Thursday, June 1, 1995 & Saturday, August 5, 1995 - Aruba

We got up at 5:30, ate breakfast, and walked to the bus terminal. Caught the 7:15 bus to the airport. Roy checked his bags and got his boarding pass. Then he paid the $12 departure tax, and we sat down and read the newspaper until 8:30. They have very good security here. I couldn't follow him when he went through the gate and cleared immigration. He was at the boarding gate at 8:45, so I left. Just missed two buses, so rather than wait an hour for another one, I hoofed it. It was a beautiful morning for a walk anyway. Got back to Sonesta Suites in plenty of time to see his plane taking off. Guess I walked about a mile-and-a-half or two miles. Now the mice can play! This wraps up the Log of the Jofian. When Roy returns, we'll be getting Jofian ready for her new skipper. No more high-seas adventures for us. We'll be going back to lubbing the land. But our heads will be filled with wonderful memories. August 5, 1995 Surprise, surprise! At the conclusion of the last log, I said something to the effect that this was it -- no more logs, no more cruising, no more Jofian. But here we go again. What happened? The main thing that happened is that I regained my health. The long rest in Aruba's ideal climate was just what I needed. While Roy was knocking himself out in sweltering 100-degree heat, I was relaxing in the shade of palm trees, swimming in delightful blue water, exploring the island, and enjoying refreshing breezes. So now I feel great, and Roy's a wreck. (Just kidding. He's still going strong. I don't know how he does it.) The other thing that happened is that the couple who want to buy Jofian don't have the money yet. Anyway, we can't leave here until the end of the hurricane season, and then we can't go north immediately, because we'd be going right into the fall and winter storms, so we're going to go to Cura‡ao and Bonaire for a couple of months and then head for Grenada. We'll spend the winter slowly working our way north up the Windward, Leeward, and Virgin Islands. By the time we get back to the States, the O'Neils will probably have the money. So that will work out nicely for everyone. Roy got back Monday, July 31st. As usual, his plane was nearly an hour late, and then he had to go through Immigration and Customs, so it was close to six o'clock when we finally got in a cab to head to the marina. The cab driver was unreal. When Roy tried to open the door to get in the cab, the driver started yelling at him that he was going to break the handle! When we finally got in and started off, the cab driver yelled at the driver of the car next to him. Then when we got to town and tried to tell the driver where we wanted to go, he yelled, "Don't tell me how to drive!" He sure got out on the wrong side of the bed this morning. No matter what we said or did, he got angry. But eventually he did take us back to the marina, thank goodness. Roy had about 800 pounds of stuff to carry, so he didn't want to walk any farther than he had to. We'd have taken the bus if he hadn't had all that stuff, but he'd brought back zincs and whatnot. We've been having a lot of fun since he got back. Tuesday, we went for a ride in the Atlantis submarine. It's a real submarine that goes down to 150 feet. There are windows all along the sides, so the passengers can look at the reefs and the fish. It was neat. Wednesday, we took a ride on the Seaworld Explorer semi-submarine. It doesn't submerge, but the passengers sit below the surface of the water and look out windows, just like on the Atlantis. We saw more reefs and scajillions of fish. We also saw a sunken airplane and the remains of a German ship that had been scuttled during World War II. Thursday wasn't so pleasant. When Roy started the engine to check it out, we heard loud noises, like a belt squealing. Then we saw black smoke pouring out of the engine compartment. When Roy tried to turn off the engine, the knob wouldn't pull out! Luckily, Roy's an expert mechanic. He plunged down into the engine compartment and did something that stopped the engine. Then he lubricated the wire, so now the knob goes in and out again the way it should. He determined that it was the belt on the new alternator that had been making the noise. The alternator was frozen tight. He removed the alternator, started the engine again, and the temperature quickly rose to the boiling point! He turned off the engine and found a big crack in part of the heat exchanger. Water was gushing out of it. Luckily, he had a replacement for the part, and he was able to take the alternator apart and probably get it repaired, but in the interim, he installed the spare alternator. We walked to Napa Auto Parts and bought a couple of belts, but they didn't have the heat exchanger part. (Roy wants to get another part, so he'll have a spare.) The guy at Napa said we might be able to get it at Bluewater Boat and Tackle, so I walked over there, while Roy returned to the boat. Bluewater didn't have it, but they told me about a diesel repair place that might have it. I made numerous attempts to phone them, but got nothing but busy signals. Since we were going down in that area Friday morning anyway, we figured we'd go by there. Friday morning, we took the bus to Barcadero and went on a tour of the WEB plant. That's where they squeeze the fresh water out of the salt water and also generate electricity. In other words, it's the island's desalinization and electrical plant. We had to wear hardhats and were supposed to wear long pants, but no one had told us, so we had on shorts. That meant we couldn't go into some of the buildings, but it was an interesting tour anyway. They pump saltwater from the sea, run it through condensers to extract the fresh water, and dump the brine back into the sea. Then they run the fresh water over pieces of coral to restore some of the minerals and give it a good taste. Huge boilers produce the steam that is used for the condensa- tion process and also the steam that is used to turn the turbines that generate electricity. All of the island's fresh water and electricity are produced at this one plant. We walked about two miles down the road to the diesel place, but they didn't have the part we needed. Maybe we can get it in Cura‡ao. We had a long, long hike back to the highway where we could catch a bus. An autobus came along first, so we took it. When we got back to Oranjestad, we visited the archeological museum, which had a lot of pottery and tools from Indian days. Then we ate lunch at Wendy's. Saturday was our last day at the marina. We had decided to return to the anchorage for a day or two and then go down and anchor in front of Eddie's place for another day or two before heading for Cura‡ao. It's a good thing we had plenty of time to get away from the dock. We had to scrub the gook off the lines and fenders. That took a long time. Then we had to figure out how to get our lines off the posts. The starboard post wasn't too bad, but the cabin cruiser on our port side had put their big, heavy lines on top of ours. I had told Roy on the phone that we were going to have a problem getting our lines off the post, but he was confident he'd be able to do it. Wrong. Both the skipper and crew of the cabin cruiser were gone, and the two women on the boat didn't have the remotest idea how to slack the lines so Roy could get ours through them. Roy struggled for an hour or more without success. Finally he gave up and cut our lines. I know that must have broken his heart, but it beat sitting there for hours waiting for the other guys to return. What a relief to finally get out of that yucky yacht basin and back into clean water! The engine heated seriously on the way to the anchorage, but we made it. Good thing we didn't have far to go. We were using city water all the time we were at the marina, so the water in the tank had gotten stagnant and smelled like an old sewer. As soon as we were safely anchored, Roy replaced the filter, so now the water is okay again. That done, he put on his snorkeling gear and jumped in the water with a scrub brush and began scraping all the goosh off the bottom of the hull. What a mess! It's never been in such a sorry condition. Barnacles and tube worms and seaweed and everything under the sun. Yuk! He scrubbed and scrubbed but has a lot more to do. No wonder the engine heated! The water intake is probably clogged, and the propeller is so coated with junk it's a wonder it could turn. Thank goodness we're finally out of that filthy yacht basin! Jofian is starting to look like a boat again. A few more days, and she should be shipshape. On the day that Roy returned, a little lizard got on the boat. I tried to catch it, but it was too fast for me. It's amazing how rapidly those little critters can move. A day or two later, Roy saw the lizard in the aft cabin. Again I tried to catch it without success. Today, I was surprised to see it on the mainsail cover. I made a quick grab and caught it by the tail. Thought I finally had it, but an instant later, I realized I was holding only a piece of tail; the rest of the lizard had zoomed off to grow another tail. Remarkable creatures! So now we've no idea where it is. I hope it didn't get so panicky it jumped overboard and drowned. One night while Roy was in California, I had a terrific scare. At one a.m., I was waked out of a sound sleep by the sound of voices on the dock. The voices had a slight English accent. A young woman's voice asked, "How do we get out of here?" A young man's voice replied, "First, we get on the boat." His voice sounded awfully, awfully close to the Jofian. A moment later, I was horrified to hear the thud of a foot landing on our deck! I immediately sat up and looked out the porthole. There was a leg! We always keep a can of mace next to the bed. I was ready to grab it, but first I yelled in my loudest, deepest, most authoritative voice, "Who's there? Get off my boat!" To my great relief, the leg immediately leaped back onto the dock. I heard the guy mutter something that sounded like, "Wrong boat." It sure was! All the unoccupied boats in the marina, and he had to pick the one with someone on it! I watched out the starboard window and saw him climb on another sailboat, about three boats up from us. He kept trying to talk the girl into getting on, too, but she wisely refused. After a few minutes, he returned to the dock and tried to put his arms around her, but she backed away. Then it looked as if they were struggling, but without my glasses, it was hard to tell what was going on, so I put on my housecoat and slippers and went to the main cabin to get my glasses. I was thinking of trying to contact the police on the VHF radio, but I wanted to be sure of what I was seeing. When I got back to the cockpit, the couple had disappeared from view, but a few minutes later, they came strolling back from the end of the dock, apparently on friendly terms. They stood near the gate for several minutes talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Then, to my surprise, they both got into one of the motorboats on the other side of the dock and sat down. By then, I was convinced that the young man wasn't planning on invading the Jofian again, so I went back to bed. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, I heard them walking by towards the gate. The man was saying, "We're not in England now." The girl said, "Just because we're in America, that doesn't mean we can do anything ," which showed she had more sense than he had. They went out through the gate, and I went out on deck to be sure the gate was closed. It was, so I returned to bed, but it was a long time before I fell back to sleep.

