Salty Podcast: Sailing

Salty Podcast #37 | 🏝️ Sailing Wanderer LIVE from the Caribbean on a Beneteau Oceanis 41.1! ⛵️🌊

• Captain Tinsley | Sailing Wanderer: Drew & Ingrid • Season 1 • Episode 37

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Join me as Sailing Wanderer shares their incredible journey sailing down the West Coast, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean aboard their sailboat, a stunning Beneteau Oceanis 41.1!

Watch the Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/SaltyPodcast37
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SALTY ABANDON:  Cap'n Tinsley, Orange Beach, AL.
Oct 2020 to Present:  1998 Island Packet 320
Nov 2015-Oct 2020:  1988 Island Packet 27
Feb-Nov 2015:  1982 Catalina 25

SALTY PODCAST is LIVE every Wed at 6pm Central and is all about the love of sailing!
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SALTY ABANDON: Cap'n Tinsley, Orange Beach, AL:
Oct 2020 to Present - 1998 Island Packet 320;
Nov 2015-Oct 2020; 1988 Island Packet 27
Feb-Oct 2015 - 1982 Catalina 25

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Capn Tinsley:

Welcome back to the Salty Podcast, where it's always a great day to talk about sailing. I'm sorry, I do have a technical difficulty. Okay, this is episode 37, and before we dive in, I ask that you please like this video and subscribe to the channel. Your support helps keep the wind in our sails. Subscribe to the channel. Your support helps keep the wind in our sails. Today we are jumping into another incredible story of adventure and discovery.

Capn Tinsley:

I'm thrilled to be joined by Andrew and Ingrid, who are coming to us, live from the Caribbean. Their journey started in Seattle and they are headed to the Bahamas. They're cruising aboard a Beneteau Oceanus 41.1, a sailboat built for adventure comfort and is a great sailor. You might recognize Andrew from his lively comments during my interview with Dean Porter a couple weeks ago. I love it when viewers get involved, so please feel free to comment in the chat. They did some sailing together on their prospective boats and, as a result, they became close friends, which is what this sailing community is all about making connections on the water. After that episode, andrew reached out and we set this up. Right now, he and ingrid are somewhere in the lesser antilles and we're about to find out exactly where. So, without further ado, let's welcome Drew and Ingrid to the Salty Podcast. Hello, hello, hello, how are you?

Capn Tinsley:

I had my first technical difficulty, but okay, now we're good. You're a little fuzzy all of a sudden. Oh, that's weird. Do I look fuzzy to you?

Drew:

No, you look good. Okay, I'm drinking, all right okay, maybe.

Capn Tinsley:

Well, welcome to the salty podcast. Go ahead and tell us where you are where are?

Ingrid:

we we're in aruba in, uh yes, the the a of the ABCs in the Lesser Antilles, which is one of the Dutch principality islands out here.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, yeah, I've actually been to Bonaire, but I've not been to Aruba. Yeah, we went there diving, oh beautiful diving.

Drew:

In fact, that video in the trailer that was Bonaire of the blue fish.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, we did. Did you do shore diving?

Drew:

Well, we actually didn't dive, didn't we? We didn't dive in Bonaire, we did a lot of snorkeling.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, all right, well, I've got some questions here. Well, I've got some questions here, and so I talked to Dean and a couple of other people that went down the West Coast of the United States and into Mexico, and so I wanted to kind of start your journey I know you came from Seattle, start your journey in Panama and talk about you know how you prepared to go across the, the Panama canal, and what was it like getting to the other side. So what, um, what was what? What was it like preparing to transit the Panama canal, any specific challenges you had to overcome, any kind of logistics you want to cover, any advice or anything?

Drew:

Uh sure, any kind of logistics you want to cover any advice or anything? Uh sure, um, I think for me the scariest part about the canal was we built it up in our heads. So when you finally arrive in panama city, as you're approaching the canal entrance, especially with the drought that's been going on there were hundreds and hundreds of tankers and container ships all at anchor, all just sitting out there and you're this tiny little boat weaving through the anchorage on your way to the marina. It was. The scale is so much bigger than you can imagine really and and it was fascinating.

Ingrid:

It was especially when we were coming through we island, hopped to Panama City, which is where we were starting the canal journey, and we weren't quite expecting to come out of this little passage. And then you see this massive expanse of tankers and car carriers, cargo ships, and you're looking up at them all and you're always thinking ahead like should I go behind that one? Should I go in front of it? You feel small, you feel so tiny when you're pretty much playing through all these, yeah, massive ships.

Drew:

And your AIS is just lit up with boats.

Capn Tinsley:

They're all at anchor.

Drew:

It's safe, but your whole screen is just humongous ships and you're weaving your way through to get into Panama City and then I mean, once you're there, we had a great. You have to hire an advisor or you don't have to hire an advisor. It's easier when you hire an advisor and they deal with all the paperwork Preparing to go through Preparing to go through.

Drew:

Yeah, and your advisor takes care of the paperwork. He will arrange line handlers. If you don't have enough people on your boat, you need four line handlers and they could be your own or you can. He'll give you fenders and lines and um roger ohelio some someone said in the uh, this is hayden.

Capn Tinsley:

He says uh, smart location for hurricane season aruba it is well, yeah, it is, it's fun here.

Drew:

It is fun, yeah, um and is it's fun? Here. It is fun yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

And is this someone you know on the screen?

Drew:

Sherilyn yeah.

Ingrid:

Oh yes, we know, sherilyn, we know, hey, Dean, good to see you.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh yeah, dean, there's Dean, did you get a screenshot?

Ingrid:

Island Spirit 35. I'm not sure if we know them, but for sure this is a great place to be in hurricane season.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah Island Spirit 35. I think his boat is in Grenada right now for the winter.

Ingrid:

Yes, yes.

Capn Tinsley:

Well, for the summer, I'm getting mine backwards. He has an island pack at 35. And here's some other people you might know. We're going to go back to that topic because I do want to hear about it. So tell me oh, okay, oh, this is an active chat right here. Oh, la la, okay, oh, they, this is an active chat right here. Um, so can you? Yeah can you give people an idea what how much a handler costs?

Drew:

yeah, so for us all in going through the canal correct me if I'm wrong so you have to put in a deposit and then you have to pay for the total. For us, it was all in was twenty four hundred dollars. Ok, and we did not have line handlers because my, my brother Peter, our sister-in-law Laura and my nephew Ryan were here, and also our friend Brandon, who actually started out as our broker and sold us this boat and then came to Panama to go through the canal with us. So we had plenty of people on the boat. But a line handler, I believe, is $120 each, yes, and you need four.

Capn Tinsley:

So it would be 24. So it's for the day. Yes, okay.

Drew:

So needed four handlers. It would be 24 plus the $120 for each line handler that you need.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, and how far in advance do you have to book this? Or the handler books it for you, gets a time for you to go through.

