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These are additions and expanded letters from the Sleavin family, from the chapter Bonjour de Guadeloupe, in "Ten Degrees of Reckoning":
April 1993: Zihautanejo, Mexico: “The boat has been working out great. Over the last two years we spent eighty per cent of our free time preparing for the trip, and it’s all been worth it. The kids are doing great. Judy has been teaching them 3 hours a day, five days a week. The kids are learning so much. Not just school work but about life. They see that not everyone has a nice home, two nice cars, and all the toys that can fit in a room. We take buses or walk everywhere. Our children are becoming self-sufficient and happier and much less materialistic. And there’s a lot of camaraderie. Whenever we arrive in an anchorage where there are other boats it becomes one big family. We had twenty-one people on our boat for Judy’s birthday. The only problem was that the cake I special ordered to say Feliz Cumpleanos, Judy, said Feliz Cumpleanos, Lori. So we sang to both of them. We’re heading further south now, to pick up our friends Hester and John in Acapulco who will sail with us for the next month. Can’t wait to see them.”
September 17, 1993: “Hola from Punta Leona, Costa Rica. Our new friends on the boat Rubaiyacht are anchored next to us, and the kids all have a great time together. We thoroughly enjoyed the two week visit with Mike’s mom Catherine and her friend Marge. The kids were ecstatic to have grandma 24 hours a day, swimming, hiking, exploring, sailing, and fishing.
We’re ready to move on, after 3 ½ months exploring Costa Rica by land and sea. Wait, we can’t go yet, a shrimp boat just arrived! Yum!”
“The kids are doing super. They are doing extremely well with school and Annie loves all the attention from her big brother. Ben loves helping Dad with boat projects. He’s very proud of the way he handles the dinghy and outboard and shows a lot of responsibility with it. He loves fishing and he makes sure that the lure is in the water, even when we’re cleaning a freshly caught fish. Annie’s as spunky as ever. She wants to show us how she’s growing tall fast for an almost five year old, so she lowers the growth chart (thanks Mom Caryl) we have on the bulkhead. Ben was an emotional wreck for two weeks while his LEGOS were stowed to make room for boat guests. The kids are both great swimmers and snorkelers.”
October 30, 1993: “Hola from Panama, by popular demand this letter is brought to you by Mike. We have made it to the Panama Canal. We are at the Balboa Yacht Club which is located by the only bridge that connects the country together. Huge ships pass by us constantly, within fifty yards of us. We just saw the largest ship to ever pass through the canal, the Royal Princess, a cruise ship which had to pay $141,000 to pass through. We will be transiting within four days, and our tariff is $235. It’s exciting to be this close to the canal. I know that Judith wrote you about our travels with my mom, Catherine, and her friend Marge, but I want to add to it. We saw the Arenal Volcano at night with a full moon rising over the top of it. Red lava was streaking down the side and you could hear the rumblings. It was awesome and something I will always remember. The next day we drove to Monteverde Cloud Forest, high in the mountains near the Continental Divide. It’s an area abundant with wildlife, and the highlight was seeing the Quetzal, the most beautiful bird in the world. We then returned to the boat and spent a week sailing around the Gulf of Nicoya, visiting a new anchorage every day. What a great two weeks with my mom and Marge.”
“The southwestern part of Panama has hundreds of islands, each populated with only one or two families. There are protected anchorages and beautiful beaches and people who love to trade lobsters for tee shirts and toys and powdered milk. We were invited to the birthday party of a five year old and had a wonderful time. We went with the people from the four other cruising boats, loaded with food and presents. We arrived at Jose’s grass hut (it was his daughter’s birthday) and we were all graciously welcomed. Dirt floors, extremely clean, handmade furniture, hammocks for beds, lots of smiles and laughter. We came away feeling that Jose and his family live better than any of us.”
