July 26, 2012

Dear Blog Readers,

Well, I see you are back for some more punishment.

Today, I’m going to talk about my latest ocean wonder.  “The Manatee”.  These animals are amazing to me.  Like other mammals, manatees breathe air.  Their very large lungs are also used for buoyancy control. (I guess I have very large lungs, I am very buoyant. He he) 

Really this goes back to Georgetown when we met Rod and Evelyne from St. Petersburg, Florida.  They are really a neat couple and they sail on a 36 ‘Goddard sailboat named Manatee.  They were telling us the story about how they came across their boat and the story when they first met a Manatee.  They both love to swim and they had gone swimming in Florida close by their home.  People in the water were shouting that there were manatee’s in the water.  Rod and Evelyne started looking around and sure enough there were some Manatee’s. The two of them watched them swim by and all of a sudden one of the manatee’s turned and came right up to Rod.  It raised its head out of the water and looked Rod right in the eye.  Rod said, “Hello” and then the manatee swam away.  Don started teasing Rod about it and said that was what he said when he met his wife in France, “Hell-----oooo”. 

So, I had my first encounter with a manatee just a few weeks ago.  Don and I were in Salinas and he was working on the mast.  I walked down to the dock where Don is working on the mast.   I sat down on the dock and suddenly there were two manatee swimming and dancing everywhere.  They put on a show for me.  I jumped up and shouted for Don to come.  He barely got there in time to see them.  So neat!  Since then I have seen them several times.  They are a family and they love to show off.  The little one is always close to her mom.  I mean the calf is always close to the cow.  Pardon me!

The manatees live in warmer water and are abundant in Florida and the Caribbean.  But today the greatest threat to manatees comes from human beings.  Being herbivores, manatees must stay in shallow coastal waters or rivers where vegetation is abundant.  Of course, this is where we boaters like to hang out too.  That is why in so many places the speed limit is 5mph to watch out for the manatees.  (In shallow water)  So the next time you come into a cove, around shallow water, please go slow, and watch out for manatees.  If you take the time to get to know about manatees, you’ll come to realize that they aren’t sea monsters at all (as some people claim), but warm, social, lovable animals.  See picture below of a manatee.

Monday, Don went to San Juan.  I stayed in Puerto Real at the Hotel.  I got to sleep in until the maid woke me up.  She felt so bad.  I got up and went to the pool.  I was alone and it was so peaceful.  I loved it!  I read for 1 ½ hours and it was pure bliss.  I got to watch my soap opera today for the first time in months.  Of course, that is all you need to watch soap, you can catch up so fast.

Don went to SJ to pick up the pipe he had bent, get the extra sunbrella, buy lifelines and more lines AND hopefully our dinghy.  The extra sunbrella is for our genoa.  The trim around the sail was destroyed by the ship, so it is being replaced with new.

It hasn’t rained during the day this week.  So they have been working on our boat.  Thursday and Friday they will put our windows in and hopefully we go in the water on Saturday.  Each day it changes and yes it is just about to drive me crazy.  It has been 3 weeks in a hotel and I’m (we) are so ready to get back on the boat.

Hasta la vista, gente (see ya later, people)

Don and Janis s/v Plane to Sea

July 25, 2012

Hello blog readers,

If you are reading this you are probably bored to tears or love me.  Only you know the answer to that remark.  Regardless, I’m glad you are reading.  Read on, it might just be fun!

Breathtaking views at the Cobo Rojo Lighthouse:

Don and I visited the Faro Los Morrillos, known to the locals as El Faro.  The Lighthouse is located in the South West tip of Puerto Rico.  It is about a 25 minute drive from where we are in Puerto Real.  Breathtaking is the only way to describe the beauty.   A 200 foot red limestone cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea is a picture perfect scene. The National Park is about 587 acres.  The Lighthouse was built in 1881 by the Spanish government.  It is much more than just the Lighthouse. Blue Flag Beach and Cove of Playa Sucia was loaded with people.  Playa in Spanish means Beach.  I learned that first, does that surprise you? 

