Sunday January 31: The Dodge' ems

Yesterday, after a nice flight to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, we were off - on our own - in our rental car - driving where no one in their right mind would drive ,,, Santo Domingo.

It was only 2 1/2 hours to Santo Domingo. Seemed like we should visit the capitol of this country if we were going to see it all. Seemed like we would be in well before dark. Seemed like all was going well - and then it wasn't!

OMG - Steve gets the award for the best adaptation to driving in a place where there apparently are no road signs, lanes, speed limits or anything else! All was fine until we were about 20 minutes from the city. Suddenly the traffic was bumper to bumper for the next 90 minutes.

Calling it the Dodge 'ems doesn't begin to do it justice, its the most aggressive driver wins! After trying to find our Radisson Hotel in the dark we finally came upon a wonderful young woman cab driver who led us to it. The hotel was very poorly marked and very hard to see if you didn't know where it was. Our navigator was less than helpful (that would be me). We were very happy to arrive about 90 minutes later than expected, ordered room service and made it an early night.

We left Santo Domingo this morning after a nice stay at the Radisson – what might be our last “civilized” place we stay while in the Dominican Republic. You know – TV, internet, room service, etc. It's Airbnb from here on out. Not sure what we'll find!

Without a GPS and a true map (I was able to use screen shots from the computer) and no usable phone (not sure why our “works everywhere phone” doesn't), it's been a challenge. Plus neither Steve nor I speak any measurable amount of Spanish (where are you Wendy and Tom when we need you??).

Addresses?? Forget it. Road signs? Nonexistent for the most part. Motorbikes, a major method of travel, were whizzing by on both sides while we searched in vain for our turn off for our lodging for Saturday night. 

 No luck and no one to ask because virtually no one spoke English and we're relying on my Spanish from 9th and 10th grade :-( . We decided to go into the town of Samana, where we were headed tomorrow for the whale watch trip, to ask for help, because we thought they likely would speak English.

 Kim (the owner of the whale watching company) was wonderful and we managed to finally find our way to Villa Rosita.  

This place has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Should be large enough for us :-) Right on the water. Must be something that just draws us to the water. Home for 2 nights.

In the meantime, we share the road with some interesting vehicles. Mostly mopeds that ride in the berm on the sides of the road, or on the road, or cutting around in-between the cars – especially in the populated areas.

It's amazing we haven't seen anyone get killed yet. I can't believe the craziness of it all.

The land itself changes from mountains to flat lands as the drive north takes us from the southern shore to the northern shore – in about 2 hours.

Most roads on the north end have homes/businesses - using both words loosely - lining the street. This is a very poor country for sure. And the currency? 100 pesos is worth $2.12 US. Even when we withdrew the maximum of $600 from the ATM it was only $13 and change US. People must have to carry $1000 peso bills to even do anything – like buy food or gas.

We did inadvertently manage to find a nice place for lunch overlooking Samana Bay – where we leave from tomorrow for the whale watching trip. It was good to scope it out for tomorrow.

Right now, Steve is trying to open a can of corn as a part of our dinner – but no can openers in the place. He's using a meat clever …..

Last picture: of the parking lot for the supermercado – a supermarket! The mopeds continue to weave in an out, people are crossing the street, two vans just stop and double park. Crazy, crazy, crazy ….

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

Saturday January 30: Finally - Warm Weather .... In the Dominican Republic!!

 We finally found the warm weather that has NOT been in Florida - it's in the Dominican Republic!!

Way more south than the Keys.

But first back to Banana Bay .....








First the seat on the dinette needed to be recovered. Can't have the seat back be nice and the seat still in need ....












So between Steve and I, the seat bottom (with new foam) was covered in more of the same material.




A good part of our storage is under this seat - access needed to still be easy. I think we accomplished the goal of having it look nice and still be easily removed.

Another project finished - and just in time for Pat and Becky to arrive.

They are headed to the Virgin Islands for a sailing adventure with friends but made the 3 hour detour south (from flying in to Ft. Lauderdale) to spend a couple of days with us here in cool-but-warmer-than-Ohio Marathon.






Staying with us on Yesterday's Dream gave them a good trial for staying on the catamaran they have rented with 3 other couples.

And of course we had to celebrate them finally coming to pay a visit :-)






The Keys experience included a trip to Bahia Honda State Park (with the camera forgotten of course) with a mandatory stop at Key's Fisheries for a seafood lunch.