“Melinda Lee has proved to be a great cruising boat with no problems. Ben and Annie Rose seem to be growing up so fast. They love to help with boat projects, and they’re learning Spanish faster than I am. Getting them to focus on school is always a challenge but the one on one teaching has been great for both of them. They are very happy kids. They have met many Panamanian kids and are very happy to play with them even when communication is a bit of a problem. We are just having a great time and really enjoying the cruising life.”
“The transiting of the canal was a wonderful experience. It took two days and we got to spend the night in Gatun Lake. It is really an amazing engineering feat. We started off crossing through the locks at 7 in the morning with an advisor from the canal district on board. He had a trainee and it was our responsibility to find the line handlers. Four are needed, so you find two adults from another sailboat at the Balboa Yacht Club, and then you all take the bus back at the end of the transit, and help to take theirs through the same procedure. And you bring all the kids with you. We had Dwayne and Debbie from Rubaiyacht and their two kids. Needless to say it was a full boat. The canal is set up with 3 locks going up and 3 coming down. You go up 84 feet to Gatun Lake. They have a series of two locks. Then you cross Miraflores Lake, 1/4 mile to the third lock. After coming out you proceed for eight miles through a narrow channel where only one ship can pass at a time. The cliffs go straight up on each side of you. Ninety million tons of earth was moved from this section. You come out to Gatun Lake and it is a twenty-three mile crossing to the down locks. The locks are 1000 feet long and 106 feet wide. We had to side tie to various ships and boats although at one point we were squeezed between two large vessels.”
December 26, 1993: “Greetings from Honduras. We’ve been enjoying the month of December in the Bay Islands, Honduras: Guanaja, and presently Roatan. We’re waiting for a break in the weather and then it’s off to Cochina and Utila. From there it’s off to Guatemala, where we plan to spend a couple of months enjoying the Rio Dulce River and traveling inland to see the Mayan Ruins. The Bay Islands are beautiful, sparsely populated with colorful clapboard houses built on stilts over coral and sand cays. There are no cars; all transportation is by boat and the main income source is from lobster and shrimp. The weather is not what we expected. Since this lifestyle is built around avoiding storms, we tend to be ready to leave an anchorage on short notice. We’ve had a month of cold front after cold front coming in, with higher winds, higher seas, and often thunderstorms. One of the boats we’ve been in company with is “Alfred” a 44 foot French boat carrying a French couple and a Dutch windsurfing instructor. Mike will rarely admit it, but he loves racing against them.”
January 10, 1994: Judy wrote:“The four boats in our group arrived in Livingston, Guatemala after a 24 hour sail from Utila. One by one we were ‘assisted’ over the bar in the Rio Dulce River. All four boats hired a launch to pull down on our spinnaker halyards, from the top of the masts, so that we proceeded into the river at a 20 degree angle of lean. Most interesting way of cruising! Definitely worth it. We’re in calm, fresh water full of fish and wildlife. We spent two days, slowly traveling up the river, stopping to enjoy a manatee preserve, jungle walk, and incredible scenery. Actually that word doesn’t do it justice. Pelicans, egrets and ducks flew through the gorge in front of us, 400 foot cliffs on either side, vines hanging down to the water, dugouts paddling by.”
“Tomorrow we take the boat into a Marina for 2 weeks of traveling inland. We’re renting a 12 seat minivan with our friends on Rubaiyacht and Alfred. We’ll travel to Honduras and visit the ruins in Copain, and then explore the Highlands. Ben and I may even attend a week long Spanish school to improve our Spanish. We’re learning some French from the folks on Alfred and really mixing ourselves up. Right now here is Mike’s favorite joke: What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who speaks one language? American! A bit more true than funny. Annie just woke up and is blowing kisses to me. The kids are doing great and school is going much better. These inland trips provide the motivation to get twice as much done each day in anticipation of days off. Ben checks Annie’s arithmetic before I do and loves telling her that she got them all correct. Well lots to do to prepare for the move to the Marina, and of course I have to bake chocolate chip cookies for the minivan.”
