Saturday, August 9, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Pipe Dream’s May 2008 Newsletter
A Rum Soaked Princess Visits Pipe Dream!
Yes, the crew of Pipe Dream is sailing back to Florida but only for a short period of time. We will be storing Pipe Dream on the hard in Fernandina Beach, Florida, for the Summer Hurricane Season. For you land lubbers “putting her on the hard” is pulling Pipe Dream out of the water and leaving her in dry dock. We have our fingers crossed about hurricanes. The last time we left her in Florida for the summer, Hurricanes Jean and Francis went right over her in Fort Pierce.
To give you a little recap: In the last newsletter we had just finished the Georgetown Cruisers Regatta and the Bahamanian International Music Festival. Jutta had finally got her head out of the clouds after her “You Tube” performance and things had gone back to normal, or as normal as normal can get on Pipe Dream. For the month of April we remained in Georgetown, Bahamas, looking forward to entertaining two more sets of guests and the Family Island Sailing Regatta.
The first April visitors were Brandon, Jutta’s eldest son, and his girl friend Susan. This was Susan’s first visit to the boat. We showed her all the sights around Elizabeth Harbor which included a stop at the “Chat’n Chill”, the local island bar on Stocking Island. Susan had her first introduction to a “Gombay Smash” which is an umbrella drink made with rum, rum and a little more rum and coconut rum. I think there is also a little pineapple juice in it for fill and some orange slices. After four or five Smashes, contrary to rumors, I can assure you there was no slurring of words or dancing on the tables at Pipe Dream. You know you can trust me. I have an honest face!!! We got to see another side of Susan. Yipes, welcome to the family! It took some time for Susan to dry out. While visiting Pipe Dream Brandon proposed to Susan on a moon lit night on the bow of the boat (that’s the pointy end) and slid the Hope Diamond on her finger. Susan needs to go to the gym so she can learn to keep her left finger up. I proposed to Jutta six years ago and gave her a rubber “O” ring for an engagement ring. She holds her finger up at me all the time but I think it’s a different finger!! Brandon should have talked to me first; he has started a bad precedence!! Another night we dinghied across the harbor to the local fish fry and witnessed Brandon and Susan’s musical talents at karaoke. Susan worked on her tan the entire visit to Pipe Dream. It seems she had been taking an antibiotic before she came to the boat and her tan turned into a mass of bumps. You should have been there, it was very attractive. After ten days of playing on Pipe Dream Brandon and Susan caught a flight back to reality and Jutta and I started provisioning for our last guests of the season.
Don and Jacque, my sister and brother-in-law arrived just after tax season. Their visit coincided with the Bahamian Family Island Regatta. We spent the week watching the Bahamians racing their traditional boats and sipping rum drinks. We also sailed to Emerald Bay because Don invited me to play golf with him at the Four Seasons Resort. I gave up golf eight years ago but I said I would give it a try. At Four Seasons’ prices, after eighteen holes, I lost fifty dollars worth of golf balls, which amounts to about a dozen. I think it’s time to retire the golf clubs again. Still, we had a wonderful time with them and it was nice to get to know my sister all over again.
Jacque and Don left at the end of April and Jutta and I packed up Pipe Dream and headed back to reality. We checked into the United States at Fort Pierce which is a real treat. We all know how “Homeland Security” has made our shores safe from subversive groups. I’m sure we pay billions of tax dollars for the service they provide. For those of you none boaters here is the procedure: First you buy a yearly $25.00 customs sticker for your boat (just another tax.) When you leave the country you don’t need to tell anyone, you just sail away. When you re-enter a US port you have to call the 800 US Customs number. After you are on hold for at least one to two hours a live person actually answers. The person who answered my call had such a thick accent, maybe East Indian, Iraqi, or something, I could hardly understand him. He asked for my customs sticker number and about ten minutes worth of other questions to prove I was Me. Then the big security questions came. Do you have any meat, produce, or fruit products in your refrigerator? Of course I don’t, what do I sound like, a food smuggler? Do you have over $10,000.00 dollars in cash on your boat? Of course not, being a good American I count out $9,999.99 of my cash and throw the rest over board. He then gave me about a twenty digit number to take to the local Immigration Office within the next 24 hours. This usually involves a costly cab ride. Fortunately, some boating friends gave us a ride. Upon arrival I handed over my 20 digit number and I was done. Last year I arrived in the US on Memorial Weekend. When I called customs the answering service told me they were closed for the three day weekend. I was told not to worry about check in until next week!!! I hope those of you reading this will sleep better tonight knowing Homeland Security powered by your tax dollars is protecting us from imported produce and meat.
