived yesterday…pretty tired. We have been doing nothing while here, except recovering from strange sleep patterns from the watches, and trying to keep cool (that’s not working so well).

On the way to Florida, we stopped in Great Inagua, Bahamas for the day to make water. We also did some beach combing. Great Inagua is home to Morton Salt plant and a national park where hundreds of pink flamingos hang out. We saw one pink flamingo and a couple of dog sharks swimming by our feet as we waded through the water to get closer to the flamingo. Some day soon John will post our lame pictures of the bird…we did get him in flight, which was cool.

We left Great Inagua before dark and headed back out into the vast ocean. We sailed for 8 days straight, which is the longest stretch since our initial Gulf Crossing.

It looks like there will only be 3 of us crossing the Gulf from here (John, Me, Kimi). The boys are going to OKC on the 19th so they can attend youth camp for a week. They are going to stay in OKC after camp and wait for us to come get them. That means that John and I are the only people to stand watch. (pout)

Naturally, since we have to get across the Gulf, there is incredibly freakish weather right where we need to go. On the way out, it was terribly windy & stormy, but on the way back (when we desperately want the wind to blow as hard as it wants) there is an unusual high stalled out that has created a dead calm for the next 6 days!! Imagine that? So John, Kimi and I will wait for better winds and hang out in Key West till we can’t stand it any longer. We really don’t want to spend the fuel to motor across—not to mention that it will be super hot with no wind. Hopefully, things will return to “normal” and we can get home by the end of June.

Home, by the way, is going to be Watergate Yachting Center in Clear Lake Shores, TX. At least for a few months (maybe 6) until we figure out what to do with ourselves. We can hardly wait to be hooked up to shore power so we can run the A/C. It’s been incredibly hot these past few weeks, reaching up to 90 degrees inside the cabin!!! That’s hot, boys and girls! The marina also has a swimming pool (no more salt water), a playground, BBQ grills—heaven! We will also be getting our doggie, Buddy, when we go to OKC to retrieve the boys.

One day, while trying not to go crazy from boredom (passages can get really boring if there isn’t anything in the water, or any other traffic to entertain us), we were all sitting on deck thinking of all of the things that we can’t wait to experience again someday when we live in a house again. Things like: ice, a refrigerator that opens to display all the goodies inside (& some with ice in the door), a self draining shower, ice, a toilet that flushes by simply pushing the handle once, air conditioning, water-without having to make it, a real bed that’s wider than your shoulders, DOORS (for privacy), a freezer (with ice & ice cream), a bathtub (with or without ice), a garbage pickup service (no ice necessary there); not to mention the availability of Sonic ice, Sonic drinks, Sonic slushies, Whataburger… Ahhhh, America—the land of massive fast food and excess everywhere!

We have not really missed TV, though. We had cable for one day before we left Puerto Rico, and there wasn’t anything worth watching. There is sustainable life without TV—who knew?

I will desperately miss the crystal clear turquoise water and the beautiful reefs and marine life. I will miss the extremely laid back schedule we have had. But mostly, I will miss the water. There is nothing better than being able to see through the water to the bottom, and being able to jump in whenever the mood suits to cool off or play. (sigh). Despite the name, I just don’t think Clear Lake will come anywhere close.

We’re almost there. Yippee!!

The bad news: She’s now a middle schooler, rapidly approaching teenager syndrome (sniff).

Oh, and more bad news:  the sail has not arrived yet and we have no idea when it will.

Estamos en Puerto Rico, aka America!! Como esta?

Puerto Rico es La Isla de Encanto (Island of Enchantment)! I’m picking up Spanish a little at a time. We have been trying to speak Spanish all the time to get more fluent. I was very proud of myself for ordering pizza to be delivered (there’s a Domino’s here and we have teenagers on board). I had to get John to tell me where we are so I could tell them where to deliver it, but I did it…oh, and after a while the guy on the phone went to get another guy that told me to speak English because he understood. But still, I did it.

Puerto Rico is very much American, but most people speak Spanish. Very few taxi drivers speak English, but John’s Spanish is good enough to get us where we need to go.

P.R is a stark contrast to D.R. Here in Puerto Rico the roads are really paved and there are trash cans everywhere, and it’s very clean. It’s a very beautiful island with mountains and coastlines. You can drive around the entire island in a day.