Drew:

Yeah, so you set it up with the advisor, they give you a number, and I forget what they call that number, but they give you your boat number to go through the canal and then sort of give your advisor, hey, I'd like to go through this week, this time period, and he'll schedule it as best he can for that time period. I believe it's taking a little longer now. The drought has gotten worse since we went through, so it's taking longer. I know one of our friends' boats, fickle. They had to wait months. Yeah, oh really, but they're through now, so it is Months. Yeah, it's changing. What they do is they? Just they lump our little. You know these were dinghies compared to these boats that are going.

Capn Tinsley:

You don't have priority.

Drew:

They just stick us in behind a container ship, so they'll stick three of us I think it's three max behind a container ship or behind a tanker and you just go through with them, and if you can't keep up, you have to spend the night in the canal, which I think would be super cool.

Ingrid:

In Lake Gatun. In Lake Gatun, yes.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, and so is there like a website that you find a handler.

Drew:

Yeah, so we find them through the cruisers. The WhatsApp chat groups and the facebook chat groups is where you get most of the information when we get to these places, um, they're very active, a lot of knowledgeable people. Um, so you just you know. Hey, we're in panama city. Any recommendations for an advisor? Oh yeah and you'll a whole bunch of, but you'll start hearing the same name over and over again, or you'll see one of your friends recommend a particular person. We used Roger. He was absolutely excellent. Great guy Is he?

Capn Tinsley:

Panamanian.

Drew:

He is yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay.

Ingrid:

Well, that helps. Yes, and to give a shout out to the actual crew that actually come on board your boat when you're going through the Panama Canal. They're different to the advisor, who's the person who organizes all the logistics as you're preparing to go through, and then the day you go through, you actually get assigned. What did they call them? Do you remember?

Drew:

Actually, rogelio is the agent, the guys on the boat are the advisors, the advisors.

Ingrid:

they call them do you remember, actually roelio is the agent, the guys are the advisors, the advisors, so the advisors, actually a board, and they're the ones telling you get up to seven knots now, keep the speed for this long. And then when you're in the canal they'll say go four degrees to the you know to port, or go three degrees to starboard. And they really are looking out for you to make sure that are they.

Capn Tinsley:

Are they up on the top of the canal watching you or?

Ingrid:

they're on your boat.

Drew:

We're on the boat, okay okay, so you get an advisor and you you pretty much just steer the boat and he tells you where to go yep nice and it's okay, it's a little.

Drew:

The whole canal was at 50 something feet deep. The whole canal is pretty deep and it's cut really steep. So if a tanker is coming from the other direction, the advisors want you as far over as you can get. So you're doing, you know, seven and a half knots. They want you to go full throttle all the way through the canal and you're, you know know, 20 feet from the bank and it's, and you're sitting in 50 feet of water.

Capn Tinsley:

It's the strangest thing so you're never tied up to the wall, like like going through, okay, okay, um, what's the one in south florida? It's, it's. You're never tied to the wall.

Drew:

You are. There were three locks at the beginning and three locks at the end. And the rest of the day was driving through the lake. Okay, okay, wow, I think the locks were three hours on each end.

Ingrid:

Yes, all in all, it was a 12-hour journey from beginning to end Six to six yeah. That's a long day. It is a long day, and we got into the marina just as the sun was setting, yeah, and we started it just after six in the morning.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, so there's a marina on the other side. That sounds wonderful. And then how long did you stay there?

Drew:

We were in Swelter Bay.

Ingrid:

A month.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh yeah, you stayed a while.

Drew:

A little bit over a month. Oh no, we did the repairs on Panama City side.

Ingrid:

Actually, I have a spreadsheet I'll tell you how long we were there for a little while on Panama City side. Actually, I have a spreadsheet I'll tell you how long it was we were there for a little bit before we waited for a window to get over to San Blas.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, Dean has a question. What did the line handlers do specifically? I think you already talked about that. They're the advisors.

Drew:

Well, the line handlers literally handle the lines when you're going through the locks. They're big lines, they're like ship-size lines that you have on your boat and they do all the tying and loosening and, as the water's going up and down, the line handlers take care of all of that. It's kind of nice and the lines are so big you have a throw line, so they take care of everything in terms of that's nice.

Capn Tinsley:

Was there any kind of damage to your boat, any scraping at all? Nothing.

Drew:

We went through with our friends on Discovery Passage and I think they were outside of us, and then there was a like a tourist boat was on the on the wall side. So it was this tourist boat, then us, then discovery passage.

Capn Tinsley:

So we were never against the wall so people go through on a tourist boat? Yeah, it's.

Ingrid:

It's kind of fun because you feel like you're a tourist too, because you're hearing what the, the tour guide, is telling the passengers oh, nice okay and then on the last walk we they sent her when the tourist boat had turned around.

Drew:

They center tied us. They're. They're so worried about you damaging your boat on the wall that they'll literally throw lines to both walls and they'll keep you in the center of the law.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, wow, okay. So island spirit has a question here. Don't most people stay in the lake one night, then do, and then day two carry on?

Drew:

So going north to south, yes, going south to north, no, yeah, oh. So the south to north starts at 4, 5, or 6 am, and then the other direction, I think, starts a little later than that. And they end up spending the night in the lake.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay At anchor On a mooring On a mooring Mooring, wow. Okay At anchor On a mooring On a mooring, mooring, wow, okay.

Ingrid:

What sounds could you say the mooring would be? I don't know.

Drew:

You get off your boat onto the mooring to tie it off. It's absolutely enormous.

Ingrid:

You could have eight people standing on the mooring, okay.

Capn Tinsley:

I got to look at pictures of this. That's amazing. I don't think we got any pictures okay so um le leah marie, your agent can supply four 150 foot lines and fenders for a small fee.

Drew:

Yes, small 120 something dollars.

Ingrid:

Yes, and they pick them up from the other side because the isthmus of panama is so tiny it's it's not a it's not a long journey for them, if they are on the south side of the canal, to drive to the north. Pick them up and go back to where they come from.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, all right, okay, so now you've gotten to the marina. What's that like?

Drew:

Shelter-based nights.

Capn Tinsley:

Party down.

Drew:

There's alcohol involved.

Ingrid:

There's cold.

Capn Tinsley:

We were starving too, starving too. Yeah, we were hungry.

Drew:

I bet you were tired.

Capn Tinsley:

I mean, it's just a whole new experience. So Island Spirit says that makes sense. I only know people going Atlantic to Pacific. Thanks, I'm going to be interviewing him next week, by the way, and he's going to talk about his journey From Florida. He lives in Virginia and Then, but his boat is right Now is in Antigua, so he'll be Sailing back this, you know when he goes back, but he's going to talk about His journey, his route From Florida to the Caribbean, so you might want to tune Into that. I don't know if this is your first Time going through the Caribbean, so you might want to tune into that. I don't know if this is your first time going through the Caribbean or if you've done this before.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, no you might pick up a few tips from him too. Okay, so all right, all right, we talked about that in memorable moments. What advice would you give to sailors who are considering crossing the panama canal? I think you've just done that. Um, when you came out, what was it like? When you came out and officially entered the caribbean, what was the first you, the first thing you did to celebrate other than the alcohol?

