10.23.04

Well lots has happened since I last wrote. I passed my celestial navigation
course and once I fill out several hours of paperwork and mail in 2 passport
pictures, I will receive my official Yachtmaster Ocean certificate which says I
can sail/deliver a boat anywhere in the world, with or without GPS. You know me
though, I love modern electronics even if learning star navigation was fun. We
have 3
GPS systems onboard-one for the boat and a handheld for each liferaft. The
celestial calculation tables are very complicated-I have no idea how anyone ever
figured them out in the first place!

Our bow sprit broke a few days ago which meant we could not fly our low wind
screacher on the way to Bermuda. Because of that and because we had low wind,
that leg of the trip was longer than it should have been. Dave and Ray got off
in Bermuda with their girlfriends for some final land vacationing before heading
home. They needed to hit the beaches, as their time they had set aside for this
adventure was almost over. They had business at home that needed attending.
Instructor Bob also got off in Barbados after he gave me my final exam. Greg and
I found a very friendly machine shop in Barbados who dropped everything and put
4 guys on fixing our bowsprit in 5 hours. Amazing!! They cut, welded and machine
dremmeled a hard plastic insert. We rented a car to take the part to them and
were able to sight see in the process.
The highest point of Barbados is 1800 feet. It is basically a low lying island
with lots of tan (not white) sand beaches. Nothing spectacular. It is very
touristry. Cruise ships come and go daily with thousands of passengers. Street
vendors are everywhere expecting handouts and there is lots of bumper to bumper
traffic. Not a destination I would recommend. We have already seen so many a lot
nicer. On the upside-we bought a case of Malibu Rum and Mount Gay Rum-both
Barbados products.Party time later!!
Instructor Bob took Greg and I out to a lovely beachside restaurant our final
evening together. We sat on the 2nd level with the surf lapping at the first
floor stilts and a coolish breeze kept us very comfortable. Passion fruit rum
drinks were ordered and a final toast on a safe journey was made. It was a nice
treat.
Greg and I set sail the next afternoon for St Lucia. We left at 3 PM (or 1500 as
they say in sailor language) and sailed through the night and arrived at
daybreak this morning. It is easier to approach an anchorage in daylight hours.
Since St Lucia has lots of coral reefs we timed our leaving Barbados
accordingly. Our repaired bowsprit worked great and we had an easy evening sail.
We alternated 3-4 hour watches so we both could get some sleep. It wasn't as easy
as when we had five of us sharing the watch but this was the longest sail leg of
those left. From here we are going to island hop up to the BVI. We plan to sail
4-8 hours a day and anchor at night. The Windward and Leeward islands are close
together making this possible. We hope to get in some snorkeling/diving along the
way and a few good beachside meals. Our adventure is becoming more of an island
vacation now. It is welcome change as we have worked hard. Time for Toucan Play
to start playing more!!!
This was our maiden sail as a couple. Something new to celebrate-so we did of
course!! We had a Malibu toast at sunset while sitting on the front trampoline
with the remote control autopilot in hand. Mother Nature cooperated with gentle
surf and a firery red sunset. Toucan Play makes a delightful swoosh cooing sound when coasting downwind  When the seas are smooth, like they were last twilight, it is fun to
watch the ocean race by through the weavings of the two front tramps. We layed
there for awhile enjoying our first private moments together on our new home, and our
first sunset alone on the Toucan Play together and found all kinds of "things
and
critters" made out of the white fluffy clouds on the horizon around us.
The trip was uneventful until we lost our GPS signal during the final hour.
Lucky we
had
two handhelds as backup. Oh I forgot! I could have pulled out the sextant at
daybreak. What was I thinking?
We have now arrived in St Lucia. WOW- what a contrast to Barbados and it was
only a quick 15 hour sail. In fact, with our big screacher sail repaired, we
made such
good time that we had to slow down a little so we could make a day light
approach. Majestic volcanic soaring mountain peaks drop
straight into the ocean and sand beaches are tucked in between. They are clad in
palm tree foliage dense as a forest. Looks like another paradise to explore. I
will write more later,  Kimberlee

From Greg:
The reason that she will write more later is that she has to take a nap for now.
We have had a long day and she has worked her little tail off. I'm very proud of
her for all of the studying and hard work that she has done to make her Ocean
certificate a real treasure for her and make this South Atlantic crossing
possible!!. Me- I just sail the boat and work on all the stuff on the boat while
she does all of the paperwork, manual reading, prep planning, navigation,
and all of the things that would
drive me crazy. Together we will make all of this type of stuff a real joy,
because she can do all of the things that I don't like to do, (paper work and
such) and I can do all of the things that she can'. (mechanical guy type of
stuff,    You know, it's what men do!!!) Well, since Kimmie is in the air
conditioned cabin now, taking a nap, I want to thank you all for joining us on
our voyage across the South Atlantic, and for the wonderful feedback that you
have all given us. We will have more to come, as more of our friends are going
to
help make our new life easier, by coming and joining us on the Toucan Play,  I
too am going to close for now and we will let you all know what St. Lucia is
like in our next e-mail. Till then, congrats to the CARDS  National league
champs and on the the WORLD SERIES!!!!!!   RAH!!!!    <"(((   ><    Greg

p.s.  come see us soon, we really do miss all of you!!!!!!

Update 10.18.04 Monday 1532hr.
Location:
8º 22.8 minutes north
56º 07.7 Minutes West

Hey Mates,
Big Water Sailor Boy here once again reporting from the Atlantic Ocean. Where
the skies and water are blue blue blue every where you look. The temperature is
86º with a few spotted clouds.

The following is a very nice letter from Nita M.:
How generous of you to take all of us with you on this great Adventure.  We love
Kim's  poetic and educational accounts, and Dave with the hard facts and
sometimes scary feelings.  Thanks to all of you for sharing.  We've been there
all the way, from the fart jokes and raw cookie dough to the daring exploits in
high seas; from the spinning dolphins to your land treks in places we would
never have ventured.  While we are so proud of your accomplishment, we are more
than a little sad that this adventure  will soon come to an end.
And now my question, what happens next?  What's in the future for Toucan Play?
Another trip?  A sale?
So enjoy these last few days together on her remembering that we are all still
with you (and still praying for your safety and joy each day).  We are looking forward to
hearing more stories in person.
God bless Toucan Plan and all her mateys.

Don and Nita (CSA Cabin Fleet)
(Dave's response: When we leave Toucan Play in just a couple of days Kim and
Greg will begin their lives as Yachters. They will be hanging out in the leeward
islands and the British Virgin Islands. We got on this boat on July 31 and Kim
and Greg still have not had a night alone on their boat. They will be chartering
a few groups a year. As far as more stories, you bet baby, I have some stories
to tell. In fact I could double the size of this web site with "The Untold
Story" ).

Speaking of wrapping things up. Please send all future correspondence to my AOL
e-mail address. EHDAVE @aol.com. I would very much like any continued questions
and comments. I will be responding from Orlando next week. Please NO MORE
e-mails to the GregKim address. Next week I will be composing my wrap up. So
tune in then for more exciting stuff, same bat time, same bat channel.

BWSB
Hey, am I still going to be able to use BWSB when I come back to the Midwest?
Dave

10.18.04

We are half way to Barbados. We are now in hurricane territory so we are keeping
a very close look at the weather. This area has a lot more squalls especially
ones with lightening. We spent last night playing tag-Mother Nature was "It" and
we were being chased. Sqaulls were everywhere on the radar screen and lightening
was on all horizons. Greg and I picked a course through the mess and didn't feel
a rain drop. As I have said before, electronics are great especially when you
get a little lucky and there is a safe path to find.

In the dark of night, the lightening often appeared as extremely bright white
lit canon balls exploding centrally within the storm cells. The explosion would
then light up the surrounding margins of the cloud masses making their towering
tops appear very ominous. We did not see the usual bolts and jagged streaks and
there also was no thunder. As dawn broke I could see the remnants of one the
storms we had been avoiding. What had been a little scary became awesomely
beautiful. The towering anvil cloud top curled and folded over to leave a small
circle of clear sky within. This open area was just where the orange sun decided
to peek up above the horizon. It was quite a spectacular sight: deep deep dark
blue gray squall line with fringing rain streaks and a fluorescent burning
orange ball contrasted in the middle. This took up about one half of the horizon
and then the menacing squall line slowly gave way to orange and pink sunrise
clouds. I took a video of this horizon as it spanned much too much of the horizon
to capture in a single picture frame. I hope it turns out!
The squalls disappeared by early morning and the wind became very light. We had
to turn our motor on. Everyone was saying "giddy-up" as the white horses
(remember our wind blown wave tops?) were very quiet, almost  non-existent. We
motored most of the day but around sunset the breeze picked up and we are now
comfortably sailing again. The direction of the wind has now changed from behind
us to across our beam (coming horizontally from our side). We now sail with our
mainsail (the big sail behind the mast) and our genoa (the smaller sail in front
of the mast), both up at the same time. These are the sails most people are used
to seeing on single masted sailboats.. Our colorful spinnaker is packed away as
it is for sailing downwind..

