Look! There's a Boat on that Mountain!

Just look at that view!

 We took a trip up in the mountains to visit our friends that are living up there. We had a great visit with Esther and Derrick and with Cade and Lisa. Esther and Derrick have a home on the mountain and Lisa and Cade are in the planning stages of building. While they are preparing the land and planning their home, Cade set a plan in motion that he had been dreaming up for quite some time.

They have a beautiful sail boat named Sand Dollar that has been their home for many years while they sailed the Caribbean and South America. Sand Dollar was for sale, but Cade decided that they could move the boat up on the mountain and live in her while they build their house. After the house is built, Sand Dollar will become a guest house. They have some exciting plans for an add on bathroom/mud room. The will have a “ground level” entry through the mud room into the boat. We can't wait to see what it's like to sleep in a boat at 2500 feet with none of the gentle roll that we are accustomed to.

It was quite a feat just to get the boat up there. Absolutely amazing that Cade was able to pull this off. Of course, he's an engineer, so he had every detail thought through and planned out. That doesn't mean that everything went as planned. I think he was in double trouble with plans because, 1) it's a boat – nothing goes as planned when working on or with a boat; and 2) we're in the Dominican Republic, nothing goes as planned when working on or in the Dominican Republic. So, against all odds, Sand Dollar has a new home on the mountain. I bet the local Dominicans think they just got some loco gringos for neighbors!

We love riding up to the mountains, for one thing, it's a lot cooler up there, so that's a nice break from the heat. Plus, we never fail to be amazed at all the wonderful plants that grow wild. The sweetest bananas that we have ever eaten, not to mention the avocados, limes, oranges, mangoes, coffee..... the list goes on and on. I must admit that I'm a little jealous of Lisa having her very own avocado trees. Lucky for us, she likes to share!

The poetry of the earth is never dead.  ~John Keats

Time for School!

Most cruisers that we know are just like us, they are cruising on a budget. They either have no income, or a fixed income from a pension or other investments. Most of us certainly don't think of ourselves as rich, or even well off. We are just trying to stretch a dollar (or peso) as far as it will go. Many of the locals here in Luperon think that all the boaters have lots of money and, of course, we disagree. We have spent enough time here to learn that, to most of the local population, we do have lots of money. It's was really eye opening to Troy and I to see the conditions that some people live in here and to realize that, while we don't realize it, we are certainly rich compared to them.

We have become great friends with Jerry, the owner of JR's Bistro. Jerry has a big heart and he has connections with local people that know the best ways to help the community. Jerry organized a couple of fund raisers recently and we were very impressed with the generosity of the cruising community as well as the community of gringos that have decided to call Luperon home.

It came to Jerry's attention that children who cannot afford school uniforms are not allowed to attend school. We couldn't believe it! What kind of rule is that? Anyway, through Jerry and with the help of the assistant principal at the school, we collected enough pesos to buy uniforms, notebooks, pencils and a few school supplies for 38 children.

We had a lot of fun passing out the uniforms to the excited kids. I was wondering if the kids “back home” would be as excited about getting school uniforms. Somehow, I think not!

We also had another very successful fundraiser that we are all excited about. I will post about that one soon.

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.  ~Attributed to both Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok

These girls can't wait to get their uniforms!

Jerry and Assistant Principal Anilda - checking the list

Here you go

Look at all the happy students and parents

Storyville gets a Nature's Head

We recently decided that it was time to start thinking about replacing the heads on Storyville. For all my land lubber friends, you probably know me well enough by now to realize that I'm talking about the toilets on the boat. I know what you're thinking – gross. It get's even grosser (is that a word?) when you think about the hoses and holding tanks and everything that has passed through them in the last 30 years.

We have several friends that are using waterless composting toilets. It just makes so much sense for us so, we decided that it was worth looking into. It would mean that we could do away with two thru hull – don't worry about what that is if you're not a boater, but if you are, you know what a benefit that is – and, bonus, we would get rid of all those stinky hoses and the holding tank as well. Creating more room for storage. Just kind of plug and play, so to speak.

