Our PWD’s bring us so much joy, I can’t think of a better choice for Obama to get for his girls.   Their personalities are really blooming and differentiating. Brisa is so sharp, really smart, and alert. Probably the smartest dog I have ever had. And she is absolutely beautiful. Her eyes may be one of her finest features; they are a golden-rod color, large and round. But the amazing part is how she uses them to seek out my eyes, always looking for eye to eye contact. They are so revealing that it feels like I can see right into her soul! Costa’s eyes are small and as dark as his coat so they are not as noticeable. Nor is he as interested in eye to eye contact.

Watching Brisa run full-out is exhilarating. She looks like a thoroughbred horse. Her center of gravity drops and she stretches out to a lean-mean running machine. Her coat is beautiful, shiny jet black. She has a way to talking I have never experienced in a dog before. She sort of slithers up, pulls her lips back to reveal all of her teeth and then starts talking! Not barking or whining, talking. The behavior is usually associated with guilt. She’ll get into something and then come to tell us about it. Sometimes, like this morning, she woke me up with the talking but I could not find the mischief so I was confused.  Sometimes she will ring the ship’s bell when she is locked outside and wants in.

She is intensely alert when we are on the water, always looking for movement on the surface. There are lots of flying fish around which drives her nuts. And, on one of our last passages she saw dolphins in the water and actually jumped in to swim with them this time. We were shocked and had to do our first “man over-board” maneuver! There wasn’t a lot of wind so it was not too difficult, but still, we were under full sail so it’s not like just turning the boat around.

Costa on the other hand is developing into something very different. He is a little stallion! Seriously, he chomps at the bit to be released, has a very specific “alert” posture of dignity and supremacy. His head and neck are angled just so, and his hind legs are poised in a position bold readiness. He displays this posture when he senses other dogs about. Associated with that is aggressive barking which is new to us since none of our females have displayed that kind of aggression. That can
get on our nerves and we try to discourage it. He try’s to engage Brisa in play all the time, but she blows him off. In those situations, he’ll just go find his pathetic little rope toy and throw it around by himself. He is still smaller than she, especially noted while swimming. Brisa is very muscular in her rear quarters from so much swimming while he is still very slight. He may not grow to be as big as she is. His coat is not as shinny and has a mahogany sheen instead of the jet blue-black
of Brisa. He takes the non-dominance position with her in all situations except food, and in that realm he attacks Brisa if is she comes close to his bowl! They have actually had 2 very alarming fights requiring one of us to physically pull one of them off the other and confine them to the kennel. The kennel is another funny thing, when one of them gets into trouble and they hear the word kennel, they both go in! It is so funny.

Neither one of them likes the other to be in the lead while walking on leashes, so we have found that using a double lead works best, and it relieves one of us of leash duty. Having Costa has resulted in Brisa maturing into a very manageable dog, no more biting us and no more getting into things like she used to. It is impressive. She is a lovely companion now, and only 1 year old. Costa never was an “in your face” dog nor a biter so that has not been an issue with him. He doesn’t really get
into stuff too much, except he likes our clothes, especially the underclothes for nest building and he will occasionally chew on shoes if they are laying around and he is bored.

Brisa is can be VERY jealous and spiteful, willfully spiteful. She is like having a human female around when it comes to that. If she does not get what she wants, she will go and do something to show us how she feels about it. Both of them, independently, lie down while eating dry dog food, sort of draped over the bowl. They pick up and throw the bowl around when they are hungry or thirsty! Brisa doesn’t do that as much any more, but she will hold out for bones instead of kibble, become starved
and then start talking to me, sometimes biting my hands. Brisa still won’t sit quietly outside of a store but Costa will if he is by himself. When one of us takes Costa to shore alone, Brisa won’t let him back on the boat when we return. Brisa will still steal food off the counter if given the chance. She ate Michael’s entire dinner the other night without making a sound or disturbing the bowl! I went to the bathroom, came back and it was empty.

We love them just as they are and wish they wouldn’t grow any older. Perhaps you are thinking that “I really need to get a life!” Grandbabies, here I come!!!

Day 12 and moving very slowly.

It is amazing and something we did not predict at all, but there just isn’t any wind out here. We motored for 4 days straight, day 4 through 8, and then decided that fuel consumption was something which needed to be managed. We found the trade winds and were delighted to raise the sails and turn off the engines. Unfortunately, even the trades have died down, leaving us bobbing in the waves and struggling to keep the sails full. We have just turned one of the engines back on. We are more than
half way there, but still, this is getting old. The temperature and humidity remind us of our proximity to the equator.