We fly back to Arizona on the 4th and I am worried about security taking away my cologne or toenail clippers! What’s wrong with this picture?
Well, that about sums it up for this cruising season. Pipe Dream is put to bed in the shipyard and Jutta and I are off to Mexico by car for some house hunting. We have had to tighten our purse strings since donations for the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund” have been a little slow. The high price of gasoline is also causing us worry, but Jutta, being German, has volunteered to push our car around Mexico to stay in shape while I steer. Keep Jutta off the roads and send you dollars today.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Yes, the crew of Pipe Dream is sailing back to Florida but only for a short period of time. We will be storing Pipe Dream on the hard in Fernandina Beach, Florida, for the Summer Hurricane Season. For you land lubbers “putting her on the hard” is pulling Pipe Dream out of the water and leaving her in dry dock. We have our fingers crossed about hurricanes. The last time we left her in Florida for the summer, Hurricanes Jean and Francis went right over her in Fort Pierce.
To give you a little recap: In the last newsletter we had just finished the Georgetown Cruisers Regatta and the Bahamanian International Music Festival. Jutta had finally got her head out of the clouds after her “You Tube” performance and things had gone back to normal, or as normal as normal can get on Pipe Dream. For the month of April we remained in Georgetown, Bahamas, looking forward to entertaining two more sets of guests and the Family Island Sailing Regatta.
The first April visitors were Brandon, Jutta’s eldest son, and his girl friend Susan. This was Susan’s first visit to the boat. We showed her all the sights around Elizabeth Harbor which included a stop at the “Chat’n Chill”, the local island bar on Stocking Island. Susan had her first introduction to a “Gombay Smash” which is an umbrella drink made with rum, rum and a little more rum and coconut rum. I think there is also a little pineapple juice in it for fill and some orange slices. After four or five Smashes, contrary to rumors, I can assure you there was no slurring of words or dancing on the tables at Pipe Dream. You know you can trust me. I have an honest face!!! We got to see another side of Susan. Yipes, welcome to the family! It took some time for Susan to dry out. While visiting Pipe Dream Brandon proposed to Susan on a moon lit night on the bow of the boat (that’s the pointy end) and slid the Hope Diamond on her finger. Susan needs to go to the gym so she can learn to keep her left finger up. I proposed to Jutta six years ago and gave her a rubber “O” ring for an engagement ring. She holds her finger up at me all the time but I think it’s a different finger!! Brandon should have talked to me first; he has started a bad precedence!! Another night we dinghied across the harbor to the local fish fry and witnessed Brandon and Susan’s musical talents at karaoke. Susan worked on her tan the entire visit to Pipe Dream. It seems she had been taking an antibiotic before she came to the boat and her tan turned into a mass of bumps. You should have been there, it was very attractive. After ten days of playing on Pipe Dream Brandon and Susan caught a flight back to reality and Jutta and I started provisioning for our last guests of the season.
Don and Jacque, my sister and brother-in-law arrived just after tax season. Their visit coincided with the Bahamian Family Island Regatta. We spent the week watching the Bahamians racing their traditional boats and sipping rum drinks. We also sailed to Emerald Bay because Don invited me to play golf with him at the Four Seasons Resort. I gave up golf eight years ago but I said I would give it a try. At Four Seasons’ prices, after eighteen holes, I lost fifty dollars worth of golf balls, which amounts to about a dozen. I think it’s time to retire the golf clubs again. Still, we had a wonderful time with them and it was nice to get to know my sister all over again.
