Yacht Le Reve

27/11/2024

Everyone is enjoying water sports this morning aboard!

14/10/2024

Would anyone like to observe the sunset and comet with no light pollution tonight? The horizon is clear and unobstructed in every direction, midway from Bermuda.

Would a ⛵️ be a suitable option for Facebook traveling to?

And, for dinner, we enjoyed fresh catch of the day (again) - mahi mahi, a fish so delicious it bears repeating, prepared with shrimp and mahi etouffee and yellow fin ahi tuna poke.

With Starlink Maritime, upgraded lithium batteries for generator free air conditioning, and tradewinds life is great!

05/10/2024

Just one of the many updates we made this Summer! Great job by Ruckle Restoration and a very interesting blog post about the work! https://rucklerestoration.net/?page_id=857 (click the link for the AFTER pic!)

Project Log: Catamaran Pulpit Seats The customer owns a 60-foot catamaran that has a bow pulpit on each pontoon. Each pulpit has a small seat made of 3/4-inch plywood. The plywood has become dilapidated and delaminated over the years, and I was asked to make and install teak replacements. Before rem...

27/08/2024

In Loving Memory of My Dad, David DeLo: September 1, 1935 - August 28, 2024

After being diagnosed with bone cancer four months ago, my dad faced his illness with incredible strength. Chemotherapy took a toll on him, and he was hospitalized last month due to the side effects. Despite these challenges, he made a strong recovery and was on the path to regaining his health. However, he recently contracted sepsis, which ultimately led to a significant setback on the anniversary of my sister, Dana DeLo Johnson's, passing from sepsis last year.

In accordance with his wishes, my dad spent his final days at home, surrounded by his wife Jan, family, friends, and his beloved golden retrievers. Today, his oldest friend of 70 years, Tony Crowell, visited him. Even though my dad could only listen, they shared precious moments together. Tony, who earned the nickname “The Voice of God” about 50 years ago, shared stories that that started as first-year roommates at the Naval Academy.

After Tony recited the Lord’s Prayer, my dad took his last peaceful breath.

This fall, my dad’s ashes will embark on their final ocean voyage aboard Yacht Le Reve, from Rhode Island to the Virgin Islands, where he will find his final resting place. It was my dad who inspired my love of the sea and sailing, a passion and legacy that Sandra Anderson and I will carry with us always.

He leaves behind his loving wife, Jan Crouch, and our blended families have truly become one.

09/08/2024

Super fun night catching up with my buddy Harris over a Peruvian Sushi making experience! Gotta love NYC on a rainy night!

16/07/2024

14/07/2024

Any guesses to where we are taking our guests today?

15/06/2024

Next stop Rhode Island! Riding the Gulf Stream to the Block Island Canyon exit aboard Yacht Le Reve!

11/06/2024

UPDATE 5: The DR Officials all arrived in their giant black boots as per usual, tromped aboard and gathered around the cockpit table. We are used to this drill so we had already moved any produce out of sight. Sometimes they walk through the boat as well so all of the papayas and bananas from Mel and Tony were stashed. I was just getting warmed up on my Spanish when I was on the receiving end of some rapid-fire Español from the official in charge and I asked him to repeat it. His buddy said in English: “He’s hungry!” Ok, first rattle out of the box and I need to get the food bribes moving. Ok, I see how this is gonna go.

I’m not really sure what these people are expecting food-wise… there are 4 of em, by the way with the possibility of a 5th on the way. Is it a trap? If I put out anything questionable from an Ag perspective will they do an “up-periscope” on us? I decided to just go with some snacks and put out a bowl of my delicious Kirkland Salted Cashews and another bowl of my coveted peanut butter-filled pretzels that I can only get in the States. If we weren’t arriving in the States soon where pb pretzels and Kirkland cashews abound, I don’t know what I’d have thrown at em. (Hmmm, good thing no one had nut allergies. Didn’t think about that til now!)

Dirk offered the full-sugar sodas we keep on board for these occasions bc in these parts, people don’t want anything to do with the sugar free stuff. I didn’t see one Diet Coke the entire time we were in the DR. Seemingly sated, we pressed on with the secondary business of actually checking into the country. Fortunately this time our icemaker did not do a big, loud drop of freshly minted ice cubes bc one time when we checked into Puerto Plata, that happened and the customs agent absolutely freaked. I guess it kinda sounded like muffled gunfire…

Checking in was just a matter of some Q and A and by now my Spanish is waking up. The blazer-wearing gent told me (all in Spanish, thank you, Sra. Mason) that Agriculture was not indeed coming to inspect bc he was at another port and I could just go ahead and give the $20 fee to Mr. Blazer and we’d be good. I handed over a somewhat shopworn $20 and he did not like it - he asked for a bill in better shape. I found a somewhat better one that seemed to pass muster (no recibo was provided for this transaction 🧐).