It has been raining each day.  It doesn’t rain all day, but it stops the work and progress on the boat and the guys go home.  Especially today, it is Friday, who wouldn’t go home early on Friday.  Don is back down here trying to put the windlass back on, but is having some problems.  Somehow the screws won’t go back in and he said there wasn’t enough room.  So back to hardware store we go to get a different size.  They have finished painting the boat.  They put the rough, grainy, non-slippery paint on the top this past Wednesday.  Since then, not much progress made.  They need 1 ½ days to polish and buff it out, put windows in and hatches back on tightly.  Then they are going to help Don and I put the rub rail on with 5200.  So, we are probably looking at another 3 days without rain, but that doesn’t look good around here until next Wednesday.  We are OK with that, because they don’t have our dinghy ready anyway.  We took it back for the second time and it’s not fixed as of today.  The mast is pretty much ready.  Don has drilled the holes and put the mounts on for the radar and tabernacle.  I washed and polished the mast last week and it looks real nice and pretty.  Don has mounted new lights on the top and middle of the mast.  He has also mounted our antenna for VHF and Wi-Fi at the top of the mast. He had to make a few adjustments to the spreaders, but they are level and back on the mast.  He cut the cables and put the safety turnbuckle on all 6 cables.  Still has the back stay to do, but won’t take very long to do this. We have gotten a couple of bids on setting the mast, but we are still uncertain as to where this will be done.  We will use either Ponce or Salinas for the mast.  All other metal work and canvas work will be done in Salinas.  We have to go to San Juan on Monday to pick up a pipe that Don had bent for our Bimini.  We also have to pick up 6 extra yards of Black Sunbrella, more lines and our lifeline cable.   Enough about the boat, but I will keep you informed.

 I was reading the other day in a magazine about a guy named Charlie.  I thought this to be so true and I know that our boat buddies will love this.  It is called “Sailing with Charlie”.  High tech systems and user friendly equipment on yachts have improved dramatically over the years.  Furling systems for sails, from slab to in-mast and in-boom are an example.  Electric winches and windlasses are another as well as a plethora of electronic navigation aids.  But what happens when they don’t work?

Charlie once saw an in-mast furling sail on a boat that was tied to the dock with just the ragged edge of the sail protruding from the mast.  Someone had cut away the whole sail, from head to tack, presumably in an emergency after it jammed.

Throttle cables are also prone to failure and potential catastrophic accidents.  One day Charlie was on a large catamaran and was approaching a mooring ball in the crowed anchorage.  The boat was equipped with single lever (throttle and shift) engine controls for each engine.  He put the starboard (right) engine in reverse to line up the boat perfectly and stop.  The boat immediately shot forward.  People on nearby boats started shouting, screaming and waving their arms.  Charlie put the port (left) engine in reverse to avoid a nasty collision and the boat immediately swung in a tight circle…backwards.  They mayhem on board was intense.  Charlie tried reverse again on starboard – same thing, the boat shot forward.  Whilst the boat was merrily pirouetting in circles, by a miracle one of the other boats managed to snag the mooring line and hook it over a cleat.  Immediately Charlie put both engines in neutral and breathed a sigh of relief.  It didn’t take long to discover that the transmission cable had snapped while the engine was in forward – the throttle was still working fine.

Several hours later, after a call to the base, the charter company’s mechanic pulled up alongside in the ‘chase boat’.  It didn’t take long to change the broken transmission cable but Charlie suggested that the throttle cable be changed too; after all, they were probably the same age.  The mechanic, though, had a different solution, “Noo mon, we doesn’t do it like dat.  You see, it’s like dis.  Say, in about five years you die---but de wife could last anudder ten years. Y’unnerstand’?”  With a smile and high five he was gone.  It obviously came under the heading of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.

Sometime later Charlie was checking over another large catamaran just prior to leaving the dock on a week-long trip.  In the engine room he noticed the oil fill cap had not been replaced after the mechanic’s fluid level check.  The potential for massive oil spray in the engine compartment was irrefutable.  He mentioned it to the head mechanic-but he was un-phased.  “you see, it’s like dis.  You go to de doctor and have a complete checkup:  heart, blood, urine sample and so on…clean bill of health.  Then de nex’ week you drop dead of a stroke.  Y’unnerstan’?”  Charlie walked away shaking his head trying to figure out the logic.  It obviously came under the heading of ‘shit happens’.

Charlie’s tip:  Keep throttle and transmission cables well-greased at all times.  If the engine control levers at the helmsman’s station become stiff there’s probably corrosion.  Change the cables immediately.  Finally, always keep your sense of humor!

Somehow these stories relate to me, can you figure that out?  I bet you can….the bad news is Don Furness is along; the good news is Don Furness is along.  We send our love to all.