We decided to try to bring one back with us from our visit to Houston. The packing box was just under the airlines size requirements and well under their weight requirements. We were still a little nervous, not knowing what to expect with the shipping. It all went incredibly smoothly. We were stopped by customs when we entered the DR. They sent the box through their scanner and decided that they needed a better look. They were a little surprised when they opened the box. You should have seen the look on the inspector's face when he lifted the lid! I guess he was worried that we were traveling with a used toilet. Oh well, it worked! Free shipping.

Anyways, we got the toilet back to Storyville and she is now fully installed, thanks to Troy's hard work. The removal of the old system was the worst part of the ordeal and I will spare you the details. Let's just say that Troy is my hero for handling that stinky, nasty job.

It took us a little while to find the composting material. We took our Dominican friend, who speaks great English, with us to 3 different nursery’s, but the language barrier proved to be too high because he didn't know what peat moss was and we couldn't describe it. They really don't have much use for that here, I guess because the ground is very fertile. We did a little more research and decided to try a mix of coconut husks, banana leaves and mulch. Wish me luck.

Let the composting begin!

We give a great big thanks to Gene Cupples, owner of Eco-mmode, distributor for Nature's Head in the Kemah area. Click the link above to learn more, or give him a call at 419/306-3351.

The old head, ready to come out

Nature's Head

Ready to remove the old system (yuck)

That is a picture of "gross" right there.  The old holding bag.

Ready to compost!

Installed and ready to go!

Trip to Santo Domingo

Oblisk at the Malecon in Santo Domingo

We have been wanting to take a trip to Santo Domingo for at least a year now. It's all they way on the other side of the island from Luperon and involves a gua gua ride and two buses to get to there from here. We had the prefect excuse since Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic. Rene needed to renew his Dutch passport and that's where the embassy is located. There were six of us on the trip, Troy and I, Rene and Stacy and Patrick and Lucy.

We headed out on Sunday morning and had a fairly uneventful trip. The bus rides were great and the gua gua was an adventure as always! There were 7 of us (including the driver) in a small Toyota type meant to carry 5, tops; 2 in front and three in back! So we went with 3 in front and 4 in back. I got to ride in the middle, in front on the console with a cushion on top of it. There were a couple of instances where I accidentally shifted the car into neutral with my leg, but the driver took it all in stride!

Only one little bit of excitement on the 30 minute ride. It's not unusual to see herds of cows being driven down the middle of the road, in fact, it would be more unusual not to see a couple of herds along the way. We recognize the signs by now. Usually one guy is ahead of the herd and he waves a red flag to let oncoming traffic know what lies ahead. It could be anywhere from 2 or 3 cows to a whole big herd. We met a fairly good sized herd along the way and the driver slowed almost to a stop for the oncoming cows. All was going as planned until the cow directly in front of our car was mounted by a bull that came up right behind her. I could see my life flashing before my eyes (that's not ALL I could see, I got a pretty good look at the working parts of the, ahem, bulls reproductive system) when it seemed that the both of them would certainly come crashing through our windshield. Fortunately, the bull decided that he might have picked the wrong time and place to display his amorous feelings. It was all over in a matter of seconds and the driver never even blinked an eye.

We finally made it to Santo Domingo – 1 thirty minute, exciting gua gua ride, two bus rides (1 lasting 45 minutes and 1 lasting about 2 hours) and a short taxi ride to our hotel. We took a walk down the malecon and to the shopping square where we found the Hard Rock Cafe. We couldn't resist the chance for a great hamburger and a few cold beers, not to mention the air conditioning! By that time, we were ready to head back to our rooms and get some rest, in the air conditioning (do you see the pattern?).

Catedral de Santa Maria la Menor

     The next day Rene headed out to take care of his business while the rest of the part set out on foot for some shopping. We did a lot of walking in two days and we enjoyed our morning of shopping. By the time we met up with Rene again we decided to check out the Catedral de Santa Maria la Menor. It is the oldest cathedral in the Americas, having been started in 1512 and completed in 1540. Women must wear skirts below the knee to enter. It was absolutely beautiful inside and we spent about an hour just taking it all in. We had a wonderful Haitian guide who spoke to us about the history of the cathedral and answered our questions.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Luperon. We enjoyed the big city but without transportation it was difficult to take it all in. It is the capital of the Dominican Republic and has a population of over 3.7 million. It is also the largest city (by population) in the Caribbean. We are used to the crazy driving in this county, but we were left in a daze after a taxi ride through the busiest part of the city. Not by the speed, but by the sheer number and closeness of the cars and motorcycles. They drive within inches of one another, they use their horns (a lot) and somehow, they almost never hit each other.

