D Day!

Tomorrow is the big day! we have been leaving on board for a whole week now, without moving.

Well technically we did move, the day the boat was handed over. 

Since our plan was to move on board, and the marina where we bought the boat doesn't allow liveaboards, we had to move next door, to marina Zarpar.
Turns out Marina Zarpar is a cruisers-friendly marina. We got to stay on our boat, meet other cruisers while getting our boat ready for departure and turning it into a home.
After spending the last 3 months leaving out of 5 bags it feels nice to finally settle in and put things in their places.

It took a few shopping trips, to IKEA, Auto Marina, and various home goods and hardware stores, but we finally feel at home! and it feels good!

I'm pretty sure we emptied this store. And it wasn't the only one ...

Breakfast on board 

We (mainly Oren) have spent the week maintaining the engines, solving some issues, replacing oil and filters, and making sure the vessel is ready for our journey.
The plan is to do a 6-8 hour trip east of here to Casa De Campo marina in La-Romana. Since we are new to the boat, we will be taking a local Marinero,
the one who took care of the boat for the previous owner, who will help us with the journey and help us get acquainted with the boat.

Thanks to Safta Noa, Mika and Gur have opened a bracelet factory and have provided us all with matching bracelets, go rainbow power!!!

We'll update from the other side. Gotta get up soon, the policeman who has to sign us off will be here in 5 hours. 

Wish us luck!!!

Darya 

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The D tour

About 2 months ago, while on the island of Vieques, I called my parents, like I do ever so often.
Since we left on this journey, most conversations were more about us, and what  we're up to but I always ask what's new on their end, and how they're doing. Turns out it's a good practice... this time, instead of answering with the usual no-news answer, I got a 'you mom will tell you' from my dad (they are always on the line together :)
Long story short, she found out she needed a cardiac valve replacement. We knew right away that this calls for a change of plans. I knew I wanted to be there with her when she goes through the procedure, and was hoping it would go through smoothly and I would be able to go back and continue with our trip. scary.
It took a while before she got a date for the procedure, and so I waited with booking my flight, mainly because our plans kept changing and it was hard to figure out where I'll be flying out of and where am I going to go back to.
About a week before her surgery Oren inspected this boat in the Dominican Republic, and we've decided we've found the one! We have decided to fly out of Tortola into the Dominican Republic, and that I would fly out from there. We didn't know when all the paperwork would be complete, and we would be able to move on board, and we wanted it to be as easy as possible for Oren, so we rented an apartment for 10 days, about 20 minutes away from the marina where the boat was docked. I got to see the boat once before I left for Israel. I had to, I wanted to meet my future home, and I also wanted to take some pictures I can show back home.

The whole trip felt like a dream. and had all the possible emotions cramped into 8 days...
Flying out I had an 8 hour connection in JFK. My original plan was to spent that time in the airport (mainly because the warmest piece of clothes I had was a hoody) but was getting ready to board my flight at the Santo Domingo airport, I've decided I can do better then stay at the airport. at 6 am I texted my uncle who didn't take long to reply. And so, 20 minutes after landing in JFK, I was already sitting in his car, wearing a warm coat he brought me, and headed to pick up his wife and head out for lunch. What an unexpected treat!!! only when we sat down for lunch, and started talking did I realize this was the first time in 3 months I was sitting in a restaurant with no kids. I was overwhelmed when I realized how long it has been. And it felt wonderful!

Arriving home felt great and surreal at the same time. For one thing, everyone speaks Hebrew! My wardrobe consisted of one pair of Oren's Jeans (We left mine stored in Puerto Rico) a few t-shirts and a pair of sneakers. I had to borrow everything from my dear sister...As soon as I got to my parents house I knew I did the right thing coming. There was no way I could have let my mom go into surgery without a hug, and no way I could have been so far away during those long 3.5 hours.

When the doctor finally came out, I could barely hold my tears. EVERY THING IS OK! The good doctor was standing there with good news, so I didn't want to start crying, but I couldn't speak or breath as I felt that if I open my mouth, even to thank him, all the tension of the last weeks will find it's way out... So I had no choice but to silently approach him and kiss his head..... Sorry Doc... couldn't help it...

the procedure went as well as can be expected, and now, 12 days later, I can tell you she's recovering really well! In face she was doing so well, that she refused my offer to spend the night with her in the hospital and sent me 'to go have fun'. yet another unexpected treat which I couldn't say no to. I do think Tel Aviv offers one of the best culinary experiences in the world, not to mention great great coffee!

