TravelStream™ news feed for member bellavita on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bellavita en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:23:00 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1207596360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1207596360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1207596360/tpod.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:23:00 -0400 Bella Vita

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

On to Las Vegas. Arrived late last night in Vegas and it took over an hour to check in at the Luxor which is a giant pyramid and built in an Egyptian theme. They didn't have a room for us so we had to be upgraded to a suite which is rather nice having a bit of room. So we didn't get into our room till 2am then had a quick bite to eat and in bed by 3am. Amazing place, a bit like Disney Land on steroids. Good fun to watch all the people, the size of everything really blows you away, the opulence and at the same time the bizarreness of the place. We visited a hotel called the Venetian which is meant to be like Venice Italy, they have canals running through the hotel with gondolas and you can be serenaded in Italian while you ride on them. It was our favourite one. On our second night we went to a dinner show called "Tournament of the Knights" were you sit around an areana and they feed you undercooked chook and cold wedges while you watch Men in tights on horses prance around the areana. Hmmm. No actually it was a joisting tournament and very over acted and quite corny. The next day we took a flight over the grand canyon which the boys (big and small) enjoyed. I couldnt relax too many small plane statistics going thru my head to enjoy the view. The ride was particularly bumpy, something to do with thermal updrafts or something over the canyon. The Hoover Dam is absolutely massive. I can't see any reason why there is desert out there with soooooooo much water. The following day we walked and walked and walked and pretty much checked out the entire strip. We went on a great roller coaster ride on top of the New York hotel. Harri loved it!! Pete took the boys for additional exploration and afetr checking out Cesars Palace managed to see the spectacular water fountain display in the massive lake in front of the Belagio Hotel. It is all correographed to some classic music and is great to see. Next stop.....New York, New York
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1210536840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1210536840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1210536840/tpod.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:17:19 -0400 Bella Vita

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Luperon, Dominican Republic

After a wonderful over night sail we motored into a sleepy little port called Luperon. This was recommended to us by several cruising yachties as well as our cruising guide, so we figured it would be a good stop over. After dodging the shallows we dropped anchor in some very sticky looking mud at the end of the inlet near many other yachts. El Capitain Pete jumped into the dinghy with passports and ships papers in hand and went ashore to find the customs, immigration or any other official that might be around so we could clear into Dominican Republic. After several hours and no idea what they were saying he returned to the yacht to get some more money. Apparently on a weekend they require significant bribery to perform their customs duties. Pete told us he was delayed because the immigration official was out fishing with his family and some guy on a motor bike (the only guy he could find who had any idea of the English language) went to find him. That also cost $20. So with empty wallet Pete returned to inform us that we could all now go ashore. Talk about Pirates! The government officials will rob you blind! (One bloke also wanted Petes shoes, but was told, no way.) We set off for the main street of Luperon and found this decidedly dodgey. The locals looked friendly enough but the lady at the post office/internet cafe was quite unhelpful and very abrupt with Mike, that coupled with the sewage running down the street and mountains of garbage everywhere we decided to skip the Luperon tour. So we jumped back into the dinghy and headed across to the Luperon Yacht club, not quite sure what the people who recommended this place actually saw in it. Certainly couldn't imagine staying here for any length of time. The Yacht club looked quite interesting as we tied the dinghy up to a small timber jetty amongst the mangroves. We climbed the stairs and found a bar and restaurant with people watching some Nascar race on satelite TV. The lady in the bar was pleasant and gave us some advise on getting Shaz to Puerto Plata (a close by town which had an airport). We stayed briefly for a drink then headed back to the boat. Very early the next morning we up anchored and motored out of the inlet. After progressing some 300 metres Pete found the only shallow spot in the inlet. We came to a halt high and dry on a rocky hump right between to moored keel boats (who would have thought). So much for our early departure!! Pete and Mike, with the help of another anchored yachtie spent the next hour and a half dragging the boat back into deep water. The bottom was so muddy Pete looked like he had just returned from a whole body mud treatment, but with his clothes on. We were finally on our way again, heading for Puerto Plata, which was 15miles down the coast. The plan was to drop Shaz at the marina there so she could catch a taxi into town, find a hotel near the airport and fly to Fort Lauderdale the next morning. The reason for Shaz's early departure was her scheduled lazer eye surgery. We had taken way too long in St Thomas and again in Puerto Rico and there was no way we could get to Ft Lauderdale in time for her appointment. So it was adios Shaz and the remaining 5 of us would continue on up through the Bahamas to meet her in a week or so in Florida. Well so much for sneaking in and dropping shaz off at the marina. The marina in Puerto Plata was very new, very large and very empty. So at about 10am we motored in and were immediately contacted on the radio, asked if we needed fuel and if we were staying. No sooner had Pete tied up at the fuel dock (we figured maybe just top up with a bit of diesel and we could leave. That should keep them happy.)we were set upon like starving dogs to a juicy bone. They smelt the bribe money and there was no way we could skip on out of there. Within 10 minutes there were 5 officials all sitting around the table in our cockpit. One woman, who seemed to be in charge and acted as interpreter, one customs come immigration official, no less than two quarantine guys and some other bloke we have no idea about. After about 15 minutes we had been relieved of another US$50 and had again cleared into and out of the Dominican Republic. The absolute classic extortion came from the quarantine guys who, when Pete asked why there were two charges of $10 for the same thing, was simply told that one guy was quarantine for animals, the other, plants. Neither of them even asked if we had a dog or fruit or anything. Absolutely brilliant!! So after our eventfull, but short visit to Dominican Republic, we left Shaz in their capable and cashed up hands and headed out of the harbour for the Bahamas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1215372840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1215372840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1215372840/tpod.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:14:09 -0400 Bella Vita