Our current latitude is 9 degrees 59 minutes North
    .              longitude is 56 degrees 42 minutes West

Tonight the sky is again star studded with a crescent moon. There are no squalls
trying to play tag. Thank goodness-I am ready for a quiet nights sleep. Nighty
night, Kimberlee and Greg

Update 10.17.04 Sunday 1316 hr.
Location:
7º 26.0 minutes north
54º 21.0 minutes west

We are heading for the island of Barbados. It is said that they have endless pink
and white beaches. This will be the last island for us to explore on this trip
as Bob, Ray, Linda and I will be spending a few days exploring and then
departing for the states. Linda and I will be in Orlando Florida for a week and
then end up in St. Louis, MO USA by Oct. 30th. We will have no postings next
week because Pat O. will be off on a vacation of her own. Pat O. is the web
mistress that has been making all of this happens. The only thing that will have
to wait for her return will be the final wrap up of the adventure which I will
be completing in Orlando. I will wrap up any other question and comments and
some final comments of my own I'm sure.
Meanwhile I am very happy to say that we have more questions from our third
grade class.

Hi Dave,
You won't believe this but your 85'  mast is = all of my 19  kids.
They spread out down  the hallway head to toe and then we measured.
They were quite impressed with how tall they would be if they stood on
each others heads.  : )
We went outside and measured the size of the boat.  Then we stood on it
and moved altogether up and down while we subtracted all we could see
and pretended it was ocean.
Also we now know....bow and stern

Here are some more questions.

Dear Dave and Linda,
It's Ashley again.  Does the boat seem small when you have been on it
for a long time?
(Linda and Dave's response: Yes and no, Compared to our boat in the Midwest
sailing in a 3 x 7 mile lake this one is very spacious. However, compared to the
ocean we are a tiny grain of sand. It also seams small in regards to the
inability to get up and go hiking for miles for exercise. We feel trapped in a
confined area).

Dear Dave,
What's it like on the boat?  What color is the water?
Karisa
(Dave's response: Besides being confined we have many of the luxuries that you
have at home. Hot water, to shower and do the dishes in. Gas to cook with
heating and air conditioning, refrigerators, oven and a stove. We have seen the
water color change from dark black to aqua to cobalt blue to green to muddy
muddy brown (Like thick chocolate milk) in Cayanne located in the Amazon Basin.
We witnessed the water changing form brown to aqua marine green as we left
Cayanne, we actually saw a line where the color changed. Right now we are
sailing in cobalt blue water).

Dear Linda and Dave,
We measured  your boat in the rain.  Do you need a hair cut?  Does it
ever rain there?
Shantelle
(Linda and Dave's response: Greg used to be a Hair Stylist many years ago.
Earlier in this trip he cut my hair right here on the boat. Ray had decided to
leave his hair go before he ever left St. Louis. His goal is to look like a Long
haired Sailor Boy to impress and shock his friends when he returns to St. Louis.
He is doing a great job as his hair is very full long and wild).

Dear Dave,
How many miles have you traveled from all the places you've gone?  Did
you see a waterfall?
Braydon
(Dave's Response: This question has prompted me to check our ships log. WOW, we
have traveled almost 5000 miles. You and your classmates could help me by
letting me know how far you would have to travel from Arcola to equal 5000
miles. Yes we saw a beautiful 300 foot waterfall on Ascension Island).

Dear Dave,
Is it hot down there?  Are the people nice?
Bobby
(Dave's Response: It is hot and we have been very happy to have the air
conditioners, especially for sleeping. The people have been very nice especially
the other Yachters. This community of transients are so very helpful that they
take in fellow sailors that are new to the port. One guy brought us fresh bread
from the bakery every day that we were in port, another gave us ride to the
airport so we could rent a car. When I asked one fellow why he felt everyone was
so nice he said: "We don't have anything else to do". What I think it is, is
that nice deeds breed nice deeds. Sailors that have traveled for years have had
to have help at times, so they are happy to return the favors to others. This is
also a wonderful practice to have in your everyday life. Help others and they
will help others, these favors will come back to you directly and in the great
feeling that you will have from helping someone).

Dear Dave,
Is it hot?  Do you miss McDonalds?
Connor
(Dave's Response: Yes, we get sweaty pretty quick here. I miss the salads at
McDonalds it is a great fast on the run type of meal, but nothing beats their
fries, Yumee).

Dear Dave and Linda,
Are you having a great day?  Is there one thing you wish you would have
brought with you?  I hope I can see you.
Brandon M.
(Linda and Dave's response: We are both having a great day responding to our
friends questions, thank you for taking the time to send them to us. The one
thing that we wish we would brought with us? All of our friends and especially
Goldie).

Dear Dave,
Do you know what the people say?  How much gas does it take in a day.
We found out you have 275 gallons of fuel on your boat.
Alex and Zach
(Dave's response: While we were in South Africa they spoke eleven different
languages, since then we have had to communicate in French and Portuguese. That
makes 13 languages plus English. It was very difficult to understand them. In
Cuyanne I was looking for a bathroom and had to act like I was going number one
before the guys eyes lit up and he then pointed to the hallway that led me to
the bathroom. WEW that was close, I was glad that it didn't take any longer. If
we run one engine around the clock we would use 132 gallons of gas. Can you two
tell me how many hours we can run from a full tank to empty?)

Dear Dave and Linda,
Have you seen any more whales?  What is the thing you hate about the
trip?  What is the thing you like about the trip?
Your friend,
Evan
Linda and Dave's response: We are pretty much out of whale country for this time
of year. They migrate south of year and come back later. Linda hates being
seasick, I hate seeing Linda seasick. We both love meeting new people, learning
new cultures, sighting dolphins and seeing new places. We both love being back
together after being apart for sooooo long).
That's all folks.  Go Cardinals!!
Love,
Barb
Thank You Barb, I love doing this.
Dave

Hello Toucan Play & Cousin Dave:
???
* What is everyone's professions back on land?
*Did everyone know each other before the trip?
*I thought you mentioned Skipper Bob's family lived in Florida, were they in the
areas hit by the hurricanes?
* How often does Skipper Bob sail across the Atlantic a year?
*Is Kim and Greg planning on living on the boat full time or only for
recreational use?
*Please share with us your dive trips?  Any coral reefs?
Sports Update Cardinal Fans;  Up 1 Game   over Houston Astros   Cardinals Won
10-7
Kim- So glad Linda is on board.  I  am sure it is nice having a female on board.
Enjoy the remainder of the trip. The dolphin sittings sound wonderful.
Yall take care.
Dave's KY Cousin Patti

(Dave's response: Kim is a Vet. and recently sold three practices, Greg was a
Car Salesman, Ray rehabs houses for resale, Linda is an Engineer and sells
automation equipment (hardware and Software), Bob teaches sailing classes and I
am a Real-estate Developer.
Kim, Greg and Ray have known each other for years, I have known Kim for 12
years, Greg for five and I met Ray once for a planning dinner before I got on
the plane for 30 hours in the seat next to him. After that we knew each other
pretty well. Linda met Ray, Kim and Greg at the planning dinner once before this
trip. Kim had met Bob in a class in Florida and none of the rest of us new him
before.
Bob and his family live in a sailboat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His wife and
daughter had to evacuate inland recently, leaving the boat secured in the middle
of the harbor. Their boat/home are now safely back in it's slip and the wife and
daughter are at home. It was nerve racking for Bob during that time watching the
hurricane bare down on his boat and not be able to be there.
Skipper Bob has crossed the Atlantic 26 times, so it is not necessarily
something that he does every year.
Kim and Greg are planning on living on the boat full time.
We are planning on doing a dive trip on Thursday and I am sure that I will be
giving you the run down after that.
Thank You for the sports update).
Once again I have enjoyed doing this but now I must go prepare for my turn at
the helm.
Go Cards

BWSB
Dave
(Whose birthday happens to be July 29th.)

