tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:41:52 +0000A personal journal of life as American expats in<br>the Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indieshttp://2gringos.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (La Gringa)Blogger20012521.9-72.02GringosInTheCaribbeanhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-2574231225419117335Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:51:00 +00002009-07-10T09:14:54.978-04:00ProvidencialesSloopsFishingLand RoversCaicos BanksMan oh man, this week it seems like stuff is breaking, rusting, corroding, or just quitting faster than I can fix it. (I'm starting the post with this complaint because it also happens to be my main excuse for letting a week and a half go by without a new post.)But it's true! I have been up to my elbows in all kinds of things. More on that later.I wish I could paste in one of our http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/Fjn5en7eAUA/diyyiyi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/Fjn5en7eAUA" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/07/diyyiyi.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-2587282730446921306Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:02:00 +00002009-06-27T08:17:56.317-04:00FishingConchCaicos BanksI realize I've been taking a lot of kayak type photos lately. There are some reasons for that. It's part physical therapy, it's partly due to the weather, it's partly because it's cheap to run it (a few thousand calories!) , and it's just downright fun. But we are past due for a post that talks more about the ocean than about the boat. Maybe even another sunrise photo?:The kayaking is definitely http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/Zql0DE7HeAY/back-on-blue.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)11<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/Zql0DE7HeAY" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/back-on-blue.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-1911398821078164237Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:25:00 +00002009-06-24T07:28:24.263-04:00Turtle CoveBoatsKayakWe decided to take the little kayak (which we have now named "Low Cay") over to the Turtle Cove area. Plan A was to start in Turtle Cove, boat out toward the reef, go into Thompson Cove, and then return. This was the planned route, over and back:We figured that if we pedalled around sightseeing in both Coves, and added in the return trip, this would work out to be about six miles of pedalling, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/wsoXKyZua_g/low-cay-in-turtle-cove.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/wsoXKyZua_g" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/low-cay-in-turtle-cove.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-924890297902828922Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:21:00 +00002009-06-24T18:40:35.786-04:00LeewardBoatsKayakWe finally got a good day to try the sail on the new kayak. We launched it at Leeward Going Through, and sailed around the various little cays for several hours. We found out that with the wind less than about 10 kts, the sail becomes manageable. We learned to put it up and take it down without getting out of the boat. This ought to come in real handy when there's no beach nearby.Without the sailhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/3w9qdlbbIEI/messing-round-with-low-cay-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/3w9qdlbbIEI" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/messing-round-with-low-cay-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-2844213318130342545Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:03:00 +00002009-06-14T13:23:51.611-04:00Turtle CoveSloopsDIYLand RoversCoral ReefBoatsShipwrecksSeveral people have written with some interests in the sloop that we talked about in the last post. We have a little more information on that, and a short photographic update. So even though we have not been undergoing anything especially 'newsworthy' this past week I am going to upload a brief post with what little content that we do have.First, a photo of the Marine Patrol headed out on a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/cqXI19Bqig8/sloop-sliding-away.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/cqXI19Bqig8" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/sloop-sliding-away.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-5609822977581532551Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:10:00 +00002009-06-03T12:23:24.223-04:00Pine CayDIYLand RoversBoatyardBoatsShipwrecksThis weekend we took our 25 foot Contender center-console boat out for the first time in almost six weeks. We had been getting rain off and on, mostly on, for the entire week. We were getting accustomed to looking out the window and seeing things like this approaching from the North:Some of the storms included thunder and lightning, and while we enjoy a good thunder-boomer we do have one family http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/9-2smdNp7NM/back-on-boat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/9-2smdNp7NM" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/back-on-boat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-5513987319015251014Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:35:00 +00002009-06-03T12:22:11.729-04:00Turtle CoveWeatherFiddleBoatsWe have started spending time outside again. This is a really good thing for us, one of the reasons we like living where we have chosen to live. We have been pretty busy since the last post here.When we first got back from our trip to Texas it was raining. It rained and rained. I think we had two decent days out of nine, if you count sunny as decent.The view from the front porch at the horizon http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/paCc1gT3iZ8/waiting-out-rain.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/paCc1gT3iZ8" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/06/waiting-out-rain.