Laura's here!

September 23, 2007


And yes, we're having fun!

Meow!

September 19, 2007

I’m finally getting the kind of treatment I deserve. Yesterday they fed me some of their leftover chicken skin. As they should! Afterwards I enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the comfort of my floating queendom. This life isn’t so bad sometimes.


Chicken skin, yummy!


What? No more?


I am pretty, oh so pretty, I am pretty and pretty and gay!

“Whisper Kite-Surfing Expeditions”

September 15, 2007

Here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a founding member of the next great thing: “Whisper Kite-Surfing Expeditions.” Act now to make your mark in history! We know you read this blog every week, now is your time to give back and gain the satisfaction of being part of something great. “Whisper Kite-Surfing Expeditions” is the next phase in s/v Whisper’s journey and she needs YOU (well, your money) to make this possible.

A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are available, including: a 10m kite, lines & bar, board, two harnesses, carrying bags, lessons, and the obligatory board shorts.

Mail your contribution on a Cabrinha Custom Board with RFC 2" Chris Gilbert fins, Dakine Boost deck grips with plates and the new Dakine X Lace straps, featuring an ABS sidewall, a PVC core, and mixed weight quadraxial glass.

Look for “Whisper Kite-Surfing Expeditions” throughout the Caribbean!

Cabarete and a view

September 15, 2007

We took a short mid-week break from varnishing and painting and went to Cabarete for two days and a night. Cabarete is a beach-town about 80km east of Luperon and is renowned for windsurfing and kite-surfing. It is a typical beach town…lots of souvenir shops, tour operators, hotels and plenty of bars on the beach. The atmosphere is relaxed: lots of surfers and wanna-be surfers, families and northern Europeans turning pink.

After finding a nice hotel we went to Jose O’Sheay’s, an Irish pub on the beach, recommended to us by Jim and Wendy for their authentic reuben sandwiches. They were expensive but worth every peso. Actually, it’s probably good they were on the pricey side or we’d be moto-ing 160km everyday for reubens. Yum!


Hans digging in to his reuben sandwich.

We alternated our time between the beach and the pool at the hotel and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We capped the evening off very romantically with a 4 hour Law & Order marathon in our air-conditioned hotel room. Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve lived on a 27-foot boat for almost a year sans showers, air-conditioning and TV.

Just another day at the beach.

Cabarete's beautiful beach.

As we were driving back to Luperon on Thursday afternoon, we took advantage of the clear skies and rode the cable car to the top of Isabel del Torres, the mountain in Puerto Plata. It was a fantastic side trip with stunning views of the north coast of the DR.









Views from the top of the mountain.

Activity in Luperon Harbor

September 10, 2007

The past few days have been eventful in Luperon Harbor. We finished the first half of our varnish job in the interior and, much to Mik’s delight, we also painted the interior fiberglass white. The results are spectacular and Whisper looks like a proper yacht. After finishing, we moved Whisper out to the outer harbor, away from the endless scandals and gossip of the other boaters anchored in the main harbor. The cruising community is developing a severe case of cabin fever. The tensions are high and small fights and scuffles have broken out. It is like a middle school cafeteria: person A won’t talk to person B because person B offended person C who is friends with person A. It doesn’t help that half of the people start drinking at 10AM every morning. It also doesn’t help that many people have not taken the initiative to explore the country, learn Spanish or keep themselves otherwise occupied. There is also a large number of people who suffer from KIAS (“know-it-all” syndrome), which seems especially prevalent with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. At any rate, it was nice to be in the other harbor, anchored by ourselves for a few days.

Sunset at outer anchorage.

However, on Saturday night, as we gathered with some friends (none afflicted with KIAS) for a small campfire, Renee and Michael’s boat “Jacumba” was robbed and the thief made away with $1300. Of course, everyone in the harbor had immediate onset of KIAS and unwanted and unuseful advice poured in. Michael went to the Comandante (the local harbor master, employed by the Navy) to report the theft, however the Comandante said nothing could be done since there were no witnesses. Needless to say, Michael and Renee are very frustrated. As a result, we’ve left the tranquility of our private harbor and have moved back into the main anchorage for the additional security we may receive from the proximity of other boats.

Starting the campfire.


In addition to the theft on Jacumba, Renee and Micahel’s cat, Shaka, is very sick with kidney failure and they are probably going to euthanize him today. Life is far from cheery on Jacumba. When it rains, it pours.

ice cream and varnish

September 5, 2007

In case anyone was concerned that we have too much idle time on our hands, have no fear. As soon as we returned from our trip to Samana, we started the massive project of painting and varnishing the interior of Whisper. We've wanted to do this for a long time, but there was always a more pressing job to do. Needless to say, this will really spruce up the interior. In the meantime, we've moved onto Michael and Renee's catamaran "Jacumba." It will keep our lungs clean from the fumes and will keep Kit Kat's fur out of the wet varnish. Yes, Kit Kat has moved onto Jacumba too. She is not being a model guest, far from it. Shaka is the resident cat on Jacumba and is not bothered by Kit Kat. He basically ignores her. Kit Kat on the other hand, takes every opportunity to hiss and growl at Shaka. Maybe she's a little insecure?!


Mike working hard to make some ice cream.


Kristen serving the final result: vanilla ice cream served with a passionfruit sauce. Living on Jacumba encourages good eating: last night for dinner Kristen made her favorite, spinach lasagne, and Hans concoted the delicious passionfruit sauce. Tonight Michael is promising a egg and potato dish with chocolate mousse for dessert. Yum!


A sneak peek of what the finished product will look like.