March 22, 1994: “We’re currently in Mojo Cay, just a mile or two north of Belize City. Mike’s mom and sister Sharon visited for a week of good fishing and diving, friendly Belizeans, and beautiful clean, clear water. There are about a dozen boats here, some we’ve met in other places as well. Some are hanging out, some sailing to Florida, some (like us) eventually heading to Venezuela. It’s sad to say goodbye to friends and to me that’s the hardest part of this lifestyle. From here it’s off to Lighthouse Reef so the kids can bond with the famous resident dolphin, ‘Honey’. Can you believe it? It’s already been a year. We’ve been to seven countries, through the Panama Canal, traveled by boat, bus, bikes, horses, and mostly feet. We’ve lived 24 hours a day together in a small space. We’ve even had our share of pets: lizards, hermit crabs, lobsters (until the water was boiling). We’ve come face to face with barracudas, dolphins, flying fish, jellyfish, bats and lots more. It’s been a great year.”
Spring 1994: “Greetings from that big island in the Northern Caribbean, the one that starts with the “C” and is run by the bearded fellow who smokes a cigar. The Cubans have been, by far, the friendliest people we have met. Wherever we walk we carry a large bag of clothes, shampoo and soap, toilet paper and toys to distribute. We are usually invited in for coffee and our kids are a big hit, as always. They have been given many gifts, including polished shells, an army beret, a karate manual, thirty pounds of mangoes, and many handmade necklaces made out of plastic, leather and seeds."
“We spent three days at Santiago de Cuba, our last Cuban port and the largest city on the southern coast. Entering was incredible. A huge fort/castle from the 15th century loomed down on us as our three boats with three American flags sailed into this deep water bay. Every person we saw, in homes, on boats, on bikes, riding horses, walking, everyone stopped and waved. We look forward to meeting them all, to visiting the museums and to finding that castle. Annie Rose is now in first grade and Ben has already started second grade. Ben helps Annie with her reading, and today it rained so we made origami frogs and had races. We bought four new Cuban musical instruments and Ben wants us to have a Family Band and perform in different countries!!! Now there’s a child who’s watched the Sound of Music too many times.”
“When we left Cuba we had an exciting adventure, at least for Ben. We had to sail through an embargo off the coast of Haiti to pick up our friends in the Dominican Republic.”
July 1994: “Bonjour De Guadeloupe! Comment Ca Va? I’m writing this letter from Les Saintes, a small group of islands just south of Guadeloupe. We’re flying our French courtesy flag after muddling through Spanish for the last eighteen months, so it’s time for my little Berlitz French book. After 2000 miles of going east to get to this beautiful chain of islands, we now find ourselves hurrying along to get out of the hurricane area. The trip from Isla Mujeres, Mexico to the eastern Caribbean has been a lot of sailing ‘to weather’ which means that the eastern trade winds are blowing right on our nose.”
November 1994: “Hola from Boca Del Rio on Isla Margarita, Venezuela. Looks like we’ve been doing a circumnavigation of the Caribbean. By the time the circle closes (in the Panama Canal) it will mean 16 months in those beautiful waters. When we arrived at Port of Spain, Trinidad, we spent quite some time doing projects and then on to Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, where we finished them up. Melinda Lee is looking great. New canvas above, new upholstery below, new bottom paint, buffed and polished hull and even a new dinghy.
“Venezuela has been fascinating. We’ve been inland with Catherine and John, Mike’s mom and brother, visiting the world’s highest falls, Angel Falls. We took an incredible hike right under and through another waterfall. We drove to the Andes and it was exhilarating being up in the high mountains.”
“Teaching school is still one of the major time consumers on board. We parted ways with our friends Peter and Glenda on Lamorna after buddy boating with them for the past eight months. It’s sad to wake up and see an extra spot in the anchorage where Lamorna should be. This is the hardest part of cruising. All these goodbyes as people head off on their various routes.”
