Welcome Aboard Sequel equel is a Hylas 51, designed by German Frers.  She was built in 1991 in Taiwan by Queen Long Marine.  We still find the occasional parts with Taiwanese letters.  Hylas boats are known for their luxurious interior and quality workmanship throughout.  She is also made for blue-water cruising. We've made Sequel a comfortable floating home.  We brought a few things from our home in San Jose to decorate the interior, but most of the things aboard are things we picked up during our travels.  Plants are one of the things Cheryl likes keeping aboard even though they are a hassle when we're underway.    A new batch of plants was just moved aboard after Cheryl went to a horicultural show in Trinidad. We find lots of interesting things as we travel -- silk paintings from an artist in St. Lucia, brass carvings and pottery in Trinidad,  Straw dolls in the windward islands.  Some things are kept on the boat and others are shipped home to be saved for later years.         The Crew Allen and Cheryl lived in San Jose, California before moving aboard in 1995.  Allen worked for PG@E, the local utility company, for 35 years. When they offered an early retirement package in 1995, Allen jumped at the chance.  Our youngest son was graduating from high school, and all the rest of the kids were either in college or living on their own.  It was a perfect time to try something new. In his land-based life, Allen loved riding his BMW motorcycle, -- it was the hardest thing for him to give up when me made the move to the boat.  He also liked watching car races (which he still does on occasion when we can find a TV hookup).   At one point in our land-based life, we used to go snow skiing, which is something we definitely don't do in the tropics!  Cheryl is a programmer and has been able to find several jobs doing contract work from the boat.  It often involves traveling back to San Jose, which limits how mobile we can be at times.  She's certainly seen the inside of the airports from most of these remote islands we visit!  In some islands that she's flown out of alot, the Immigration Officer says "Welcome Home" when she arrives.   Cheryl also rode her own BMW motorcycle, but for her, the hardest thing to give up was her home and being close to her children.   We have 5 children and 5 grandchildren to visit when we return to the states.   She visits as often as possible. When Cheryl retires,  our freedom to take long trips will finally be available.  Maybe that trip across the Atlantic? Living Quarters Learning to live in small places is definitely an acquired skill. Gone are the days where we have unlimited cupboards to carefully store things -- and where is that garage to put the things we don't use regularly?  When your total living space is only 50 feet long and 15 feet wide, you develop creative storage techniques.  Being a pack-rat is out of the question.  Our dry food and spare boat parts are stored under the beds, behind the settees, under the floorboards.. you name it.  Just about every nook or cranny on the boat becomes a storage container   Trying to remember which mattress to lift to find that spare light bulb can be a challenge! We have the whole world to look at  when we go above decks, so we never feel like we're living in a confined space.  We've just learned to limit what we own and we definitely pack carefully.  It is actually rather freeing to have everything you own able to moved to a new town in less than 15 minutes. Keeping in touch It is amazing to find cyber cafes even in the most remote islands.   The whole world seems to be tuned into the internet these days.  It has sure made keeping in touch with friends and family easy to do.  We can't imagine the days (in the not so distant past) where you would be out of touch for weeks on end.  We also have both a satellite phone and satellite email on board Sequel.   Our "Planet 1" phone looks a lot like a laptop computer with a hand-set attached.  We take the phone into the cockpit and aim the lid of the phone (the antenna) to the closest satellite and wait for the phone to lock-on to the satellite.   Once the satellite is contacted, we can phone anywhere in the world.  We have phoned our family from the middle of the ocean with no land in site!  Amazing... We have an inmarsat-C satellite email unit that is constantly waiting for messages to arrive.   A light comes on when a message has been received and we just have to turn on the computer to see the message. Food Shopping is definitely an experience in the Caribbean.  You can never count on what you find on the shelves in a market -- if you can call some of the places we shop a market!!  If they have something you want, you might as well clear the shelves.  You might never see it again.  There doesn't seem to be any pattern to why they don't restock.  If the food stays on the shelf too long, they won't buy it again.  If it goes to quickly, they consider it hard to keep in stock and they won't buy it again.  Go figure.... We often go to open air markets for our fruits and vegetables.   They're an amazing place to shop with women sitting at a stall selling their produce.  Often on cardboard boxes on the floor or on home-made wooden tables.   The quality is usually good and the variety incredible.  The grapefruit is one of our favorites.  It is soooo sweet and juicy. At times, we have no idea what we're buying, but the ladies at the market are more than willing to give you suggestions on how to prepare it.   Sometimes we just buy it with no idea what it is because it isn't always labeled and we don't always speak the language.   Try buying a packaged mix in Bonaire -- the instructions will be in Dutch!  Never a dull moment.... Cruisers look for every excuse to have a potluck.  We've learned to keep things aboard for a meal to share.  We often get recipes from our fellow cruisers that we really enjoy. Don't we get bored? Never!  The pace of our lives has slowed down to a point where we can spend an entire afternoon watching two birds chase each other around a marina.  We enjoy the simple things in life like swimming with the fish, walking down deserted beaches looking for shells, and watching the sunset.  We usually get involved in the communities where we visit.  There are often new holidays to learn about and participate in.  And there are always new people to meet.  It is fun to get to know other cruisers as well as the local people.