Jonny Wipes Out

Fun with Ponds

Everything is nice and wet around here after the storm. The boys felt the need to take advantage of it ;-) These first shots are of Adam, one of the bossmen here at Highland. He put on a great show for us!




Of course, Jonny had to give it a shot.




....and Johnny Thompson

Storm Brewing

We've all taken shelter in the clubhouse and hangar and there are 10 guys gathered at the window watching the front hit, wondering if their tents are gonna survive. Dustin and Jim landed Jim's little plane just a while ago and in the nick of time. They say this will blow through quickly and tomorrow should be flyable for the first task.

As I write pea-sided hail is falling.

Thanks so much to Sunny for an emergency surgery on my toe....where is Dr. Ecki when I need him!!

Fully Loaded

The VW holding the gear of me, Nico, Jim, Dusty, Jonny and Ben!

You Cant Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want

....stuck in DC traffic on the way to pick up Jonny Boy at the
Baltimore airport. Funny how this 40-year-old brain learns life's
lessons in the strangest ways!

Tonight we'll be at Highland ready for the ECC, with heaps of fun
pilots from all over the planet. Good times! Just wishing a new friend
from Oz could be here.

Sent from my iPhone

What's a Cascade??

I suppose we should have at least paid some attention to the sign that said "Cascade, Road Closed Ahead." We thought we would save ourselves an hour or so by driving back to Kingston across the mountainous jungle, instead of around the island like we did a few days ago. Ha! After close to two hours of wild jungle driving, we came around a sharp corner to find an abandoned car in the middle of the road. We thought it was strange that no one felt the need to move it out of the way....that is, until we rounded the next curve to learn exactly what a "cascade" is! Lucky for us, a local offered to drive our car around the cascade, through his plantation. Good thing- the road was pretty steep and I wasn't so interested in driving the rental car over it. To make sure the car would make it up the steep dirt road, we all got out and walked it ;-)

The Race is On Again

Saw Timothy off to start one of the last three legs of the race. It was sad to see him go, but looks like we might meet up again in Halifax in a few weeks. The girls and I had a great time enhancing Tim's already overinflated reputation as a womanizer. I'm guessing he's the only one of the round-the-worlders to have five girls meet him in port.


Here's Tim with me, his daughter Raine (in front sitting closest to Tim) and Raine's college girlfriends Tess, Malory and Kayla.


The race didn't start up again until sometime after noon today, but there was little for us to do at the marina - we finished our deck swabbing and other clean up work the day they arrived. The girls and I headed out to find another one of those gorgeous beaches. We ended up back at Winefred Beach where we spent the first day enjoying homemade jerk chicken, rice and beans and some sweet Brasilian girls we met. Just as we were packing up to leave, we saw the Clippers waaaaaaay off in the distance, just getting started.

I Love Brasil ;-)

Made some new friends from Sao Paulo today (no, I'm not in Brasil)....will name my kids after them- Luciana, Daniela and Camila ;-)

Fast and the Furious, Jamaica Nights!

The girls and I turned a one and a half hour drive across the island into a four hour drive around the island from Kingston to Port Antonio. It was truly an adventure - between the lack of road signs, enormous pot holes (on the sections of the road that were actually paved), crazy Jamaican drivers and overly friend boys chasing after us, we were pleased to make it to the marina in time to catch Uniquely Singapore cruising in.



I wasn't particularly fond of Kingston, but this side of the island is lovely. We're at the Jamaican Palace and it really is a palace!!

Painter

Had the whole morning/early afternoon to explore Kingston by my onesies yesterday. After the Bob Marley museum I went in search of graffiti. Not a single bit to be found. But, I did find this beautiful painter......er, painting ;-)

One for My Honey...

....I wish you were here sweetie pie!

Toured the Bob Marley house/museum yesterday....cool place.

A bit of Wandering

We spent the afternoon exploring the old colonial section of Panama City. It reminds me so much of Havana....only Panama has tons of cars and not as many people. Havana was all people and few cars. Stumbled into a barrio where a cop advised us to "walk fast and be careful" ;-) Couldn't find one bit of graffiti.

Got a trap-steamer, my ship's called Hal...

...Forty miles on the Panama Canal
Got a cargo of sodas, they are lo-cal
Forty miles on the Panama Canal

We spent yesterday afternoon at Miraflores Locks, they are the first locks you come to if you're going from the Pacific to the Atlantic (which is actually south to north) through the canal. Tim took a million pictures....even a few of the canal ;-)

As I'm writing this, Uniquely Singapore, New York and Glasgow are the first three boats going through the canal. It will take them at least 10 hours to get through. For some reason, I thought it was a faster process. I wanted so badly to stowaway on Tim's boat and ride through the canal....they wouldn't let me....something about insurance, liability and lawyers :-(

The interactive race viewer is at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/multimedia/race_viewer/

Sweet Reunion

Timothy and the rest of Uniquely Singapore finally made it into the marina about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. I don't think I've ever been so excited to see him. Our last adventure together was in Croatia last July and that seems like forever ago.

Got the grand tour of the boat and then was immediately put to work flaking the mainsail onto the boom. This job takes a minimum of eight people and part of the crew was off getting all the food for the next leg, so anyone hanging out got recruited.

Watched a beautiful pink sunset with the Panama City skyline in the distance and then had a few drinks with the crew before calling it a night.

Hot Shoe Burning Down the Avenue

....model citizen, zero discipline!

I think a good part of my adventurous nature comes from my seventh grade social studies teacher, Mr. Murphy. He used to read to us for the last half hour of homeroom. When the bell rang, unlike in any other class in the history of elementary school, we would just sit there, hoping he wouldn't stop. He read every Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn book there was, Shackleton's story of The Endurance (my personal favorite, to this day) and various stories about the construction of the Panama Canal. I daydreamed all my life about having my own adventures like those.

So, here I am at the Panama Canal. Actually, I haven't seen the canal yet. I arrived in the middle of the night and after a quick rest, wandered down to the marina where Timothy's boat was expected to arrive around 10am. They're running a bit late, so I hung out for a while with the crew of the New York, winner of this leg of the race and the only one of ten boats to arrive so far. Timothy's boat, Uniquely Singapore, should be motoring into the marina in about 2 hours.

Lago Muy Grande

Got home this afternoon after a weekend away and found a big lake in my backyard. My beautiful ocean was flat as my chest was a few years ago ;-) Mom and dad came by and we swam all afternoon checking out the turtles popping their heads up and the occasional canoe paddling by....odd site in my backyard.

It sure doesn't suck to live on the beach and it is especially nice coming home to family close by. I haven't had family in the same town (usually not even in the same state) since before college. Having mom and dad here is such a treat and I expect that soon both of my brothers will be moving here with their families....I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Red Elvises

The entire Quest gang made a little trek to Tampa last night for the Red Elvises show - Bobby & Connie, Davis & Belinda, Flavia, Mike, Jim, Joe, Darien & Riley and Nicole and I . What a fun time hanging out with friends and dancing all night long. The Red Elvises are Bobby Bailey's favorite band - they have come to Quest twice during the Flytec meet and everyone goes crazy over them.

David, we missed you and the move ;-)

Fun Pics from Arizona