Sunday, October 31, 2010

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Latitude:28.85773
Longitude:-13.81454
GPS location Date/Time:10/31/2010 13:40:15 GMT

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Coasting past the Fire Mountains

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Saturday, October 30, 2010

A pigtail

Finally, we can use any plug in a marina-we have a pigtail now! In Europe, the plugs in the marina have two kinds-the big kind, and the small kind. We kept having to switch between the big plug and the small plug. This means that we have to rewire the tip of our cable, which meant taking the tip apart, and switching the wire. EXTREMLY ANNOYING! Now, we have a pigtail that has the small plug on one end, and the big one on the other. It's easier now.

--By Rigel
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Lanzarote

Lanzarote

Yesterday we finally made landfall on the island of Lanzarote after four days at sea. We had quite an adventure anchoring, getting something in our propeller again, this time with no friendly German with scuba gear willing to help. Dad and Edee spent the better part of an hour getting it out, and they still had to get one of the little bits out by shifting the engine from forward to reverse repeatedly. When Dad and I finally got into the newly put together dingy to go ashore, we found that the customs office was closed and didn't open again until Tuesday. We will be on another island on Tuesday, so we will just clear in there. Then we found that the whole town seemed to be made up of chandleries and hardware stores. There was a huge one right by where we tied up the dingy. We went in there looking for a shackle for a repair, and came out with the shackle plus two new fishing lures and hooks and wire leaders to go with them. This is the first time I have ever seen Dad come out of a store with something that we never expected to even need, let alone buy. Anyway, Lanzarote is an interesting new place and I'm glad we are back in harbor again.
--Orion Date
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Looking in from the old harbor

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We need one of these on our foredeck

Discourage people from anchoring too close.
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But before snacks. . .

The Daddy-required march out to whatever historical feature is nearby. In this case a castillo guarding the harbor.
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Exploring Arrecife

And also searching for the hypermercado. Getting low on passage snacks.
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Friday, October 29, 2010

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Latitude:28.9635
Longitude:-13.53961
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Au revoir, Maroc

Hola, Espana!
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Another island

Another bunch of volcanic cones.
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A Sahara dust sunrise

Off the tip of Lanzarote, Canary Islands.
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Thursday, October 28, 2010

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Latitude:29.57712
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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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Latitude:32.19323
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Latitude:32.45763
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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S/Y Juno
Latitude:32.99645
Longitude:-9.95648
GPS location Date/Time:10/27/2010 01:34:19 GMT

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Latitude:33.49809
Longitude:-9.14728
GPS location Date/Time:10/26/2010 17:17:52 GMT

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Latitude:33.76397
Longitude:-8.81946
GPS location Date/Time:10/26/2010 11:37:49 GMT

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Monday, October 25, 2010

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Latitude:34.06339
Longitude:-7.88492
GPS location Date/Time:10/26/2010 01:21:46 GMT

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Latitude:34.06487
Longitude:-6.89273
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Sunday, October 24, 2010

There. That's more like it.

Round up TWICE the number of usual suspects!
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Modern Casablanca

Wait. . . Where's Rick's? The Blue Parrot?
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The Turkish baths under the mosque

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The minaret

At 200 meters, making the lighthouse at the point a bit superfluous.

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The Hassan II Mosque

Looking over one of the poorest shantytowns of Casablanca.
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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Uh, do we need a washing machine for Juno?

How about a flatscreen?
Welcome to Carrefour -- the Walmart of Europe, and now, Morocco.
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The various costs in the currencies around the world

It's very strange, as the costs of everything very from place to place. For example, a loaf of bread in the US costs one dollar. You probably know this already, but keep reading. A loaf of bread in the UK costs one pound. This is the most valuable currency that I'm listing. One euro in the EU. One durum in morracco, where we are now. Strange, isn't it? It's the cheapest here.




--By Rigel

Friday, October 22, 2010

WHY DON'T THEY STOP?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 In Rabat, (Orion will write about that) There are several crosswalks that have no traffic lights. This is very bad for pedestrians, as you have to wait for a break. Did I mention that the cars here go at insane speeds?  Well, this is annoying. Only occasionally do the crosswalks have a policeman that controls. I wish they had streetlights for goodness sake.--By Rigel
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Morocco

