February 24-28, 2012 Luperon Stasia Overboard

Friday got away..., Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday February 24-28, 2012

Saturday 24 
Actually, I think today is Saturday.  Friday just blew away in the island breezes I guess.  A weekend here is no different than a week day or vice verse although we know it is a different day.  The only thing constant here is the beauty.  I have always been a lover of beaches and mountains.  Here, I have it all.  Serenity surrounds me and leaves me breathless.  It’s hard to move around here because there is no uncomfortable spot to accidentally go to which actually leaves me in a strange place.  It’s all my comfort zone, familiar or not.  I could think of an entire list of things to do right here in this boat but today is not the day and I am okay with that.  Feeling yucky this afternoon, the best thing that happened is that I got to talk to Mom and Dad this morning.  We roamed town and went to the bakery, always a nice place to stop.  Things are so good and cheap there ya just have to walk out with a bag full of goodies and one in your hand half eaten!  Deb and Dad from came back from Water world on the other side of the island.  It was expensive there they say and the swells made for bad anchorage and moorings.  They wore through a dock line in one night it was so rough.   We also heard Island Girl was returning tomorrow for nearly the same reason.  I am glad we are here.  We ran into Rosa, Bruce Van Sant’s wife and said she was hoping to show us the surrounding area and wants to take us into the nearby towns.  Nice lady.  I have bonded with most all the gringos here in Luperon. 

Sunday 25

This morning Evelynn came by for a visit and coffee.  She’s a fun free spirited gal.  We like her a lot.  An island bug has caught me pretty immobile so today I choose to relax and stay put while Fred drills and pounds on the molding on the outside of the boat, to remove it and caulk underneath, hoping this is the water entrance source of Casa Mare’.  I am hoping so too.  I’ll get my talents in gear after he removes it, then I can sand and shine it up with this special stuff they make for boat teak that costs a fortune which by the way we need to make a special trip into another town to pick up.  Today kept me down flat, I think I ate something or caught a bug.  Evelyn called last night but I didn't talk to her, Fred did.  Fred heard that Chris Parker (the Weather guru) for those who don’t sail, said if you are planning on moving south east, you better be there by tonight  and everyone is to stay put for a few weeks.  So...thats that!  We are in the safest harbor (hurricane hole) East of Florida!  That’s a relief!  Two weeks to work on the boat and seal up some leaks before we hit the Mona passage.  Bruce Van Sant says sticfk close to kand and motor.  I’m all for that suggestion, when we leave!

Monday 26

This morning Evelynn called again and she had conversed with a few gringos and was convinced from the sounds of this, I need to go to the hospital clinic. It kept me up all night and I doubt there is an ounce of anything left in me.   Geeze, last place I want to go was away from the bathroom but they had a possie rounded up and before I knew it, Fred had me in the dinghy, Susan  met me at the dock and Rosa Van Sant was in her car at the end of the dock waiting to speed me off for medical help.  They sure do take care of people here.  I am still not sure what I have, but the stuff they gave, Prodom,  me seemed to slow things down a bit.  Rosa said to ge4t moe and carry them on the boat so I did just in case I needed them again.  Yesterday someone told Fred to go in and get some Zentel, that it would kill anything!  (parasites I found out today)  Haha!  There was a catch though, I was to take two and I only took one.  So if this is what I have, half the parasites are gone.  I need to go back tomorrow tomorrow to make sure and they are going to make a positive ID of this bug of whatever sort it is.  Clinic was free and meds were cheap.  I would have paid anything at that point!  Fred is in town and I am going to lay down and catch up on some missed sleep last night.  How will I ever repay these people for all they have done for me?  Suggestions appreciated!