Hasta la vista baby,

Don and Janis s/v Plane to Sea

July 17, 2012

Buenos Diaz blog readers,

We are still in beautiful Puerto Real, P.R.  Our boat is almost ready to be moved to Salinas, P.R. They will be painting the top tomorrow and we will put the windows in on Thursday or Friday.  Hopefully leave here on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  But you know sail boaters can’t have too many plans, they never work out and your plans change, so you just go with the flow and we will leave when all things are completed.  My two brothers tell me, “You changed your plans again.” I just laugh and say yes we did.

Don and I were driving down the road and came up behind two bicycles, one bike with one person and the other bike with two people.  Both people on the bikes were holding on to a horse’s tail while the horse trotted down the street.  Of course, the horse had a person on his back, but the horse was pulling two bikes by his tail.  It was so funny, we laughed our butts off.

Everybody needs to come to either the D.R. or P.R. at least once in their lives.  It has been a real good experience for both of us.  Not to mention it has made us laugh so much.  We have laughed with the waitress, gas attendant, marina workers, hotel staff; you name it we have all laughed.  Everyone has been so friendly to us and we really can’t say one thing bad about P.R.  The people here get a big kick out of helping us with our Spanish.  We have been making flash cards to help us.  We already know over 1000 words.  We are having trouble putting the words into sentences.  We like trying to learn.  It has been fun.

Earlier we were sitting at the marina watching the pelicans fly around and then dive into the water for the fish.  I was laughing and asking Don why don’t they break their wings when they hit the water and he said Janis, I think they have it figured out.  We are enjoying life, I can tell you that and we are enjoying being with each other.  This retirement is wonderful!

The last time we were in San Juan I took these pictures of these parrots or cock-a-too or something.  Don begged to get in the picture, but I held him back.  You know what I mean when I say I hold him back.

Don’s hair is still bald, oh shoot, I mean blonde.  He will kill me if he finds out I posted this picture.  This is what he looks like sleeping.  Lovely hair.

Today is Tuesday and we are going to Salinas again to work on the mast.  We have to pass right thru Ponce.  The drive isn’t bad at all and I do get to see the ocean as we travel.  Ponce has everything you can possibly need----  Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Office Depot, Office Max, K-Mart, everything.  They also have a great mall.  Really what we have seen of Puerto Rico, you can get anything that the states have.  Even the first town we were in had everything we needed-----ATT, K-Mart, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and lots of good eating places.  This was Mayaguez and they too have a great mall.  Ponce, is called the Pearl of the South and the region’s largest city and is about an hour to San Juan.  Leaving Ponce to travel to San Juan is a beautiful drive; the scenery is spectacular with beautiful mountain views.  Of course San Juan has West Marine!!!!!!!

We got to Ponce just in time for lunch.  We had chicken on a stick and yucca.  Yucca is so good.   Inside it has pork and I had to get two.  Delicious!   I know my sanitarian friends back home would have a fit about the things we have been trying here.  Trucks on the side of the road are the very best of all.  Sorry Jeff and Marshall.  Maybe they won’t be reading this at all.

When we got to Salinas, Don dropped me off at the lodge and I started sorting clothes.  Wash day is here already?  I hate wash day.

If anyone wants to visit, there is pretty nice lodge here at Salinas where we stay, with a pool.  You can stay with us, but it gets a little crowded.  If you don’t mind up close and personal come on, we would love to have you.  Wow there is so much to do in Puerto Rico.  You could come and stay 2 weeks and not see everything you would like to.  It isn’t that big, just a lot to do and see.  You wouldn’t believe the parks they have here for all the kids.  Amazing!!

I have mentioned that the oysters here are very small, no more the size of a clam.  The lobsters are huge 3lbs and the little lobsters are called crawfish.  They are small, but not as small as a crawfish or crawdead as I used to call them growing up.

Hasta la proxima (Until next time)

 We send our love,

Don and Janis (P2S)

July 10 - 13, 2012

Hello to everyone,

I wish the ones of you that follow our blog would sign in so I know who you are.  I know that more than 12 are following this site.  Please sign in.

Last week was great!  Our boat has been fiber glassed and painted.  (white again)  Black stripe was added on Friday and looks wonderful.  Today they took our windows out and he will be painting the frames in and out black once again.  They are sanding the top today and taping off ready to paint the top probably tomorrow.  We are hoping to be out of here by next Monday.  The boat looks great (like brand new)

Today, (Friday, July 13, 2012) we found out that they would not be painting the top until Monday or Tuesday.    They primed the top today and then they have to buff the boat.  It is really looking good.

