SEA STAR TRAVEL LOG

Beautiful Seward, AK- to Valdez, then South

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sat, 07 May 2022 21:15:00 +0000

The drive from Anchorage to the seaside community of Seward begins with two hours of spectacular views as you pass between the dramatic shorelines of Turnagain Arm and the jutting ... This drive follows the 368 mile Richardson highway from Valdez to Fairbanks, and takes approximately 7.5 – 8 hours to complete.

We really were driving quite a bit now because distances were far and our time was moving on. Here it was, just August and we are thinking about the coming snow. We wanted to see much more, so onto the Richardson Highway and the 400 miles to Seward, a tourist town with lots of fishing and tours into the K . Our plan was to take a tour to see whales and seabirds.

Jan. 2018 SOME Photos Work

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 19:38:00 +0000

Dear Friends, Family and Readers,
JANUARY 2018
Kathy has finally been working on fixing the access to photos. I do like Google Photos now for many reasons; terrific search to find specific photos, and somehow the Google program allowed my file names of already online picture album names- and some groupings that I had prepared in the Picasa editing program to be saved in their archive, but the captions were not preserved. I still have trouble bending Gphotos program to my will and miss the old way, but I'm not as devasted as two years ago when my blog "broke."

I had thought I had fixed my Blogger Blog and checked how it worked before a cut off date when Google Photo stopped supporting slide show which I used extensively. Then one day I rechecked and either the tiny picture which was previously a link to a slide show album did not open as such or a big grey blob appeared in place of the photo album leading readers to a 404 error.

Thanks to my subscribing to a website of a traveling RV couple who do videos to teach on the internet called Geeks on Tour I have caught up with some of the technology knowledge I had been lacking.

Right now, my pictures won't open or enlarge in the blog.. I wish they were full screen size as they used to be. Sometimes the blog writing doesn't really match what pictures show or I missed reinserting some favorite photos. Photos are a smaller size which I could fix when I have more time, one at a time! The real problem is I haven't put on new material for two years. I know friends and readers have given up. So I might try to fix things. Maybe not.

I do still have total access to my original online photos but not organized into a slide show as I had them, nor sized as I want them-- when shown by Google Photo archive the thumbnails are too small to judge the quality and content of each picture. Captions and labels are missing-that's the real issue in "fixing" 10 year old material. Sometimes I can remember a caption but not usually.

Each photo, then, has to be worked on indivdually, so I have included less photos. I have 117 albums of pictures I posted publicly so it's time consuming. I hope when I complete the picture revamp and check the writing to remember Where we were, When we travelled, and Who we were with for well, the last nine years. At this point errors especially details of "where", are being made due to memory lapses! (mine) so I apologise in advance for inaccuracies.

So onward to my in-progress older travels!

DENALI NATIONAL PARK and ON TO ANCHORAGE, to HOMER

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 02:59:00 +0000

Dan and I saw bears but only from the wildlife bus and sometimes a large distance.

One of many viewpoint along the wildlife drive. No private cars are allowed here. We were able to camp at Teklineka Campground and enjoy two days of the bus shuttle.

Caribou in the distance

Mount Mckinley and Denali are the same mountain. Denali honors the aboriginal First Peoples as it is their chosen nane for the mountain.

In rutting season sometimes moose can lock horns and never become free. They would have a horrid death.

Mirror Lake one of our many stops.

A very fuzzy picture of a hiding moose from the bus.

Incredible caribeau antler display!

National Park program to engage children and make them "Jr. Rangers" and Mom and Dad can hike and explore on their own.

A Map to show the journey and many, many miles we traveled. We were to meet cruising friends in Denali and camp together so it was time to move on from Dawson in the Yukon territory and cross into Alaska.

Well OK map info was not included. Lots and lots of miles! But lots to do and see.

A rider we met on the road to Alaska Border

The Alaska Border

Beauty in July into August

Route 9 Yukon Territory took us from Dawson City to Route 5 Taylor Highway,

"Taylor Road (also called Beam Rd. or Kougarok Rd.) spans 85 miles (North) and takes 2 hours one-way without stops. For a journey back through the era of the gold rush, this is the perfect drive, as it winds past many of the old mining claims. In the distance, along the side of the hills, look for straight horizontal lines: These are ditches that were dug, by hand, to transport water to the claims years ago. You’ll also be able to see some old railroad bridges and tracks""

Obviously- the 85 miles would take much longer dragging our Escape. Roads are sometimes paved not always, and quite narrow.

Driving from the Alaskan Border, the Top of the World Highway to Chicken, AK along the route of much gold prospecting, even now in modern day.

One of the ehibits in the town of Chicken

Learning to pan for gold at $12 an hour.

Playful use of the "Chicken'" that happened all through the town. Sign says "Beware of Attack Chicken"

Leave something in Chicken. Tourest memorabilia

We chose not to visit Eagle. That's much farther north on a dirt road. The ride along the steep river valley on dirt and mud to Chicken was excitement enough. Too narrow to even pull off the trailer and take a picture.

So we head south to Tok and Route 1 Alaska Highway to Fairbanks.

," Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, is a former gold-rush town with a cutting-edge university-and it still holds onto its fiercely independent roots. Tour old gold mines, take a historic riverboat cruise, or just wander around downtown.
and on Route 2 through Whitehorse and 6, The Steese Highway, to Chena Hot Springs, our Northernmost point in Alaska.

Zoom to see roads better

A Map to show the journey and many, many miles we traveled is below We were to meet cruising friends in Denali and camp together so it was time to move on from Dawson in the Yukon territory and cross into Alaska.

Lots and lots of miles! But lots to do and see.

Click this link to see a map overview of some important stops on our trip
Alaska Trip

I will get straight to the pictures, after a few copied words below. It would help to orient the reader if you opened a roadmap of Alaskan roads. We drove many of them.

Route 9 Yukon Territory took us from Dawson City to Route 5 Taylor Highway,...

Taylor Road (also called Beam Rd. or Kougarok Rd.) spans 85 miles (North) and takes 2 hours one-way without stops. For a journey back through the era of the gold rush, this is the perfect drive, as it winds past many of the old mining claims. In the distance, along the side of the hills, look for straight horizontal lines: These are ditches that were dug, by hand, to transport water to the claims years ago. You’ll also be able to see some old railroad bridges and tracks

the Alaskan Border, the Top of the World Highway to Chicken, then to Tok and Route 1 Alaska Highway to Fairbanks.......

, Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, is a former gold-rush town with a cutting-edge university-and it still holds onto its fiercely independent roots. Tour old gold mines, take a historic riverboat cruise, or just wander around downtown.

and on Route 2 through Whitehorse and 6, The Steese Highway, to Chena Hot Springs, our Northernmost point in Alaska........

Dinner in Tok. One plate of nachos.

A few days later we have passed through Fairbanks for supplies

Seen the Chena Hot Springs

And camped here, where after my 9:00 pm walk in the river -at the 10:00pm pic below I missed a pic of a fisherman slogging out of the water into this scene from our trailer window. Wow was I startled!

Arriving at Denali National Park

Retracing our steps, Route 3 took us to Parks Highway and Denali National Park,.....

The incomparably beautiful Denali is the pinnacle of many travelers' Alaskan visits. The park holds six million acres of lakes, tundra, peaks, and wildlife dominated by North America's highest peak and interrupted by a single 90-mile road.

where we entered the park, camped and shuttled, to gaze in awe at mountain scenery, animals and rivers. Six days later we left the park, and our friends Terry and Barb, and traveled South and on through Anchorage,,,,,

Barb and Terry- boating friends we met in Denali Park for six fun days

Next morning the bus picks us all up at the campground - first we choose to visit the Husky team area.

The ranger

The dogs were resting when we arrived, either on the ground or on top of their doghouses.

Doghouse in background. Socializing the working dogs that are used for carrying goods and some people in winter.
Today they were going to do a short run with weight to show how they harness and mush.

She is a leader. Each dog has a roll in the mush.

Dog harness

Museum at Husky area

Getting the dogs ready for their run.

They are more than ready and happy to be ready to run and pull.

Not huge space but cooking indoors.

At our campground. We were happy to have the trailers because the rain was significant one night. Some tents blew over.

Night at Teclanica campground

Er... enjoy the Denali Photos again as apparently I forgot I had already posted them!

Next morning we are back on the wildlife viewing bus. In two days we saw 16 bear,mostly grizzly but black bear too, hundreds of caribou, two moose many mountain goats from a distance and dall sheep.

In rutting season sometimes moose can lock horns and never become free. They would have a horrid death.

Mirror Lake

Saw a Perigrine falcon here.

Young Ranger program

Alpine flowers

Terry and Barb in Alpine meadow AGAIN but I think the rest of pictures are new!

Caribou poop

bear poop

Afternoon walk

An impressive old guy with his bicycle and motorcycle with trailer.
He biked the road the bus tour took.

Reorient the sequence: The drive from Anchorage to the seaside community of Seward begins with two hours of spectacular views as you pass between the dramatic shorelines of Turnagain Arm and the jutting peaks of the Chugach Mountains.
and Turnagain Arm,

HOPE AK is a place at the Seven Mile River where Dan and I took a rafting trip. We have no pictures of us as we were afraid to lose the camera.!

Area around Hope and up a steep mountain without trailer.

I saw this 15 yr. old catch a nice salmon but he threw it right back in as he had snagged it not hooked it and he was" not going to break the law" he told his father. Salmon are a fisherman's dream in Alaska but it is difficult for a traveler to decipher the rules. The boy explained the fish must take your bait and snags must be put back.

This is Hope Alaska where Dan and I did a rafting trip along the Seven Mile River and through two of the canyons. It was a blast-but no pics as we did not take a camera!

Looking down at the river

A hike we took in the mountains.

River water underneath this tressel is called Hell's Canyon

Denali State Park has a great view of Mt. Mckinley or Denali at times. We tried but had cloud cover. We came very close to achieving a mountain top view but not for long. We chose not to take an aerotour over Denali because of the obscured visability.

Mural of the named peaks

Cloudy moutain range

stopping at Talkeetna, Just two hours north from Anchorage, Talkeetna is a town with authentic pioneer feel and modern tour and lodging facilities. You'll find gorgeous flightseeing, world-class fishing, and the staging ground for climbing expeditions. All McKinley expeditions must register and stage from Talkeetna. It is a place with a view of McKinley when the mountain is showing.

"Driving non-stop from Anchorage to Homer would take a good 4.5-5 hours. However, you'll find plenty of reasons to pull over on the drive south: Wildlife often appears along the roadside. Pullouts offer photo opportunities of whales, waves, and volcanoes. Trailheads lead to fabulous alpine and ocean views. Restaurants offer lunch breaks beyond the usual fast-food fare. Enjoying all the scenery and activities along the way could easily stretch this trip into a daylong adventure".

The Hatcher Pass to Wasilla (remember Sarah who could see Russia from here porch?)and on to sunny, beautiful Seward where we toured glaciers by land and sea at Kenai Fiords National Park.

Crossing the Hatcher Pass to Wasila we climbed a bit with some adventurous families.

That's us down there. The road was a bit narrow for our trailer but we made it!

The white objects below are a set-up for a wedding near the lake.

Popular place for family gatherings. There was a gathering on the mountain that day.

Colors were much more vivid than they appear.

Good day for blueberry picking in Dan's hat!

What a road!

Shows road through the Hatcher Pass- just a bit tight for our trailer.

ONWARD TO SEWARD
Three days there, watching fishermen and bears and camping right on Resolution Bay, then we traveled West on the Sterling Highway....

The Sterling Highway begins at the Tern Lake Junction of the Seward Highway and stretches 142 miles to the town of Homer. While the highway is open year round, it is much busier during the summer months, as it leads to some of the best fishing spots along the Kenai River.

More salmon fishing.

At the visitor center. How big is a bear?

Beaver- have many less than in the early rush days

You haven't liveduntil you have heard a marmot whistle!

Dall sheep

Halibut cleaning near Homer, AK
and South to the fishing city of Homer and the end of the road at Seldovia at Kachemak Bay.......

Beautiful fish but it catapulted out of the water and died looking for love.

Homer's Harbor with all kinds of boats; commercial and pleasure.

I just loved this picture posted in a ladies room at the harbor. It was for sale for $100. RUN!

We took a long ride passing through the fishing, tourist town of Homer and down another long road leading to a large seemingly shallow bay- needing 4x4 assist--down down until we were in another world. Seemingly Slavic pe0ples in a very small village right on the bay. We did not take pictures as we were obviously out of place. Grannies, kerchiefed and heavy dress and Gramps tall leather boots walking the muddy, steep roads.

The muddy dead end at Kechimak? Bay.

A working farm

Back through Homer to our campite next morning our very own cialis commercial!

This is how boats are launched - with a tractor push. They are pulled out the same way at the end of the fishing trip.

We watched a Canadian couple go off for a halbut, salmon trip. They were sucessful and sent all their catch home! We then all had our hotdogs back at the campsite..

On the beach waiting for the fishermen to return watching shore birds.

Still Homer- close harbor to our campground

....

Not wanting to miss what we heard was the prettiest town in Alaska, we headed back through Anchorage, revisited the Turnagain Arm,- it had been raining when we passed the first time-, and Potter Marsh area then headed East over the Talkeena Mountains to VALDEZ......

"The drive from Anchorage to Valdez takes 6 to 7 hours on average. But, there are many scenic vistas and unique places to stop along the way making it easy to spend more than 6 hours on the road. You will have views of several mountain ranges, and glaciers.

Where can you drive to see an amazing glacier, a museum with a saloon, and an old town site in a little over 30 minutes? The 32-mile trip from Valdez to Worthington Glacier is short, but worthwhile. The drive itself is beautiful, with this span of the Richardson Highway just alongside Lowe River"

. on the Glen Highway and Richardson Highway, Route 4.....

" Paved and well-maintained (with some rough patches in winter), this 125 mile drive is a great way of seeing Alaska’s backcountry. While it is a beautiful drive year-round, locals have said their favorite time to take the Tok Cutoff is the fall and the spring, not only for the changes in flora, but for the start of migrating caribou!"

seeing again much evidence of the aboriginal indians and their lifestyle of subsistence.

All the way the looming Mountains of the Wrangall St. Elias Range are prominent in the scenery.

We passed through the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Kluane Sanctuary,

back now into Canada's BC, South on Route 37 to Hyder and Seward

and Route 16 to Prince George and then a revisit to Chilliwack on Route 97 along the Fraser River.

We skipped over Vancouver to save time, and headed into Oregon.

GROWING THE TOWN OF INUVIK , NWT, CA

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 23:26:00 +0000

INUVIK

The town where about 3,500 people reside and work in the far Northwestern Territory of Canada is on the move. At he end of the Dempster Highway a driver has seen no homes, buildings or infrastructure like street lights phone lines and including fuel, since Fort McPherson, over 100 miles south. Before that was the Lodge at Eagle Plains 60 miles further south. The Tombstone Regional Park camping , no gas or stores, and a few scattered hunting outfitters are yet another 150 miles south. After Tombstone nothing until Dawson City another 110 miles. My point is we thought there was nothing out there.

Dan and I arrived in Inuvik in the month of July, summer, not knowing what to expect. Driving into the town showed some businesses and homes with lots of machinery scattered about, some looking like it was viable for use but a great deal seemed to have been part of the scenery for a long time. Buildings are small and look closed in. All around were reminders that sometimes the weather would have to be coped with and only sometimes is the winter weather enjoyed! Homes are built on stilts, north facing walls may have no windows and doors are solid and built without light infusing windows. Snow mobiles lay about in already crowded yards.

I had read in our guidebooks that Inuvik is a place to prepare to go on to other places in the Arctic; Hereshal Island, at least three huge Regional Parks that border the Arctic Ice at the Beaufort Delta. and aboriginal guides are needed for any exploration. There are mining and gas and oil interests that employ the small planes from the small International Airport to move around the Arctic and huge transportation trucks that supply the town and the few villages beyond. Road building in the shifting permafrost is ongoing to places like Aklavik and Tot

On main street there is a grocery store, one or two outfitting stores with small posters or handwritten signs to tourists about kayak or canoe travel, airplane deliveries to fishing and hunting areas. A very attractive and informative visitors center is also on main street and a well volumed library with terrific wifi.

Entering the town was fascinating and we started discussing how this remote town could survive and be growing so very far away from amenities. I have prepared information from the web and the NWT newspaper for you to explore this community.