Tuesday 27

Wow do I feel better today!  In fact I felt so good I spent the day sanding things in the cockpit with the sander I gave Fred for Christmas, (always give a tool you like to use yourself, that way ya get to use it too).  I am not done but the table and the companion way covers are looking pretty good!  Fred went into town this morning, I stayed and sanded my little heart out.  Even found some things that I thought needed refinished but found out Fred didn’t think so.  Too late!  He doesn’t have any Seatol (spelling) which I learned today is pretty important on a boat.  I thought it was all just varnished, looks like that to me but harder to remove.  Trust me.  We (I helped a little...made the suggestion to repair it and screwed the 4 screws from above while he held the nuts below with pliers) so I can claim a bit of elbow grease in there) fixed a leak that was horrible last night in the Galley.  I do have a funny story about Stasia’s first swim but I need to write about it first so till tomorrow, goodnight!

February 28, 2012  Stasia Overboard

Yes...when guests arrive, there is no time to write, although I can assure you we had lots of fun!  Thinking back I keep forgetting to tell the story of Stasia and her brave jump overboard.  So now I will take this opportunity to share it as well as I can remember it, things are always fresher the day they happen in my head.  Fred decided to take the dink out for some reason, and this time he was either leaving or coming back.  In any case, he was in the dink.  I was in the cockpit and Stasia, always anxious who the visitor was because she know they came only to see her, stretched herself as high as she could to see who was in the dink.  We thought she wanted a ride, which she had never been on before...at least not in the dinghy.  I picked her up and handed her to Fred who was smiling bigger than ever, and anxious to take the “Queen” on her first dinghy ride.  He placed her on her padded throne (the cooler) and backed off away from Casa Mare.  Slowly moving out she jumped off the throne and began walking around the rounded sides of the dink from one side to the other.  She looked at me, looked at Fred, and mustered all the energy she had had took an eagles soar finding herself mid air for about 1 1/2 seconds.  She disappeared under water but in less than the airborne timeframe, she surfaced with a howl that would scare even the bravest trick or treater on Halloween.  One thing for sure, she could dog paddle & howl at the same time and that she did, from the stern of the boat to the bow, in quick time might I add.  Fred was trying to rescue her with the dinghy but she was faster than that and managed to stay ahead of him still howling.  I probably would too if I saw a gray whale with a motor coming at me like that.  Things never look the same at sea level, especially when you are in the water and especially when you are as small as a cat swimming away from a whale.  I kept yelling, over her howling, “Fred, don’t run over her, she will end up in the prop.”  I didn’t know what to do so I ran to the bow, opened the anchor chain locker and pulled out the snubber line, grabbed the two ends and threw it into the water over her, hoping she would claw into it and rest at least until Fred got close enough to grab her.  But Noooooooo...that big whale was coming closer and closer and she looked up at me like well...I won’t repeat what she the look meant but I was crystal clear I was in for it when she got back on board.  After all...I was the one who handed her to Fred in the first place.  She turned around and doggie paddled for the stern again and before I could get there to open the back and drop the stairs, Fred had grabbed her by the tail and pulled her towards the boat, placed her back on her padded throne in the dinghy and there she sat, like a Queen, glaring at Fred as he took her for a ride around the harbor to try to dry her off a little.  She stayed there, deciding getting off the throne was much too dangerous for cats, especially when there was water all around her and she just discovered she possessed no wings.  When he returned, she was in the same spot, poor little pitiful thing, not moving until Fred handed her to me.  We wouldn’t let her into the cabin, after all, she was in that nasty water and needed to be cleaned off.  Fred had a brilliant idea to give her a shower...in the head...another first for her.  I was already aware she was out for “The Kill” and I was clearly the target so I volunteered Fred to give her her first shower since he came up with the idea in the first place.  Below they went, closed the head door and I heard the shower running.  I was so curious as to what was going on but didn’t dare peek in.  He later came out, smiled and said “All Clean”.  Fore safety’s sake he left her in the sink, where she sat through the entire cleaning process, as if that was her throne on the boat also.  Later on we peeked in and there she was, drier and still in the sink.  Bless her little heart.  Now we know...If we need to abandon ship and get on the dink, she will stay on the dink.  And...she likes showers!  She is the sweetest thing.  She never attacked me and never gave me “The look” again.  Still our precious little snuggly Stasia...loving it “on the boat” better than “in the water”.