ROLL-CALL ..........PLEASE..........

YES, WE REALLY NEED A ROLL CALL. We have had so many wonderful comments, from so many people, all of which has been so appreciated, even the ones about 'budgie smugglers', that we need to be able to sometimes reply to people individually. Some comments have come as far away as a guitar band in Taiwan, someone with an invitation to come cruise Thailand and one to come to New Orleans, to see some of their flowers. Very many of the comments are "Anonymous", which gives us no means of replying. So,............ if you have enjoyed the blog, please help us by sending an email to Rob at "robarita@yahoo.com" or to Laurie at "laurendehaan@yahoo.com", so that we can put your email address in a separate folder. (This will be completely confidential) There are times when we have special photos or stories that we can share. We may also take some time off during the hurricane season, in August and September, when there is not a lot to see or say,(other than plain nasty weather) and we can then notify you personally, when the "cruising" will resume, which if all things work out, will be to CUBA, yes................ CUBA.. Imagine sailing to "forbidden" places and dealing with mountains of 'red tape' and Spanish........Could be fun....

Laurie picked up these small long-spine star shells, only to discover that all of them had a little hermit crab tucked away inside................ who knew?



On the Island of Manjack, someone has cut a wonderful nature trail right through the island to oceanside. A jungle trail with signposts made of hand-painted palm fronds. Once committed, you end up running along this one mile trail, simply to out-distance the mosquitos, who have multiplied and multiplied again since the rains. A great run, a good exercise, with an ocean beach at the end. (Double-click on the Queen in the undergrowth). We passed a mangrove spot with a yacht already secured for hurricane season. Even the rudder had been removed, then again, maybe it is still there from last season. This is exactly what we will need to do, when we get the yachts back to Vero Beach in July. Secure them nice and tight. Sell beautiful SVEA to a lover of wooden yachts and be on our way again in November on ARITA.



And just when we thought we had the beach all to ourselves, and busy collecting shells and things, who should come ambling along but Mr Scrawny Pig. Scared the Queen no end. Approached us to within 10 feet, and then a second one came out of the scrub......... Oh well,...... time to get in the dinghy. No roast pork for us. These pigs scrounge whatever they can find on the tide line. I had enough trouble cleaning conch shells, let alone skinning a wild pig, not that I even contemplated the thought. We buy pork chops, we don't make them................

In the afternoon, when the Heavens open up, and the downpour begins, we wait till the decks are cleaned and open the water fill plug on deck. In no time at all, our tanks are once again filled with delicious fresh water, free of charge. Our drinking water still goes through special carbon filters, but the bulk of it is used in washing. This is a luxury that neither Robinson Crusoe nor Tom Hanks had. On 'Pig' beach we found this make-shift raft...................Now we know that pigs are supposed to be smart, and they are definitely marooned on this island................Kind of makes you think......................Could they?.