Nancy Stonehouse Brown
2014-USA
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Nancy Brown
Wednesday, November 26, 2014 09:08
Happy Thanksgiving
John and I want to wish y'all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
We are in North Palm Beach FL right now and spending the Day with my special friend here.
Hope everyone is healthy and spending Thanksgiving just the way you want.
Nancy and John
_________________________________________________
2014-USA
Sunday, March 2, 2014
March 2, 2014
A short little update.
The Browns are now in the Little Shark River, Everglades, FL. We have no internet and no phone service so this will come later. We spent one week here. John was so excited he was going to go fishing for snook and that is what he did, fishing, no catching. I really feel badly for him as he was so excited about the possibility of having some great fish. But, no such luck. The “girls” and I cheered him on and he did take us for a ride, what a pretty place we were in. But, as with all things it was time to leave. So, off we went to Ft Myers Beach.
We had a real nice time in Ft. Meyers Beach after John recovered from a short bout of the flu.
Then, we had to buy two new batteries and a new carburetor for the generator, oh well, could be a new roof if we had a house!!!! We were on a mooring ball and that is a real nice thing when there is a quick storm. We had one short storm while we were there and the wind howled but we stayed nice and secure and no one drug, how nice is that? The folks there were really nice and friendly and they had a pretty good bus /trolley service, not nearly as nice as in Santa Maria.
We do miss Cortez and Tate, Elena, Chuck , Tom and all the gals at the restaurant. The trolleys on Santa Maria Island, the buses to town and, of course, the walks over the Cortez Bridge.
John had taken the girls out for a ride in the dinghy to go fishing but I just heard them come back so I will stop for now.
It is now March 16, 2014 and where has the time gone???
We are now in Tarpon Basin in Key Largo FL. How did we get here, it was an overnight from Ft. Myers Beach to Marathon, we had a wonderful and expensive 3 day stay there. Met some real nice folks and hope to stay in touch. The great thing about cruising!!
After those nice 3 days we left Marathon and headed to Islamorada, but as luck would have it, we missed it and anchored one night outside Hog’s Chanel. They have a new bridge but as we were going to stay in the Intracoastal waterway we did not use the bridge. Then we had another great calm motor/sail here to Tarpon Basin. We keep listening to the weather and it is not being friendly so here we stay. Also, our windlass has decided to freeze up and now John is trying to find a way to fix it or at least make it semi workable so that he does not have to pull the anchor by hand. Been there, done that and not fun at all.
Well, it is getting late and I think I had better go to bed. We are, as of right now planning (hoping) to leave here on Tues. We really are trying to get to WPB by the end of this week. Wish us luck!!
Now if I can figure out how to attach and send this tomorrow morning that will be a good thing.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:31
Good afternoon everyone-
Can't believe another month has almost gone. It is so hard to believe time can run away so quickly. We are sitting in a lovely little village called Cortez. It is a part of Bradenton, FL. They have a nice marina here called the Sea Food Shack Marina. We , as usual, only planned on staying a week or two and here we have been for almost a month. We had a great trip from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, stayed there longer than planned, then we took the ICW down here stopping in Mediera Beach for a few days. All the time hoping to get to some warmer weather but so far, no such luck. This is a lovely place but still really cool.
We have been so fortunate since we have been back in the States. in that, we have met so many old friends and new ones, who all have been so kind to us.
I started this a few days ago and I guess it is time to finish and get busy and let it be.
We have been so welcomed here by John's son, Lawson's, old time friend that you Tate! We are now waiting to get a good day to leave here, we are thinking Fri. or Sat.
We have some of the prettiest birds flying around us here. We have a flock of white pelicans, snowy egrits, great blues, green herons, anhingas, comerants and of course tons of sea gulls. Sure are fun to watch, the "girls" love barking and chasing them off the boat.
Pam, I complain about the cold but think about you and Bill and all the weather you have to endure, are you ready to return to the Caribbean?
I would like to take this time to thank all of you who have sent your condolences on the loss of my sister, Pat, She went to her new home in heaven on Jan 13th. Thank you Marcia for all your communication.
I just want to tell you all how often we think of you and even thought we are not great communicators, we think of y'all often and wish there were a way we could see y'all but, since we can't always have what we want, but we will still wish you a wonderful time for 2014.
Love from The Browns
_______________________________________________
Sunday, March 2, 2014
March 2, 2014
A short little update.
The Browns are now in the Little Shark River, Everglades, FL. We have no internet and no phone service so this will come later. We spent one week here. John was so excited he was going to go fishing for snook and that is what he did, fishing, no catching. I really feel badly for him as he was so excited about the possibility of having some great fish. But, no such luck. The “girls” and I cheered him on and he did take us for a ride, what a pretty place we were in. But, as with all things it was time to leave. So, off we went to Ft Myers Beach.
We had a real nice time in Ft. Meyers Beach after John recovered from a short bout of the flu.
Then, we had to buy two new batteries and a new carburetor for the generator, oh well, could be a new roof if we had a house!!!! We were on a mooring ball and that is a real nice thing when there is a quick storm. We had one short storm while we were there and the wind howled but we stayed nice and secure and no one drug, how nice is that? The folks there were really nice and friendly and they had a pretty good bus /trolley service, not nearly as nice as in Santa Maria.
We do miss Cortez and Tate, Elena, Chuck , Tom and all the gals at the restaurant. The trolleys on Santa Maria Island, the buses to town and, of course, the walks over the Cortez Bridge.
John had taken the girls out for a ride in the dinghy to go fishing but I just heard them come back so I will stop for now.
It is now March 16, 2014 and where has the time gone???