We only spent three days after traveling all the way on the Dempster, but the town and the Arctic and their possibilities are still in my thoughts.

See below to see a few pictures of the town and visitors center. We must have been really busy as we have only a few shots- so follow links after.

Inuvik Domed church

License plate- remember I am here in summer!

Community College

The greenhouse- tourists may visit the research on growing year round.

A traveling food truck. They served reindeer- not caribou, as well as chicken and great French fries.

Main Street

They have a modern library with wifi and this incredible Visitor Center where culture and artistic works are on display and you can catch a bush plane to go hunting, fishing or site-seeing.

Carved from caribou antler

Beadwork on caribou

The king of it all. The Porcupine caribou herd. Now down to a few thousand from 10's of thousands.

Check out these photo and official town websites. This one has many links to follow such as "video, or aboriginal day," Follow the links to see winter scenes at below zero temperatures.

SORRY PROBABLY ALL LINKS BELOW ARE EXPIRED BUT JUST PERUSE INUVIK, ALASKA

http://www.inuvik.ca/en/town-hall/resources/Inuvik-Economic-Development-Strategy-March-2015.pdf

One exciting area of growth in the town is the remote sensing satellite facility where in partnership with European interests, the Canadian government and NWT government and local interests have commitments to invest millions of dollars into this major research facility.

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geomatics/satellite-imagery-air-photos/satellite-facilities/ISSF/10953

We read about this plan in the Regional newspaper. Michael Miltenberger, NWT Finance Minister said of the meetings held in Europe concerning the Inuvik satellite facility. "Big countries, strong powerful countries with huge space programs, they all want to come to Inuvik"

According to a lengthy newspaper report many have committed to installing many more satellite dishes in and around Inuvik. Sweden, Germany and the European Space Agency, and Italy are involved as is Norway. Much more can be learned at
http://norj.ca/2015/06/europe-trip-lands-new-deals-for-inuvik-satellite-facility/ http://norj.ca/2015/06/europe-trip-lands-new-deals-for-inuvik-satellite-facility/

The newspapers show how difficult setting priorities when many interests are at stake. Mining and gas and oil interests play a very large part in the economy but a very large part in the destruction of fragile environment. Additionally the Inuvik and other first people bands, control lands by their own governmental policies and don't agree to many of the proposals on their land backed by the Canadian government and the government agency of the Northwest Territory.

I took no pictures at the RV campsite. It was not spacious and just out in a field. No beautiful scenery there. On down the Dempster Highway after three days heading back to Dawson City, YT.

DRIVING THE DEMPSTER HIGHWAY to INUVIK July 7-17, 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 20:32:00 +0000

THE DREADED DEMPSTER WASN'T SO BAD

The information below was taken from public information about the Dempster Highway. The one and only road that connects the Yukon Territory with the small cities beyon the Arctic Circle line in Canada's Northwest Territory. The information explain the Arctic and the indigenous people in clear, understandable explanations. The two major episode stories The Mad Trapper, and The Lost Patrol are told over and over again in the area.

The Dempster Highway

The Dempster Highway travels through mountains that have never seen a glacier... across rolling tundra where the great Porcupine Caribou Herd winters... along the trails used by native people and the Northwest Mounted Police... through the land of the Gwich'in People to the land of the Inuvialuit... until it reaches Inuvik - gateway to the Western Arctic. The Dempster is the only public highway in North America that crosses the Arctic Circle: beyond this point is a world that many have never seen.

Road to the ARCTIC CIRCLE and Beyond

460 miles from the beginning point of the Dempster Highway lies INUVIK; the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one. Most destinations are reached by air although, in winter, an ice road connects Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Inuvik is the gateway to the Western Arctic; a land within reach, yet beyond belief. Two Yukon destinations are accessible from Inuvik. Herschel Island Territorial park is many things; an ancient meeting place for Inuvialuit travelling along the coast; an abandoned whaling station; and an excellent location to see Arctic wildlife. (We checked on flying -too expensive and Herschel Island, too uncertain as a tourist could be stranded there more than a week- decided Inuvik was quite an accomplishment)

Northern Yukon National Park encompasses 10,000 square kilometres in the northern corner of the Yukon. The park is dedicated to wilderness preservation and the perpetuation of aboriginal lifestyles

Our Home Then

The Dempster Highway passes through a land of extremes. Yet, far from being an uninhabited wasteland, it has been home to humans since the end of the last ice age. Archaeologists have identified over 90 prehistoric sites along the Dempster. On the evidence of stone tool fragments found near Rock River and the North Fork Pass, prehistoric use of this area spans thousands of years. Bison and caribou were hunted by these early peoples and possibly, at the end of the ice age, mammoth and horse as well. Patterns of land use indicate a history of hunting that has continued virtually unchanged to the present day.

The first contact with Euro-Canadians was made in 1839 with Robert Bell of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the early 1800s, three Athapaskan-speaking groups occupied the land: the Hän, centered around the Yukon River, the Tetlit Gwich’in on the upper Peel River and the Dagoo Gwich’in on the upper Porcupine River. Geographical and cultural boundaries were relatively fluid although there was a strong association with commonly used land. These people were great travellers, moving throughout the area along well-established trade and hunting routes. You are travelling one of them today.

The Lost Patrol - One of Yukon’s greatest tragedies

Frances Fitzgerald first came to the Yukon as a 29 year-old North-West Mounted Police corporal with Inspector John Moodie’s 1897/98 exploration party. Moodie, Fitzgerald and three special constables were looking for an all-Canadian wagon road route from Edmonton, Alberta to the Klondike Gold Fields. The trip was long and arduous and not to be recommended - although many stampeders tried.

In 1903, after a post was established at Fort McPherson on the Peel River, Sergeant Fitzgerald organized a patrol to Herschel Island and established a post there. Annual patrols to Fort McPherson and on to Herschel Island started the next year and Fitzgerald traveled on the second patrol in 1905.

On December 10th, 1910, North-West Mounted Police Inspector Frances Fitzgerald and three companions departed Fort McPherson for Dawson City - a distance of 465 miles. They never arrived. A search party, led by Corporal Dempster and guided by Charley Stewart, found their bodies in March 1911. An investigation determined that Fitzgerald’s party perished due to a shortage of supplies, bad weather, sparse game and the lack of an experienced guide.

After this tragedy, the Mounties put rest cabins and supply caches along the route from Dawson to Fort McPherson and between Fort McPherson and Herschel Island. All subsequent patrols were led by an experienced native guide and hunter.

The Arctic Circle

You have reached the Arctic Circle, an imaginary line around our planet at 66° 33’ north latitude. It marks the southern limits of the Arctic, Land of the Midnight Sun. The “line” is actually the edge of a band of 24-hour sunlight that stretches from the North Pole to here at midnight on June 21, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Six months later, on the shortest day, it is the edge of a huge shadow that blankets the Arctic. On June 21, you would not see the sun set here: on December 21, you would not see it rise.

Defined by the Sun

The main physical characteristics of the Arctic are the extreme differences between the seasons, and the low levels of solar energy. Because of the Earth’s curve, sunlight strikes the Arctic at a different angle than nearer the equator and the energy within those rays is spread over a larger area. This lowers the amount of available heat. Solar energy is also lost when rays bounce off of the atmosphere and still more is absorbed by the greater distance it must travel through the atmosphere. When the ground is covered with snow and ice – a highly reflective surface – up to 80% of the solar energy is reflected back into space. If it were not for warmth redistributed from other part of the Earth by air movements and ocean currents, Arctic winters would be even colder than they are now. By summer, however, as much solar energy is received in one 24-hour sunlight period as is received at the equator during its 12-hour day. Plant growth is greatly enhanced during the brief arctic summer.

In the far north, on days in which the sun rises and sets, it does so at a shallow angle to the horizon. This makes for long periods of dawn and dusk, resulting in summer days that appear to be longer than winter nights. Summer visitors to sub-arctic destinations like Anchorage, Whitehorse, and Yellowknife delight in the experience known as white nights, when it is possible to read at midnight by natural light.

Mad Trapper of Rat River

Complaints to Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Aklavik, NWT in December 1931 started a seven-week series of events that resulted in the wounding of two men and the deaths of two more. The man who became known as the Mad Trapper arrived in the north as early as 1927 and identified himself at different times as Arthur Nelson and Albert Johnson. He kept to himself and was less than friendly to his neighbours who eventually accused him of raiding a trap line. The police investigated the accusation on December 26, 1931 and made two attempts to get Johnson to give himself up. In the last attempt, Johnson fired shots through the walls of his cabin and wounded Constable A. W. King. Dynamite was used to blow Johnson’s cabin apart but he continued to shoot until the posse retreated.

Johnson fled from his cabin site on the Rat River and a fresh group of officers and volunteers took up the chase through extreme weather. Johnson evaded the police by walking on bare ice and also by putting his snowshoes on backwards to confuse them. When the posse caught up to Johnson, gun fire was exchanged and Constable Edgar Millen was killed. The RCMP called for more volunteers and a plane was added to the search. The pilot, Wilfred “Wop” May, located Johnson on the frozen Eagle River on February 17, 1932. Shots were fired from both sides resulting in the wounding of Staff Sergeant H. F. Hersey and the death of the Mad Trapper. The Mad Trapper died on the Eagle River, 50 downstream from the Arctic Circle.

“Canada’s Ultimate Cold Case”

Although the Mad Trapper was caught and killed, it was never proved that he actually raided his neighbour’s trap line and his identity remains a mystery. The pursuit of the Mad Trapper was dramatic and intense. The story was picked up by radio broadcasters who nicknamed Johnson “The Mad Trapper”. North American listeners sat by their radios hoping to pick up the latest installment in the true-life adventure. It became even more interesting when, for the first time, the Canadian government approved the use of a plane in the pursuit of a criminal. The main players in this story were, or became, legendary and this added to the drama of the chase. Johnson’s tremendous feats of strength and endurance were highlighted by the stormy and extremely cold weather. The radio broadcasters claimed that “the Mounties always get their man” and “Wop” May was a famous World War I pilot.

Please enjoy some pictures along the Dempster Dan and I explored.

Our first stop was 70 miles North driving the Dempster Highway to Tombstone National Park

Most of this part was paved.

Grouse on the road

Spectacular park and great camping spot. Dan was at his birding best. With the suggestions of a ranger we found a Surf bird , a bird that has a huge travel migration to get to its breeding area in the Arctic.

Dan and I spent three days in the park on the way up and looked forward to stopping again on our return trip. We spent time birdwatching, animal watching and soaking in some of the Gwichin culture.

This woman, a member of thr Porcupine Caribou tribe, took us on a night walk through the park. We started our hike at 7:00pm but had plenty of daylight when we returned at 10:00pm

A family on the night walk. The man spotted a wolf that we were able to get a glimpse of down below us on the pebbled river bank.

Somewhere in this photo..

Remember I took these photos about 8:00 pm!

Sign at the beginning after we left Dawson City Yukon Territory

Eagle- the halfway point. We arrived there, 215miles- the only stop after beginning the Dempster where fuel was available. We made it. We bought dinner, and took a night in the campground before the second ferry on the way to Inuvik.

Campground Back at the campground we saw a couple who couldn't cross on the ferry also- but did not have the travel time to wait-so back down the Dempster they went.

Road- but also airstrip. Says Be Careful-Watch for planes.

Arriving in Northwest Territory

This large RV pulled by a Peterbuilt truck told us their machine's slide-outs were so mud encrusted they had to stay in Eagle until they could wash it as they couldn't use the inside area.

We arrived at the ferry to find the water was full of logs and too high to cross that day-----so 75 miles back to Eagle we go. In the morning we could cross.

Trucks are intimidating but it is their road! They need to bring supplies and carry goods. We just want to drive the road. But see a wolf ahead?

The animal on right side of the road is a wolf. We are close to the second ferry now.

NWT is Canada's Northwest Territory. Pretty far North.

This is our two week old trailer!

Jagar flying

A Yagur on the road eating a lemmong, in a few moments.

Look what is happening with sunise and sunset. We have plenty of time to arrive in Inuvik.

Next is the McPherson Ferry. In the winter which starts by Sept. the two ferries do not work. Trucks and cars and snowmobiles ride right on the river. Ice Road Trucker show is filmed up here.

RVing Newbies moving North June 26 through July 7, 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 03:36:00 +0000

ETI HAS TRAILER COMPLETED
Dan confirmed that all would be in readiness in Chilliwack at Escape. Our new 4 Runner had been outfitted with better truck tires and a ball and hitch connected. Our task before leaving for Massachusetts, a family visit and wedding was to prepare in Florida to drive directly to Chilliwack; pack the car with our wedding clothes, all the trailer gear we had been acquiring, our usual camping gear, kitchen necessities, appropriate amounts of all weather clothing, tools, important papers, registration and license plates. The lists of supplies and what folks pack on Escape trailers from the escapeforum.org helped tremendously.

WE ARE READY, TOO
Dan had purchased an aluminum rack for the hitch on the back of our car and fitted that with a large, light weight but substantial plastic gear box about 4' long into which we packed light weight but bulky items such as sleeping pads, leveling plastic blocks and our 10 lb. propane gas bottle which would be later used for our Spitfire Grill (waiting in BC) and Coleman camp stove. In the back of the Toyota we used Rubbermaid boxes of various sizes and shapes to fill every inch of our vehicle with back seats down!

We also had to put Sea Star (pictured above) in capable hands as July- November is hurricane season in Florida. We expected to have limited access to wifi and even cell phone as we traveled. Also, there were big changes happening at our marina.

ZOOM ACROSS COUNTRY
On June 20, 2015 we started from MA heading to Seattle, then Chilliwack. The trailer was ready, we were more than excited and after a stop at Bay View State Park, WA to learn the ropes of our trailer.

Now, feeling more comfortable, Dan recalled hauling and trailering our Hydrosport 26' cabin cruiser and is as usual, an excellent driver.. North we went back into BC, and headed toward the Alaska Highway and Dawson Creek, then Dawson City and headed for Dan's plan and idea of heading as far North as we would go, choosing Inuvik, Northwest Territory beyond the Arctic Circle.

We traveled around 250 miles on a long day and much less on some days, stopping to pursue our made in jello plans of maybe of birdwatching, flower gazing and scenic campground searching, walking.

HEADING NORTH THROUGH CANADA BC to the Yukon Territory

If the weather was pleasant the day went perfectly and when we stopped we could sit near the picnic table in our folding chairs, and Dan would build a fire in the provided fire rings. If there was rain we could go inside. There was no tent to set up in rain or wind or take down wet and try to pack away. We could cook and eat inside, outside or at the fire pit. Roll into a beautiful place, look around, look out the windows or hike and wake up in nature- so beautiful!

We were very excited that traveling with our Escape 19 was soo very easy; back the trailer into our spot. Since we traveled until 5:00 ish we probably were not going to unhitch the Toyota-so my job was to use the battery operated drill and let down the four corner supports to the usually level ground. That was all. The fridge at night was on propane. We rarely needed or wanted anything our solar panels and 12v were not able to provide. We did not use water or electrical plug-ins and consequently our campsites were quite reasonably priced.

Here are some pictures in slide show format. You can select one by one to read. Click to open and enjoy.

Moving across the country to British Columbia

BC and Yukon OL 2015

Trying to make it a home

Fridge works and is nicely large. We stocked dup for the Dempster in Dawson City Yukon where we learned lots about the Gold Rush and farther Northern Territories.

Small but works well for us

Burners work, propane flows and all is well

We visit Mt. Robson

Camping area

Batch of shots in Dawson City- Yes it is for the tourists but good to buy supplies, too.

Just loved seeing all the work dogs. You don't go pet him!

Yup! False fronts.

Modern needs/wants also.

Large modern grocery store with all types of premade salads and half prepared foods , like a Natural food store.

Preferred Yukon River transportation in the old days. The old Keno was preserved.

At the visitor center we get current Dempster road conditions asd it's a GO!

Peregren Falcon

We traveled the central road shown past McPherson and on to Inuvik

Still in Dawson City

Out of sequence more back near Mt. Robson

A quick trip across the US to British Columbia

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 00:02:00 +0000

Dan and I headed out after a family wedding on June 19, 2015. We drove miles per day but did manage to stop and sightsee a bit before picking up our Escape 19' trailer on June 25, 2015. Here are a few pics from our cross country blast-off!

