Stacked seas Lindsay McRory August 7, 1996 Tropical waves are stacked up five deep across the Atlantic. It seams like one rolls over us every other day. Southbound boats have been hanging out here in Luperon or going to Samama on the Dominican Republic's east coast where they also are waiting for things to die down a bit. Boats heading for the United States have had a better time of it. The strong trade winds have made for fast, although lumpy, passages north. We spend an hour a day taking Spanish lessons. It's genuine fun for the whole family, although Wesley gets a little bored at times. I thought I'd impress the locals at the marina with my new-found language, and told them what Denise made for breakfast. They were bent over laughing for nearly 20 minutes. I wanted to say my wife made ranch-style eggs. Apparently, what I said was more like, my wife has breasts like ranch-style eggs. Good thing we go to school every day. Food in Luperon is mostly likely what food was like for our great grandfathers. Unrefrigerated farm fresh eggs and flavorful but scrawny chickens and other meat carved fresh daily at the butcher shop (a table in a back yard). On the Hakuna Matata, barnacles have been an ongoing concern. They seem to like the murky water and stick quickly to anything and everything. It takes only a couple of weeks to completely foul a prop. Propeller cleaning gets added to our list of weekly chores. Lots of different types of people--on cruising boats and locals--here at Luperon. Keeps things interesting. We have met two different families who have been out cruising for the last 20 years. Lilley Maid is a 60-foot, wooden ketch built in 1917. Mike and Allison Pinderson have sailed around the world and are half way around their second circumnavigation. They have three children, all born in a different country. Tom was born is Australia, Ian was born in Africa, and Natalie was born in England. They have no intention of going "back." After 20 years, they really have nothing like a home to go back to anyway. They left here last week bound for Trinidad to start building a custom sailboat on contract. Mike wasn't happy about the late-season crossing, especially with the condition out in the Atlantic. His preference was to stay here for a while longer, but with a commitment to start a job, he thought it best to take his chances and slug it out straight to Trinidad. We hope they had a safe, comfortable trip. For us, plans are to hang out here a little longer.