We definitely enjoyed our trip to Santo Domingo and we are already planning some other fun trips around the country.

Inside the Cathedral - Stunningly Beautiful

Reloj de Sol (Sun Dial)

Sun Dial

Christopher Columbus' sons palace

Tommy Lee!

An artists gallery

Jethro Tull's flute at the Hard Rock

Damon and Marcie Become Sailors

We were very fortunate to meet some really good friends by accident.  Well, maybe not accident but more just by surprise at the time and place. You never know when you will meet people that will become lifelong friends.  One of the things that I love/hate about the cruising life is the people that you meet along the way.  I love it because we meet people from all walks of life and spend time getting to know such a diverse group of people.  I hate it because sometimes you have to say goodbye before you want to.  It's more of a blessing than a curse though, 'cause we get to meet so many awesome people along the way.

I will let Damon tell you the story about how we met.  Here is a guest blog from Damon and Marcie, friends that came to visit us in the US and Spanish Virgin Islands:

Marcie and Damon chillin' at Mamacita's in Culebra

Little did we know that a trip to a Dominican Republic resort would change our lives. It started innocently enough: While lying in our cabana, soaking up as much of paradise as we could, we kept seeing the same group of friends whooping it up in the cold tubs on the beach. I nudged Marcie and said, “We gotta get to know those people, I overheard them talking about living on their boats.” It sounded like a fantasy life, and we had to know more.

We invited ourselves in the tub and made quick friends of the whole gang; Troy and Deana, Rene and Stacy, Patrick and Darnell, and Ivy. We were fascinated by our new friends, and we just didn’t stop the barrage of questions about the lifestyle and their idyllic life on board their floating homes. All of our curiosity and Deana’s southern hospitality added up to an invitation to spend time with them on Storyville. What a gift!! It took us a couple months to work out the details but we met up with Storyville in St Thomas in May. 

Growing up on an inland lake in Michigan, I love the water, but neither Marcie nor I really knew what we were in for. Would we be comfortable on a boat for ten days? Would Troy and Deana be our kind of people? Would we fit in with the “boat people”? If they got sick of us would they make us walk the plank? Well, it all worked out well. Storyville is a beautiful and comfortable boat, and Troy and Deana could not have been more hospitable. They made sure we felt right at home.

A cuttlefish see on a reef at Culebrita

We set sail out of St Thomas on a beautiful day. It took us only a few hours to reach Culebrita. The uninhabited island is only accessible by private boat so the only people we saw during our visit were other cruisers.  The small protected cove is exactly what you see on brochures for Caribbean vacations: beautiful bright blue water, a pristine beach and snorkeling right behind the boat. I think we were in the water about three minutes after hooking up to the buoy.

Can you see Troy waiving?

The only structure on Culebrita is an ancient light house built by the Spanish Crown in 1886. It took us about an hour to hike to the peak and take in breathtaking views of the entire island and Storyville below. If you look real close in this picture I think you can see Troy waiving from the cockpit.

One of the best evenings we had on the trip was Mexican pot-luck night. We made a couple of dishes, grabbed a couple of bottles and dingy’d over to Island Dream for an evening of getting to know your neighbors. What a blast! I can certainly say that the boating community is very warm and welcoming. At least this group of sailors is. It was great to get to know the rest of the cruising armada Rene and Stacy, and Pat and Darnell, and also to experience each of their floating homes. A big thank you to all for their hospitality.

The ten days seemed to go by in a blink and we were not ready to leave when the time came. Our hosts had effortlessly made our adventure an amazing and memorable one. One thing is for sure: our lives have been altered forever. We have a three-year plan to become cruisers. Thank you Troy and Deana!



Damon was even brave enough to go up the mast for us!

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen. ~Rod McKuen, Looking for a Friend

A Visit From My Sister

I promised some blog posts from our recent visitors.  The first one is written by my sister, Stacey.  We had a fantastic 10 day visit with them and we really had a great time showing them around the Dominican Republic.  We know what a beautiful and friendly country this is, but it was really fun to show them around and to see it all anew from their eyes.  We also loved introducing them to our friends and cruising family.............