“In several days we’ll start heading west. We’ll follow the chain of outer islands to Aruba, and then keep going west to Cartegena, Columbia, hopefully for Christmas. From there we’ll go visit the San Blas Islands and then by mid-February reach the Panama Canal. That’s this week’s plan. The beginning of March we’ll go west to the South Pacific islands and then who knows? We’ve decided we’re ready to take advantage of the Pacific trade winds and sail downwind. We’ve paid our dues traveling east. We’re really enjoying life on the boat and once through the Panama Canal we’ll reach our two year mark! That’s a long time in a floating storage locker. We did finally make it through the 186 rolls of toilet paper I stowed in San Diego.”
March 1995: “Five more days and we’ll hit the two year mark. Can’t believe it’s been that long and this much fun. So now the real excitement begins; the biggest and longest passage of our trip is about to happen, 3800 miles to the Marquesas. A boat our size should average 100 miles a day, taking into account the lighter winds near the equator. The doldrums. Thirty-eight days and nights is a looooong time with two kids in 47 feet. Other boats already on their way have reported, via single side band radio, great sailing, and steady winds with only occasional windless stretches. Ah, those windless stretches. Well, just in case the trip is even llooooooonger, I’ve had the kids memorize parts of 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner'.”
“Greetings from French Polynesia! We’re anchored in Papeete Harbor, along with about fifty other boats from all over the world. We spent a month in the Marquesas, and then a month in the Tuamotu Atolls. We also spent an amazing ten days in the Galapagos Islands, and our stay there was more than we expected. The wildlife and marine life was abundant and the islands are a true oddity. Can you imagine being in tropical weather and seeing penguins? Or seeing a goat lap up saltwater? Or very large smooth rocks turn into giant tortoises? There were sea lions playing with our anchor chain and teasing us by coming up to us as we swam. The kids were so close to their whiskers they would reach out to touch them, but the sea lions would dive down at the last moment. Then it was on to crossing the Equator. The leg from Panama to the Galapagos was 900 miles and took only six days, and the passage from the Galapagos to Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands took only 20 days to cover 3000 miles. We had steady winds, about 10-25 knots, all downwind, really enjoyable, and the kids enjoyed it too. We had a radio net of about 10 boats so we didn’t feel alone out there. When we left the Marquesas we started getting into very squally weather with high winds of about 40 knots and 8 foot seas. We had to slow the boat down so that we would arrive at the coral pass of Manihi in the Tuamotus in daylight. To do this we had to deploy a Galerider, a huge net type drogue that slowed us down by three knots. The Galerider made it more comfortable, but that’s our version of comfortable.”
October 1995: “Hello from Tonga. Today I realized how different it is cruising in the South Pacific compared to the Caribbean. I was watching my beautiful little girl have a long discussion with an older Tongan man. In the Caribbean there were more distractions. It was easier to mail Ben’s schoolwork for evaluations. There were airports to bring in and take out visiting friends and relatives. There were many more boats and anchorages and tourist activities. In the South Pacific, we have interacted as a family, even more, if that’s possible, and we have definitely had more association with the people who live in the various places we have visited. That is apparent by Annie Rose’s easy familiarity with this man. He paddled by in a canoe and he had just the shell that Annie wanted to get for Ben’s birthday coming up in November. Can you believe it? Annie just turned seven and Ben will be nine in a few weeks. So, back to the shell. The Tongan man was warmly welcomed aboard the Melinda Lee and offered juice by Annie. She began the negotiations by asking all about his family, and then produced gifts for him that were just right: shoes and clothing for his family, proper fish hooks for him, a board that might be a hindrance to the pigs that routed out his small dirt garden, and some cans of food with an opener. He produced the most gorgeous horned shell and she had the most incredible smile on her face. She has carefully wrapped it in several towels to disguise the shape and has hidden it away for the big day. Also, Mike has gotten much more involved in teaching the kids. He is painstaking in his reading and writing with Annie. I love to watch Mike and the kids when he takes them out in the little sailing dinghy in a protected anchorage. I can hear them laughing as he teaches them the intricacies of tacking and gybing.”