When we checked in with customs, the agent that came on board had lived in Houston before (near where I lived). His name is Jose Cruz (like the famous Houston baseball player). He’s a very nice man. John gave him our card with his cell phone number on it, so he called John up the next day and brought us some crackers that are only made in his home town (muy delicioso). He also invited us to join him in a trip to San Juan (the capital). We couldn’t go because we really needed to reprovision, find a new auto pilot belt, and take care of some other business. Then he offered to take our family up to his farm in the mountains later this week. We are going tomorrow. He owns 83 acres in the mountains and grows mangos, bananas, oranges… I can’t wait! Fresh fruit.

It’s so amazing how everywhere we go God hooks us up with someone that befriends us. Jose is like family now.

When we arrived here, there was a music/arts & crafts festival going on at the La Guancha (which is a seaside park and boardwalk). We mosied on over and bought some of their wares. It went on all weekend and we could hear the live music from our boat out at anchor. The food is so yummy here! Where we dock our dinghy, there is an open air restaurant and a sardine stand (the sardines aren’t for people, though). There are tons of tarpon that hang out around the dock, so people buy sardines for a $1 and feed them to the tarpon and the pelicans. The pelicans are so tame that you can pet some of them. We also saw two moray eels up under the rocks. There are markers in the harbor here that say it’s a manatee area, but we haven’t seen any yet (the “I haven’t seen whales yet” saga continues. sigh).

Jose told us about the best Mexican food restaurant in town, so we took a taxi with Kalida into town to check it out. It was the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten. We had soup, fajitas, and Kimi had enchiladas. Then there was dessert!! It consisted of two large flour tortillas fried with cinnamon, sugar and vanilla, with ice cream in between which had bananas and strawberries in it. It was sooo yummy! Right before we got the check the gestapo mariachi band arrived. We called them the gestapo because they stood in front of the door—you couldn’t leave without interrupting them!

Our friends on board Toucan arrived today. We are very glad to see them. We were afraid we had lost contact with them for good. We’re looking forward to touring around with them. They are very adventurous. There is also another boat here that has an American family of 5 on board from Chicago. Their children are extremely outgoing–I think our kids are shocked by it, but their kids are about the same ages as ours.

Next stop is Salinas, Puerto RIco, and then from there we will most likely spend some time in the Spanish Virgin Islands (Culebra). After that, we don’t know. We lost our mizzen board on the way here, so John is looking into the repair. We don’t want to spend cruising time with the boat hauled out, so we’re trying to see if we can carry on without it, or at least while a new one is made. It will all work out somehow.

When we told some of the Dominicans that we were going to Haiti, they tried to talk us out of it–they don’t even go!! We had become friends with a man named Odalis. He and his friend, Raphael, started a business together, Luperon Harbor Services, and we met them through the Naval Comandancias. Odalis & Raphael helped interpret since they spoke pretty good English. Odalis’ brother runs a taxi (gua gua), so he offered to take us into Haiti, we only had to pay for the taxi & gas, not his time.

We heard from Danita on Tuesday or Wednesday that all was safe, and settled on Friday for our trip. It was a three hour drive to Dajabon, DR. We happened to be going on a Friday, which was market day. Market day is a weekly event where the border between Haiti and DR is opened for a few hours. People from Haiti bring anything they can sell to trade for food, and those who have money, buy food.

Some other cruisers we met in Sapodilla Bay, Turks & Caicos also sailed to Luperon and there were three other boats who were interested in going to market and possibly Haiti, so we talked them into joining us. They were hoping to be able to find some wonderful things at the market (art, perhaps), and they also thought it would be a wonderful experience to see Haiti. We soon learned that it cost $25 to cross the border back and forth ($50 per person), no matter if you were staying weeks or hours. Since it was so expensive, the rest of the group decided to stay in Dajabon and shop at the market while we went over. We wanted to go even though it would cost $250 for our family. We didn’t want to be this close and let money stop us. It was settled that we would all meet at the dinghy dock at 7:30am Friday morning where Odalis would pick us up.

In a van that seats 12, we crammed our party of 14 in with room to spare (based on our previous gua-gua experience, there was still room for at least 6 more)!!