Deana & Troy invited us to stay in Luperon, The Dominican Republic, on Storyville for a week and to accompany them & their friends to Lifestyles Resort in Puerto Plata for the following week. They had spent about 8 months in Luperon last year and were excited to be back to this wonderful country again for hurricane season.



Mangoes at roadside stand

When we first arrived, Deana and Nino (their friend and driver) picked us up from the airport and took us straight to the beach for a cold Bohemia (a large Dominican beer). We made a few stops on the way to Luperon. We pick up fresh mangoes, avocados and home-made yogurt from road side stands. You can get just about anything you can think of right on the side of the road, from pig to cheese and everything in-between. (Note from Deana: Remember, the woman that tried to sell us a girdle at one of those road side stands!) That evening we went into Luperon to JR’S Tropical Bistro. Saturday is open mic night and the party is something to remember. Troy played his guitar, Patrick played his ukulele and Camilla played and sang along. We finally got a chance to put faces and names together as Deana & Troy introduced us to their friends and fellow sailors. It didn’t take long to realize they are more like family than friends. We are so glad they have these wonderful people they can count on. 

Stargazing Sisters

Later that evening we got to witness two very spectacular things. On our dingy ride back to Storyville we got to see the luminescence. As we went thru the water it light up a beautiful green color, like someone had put glow lights under our boat. When we got back to the boat we lay upon deck and watched the Perseid Meteor shower. It was mind blowing!

The next day was a lazy day. We just hung around and got to know the boat a little. Being a land lover myself I wasn’t sure what I could touch and what I shouldn’t …LOL There was a constant breeze in the Luperon harbor all week, I am pretty sure God didn’t want me to melt. After a day without air-conditioning your body actually acclimates to it. I would have never believed you could live without air. HAHA! That evening we hiked up to the blow-holes. It is where the Atlantic pounds against to coast until there are holes in the coral and the water blasts up thru it. It was an amazing thing to see.

We called Nino and he knew of a car we could rent for a few days. That is an interesting story for another time. We picked up the car and Troy drove us to La Isabella. One of those beaches where you think you should just stay awhile. That must have been what Christopher Columbus thought when he first landed here in the 1400’s. We hung our hammocks in the trees and spent a relaxing day over-looking the surf and mountains. One of those days you wish you could redo again. That evening there was a beautiful rainbow over Luperon Harbor. It was the perfect effect to end a perfect day.



This is how you relax at the beach....

Cocos y Playa

We were so happy that this whole trip was Dave's idea!

This is when things get even more interesting. We decided to go to the 27 falls of Damajaqua. We only wanted to do a few waterfalls and I thought it was lucky that they offered a 7 waterfall package. Little did I know that less is sometimes harder? Who knew? Well, Rene tried to warn us; from now on we do whatever Rene says. To get up the 7 waterfalls you literally have to scale them. We had two of the best guides in all of the Dominican Republic, Charlie and Anthony. They made the day enjoyable. I felt sorry for them when they had to throw me up the waterfalls. It can’t be easy with the anchor I have on my butt. LOL I left with a silly grin on my face and a sense of accomplishment, even though Charlie and Anthony did all the hard work. All I had to do was JUMP! 

 

The Waterfalls!

Food My Very Good

We had the best lunch that day, at a little restaurant in Imbert, a crazy little town with one gas station and some extremely loud music.  FOOD MY VERY GOOD! They weren’t lying. From fried chicken and french-fries to soup or fish w/ heads still attached, and all for about 180 pesos’ (about 4$ each). That afternoon we drove up the mountain and found Aqua Verde, up in the mountain they dammed up the river and it is where the locals swim. The people are very friendly and the water and the beer are cold. That evening Stacy and Rene made us reservations at a nice little family owned restaurant, Pan Alemond. They made the best Wiener schnitzel, EVER! I wouldn’t think you had to go all the way to the D.R. to find a great schnitzel. LOL

Another day of relaxing and then we are off to spend a week at Lifestyles. The best part was the VIP beach. OH and the air-conditioning!!! Deana/Troy, Darnell/Pat, Stacy/Rene and us, what a crew showing up for some R&R. All-inclusive, they can’t possibly make any $$ when we are there. The next day Lucy and Patrick came in from Canada. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to spend our vacation with.

