S/V L'ORIENT

We're busily getting the boat ready for the trip North, to the Dominican Republic. We'll be making the first jump on a trip that will end at the Miami Beach Marina and our old/new life. We've been in Bonaire for 3 months waiting out hurricane season. To the uninitiated, there's a huge swath of ocean between Cape Hatteras and the Southern Caribbean where hurricanes roar by between July and November. Boat insurance companies specify that if any damage happens to you in hurricane season inside "the hurricane box", you are not covered. Gulp. So, we've been sitting here in Bonaire.......just slightly outside "the hurricane box". Soon, we make the mad 400 mile dash almost due North to "the DR". We've got some friends who left early and some who have ignored the hurricane box altogether. Hurricane Sandy (the current storm as of this writing) looks like it will rage through the very Bahamian islands we plan on visiting in a few weeks with...

Rain, what rain? Kirstin and I have only 10 more days here in Bonaire before the big journey north (we don't talk about it because Kirstin gets misty eyed).............so we are trying to go diving every day. For that reason, we sometimes allow our optimism to cloud our judgement. Kirstin- "Want to dive this morning?". Tom- "OK- I'm just a little worried about that black smudge in the sky over there" Kirstin- "Umm". Sad, sad puppy dog eyes start to form. I've got to do something or scuba, happy hour, and ultimately dinner would be affected. Tom- "Let's go, what are the chances it's another squall, right ?" We dinghy over to our favorite spot (18 palms). There are huge 8 ft. tarpin, sea turtles, spotted rays, manta rays, porcupine puffer fish.........a huge variety of the weirdest sea creatures you've ever seen. And the coral is spectacular. As we're cruising around about half way through our dive, Kirst...

Probably hotter than Indonesia While we realize from Skype and the news that it's now sweater weather in much of the US, we're having a heat wave down here in Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela. How hot is it ? There has been absolutely no wind, and combined with temperatures in the mid-90s, let's just say it is sticky. To cool off we've been doing 2 dives each day. When we have to be on the boat, Kirstin and I take turns jumping into the ocean and bobbing around for a while until the relief of sunset comes......usually around 6:30 PM. While Kirstin makes dinner (when we eat on the boat), I usually make our happy hour snack...........I like it to be a surprise............."Surprise !!!! Yet another cheap merlot with some chips". You get the picture. Anyway, yesterday I emerged from the galley, walked up into the cockpit and made Kirstin a tempting offer......... Tom- "Would you like any salted nuts ?" Kirstin- "Sure. But I th...

You probably live in a house..........with a driveway, a yard, a sidewalk.........etc. Now imagine for a minute that everything you see outside your house that is green........is blue.........as in blue, wet, and deep. That's the situation we find ourselves in living on a boat. The obvious difference for us is that in DC, if you drop your wallet, keys, or phone on the lawn........pick it up. Do that in our watery world and it's a big problem. Our dinghy is our car. We ferry groceries, boat part, supplies, and fuel to our boat in this way. High winds ? Big waves ? Still have to do it. No garage door opener here. We had been having a run of good luck since we left the US in November of last year. Nothing irreplaceable had gone overboard; a few screwdrivers........a ratchet........a half-used propane bottle. Nothing too important until yesterday. I'm downstairs unloading our recent grocery haul. Kirstin is on the stern of the boat securing the dinghy. "OH SHIT ...

You meet all kinds of people while cruising. Most are wonderful..........some not so much..........and the occasional few "situations" you encounter leave you dumb-struck. Meet the Hansons. They live on the boat moored next to us here in Bonaire. Phil Hanson is 57, fairly fit, and quite active. His wife- let's call her Audrey- is 73. All you need to know about Audrey is that she drops the F-bomb a lot, and has been described by others as vulgar, boorish, abhorrent, classless, tasteless, and trampy (OK, she wears a string bikini at 73). You can't live 25 ft away from people without talking occasionally.......so we got to know them. What a trip. Here's the deal (I feel like Kathy Griffin taking you inside a B-list Hollywood event !!!) In 2002, Phil was 47 and was basically a completely broke private jet pilot. Audrey, then only 63 hires him to fly her to Florida. She becomes quite smitten with the dashing (yet broke) Phil.  She's loaded because her much,...

Karel's - our internet hotspot We've been away from the US since last December........plenty of time to perfect this neglected science known as leisure. Despite our whiz-bang boat (clothes washer, dish washer, microwave, oven, three refrigerators, huge TV monitor.......you get the picture), a singular problem has been dogging us- that being consistent access to the internet. Bonairians don't seem to need wifi to do whatever it is that they do around here. We've tried pre-paid cards, pay sites, everything. The result is usually that Colbert streams very slowly, pausing in mid quip. John Stewart (our other internet vice) also stops, usually during his Woody Allen-like diatribes. To make matters worse, Sirius satellite radio has hiccups as well.............it's hard to enjoy a sunset and Chardonnay while XM-Chill (Channel 53 for you subscribers) is fading in and out. Karel's - our boat is in distance So last night, we go to happy hour at Karel's Bea...