The ride over was long, and it rained a little. Once we arrived in Dajabon the streets were crammed–I mean crammed. There were wheel barrows, peddlers, carts… anything that would hold merchandise was crowding the streets to the point that we couldn’t get the van through without running over people. Finally, a “guide” stepped up and led us to a place right by the government office where we could leave the van safely. Odalis “hired” a boy to watch the van for us. Those not going to Haiti went one way, and our family and Odalis went the other. We agreed that any survivors would meet back at the van at 3:00pm–the border was closing at 4:00pm and we wanted to make sure we got out before it was too late! We said our “hope we see you later”s and headed our separate ways.

John had called Danita while Odalis was trying to park to let her know we were at the border so she could meet us. With Odalis close by, we headed into another world. Kimi was scared, but I told her to just hold my hand and stay as close to Odalis as possible and we would be fine. Odalis would make sure of it-I am convinced that God sent him to help us! The customs officials and the UN guards (armed and everywhere-from Uruguay?) were anxious for us to stop and “chat”, but Danita and Karris walked up at just the right time. Danita was amazing and handled them all, and we didn’t have to pay a dime–since it was market day. Once we started walking away from the border, Odalis offered to go back and find the others; since we didn’t have to pay entrance fees, we knew they would want to join us. Odalis took down Danita’s cell phone number, and we headed to the orphanage while he set off in the madness to find the others. This was very brave, finding them would be like finding a needle in a haystack–except that gringos stick out pretty easily, and we were the only gringos crazy enough to be there.

The walk to the orphanage was an experience all by itself. We could see the building from the border bridge, but the sights between us and the building were overwhelming. There was incredible multitudes and organized chaos (from market days). We saw vendors selling everything imaginable–and some things quite unimaginable. There were animal heads laying out on display: donkey heads, pig heads, cow heads (skinny cows), and all freshly beheaded (trying to give you a visual image-sorry)… ewww! Ladies were making fried plantains and selling them. There were people selling charcoal–not the nice neat briquets you buy in the store, but the burned up wood ash they use for fuel/cooking. There are no paved roads, and it was incredibly hot and dusty, and filthy dirty.

The conditions are as horrendous as you’ve seen and heard. There were lots of naked children running around (this freaked Kimi out more than anything). Women carried enormous loads of goods on top of their heads. Hopefully, the pictures we have will help see how immense the loads were. Men were shoving carts full of stuff through the crowds. Motoconchos (motorcycle taxis) were whizzing by stirring up dust. Huge trucks with beds piled full of merchandise just purchased in Dajabon, had people piled on top of that, dangling precariously! Right near the river (Massacre River) was an enormous pile of garbage, basically a land fill. There were a few women washing laundry in the river, but mostly people were occupied with the market. Many beggars asked us for money, and even more vendors tried to get us to buy their wares. The men would grab your arm and try to get you to come buy from them.

Once we made it to the gate of Danita’s Children, we walked inside to paradise. It was like walking into a whole other world. It was recess time and the school children were playing on the magnificent playground equipment, which was more impressive than any park I’ve been to. The buildings were beautiful, the grounds were clean and free of trash (unlike the rest of the town), there was a huge tree in the middle. Some of the children immediately ran up to us, and Danita introduced them. The children that she has adopted understand and speak English, but the others do not. We said, “Bon Jour” in our Texas accented French. They smiled and hugged us. They were all so polite and courteous. It was very impressive. Those that spoke English said “hello” and “welcome”.

Danita and Karris took us to the older boys’ dorm, which is also where they live. The building was beautiful. What these women have managed to do is remarkable!!! Karris took us on a tour of the school, the church, the cafeteria, the future site of the clinic, the other dorms, and the village, while Danita waited for Odalis to call and say he had found the others. Danita was to meet him at the border to get the others in.

We had toured everything and were back at the orphanage. They had planned to feed us and Odalis lunch, but had not expected the others to be able to come. However, they quickly accommodated all of us! It was one of the best meals we had eaten in a foreign country–and they even had ice (a rarity for cruisers)! The other half of our group was almost not allowed to cross over, but Danita promised them they were only staying for lunch, then would leave.