The man in charge of customs and Immigration informed me that their fee was $101, so we forked that over and DID get a receipt 👍. Pretty much all said and done, we checked into the marina and had a bite of lunch before doing our business day tasks. That evening we rode our bikes to one of the resort’s restaurants. They had a gorgeous pool overlooking the ocean, so we took a dip and had a cocktail. Then the rains came back. Dirk wound up riding his bike back to the boat to get dry clothes so we could change for dinner and then by the time he was back and dinner completed, the rain had stopped and we had a fun bike ride back to the boat.

10/06/2024

UPDATE 4: All repaired, we quickly took on a few gallons of fuel to get us to Puerto Rico where we had a line on some less expensive diesel. Then we headed to West End to check out of the BVI for the final time of the season. We made it there before customs and immigration closed, so we were able to complete the transaction and were free to go. Sadly, since C&I was so efficient, we had to forego one last dinner at Omar’s and get on the move to pick up our last island mail delivery (zincs for the bow thruster) at Red Hook, St Thomas. A couple of hours of motoring later, in the pitch darkness we arrived in Vessup Bay. There was a mysterious dinghy floating about as we were preparing to moor, so I went to investigate since Dirk was at the helm. It turned out to be our good friend Stephen. After we moored, he tied off his tender to our stern and hopped aboard and joined us for a quick margarita and we said farewell for now until we meet again in the Northeast this summer since he is sailing to Newport, too. Dirk and I grabbed a quick burger and fries from Tap and Still and called it a night, preparing for an early AM mail pickup, a quick provision at Moe’s and the we’d head out on a 8 hour trip to Fajardo, PR for the night.

The trip to Fajardo was uneventful. Arriving there we found a giant marina called Puerto del Rey. We found our slip and got settled in. The reason we went to Fajardo in the first place was because we needed a visit to your favorite marine store and mine, West Marine. We were on a mission to pick up a couple of big batteries to stand in for the 8 giant Lithium batteries that had been our house battery bank. This season, the 8 LiFePO4 batts were removed from Le Rêve and shipped back to the manufacturer at their expense and replaced with a fat refund check (this is another whole story in itself) but we needed some new batts and they’re super $$ if even available in the VI.

Dirk made a taxi run to WM to get the batteries, came back and installed them, realized he was missing parts, made another taxi run back to WM and we were good to go on the batts! Yay! 2 big projects down!

We celebrated with dinner at one of the restaurants at the marina - La Cueva Del Mar. it was a lively family type place with live music and mediocre fish tacos that they claimed were Mahi but I’m not so sure. 🧐 in the morning we fueled up with some SUUUUUPER cheap diesel ($3.49 a gallon!). Perhaps one of the reasons it was so cheap is that the pump was sooooo sloooow! That’s not really the reason but man, it took forever!!! Fueled up, and with new batts and a shiny alternator, we were ready to set to sea!

After a relatively uneventful 24 hour passage, we arrived at Cap Cana, Dominican Republic. This was our first time in Cap Cana, so we were getting the lay of the land, or the bay in this case and it started to rain. The marina didn’t answer the email we’d sent previously or our hail the radio, but they did answer on WhatsApp (even acknowledged that they’d received the emails) and directed us where to go, met us in the pouring rain to tie up to the dock and left us to await Customs and Immigration, Agriculture and the Armada (Navy) so we could check into the country.

09/06/2024

UPDATE 3: before we proceed, I would be remiss not to step back to the last update and mention that in addition to the magnet on the string that we used to try to fish out the lost hole saw attachment, we also sent one of those cameras you use to look inside your ear and scoop out the ear wax. Yeah, that didn’t work either…

Moving on… In the morning the mechanic comes back and gets to work. Then, Dirk said: “Tony is on the dock. Can you please go pick him up?” Sure! So here I go. It’s a lovely morning for a dinghy ride… but I do not see Tony Eads on the dock. I figure he is still making his way from Moongate, so that’s fine, I throttle the dinghy back and just sit there peacefully bobbing like a cork in the water for a few minutes and then I realize Dirk meant for me to get FIBERGLASS TONY, who coincidentally IS standing on the dock but I was looking for the other Tony so I didn’t even realize Fiberglass Tony was there. Grrr. I put the boat back into gear and I make the pickup. Remember I said it was confusing?

On the way back to Le Rêve I had a chance to have some quality time with Fiberglass T and I couldn’t help but emphatically point out how we were really expecting him to return yesterday and Dirk had already finished the job himself seeing how we are on this tight weather window and all, and btw - the ship has sailed on you fishing your hole saw out bc now the mechanic is back in the engine compartment and you’re not gonna be able go get in there and fish for your part. Could have done it yesterday but today’s a no go. He said he didn’t realize we were in a rush, then I kinda felt bad for roughing him up.