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New York, New York, United States

We are now in New York and loving it. Such a busy city! I played tour guide for the day and we went thru the Village (very nice), Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown areas. It was a busy but relaxed day, being a Saturday with market stalls and musicians everywhere. Sunday we rode bikes through Central Park and went and saw the musical Hairspray on Broadway that night and we all loved it. Fantastic music, dancing and the most amazing voices. Today we rose to a very cold morning (2 degrees) and my beloved Tom was the only one in the city wearing SHORTS! We jumped on one of the tour buses and had a look around, stopped at the Museum of Natural History (same one they filmed Night at The Museum) it is massive. But then everything over here is. After that we did the Empire State Building, which gives you a good perspective of just how big this city is. (8 million people). Our hotel is in the Broadway district just up from times square in a really good location. The rooms are typical New York small but nice not like what you get for $500 a night at home (total luxury), our bathroom is just a bit bigger and I'm not exaggerating when I say just a bit bigger than a toilet at home. Lucky the boys don't like to wash ! I spent my birthday in the city which was a great treat and to celebrate we went for a romantic ride through Central Park at sunset. All four of us! It was so pretty and relaxing. The park is gorgeous at that time of night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1247033674/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1247033674/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1247033674/tpod.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:16:20 -0400 Bella Vita

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New York, New York, United States


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Georgetown, Maryland, United States

We left Magothy River to head up river to Georgetown on what might be our final sail. The new potential owners Steve and Dineke have come to sail with us to see how Bella handles. Unfortunately we dont have a lot of wind so most of the day is a motor sail. We started out in light drizzle as we made our way out of the river and back into the Chesapeake but luckily the weather started to clear and we were able to enjoy our last passage on Bella as we skipped up the incredibly peaceful and beautiful Chesapeake. We have had to skip from Norfolk at the bottom up this way very quickly as we needed to be at Georgetown for a survey before a final decision could be made and this is the only place with a travellift big enough to haul Bella out. So we may have to go back and see the places we missed out on by car, Washington DC, Baltimore, Annapolis etc. We have been surpirsed at how extensive this place is and by is gorgeous waterfronts, quiet inlets and stunning beauty, you could spend years exploring this place.Its a very mixed and emotionial time for all of us, Harri is on the bow doing a victory dance and cant keep the smile off his face, Tom is quietly glad of returning to his friends but knows what he'll be missing out on and Pete and I can only hope that returning to work (aaahhh) will not kill us and that the next 4 years will go by quickly so we can do this all over again......
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1246405400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1246405400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1246405400/tpod.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:53:15 -0400 Bella Vita