Morocco

I wasn't expecting a stop here, but we decided to nonetheless. A couple days ago we were piloted into Rabat by a guy in an RIB powerboat. There is a sandbar, so we can only get in at high tide, and only if the swell isn't too big. We got through all right, and then tied up at the customs dock. Then we got boarded by two officials who looked around for a little while, then went to our slip in the marina. We get good electricity and water here, and there are at least seven big, burly guards around the marina that I've seen. Dad tells me that Morocco is a relatively poor country, and apparently all the security is to make us westerners feel safe here, which is nice if it's just Rigel and I on the boat. Another result of the different economy is that compared to Europe, everything except imported foreign foods is much cheaper. Where we would pay one euro for a loaf of bread, we can by it for the equivalent of 12 euro cents. Another example is one of our crew members buying a tiny can of Pringles for the same cost of a small Moroccan meal. I got to have couscous today, which is basically pasta, but in tiny little grains. It's actually quite good and Dad came up with a really yummy way of making it for lunch or dinner. Anyway, we met up with another American boat named Solstice in Gibraltar, and they came here too. We had a yummy dinner of fish that they caught on the way here with them, and the adults of Juno went with them for dinner in town yesterday evening. My first trip into town was this morning, and my impression of Morocco is slightly poor, dirtier, but mainly different. The language is different, although most people also speak French, the customs are different, and the food is different. Apparently, there is a much stricter dress code. Women are supposed to cover their shoulders, as Ms. Edee found out when taking an evening walk. Every day we hear the calls from the mosque as the inhabitants of the city are called to pray. This is a strange and interesting place, and we will be seeing more of it tomorrow in Casablanca.
--Orion Date
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Our first Moroccon restaurant

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Found it!

After only stopping for directions three times!
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Crossing the river

Between Sale (where the boat is staying) and Rabat (where the archeology museum (Another museum, Daddy? Yeah!)) is.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Uh... Daddy? Is Arabic a romance language?

Because if it isn't, then one: I will have a hard time learning it (This is irrelevant, as we don't have any books that teach you Arabic) and two: wait, what was I going to do for two? I knew a few moments ago, when I decided to put in the parentheses, but now that I've done them, I forget what I was I was going to put in the place of these words-wait-um...
Let me start over again. Sorry if you have low band width, and all this text is wasting it. But I can't erase all of this because I have to have all this annoying stuff... I'm doing it again (wasting band width, that is.).
Ehem. I don't know a scrap of Arabic, and I have no way of learning any as described when I was wasting band width (do you still remember that? It's been a long time.). If I did have a way of learning Arabic, I would have a hard time reading right to left. Forget writing it. That would lead to disaster, as I would probably write the equivalent of "legir si eman ym" Instead of the equivalent of "My name is Rigel". And that would be bad. Very bad.




--By Rigel

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S/Y Juno
Latitude:34.03025
Longitude:-6.8219
GPS location Date/Time:10/19/2010 11:32:28 GMT

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Entering Rabat

Juno's first trip to Africa.
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Monday, October 18, 2010

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Latitude:34.38804
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Latitude:35.19271
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Latitude:35.8166
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Sunday, October 17, 2010

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Our last view of Gib

For a while, anyway. When the tide turns, we'll be heading out the Strait and down toward Rabat.
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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Another Annoying Electrical Problem

This one is the new inverter. A couple weeks ago, our inverter refused
to work. Two days later, Mom brought us a new one. It was not until now
that we got around to installing it, because we had been using the old
one which usually worked, and because we were too busy with other
repairs. We had assumed that the old inverter had two ring terminals
attaching it to the batteries. No, instead, it has two huge wires that
are clamped down to connectors with screws. This foils our original plan
of simply attaching the new inverter wires' ring terminals to the old
inverter's terminals, thus giving the new inverter power without
disconnecting the old one. Now we have to find a way to hook it up
directly to the batteries with wires that don't reach far enough.
--Orion Date

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Morrisons

Where we live, there is a store called Publix. It's huge. Well, here, there weren't many Publix-sizes stores. All but here. Here, there's a giant store that's Publix-sized. It's called Morrissons. They have everything. We found a lot of stuff there. Pop tarts, cheerios, spices, sugar cookies. They have it all. Orion's been stocking up on pop tarts. I don't blame him. If I liked that kind of pop tart, I would have done that, too. Giggle tip blank bomb man doom ode blank. Whew!




--By Rigel

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Stocking Up

Stocking Up

Since we were in the Azores, we have never had to make trips like these. For the last few days, we have been making trips to the huge supermarket here and bringing back a huge amount of supplies. These supplies are for the big passages we will be making shortly. We have gotten huge quantities of milk, and totally filled our milk locker and the fridge, and pasta enough to last a couple weeks. I also found that they sell Pop Tarts here, and have made quite a stockpile of them in the snack bin. The supermarket also sells doughnuts that I can eat, like the one in Palma. Another yummy treat is shortbread cookies, and little muffins for the adults. We will probably be making several more trips for other things, probably filling our food storage to its capacity.
--Orion Date
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Monday, October 11, 2010

BEEP!