Ingrid:

well, you know, we we had family with us, and so we were thinking, well, let's do something fun with them so that they can at least go do a little bit of sailing while they're out on the side. So we managed to do a um, a short, very short sail to the chargris river and this is the first time we've ever taken our boat into a river, and where it takes you is to this ginormous damn wall and you realize that's what's holding the canal in. Oh, oh yeah. And there's crocodiles, there's birds, it's beautiful. You know when you're actually going through it, it's fascinating it is beautiful and it's just north.

Drew:

sorry, yeah, go ahead, it's just north. So Shelter Bay, or Swelter Bay as we call it, or Swelter Bay because it's expensive.

Capn Tinsley:

Swelter Bay.

Drew:

If you come out of the marina and take a left, the Chagos River is there and then you can come down the river and pretty much be right on the other side of the dam to the to the canal, which is super cool, but it it's so bizarre bringing your 42 foot boat down a river, yeah, and anchoring, and it was peaceful and we'd shine the flashlight at night and you could see the crocodile eyes swimming across the river.

Drew:

yeah, super cool was it like jungle, like back there yeah, you can hear the howler monkeys and oh, wow, wow, it was super cool.

Ingrid:

It was cool On the way back. I think one of the memorable moments was we were able to actually use our spinnaker, but we're also, you know, bobbing and weaving a little bit through the tankers and all that out on that side that are waiting to come through as well, so it was really fun.

Drew:

Yeah, my brother wanted to play chicken with a tanker before we shot this before.

Capn Tinsley:

Not recommended. Okay, so what was the first island you stopped at when you came in? Or Anchorage?

Drew:

Once we left Shelter Bay, once we came, once we left Shelter Bay. Well, when we left Shelter Bay, we headed to the San Blas via Linton Bay, which is about halfway there. Linton Bay is just another. If you don't want to make the jump directly to the San Blas islands, you can break it up. So once we got into, once we left Linton and we ended up in the San Blas Islands, I think we were meeting our friends, you know, jubal, kyle and Leah, and I forget where they were, but we just picked it. We were exhausted, we had a really rough passage getting there, so we just pulled in and dropped the hook. I think it was the lemon keys. The lemon keys yeah, this picture is coco banderas so this.

Capn Tinsley:

So you were, you were where before this um, you'd have to go to the left.

Drew:

It'd be like the let's see, if you sorry that is a long way. No, no, keep going. Sorry, go the other direction, sort of between the red dots, right between those red dots. The whole San Blas is pretty much between those, so right where your mouse is there.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay.

Drew:

A little to the right. Yeah, I think we're up there somewhere. I'd have to pull it up on the map, do you remember?

Ingrid:

I think we're up there somewhere. I'd have to pull it up on the map. Do you remember? I think it was the Lemon Keys, but all the islands. So there's 364 or 63 islands in the San Blas Islands and they're all pretty much a day sail away from each other, or less. So it's the most incredible, incredible place, because a lot of these islands are uninhabited or they have one or two families living on them. So if we say we're going from one island to the next, it really is just a little puddle jump. And so at the first island we got to, we pretty much just after a really rough passage, we dropped the hook and slept, didn't move for two days yes, just to kind of get our bearings again.

Ingrid:

And then after that you kind of come up into the sunlight and and you just look around and think, wow, this is incredible.

Capn Tinsley:

And is all this pretty calm right in here?

Ingrid:

Very calm. Once you get across the what did you call it? The reef? The reef protects those islands so that you don't get any massive waves at all.

Drew:

It's champagne sailing behind that reef Always. I mean on our passage there, it was arguably some of the roughest waves we've hit Right here, yeah, coming around that corner, and then once we were behind the reef it was flat calm and beautiful.

Capn Tinsley:

Is this the reef right here?

Drew:

Yeah, so that's a ledge. If you zoom in a little bit where those red dots are, um, you can see the outer reef, so that those right above your mouse. So that is all like the outer reef.

Capn Tinsley:

That makes up the islands below your mouse that's the same stretch that goes through cozumel and everything right the same reef. Oh, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I think it's a pretty long reef Anyway don't hold me to that, but okay, so once you get in here, there's islands everywhere.

Drew:

It's paradise to get in. Yeah, I mean, if you zoom back in on Coco Banderas, yeah, right. So that island that your mouse is on, that's Coco Banderas. This is arguably one of our favorite places, right?

Ingrid:

there. Oh yes, you can see all the boats, yes, Okay, oh yes, you can see all the boats, yes.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, so if anybody watched the teaser and saw all those boats, kind of their sterns facing the island, that was here right.

Drew:

Yes, yes, we have to give shout outs to all our friends, can we that were there, Absolutely so from well those photos, it would be Salacia.

Ingrid:

Then us then jubile then x factor rochambeau via bohemia yeah and discovery passage hadn't gotten there yet yes, and at the end it was discovery passage and another boat called french kissing life. Yes, and then french kissing life oh yeah, that was it there right there. Oh, so much fun that was christmas.

Capn Tinsley:

Look at that right there.

Drew:

Oh my gosh we went there a few times. That place is just spectacular and we stern tied to that beach. You could just jump off the back of your boat and be in waist deep water there, it is right.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, yeah, that looks like paradise. And did you know all those people?

Drew:

yeah. So we met most of these people on the pacific side and then we would, you know, we'd meet and we'd all go our separate directions. Then we'd meet up again and then we started sailing with X Factor and Jubal and well, all of these boats when we all got to San Blas, and then a few of the boats via, and then a few of the boats via Jubal went north to Puerto Rico a while ago, and then they're now headed in various directions. Szilagyi is already in Grenada. We have been sailing with X-Factor ever since.

Ingrid:

Yes, I think we spent roughly two months, um, in the sandblast islands, all those boats together. If we find an island we like, we'll stay as long as we'd like, and then we decide to go to a different one and uh, and then sometimes, oh, everyone jokes and calls it bungee boating. You know, you, you do a few uh passengers and then you go in different directions and then you come back and then eventually you know, people have long-term plans and at that point they will go to whatever destination they want. But I would say the Sandblast Islands with those group of boats was really phenomenal.

Drew:

That's definitely a highlight.

Ingrid:

Absolutely.

Drew:

It's a highlight.

Capn Tinsley:

Well Island Spirit says Sandblast. Everyone, everyone says is incredible and similar to the exumas bahamas that's what we've heard. Yes, that's where you guys are headed right yeah, it is. I think you're gonna be happy there.

Drew:

I've been there to the exumas yet, but I think the one, the one thing that the San Blas has over any place that we've been and I imagine the Exumas too, but I haven't been there yet is that it's like stepping back in time. Like the Guna, people still use dugout canoes and they live on these tiny little islands. They build their own homes, they use coconuts as currency. It's like stepping back in time.

Ingrid:

They've been amazing at preserving their culture.

Drew:

Yes.

Ingrid:

Yes.

Capn Tinsley:

And I guess the boaters kind of respect that.

Drew:

Yes, they do. They do From what we saw, I don't think we I mean maybe some of our friends will chime in and say but do you remember?

