Ready to Roll!!!!

amazing! 11am on the day BEFORE travel and I've gotten my duffle bag zipped!!! I won't dare open it again until I arrive, for I fear that my eyeballs will be hit with flying shrapnel that is being held hostage inside that bag! So........I've gotten my stuff ready and sj's stuff ready and thought how funny it would be to show you how well behaved she is and how she 'loves' her travel box.........(cap'n, stop reading now! heehee)

So, here is her comfy lil bed for shoving underneath the airline seat in front of me:







Then I tried to get her to show you how much she loves her lil travel buddy!

And this is what she thought about THAT! (notice the devil eyes!!)

But we had a talk and now we're all ready to roll!!

Lunch!

A nice lil hole in the wall, er... make that "lil hole on the water" place to eat lunch on the south shore of Roatan!

I'm wondering if the first mate, c--t dog, just cannot talk to the cap'n anymore!!! So, the cap'n has found someone or someTHING else to talk to!

(pics courtesy of c.g.)

Correcting an error...........

Moi? Who me? Make a mistake?? OH MY!!!............
but... I was informed by the cap'n yesterday that I put a pic on the blob of the soccer game that was mis-identified! The pic I put up was actually the emergency guys running onto the field with a stretcher to get an injured player off the field. Who knew? I'm thinking anyone on a Hondurian soccer field is prolly actually playing!!! duh.......um, ok.....so here's an actual pic of the field with, I think, some real live soccer players on it!
Wonder if this was before or after the fans set a fire in one of the fan sections?? HA!..they're pretty serious about their soccer!!!
(and yes Jess and Roy....I said 'soccer' not 'hockey'!!!)

Um.........that soccer game that was cancelled?...

...was held today and attended by the crew of Blew Bayou!

they watched a few other things too!!

Back to add a few pics....

Just received these pics from the crew. Love it when the marinas give Blew Bayou its own private walkway!!!

They tried to go to a professional soccer game this afternoon but it was cancelled. And here is where they are for the night: http://www.lagoonmarinalaceiba.com/

Holy Schmoly!!

I'm a week away from joining up with Blew Bayou. Trying to get all things "home on land" in order and taking care of things in the real world! Practicing on getting everything I need for several months into "ONE" duffle bag. You sailors know what I'm talking about.....the age ol', We Don't Have Room for a real Suitcase!!!

So.............as I'm watching yet another rainy Saturday morning drift away thru the current in the river outside our lakehouse, I get a friendly text from the cap'n that says:
"Plying the waters off the south american coast"
Now............is it just me or should there have been a wee bit more info on this one?!! Knowing that I won't get 'the rest of the story' till they settle down tonight, I call c--t dog's wife and ask her if she's heard from them this morning and she writes back...Oh Yeah.....which tells me to sit back and enjoy the story!
Seems the cap'n went to take a shower while the c--t dog sailed the boat. Took them about 4 hrs. with 4-6 ft swells, water coming over bow of boat and I can just see, in my head...the mental image of C--t saying how cool it was!! He said the view of the mountains as they were coming in was amazing. And that comes from a PNW guy who lives really close to real mountains!! So, I can only imagine how beautiful the sites are!



Cap'n C waitin' for his ship to come in......oh wait!
He's on it!!!

Visions of the Caribbean dancing in her head?....

Um. nope. I don't think so.

It is rainy and cold and nasty here.

And sophiejane had to have a microchip put into her ownself this morning.

And she has had a flare-up of colitis, thank you very much, mr. cardinal, who flew into my sunroom window, God rest his soul, and fell to his death. To which ms. sophie decided she should taste its remains. And therein lies the problem.

By 10:30 am, she had been to the vet. Had her identification chip put in. Had rectal exams~sorry~and x-rays and blood work done. Given dopey meds and lomotil and antibiotics.

The next course of action was to feel sorry for her, hold her AND make a fire for her to lie beside to make all those horrible memories of "that place" (Dr. C's office!) go away.

Do I think she's happy about flying away to another country with foreign dogs and beach bugs??

Not today!!!

As of last night, the Cap'n and C--t dog were still in the marina at Barefoot Cay. The first mate brought some supplies with him and they had a workday...ahem.....on the boat yesterday..and were supposed to be heading out to sail today. To discover. To find new and exciting places to take our company to when they come to visit! Will be interesting to find out exactly what kind of trouble, er..I mean, 'places' that they find. For some reason, topless beaches keep coming to mind. Heh.