Wednesday, May 31, 1995 - Aruba

The wind was blowing even harder today, so I took the hotel shuttle boat to the island, but Roy paddled over with his diving gear. He stopped at a dive shop along the way to refill his tank. By coincidence, the boat I was on went by just as Roy was pulling his Royak up on the beach. We waved to each other. He told me later that the woman in the dive shop told him that hurricane Brett went within 15 miles of Aruba two years ago. It didn't do any damage here, but that's still too close for comfort. We thought we were safely well south of the hurricane belt. The wind was blowing like crazy on the point, and the water was full of whitecaps, but Roy strapped on his tank and went for a short dive. Fortunately, he stayed on the inside of the island. Later, he paddled to the outside, where breakers were breaking and the wind was blowing all the way to Honduras, but to my relief, he turned around and returned to the point. Then he returned his Royak to the Jofian and rode the shuttle boat to the island. We enjoyed a good swim in the delightful water, took showers, and went home. Tomorrow's D-Day -- Departure Day. Roy leaves on Air Aruba at 9:30, so he spent most of the rest of today getting packed.

Tuesday, May 30, 1995 - Aruba

The wind picked up again today. Roy had wanted to go diving, but it was too windy, so he spent most of the day taking pictures of the interior of the boat and having them developed. He's going to send them to Frank with a cassette tape explaining everything. I went to the post office with a bunch of postcards. Picked up some groceries on the way back. In the afternoon, I did a load of wash. The rest of the time, I sat around and read. Not an exciting day. Maybe tomorrow Roy will dive and I'll snorkel.

Monday, May 29, 1995 - Aruba

Roy plans on leaving for California this Thursday, so we walked over to the Immigration office, which we finally found in back of the Police Station. They told Roy to buy his ticket and then return. I had read that to stay on the island longer than three months required special permission, so I asked about that. The man I talked with said I'd have to leave Aruba for at least two weeks and then return. We went to the Marina office and showed them our Aruba courtesy flag. They agreed it was not the right one and sold us a proper flag for $15. We also asked about a sail-maker, a place to get our fire-extinguishers recertified, and for further information about my staying here more than three months. They're going to find out and let me know next week. Roy went to a travel agency and bought his ticket to Miami. He'll leave here Thursday at 9:30. From Miami he'll go stand-by to California. He'll return here July 31st. We went back to Immigration, but they were out to lunch or something, so we ate a yummy lunch at Wendy's and then returned. This time the official was there. He filled out a form. Roy still has to go to Immigration at the airport the morning he leaves. I asked him about staying longer than three months, and he said that since we came on our own boat he thought I could get an extension two weeks at a time, but I'd have to come back just before the three months are up. There's a free trolley bus here that we thought would take us all over the downtown area, so we went for a ride on it. To our surprise and disappointment, the bus just shuttles between Sonesta Suites and Sonesta Hotel, a distance of about one block! What a waste! No wonder no one bothers to ride it. You'd think they'd use a small car or van instead of a 30-passenger bus. Roy returned to Jofian and took a bunch of pictures to send to Frank. I went to the post office to mail a card to Linda and to see if there was any mail for me. There wasn't, but I hadn't really expected it this soon anyway. On the way back, I bought a few groceries, had some copies made, and located Radio Shack, which didn't have any computer or printer supplies, just electronic junk. They told me to try a computer place next door, which I did, but they didn't carry the ribbon for my printer. After taking the groceries back to the boat, I went to an art show that Roy wasn't interested in. Then I relaxed by the pool for a while. Roy got his pictures developed. Some of them were quite good.

Sunday, May 28, 1995 - Aruba

Roy went to the cruise ship terminal to phone his children and Frank O'Neil. Frank is still enthusiastic about buying Jofian, and he didn't scream when Roy stated the price. There are still a great many details to work out, of course, such as when and where, but at least the first step has been taken. Roy will phone him again in two weeks. In the afternoon, we went to the island again. Saw more iguanas and bright green lizards. Roy didn't stay long, because he wanted to work on the boat, but I went for a good swim, took a shower, and relaxed on the beach for a while. Roy checked all the boat's batteries and found them to be in perfect condition. That's good news.

