Author Archives: Cindy
Inspirations
Whenever I think of our friend Jack, a vivid memory comes to mind. James Brown is singing “I Feel Good” at high volume through the speakers of his boat. Jack is wiggling his bottom to the music and swinging around the cockpit. He is busy pouring us a second helping of the most potent yummy […]
Condiments on a Boat
One of the big factors of what we bring aboard Cream Puff is space. Where is it going to go? Does it need to be readily accessible? Does it need refrigeration or to be frozen? When it comes to refrigeration another question becomes important; do we use it often enough for it to take up […]
Coconuts
It is not often we get to see a palm tree growing from a coconut. The coconuts are usually picked before they hit the ground or picked up shortly afterwards. When Mark and I hiking through Humacao National Reserve we saw hundreds of coconuts growing into Palm trees. Here are a few pictures: Interesting fact […]
Habla Usted Inglés? In Puerto Rico
We are having fun trying to communicate while finding our way around Puerto Rico where the predominant language is Spanish. It is one of the fun parts of our adventure. To complicate matters, the Puerto Rican language is a different dialect from the little bit of Spanish I remember. My translation app does not always […]
The Bars of Puerto Rico
As Mark and I traveled Puerto Rico one of the first things I noticed was the vivid colors. The bright colors with the back drop of the beautiful mountains and blue water of the ocean makes this a breathtaking island. The second thing I noticed as we travel the island is the wrought iron work everywhere. The use of ornate […]
Spoil the Women and the Men will Come
Earlier this week Mark posted about Palmas del Mar. This is Cindy’s addition to the post. I always get a bit uneasy as we approach a marina for the first time. Things happen quickly when backing into a slip. Things can go from good to bad fast, especially in high winds. And, like most cruisers, […]
Communications on a Boat (Part Three)
Our new InReach by Garmin–Wow, is this little gizmo fun! Our friends, Ian and Margaret, on Loca Lola II sent us the link to their InReach by Garmin last year. We loved it! It did not take Mark and I long to decide to purchase one for ourselves. The InReach device uses Iridium satellite to […]
Time to Leave Turks and Caicos Islands
If the British Virgin Islands are the play ground for charter boats, the Bahamas are the play ground for beginning cruisers, I think I will dub Turks and Caicos Islands the turnstile for the Caribbean. All of the cruisers we met in Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) were on their way someplace else. Some boaters […]
Communication on a Boat-Part Two
A few years ago we went to some seminars at the St. Petersburg Boat Show. One of the seminars was about docking, mooring and anchoring. We had anchored before but mostly in the bay. We had never moored. We thought it would be a good idea to hear what the more experienced boaters had to say. The […]
Trash Day
We have not been in a place to drop off trash since we left Bimini. The Exuma Land and Sea Park’s rule is what you take in you must take out. We had a month’s worth of trash. Two contractor size bags full of smaller trash bags. We double bagged the larger bags to keep […]
A Tale of Two Snorkelers
We had a little bumpy start to our cruising season this year. We were stuck for weather. Then, stuck again for weather. Stuck for engine troubles. On our way again. Hop. Hop. Hop. Then Ahhhhh….we arrived at our long awaited destination. The beautiful Exuma Land and Sea Park, (ELSP). Last season we rushed through the […]
Communication on a Boat-Part One
It has been an exciting couple of years cruising. We have really learned a lot and we have so much more to learn. One of the many things on the learning curve is how to communicate with friends and family back home and with other cruisers. It can take a bit of patience and planning sometimes. […]
Flags
Last year we were sailing in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. Mark and I watched a sailboat sail pass and noticed they had a yellow t-shirt tied to a rope next to the spreaders. This is usually the place boats display courtesy and quarantine flags. Their yellow quarantine flag probably got ripped up or lost somewhere along […]
You Know You are a Cruiser if….
(Special nod to Jeff Foxworthy who developed “…..You Might be a Redneck….” Which has been reinvented in so many ways) You Know You are a Cruiser if……. You get your daily servings of fruit from rum drinks You wait for the tide to turn the boat so you can get a better wifi or cell […]
Fear of the Unknown
It is October. We finally have a break in the Florida heat. Fall is in the air. Halloween decorations are abound in stores around town. Haunted houses and movies made to frighten are advertised on television and billboards. I’ve been thinking a bit about fear lately. Fear, it seems, comes in all types of packages […]