Ingrid:

yeah, we had a really good book, um to do with um panama itself, and they had a great section on the sandblast islands, talking a lot about their culture. Like, you can do these things, but don't do this and make sure you don't. Here's, here's a one. Don't take a coconut off the beach or out of the water, because that's considered their property and they may use it, you know, for their life, and so why would we take something that belongs to them? So we were always sure to you know, respect their property, so to speak, their islands.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah Well, so you never touched any coconuts.

Ingrid:

We might touch them, but we didn't take them.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay. So Rita says that she hopes to see you guys in November, if you guys are still stateside, okay, so are these boaters? Is Rita's Remedy Beautiful? I envy you. They had a KFC in San Blas. No way, yeah.

Ingrid:

Kuna fried chicken. Kuna fried chicken. That was the best.

Drew:

That's a true story.

Ingrid:

Yes.

Capn Tinsley:

A real KFC.

Drew:

Yeah, but it's Kuna fried chicken.

Ingrid:

Not the franchise, but it's kuna fried chicken. Not the franchise, but it's okay oh, I bet that was good.

Capn Tinsley:

I bet that was so much better. And how is the food? Do you know TW? Who's TW? Not sure how's the food.

Drew:

I think Rita's talking to Mike and Leah. I think that's friends, of friends, they might be talking amongst themselves and Leah, I think that's friends of friends.

Ingrid:

They might be talking amongst themselves.

Capn Tinsley:

No, leah and Mike. Okay, all right. Yeah, keep talking. We're glad you're here. Okay, let me see what's the next question Kuna, fried chicken.

Drew:

Little floating restaurant. No, it's not floating. Floating, it's on stilts yeah, all right.

Capn Tinsley:

What do we? Was first island leaving panama canal. What was your experience like that and what challenges have you faced while island hopping in the caribbean, whether it's customs, provisioning or sailing conditions?

Drew:

um, I'll speak to the sailing conditions. Sure, um mike and I were just talking about.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, tw is my cousin tracy hi hi, cousin, um, hey, cousin, tracy, and rita is our friend from michigan. Okay, michigan. Oh, she's in michigan.

Drew:

Okay, no wonder she's jealous the sailing conditions on this side of the canal are different. You know, sailing through Mexico, sailing the west coast well, not so much Costa Rica, but sailing Mexico, el Salvador, that's just easy, it's really sailing. You know, we do some weather routing and we obviously we're, we're always checking weather and forecasts and all of that stuff. But it seemed like coming down the west coast of mexico, you could just say we're going to leave on wednesday and wednesday and you could go um, on the atlantic side it's. It's more, you're definitely bound by the weather, especially going the direction we're going, especially going this way.

Ingrid:

It's a more technical sail. You have to, and also it's because of the way we chose to sail, which is not normal per se, because you're going against the current, you're going against the trade winds, and what forced our hand is the fact that there's piracy. And so when you're looking at the safety I think it's the Caribbean safety net when you're planning your route, you're always looking to see. You know, is there anything we should be on the lookout for in terms of safety? And we went to sail alone to the Cayman Islands, but then we noticed, even 120 miles offshore, there was recent reports of piracy. So we thought, well, you know what, Maybe we should just go against the grain. But it turned out great because we were with this amazing group of like-minded boaters and it turned out, you know, just just a great time, even though the sail was hard. Um, you know, you're bashing into the wind. It's not easy.

Drew:

we're sailing up. Yeah, you know. Yeah, if you come through the canal the way we did, the traditional route is to go north, either from panama, or from the sun, from the canal or from san, go north to the Caymans or Jamaica and come around the Dry Tortugas and go that way. That would be the traditional route, coming out of the canal and taking a right. It's hard sailing, you're into the wind, you're into the current, you're into the waves. You have to look for very specific windows.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, because in the winter there's a lot of the winds are coming from the east. Yes, Right. When I go to the Keys, that's the way it is, and the Gulf is always rougher in the winter. So it's like what you're saying, like you can't just, oh, let's go today. I mean you have to really look at the weather and look at the waves.

Drew:

I mean a perfect example of this is we were in Bonaire a few weeks ago and we left with X Factor to go to Grenada.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, I thought that's where you were going.

Drew:

Yeah, we waited for a very specific window and it looked like it was going to be great. And we went 130 miles offshore to get above the Caribbean current, which was kind of successful, semi-successful. We got out of the hardest stuff. You know we had a. Each boat had a few technical difficulties but we decided the prudent thing was to turn around. Howeverair, where we had just left, had shut off starlink. They geo-fenced the whole island and started. Why is that money?

Drew:

it's someone licensing agreements well, I think it's someone in the government or someone who owns the monopoly to the internet okay has enough pull that he doesn't want Starlink yet. So they they geo fence the whole island and shut us down it's hearsay, though we don't really know.

Drew:

No, we're guessing but in any case they shut down the Starlink. Their Curacao Spanish waters is beautiful and it's a unbelievable cruising community in Curacao, but it's not like. The water's not crystal clear like it is here. You can't just get off and back and swim and Spanish water during hurricane season is very crowded because it is a great place to hang out for hurricane season. But we didn't want that crowded feel of Spanish water so I got outvoted. It was it was three to one.

Ingrid:

Drew wanted to go back to Bonaire.

Drew:

I wanted to go back to Bonaire because I think it gave us the best window to go to Puerto Rico, I mean the best angle to go to Puerto Rico, and Mike and Lee and Ingrid outvoted you.

Capn Tinsley:

We're in Aruba Too bad. So Rita had a good question and I think I know the answer to this. But is personal protection legal? And then Leah Marie said not 2A, so you could use spear guns, pepper ball pistols or bear spray. Do you want to elaborate on that?

Drew:

Sure, Most of the places we've been, we do not have a firearm on board. We have not met anyone who has a firearm on board. Most of the places we've been, as long as you declare it, they say it's fine. Most of the people we know have some sort of pepper device, whether it's a pepper ball pistol or a bear spray, and even that whether it's a pepper ball pistol or a bear spray, and even that, when you come to these places, you need to declare it.

Drew:

And they'll take it from you and they'll give it back to you. They'll take spear guns and they'll give them back to you. We did spend some time in the Perlis Islands where there was recent piracy that involved firearms, and that was a little, I don't know, it's puckery.

Ingrid:

You don't sleep well, you don't sleep well.

Drew:

But I've never felt like I needed a firearm on the boat. We sleep with the companionway open. We sleep with every hatch open. We rarely lock the boat unless we're leaving it.

Ingrid:

It's when you go far offshore, but but also maybe there's this Close to Venezuela.

Capn Tinsley:

Yes.

Ingrid:

We are right now.

Drew:

Right.

Ingrid:

So you'll find little pockets, you'll find these little hotspots where, where you're told or you know just from reading yes, perhaps don't go there. We've heard these things, and so it's just a case of trying to stay away. And also safety in numbers, which is why, when we sailed Right or passed these waters, we would always have other boats with us.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, okay, and so I know that the Bahamas I, I took firearm there and I declared it and they let you keep it as long as it's. You have to lock it up and unload it so it's not really ready if something happens.