Saturday, May 27, 1995 - Aruba

Bought a textbook for Papiamento (also spelled Papiamentu). This is certainly an easy language. It's the first language I've ever come across that didn't decline the verbs. For instance, "ta" is to be, and it's the same for every person: mi ta - I am bo ta - you are (singular) e ta - he is nos ta - we are boso ta - you are (plural) nan ta - they are For most other verbs, you simply use the infinitive after ta: mi ta bai - I go bo ta bai - you go (singular) e ta bai - he goes nos ta bai - we go boso ta bai - you go (plural) nan ta bai - they go For the past tense, you change ta to a: mi a bai - I went bo a bai - you went etc. The future, which is seldom used, is formed by putting lo before the pronoun and eliminating ta: lo mi bai - I shall go lo bo bai - you will go etc. How simple can you get! And most of the vocabulary is very similar to Spanish. I bet a person who's fluent in Spanish could understand 90% of what's said in Papiamento without a single lesson. For instance, here are the numbers from 1 to 10: Papiamento Spanish un uno dos dos tres tres cuater cuatro cincu cinco seis seis siete siete ocho ocho nuebe nueve dies diez Even though Arubans insist Papiamento is a "real" language, in my opinion it is just pidgin Spanish, similar to all the other mishmashes of languages that developed during colonial days to facilitate communication between the dominant and the dominated. This is probably of no interest to anyone but me. I've always been fascinated by languages. When I was a little kid, my ambition was to travel all over the world and be able to speak the language of every country I came to. Today, Roy and I rode the bus to the area where the other marina was supposed to be, a couple of miles past the desalinization plant. We wandered around until we found it. It was quite small and a private club. The manager was very nice. He talked to us for about half an hour. He's 51 and was born on Aruba. He said there has never been a severe storm here. That was reassuring. He also told us that when there is a hurricane farther north, it sort of draws the wind away from here, so it's calm and hot in Aruba. They had no openings at all at their marina; in fact, they have a waiting list of members who want slips. Nearby was the ferry dock to De Palm Island. The round-trip costs $5. We discussed going over there, but decided not to today. There didn't seem to be much there. We really lucked out catching a bus back to Oranjestad. When we reached the highway, there was a bus stop right across the road and we could see a bus coming! We crossed the highway, got out our fares, and waved at the bus. In a few minutes, we were back in Oranjestad. We ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Then Roy returned to the boat to do some work, and I walked to the Pueblo Supermarket. On the way, I passed a very nice hardware and housewares store. I went in and was delighted to find a good, stainless steel, made-in-U.S. vegetable peeler. Our old one disappeared several days ago, and the only replacements I'd been able to find had been totally miserable. They tore the vegetables to pieces, so I was really happy to find a good one at last. I dropped the groceries off at the boat and then went to the pool area at Sonesta Suites to stay out of Roy's hair. I got so relaxed in a lounge chair by the salt-water pool that I dozed off and had a hard time getting awake enough to return to the boat. While I was gone, a Naval officer stopped by the boat and informed Roy that the courtesy flag we were flying was not a proper Aruban flag. We had bought it in Fort Lauderdale, and it was supposed to be an Aruban flag, but the blue is too dark, the star is too big, and the stripes are too far from the bottom. After supper, we watched an Alfred Hitchcock movie, "North by Northwest", on channel 13.

Friday, May 26, 1995 - Aruba

Roy surprised me with a belated birthday present of a nice T-shirt with a lot of Papiamento phrases on it. What a nice surprise! The wind finally dropped to about 20 knots and the sky was blue, so we set out in our Royaks to find Eddie's house. Sometimes the gusts were so strong that I felt as if I were going two feet backwards for every foot forward, but eventually we got into the shelter of a point where it was easy going. On the other side of the point, however, the wind was stronger than ever, since we lost the protection of the island and were exposed to the full force of the wind coming off the sea. We had to paddle through the smoke from the dump, which was gross, but didn't last very long. Then at last we saw a red roof in the distance that we thought was Eddie's house. Roy was soon on the beach in front of the house, but I was still struggling. I wasn't at all sure I'd make it, but eventually I did. There were two houses side-by-side, just as in the photos Eddie had shown us. They're very nice, modern, three-storey houses, but I can't say much for the location, between the dump and the desalinization plant. I certainly wouldn't want to put that much money into a house in that location, even though they do have a nice little beach and a good view of the ocean. We soon found out that we had the two houses reversed. Both Roy and I had thought that the white house was Eddie's and the beige house belonged to his friend, Tommy, but it turned out to be the other way around. Eddie and Tommy weren't there, but we met a very nice English couple, Kimba and Michael, and their three-year-old son, Noah, who are renting the lower level of Tommy's house. Kimba took us over to Eddie's house and we went up the outside stairs to the balcony. She didn't have the key, so we couldn't go inside, but we didn't really want to, anyway. We were thrilled to have found the house. Kimba invited us into her apartment, and we talked for a while. Her husband is a real sailor. They had a beautiful schooner that they sailed for several years. Unfortunately, they let someone else use it, and it sank. Now they've refurbished a hundred-foot fishing trawler, Tattoo, which they charter here on Aruba. It's used for evening cruises. We had seen the boat and also had read ads for it. Kimba and Michael showed us a lot of photos of their boats. They purchased Tattoo in Newport, Rhode Island, and refurbished her at Kelley's Boatyard in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, which is where they met Eddie. When we left, Kimba gave me a Tattoo T-shirt! Wow, two T-shirts in one day! This is my lucky day. She also gave us her phone number and invited us to phone any time. The trip back was a cinch. All we had to do was steer. It took us an hour-and-a-half to get back to the boat. Going had taken five hours. Roy has discovered English-language programs on the local TV channel 13 between nine and eleven p.m., so I've started taping them. Some of them are interesting. We watched one this evening (taped last night) that was about the history and culture of the Caribbean islands. There are also a couple of free English-language newspapers published here, so we're able to keep up with the news.

Thursday, May 25, 1995 - Aruba

After breakfast, I walked to the grocery store to get some chicken for supper. The grocery store was closed. So was the next grocery store. So were the drugstores, banks, clothing stores, jewelry stores -- the whole town was locked up tight as a drum. I concluded this must be a holiday, but what holiday? Several hours later, we found out it's Ascension Day. The Arubans take their holidays seriously. After lunch, we rode the motor launch to Sonesta's island. That was fun! The launch has about 400 horsepower and really plows through the water. We strolled around the island, which contains about 70 acres, only a small portion of which is developed. There are two nice beaches. (The brochure says six beaches, but that's stretching it a bit.) The sand is white and soft yet firmly packed, and there are paved paths leading to the gym and tennis court. There are lots and lots of lounge chairs on the beaches. On a clear day, you can see Venezuela, only 15 miles away. We relaxed in a hammock for a while and then went for a good swim in the pale blue water. The water is cool enough to be refreshing but not cold enough to be chilling. The air is a tad warmer, so you feel great both in the water and out of it. There's a small breakwater across the outside of the swim area, so you don't get large waves, but there's enough wave action to float you up and down. Roy put on his snorkel mask and flippers and swam out to the breakwater to look at the fish, but I just swam and floated and enjoyed. When we came out of the water, we took showers in the nice shower rooms. The shower water was one temperature, and that wasn't hot. But it wasn't cold, either; it was the ambient temperature, which was pleasant. Then we relaxed on lounge chairs on the beach. We felt like millionaires. All the time and money and effort to get here are finally paying off. When we were waiting for the return boat, we saw a fat iguana climbing up a rock, a bright green lizard resting in the sun, and a striped water-snake in the water. In the evening, there was a festival half a block from the boat. Several of the leading restaurants were selling samples of their specialties. I'd have liked to try some of them, but just then the live band began playing so loud I couldn't stand it and had to leave. Why do they have to crank the speakers up so loud? I've never been able to tolerate loud noise. We went over to a green and white inflated tent that houses, of all things, an ice-skating rink! We went inside and looked at it. There weren't many people skating, but it really was an ice-skating rink. There were also a lot of game machines and more loud music, so we left and wandered over to Sonesta Suites. They were serving dinner by the pool and live music was playing. I gave up and returned to the boat, but Roy continued wandering around. The band at the festival was still playing outrageously loud, almost completely drowning out Jean-Baptiste at Mamma Mia. I thought I'd have a hard time getting to sleep, but I must have been very sleepy, because I conked out almost immediately.