Today is Thanksgiving and Michael Moradzadeh is making turkey, mashed potato, gravy, coleslaw and cranberry sauce. Soon Aphrodite will smell like Thanksgiving and we will recall all that we have to be thankful for. Our perishable food supply is diminishing quickly but our freezer is still 3/4 full of frozen meat and fish. We have plenty of available beans, rice, noodles, and polenta; Margi continues to make breads everyday.

The dogs continue to do exceptionally well, considering the fact that they aren’t getting any exercise. The two of them have developed a strong bond. It is quite endearing to watch.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Bobbing along, singing a song, fuel half gone bye, bye, bye.

We have been motoring for the last 2 and half days, amazed at how flat calm the middle of the Atlantic Ocean can be. The good side of it is that we are having terrific dinners and plenty of sleep. We are not quite half way there, moving slower than planned since we are motoring instead of sailing, but the crew and dogs are content and enjoying the down time. We have a turkey for Thanksgiving next week and Margi has been making fresh bread, biscuits, cornbread etc almost every day. So far this
has been the MOST peaceful crossing Michael and I have ever had.

There isn’t anything new to report. We are in the midst of a windless pocket, looking forward to reaching the outer limits where the wind is predicted to be 15 – 20 kts which will give us a real boost towards our destination.

The dogs are doing much better than I expected. They too have settled into the rhythm of the sea and are entertaining themselves quite well. I continue to be amazed to realize that I actually prefer 2 dogs to 1. They are dear with each other, often found snuggling together in a corner or just hanging out together. Now when Brisa brings her toy to one of us to play we can say “go find Costa” and she will. She has been tempted to jump in a few times, once yesterday while Michael was reeling in
a big dolphin fish. Now they both go into the kennel before a fish is reeled in.

It has been a month since Michael’s surgery and he healing really well. Thank goodness for that.

See cayenne.blogharbor.com for additional postings of our crossing.

We are bobbing along. Wind, no wind, variable direction wind, not the expected trade winds. Light wind expected tomorrow as well. Getting lots of books read, good meals made, and Margi made cinnamon buns today, yum! We have completed 1100 of the 2800 KM. The dogs use the trampolines for their constitutional so we’ve taken to calling call them the “poop-deck.” We continue posting our position report but skip the text updates unless we have something better to say.

Day 4 crossing the Atlantic and all continues to be well.

The winds have increased to 13-15 kts., keeping our sails full and forward progress strong and steady. We have had opportunities to use both the full spinnaker and the asymmetrical spinnaker.

Meals are still gourmet and plentiful. Last night we had a standing rib roast, baked potatoes, roasted beets, flat green beans and freshly baked bread. Tonight we are having swordfish with that luscious candied ginger sour cream and cream cheese sauce and pesto pasta. This morning Margi made home made biscuits with sausage gravy.

The dogs are getting a little restless. With 4 of us onboard they aren’t allowed too much rough housing. We encountered a pod of dolphins yesterday and Brisa went nuts! She ran from the front of the boat to the rear trying to figure out how to join them. At one point she was at the back of the boat, on the lowest step closest to the water with the dolphins right then, just a leap away. She knows the word dolphin after seeing them only twice, amazing. I made the mistake of telling her “go find
the dolphins” and she ran right out to the bow, then back to the stern, forward again on and on with the little guy flying behind her. At one point they started sliding and I was afraid they were going to slide right off the boat! Costa does amazing well on the boat. With most issues he defers to Brisa except their shared eating bowl, especially when there are bones in there. Then he gathers up everything and hoards them, growling at her every time she tries to get in there to get her share.
Once she gets her’s she runs up to the front of the boat or on top of the roof where he can’t get to.

Our watch schedule is wonderful, allowing plenty of time for sleep.

We are hoping the rest of the trip will continue to be as enjoyable.

We have made 330 NM in 48 hrs with light winds. Currently flying the large asymmetrical spinnaker and making 7-8 knots. Tomorrow the winds are expected to increase a bit. Michael M won 2 Scrabble games but lost badly at rummy 500. Margi baked bread and Jeri made homemade soup, prime rib and pesto pasta for dinner. The dogs are wondering if the humans will eat all the food. Michael M says “help me, help me, they are roasting beets what kind of a hell ship are we on?” We are on a Swedish watch
system with 4 hour watches during the day and 3 hours at night which rotates us around the clock and gives us time to hang together and get plenty of rest.