Jacque and Don left at the end of April and Jutta and I packed up Pipe Dream and headed back to reality. We checked into the United States at Fort Pierce which is a real treat. We all know how “Homeland Security” has made our shores safe from subversive groups. I’m sure we pay billions of tax dollars for the service they provide. For those of you none boaters here is the procedure: First you buy a yearly $25.00 customs sticker for your boat (just another tax.) When you leave the country you don’t need to tell anyone, you just sail away. When you re-enter a US port you have to call the 800 US Customs number. After you are on hold for at least one to two hours a live person actually answers. The person who answered my call had such a thick accent, maybe East Indian, Iraqi, or something, I could hardly understand him. He asked for my customs sticker number and about ten minutes worth of other questions to prove I was Me. Then the big security questions came. Do you have any meat, produce, or fruit products in your refrigerator? Of course I don’t, what do I sound like, a food smuggler? Do you have over $10,000.00 dollars in cash on your boat? Of course not, being a good American I count out $9,999.99 of my cash and throw the rest over board. He then gave me about a twenty digit number to take to the local Immigration Office within the next 24 hours. This usually involves a costly cab ride. Fortunately, some boating friends gave us a ride. Upon arrival I handed over my 20 digit number and I was done. Last year I arrived in the US on Memorial Weekend. When I called customs the answering service told me they were closed for the three day weekend. I was told not to worry about check in until next week!!! I hope those of you reading this will sleep better tonight knowing Homeland Security powered by your tax dollars is protecting us from imported produce and meat.
We fly back to Arizona on the 4th and I am worried about security taking away my cologne or toenail clippers! What’s wrong with this picture?
Well, that about sums it up for this cruising season. Pipe Dream is put to bed in the shipyard and Jutta and I are off to Mexico by car for some house hunting. We have had to tighten our purse strings since donations for the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund” have been a little slow. The high price of gasoline is also causing us worry, but Jutta, being German, has volunteered to push our car around Mexico to stay in shape while I steer. Keep Jutta off the roads and send you dollars today.
From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Monday, April 21, 2008
Bahama Music Festival and Cruiser Raft Up in Georgetown, Bahamas
For any of our readers who would like to see more of the Cruiser's Raft Up in Georgetown, Bahamas, go to YouTube, then colinbilge, then look for the following videos:
Folks on Boats RnR Raftup
Folks on Boats RnR Raftup2
Eddie's Edgewater by Folks on Boats
Folks on Boats at the Bahamian Music and Heritage Festival
Folks on Boats RnR Raftup
Folks on Boats RnR Raftup2
Eddie's Edgewater by Folks on Boats
Folks on Boats at the Bahamian Music and Heritage Festival
Newsletter March/2008
Pipe Dream’s
March 2008 Newsletter
Or
We be hav’n Island Time Fun
Yep, we’re back with the exciting adventures from the crew of Pipe Dream. I n the last newsletter our good friends Duey and
As you can probably guess, after our guests departed, it was time to re-provision Pipe Dream. We checked the bilge for our food and drink stocks and found them to be a little light. The rum was dangerously low, what a sailor’s crisis!!! We had to get ready for Regatta.
The Georgetown Cruisers’ Regatta took place from March 7th through the 18th. There were about 300 cruising boats in
Another event was the
I signed up for beach golf which was a nine hole (pardon me, nine bucket) course on the beach played with one club, one ball and a tee for every shot. When your ball landed on a sloped sand beach and rolled into the surf you had to get it out of the surf with the club or take a penalty stroke. I was pretty wet at the end of the game. In case you were wondering I didn’t win any rum in that event either. There were activities going on every day during the 10 days of the regatta including several dances on the beach under the stars.
The last weekend of the regatta just happened to coincide with the “Bahamian National Music Festival” held in
The “White Folks on Boats” were the opening act for the Bahamian headliners on Saturday night. They did a great job and had the crowd of 1500 screaming for more when they finished playing. Songs like “Johnny Be Good”, and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” were just a few they played. If any of you are interested in seeing them on the internet, google “Folks on Boats” and see what comes up.
During the regatta Jutta’s friend Pamela and her daughter Alice arrived from
It probably isn’t any surprise Jutta and I are still in the
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Pipe Dream’s
February 2008 Newsletter
Or
This cruising life can be dangerous!
Yes, we are back again with a Pipe Dream whacky newsletter. Things finally settled down after the holidays and we got some rest. In the last newsletter we had sailed to Georgetown, Bahamas, for Christmas and New Years Eve. A great time was had by all. We’ve decided to spend another cruising season in the Bahamas. This place is hard to leave!