Capn Tinsley:

But yeah, but you have to tell them exactly how much ammo you have. And she said don't guess, because if they come and inspect you and there's something missing, they're going to say where's the body. So I was like, well, I don't remember. So she came back to the boat with me and we counted it. She was very nice, it was all very friendly and everything. But I'd always heard that you couldn't do that anywhere else. But it's all specific, I guess.

Drew:

We, but it's all specific. I guess we haven't been to well. When we were leaving mexico, in chiapas they bring a dog on the boat and we thought it was drugs, so they just do a quick sniff and they get off. Um, we thought it was for drugs, but we've heard that the dog's actually sniffing for guns or ammunition okay, not that they'll tell us you know, they'll.

Ingrid:

They'll be very vague about what they're sniffing, for sure yeah and so custom signs says cc.

Capn Tinsley:

I mean cssn is a good resource for pirate activity yes, definitely the caribbean safety net yes, okay, okay, good to know. It's a website, or yes, do you have no foreign land?

Drew:

The app no foreign land.

Capn Tinsley:

No.

Drew:

Oh, that's like a. It's like Facebook for sailors.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay.

Drew:

You can download it through there, but the Caribbean Sailor Safety Net is a. I believe it's a website too.

Ingrid:

It's a website, and what I like about it, though, is not only do you get the information, you find out, you know where the information is coming from, and it'll tell you. It's either firsthand, and it'll have a little green dot, or it's secondhand information, like a friend of a friend was in this situation, and that'll be, I think, an orange dot. So you know what information is, you know 100 accurate, and the folks who post on there, you know, are great. They give you as much information as they can, and sometimes they do follow ups as well. Right, so you can understand, you know well, we, we, we called for May Day, no one came, and right. Or you know, we called for May Day and these folks came, so it's great.

Capn Tinsley:

It says if it's secondhand or firsthand, that's great.

Drew:

Yeah, very good, and they, they, they really do take time to. It's not just like you know. Sometimes you're reading navionics and you pull up a review of an anchorage and it says good anchorage. It's not a big description of like what's happened. Okay, was it an armed robbery? Was it a? Did someone come on the boat? There's detailed descriptions of whatever the little marking is good, that's great info.

Capn Tinsley:

You hear it right here on the salty podcast. So ccsncom and an app. I guess it's in the app store for both. I've uh iphone and android or yeah, it is uh no foreign land. That's really great information, no foreign lands an app.

Ingrid:

If I go onto the caribbean safety net, it's typically in my browser. Yeah, yeah, I, I downloaded an app for it, so I'm sure.

Drew:

Yeah, I guess the confusion is when you a lot of us use no foreign land and you can connect no foreign land, the app, which is pretty much just social media for boaters, you can see where your friends are and, um, you can connect cssn to no foreign land. So when you're on the map looking at all your friends there, might, it's, it's really awful, but the the icon for something happened is a tiny red circle with a skull in it so you say, hey, you might want to be on the lookout.

Capn Tinsley:

Well, fresh to salty came on the podcast um, and I think there's. Are you guys still in the Bahamas? Let's see if they answer. We love no foreign land. They have kids on their boat and they're full timers. Oh, fantastic Three teenagers?

Ingrid:

Yeah, With, I think, four teenagers on it. There's an amazing culture of what do they call them Kid boats yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, they said. When they first left I think it was five years ago the kids were like no way, we don't want to do that Now. They can't imagine ever going to a regular school or anything. So Rita says, drew and Ingrid awesome, listening to your adventure and all this information.

Ingrid:

Thank you. We're glad you're here, Rita.

Capn Tinsley:

So you got 130 miles offshore, which is a long way, and so you're like, okay, this isn't working out, we're going back to Aruba. We're going to go to Aruba.

Drew:

We have internet and clear water and so I got overruled. Seems to be working out. I've said the other day I'm glad we came back here.

Capn Tinsley:

It was the right call.

Drew:

I'm going to submit this to Guinness book of world records, Cause on our tracker we track our whole road. That passage that we did was four days and it was a 470 mile long. Figure eight that has to be the longest.

Capn Tinsley:

And slowest figure, eight, absolutely. So fresh to salty said we're stuck in Florida but hoping to be back in the Bahamas for Thanksgiving. Okay, all right, you might run into them. You know they're on Facebook and I think they're on Facebook and Instagram. They're everywhere. I think that's how I meet all these people I meet on, except for you guys. I met Dean. I met all these people on social media and a custom sign says stuck in Aruba. What a bummer.

Drew:

I'll find an email address. He's anchored right next to us. I can see his phone.

Capn Tinsley:

So tell me what it's like there, where you are right now. What's the name of the Anchorage?

Drew:

Oh you. She's got a spreadsheet we just moved here this morning and I don't remember the name of it, but Ingrid's got it.

Capn Tinsley:

The water is beautiful.

Drew:

It's crystal clear. We're sitting in. I think right now we're sitting in 15 feet of water and you can see the bottom. You can see individual rocks.

Ingrid:

Oh, is that clear.

Drew:

Yeah, it's stunning Arashi Beach. Yeah, it's the northwest tip of Aruba.

Ingrid:

And what's great here is you can jump off your boat, go snorkeling. You can see turtles, a little bit of reef, you know. Or you know, if you get a little bit thirsty after all that snorkeling, you just crawl up onto the beach and ask for a beer, and you know, and they give it to you for free. No.

Drew:

I wish One of the bummers. Aruba is expensive. The food is expensive for sure. Yep, there's Arashi. Oh, yeah, yeah. So we are right in that blue section, right there, Right here. Yeah, just a little further back we're, I don't know 300 or 400 yards off the beach.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, here's a couple boats right here. Yes, so it's nice and calm there.

Drew:

Yeah, actually in that photo it looks like there's some wraparound swell coming around the island, but we don't have that right now.

Capn Tinsley:

Wow, and there's a reef right here.

Ingrid:

Yes, In fact you'll see a lot of the. There's a lot of tourist boats that will come out, obviously, and they'll come with their snorkelers. So sometimes that's a sign of the places to go. It's like, oh, they've seen something there.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh sure, you just follow them. Okay, so you guys have been on this road here? Yes, we have.

Drew:

Aruba doesn't look so exciting when you do street.

Capn Tinsley:

It looks a little barren, that's where we had lunch right there.

Ingrid:

Yes, we had lunch there today. You know, aruba reminds me a little bit of the Sea of Cortez cacti, rubs, wild donkeys, lots of lizards. What are the ones? The dragons? Of course there's lizards. Yes, iguanas. It's a pretty arid place, but their water is incredible. They're very proud of the water that they make here because it's, I think, reverse osmosis water.

Capn Tinsley:

I'm trying to see the water, water, but it won't let me from the land yeah, oh, if we'd done this earlier, we would have taken you outside oh yeah yeah oh, the donkeys, um oh fresh, uh, fresh to salty. They can find her on. Find them on TikTok, youtube and Facebook. They can probably tell you a lot about the Bahamas. They can tell you about the network there I forget what it's called Especially like at Georgetown.