This is a representation of what I really felt like saying when Dad
told me his news. For the past two days, we have been trying to set up a
splitter for the masthead VHF antenna so we can also use it for the AIS.
We had already cut the antenna cable, and dad was trying to pull out
some extra slack so he could have some work room. What he found made all
of us go into seriously ticked off at ourselves mode. He found almost a
foot of cable in a loop, and a big wad of electrical tape wound around
two connectors. This meant that we didn't need to cut the cable and do a
huge amount of work to put on two more connectors, they were already
there, but we had already cut the cable. All of wanted to start cursing,
but Dad was the only adult, so only he was allowed to curse, but he
refrained. We eventually got everything hooked up, and the splitter is
functional, but I am still ticked off at myself for being so foolish.
--Orion Date

Daddy, can I cuss now? Yes? Really? What-just kidding? Oh come on, please?

Really, why can't I cuss? We got a switch for our AIS, cut the VHF wire to put it on, mess up, and find that we didn't have to do any of this at all, and STILL I can't cuss? Maybe I should explain. We bought a splitter that lets us rig the AIS so that we can use the VHF antenna for it. We had to cut the wire to put it on. We messed up. Then we saw that the whole thing was rigged so that we didn't have to do any of this. Wait, I can? Yay! @#$%&#$%!




--By Rigel

Sunday, October 10, 2010

After many years, gibraltar again (By Mommy)

Gibraltar again!! After 15 years it is so wonderful to be here, (even if only for a week) actually living the dream Shirish and I spoke of when we were last here together. We said to each other, “When we have children, let’s take them here. Let’s take them sailing and show them the world from the deck of a sailboat. Let them learn different languages and the European way of life; working to live rather than living to work, Siesta in the afternoon, month long family vacations .” “It would be so good for them to learn the humbling lessons the sea and its variable weather have to offer. To learn to work together as a family in everyday life. We want them to know there is so much more to the world.” We want them to see for themselves the Parthenon, Cape Sounion, the Greek Islands, the Costa del Sol.” “The Caribbean and the charming inhabitants and natural splendor of those beautiful undeveloped islands.”

Of course that was long before we had actual children. Before we had two noisy boys who love to argue. Before real life; diapers, car repairs, house repairs, appliance repairs, baseball, band, piano lessons, yard work, bills….. well, you get the picture; in essence, the American dream.

Then one day we realized that if we were going to do this, we would need to get busy. After 10 years as a stay at home mom, I was ready to restart my career and Shirish was more than ready from a break from his stressful career situation. So began the odyssey.

It started with the Starbucks tour of the eastern coast of the U.S. So titled because “mommy” required a stop at every Starbucks we passed along the way. We examined many boats of varying degrees of disrepair. One boat seemed perfect except for one small detail – it had gotten a hull breach (hole in the hull) during one of the many hurricanes that hit Florida the year before. I just couldn’t get my head around sending my children off to sail in a boat that had been breached. Was the workmanship really up to par? All sorts of scenarios flashed through my brain as I tried to come to grips with the idea. Most of them involving life rafts in high seas.

Finally, we found an Alden 44 named Juno II that had been “on the hard” (out of the water) for two years. The Alden in an extraordinary boat, aesthetically pleasing and well made. Most of the repairs needed had to do with the effects of sun and weather on a boat out of water. After fierce negotiating that mostly involved reminding the owner who lived in England of things that were not on the boat. (Sending pictures of the absent waste treatment device for the head (toilet, for normal people), the non-working water maker, certain sails that ended up in someone’s barn somewhere in England, the missing life raft, etc.), the happy day finally arrived! We bought the boat, I immediately experienced buyer’s remorse. Maybe the breached hull wasn’t so bad after all.

Shirish spent most of the winter repairing everything he could, replacing vital hoses that had hardened and cracked during the two years out of the water, gaskets that unexpectedly failed. Hairdryers use too much electricity and hair can dry naturally, but I finally convinced Shirish that this one appliance would make my life so much better that it would be worth the 4 square inches of space. Ironically, this one hairdryer ended up being one of the most important electronic “tools” on board in the 30 degree weather in Virginia winter – making stiff rubber hose pliable enough to get onto fittings.

As the countdown to the leaving date continued, we were lucky enough to find two friends to help bring the boat down to Jacksonville from Virginia. The tales from the journey were hair-raising: fog, freezing rain, navigationally challenged crew. Surprisingly, both friends later voluntarily chose to help with other crossings.

