Captain's Log

Double click on any of the pictures to enlarge or view all pictures in the 2007 Photo Gallery. 

We got the following email and thought we would share it with those of you that follow our site.  So with Merle’s permission her is her email to us.

I was just browsing through "dream trips" we would all like to take when your boat caught my eye.  I worked for the Stamas family from 1980 to 1985 in their offices. They introduced the Stamas 44 at that time; I remember watching them build the first boat, the prototype, the whole 9 yards.  Very exciting for a girl from NY and someone who knew nothing about boats.  But I do remember they brought in a man named Bob Johnson, who helped design the 44 along with Pete & Nick Stamas the 2 original owners. They were originally powerboat builders. There was a whole family of Stamas’; the boys, their wives, the grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins - truly a family matter. And for the teak work they brought in a young man named Yujiro Uchida "Yuji".  Everyone said it was a terrific boat.  I think they only made 6 hulls.

The people that built the Stamas boats were truly craftsmen.  From the fiberglass shop to the woodworking guys; etc.  There was an old black lady that worked fiberglass; she could work inside those boats on the hottest of days and there were a couple of guys that came down from Maine every winter; lived in a little boat on the bayou next to the office.  Anyway; I enjoyed your website. 

Sincerely, Merle, Newburgh, New York.

September starts pretty slow for us.  Greg came down with Dengue Fever a few days ago and is not up to doing very much.  Dengue Fever comes from a daytime mosquito.  You feel like you have the flu, fever, achy, no appetite and just feel bad all over.  Bad thing is that it lasts longer then the flu.  Sometimes two to three weeks.

09-02-2007

We leave Bocas Town anchorage on a short trip to Starfish Beach.  It is a nice anchorage with palm trees lining the white sand beach.  We spend a couple of laid back days as Greg is still suffering from Dengue Fever.   

09-04-2007

Even though Greg is not himself yet we are on the move to see something new.  We drop the hook in Bamboo Bight.  The bight is small, but it can easily hold several boats.  Bruadair is with us and they find a place to put their hook first and then we drop ours.  This bight has protection from all sides, but still has a nice breeze.  Damon from Bruadair wants to go exploring and Greg is not up for it so Judy goes with Damon and they check out the village that is up a small creek.  There are children playing and women doing their laundry, but it is very quiet and peaceful.

09-06-2007

We have made arrangements with the Port Captain in Almirante to get fuel at the cities fuel dock.  We lift anchor at Bamboo Bight at 8:00 am and make way to Almirante arriving at our appointed time of 10:00 am.  We start fueling, but the electricity is going on and off so the manager of the fuel station starts up their generator and we start pumping fuel.  The guys at the fuel dock are doing all the work, running the fuel thru the fuel filter funnel, which is a slow process.  It takes us an hour to take on two hundred gallons of fuel, but we will not take on fuel again for many months.  We pull off the dock and Bruadair pulls up to take on fuel.  They thought they needed about forty gallons, but turns out they only need twenty.  With that chore finished, both boats drop their anchors and head to a restaurant next to the fuel dock and have a great lunch.  Then it is anchors up and off to Quarys Point just across the bay.  We have the anchor down and all of our chores for the day completed by 2:00 pm.  Now it is time to kick back and relax for a bit.

The next couple of days we spend exploring and checking out the area.  We explore up the Rio Oeste and  see the local people, their homes and their culture.  There are thousands of parrots that fly from east to west in the morning and west to east in the evening.  The parrots feed all day and fly to roosting trees at night and they are LOUD, but we enjoy watching them.  The nights are very cool here in Quarys Point.  We have decided that it is due to the mountains of the mainland coming right to the waters edge and the cool night breeze blowing off shore that makes it so cool here during the night.  Really great sleeping!

09-07-07 Lone Star Love anchored at Quarys Point with the beautiful clouds and mountains in the background.

09-09-2007

We are in no hurry but we want to be back at Bocas Town anchorage today so that we can go into town in the morning and do some shopping.  We also need to check the internet and see if we need to handle any business.  We lift anchor around noon and arrive back at Bocas a little after 3:00 pm

09-10-2007

Today is Greg’s birthday and we are going to have a big party this evening to celebrate.  Greg is still not back to himself due to the Dengue Fever still lingering on, but he is better then he was.  We are hoping he feels good for his party.