No fun in Wisconson

Here we are as we traveled from Florida to Massachusetts and on across the US to Seattle and then crossed the border into British Columbia- Before Escape trailer

Tenting with these bison walking around

Then we stopped for lunch. Displays were interesting and quite large.

At a roadside rest area

Soon we arrived in Seattle and found the Space Needle

Shot from the top in the restaurant.

Night from the Needle

Next morning we arrive at Escape Trailer Industries to be introduced to our new 19' trailer, and meet it back over the border in the US.

DECISIONS ! Trip by Escape Trailer North and West from Florida 2015 July - October

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 20:37:00 +0000

Hello Readers, family, friends! Welcome back to Sea Star's Travel Log. It's June 2015. Our new Escape brand trailer is ready for pick-up in British Columbia. I'm beginning to post Dan and Kathy's new adventure by trailer. Many scenic pictures will follow, so keep checking back.

This is Dan at Mount Robson,British Columbia with our new Escape 19' Trailer.

Add captionHere's the finished trailer. On roof you see one solar panel, air conditioner, TV antenna. On the driver's side are fresh water fill, electric plug in. Vent for refrigerator and water heater, in front of dual wheels is the dumping system and on the rear is a holding frame that fits a 2" receiver to hold the storage box for hoses, grill and other lightweight things. We pull this lightweight 19' Escape with our Toyota 4-Runner.

A year ago September Dan and I, Kathy went through a process of thinking about a small trailer for camping. If you have read my previous blogs, we enjoyed our Nova Scotia - Newfoundland camping trip and our Western Parks motorcycle camping trip. We thought trailering would be a more comfortable way to camp, as long as we kept the size of the unit down so we could fit the National Park and BLM campgrounds easily. Dan began researching.

If we had a trailer, could we use our current vehicle, a Subaru Forester, to pull it? Probably not so what would? We drove a few different pickup trucks which I didn't like while Dan did. When a new 2014 Toyota 4-Runner appeared for good price online and it was a 4x4 trail model we went to Orlando to test drive it. The 4-Runner seemed perfect with a 5000lb towing capacity. The order for a fully fiberglass 19' pull-behind trailer from a company named Escape Trailer Industries in British Columbia soon followed.

Once we decided on and ordered the Escape 19, the next decision was where to travel. Well shoot, we thought, we will be heading North and so we might as well go to Alaska. Chilliwack, BC, where we would pick up the trailer is a long way north already. A plan was forming.

There were so many decisions and choices to attend to that we were quite busy. Build sheets with basic planning information were expected at Escape Trailer Industries, ETI, almost immediately, but the finalized sheet complete with change order penalty was to be in by April. This seemed like a long time until, like an ocean wave, the date sneaked up on us and splashed.

ETI offers many choices and options such as insulation packages, window choice, appliance choice, layout choice and then a buyer could select some of their own colors for flooring and formica or fabric. Which should we invest in?

New to RVing had to decide what systems were useful or absolutely necessary for where we wanted to drive and where we were going to camp. Additionally we had to decide what to pack of the gear we already have and what we wanted to wait to see the trailer before providing. Calls to the company for information were welcomed, changes and options written and emailed to us in a good time to change if needed..great company just as the forum participants had said to expect. Every option offered was considered in great detail, price and usefulness and the finalized sheet went to ETI. Some of our changes and thinking appear in the captions of this first set of photos. What company not only builds the product but gives the owner photos of the process so all will be as expected!

Enjoy our build pictures!

This photo of the build shows the frame with 2" receiver, extra lights in rear, dual axile. We selected the insulated options for windows and underside. One more option to follow wwas color of the graphics.

This is underneath the queen sized bed storage, larger refrigerator, and shows thescreen to the push-out safety window on right.

Further in the build we have blue graphics, you are able to see access to under bed from outside and sun awning supports.
Note all the build instructions on wall.

Hard to see photo of ceiling construction, I think.

Shows front storage box and rock guard. Front winow with rock guard down is at front of trailer where eating area nook. Inside door to left is two burner kitchen and sink. Across is bath/shower.

Cabinets around upper bed area and shelves, propane heater across from sink.
Three way fridge.

Electrical panel, and eating nook with lots of storage under seating.

We drove from Florida to Chilliwack, BC and took possession of the trailer on June 26, 2015. We had not seen this type of unit previous to our ordering it, but we had visited a Casita brand and read everything about the trailer on the ETI website and owners' forum. Both websites are here.
escapetrailer.com
escapeforum.org

When we arrived on our appointed date and time for the pick-up, all was in readiness for us! We had a two hour walk through time with one person who explained all the systems and answered our basic questions- I took notes hoping to remember even half of the inportant things. We were given a set of warrenties and product information to refer to. We then spoke with Reese who with his wife Tammy and a few employees make this all come together in about a three week period. Reese, was personally installing our solar controller. Another employee was installing some hooks we wanted and TV antenna. Now came the fun part. We watched Dennis hitch us up, Dan did the unhitch and re -hitch and Dennis adjusted the brake controller. We waited a little while and then an employee set off for the Sumas Washington border crossing while we followed. In Sumas we took posession and crossed the border to the US with no problems.

ETI had imported our trailer and we had arrived with our Florida license plates. ALL went smoothly and we set off for Bayside Campground in Washington for two days to try everything we could ourselves. After that short time with no qualms about our trailer's ability and systems, brand new, just off the floor and demonstrated-- to move on and take it to Alaska and more. We knew we ourselves would be on a sharp learning curve.

trailer Escape pictures

Next blog entry will have some scenery!

Labrador- Trans Labrador Highway into Quebec Province July 29-August 8

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:33:00 +0000

PART lll Across Labrador

In about 1997 the Canadian Government invested money in a road. It was to be of /asphaltgravel to cross the province and allow truck access to the few cities in Labrador; Labrador City of course, but also Happy Valley-Goose Bay, eventually Port Hope Simpson and Cartwright on the east coast.

The connections between the larger population areas are now built and available for transport. As of 2014 there are no plans to totally pave the highway, but it is graded yearly. Parts of the road are kept open year round for transport, but tourists are also beginning to use the TLH. (The Trans Laborador Highway) Motorcyclists have written blogs about their experience crossing Labrador and even some campers and camp trailers have used the highway.

Can one see what Labrador looks like from the TLH?
Well, yes and no, as you will see in our pictures. There are huge areas in Labrador, much of the east coast, for which travel is only available by Coastal Ferry. On a map one would see the smaller First Nation towns up the east coast which the ferry visits with supplies regularly.

Construction is ongoing and immpressive!

Built nice and straight whenever possible

Supposedly caribeau like to eat this lichen

A town of road workers

We were able to walk quite near to these falls

Dust cloud when a truck comes by or even a car.

In the much larger acreage to the north there are lakes, rivers mountains and there is the Torngat National Park, a huge area described below accessible by small planes or seaplanes. There are outfitters; hunters, fishermen, guides that know parts of these areas, but the typical tourist could not visit here totally independently. The tourists fly in on private charters to Happy Valley-Goose Bay or Nain and meet a tour guide. Information below from http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/torngats/index.aspx

TORNGAT
From the Inuktitut word Torngait, meaning “place of spirits,” the Torngat Mountains have been home to Inuit and their predecessors for thousands of years. The spectacular wilderness of this National Park comprises 9,700 km² of the Northern Labrador Mountains natural region. The park extends from Saglek Fjord in the south, including all islands and islets, to the very northern tip of Labrador; and from the provincial boundary with Québec in the west, to the iceberg-choked waters of the Labrador Sea in the east. The mountain peaks along the border with Quebec are the highest in mainland Canada east of the Rockies, and are dotted with remnant glaciers. Polar bears hunt seals along the coast, and both the Torngat Mountains and George River caribou herds cross paths as they migrate to and from their calving grounds. Today, Inuit continue to use this area for hunting, fishing, and travelling throughout the year.

So absolutely, Dan and I saw a bit of the wilderness that is Labrador. There is so much more for an active person to do that we did not, in our five day crossing. The road is The rest of the territory is not for the budget traveler. A reader might do a few things to increase their understanding of the wild and untamed places. I show only summer pictures. Other websites have fabulous images of year-round activities and scenery that are awe inspiring! An example of beauty we missed was the wintertime Northern Lights.
from Wiki
The Trans-Labrador (Newfoundland highways 500 and 510) are a group of isolated roads which serve a few small towns between the Québec border (near Labrador City) and the Atlantic coast (from Goose Bay south to Red Bay and Forteau). From Blanc Sablon (near Forteau), a ferry reaches the island of Newfoundland.

Before the completion of the highway, Labrador outports were supplied by coastal ferry from Lewisporte, Newfoundland. A few points further north are still accessible only by sea, with the bulk of their supplies transferred from the Trans-Labrador Highway to ferries at Goose Bay and Lewisporte.

The last Trans-Labrador section (Cartwright Junction to Goose Bay) opened as a packed gravel road in 2009, allowing the road to be drivable end-to-end for the first time. Route 500 between Labrador City and Goose Bay was entirely paved by June 2015, but a long stretch from Goose Bay to Red Bay and Cartwright remains unpaved and narrow. The road improves along Labrador's south coast. Similarly, Quebec Route 389 from Hydro-Québec's Manic 5 hydroelectric station to the start of the Trans-Labrador Highway at Fermont/Labrador City is little more than a primitive gravel logging/mining road with no towns. The only services between Manic 5 and Fermont are at Relais-Gabriel, which has fuel, a restaurant, motel and the next fuel is 250km away.

Labrador is very sparsely populated and lies primarily above 52° north. While not a next-to-impossible destination, the Trans-Labrador Highway is not easy to travel and not on the beaten path.

In summer, blackflies are endemic from mid-July to mid-September, particularly when winds are calm. Bring insect repellent. In winter, the sub-Arctic cold may be bitter, with temperatures as low as -30°C not uncommon.

Assume that, outside the few towns or villages along the route, you will have access to nothing - no fuel, no services, no communications - nothing. Labrador is sparsely populated and the distances between settlements are vast. Have a mechanic inspect your vehicle and complete any repairs before departure, as spare parts for a repair are likely stocked in Labrador City, Goose Bay and Blanc Sablon only. Always leave each town with a full tank of fuel (or even a spare can) and enough supplies to deal with a very long wait if stranded at roadside. Bring a full-size spare tyre and tools, as it's a long way to the next service station and this rough gravel highway is notorious for damaging tyres rather routinely. In most locations, you're on your own.

*To travel the Translabrador when Dan and I went, a travelor is allowed to borrow an irridium phone in case of emergency, and drop it at the border with Quebec.

Dan and I saw places where people have certainly changed the landscape as in the harnessing hydro-power from the wild rivers by huge dams and power plants, and our quick peek at the newest planned dam-the Muskrat River Dam on which it appears land clearing has begun.

Dan bought a book recommended to us about a Mi'kmag man who lived all his life in Newfoundland and often guided surveyors, mappers, geographers and avid sportsmen in his wilderness. The book is excellent and at times amusing. "The life of Mattie Mitchell" Like other of the occupational changes made by men and women of the land in Newfoundland and Labrador, the old ways of life and survival seem to be changing fast. Instead of fishing, hunting and trapping for themselves, many of the tour guides are Indians.

WHAT WILL WE DO
While still exploring on Newfoundland Island a decision had to be made- would Dan and I go through Labrador or not? IF not- how would we travel back to MA?

CONSIDERATIONS:
Upon hearing mixed reviews from various other travelers of the TLH (Trans-Labrador Highway) we knew the following: the distance to travel to Quebec Province at Baie Comeau from Red Bay on Labrador's east coast is at least 1300km or 808 miles.
We would travel on routes 510, 530, 500 and 386.
Half of the route remains unpaved, gravel and potted but could be traveled with various vehicles, (such as a 4 wheel drive Subaru) with preparation.
Construction was ongoing causing stoppage and delay even where pavement had been previously poured, because of winter damage.
There are few cities providing necessities between Red Bay and Labrador City/Wabash (180 miles without gas station) and mechanics even more scarce.
There was a recommendation to carry two spare tires. We had one good spare and two previously patched tires on the car, and an air compressor. (New Brunswick driving had put holes in two of our four brand new tires, holes found on the same day, on both tires on the driver's side)
The Canadian Government allows travelers to borrow, rent free, a satellite phone connected to emergency services while traversing the highway.
The weather was warmer than typical at the moment.
Barring extreme difficulty we could make a MA commitment.

MORE CONSIDERATIONS:
To return to Massachusetts through the Northern Peninsula, ferry to Nova Scotia, and travel New Brunswick would be backtracking at least somewhat.
That route would take longer.
Dan wanted to go across Labrador. He especially wanted to see Churchill Falls power facility.
We both wanted to see the Gaspe' area and the St. Lawrence.
A fellow traveler highly recommended visiting, experiencing Quebec City.

WE ARE GOING Dan and I agreed that crossing Labrador was what we would do. The ferry crossing on Appolo Lines leaves from St. Barbe, NL and takes only a few hours to cross the Straights of Belle Isle to Blanc Sablon, technically in Quebec. We boarded the ferry on July 28 on a beautiful, warm day. After the three hour ferry ride we drove some 50 km quickly to be sure we could get a campsite at the only listed park. Pinware River Provincial Park is 54 km north. So we began our trip Trans-Labrador, but stopped in Pinware River Provincial Campground-beautiful but black flies with fangs! The Ranger explained the black flies would be active through October........

Notice our newly purchased $16 each netting bug protection- but we still went in the car after supper! As you can see it's difficult, but not impossible to have a beer while in a mosquito net. You put it under the netting. Well, that didn't work, so our hoods came off.

From our waterside campsite we saw seals feeding on the capelin and heard the splashes of diving birds all night.

Next day we walked around the town of Red Bay including visiting its historical exhibits. We ate a wonderful breakfast, then we were off to the unpaved part of the TLH between Red Bay and Cartwright Junction. We planned ahead to stay at a small hotel, frequented by both construction workers and tourists in Port Hope Simpson assuming our phone would not work later to book. We stopped in St. Mary's Harbor along the way to pick up our safety satellite phone, adding a few km to our 150km trip.

Next day by late afternoon after driving the gravel road and enjoying the scenery we were in Happy Valley-Goose Bay (405 km) where we found pizza to eat and a campground. The next day began with breakfast out, gas up and a drive to Churchill.(289 km) Dan drove on from Churchill Falls, disappointed he could not make a tour of the falls hydro-electric plant as it was huge, and important to generation of power for NL. He had spoken about a tour there even before we left Florida. We had met some Canadian motorcyclists who said they were unable to book a tour at Churchill but had enjoyed tours of Hydro-Quebec's Manic 5 plant further on the TLH. We moved on toward Labrador City and camped at Hermine Eco Reserve, a place with friendly people, all living in trailers on a lake.

Next day we gassed up in Labrador City, (245 km) turned in our sat. phone in Wabash and soon were headed into Quebec Province.(23km) The road paralleled the Cartier Railroad and was paved. In the last part of our (550 km) TLH traverse we visited two of Hydro-Quebec's generating plants, visiting the dams and touring the facilities and then seeing the huge power transfer stations appear as we made our decent on the steep, winding 389 route to Baie Comeau on the St. Lawrence River estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Learning about the turbines at Churchill Falls where we stopped for a tour.

Dan and I along with a small amount of other traffic had spent five days driving 1800 km or with other off-road stops we made, about 1120 miles. Now we will take a ferry to Laborador.

She was so adorable

A travelong couple with their dog

This is why some people go there-great fishing..

And in the winter, snowmobile treks and races!

TO THE GASPE'

The St. Lawrence with its abundant wildlife is a joy to visit. The Laurient Channel on the north shore of the St. Lawrence is deep and supports whale migration and other large sea creatures. We were now on the south shore and making the stops below, as well as in the Forillon National Park.

The map shows the Gaspe' Peninsula on the east side where Forillon National Park borders the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There was not time to visit Bonaventure Island and there was rain as passed the area.

QUEBEC
A car ferry from Baie Comeau took us across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the town of Matane where we traveled west on the Gaspe' Peninsula. We camped at Mont Louis Provincial Park. While driving there we saw many people fishing from the beach at night for mackerel that were apparently running. Next morning we were off to Forillon Park, driving a circle around the Gaspe' on route 132 and 20 into the city of Quebec to visit the walled city within the modern boundary.