We are now in Tarpon Basin in Key Largo FL. How did we get here, it was an overnight from Ft. Myers Beach to Marathon, we had a wonderful and expensive 3 day stay there. Met some real nice folks and hope to stay in touch. The great thing about cruising!!
After those nice 3 days we left Marathon and headed to Islamorada, but as luck would have it, we missed it and anchored one night outside Hog’s Chanel. They have a new bridge but as we were going to stay in the Intracoastal waterway we did not use the bridge. Then we had another great calm motor/sail here to Tarpon Basin. We keep listening to the weather and it is not being friendly so here we stay. Also, our windlass has decided to freeze up and now John is trying to find a way to fix it or at least make it semi workable so that he does not have to pull the anchor by hand. Been there, done that and not fun at all.
Well, it is getting late and I think I had better go to bed. We are, as of right now planning (hoping) to leave here on Tues. We really are trying to get to WPB by the end of this week. Wish us luck!!
Now if I can figure out how to attach and send this tomorrow morning that will be a good thing.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:31
Good afternoon everyone-
Can't believe another month has almost gone. It is so hard to believe time can run away so quickly. We are sitting in a lovely little village called Cortez. It is a part of Bradenton, FL. They have a nice marina here called the Sea Food Shack Marina. We , as usual, only planned on staying a week or two and here we have been for almost a month. We had a great trip from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, stayed there longer than planned, then we took the ICW down here stopping in Mediera Beach for a few days. All the time hoping to get to some warmer weather but so far, no such luck. This is a lovely place but still really cool.
We have been so fortunate since we have been back in the States. in that, we have met so many old friends and new ones, who all have been so kind to us.
I started this a few days ago and I guess it is time to finish and get busy and let it be.
We have been so welcomed here by John's son, Lawson's, old time friend that you Tate! We are now waiting to get a good day to leave here, we are thinking Fri. or Sat.
We have some of the prettiest birds flying around us here. We have a flock of white pelicans, snowy egrits, great blues, green herons, anhingas, comerants and of course tons of sea gulls. Sure are fun to watch, the "girls" love barking and chasing them off the boat.
Pam, I complain about the cold but think about you and Bill and all the weather you have to endure, are you ready to return to the Caribbean?
I would like to take this time to thank all of you who have sent your condolences on the loss of my sister, Pat, She went to her new home in heaven on Jan 13th. Thank you Marcia for all your communication.
I just want to tell you all how often we think of you and even thought we are not great communicators, we think of y'all often and wish there were a way we could see y'all but, since we can't always have what we want, but we will still wish you a wonderful time for 2014.
Love from The Browns
_______________________________________________
2013-USA
Sunday, November 03, 2013 18:12
Here we are sitting in Carrabelle, Fl. We have had a wonderful six months since we left Guatemala, but, at the same time, we sure do miss the Rio Dulce and all the wonderful times and people there.
We had a wonderful crossing from Isla Mujeres to Mobile AL. It was five days of great weather with nothing but the sails and NO motor. What a treat. It was one of the best crossings we have had....
We had a wonder couple of months there in AL. The best part, was, of course, the wonderful visit with John's son and his wonderful family. What a beautiful town Point Clear was and what a grand time we had there. Thank you Lawson and Leigh and those two wonderful girls, Isabelle and Maggie.
We finally pulled ourselves away from AL. hard to leave so many wonderful new friends we had made in Mobile, if ever you get a chance to go to the Dog River and the Grand Marina take it. Wonderful people and a great place.
Next, we sailed out of the Mobile Bay, what a fantastic sail and on to Panama City. What a great place, that is the city where John and I connected and started this wonderful journey, our almost nine wonderful years of being a team!!! What a lucky woman I am.
We stayed in Panama City for a week and then, sailed to Carrabelle. We were going to stop in Apalachicola but the night was so wonderful and the wind was just enough to fill the sails and doing the "rapid speed" of 1-2kts we spent the night at sea followed by a pod of dolphins, dancing all around us all the way to Dog Island the next morning. What an experience that was and once we were at Dog Island and the sun was up and the anchor was down, the dolphins did one more dance around the boat, bid us goodby and off they took.
We took a quick nap and then came up the Carrabelle river and pulled into C Quarters, the dock where John had the boat when I first came to see him way back in 2004. What a strange feeling to be back where we started this wonderful journey through life. What a wonderful eight years we have had on the water and now, we have been here for the last 3 almost 4 months working on the boat and becoming reacquainted with some of our old friends. This is the place where we were married and started our life on the water.
So, now, a new chapter in our story and darn it all we are getting older every day.
We will never forget all the wonderful adventures and wonderful people who have made this such a wonderful life.
Thank you Love Nancy and John
_______________________________________________
Friday, August 02, 2013 4:40 PM
Hello everyone, well, here we are back where we started our adventure from 8 years, 5 months and 27 days ago. What an adventure it has been too. We have the flags of all the countries we have visited flying on the Jib line. Hard
to believe that the time could go so quickly.
The best part of our trip? The wonderful people we have met from all over the world and learning the customs of the countries. It is so amazing how when we left here we had no idea that other people lived so differently. We, of course, had read about it, seen it in magazines but to experience it is something else. If we were younger and could start out and do it all again; we would not hesitate for a minute. The only thing would be, we like to have more available dollars so that when I get to missing my children and friends. we could hop a plane and do a reunion trip.
We have seen some amazing sights, one. that still gives me goosebumps, was when we were in Tobago. We were sitting on the boat and looked out at the bay and saw some splashing, being nosy, we took out the binoculars and there in a section of the bay was a huge circle of porpoises and then inside that circle was a smaller one and then, inside that one were two adults teaching an infant how to jump and breath. I remember once, Hilary Clinton said it takes a community to raise a child, I wonder if she had also seen this sight. We have been in some pretty nasty weather but we survived and we have been in some glorious sailing weather, when we can cut off the motor, put up the sails and hear nothing but the water hitting (gently) the boat, there is nothing in the world like that moment.