It is a beautiful day for a birthday party and we arrive at the Calypso Cantina at Bocas Marina about 5:00 along with the rest of the party goers.  Several of our friends have been decorating and hanging balloons for the party. 

We have a really great time, a wonderful meal, followed with birthday cake and lots of fun.  Kay on Valentina made Greg a pecan pie for his birthday.  She knows that her pie is Greg favorite.  Damon and David on Bruadair present Greg with a Farkle playing board that David made.  David came up with the idea of the board when we were all playing together and loosing the dice in the grating of the cockpit floor and one time we almost lost one overboard.  That would have really been bad.  The board is wonderful.  Cheri on Namaste’ and David on Bruadair both make carrot cakes for Greg because they all know it is his all time favorite cake.  Both of the cakes were so good.  Thanks to all our friends that helped make Greg’s birthday a special event.

The next few days are spent doing some boat chores and reprovisioning so we are ready to head out again.  Valentina will be coming with us this time as their time in the marina is up and they are ready to go exploring. 

09-13-2007

Bruadair, Valentina and Lone Star Love head out for Dolphin Bay or also know by the locals as Laguna Porras.  We have been at the south end so this time we are headed to the north end to a village named Boca Torrito.  We have heard that there is a really good local restaurant, serving local favorites and we want to check it out.  While we were underway David on Bruadair calls on the VHF "FISH ON".  Damon has caught an nice Bonita which is in the tuna family.  This is a nice fish but has to be cleaned properly or you will get that fishy taste.  Greg tells Bruadair that he will give a fish filleting class after we get our anchors down.  Greg likes to hot sere this fish in butter and Tony Chachere's so that it is still pink in the center and then serve it with a honey wasabi sauce.  Its good!

The restaurant is called Soprianos’ and lives up to what we have been told.  The coconut rice is the best we have ever had.  Not only is the food good, but the whole family is friendly and welcomed us there any time.  It’s been a really nice place to hang out and enjoy visiting with fellow cruisers.

The best thing is that Greg is back to feeling himself again.  It has been over two week since he came down with Dengue Fever, but all is good now. 

Laguna Porras is a huge bay with lots of places to explore.  There are mountains all around and as the gringo name of Dolphin Bay tells you that there are dolphins everywhere.  It is fun to watch them and hear them at night as they spout outside the boat. 

We have explored over to the next bay and we are headed there tomorrow.  We met Raul and his family that own a small tienda at the north end of the bay.  Raul took some of the group for a walk up the mountain to see his farm and to catch a view of the area.  Damon and Judy stayed at the tienda because they did not have any shoes and did not want to go hiking barefoot.  The tienda serves very cold sodas and beer that they keep on ice.  This will be our local watering hole for this bay.     

09-16-2007

Valentina, Bruadair and Lone Star Love are off on the short passage to the next bay called Palos Lagoon or the gringo name of the Dark Land.  We head for the southwest corner of the bay and ease our way between some mangrove islands into another small bay where we drop our anchors.

We have a visitor right away.  A young boy named Kennedy who was very anxious to tell us about all the fish in the area and how big they were.  His friend Louis came along in his cayucos and both boys were visiting with us.  They finally had to leave and off the two of them went in their cayucos.  Damon from Bruadair went with us in our dinghy and Sonny and Kay in theirs for an afternoon of exploring.  It was great. We meet some of the locals that live in the Dark Land.  We met a nice couple Cindy and Ron who just finished building a very lovely home in the bay and two others that are in the process of building homes.  Lots of gringos are moving to these remote areas to get away from the busy lifestyles of the big cities.  Cindy told us that they take their small skiff into Bocas Town once a week to stock up and head back to their home in the Dark Land.  They said it was just like living on a sailboat because they have solar panels, a generator, they caught rain water, and had a composting sewer system.  The big difference is we move around, they stay put.  We can sure understand why they like it so much.  After our visit with Cindy and Ron we made at stop at Raul’s to quench our thirst.

09-17-2007

It’s Monday and for some strange reason yesterday and today we have gotten six messages on our cell home.  We do not have coverage here, but someone is trying to get us.

Its off for another day of exploring and it is just beautiful here.  The bay that we are anchored in is just at the base of the mountains and we are getting that cool mountain air every evening and all thru the night.  It is almost cold sleeping, but we are loving it.