We were able to watch the children come in for their lunch. They sat quietly (unlike noisy American school cafeterias), and orderly while waiting to be led in a couple of songs, then a prayer over the meal. Everything was in French creole, but we recognized the tunes. Words nor pictures would ever be able to convey to you what an awesome thing that was. These kids (except for Danita’s orphans) live in extreme poverty-most of their families have one meal every 3rd day, there is a 95% unemployment rate, the land has been deforested and stripped of any natural resources, they live in shacks along dirt roads filled with trash and feces (didn’t want to know if it was animal or human). We walked through their village and saw it for ourselves. Little children with bellies distended from starvation and/or worms. For these school children to have one meal a day was a huge blessing, and on top of that they are being educated and given hope–for free! This place Danita has made with God’s help, really is bringing hope to Haiti. It’s nothing short of a miracle.

Back to our meal. Odalis had arrived with the others after an hour of searching! (He’s a great guy). He had found them near a park. They were finished shopping (had all they could stand) and were trying to figure out what they were going to do for the rest of the day until we came back, when Odalis found them. Yippee! We all had a great time of fellowship over delicious food. The friends that were with us were from three different boats, two from England, and another U.S. family of 5. They were all extremely impressed with what Danita had accomplished.

The living conditions in Ouanaminthe are terrible, contrasted with Danita’s world where they lived very much like we do on our boat. All of us cruisers could relate to life with generators, conserving water & power, shopping for food in foreign places… it was all very similar except the orphanage had WAY more space and much nicer restrooms!

After lunch, we took the others on a tour of the school and village. Some of the teachers led their class in welcoming songs for us–again, very touching and moving. We got to meet Danita’s oldest, Roberson (I hope I got his name right), who is 16, and several of the other older kids. We also got to meet Lubenson, whose story is nothing but a miracle! (You can go to www.danitaschildren.org to read all about the orphanage and read Lubenson’s story). He was napping while the other kids were at school-he’s just 2 or 3. Karris also took us to the hospital where a woman was giving birth in the other room—Karris said that all they have is a rusted gurney with a steel bowl at the end!!! It was all open air, no a/c. If it had power, it had to be by generator because I don’t think any of the town has any public electricity.

In the village, most of the families that were not at market were hanging out outside their homes. Some of them knew Karris because their children go to school there, others gazed at us as we gazed at them. Once we said, “bon jour”, they almost always replied in kind with a wide smile. Mothers were doing laundry in a bucket with soap (much the same way cruisers living on boats do–except those of us spoiled with a washing machine-grin). A few little boys followed us around as they played chase with us and each other, they were very giggly and cute. One boy about Kimi’s age was taking a bucket bath in the road with his little brother and he saw us and hid behind his porch rail. He was the only one we saw that seemed the least bit embarrassed. All of the females wear dresses, it’s a cultural, traditional, as well as practical thing (cooler). I was in blue jeans and felt a little awkward. We met a little boy who was playing (naked) with his little piglets in the mud.

All of the children we saw smiled hugely when we talked to them or waved. They seem happy; you start to see the hopelessness in the older children and adults. That’s what breaks your heart. One mother offered Karris her child; in America, it would have been laughed off as a joke, but Karris said she was probably not joking.

We saw a group of young people hanging out at a house; they didn’t seem too happy we were there, until our friend from Kalida spoke french to them. Even though they speak a creole french, it was enough to break down their defenses, and they seemed to welcome us then.

Basically, there is no hope for Haiti—except for God and the people He is using to bring them His hope. Rationally, intellectually, reasonably, politically, agriculturally—there is no hope for Haiti. But God sees hope there, and we could see God’s hope through the work that Danita is doing, along with the other missionaries God has sent there. 500 children have a meal every day and are getting an education for free, all because God loves them! What a contrast to our life of extreme excess in America.

Time was ticking, and we needed to head back to the border before they locked the gates. Danita had to leave after lunch to go to Santo Domingo for some security dogs, so Karris walked us across the border in two separate groups so as not to draw too much attention. Back at the van, Odalis had us scrape up some pesos for the boy that guarded the van for us.