Wednesday, May 24, 1995 - Aruba

Roy spent the morning hanging the awnings, so we now have shade as well as breeze. An Englishman from another boat came by, wanting to borrow a chart of Colon. At first, I thought he was Dutch or something, and English was a second language for him. As Rick Guido says, England is the only country where you can read the signs but not understand a word anyone is saying. When I finally figured out what he was asking for, I dug up three charts of Panama and the Colon area. He took them someplace and had copies made. When he got back, I asked him where the copy place was, and he told me, but it wasn't self-service, and it wasn't cheap. He also told us where some additional restrooms are in the hotel, but he didn't know of any showers. He has a shower on his boat, so he doesn't have to worry about it. A little later, he left for the San Blas Islands. I went over to the ATM at the mall across the street to see if it would access U.S. banks. It did, as long as you have a Cirrus card, which mine was. It paid me in florins, so now I'm all set; I don't have to pay the local bank to exchange money for me. After lunch, we rode the bus as far towards the northwest point as it went. We ended up at a beach that's very popular for wind-surfing. We watched them for a while and then checked the prices for lessons. Roy and I would both love to learn to wind-surf, but I've had lessons three times without success. I'm sure Roy could learn, though; he's a natural-born athlete. When he gets back from California, maybe he'll take lessons. This is certainly the place to learn, with all this good wind. On the way back, we got off the bus at the Pueblo Supermarket. The dockmaster had told us there was a marine-supply store near there, so we checked it out. The store sold mainly fishing tackle, but it did have a few marine supplies at high prices. We didn't see anything we needed. Then we checked out another supermarket. It was every bit as good as Pueblo, so we bought some groceries there. A young couple stopped by the boat. He's Dutch and she's French. They lived in Brazil for fifteen years, so they speak Portuguese fluently. He was fluent in English and French, too, but she didn't know much English, so he translated for her. They're interested in buying the boat, but don't have enough money. Roy priced her at $50,000. So now we have two couples who want to buy Jofian but don't have the money.

Tuesday, May 23, 1995 - Aruba

After breakfast, we walked to the marina office and paid $468 for the month. We're quite disappointed by the marina facilities. Nearly every marina, even in third world countries, has a restroom and some sort of shower, but not here. We have to use the public restroom at Sonesta Suites or Seaport Mall. The dockmaster told us there was a shower we could use at the Sonesta Suites, but when we went over there, the desk clerk told us to use the employees' showers. We felt very uncomfortable doing so, because the sign says, "Employees Only," and employees kept coming in, giving us Who-Are-You-and-What-Are-You- Doing-Here looks. It was a nice shower, but I resolved never to use it again. We'll take the hotel's boat to the island and shower there. Walked over to the post office and mailed a bunch of postcards and letters. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for mail to get back and forth between here and the states. Roy saw a notice at the hotel that there would be a Papiamento lesson at 11:30, so he came back to the boat and got me. He knew I'd be interested, and I was, but the lesson didn't amount to much. The "teacher" was very pleasant, but she wasn't really a teacher; she was a member of the Activities Staff. The lesson only lasted 15 minutes. It consisted of her handing out sheets with a couple dozen phrases in Papiamento, English, Spanish, and Dutch. She went over the phrases with us and had us say some of them. That was it. Here are some samples of Papiamento: "Bon bini" ("Welcome") "Bon dia" ("Good morning") "Bon tardi" ("Good afternoon") "Bon nochi" ("Good evening") "Con ta bai?" ("How are you?) "Ami ta bon" ("I am fine") "Masha danki" ("Thank you") As you can see, it's a lot like Spanish. The language was devised in the 1700's by slaves from various African tribes, so they could communicate with each other and with their Dutch and Spanish "owners". The best thing here is the laundry. I pulled a wagon-load of grimy, salt-soaked clothes over to the laundromat at the Sonesta Suites. While the washer and dryer did their thing, I relaxed in the pleasant breeze by the pool and read "Du Cote de Chez Swann". It's sure good to have clean clothes and sheets and towels again. Anchoring out is fun for a while, but eventually you have to come ashore and scrape off the salt. In the evening after supper, we went for a little stroll. We feel perfectly safe here at night. This is a prosperous, happy, easy-going island. There are plenty of jobs, and no homeless sleeping on the sidewalk, no beggars devising ingenious ways to ask for money, no muggers lurking in dark alleys. We strolled around the three pools at Sonesta Suites, past Wilhelmina Park, and across the street to the hotel, where we watched the fish swimming in the little indoor pool. Then we emerged on the other side of the mall, crossed the street to Baskin Robbins, and treated ourselves to delicious ice cream. When we got back to the boat, Jean-Baptiste was still singing, so we sat on the deck for a while, listening to him. What a delightful evening!

Monday, May 22, 1995 - Aruba

The wind is blowing even harder. I'm getting tired of this incessant wind. I don't want it to stop altogether, because then it would get too hot, but I wish it would calm down a little. In the morning, Roy put on his diving gear, scraped the barnacles off the propeller, and scrubbed most of the underwater portion of the hull. He didn't quite finish, because the water was too bouncy. Roy also fixed the push-button radio. Apparently, the only problem was a loose connection to the speaker. It's perfect now. After lunch, Roy blew into town to see about renting a slip at the marina, but I stayed on the boat. Felt crummy again, and the wind's too strong. Took a nap while he was gone. When Roy got back, he said we were moving to the marina right away. That sounds a lot easier than it actually was. First, we had to raise the two anchors while keeping the boat from blowing away. Roy, of course, had to do most of it. One of the anchors got caught on the other. What a mess. Roy had to lift it up (all 80 pounds of it) and flip it over the other one. I don't know how he does it. The marina itself was the worst we've ever tried to get into. Even in the harbor, there was some wind and occasional gusts. The slip was nothing but a couple of posts and a stubby little dock with no cleats. Roy's plan was to circle in front of the slip, drop the port anchor, and let the boat blow back towards the posts, being kept from going too far by the anchor. Then he'd paddle to the dock with a line, wrap the line around the dock, and pull the boat in stern-first. That way, we wouldn't have a problem getting out against the wind. (There were no upwind slips available.) His plan almost worked. Unfortunately, the anchor float caught on the lifeline, preventing the anchor from going all the way down and taking hold. Roy didn't notice it; he thought the anchor was dragging. With a great deal of difficulty, he finally managed to back the boat between the posts. The dockmaster had come over to help, but he didn't do much. However, he did take our stern line and secure it. Roy had to do everything else. He just had me stand by with the flat fender so we wouldn't bang into the boat next to us. Our stern was right up against the dock, and we heard horrible crunching noises. We thought our Royaks were being crushed, but it turned out a metal plate was being torn off the stern and the wood it was attached to was split open. Somehow, Roy managed to get his Royak into the water by dropping it over the port lifeline. We were too close to the dock to lower the ladder, so Roy had to drop into his Royak from the deck -- something he'd never tried before, but he made it. He paddled to the posts with the bow line, got the boat tied to the posts, and then was able to pull the boat forward, away from the dock. All this took hours, and it was nearly dark by the time we got securely fastened. Our slip is right in front of the Mamma Mia restaurant, so we get to enjoy their live entertainment. They have a great singer, Lloyd Jean-Baptiste. He has a lovely, mellow voice, and most of the songs he sings are ones we like, so it's very pleasant.

