S/V L'ORIENT

The crab - a work by Picasso Kleman During Mike Tyson's period of boxing domination, a reporter asked the champ if he was worried about his next opponent, who apparently had devised a plan to spring a major upset. "Everybody has a plan until they get hit upside the head" was his response. Here in the Bahamas, we create, revise, and re-revise our sailing route but the ultimate arbiter of our plan in clearly the weather. We're island hopping to the southeast.......making big jumps when the wind is favorable (which isn't often). We get no fewer than 3 weather reports, compare our information to that of other cruisers, then make a decision on whether to sail. The cost of being wrong can be severe.........in 25 knot wind coming right at us, the boat will move at only 2-3 knots; barely a slow walk. It's hard on the boat as well as our nerves. Move the wind around by 40 degrees, and L'ORIENT can move at more than 7 knots and cover a lot of ground quickl...

Staniel Cay, Exumas After Club Chub and New Providence Island we went to Highbourne Cay…..in the Exumas. Lovely spot. More or less a small fishing outpost. Now we are at Staniel Cay, a beautiful, primitive, small resort a bit further southeast in the Exumas. Problem now is that ferocious east wind has trapped us here for a few days. Our choice is sailing against the wind in 12 foot seas or waiting this out……the latter is our plan. Staniel Cay International's Welcome Sign As in other spots, the new standard for us in gauging the suitability of a beach is whether is has perfect sand and is completely deserted. The beaches here are really lovely. Anchored in front of Staniel we actually prefer the beach on the left………while both beaches are devoid of people, wild pigs inhabit the beach on the right…..and feel entitled to handouts. I’m still getting over the Hannibal Lechter movie where pigs eat a guy so I could never spend a relaxing moment there. There are a few rule...

Wow.....to quote an 80s song......"same as it ever was".........or to paraphrase Steven Colbert, we're out to prove we're the same sailors we never weren't. We left Miami Beach Marina on schedule with our Italian friends at mid day on Thursday. Alternator not working, autopilot mis-aligned - in other words, small boat problems. We bypassed Bimini, and headed right for Chub Cay Marina.......about 120 miles. First half of the trip was great sailing; then the wind died and we motored the last half.........still not bad given it's November and every mile east is a small victory (we need 1,000 more such victories). Day two and we sailed to the west side of New Providence Island. We are anchored here with our Amel friends Alessandro, Lucetta, Blu, and Eric (their crew). It's hard to describe the change we've undergone in the past 3 days. As jarring as Dec 5, 2012 was (when we ended our 13 months at sea)........this has been a wonderful reversal of t...

It's early October and we're leaving in 6 weeks !!!  This time it's not just a trip- it's actually our new lifestyle (which is thrilling and scary at the same time). Tom will be working in the USA every March, April, September and October. The rest of the time we'll be on L'ORIENT, wherever that may be.......the Caribbean for at least the next 3 years. Kirstin is fully retired, yet busier than ever. She's overhauling our yacht canvas piece by piece, as well as making pillows, tablecloths, and even winch covers. She loves her sewing machine, and the inside of our boat now resembles a sweat shop.......fabric, grommets, other tools of the trade everywhere. Our boat projects are coming along slowly. It's dawned on us that anything we need to order (especially something big and mechanical) would need to be ordered soon. We're working our list down slowly..........to-dos as obscure as "change batteries/pads in defibrillator", and "reacti...

What job ? Kirstin and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner last month to commemorate her retirement. You can see her mixed emotions as she contemplates her future life of cruising the high seas. Today she started the continuing education part of her retirement........"Canvas State". She is spending a week in Sarasota learning how to sew yacht canvas. It might sound like a trivial and obscure past-time, but anyone who lives on a boat understands how important and in-demand this skill is............especially in the Caribbean. While her plan is to work to keep LORIENT's canvas and interior looking snappy, it's crossed our minds that for extremely close friends we might now have something we can trade for Chardonnay.

Wow- it's almost August. Kirstin's last day of work is August 8; then she becomes a student at Kanvas State (she's taking canvas sewing lessons). Our bimini, cushions, and other Sunbrella flourishes are looking their age so this is not a moment too soon. Yesterday we did a complete inventory of every spare part on L'ORIENT, which if you know us is a major undertaking. We have almost enough parts to build another Amel (it seems). Our route back to the Caribbean has been a point of contention- with our insurance company. Apparently the "no Haiti" rule is quite firm. We had planned on going through the Windward Passage (between Cuba and Hait), stopping on Haiti's relatively safe West Coast......then heading east in a convenient wind shadow that resides under the Dominican Republic. Our insurance agent has nixed this idea, so we have to go to Plan-B. Anway, it's all very exciting............getting the boat ready, buying new gadgets, making sure ol...

OK, not really............not yet :( But we have some big news !!! We are sailing on Nov 1 back to the Caribbean. Tom is entering semi-retirement. Kirstin will be fully retired (how did that work, anyway ?). In any case, negotiations with my boss were successfully concluded, and we will be 8 months in the Caribbean and 4 months in the US every year until we (me) fully retire. Kirstin is preparing for Kanvas State...........her course in sewing canvas. Could be a new business opportunity, but at a minimum it will save us big money on canvas work going forward. Next week, L'ORIENT returns to the high seas, albeit only to Ft. Lauderdale to get a bottom job. Tom and Kirstin will be doing the Amel "out of the water" maintenance thing........bow thruster, prop bushings, through-hulls, etc. I'm counting on my Italian plastic surgeon friend Alessandro to help as well. Should be fun.............as fun as 5 days in the Hampton Inn can be. Anyway, we are eager to test al...