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-7755158010872736790Fri, 22 May 2009 13:25:00 +00002009-05-31T18:15:55.316-04:00Island LifeLand RoversFishBeachWe've been home from our US trip for a week now, and our lives are slowly moving back toward what we think is normal. Normal for us, I guess I should say. We were curious about how we would feel about returning to these little islands after spending weeks in a big US city. Would we become spoiled by all the smooth concrete pavement, fast food restaurants, shopping malls and consumer goods outletshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/H1I4np2ReVc/home-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/H1I4np2ReVc" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/05/home-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-882451782197533246Fri, 15 May 2009 13:50:00 +00002009-05-23T14:27:05.332-04:00ProvidencialesUnderwater PhotographyFishingLand RoversCaicos BanksI realize that the posts here have probably seemed a bit lame lately. And now I can tell you why. I was stretching out the photos we took in April to get as much mileage out of them as we could. This was because we just spent three weeks in Texas while I underwent a total knee replacement. The post prior to this was actually sent from a hotel room in Houston with my knee elevated and iced. Man dohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/gm-B5u0gtCM/spring-cleaning-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)13<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/gm-B5u0gtCM" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/05/spring-cleaning-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-1984705636923046802Sat, 02 May 2009 14:15:00 +00002009-05-02T19:19:00.045-04:00FishingUninhabited CaysMiddle CaicosCavesThe sun has finally moved far enough North to get it and the old freighter wreck into the same photo again.I remember taking pictures of the sun rising right through the old wreck last summer. That must be when it is about at it's peak in the Northern Hemisphere.This photo was taken from our patio, but really has nothing to do with the rest of this post. I'm going to put up some pictures we took http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/QChjaX4cPxc/more-middle-caicos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)9<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/QChjaX4cPxc" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-middle-caicos.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-7345094145686773955Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:25:00 +00002009-05-02T10:06:22.608-04:00SloopsFishingMiddle CaicosWe are finally getting out of the windy days of winter, we hope. The islands have been getting "stretches' of two to three days in a row without the high winds and high waves. The sunrises are creeping a little closer to the old wrecked freighter each morning.The calmer weather means that we have been able to get away for some brief fishing trips from time to time. We have not caught anything http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/N8nWk1DwE4c/is-winter-finally-over.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/N8nWk1DwE4c" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-winter-finally-over.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-2679823880959833584Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:45:00 +00002009-04-06T19:29:41.320-04:00Randall RosenthalDIYKayakIt is finally feeling like springtime again down here. We know that it might not seem like there is much of a difference just judging from the photos, but there really is a difference to the people who live here year round. Really, there is. We get cold when the temperature drops below 75 F.I thought I would squeeze one more small blog post in here this last day of March '09. Mainly because we http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/wHOAkgcShw0/goodbye-march.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/wHOAkgcShw0" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/03/goodbye-march.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-3468711104486844045Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:40:00 +00002009-03-18T21:27:59.881-04:00ProvidencialesDIYCanalsKayakWe are still in the windy part of the winter here. Day after day of eight to ten foot seas offshore, and when the wind direction is right (or wrong, as the case seems to be) that also translates into an ugly little two to four foot chop on the Caicos Banks. It's usually pretty calm around dawn:But it picks up pretty early. We don't let it stop us from necessary boat trips, but it does tend to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/Yo7l9A6eUUQ/canals-of-provo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/Yo7l9A6eUUQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/03/canals-of-provo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-7269850553429701115Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:02:00 +00002009-05-23T14:36:17.290-04:00Island LifeUninhabited CaysLand RoversBoatsKayakDooleyThe previous blog post here ended with this photo of the arrival at the house of our new toy.No, not the Land Rover...the toy is in the box. We waited two weeks for a kayak we ordered from a Hobie dealer in Florida. It finally arrived late Monday on an ocean freighter. I was able to get it cleared through Customs in only about three hours total effort, involving two trips into Providenciales. Thehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/6YlkLublFxA/new-toy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)13<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/6YlkLublFxA" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-toy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-6498662922140215730Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:40:00 +00002009-02-27T05:27:35.197-05:00Island LifeFishingUninhabited CaysBoatsBeachKayakA little rain must fall. We know that. And we know we are not immune, but it would be okay with us if it picked days when we were not out fishing, but hey, you gotta take the bad with the good. And this post has both. The winter weather continues, with days of eye-watering wind and some seriously lumpy ocean interrupted from time to time by a day or so of relative calm while Mother Nature inhaleshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/20RZSJWeEPo/into-every-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/20RZSJWeEPo" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/02/into-every-life.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-6348636671664310957Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:20:00 +00002009-02-27T05:19:20.912-05:00SloopsMiddle CaicosFinally, after what seems like weeks of howling winds and high seas, the weather has taken a momentary break from its winter attacks.And this break just happily happened to coincide with the now-established and 9th more-or-less-annual Valentine's Day Model Sloop Races on Middle Caicos.We made the trip over in '06, and then totally missed '07 and '08 due to our inattention, lack of planning, and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/zWYJa2oSOl4/valentines-day-races-09.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/zWYJa2oSOl4" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/02/valentines-day-races-09.