Full Circle

This will be a shared blog...at least that is what I'm hoping for. My writing in green...Paul's in red. It will start in Seattle, cover Chattanooga and bring us...well sort of...full circle to the boat on the Rio Dulce again. Paul has already written a blog on getting back to the boat...boat stuff you know...but that will have to wait...first things first. So first...a BIG THANK YOU to my mom...for letting us stay at her house...You are wonderful mom! I love you!For my dog "fix" (my mom's dog)...For my lake house (I promised a picture of the actual lake, not just one of the rockery). And the slide...it was put up for me...the first slide on the lake...of course now everyone has one! Then on to Chattanooga...A big thank you to Kris and Sonny for sharing their home on the Tennessee River with us......Looking up the river from Kris and Sonny's house toward Paul's old house...the house where Matt grew up......it was fun to watch the boat traffic on the river...Another dog "fix"...this one is Driver - a Lab/Doberman/hound dog mix...and the best darn hound dog...retreiver...cooling off in the river......a river higher than normal...submerged dock...a soggy red neck wedding that did not dampen ANYBODYs spirits...Captain Paul's BBQ...slow smoking...I'm giving away a key secret here... Beth and Paul...Almost done BBQ chicken's ...Pulling the meat...one of the tricks to a wonderful southern BBQ... Now I can say I have had REAL SOUTHERN BBQ...really...REALLY good!The boxes of stuff that we packed into suitcases...this doesn't include the boxes of stuff that we received at my mom's house!And the two dollar quick tour of Chattanooga...except that would have been years ago when gas was cheap...it was a more expensive tour that day...and the haze was in the air...thanks to Jimmy for the use of his car (while I was there...his truck when just Paul was there)....Racoon Mountain.......the view of the gorge from atop Racoon Mountain........more of the gorge from Racoon Mountain....

To the full circle thing...OCT 1 2009 9:16 am Rio Dulce Guatemala

Follow Joyce and I as we start our 3 rd year together cruising. . Our plans are to fight our way back east to Roatan in late November, provision and dive: then head up to Cuba’s southern coast. From Cuba we will sail down to Colombia and Panama before returning to the Rio for next years hurricane season. We have a very long list of to-do’s as all these parts were for things that broke last year.

We traveled from Atlanta back to the boat yesterday. We had over 300 lbs of assorted boat parts that we smuggled in our 5 heavy checked bags. I had purchased a luggage scale and Joyce and I packed my 3 bags with up to 70 lbs and her 2 at 50 lbs. Delta was nice enough to upgrade me to 1^st class for free (I have almost 4 million miles on Delta) which entitles me to have 3 bags at 70 lbs and drink the last high dollar American Bourbon I will have for a while...back to my rum. Was a relief…was not sure what security was going to say as I attempted to carry on the 62 lb windlass. I’m sure the Homeland Security guys had fun checking our luggage…lots of pumps, radio, propeller, electrical parts and stuff you cannot get down here. All the bags were searched as indicated by their “This was searched” notice in each bag. Guatemala does not have a “Yacht in Transit” policy so if I had shipped this in or declared all my stuff, I could be looking at $1000-1500 in duty and or fines. After sitting for 3 + hrs, my back was pissed….I declined the wheelchair and gimped to baggage claim. Joyce did all the heavy lifting and we loaded 2 carts and headed for customs…damn…an x-ray machine. The guy was randomly directing passengers into the x-ray line. I exaggerated my limp and pain and he passed us through. We waited about 40 min till Jim and Carol from the marina showed up. For $80 bucks , Jim will drive the van 5 ½ hrs from the Rio to Guatemala City and pick us up. He was also doing some shopping for the restaurant so with our 300+ lbs it was a van full. Jim had called ahead to have our A/C turned on the boat. We arrived back to the boat about 6 pm. While Joyce did her heavy lifting I went below. The fan was still on(110 v) but the house lights (24 volt) were down. I checked below to find the battery charger had tripped….damn…I fired things up…checked the battery voltage….damn…….I opened the freezer with all our frozen meat for only 1 second…..long enough to know all my Venezuelan beef and other cannot find down here meat was now well aged and very fragrant….damn ….damn… I sent Joyce ashore to order dinner while the batteries started to pick up a charge. A few cold beers and dinner later we crashed for the night….So much for an easy day today. We had to change the propane before we could have any tea….no food except for granola bars. So I will put the new prop on Herbie, launch Hugo and we will head into town and start to fill the freezer and fridge. I have frozen our stinky stuff…neither of us want to even see how much we will have to throw away….damn … damn … damn

It was 6 years ago this week that Matt and I flew to France to begin my cruising life. I’m looking forward to a few more years with Joyce before this old body of mine forces us to look at the stink pots. (trawlers) While in Chattanooga, my Daughter drove me to Atlanta to see my neuro-surgeon. I was getting checked out and refills on my meds.(the good stuff for pain) He suggested I try this new stuff, Cymbalta…..it’s for depression, but they have found it also works for severe nerve pain. He said it can be a life changer. Nasty stuff…the side effects suck, BUT….major reduction in my pain levels. So now I’m not depressed and most of my pain is reduced. We are still trying to find out what activity sets this nerve pain off….so far we think long periods of sitting….we will see….