Getting out was a little easier, since the border was closing soon the traffic had thinned out a little. The van is not air conditioned, so we all had the windows opened and every time we were stopped by traffic (which was a lot) vendors were shoving items in for us to buy (rum, bras, panties, shoes, purses…), or beggars were asking for pesos. We shut the windows and laughed as Odalis shooed them off by telling the rum pushers that we didn’t drink-we were Christians. Kind hearted Odalis gave a guy some money after he listened to his sad tale (did I say what a nice man he is?)

The trip back was more exciting than the trip there because of all the military checkpoints we had to stop at. There were military police armed with M16′s every few miles. They were checking for Haitian smugglers and wanted to know if we had been to Haiti. “Of course we hadn’t–we were just a bunch of Americans going to check out the market,” was our driver’s wise response! We passed through a street in the DR that had burned limbs and logs in the way-remnants from the previous day’s riot over the government seizing private property for some gov. project. We also had a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. We started to get worried when Odalis pulled out the cell phone vs. digging for the spare. He was calling his brother to find out if there was a spare–there was, so all the guys pitched in to help change it while us girls stood back and made up jokes about how many gringos it takes to change a gua gua tire. We stopped at several gommas (we called them gomer’s) to see about getting the tire fixed, no luck. Oh well. By the time we got back to Luperon, it was dark. Good thing we made it back safe because the gua-gua didn’t have any head lights. Actually, I take it back, there was a fog light in front that still worked.

We concluded the day with a yummy meal at Capt. Steve’s.

That, in a nutshell, was our trip to Haiti. Although we were well prepared for what to expect, it was still shocking to see it for real. It was a life changing experience that we are still trying to process. Our perspectives are different; things that seemed important before, are suddenly totally meaningless.

Next stop, Puerto Rico (we’re here, but I can’t post about everything at once…so pretend we’re not here yet and I will post about this place at a later date.) Adios amigos!

Now to tell you about Luperon. The landscape here is beautiful… it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in real life. John said he had read that the movie Jurassic Park was filmed here, so that will help you visualize it. It has both the highest and lowest points in the Carribean. There are mountains all around and there are palm trees growing on the mountains. It’s just beautiful. The other equally beautiful part of the Dominican Republic are the people. They are, on the whole, very attractive people. To top it off, they are some of the most hospitable, friendly, welcoming people. As a cruiser, sometimes you get the feeling that the locals are busy calculating the profit they will make from you as they are saying hello. Not that you aren’t welcomed… but more for your money than your company. Here, that is not the case at all. The people of Luperon seek you out and make you feel like they are interested in you as a person, not as a profit. Many cruisers come in here thinking they will stay a couple of weeks, and are still here months, and sometimes years later because the people are so wonderful. Many of them have learned English very well and they are not the least bit offended that you don’t speak good Spanish. On the contrary, they are delighted that you make the attempt. They seem to be very happy people that love their country. It’s a pleasure to be among them.

We arrived on Friday morning which was just in time to participate in the weekly Saturday (Sabado) softball game. Baseball is huge here… Sammy Sosa, …..other baseball players I don’t know. Anyway, every week the cruisers play against the locals in an informal game: Los Gringos vs Los Dominicanas. Guess who wins? Travis and John played, me and Kimi and Garrett watched. It was a close game, 24 to 3. To even things up a little, the Dominicanas agreed to swap one player for one player for a second game.

Even with a Dominicana on our side, we lost the second time as well 22 to 1. Oh, and the rules are: no strike outs for the cruisers! Afterwards, one of the other cruisers gave Garrett a hard time for not playing, so I think he will participate this coming Sat. Oh, after the game we got to see a political candidate promotion parade! They were waving PLD (Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana) flags, and Garrett got one as a souvenir.

We ventured out from the quaint little town of Luperon to Santiago. Our friends on Kalida did the trip and told us we have to experience the bus ride (vs. renting a car), so we decided to go for it. So here is a brief, but informative account of our outing.