It may seem like all we did was eat and drink but there was also the always informative tram ride at Crane Point for a bit of history of the area. And of course plenty of just being on the flybridge enjoying our new view of the bay (more on that we we return to the boat).

What a quick couple of days. There were also visits to the pool and hot tub.



And exercise for Steve, Pat and Becky, a kayak over to the mangroves. The water is not very clear though with all of the wind stirring it up but it was still a nice day for a paddle even though the sun never really broke through.




Their visit ended Thursday when we left for the three hour, turned into four hour, drive to the Ft. Lauderdale airport (it rained the whole way and multiple accidents really slowed the traffic). When we arrived the terminal was closed and evacuated (fire alarm had been pulled). What a mess!!!

But Pat and Becky made their flight, we made it to our hotel and flew out early Friday morning for a trip to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. More on that at some point!!

Saturday January 23: Still Blowin' in the Keys

The wind continues to blow through the Keys - today is 30 mph with occasional gusts higher.

Doesn't make me want to ride around on a bike as it feels as though I'd just get blown right over!

Today it's from the west - which is good for us on the boat as the trees in front of us block much of the wind. The worst is the north winds  which create some interesting wave action in the marina basin.

Not sure how that pelican can even fly! Good job Steve getting the pelican in the picture :-)

But it's warm (mostly), sunny (some days) and no snow - unlike the East coast. We've been watching the weather channel lately for it's entertainment value. Some of the boater's here have greater concerns though. At least one that we know of that still has a home in New Jersey - and the power is out.

So we use the time to continue maintenance on the boat - both in and out.

Steve's replacing both swing lights as they are showing both rust and wear. About 3 years old which is actually pretty good in this salty air environment.

Recovering the dinette seat bottom and back as well as the bar stools is also an ongoing project.

Same material that I used last year to make the new cushion covers for Guppy. There is still tons of the material left from our $35 bargain at the fabric store in Cleveland. 

Seat bottom is for another day ;-)

And as I was working on recovering the bar stools - I decided owning these bar stools for 16 years and one recovering was enough! They made the move through 3 homes and one boat. Time for new ones!

So, armed with Amazon Prime, the new pair arrived in a very quick 4 days.

Ten minutes to assemble and we're good to go. Smaller and lighter but not as comfortable.

No one really sits on them unless we're eating so no issues there. And taken apart they are much easier to store.

Most fun over the past week? Joining the marina community in a "Pierogi Night" put on by Randy and Cindy (I Think I Can ...), and George and Pat (Reflection). 

Cindy

Lots of work cleaning  up the 'work room' next to the laundry (too cold and windy to have the gathering outside) and then hand making close to 100 potato/cheese pierogi. 

George and Pat

Plus Cindy made dill pickle soup - which sounds weird but was incredibly good! All in all a great time :-) Steve will definitely be getting THAT recipe!

Wildlife spotted around the marina: a green heron taking a break from the wind on our neighbor's swim platform. These birds are very skittish and it's unusual to see one just hanging around. 

And wading around just off shore is a white heron. 

These birds are quite a bit larger than the smaller green herons. It's always fun to spot them!

Well, that's all the educational stuff I can muster today :-)

My brother Pat and his wife Becky are due in Monday from the northern tundra of Ohio. Hopefully the wind will decide to play nice when they are here .....

Wednesday January 13: What's With the Weather?

We've now been here in what is supposed to be the sunny, warm Florida keys. You know - where you sit at the point in a t-shirt and shorts to watch the sunset?

Only lately (about half the days we've been here) it's been jeans and a jacket. VERY windy. I know - it's not like at the Vikings game where they played in temps of below zero - to say nothing of the wind chill factor. But really?

This kind of weather keeps us in the boat with the heater running. Of course the other days, we're in the boat with the air running as the humidity has been out of control! No happy medium this year .... so far. We're hoping for better ....

The biggest project for the season is the removal of our 1978 Onan 7.5 kw diesel generator. Anyone need a generator?

The plan was to take it apart to get it light enough to lift and maneuver it sideways and up from under the floor.

Even with stuff removed, it still weighs 350 pounds. On to plan B: have Billy the general mechanic bring in an A frame hoist, get it up out from under the floor and hoist it to the dock.

We'll update the progress as it happens ......


In the meantime, we have lots of parts :-)

On a 1978 boat, there are always other things that need attention so the cold weather has given us time to do a few.