QUEBEC CITY
Dan and I felt we were visiting a foreign country. The food was delicious. There were pastry shops on all the corners and fresh vegetables on display. We were glad for a change from fried fish and chips as on every menu in Newfoundland. People spoke French, drank wine, and in the walled city sat at cafe tables sipping good coffee overlooking the St. Lawrence River, where cruise boats and yachts were making their way in and out to the Gulf.

Most signs were in French which was a bit annoying as Canada has many provinces of English speakers. Flowers decorated balconies and people. We found ourselves reading captions and supplied menus in English, then attempting to order. We enjoyed the walled city very much. While the buildings were not so very old, we found the city reminded us pleasantly of our travel in Europe.

Here are some pictures from Quebec City.

A place for dinner. So civilized after all that winderness travel.

Our trip back to Massachusetts and then Ashville, North Carolina and Florida were fun also. After our grand daughter's birthday and our stop with friends to camp in Asheville we returned to Florida by the end of August.

BACK to MA The last part of our journey to Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec was to the US border at Newport route 55 then through Vermont on route 91, a scenic and rural ride we are considering to ride by motorcycle- sometime!

Dan and I returned to MA and our granddaughter's first birthday party and in about a week, with one fun stop in Asheville, NC to visit boating friends as they camp hosted at a National Park, we returned to Florida.

We knew we were back to "sunny" florida when Dan drove us through a "welcoming" thunderstorm near Jacksonville, then hours more of rain before arriving- tired but safe at Sea Star.

Newfoundland Island Argentia, NL to St. Barbe ferry. July 5-28, 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 04:35:00 +0000

Part two- Argentia, NL to City of St. John's East Coast Newfoundland

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.4971733,-76.782168,5z/data=!4m2!6m1!1szQP1ZTTZEi1I.kK5t7cAeEvW4

See the map outline again by clicking on link

THE FERRY RIDE
This part of the trip began with our Atlantic Vision ferryboat crossing of 266 miles in 14 hours to the island of Newfoundland. Usually listed as a twelve hour crossing from Sydney, NS to Argentia, NL, our crossing took quite a bit longer. Tropical depression, then named Hurricane Arthur did bring rain and wind to Nova Scotia, but by that time Dan and I had bought tickets to travel on Friday, July 4th before the storm was predicted. A bit worried as the time drew closer, we contacted the ferry company and a few days later they contacted us...saying to arrive at the ferry departure dock two hours earlier than the agreed time of 4:00pm. We did arrive earlier and were loaded earlier for the trip. I should say shoehorned in! A few hours into the trip, when conditions appeared to be stable on the ferry route the Captain slowed the ferry down considerably to keep to her appointed, and usual schedule.

Interestingly, the vibration of the engines under the cars, caused our locked car to sound a piercing alert to the car guards below, every 15 minutes. Imagine hearing the loudspeaker through the entire ferry asking the owner of the blue Subaru Forrester to come to the reception desk! I clicked the operator door open with the key and after checking everything locked again. Before we, (the car guard and I) reached the stairs, the car siren went off again. This time while hurrying back on the slippery deck I slipped and fell down. Unhurt and helped to my feet, I clicked the key again, after checking the owners' manual for clues. The unlock worked so we left the car unalarmed. The nice guy was worried that in a 14 hour trip we would have a dead battery.

No excitement after that. The food was good, but expensive, and sleeping close to impossible.

AVALON PENINSULA
We disembarked in Argentia, NL at the busy but not huge ferry terminal, sped out into traffic and headed south through the malls, gas stations and villages to look around the part of the little populated South Coast of Avalon we did not see in 2008. The weather just did not allow us to travel east on a sailboat at that time, so we had turned west from Grand Harbor, an interesting harbor 20 nm from the French Islands of St. Pierre and Michelon.

There are many named nature reserves and attractions on the Avalon Peninsula; St. Mary's for seabirds, provincial parks filled with coastal beauty. We headed toward that southern, and then eastern coast.

Enjoy this set of pictures that take us from the Argentia Ferry Dock to Saint John's July 5 through 10th. First set.

2014 oOL Ferry, birds, whales Avalon South and east coast

A FEW THOUGHTS ON A BEAUTIFUL ISLAND
After seeing sights off the roads of the Avalon Peninsula we then headed to the one city mentioned constantly in the historical records of Newfoundland, but also the modern city of music and opportunity for many young Newfoundlanders, St. John's, where one claim to fame these days is a waterfront of repute.

George Street is a small street located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, that is known for its many bars and pubs.
The two block long street houses nothing but bars, pubs and restaurants. George Street is only open to pedestrians in the evenings and during most of the business day, only being open to traffic in the mornings to allow bars to restock their goods. The street has the most bars and pubs per square foot of any street in North America. (copied from Wikopedia)

Dan and I spent just two nights in St. John's. We traveled much further north expecting,(remember, I saw a smallish iceberg in St. John's Harbor) hoping to see the wildlife, sea birds and icebergs shown in the glossy information booklets provided at the accommodating tourist information centers.

NEWFOUNDLAND TERRAIN
Each crossing of landforms prolific with lakes, streams, rivers and areas of mountain wilderness away from the coast and then westward on the island of Newfoundland, showed us the wilderness that still exists and the unique and amazing landscape so dear to the natives.

The importance of land and family prevalent in their Celtic songs, performances and dances is well known and appreciated by visitors to the island. Many of the youth as they finish school or become young adults, both male and female leave home for greater opportunity. Many have left their families, sometimes kids, the land, and their homes behind for better jobs in St. Johns, or the Alberta oil fields, large construction projects and the like for part of or more than a few years. We were told they often move back to settle and raise their families in the place of their birth. They can do nothing else; the land calls them back.

Showing the world how life used to be in Newfoundland through tourism seems to have replaced much of the fishing industry. Although hard work and individualistic spirit are valued, the fisheries remain at reduced resources; the old time jobs and lifestyle are mostly gone.

The change came with the Fisheries Reduction Acts passed in the late 1990's and are renewed each year. The research available shows the fishery recovery each year was not sustainable. Fishing boats were sold, packing plants closed and entire towns closed down by people leaving for the more populated areas.

FISHERY IS COMING BACK
In a change for Dan and I since 2008 in Newfoundland, recreationally, during a short period of a few months, the people as individuals but not a fishing business are able to fish for ground fish (cod) with strict regulation ie: each adult on a boat may take up to 5 fish for personal use per day but up to 15 fish per boat only. As this season opened, the visitors to Newfie such as ourselves could buy fresh, never frozen codfish in a grocery or restaurant and it was gooood!

FEW EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Dan and I saw Lewisport and its growing marine, industrial and home building industry and then the northern coastal areas where men and boats are still trying with great difficulty to make a living from the sea. We met locals from the public sector, a teacher very satisfied with her career as she approached retirement, the Park Rangers and various inspectors paid by the province or national government did ok if they had a job. For some finding a job was difficult.

We stayed just one night at "The Cosiest Inn" in Green Cove Harbor, on the west coast of Newfoundland near route 430, the Viking Trail. We found it by following posted handwritten signage. In morning conversation over coffee and pancakes, we learned Colin was a moose hunting guide, fisherman for fish, crabs and lobster in the various seasons and Rosie managed the Inn, made the breakfast, and also was a cashier in a local market. She was a busy lady and when I called for a room she was not at home, but told us just to go in and select one of two rooms. She didn't return for hours after we arrived! These owners of the Inn, rent for a very modest price, part of their self-built home. They had a teenage daughter ready for advanced schooling, and for that she would be going to the city of St. John's, quite a way from her home. When the family shops they go to the large town of Corner Brook where there is a mall. Colin takes his hunters across route 430 to his hunting area near the east coast and Rosie cooks at camp. As we were leaving, it came up in conversation that Dan and I had never tasted moose. Immediately Colin went to the freezer and with instructions from Rosie we prepared the meat at our campsite that evening. Delicious! I suggest this family is an example of the enterprise that the locals show to live a modest lifestyle.

The infrastructure along the one major highway is limited. Varied jobs along the highway would mean excessive daily travel and smaller family owned stores, restaurants, and attractions have a difficult time enticing enough business to survive financially.

The many truckers passing through to somewhere else, use Irving Gas and eat microwaved pizza at the convenience stores as they buy their fuel and keep going. A good part of the year life is made more difficult to draw in tourists with the extreme weather. Snow may stay on the ground through April or May and longer in the mountains.

TOURISTS
We met really friendly folks who continue to struggle with the northern winters and lack of business opportunities, but love their Island, play wonderful music, and enjoy the land and outdoors year round. The snowmobile and quads are used to carry in the wood and visits to shops and major stores are infrequent.

Dan and I continued on as tourists and were pleased to see many wonderful sights and excellent Provincial, and National Park systems. The Canadians have many acres of land; seashore, wooded areas, bogs and areas of historical importance in the public trust. We could look on the rocks above the sea for seabirds and enjoy whale watching from shore or boat quite easily at the parks. The ecotourist and active adventurers each find their niches. Fresh water tourists angle for salmon and trout, and moose and bear hunters- as Caribou stocks have declined-are among the people who travel to NL+L. Some sealing is allowed the First Nations peoples.

The next two sets of pictures brought Dan and me across the northern tips of the North Coast and to the extradinary area of Gros Morne National Park and L'anse aux Meadows, both places where the memory of First Nation people who came before are honored; the Innuit, Innu, Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq along with their conquerors and rivals for the land. The British and French fought long and hard and frequently over control of the waterways and fisheries -as recounted according to historical documents and artifacts.

We experienced how this could have happened when shortly after we arrived in Argentia the masses of capilen fish arrived, bringing with them the migratory sea birds, the whale migrations and seals - and even today the fishermen may work all night and day to use every allotted minute of the precious state allowed fisheries.

Capelin: A Small Fish of Great Importance

Capelin was traditionally fished in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence for use as fertilizer or bait. Today, its roe is primarily sold to the Japanese market. This extremely lucrative market has sent the capelin fishery skyrocketing. Landings have increased from some 700 tonnes to over 10 000 tonnes per year. Capelin's ecological significance has prompted Fisheries and Oceans Canada to step up efforts to protect this coveted resource. François Grégoire, a biologist at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Quebec, is in charge of assessing capelin stocks in the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Capelin is a small fish that lives in the water column. The species is referred to as pelagic. Capelin prefers the cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere. It lives in the northwestern Atlantic in a vast territory that extends from the Labrador coasts to the St. Lawrence Estuary. Capelin is a forage species and attracts many predators, including fish species and marine birds. According to recent estimates, between 300 000 and 400 000 tonnes of capelin are consumed annually in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. This interest in capelin serves the marine ecosystem well. The increase in catches in recent decades reinforces the importance of carefully assessing and protecting this species

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/publications/article/2012/06-08-12-eng.html

There are many pictures to follow. In order to read the captions a reader may have to slow the slides and perhaps zoom the bird pics.

2014 St. John's to Blow ME down July OL

This second set of photos takes us from the Gros Morne National Park on the west of the island of NL to a small village, Englee, on the east coast where French fishermen and now landholders have settled, beyond which there are no roads. We retrace a bit and drive west across the Northern Peninsula to St.Barbe ferry to cross to Labrador and Quebec Province.

Some have very long captions. click to see slideshow

2014 Gros Morne to Ferry July 15 OL

If you like to identify flowers, check this site. jackmaryetc.com/Travel/Americas/Newfoundland/NFWildflowers.html

The next blog entry will take Dan and I through Labrador which is always associated with Newfoundland, not considered a different province.

A BIT OF BEAUTY IN SWITZERLAND July 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 01:56:00 +0000

Italy, France, Andorra,- Savoie, Switzerland --"SO WHERE ARE WE NOW", I keep asking Dan as he bends the GPS Zumo to his will with some difficulty. " Oh, there is another Saint Bernard?"

Yes, and it happens to be a reasonable place to ride on the way back to Germany, and Heidelberg.

from Wikopedia

Great St. Bernard Pass (Fr. Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard is the third highest road pass in Switzerland. It connects Martigny in the Canton of Valais in Switzerland to Aosta in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on the ridge between the two highest summits of the Alps, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. The pass itself is located in Switzerland in the canton of Valais, very close to Italy. It is located on the main watershed that separates the basin of the Rhone from that of the Po.

Great St. Bernard is the most ancient pass through the Western Alps, with evidence of use as far back as the Bronze Age and surviving traces of a Roman road. In 1800, Napoleon's army used the pass to enter Italy, an event depicted in Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass and Hippolyte Delaroche's Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, both notable oil paintings. Having been bypassed by easier and more practical routes, particularly the Great St Bernard Tunnel which opened in 1964, its value today is mainly historical and recreational.

Straddling the highest point of the road, the Great St Bernard Hospice was founded in 1049. The hospice later became famous for its use of St. Bernard dogs in rescue operations.

Some photos From Switzerland. At the end is the perfect guesthouse before we moved on back into more high mountains.

Pitete St. Bernard, Grande St, Bernard 5

So here are our keepsakes of a wonderful trip- very light to carry! Below you may see 13 pictures of stickers we purchased for Sea Star red mobile BMW and see three individual flags I wish we had bought- that represent where we traveled. Hopefully I can later add maps, too.

Europe stickers

This is Germany's flag. We flew into Frankfurt and stayed in Heidelberg, then traveled south through the Black Forest.

Germany Flag clipart
from Clker.com

Next came Switzerland where we rode Alps on the way to Italy, and again on our way back
after French Alps.

From blog maps

Basque is an area spanning the France- Spain border with their own traditions and language

Basque. The degree to which they self-rule has been contested through the region's history.

SO- WHAT's Next?

Dan and I flew out of Germany 87 days after our arrival in the same place without a mishap during the trip. We are awaiting Stefan's return trip to Orlando by January 2014 to re-welcome Sea Star mobile to Florida- or not- if we decide to return to Europe for another round of travel.

From blog maps

The famous hostel at Bernard

Switzerland can certainly build roads!

Finally we arrived here for just one night unfortunately. A working farm. Adorable animals! Our little private cabin had a great view of the animals aand the owners allowed Dan to park the bike in a covered shed.

It's waay up here...

Dinner here at the farm.

Our bike in the rabbit house

Goats doing what they do right by our cabin.

Soon, one more day, we will return to Germany.

FINALLY FRANCE Mountains and Cols July 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 14:53:00 +0000

Continuing on with our European trip away from SEA STAR sail above. Dan and Kathy have left Italy and Sardinia, Spain and Portugal behind as we slowly motor on back towards Germany and our July 25th deadline. LET'S ENJOY THE MOUNTAINS! This distances of entire post from Mont Ventoux, France to Petite Saint Bernard took six days of riding.

Sea Star red mobile and Dan in a field of French lavender. Just one of many on the trip!

From 131- middle (14)xx 13307

From blog maps

Our ride to Andorra and back to France

There are four sets of pictures on this post. Unfortunately the captions are not visable. Lots and lots of altitude!

Ski poles for sale in the mountains.

Yet another ancient castle. Some have been renovated to modern hotels.

As we climb these mountains to the passes, cols, at their summits we bought our stickers and attached them proudly to the panniers

NO TOUR FOR US

So that is how we came to be climbing Mont Ventoux a day or two before the 2013 Tour De France riders arrive. A lot of people have the same idea. It seems a miracle that riders do not fall to their death when riding the outside of that twisty, steep, unforgiving mountain road. We passed wanna be riders, going all out for the summit. For us, until we met traffic, it was just fun. It won't show in the pictures but a sport car passing over the mountain pass and going down the narrow road caused traffic to stop as cars and other motorcycles tried to give him room to pass. We were riding up a very steep grade and simply had to stop in place. Very difficult for a motorcycle. Just as I was thinking of bailing off the back so Dan could support the bike, another rider in front noticed our problem and somehow cleared out for us to pull up. We had a nice chat with other riders at the top. They were curious about how we had our own bike for the trip, so we were able to recommend Stefan Knopf for transport. http://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/MotorbikeTransport.html

MONT VENTOUX to VARS, France

Fields and even more fields of lovely smelling lavendar!

People have written encouragement to the Tour de France riders

Notes to the Tour de France riders

We and the police below help us plan a route around the traffic of the Tour

Love each and every castle we pass

Vars town to Col de Galibier followed by Col de L'Iseran

A day of riding high!

Galibier (8,678 ft)) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the ninth highest paved road in the Alps and the sixth highest mountain pass. It is often the highest point of the Tour de France.