First, we walked down the main drag to where the taxis and gua guas are. Gua guas are minivan taxis-no a/c and very worn/well used vehicle. In America, it would hold 11 people (12, absolute max-including driver). Here, they hold at least 20. No joke! We counted 19 at one time on the one we were on–even the locals laugh about it. The next experience; the driving. The drivers are very alert and well trained, impressive even. In America, we would have died! Apparantly, if you want to go faster than what is in front of you, you lay on the horn until they move. If they scoot over a sliver, that’s enough room to pass. If there is a car coming the other way? No matter–suck in, everyone will fit! The reason I said “than what is in front of you” is because it could be anything from a motoconcho or a farm truck or a donkey & rider or a person walking. If you don’t move over? Get within two inches of them, all the while honking. (The brakes work very well). Oh, and the roads are also shared with stray goats, cattle, horses, donkeys that might be wandering around. That was the first leg of our journey.

The gua gua took us as far as Imbert (a town), where there is a bus station (big gua guas with A/C). We purchased tickets to take us on to Santiago. The bus station is like a cinema ticket window without the rest of the builiding–it’s just a ticket window. No restrooms, no benches (although there were a few outdoor chairs). There was a large shade tree, though. We waited for the bus. As we waited, a man was sitting on a ledge and spotted us as Americans. He had lived in Alaska as a young boy and wanted to talk English with us. That is how we found out why he left Alaska. He was deported. Why? He committed a felon. He just went crazy–that’s all!!! Obviously, he was a few fries short of a happy meal. John handled him very well while I held on to Kimi and John, and the boys and I exchanged eyebrow raises.

On to the buses. There are two types of buses, those that are express buses and go straight to Santiago without stopping, and the other buses that stop anytime there is someone on the roadside waving pesos, or riding the bus and wanting to get off. The guy shuffling people on and off buses was very nice and helped us get on the right express bus. We had to wait for several buses to be able to all fit on the same bus. We only had to wait 15-30 minutes. We all got on the same bus, but were not able to sit together. It’s about an hour ride from Luperon to Imbert, and another hour from Imbert to Santiago. Once we arrived in Santiago, John had to figure out where to get off. I know a bus ride doesn’t sound like a big deal, but none of our kids have ever ridden public transportation (plane, train, automobile) where they had to make sure they got off/on at the right spot, sit with complete strangers… Not only was it their first bus ride (non-school field trip ride/church camp ride) but it was in a foreign country with a foreign language. This was wayyyy outside my comfort zone!!!

We made it to downtown and happened upon a large department store. We needed to buy Kimi some pantelones (pants & shorts). She had outgrown all that she brought. The salesperson was very helpful, and we found several things that Kimi se gusta (she likes). We wandered around downtown till we found Calle del sol (that’s a street name). We had hoped to visit a canvas shop that sells Sunbrella for $10 US/yard, but they were closed. We ate lunch at McDonald’s!! We found a large supermercado (grocery store) and checked out the prices for a return provisioning trip. We were all tired of walking (more tired of wearing shoes, though), so we decided to try to get back to the bus station and call it a day. It is also muy caliente (very hot) in the city. Santiago is in a valley, and since it is a city, there is a lot of concrete and buildings with little wind. It’s hot.

The bus ride back seemed much easier, probably because we knew what to expect. We did have to switch buses at some point, which was a little confusing, but we managed. We met a young man from Imbert at the bus station who spoke English. He helped us get on the right express bus. He sat next to Travis, and Kimi and I were across the aisle. He was very interested in who we were and what we were doing, and we found out who he was and where he was from, where he learned English… This made the trip go very fast. He was a very nice young man. The scenery on the way was beautiful; the bus driver was the most aggressive of them all! Once we arrived at Imbert, the same people shuffler remembered us and directed us to the gua guas to get back to Luperon. We found the same driver! Our family took up a whole bench in the van (the benches that seat 3). This is a minivan; a Diahatsu; a family car—not a commercial minibus. On this trip we saw another cruiser couple. We also met a man from Luperon who was commuting back from work. His brother is a baseball player in Oklahoma or Texas. He couldn’t remember which, he just knew they practiced in Oklahoma. We recruited him to play for the Gringos at our Saturday softball game!!!

That was our trip in a nutshell. A very exciting time. Although there were moments when I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack, I am really glad we did it. It was an experience I’ll never forget. We also learned why it’s best to rent a car that comes with a driver. (Can you say, “liability”?!). Hasta luego!