We experienced a moment like that coming across from Mexico to Alabama and then from Alabama to here. What a wonderful way to end one journey and start the next. We have, along the way, adopted a little mini schnauzer so now we are the proud parents of two wonderful "children". The good news is we don't have to send them to college!!!
Well, I guess this is long enough for any one to read so I will say, see you down the river. Thank you for all your emails and keeping in touch with us for all these years.
Hope to see some, if not all of you, one day.
Love John, Nancy, Dixie and Gypsie
_______________________________________________
Here we are sitting in Carrabelle, Fl. We have had a wonderful six months since we left Guatemala, but, at the same time, we sure do miss the Rio Dulce and all the wonderful times and people there.
We had a wonderful crossing from Isla Mujeres to Mobile AL. It was five days of great weather with nothing but the sails and NO motor. What a treat. It was one of the best crossings we have had....
We had a wonder couple of months there in AL. The best part, was, of course, the wonderful visit with John's son and his wonderful family. What a beautiful town Point Clear was and what a grand time we had there. Thank you Lawson and Leigh and those two wonderful girls, Isabelle and Maggie.
We finally pulled ourselves away from AL. hard to leave so many wonderful new friends we had made in Mobile, if ever you get a chance to go to the Dog River and the Grand Marina take it. Wonderful people and a great place.
Next, we sailed out of the Mobile Bay, what a fantastic sail and on to Panama City. What a great place, that is the city where John and I connected and started this wonderful journey, our almost nine wonderful years of being a team!!! What a lucky woman I am.
We stayed in Panama City for a week and then, sailed to Carrabelle. We were going to stop in Apalachicola but the night was so wonderful and the wind was just enough to fill the sails and doing the "rapid speed" of 1-2kts we spent the night at sea followed by a pod of dolphins, dancing all around us all the way to Dog Island the next morning. What an experience that was and once we were at Dog Island and the sun was up and the anchor was down, the dolphins did one more dance around the boat, bid us goodby and off they took.
We took a quick nap and then came up the Carrabelle river and pulled into C Quarters, the dock where John had the boat when I first came to see him way back in 2004. What a strange feeling to be back where we started this wonderful journey through life. What a wonderful eight years we have had on the water and now, we have been here for the last 3 almost 4 months working on the boat and becoming reacquainted with some of our old friends. This is the place where we were married and started our life on the water.
So, now, a new chapter in our story and darn it all we are getting older every day.
We will never forget all the wonderful adventures and wonderful people who have made this such a wonderful life.
Thank you Love Nancy and John
_______________________________________________
Friday, August 02, 2013 4:40 PM
Hello everyone, well, here we are back where we started our adventure from 8 years, 5 months and 27 days ago. What an adventure it has been too. We have the flags of all the countries we have visited flying on the Jib line. Hard
to believe that the time could go so quickly.
The best part of our trip? The wonderful people we have met from all over the world and learning the customs of the countries. It is so amazing how when we left here we had no idea that other people lived so differently. We, of course, had read about it, seen it in magazines but to experience it is something else. If we were younger and could start out and do it all again; we would not hesitate for a minute. The only thing would be, we like to have more available dollars so that when I get to missing my children and friends. we could hop a plane and do a reunion trip.
We have seen some amazing sights, one. that still gives me goosebumps, was when we were in Tobago. We were sitting on the boat and looked out at the bay and saw some splashing, being nosy, we took out the binoculars and there in a section of the bay was a huge circle of porpoises and then inside that circle was a smaller one and then, inside that one were two adults teaching an infant how to jump and breath. I remember once, Hilary Clinton said it takes a community to raise a child, I wonder if she had also seen this sight. We have been in some pretty nasty weather but we survived and we have been in some glorious sailing weather, when we can cut off the motor, put up the sails and hear nothing but the water hitting (gently) the boat, there is nothing in the world like that moment.
We experienced a moment like that coming across from Mexico to Alabama and then from Alabama to here. What a wonderful way to end one journey and start the next. We have, along the way, adopted a little mini schnauzer so now we are the proud parents of two wonderful "children". The good news is we don't have to send them to college!!!
Well, I guess this is long enough for any one to read so I will say, see you down the river. Thank you for all your emails and keeping in touch with us for all these years.
Hope to see some, if not all of you, one day.
Love John, Nancy, Dixie and Gypsie
_______________________________________________
2011-Guatamala
August 14.2011
Hello everyone,
Well here we are in Guatemala. Never thought we would get this far! I have not read any emails yet, we finally have WiFi here on the boat!!! What a treat for us. We have had a wonderful 6 and 1/2 years getting here. Been sooooo many wonderful places met soooo many wonderful people and yes, we even have some pictures and I will be trying to download and send them soon. I really have been remiss with sending the updates but I do have a couple of reasons, one, I had a cataract operation on my left eye in 2008 and it was great but about 6 or 7 months ago I started having trouble with my vision again, makes it awful hard to do the computer, but the day we arrived here one of the other cruisers was talking about this wonderful opthamologist who comes to town one a day a
week. So, post haste, on Wed. I was sitting in his office, he explained to me that some times, about 20 % of the cataract operations have this problem, the fluid sack that the lens is set into starts to give way in places but and this is really good news, the procedure is real easy, requires not anesthesia and only takes a short time, so on Friday, last, off to his main office we went and now I can see perfectly out of my left eye again. Now, I am going to his office on this Wed. and we will discuss removing the cataract from my right eye.