Sunday, May 21, 1995 - Aruba

Got a good night's sleep for a change and woke up feeling great, also for a change. Usually I'm so tired, I can barely crawl around the boat. We paddled into town, even though the wind was still gusting 25, and walked to a good supermarket we'd heard about. It turned out to be a clean, modern, U.S.-style market with lots of good stuff, as we'd hoped. It wasn't even as far from town as we'd thought it was. We bought a bunch of groceries and then walked to the Cruise Ship terminal to make phone calls. There are AT&T USA-Direct phones there. I phoned Linda and Nancy to find out when they're going to come down for a visit. Roy tried to phone Steve, but no answer. Linda sounded very cheerful. She's getting her AA Thursday in Health and Fitness Education, which is the field she wants to get into. The hearing for her suit against Green has finally been set for the week of September 18th, with a pretrial hearing next month. She'd like to come down, but doesn't know when she can. She'd like to come when Nancy's here, so she can visit her sister as well as us. That would be neat. We talked for a long time. She asked a lot of questions about Aruba, which I answered to the best of my ability. Next I phoned Nancy. She'll communicate with Linda and try to arrange a mutually agreeable time. However, she didn't think she could come until September, which isn't a good month for Linda. Well, we'll see what happens. Roy and I went to Wendy's for a yummy lunch and then returned to the boat.

Saturday, May 20, 1995 - Aruba

We decided to wait until Sunday to paddle to Eddie's house. Roy went in to town after breakfast to get information from a travel agent. He wants to return to Richmond and work for a couple of months. I told him the travel agencies would be closed for the weekend, but what do I know? The travel agencies were closed for the weekend. So Roy took the bus to the airport and talked with the clerk at the American Airlines counter. He had thought he might have to make reservations a month in advance, but she assured him there were seats available any time. He could leave today if he wanted to, but the fare is $40 less weekdays. Roundtrip to San Francisco is $820, but he's thinking of flying to Miami and going standby from there. The wind was quite strong today. Gusted 25 knots or more, so it's a good thing we didn't try to paddle to Eddie's house. I wasn't feeling so hot, anyway. Felt even more tired than I usually feel, so I just hung around the boat. In the evening, we watched an interesting ceremony. A local cabin cruiser went by with a dozen or so passengers. It headed in toward the shore, and we kept thinking it would go aground, but it didn't. Obviously, the skipper was well acquainted with the area. About 150 more people were standing on the beach. The boat stopped near them. Ashes were poured overboard and a large wreath thrown into the water. Then the boat left the same way it had come.

Friday, May 19, 1995 - Aruba

Roy and I paddled to the beach and walked to town. Tried to find a self-service copy place, but all we found were places where they do the copying, at 25 cents a page. Fortunately, I only had three pages to copy. We found the post office and mailed Roy's postcards and my letter. Also found out about having mail sent to General Delivery, or Poste Restante as it is known internationally. We ate lunch at McDonald's. McDonald's and Pepsi Cola have taken over the world. Then we rode a bus to San Nicolas just to see what it was like. They have remarkably good bus service on this little island. There are six routes, and the buses run fairly frequently. The fare is $1 or 1.75 florins. The buses are a step above those in Mexico and a step below those in the U.S. San Nicolas is strictly an oil town. Esso has a huge refinery there, and there are one or two other refineries. They were booming thirty years ago but have cut way back. We wandered around for a couple of hours. There wasn't much to see. When we got tired and thirsty, we stopped at Burger King for something to drink. Roy had a Sprite, and I had orange juice. Coming back, we stopped at Savaneta to try to find Eddie's house. We asked at a government office, but they didn't know anything. We walked to the waterfront and wandered around but didn't see anything that resembled Eddie's place. We concluded it's not at Savaneta, but closer to Oranjestad. Tomorrow, we'll paddle along the shore and try to see it. The cabin cruiser and the black ketch have moved to the marina.

Thursday, May 18, 1995 - Aruba

Two big cruise ships came in this morning. The others had left. This is a pretty busy port. A container ship came in last night, unloaded, and left early this afternoon. We also saw a small Netherlands naval vessel going out with a crowd of civilians, presumably dignitaries of some sort. A few hours later, it returned, let the civilians off, and then headed out to sea. A British million- dollar cabin cruiser came in and anchored near us. In the evening, a loooong, beautiful, expensive black ketch came in and anchored on the other side of the cabin cruiser. We'd been marveling that there were so few sailboats here from the U.S. and other countries. We saw three or four at the marina, and that was it. Now some more are finally coming in. I paddled to the beach this morning and walked around, trying to find the laundromat, supermarket, and shopping plaza the man at the hotel had told me about. I was disappointed to see piles of trash; apparently only the tourist area is clean. The sidewalks out here are broken, and cars park on the sidewalks. I went out to where I thought the guy had told me to go but didn't find anything, so I asked a couple of passersby and eventually found the supermarket and the laundromat. In fact, I found two laundromats. They looked okay. They were clean and had modern equipment, but no change machines and no signs saying how much money to deposit. The slots looked like quarter slots, but they probably take some Aruban coins. The supermarket was large but dark and unattractive. I was going to go in and get some vegetables, but the manager wanted me to leave my backpack at the door. I refused and left. Roy wrote some postcards while I was gone. After lunch, he paddled ashore, and I stayed on the boat.

Wednesday, May 17, 1995 - Aruba

Looked rainy again this morning, but it only sprinkled. Roy worked on the problem with the electricity to the microwave, and I used the computer. I've discovered that all I have to do to boot it when it hangs up is press the ESCape key; I don't have to slap it at all. After lunch, Roy paddled to the beach and walked around. He walked to the airport and almost to Hooiberg and into town and back. He figured he walked at least 6 or 7 miles. Farthest he's walked in a long time. While Roy was gone, a small Canadian sloop came in with a young couple on it. They anchored not far from us.