All miniblinds removed and scrubbed (they REALLY needed it from the long summer as the boat sat). Waterproofing the flybridge canvas is still on the list due to the rain. Did I say the weather has not been very nice?

Last Friday the weather settled down long enough for our boat neighbors Randy and Cindy (with crew of Gigit and Cricket) to return from their 9 month journey around the Great Loop route!

And this 6,000 mile journey in their 25' Ranger Tug! Left from Banana Bay last March, traveled counterclockwise up the East coast, up into Ontario, down Lake Michigan, down the central rivers, across the Gulf of Mexico and finally returning here to Banana Bay.

Nice job!!

And now we get the occasional visit from Cricket and Gigit both. Well, Randy and Cindy too ....









There was a day and a half of really nice weather - nice temp and no winds.

Time for a trip 45 minutes up the coast on Jenna Star (our next door neighbors George and Nancy) for a relaxing lunch and ride.

Best was that Dave and Joyce (formerly from Joysea) were down here for a week and were able to join us!

They were traveling with us when we completed the loop in Rome, NY on the Erie Barge Canal in 2011.

Once Looper friends, always Looper friends :-)

Monday January 4: Finally Back Home at Banana Bay

After a long but successful flight from DC to Ft. Myers (through Atlanta) we were finally back to Sweetwater marina late Wednesday night.

What a change from the weather in DC! Warm, sunny and muggy ;-)  Perfect!

First order of business - get the mast back up. We expected to be anchoring out on the way to the Keys and thought we should have a mast so we could have a mast light!

Sadly, we didn't think to plug the lights in before raising the mast. Guess what didn't work ......

So at some point we'll have to lower the mast back down and check the bulb contacts.

Once the mast is up it's not hard for me to hold it in place with the lines which will eventually be attached to the boom. In the meantime, Steve tightens the 4 stainless steel cables to keep the mast upright and in place.

The plan was to put this up when we had our competent crew member with us but somehow there just wasn't time to do that!

And as always, there was a bit of checking to be done in the engine area.

Steve deemed us 'good to go' .... as soon as the college bowl games were over of course!



Our thought was to take a leisure trip south but the weather had other thoughts! Since we weren't leaving until Saturday and the weather was turning nasty on Tuesday gave us 3 days to make the 170 mile trip.

In a car - easy! On an 8 mph boat - doable with early morning rises and long days :-)

So up at 6;15 and off by sunrise - or just before. The weather from Sweetwater to Marco Island was wonderful - waves of 1 foot or less.

Into the anchorage by 3:30 - it was a good day!

And then Steve noticed we had a hitchhiker - a little tree frog!! Same one as Becky found? Not sure but it sure looked like the same little guy :-)

What to do with him? We wouldn't be on land for another couple of days so we figured we'd just keep him in a glass until we reached Banana Bay.

Sadly, he escaped .... and wasn't to be found anywhere in the boat.

Perhaps he decided to swim for the land? It was a nice sunset though - we wished the little guy well.

Up early again Sunday and off to Little Shark River. The tide was coming in - always good when traveling on the Big Marco River - which may be big but isn't very deep!

No mishaps this time through (unlike the first time through when I ran aground!).

Steve of course was trolling as we traveled and picked up a couple more spanish mackerel just before we finally reached the Little Shark River.

This is really a pretty anchorage and totally out in the middle of nowhere! No cell signals here - southern tip of the Everglades National park.

Settled in relaxing - until an hour after dark when a squall decided to come roaring through! Winds, waves and rain.

And did I say it was dark? Like pitch black dark? Couldn't see a thing. Fortunately we had our anchor alarm set so it was easy to watch on our phone to verify that the anchor was holding us in place. Not sure how we would have known otherwise.

I really don't like being at anchor when those kinds of winds blow through ....

At least the sunset earlier in the evening was nice!


Finally time to press on for the final 40 miles to Banana Bay.

There were conflicting weather reports so the steadying sail went up - along with all of the enclosure for the flybridge.

We've found the hard way that it's way easier to put these things up when in a calm anchorage rather than wait until we're in wind and waves to do it!

As it turned out, the weather was a non issue. I knew we were here to stay a while when I saw the tie line in a nice little circle :-)


On a happy ending: the little frog made his appearance as we put the tarp over the front hatch. Apparently he was drawn to the water in it when Steve took it off this morning and bundled it up!

Hope he finds some friends down here in Banana Bay ...... but at least he's on dry land.