The Gang at Lifestyles!

The Beach at Lifestyles!

Cable Car Ride

While we were in Puerto Plata we rode the cable car up to Mount Isabel del Torres. The ride is quite the adventure, once you reach the top the view is beautiful, but go early before the clouds set in. It was a beautiful cool day on the mountain; you could see all of Puerto Plata. We again hired a guide to tell us what we were looking at, Noel, just like Christmas, he said. He showed us exactly where to stand to hold Christ the Redeemer in our hands, a replica of the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was helpful in giving us information about when the cable car was constructed. He said it was 1975. Which made all of us look at each other. Then he says they change the cable every 10 years. Which our next question was when was it last changed? He said seven years ago. Right about then we were getting sore necks from looking at each other. We put aside our fears and stepped into the car. For being so old it was a real nice ride. UP WE WENT! From half way up the scenery was amazing and our ears started to pop. When we arrived at the top the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, very refreshing from the hot and humid shore. They also have a nature trail to see the plants that grow on the island. We noticed some are what we have in our own back yard; ours are nowhere near that size. They have a few people that tend the grounds there; we got to see an outdoor kitchen where they cook their lunch. It was kind of primitive but what can you expect from a couple of thousand feet up. I was glad we had a guide because I’m sure if we had done that trip without one we would surely missed some of the more interesting sights.

That evening we had the big welcome party at Lifestyles. It was a luau on the beach. They had every kind of food you could imagine, dancers, fire twirlers and more drinks than we could drink. We ate, drank and danced until late into the night. What a fun party that was. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back.

Now to the only sad part of our trip, it was time to say our farewells. I think that is sailor for see ya later? We are very fortunate to have had this experience. We met some very interesting people that we will never forget. I can only hope they had as much fun hosting us as we had on our visit. As we were leaving I had the best idea, maybe, just maybe, David and I could stay?

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

Visitors on Board

We always ask our friends and family to come visit us on Storyville.  So far we have scratched our head and wondered why no one would take us up on that offer.  I mean, have you looked at the cost of chartering a boat in a beautiful location?  I thought people would jump on the chance to experience the cruising life without having to mortgage their home or sell their firstborn.  Then we started to wonder, maybe it's just us.  Maybe our friends can't stand the thought of spending a week trapped on a boat with us.  I mean, we do shower almost every day! Then we came to our senses and realized that, of course it's not us.  How could we doubt our fun-loving selves?  I guess one deterrent is planning the logistics of a visit.  Mainly, where do you fly to in order to meet a moving target?  Especially when that moving target is very much controlled by the weather and sea state.  That does make planning a little difficult, but we are now spending the summer in Luperon, Dominican Republic, so at least we are stationary for a while.

Well..... we finally got some visitors this year.  And the best part, some of them are willing to share their experiences with you and are writing blog posts for us.  I will be posting a couple of them in the next few days.  I thought it would be nice to let our readers experience a visit to Storyville from the eyes of the visitors. 

First up will be a post from my sister.  Her and my brother in law, Dave came for a 10 day visit here in the Dominican Republic.  We spent 5 days on the boat and another 5 days at an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Plata.  Her post will be coming soon.

Another visit was from our friends Damon and Marcie.  They caught up with us in the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas) and sailed with us to the Spanish Virgin Islands (Culebra and Culebrita).  The funny thing about that visit - we met Damon and Marcie at the all-inclusive resort in Puerto Plata last year.  They really enjoyed meeting all of the crazy sailors and getting to know a little about our lifestyle.  They are interested in becoming cruisers so we invited them to come back and visit us on Storyville when they got a chance.  They actually took us up on the offer and we had a great time getting to know them better and introducing them to the cruising lifestyle.  I think they are hooked!  I will post their blog in the next few days.

Our beautiful daughter, Tory and beautiful niece, Zada, also came for a visit while we were in Puerto Rico.  I am still trying to get them to commit to writing for the blog, so we will see how that goes.  If they won't write about our fun visit then I will, and they will be at my mercy!

We also have some boat projects and community projects going on that I want to blog about, so stay tuned to hear more of the fun and adventures aboard Storyville.

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair. ~Samuel Johnson