The boat still required a lot of work and we spent every weekend discovering the exits on I-10 between Tallahassee and Jacksonville that housed a Starbucks. But eventually, the boat was ready for the shakedown trip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Unfortunate weather conditions tested the boat to its limits. Many thanks to our good friend Tod, who helped Shirish wrestle the inner forstay back into place after the stainless steel pin holding it in place sheared in two, leaving it swinging wildly in the 40 knot winds. They literally had to wrestle the heavy sail under full canvas on a heaving deck with 25 foot seas and 50 knot winds. (The numbers keep getting larger with each telling of the story.) They cleverly tied it down using their combined ingenuity and some shoelaces.

To make the story shorter, I’ll skip our hilarious docking attempts against the wind, to swing on an anchor up to a dock Mr. Chester allowed us to use practically for free. The only drawback was that it was on an outside facing pier and vulnerable to a Northeasterly wind – thus the need for the anchor.

Several thousands of dollars later, a wonderfully ingenious heating system, water heater and fresh water maker, almost a completely new head, (I was just too busy to go to Jacksonville the week that particular repair was done,) the boys were ready to set sail.

I’ll never forget the day I watched my children and husband sail away from the Amelia Island Yacht Basin, full of excitement for the journey ahead, while I stood on the dock waving goodbye, knowing that it would be two years before they returned home. I knew I would see them periodically, but also realized that they would be very changed and possible extremely independent when I saw them next. Who would they be when I could see them again?

I have to say, Shirish has done a wonderful job and the boys have stepped up to the challenge with remarkable agility. They are now seasoned sailors, have sailed more 6,000 miles, weathered many a challenging storm. They speak many different languages, Rigel is particularly fluent in Italian, and both are proficient swimmers and dingy drivers. They can take apart and diagnose many electronic and mechanical failures that most adults would find baffling. They won’t realize all that they have learned until many years after this trip has passed.

So here I am, preparing to say goodbye once again. My one comfort is that they will be heading for the Caribbean, which is much easier to reach from the States. We’ve had many spectacular adventures together in the limited time I have been able to spend with them. We toured Bermuda, the Azores, most of Italy, many of the Greek Islands, and now Gibraltar. (Orion really did get robbed by a monkey!)

I have so much more to say, but no time now to because I need to get this posted before I have to get moving to head home to my day job. This has been a wonderfully relaxing and joyous trip. The boys are so happy, they have found some friends, and we got to eat some terrific food. Once again, I’m probably not going to fit into my clothes on the return trip.

The crew is about to arrive at the boat for the next leg of the journey. A young man about to enter the Royal Navy, and a friend who found herself in a life situation that allowed her to join Shirish as a live-aboard crew will return from a trip to South Africa where she visited her relatives. Repairs, cleaning and provisioning progress at an intense pace.

I wish I were going –I don’t want to miss my boys, but I am anxious to return to my job. People have asked me what I have learned from this experience so far. Well I can say, I’ve learned to deal with loneliness. I’ve learned that it is difficult and challenging to be the sole source of income supporting a family of four. I’ve learned to live life in segments, one day at a time. (Yeah, I think AA has something there.) I focus on the good things in my life. I’ve come to appreciate my neighbors and friends who step in to support me when I need them. Sometimes I feel like the neighborhood charity case. I am fed by many kind-hearted souls and invited to participate in many lives that I would not have otherwise had the time or opportunity for. I have really had fun with my neighbors and other friends. I’ve learned to find joy in little things, and learned to find peace in difficult situations. I’ve regained my independence and realized that I can still learn and succeed in the business world (yes – just like riding a bicycle). And what a relief to know that my brain has NOT turned to jello as I had feared!! I’m actually able to learn and retain large amounts of information. I’ve been offered jobs based on my abilities alone. I feel empowered.

--By Mommy

Saturday, October 9, 2010

A gloomy, squally day in Gibraltar

But with the boat tied up safely? Have another beer!
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Friday, October 8, 2010

It`s a monkey

You saw Orion`s post about when a monkey robbed him. Well, I saw a monkey hitch a ride on a truck. The truck was sitting there, and a monkey climbed on the back. When the truck started moving, the monkey`s eyes got big, and he leaped off the truck,and jumped over a railing. Several monkeys followed him off the ledge, and they started hanging onto a pipe. Later, another monkey leaped onto a spiral staircase in front of dad, then onto a rooftop. Later, a little monkey was looking at me through the glass at a place where you can eat. It was very cute.



--By Rigel

A stitch in time ...

