Come in Mars Station...Come in Space Station

Come in Mars???
One morning while watching TV in the Cayuco Club Gerry and I saw a piece on Solar Ovens. Gerry stated that they had thought about purchasing one for the boat. When asked why they hadn’t made the purchase she stated that it would take up too much room on the deck and storage would be a problem.
Imagine my amazement when yesterday I was sitting in my cockpit and low and behold on the deck of the vessel anchored next to us they had a SOLAR OVEN! At first I thought that it might be some sort of satellite enhancement equipment. No it was an oven. All day we watched while as the boat was swinging on the anchor she adjusted and adjusted the oven. Things weren’t going well you could tell…look up to the sun adjust the oven, look up to the sun, adjust the oven. Finally it must have been hot enough to be cooking because she would taste the food and then re-adjust.

Eventually her husband came out and I can only imagine that he gave her some advice. I think that it may have been unwanted. Why you ask? Well, the hot pad glove came off and the spoon was laid down with emphasis and she was now sitting on the side of the boat. The husband adjusts the oven and disappears below.
Around 1600 hours the food is removed and the oven is closed up and stored on the deck. I must admit that several times during the day I wanted to offer her my oven. Propane is so much simpler. Yes there is the explosion thing occasionally. However, no matter which way the boat is swinging or if there is sun or not, I can cook.
Gerry I have come to the conclusion that space is not the only reason to NOT have a Solar Oven. I’ll take propane and a pressure cooker any day. Bon Appetite!

Sitting in Belize

Sitting in Placencia is always a different experience.  Never have we seen it so quiet!  The Purple Space Monkey is closed and up for sale.  There are few tourists on the streets and it looks very quiet around here.  Hotels are making special deals just to get some business.

We are having a good time though as Roger & Carole on SV Androsian is anchored next to us.  We have been catching up and having a very good time.  I think that I personally am trying to eat my weight in shrimp dinners.  I could eat it every day of the week.

There is a small pod of dolphins that come by the boat twice a day and we enjoy watching them.  Got into the water yesterday and had a decent snorkel.  Lots of fish and some very nice sea fans.  Most of the coral had grass on it so not quite as nice.

Dennis on Day Breaker went ultra-light flying and took some amazing photos of the harbor and the surrounding area.  He was kind enough to share them.  See if you can find Dragonheart.

One bummer is that Skype will not work here at all and I can’t get the phone forwarded.  So you will have to contact us by email.

How Did I Get So Lucky?

I am blessed!  I have a 13 year old on board our boat.  She puts up with my awful singing and much much more.  She has introduced me to P!NK and Nickleback, Snow Patrol, New Found Glory and so much more.

Cynthia is an enigma and the younger version of myself.  She is shy, loud, proud, timid, sure of her self and the total loss of confidence!  She is womanhood and girlhood all wrapped up into one.  She is the moon and the sun simultaneously.  She blows my mind!!  We can share a book, a movie, a song and nothing at all at the same time.

She has insight into me and my generation.  She is a child.  She is brilliant!  Right now she is putting up with me and playing her ipod at the pain level while washing dishes and when I burst into song she smiles with a smile that says it all and yet accepts me for me.  I always know that I am COOL.  The trouble is convincing her that I am as cool as I think that I am.

I am a lucky grandma.... sometime she thinks that I am as cool as I think that I am.  And when she evaluates me with her magnifying glass I may come up short, but in the end we can still stand in front of the Karaoke mic and sing,  "Build Me up Buttercup" with perfect harmony.

What more could you want?

Can We Leave Now? Please

I  am ready to slip the bonds of the dock, pull the plug on the power, and jump over the side and swim with some fish!
  The awnings came down yesterday, just in time for a gully washer of a storm.  Lightening included.  Yes, the boat leaked!  We tracked them down this morning.  Lines are soaking in buckets of  OxyClean, the deck has been washed.  The bimini needs to be washed.  Batteries are being checked.  Sails have been checked and raised.  The furler seems to be working.  The new frig system is installed and working well.  Heck I can make ice for the first time since we moved on the boat.

I have been filling the lockers with paper products, food, toiletries, etc.  There is an unending list of "should we get more of....?"

There are thousand of reasons/excuses to stay here at the dock, but my heart is always happiest on the open water.  I love my little cocoon and the time to contemplate my belly button.  I love looking out the hatch over my bed and seeing stars instead of the awning.  I love looking at charts and waypoints, listening to the weather on the SSB.  I love that fact that I can change neighborhoods by picking up my anchor and moving the boat.  I love it that when the boat is rocked by a wake at anchor we don't have to worry about hitting the dock.  I love having a glass of wine in my cockpit and watching the sun set over the ocean, while the water laps against the hull.

Most of all I love being on the boat with just us.  To Michael and Cynthia who make "Just Us" so special.