With the hole in the bulkhead enlarged to a workable size, Dirk and our mechanic Ronald set about to remove the old alternator and install the new. With some coaxing the old alternator gave up the ghost and came out. However, the alternator had apparently decided to mate for life to the pulley it had been attached to. The pulley (just like in a car engine) is a key part of the engine assembly and a belt goes around it and keeps things whirring as the engine runs. We need the pulley to buddy up to the new alternator, but the old alternator and the pulley were apparently in an exclusive and committed relationship and had no plans to break up. Back in the dinghy for another trip to shore, Ronald tried to pry the pair apart with whatever tools he had in his truck to no avail. Dirk and Ronald hopped in the truck and headed to town (Greater Roadtown for you BVI denizens that are following along). Dirk needed to get various other parts/odds and ends so he went along for the ride.

Ronald took the alternator/pulley couple to the shop for some separation counseling (aka blowtorch, vise, crowbar, whatever it takes). Dirk finished his chores and went to the roundabout in the center of town (the pre-arranged meeting spot) to await Ronald. Hours passed. Updates sporadically came from Ronald about the separation attempts. They were not positive.

As a little sidebar - over the last few weeks, many of you will recall the crazy rains we’ve had in the BVI causing crazy flooding, roads being knocked out of service due to landslides and major flooding. All of this has also led to the hatching of a new insect population, most of whom apparently live on the roundabout in Roadtown where Dirk was a sitting duck awaiting Ronald for a few hours…

Finally when Dirk was down to his last pint of available blood, Ronald appeared with the pulley on its own and the old alternator left behind in the shop! We were officially on to the next step! The guys got back to the boat and prepared to finally complete the installation of the new alternator. But we’re not really ready for this tale to be over yet, are we? Believe it or not, the bolt refused to go back into the engine block. Not a problem! The boys put a drill bit through the hole and enlarged it enough to let the bolt slide in. Piece of cake on that one, right? Except… somewhere in the process, the washer that was part of the bolt assembly SLIPPED DIRECTLY INTO THE ALTERNATOR’S MAGNETIC BUSHINGS. What?!? I mean SERIOUSLY? This cannot be made up and sometimes I think it’s divine intervention that these ridiculous things happen to us and just sort of delay our departures a few hours/days and maybe in so doing we are kept out of the way of some unknown harm. I just have to go with it, otherwise I’d be INSANE.

The unbelievably good news is that after 30 mins of rotating and shaking of the alternator, the errant washer (thankfully stainless steel, therefore it didn’t attach to the magnetic bushings) finally fell out of the housing. We were able to complete the assembly, test the engine (it started AND proceeded to charge the house batts). We sent the mechanic home and immediately weighed anchor and made a bee line for St Thomas where we needed to pick up mail and a few provisions before setting sail on our North-bound journey. FINALLY we can get started on the passage!

07/06/2024

UPDATE 2: The 2nd day of the alternator event dawned and 10am brought a fine gentleman whose job it was to enlarge the ineffective port in the fiberglass that Lagoon had left us with so that we could remove the bolt and thereby pull the old alternator. Dirk asked him to come with a 90 degree drill attachment because of course we did not have the clearance to enlarge the hole coming straight on. We needed a drill attachment that was basically like an elbow to make a 90 deg turn and drill into the fiberglass bulkhead. So, of course, our gentleman arrives sans tools, just to take a look-see. Now this might be fine if he, say, pulled up in the driveway at home with his workshop in his van, but we are anchored out in Cane Garden Bay. So we have to dinghy over and retrieve him from the dinghy dock, bring him to the boat so he can survey the job, take him back to the dock, then we return to the boat. He has to drive back to his shop pick up the needed tools and return and of course another round trip dinghy run is needed. Did I mention he’s on the clock? Whatever. The alternator mechanic was long gone because he couldn’t do anything until we got the fiberglass hole enlarged, so now fiberglass dude has the baton. He took a look and decided he needed a 90 degree drill attachment, and set off to commandeer one. 😕

Fiberglass dude (who is coincidentally also named Tony and it gets very confusing what with Tony Eads being part of the story, so this guy will be called Fiberglass dude from here on out) comes back with a contraption that looks as though it may possibly work. He attaches a hole saw to the contraption and goes to work.

Basically, the situation is that there is a big, fiberglass bulkhead (consider it like a door that has space behind it but the door itself cannot be opened as it is fiberglassed shut). As soon as he started drilling, the business end of the hole saw spun off through the initial Lagoon hole that he was trying to enlarge and his hole saw attachment fell back behind the offending bulkhead so now we are down a tool again. Back to shore with Fiberglass dude so that he can collect a DIFFERENT tool that will help him fish out the hole saw attachment that he lost behind the bulkhead. While awaiting his return, Dirk dinghied back to the boat and we had a sandwich and over lunch made a few colorful remarks along the lines of “what was he thinking?!? how in the world could he have lost the attachment?!?!” and so on.

