The jinx is over…fish for dinner at last!
December 26, better known as Boxing Day in some parts of the world. After spending the night on Orion at the marina we set sail for Coffin Island around 9:30 a.m. Set sail? Not really…there was no wind blowing at all! I guess Santa needed it all on Christmas to get the reindeer flying, because not even a breeze was to be found! Luckily we don’t live in the olden times anymore where one had to patiently wait for wind! So we cranked up the good old Diesel and puttered off. Not quite a sailor’s dream but better than sitting at the dock for sure!
To make the best of the situation, the Captain decided to put out a fishing rod. “No problem, but please no bloody guts in the cockpit at all times” demanded the First Mate who gets promoted to Admiral at times like this. And really there was no worry, because no fish has dared to hook onto the Captain’s fishing rod since we got Orion some two years ago. Somehow it’s jinxed! Okay…back to our sail from Salinas to Coffin Island. We are leisurely motoring away and Coffin Island is in site, when the fishing rod makes that unmistakable whizzing noise coming from a spinning reel. Without exchange of words we make a flying change of positions: Rick to the fishing rod and I to the helm (steering wheel on a boat). Now what? I slow down Orion whilst the Captain is actually fighting something at the end of that rod! Of course we both believe it is a piece of debris from something we just passed…but hey it’s putting up a good fight! Then there is a silver splash…it’s a fish…the adrenaline is starting to set in. Wow a fish!
"Those who are living the dream, as well as those who are planning for the day that they can release the ties to the workaday world and sail off to seek paradise, and those who only dream of such adventure, all join together in an organization called the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA)."
Hope everybody had a great Holiday. We celebrated Christmas this year for the last time in our landlubber home in Ponce. Next year we’ll be “out there” cruising the Caribbean, God willing, of course! Two of our college kids are home for the holidays and actually wanted to have a Christmas Dinner with us…Well…kind of, as long as everything was finished by darkness, so they could mingle with their friends thereafter. It gets dark early here in the tropical spheres. So we made the best of it and invited two newfound cruiser friends from Salinas to join us for dinner. This worked out wonderfully, because we had a reason (as if we really need one, huh) to return to Salinas Friday evening, drop them off at the dinghy dock and then overnight on Orion to set sail Saturday morning for Coffin Island! Kids happy…parents happy :o). We had a nice dinner with Paul and Lynn (the cruiser friends) and Julia and Michael (our college kids) as well as Michael's friends Alejandra and Ben. We missed the rest of the family (all in Florida) and want to mention them on the blog: Jessica and Randy… Michelle, Mike and Abigail…Jeanette and Ted…and my brother Willi in the cold Germany! Hey, Florida sounds good for next year’s celebration!
Decisions…decisions…best to make them on the spot and don’t regret anything, because life is too short to worry about the small stuff! So instead of “anchors away” it was “anchors stay” or rather "docklines stay" and “it’s party time at the marina”!
We were invited. Saturday, 12-5-2009 was the date for the Ponce Power Squadron’s Christmas Party. Both Rick and I are active members. The PPS is a part of the United States Power and Sail Squadrons…and yes, we do want the PPS to change its name to the PSPS, the Ponce Sail and Power Squadron. But that’s an issue I will bring up somewhere else. Okay…back on track. This year, the Captain and I decided to sail Orion to Ponce…quasi like the prince and the princess that arrive in a chariot. But will she turn into a pumpkin?... 
Blogging...What can I say...it's an experience! Thought I'll put "my dolphin" up for everybody to see...That dolphin played with Orion's bow wave for the longest time. I just love the smiling expression on its face. Well...Rick is getting some well deserved zzzzzz's while I am determined to get this first blog entry up into cyberspace...and here it is!
