Celebration dinner in Aruba! From left, Doug & Gina from Durabo; Dan the Man,Spirit and Captain Noel (under that beard) and the ret of the crew.

November 28, 2008---7500+ miles into our journey, we are in St Kitts! Took a time to get here from the ABCs as we had to pass along the Venezuelan coast, far enough away from land (and the notorious pirates that have been killing cruisers on their boats) but below the 12 degree mark which is where the weather was turning nasty for most of November. Happily we made it to Grenada in 3 days from Bonaire, then hopped along in the lee of the islands on up to St Kitts where we enjoyed Thanksgiving with Noels 2 Uncles, Dave and Barry, and cousin Spencer and his girlfriend Andrea. Happiness is spending the holidays in the Caribbean! :)

 Upcoming Visits! Can't wait to see everyone, here is our list of confirmed travel (the tickets are booked so they're not getting out of it) and we will update as we hear from many more of you who are still in the dreaming phase. Hope to see you someplace warm and sunny!

 TETLOW FAMILY: Panama, San Blas Islands, Canal Transit with Noel aboard Delfin Solo,  August 11-25

WAHOO VISIT: September 15-19, Bocas Del Torro, Panama

DESMARTEAU GRANDS: Panama, Bocas del Torro for Noel's 40th September 30-October 9

"Uncle" Dave Desmarteau: Aruba-St Kitts , November 18- December 1

"HEBERT "GIRLS-Kathryn & Angela: Brittish Virgin Islands      February 1-February 6

ENRIQUEZ FAMILY: Turks & Caicos Islands                              March 23-March 30

OASIS-FARMER FAMILY: Exuma Islands, Palm Beach Bay Club April 4-April 11

ABOVE PHOTO OF ASHE & BOYS taken on Panama Canal transit day as we near the famous Bridge Across the Americas, which conencts North America to South America.  

 Miracles in the Mercilagos Islands...a nest of turtles the Park Rangers uncovered as we were shelling on the beach....Here is one little guy that Wilsy is holding ever so gently--this one needed a GPS...he kept walking down the beach instead of too the water. See our Costa Rica page for more turtle adventures and pictures of these sweet little creatures.

Captain Noel's "Old Man & the Sea" moment....pulling in a 6 foot marlin on a handline just inside the El Salvador border! He was a gorgeous fish, but he was not happy to be caught by a cruiser--on a sailboat no less! Noel was able to pull him up the boat so we could unhook him and make sure both he (and Cooper's lure) were safe.

Hoisting up the flag...but for which country?

Here the boys are getting ready to hoist our courtesy flag after we went through the official check in, immigration and a boat inspection. This is a process we go through in each new country, and once our passports are stamped we can hoist the flag. Imagine our embarassement when we realized ONE WEEK LATER that we had raised the WRONG flag! We only noticed after Cooper pointed out that everyone else in the Marina had the wrong flag up--their stripes were the same color, just horizontal whereas our flag (which turned out to be the Guatemalan flag--oops) had all the same colors, but as you can see, the strpies are vertical. International incident avoided!  

Ketching Up Kids

Taken from the beach in Chacala, the s/v Ketching Up peeking in between Griffin & Wils. Chacala remains one of our favorite anchorages, made even better by having so many of our Buddy Boats and new Haha friends there with us.

Seashells on the beach at Isla Isadore...the entire north beach is covered with the crunchy corals and shells. Just up from the beach, Blue Footed Booby birds have their nests in the beach grass. Our visit to the island we were able to get very close to the Blue footed booby hatchlings, all white and fluffy like feather snowballs.

 Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me! Check out our Puerto Vallarta updates with pictures from our day on the Merigallante Pirate Cruise with our pals from Oasis...

BON VOYAGE!!!!!!!

August 19th we celebrated 9 years of planning and work come together as we christened s/v Ketching Up (officially) and enjoyed an afternoon party on the docks of the West End Mooring Basin. Thanks to Tom & Lori Tetlow, Cammy, Erin & Claire; Joanie Adams & Libby; Staci & Scott Miethe, Bradee, Landree and Averee; Tony & Ang Enriquez, Zach & Nico and Nana Jean; Jennifer & Pat Keefe, Malachi and Torin; Stacy Matthews & Burke; Kelly & Roger Riutta, Ashton, Lindsay & Aiden; Bill & Marlene Tetlow; Bob & Fritz Perry; Ron Ash; Wes Holthusen; Leslie Claterbos, Taylor & Teague; and the crew of Ketching Up!

Goodbye Astoria...thanks for all the fish! We say goodbye to a great town and to the many friends we have made here the past four years. Nearly 200 years ago, Lewis & Clark visited (during the winter--what were those guys thinking!) and the rest is history, literally. There is much to do, see and experience here in Astoria. If you are a cruiser, you'll find great resources at the West End Mooring Basin & a helpful staff. FREE showers and so far the best facilities we've experience from Astoria to Half Moon Bay--a great cruisers library, $1.00 laundry--and I can tell you, you won't find that anywhere else! Plus a cute trolley to take you downtown and all the way to Safeway for provisioning. Did I mention free showers?