Before 1976, the tunnel was the only point of passage at the top, at an altitude of 2556 m. The tunnel was closed for restoration until 2002, and a new road was constructed over the summit. The re-opened tunnel is a single lane controlled by traffic lights, which are among the highest such installations in Europe.

From the north, starting at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (including the Col du Télégraphe), the climb is 34.8 km long, gaining 2120 m. in height (an average of 6.1%). The actual climb to the summit starts at Valloire and is 18.1 km long at an average of 6.9% (height gain: 1245 m). The maximum gradient is 10.1% at the summit.

Tunnel

Yum candy!

Example of just one of the truns encountered as we accended and decended these wonderful mountain passes.

Really? This is a great find! I wonder what named the valley.

Our Alpine Hotel in Vars.

Down into the lovely valley, Isere and back to ITALIA! for just a few minutes.

Driving through Col de Petite Saint Bernard- (just wait until you see its big brother Grande Saint Bernard!) nearer to Switzerland.

The Little St Bernard Pass (French: Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, Italian: Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo) is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between Savoie, France, and Aosta Valley, Italy, to the south of the Mont Blanc Massif, exactly on the main alpine watershed.

The pass is the site of a stone circle measuring (236 ft) in diameter. A standing stone once stood in the middle. It has not been precisely dated but from coin finds it has been attributed to the Iron Age, possibly being a ceremonial site of the Tarentaisian culture (c. 725 BC–450 BC). A Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter was later erected nearby along with a Roman mansio serving travellers along the pass, and it is thought that Carthaginian general Hannibal used this route.

The stone circle was partly restored in the 19th century. WWII battlements have been located there.

Always searching out coffee and never disappointed in Italia!

Look a monument to the wonderful dog bred for mountain rescue.

PORTUGAL'S DOURO VALLEY- vineyards and winding roads

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 02:30:00 +0000

While Dan and I were in the Picos de Europa, we met a Spanish couple looking for a cooler place than where they live, on the coast, for a summer home. We were unsure if we would travel into Portugal at the time. They encouraged us to visit the Douro River Valley area. We're glad we did as the riding was interesting and twisty. Here is a bit of information from Wikipedia.

The Douro vinhateiro (=winegrowing), an area of the Douro Valley in Portugal, has been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Traditionally, the wine was taken down river in flat-bottom boats called rabelos to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the river from Porto. In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were built along the river ending this river traffic on Spanish and border sections. Now Port wine is transported in tanker trucks

The Douro has a microclimate^] allowing for cultivation of olives, almonds, and especially grapes that are important for making the famous Port wine. The region around Pinhão and São João da Pesqueira is considered to be the center of Port wine, with its quintas (or farms/estates) that extend the almost vertical slopes along the river valleys. Many of these quintas are owned by multinational wine companies.

Recently, a prosperous tourist industry has developed based on river excursions from Porto to points along the Upper Douro valley.

There are five dams on the Portuguese Douro which make the flow of water uniform, generate hydroelectric power, and allow navigation. Ships with a maximum length of 272 ft and width of 37 ft can pass through five locks. The highest one on Carrapatelo dam has a maximum lift of 115 ft.

The Douro railway line (in Portuguese: Linha do Douro) was completed in 1887; it connects Porto, Rio Tinto, Ermesinde, Valongo, Paredes, Penafiel, Livração, Marco de Canaveses, Régua, Tua and Pocinho. A Heritage archeological site exists in the valley. Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site.

Enjoy these pictures of our extensive day riding in the Douro Valley, along the river and high above to where the vineyards are, then back into Spain before heading on to the mountains of the Tour du France.

Fields of sunflowers- magnificent!

A great fresh meal with workers of the town of San Blas. One of the only days Dan had wine at lunch.

Just one of many horse and person troughs we used to wet our clothing in the 100 degree heat of riding.

Excellence in stone walls.

Stone buildings are very old.

Vines growing gracefully on this hillside

Steep and terraced vines everywhere.

Dan just had a bee sting while driving. Temperature more than 95 degrees all afternoon.

Now the highway and backtrack at bit as we a heading to Germany now

THROUGH SPAIN TO PORTUGAL north to the coast, then east

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 02:22:00 +0000

At the end of June Dan and I left Barcelona heading for the beaches and mountains to the north. Many others were heading on their vacations, too. First we would head toward San Sebastian noted for its food choices and Tapas, or small amounts of tasty foods, on the northern coast of Spain. Arriving in about three days we found the traffic unmanageable, we then bypassed that city in favor of the museum city of Bilbao in the Bosque region, and spent two nights in that city enjoying it fully.

From blog maps

pics in the city.

At the Fantastic Gugginheim Museum, a flower meow about two stories high and fresh flowers.

Add caption

A fantastic mosaic bar ceiling

Close up of flowered cat.

Best children's park I've ever seen.

With shade and drinks served for the parents

Inside the museum

Outside walls are compared to fish scales in irridecence

Street theater at night

Tapas

Err... there was a gay pride group

A street musician

BEFORE arriving at Bilbao, Spain we spent some interesting days traveling, stopping when a place seemed interesting or for a rest or food.
Pictures below show our driving Red Sea Star non- highway road trip to Bilbao, ancient and modern Lugo, the fabulous mountains of Picos de Europa and on to Portugal.

Weather had been fabulous for about the month- not one drop of rain. This has caused Dan and I to rethink the gear we were carrying on this trip. We lightened our load a bit by sending things back with Christa and Steve; long pants, guidebooks and shoes. We traveled with water, peanut butter and fruit, although we never seemed unable to find a stop when needed. The constant nightly quest to find a place to stay often weighed heavily on us by noon, but we usually traveled until 4:30-5:30 and then checked Bookings.com for a place near where we would probably arrive to, and that worked well.

This Posada was perhaps the most beautiful place we stayed on the trip.

Dan at the Posada

Alubius soup from Spain. A solid lunch meal and delicious.

We liked the way this dog evaporated into the stones of the wall.

Daughter of the owner of our next agritourista

The beach and we are in full gear with jackets and puffy pants. It did look inviting.

Caption below

Fanciful puppets and witches in the windows!

Friendly bicyclists in the mountains

Walking route of dirt roads for the pilgrims heading all across Spain each year.

A cozy hotel which also accepts the unwashed pilgrims, feeds them and sends them on all for free.

Well known trekking in these Mts.

SARDINIA IN PICTURES June 11-21, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:44:00 +0000

Sardinia- This section contains pictures, and a Wiki link to more info on Sardinia.

Dan and I on Sea Star mobile- as above. We spent
eleven warm wonderful and days for farms, food, wine, cheese, beach, mountains and curvy riding on the paved and unpaved roads throughout Sardinia mostly riding within a few kms of coastline and lots of km of twisty riding.

Two especially great motorcycle roads; Iglesias to Arbus on West Coast, about 80 km and a ride through the green mountainous central region with absolutely no one around.

We rode the ferry to Sardinia, from Liverno on mainland Italy, to Aranci. We rode south down the East Coast and left from Porto Torres to Barcelona on another ferry. This saved Dan driving on the mainland to Barcelona and was easy on the bike.

From blog maps

This non- interactive (you can't zoom in) map shows the island of Sardinia. Yellow markers are places we stayed or visited. I included the scale of miles for this 250km in length island. Our 11 days were filled with many twisty kilometers of riding! The two boats represent our arrival from mainland Livorno from the east and departure from Porto Torres to Barcelona from the north.

2013 Sardinia east coast

Here we are in Liverno and ready to board the Corsica Ferry, secure our red beemer and sleep our way to Sardinia.

A place to spend the night if you can sleep with the engines grinding but quite posh and fun.

Arriving to Gilfo Aranso

Dan and I have sailed by Corsica Ferry. We begin our tour looking for our arranged Agritourismo along the east coast of Sardinia.

Here we are at our first agritourismo. For our 35 Euro we get a room and dinner. We stayed only one day so we could see as much as possible of the island.

We explore Nuraghi mysterious shapes that date from the Bronze Age

Of course we stop and see every marina along the way. Here is a new way to us of securing your boat allowing tides and movement.

Distance views are amazing!

Another special agritourismo couple.

A good link if you want more information on history, culture and present day Sardinia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia#Main_cities_and_towns

Another agritourismo. This one had a very popular restaurant and the best food we had -but that was hard to judge- I call it the Maria place because

here I am with the Marias. The older lady took me by the hand and showed me her farm with pride..

Another gorgeous agritourismo near St. Catherines

And here we are heading to Barcelona, Spain on a larger ferry with lots of vacationers.

Impromto music

Soon we will arrive at Barcelona, Spain.

Our Thirty Days of Motorcycle Travel in Tuscany May 8 to June 11, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:53:00 +0000

Hello Readers, Family and friends,

Enjoy these 275! photos of Tuscan Scenes. I suggest you put on slideshow and set for 7 seconds per picture if you wish to read captions, and plan a few viewing times as opposed to one viewing. The Picasa Web albums that I use are no longer allowing me to split up the larger web album into smaller, manageable albums in the blog without starting the process of up-loading over again for each one. For me, this would be too confusing. I only hope uploading pictures to view on your computer won't use too much wifi for some of you. I will break up other large albums, but not this particular one. If I can figure out how to do it, I will include a map on this site showing our basic travel in Italy.

3. Tuscan scenery

Firenza or Florence Art and Architecture May 2013.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 30 May 2013 17:33:00 +0000

Dear Reader,
Tuscany includes all the roads for motorcycle riding one might want to try, with interesting sights for all periods of history along the way. Our visit to spectacular Firenza of unfortunately only one day was in late May, so we could enjoy the culture with our visitors. We arrived to Firenza by train and purchased a pass that covered many of the museums and sights. The pass was good for three days, but we were limited to one as our guests were sadly to leave. We walked all day with needed stops for cafe and excellent food both on the street and restaurant. Exhaused, but with a taste of the city we four returned to the villa. Elisabetta was very clear that we had not touched the surface. Her love for, and sharing of her intimate knowledge of the city was one of our highlights, though she did not accompany us, busy as she was at that time of year in her vineyards.

Florence is a city contested for control by Rome, and by powerful neighbors such as Siena and Voltera and other invaders throughout its turbulent history. Florence enjoys a location on the Arno River on a trade route between Rome and France.

The works of art of the many Renaisance artists have been cared for by an enlightened populace and preserved over time to make Firenza the second most important city for arts and viewing after Roma according to travel writers.
The historically significant and powerful family of Medici and other individuals such as Prior Girmolano Savanarola, whose "Bonfire of the Vanities"- burning in the Palazza Vecchio of books, gaming tables, fine dresses, as well as works by poets in 1498 was stopped when he was burned at the stake. A commemorative bronze plaque is embedded near the Neptune Fountain in the Palazza.

Today, as important as the art and architecture of Florence is to bringing in tourists to the city, the cities infrastructure; restaurants and accommodation, easy transportation, keep them coming back. We four, in our whirlwind one day visit, were overwhelmed, leaving many reasons to someday return.

Renaissance [edit source]

copied from Wikopedia- for more extensive historical, cultural information see the history of florence in wiki

Of a population estimated at 80,000 before the Black Death of 1348, about 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's woolen industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool carders (ciompi), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi. After their suppression, the city came under the sway (1382–1434) of the Albizzi family, bitter rivals of the Medici. Cosimo de' Medici was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from a vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova. The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their rise. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, who was shortly thereafter succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli.

After Lorenzo's death in 1492, his son Piero took the reins of government, however his rule proved brief when in 1494 Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, entering Tuscany on his way to claim the throne of Naples. After Piero made a submissive treaty with Charles, the Florentines responded by forcing Piero into exile, and the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government. Anti-Medici sentiment was much influenced by the teachings of the radical Dominican prior Girolamo Savonarola. However, in due time, Savonarola lost support and was burned at the stake in 1498.

A second individual of unusual insight was Niccolò Machiavelli, whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimization of political expediency and even malpractice. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli wrote the Florentine Histories, the history of the city. However, Machiavelli was actually tortured and exiled from Florence by the Medici family and the Pope under the pretense of sedition due to his ties to the previous democratic government of Florence and the fact that his work threatened to expose the true nature of their power base and they wished to discredit him. The Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a republic on May 16, 1527.

The 10-month Siege of Florence (1529–1530) by the Spanish ended the Republic of Florence as Alessandro de' Medici became the ruler of the city. The siege brought the destruction of its suburbs, the ruin of its export business and the confiscation of its citizens' wealth.^[1]

Restored twice with the support of both Emperor and Pope, the Medici in 1537 became hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 they became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries. After the conquest of Siena, the city's historical rival, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy) was independent from Florence in all Tuscany.

There was also a darker side to the Renaissance of Florence. Mobs were both common and influential. Families were pitted against each other in a constant struggle for power. Politically, double-crossings and betrayals were not uncommon, sometimes even within families. Despite political violence, factionalism and corruption, Renaissance Florence did experiment with different forms of citizen government and power sharing arrangements.

Montenidoli, San Gimignano, Italy May 8-June 10, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 08 May 2013 05:09:00 +0000

Hello Sailing, Motorcycling and Traveling friends,

Dan and I arrived at our accomodation in Italy after our ride from Germany, through the Swiss Alps to arrive to San Gimignano where a relative had arranged for us to rent a lovely place from a winery owner he knew, and knew would welcome us. My pictures are out of sequence but these are some of the Tuscan scenery and towns we rode through- some when we had visitors at the villa a few weeks later.

This is a picture of our guests signing up for their Beemer. We four spent a few days away from the villa discovering Tuscany with them. The following pictures were taken in beautiful, romantic Certaldo, only a short ride from our villa. To reach it we parked our two bikes in the church lot below and took the ride up on the tramway.

Our visitors picked up their rented beemer.

Taking a look at an olive vineyard

We parked the bikes at the church far below and headed up on the funicula, enjoying the view.

Dan, Steve, Christa and I rode to the small town high on a hill but close to our place to explore Certaldo Alto May 2013

Italian coffee at an outdoor cafe. One of the many joys of Tuscany!

While strolling the piazza we saw this musician who played flutes of varying styles and sizes. He played some of his original music for us as he performed in the piazza. The music was haunting and lovely.

Here we look down on San Gimignano and farther up the other side to our villa.

Ok, horses are great in a mountain town.

The funicula up to the town

The Carabinieri

In this next entry you can see the Tuscan Villa we stayed at for a month from May 8, 2013 through June 10 and see some shots of the vineyard of Montenidoli, the agriturismo that rented it to us. Here is the website and if you should need a beautiful and convenient place to stay in Tuscany you might contact :

montenidoli.com or for the lodging-

http://www.montenidoli.com/la-fidanza-lodgings-reservations.htm

Looking down to the walled city of San Gimignano

Etruscan era building on the property- a home still to the vineyard's owner.

Tourists enjoy their wait for the wine tasting at Montenidoli

Fireplace in the Etruscan era home.

Wines provided from the vineyard

Inside the winery

San Gimignano in the background.

San Gimignano and the growing vines from our porch.

In May we needed a cozy fire.

Dan's motorcycle, the reason for our visit was to ride but so much was available in culture and arts.

A restaurant in San Gimignano

Elisabetta- thank you.

Dan and Kathy tour in Europe 2013 May-89days.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:25:00 +0000

HELLO LINKED READERS Family and friends.

Kathy and Dan with Sea Star red mobile, F700GS in Spain

Sea Star red mobile is back from Europe and would like to share pictures with you from Picasa web albums. Enjoy and I'll add to these as I am able. I will fix errors as they are discovered. This map can not be zoomed.

From Europe GPS SPOT markers

The first slide show will be of Heidelberg, Germany---- Swiss pass Andermatt to Oberalp which had just opened for the season-----, then moving into Italy's Passo de Pratarena----- and Castelnuovo de Mont --. for a third overnight on the way to Montenidoli from Stefan Knoff's bed and breakfast near Heidelberg.

Dan's and my purpose here is to ride twisty roads in Europe rather than flat, hot ones in Florida. We just so happened to have a relative who knows someone in Tuscany and he arranged for our stay.

At the end of the picture set are three short movies, two at Oberalp and the third way above the town of Castlenuovo de Mont, Italy.

Dan knows we have arrived at Stefan's motorcycle tour business in Heidelberg

See toilet back..

Shower curtain

Poster of engine-- We have been assigned the Beemer Room. Very cool.