Don was able to find the rubber seals that fit our windows, so he was happy about that.  We have received our new radar and I believe all the big stuff has just about been delivered.  Just one purchase and that is a new diesel generator.  Don and Picky are building a new waterproof compartment with a drain and vent to house the generator.  The mast is almost ready to install and it looks great.  Don took his big pole to San Juan to be bent that will take care of our traveler, for it will have a new home on top of the bimini, which will give us more room in our cockpit.

Everything is going really good for us and we are looking so forward to getting to travel around the Spanish Virgin Islands when our boat is finished.

Last Saturday afternoon we went down to Boqueron to the beach.  Very nice and long beach.  We met some people that live around here and he is a Policeman of 19 years.  We also met another couple from Atlanta and they were here visiting his mom.

At the marina where our boat has been, well we still hang out there.  People know us and we enjoy visiting.  We have met two new couples and one of them had us for dinner tonight.  We had fresh red snapper.  They just bought  a new 42 foot power cat.  So nice and big, but very experience to operate.  We could never afford a boat like that, but boy it was beautiful.  They are from California.  The other couple is from Rhode Island and they are on a 42 foot sailboat.  Nice people also.

We went to Salinas on Tuesday and came back on Thursday.  We really got a lot done on the mast.  Ran wire, drilled holes, washed and polished mast.  We also met a young girl that has been living in PR for the summer break and she is from Minnesota and grew up about 100 miles from where Don is from.  We have met several people in Salinas now and the marina people already know us by name.  We have opened up a checking account here, so I guess we are residents for the next 4 more months.  Trying to keep Don away from the DR, if you know what I mean. 

The people from California are going to leave their boat in PR for a few weeks and go home and check on things.  They will  be back in August and we are going to go to Culebra (Spanish Virgin Islands) owned by PR, with them to site see.

Until next time…..We send our love

Don and Janis s/v Plane to Sea (P2S)

July 3, 2012

Happy 4^th of July to everyone.  It is very hard to believe that it is July.  Our family keeps asking us “when are you coming home”?  Our answer is still the same, “we don’t know!”  We surely miss everyone, but when we do come home it will be only for a short visit.  Even with what has happened to us, we still love what we are doing.  Don and I both love being retired and living on the boat.  The people working on our boat said that she was really a tough and well-built vessel.  I miss my home (house) sometimes, but I have grown accustomed to being on our boat and now it is home.  This probably is very hard for some people to understand, unless you are a sailor. It definitely is our new found love.

I tell my kids when they question me about what we are doing that just to remember:  It is not the number of breaths you take in life, but the moments that take our breath away, that really matter.  This is one thing that I know our kids will never forget about Don and me.  We live life to the very fullest and if we die tomorrow we will have lived a happy and fulfilled life.

Justin and Holly just lost Granddad (Orville Woodson), which is the last grandparent that was still living.  Granddad will be missed by all, but I know that Justin and Holly thought the world of him and he and Ganny will be with them forever in their hearts.  God Bless you, Granddad and we are so blessed to know that you are with Ganny once again. I know that Memaw and Papa met you too.  What a wonderful reunion by these friends.

Our sympathy is sent to David and John and their families.

Until next time…We send our love,

Don and Janis; s/v Plane to Sea

June 30, 2012

This week has been very productive for us.  We are happy campers.  The boat was pulled out on Monday as planned and scraped, power washed and painted.  Then our job was done for a few days.  They began fiber glassing inside the boat on Wednesday.  Don climbed up on the boat yesterday afternoon and he said it was really looking nice.

Don and I went to San Juan to take care of a few things.  We dropped our dinghy off AGAIN!  This time they will bring it back to us after they make sure it is fixed this time.  We also took our “motor” from our windlass into a place that had been recommended to us by some people here at the Marina.  We spent the night in San Juan on the ocean.  We enjoyed a great dinner on the water.  The next morning the guy that worked on our motor called to say it was ready.  It cost $75.00 which we were so happy about.  A new windlass motor could have cost us up to $3,000.00. 