As we awaited the next opportunity to dinghy back to shore and pick him up, we remembered a random tool we had bought from one of those impulse buy stations right at the register of one of our favorite marine stores. It was a pretty strong magnet on a telescoping rod. Now, you may recall from previously that we cannot access this delightful port coming straight on and since this tool is kind of like a long screwdriver w a magnet at the end, we decided to sacrifice the telescoping rod part and chop that part off and tie or tape the magnet to a string and get fishin’. And fish we did. Catch we did not.

Fiberglass dude stayed gone the rest of the day. About 4 pm, Dirk gave up on the errant hole saw and called Eads Tool and Supply, the only outfit on island that personally delivers a wide variety of power tools on demand (and along with them brings home grown bananas and Papayas from their own yard!).

Tony (Eads) delivered another hole saw attachment and Dirk recalled yet another wacky tool he bought on a whim thinking “surely there’ll be a need for THIS someday!” Well, the day had come. Dirk paired up Tony’s hole saw with his drill attachment and went to cutting. You’ll never, ever guess what happened! Oh, wow, you DID guess! So now we have not one, but TWO hole saw attachments lost in the great void. Desperately not wanting to have to admit this to Tony (and also really needing to finish drilling that hole), Dirk went to fishing with the magnet again. This time he CAUGHT IT! Caught Tony’s, not the other one, whew! Went back to drilling, I think he lost, fished and caught a few more times. FINALLY we had clearance to back the bolt out! Dirk let the mechanic know we were back in business and to return first thing in the AM.

05/06/2024

Ok, a little behind on the trip log but here goes…. As usual, this will be a multi part series bc there is LOTS of news!

Update 1: We finished up a fantastic charter season in mid May with Kim and Lee Greenwood and their adult kids. What a great group! We thoroughly enjoyed showing them around the islands. We dropped the Greenwoods off and headed straight to Tony and Melody’s for a fun dip in the pool and some delicious cocktails. It was super fun catching up with Matt and Paige who were visiting T&M. After pool time we went to dinner at Indigo Beach House and got to see Vishal.

The next day we all hopped aboard Le Rêve and headed to Marina Cay for lunch and a float in the ocean. We also made some pizza dough for dinner later that night. When it was time to leave, the Starboard engine was not having it. Dirk and Tony toyed around with it for a while and at the end of the effort, we discovered that we had accidentally hit a safety switch that we can use to disable the engines from starting. So we flipped that switch back on and headed back to Cane Garden Bay. Once we anchored, we went back up to Moongate for some delicious homemade pizzas and evening fun. Afterwards, back to Le Rêve.

We need to hustle to head out on our passage to Rhode Island because we have a good weather window and we need to get moving to hit all of our planned destinations. However… on the way back from Marina Cay we noticed that our house batteries were not being charged by running the engines, which was odd, so Dirk checked the port alternator. Sure enough, it was dead. It had gotten sprayed with saltwater during another incident in which there was a pinhole leak in one of the seawater hoses. We fixed the leak a few weeks prior, but sadly it was too late for the alternator, which was original equipment and probably due to be replaced anyway. Dirk had other stuff going on and wanted to outsource the job, so he called around and found one of our regular service companies that could come out and do the work. Thank GOD we had a spare and didn’t have to sit around waiting on a part to be shipped!!!

Since we were still in Cane Garden Bay, we got together again for dinner that evening with our friends at Paradise Bar and Grill before dealing with alternator fun in the am. Oh well, it is what it is - thank heavens we have the replacement alternator on board, should be a quick swap and then we’ll be back with the program, hopefully the weather will hold.

Next morning, here comes Parts and Power to install the new alternator. Of course, it is NEVER easy! The bolts were rusty and stuck tight. Finally they got the bolt loose and (I swear you cannot make this up), Lagoon (the boat manufacturer) realized that in order to remove the alternator, you had to back long bolt out of the housing, and they very thoughtfully created a hole to give you the space to do that. Very forward-thinking of them. Now…If only they had put the hole in the right place!

So day 1 of alternator repair was spent loosening the alt only to find out that we had a big piece of structural fiberglass in the way of removing the bolt. So our next task was to deal with that issue, complete the installation and get going.

03/06/2024

Farawell Samaná, Dominican Republic! It has been wonderful exploring new places in Bahia de Samaná! Such amazing beauty, new friends, and wonderful cuisine! Next stop, Bahamas!

02/06/2024

Important reminder on the first day of hurricane season.

31/05/2024