Just to start off Karen is still alive and well, that may satisfy my skeptic friend in KW. Although she won't run get me a beer at the corner store because it's raining cats and dogs right now.
We were put back in the water 2 weeks ago with a new rudder and bottom job and everything is working good. I know the rudder will hold up because I built the damn thing this time and had no Puerto Rican build it.
I have a rant to put in the blog this time. This will more than likely be my last time to come to Trinidad because the locals here are so trashy. We have a great anchorage in Scotland Bay, but the locals just trash the place. They show up on the weekends and party quite hardy, but when they leave all the beer bottles and cups and garbage sacks are just left on the beach. this has to be because there is no education in this country. When you take a bus into town on the side of the road is all the garbage that they have in there cars and when you cross a bridge the sacks of garbage are piled up on the banks of the rivers. This is just disgraceful for a people to treat there country like a garbage dump. This morning having coffee on the back deck there was a boat anchored behind us and this young man pored his drink in a cup and just pitched the can in the water, when he finished the drink guess what; he through the cup in after it. No Pride In The Country.
OK enough of that. Karen & I are still having a good time, but it's getting time to leave. Before we do we still have a few places to go and now that I have an Internet connection that works the post will be more often. For now the rain has stopped, Karen picked me up 2 beers and that will get me back to the boat so until next time, See y'all down the road
Mike & Karen.

As y'all know we are in the shipyard having another new rudder built. Well we get the new welded frame back today and start to fiberglass it tomorrow. Should have it back in the boat by Friday and back in the water Saturday.

Last month when we were in the US we rented a car to get around in. Well on the 6th. we were going to my brothers house and slowing down with the turn signal on doing about 30 MPH when this 4 wheel drive heavy duty ford truck without slowing down from 55 he plowed into the back of this plastic box and totaled it out. Here are a couple of photos of the results of a ford 3500 truck looks like. Well no one was hurt and the truck driver received the ticket and I was found not at fault.

OK enough about the past. When we get back in the water we are going to the Island of Chacachacare, until 35 years ago the island was a leper colony. In 1975 the people there thought the colony was haunted and they just walked away with out taking anything with them. all the X-Ray equipment and the files and everything else. It should be quite interesting, when we get there I will take plenty of photos so y'all can get an ideal whats it's like.

This was just a short post just to take care of my critics for not posting every day or every 4 to 6 hours.

See Y'all down the Road

Mike & Karen

OK folks I guess I owe y'all an apology for the length of time between postings but in my defence the Internet is real spotty down here in Trinidad.
We left Grenada on the 22 nd. of Aug. and had to motor all the way across the 75 miles because of no wind. We caught a 45 # Mahi Mahi are if you like a dolphin. Boy fresh fish is sure good eating it 2 or 3 hrs. after you catch it.
The top photos is the anchorage that we are in, it's called Scotland Bay and it's a great place. On the weekend comes the local Trinis show up in there boat and party pretty hardy. A good time is had by all.

To the left of these next 2 is a resort in one of the bays here in Trinidad. The next is slave quarters. Back in the 1800's they brought in Indian slaves ( Dot not Feather) by the 1900s it kind of back fired on the locals, the Indian slave children have pretty much taken over the government.
But I guess everything that goes around, it comes back and bites you in the ass.

This is a plantation next to the quarters, it's been vacant for plenty of years.

Well here is the bad news, when we left St. Lucia on our way to Bequia we had a great sail. We had 18 Kts of wind on a broad reach, I had all 150% jib out Main sail unreefed and doing over 8 1/2 Kts. Boy was I having a good time, until the boat wanted to head up and I took it off auto and grabbed the wheel and turned to . It was then that I felt something wrong. The steering was hard to turn. Well we made Bequai and got settled in, the next day I went under the boat to see if I had picked up something on the rudder. Low and Behold that new rudder I had to have built in Pourto Rico had a nice bend in the rudder post as it come out of the bottom of the boat. Knowing I was going to have to haul out again I wanted to wait until I got here. So Tuesday we pulled the boat out. If you look close you can see the bend, yesterday we peeled the skin off and now I know why. The SOB that built it did not build it the way I told him to and while I was in Brazil he completed the rudder and installed it. Now I get to spend another 4 or 5 thousand, if I could get my hands on the GD !#%&)#! I think they would throw me in jail. I hope we can get back in the water next week because it's hot on dry land.

I will try to keep you informed on what's going on and try to post more often so I don't get anymore hate e-mail from my friend in K.W.