Dan and I have a few days to explore Heidelberg and get settled waiting for the new Red bike we call Sea Star Red to arrive by ship from Orlando, FL

A Heidelberg tourist destination is the Heidelberg Castle many parts of which were used in the 12th century by fires and changes have occurred and one basically tours the outsides, the gardens and the fabulous wine vats in a lower area.

A newer part is a hotel and visitor center

Decoration on circular huge wine vat- perhaps 20' in diameter, taking up the entire wall. Tourists use the stairway to see the top of the barrel and get a sense of the grandeur.

A much smaller wine vat.

Apothecary

Now walking the town mall area

View across the river from the Castle

Now our bike has arrived and we are off though the Black Forest

And on through the Alps

Date is May 5, 2013

Resting at Passa de Pratorana
Kathy gets to ride on the back and sightsee while

Dan drives.

1 Germany through Pradarena

TIKAL AND YAXHA RUINS August 15, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Second big trip inland away from the boat in August - Tikal Revisited

It's difficult to interpret the historical facts presented at the famous and fabulous Mayan ruins of Tikal. The temple structures are the largest and most reclaimed from the encroaching jungle that we have visited. Thus they are magnificent and mysterious. More is being determined, however, about how the people of the time lived, what was important to them, the passage of time from ruler to ruler and much more from the hieroglyphs carved in stone on buildings and stellae at the various sites. Some newer information challenges some older held beliefs; for instance the Mayans were a peaceful agrarian society. Sometimes that belief holds true but because sacrificial round stone alters were found with glyphs scientists now know prisoners were kidnapped and killed or held as slaves in great numbers, nobles and working people such as farmers and tradespersons did not interact or live near eachother and the common people rarely were allowed near the great temples.
This visit was Dan and my fourth visit to Tikal, our first was in 1971 when a person could camp right in next to the main temples. Now that is not possible, but there are two hotels available within the park and accommodation between Tikal and Flores. We chose to stay in Flores and paid our driver to stay with us for four days. The price was reasonable at about $75.00 US per person to drive from the Rio and return there and be brought and picked up at the two ruins for two days.

Our first day started at 4:30 in the early morning with our guide/driver Enrique and his friend who would stay with our group during our visit to Tikal, driving us in the van from Flores to the gates of Tikal, so we could get to Temple IV before sunrise. They even brought us in a bit further inside before we began our climb to sit on the temple ledge as perhaps the noble Mayans did back before 900AD. Here we awaited sunrise peering through the early morning mist, listening to the waking sounds of the jungle; jays, toucans parrots, howler monkeys, insects and frogs. Their voices raising in crescendo as the sun begins to burn brightly in front of us. We on the other hand feel the spirituality of the place and are awed into silence.

Dan waiting for sunrise with Eric of Sirena of Oare

Over one half hour we watched the tops of the trees ahead of us as dawn approached

By this time the birds and animals were noisily going about their day

Just one of many Toucans

A huge spider web.

Near Temple IV we explore the area called the Lost World, the oldest part of the ruin and where many birds are to be seen

One of a flock of Oscillated Turkey

Dan contemplating the universe, and looking for the hawk that we were told lives on Temple IV.

One coati

Temple II can not be climbed any more, it's crumbling

The distinctive v shaped portals

Stellae in the main plaza

Grey Fox

I became separated from the others when they were too tired to see yet another temple and found myself surrounded by all these Coatimundi. They have mouths full of sharp teeth!

After the sunrise we explored the ruins for about another six hours, then returned, exhaused and hot to our hotel Casa de las Flores in the town of Flores where we rested up, ate very well and prepared for our second day when we would visit Yaxha, another ruin; less developed as a site, fewer people, quieter, which has temples just as large and perhaps a better view of Lake Petin from the top.

Map of the complexes and distances of Yaxha.

Cicadas on a tree- very noisy!

Near one of the ball courts

Peering through the trees from the top of one temple, a visitor is able to see to comb of the highest temple above everything. Why the combs and how did Mayans build the temple? The reason for the building has been determined to be to entomb and respect usually a ruler of the city.

Stairway is built to the top of the highest Yaxha temple

Coleus growing on the side of an unrecovered temple

Behind a small structure we see another grey fox

Way to the inside of a temple

Stella under palapa for protection from the elements

View to Lake Petin

Violacious Trogan

Yaxha has an informative museum

Where we ate on the way back to Flores

Hotel Casa de Los Flores on Lake Petin

Flores street from our upper balcony

The pool, nice after a hot day of ruin visiting

Jimmy being Jimmy

Flores street

IN SEPTEMBER THE STAFF OF TIJAX TEACHES US TO PREPARE A FEW TRADITIONAL GUATEMALAN DISHES! YUM!!

COPAN, HONDURAS- August.2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 03:14:00 +0000

August 2012 part 1 COPAN

In August Dan and I and others traveled inland, away from the Rio Dulce where we are waiting out the hurricane season. Our first August trip was to Honduras to the Mayan ruins in Copan. One major reason for our choice was to reset the clock on our Immigration for Guatemala. When entering Guatemala by boat, the first stop is to see the authorities in Livingston. There for about $300 US, the boat is allowed into the country for 90 days and the crew people are allowed 60 days by immigration. As I mentioned, Sea Star crew needed to reset our immigration 60 day allowance. The process was simple and inexpensive at the El Flordio border. We walked through the Guatemala border check and were stamped out of that country in our passports,(rather than to accept the one day Copan pass) then we walked a little further to the Honduras border crossing, filled out one simple sheet, were stamped in our passports simply by telling the guards that Copan was not going to be our only stop in Honduras. When we returned to the border to leave Honduras, they stamped us out and Guatemala allowed us in, resetting our immigration now for 90 days.

Our little group used Litegua autobus non stop from Rio Dulce to El Florido border. We walked across the two borders as explained above and in Honduras we were offered a collectivo bus into Copan Ruines, the city where the ruins of Copan are located.

This is a shot from the rooftop patio at our chosen hotel, Gradidas Maya- about $30 US for a small, air-conditioned room with private bath.

Our friends, Suzi and John organized the trip

Dinner the first night, typico food, at El Bosque

In the morning we ate breakfast burritos at Picame', John's favorite little breakfast place-friendly, clean efficient.

We walked 2 km and entered the city of Copan. It flourished during 500 -900 AD

Still working on the beautiful stairway of the Temple of Hieroglyphics

This is the Honduran version of poison ivy. The leaves are about 1 ft long and wide. The name is Chichi. According to our guide, Roland, whom we hired at the entrance, the town of Chichimula was named for this plant.

Area for nobility to live- peasants were way to the west of here and had no temples

This is a different type of carving along with a hieroglyph history on the steps.

Our guide told us this is a depiction of 13 Rabbit. He, a ruler of Copan was kidnapped and brought to the city of Quirigua and sacrificed

Shows the entrance to the tunnels below the latest built temples. Underneath archaeologists saw how temples were built on the top of others.

Cabesa of the Old Man, one Pawahatuun

Strangely, we ran into this movie set and actors who were preparing to re-enact a Mayan ball game. That means some of these young men would be sacrificed after the game, depending on the outcome at the time of the Mayan rule in Copan!

Practicing with props

An action figure sculpted in the Ball Court. It must have represented someone skilled or important

Back to the Temple of Hieroglyphs- the right side decorated column leading up the steps.

This stella shows original red coloring prepared from insects

The three bars mean 20 each and the dots on the side before are 3 in the Mayan number system

People appreciate the ruins and Mayan culture in their own ways. Here are people meditating

Here a man just enjoys the shade of a Ceiba Tree

A really large Ceiba tree. If I were standing at the trunk I would be only as tall as the top of the rock

The Mayans at Copan and present day vendors in the town sell chocolate made from the cacao plants

Cheryl coming out of the tunnel where Rosalila, the red building can be viewed

Inside the new museum

Here we are visiting the museum with the replica of the sacred building Rosalila- front

Back with comb detail and painted sculpture

Strange- maybe original Bat Man?

Carved hawk head

A scribe, an important member of society

Bench or bed from one of the nobles' homes.

Just something to think about in the jungle when it's dark?

Copan is a site of great interest. When our guide talked, he described events in Mayan history and life-style which, if true, show that quite a bit of new knowledge has been added since we last visited the site in 1998.

Tired and hot, we took a tuc-tuc (a little open bus) back to town and convened on the roof again after a nap. Our second restaurant was simply the best ever- not cheap but the shishkabobs of beef, chicken shrimp vegetables and a tiny piece of sweet corn, made by a tiny 4 ft. Mayan granny made our day.

Next day we hired an all day taxi and went to an aviary and hot springs, high up on a mountain.

Hate to see birds caged, but the others were ok with it.

These toucans were quite noisy.

The Emerald Toucanet was a friend of the handler. Could you be friends with that bill?

A Mottled owl

Green Macaws from Honduras

We all were adorned by the fabulous birds

The Scarlet Macaw ate the button off Dan's hat.

The blue macaw left four holes in my shirt

Suzi lost a whole earring

John's hat was flipped off

Makayla lost a bit of hair

White capped Parrots

Err..look at your feet John

The Copan Rio through the reserve

New place- at the hot springs, Agua Calientes. Our guide warned us what pools would actually be too hot to endure.

Yup! You see them rubbing mud on themselves.Mud is supposed to be a cure for wrinkles and great for your skin. It was sticky like clay and I'm faking it.

One more overnight and a collectivo bus with one major delay on the way. A teachers' strike made us get out of one small bus, walk through the strikers and get in another bus at the opposite side before we could continue on all the way back to the Rio. Seven hours of uncomfortable entertainment. Dan had half of a young man on his lap and half on Dan's seatmate's lap for a good hour and a half when the conductor boy insisted they squeeze the guy in. By the time we arrived back, paperwork completed, starving and needing a "rest break" real badly we all were relieved to have made it back. Copan is an interesting trip and fun to go with friends.

NEXT: It's still August and Tikal, Yaxha trip to Flores, Guatemala

ART FAIR, ANTIGUA, LOS TARRALES- July 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:54:00 +0000

July 2012

In July Sea star sat in her slip at Tijax marina and Dan and I joined in Rio Dulce activities and took a week-long inland trip.

ART FAIR IN RIO DULCE
Cruisers on the Rio and elsewhere like to join in festivities and activities, and besides boat projects-that's what we travel for. Around the Fourth of July we had our Marina entertainments, but a few days after Independence Day a more permanent member of the Rio Dulce community, Keven, was directing The Rio Dulce Arts Festival. He gathered cruisers to help in various ways. John and Suzi on Cabaret were recruited to cook chicken and pulled pork and prepare lunches for the masses expected. They recruited Sea Star to give out the pre-paid drinks for the day.(well actually I asked for the job)

We had a blast! The performers were professional, the artists well received and the crowd was great for people watching from behind our booth. As you can see, an uplifting and for some, profitable day.

People arrived around ten in the morning. School children performed an original play showing aspects of their heritage. Costuming was wonderful. I was working the booth and didn't get to see the play but there are pictures posted on the local on-line newspaper; Rio Dulce Chisme Vindicator. You can visit it if you wish and by going to the section Photos of the Day, and see lots of Rio News.

Some folks just were taking advantage of the crowds for sales

Interesting artwork was displayed

The modern band setting up- They set up for hours and played around 3:00 PM.

The clowns blew balloons and twisted them into the shapes of flowers and animals for children

A VERY large breadfruit from the growing artistry of Frutas del Mundo. Frutas has learned how to grow and propagate varied fruiting trees and plants that local people can use to lesson the landscape blight and uselessness of land slashed and burned, land which no longer produces crops and is abandoned. These fruiting trees can be used for a subsistence living by bringing the fruits to local markets.

This extended family was having lunch, which they brought in bags from their home villages. Most enjoyed the shows and displays of art, and local exceptional craftspersons, but really are too poor to purchase them for themselves.

These young models and their dog basically opened the fair

Magnificent local basketry. It is a major issue to travel from the mountain villages, carrying the crafts. These young Mayan girls might have walked to somewhere on the river to their cayocos or launchas and traveled the river in a motor launcha to arrive in Fronteras.

The basketry Guru

Paintings for sale and children's face painting

Natural items a bit glammed up. The crowds were fascinated by the bull skulls covered in mirror chips and money.

Simple instruments of the Garifuna

Some young folks visit like this-

Many more like this

Traditional instruments

and the marimba and traditional instruments played well by others

A fruit vender. She pares pineapple, mango and papaya, bags it, and sells for the equivalent of $.50

The parking lot for launchas. See a typical palapa roof in the background.

Colorful and extremely exuberant dancers

Simple accompaniment of drums and other percussion instruments for the female dancers.

Hard core bikers watching the fest.

After the Arts Fair a few weeks went by of typical days.

There is always reading, internet and walking to keep one busy but there is much more. Radio net communication for boaters occurs each morning at 7:30. (except Sunday) Each day is different because the announcers change. The radio gives cruisers a chance to hear what is going on at the other marinas like volleyball, music or Dinner and a Movie. If boaters have items for sale, they can advertise on the radio. It can be difficult to locate a needed boat part or items for a project. On the VHF net businesses can tell of specials they might be having; diesel, solar panels, varnish. People come on to say, " I need a *piece of plexiglass (for instance)* Does anyone know where I could try looking?"

When someone is flying out of the area, one might announce that they will carry "flat, stamped mail" to the States or Canada or Europe to be brought to a post office for mailing. It is possible to receive packages and mail in this area but services can unreliable and are always expensive.

The part we listen for on the radio is when the ten or so nearby restaurants come on and advertse their "special of the day." For the kingly sum of 45 Quetzales, (around $5) the restaurants advertise taco dinner, enchiladas, meatloaf, chicken dishes, ribs, all with sides and some with a drink. Cruisers are thus encouraged to leave their projects and air conditioned boats for awhile each day. It's HOT on the Rio. When you step off of your boat mid day the heat hits like your open oven feels when you cook on board- so preparing food for three meals a day just isn't what some want to do. Food goods, fresh vegetables and fruits are very reasonable to buy-- when the item is available, and on certain days- So, to us, finding a cheap but good dinner or lunch out is important especially if we have been busy, or actually when we have not been very busy eating away from the boat is welcome, too!

There are marinas that hold Movie Nights, Trivia Nights and music events and send out their launchas to pick people up and return them home after the event. During the day sometimes dinghy trips to visit new areas are arranged. Tijax has a very nice swimming pool that I use regularly, along with some fellow cruisers and the backpacker or tourist tours that come to Hacienda Tijax as part of a travel itinerary.

Guatemala on the Rio is HOT- oh, did I already write that? Some parts are less hot, like the mountains. Mountains also are where there can be new birds to find. Dan and I did some research and decided on an inland trip to a bird reserve area and hotel called Los Tarrales (means the Bamboo). The bird list of possible sightings was impressive; at the top of the list was the Horned Guan. We arranged a bus trip with some friends to the beautiful Colonial City of Antiqua in Guatemala (5 hours) and from there we would head toward Lago (Lake) Atitlan and Los Tarrales, (2 hours) and stop in Guatemala City on the way back to the Rio Dulce.

First step was riding an air conditioned bus to the city of Antigua, where we hired a taxi to our unknown to us hotel named, Quintas de las Flores which turned out to be a great value.

At least five gardeners in white hats with red ribbon kept the grounds immacul

ate.

The Cathedral's dome could be seen through the trees and toward the downtown square.

It is difficult to wait for la cena in the hotel restaurante. Mural behind painted in 1993- a copy of a depiction of earlier times.

Maximon's seating area. Ah Maximon, the God of drinking and smoking.

Another church , a sanctuary.

Jimmy photographing the scarlet macaws at Casa Santa Domingo Convent- now a tourist restaurant with lovely grounds and some areas of ruins.

Santa Domingo corridor

Agua volcano

The four of us visited a jade museum. We could have purchased jade jewelry, but we restrained ourselves.

The museum had a darkened room in which they explained the Mayan world would come to an end in December of 2012 according to their calendar.

Around the city of Antigua

The Arch beyond which is the market place.

Traditional costume from all areas of Guatemala. A display in a traditional crafts store of clothing from the various Mayan groups around Guatemala.

Our fellow travelers, Donna and Jimmy from Blue Water Cat.

One of the most flamboyant flowers in the Quintas de las Flores manicured grounds

At the city square. This building holds the city government offices, police etc. It has been repaired from recent earthquakes, a historical problem for Antiqua.

A city of well kept areas, these flowers draw hummingbirds

Outdoor laundry sinks

At the city square. This building holds the city government offices, police etc. It has been repaired from recent earthquakes, a historical problem for Antiqua.