Or actually about 50 or 60 stitches, helps save the yankee from unraveling on the high seas. Or so we hope, anyway.
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Thursday, October 7, 2010

I told you never to call me a monkey. What? A real one? Where?

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What? The Mediterranean Steps are dangerous?

NOW they tell us? At the very top?
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Wait, didn't we get lost about here 16 years ago, too?

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Exploring one of the Neanderthal caves

Well, possibly a Neanderthal cave. Definitely a goat cave.
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I've Been Robbed

The curious thing is, I was robbed by a monkey. You may know of the
monkeys that live on the Rock of Gibraltar. Well, apparently they are
considerably intelligent, because one of them made off with a packet of
crackers from my backpack. It wasn't a very big deal, because the
crackers in question were several months old and mostly cracker flour.
Still, it was quite a startling experience. All of a sudden, I felt
something pull on the back of my backpack, I twisted around, expecting
Rigel to be yanking on it, but no, there was a two foot tall monkey
hanging on the rearmost pocket, trying to get it open. Then, it found
the zipper, pulled it open, and pulled out the crackers and started
eating them. By this time everybody in the general vicinity was staring
at the monkey, and I chose that moment to escape. I had no idea that
they would do that, but I really hope it never happens to me again.
--Orion

The view from almost the top

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What we'll do

To save £20 in cable car tickets.
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Huh. How far to Barbados?

At start of the Mediterranean Steps.
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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Marina Bay

We are now officially in Gibraltar. This morning we moved the boat
from the La Linea marina to Marina Bay, Gibraltar. It directly south of
the runway and extremely noisy when there is a plane taking off or
landing. The interesting thing is, we are almost exactly where we were
last time we were here, a little more that a year ago. They put us two
berths down from our former place. The bathrooms and office are about
100 feet off our port bow, and we have set up electricity and water. The
marina has also set up free Wi-Fi over the past year, and strangely, my
computer is the only one that can find it. It's really weird, but there
is an internet café right at the end of the pontoon, and everyone else
can use it, so no problem. Dad's calling me to take my shower, so I've
got to go. We'll be climbing the Rock of Gibraltar in a couple days, so
look out for more entries!
--Orion Date

Piloting us to The Rock

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From Spain to Gibraltar

A long, long, half mile trip.
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Monday, October 4, 2010

The Mosquito Madness

A couple nights ago, we had a major mosquito problem. My brother got a
huge amount on his face during the previous night, and this night my Dad
decided to do something. I never thought that he would go to the
extremes that he went to, but it was a sight that is hard to forget. He
got our the vacuum cleaner, and started running around the cabin with it
and a flashlight, sucking up any mosquito that he could get. I simply
couldn't believe it. I thought my dad had gone totally bananas. It
worked though, the mosquito problem was minimal the next night, and
every night ever since.
--Orion Date

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The mystery birthday box

Mommy brought, trying to figure out what it is, loading, finding new hardware . . .

Whoa! Holy Data Storage Device, Orion, it's a portable hard drive! A ONE TERABYTE hard drive!!!!

What a great sailing birthday present!

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Installing hooks

For netting. So books don't fall on one's (well, Rigel's head on passage).
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Saturday, October 2, 2010

The crew of Juno

Helping the crew of Time Warp tie up at their berth. Also, in so doing, avoiding a loooong walk back from the reception dock.
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Mosquito madness

What do you think of when you think of mosquitoes? You probably think of swatting, spraying, and putting up nets. Not on Juno. Here, we shout, "Mosquito! Get him!" and then sucking it up with a vacuum cleaner. We turned out vacuum cleaner on, spray some Raid in, and the mosquitoes never come out. But just to be safe, we jam a paper towel into the end of the hose.




--By Rigel
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Friday, October 1, 2010

Two Days

If all goes as planned, Mom should be here in three days. I am so
exited! I haven't seen my mom since Vulcano, two months ago. She'll only
be here for a week, and I really wish she could stay longer, I so like
having her on board. She'll be here for Rigel's birthday too! Mom is
also bringing out all the various things that we need for the boat, and
also presents for Rigel and I as usual. It's just too much to talk about
coherently, I can't wait for her to get here!
--Orion Date

The dentist

Today we went to visit a dentist. This may not sound very strange to you, but this is the first dentist appointment since we left Florida. Luckily, we had no cavities. Here's what they did: First, they did the little dental pick thing with the mirror. Then, the used this drill-like tool that cleans off your teeth. They held the little vacuum next to it. Last, they used ANOTHER drill-like tool, this time they put it in dental polish, then coated my teeth with it. They gave me a cup of mouthwash to get all the gross stuff out of my mouth. After we left, we ate lamb curry.



--By Rigel
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