And, after several antibiotics and a couple of shots, in my butt, I am walking again, it seems as though the "bursa" I had in my foot was really a staff infection so after all that time and pain with walking. ALL IS FINE.
Now I bet y'all are sick of my problems. We are really doing great, can't believe how great this country is. So many mountains and Mayan ruins and volcanos, we can't wait to start doing some exploring. And I will take pictures. Our trip through Panama was such a treat and then the Columbia Islands of San Andres and Providencia were so nice and then off we went to Honduras, what a great time we had there. Well, I guess this is long enough, hope everyone is doing great and would love to hear from y'all.
Love,
John Nancy and of course, Dixie
_______________________________________________
Hello everyone,
Well here we are in Guatemala. Never thought we would get this far! I have not read any emails yet, we finally have WiFi here on the boat!!! What a treat for us. We have had a wonderful 6 and 1/2 years getting here. Been sooooo many wonderful places met soooo many wonderful people and yes, we even have some pictures and I will be trying to download and send them soon. I really have been remiss with sending the updates but I do have a couple of reasons, one, I had a cataract operation on my left eye in 2008 and it was great but about 6 or 7 months ago I started having trouble with my vision again, makes it awful hard to do the computer, but the day we arrived here one of the other cruisers was talking about this wonderful opthamologist who comes to town one a day a
week. So, post haste, on Wed. I was sitting in his office, he explained to me that some times, about 20 % of the cataract operations have this problem, the fluid sack that the lens is set into starts to give way in places but and this is really good news, the procedure is real easy, requires not anesthesia and only takes a short time, so on Friday, last, off to his main office we went and now I can see perfectly out of my left eye again. Now, I am going to his office on this Wed. and we will discuss removing the cataract from my right eye.
And, after several antibiotics and a couple of shots, in my butt, I am walking again, it seems as though the "bursa" I had in my foot was really a staff infection so after all that time and pain with walking. ALL IS FINE.
Now I bet y'all are sick of my problems. We are really doing great, can't believe how great this country is. So many mountains and Mayan ruins and volcanos, we can't wait to start doing some exploring. And I will take pictures. Our trip through Panama was such a treat and then the Columbia Islands of San Andres and Providencia were so nice and then off we went to Honduras, what a great time we had there. Well, I guess this is long enough, hope everyone is doing great and would love to hear from y'all.
Love,
John Nancy and of course, Dixie
_______________________________________________
2010-Panama
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 14:58
Hola everyone,
Well here we are still in Portobelo, Panama. Yes, we really do enjoy this great little village. We are enjoying the Forts, the history and the people. Right now we are here to help a friend fix his boat. His generator died so John took it apart, found the problem and has ordered the parts and so now we are waiting for them to come here to
Portobelo. So maybe some day we will be on our way to another location.
But, it is a lovely spot. Right now we are in a Hostel Restaurant, they have WiFi and when we are ambitious enough we climb the hill and use the WiFi. We are having a great time playing with the little tiny monkey who lives here. One day John will take a photo of the little thing and we will post it. HOPEFULLY she said.
We are not doing anything very exciting but the weather is gorgeous and we do get some rain. That is great for our water supplies.
We do want to say hello though there is not much to tell you.
Hope everyone is well and having a safe summer.
Best regards from Dixie, John and Nancy
_______________________________________________
JUNE 8,2011
HOLA FRIENDS AND FAMILY,
WELL, THIS MAY BE THE LAST EMAIL FROM PANAMA! THE CAPTAIN SAYS TOMORROW IS THE WEATHER WINDOW FOR PROVEDENCIA. SO WE WILL BE BACK IN COLOMBIAN TERRITORY FOR A SHORT TIME AND THEN ON TO HONDURAS. NOW THAT KARIN IS WITH US IT WILL BE A LOT EASIER 60 HOURS. WE REALLY HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS ABOUT LEAVING HERE. THE WATER IS SO NICE AND CALM, THE PEOPLE ARE SO GRACIOUS AND KIND AND EVEN THE CRUISERS HAVE BEEN FUN.
BUT THE TIME HAS COME TO MOVE ON. LET'S HOPE THE WEATHER WILL BE KIND TO US. WE HAVE BEEN STOCKING UP ON FOOD AND SNACKS. WE HAVE ABOUT 20 LOBSTER TAILS IN THE FREEZER, REALLY ROUGHING IT)
WE ARE WISHING YOU ALL WELL AND HOPE THE SUMMER IS KIND TO YOU ALL.
BEST WISHES FROM S/V DIXSEA NANCY, JOHN AND DIXIE DOG
_______________________________________________
Hola everyone,
Well here we are still in Portobelo, Panama. Yes, we really do enjoy this great little village. We are enjoying the Forts, the history and the people. Right now we are here to help a friend fix his boat. His generator died so John took it apart, found the problem and has ordered the parts and so now we are waiting for them to come here to
Portobelo. So maybe some day we will be on our way to another location.
But, it is a lovely spot. Right now we are in a Hostel Restaurant, they have WiFi and when we are ambitious enough we climb the hill and use the WiFi. We are having a great time playing with the little tiny monkey who lives here. One day John will take a photo of the little thing and we will post it. HOPEFULLY she said.
We are not doing anything very exciting but the weather is gorgeous and we do get some rain. That is great for our water supplies.
We do want to say hello though there is not much to tell you.
Hope everyone is well and having a safe summer.