With a brief “prayer” for our safe journey, we departed Las Palmas, Grand Canaria at 4 PM on Nov 15th. After an hour of motoring the winds filled in to 14 kts and we sailed until 8 AM on the 16th, then the winds died and we started motoring. We are starting to get enough wind to motor sail although the dogs need rougher weather to settle down. Our 4 PM position is 165 M SW of the Grand Canaries at 26.19N, 16.36W making 8.0kts on heading 249 M. Everyone seems to be adjusting to life at sea with
good food and great company. Let the games begin!

Michael Morazadeh joined us in the Canaries. Margi Sells arrives tomorrow. Our spinnaker has been repaired and the engine mechanic comes Friday. It is likely that we will depart Saturday for St Lucia. We will post our log as we are sailing.

It seems like ages since my last journal entry.  That is because we have been in Tunisia since Nov. 2007 and haven’t had much to report.  But, since we are preparing to disembark and get “on the road again”, that is all going to change.

We have had some wonderful times in Tunisia, mostly because of the people we have met while living in the marina.  As always, it is great meeting new people and difficult to say good-bye.

Our newest and greatest news is the presence of a new granddaughter and the addition of a puppy.  Madison Lynn, Kacy and Chris’ first child was born on March 30, 2008 and I was fortunate enough to be there for her birth.  I will never forget the miracle of that experience or the joy I felt watching my daughter bring her daughter into the world. Thank you Kacy, I love you.

Brisa, our pup, is our second most exciting bit of news.  She is a Portuguese Water Dog, from Lagos, Portugal.  We met her mom and grand mom, as well as her owner, Rodrigo, while cruising through the southern part of Portugal last summer.  He knew that we wanted a Portuguese Water Dog, answered all of our many questions about he dogs and helped us contact local breeders.  He contacted us in December inquiring as to whether we had gotten a dog yet and when we responded with a no, he told us that he had just had a liter if we were interested.  She joined us on March 17, 2008, the same day I left Tunisia for Colorado and Madi’s birth.

I returned to the boat 3 weeks later to find Brisa very bonded to Michael.  She was not happy about my arrival and has been giving me a hard time ever since.  She went from a “consistently house broken puppy” to a nipping, deliberately misbehaving little devil!  Each day she gets a little better, but it is clear that Michael is the love of her life.

We decided to follow a RAW diet which consists of raw meaty bones, organ meat, ground raw meat, and protein vegetable/egg/cottage cheese etc. mush  consisting of just about everything I would normally throw away.  The main reason we chose this diet is because we often find ourselves in countries which do not have a high pet value and therefore do not have a good selection of dog food, where as we can always get chicken parts etc.  A very beneficial consequence of this diet is that her poops are not the usual steamy, smelly, dog piles of icky to pick up poop but rather small, odorless, dense, dry pellets which are neither offensive or difficult to live with!

Living with a “shed-less” dog is a huge advantage.  We do have to clip her though, which we just did, rendering ourselves a stuffed 1 gallon size zip lock bag full or beautiful black hair.  It is definitely a 2 person job and I learned that from now on I will have to wear my bathing suit while doing it because I had a thick layer of hair on my clothes which required a full roll of lint removing tape to clean up.

We have a few current “Brisa” pictures for your enjoyment.  Remember to click on the picture to open up the rest of the gallery.  Also, look at our new calendar, thanks to Jordan, and see if there is anywhere you would like to meet us.  The dates are “soft” and can be adjusted according to the desires of others.  We love company on board and look forward to hearing from you if you are interested.

Brisa is the newest crew member of Aphrodite. She is a Portugese Water Dog (Cão d’Água) from Lagos, Portugal. We met her mother, Buba, when we were in Lagos and bought one of her puppies from our friend Rodrigo. She was born December 14th, 2007 and she arrived in Tunisia on Monday March 17th via Luftansa Air Freight. Going through customs in Tunisia was quite an ordeal but Brisa is worth the effort and expense. She has wavy black hair with a white spot on her chest and one white paw. She bonded very quickly to me as I “rescued” her from her shipping ordeal. She slept in my lap for the hour long return to Aphrodite. She is adapting well to her new life on the boat. She sleeps in a kennel, poops and pees on deck and since she hasn’t had all of her shots she cannot walk on the ground for 3 more weeks. I take her in our dock cart or in a backpack on the bicycle. She loves riding in the dinghy and sunning herself on the deck of Aphrodite. Please enjoy the pictures of her posted on Picasa.