But I have been able to obtain a short list of the places the first crew did while aboard:

After being at the Blue Hole, they had to backtrack to anchor at Tobacco Range for the night because it seems that someone forgot to check out of Belize before going into Honduras!!!!! They sailed to Dan Griga for this task and found out that this is no longer a check out point. So...30 miles south to Big Creek at Plancencia. Finally.. Checked out!

Then, on to Rumquana Pass, thru the reef and 16 hrs into the wind to Roatan. In the cap'n's words, it was a bit choppy. Now, lemme just elaborate on this. When the cap'n says "choppy"...that usually means waters so rough I go into the fetal position with my fingers in my ears and pray to the lords above to let it be over! And from what I've heard from some crew members, they may have felt that way too!!

They anchored at West End for the night and then moved to Barefoot Cay, which is where they were last night.

My boys are home and their pictures are amazing! I have learned that there is now fresh tuna and mauhi-mauhi in the freezer onboard and that they were able to bring a large shark and stingray to the boat during their fishing escapades.....the images were awesome!

So while I sit here and type this, looking out the window at the rain and the mush -----incoming!! another bird bites the dust--windows must be too clean!!! HA!!! ----I am thinking of blue waters and warm breezes. Adventures to be had and laughter that tickles your bones and can be heard thru the skiies.

Blew Bayou is waiting!!!!!!

...still thinkin' 'bout that plane ride!

Time for a Crew change!

Today, my boys are saying goodbye to their time on Blew Bayou for this shift! They are flying back home to wives and girlfriends and their favorite recliners!! I cannot wait to see them and get first hand accounts of their time on the boat and the adventures they have had. I know how special it was for their dad to have them with him and from the bits I have heard, it was special for them too!

Now........along comes a new first mate, c---! His wife and I are good friends and they sailed with us last year in Antiqua, so he knows the boat and he is way good with pulling his weight and helping the cap'n. They will have 2 weeks to scope out all that is to be seen and done, all foods sampled and I'm sure, the first mate, will sample his weight in beers!! He will leave on the 28th and I arrive on the 1st of March and hopefully, he and his lil sailin' buddy wife will come back for a week in late April.

Right now, Blew Bayou is at Barefoot Cay in Roatan where the cap'n will stay until the next crew arrives on Sunday. He obtained a new Hondurian phone today so hopefully we will have better connections and be able to catch up with all things, both from home and from the sea!
http://www.barefootcay.com/

Meanwhile, I'm busy trying to get my lil SophieJane legal to visit a third world country. Thank God for our Vet and good friend, Dr. C, who is doing alot of the leg work for me. I spent about 3 hrs on the phone with the Hondurian embassy in Washington D.C. yesterday and found out in one sentence ......FINALLY......that she has to have a health certificate from the Dept of Agriculture sent back and forth between their dept and our vet and back again...and all has to be done within 10 days before travel. No sooner. BY MAIL.......................!!!!!!! Hmmmmmm, wonder how long THAT will take??!!! Thank God for Dr. C!!

So.....................that's all I have for now. Hopefully, I'll have more to write after I talk to cap'n on his new phone. And since I've talked about sophiejane, I'll just have to include a pic of her from her trip to the Dominican Republic last yr!!!

Oh wait.......that's just a beautiful island we visited....!

Here is the queen!! (with her cap'n!)

Blew Bayou is now anchored 100 yards from the Blue Hole for the night!

Update on BB sailors....

Well...........the only thing I can update on this morning is that they are having a ball! I can't keep up with all the islands down around Belize that they have visited because I never have pen & paper in hand when the call comes in!! Heh....I just know that the Cap'n is exploring every crook and cranny so he will be able to to take me to the neatest places when I get there.

Last night, they had just eaten lobster and were all miserable from full bellies. Seems they bought 7 lobster and 3 red snapper from a local fisherman for ...get this......12 bucks!! And had more left for another meal...........wait! Phone call right now from the boat....

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!! ok....they were anchored on the south end of Turneffe Island, right by the turneffe island lodge. That's where they made themselves sick from eating too much lobster......pity, eh? We feel soooo sorry for them, don't we?!!!!