Tuesday, May 16, 1995 - Aruba

Slapped the computer again and eventually got it to work again, so I entered the events of yesterday. The weather looked threatening. I didn't really want to leave the boat, but Roy wanted to go to town, so we did. Walked around and got a lot of information. Found out where there's a laundromat and a super market. The Sonesta Hotel has laundries that we can use when we're at the marina, but they're not available to the public. We felt like having something different for lunch, so we had pizza. Roy ate two big slices plus two cups of coffee and a pineapple shake. I had one slice and a pineapple shake. We picked up Roy's photos from the developer's. They came out good this time. The previous two batches had scarcely come out at all, and Roy was afraid there was something wrong with his camera, but then he discovered it needed a new battery and he'd had it set wrong. It works fine now. A few days ago, the vegetable peeler disappeared, so we went to a big hardware store to try to get another. They didn't have one, but Roy bought some duct tape. Then we went to a grocery store and bought a peeler. When we came out, it was starting to sprinkle, so we made a bee-line for our Royaks and headed back to the boat. I told Roy not to wait for me but to zoom to the boat and start putting the rain in the tank, so he did. By the time I was halfway to the boat, the rain was coming down in buckets. Sometimes the rain was so heavy, I couldn't even see the boat, but I kept paddling in the general direction and eventually she reappeared. It was a relief to finally reach the boat. Of course, I was soaked, but I'd been wanting to wash my hair anyway, so I got out my shampoo and conditioner, stood on the deck, and let her rip. Roy helped me rinse by rigging up the shower jug and squirting water on my hair. We collected nearly half a tank of good rainwater, which we certainly needed. We really like Aruba. It's clean and prosperous, which isn't surprising, since it's part of the Netherlands, and the Dutch are noted for their cleanliness and industriousness. There are beautiful sandy beaches and a lot of interesting places to explore. The climate is delightful. Even though Aruba is only 750 miles north of the Equator, it isn't too hot or humid, because the Trade Winds blow all the time, cooling things off. The temperature stays in the low eighties all year round, which is very pleasant. The water temperature is about 80, so it's ideal for swimming, snorkeling, and SCUBA diving. There are a number of interesting wrecks and reefs to dive on. All our children and their families have an open invitation to fly down and vacation with us for a few weeks.

Monday, May 15, 1995 - Aruba

Slapped the computer a few times and got it to work, so I entered all the days that I'd written in pencil. Guess there's a loose connection somewhere. We paddled to town this morning to check out the marinas, exchange some money, do some sightseeing, and buy groceries, but before we even landed our Royaks, a motorboat pulled up with two men in it, one of them in a blue uniform. They told us we couldn't stay anchored where we were. They told us, rather vaguely, where we could anchor. We told them we'd come into town to inquire about the marinas. They gave us until tomorrow to move. What a revolting development this is, just when we thought we were settled down! We went to a bank and exchanged $100 U.S. for 174.50 Aruban florins. Talked on the phone with the manager of the Sonesta Marina. The monthly rate there is $12 a foot, which includes electricity, water, and all the hotel facilities, including their private island with the beaches, tennis courts, etc., so that really isn't too bad. The marina itself isn't much, however; mostly just pilings. We went to Wendy's for lunch. It was just like a Wendy's in the states. We had stuffed baked potatoes and frosties. Roy also had a chicken sandwich. He had wanted a chicken salad, but I misunderstood him and thought he said sandwich. He ate it anyway. While we ate, we discussed our future plans. Roy agreed it was time to give up cruising. We'll try to sell the boat, but if we can't, we'll take her back to Richmond. Of course, we can't leave here until the hurricane season ends. We walked over to the Port Authority office to find out exactly where it's ok for us to anchor. The Director was very nice and showed us the anchorage on a chart. We bought some groceries, and Roy found a place to get water, so he filled a five-gallon jug. Then we went back to the boat and moved to the designated anchorage. It was quite shallow, so we couldn't go as far in as we wanted to. Put out two anchors in less than six feet of water. This is a better place in a number of ways. We're farther from the mangroves, so we don't get as many flies; we have more protection from the wind; and we're farther from the landing strip, so the jumbo jets aren't quite so loud. We're also closer to town.

Sunday, May 14, 1995 - Aruba

There were three cruise ships in town this morning. One was huge -- bigger than the other two put together. It left after a few hours. Roy went up the mizzen mast to repair the wind generator. One of the brushes was completely wrecked out, but somehow the Master Magician managed to repair it. Now the wind generator is putting out more amps than ever, even when it was brand new! Later, Roy paddled to the pink building, landed on the beach, and rode the shuttle boat into town. He wanted to buy groceries, but all the stores were closed. He didn't even see any crowds of people from the cruise ships. He felt uncomfortable riding the shuttle, because it's supposed to be just for guests of the hotel, so from now on we'll go to town in our Royaks. While Roy was gone, I paddled up to the pink building and saw there were a whole bunch of pink buildings. One of them was labeled "Gym". I don't know what the others were. There were several small beaches, jetski rentals, tennis courts, etc. The whole complex belongs to the Sonesta Hotel.

Saturday, May 13, 1995 - Aruba

We both felt a lot better after 10 or 11 hours' sleep. I still had laryngitis, but that's no big deal. The wind was still blowing 20 to 30 knots, but our anchor was holding. We were next to the airport, so jumbo jets kept landing and taking off with a roar. We had a great view of the Hooiberg, Haystack Mountain, which is a volcanic cone over 500 feet high. About a quarter mile southeast of us was a pink building that we assumed was a restaurant. Motorboats kept going back and forth, carrying customers. We even found an English-language radio station that plays lovely music. Roy wanted to go into town to look around and get information about the marinas, but it took him several hours to gather up the courage to paddle in this strong wind. He wouldn't have any trouble blowing in to town, but getting back to the boat could be a problem. Around 1:30 he finally took off, with feathered paddles. First, he paddled over to the airport, a few hundred yards away. Then he paddled upwind along the shore about half a mile or so. He didn't have any problems, so he paddled to town, landed on a little beach, and walked around town. He learned a lot, including that the pink building out here belongs to the big hotel, Sonesta Suites. The shuttle boats are free and go right from the hotel lobby to the pink building. They'll pick us up if we wave. Roy had a ball walking around town. He came back around six o'clock, filled with enthusiasm. He brought chicken, oranges, and bread. For several weeks, there has been a slow leak in the engine's cooling system. Before starting the engine, Roy usually had to add half a pint or more of water. When we're not connected to shoreside electrical power, the engine has to be running when the microwave oven is going in order to generate enough electricity. Tonight, Roy poured two glasses of water into the cooling system, and then a third and a fourth. The water seemed to be leaking out as fast as he put it in, so he took all the movable stuff out of the engine compartment and looked for the leak with a flashlight. Eventually, he found a big split in the neoprene exhaust boot for the fresh-to-salt-water heat exchanger. And he even had a spare on board! Were we ever lucky that the split occurred when and where it did! If it had happened at sea, or worse, last night when we were maneuvering, trying to find an anchorage, we'd have been in a real fix. Here at anchor, Roy had no problem replacing the boot.

