Liesbet's blog

Destination Luperon

Liesbet — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:44:08 -0500

On May 19^th, we bit the bullet. We decided to leave for Luperon in the Dominican Republic the next day. Mark checked us out of the country and the alarm clock was set for 5:30 am.

We could have easily spend more time on Grand Turk and the anchor got set...

Travelling the Turks and Caicos by boat

Liesbet — Sat, 9 Aug 2008 08:14:47 -0500

Most cruisers use the Turks and Caicos merely as a stopover between the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Mark and I, on the other hand, like to explore and weren’t in a hurry quite yet, so we decided to stay a few weeks. Checking in at customs in

The Crab Pot: Friend or Enemy?

Liesbet — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:13:03 -0600

Every sailor in the Chesapeake Bay gets annoyed with all the crab pots, except, maybe, the ones familiar with sailing in the state of Maine. “You haven’t seen anything yet”, is their response after our complaints, “The lobster pots up north are way worse and all over the place!” ...

Recent Missions

Liesbet — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:19:47 -0600

Stuart is a good place to get stuck for a little while. Provisioning here is easy and a lot of interesting places, like stores, bars, restaurants, car rentals, supermarkets, parks, downtown, and much more, is within walking distance from the anchorage. Renting a mooring ball at South Point Anchorage...

Brrrraving the Cold

Liesbet — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:22:43 -0600

The alarm clock goes off. It’s six o’clock. Mark and I are still holding each other. It doesn’t really help. Our body heat seems to have evaporated. We are two ice cubes, attached, holding our
position in the warmest spot of the bed.
My winter hat kept my ears...

Bridges of the ICW

Liesbet — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:14:25 -0600

For some people they are a nightmare, because you have to
estimate your time of arrival constantly and they slow you down. You could plan to get there in time thanks to
all your electronics, and drive the boat accordingly. Or, you just get there whenever, burning the
fuel necessary, and...

A Day on the Waterway: Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Liesbet — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:23:55 -0600

This morning, Mark, the dogs, and I finally left Thunderbolt Marine. I can’t believe we stayed here for 9 days. That sure caused a big delay for getting south. Especially if you add the two days it took to get there and back on track. The sail drives are fixed and we managed to do a few other projects....

A Little Hick-up

Liesbet — Sat, 8 Dec 2007 20:19:42 -0600

“I don’t want to ruin your day, but… we have a problem.”
“What do you mean?”
It is December 1st, a Saturday, and we are anchored in Kilkenny Creek. The “town” Kilkenny is nothing more than a marina, a seafood restaurant, a few houses and lots of trees. Those nice big ones, life...

Motor Vessel Irie

Liesbet — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 12:39:40 -0600

For over three weeks now, we’ve been tugging along at a cruising speed of about 6.5 knots. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on wind and current. The distance we cover can be anything from 10 nautical miles per day (because we didn’t make our destination the previous day, or we have to...

Pleasant Encounters

Liesbet — Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:22:26 -0600

It was a rainy day in Deltaville. Mark and I had just arrived after an all day
battle with the weather elements. We
took the dinghy to shore and prepared ourselves for a long walk to the boat
store and the supermarket. Soon it was going
to be dark, so we felt rushed. Once...

In Memoriam

Liesbet — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:39:55 -0500

It is the middle of October 2006. After visiting Panama
in our RV, Mark, the dogs, and I crossed back into Nicaragua
a few days prior, and are now in the good company of Chris and Mel from Canada. ...

Owning a sailboat...

Liesbet — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:08:55 -0500

Slowly, but surely, the pieces are falling together. Mark and I started the process to get a green
card for me, meaning a lot of paperwork, money, time and rescheduling, since we
are not living at a real address. His
petition for keeping me in the States legally is approved and I got my...

Boston, We Have A Problem...

Liesbet — Thu, 6 Sep 2007 20:47:19 -0500

The return trip to the States could have been one of my
smoothest flights ever. The planes were
on time, my luggage made it without damage or problems, flight attendants were
friendly and the food close to tasty!
But… Homeland Security was not going to make it easy, this time. ...

Time Out

Liesbet — Tue, 4 Sep 2007 11:29:28 -0500

The end of May arrived.
It was time for my yearly visit to Belgium, to see friends and family. We were on the road, not knowing where we’d
be next, when I needed to book the flight. I had to pick a destination to fly out of and
chose New...

Execution of "the plan"

Liesbet — Mon, 3 Sep 2007 12:19:58 -0500

In the beginning of April, the four of us left Austin. For once, we really tried to stick to the
plan. Our one goal was to find a
suitable catamaran to live and travel in.

Still in Texas, we stopped
in Corpus...

The plan

Liesbet — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:27:14 -0500

What does one do while being stuck in the house of a friend for four months? It happened in Austin, Texas, in winter, while we were trying to sell our last mode of transportation/housing. Our trip through Central America was finished. We had broken up, and gotten back together. We decided...

Central America by RV

Liesbet — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:34:56 -0500

Yes, it is possible! Is it dangerous? No! Is it hassle free? No!

Mark, his dogs Darwin and Kali, and I explored Mexico and Central America for the whole year of 2006. We drove our truck camper all the way to Panama, over the Canal, and back. It was great to have our own (comfortable, but small)...