Here we saw a group of firemen giving a ride to a large group of nurses.

After spending two days in Antiqua we were due at Los Tarrales. In the town square we hired a taxi driver to bring us the two hour trip out of town through the town of Potulul . We passed great scenery. This is Agua Volcano in the distance.

On to Las Torrales for birdwatching in the mountains

Shots on the way to birding at Los Tarrales

Soon at Tarrales we began to look around. Los Tarrales is a private reserve owned by a third generation Canadian- Andrew. Our bird guide, a local young man about thirty years old who, since he was 17 has learned English and has trained himself to recognize the various birdcalls which he tapes on his Ipod. Josue' is knowledgeable about the area and explained that all the families on the reserve live there by choice and most work for the reserve or help to protect the reserve from hunters, or bird poachers. This includes some 350 persons. A church, medical care, a soccer pitch and community activities are part of life on the Finca. They also protect the timber and bamboo and assure the lands are undisturbed,

Los Tarrales once on website click home or finca for information.

Flowers at the door of the simple lodge.

A stand of long growing bamboo.

A spectacular view from Vesubio. Josue drove us up to the village in a 4x4 truck so we could see the Ornate Hawk-Eagle and Black Hawk-Eagle through his birdscope. Sure enough, the birds were circling around the top of the mountain and we had a short look at each. We climbed about an hour and a half more through the hillside working coffee plantation and had sights of many spectacular birds along the way.

Josue captured this Blue tailed hummingbird preening through his scope and took many pictures with my camera to achieve a good one.

. Los Tarrales is also an ornimental plant grower

An Indian woman walking home, more than five miles up a hill to a village of three extended families who work the coffee plantation.

Many agoti are seen in the evening. Here we are hoping to locate owls. We did when it was darker.

OWLS:

One evening after dinner when it was quite dark, Josue' took us back to a place we visited in the daylight, called vocally and then with his Ipod recording to attract a Black and White Owl. It was a magic moment when the owl, which had been answering the call of the man or machine showed itself with the help of Josue's flashlight. It landed silently in a tree not far away and right above our heads, so it could be seen briefly for each of us in the scope. We also took another walk and were delighted when Josue' pointed out a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.

Laughing falcon

They allowed us to view the small villiage perched on a steep hillside and in the scope, see other raptors

Josue' listening intently for birdsong

This a a copy of a picture from a painting of a Horned guan which is possible to see at Los Tarrales but we did not though we tried, stomping through steep hillside folliage on the coffee plantation.

This is a picture of a painting of a horned guan. The picture, I didn't inquire about the artist, was in the dining room of the two-bedroom lodge we rented while at Tarrales. This bird is one that many birders go to the Vesubio village and climb for three more hours to possibly see. For us, after walking uphill for 1 1/2 hours we decided that we could be quite happy to see the various species at that altitude, as many were new varieties for Dan and I and Donna and Jimmy although interested in the natural beauty and vigorous walk, were not avid birders.

A turquoise crowned Mot mot- right outside our sitting room window

Andrew's grandfather's still running Mercedes

An incredible find. The highly endangered Azure-rumped tanager, and he got us a picture. We saw three tanagers, a pair and a juvenile. The three of them appeared to be building a nest in a tall pine tree. Dan and I were glad to see the birds because they are endangered, mainly due to habitat destruction, but Josue' was ecstatic and was going to return to do some research at the site and monitor the nesting.

In our three wonderful, comfortable and well-fed days at Los Tarrales we checked off 80 birds on the checklist. We saw and heard more but unless we both saw them, did not count them.

Driving down the Atitlan Volcano from Vesubio, we encountered this incredible sight. This group was (it) was moving in unison in the shape of a size 12 men's shoe. We watched as the head caterpillar would move along and the rear caterpillar climbed over the top to move as one mass. My rather gross movie wouldn't play, so you only have the picture. Too Bad.

Driving down the Atitlan Volcano from Vesubio, we encountered this incredible sight. This group of caterpillar was moving in unison in the shape of a size 12 men's shoe. We watched as the head caterpillar would move along and the rear caterpillar climbed over the top to move as one mass. My rather gross movie wouldn't play, so you only have the picture. Too Bad.

We stayed at Los Tarrales for three days then started back to the Rio by way of Guatemala City.

On the way we saw the Fuego Volcano spuming smoke. Shortly after we were back at our boats we learned there had been an eruption at Fuego and 10,000 persons evacuated.

TO GUATEMALA CITY

Our excellent taxi driver Jose. We hired him at the Antigua plaza taxi stand. He came back out to Tarrales to pick us up and drove us to Guatemala City in about four hours. We had not been looking forward to taking a bus (one would call the buses we saw "chicken buses"- they would have made numerous stops along the way. The taxi was the way to go.

Arriving at Dai Nonni Hotel in zona 13 in Guatemala City. Very friendly and clean place.

Strange things in the city. The four of us were walking to find dinner when who-what do we see but this dog, sitting on the seat of a motorcycle like he belonged there. Well, he did. I looked up "No Stress Mike" on the internet. This dog rides on the front of the drivers seat, traveling with Mike, and has for years.

Second strange city sight. While we were eating our dinner, this riding club came in, each with an old-fashioned American built car. There was a vintage Rolls Royce also. I've forgotten all the makes but above are three of the cars. The Rolls, a Pontiac and Chevy.

Out the bus window on the way back to Fronteras.

AND SOON -ON TO AUGUST 2012

Rio News

TIJAX MARINA, RIO LIFE, QUIRIGUA June 15-30, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 06:52:00 +0000

JUNE 15-30, 2012

Sea Star docked at Tijax, mid June 2012, we immediately saw some of the same staff we had known from our 2010 stay; Nineth at the reception desk, Oscar the driver and Oscar Abelle the dockmaster, and Oscar the waiter, Nidia a waitress and I'm sure there were others.

Also taking our lines and helping us to tie up were Barb and Terry from Wind Whisperer, IPY 440-18, our sistership! We had not seen them since we parted ways, them to the Eastern Caribbean, we to the Western Caribbean- from George Town in the Bahamas in 2010. And here they were in the Rio and berthed at Tijax-knowing we were coming in, through radio communication I suppose.

We chose to berth Sea Star at Tijax for many reasons and the caring staff is one. The multiple acres of Tijax Reserve property for quiet walks, and wildlife- specifically for us, birds is another. Foremost is the Hacienda owner, Eugenio Gobatto, who lives at the Haicenda with his family and who cares enough about security for guests to the river that he, as do most properties on the Rio, hires his own guardia (security guards)- but was instrumental in acquiring a nightly Naval Patrol of the marina areas from the Guatemalan military. Rumor has it that all the marinas and local homes do not pay their fair share readily.

Tijax Hotel and Restaurant are managed in an environmentally conscious manner and lead in local activities such as the Regatta, open to sailors from all over Guatemala and that welcomed cruiser participation. All of these things are important to us as visitors who love the Rio and want it to remain the magic place we recall, as it grows and changes rapidly, adding services like internet and better electrical systems which cruisers do demand.

Dan and I got right into the swing of Rio life:

Do you see the three Mottled owls? Well, there are four owls in those branches. They seem to have moved from the hotel part of Tijax a few days after we saw them in the tree above one of the small A-frame individual huts that the guests rent.

Dinghies leaving Mario's Marina for our River trip

Our fearless leader- Jimmy from Blue Water Cat

Some more of our closest friends. We are all expecting to see birds and Howler monkeys. Can you figure out why we didn't?

Another day we went for a hike at Tijax, where across this suspension bridge 70ft above the jungle, are paths.

We were lucky enough to spot this Trogan and maybe six more that morning.

Another shot of the bridge

Isn't he impressive? He doesn't seem to like us, but hasn't done anything yet.

Donna and Kathy at the end of our walk.......

heading down by the pool and the restaurant to order breakfast after the walk.

The old dog who runs the show

Walkway down to pool and restaurant

Jungle path

Small but informative museum

View of the bridge through Fronteras from our bow. I looked up there once to see bungy jumpers.

Most nights we hear the truck air brakes but it isn't too bad, really. There is another marina in the background.

A few of the boats at three marinas

Stone path to observation tower

Just a little wetlands

Fabulous tree sculptures by nature

They can kinda look like snakes but we haven't seen any real snakes.. Our neighbor boat did see a coral snake right by the restaurant. Vines are abundant as are strangler figs.

For the rest of the month of June we began to integrate into river life. Dinner and a movie, Around Cape Horn, were shared with Terry and Barb. We had to find out which boats were where on the river, to see who we knew or had heard on the radio or knew from other friends. Dan and I attended a Karaoke evening at Mar Marine where our friends on Cabaret were hosting a fun night of being silly. I sang These Boots are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra (not very well!)

We walked at Tijax and enjoyed the pool, met the toad and lizard on our dock, took a jungle river dinghy trip, and visited one of the Mayan ruins about a two hour ride from the Rio, Quiriqua, a fascinating place that contains the tallest and best preserved stellae in the Mayan ruins of Guatemala. It's a small place, but displays a great deal of history if only someone could read it accurately. Some glyphs have been deciphered but most only partially.

Quirigua stellae

These round ones are called Zoomorphs

Our group "being" a stella

Toad is as big as a mans fist. He comes onto our dock at night.

Excellent shape for a stella. These are covered to delay erosion.

The restaurant on the way back to the Rio.

Eugenio had a barbecue area made for the cruisers. We opened it with hordorves and jamaica (hyacynth) juice

JULY 2012 ON THE RIVER next entry.

BEAUTIFUL BAY ISLANDS OF HONDURAS, June 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 05:49:00 +0000

First half of JUNE 2012-

Dan and I on Sea Star and the sailboat and crew of Kamaloha left the Hobbies, (Cayos Cajones) on May 28, 2012 toward Guanaja, a 24 hr. sail away, and looked forward to visiting in Guanaja and Roatan- two of the Bay Islands of Honduras. Our plan was to check-out of the country in Utila, and stop to snorkel at Cayos Cochinos, a reserve, on the way. We (both boats) were stepping on the gas, so to speak and wanted to be in the Rio Dulce before some expected bad weather arrived. We both agreed that spending much time in the islands would have to wait. Kamaloha would return to the Bay Islands after leaving the Rio Dulce and Dan and I do not know when or if we will return after hurricane season.

Our boats started off from the Hobbies at 2:45 pm. After some squalls showed up on our radar and although the wind did not read above 20knots.

click for a short clip of afternoon conditions:

travel clip Honduras 2012

At 1:30 am "Krackle" went our VFH and someone announced, "this is for all you sailboats out there," and some great music was soon playing on channel 16. Now, for those of you who boat, you know that 16 is used for distress and emergency. Since we could hear so clearly, we also knew we had to be quite close to the music sender. Our boats were still off Honduras and we questioned our own common sense in answering! We did though, we chatted with the music maker and for perhaps an hour and a half we were entertained with local music, country western music and the stage presence displayed by a fisherman, who did this to entertain all in the middle of the night. When he signed off it was with the promise to watch for us to ensure we arrived in Guanaja safely, we gotta watch for each other out there. He then mentioned having been helped out there by the sailboat Ithica with Bernadette Bernan on board. He hoped we would get to his place on the island.

I wish to thank Captain Cody aboard the fishing vessel "Snappy" for his offered friendship and concert. Dan and I are sorry we did not look you up- but the night will be remembered and Thanks!

Island of Guanaja in the background as we arrived at Binaca Town
with Kamaloha, May 29, 2012

BINACA TOWN

Go around the last houses and into the harbor

Significant shrimp fleet

We check-in to Honduras near this market at the Port Captains office. I think our time in Honduras cost $6 or both of us. There was no check-in in Cayos Cajones Reef

Homes on stilts

EL BIGHT ANCHORAGE

We move out of town to the El Bight anchorage. This is Dunbar Rock Hotel.

Where we again found the Manatee Restaurant, a place known for excellent German cooking; a welcoming place. Snitzel with spetzal was on the menu and delicious.

GRAHAM'S CAY

Next day, on to Graham's Cay after Dan replaced the clutch cylindar on our Raymarine auto pilot, that had failed again somewhere in route. We were thinking we might have to hand steer the boat all the way through Honduras and to the Rio Dulce. Would not have been fun. "Auto" was working again.

Graham's Place Restaurant and Bar where Graham keeps pets like..

Parrots and a macaw

A whole natural aquarium for fish and turtles. Hawksbill, and one Green turtle (rescued) Graham buys them from fishermen who might have caught them mistakenly in nets, and returns them to the sea. In his Seaquarium we also saw lobsters walking in a line, big 'cudas, tarpin, permit and nurse sharks. Grahams is a bone fishing resort. He had a picture on his wall of President Jimmy Carter and Roseland visiting his place. (fishing)

We snorkeled off the point

No pictures but we stopped for a night at Mango Creek Resort, 30 miles on the island of ROATAN to see Patrice andTerry. We had met them in 2010 when our friends on Queen Mary and Footloose performed . They took us snorkeling near their place. I should have had my Go Pro! Colorful and especially interesting, but I made no specific notes.

Then a few miles more to FRENCH HARBOR.

Sailed on to French Harbor. This is at an iguana preserve near the new marina, Brooksy Point.

Very handsome

We sailed on to the Jonesville anchorage and MacRae's Restaurant

Mac Rae's place, the monkey is a pet. We got there on rib day-yumm.

Around the harbor

We decided to skip West End, Roatan because there was controversy about the moorings having been removed versus anchoring which we heard was no longer allowed, and anyway the weather was speeding us along to Cayo Cochinos. After a rolicking sail and somewhat exciting entry to the Cochinos reserve mooring field, we enjoyed two days there with Kamaloha, snorkeling the 60 ft, deep clear and fabulous reef and dinner at...

Plantation Beach Dive Resort

I have no new pictures from Utila the Island furthest west and closest to the Honduran mainland where Kamaloha and Sea Star anchored next, arriving on a very windy day and checking out the next afternoon to head to the Rio. Check-out was easy and free and by 4:00pm June 11, 2012 we were ready to leave Honduras.

LEAVING FOR THE RIO DULCE When Kamaloha and Sea Star left the Hobbies and arrived in Guanaja we had internet again. We were Rio Dulce bound, so when we heard there had been a problem with a cruiser near Punta Sol, Honduras as they traveled to the Rio Dulce; the boat had been boarded and a grand larceny had taken place, we were of course concerned. The reported boarding of this moving sailboat and robbery could embolden other ladrones. (robbers) Leaving Utila, we decided that we must sail straight through to the Rio and not stop in some places we had in previous years- the beautiful anchorages at Bahia Diamonte, or Escondido or the tourist town at Bahia Omoa where Sea Star had spent two fun-filled days in 2010. We would sail well outside Punta Sol and use no lights in passage for our security.

All went well and after a night of quiet sailing without lights, we arrived at the sandy, shallow bar one must pass over into the Guatemalan entry town of Livingston and Sea Star continued right in. At a draft of 5ft the bar was little hazard for us, unlike deeper keeled boats, who sometimes need to be pulled in by a tug. We had reported into Navimar by VHF so shortly after our arrival the immigration and agricultural inspectors arrived to board, with Raul, the agent who welcomed us and left to complete the paperwork.

Livingston, Guatemala main street

The prolific greens of the 300 ft deep canyon, six miles or so to the Gulfete.

A school for young Mayans

LIVINGSTON TO LA LAGUNA We called friends to let them know we had arrived safely, went ashore to an ATM for quetzales 19.37 = $1 and had lunch while Raul prepared our papers. After the check-in was complete we brought up the anchor and quickly began our meander through the steep, green canyons of the "Sweet River" which is the translation of Rio Dulce. SWEET indeed! We were now in fresh water!

A few hours later we motored into the anchorage near La Laguna Marina, (formerly Texan Bay) and took a well deserved nap before dinner-Chicken-fried steak which was our favorite under the previous management, pleased the marina still served Mike's specialty.

The next morning Kamaloha arrived. We knew the children would love putting their kayaks in the lagoon. Sea Star took a dinghy explore through the beautiful, peaceful laguna to see what birds we could find; looking for the purple gallinule which we didn't see this time, but we did find the Northern jacana walking on the lily pads. We then dinghied over to Bahia Quimega to talk to Tom, the sail maker, about repairing Sea Star's genoa and staysail. Upon inspection we needed to replace our exterior protective sun-shield canvas.

