Well it has been a while since I have updated my blog entries on foolishsailor.com AND it is already 2010, (HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!), so thought I had better give you all an update as to where we are in our (sailing) lives. A lot has happened since I last wrote…

My parents arrived from Ireland in August and we had a fabulous time. The weather was perfect, shorts and t-shirts during the day and something a little warmer at night. We collected them off the bus in Angra where the boat is and took them, to their surprise, by dinghy to our boat! It is easier to get around by dinghy than by bus or taxi…

We had booked their first few nights in a local pousada beside the marina so that was handy for all. We then sailed to the World Heritage village of Paraty where we had again booked a few nights stay for them. Saoirse, JC and I stayed in a local marina.

Paraty is beautiful with its cobblestoned roads, historic stone buildings and perfect view over the water. It was one of the main landing areas for the slavery ships of the 16th to 19th centuries and the wealth this trade generated is evident even today in the grand houses with their distinct Portuguese architecture.

While in Paraty we did a small part of the “Caminho do Ouro” or Gold Trail. In 1696 the richest gold mines in the world were discovered 1,200 KM inland in the mountains of Minas Gerais and Paraty, which was the nearest sea town, became an export port for gold to Portugal. The Caminho da Ouro was constructed to help the thousands of miners, slaves and mules used to bring the gold back from and supplies to the camps. The trail has been mainly reclaimed by the forest now, but some of it has been rediscovered and parts of it (like near Paraty) can still be hiked. One can still see donkey/mule hoof shoes littered all over the massive stones which cover the route, and various bones, both animal and human have been found along the way. After many pirate attacks of gold laden boats bound for Portugal, a new safer route was made directly from the mines to Rio and in the late 1700s, the gold ran out and Paraty’s golden era declined.

From Paraty we sailed to Ihla Grande and again my folks checked into a pousada on the beach where they could see our boat at anchor. We did a few smaller walks and hung out at the beach. JC made some food on the boat (we had eaten out a lot till then) and my folks were impressed with our galley (kitchen) as well as JC’s excellent curry made entirely in a pressure cooker.

After Ihla Grande we headed back to Angra dos Reis where it was time to secure the boat, pack our things and head back to Ireland via Rio. We all spent one last night in a local pousada before the bus ride back. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel right on the beach of Copacabana, compliments of my parents (thanks guys!) and did some sightseeing together. We did the famous gondola up the Sugarloaf hill and had stunning views of Rio. We had previously done this on our arrival in June at night time, but the day time experience gave us a chance to point out our various landmarks to my parents - where we had landed, how we had tried to navigate through the islands at the entrance of the bay, where we ended up bringing the boat, where we stayed across the bay in Niteroi, where the domestic airport was, etc. It was great to have my parents to help us with the excess luggage and Saoirse, who as usual was a good traveller.

Once in Ireland, JC’s priority was to find work and save money for our next trip to the boat planned for January, but for weeks he was unsuccessful. The economy in Ireland is so bad - in fact Ireland and Spain have been the worst hit in Europe by the global crisis. No one has money to get customised furniture made and any basic carpentry work is being sewn up by the polish carpenters working for minimum wage. JC just could not compete.

He contacted all the yacht delivery companies in the UK with a view to maybe doing some paid deliveries. As he is an unknown to them, no one would give him work, despite having done all the RYA exams and changing all his US qualifications into European ones. Anyway, at last one agency, the biggest one in the UK offered him an unpaid delivery from Southampton in England to Gothenburg in Sweden. He took it so they could at least register his name on their books. While he was away, Saoirse and I went to Spain, me to do some work and Saoirse to spend time with my parents.