We departed Provo on Tuesday, April 8th and headed across the Caicos bank to “Six Hills Cay”. As you might imagine, there are six hills that distinguish this small island. We motored pretty much dead into the wind due to the shallow water and limited room to tack. We arrived in the afternoon and spent a great afternoon and night there. Very clear water, great snorkeling, nice and calm for a good nights sleep. On the way from Provo, we came across a fishing boat that sold us 5 lobsters for $10! What a deal! (We found out later from our friends on “Toucan” that lobster season had closed on April 1st, so that might explain the great deal.) Anyway, we dined on fresh lobster for supper that evening. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t big fans. So we allowed Travis to use some leftover pieces for bait. He proceeded to trade in about 1 oz. of lobster for about a 5 lb. grouper. Not a bad exchange I guess.

The next morning the wind was light and out of the SE (dead ahead, naturally) so we decided to sail for a while since we only had 28 miles to go to Big Sand Cay. When we finally got to the edge of the bank, we fired up the engine to get our speed up to a good trolling speed and put out a fishing line. Within about literally 60 seconds of getting it out … BAM! Trav hooked into a pretty good sized fish. We couldn’t tell what it was but it fought really hard for a while. Then it leaped out of the water and we could see that it was some sort of mackerel type fish. Shortly after it leaped it started fighting really strange and skimming on top of the water like it was dead, but then pulling quite hard again a moment later. Well, when we got it to the boat it was nothing but the head of a large wahoo with two barracudas chowing down on its remains. It had been a fairly large fish maybe 3 feet or so, probably the same size as one of the barracudas and only slightly smaller than the other. Those barracudas are really aggressive. Travis caught it and they cleaned it.

When we got to Big Sand, we swam ashore and played for a while. The boys skim boarded in the surf. The water was amazingly clear and a beautiful sapphire color.

There was a long low swell running and the sandy bottom continued about 15 feet deep all the way up to a steep sandy beach. It was neck deep about 10′ offshore. We didn’t explore much because we had on swimsuits and no shoes, but it looked like an interesting island. Several of the other boats a the anchorage saw huge humpback whales jumping and frolicking around (can a huge whale frolic?) Unfortunately, we were never in the right place at the right time to see them.

Thursday afternoon we left Big Sand for Luperon. The wind was out of the east and supposed to maybe go a little north of east. We didn’t really need that much time but the wind was predicted to go more south of east later on. So we took off at about 1pm on the 80 mile crossing, knowing we would arrive well before daylight and have to heave to till sunrise.

We sailed in company more or less with our friends and their boat “Toucan.” They have three kids also but theirs are much younger. Anyway, they got some great pictures of Cannibal underway. We got some of Toucan also and we swapped in Luperon.

Be sure and check out page two of our gallery for new albums and pics.

That’s what the water looks like, only it’s more clear than Jello. It’s like transparent blue jello, or powerade. It’s yummy looking! The shallower water is the most beautiful shade of turquoise. It looks like a very large, very refreshing swimming pool. We can see the bottom no matter whether we’re in 6 feet of water or 60!

We left Georgetown on Monday, the 17th and arrived in Salt Pond, Long Island. Long Island is long (duh). It’s 75 miles long and only 4 miles wide at the widest point. We rented a car on Wednesday and toured the lower half of the island. Hopefully John will add video of the waves at some point. We ate at a restaurant (can’t remember which town it was) and John and Travis ordered fried snapper. Imagine our surprise when their plates came, each with two WHOLE fried fish. The heads, eyes and all still intact!!!! GROSS! Kimi and I ate dolphin. Before you get too sad, dolphin is not the cute Flipper porpoise we know and love. Here, they call Mahi Mahi Dolphin. It’s also called Dorado. It’s very tasty–and we didn’t have to see it’s unpleasant parts. Garrett ordered chicken strips, which they were out of, so he had a cheeseburger. They are definitely on a different time table than most of the world (island time); it was a 2 hour lunch! By the time we got our food, it was almost time for supper! It’s kind of nice, though. Nobody gets in a hurry here.

One of the big events on Long Island is an annual Regatta. They build and race sailboats. They build them just off the side of the road. John stopped and talked to one of the guys working on a boat and took pictures. Everyone on this island is very friendly. It’s like a small town in 1970′s Texas before Wal-mart took over the world. We liked it very much.