Update 10.15.04 Friday 1835

Well, on10.12.04 I asked:
Why is there current in the Big Water? This is just one really big pool of
water, why doesn't the water get to where it wants to be and stop? Like in the
sink. Why does it always move, always has and always will?
The reason this question came to mind for me is that we rode a current and
prevailing winds from Cape Town, South Africa all the way across the Atlantic to
where we are today. What is wild is that it is the same current that the sailors
used in the 1400s. It is called the trade winds because the early sailors could
bring products across the Atlantic using the route we took, now remember they
had no motors to get them back and they could not sail against the wind. HEY,
you might ask how did they get back home. Well you see they would sail across
the equator north (Who remembers the name of the King at the equator?) into the
northern hemisphere where they would sail across the North Atlantic east and
then South to get back to the original location. This would take many months and
sometimes years. Now how did all that wind and current get started and what
keeps it going is the question that I asked. What I have learned is that there
are several reasons. The most prominent being gravitational pull. That's right,
but not the pull of the earth, it is the pull of the moon as it orbits the earth
it is trying to pull the water "to the moon Alice" (sorry I couldn't resist).
So, imagine a rubber ball when you throw it against the wall, the ball
elongates, bingo, exactly what happens to the earth when the moons gravitational
pull drags water with it as it orbits the earth. The earth elongates causing
tides. This is when the waters depth changes on the ocean. When the tide comes
in the water gets deeper at that location and shallower somewhere else on the
planet where the tide is going out. So this movement is what is causing the
current that we spoke of earlier. In some places people have to deal with as
much as 30' tide difference in other places just a few feet. Why the difference?
Why not the same everywhere? Well now we get to talk about Mr. Sun. You see the
sun also has gravitational pull and in some parts of the world it works with the
moon and in others it works against it. The Sun is a big and powerful body. How
powerful? I'm glad that you asked that question. (I hope that you did. I am
going to answer it even if you didn't). Imagine all of the energy consumed on
the planet Earth in an entire year, that's all of the gas and electric used for
everything we do. You got that huge picture in your mind, now hang on to it
because this thing gets wildly unbelievable. Take that amount of energy and
times it by three hundred and eighty million, that's 380,000,000. Now that's
what I call a big picture. Now take that huge picture and that is how much
energy the sun puts out, GET READY FOR THIS, every second.
Please excuse my diversion for current and wind, but this statistic has always
just blown me away.
Now back to business. The other effect that the sun has on the wind is that as
we rotate and orbit the sun the part of the earth that the sun is closest to
gets the most heat. That is very close to the equator. Now as that part of the
earth is being heated with such intensity it causes the heat to rise sucking the
wind up. This creates an area called the doldrums where there is NO wind. We
expect to sail through the doldrums in the next couple of days. This area can be
as much as a two hundred mile band. Lucky Carlyle Sailing Assoc. is not in that
part of the world, Hey? This motion of wind being pulled up creates a domino
effect of wind currents that goes back to the Trade Winds that we spoke about
earlier. This complicated explanation is my attempt to simplify a very
complicated and miraculous force of Mother Nature that has been going on without
fail since on the eighth day God said "Let there be good current and wind so
that BWSB can have some fun". "Oh yea, and his sailor buddies to". If you are
not a sailor and you have managed to get all the way through this, then I
commend you and I realize that you must not have much else to do right now.
Thanks for hanging in there with me.

BWSB
EHDAVE
(Whose birthday happens to be July 29th.)

10.15.04

We are now sitting anchored in the middle of an Amazonian type river in
Cayenne, French Guyana. We sailed past the entrance of the Amazon which now lies
250 miles to our Southwest only to enter Fleuve Mabury, an estuary near River de
Cayenne. We are picking up another friend at the Cayenne airport tonight to join
us. We are surrounded by thick jungle and thick milk chocolate opaque colored
water that makes the Mississippi water look clear. We estimate the visibility to
be 1/2 inch at most as your finger disappears when you touch the water. Our
fish finder shows some really weird echoes under the boat. Sometimes it looks
like a Python snake swimming below. Whatever it is, it is huge and I am not going
swimming or retrieving any hats that blow into the water!

We took our dinghy and explored deep into the thick of the jungle today. We
motored up a winding tributary of the main river. The creek was about 4 dinghys
wide (similiar to the narrowest part of the Courtiouis canoeing river back home)
and was over hung by hanging vines and rain forest foliage. The air was ladened
with humidity. So much so that your skin felt coated with a lotion of moisture
and your hands felt like they could grab a wad of moist air and roll it around
in your palms. When we would turn off the motor and sit still to listen to the
jungle sounds (mostly high pitched cawing birds and buzzing flies), the air felt
heavy in your lungs with no breeze from the moving dinghy to disturb it. Luckily
the sky was overcast, so as long as we were moving we were not overly warm. The
murky water had an S turn snaking path of debris which was being carried in by
the rising tide. We watched for alligators but saw none, just wiggly lotus
leaves and mangrove stems which made us wonder what crawled below ( probably
just the tidal current). Back on the main river, when the 11 foot tide goes out,
it leaves a messy mud bank that looks like it would swallow your foot if you
stepped in it. Salamanders flop in the mud puddles left behind.

Tonight we are going to a restaurant on the riverfront which from a distance
looks like a Robinson Corouso (spelling?) type tree house with hanging hammocks
over the water. We are the only boat anchored in front and we are surrounded by
lush green hills. Pretty neat!! I never thought my sailing adventure was going
to include an Amazon type exploration. We never know what the next day or port
will hold. Time for happy hour in a swinging hammock, Kimberlee and Greg

Update 10.14.04 Thursday 1131
Location:
4º 53.3 minutes north
52º 12.8 minutes west

We are currently anchored in the middle of the only channel that feeds in and
out of Cayanne, French Guyana waiting for the tide to come in. French Guyana
is a French Department. They call it a department as opposed to a state like we
do. The water here is even muddier than that of the Mississippi on a rainy day.
This town is at the mouth of the Fleuve Mahury River.  We noticed 30 miles out
that the water was getting muddy. It is similar to the mouth of the Mississippi
where the water has a huge mud flow spilling into the ocean. Surrounded by
several islands we can clearly see that the shoreline is spotted with
dilapidated shacks and a few nicer homes, certainly not what you would expect
for the tropics. We have been used to clear water and no bugs this whole trip.
3pm tide is up, we are in.
E-mail responses from my friends and family:
Greetings to All onboard Toucan:
Do you mean to tell me that Neptune did not pay a visit when you crossed the
Equator?  HHmmmm!  I've enjoyed the updates and look forward to them to the
point that the first thing I do when signing on to the net is to check for the
latest stuff from you guys.  Dave, I've especially enjoyed the questions and
your answers to the kids.  Tooth Pick!!  Olive!!! And just who is making up the
rest of the Martini?  Y'all be safe and above all enjoy.
Joe K

(Dave's response: WOW comments like this from Joe K. the "Master of
Communication" this means a lot to me coming from you. Thanks. No Neptune did
not visit. For those of who do not know the myth is that Neptune, his wife
Aphrodite the judge and a pair of bears will board your boat just before the
equator to see that you have paid your taxes to King Neptune and orders all
those that have never crossed into his realm before brought before him and all
charges are written out against them and punishment bestowed. That being,
complete shaving and dunked into galley slop and generally humiliated before
being allowed to cross.
I also really enjoy the third graders input. I hope that they don't look at it
as just a required assignment, but actually something that they want to do. It's
just the Toothpick and Olive for this party).

Dave,
Hope it is countdown time until your journey is complete. Talked to your Mom
the other night.  She is doing fine.  I was trying to figure out what BWSB stood
for.   With your wit anything is possible EHDAVE.  Good laugh on my part.
Thought about looking at personal ads and seeing what letters would apply.  Had
a close guess though.  I thought Big White Sailor Boy.  Your mom set me
straight.
9420 ?
Is the ocean like sleeping on a large waterbed?  Not sure if you still sleep on
one.
How many more days till your home?  I know your Mom and Aunt Patsy are counting
the days.
What is the first thing you want to do upon your return?  (Remember to keep it
clean for all of your viewers)
Sure have enjoyed your gift of words.  You definitely have acquired your
Mother's gift of grammar.  You have a hidden talent there Mr. L.
I know you want to wish me a Happy 46th Birthday October 14th ( my important
date of the year.)  Can you believe how quickly the years have gone by?
Cathy and I have enjoyed your journey.  Thank you to all for sharing your
adventure of a lifetime.  Keep in touch when you get home. Expecting a
spectacular XMAS card this year.
Love
Patti

(Dave's response: Linda and I both expect to be home by Oct. 30 so that we can
go to Carlyle Sailing Assoc. and pull our cabin Boat out for storage. I am not
sure what you mean by 9420? I recognize it as our old address but I don't
understand how that fits. You are a bad girl and fail the quiz, as in an earlier
update it does explain that BWSB stands for "Big Water Sailor Boy". Tom, punish
her please. No, the ocean is not like sleeping on a waterbed and Yes, I do still
sleep on one when I am at home. I am looking forward to catching up with
friends, family and playing ball with Linda's dog Goldie. Then I am going to
Quick Trip (convenience store) for a Big Gulp. These foreign countries don't
know how to provide ice in your drink. You have to ask and beg to get any and
then it is just a few cubes. I will go to Q.T. fill the cup with ice and fill
Caffeine Free Diet Coke in around the ice. Then when no one is looking I will
slam back a few big slugs of the stuff while still standing at the fountain so
that I can refill to the brim before I pay. I always feel like I am getting a
bonus when I do that. 46? No way my little cousin can be that old. Oh wait it
must be true, it is on the web site). Happy B.D.

