Alive And Still Cruising

Yes, we are still alive.  Yes we are still cruising.  2025/2026 was our 12th ? season.

Long story short (yes, I can actually do short) to catch everyone up. 

2019 - We finished the OCC Western Caribbean Rally.  Hurricane season was up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. 

2020 - Belize 

Covid Lockdown - Belize on our boat.  6 weeks straight on our boat....the original tiny house!  *Belize was very good during Covid,  locking down early and hard to protect their small population.   They were good to us.  Back to Rio Dulce late for hurricane season.  Flew stateside only after the airport opened in October 2020. 

2021 - We toured internally in Guatemala.   Hand surgery for Sabrina in Guatemala for trigger fingers.  Excellent care!

2022 - Utila of The Bay Islands. Hurricane season in Rio Dulce 

2023 - Roatan of The Bay Islands.  We wanted to get back to E Caribbean, however, it is straight east into the trades.  So we decided to go there via the USA.  Departed Roatan, sailed up and around the western end of Cuba and into Key West FL.  The 1st time sv Honey Ryder had been back stateside since departing in 2013.  Made our way up the east coast to Deltaville VA.  Hauled out.  

We decided as long as we were stateside to do a mini refit.  BIG projects were engine rebuild and new headliner,  converting to panels in the forward cabin.  Tons of medium and small projects.

While we were back, life items popped up:  Elderly parent challenges & deaths, health items, business items, etc... life.  

2024 - Departed Deltaville November 2nd LATE.  Worked our way south seeking warmth and freezing the whole way! Thanksgiving in St Mary's GA for the annual famous Cruisers Thanksgiving.

February 2025 - Sailed to the Bahamas with a buddy boat in tow.  

March 2025 - confirm that the Bahamas and buddy boating is not our cup of tea!  Make the decision to keep going back down to E Caribbean.....even though that meant doing The Thorny Path.  Ugh!  Aka motor sailing to windward.  Double ugh!  Sailed in the company of a few others.  

April/May 2025 - continued bash to windward (SE).

June 2025 - 9th?  Arrive back in beloved Trinidad.  Hauled boat at Powerboats. 21st ? flew stateside - thus wrapping up our 11th season and the delivery back to the E Caribbean. 

November 2025 - flew to Trini, prepped and launch the boat.  

December 2025 - start season 12, sailed to Grenada and up the chain to Martinique. 

March 2026 - Sail back down to Trinidad and haul the boat early.  However..... our sailing season was not over!!  More on that soon - hint - delivery & ocean crossing. 

So that is the short of the long.  

Ramble On - 10 Seasons To The Day

November 6, 2022

"Leaves are falling all around
It's time I was on my way
Thanks to you I'm much obliged
For such a pleasant stay
But now it's time for me to go
The autumn moon lights my way
For now I smell the rain
And with it pain
And it's headed my way"

Yes, the leaves are falling like crazy around us here in KC.  We are wearing long pants, long sleeves, jackets (at times) and "real" shoes aka not flip-flops!  We've had to turn on the heat at night!

"Ah, sometimes I grow so tired
But I know I've got one thing I got to do"

We've been stateside for 5 months this time.  We rushed back early in June so we could hold my mother's hand one last time.  We hugged family and laughed with friends.  We've filled our days with work, chores, music, fun, exploration, challenges, and some travel.  But it's time......  

"Ramble on
And now's the time, the time is now
To sing my song
I'm going 'round the world, I got to find my girl
On my way
I've been this way ten years to the day
I gotta ramble on"

As we prep to head home to our beloved sv Honey Ryder, I realized that November 6, 2013 we set sail for the Caribbean.  Making this our 10th season cruising!  WOW!  Link Here and There  Has it really been 10 seasons?  34 countries/islands, 10,000+ nautical miles later....I guess so.  *We should probably be planning to get our sea miles tattoos - more later on that.  

"Got no time for spreadin' roots
The time has come to be gone
And though our health we drank a thousand times
It's time to ramble on"

10 Sailing Seasons.  Are we tired of cruising?  NO.  There is still SO much to see and learn.  We do plan to move on to a new locale.  We've been in the Western Caribbean since 2019.  

"I ain't tellin' no lie
Mine's a tale that can't be told
My freedom I hold dear"

So what is our plan?  Well, we are going to bash our way back toward the Eastern Caribbean with the intent of returning to Trinidad for hurricane season 2023.  Of course the devil is in the details - cruising plans written in sand at low tide and all.....or something like that.    

"I guess I keep on rambling
I'm gonna, yeah, yeah, yeah
Sing my song (I gotta find my baby)
I gotta ramble on, sing my song
Gotta work my way around the world baby, baby
Ramble on, yeah"

I know I failed terribly on this blog the last few years.  I don't know if anyone will even read this.  We shall see.  I will try to do better.  What the hell, at the very least, when I am old and crunchy, I can go back and read it.

**Ramble On - Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Warner/Chappel Music Inc - I intend no copywrite infringement.  I am artistically quoting some of their words to help share my thoughts and feelings....like all epic songs do for us!     

Still Cruising Season 9

I am so out of practice blogging that I published this blog several months ago but I published it under Beyond Burgoo - my food blog.  Ooops.  Link

March 24, 2022

Hello.  How is everyone?  It's been a long time since I blogged.  2019 to be exact.  Many excuses why, most not worth detailing.  I have missed writing.  I have missed you all.  

But here we are, our 9th cruising season.  Wow!  Can that really be?  

We are currently in Utila, the western most island of The Bay Islands of Honduras, approximately 20 nautical miles off mainland Honduras.  We arrived here February 27, 2022 from Rio Dulce Guatemala.  

We've not been to this particular Bay Island and we were quite keen to see and experience it.  When we came around to the Western Caribbean in 2019, we checked into The Bay Islands at Guanaja, the eastern most island.  We spend a couple of weeks there and then sailed to Roatan, the biggest and most developed of The Bay Islands.  Then we ran out of time and had to skip Utila and head for the safety of the Rio Dulce in Guatemala for hurricane season 2019, 2020 (COVID), 2021.

So far, we are really diggin' Utila.  The people are friendly and genuine.  Things ashore are fairly easy to navigate.  Many business owners who allows us to land and lock our dinghy at their docks.  That is not always the case in places we cruise to.  Easy trash disposal, provisioning, diesel, propane, water, etc....

I am going to keep this first one short so that is all for now.