After Long island, we sailed to a small, privately owned island (Hog Cay). We didn’t go ashore, since it was private. We anchored out in front of the island owner’s estate consisting of several houses connected with breezeways. It was a very awesome island to own. It had a beautiful beach, cool cliffs, lots of trees and birds. Their own paradise.

Then we went to Conception Island. This island was uninhabited and had the most beautiful beach we’ve seen yet. We arrived to an empty anchorage and immediately jumped in the water and played on shore. We thought we were going to have the whole place to ourselves, but then another boat arrived, then another, and another, then a large mega-yacht pulled in. Oh well. They first sailboat that arrived behind us came over. They were very nice, a retired couple from New York. The mega-yacht people came ashore as well. They were nice, too. They had twin boys about 1 or 2yr. old that were very cute. We spent the next day there. The kids built sandcastles. There was competition involved. Eventually, they had to see whose would survive the longest once the tide came up.

After Conception, we sailed to the other side of the island so we could take the dinghy into a lagoon. The books we have said there are turtles there. We tried to find them, but nothing. We then sailed on to Rum Cay. For those of you who have seen Pirates of the Caribbean as many times as we have (a lot), you can imagine how many times “where’s the rum?!” has been said.

The food supply is diminishing rapidly. All of the “good stuff” is gone, and we are down to about 7 meals. The grocery stores, so far, have been little more than convenience stores. Just the bare necessities. There isn’t a lot of meat to be had, nor fresh fruit and vegetables. Long Island had more than anywhere (other than Nassau). I had expected to be able to buy lots of fruit everywhere, and cheap, but that has not been the case.

Travis caught a dorado (aka dolphin, ada mahi mahi) on the way here (to Rum), but the silly fish let go and swam off just before Trav got him aboard. Then he caught a Barracuda (not something we want). He will keep trying. It was very exciting thinking about eating fish for supper. sigh.

We leave Rum Cay tonight and sail to Turks & Caicos. A norther is coming tonight and the winds change from SW to NE (eventually) which makes the perfect direction for sailing SE. I’m not a fan of overnight crossings, but this should only be two nights. I just hope the forecast is over-exaggerated and not under!

I’m feeling a little homesick. As beautiful as all of this is, there’s a lot to be said for friends, family, church, and American supermarkets, and Buddy (our dog), and Sonic, and Blue Bell ice cream, and Mazzios pizza… So know that all of you back home are loved and missed. (Have an ice cold Sonic coke with extra ice for me—and have a Dr. Pepper for the boys-they haven’t had one since we left the states!!)

By the way—we found out what happened to the REAL Classic coke! It’s here in the Bahamas! They make coke with real sugar here, not that fake, manufactured high fructose corn syrup…and man, is it yummy!!!! It’s pricey, though. $17 a case.

Since I mentioned prices, let me share a few with you and you will appreciate $3 gas. Milk: $4.79 a HALF gallon, Lay’s potato chips: $7, Gasoline: $5 a gallon, diesel: $4.78 a gallon, small box of cereal $5. Next time you shop at Wal-mart, think about those prices and feel blessed. Of course, not to rub it in, but you’re not enjoying your cheap abundant food & gas in this incredible, temperate climate surrounded by turquoise water and skies. Just goes to show ya, everything’s a trade off.

That is all for now. This ended up being a long post. Be sure and check out our gallery for more pictures fromWarderick Wells as well as Long Island and Conception Island.

They are having a music festival in town starting tonight and tonight is gospel night. We are anchored right offshore from downtown so we can hear the music very well. They just finished a rocked-up island beat version of “Victory in Jesus”. It was awesome.

We had a great sail down from Musha Cay today. We were gonna wait another day and do some snorkleing up there but we had a nice west-southwest wind so we figured it was a gift from God to make our trip to Georgetown easy. So far it’s worked out great…what with the gospel music and all. Now they are doing Kirk Franklin’s “Stomp.” Very cool!

Internet is a little dodgy on board right now so I’ll go ahead and end this post before I lose it. We’ll post more later.

Tomorrow we are heading south again toward Georgetown. We will spend the night somewhere along the way and then arrive on the 13th. So until then, here is a picture of a Bananaquit eating sugar out of Garrett’s hand. Check out the gallery for more.