1926hr
Well we are now ready to go to shore to explore the area and find dinner.
BWSB (Big Water Sailor Boy)
EHDave (Extremely Handsome, Extremely Humble or Extremely Humorous Dave)
(Whose birthday happens to be July 29th.) Just in case you want to send valuable
gifts and cards).

10.13.04

I just finished my 9PM to midnight watch. Everyone went to sleep and I put on
one of my favorite CDs. David Lanz playing Cristofori's Dream. It is a tribute
to the little known inventor of the piano-Cristofori (as opposed to Beethoven
who made the piano famous.) The music is a floating melodic piece and very
tranquil-just like my evening. My son Wes can beautifully play the piece-I miss
him and look forward to sharing some of these times with him .I sat( or at times
laid on my back) on top of our bimini (the hard top roof over our cockpit) and
let the warm breeze blow through my hair and over my skin.. From this vantage
point I could cast an occasional glance at the radar at the helm below and I
could also scan the 360 degree horizon. And of course the stars were everywhere
above!! We have an egg timer that we set to ring every 10 minutes to remind us to
look around. The twinkling stars above and the gentle rocking of the swells can
mesmorize the time away quickly The egg timer is a safety precaution. At night
we take the additional precaution of wearing a life jacket with an attached
personal GEPIRB. This is a device which when activated will transmit a persons
position to satellites above  The satellites then alert a worldwide search and
rescue type organization. This greatly increases your chances of being found if
you should fall overboard while everyone else is sleeping.

Well I am going to go to sleep now as the gentle night watch has me totally
relaxed. Night all, Kimberlee and Greg

10.13.04

Today I was awaken for my watch at 6 AM by Greg saying, "We have dolphins
swimming on the bow . Come see "  Coming onto the deck I saw the sun was orange
on the horizon behind us and  6 dolphins were darting about the bow. For the
next 45 minutes they delighted us with jumps and zig-zags between and around our
hulls. They love to play with Toucan Play-the name of our boat seems more
appropriate all the time.
Dave is communicating with a 3rd grade school teacher who is using our adventure
and e-mails to teach latitude, longitude and basic geography among other things.
They wanted to know why we named our boat Toucan Play. The answer is that
because our boat, being a catamaran, has two hulls and because Greg and I are
two people,  we started with lots of names with two or to or too, II or 2.( I
said tu tu but that was quickly vetoed by Greg who didn't like Toucan Tu Tu for
some reason) Anyway, we wanted a play on words and because our sails remind us
of a bird soaring, we came up with Toucan. Also the bright tropical colors of
toucans seemed like a good decorating theme in the Caribbean-our new home. And
since we love to play- TOUCAN PLAY seemed right. After our journey, it seems
perfect! .We also know there is a lot more playing to come once we don't have to
abide by a watch system that kind of dictates the number of play hours available
in a day or night. We have to schedule time to sleep at all different hours
right now. (Our website: www.2canplay.com  took the play on words a step
further.)

Our celestial navigation course continues. At sunset tonight we are going to
check our ship's compass error by taking a bearing on the sun and comparing that
to the nautical tables we have on board. (This is probably something we should
have done on day one if we had known how to do it then.) We have also prepared
an evening star plan and we are going to take sextant angles on the stars Deneb,
Alpheratz, Fololhout, Peacock Antares, Rasahague and Vega. Instructor Bob
assures us that our calculations will enable us to identify these stars from the
other jillions we see every night. WAY COOL if we succeed. It is all starting to
come together now.
Well I just came back from the bow-we had more dolphins this afternoon. This
group of dolphins were about 8-9 feet long, much bigger than the previous
dolphins we have seen but just as playful. They looked like "Flipper".. (Now
that song is in my head!) The BVI has a marine biology university. I might try
to enroll in some classes. I would love to know more about these animals.
Perhaps with my veterinary degree and scuba diving ability I could help with
some research. I think that would be great FUN! I do know that dolphins and
whales, being animals, have lungs, not gills. They have to surface to breathe.
Their tails are horizontal as opposed to vertical like fish. It is amazing how
fast dolphins swim with only the slightest movement of their tails. Toucan Play
is moving along at about 8-9 knots and they effortlessly keep up. When they
finally decide to leave, ZOOOOM-they are gone. This past group darted ahead about
200 yards in just a blink of an eye and then all jumped in unison. It was like
their grand finale good-bye. We all clapped for more but they did not give us an
encore. Hopefully they are saving that for sunset. These happy animals always
make us smile. We never get enough.
We should be arriving in French Guyana tomorrow afternoon. Good-bye for now,
Kimberlee and Greg

Our latitude is 4 degrees 24 minutes North
       longitude is 50 degrees 20 minutes West

Update 10.13.04 Wednesday 0639

Location:
4º 06.9 minutes north
49º 16.4 minutes west

Well, I am happy to say that the third graders from Arcola, Indiana have e-mailed
the following questions.

Hi Dave,
I made a little power point of pictures for the kids - pictures of
Toucan Play, a picture of you, and pictures of animals you sent from
Africa. I told them of some of your adventures...Here are some questions for you.

Dear Dave and Linda,
Hi, my name is Ashley F.  Is it scary on the boat?  Did you see
any dolphins?  I love dolphins!  Was it fun seeing all the animals in
Africa?
From,
Ashley

(Dave's response: When we first left South Africa it was scary to be heading
into the unknown and to have had so many conversations with other sailors who
have had trouble on the open sea. Being out here so far away from help is very
concerning. In South Africa we went to Cape Point, a huge national park and saw
Ostrich, Mother of Carry, Kudu, Dassie (Rabbits), springbok and in Cape Town,
seals, whales, jelly fish, blue bottle manawar, sharks, albatross, stingray and
dolphin. The most exciting thing about the animals is spotting them in the wild.
(Linda's response: Dolphins, yes, in fact just this morning Kim was on duty and
woke us because about 10 of them were swimming at the bow (Front) of the boat.
They like to dart in and out from in between the hulls and jump in front of us.
They would race us by staying right in front of us and then suddenly darting out
ahead of us. We stood at the bow and looked right down on them. Way Cool. It was
a spectacular and exciting way to be wakened. They came just as the sun was
rising over the ocean, so we had dolphins at the bow and a beautiful sun rise at
the stern).

Dear Dave,
Did you see any sharks?  Did the camel attack you?  I want to meet you.
Brandy
(Dave's response: We have seen several sharks both in Cape Town and out here.
The camel did not attack us, but you should notice in the pictures that one of
the camels had a mussel on. I think that he would have liked to take a bite out
of us. The camels are known to spit real nasty stuff at you. We lucked out and
stayed dry. The camel's teeth are a good example of why you should brush your
teeth every night before you go to bed).

Dear Dave,
How do you sleep in a boat going back and forth?  Why do you have to
stay up at night to look out?
from,
Evan
(Dave's response: When the seas are calm (4 to 10' swells) the motion is like
being rocked to sleep in a cradle. However when the seas are bigger it is very
difficult to sleep as the boat is being beaten by big waves, banging slamming
and being tossed around. I am a pretty big fellow and still I have been lifted
completely of off my mattress several times by a wave slamming into our bridge
(the area between the hulls that is closest to the water. Our boat is constantly
moving , so we stay up at night to watch for other boats in an effort to avoid a
collision).

Dear Dave,
Are you looking forward to Halloween?  How much gas do you have?  Have
you caught any fish?
Your friend,
Alex
(Dave's response: You bet I'm looking forward to Halloween, candy, cookies and
other yumee treats YAHOO. In our part of the world we have to tell a joke to
earn a treat. I already have my joke ready to earn my treats. We have two 100
gallon tanks and 15 jugs that hold 5 gallons each. So you can do the math and
let me know what you come up with. Total gallons of fuel on the boat? Yes we
have fresh fish on a regular basses. Yumee.

