Central and South Americas – Page 9

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Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 3 (Christmas at Sea)

Posted on December 25, 2017 by by

Nane Kim / Editor (Uploaded Email from Sailing Kay at Sea) Posted in Atlantic Islands, Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

(December 24, 2017) For the last three days of sailing, we haven’t seen a clear sky, sun, moon, or stars. The planet looks as if it only has two colors; the sky is gray and ocean is dark gray. Days are hazy and nights are pitch dark. I could wish for sunshine, bright moon, or some rain but it’s pointless. Sailing taught me about following nature’s law. Accept the weather and adjust the sails accordingly and sail the best and be the happiest I can be.

For our Christmas celebration, we made a fish fry as John suggested.

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Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 2 (Wahoo Day)

Posted on December 24, 2017 by by

Nane Kim / Editor (Uploaded Email from Sailing Kay at Sea) Posted in Atlantic Islands, Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

(December 23, 2017) Waves are still undefined making for uncomfortable sailing. I took extreme care when boiling water to make coffee not to get hot water spilled on me. This is the first time we have used the stove during this trip. At least the wind speed has been more or less steady keeping sails from crashing. We have been using a spinnaker pole (with Jib Sail) for wing-and-wing sailing after our jib-pole got folded in half yesterday.

We don’t normally drink alcoholic beverages when sailing. Because of high waves constantly beating the boat, I have hardly slept for the last two nights.

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Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 1

Posted on December 24, 2017 by by

Nane Kim / Editor (Uploaded Email from Sailing Kay at Sea) Posted in Atlantic Islands, Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

(December 22, 2017) It was hazy and dusty when we left Cabo Verde this morning. The visibility was not good. The harbor was crowded with new arrival of boats and ships. There was definitely Christmas air blowing on the island but it is time for us to sail.

We started with great sailing; wing-and-wing for four hours, making 7 to 10 knots/hour. Things were going well. However, right after a shift change (watch), I heard a big BANG. The heavy aluminum Jib Pole (expandable) got folded in half like a pretzel. We managed to remove the pole (now two broken pieces) and tied it down on the deck.

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Set Sail from Cabo Verde to Suriname, South America

Posted on December 22, 2017 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Atlantic Islands, Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

We are about to set sail today for Suriname (Caribbean Island). It will be the longest sailing for us, about 1900 nautical miles. We estimate it will take about two weeks.

Sending you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wish us fair winds and following seas.

A Lyric of Cesaria Evora’s Song Translated in English in the Maritime Museum

Mar Azul (Blue Sea)

O… Sea, quietly lie down and let me go
Let me go and visit my homeland
Let me go greet my mother… O sea
Blue Sea,

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Winter 2016/2017, Jump for Joy!

Posted on January 17, 2017 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Carolinas, Central America, Greetings

(January 15, 2017) Meeting old friends and neighbors! For staying in the Caribbean for last two years, we decided to enjoy winter weather this time. We also have things to take care of on land. Leaving the boat in North Carolina, John purchased a used vehicle. We drove it to Fort Lauderdale with our two cats. Nice to be back in Florida, Sunshine State! Despite of the heavy traffic in South Florida, we are enjoying the comforts and conveniences on land for now.

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Sailing from Rio Dulce River in Guatemala to Key West, Florida, USA

Posted on May 5, 2016 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Florida, Sailings

An adrenaline pumping sailing trip!

April 26 to May 3, 2016: I found that weather forecasts are about 50% accurate. Maybe it will rain, maybe it will not. Maybe it will be windy from the East, or maybe from somewhere else. Our sailing from Rio Dulce, Guatemala to Key West Florida started by motoring for three days, as the wind was directly in front of us, and we had a very limited area to sail in. This was definitely not what was forecasted. We stopped in different anchorages for first three nights to rest, the wind simply was not what we had expected.

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Shiny Bottom of the Keel, Touching the Bottom When Passing the Rio Dulce River Entrance

Posted on May 4, 2016 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings

April 26, 2016: While waiting for a high tide to get out the Rio Dulce Entrance, a local boat stopped by and asked us if we needed his service to pass the shallow spot. We told him that we will follow our previous GPS track that we saved two months ago when we passed the shallow spot. We didn’t hit the bottom at that time.

Figures can mislead us. John showed me the high tide schedule on his iPad. It was different from the data I previously downloaded from the internet. Based on the data from the iPad,

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My Experiences of Clothes, Food, Water, and Medical Bills in Rio Dulce, Guatemala (February to April 2016)

Posted on May 4, 2016 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Central America, Medical Service Experiences, Sailings

“All sorts of bodily diseases are produced by half-used minds.” — George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright (1856-1950)

Clothes are real cheap in Rio Dulce. Most of the stores sell second hand clothes that appeared to be brought from the USA. John has been enjoying buying work T-Shirts when there is a bargain. It costs 33 cents for a T-Shirt. Whenever he brought newly purchased T-Shirts, we laughed at the printings on the T-Shirts. I also purchased a nice summer dress with 30 Quetzals (US$4). We don’t know how all of these second hand clothes are brought here but they were like new and real cheap.

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Burglar Bars for the Hatches

Posted on April 18, 2016 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Boat Projects, Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings

While staying in some anchorages at night, we sometimes wished to have a bit more protection on our deck hatches. We have four small hatches and one big hatch on the boat. These hatches are big enough so we can get out of the boat if needed during an emergency; at the same time, any intruder can easily break-in when we are soundly sleeping at night. Looking back, there are some anchorages, both John and I took a turn to watch at night because we didn’t feel safe. For about three years, John has wanted to have the burglar bars made.

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‘Land of Trees’, Boat Projects Accomplished in Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Posted on April 17, 2016 by by

Kay Chung Posted in Boat Projects, Central America, Sailings

I have read that ‘Guatemala’ means ‘Land of Trees’ in the indigenous language. The country is still very green with lots of forests but most people use wood for cooking meals. Based on the daily wage, there are not enough jobs for the people here, and to compound the problem, families have lots of children leading to even more widespread poverty and overpopulation. Even though I prefer to eat meals cooked in either a wood burning oven or over and open fire, I am glad to see some are replaced with gas ovens or electric ovens as that means the deforestation might have a chance of being stopped.

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Blog Archives

Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 3 (Christmas at Sea)

Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 2 (Wahoo Day)

Sailing from Cabo Verde to Suriname – Day 1

Set Sail from Cabo Verde to Suriname, South America

Winter 2016/2017, Jump for Joy!

Sailing from Rio Dulce River in Guatemala to Key West, Florida, USA

Shiny Bottom of the Keel, Touching the Bottom When Passing the Rio Dulce River Entrance

My Experiences of Clothes, Food, Water, and Medical Bills in Rio Dulce, Guatemala (February to April 2016)

Burglar Bars for the Hatches

‘Land of Trees’, Boat Projects Accomplished in Rio Dulce, Guatemala

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