See y'all down the road.

Mike and Karen

Hello Everyone,
Well we have been back to Grenada since the 13 th. We went to the states to take care of my mother. She was almost 94 years old and she feel and hit her head and that was about she could take. We buried her the 5th of Aug. and said good by to most of our relatives in the process.
While we were there we rented a car and about the 7th a 3/4 ton heavy duty ford truck decided to run into the back of us at 55 miles an hour to total that little plastic box. No one was injured because of the seat belts. My Sister In law had some photos of the wreck but she has lost them in her computer, if she finds them I'll post a few.
We had a hard time getting a flight out because of the schools starting up here in Grenada.
Tomorrow we look at this other boat that I'm interested in. We looked at it yesterday but could not get inside but that will happen. The boat for you who know sail boats it's a 40 ft. Hugh's Columbia. It was built in 1981 and with what I could tell from the outside it is in excellent condition. We'll have to take a few items off Drifter but not much if we decide to break our bank account and by it. OK I'll let you know what happens in the next posting, hopefully with some new photos.
See y'all down the road
Mike and Karen

Hi y'all,
Just a short posting to let you know whats going on and whats happened in the last couple of weeks.
We had another cricket match at Clarkes Court Bay Marina and a good time was had by all. Karen wasn't there because she had to fly to the states so no photos. The world beat CCBM for the second time and they demand a rematch. I guess we will have one by the time we get back to Grenada.
I had to fly to the states also but we will be back on the 13 th I think. The airline just don't have that many flights into Grenada.
Karen and I found a sail boat that we like in Grenada and when we get back we will see about getting it. It's a little bigger than the one we have now.
Butcher and Suzann left for the UK and I have received an e-mail that they are on there way to Cape Town SA. Hope we catch up with each other in January.
Well that catches y'all up, sounds kind of boaring doesn't it.
See y'all down the road
Mike & Karen

Just a short posting to let y'all know that we are still in Grenada at Clarke's Court Bay and being Sunday we went to the beach bar for BBQ and beer. Met up with Racket Roller, haven't seen them since Montserrat. Butcher is from Australia

and seems to like to drink, wellllll he and I fit together real well.

Karen is leaving this morning for Houston to take care of some business, so I'm on my own for next week are so. I think I can stay out of trouble for that long. Maybe!!!!

See y'all down the road

Mike & Karen

Well we moved about 3 miles from Prickley Bay into Clarke's Court Bay just to get out of the swell that hits you side sea all the @##$%^ time. Of course that means new drinking grounds and knew friends. Karen seems to stay with straight coke and y'all know me it's beer all the way.

Yesterday we went to a marina (Clarke's Court Bay Marina) and watched a cricket match with just the cruisers and had a very good time. It was just the CCBM against the rest of the world and the world won. I think the score was 66 to 61, now don't even think I know how they score or how they play the game.

So here I am enjoying my first draft Carib beer in one of the knew watering holes and the last beach bar in on the island.

This little lady beside me is Kitty better known as Miss Kitty without Matt or Festus. She is from Warton TX. one of my old stomping grounds.

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens and it was not worth the trip.

Will be leaving this island ASAP.

See y'all down the road.

Mike & Karen

Just a short posting to let y'all know whats going on with us. We left Bequia and sailed to Grenada.

We went into the Lagoon at St. George's, they have filled up the Lagoon with docks. There is a knew Marina that has taken over all the open water and left no anchorage area.

We came around the corner of the island into Prickly Bay and anchored. Now it's a little rollie and I guess today I will look for a little better spot.

I also am running out of cigars and you just don't find a good humidor in Grenada. There is only one left open and I'll see if I can get there today. I can just here Karen when she sees how much they sell cigars for. In Trinidad there is a good humidor and I'm stuck here until our mail is shipped here in about 10 more days. The reason we have to wait is because in St Kitts someone stole my ATM numbers and managed to extract $ 480.00, the bank gave it back but I had to cancel my card. Well you say no problem Karen has one, wrong her expired the 30th of June. So here we sit with not much money and no banks open so we can get any until Monday. Just another little stumbling block in life.

The photos or just the anchorage we are sitting in, we will get more when we take a few tours to the interior of the Island.