Best regards from Dixie, John and Nancy
_______________________________________________
JUNE 8,2011
HOLA FRIENDS AND FAMILY,
WELL, THIS MAY BE THE LAST EMAIL FROM PANAMA! THE CAPTAIN SAYS TOMORROW IS THE WEATHER WINDOW FOR PROVEDENCIA. SO WE WILL BE BACK IN COLOMBIAN TERRITORY FOR A SHORT TIME AND THEN ON TO HONDURAS. NOW THAT KARIN IS WITH US IT WILL BE A LOT EASIER 60 HOURS. WE REALLY HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS ABOUT LEAVING HERE. THE WATER IS SO NICE AND CALM, THE PEOPLE ARE SO GRACIOUS AND KIND AND EVEN THE CRUISERS HAVE BEEN FUN.
BUT THE TIME HAS COME TO MOVE ON. LET'S HOPE THE WEATHER WILL BE KIND TO US. WE HAVE BEEN STOCKING UP ON FOOD AND SNACKS. WE HAVE ABOUT 20 LOBSTER TAILS IN THE FREEZER, REALLY ROUGHING IT)
WE ARE WISHING YOU ALL WELL AND HOPE THE SUMMER IS KIND TO YOU ALL.
BEST WISHES FROM S/V DIXSEA NANCY, JOHN AND DIXIE DOG
_______________________________________________
2010-Cartagena
Tuesday, February 09, 2010 21:30
Happy Valentine's Day everyone. We are still in Cartagena but planning our departure on Thursday. We will probably be out of touch for awhile but I will try and send out some emails on Sailmail. Can't send or receive anything but text as it comes through the Single Side Band and also it is one where you send a new mail and no replies as we pay by the time used and it takes awhile to download the replies.
We are really excited about the next part of our sojourn. We have enjoyed it here but not as much as we had hoped and so many other people we have heard from have really loved it. It is, to us, like sailing into Miami Beach and
then walking away from the harbor into the Old Town is like going to Savannah or New Orleans only in Spanish.
We have met some really nice people and look forward to seeing them again in the San Blas Islands and Panama. We were able to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, the man who lets all us crazy yaughties have our Happy Hour, Book and DVD exchange at his restaurant, rented a huge flat screen TV and although the comentary was in Spanish we all enjoyed the game. Most everyone was rooting for the Saints but felt badly for Peyton Manning. Oh well, next year????
Tuesday, February 09, 2010 21:30
We want to send Happy Birthdays to my sister, Pat, wow seventy years old!!!!! where or where has the time gone. Also, to my daughter-in-law Sue hope you have a wonderful birthday.
I will send out some emails on our sailmail when we get where we will have the sideband but our sailmail address look funny as it is all letters and numbers.
Right now, John and I are talking about me going back to the States for a month in April and staying until after my Aunt Jean's Memorial on May 4th in Winchester Mass. It is only in the planning stages right now but will let y'all know when we have confirmed it all.
We are planning to take day trips or one or two overnights from here to the Islands. I have been busy stocking up on provisions as we have been told that food, except for the fish you catch and some eggs MAYBE, and once in awhile some fresh veggies, there is no where to buy any any food in the islands. I guess the Cuna Indians have a very healthy diet. One gal we met here, said she looses tons of weight when she goes there as it is a very very low fat diet. I am looking forward to that!!!!
I guess that is about all for now. Hope everyone is well and healthy. I will have internet tomorrow and then that will be it for awhile.
Love to all of you The Dixseas,
John Nancy and Dixieb
_______________________________________________
Happy Valentine's Day everyone. We are still in Cartagena but planning our departure on Thursday. We will probably be out of touch for awhile but I will try and send out some emails on Sailmail. Can't send or receive anything but text as it comes through the Single Side Band and also it is one where you send a new mail and no replies as we pay by the time used and it takes awhile to download the replies.
We are really excited about the next part of our sojourn. We have enjoyed it here but not as much as we had hoped and so many other people we have heard from have really loved it. It is, to us, like sailing into Miami Beach and
then walking away from the harbor into the Old Town is like going to Savannah or New Orleans only in Spanish.
We have met some really nice people and look forward to seeing them again in the San Blas Islands and Panama. We were able to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, the man who lets all us crazy yaughties have our Happy Hour, Book and DVD exchange at his restaurant, rented a huge flat screen TV and although the comentary was in Spanish we all enjoyed the game. Most everyone was rooting for the Saints but felt badly for Peyton Manning. Oh well, next year????
Tuesday, February 09, 2010 21:30
We want to send Happy Birthdays to my sister, Pat, wow seventy years old!!!!! where or where has the time gone. Also, to my daughter-in-law Sue hope you have a wonderful birthday.
I will send out some emails on our sailmail when we get where we will have the sideband but our sailmail address look funny as it is all letters and numbers.
Right now, John and I are talking about me going back to the States for a month in April and staying until after my Aunt Jean's Memorial on May 4th in Winchester Mass. It is only in the planning stages right now but will let y'all know when we have confirmed it all.
We are planning to take day trips or one or two overnights from here to the Islands. I have been busy stocking up on provisions as we have been told that food, except for the fish you catch and some eggs MAYBE, and once in awhile some fresh veggies, there is no where to buy any any food in the islands. I guess the Cuna Indians have a very healthy diet. One gal we met here, said she looses tons of weight when she goes there as it is a very very low fat diet. I am looking forward to that!!!!
I guess that is about all for now. Hope everyone is well and healthy. I will have internet tomorrow and then that will be it for awhile.
Love to all of you The Dixseas,
John Nancy and Dixieb
_______________________________________________
2009-Curacao
Monday, September 14, 2009 16:00
Hello or Bon Dia from Curacao, We are preparing right now for our departure from Curacao, all good things do come to an end, but better things wait!! We are heading off to Aruba, our friend, Yvonne is there and we are going to meet her there. That should be a great time, we haven't seen her in 4 and 1/2 years, when has the time gone? She is there with some friends staying in a timeshare at Playa Linda.