Friday, May 12, 1995 - Aruba

What a day this turned out to be! First of all, the propane stove quit working. We couldn't use the microwave because the boat was rolling too much, so for breakfast we had orange juice and raw eggs mixed with milk and sugar. We thought everything would be calmer as soon as we got behind the lee of Aruba, but the wind actually increased! Must have been blowing 30 or 35 knots. But at least the waves were flatter. We looked forward to getting into the "calm" of the harbor. Hah! There really wasn't any harbor. It was wide open except for a little strip of reef. And then, to make the day complete, the beloved headsail messed up again when Roy tried to furl it. He struggled to get it under control, but there wasn't much he could do in that fierce wind. In desperation, we tied to the freighter dock. That was a struggle, too. I was barely able to jump onto the dock with the center line and bow line. Roy followed and grabbed the center line while I secured the bow line, but the stern was blowing away from the dock. An official from the Port Authority pulled up in his pickup and sat there talking on his handheld VHF, ignoring our pleas for assistance. In fact, he became incensed that we asked him to help. Apparently, it was beneath his dignity to work with his hands. There were no cleats, just rusty iron rings. I had managed to tie the bow line to a ring, but Roy had no slack in the center line; all he could do was hang on to it. Luckily, there was a short piece of light chain nearby, which I handed to Roy, and he used it to secure the center line. Then a very nice forklift operator stopped and offered to help. Roy climbed over the bow back onto the boat, grabbed a line, and threw it to the man, who attached it to a ring. Then Roy threw him the stern line. He wrapped it around a bollard, pulled in the stern, and secured it. After that, it was relatively easy. We attached about half a dozen lines from the boat to the dock. The Port Authority official gave us permission to stay there a couple of hours to make emergency repairs. An Immigration official came by and checked our passports and boat registration. Eventually, a couple of Customs officials came by and filled out a form. Welcome to Aruba! While we were at the dock, Roy managed to get the headsail under control, but it was a struggle. We wanted to move to a marina, so Roy started walking in that direction to check it out, but the guard wouldn't let him through the gate without a passport. He came back to the boat, got his passport, and started out again. A few minutes later, another Port Authority official came by and told me we couldn't stay there, which we already knew. I told him the skipper had gone to check out the marina. He offered to drive me over there, so I got in his pickup and we started in that direction. We quickly caught up with Roy, who got in the pickup, too. We passed a terrific-looking fruit and vegetable stand. The marina didn't look like much. I tried to ask the official if Roy could get out and go to the marina office, but his English wasn't the greatest, and apparently he didn't understand, so he just drove us back to the boat. (Believe it or not, this small island, with a population of 65,000, has its own language: Papiamento! I thought it was a dialect of Spanish; many of the written words are Spanish. Later we found out Papiamento is a combination of Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and some African languages. It's only been around for 150 years and is spoken in Bonaire and Curacao as well as Aruba. Fortunately, most of the people speak English, too.) To add to our general joy, Roy couldn't find his billfold. The last time he remembered seeing it was in Puerto Rico. He had laid it on the shelf where the mainsheet winch is. We figured it had slid overboard during the heavy seas. There wasn't much money in it but of course his driver's license and credit cards and stuff. Fortunately, after hunting for half an hour, he finally found his billfold in the pocket of one of his pairs of pants. It was a lot easier getting away from the dock than tying to it. We motored to the cove where the marinas are, but we couldn't see a slip we could get into in that wind. A little powerboat came by, and we asked the people in it where we could tie up or anchor. They pointed to an area behind the breakwater and said we could anchor there, so we went over there and dropped anchor, but the anchor didn't hold and we kept blowing backwards. Then a man on another boat yelled that we couldn't anchor there. I tried to raise the anchor but couldn't; it was snagged on something. Roy struggled with it and finally got it up along with 32 feet of old heavy rope that it had fouled on. By then the sun was setting. We hadn't had any lunch and were exhausted. The chart only showed one good place to anchor, but we weren't sure how to get there without going aground. Outside the channel, most of the water is very shallow. Roy motored out into the channel and dropped anchor, even though he knew you're not allowed to anchor in a channel. People yelled at him from shore, and then a motorboat came by and the guys in it pointed to some lights in the distance and said we could anchor there. Again Roy struggled to raise the anchor. The windlass wasn't working right. Roy was afraid it was broken, but eventually he got the anchor up. We motored towards the lights, which were the landing lights for the airport. We thought they were on land, but when we were almost up to them, Roy realized they were in the water, so he had to duck around them. We anchored in 11 feet of water near mangroves. To our joy, the anchor held. We were both exhausted and half starved, not having had anything to eat since breakfast. We couldn't have kept going much longer. The wind was still blowing 30 knots, but we were protected from big waves, so the boat was steady and we could walk around without hanging on. I'd lost my voice, probably from yelling into the wind. The wind generator was spinning like crazy but not generating any electricity -- one more thing for Roy to fix. But at least we're in Aruba and peacefully at anchor, so we can relax. Cooked a good supper in the microwave oven. After we ate, we collapsed into bed and slept like logs.

Thursday, May 11, 1995 - On way, Aruba

The wind really picked up today. Blowing twenty knots or more straight out of the east. Since we're headed south, we're broadside to the waves, and they really clobbered us. The decks were awash. Twice I got waked out of a sound sleep by gallons of water gushing through the porthole on top of me. Roy also got drenched in the cockpit. The wave came right through the side-curtain and flooded the cockpit. The boat, of course, was rocking and rolling, yawing and pitching, and making every other motion a boat can make. One huge wave slammed us so hard broadside that we nearly capsized. I was jerked abruptly out of my sleep by being pitched forward and seeing unidentified objects flying by. I thought for a moment the boat had turned turtle, but then she righted herself. I picked the stuff up, straightened out the bed, and went back to sleep. Roy told me later we'd gone over fifty degrees! We're sure glad there's 6 1/2 tons of lead in the keel to right the boat. We sailed on and on, under reefed sails. At night, Roy ran the engine to smooth things out a bit. Less than 100 miles to go now.

Wednesday, May 10, 1995 - On way, Aruba

Glorious day! Blue sky, white, fluffy clouds, blue water frosted with whitecaps, perfect temperature, great sailing wind. We easily made six knots without using the engine. We're cutting right across the Caribbean Sea, non-stop from Boqueron to Oranjestad, Aruba, a distance of approximately 360 miles. Should take us three days.

Tuesday, May 9, 1995 - On way, Aruba

Got up early, took down the awnings, removed the sail covers, and got Jofian looking like a sailboat again. Roy took the trash to town and brought back ten more gallons of water. We spent several hours bringing up the anchors. The chains were covered with seaweed, barnacles, and mud, and the two chains were twisted around each other in big knots, but eventually we got them untwisted and somewhat cleaned off. By noon we were on our way to Aruba! For weeks, the weather forecast for the Eastern Caribbean had been "Wind east 15 to 20 knots, seas 5 to 7 feet," but when we got out there, there was almost no wind at all, so we had to motor. After sunset, however, the wind picked up, and we were able to sail. What a beautiful night! The stars and half-moon were very bright, the air warm and caressing, and the wind just right for sailing. We zoomed along at 5 to 6 knots.

Monday, May 8, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Got up at six feeling great. Sanded and varnished the second coat while Roy snoozed. Roy woke up at nine feeling much, much better. His eyes are bright and his cheeks are pink again. In fact, he felt so much better that he fetched ten gallons of water and then went in to Mayaguez to buy a spare alternator! To make the day perfect, our new inverter arrived. Yay! Now we can leave any time we want to, and I can cook with the microwave. No more pressure cooker to wash -- hooray! I went to the post office, got my mail, and left a change-of- address form. Picked up some groceries and then went to Schafer and Brown to get the inverter. The package was larger than I had expected. Had a hard time carrying it and the groceries back to my Royak and an even harder time getting them in the Royak. Another boater offered to take the package to the boat in his dinghy, but luckily Roy showed up just then and managed to get it in his Royak. Roy reached the boat a couple of minutes before I did, but the line to his Royak got away from him and his Royak started drifting merrily away. Boy, did I laugh as I towed Mr. Royak's Royak back to him!