At daylight, they sailed off to Lighthouse Reef. Now, both blew bayou petites(pbb's-petite blew bayou-ers) are in the water snorkeling! When that fun is done, they will sail 5 miles north and anchor for the night at the lip of the Blue Hole!!!! Matt Lauer went there this yr and reported for the Today Show a few months back. Little did I know that my clan would be there snorkeling too! I am imagining the smiling faces on my boys, which of course, makes my heart smile too....

I will try to find an overhead pic of the blue hole to post here in a bit.

Meanwhile, I have spent the morning playing with the art of scrapbooking....which my crazy coonass friend taught me while spending a few days here. We had a blast. Hopefully, I will be able to make some pages for my chirren to keep as momentos from my travels. And if I can find where I just saved what I've worked on for the last two hours.....I'll post it here. It is from my trip to Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico last year and makes me yearn for the white beaches and blue waters!

Reasons for Wanting to Sail.........

Need I say more?!!!!

My Reason for Blobbing?

I'm lazy! That's why.

Blew Bayou has set sail again and I will be joining the 09 adventure in March. I always journal during my trips and send copies to the petite blew bayou-ers (which will now be referred to as BB's.....see how quickly I'm catching on the ease of this style of writing?!!) to keep them abreast of what's going on out there in the wild blue yonder. But the more I thought of it, this will be an easier ~there's that word again~ way to keep them up to date. They can store the addy and just check in at their convenience. As well as our friends.

So.........let's begin another adventure with a capital "A"!!! --shall we?

The cap'n and his middle and youngest son, which also equates to MY sons as well!, left home early on the morning of Jan. 26 headed for Tampa. This is where Blew Bayou has been living since the end of the 08 escape. They moved the boat out to darker waters on the night of the 27th to anchor and get an early start on the sail out to sea. This is the youngest's first time out on the boat to actually sail from point A to point B....and of course, he immediately caught on so well that he was actually given a night shift to sail that boat in the very dark, deep waters!! Are ya catching on to mom's slight of voice here?? I tend to worry just a bit when they're way out there anyway and knowing that my baby boy was at the helm on the first night out?? Well, I just won't go there.................but he did great! Not one shark jumped into the boat and not one other ship was hit!

And because I'm only getting parts of the details cuz that sattelite phone just isn't the greatest invention in the world for communicating, I'm going to just generalize this part. Once onboard, I'll get the real skinny and report back. Or maybe I won't and that will work out better, heehee! Ya know....male bonding when they're all grown just may not be something I wanna know all about.

After almost 5 1/2 days of 24 hr. sailing, they made landfall about 10:30 on Monday morning, the 2nd of Feb!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to hear all about it. I know the boys have caught fish....mauhi-mauhi! --that I hear they forgot to clean and did not make it into my freezer. What? Is? Up? With? That????? I'll let that one slide, tho, since I know how exhausted they were once they hit land. Oh.........they're in Belize!! Cool Beans, eh? They spent all day yesterday just going thru customs and prolly getting boat back in order..(I hope!) Today, they are in exploring mode. I think I heard Caulker Cay being talked about.......I think they're having a blast and my heart is happy just thinking of father and sons being able to share such a fabulous time together.

A new year...A new blob....the next adventure!

The time has come. Technology has reared its ugly head and this ol' woman is giving in to the times. Blobbing. Heheh....that's the word I've always used in talking about people's blogs. Maybe because I still love the art of letter writing..remember that? When a person actually takes out a pen and writes thoughts and sentiments on a piece of paper, takes the time to lick a stamp and actually take it to a mailbox to be delivered; where in my mind, I imagine the receiver actually getting excited about "getting mail"! Now, everyone just types out a blip, hits the send button and knows that the receiver's "You've Got Mail" sound will bleep out its call. And because a blog can be written and sent to so many people so easily, making it much 'easier' to send mail and share life's adventures, that the task of actually writing a letter is almost non-existent....therefore, the term "blob" has become a staple in my vocabulary.
I don't know. It just seemed to fit.

So, there's that.

How's that for an introduction of my first post on my first blob? Just a small glimpse into the weird wiring of this brain and how it will spew out craziness in all aspects of life! Just ask my daughters-in-law!!