We have had a wonderful time here in this little quaint island. It is strange to have people speak to me in Dutch!!! I guess my now blond hair and blue eyes makes me look like a native. The buildings here are all painted in pastel colors, we have been told that way back when things were getting settled here the Govenor told everyone that white buildings were too hot and unhealthy so that they should paint everything with a pastel, of course, the fact that he
had a strong interest in the paint company had nothing to do with his advice ha ha.
That is the story we were told. The water here has not been as clear nor as good for diving as it was in Bonaire but we did go to visit a wonderful cave. It was quite a sight to see water and stalactites, formed is so many images. What an awesome sight it was!!! Then, the Dolphin Academy had their 5th anniversary and we were able to go to
the open house. What an emotional experience that was, watching the mentally and physically challenged children intact with the dolphins. We were so impressed with the progress these therapist made with the children in only two weeks. The treapist attibute the success to the dolphins. What a once in a life time experience.
So now, we are set to pull up the anchor at 7am. It should take us about ten hours to sail over to Aruba and I am so excited about this new adventure. We are told that things are pretty expensive there but at least we don't have to pay for a Marina or mooring ball as there are, as there are here, free anchorages. After having paid ten dollars
a day to moor in Bonaire this is a real treat!!!!
We send our best wishes to everyone and hope you are all well and enjoying the beginning of the
fall season.
On to Aruba from the Dixsea's.
Nancy, John and Dixie
_______________________________________________
Hello or Bon Dia from Curacao, We are preparing right now for our departure from Curacao, all good things do come to an end, but better things wait!! We are heading off to Aruba, our friend, Yvonne is there and we are going to meet her there. That should be a great time, we haven't seen her in 4 and 1/2 years, when has the time gone? She is there with some friends staying in a timeshare at Playa Linda.
We have had a wonderful time here in this little quaint island. It is strange to have people speak to me in Dutch!!! I guess my now blond hair and blue eyes makes me look like a native. The buildings here are all painted in pastel colors, we have been told that way back when things were getting settled here the Govenor told everyone that white buildings were too hot and unhealthy so that they should paint everything with a pastel, of course, the fact that he
had a strong interest in the paint company had nothing to do with his advice ha ha.
That is the story we were told. The water here has not been as clear nor as good for diving as it was in Bonaire but we did go to visit a wonderful cave. It was quite a sight to see water and stalactites, formed is so many images. What an awesome sight it was!!! Then, the Dolphin Academy had their 5th anniversary and we were able to go to
the open house. What an emotional experience that was, watching the mentally and physically challenged children intact with the dolphins. We were so impressed with the progress these therapist made with the children in only two weeks. The treapist attibute the success to the dolphins. What a once in a life time experience.
So now, we are set to pull up the anchor at 7am. It should take us about ten hours to sail over to Aruba and I am so excited about this new adventure. We are told that things are pretty expensive there but at least we don't have to pay for a Marina or mooring ball as there are, as there are here, free anchorages. After having paid ten dollars
a day to moor in Bonaire this is a real treat!!!!
We send our best wishes to everyone and hope you are all well and enjoying the beginning of the
fall season.
On to Aruba from the Dixsea's.
Nancy, John and Dixie
_______________________________________________
2009-BonAire
Thursday, July 30, 2009 18:59
Hello or Bonbini from Boanire. I guess it is about time for a little update. We are enjoying the wonderful island and the snorkling and the diving here. The water is so beautiful, changes from turqoise to dark blue from one side of the boat to the other. We had the most wonderful sail from Trinidad, we sailed from there to Los Blanquillas, in the Northern waters of Venezuela, it was a wonderful time and a very deserted island. Then we went to The Aves from there, again except for thousands of birds and a few fishermen we were alone with our friends on Sweet Dreams. What a great time we had, we even had s'amores on the beach one night.
We are still trying to decide if we want to go from here ot Curacao or to Aruba. We were going to Curacao but we heard from some friends that it is very very crowded there so we may just head to Aruba and stay there for awhile.
Hopefully, Yvonne and Rose will come visit us there.
Hope everyone is well and that life is really great.
Love to y'all.. John, Nancy and Dixie
Hello or Bonbini from Boanire. I guess it is about time for a little update. We are enjoying the wonderful island and the snorkling and the diving here. The water is so beautiful, changes from turqoise to dark blue from one side of the boat to the other. We had the most wonderful sail from Trinidad, we sailed from there to Los Blanquillas, in the Northern waters of Venezuela, it was a wonderful time and a very deserted island. Then we went to The Aves from there, again except for thousands of birds and a few fishermen we were alone with our friends on Sweet Dreams. What a great time we had, we even had s'amores on the beach one night.
We are still trying to decide if we want to go from here ot Curacao or to Aruba. We were going to Curacao but we heard from some friends that it is very very crowded there so we may just head to Aruba and stay there for awhile.
Hopefully, Yvonne and Rose will come visit us there.
Hope everyone is well and that life is really great.
Love to y'all.. John, Nancy and Dixie
_______________________________________________
2009-Trinidad-Carnival
Thursday, June 11, 2009 07:34
Hello to all our friends and family
Can't believe it is June already, where has this year gone???? John, Dixie and I are sitting in a nice calm, comfortable anchorage in St George's Grenada, West Indies. What a great place to be, however, John is getting very anxious to move on to our next adventure. I am looking forward to seeing and visiting new islands, but I do really enjoy being here. It is the most up to US standards of any of the islands, which after being out of that environment for almost two years, is a real treat. The other countries were wonderful and really enjoyed every minute but here is something to say for convenience.