After we picked up the motor we headed for Salinas.  The picture above is a picture of the Marina in Salinas.  This is where we will go when we are finished here in Puerto Real. We spent Wednesday and Thursday night at the lodge in the Marina. I hung out at the pool and did our laundry while Don went to see the guy that will be helping us on our stainless steel bimini and dodger frame.  I went to visit with the lady that will be making the covers for the same.  Left with her some screen and scraps to make us some new screens for the boat.  She also looked at the material that we brought with us from Texas to have the Bimini and dodger done.  She said it was very nice and would work great.  It is called sunbrella supreme.  The material is lined with tan and the top is black.  She had never seen it before.  Don met another guy who can weld anything and everything you can think of.  He went back to San Juan with Don on Thursday to take him to all the metal places.  Don got just what he wanted to make the tabernacle for the mast and Friday morning they made it.  Don said this guy was unbelievably talented and they got along perfectly.  They knew exactly what each other wanted to do and what to do next.  This makes a big difference when you are working together.  And it doesn’t come along too often.

Today is Saturday and we are a little bored.  It is a beautiful day, but nothing to do.  Since we have been gone most of the week we really aren’t in the mood to go site seeing.  So we are up at the marina looking at the West Marine catalog.  We are going over our list of things that we need to get.  We have received all of our shipments thus far and in record time.

Until next time……..

Don and Janis

June 26, 2012

Yesterday we took “Plane to Sea” over to a place called Picky’s.  It is a place about ¼ miles from the marina where we have been staying.  What a name?  Who cares as long as he is able to fix our boat?  Right?  Don took her over and had to crank up the keel to get her in.  They usually don’t work on sailboats only large cabin cruiser, so the water is very shallow.  But since we have a retractable keel, we can go where most sail boats can’t.  It works!!!  After she was brought upon the sling and to the ground we put the keel back down, so we could clean it.  First thing was to clean all the grime and slim off the bottom.  Then it was power washed and sanded. Today, we painted the bottom and he dropped her back down with keel up and they started working on her.

Sorry - can't get the picture to rotate

We cleaned our boat again Sunday, what else did we have to do!  Really, we took our Bimini down and frame work and looked at it to see what could be salvageable and what couldn’t.  We threw a few things away, you read it right, threw some things away and that is hard to believe from Mr. Don Furness. We have this great stuff to clean our boat with, not sure if it is eco-friendly or not, but it works.  It took off a lot of rust and other stuff that the ship had left behind.  We still washed a lot of pieces of paint away.  Will that ever be gone?  Anyway we are on our way…

Things that we have noticed about Puerto Rico in general are the number of horses that are around the towns.  Everywhere!!!!  People riding them, on the side of the road, on the side of the highway, in apartment complexes, on the baseball fields, at the school yard, you name it there you will find a horse.  Sometimes they aren’t even tied up or staked out, just loose or hanging there head over the guard rail.  Eating grass, any grass, whatever they can find to eat.  Most of them are small, not near as big as our horses in Texas.  Really!

Another thing that we notice is the number of male dogs.  I have yet to see a female dog.  What’s up! 

The grocery stores are called Mr. Special and Selecto and Amigo.  Taco Bell has a foot long taco.  Texas you better get a move on it, Puerto Rico is passing you up. 

You pay $2.00 for a beer ( 10 oz. ) in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic you pay $.80, you got it, 80 cents for (20 oz.) beer instead of a (12 oz. )of beer in Texas for $3-5(depending where you are)   Texas you are getting more behind…..

This country is amazing….It is the only place that I have been so far that you can be driving down the street in your car and meet head on, a car, a horse and a bicycle.  Guess what-the bicycle has little gasoline motors on them and they have one arm out holding on to another person on a regular bicycle pulling them along too.  People drive crazy and they hardly ever honk or act mad.  They just go with the flow.  Don is learning, slowly, but I’m there!!!!!

We went to San Juan Tuesday afternoon and took a “something” down to be worked on for our windlass.  We also took our dinghy back for the second time.  The liferaft company will bring it to us next time.  Fixed, I hope.  We spent the night at Coral by the Sea and walked to the beach (about 2 blocks) and watched the sun set and had dinner.  Lovely evening.  We slept in, had breakfast and they called that Don’s “something” was fixed and ready.  We picked it up and headed to Salinas.  We brought some pipe down to a guy that will be helping make the bimini and dodger frame.  We are also going to visit with a lady that will be making our covers, cushions, etc.  We brought down our fabric for her to look at and also screen for her to make us new ones.

We have been having a great time enjoying ourselves in Puerto Rico and we have so much more to see.

Until next time…….We send our love,

Don and Janis