Sunday, May 7, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Spent the morning sanding a lot of places that needed it. Roy sealed them, and when the sealant dried, I varnished them. They look better already. Roy felt a little better today, but not much. I thought the problem with my computer had been solved, but it's refusing to boot up again. I've tried to boot from the diskette as well as the hard disk, but the results were the same, so it's not a drive that's at fault. Tried it both on AC and battery power. Thought maybe the battery was low, but Roy checked the voltage, and it was fully charged. I hope there's a Radio Shack in Aruba, so I can get it repaired. I don't want to take it to Mayaguez, because then we'd be stuck here for two more weeks, so I'll just have to write the log by hand.

Saturday, May 6, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Roy is still sick and still sleeping most of the time. I went to Mayaguez Mall and bought some fresh vegetables and stuff. Got some Contac for Roy. When I got back to the boat, I paddled around for an hour just for fun. Noticed a chunk of varnish and even some of the wood missing from the toerail near the port bow. It looked as if it had just happened. Neither of us had noticed it before. We wonder what caused it. I'll have to revarnish it tomorrow.

Friday, May 5, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Ray came by at eight. We took in four diesel jugs and three of our five-gallon water jugs. Instead of going to the fuel dock, Ray went to the ramp and we got the fuel and water across the street at the gas station. We hadn't thought of doing that. We could have easily used our Royaks to go there. Roy has a miserable chest cold, so when we got back to the boat, he laid down and rested. Slept most of the day, while I tried to keep as quiet as possible.

Thursday, May 4, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Roy spent most of the day installing heavier-duty wiring on the alternator. He had to go to Schafer and Brown a couple of times for wire and stuff. He also phoned Steve. Found out Al and Paulette just got back from a vacation in Hawaii. That's nice. Roy made arrangements with Ray to take us to the fuel dock in the morning to fill some of our jerry cans. The dock's too high to do it with our Royaks.

Wednesday, May 3, 1995 - Boquereon, Puerto Rico

Roy spent the morning scraping mayonnaise off the curtain, while I updated the log. The computer gave me a problem again. I think it might be due to the battery getting low, so I recharged the battery and then it started right up. In the afternoon, I washed a load at the laundromat and phoned Noreen at Statpower. She said the inverter needed major repairs from moisture damage and dust and dirt. She offered to sell us a brand new one for $350, so I accepted. They'll ship it in the morning, air UPS, so with luck we'll have it Monday. Then we can get out of here.

Tuesday, May 2, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Ray took us to the dinghy dock at 8 o'clock. Caught a publico to Cabo Rojo right away, but had a sort of strange experience in Cabo Rojo. The waiting publico was a comfortable Lincoln. There was one other passenger besides us, and soon another came along. The driver collected in advance but didn't leave. He said he was waiting for one more. We waited and waited. It was hot and sweaty. Eventually a fifth passenger arrived. The car was full, so we thought the driver would leave right away. Instead, he waited for one more! I don't know where he thought he was going to put another passenger. We were all getting more and more irritated. I was about to suggest we each chip in an additional 35 cents to get him to go, but just then another driver came along and offered to take us. The first driver had to give everyone back their money, so instead of making $8.75, he made nothing. That's sure dumb. He won't stay in business long that way. We had to go to the terminal in downtown Mayaguez, so we finally got to see more of that city, which is the third largest in Puerto Rico. To get to Salinas, we had to go to Ponce, which is just a few miles west of Salinas. There was an empty publico waiting to go to Ponce. The driver told us he'd been waiting since six o'clock that morning, and we were his first customers! It was then after ten, so it didn't look too promising for getting three more. The fare to Ponce is $5 a person. The driver offered to leave immediately if we'd pay $25. He said he'd bring us back for $10, since he had to return anyway. We rather reluctantly agreed. It was a lot of money, but we never would have gotten to Ponce otherwise. We gave up completely on going to Salinas, since it would be noon by the time we got to Ponce. The driver spoke fairly good English. He had lived in New York for twenty years. It seems as if nearly everyone in Puerto Rico has lived in New York for twenty years. He told us there are no young publico drivers now that nearly everyone owns a car. All the drivers are old men supplementing their Social Security income. So when they die off, I guess there won't be any more publicos. We doubled back towards Cabo Rojo and then got on the main highway that went past San German, Sabana Grande, and Yauco. The driver went in to Guayanilla to deliver a package and then continued to Ponce. He let us off at the zocalo (town square) and told us how to get to the terminal, where he'd meet us at two o'clock. It was after twelve, so we ate lunch at Burger King and then strolled around. Saw the famous old firehouse that's painted with wide red and black stripes. It's been turned into a museum, which is open Wednesday through Monday! That's the story of our life. But at least the front was all open, so we could see the old fire engines. Took a couple of pictures and then strolled some more. There was a cathedral in the zocalo and some large fountains. A few blocks away, we saw a plaque dedicated to the people who died in the "Massacre of 1937". As best as I could make out, peaceful, unarmed protesters had been fired on by the militia under orders from the gringo governor. Several people had been killed and others wounded. I wish I knew more about the history of Puerto Rico. Next time I'm at a library, I'll look it up. We also saw a time capsule that's supposed to be opened in 2092 and some statues. We would have liked to ride around on a sightseeing bus, but there wasn't time. Some boaters who had been at Boqueron saw us and called to us by name. That was a surprise. Stopped at Walgreen's and bought a few things. Also got a couple of strawberry popsicles, which we ate on our way to the terminal. We walked several blocks without finding it. I decided we'd have to return to the zocalo, get reoriented, and try again. We turned down a side street and lo!, there was the terminal. What a pleasant surprise. The building covered an entire block and contained hundreds of publicos. We asked several people where to catch the publico to Mayaguez. Both Roy and I remembered it as being maroon. The interior was maroon, and we hadn't paid attention to the outside, so when someone pointed to a white car, we said that wasn't it. Fortunately, the driver showed up and recognized us. The white car was the right one, so we got in and took right off. For an extra dollar each, the driver dropped us off at Mayaguez Mall, which saved a lot of time. It was about 3:30 by then, so we bought some fruit at the supermarket and caught the four-o'clock publico to Cabo Rojo. We were back in Boqueron by quarter to five. Bought a dozen eggs. Met Ray and Janie at the dinghy dock and were soon back on the boat. This morning, we had noticed a bunch of white splotches on our port curtain. Looked like white paint or paste, but we hadn't been using any white paint or paste. Roy thought it looked like drippings from a wax candle. He thought maybe it had gotten on there when it was on Janie's boat, but I reminded him that the splotches hadn't been there when they brought the curtains back. A couple of hours later, Roy suddenly realized what had happened. Two nights ago, we had been eating supper with the engine running to recharge the battery. The vibration had jiggled the mayonnaise right off the edge, and it splashed all over the place. Roy thought he had cleaned it all up, but he hadn't noticed the splotches on the curtain, which was snapped up out of the way. Now that it's had two days to dry and harden, it will be fun to clean off.