I would like to take this opportunity and thank all my friends who supported us and kept their fingers crossed. I do believe it helps! 

I'm so glad it ended well, I'm so glad I went, And I am so glad and excited to be back here, and find out what the future holds for the floating Eliases.

Rak Briout!

Darya

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You say 'Ocho', I say 'Oche'...

Nothing improves your Spanish like two bananas. Or the lack thereof...
Few people speak English in the Dominican Republic (the "DR"). Most don't even care to try. So yesterday I head over to buy some fruit. I manage to ask for Banans, Mango, and an Avocado and 'hold my own' in Spanish. "How many Bananas", the woman asks? "Oche" (supposed to be '8'), I answer with my best Spanish accent. After several attempts, it becomes clear that I am not saying this properly. The woman just keeps asking how much (while twisting her face as if something must be wrong with me). Finally I try "Seis" (6). That works. By then, I have been exposed as a 'Gringo' and am now quoted 180 pesos (probably 40 pesos more than I paid the day before). I hand over a 200 bill and receive no change. I accept the 'Gringo tax' and walk home two Bananas short... But other than the language barrier, the DR is an amazing place unlike no other and deserves a few posts to itself.

Sunset view from our balcony

But anyways... back to Boat. The new Boat. Yes, yes, a new boat! Done deal. Signed and sealed. We are now the proud new owners of a Lagoon 37. She is beautiful (I am not at all biased) and will be even more amazing when we're done upgrading her with a lot of equipment from our previous boat.

Our new Lagoon 37

The plan is to spend a few days at the marina in Boca Chica and get used to the boat. We will then set sail to the east tip of the DR, "La Romana", and spend some time there. It is rumored there are many dolphins around tthat area and we hope to meet a few. From there, we plan to continue east to Puerto Rico where we can finally reunite with great friends that we met along the way, and also reunite with all of our belongings that have been patiently waiting for us for the past few months. It is amazing that we have been living off five bags for nearly three months now. And don't seem to be missing a whole lot (except for decent Lattes).

Room with a view. The view from our new boat

So long. Gotta go pack again.
By next post we will be The Floating Eliases again!

-Oren

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What a week!

Two weeks ago, I got a call from a friend we met at Puerto Rico (who is also a boat broker) saying that he may have a boat for us. This was literally hours before we were about to put in an offer on a boat that we liked, but were not crazy about. A compromise. The boat our friend had found was a model that was very high on our list, a Lagoon 37. He said that he has known the boat for many years. Apparently he sold this boat twice in the past. This didn’t come as a complete surprise to us as we have gotten used to crazy coincidences over the past few months (i.e. Zaria and Darya with birthdays on the same day?). And the boat was now in the Dominican Republic, just a few island hops away.
So last week started with a trip to see the boat. There are no direct flights, so this involved a ferry to St Thomas and a short flight to San Juan. I had reached out to a surveyor named Ciro Malarasi to help me survey the boat. We met Ciro when he was surveying the damaged boat for the insurance company and got good recommendations about his surveying capabilities. Ciro is a great guy with some amazing life stories that can fill many many posts, including the time he windsurfed all the way from Virgin Gorda to Puerto Rico, a good 80 miles or so. Since our flight to the DR was early Monday morning, Ciro invited me to stay with him in San Juan on Sunday. In the spirit of wild coincidences, it turned out that Ciro had also interacted with this boat in the past. He had surveyed this boat not once, but twice! Working for both of the previous owners spanning a period of 12 years! We left early Monday morning and surveyed the boat which is located at a beautiful private yacht club called Club Nautico. By the afternoon we had to rush back to the airport to catch the same-day flight back to San Juan. It was late when we arrived so I spent the night at San Juan and caught the first flight to St Thomas; then managed to miss the Ferry to Tortola, jumped on a Ferry to nearby island of Virgin Gorda instead; hopped on to connecting ferry to Tortola, and home at last, if only temporarily. Less than 48 hours door to door!


New boat candidate!

Club nautico

Shortly before my trip (but after all my reservations were already set), I received an invite to a mandatory meeting in Boston. So the very next day I was on the road again. So once again… Ferry Tortola to St Thomas; Run to flight St Thomas-Newark-Boston; Freeze for 24 hours; Catch red-eye flight back to San Juan, then hop on flight to Tortola. A little over 48 hours. Just short enough for it all to seem like a delusion, but long enough for my toes to celebrate the re-acquired freedom of flipflops.

Ah, the 'Ella G' ferry. Comin' for to taking me home!