But, even here the inter net is so darn iffy and not enough power to use Skype and that has been a huge disappointment to me. We have been here for 2 months, it seems like we just arrived but we now have a windlass and that is the one thing that was worth being here all that time for, if nothing else. John's shoulders are going to be so happy now. I don't usually get too adamant about things but I told John we were not leaving the anchorage until we had the windlass, and the most amazing thing, he really know I meant it!!!!!!
We have been having some fun though, going to town is nice, I love going to the green market, the fresh veggies and fruits are wonderful. It is a nice walk from the dinghy dock to downtown and we sure need the exercise!!! I wish we had done more touring but with spending all that money on the hull and refrigeration in Trinidad and the windlass here, and the economy world wide we just have to tighten our belts and now spend as freely as we used to and LIKE to. But then, I guess it's not just us...
So on this up date I don't have a lot of news. But I will try and attach a couple of photos we have taken from here in the Bay so you can see what a nice place we are in.
Love to everyone and stay well and hopefully, if all goes well , the next update------Bonaire.
John, Nancy, and Dixie
June 11, 2009
Yep, today is the day. We are leaving this morning for La Blanquilla. and the surprising thing is that the computer is working for a change. But I had better hurry and get this done before the wi fi kicks out.
It will probably take us a week to get to Bonaire and there, we should have the computer again. So Please, be well and hopefully, we will be in touch again soon.
Hello to all our friends and family
Can't believe it is June already, where has this year gone???? John, Dixie and I are sitting in a nice calm, comfortable anchorage in St George's Grenada, West Indies. What a great place to be, however, John is getting very anxious to move on to our next adventure. I am looking forward to seeing and visiting new islands, but I do really enjoy being here. It is the most up to US standards of any of the islands, which after being out of that environment for almost two years, is a real treat. The other countries were wonderful and really enjoyed every minute but here is something to say for convenience.
But, even here the inter net is so darn iffy and not enough power to use Skype and that has been a huge disappointment to me. We have been here for 2 months, it seems like we just arrived but we now have a windlass and that is the one thing that was worth being here all that time for, if nothing else. John's shoulders are going to be so happy now. I don't usually get too adamant about things but I told John we were not leaving the anchorage until we had the windlass, and the most amazing thing, he really know I meant it!!!!!!
We have been having some fun though, going to town is nice, I love going to the green market, the fresh veggies and fruits are wonderful. It is a nice walk from the dinghy dock to downtown and we sure need the exercise!!! I wish we had done more touring but with spending all that money on the hull and refrigeration in Trinidad and the windlass here, and the economy world wide we just have to tighten our belts and now spend as freely as we used to and LIKE to. But then, I guess it's not just us...
So on this up date I don't have a lot of news. But I will try and attach a couple of photos we have taken from here in the Bay so you can see what a nice place we are in.
Love to everyone and stay well and hopefully, if all goes well , the next update------Bonaire.
John, Nancy, and Dixie
June 11, 2009
Yep, today is the day. We are leaving this morning for La Blanquilla. and the surprising thing is that the computer is working for a change. But I had better hurry and get this done before the wi fi kicks out.
It will probably take us a week to get to Bonaire and there, we should have the computer again. So Please, be well and hopefully, we will be in touch again soon.
2009-Tobago
Sunday,
April 12, 2009 11:23:17 AMWell, let's try again.
Happy Easter to everyone.
We are in Grenada now, we had the most magnificent sail from Trinidad last Monday, doesn't seem possible that we have been here almost one week. The sail could not have been better. The wind was on our beam, a wonderful reach, we were doing 7-8 knots and finally had to take the genoa down as we were getting here much too quickly, unbelievable, and what a beautiful picturesque nite. If it hadn't been so rocky, I would have come down into the salon to get my camera but it was just a little too rock for
climbing up and down stairs. We watched a gorgeous sunset, thought we would see the green flash but not such luck. Then we watched the moon come up and what a moon!!! It was full, bright enough to light up our way and make the water sparkle like diamonds. We then watched the moon go down and an hour later the sun come up. What a life!!!
We arrived in Granada just after sun rise and were welcomed by our friends on Sweet Dreams. It was such a great feeling, like "coming home" as there are people here we met in Luperon, DR and haven't seen in over a year and also friends we made the last time we were here as well as those we met in Trinidad who are here now as well. That is one of the great things about cruising. You seem to meet old and new friends at every port.
I am going to try and attach a couple of Carnival photos and hopefully, this email will get to y'all.
Love the Dixseas Nancy, John and
Dixie
April 12, 2009 11:23:17 AMWell, let's try again.
Happy Easter to everyone.
We are in Grenada now, we had the most magnificent sail from Trinidad last Monday, doesn't seem possible that we have been here almost one week. The sail could not have been better. The wind was on our beam, a wonderful reach, we were doing 7-8 knots and finally had to take the genoa down as we were getting here much too quickly, unbelievable, and what a beautiful picturesque nite. If it hadn't been so rocky, I would have come down into the salon to get my camera but it was just a little too rock for
climbing up and down stairs. We watched a gorgeous sunset, thought we would see the green flash but not such luck. Then we watched the moon come up and what a moon!!! It was full, bright enough to light up our way and make the water sparkle like diamonds. We then watched the moon go down and an hour later the sun come up. What a life!!!
We arrived in Granada just after sun rise and were welcomed by our friends on Sweet Dreams. It was such a great feeling, like "coming home" as there are people here we met in Luperon, DR and haven't seen in over a year and also friends we made the last time we were here as well as those we met in Trinidad who are here now as well. That is one of the great things about cruising. You seem to meet old and new friends at every port.
