Happy New Year 2015

With the beginning of the New Year 2015 we have started a new personal blog on Facebook. It is much easier to update from there, and the posts are already up and running :)

Here is the link that you can click to get to our page ORION on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/ORION/311911805682670

It is a public page, so you can see it even if you are not a member of Facebook! 

Only if you want to comment or "like" the page you need a Facebook account. Most of our family and friends are on FB, so please go ahead and have a look and if you like what you see click the "like this page" button...thank you :D

We like Blogger and will do some occasional updates here, but the Facebook page ORION is where you will find most of the action from now on...it is just so much easier, and I want to spend less time on the internet and more time sailing :) Love to all of you from Rick and Sue on ORION <3

Happy Holidays

Have not updated our blog since my brother Willi left...my apologies...writers' block I guess, and the convenience of Facebook are the reasons! We took an airplane trip to New Hampshire in June to visit Rick's dad Harvey, who celebrated his 95th birthday this year :) We then flew to Miami to spend some time with our kids there...then returned to our boat in time for hurricane watches.

We fared well during the hurricane season with not much storm activity affecting us here in Culebra, PR. 

We sailed quite a bit around Culebra area and to Vieques, and also took a nice 4day land retreat at Club Seabourne taking advantage of a special offer they had at the time :) Now it is already the end of December! Rick and I are enjoying the cooler temperatures associated with "winter time" in the Caribbean :) We are off sailing again on ORION, exploring Vieques and visiting with friends we have here...life is good!

I will be starting a Facebook blog for ORION soon...most probably will link this blog to it or vice versa...will see how it goes, as it is so easy to update from Facebook. Best thing is that you do not need to be a member of Facebook to get blog updates...if it is a public page (which is what I will create) it can be reached by anybody through a link...we will let you have details and the link :)

Rick and I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and a Happy and Healthy New Year 2015 when it arrives. 

Thank you for following our life on ORION...much love always...until soon again with increased enthusiasm for updating the blog ;)

Willi's visit...more fun

Flamenco Beach, Culebra is the third top beach in the world according to Trip Advisor...yap! And we went there every day for a few hours...Willi got a nice tan without getting sunburned :) White sand, blue water...Flamenco Beach is stunningly beautiful! 

Yes, we love Culebra and are so happy that we could share this beautiful island with my triplet brother Willi! 

Last but not least we captured Willi with a sailboat without him turning green in the face, hahahaha! This beautiful schooner sailed into Ensenada Honda one day and we were lucky to get a few nice shots :) At least we got Willi to stay for a few hours on our ORION two times during his three week visit...that is kind of a success story in our books ;) Well done Willi! We still have some more nice memories to share, so see you soon in the next post!

Willi's visit continued

Here is Willi with the golf cart that he ended up renting for the remainder of his vacation with us :) It was a great solution for transportation around Culebra Island for the three of us and it was fun! Sailing would have been better of course, but Willi is not a sailor...no problem...we went to Flamenco Beach every day and also roamed around the island's other beaches...dined out almost every evening (yes, we are all on a "eat less diet" now), and spent time at beautiful Club Seabourne Hotel, a simply magnificent place with professional and friendly staff...Willi's home away from home for three weeks! The following picture collages need no explanation...we all had a super duper time together :)

Stay tuned for more "evidence" of our tourist adventures :)

Willi's visit

We are having fun with Willi here in Culebra :) He is not a boat person, so we will not do any sailing...but there are other means to explore Culebra! We rented a golf cart for two days and have been busy driving all over the island...here are a few photo collages...

Today we returned the golf cart, had lunch at Dinghy Dock, and then returned to Club Seabourne (the club sent a courtesy fan to pick us up in town...God bless them), where we spent the afternoon lounging on the pool :) The restaurant at Club Seabourne is open Thursday through Sunday, so we'll have some good meals there again this weekend! They are open for breakfast daily though, and Willi has the benefit of enjoying one a la carte every morning...included in his room rate (!)...we have nothing but praise for Club Seabourne :)

Willi is here :)

My triplet brother Willi flew in from Germany today for a three week visit :) He is staying at Club Seabourne Hotel, a truly beautiful place with park-like surroundings a little ways outside of town...the ambiance is peaceful and tranquil and the rooms are not simply rooms but all in one suites with a nice balcony and a magnificent view! From Willi's room we can even see ORION moored in the bay across Fulladoza :)

Since Willi is not very "seaworthy" we are happy that Club Seabourne was able to accommodate him for three weeks at a discounted price :) He had open heart surgery a few years ago and only 40% capacity left, so Club Seabourne with its quiet atmosphere is just perfect for him as a base! In addition, Club Seabourne has the nicest most caring staff I have ever experienced in a hotel :)

We met Willi at the small airport here in Culebra...Club Seabourne sent a car to pick us up and dropped us off right in front of Willi's room :) After checking him in we had dinner at their restaurant and even got one complementary rum drink each! We had a toast for Helmut, my other triplet brother, who passed away 4 years ago :/ Looking forward to meeting Willi again tomorrow morning for breakfast at the hotel :) Life is good!

Triplets: from left to right...Willi, Sue (me), Helmut...first day of school in Germany...

P.S...Thank you to my daughter Julia for scanning the old photos for me, so I can have them on my computer :)

It's all about the food...or is it?

We keep having fun with old and new cruiser friends...had Nick and Pam of SV Knot Yet over on ORION for drinks and snacks and some great conversations the other day :) Pam makes the best cheese balls...cream cheese with a special crunchy coating...oh so yummy! She let us be selfish and keep it for ourselves for eating later...how cool is that? Thanks Pam!