Dear Dave and Linda,
Why did you name the boat Toucan Play?  How do you get to sleep?  How
long does it usually take to go across the ocean?  Are you looking
forward to Halloween?  will you be back for Halloween?  Have you gotten
seasick?  Did you build or buy the boat?  How much was the boat?  Do you
have to buy food at every stop?  Did you choose to go on the boat or did
someone talk you in to it?
Alison
(Dave's response: Kim and Greg actually own the boat. Some of your questions will
be answered by them shortly. As far as sleeping we don't sleep very much, maybe
a few hours at a time, so that when it is time to sleep we are pretty tired and
that makes it easier to fall asleep. Crossing the Atlantic ocean takes about a
month from South Africa to South America. Yes I am looking forward to and will
both be back for Halloween. Linda is going to be a toothpick and I will be an
Olive. Seasick: I have been very lucky not to have suffered any seasickness,
Linda felt very uneasy for the first few days, but is doing fine now. We bought
a lot of food in Cape Town before we left and we buy some perishable items when
we stop. The difficulty is that the islands have most of their food imported for
the locals, so there is very little available for the visitors. I jumped at the
chance to get on this boat. I consider it a once in a lifetime opportunity, I
had to live the adventure.
(Kim's response: The boat is a catamaran which means it has two hulls, so the
name Toucan is a play on words, Toucan is a bird and the sails remind us of the
wing of a bird and we like to play. It is also the only name that my husband and
I both agree on. The boat was custom built by a builder in South Africa for just
over one million dollars).

Dear Dave,
Have you ever been seasick?  How many animals did you see?  What is
your favorite food on the boat?  Do you ever get homesick on the boat?
I hope I get a chance to see you.
Kyle
(Dave's response: I have never been seasick. Seasickness is caused by your eyes
seeing one thing and your inner ear sensing something different. These messages
are then sent to the brain and since they are different messages the brain gets
mixed up. My brain is used to being mixed up, so I don't get seasick. We have
seen 13 different types of fish and animals. Favorite food: Kim makes some very
creative salads that I enjoy. I have done much traveling and this is the first
time that I have been homesick. I hope to get a chance to see you too, maybe
sometime in the future we will meet while exploring the world.

Dear Dave,
Do you cook stuff on the boat?
from,
Katelyn
(Dave's response: Yes we have a galley (kitchen) on the boat with a stove and
oven. Kim and Ray are great cooks and make some gourmet meals. I, on the other
hand, am not as creative in that department).

Dear Dave,
Why do you guard the boat when people are sleeping?
bye,
Brandon Schneider
(Dave's response: We guard the boat so that other boats won't run into us or us
into them.

OK Dave.  These are just the beginning of many questions.  Let me know
when you are ready for more.        Hi Linda.  Hope you are having a
great adventure!!
Love,
Barb  a.k.a.  Mrs. B.

(Dave's response: I love this, these kids are really thinking about the
important things, (Halloween). I hope other people who are reading this are
enjoying it as well. Please bring on the questions).

Dave, Glad to hear you crossed the Atlantic!  Mom is so proud of you catching the biggest fish!  Of course, she claims all your fishing skills came from your Kentucky fishing lessons! Still loving your writing!  You have a wonderful flair for writing and I love reading your postings.  Mom wonders if you have journaled your writings from all your adventures through the years.  Take care, have fun, and enjoy those sights! 

Love, Cathy
(Dave's response: Thank you. Yes I am sure that those fishing lessons have
helped to make me the handsome fisherman that I am today. This is the first
adventure that I have documented and that is only because of the hard work of
those in St. Louis who are willing to do the work to post these writings and the
encouragement from you all).

Earlier today we were hailed on the VHF radio by a large vessel who identified
themselves as a oil research vessel. They asked us to alter our course 10
degrees to our starboard as they were dragging a cable behind them and did not
want us to hit it. He later called us back to let us know when we were clear.

BWSB,
EHDave
(Whose birthday happens to be July 29th.)
That's right I have been forgetting to add this, I told you that I was losing my
mind.

10.12.04

Hi again, Last night was our official crossing  of the equator. What was planned
as a big event fizzled out because it occurred at around 2 AM. The guys had
wanted to stop the boat (by heading up into the wind) and then swim naked over
it. We had 20 knots of wind and 4-5 feet seas and no moonlight. I quickly vetoed
that idea as I had visions of the nightness swallowing my crew. I didn't need 4
"Man Overboard" in pitch darkness. I think they knew I would error on the side
of caution and they all just wanted to sound macho as they called me a wuss..
Our other option was to drop our sails and drift until dawn under "bare
poles'". Even  with no sails up but with the current behind us, Toucan Play will
still move along at around 4 knots...Our wind(20 knots) and current(2-3 knots)
were too perfect so the consensus was to sail on to our next landfall in Cayenne
French Guyana. There is a small island nearby where we hope to do some scuba
diving instead .

I am on the midnight to 3AM watch. With 5 people now each doing our own watch,
we are on 3 hours and then off 12 hours. It is a very easy watch system. The
night breeze is warm but comfortably cool against your skin. Delightful!!

The barometer has dropped 2 millibars in the last hour and the beautiful night
stars are disappearing behind clouds to the north and east. Looks like we might
have a rain shower shortly (although I don't see any on radar) or maybe we will
just skirt the edge and get some higher wind to speed us even faster. We are
currently clipping along at 10-11 knots SOG (speed over ground). Weeeee!!!!
Kimberlee and Greg

PS Our latitude is 2 degrees 10 minutes North
            longitude is 46 degrees 16 minutes West
FYI  There is no red line on the equator like all the maps and globes show. You
learn something everyday out here in the big blue sea!

Update 10.12.04 Tuesday 0948

Location:
2º 45. 6 minutes North (that's right mateys we are now in the northern
hemisphere).
47º 06.6 west

Before Linda left St. Louis she met with Volaria and Scott (Friends, she is from
Brazil, now living in St. Louis). They were very helpful with many travel tips
such as be prepared for customs and even provided her with Reals (Brazilian
money) that way she did not have to land and try to find someone to convert US
currency.
When we went into Fortaleza to pick up Linda we had to go through Customs,
immigrations, Federal Police and the health department. First it was customs
which was not too bad and then the official said "If you were not Americans we
would be done". You see, Brazil makes no qualms about it, America is
scrutinizing all citizens entering America since 911. Brazil is taking this
personally and is treating only Americans with as much inconvenience as
possible. They even post on their web site the explanation as to why this is
happening. So at that point he called Federal Police (like our FBI), they sent
two people to meet us, one female and one male. She was a very conservative
buttoned up older woman who wouldn't crack a smile. Reminded me of a female
version of Hitler. She very meticulously inked all 10 fingers and transferred
the prints onto cards. Then they took mug shots complete with the file number
taped to our chests. Bob being from South Africa did not have to go through
this. Linda, having already come into the country through the airport had
already been checked in. We went through all of this to be sure that since we
were picking up Linda that she was properly checked out of the country. If she
is not checked out properly then when we go to the next country they can refuse
entry and turn us away. We have to check in in order to check out.
We crossed the equator about two in the morning A couple of days ago. We had
planned to swim across the equator NAKED ( I am too conservative for this so I
was going to wear my dive mask and fins) but decided that the dark skies and
dark black water was a little unnerving, so we marked the moment and sailed on.
Linda's joining our group has been a delightful change for everyone, especially
me, she adds a whole new dimension to the group.

New input, and keep those cards and letters coming boys and girls.
Ahoy!  Dave, Kim and Greg!
I am loving reading all your postings!!! Thank you so much for writing and
sharing so much with us.  Kim, I feel like I know you so much better through
your writing.
Dave, it's so enjoyable hearing you express feelings...FEELINGS!!!!
It's amazingly wonderful to know that part of you!!!out loud!!!
I always knew you had a heartful of emotions...I bet you even initiate hugs by
the time you come home!!!  (I won't be able to torture you anymore with hugs!)
Anyway, Dave, I feel like cashing in my paper money for all coins so I can make
my dream trip come true sooner!!! (remember, I've been saving my coins for
years, in my BVI Fund...just a concrete symbol of a commitment to my dream.)
Anyway, I'm thankful for your safe passage and I celebrate with you up here,
under the same skies...Kim you're so poetic in explaining what you're
experiencing..."Toucan Play flying wing on wing under a blanket of stars....what
poetry!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Red skies at night,
Linda  ~~~_/)~~~*~~

(Kim's response: Thank You for the kind words. I will be forwarding this to my
seventh grade poetry teacher. I didn't fare so well in that class, maybe because
I thought everything had to rhyme with Nantucket).