Ingrid:

Like the VHF network.

Capn Tinsley:

The sail net, like the sale net, I guess. Oh yeah, yes, oh, they have one here in Aruba. No no.

Ingrid:

Got it, got it.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, that'd be awesome. When you go to um Georgetown, it's like people call it chicken Harbor, because when you're coming South, they, they, they have all these out and like, well, this is a good place, there's all these cruisers here, let's just hang out here and that's. They call it Chicken Harbor.

Drew:

Yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, so this looks like a great place, so how long do you think you'll be there?

Drew:

So we all made the decision that we'll stick around here until hurricane season's over. So we all made the decision that we'll stick around here until hurricane season's over.

Capn Tinsley:

And then, instead of going for Grenada the wrong way, we're going to go north, to either Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, and then come down the windwards. That way, you're going to go to Dominican Republic, which is up here, right?

Ingrid:

there. Oh yeah, depending on the weather, we'll pick one of the two. What's the distance?

Capn Tinsley:

here it's about 400 miles. Okay, and then you're going to come back this way.

Drew:

Yep, and then we'll be in Grenada for next hurricane season.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, and then you're going to go back up, this way up to the Bahamas? Yep, okay, turks and Caicos, bahamas.

Ingrid:

Yep.

Capn Tinsley:

What's your end game?

Drew:

That's a great question, seriously.

Ingrid:

Honey, yeah Well, the original plan was we were going to do this for two years and then get back into the game, and we are officially two years.

Drew:

Two years, this week Two years one day.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh my gosh, Really Happy anniversary, thank you. Yes, two years one and September 10th Yep.

Ingrid:

It was September 10th.

Capn Tinsley:

It was September 10th, it was September 10th we left the first time which is the height of hurricane season, by the way.

Drew:

Yes, oh, that's interesting. This is it. This is the peak.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, this is the peak. We've got the down slope now to go through.

Drew:

I mean, I'm not going to say it it hasn't been a horrible hurricane season. Touch wood.

Capn Tinsley:

One came close to kind of close to where you are.

Ingrid:

Yes.

Capn Tinsley:

We're in the bullseye right here on the northern Gulf Coast. You guys are good.

Drew:

Well what's funny, not funny. I mean my heart bleeds for all the people who were in Grenada, and Curacao Island got absolutely decimated, but we all had reservations to be in Grenada the day that hurricane hit. Like that's to arrive and our friend on, our friends, kyle and Leah on Jubal, were 250 miles north and they sent us video and I could not imagine being closer to that storm than they were.

Ingrid:

It was wow like it's going to be a little.

Drew:

I'm sort of thankful we're not going this year. Um, I think they need time to recover. My heart goes out to all everyone affected by that storm, but but it was massive.

Capn Tinsley:

Absolutely massive. Well, you're going to go up to Dominican Republic.

Drew:

So when do you think you'll be at Grenada?

Capn Tinsley:

We'll make our way to Grenada for June next year. Okay, all right Island.

Drew:

Spirit says they've been to.

Capn Tinsley:

DR to Grenada five times. You're meeting some good people, yeah. So, like I said, he's going to be on next week and he'll be talking about his route. He's already created charts to make his presentation and everything, so it'll be pretty detailed. He's a detailed guy, so his boat is in Antigua, him and his wife's, so that is Hayden. You can find them on Island Spirit on Facebook and his name is Hayden Cochran and his wife Radine.

Ingrid:

Five times You're seasoned. We'll definitely watch, for sure.

Capn Tinsley:

He's preparing his boat for when they leave. He goes through this whole thing. I've never seen somebody do so much work to prepare their boat to leave. A hurricane could come through and I think it would be okay. Yeah, he's a good prepper, so how long do you think you'll be here in Aruba?

Drew:

We're going to start looking for a window November. First week, second week November We'll start.

Capn Tinsley:

That sounds wonderful. You're just going to be chilling out.

Drew:

Yeah, it's not a bad place to be stuck. I don't want anyone.

Ingrid:

I'm actually thinking of taking classes. You know, we have this opportunity where we can actually sit and stay for a while, and so why not take the opportunity to learn something online, right?

Capn Tinsley:

And see how it goes. I thought maybe you'd be taking a local class. Like learning how to do something or I don't know.

Ingrid:

Leah on X-Fact and I, we stumbled across the most incredible craft store here where you can figure out any kind of craft you want to do, from jewelry making to painting anything with Fimo clay. So I wouldn't mind doing a jewelry class while we're here.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, or local cuisine cooking, you know. Oh, yes, I understand. If you go to like the um, the markets, the outdoor markets, and you ask them oh, you know, because you'll see some things you've never seen before now, how do you make that? They? It's a really good way to get to know the, the locals. Leah says drew, can you explain the semblance of your tattoo?

Drew:

yeah, leah's trying to make us interesting.

Capn Tinsley:

Show us the tattoo. There you go. Okay, I see a hummingbird and an anchor and a compass.

Drew:

It's a swallow, a compass and an anchor. Okay, so I mean the anchor. I think the swallow has the most significance to well, to me, to you and all of our friends, because that signifies 5,000 offshore miles. Oh, does it? Every 5,000 offshore miles, you can get a swallow tattoo.

Capn Tinsley:

Well, Hayden, did you know this? Are you listening to what he just said? He's saying every 5,000 miles you can get a swallow tattoo.

Drew:

So we'll see a lot of sailors. I still remember the woman in La Paz. We were sitting in La Paz at Club Crucero and this woman had five swallows on her. I think it was on her shoulder. She had five swallows on her shoulder. They'd been cruising for 10 years or something like that. The anchor God forgive me, it used to mean an ocean crossing, I believe, but now it's sort of it's morphed into sort of being grounded or being at peace in the ocean is what the symbol of the anchor is, and the compass is always finding your way home. It's the historical symbolism of all of the things, but we didn't get them until we did our 5,000 miles Do you have one too, I do.

Capn Tinsley:

Where did you, where did?

Ingrid:

you get yours. Mine is just above. Not safe for work. No, wearing a bikini, you can see it.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, yes, Okay, all right. Well, I have to count up my hours. I mean I have I got my six pack license, you know captain's license hours. I mean I have I got my six pack license, you know captain's license. So I had to have I don't know 750 for that. And then I got the upgrade to 25 ton and sailing endorsement. I need to.

Ingrid:

Okay, Island spirit says he's, I need a few with 50,000 nautical miles.

Capn Tinsley:

That'd be quite a few tattoos. I should get one. Oh well, I'm if I've made it.

Drew:

I don't know. I have to count that up. We reset, so all of our electronics are BNG. So I reset our trip computer the day we left Seattle, and so we've just clicked over 7,100 nautical miles.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh my gosh, okay, so Fresh to Salty wants to know are you guys on no foreign land under sailing wanderer?

Drew:

I think I know foreign land, it's just wanderer. I think this be wonder. I don't know, I have to look, but yes, we're under wanderer and if can we, can we plug our Instagram? It's, um, yeah, sailing underscore. Wanderer would be the Instagram and probably the best way to get in touch with us, because we don't look at no foreign land that much anymore.