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Norfolk, Virginia, United States

"Warship 14, Warship 14, Warship 14, this is Warship 54 on channel 16". This is just one of the many calls we heard on the VHF radio as we made our way up to the Chesapeake Bay after a pleasant overnighter from Beaufort. This is the largest US Naval base in the country and their presence is deliberately intimidating. It was one warship after another calling each other, it almost made us feel as if we were sailing into an active war zone by the amount of radio traffic. As a sailboat we technically have right of way over all motor vessels on the water, but as these massive ships weighting many thousands of tonnes come steaming towards us we made sure we got out of their way, giving them a wide berth. One naval ship had stopped and we spotted a little accident on the top deck. Someone had reversed the forklift off the stern of the ship and they were all standing around looking and wondering how to fix the mishap. It was one of those What the .... momentsAs we approached the entrance to the Chesapeake we had small destroyers accompanying us in. In fact we were waiting for a call on the radio to tell us to stop so they could search our vessel. It happens, but neither the Navy nor Coast Guard seemed interested in us! Chesapeake Bay is the largest inlet in the USA and is fed by several large river systems which are home to some very well know east coast cities, Washington DC, Norfolk, Annapolis and Baltimore. It is abundant with deep natural harbours making it perfect for the Navy and not bad sailing for the rest of the civilian fleet. It is also rich in history as it's the birth place of the Eastern USA. Captain John Smith sailed into the bay four centuries ago and began Colonial settlement in the USA. We anchored in Portsmouth with Norfolk just across the river. Portsmouth is a really old town over 250 years old and full of very traditional British looking homes. We wandered around admiring the beautiful old homes and once again noticing the abundance of American flags flying from most homes.There is a pretend paddle wheel ferry that connects Portsmouth to Norfolk (8mins) and we took that over to go see the much touted Naval Maritime Museum. We ended up spending most of the day there as the exhibits, some interactive were really interesting. The boys also got to create Seabots (remote controlled under water submersibles) and I’m not sure who was the bigger kid as Pete was in there boots and all.The highlight of the museum was definitely touring the USS Wisconsin a 60yr old battleship. This thing was huge with 3 sets of 16inch guns (that’s the size of the shells it holds) that you would definitely want to run from if they were pointed at you. Although we ended up being a bit of an exhibit at the museum as the retirees who run the tours of the ships wanted to talk more about us and what we were doing than the ship itself. We even got stopped a couple of times by other tourists who heard our accents and wanted to know all about us. Like I’ve mentioned before the people in this part of the world are very friendly!After a great time exploring the local area Pete received a call from the broker about having a survey done in preparation for the sale of Bella. Believe it or not the only place north of here that can lift a catamaran that’s 7.5 metres wide is a small town called Georgetown, which is a good four day sail north, right up the top end of the Chesapeake. So our plans to meander up this enormous bay exploring all manner of historical places were tossed out the window and we made new plans to get ourselves to Georgetown as quickly as possible.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244433600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244433600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244433600/tpod.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:50:00 -0400 Bella Vita

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Magothy Beach, Maryland, United States

Just another day sail from Solomons to the Magothy River Marina but we noticed as we moved further north a bit of industrialisation starts to invade the river front. We also passed under the huge Chesepeake Bay Bridge which is a major dual spanbridge in Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's eastern rural shore, (Georgetown) with the more urban western shore (Washington DC and Annopolis). The original span opened in 1952 and at the time, with a length 7 km, was the world's longest continuous over-water steel structure with a parallel span added in 1973. It was very impressive to sail underneath.When we arrived in Magothy we spent the rest of the day cleaning Bella as Steve and Dineke the dutch couple who are buying her are arriving tomorrow for the final sail up to Georgetown so we wanted her to look her best.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244423455/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244423455/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244423455/tpod.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:31:57 -0400 Bella Vita