(Dave's response: Yea Yea Yea, the whole feeling thing IS very different for me.
I have never felt home sick in all of my previous travels. I am a different
person from when I left in many ways. What is your BVI dream?)

It has been great to get all of the updates on the activities of my friends back
home. Sound like Joe L. is making a big move, Good Luck to you Joe.

Thought for the day:
Why is there current in the Big Water? This is just one really big pool of
water, why doesn't the water get to where it wants to be and stop? Like in the
sink. Why does it always move, always has and always will?
Tune into BWSB next time for the answer.

BWSB
EHDave

10.10.04

We are back under sail and on our way to Cayenne, French Guyana. We have a new
crew member-Linda, David's girlfriend. She joined us when we arrived in
Forteleza, Brazil. David is VERY happy! Clearing into Brazil was a little bit of
a hassle. Seems the Brazilian government does not like the new US home security
policies put into place since 911. Apparently it is a hassle for all foreigners
who come to the US too. Brazil started a "tit for tat" policy. We had to go to 4
different government buildings by taxi. These were Policia Federal where we were
finger printed and had mug shot pictures taken of us (the US does the same to
all foreigners we are told). From there we went to Health where they verified our yellow fever vaccinations. Then it was on to Customs and Immigration and finally Capitan of the Port. Everyone was very nice and apologetic (even if the apology was in Portuguese we could still understand the body language and hand signals.). Brazil only finger prints and takes mug
shots of American citizens and the locals feel bad about the delays. As captain I was given an official Policia Federal pin for my hat-it was a very nice gesture.

Four hours later we were ready to sight see, shop, and party. Forteleza is an old
and somewhat dirty city that has a skyline much like Chicago. The city is built
and sprawls along a very wide and deep light tan sand beach. The beach was palm
tree lined and filled with beautiful Brazilian girls in scant thongs. One girl
was prettier than the next. Now I understand why swimsuits have the name Brazil
cut-all the women here can wear those skimpy styles. The guys said they hadn't
noticed (yea, I believe that?!).

The night scene was bizarre, a mix of San Francisco style street performers, Cabo
street vendors selling their wares as you eat at sidewalk cafes, New Orleans
style men in drag and other very flamboyant weirdoes everywhere. Like in
Capetown, there are a lot of beggars, especially children with sad eyes.
A few blocks from the beach is the cultural center. This is a big open square
like in Italy but lined with French/New  Orleans style 3 story buildings with balconies overlooking it.
Several latino type bands were playing and there was a pleasant warm breeze as
we sipped our new favorite drink-Caipirinhav(a whole sliced lime in a glass full
of ice with fresh lime juice, sugar, and 40 proof Cachasa-local cane
"firewater".) Tastes kind of like a Margarita-very refreshing. Ray had way too many and suffered a miserable hang-over our first day back at sea. He spent it in the head throwing up or crashed on his bed. He tried to tell us he was sea sick (yea, I believe that too?!)

We moored Mediterranean style (we dropped our anchor and backed on to the dock at
the marina with boats on either side of us doing the same. We made several new
friends at the marina and have exchanged e-mails. Our new home in the BVI is a
place where a lot of cruisers we meet may someday look us up and we will be able
to go out and party together again. My address book is already a lot bigger.
Making friends from around the world is really neat and gives us a new
prospective on how small the world is. Sailing it makes us realize how big it is!
David just caught a 4 ft wahoo. Dinner should be yummy again, Kimberlee and Greg

Our latitude is 1 degree 16 minutes South
       longitude is 40 degrees 57 minutes West

We should cross the equator tomorrow-Oh Boy!!! We are going to have a hot time
tonight!

Update 10.9.04 15:00
Location:
3º 8.4 minutes south
38º 59.9 minutes west

Yipeee, we are back at sea after two days in Forteleza, Brazil. I had no idea
just how huge this city is. From the sea we noticed that it certainly looks
larger than St. Louis maybe as big as Chicago. Then as we got closer we all said
this place is bigger than NY NY, that's right Linda C. Actually Forteleza is the
fifth largest city in Brazil. When we came to the dock we had to back the boat
to the dock like Joe L. does at West Access. This was an interesting maneuver
because we had a brisk cross wind and no slips. This is just one large dock and
everyone backs up to it. As soon as we got the boat secured I hotfooted it to
the airport to meet the Lovely and talented Linda M. Three planes all landed at
the same time and were unloading through the same gate. Somehow I missed her and
she did not know to look for me as I had expected to be getting in after her
flight arrived, which was the last e-mail that I sent her. Our wind picked up
and we made it on time. So I missed her in the crowd and she went on to the
hotel (Rendezvous point). So this started my quest to find someone that could
and would verify that she indeed was on the plane. What a fiasco.  First we had
this language barrier, then the airline official wouldn't give up the info
without getting a release form the Federal Police.  The federal police said that
they did not have a clue what the guy was talking about then it was back to the
airline official who said go to the information people in the airport and get
one of them to go to the police and explain the situation. They wouldn't do it.
Back and forth a few more times a little screaming. I finally told a guy at the
airline desk that I didn't want him to break the rules by telling me any of his
big secrets and so if he would please look at the flight roster and then lay his
pencil on the des, point away from him that would mean that she was on the
plane.  If he laid the pencil cross ways from him it would mean that she was not
on the plane. With the language barrier this all took 2 ½ frustrating hours to
get to the point where he finally laid the pencil pointing away from him. "Yahoo
she is here".  I could be heard yelling as I ran from the counter to grab a cab
to the hotel. Meanwhile Linda was able to see ToucanPlay parked at the
Hotel/Marina as she flew in. So she knew that I was at the marina. She grabbed a
cab and made lighting tracks to the boat only to find out from the rest of the
crew that I was at the airport. We finally caught up with each other and spent
two glorious days catching up on all of my friends back home and wondering
around Fortaleza. The population of Forteleza is very much the same as the other
islands and S. Africa in that they have some very rich, a lot of very poor and
very few middle class people. This is what some of the economists are saying is
happening in America. I hope they are wrong because it is a very sad way of
life. Maybe our politicians will wake up before it is to late. I think the
problem is that those same politicians are in that very wealthy category, making
it less important to them.

So, we have now been at sea for about nine hours, Linda has a seasickness patch
on and has taken some ginger pills to fight off the effects of sea sickness. She
is doing OK so far except that she is sleeping an awful lot. This is fine, many
people adjust to the sea like this, in a few days she will be fine. We have
about five or six days to our next destination of Cayenne, French Guyana. After
that we will be doing some stops at the Windward islands as we head north. I
would like to hear from my Hammerhead (Dive Club in St. Louis) buddies or anyone
for that matter as to the absolute best places to dive in this area. Now
remember I am pretty much a beginner diver, but we do have Ray, Kim, Greg and
Linda who are all advanced divers so if you make a recommendation please forewarn me if it is a difficult dive, and I will proceed with caution. You can
e-mail to this address posted earlier in this web site somewhere, please NO
attachments.

HEY GUESS WHAT AUNT PAT, I not only caught a fish today, but I caught the
BIGGEST FISH of the whole trip. YAHOO What's for dinner? How about WAAHOO.

That is the type of fish that I caught. Very appropriate since I was yelling Yahoo
the whole time I was fighting that thing. Pictures to come.
I am sure that the flavor of this trip will change now that Linda is on board
and we find more time to explore islands countries and do some diving.
BWSB,
Dave

10.8.04

We are in Forteleza, Brazil. No time to write at the moment. We leave tomorrow
at daylight. Places to see, places to go. Time to go lambado!!