Capn Tinsley:

Sailing underscore wanderer.

Drew:

Yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, insta, this is how you find them. Y'all Instagram Sailing underscore wanderer Yep, we're all about the connection here. Okay, so you got a couple more months. I'm so envious. Oh my God. Now I'm going to have to fly down there and just see what those islands look like. That is just what's the weather like right now Hot.

Drew:

I think when we stop sailing, I'm going to be a weatherman in the ABCs. It's every day. It's partly sunny 90 degrees during the day, 81 to 83 at night. That's the weather nonstop.

Capn Tinsley:

Are you in a generator right now?

Ingrid:

No, we're not. We're lucky our um, our boat hatches that it works almost like a wind tunnel. If we open them all up and we take off the bug screen, we get this really nice breeze that comes through oh, you can take off the bug screen yes they roll back you don't get attacked well we do at some places, but here no.

Capn Tinsley:

Really Okay. Okay, so you heard it here on the Salty Podcast, no bugs in Aruba?

Drew:

No, where were we with Dean and Panjin? That was we with Dean. We pulled into this anchorage.

Ingrid:

Actually it was called the San Blas. It was called the San Blas, mexico San Blas.

Drew:

Mexico. Yes, we pulled in there. You know, people told us the bugs were bad. But whatever Mosquitoes, it's like anything else. Someone tells you oh my God, it's awful, and you don't listen.

Capn Tinsley:

So we pulled in there and as soon as the sun went down oh yeah, that's when they get you and sunrise.

Drew:

Yeah, it was brutal, like you would shut down the boat, I think the first night we dive in the boat Dean lit up one of those mosquito coils and put it on his table down below and I thought it was crazy. And then the next morning I'm like where'd you get those coils?

Capn Tinsley:

I'll give you a thousand dollars for it.

Ingrid:

We've learned that if you're near mangroves you know shut your books.

Drew:

Yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

And it's totally hideout.

Drew:

We were six or seven boats at at salara dump in san blas and, yes, and only one boat, via. They woke up in the morning and you know the text messages start and sending pictures of all these little no-see-ums like dead all over the cockpit. We were all there but their boat got like attacked by a swarm of no-see-ums. Did they have screens? I think I don't think they did. I'm not sure, I'm not sure. But they were the only boat. I mean, I think other people, I think Leah from Jubal, got bitten a couple of times, but their boat got swarmed. It was crazy.

Ingrid:

I think they were closest to the mangroves.

Capn Tinsley:

I think that was what happened? I overnighted in the Everglades. That's serious business there. I came out to take a picture of the sunset and I was like and I was diving in the boat.

Capn Tinsley:

I was like, oh my gosh, we got to call them all teeth and wings because you can't see them. Okay, so we're going to have to have you come back on here In two months. You're probably going to go over to the DR and then you're going to make your way down and you're going to take your time. You're going through Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, um Antigua, which is where Island Spirit is, and he'll he'll be.

Drew:

they'll be going back November probably oh wow, okay well, if we're gonna have to hook up with them.

Ingrid:

Yeah, we'll have to take the names of everyone here and make sure we meet up with them when we're going down.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, here he is following, got it. We are SV Island Spirit and he says no bugs in the Eastern Caribbean, no screens needed. Oh, that's fantastic, I like that. Screens needed, oh they're fantastic.

Ingrid:

I like them.

Capn Tinsley:

You can find him on all the social media SV Island Spirit Full of good information. He is Awesome life these kids are living. Thank you for this podcast. Thank you for being here. When we were talking about pirates, she said don't let mom see this. I don't know if you saw that yeah, my mother's not allowed to watch. I think she was talking about her mom, but your aunt, I don't know. She was talking about my mom. Yeah, where's your mom In Seattle?

Drew:

No, she's in boston. I grew up just outside of boston okay, oh okay.

Capn Tinsley:

one coast to the other, yeah, okay, so you're, eventually you're gonna go back up um, back up the caribbean again and make it to the bahamas, yes, so, so this is going to be more like a four year trip.

Ingrid:

Maybe, maybe, maybe, and then we have to go back to reality. Yeah, no. I know At least we can make it work.

Drew:

We'll figure it out, we'll make it work. Yeah, what do they say about plans hon?

Ingrid:

Oh, but shout out before we say it. Shout out to Vinny.

Drew:

Vinny. Yes, yes so wait you, you have to give the backstory well, so I don't know how much time we have, but I'll say that.

Ingrid:

I'll say that go ahead. Uh, actually shout out to x factor two because this is where vinnie first got it from that's what

Capn Tinsley:

I'm saying, oh okay, um, do I need to interview them? Are they they good?

Ingrid:

You do yes, and they have a beautiful catamaran.

Drew:

You should interview them.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, good, we have. We need a cat on Okay.

Drew:

Oh yeah, and that's where captain nugs is. Yes, that photo you had in the trailer of the cat.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, the kitty.

Drew:

Yeah, around his neck.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh yeah, they're cat people. They're okay with me, that's my cat Mike just borrows him. He wishes Island's.

Ingrid:

Spirit will be back on their boat December 1st in Antigua. So we should, yeah, because we'll be going up November and then we'll be coming around, so we'll hopefully be able to catch up with you. We'll cross paths sometime.

Capn Tinsley:

Well be sure to tune in next week so you can up with you. We'll cross paths. Yes, I know, be sure to tune in next week so you can. You can vet him right here on the salty podcast. All right, so tell the story, the Vinnie story.

Ingrid:

Yes, so, so, uh, we we all started using this term, um, after Vinnie saw it. On the boat card, which was our, plans are written in the sand at low tide.

Capn Tinsley:

Oh, I like that. Can I steal that?

Drew:

Well, you can ask Mike and Leah on X Factor. That's where we got it.

Ingrid:

Yeah, I mean case in point. We started pointing to Grenada and landed up in Aruba.

Capn Tinsley:

Right, we started pointing to Grenada and landed up in Aruba, oh yeah, well, yeah, I mean I've, I've been through that by myself solo.

Drew:

Yeah. You know it's funny. You asked earlier about the check-in and the checkout when you get to these places. Yeah, when you, when you leave these countries, you have to say where you're going, right? So we left Bonaire and said we're going to the Grenada. And so when we were pulling into Aruba, I remember saying to Mike, I wonder if they're going to say anything. And you know Mike's like no, they're not.

Drew:

And then they don't, even though your paperwork says you left Bonaire and you were headed to Grenada. And now you're checking into Aruba. No one ever checks any of this stuff. Okay, it's paperwork for you know. Just Okay, it's paperwork for you know, just in case anything happens. Is what?

Capn Tinsley:

it's a lot of paperwork that makes you go missing. It's a lot of paper. Nobody's scanning your passport or anything.

Drew:

No they're not scanning your passport but I think the rest of it about your boat, I don't think anyone cares.

Ingrid:

Okay, I think, to keep track of who's arriving and who's departing, you know, postcard information, in case there's ever a problem.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, all right, do you have to get, because I went to the Bahamas, I had to buy a cruising permit? Help me out Island Spirit A cruising permit.