See y'all down the road

Mike & Karen

Well here we sit in Bequia, That's in the Grenadines about 8 miles from St.Vincent. Bequia is one of our favorite islands, we stop by here every time we come this way. This is the only island left that can kill whales. Bequia for a couple hundred years made there living whaling and they are allowed to get 4 a year. It was only 2 a year but they have to use whale boats with oars and hand harpoons. No modern equipment, really give the whales the advantage. In 2002 when Karen & I were here they got a big humpback and we went to a few BBQs on the beach. Whale meat is good blubber sucks.
Some of the photos here are of the harbor and then you have the snack bar with fresh chickens. If you can see the little guy clearly enough you can see hes got a chainsaw in his hand.

The couple here is in the Devils Table and from NY. We spent happy hour with them and really enjoyed there company.

Karen cooling down at the back of the boat, It's just something we do.

Below is some folks we met at the Whaleboner Bar, they are from Dallas Tx and we enjoyed them yesterday.

This is a photo of the bar with me next to the stools, the top of the stools are Vertebrae from a 69 ft Humpback. The archway we are standing under are the jaw bones out of the same whale. It's the largest whale ever taken on the island.

Today we are leaving here and going to Grenada so it will be a few more days before I post again.I hope to be in Trinidad by the 15th of this month but who knows.

See y'all down the road.

Mike & Karen

Here we are in Martinque and having a wonderful time. Thé first photos you see are in a little fishing village that we stoped at for the night when we sailed from Dominica. It was a rather picturquest place.

The fisherman started laying his nets before daylight while I was drinking my coffee. As we rounded the south end of the island we came upon Diamond rock, in the 1800 hundreds the Britts could not afford to put ships in the area so the commissioned the rock as a ship an hauled cannons to the top of the snake infested island and caught the Spanish by suprise and whipped there ass.

Someone on my e-mail said we did not include any photos of us and we were still in Texas and downloading photos of the places we were suppose to be. Well here is a not so complimentary photo of Karen and I in the anchorage of Marin, better known as the Cul de Sac. This is just for the nobeliever on my e-mail.

Asyou can see Marin is a sailing commuinty and not much else. There are boats here with no motors and a service that pulls them to the channel where they can start there day of sailing. Ofcourse there is every charter company here also ,but that's to be expected.

OK I have rattled on enough and the light is getting bad here at the Mango Bar so I guess you will hear from us in Bequia in the Grenadines.

See y'all down the road.

Mike & Karen

Hello from the anchorage in Prince Rupert Bay, Dominica. That first photos are of the town of Portsmouth. All y'all can see there are more than a few grounded freighters on their beach. Two of the 5 or 6 were here when we were here in 02. The Government has sold the scrap metal to some African country and they are starting to cut them up and hall it away. I don't look for it to happen to quick, but it's a start.
Dominica is a pretty island and very lush, has one the sweetest grapefruitit I have ever had.
OK enough of praise for the island, Their claim to fame is that in 2005 Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed in part up the Indian River.

This is where Johnny and a few of his crew went to see the Voodoo lady with the really bad teeth,if y'all remember the show.

To your left in that photo is our guide and boat boy. Here just as soon as you pull into the bay a boat comes out to greet you and give you more assistance than you need, but it is all good because they pick up laundry, garbage,or anything else you need.

This is a shot looking up the river and a few of the interesting things we saw.Below is a shot of some Britts that was on another boat at the end of the tour,and of course at the end of the river or I guess the beginning there is a little bar so you can have drink.

Well Karen & I enjoyed ourselves and got back to Drifter just before the bottom dropped out for one of our daily 10 to 15 rains that we get.

OK see y'all down the road.

Mike & Karen

Well here we are in St. Kitts waiting on a part for our water maker. St. Kitts has the best Carib beer in the Leeward Islands but that's about all. You can go on a tour to a fort or a volcano but that's about it. It's a beautiful island but I am ready to get on down island. We have set through 1 tropical wave and there are a couple more behind that one. We have caught up with all the maintenance in the last week and just setting on the boat watching Shrek and doing a bunch of laughing.

Tomorrow we receive the part and will leave for Montserrat. There will be no checking in until we get to Martinque when the windward islands start. I can leave here with enough good beer to get there I believe and then restock there. As y'all can tell this is just a trip to find the good beer.

During the season( thank God we are not in) St Kitts has 7000 tourist a day off the cruise ships
but since we are in the off season they only have 1 ship a week. Got lucky on that one.

anyway here are a few photos of the town and the harbor, just to make sure you know we are not in the same place as last posting.

Nothing really exciting has happened since we got grounded in Puetro Rico so it's been routine sailing. A lot of rough weather with very little sun shine but I'm sure that is due to change shortly.

See y'all down the road.

Mike & Karen

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