FORGOT TO MENTION ...........................................

Reports are coming in that continental USA just to the north of us, is covered in snow and ice with extreme blizzards, frost and sleet .................... We include these photos by way of commiseration ............. A little something to keep you warm and give you HOPE ........... Not everyone can go sailing in the warm Caribbean on a sailing yacht,....... Though certainly the Captain of this Disney Cruise ship wants to be amongst the cruising yachts, literally ........... Can't blame him, really ................Appreciate him putting both anchors down ................ Nice touch ................Hope the wind doesn't change ................



CAPITAL PUNISHMENT on the water is a relative term ............... Don't you think? ...............



Caught sight of a turtle taking a quick dive into the deep ..............But this iguana was a little slower ....................... Took this photo of his/her really 'prehistoric' face ....... No warmth and affection here ........ We also took a dinghy ride around from Big Bay on Jost van Dyke to White Bay, to yet another sandy beach bar............. To get to this one, you have to swim ashore and hence the beach bar is called "SOGGY DOLLAR BAR"
..........Anyone can work that one out ............. And lots of people do .......... Arriving by dinghy kind of helps to keep the 'booty' dry ............



But after returning to CULEBRA, we were finally able to get a chance to do the long-awaited haulout ................ Pull ARITA out of the water and do the cleaning of the bottom and a re-paint with antifouling .................Spent the night offshore from PUERTO DEL REY marina, anchored behind the itsy-bitsy island of 'ISLA PINEROS' in 7ft of water and a pre-sunrise departure........



Our repairs are relatively minor .............. Not like some others .......... And the last time we looked, we definitely did not have a wasp nest at the top of our mast ................ Boatyards are such interesting places ................ Large and small, modern and classic, we all sit side by side ................ And all of us share a common bond called ................ GETTING FILTHY DIRTY AND PAYING TOP DOLLAR FOR IT ..........



Even Capt. DWIGHT RODRIGUEZ came down to lend a hand ............. What a guy ......


Oh, and in case you are wondering ............. No, I am not trying to kill a wriggly white worm with a hammer .............. This is 'caulking' a seam between the wooden planks with some cotton, that gets rammed in and makes a water-tight seal where previously, and obviously, it wasn't ......... Putty is then put over the top of the cotton and the hull is then painted with black, copper rich anti-fouling paint .......... Good to go for another year ....................Those white spots on the hull are the residuals from the barnacles that were scraped off which the anti-fouling paint is supposed to prevent ................Yeah, right .............

Within a day or so we will be back in the water ... ... The year is almost done ............Yes, shirt-less and 86 degrees in the shade ...... What a bitch, or as the Puerto Ricons say .......... "Cabron" .....Or if you want to be a little more forceful then it becomes "KABRON" ............