RELOCATING GYPSY BLUE (FLORIDA TO BELIZE)

Our departure from West Palm Beach on our boat Gypsy Blue was a culmination of lots of hard work and logistics squished in to just a few days. It didn’t take us long from living on land in Belize that we realized that we wanted our boat here with us. Why live near the water if you can’t go out on it? At least that is our theory. And we had put so much sweat and effort on her the past couple years, why just have it sit waiting for us to use it 2-3 months a year. Our plan of going to visit her once a year in the Pacific just no longer made sense. Our South Pacific cruising dream would have to wait.

GB loaded on the truck

On the truck and ready to roll

Early December we flew to Los Angeles for a quick 2 days to prepare her to load on a long-bed truck. This involves taking down the sails, dodger and bimini, radar and AIS stands and archway and storing them inside the boat along with the outboard engine, life raft, cooler and all cushions.   The dinghy would be covered and stored under the boat on the trailer along with the large archway. But everything else is inside. It was stuffed. Then we took off the boom. The yard would pull the mast. They would wrap the boom and the mast along with the rigging with lots of plastic and tape. These would be stored on the trailer under the boat as well.

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BULLY! BULLY! (CARIBBEAN)

Hunting the wall

Hunting

Spearing a fish

Catching a fish

My nephew Adrian, from Australia, was crewing for us a few years back. We were doing a lot of diving and I was getting him into spearfishing. We were down about 65 feet and I pointed out a nice Hog Fish for him to shoot. He stalked it and Bam! I noticed that the fish went crazy and got off. Guess he just nicked it. Oh well, next time. While he was retrieving his spear and reloading the gun I saw a nice Snapper so I went after it. (more…)

WATER SPOUT PIZZA (OFF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COAST)

With full fuel tanks and jerry jugs, we departed Mexico from the southern port of Zihuateneo. Those first few days heading south to Costa Rica and Panama were uneventful with not much wind or excitement. Even the dreaded Bay of Tihuanapec in Southern Mexico, which can have gales of 80 knot winds come up with no warning, was tame. The seas were flat and there was very little wind as we moved down the Central American coast. We had both sails up but at times, we were moving at only 2-3 knots. We would start the engine to charge the batteries but needed to conserve fuel as much as possible. It had been a slow boat to China, or Panama to be precise. Whenever conditions are so calm, it is a perfect time to cook up a meal that you wouldn’t normally attempt while under way. A pizza sounded just perfect to us. (more…)

KUNA POLITICS (SAN BLAS ISLANDS, PANAMA)

We had heard so much about the San Blas Islands of Panama that we were naturally excited to be arriving there for the first time. This archipelago of over 365 islands and cayes are part of the Comarca de Kuna Yala and located to the east of the Panama Canal. It sounded like such a perfect cruising ground. Unfortunately, our first days there comprised of a depressing loss and search of our inflatable tender.   The reason it was lost wasn’t theft, it was just simple human error. But, as always with boating, lessons are learned and eyes are opened as we visit new countries. (more…)

CLAM BAY (BAHIA SANTA MARIA, MEXICO)

“I hear there are clams up that river”, said Steve who was cruising on his boat from Gig Harbor, Washington. “That’s right’ piped in his wife. “I read in the cruising guide, there is a small creek heading north from that beach that has lots of clams. We just need some buckets and something to shovel with.” The idea sounded great to us. A little land excursion is always good when you are living on a boat. (more…)