I am going to try and attach a couple of Carnival photos and hopefully, this email will get to y'all.
Love the Dixseas Nancy, John and
Dixie
2009-Guyana
Thursday, February 26, 2009 23:38
Hi Everyone,,,
Happy End of Carnival here in Trinidad. What a month this has been, we have the boat in the yard in Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad. We had planned to do some work but as we soon learned, the month of February is not a working month here. We have had a wonderful time celebrating all the festivities of Carnival. I will send some photos of the Parades and fun later, but right now I have some photos for you from Guyana.
The last photo Guyana038, is the wonderful Amerindian family who adopted us and whom we adopted as family. They are the nicest, sweetest. generous people you could ever meet. They are so special to us and we sure will miss them.
I am not sure how long it has been since I did one of these updates so, I will try and compress the last few months real quickly. We had been here in Trinidad last year, hence the yellow boat, hope you like it, we sure do!! From here we went back to Tobago and spent a couple of months and then took our 5 day trip to Guyana. It was a long time to be at sea but, the weather was nice the wind was, most of the time taking a vacation, so we motored almost all the way. But, the good thing was the sea was calm, we had plenty of snacks, water and sodas to make the trip and if we were not afraid of running short of fuel, we would have made the trip a couple of days longer. Well, after my, Nancy, cataract operation for which I had to wait 3 months for the Dr. to return from his Sabbatical and, by the way, was a wonderful success. We then had to wait 5 more weeks to have our expired visas approved. Well, those five weeks were spent mostly staying aboard Dixsea as it poured down rain all day and night for almost the entire 5 weeks. The worst part of that was that there are no laundry facilities other than washing in the river sooooo no where to hang out to dry.
Well, after three trips to Georgetown, the Capital of Guyana. These trips are a hoot, we had to take a boat to a town 3 miles away,Bartica, and then a water taxi, traveling at a speed of 35 knots per hour to another town 40 miles away, Parika and then a taxi (a van they pile 18 people into for a 45 mile ride to Georgetown. We finally had our visas approved and we were good to go for another year. But, after all this rain we were really ready to leave, besides we had a lot of work still to do on Dixsea and there is just no where to obtain parts in Guyana. So after 4 months we said good bye and headed straight back here to Trini. We had some pretty big seas, at times the swells were 15 feet but for the most part not a bad sail back here and this time it was only 3 days. Thank Goodness!!! And so now here we are, we are hoping to be back in the water by the middle of March and then off to Grenada and then the ABC's and then our plan is to head to Panama, however, as all you boaters know this is written in Jello. I just have to tell you one more thing and then I will shut up. Yesterday we had the most interesting visit to a Pitch Lake, the only one in the world that Asphalt is made from and what an experience that was walking on all the tar and smelling the sulfur but I will tell you about that next time.
Hope you all enjoy the photos and that everyone is well and we wish you all peace and
love during this period on Lent.
Love and Best Wishes from the grounded
Browns on S/V Dixsea
Hi Everyone,,,
Happy End of Carnival here in Trinidad. What a month this has been, we have the boat in the yard in Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad. We had planned to do some work but as we soon learned, the month of February is not a working month here. We have had a wonderful time celebrating all the festivities of Carnival. I will send some photos of the Parades and fun later, but right now I have some photos for you from Guyana.
The last photo Guyana038, is the wonderful Amerindian family who adopted us and whom we adopted as family. They are the nicest, sweetest. generous people you could ever meet. They are so special to us and we sure will miss them.
I am not sure how long it has been since I did one of these updates so, I will try and compress the last few months real quickly. We had been here in Trinidad last year, hence the yellow boat, hope you like it, we sure do!! From here we went back to Tobago and spent a couple of months and then took our 5 day trip to Guyana. It was a long time to be at sea but, the weather was nice the wind was, most of the time taking a vacation, so we motored almost all the way. But, the good thing was the sea was calm, we had plenty of snacks, water and sodas to make the trip and if we were not afraid of running short of fuel, we would have made the trip a couple of days longer. Well, after my, Nancy, cataract operation for which I had to wait 3 months for the Dr. to return from his Sabbatical and, by the way, was a wonderful success. We then had to wait 5 more weeks to have our expired visas approved. Well, those five weeks were spent mostly staying aboard Dixsea as it poured down rain all day and night for almost the entire 5 weeks. The worst part of that was that there are no laundry facilities other than washing in the river sooooo no where to hang out to dry.
Well, after three trips to Georgetown, the Capital of Guyana. These trips are a hoot, we had to take a boat to a town 3 miles away,Bartica, and then a water taxi, traveling at a speed of 35 knots per hour to another town 40 miles away, Parika and then a taxi (a van they pile 18 people into for a 45 mile ride to Georgetown. We finally had our visas approved and we were good to go for another year. But, after all this rain we were really ready to leave, besides we had a lot of work still to do on Dixsea and there is just no where to obtain parts in Guyana. So after 4 months we said good bye and headed straight back here to Trini. We had some pretty big seas, at times the swells were 15 feet but for the most part not a bad sail back here and this time it was only 3 days. Thank Goodness!!! And so now here we are, we are hoping to be back in the water by the middle of March and then off to Grenada and then the ABC's and then our plan is to head to Panama, however, as all you boaters know this is written in Jello. I just have to tell you one more thing and then I will shut up. Yesterday we had the most interesting visit to a Pitch Lake, the only one in the world that Asphalt is made from and what an experience that was walking on all the tar and smelling the sulfur but I will tell you about that next time.
Hope you all enjoy the photos and that everyone is well and we wish you all peace and
love during this period on Lent.
Love and Best Wishes from the grounded
Browns on S/V Dixsea
