S/V L'ORIENT

So last night we were enjoying "octopasta", Kirstin's famous pasta with octopus in vodka sauce.....yum. As we are getting into our second glass of a discount Bordeaux a small boat with a big spotlight emerges from the gloom. He buzzes around the mooring field searching the wooded cliff behind us with his spotlight. Then the fun begins........he decides it is L'ORIENT he is looking for. The boat edges closer, this time with the spotlight on us. His boat appears to be a French Customs Patrol. Tom- "Can we help you ?" French dude- "What is the name of your boat ?" Tom- using my annoying fake french accent - "L'ORIENT" French dude- "What is the name of your other boat ?" Confusion now reigns........what other boat ? Is this guy really Customs ? At this point we decide he might not be who he says he is. Tom- "Can you show me some identification ?" At this point, the customs boat does a 180 and quickly le

"Can I have my chateaubriande without the reduction sauce ?" People equate sailing with "roughing it"..........eating hardtack, rotten vegetables, and warm beer. But whether on the boat or anchored off an island, we eat like kings, or at least the Foodies we aspire to be. On the boat, we have 3 refrigerators, a microwave, an oven, a gas grill, rice cookers, etc.......every gadget imaginable. And Kirstin has a photographic memory for grocery stores on islands so if there is a shop somewhere selling tandoori sauce or mango pickle, she will find it. But living (and getting) large also involves being in the right place. The island of Redondo ? Not much except a plague of 5000 large black rats......who can swim short distances. Yuck. Grande Case on the French side of St. Martin ? Great indoor restaurants as well as outdoor barbecue places called "lo-los"............local folk making amazing barbecued everything. My daily ration of  pomme tarte

Occasionally, living on our boat forces you into "stretch roles". Kirstin has become a canvas virtuoso out of necessity........fix the sail/canvas herself, or pay thousands to have someone else do it. Next project Even more complicated than it looks Unlike many people who are roughing it, we have 3-zone A/C, 3 refgerators, a watermaker, radar, sonar, microwave....basically everthing a condo has and more. When something breaks, we must fix it ourselves. Since we are self-taught, this generally involves learning on the job and hoping that there are no extra parts after reassembly. Our generator's brain Lately, our evening cocktails in the airconditioned saloon was rudely interrupted by a failure of the A/C unit......not OK. So, after fixing a bunch of things that werent broken, we stumbled upon the solution.....a $4 capacitor. Actually, its not that bad......we love boat projects and working with our hands.

Georgetown and S.E Washington, DC.........the upper West Side and Harlem.....all across the world, the "haves" and the "have nots" uneasily share geography, sometimes in very close proximity. When Kirstin and I lived in downtown DC, we had the distinction of paying $4,000 per month in rent for a place I was afraid to walk outside of after 10:00 pm. In the Caribbean, not much has changed. St. Martin is both rich and poor; affluent and sketchy. Marigot (on our beloved French side) is shabby chic.....great food, fantastic people watching, and some really rough boats. Lots of people you would describe as "dead-enders". If uncle Randy disappears and he's both a sailor and an Oxycodone addict, we know where to find him.   The Dutch side is megayachts, traffic, and American food. If uncle Randy puts down the bong and writes the killer app, there are lots of ways to spend big money there. Not our cup of tea, but we take the best of what we find

North Sound, Virgin Gorda Newark NJ ?............Please, I grew up 10 miles from there..............Hartford CT ?............totally sketchy, but not even close...............Chernobyl ?...........OK, you got us there, but in terms  of realistic places, the most dangerous place in the world is, beyond a doubt...........The British Virgin Islands. Let me explain. Everyone who fancies themself a sailor comes here to rent a boat. And the rental companies are only too anxious to provide them with 50 ft. catamarans for a mere $8,000 per week, not including diesel, food, or.........ugh, damage. The problem is that these folks aren't qualified to sail (and we speak from experience). Imagine if National Car Rental was willing to rent Lamborghinis to people without drivers licenses and you get the picture. On L'ORIENT, happy hour is enhanced by "Port TV", or the sport of watching people in these under-captained boats. Yesterday, in a very wide anchorage.......

