"Night of Lights" in Salinas Bay Area

On December 18, 2010 we celebrated the 3rd Annual Night of Lights, formerly known as the boat parade. For us it was the first time entering in the contest that takes place...thanks to my friends Kris and Bill, who relentlessly "bugged me" :o) Kris and Bill organized the event this year in memory of our sailor friend Dan Lyons, who unexpectedly passed away earlier in the year. RIP Dan! This year's parade was not a parade, because the boats stayed on the dock or at anchor. This year the judges went out in a dinghy to judge their hearts out as to who would be eligible for a prize! It was great fun for all involved. Unfortunately the event could not be held at Marina de Salinas because of scheduling conflicts. Instead it was held at the Manatee Eco Resort across the bay from the marina where the owner (Andy) provided his facilities for the party. Thanks Andy. Everybody purchased food and drinks at special prices and everybody had a great time. We took along our sailor friends Dick and Jane. And guess what...our Orion even won a prize...yes, we made seventh place and received a certificate for a free eye splice, donated by our sailor friend Mary Liz...way to go!! A lot of work and preparation goes into this event and we take this opportunity to congratulate Kris and Bill on a job well done...let's do it again next year :o)

Kris and Bill

Rick and Sue...Dick and Jane

The judges venturing out into the bay!

Mary Liz and Magali

Tony and his son

Prizes

Marianne and her parents

Keith, Tommy, Miguel, Tony and Kris...the Judges 2010

December 2010...A wonderful Holiday Season...

Christmas was special for us this year, because Julia and Michael were able to visit us (and their friends) in Puerto Rico. It was wonderful to have them here...and somehow strange, because we are so used to being on our own now as captain and co-captain instead of Mom and Dad! Our children are the best (yes I know...you think the same of your children...smile) and we love them endlessly. It is amazing how they have grown up to be such responsible citizens. Fortunately for us they think it is cool to have parents that live on a sailboat! Well...we enjoyed having Julia and Michael here...we missed the rest of the kids...Jessica, Jeanette and Ted, Michelle and Mike, and of course the number one grand-kid Abby! Perhaps next year we'll sail to Miami for Christmas? Mmmmhh...let's wait and see!

Ben surprised his parents arriving earlier than planned.

We picked up Julia, Michael, and their friend Ben from the airport in San Juan. They spent their first night on Orion, so we had a "full house". It worked out well with the guys in the aft cabin and Julia on the couch in the salon...our Morgan 41 Out Island is quite spacious...I made them breakfast in the morning which they had in the cockpit on our old/new cockpit table. I say old/new, because the table came with Orion when we bought her, but we put it in storage and never used it! Now that we are actually living on Orion it seemed like a good idea to try out the table...and it turned out to be a nice addition to the cockpit when we are not sailing.

On Christmas Day we had Christmas Dinner at Marina de Salinas...and give a big thank you to the owners and the staff of the marina for allowing us to set up a private table to accommodate our family and two of our sailor friends (Dick and Jane). We had a whole turkey, rice, noodle salad, green bean casserole, green salad...and for dessert home-made Puerto Rican tembleque (coconut pudding, thanks to Mangu's mom), and German Stollen with ice cream.                      

Christmas morning we were greeted by two manatees swimming across from Orion and I was lucky to get them on camera...how cool is that? Merry Christmas!

Julia and Michael's visit went fast...too fast! They spent time with their friends and time with us and all in all it was a great visit. Julia's green "Volky" was ready for her when she arrived and we put it back in storage when she left (many thanks to our friend Richard). Oh...and she even shared her Volky with her brother which made Michael quite happy :o)   

On Julia's birthday...Happy Birthday Julia...we all  (Julia and Mangu, Michael and Ale, Rick and I) took a walk to "the shell house" here in Salinas. This house is quite spectacular in that the outside of the building as well as the stone fence is covered in shells...we came across the place a few weeks earlier and decided to show it to the kids when they visit. As you can see from the pictures...the shells are arranged in wonderful designs and patterns...what a labor of love!