Ingrid:

Yeah, a cruising permit.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, a cruising permit um who's charges for cruising permits?

Drew:

oh san blas charges for cruising permits?

Ingrid:

yes, for the, for the um, for the local guna tribe, they, they, they have a cruising permit that they ask for you to um pay towards, and I think it's a monthly permit. Anything else, I don't recall any cruising permits. I think Bonnet is probably the most. They are the strictest island where they don't allow you to anchor. You have to either take a mooring ball or go into a marina. Understandably, what they're trying to do is preserve the coral around there because their main tourist items is diving and so it's beautiful. You know, the sea life there is incredible, but they didn't ask for a cruising permit of any sort. It's not the cheapest place you can go to, and by cheap I mean anchoring.

Capn Tinsley:

You can anchor in Bonaire, but past the 60 meter mark okay so yeah, the keys are like that they they've got mooring balls on the okay on the reef because they don't want any anchors going down in there. You know they don't mind you going to visit, but yeah, and then the state has put up all kinds of really nice mooring fields.

Drew:

So there's a great mooring fields in Bonaire, but unfortunately, if you're going to be there for more than a month, so we're 42, we're 41.1. With the monthly rate in the marina it's actually cheaper than a mooring ball.

Ingrid:

Wow, if you're staying a month, if it's shorter, then it's actually cheaper than a mooring ball.

Drew:

Wow, if you're staying a month, if it's shorter than it's then it's not, yeah, but if you are, if you plan on being Bonaire for more than a month, go to the Marina. It's and you're roughly. I think the break even point is 45. So if you're 45 or less and you're planning on being in Bonaire for more than a month, go straight to Bonaire, because when a reversal comes, if the trades shift and they call it a reversal, the moorings are so close to Main Street and the beach that if a reversal comes, they kick you off the moorings until it's over.

Drew:

So you either have to find a spot in the marina, which is really difficult, or you just have to go sailing for 24 hours into the reversal ends we actually saw one sailboat do donuts in the in the marina until it was safe enough maybe for him to go out again, because it was a pretty strong wind that night so yeah

Capn Tinsley:

how long did he do that?

Ingrid:

you know it was about an hour yeah, yeah okay, and so some of them asked to raft up next to other boats that were on the tees you know just in case, because they couldn't go out. So it's.

Drew:

It becomes mayhem when there's a reversal.

Capn Tinsley:

Island spirit says $300 for the Bahamas permit. Yeah, and is that for a year, six weeks?

Capn Tinsley:

How long is it? Is it six weeks or six months? It's been a while. He'll tell us. Thanks for the information. Also, he said and I've been to St Martin, not by plane, not by boat, but they loved it there, they spent a lot of time there. There's a great anchorage there, protected anchorage that they love and he could offer more information about that, st Martin. So I do want to ask you to how did you? You're from South Africa, so what's your story? How did you get here? All of a sudden, you're in the Caribbean on a boat with a guy from Boston. All of a sudden, you're in the Caribbean on a boat with a guy from Boston.

Ingrid:

You know, if you had, if someone had told me when I was in high school hey, ingrid, you know, this is what's going to happen to you. I would have been like, no, that's so cool.

Capn Tinsley:

But you would have said no way. Okay, fresh sauce 300 for three months and 600 per year Okay, so that's a good option, okay, thank you that's very cool.

Ingrid:

Yes, uh, born and raised in south africa and left just after I graduated. Um, I immigrated to canada and, uh, I first backpacked for a little while. So I I had that independent spirit where I didn't feel too afraid of moving to a new country on my own, okay. And so, yes, landed up, moving to Canada, and I was on the west coast, in Vancouver for 10 years, which was just fantastic and shout out to all my friends from Vancouver and uh. And then I met this guy. And where did y'all meet? We met, um, we met online.

Drew:

Yeah, we met in person for the first time was on Mount Baker.

Ingrid:

Yes, we went skiing Well, we went snowboarding on Mount Baker for our first date and, uh, we've pretty much been together ever since.

Capn Tinsley:

Yeah, how long ago was that?

Drew:

43 years. We've been married going on 17 years now.

Ingrid:

Yeah 17 years. Married in December.

Capn Tinsley:

Tracy says she's the best thing that happened to our family.

Ingrid:

Oh, thank you, Tracy.

Capn Tinsley:

I get that a lot, all right family.

Ingrid:

Thank you, tracy, I get that a lot, alright?

Capn Tinsley:

well, we've been on here for just over an hour, so I guess that's a good thing to wrap up with. Please tell me that we can catch up with you when you get to the DR. 100%, I feel like we just started talking.

Drew:

I know as tailors we could probably talk for Island Spirit says when you get to the DR, a hundred percent. I feel like we just started talking.

Capn Tinsley:

I know as sailors we can probably talk, for you know, island Spirit says, oh, we'll just talk for 30 minutes. It's hard to do that when you're talking about sailing. It's hard. It's hard for me to keep it to an hour actually. So, but this will also be. If you look above your head there, you can see that it's also. I also upload it to the audio podcasts. Oh yeah, right on.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, to those websites and then also to all these up here. All right, and I'm going to cough, give me one second. Y'all just keep talking.

Drew:

We'll talk amongst ourselves.

Capn Tinsley:

Yes, bless you A little tickle bless you A little tickle so you can, while you're sailing, you can go ahead and download a few. If you want to list, because this is number 37.

Ingrid:

So that means there's 36 that came before you. This is perfect, because usually if we do overnight sales, I love listening to podcasts. I'm going to listen to your podcasts on the overnights.

Capn Tinsley:

Thank you. When you're not watching, then you're really going to hear the mistakes. So custom science is a great job. And do I need to interview custom science?

Drew:

You do. That's Mike and Leah. That's X Factor. That is X Factor.

Capn Tinsley:

Okay, okay, you guys are next.

Drew:

Oh my God, we got a list for you. I mean every we spent months with in San Blas and Cartagena Fantastic. Everyone went their separate ways, but Jubal is actually on passage right now from Grenada to Bonaire so we'll finally get to see them again. Yeah.

Capn Tinsley:

I mean, it seems like you guys will cross paths again with all your, all these people. Is Dean going to come to this side? Is he gonna?

Drew:

That's a great question. I was speaking with Dean today and I don't want to give away his his thoughts, but I asked him the same question and it's possibility. I told him he can't miss the San Blas and I think he should do it, him and Vinnie. I understand for you solo guys, dean and Vinnie and you. It's hard work, I totally get it, but the payoff once you get through the canal is extraordinary the San Blas Islands, sure he can find a friend to make or a few friends to make that journey with him.

Ingrid:

He can sell ice to an Eskimo yeah who want to get from point A to point B, and they offer to sell with you.

Capn Tinsley:

So there's a lot of people, all right. Well, guys, thanks so much for doing this. I really appreciate it and I hope that you guys will come back on and we'll get caught up with you absolutely, we'd love to yep, let's see the way I go out is I have a little outro and again, thank you, and we'll say salty, abandon out, thanks.

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