Our dinghy and L'ORIENT in Culebra We haven't really been away; just not blogging. We spent a wonderful 6 months in 2016 in Bonaire scuba diving, reading, and probably drinking a tad, wee bit too much. A quick trip to Andalucia, Spain and then wham !!! Sailing hit us full force in the face. Living on a 53 ft sailing yacht (especially on L'ORIENT) is opulent.......dare I say even luxurious. Need a beer ? Hmmm, which of our 3 refigerators did I leave that in ? Watermaker, A/C , clothes washer, dish washer.......we have it all. Just one problem; on long passages, its just Tom and Kirstin. Someone needs to be on watch at all times, and since many sail handling duties require two people, we are both in the cockpit. Bonaire to Culebra was over 3 days, and we got virtually no sleep. Many fellow yachties we know bring on temporary crew, but the thought of some random dude sitting on our boat chewing with his mouth open or picking his nose is revolting, and I would rather ke

OK- I get teased all the time in business meetings..........."you live in the Caribbean on a boat ?" And the inevitable......."You've really figured it out !"............followed by "What a life !" Our lives are pretty good but this part isn't so easy. I've now been living out of a suitcase for 45 days (remember, long term readers.........we have no house and no car in the USA or anywhere else). So, while I do my job visiting America's hospitals, I live in whatever Hilton property is convenient (maybe a sponsorship deal is in order). What does that mean ?..........45 different beds, 45 different gyms, 45 airports, 45 rental cars............in fact one of my self-administered Alzheimer's tests includes: can I remember what city I'm in within 10 seconds of regaining consciousness ?............ok, for extra credit.........can I remember not only where I parked, but what kind of car I was driving ? That's right...........it

One hundred straight days of scuba, sunshine, and happy hour. Long dinners with our yachtie friends, great hikes and endless perfect sunsets as L'ORIENT bobs gently in the southern Caribbean........then, wham. We step off the plane in Chicago and it's 30 degrees. My work computer coughs and staggers to life...........and downloads bunches of appointments. As we make our way to the hotel and rental car, everyone we encounter seems to have a runny nose and is sneezing. Back to work. Kirstin and I talk about not giving in...........not allowing the USA to kill our "caribbean chill". We are determined to 1) never feel time pressure 2) look on the bright side 3) and never, never, never count the days (they'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done) But it's hard. We never take our return to the boat as a given (although we buy return tickets very far in advance as an incentive to persevere). So many of our sailing friends seem to le

You might believe that bobbing off the coast of Bonaire would create service issues when anything goes wrong. Kirstin and I have been quite self sufficient........almost never paying someone to work on the boat. Occasionally, a problem emerges that requires reinforcements......and that happened this week. Our problematic outboard began acting up. After Tom exhausted every trick in his book to fix it, we coldly and soberly picked up the "bat phone" and summoned our good friend Thorsten, or more precisely Professor Doctor Thorsten. He's a close friend and also a Phd in rocket science (no joke). We've begun our work and I'm confident of success. Since he works for beer, we can afford him. More to come.

The happy scuba couple The days pass here in Bonaire incredibly quickly.........our days have some variety, but, happily, not much. Just a resequencing of our favorite activites, day after day. Meals on the boat, happy hour, diving, watching the moon rise over our 360 water view. The rare frogfish (the yellow blob) But life in Bonaire really revolves around diving. How high is the wind ? Is it safe to pick a distant dive site? Each dive is about 70 minutes at about 40-60 ft under the water. We explore the giant coral formations here and basically watch the fish (large, small, and occasionally wierd) going about their day. We signal each other under water to describe what we're looking at.....a private language that only two people on earth can use. The experience is kind of meditative and really clears your mind. No media, no people, no cars, no jobs (hahaha). The 20 minute ride back from the dive site is filled with the dive-recap conversation........"can you bel

Emily came for a visit this past week. She had a huge agenda...............painting Crabby, learning to scuba dive, and generally getting into trouble. She accomplished all three..................and broke a few hearts while she was here. The first three days involved scuba certification.............early to bed, early to rise. We drove her to her scuba school where she learned theory and had practice diving from 8 AM to 4 PM each day. She could just get cleaned up by happy hour, so a full day to be sure. That Mahi didn't have a chance After her certification, we dove almost every day................and saw turtles, frogfish, eels, and other crazy critter-life. We found time for throwing the football, and even bought a mahi from a local fisherman so Emily could try her hand at emergency fish surgery..................alas, the operation was a success but the patient didn't make it. Alas, the time went too fast and we put her on a plane today...............she's