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Solomons, Maryland, United States

Todays sail was one of our better ones in a while as the sun had finally decided to shine and with a light breeze we were able to have a great sail up to Solomon's. Being a Sunday there were plenty of boats out enjoying the waterway and the reprieve in the weather and made for a pretty sight. Again we were impressed at the beauty of the place and the great houses that lined the shores. We anchored right up a busy little inlet with lots of other cruisers who invited us over for drinks and told us of their cruising club that spent weeks exploring the Chesapeake. The people are so friendly in this part of the world and always interested in where we are from, most of them are stunned at how far we have travelled on Bella as the majority of them stay within the Bay. But if I lived here I could spend years cruising around it to without every having to venture further.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244336991/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244336991/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244336991/tpod.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:22:36 -0400 Bella Vita

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Deltaville, Virginia, United States

Our dream has come to an end as we now have an offer on Bella and so instead of spending the next month exploring this place we have to hot foot it up to Georgetown Maryland which is not far from Baltimore for survey. It's a really beautiful water way, the water is a yucky brown colour not terribly inviting for swimming but the rivers and inlets are picture perfect where charming houses, some of them mansions, rolling green lawns and beautiful forests line the river system. It was not what we had imagined at all. So after leaving Norfolk we had a pleasant but cool sail up to Deltaville, the first of our stops on the way up. We had organised to send some of the boys school work here as we thought we might explore the area and after arriving it was disappointing not to be able to as it was so beautiful and the anchorage so still, barely a ripple on the water.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244072405/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244072405/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bellavita/1/1244072405/tpod.html Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:08:31 -0400 Bella Vita

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Beaufort, North Carolina, United States

We arrived in Beaufort (Bo-Furt) North Carolina which is a cute little historical town on mid east coast of the USA. As we sailed in, it looked just like the movies, windblown sand dunes covered in wild grasses with clouds of salt haze to soften the look of them.  These are the banks which run the length of the coast and protect the mainland and rivers from the harsh Atlantic Ocean. We found a great anchorage in the river with the town on one side and the banks on the other. It was so pretty to go to bed and wake up to perfect stillness, not a ripple on the water with only the birds and the wild Spanish mustangs which live on Shackleford Banks grazing in the early morning without a care in the world and wading through the marshes.Beaufort is celebrating its 300th birthday this year and besides having over 100 historical old homes, it has been though a few conflicts in its time with Pirates, The American Civil War and The Spanish Civil War. The home of Blackbeard the pirate was just in front of where we anchored and his ship "The Queen Anne's Revenge" was recently discovered late 1996 in the shoals of the Beaufort Inlet. And we all thought he was just a fairytale..... The other historical site is fort Macon which sits at the entry to Beaufort facing the Atlantic and though, through both conflicts, saw very little action.As we wandered around looking at the historic homes, mostly made of timber, some which are older than settled Australia, it amazed us that they are still standing today and still look beautiful. Almost every second home has the flag flying, whether historic or not and you can feel the patriotism in the air.One of the highlights of Beaufort is their old cemetery, not neatly laid out like new ones but higgledy piggledy with old oak trees and bushes hiding sections so as you wander through each new area is a discovery. Some of the graves had fallen into disrepair while others were still in good condition, some told a story about the person, not just the birth and death dates but the number of years, months and days that, that person lived. One with a cannon embedded in his tomb was of a famous Privateer which is just a fancy way of saying a pirate who the government approved of. The people we have met through the southern states have a genuine warmth and are very friendly. They have a lovely accent, which is akin to most country songs you hear. (We are all a bit worried about Pete....he's been listening to country music far too much.) All up we spent 4 days in Beaufort and were a little sad to leave such a relaxing place. Our last night was at anchor off the pub on the river. We sat on the boat enjoying a beer and listened to the local country singer play covers to the pub crowd. The sun set over the river and left us with a beautiful magenta sky. Tomorrow morning we leave early for an overnight sail up to the Chesapeake.
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