Kimberleee andGreg

10.7.04

Update 10.7.04 0:31 hr.
Location:
3º 44.5 minutes south
37º 12.2 minutes west

Well, we had a little excitement at the beginning of my watch last night. A
large ship showed up on radar and on the horizon bearing down on us. I marked it's location on the radar and reported it to New Skipper Kim. I tracked its
progress and even though we were moving forward it seemed to continue to stay
with us, steering up on our course. Now on the race course this would be
considered "Hunting" and I have noticed some racers doing this even though it is
against the rules (I of course would never do this). Ships have lights that they
display to help make you aware of what they are. This one showed a white stern
light that was higher than the bow white light. That indicates that it is larger
than 200 meters (600 feet), big boat in my book, especially if it is bearing
down on you. These big boats have been known to run over boats the size of ours
and not even know it. The big question is, does this skipper see you? When it
came within two miles of us I hailed them on our VHF radio. The hail: Steaming
vessel, Steaming vessel, Steaming vessel this is the sailing vessel off of your
port bow Toucan Play, do you copy? I hailed them three times within a few
minutes. No answer, now within one mile. Kim starting to pace a little more
quickly than before, I of course was cool calm and handsome as ever. Kim decided
to wake Bob.  When he came up on deck it had become obvious that the ship was
starting to fall in behind us. I call this clipping the stern and when I do it
on the race course I am proud to say that I sometimes am within inches of the
stern (I love to make my crew scream). However, out here on the big water when
it gets less than a mile and no answer to the hale it gets a little nerve
racking. After Bob was on deck and the ships course became obvious, a voice
bellowed through the radio the trouble was it was in Portuguese.  I figure the
reason for the delay was that they were looking franticly for the guy who could
speak English or the little language book and never found him/her or it, so
decided that they had to say something. It is a maritime law that all vessels
must have someone who can speak at least phonetic English. Imagine the chaos
that must have been going on on that ship during those few minutes knowing that
not responding in English would be breaking a maritime law. "Hey, who speaks
English? Wake everyone up" or maybe they didn't really care. Just for the sake
of our conversation, let's say that they never returned our hale and continued
to bear down on us. Now that would be a pickle. Our next step would be to shine
a bright white light at them flip it on and off a few times and hale them again:
"Steaming vessel, Steaming vessel, Steaming vessel this is the sailing vessel
directly in front of you, shinning a white light at you, alter your course to
starboard immediately and respond to our hale". Now if they still did not
respond we would then fire a flare directly at their bow and hale again:" Hey
you Big Mother _______" so on and so forth. OK so maybe we wouldn't say that,
probably because by then we would be trying to convince St. Peter why he should
let us through the pearly gates.

Sue D. and I had a very similar situation on Lake Carlyle one time but on a much
smaller scale. We were on my Hobie 16 parked in the middle of the lake waiting
for the next race when a large cabin boat came bearing down on us. On the front
of the boat was a young boy doing the Titanic stance, I yelled "GET YOUR DAD",
no response, I yelled again "GET YOUR DAD", and then told Sue "get ready to
jump" and at that moment the dad/skipper popped his head out of the cabin just
in time to steer away from us and as their stern barley missed us, he yelled "Oh
we saw you". Yea right, he was probably fixing lunch. I am very glad that we did
not get close enough to the big ship for the skipper to yell "Oh we saw you". It
would have been in Portuguese.

Here is a follow up to earlier input:

Hi Dave,
I just have to tell you that I think you are a great writer.
We call what you have great voice.  We can all really feel like we are with
you.  You are doing great.
(Response: Thank you very much for the kind words, it really helps to know that
people are reading this stuff).

I teach third graders at Arcola School.  We'll go out and measure the
approx. size of the boat....figure out where you are....and I will read all
writings before showing anything to the kids so don't worry if someone gets
a little over expressive...  : )
(Response: This is GREAT, I will use this when I get home and my mother is
getting on me about the language thing. "Gee, I was just a little over
expressive Mom". When you are doing the whole measurements thing, try to show
them the height of the boat, 85 feet is way up their. This is 8 ½ stories high
and when you add the swing at the top for waves it makes it quite the ride while
trying to do repairs at the same time. Another way to impress them would be to
take the height of all of your students, add them together as if they were
standing on each others' heads and see how far up that would be. It would take 19
kids at 4'6" to equal the height of the mast. Now, have them stand on each
others heads, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME).

Thanks so much for letting me share this adventure with my kids.
Barb
(Response: Thank You Barb, I can hardly wait to hear how this works out for
you).

It is now 06:22 on Thursday Morning we are now 7hrs. and 32 minutes from Linda
Land or some may call it Airporto ( Portuguese for Airport). But who's counting?
Wow, Greg just interrupted me for a boat sighting just off our starboard hull.
Now the amazing thing about this sighting is that this boat is approximately 18',
long a john boat type with four full grown men and a lot of fishing gear, bobbing
around thirty miles from shore in four foot seas. They held up some fish in what
looked like an effort to sell them to us. As a precaution we started the engines
in case they tried to board us. Bob tells us that this boat is called a
"Jangada" and that it will stay at sea for a couple of days. No motor, only a
stick laying down for the sail. I have a picture and will send it along with
many others when we can get to an e-café.
I will be on shore with Linda for the next couple of days exploring Fortaleza,
Brazil.
You can expect another update after that.
BWSB
Dave
07:40
I'm baaaack.
Because Fortaleza just came into view and I am all excited because in just a few
hours we will have completed our transatlantic crossing. That is huge and a
great feeling that I just had to jump back on and share the feeling. Yahoooooo
baby.

10.6.04

The day started slow-only 8-10 knots of wind. BUMMER. We need at least 12 knots
to fly our spinnaker so we turned on a motor. We only use one at a time to
conserve fuel costs.. We only move about 1 knot/hour faster with both motors
running. We spent most of the day doing house-keeping, like scrubbing floors,
cleaning out the moldy leftovers in the fridges (yuck, we forgot about a couple
way too long!!), and polishing our stainless steel fittings and then applying
parafin to protect the steel from the harsh salty water. And again we look like
a floating laundromat-laundry and towels are everywhere!
We started a new watch system. We now each do our own 3 hour watch. With 5 of us
rotating that means we are on watch for 3 hours and off 12 hours. The person
going off watch helps the following person if sail changes are necessary. So far
it seems to be working well
We have crossed another time zone. We are now in time zone "Papa" which is
Greenwich England time ("Zulu") +3hrs. Each time zone is 15 degrees of longitude
and is named by the marine phonetic alphabet. ie: Alpha, Bravo Charlie Delta
etc. We are 2 hours ahead of St Louis time which is time zone Sierra (if St Louis
wasn't in daylight savings time right now, we would be 3 hours ahead)
Anyway besides cleaning and moving our clocks back, we studied and did homework.
This is a much better classroom than one I went to as a kid!
Late afternoon the sea became calm because of  the low wind all day. Because of
this, we were able to put up our screacher and genoa  (our two forward furling,
or rollup, sails) and go "Wing and Wing" again  If there are any big waves or
swells in light wind conditions, this doesn't usually work, as the swells and
waves "knock" and stop the boat in her path just as she starts to gat a little
speed .But this sunset and evening were perfect! With only 8-11 knots of wind,
we were and still are moving at about 7 knots SOG (speed over ground-we have 1
knot of current helping us out). The ride is very gentle and quiet in the flat
seas. We watched sunset from the trampolines, under" the wings" , with the serene
lapping of the seas below . Toucan Play was a graceful bird tonight soaring with
out-stretched wings above the pastel reflections of sunset on the water She is
now soaring beneath a blanket of twinkling stars. Everyday brings something
different. Tomorrow we arrive in Forteleza, Brazil. I wonder what sights we will
see there. Can't wait! Kimberlee and Greg

Ouris latitude is 3 degrees 45 minutes South
         longitude  is 36 degrees 40 West