Yesterday we had a spirit of the moment dinner with Jo of SV Starburst and her friends Ryan and Diana of SV Ryana...all here on our SV ORION :) I made a big pot of chili in the pressure cooker, mashed potatoes for a side...Jo brought home made corn muffins and Diana had baked peanut butter/chocolate cookies :) We had a feast! Jo (and Matt) and Ryan and Diana met during the Atlantic Ralley and now again here in Culebra...it's a small world...and as usual we had some great conversations going despite the food, hahahaha! It is wonderful to meet sailors from all walks of life :)

More new cruiser friends...Nick/Pam SV Knot Yet

Almost forgot...just before we left for Culebrita we were honored with yet another great get together of cruiser friends! Pam and I had been in contact through some cruiser groups on Facebook...and at long last we met in person when she and her husband Nick sailed to Culebra and invited Rick and I for drinks and snacks aboard their Hunter "SV Knot Yet"! 

We had a wonderful time and met yet another nice cruiser couple...Tim and Jenny of SV Walkabout. Pam prepared some deliciously yummie snacks and we all dug in and enjoyed :) Nick and Pam are making their way back to the States after having cruised the Caribbean for two years...Tim and Jenny are just starting their Caribbean adventures...we are an eclectic mix of people, aren't we!? Never dull in Paradise ;) 

More fun...with Ignacio and Digna

Had a wonderful time with our friends Ignacio and Digna of SV Espiritu Libre yesterday afternoon aboard ORION...we feel honored to be friends with such a great couple!

Later on we went over to SV Starburst...Matt and Jo had invited us for home made (by Jo) key lime pie and drinks on their beautiful Hallberg Rassy sailboat...the pie was delicious...too bad we did not capture the occasion on the camera! So in their honor I am posting tonight's stunning sunset with their boat SV Starburst as seen from SV ORION :)

Sailing again...Culebrita

Yes...yes...yes...we went sailing again to Culebrita :) Our friends Bob and Judy and their friends Teri, and Gary and Carla also went on their sailboat SV Adastra, another Morgan 41 (not an Out Island but a Classic)...we had some fun in the sun at Culebrita beach, went to a natural whirlpool there called "the jacoozy", and had sundowners in the evening at the beach :)

As you can see a good time was had by all :) We even got to put in some girl time...whilst the boys went up to Culebrita Lighthouse I had yoghurt/muesli/fruit breakfast with Judy and Teri on ORION (Carla enjoyed some alone time on Adastra) and showed them how to bake a quiche on the stovetop in my wonder pot stovetop oven from Israel, which I named Oshra after the man who sells them. Oh...and they loved the anklets which I had made for them :)

A big thank you to Teri, who insisted on photographing my quiche baking session, because she wanted me to have photos with me in it! Very cool Teri :)

We left Culebrita on Saturday morning...firstly because we wanted to be back in Culebra to attend the annual fundraiser for the Culebra Animal Society...secondly because the "Puerto Rican Navy" was arriving at Culebrita for the three day weekend! The Puerto Rican Navy is an abundance of power boaters that invade the shores of Culebrita and various other normally quiet anchorages during weekends and holidays...they raft up as many boats as they can (usually around 15-20!) and start partying! It's good to see and hear them having fun, but we and most other sailors prefer to retreat to some other more quiet places...only to return after everybody has left...that's the privilege we have being free as birds and we take advantage of it whenever we can :)

We had a beautiful sail back under jib only...

and were able to take some nice photos of SV Adastra underway :)

Bob and Judy took some pics of ORION underway, which I will post as soon as I get them...

Another beautiful day in Paradise

Rick and I like to walk when we are not sailing...Culebra is a great place for long walks...the terrain is hilly and there is usually a nice cool sea breeze :) We usually walk for about 2-3 hours and on return to ORION take a nice cool swim in the ocean...what's not to like? 

The other day we had some new friends over for drinks and snacks on ORION...Matt and Jo are anchored behind us on their sailboat SV Starburst...a good time was had by all :)

Another day we went to Dinghy Dock Restaurant, where we met another nice couple and had a good time :) Life is good!

The Fun Continues with The crew of SV Adastra

Had a nice day of shopping and eating and laughing a lot with my friends Judy (SV Adastra) and Teri :) We took the 7:00 am ferry to Fajardo and returned with the 3:00 pm one to Culebra...what a great day out for us girls! We left the boys behind slaving over Bob's (Judy's hubbie) water maker installation...ah well...they would not have liked going shopping with us anyways, hahahaha!

When we returned we all went to Zaco's Tacos for an awesome dinner...Matt and Jennifer (a young couple that spend some time in Culebra) were leaving the next day and Matt invited all of us...Don, Bob and Judy, Teri, and Rick and I...for a last fun time together :) And fun we had, as captured in the photo...somehow I managed to hide myself ;)

"El legado continua" festival Culebra

Saturday, February 8, 2014 was the time to be in town for sure! "El Legado Continua"..."The Legend Continues" is an annual festival in Culebra...in memory and in honor of Victor Felix Munet, aka Cucuito, who helped the community including cruisers after Hurricane Hugo! His daughter Mayra told us about it and extended a warm welcome to attend :) It was a nice change from the ordinary and an honor to be there! I advertised the event on my Facebook group "Culebra Cruisers" and it was a pleasure to see many cruisers there as well as locals :) Cucuito was an avid steel drum player...so a steel drum band played all night life on the stage! Videos were shown of old recordings from 1997 in the town plaza of Culebra with Cucuito and his band in action...fun! Even three guys on high stilts walked around and danced :) An evening to remember for sure! 

We ran into Don and Matt and Jennifer in the plaza...yes, the same ones we were partying with the night before...

They were eating at "Heather's Pizza" and joined us in the plaza later on...here I am with Jennifer...Her and Matt are a super nice couple...they are our kids' ages...so now I am missing my kids! But we'll see them soon :)