And the boat? The boat passed the survey! As with any boat, there are things to fix and things that are missing, but the hull is solid and the layout is great. She is fast and comfortable! Our plan would be to migrate some of the equipment that we had on our old boat that is missing from this boat, like our solar panels and our watermaker. So with this in mind, we are now proceeding to close the deal and get the boat! More specs and pics on the boat in a celebratory post once the deal closes, so we don’t jinx it!
To top off an intensive jet-setting week, we had to clear out of our apartment in Tortola yesterday, so caught the ferry to St Thomas (yep, again…) and decided to take off for the ‘Republica Dominicana’ this morning. Passage day! We have found a nice apartment in a small town called Juan Dolio where we can patiently await the closing of the deal and spend our time crossing our fingers that it will all go through as planned (and some exploring… and beach… and pool).
And I thought that my days of high-tech startup travel were tough…
Adios!
-Oren

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Rainbow Island

That's what we call this place. Officially know as Tortola, we've seen so many beautiful rainbows here, that we have unofficialy renamed it. God bless the queen, she doesn't have to know. 

Although I am given full artistic freedom when writing these posts, I do get the occasional 'you know what you should write about?' Comments from my DH (Darling Husband). This time, it's been a repeated request to write about 'Rainbow Island'.  Since I'm hoping to have some boat news later on this week, I realize the time has come for the 'Rainbow Island' post. 

When we first arrived on this island we were taken up the mountain by the owner of the house we rented. Turns out that Stany is a policeman, a taxi driver, a vacation rental owner and a management/law student. 

The house, located at the high Belvue naighbourhood overlooks the Roadtown bay. Construction was still visible underway on the outside, but soon after we arrived all we could see was one of the most amazing rainbows ever. 

Since that first rainbow we have seen many others. One more beautiful than the other. My friend Gil says it's a good sign, well, I hope she's right! 

Yup, I think you got it :)

The idea behind the rainbow island post is to post rainbow island pictures ...

Here are some more:

Have you noticed we moved ?

Our new house is located on the west side of the island. In the old house we could see exactly how many cruise ships are docked every day (up to 2 on the dock plus one on anchor) this way we could plan which beach to go to. Places like Cane Garden Bay get real crowded when lots of cruise ships are in town. 

Our favorite beach is located on beef island, attached to Tortola by bridge. An amazing white sand torquise water beach where we are more often than not, all alone!

That is until the 'tourist' invade. It happens and ends so quickly that I don't even have a picture of it. 

The first time it happened Oren was snoozing while the kids and I were playing all alone on our 'private' beach. Al of the sudden, without warning, 3 tour busses arrived, unpacking some 50-60 tourists. Socks on their feet and cameras I their hands they were handed a frozen drink that came out of no where and swarmed our beach. The routine as we later learned was 

1. Say wow. 

2. Take a picture. 

3. Clothes off leaving them in their swim suits (not every one)

4. Jump in the water (Not every one)

5. Take picture of you in the water (everyone. Including those who stayed in jeans)

6. Dry and get dressed

7. Disappear back into the bus. 

The whole thing takes 25 minutes at most. Depending on the tour schedule. 

And so the first time it happened, Oren, who was snoozing alone on the beach, opened his eyes to find himself surrounded, only to blink, open them again a minute later to a once again empty beach, and think he has gone crazy...

As the ritual repeated itself a few times we have learned interesting differences between different groups. 

Unfortunately I can report that German speaking people are not at all ashamed of their body and while other groups simply put their clothes back on their wet swimsuit, a whole group of German speaking people, without coordination, simply took their wet swimsuit off and with limited or no cover, put some dry clothes instead. 

Following is one last picture of rainbow. Use it, as I have, to try and earase the graphic description  from your minds

With the lack of a better place to post them, and due to popular demand (ok, per your request, Tamar) I'm adding some more pictures from this beautiful island, our rainbow island. 

G'night,

Darya 

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A Room with a View

Ten beds. 

Yup. 10. 

December 14 was the last night we spent at our home in Newton MA. In the short time that followed we've moved and moved and moved. 

2 nights with friends while our house was being packed. 

2 nights in an apartment  in Fajardo before moving on to our boat. 

A few good nights on our boat. 

One memorable night on Bill and Andrea's boat while our boat is stuck on a reef. 

A few nights in the marina

A week in a hotel

A week with friends in Vieques

A week on Endless pleasure

3 weeks in one place

3 weeks in another. 

One bed, 2 beds , 3 beds, 4... We've had it all. 

I think we're ready to settle down again.

I'm ready for a new boat.  

D

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