Scott Taylor, our crew, arrived exactly on schedule 2 days ago, via plane from Austin through Miami and down to Guayaquil. And then by bus to Bahia.

Of course, Dave being Dave, we put him to work immediately. He's completed the final 2 steps on the window leak project--sealing around the windows with aluminum sealing tape and then putting our window screens back up.

He also got assigned to be my 'coolie' for two grocery runs today, lugging 20 lbs of potatoes through the market and back to the boat. And he helped Dave all afternoon getting rigging things done, and hauling the dinghy up on deck.

But the best thing he has done so far is make gourmet pancakes for us for breakfast this morning. This is my kind of crew!

We leave for the Galapagos in the morning. We should be, as usual, able to post updates as we go, so keep your eyes peeled for more progress reports (but, unfortunately, while underway, no pics).

We expect to the trip to take about 5 days. The weather forecast is 10 knots on the beam, so we are really looking forward to... maybe... sailing on this leg!

Labels: Ecuador

Victoria, the boat next to us, has twin 10 year old boys, Patrick and Thomas. Since they are far from home and without the benefit of things like Boy Scouts here, their mom asked Dave to give them a little taste of Boy Scouts.

So Dave gave them his standard 'Knot Tying Class' that he used to do with his Boy Scouts. It is actually way beyond just tying knots. Dave explains the types of line you'll find on a sailboat, and what each type of line is for. And WHY you tie particular knots.

They boys are really bright, and they were quick to pick up on everything. Since then, every time Dave sees them, he has asked them a question on the material. They keep coming up with the right answers. So I guess Dave did a good job.

We're going to miss Victoria, and all the boats here, when we sail away tomorrow. That's the saddest part of cruising... all the good friends you leave in your wake. But we hope to run into many of them in the Marquesas later in the year.

Labels: Ecuador

We had a fun New Years Eve, but we're both still recovering from our 'fun' in Cuenca. Last night I felt like my cold had turned to strep throat, but this morning I'm not so sure. (We don't have time to be sick right now!!)

I have again split the blog, so you can find my old posts for 2009 here:

http://svsoggypaws.com/blog2009/

And for 2007 and 2008, here:

http://svsoggypaws.com/blog2008/

Dave is calling me right now to work on 'projects', so the links to the 2008 and 2009 posts from this blog (on the borders) have not been updated yet, but will be soon... hopefully before we leave for the Galapagos (Jan 7)!

Labels: Ecuador