10.5.04

Where do I begin? Yesterday was jammed with happenings. First things first. I am
now the official skipper/captain of Toucan Play. Yeah!! I finally bit the bullet
and decided to put all my training into action. I have 4 wonderful, capable (and
handsome crew). Navy skipper Bob is lending moral support to my decision. He
said at some point everyone has to take that first step and assume
responsibility for the first time. It is a little scary. As captain, I am
responsible for not only safe sailing and passage navigation, but also for the
safety and lives of my crew. It is a job I do not take lightly.
My first job as captain was to save Ray's hat! It blew into the water while we
were anchored at Fernando and was quickly drifting away. Taking my job seriously
to protect my crew, I dove into the water, clothes and all, to retrieve it. My
next order of the day was a little more serious. We needed to get our spinnaker
halyard and lights on the mast fixed while we were in safe harbor waters.
Soooooo, Greg went up the mast. Our mast is 85 feet high. We attached 2 lines
from the top of the mast (our mainsail halyard and our dinghy halyard) to the
bosuns seat (explanation later). We used 2 lines as a safety feature, in case one
of them broke or malfunctioned in some way. We did not want Greg falling 85
feet to the deck!  A bosuns seat is a piece of wood that Greg sat on, that is
built into a harness that he wore. Using our electrical winches we cranked him
to the top of the mast-all 200 plus pounds of him! Thank goodness for
electronics as that would have been a lot of hand cranking in the old days!
Greg was my hero and fixed everything. He was a pooped puppy when he came down
as he said it was quite a work-out. trying to maneuver himself, his tools and
the replacement parts amid the wires even in the mostly gentle rockings of the
harbor.  He spotted a huge turtle from his bird's eye perch but the rest of us
missed it. Our eyes (or at least mine) were only on Greg high in the sky. He
really was way up there!
By now it was 10AM. Time to go explore Fernando or so we thought! But before we
could get our dinghy in the water we had hundreds of spinner dolphins surround
our boat for over an hour, jumping and spinning in the air. It was truly a
special sight. Only when they swam away, did we then set out for land.. Just
like the dolphins, the land of Fernando was truly, truly special.
The island has one main paved road running the length of the 7 mile island, but
it has a hundred or more, 4 wheeling type dirt trails that lead from that road
to the many different beaches and cliff overlooks on either side. Greg, Bob and
I rented a VW sand dune "Bug" and went four wheeling. Ray and David needed to
take care of some business so they searched for phones and e-cafes and spent the
rest of their day enjoying some hiking to one of the beaches.
Our little sand dune open air (kind of like a jeep) bug took us many miles over
narrow rambling trails and rocks and sandy beaches. Each beach was prettier than
the next and the same for every overlook. The beaches were at least a football
field wide in depth and were 1/2-1 mile in length. Three of the beaches had tiki
style beach bars where we would buy a local concoction to rinse away the salt
taste after body surfing in the turquoise waters. Most of the beaches had very
few people (just 2-6 besides us). We had  huge beautiful beaches with our very
own private bars-WOW. The southeast trade winds provide Fernando with a
comfortable breeze all year long and because of them, there are no flying
insects like mosquitoes or flies. Fernando is almost on the equator but it was
not hot-just pleasant.
There were many hiking trails that we did not have time to explore but looked
awesome. They wound around cliff hangings and meandered through tropical shaded
foliage, up and down the hillside from one beach to another. We definitely want
to come back to Fernando. It is about as close to paradise as anything I have
seen.
The Brazilians were all very friendly but few spoke English-they speak
Portuguese. We played charades most of day. Renting our bug and buying gasoline
are another story that I won't tell here, but suffice it to say, it was another
fun experience. The food was good and cheap and we finished our day on Fernando
with a wonderful meal and drinks at a local restaurant. Our dinghy ride back
from the beach/port to our boat was equally nice. We had no moon and jillions of
stars. I haven't learned the Southern hemisphere constellations yet as many of
our nights so far have had clouds or I have been too busy learning about
sailing Toucan Play.. I do know that the Southern Cross, unfortunately, comes up
about 6am this time of year. so we are already in daylight by then. I also know
that the sky lazy night was gorgeous!!
The final happening of yesterday was a 4 foot sting ray that liked the light
beam on the back of our boom. He gracefully glided between our hulls for a half
hour... or more. I don't know because I went to bed. Great days are exhausting!!
We are now underway to Forteleza Brazil-just a short 2 day sail. Our coordinates
are:  3 degrees 49 minutes S
33 degrees 18 minutes W

Time to look at the charts again. As captain I need to make sure we are on
course as there is a small rock island between us and Forteleza.

Bye for now, Kimberlee

Update 10.5.04 12004 Tuesday
Location: 3º 48.0 minutes south
32º 55.2 minutes west

We left Fernando at 0830 this morning. We left as a huge school of Spinning
Dolphin were moving through the harbor. They are called Spinning because they
jump out of the water and spin at a fast rate of speed.  They are spinning so
fast that it is difficult to make out the fins until they are coming back down
and the spin slows. The average length is about 4 foot.
This was my first time in Brazil and what a way to be introduced to Brazil. The
island is an area of stunning natural beauty that was declared a Marine National
Park in 1988. Last night we had a very large Stingray approximately 4' around
that swam under and around our stern for about a half hour. We were anchored in
the harbor with our boom light on attracting many small fish which attracted
bigger fish which attracted the Stingray for our entertainment.
They speak Portuguese and very few people speak English, this offered us some
special challenges. Getting directions and ordering food was very interesting.
While on the island they had a power failure, someone said that a cable to the
island was accidentally cut. They had three huge generators that seemed to offer
a low level of power. The e-café was down until late in the day and when we did
get logged on we discovered that it was dial up and very slow at that. I have
not been sending pictures because the last three islands that we have been
visiting have had the same type of connections, sloooow.
While in Fernando Kim has taken over the position of Skipper and is now in
command.
Kim's first command is to get us from Fernando to Fortaleza safely. It is 365
miles with a hazard right in the Rhumb Line (Proposed course offering the safest
route in the most direct manner). Atol das Rocas, in other words a protrusion of
rocks that form a volcanic rim barely sticking up out of the ocean. Of course
the trick is to miss the real hard part.

More input:
Hi Dave,
It's Linda's older, yet wiser sister, Barb.  Just wanted to let you know that I
have moved the globe next to the computer and check for updates from all of you
at least twice a day.
I am enjoying reading all about your adventures even though I don't understand
many  of the sailing terms ...spinnaker....genoa wing, screacher, etc.  (I'm
asking sailing friends about those things.  But I do know about eating choc.
chip cookie dough and know how that can improve ones whole day.
(Response: Spinnaker is the largest sail on this boat and is designed to be used
when the wind is at our back, it is similar to a large parachute attached to the
top of the mast and is of a A-Symmetrical design, this means that it is shaped
like an A attached at the top of the A and then the bottom two points are
attached to a line that comes around to the stern (back) of the boat to a winch
which is a device that we use to let the sail in and out. The other bottom part
of the sail is attached to a device that is adjustable so that we can move it
across the front of the boat as needed to best capture the wind. The spinnaker
is usually the bright colorful sail. The Genoa and the Screacher are both sails
that are attached near the top of the mast and are used in front of the mast.
Both of these sails are furling sails which means that we can roll them up to
put them away. The screacher is 1/3 larger than the Genoa. We sometimes use both
of these sails at the same time but on opposite sides of the mast. This is
called Wing to Wing. This is also done when the wind is directly up our bumb but
the wind's velocity is to high for the spinnaker. The one sail that you did not
ask about is the main sail, which is the sail that is used from the mast back
toward the back of the boat. This sail is normally used sailing upwind at least
on this boat, because we have these other sails that are better for downwind.
Brock T. and I have competed in a long distance race (Aprox. 140 miles) called
"The Around The Island" race on three different occasions. The first time we
were amazed that we had sailed downwind for 65 miles. On this trip we have not
used the main sail yet because we have been sailing downwind for 3515 miles,
that's three thousand five hundred and fifteen miles. WOW the Around the Island
will never be the same.

I can't wait to see pictures but until then I have a couple of questions I'd
like to ask.  #1 What type of whales are you seeing? (besides BIG)
(Response: I n Capetown, on a whale watching boat we saw Southern Right and
pilot whales. On our trip we have seen just one Southern Right whale.)
#2 What about the night sky?  Are the stars brilliant?  Can you see the Southern
Cross?
(Response: Hey what are you trying to do? You slipped in three questions in on
#2. Is that fair? Do you let your students do that? Of course it is. You
guessed it, the night sky is bigger here than it is in the Midwest. When we don't
have clouds the Milky Way is huge and bright and usually from horizon to
horizon (I have never seen that until this trip). We have no city lights out
here and that helps. In fact when we are sailing at night we turn all of our
lights down very low so that the person on watch can maintain a higher level of
night vision. The navigation lights are still on bright but are shaded so that
the light is facing away from the boat. The Southern Cross is rising as the sun
is coming up, so we have not been able to see it.)
#3 Is it ok with you all if I share all of this with my classroom of kids?  What
a great way to teach long. and lat.   Plus, showing them that working hard in
school just might enable them to earn chances for great adventures!
(Response: I am touched and honored that you would want to use this in your
classroom. Please do and let me know how it is received. If they have questions
and comments please forward them. One of the things that I was amazed by, while
in Cape Town, was how many kids from other countries travel world wide by themselves

or in small groups. Yes, the world is full of great adventures, Go For
It, after you finish school, and brush your teeth before you go to bed!)
What a hoot to think that as we admire this beautiful harvest moon you and your
crew mates are doing the same.
It's a beautiful fall day here in northern Indiana.  The sun is shining..it's
sweatshirt weather ...the leaves are just beginning to turn red and yellow.....
(Response: The sky is the one same-time connection that we all have, I often
think about what friends and family are doing in other parts of the world when I
am gazing).
My prayers are with you all.
Barb B
Your sister becomes part of this adventure in 47 hours and 15 minutes, but whose
counting.
Thanks Barb, Gotta Go now my watch is coming up.
BWSB
Dave

10.3.04

We are about 2 hours from Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.. We are sailing alo