February 4, 2020 Last Tuesday morning I moved Antares to the boatyard. It is located just before the entrance of Pont of Sandy Ground, east from where we had anchored. One just needs to be careful motoring east — it’s quite shallow — until you reach the buoyed channel. The yard is a family … Continue reading Back to Beirut, with the Flu
January 26, 2020 It is my second day at anchor here on the French side of the lagoon. All is quite, the wind has taken a break, time has slowed down and I’m becoming younger relative to you all. I finally left Marina de Salinas Wednesday late afternoon. That morning I drove to San … Continue reading St Martin
It’s been, again, a while since the last time I updated this journal. I had a couple of busy months since my return to Beirut after the summer. Work took me to Ryad, Frankfurt, Washington DC, Algiers, and Peru where I spent my 50th birthday (and was robbed). Christmas and New Year’s Eve I was in Ecuador … Continue reading Salinas, Puerto Rico to BVI or St. Martin — January 2020
Beirut, 29 September 2019 Things look a bit calmer in the Caribbean Sea and I hope they remain this way. Antares and I have been lucky. On August 25th, one day after Dorian was born as a tropical storm east of the lesser Antilles, Marina Salinas sent a warning e-mail; check the storm and … Continue reading Hurricane Season, Rides, and a Dalio
August 18, 2019 This post is late due to problems accessing the blog. _____________ I am writing from Tessalonikky Greece. I came with Natalia for a couple of days to meet her parents who are on their way to Parea, a beach-town just a few miles north. I left Salinas, Puerto Rico, almost two … Continue reading Reflections About an Aborted Passage
August 5, 2019 I realized yesterday that it had been more than eight days since I left Ecuador and moved to Antares. The 8-units package of Starbox instant coffee, which I had opened early in the morning the day after I arrived to Ponce - Puerto Rico, had only one little bag left. As … Continue reading Salinas PR
July 31st, 2019 I am back to Ponce. Have been here since Saturday 27th. First provisioning and preparing the boat, then just waiting. A mild anxiety comes and goes, and is hitting a forte today as my departure becomes imminent: tonight after midnight. I was supposed to depart yesterday night but Chris Parker discouraged me … Continue reading Ponce once again
July 18, I have been in Ecuador for almost one month, most of the time at the beach in Casa Blanca. My mother and daughters are also here. Natalia left a few days ago. It was our anniversary but we both forgot. Father, brother, and son arrive on Friday. Although it is already the … Continue reading Casa Blanca – Same – Ecuador
June 19, 2019 This time I’m witting from the cock-pit, with the sun behind. Antares is facing south and I am facing the trade winds, which are blowing, making the sound of an oboe. We are not sailing though, we are on the hard. Antares was hauled out yesterday morning. The impact with the USO … Continue reading Ponce
June 12, 2019 I crossed the Mona passage yesterday. It was a long, long crossing. Winds were never above 13 Kts and most of the time between 8 and 11, but the swells/chop came from stronger winds somewhere else. Big chops and little wind is not a good combination. I had to make long tacks … Continue reading Punta Cana – Las Pargueras