The kids left the next day...we love you and  miss you guys, but will see you again soon...

November 22-28, 2010...our first mini-cruise on Orion

Thanksgiving provided the background for our very first mini-cruise on Orion...made possible by Captain Rick with the help of "Macho", the greatest mechanic on earth (at least that's what we think!) who got our cold-plate refrigeration and freezer system working properly! Now the system runs not only on the dock (110V) but also when away from the dock (engine driven). Future plans will have the system also running with solar panels and a wind generator (no need to run the engine anymore). We will accomplish this next year before we finally venture "out there" full time. Refrigeration on a sailboat is very different from your ordinary household refrigeration system. On Orion we have what is called a cold-plate system. Without going into much detail the basic difference lies in the fact that a household refrigerator runs 24/7 whereas a cold-plate systems only needs to run something like 2 hours per day (engine driven) to keep your coldies cold and your ice frozen.

Anyways...we took off on November 22 and returned on November 28, 2010. Our trip took us from Salinas to Bahia Ballena in Guanica...we sailed 6 hours with the wind...a wonderful and peaceful journey. We celebrated Thanksgiving and my birthday there (Nov. 24), left Bahia Ballena on the morning of November 26 and sailed to Ponce to get fuel and water...it took us almost 8 hours with the wind on our nose...a more challenging but enjoyable trip, since the wind was just perfect. From Ponce we continued our sail to Coffin Island where we stayed another two nights before returning to Salinas on November 28.

We had a super time and Whiskers, our 18 year old sailor cat, had no problems at all. We are so proud of her! Our captain and co-captain system works very well for us...the captain is in charge of navigating, handling the wheel and putting up/taking down the main sail...the co-captain is in charge of handling the jib (foresail) when tacking, setting and freeing the anchor (thank God we have an electric windlass), and provisioning and cooking with the exception of BBQing which by mutual agreement is the captain's territory. Of course the captain also takes care of most maintenance work and repairs whereas the co-captain takes care of laundry and the dishes as well as sewing all kinds of stuff from cushion covers to duvet covers to sun shades. It is understood that we can both jump in to take over the other's responsibilities should the need arise.

 On the way to Guanica

 Lunch is served!

 Sunset at Bahia Ballena...spectacular...

 Sunrise the next day...

 The Bay...

The water in the Bay...this water is usually brown, but the recent strong winds and currents have washed fresh seawater over the reef, therefore producing beautiful blue hues...

 The captain enjoys my birthday dinner :o)

 Cheers and happy birthday to me :o)

 Captain and crew chatting on a coolish morning...well, coolish for us tropical kids...;o)

 Beach around the corner from Bahia Ballena

 Thanksgiving dinner...turkey thighs on the BBQ...

 Voila...seasoned turkey thighs, sweet corn, and potatoes...Happy Thanksgiving!

 Another beautiful sunset.

 Leaving Bahia Ballena on the way to Ponce...

Arrival at Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club (PYFC) where we saw our friend Richard and his crew who had just arrived from Antigua on his new sailboat! What a coincidence!

 Richard and his crew...

 Our anchorage at Coffin Island where we headed after leaving PYFC...

 Can anybody ever get tired of these beautiful sunsets? This one is at Coffin Island.

 Whiskers...we love her so much :o)

 Bye bye Coffin Island...until soon again...

 Happy Sailing _/)

 Arrival at Marina de Salinas...

 Yes, we are back at the dock and yes, there is a fire in the background, but nobody got hurt.

Our trip went very well...so well that we were still smiling at each other when we returned to Salinas :o) The captain had worked out the navigational specifics of the trip perfectly and the co-captain had provisioned for this 7-day-trip with the right and proper amount of food. We feel that we conquered the challenges! Now we are ready for more trips of this kind :o)

We have decided to stay in Marina de Salinas until 2012...yes, it is official now...Rick will retire (early) in May 2012...and then we shall be free to roam the Caribbean on Orion as we please...God willing of course! So please stay tuned and continue to follow our adventures as we prepare for full time cruising.