Duey and Nan, our good friends and past cruisers from Hollister, California, joined us on Pipe Dream for about three weeks. We provisioned the “tuna schooner” with food and rum and we were off for Long Island and the Jumentos. The Jumentos Island Group lies south of the Exuma Islands and south of the Tropic of Cancer. These islands are virtually uninhabited. There is little protection from the wind blowing from the west or north. Naturally, two days into our trip the wind turned north and we were blown out of the islands. Back to Georgetown to re-provision. Two days later we were off to the Jumentos once again. This time we had a wonderful stay, snorkeling, fishing, swimming, hiking, and kayaking. While diving for “bugs” (lobster) a black tip shark came in also looking for an easy meal. A few days later we fished at Water Cay. We had a tough time getting the fish into the boat. The sharks were grabbing them off of our line faster than we could reel them in. Needless to say, we cancelled the swimming that afternoon. I guess, we cheated death one more time. After a week we pulled up the anchor and headed for Long Island and a little civilization.
Jutta and I are constantly being asked if we are ever worried about pirates in all our
travels. Our answer, up to now, has always been “no”. On our return to Long Island we encountered a situation which could have really gotten out of hand and got me into a lot of trouble. A new beach bar “Parrots of the Caribbean” had opened up in Thompson Bay with three dollar beers, great rum drinks, and good food. Our friend Duey and several other cruisers brought their guitars and we had a wonderful jam session. Of course, somebody had to support the new business enterprise and it was my job to man a bar stool for the afternoon. It’s a rough job but someone has to do it!
Duey and Nan had to go back to reality. We sure enjoyed their visit. Jutta and I are back to doing yogert (yoga) on the beach three time a week and we play volleyball almost daily. With beach walks, snorkeling for lobster, cocktail gatherings, dances under the stars, and socializing we hardly have time for anything. And I wonder why I am always so tired. Next on the agenda will be the week-long Cruisers’ Regatta with lots of activities. Some day, when I retire, I will take it easy!!!!
Looks like this newsletter is going to be a short one. This is what happens when we don’t do much for a while. Don’t forget to keep sending those dollars to the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund”. “Parrots of the Caribbean” won’t take my IOU’s any more and I gave up on getting drinks on my good looks???.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
February 2008 Newsletter
Or
This cruising life can be dangerous!
Yes, we are back again with a Pipe Dream whacky newsletter. Things finally settled down after the holidays and we got some rest. In the last newsletter we had sailed to Georgetown, Bahamas, for Christmas and New Years Eve. A great time was had by all. We’ve decided to spend another cruising season in the Bahamas. This place is hard to leave!
Duey and Nan, our good friends and past cruisers from Hollister, California, joined us on Pipe Dream for about three weeks. We provisioned the “tuna schooner” with food and rum and we were off for Long Island and the Jumentos. The Jumentos Island Group lies south of the Exuma Islands and south of the Tropic of Cancer. These islands are virtually uninhabited. There is little protection from the wind blowing from the west or north. Naturally, two days into our trip the wind turned north and we were blown out of the islands. Back to Georgetown to re-provision. Two days later we were off to the Jumentos once again. This time we had a wonderful stay, snorkeling, fishing, swimming, hiking, and kayaking. While diving for “bugs” (lobster) a black tip shark came in also looking for an easy meal. A few days later we fished at Water Cay. We had a tough time getting the fish into the boat. The sharks were grabbing them off of our line faster than we could reel them in. Needless to say, we cancelled the swimming that afternoon. I guess, we cheated death one more time. After a week we pulled up the anchor and headed for Long Island and a little civilization.
Jutta and I are constantly being asked if we are ever worried about pirates in all our
travels. Our answer, up to now, has always been “no”. On our return to Long Island we encountered a situation which could have really gotten out of hand and got me into a lot of trouble. A new beach bar “Parrots of the Caribbean” had opened up in Thompson Bay with three dollar beers, great rum drinks, and good food. Our friend Duey and several other cruisers brought their guitars and we had a wonderful jam session. Of course, somebody had to support the new business enterprise and it was my job to man a bar stool for the afternoon. It’s a rough job but someone has to do it!
Duey and Nan had to go back to reality. We sure enjoyed their visit. Jutta and I are back to doing yogert (yoga) on the beach three time a week and we play volleyball almost daily. With beach walks, snorkeling for lobster, cocktail gatherings, dances under the stars, and socializing we hardly have time for anything. And I wonder why I am always so tired. Next on the agenda will be the week-long Cruisers’ Regatta with lots of activities. Some day, when I retire, I will take it easy!!!!
Looks like this newsletter is going to be a short one. This is what happens when we don’t do much for a while. Don’t forget to keep sending those dollars to the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund”. “Parrots of the Caribbean” won’t take my IOU’s any more and I gave up on getting drinks on my good looks???.
From the Decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta
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