The Beginning of a Long Journey

For those of you who have been checking the website and realized I haven't updated anything I apologize. My computer crashed so I have to retype all the info I had stored about our trip so far. I am sure I am going to miss tons of stuff but here is a brief recap of November. John and I first off would like to thank everyone who made the long journey to see us off. It must have been fate that would allow us to make landfall on Thanksgiving because we are both so thankful to have so many people who care about us. After motoring down the Delaware River we headed out to Sea on the 5th. For half the day there was no wind and then they picked up- and did they ever. Soon we had 12 feet breaking waves and 20 feet roller and it wasn't long until we were both getting sick. John spent most of the first few days with his head over the side of the boat and I spent much of my time lying on the floor of the boat and neither of us spoke because we were too weak to waste any energy. I think we both questioned whether we making a mistake... But alas the winds lightened on the 3 day and we began to feel better. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing and despite a few electrical mishaps we managed to get most things in order. During our spare time we played chess, fished, read books, saw whales and dolphins and other such things to pass the time. The fishing was by far the funniest part and we managed to catch a few good sized Maui Maui (see the updated pictures). Once we arrived in Fajardo, Puerto Rico things got a little crazy. First off, I was trying to clear customs and John was tied up to the wharf, but the bowline broke and set the boat crashing into the side of the dock. Luckily the rub rail protected the Hull but we scraped the wood up pretty good. Then we ran into trouble trying to anchor- the anchor fell on a piece of metal on the bottom of the ocean so it was nearly impossible to get out. After we did manage to do that, we inflated the dingy on to realize its motor wasn't working. We had to row the dingy got a few days until we got that fixed. So needless to say we were feeling a bit rattled for the first day but that all changed the evening of Thanksgiving... We met a group of sailors who had ordered a pre-made T-day dinner and they invited us to join. We ate like kings with all the normal Turkey -day trimmings. It was such a treat after 18 days at sea. They also offered us a job repairing the boat if the "Famous" singer Mickeal Beans (we is well-known in the islands) so we took the offer and worked for 10 per hour for 6 days. We made enough $ to outfit the boat with supplies for 4-5 months but the real benefit of the work was the wisdom that the men and women gave us, combined they had well over 100,000 sea miles. We learned so much and after the boat was put in the water and we had met the singer we gave us a connection in St. Croix and told us to call his friend and he would give us the VIP tour of the island. So we re currently on our way there, but we decided to stop in Culebra, PR for a few days of rest after the work. Well the is much more to say but the internet is expensive here and, as I said my computer is not working so I am forced to write all of this in html code (which I only know a little about because I taught myself, and as such the format will probably be a mess...) but I will try to keep everyone updated and I will certainly upload the photos. I will also try to respond to everyone’s emails once the internet is cheaper. For now know that we are safe and thankful for all of your thoughts and prays. Warmly, Keith