On JC’s return my mother introduced him to a Dutch friend of hers who own a very reputable and high end furniture shop. JC wanted to ask her what, if anything, was selling furniturewise and if she might be interested in taking on some of his designs. He spent the rest of our time in Ireland designing and making coffee tables, all made of sustainable wood, naturally felled by either lightning or old age. She took on 2 pieces and put a price tag of Euro 2,000 on each - nice if they could sell, but with the economy the way it is in Ireland, she warned they would sell slowly, but were worth that price. He set up a new website called www.dbien.com (it was thought for a time that his surname Durbin was derived from the French d’bien “of the good” - in fact this was incorrect, but he still liked the name!). The website is not 100% complete, and may not be (read on…) but feel free to see the designs he made. The older one with more examples of his furniture is still www.mgwsonline.com

In the meantime, I found out I was pregnant. Bit of a shock for all concerned! Baby is due June 1st. Between the lack of money being generated and a new baby on the way, we realised we had to rapidly change our way of thinking with regards to the boat. We talked about bringing the boat back to Dublin and putting the sailing plans on ice for a few years, maybe doing shorter trips here and there…

In December we headed over to Louisiana to meet JC’s relations on his father’s side. They had organised a big Christmas party on the 12th. When they say big, they mean big, with over 90 relations present - seemingly not all came!! Unfortunately we did not get to enjoy Louisiana as much as we should have, as we were all struggling with winter coughs and generally feeling low after a ridiculously long and drawn out flight(s) to get there. We stayed with 3 families and had a lovely time despite our poor health and lousy weather. They really went full out for Christmas and that was nice for Saoirse to see all the decorations everywhere. Christmas is not really celebrated in South Africa, so at 2 years, 2 months, Saoirse saw her first Santa Klaus - she was pretty freaked at first till he enticed her with some presents! Did not take long before she was sitting on his lap posing for photos! We sadly saw none of New Orleans nor visited any touristy things, but it was wonderful to meet his extended family and eat their Cajun food. I understand now where JC gets his passion for cooking from - food is seen as a religion there! I walked in on Larry, JC’s uncle as he was busy baking - 4 cakes all at once!

On 18th December we flew to San Diego and stayed the first 10 days with Jim, JC’s father, and wife Kay. On the Saturday, JC’s brother in law, Scott and his 2 children Chloe and Reed were baptised. That night we all celebrated Jim and Myra (JC’s mother)’s 70th birthdays. That was a lovely evening with surprise visits from some of Jim’s Louisiana family. The days with Jim and Kay went by very quickly. Sadly everyone but Saoirse and I got a vomiting bug, so many of the dinners had to be cancelled and even the usual Christmas dinner gorging did not happen, despite a yummy dinner made by Myra. The last 10 days were spent at Myra’s house on Coronado Island. As JC was feeling much better by that stage we did bike rides, walks to the beach and park and spent a lovely New Year’s Eve with his friends in Erik and family’s rented waterside accommodation.

Erik is an old friend of JC and he spent many years working for him in San Francisco. They have spoken about opening a southern branch of Erik’s successful house renovation/construction company specialising in very high end homes. Given the desperate economic climate in Ireland, it made sense to speak to Erik and see if he had any work ideas/opportunities for him. To make a long story short, JC will be working with Erik in a new San Diego branch.

Our newly revised plans are roughly as follows: we will stay on the boat in Brazil till end of February, maybe early March depending on how work on the boat is progressing (everything here is painfully slow). Saoirse and I will head back to Ireland and await the birth of no. 2. JC will head to San Diego until mid May to do some ground work and make some contacts. While back in Dublin, JC will pack up and ship his tools and equipment and will probably leave a few weeks before me. Hopefully by that stage there will be some business for Erik and JC. I will more than likely head over with the 2 little uns around August /September. We are hoping to be able to live in Coronado as it is a lovely and small island (not too small!) and very safe for children to walk/cycle around. It is, however, one of the exclusive parts of San Diego, so not sure if we can actually afford to live there!

Well, as you can see our plans have radically changed, but we were always aware that life is very fluid and one never knows what is around the corner. California is very far away from Ireland and that will be hard for me especially. There are a huge amount of visa issues I need to deal with (American bureaucracy is notoriously ugly) and I know very few people, so will have to find a life from scratch, but there are many upsides too. The weather while we were there over Christmas was wonderful - sunny around 23 degrees and we were able to visit the beach and play grounds every day. That, in comparison to the snow and cold that Ireland endured for the same period. My poor parents suffered terribly as my mother has her arm in a cast and my father his foot! Neither are allowed drive or fly…

I hope our move to San Diego will mean that lots of family and friends will use us as an excuse to holiday  I promise to write more about our present situation in Brazil and the boat soon. Happy New Year again to you all.