Dan and I felt lucky to have the expertise and services of Tom at his well equipped and convenient sail loft available We dropped the sails down and off the boat at Tom's, then after a lunch visit with Texas Mike at his new place, headed up the river, across the Golfete, past a few marinas; Marios, Moco Point, Monkey Bay to our slip at Tijax Marina. After the fire drill of tie-up with bow anchor deployed, we accepted our Welcome jaimaca drink, and began to relax. Weather would probably not be an issue for the months we would be staying to wait out the hurricane season.

Near La Laguna. Artistic use of old cayuco

We met the nice people just about to purchase this river property

The lagoon at Bahia Quemado

Crossing through El Gulfete in route to the marina section

Dan and I felt like Tijax was the end of our trip, but of course we will move on after hurricane season unlike multiple expats who have settled in homes, hostels, hotels and marinas along the Rio Dulce, in Fronteras and other places in Guatemala. Changes to the Rio? Sure! On the way from Laguna we noticed more and larger motor boats with storage boat-ports and fewer cayucos. More cayucos were under outboard power, with only a few being paddled by the fishermen of the river. Some fishermen we saw were fisherwomen. As time has gone on we also see that we need less Spanish to get by, and pan (bread) is replacing the tortillas in some restaurants-(I'd say that the lack of tortillas is my biggest complaint about progress.)

AT HOME AT HACIENDA TIJAX - next post

EXPLORING THE REEFS + Providencia MAY 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:48:00 +0000

MAY 2, 2012

Jamaica was now behind us; our time spent there was only twenty-four days. It had taken a full day and night of travel, but we had sailed west along the southern Jamaican coast until our course turned more southerly, having 220 nm to our first overnight stop at a tiny spit of sand and reef called Baho Nuevo.

In this copied chart, Port Antonio would be just where the picture cut off- the NE part of Jamaica.

When we left, we sailed to the SE corner and then west along 2/3 of the south coast, then we made a more southerly turn and headed east of Pedro Banks (not shown) toward Baho Nuevo, 220 miles away. From Baho Nuevo we had 80 miles to Serrana Bank and another 40 nm to Roncador. Eventually we would head the 90 nm to Isla Providencia. As you can see, these Colombian owned reefs and cayos are not near the country of Colombia., nor the United States. More on this later.

Dan and I were very happy both to be traveling to the outlying reefs, and to have the company of other boats while making this excursion. We had visited Roncador two times previously and this seven mile enclosed reef still had fascination for us. Visiting there, snorkeling-maybe diving- with the colorful and varied reef inhabitants was an experience never forgotten. That memory had been the greatest draw onward from the Bahamas, and traveling in relative security provided by the presence of the two other boats, Jupiter's Smile and Wind Dancer, made us feel more comfortable going that distance from the beaten track.

Barb and Jay expressed willingness to go off their own schedule and explore with us. We told them how wonderful we thought the area was and they were as excited as we were to stop at three places; Baho Nuevo, as a rest stop, Serrana Bank, and Roncador Bank. They just had to remain cognizant of the time possibly required to meet up with their family visitors in Panama, so it was time for them and us to move on from Jamaica. Ron on the other boat had heard about the reefs and also wanted to go to Panama. Like us, he was keeping Jupiter's Smile's path in mind, knowing as a single-handed sailor, he would do better to stick with us, have fun, take shorter passages and eventually accompany Jupiter's Smile to Panama.

At 4:45am, April 29, 2012 we three picked up anchors in Port Morant and tracklined for Baho Nuevo in 12-14 kn wind and 5-6' seas with current against us, especially as we rounded the southerly point of Jamaica. We headed to Port Morant a full days sail, and anchored in front of the Coast Guard station. The next day we traveled on down Jamaica's southern coast.

Due to adverse current, after nine hours of sailing we had 60 nm shown traveled on the GPS. In the night we like to group the boats up a bit. Jay was 3 3/4 miles behind us and Ron 5 3/4.

We slowed and we all regrouped. We still had 126 nm to travel, but distance to where the boats are heading is not the only concern on a passage. Baho Nuevo is a tiny spit of land. We would not see it- and it is surrounded by dangerous reef. We would have to arrive in good light to weave our way in through corals toward the protection of the spit.

We sailed, we motorsailed, we took down sails when the wind dropped and put them out when we could use them. As any sailor, we hate to hear our sails being beaten to death, whapping when the wind is not steady enough to keep them filled. If we have soft puffs and then gusts the sails just move forward and back, snapping on each wind cycle. On Sea Star everything seemed to be working as well as expected and we could maintain our expected 5.0 kn. but Ron, because he had to keep adjusting his hand steering rig in the flukey wind could not keep the pace, so we all tried to slow even more. On the way we were treated to dolphin antics on our bow, terns, bobbies and flying fish as we traveled near the shallow Pedro fishing Banks, off Jamaica.

Sea Star arrived at Baho Nuevo at about 2:30pm so we did have the light, the others soon after. We wiggled our way toward the sand spit, found a large sandy patch and dropped anchor. I think it was when Ron arrived, that he noticed his halyard (line that keeps the sail taut on the mast) was chaffing through. If he didn't attend to it and his line did chaff through, fixing it would require running a new line through his mast. Difficult to do at anchor but he wrapped some tape on the line and ran it back up hoping it would stop the chafe. The wind came up a bit and the temperature dropped, but Barb, Jay, Dan and I went swimming to check our anchors and look around.

When we anchored we noticed a sailboat already "anchored" close to the sand spit. We called out to the boat by radio but received no answer. We didn't think anything of it at that time. It was pretty windy now and none of us had put our dinghies down as we were planning to move on in the morning. We also didn't go to do a "meet and greet" of the fourth boat. When no one appeared later in the day, still no one at happy hour and no lights we began to wonder why the boat was there unattended. We wrote down particulars, using our binoculars to try and get some details. No one appeared in the morning either, but since we had decided we were moving on, no one chose to put a dinghy down and check the boat. Feeling a bit apprehensive about the sailboat we notified a cruiser's net of the boat's location by radio.

When away from land we and other cruisers use a weather service for prediction. When we turned on the weather in the morning in the segment for Emergency or Priority traffic, we called in a description of the boat we saw. No one called back about it.

Here is one shot from Sea Star of the mystery boat

another

Here is Ron sailing in....

Closer now

Ron in Jamaica

Our next anchorage would be Serrana Bank, a reef and fishing area belonging to the country of Colombia. The reef we figured was 80 nm from Baho Nuevo. We left in good wind with a reefed genoa, wind NE on our beam. Then the wind decreased to below 10kn from the east then nicely picked up in a few sprinkles and threatening squalls to 16 kn. during the night. There were a few AIS targets from larger ships, also. We had sailed through the night to arrive there in light.

We arrived near the spot we knew to be an outside waypoint for Serrana, but we could see nothing to head for. We could see a small cay with a building on it but we knew that was not the entrance to the reef area. Finally we spotted what we were looking for, what looked from a distance like three long, low and thin sand spits which our guide book, A Cruising Guide to the Caribean, Stone and Hays suggested would be coral rubble. A channel would be between Narrow Cay on the left and South Cay to the right, with Little Cay appearing closer to the reef. Now Dan was a bit more sure that we could safely get inside by following the written directions, and in we did go with Barb and Jay right behind us and Ron following them. We navigated by sight, avoiding the obvious heads of coral in the transparent blue waters.

On May 2, 2012 at 10:00am we turned through the cut, turned east and traveled about 2 km. When we could go no further in without danger, we found sandy spots and dropped the hooks, then our dinghies to check all around depth for possible shallow spots or spots of higher reaching coral heads that a hull might be swung onto in a wind shift.

It was really pretty inside the reef. The turquoise waters of all hues could be seen out toward the thin line of breaking waves. Dan and I had waited a long time for a place like this to snorkel and it looked fantastic. We quickly donned the snorkeling gear, got in the dinghy and were off toward the reef. Which we soon learned we should not
have done.

Not much to spot, but we find the entrance! As the book said, "Three foot pile of coral rubble."

Looking out toward the reef where we went to snorkel.

A DISPUTE OVER CARIBBEAN WATERS

This drawn map shows the territories of Colombia and Nicaragua of which many rich fishing areas are in dispute. Apparently oil is a possibility on the continental shelf near Quito Sueno.

The Navy from m/v ARC Quindio. The Colombian military sends a revolving group of trainees to the Cays to guard them and watch for Nicaraguan fishermen and military. We used to kind of laugh when the young men would tell us they were defending those sand spits, but it is not now a joke.

To the best of my knowledge from the websites below, The dispute over these waters, sandspits and coral reefs goes something like this.

Colombia has claimed these out of the way reef areas as possessions since the 1880's as well as the more developed islands of Providencia, Santa Catalina, and San Andres. (map above picture) Other countries have disputed agreements made concerning the waters and fishing grounds.Nicaragua has always maintained that the agreement and accord signed in 1928-1930 between Nicaragua and Colombia, Treaty of Bogata, was not valid and had been breached by Colombia. Both countries have stopped or confiscated fishing boats of the other inside the agreed to territories over the years.

The United States, during the 1940's were the owners of three of the fishing areas in a pact with Colombia but signed the Quito Seuno agreement in 1972 that said the US would no longer contest Colombia for the three banks territories held out of the 1928 accord- Quito Sueno, Roncador and Serrana, however the US reserved fishing rights and built a military base on one of the Cays and assisted in policing the area with Colombia. In 1969 Nicaragua sold rights for oil exploration to territories that Colombia claims, Their claim was that the territories sold were part of the Nicaraguan continental shelf not the San Andres Archipeligo which includes cays, reefs , and other features.

In May 2001 and again in 2007 Nicaragua brought her disagreement with the Accords to be legally disputed in the International Court of Justice at la Hague. Hearings were conducted on the merits of each of Colombia's and Nicaragua's arguments and jurisdiction. One of the arguments was the Nicaraguan Government at the time, was under the control of the United States and unable to contest a treaty with Colombia that was desired by the US. but there were other arguments, too.

In May 2011, Nicaragua challenged the agreement and Colombia for rights to some of the unassigned Cays not specifically mentioned in the Bogata agreement. Honduras and Costa Rica submitted claims that they are impacted by the legal conclusion of Nicaragua's challenge. Currently, May of 2012 the International Court of Justice has heard the arguments of both countries, and over the objections of Honduras and Costa Rica and will make a ruling. Whether the Court has the authority to, or will choose to create a maritime boundary, probably along the 82nd parallel, - considering the positions of the major two parties the outcome will be exceedingly interesting to watch.

I think conditions of travel for cruisers would really change in the Western Caribbean if these fishing grounds changed hands. For one thing, most boat insurance companies have restrictions about travel to Nicaragua because it is considered unsafe. At this point Colombia has been policing the entire Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and all the outlying fishing reefs. Latest information from International Court of Justice website. http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=1&code=&case=124&k=e2website

ARRIVING AT SERRANA

This one did the paperwork while the other took pictures and three or four others sat outside in the cockpit.

The Colombian Navy had called our three boats and wanted to see our papers and greet us, but we didn't hear. Dan and I were happily paddling around in the water after just anchoring our dinghy, when the boat with six young Naval trainees came and motioned us back to our boat. We dinghied back, soaking wet in bathing suits and dive skins, and they came aboard for the formalities which took only few minutes. They have a sheet for you to sign attesting you have been treated courteously by them and they write the latitude and longitude of your boat down, then take some pictures of the inside?? and they were off to the next boat.

We did take a minute and with our broken Spanish, told them about the boat on Baho Nuevo. The answer was that they knew about it, had actually re-anchored it and checked aboard for the owners to find no one. As curious as we were, we were not to find out anything more, although we reported it in Isla Providencia, too.

Within the hour we were all in the water. Snorkeling the reef was very nice, large fish and large variety and coral in good condition. There was some current at Serrana, however. We saw plate sized French Angel-fish, some Rock Beauties, Margates, Snapper, large Grunts and Chubs and little Hamlets but I don't remember id we actually found any new to us species. I think we did see one or two lobster hiding in holes in the coral. It was not season, so they were safe. We did not spear fish on the banks. During the two nights we stayed there, we three and the ARC Quindio were the only boats. We did see a trawler fishing boat, but it was outside the reef.

ON TO RONCADOR!

Nearing Roncador Banks

Roncador, some 40 nm away would be our next stop. This is their Naval installation where we would bring our papers and passports and check-in with the youthful Naval trainees. Funny thing to have a Navy training without a boat they can use. We did see the ARC Quindio arrive with water and supplies for the men. They have a TV to watch movies and they have the beach around the 200ft coral island. The men seem to spend some time building rock walls about four feet tall. Barb and I both made brownies for the nineteen men.

The next day we motored our sailboats another mile down the seven mile reef to a nice spot recommended by friends on Windfree. From there we made our way by dinghy further down the reef to an old wreck where we snorkeled; almost immediately leaving our dinghies we saw three nurse sharks swimming. That's unusual as often nurse sharks are lying peacefully under the larger coral outcroppings. Maybe we woke them. In that area there were snappers, Dan shot at one large one, colorful French and Queen angelfish, trumpetfish, maybe a barracuda or two, huge groups of parrotfish-the midnight blues were especially nice, and all the little, colorful reef fish it's so much fun to chase around.

Snorkeling other inside reefs we saw butterfly fish, porcupine fish, jacks, porgys, hamlets, only a few grouper, squirrel fish, a bigeye, trunkfish and a few of the dreaded Lion fish, an invasive species with a voracious appetite for smaller reef fish. We also saw some rays, and at least three probably black tipped reef sharks.

This video, my first attempt at making clips into a movie from the Go Pro was taken in shallow water in a surge zone near a metal wreck. There were lots of fish everywhere, however. Snorkeling (and breath holding) did not allow me to video the deeper, much prettier reefs with waving fan and tube corals. I was disappointed in the colors showing in video clips, as well as the fish looking small. That said-the coral heads inside the reef are amazing.

A 6min. movie underwater: enjoy!

Reef Roncador 2012

It is quite obvious there are less fish and more people-wary fish because they are seeing divers every day. When we arrived there was a native boat that was scouring the very shallowest inside reefs and in a few hours had, of course cleaned out the area of any fish, lobster, conch they could spear. When we popped into the water near our boats we could see the beautiful corals, but little sea life. Then the small boat returned to the mother ship that probably had ten small boats attached. The fish haven't got a chance, even out there, 200 miles from land.

SPLITTING UP OUR CONVOY
Tonight was the night we would wish Jupiter's Smile and Wind Dancer good-bye. They were both heading out to Panama, the San Blas Islands in the morning. It would take them five days. We had pizza and fresh conch fritters on Sea Star, chatted about family visits and travel plans and called it a night. Dan and I were sorry to see friends go in a different direction; that is cruising. People don't always want to do the same activities. We had spent some incredibly fun-filled days, and food filled evenings since we started to travel together. Eventually, Barb and Jay have a plan to see the Sea of Cortez. Ron, I'm not sure because he said he doesn't know. Dan and I are heading about 90 nm to Isla Providencia, another small Colombian island. We'd been there before and it's a good stopping place for supplies,has good restaurants, internet and friendly people! We would have another choice to make there about traveling on- (would we?) and if so, to where?

We see the island-good sailing!

Now we can see the opening to the harbor and the "cracked" mountain that is called by some-Morgan's Ass (after the pirate, Henry Morgan) . You sail directly in line with the crack, then turn in.

Dan and I have taken the dinghy down and headed for our favorite restaurant and place they will wash laundry.

Local fishermen with snapper

Conch

Inside the open air Bamboo Restaurant

Out side the restaurant a boater kid has caught a brine shrimp to examine

Here in Providencia one can do citified things like see a ball game.

I like the bikes outside. Providencia is about 12 miles long, there are a few trucks and cars and an occasional bus, but motos are the order of the day.

With new friends from Nilaya

Walking

I'll tell you what this is. It's a pig right on the path between dinghies and the main road

Other cruisers- Kamaloha with two children and two dogs aboard

Obviously a night scene in the town square

This sign says, STOP. Somewhere between April and July when it rains the traffic must all stop- the black crab comes down off the hills and if he or she makes it in one night, to the ocean, to deposit eggs and fertilize them

Here you see her eggs from

Front to back

No eggs

Help! They're everywhere- absolutely underfoot. We are walking the closed road with the owners of the Bamboo who want to show us this special event in their town.