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-3417345906351972792Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:35:00 +00002009-02-27T05:25:47.942-05:00WeatherBoatyardI realize it's been a while since the last post. The thing is, we've not been able to spend much time out boating around the last couple weeks. It's winter here, and we have had back-to-back weather fronts come down from the north. You know, it's perfectly okay with us if you Canadians want to keep those air masses at home. And with the fronts, while we don't get ice and snow and sub-freezing http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/5IEeFEWRR8g/another-interim-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/5IEeFEWRR8g" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/02/another-interim-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-1535219810844105855Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:12:00 +00002009-02-27T05:34:22.135-05:00Island LifePine CayI remember saying that I would try to post a few new photos at least once a week, so that's really the reason for this post. The fact of the matter is that nothing noteworthy has really happened this week. Oh, the sunrises are still pretty much worth the effort of picking up the camera:And I do try to catch them even though we must have posted a thousand of these by now.But they're all slightly http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/cHNr98blLAQ/short-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)11<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/cHNr98blLAQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/01/short-update.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-527223582490198012Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:43:00 +00002009-01-13T18:52:44.001-05:00Uninhabited CaysMiddle CaicosDooleyNow that our late-night party animals are gone, we are back to our normal early to bed/early to rise schedule, and enjoying our coffee-at-daybreak routine once again. That kinda slipped by the wayside during the holidays, with certain members of our immediate family choosing late night rum over daybreak coffee. With the short winter days it's not difficult to get up before dawn, and sometimes thehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/nV-4xDYWE10/back-to-bonefish-heaven.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)9<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/nV-4xDYWE10" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/01/back-to-bonefish-heaven.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-5805304158756812884Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:50:00 +00002009-01-14T08:42:00.250-05:00Middle CaicosDooleyWe just put the last two of our visiting offspring on a plane today. They are headed home, back to their own lives. And the dog is acting lost and the house is suddenly seeming very quiet. It has been a very active three weeks. I have some photos of bits and pieces of the days since New Years, and I thought some of these images might be worth posting. Before life moves on as it does. And before http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/Tk1IRY1Fb9s/we-just-put-last-two-of-our-visiting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)13<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/Tk1IRY1Fb9s" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-just-put-last-two-of-our-visiting.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-2030519082901195729Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:15:00 +00002009-01-05T12:41:47.043-05:00Pine CayUninhabited CaysFt GeorgeBeachDid you ever have one of those days that starts out really nice and then against all odds and logic, just inexplicably keeps improving? One of those lucky days you could not have designed any better if you tried? Our New Year's Day was kinda like one of those.We woke up to just about perfect weather conditions, with the ocean in the best mood that we have seen for a long, long time. Warm, clear, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/4tsuQ8IwkMY/just-one-of-those-days.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/4tsuQ8IwkMY" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/01/just-one-of-those-days.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-3794763427035159247Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:44:00 +00002009-01-05T12:44:30.307-05:00FishingDIYWeatherDooleyThe last week of '08 went fairly smoothly for a change. We still have three of our sons from that big country up North staying with us. Nothing major broke down (knock on wood), and the weather decided to behave itself for the most part. Oh we did have some passing showers and squalls around mid-week. We can always see them coming from miles away, usually from the Northeast.They blow in with the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/2uG84MVu_FU/adios-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/2uG84MVu_FU" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/01/adios-2008.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-8688539313794241955Fri, 26 Dec 2008 12:34:00 +00002008-12-26T18:16:41.584-05:00Island LifeUninhabited CaysChristmasMerry Christmas to everyone from the Gringos on Providenciales! With our sincere wishes for a Happy and prosperous New Year. We had a bumpy 2008, ourselves, and are hoping 2009 smooths out a bit.Our winter has definitely arrived. One night last week the air temperature dropped to 73 degrees. At least it was only for a few hours, then it warmed back up. We've been having windy days lately. REAL http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/qpOYCie_YkM/christmas-stump-08.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/qpOYCie_YkM" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-stump-08.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-5986649624226958711Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +00002008-12-25T00:10:52.569-05:00BoatsDooleyCaicos BanksToday's the shortest day of the year. Uh, I mean north of the equator, it's the least amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes I tend to not think through the fact that we have people reading this in New Zealand and South Africa... couple people check in from time to time in Australia, Brasil...I gotta start thinking more globally. Again.Anyhow, we've been pretty busy. We have at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/toyyGwGaA9M/winter-solstice.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/toyyGwGaA9M" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2008/12/winter-solstice.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025068942489566045.post-14499062191947397Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:25:00 +00002009-05-23T14:45:32.350-04:00Land RoversMiddle CaicosSherlock's MarinaBoatsDooleyWe've been back from Mexico a week now and our life is returning to what passes for normal these days. We got a phone call from our friend Preacher around mid-week. He told us that he'd been working on getting "Cay Lime" back into float mode since we gave him the boat several weeks ago. And he was ready to launch it and fire it up for a test run. So we grabbed the dog and ran the Land Rover back http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~3/ylpZx5hN3Gc/checking-out-middle-caicos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Gringo)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/2GringosInTheCaribbean/~4/ylpZx5hN3Gc" height="1" width="1"/>http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2008/12/checking-out-middle-caicos.html