Monday evening and we are still getting messages on our cell phone.  It is after dark and Valentina calls us on the VHF and wants to come over.  This is kind of strange as we all have out dingy up for the night.  They bring over a copy of an email they received from some mutual friends to tells us some horrible news.  It says that Toni, our good friend and the owner of Lagoon Marina in La Ceiba, Honduras has been shot to death and his daughter Stefanie was injured by a stray bullet.  We instantly knew who the messages were from on our cell phone.  Sonny tells us that if we get up on the hardtop of our boat that we might be able to get a signal.  Judy gets up on the top and checks the messages.  They are all from our good friends Martha and Phil in La Ceiba.  They are trying to reach us and need us to call or check our email right away.  There has been nothing on sailmail and we do not have internet access to check our land email.

We finally get Martha on the phone and she confirms the news that Sonny and Kay have brought to us.  She also tells us that Rita wants Greg to come to La Ceiba and help her.  We let Martha know that we will head to Bocas Town in the morning and call Rita just as soon as we get a strong cell signal.  We will also check our internet email.  We told Martha to send the email to our sailmail on board so we could read her email this evening.  This is very sad and tragic news.  We will have to see how things are going and make some decisions.

                                                                               09-15-2007

                                                    In Loving Memory of Our Wonderful Friend Toni. 

                     A Loving Husband To His Wife Rita And Fabulous Father To Stefanie and Florian.

                                                         We are blessed that he touched our lives.

09-18-2007

We both get to talk to Rita and she is with Stefanie in the hospital.  She can barely talk she is so stressed and upset.  She has lost her husband in a tragic situation and her daughter is in intensive care.  Greg has worked for Toni and Rita in the past when Toni had knee surgery twice and Rita feels Greg is the only one who can sort things out for her till she figures out what she will do, but her first priority is to get her daughter out of ICU and the hospital and back home.  We also call Martha and Phil to see if they can give us any more information.  Based on all the information, we decide to put Lone Star Love in Bocas Yacht Club and Marina and Greg will fly to La Ceiba and see if he can help Rita thru this critical situation.  Judy will stay with Lone Star Love.

09-21-2007

We move Lone Star Love into the marina and prepare for Greg to fly to La Ceiba on Sunday. 

09-23-2007

Phil and Martha pick Greg up from the airport in La Ceiba and he spends the night with them.  It is a sad situation for a reunion with wonderful friends, but all are very happy to be together.  Tomorrow Greg will meet with Rita and see what actions need to take place.

09-24-2007

Greg moves into one of the apartments at Lagoon Marina and starts working on unfinished jobs on boats that are in the shop for engine repairs.  Rita will stay at the hospital with Stefanie till she can come home.  She was moved out of ICU and hoping she will be able to come home in a few days.

The next few weeks Greg will be helping Rita and Judy will be in charge of boat chores.  One item that we were addressing when we got the news from Honduras was a battery and inverter issue.  Judy got the inverter sent off to be repaired and with Damon help from Bruadair they isolate the problem with two batteries that are both in the same battery bank.  So it is now time to shop for batteries.  We are glad that Lone Star Love is at a dock with good power and we do not have to depend on the two battery banks since only one is on line at this time.

09-25-2007

Our niece Tisha gave birth to Ayden Miles on Tuesday September 25th at 7:33 pm.  Ayden is doing great and is absolutely adorable! He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 20 " long.  Sister and brother, Kaylyn and Dylan are the best helpers and can't seem to get enough of him.  Proud dad, Tony now has three wonderful children and a really special lady, our niece as his wife and mother of their children.  Congratulations to everyone!

09-29-2007

We have another wonderful event that is taking place today and that is that our son Greg is getting married to a wonderful lady, Becky.  Wish we were there!  We are sending huge CONGRATULATIONS to GREG and BECKY!!!!

                             09-29-07 Congrats to Becky and son Greg on this, their wedding day.

09-31-2007

Meanwhile back at the Bocas Yacht Club its Sunday Pot Luck this afternoon.  It’s a great time to visit with lots of the other cruisers that are in the anchorage, at the other marina, and from this marina as they all come together with their dishes to share.  It really makes for a great time with lots of good food and friendship.

Another wonderful note:  Stefanie is out of the hospital this week and is resting comfortable at home.  Things are moving forward at Lagoon Marina.  Please keep Rita and her children in your thoughts and prayers.

                                                                                  Stefanie