RINCON MASSAGE THERAPY & HOLISTIC HEALTH by JEFF SINCLAIR is now on Yelp. 

Text/Call for Appointment 787-421-4664 or visit www.rinconmassage.com for more details!

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Need a reason to receive massage?

Here is a good one.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11315/why-massages-really-do-keep-you-healthy-a-cardiologist-explains.html

 

 

 

 

Jeff Sinclair, LMT, HHP

Rincon, Puerto Rico

787-421-4664

www.rinconmassage.com

Rincon, PR Dog Sanctuary

We farm vegetables, fruits, and now the dogs in the neighborhood are getting the word out about our Rincon Dog Sanctuary! We just acquired our forth dog, a 2 year old white & grey German Shepard named Lobo. He is beautiful and is taking well to the pack.

Winter 2009 Update

We hope this update finds you well and excited for the upcoming Holiday Season! We haven't seen many of you over the past 3 years, and thought it was time for an update.

Jeff and I moved to Rincon, Puerto Rico in August 2007. We have two businesses, Rincon Sailing and Massage Therapy & Holistic Health by Jeff Sinclair.

Our sailing school is predominantly a summer time program (June - August) with a large summer sailing camp. You can check out the camp photos at our website www.rinconsailing.com. The fall, winter, and spring months in Rincon are filled with surf and can limit the amount of sailing we can accomplish, so we manage private lessons in between swells!

I am excited to report that in the fall of 2009, I took a job as the assistant sailing coach for Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. ODU is my alma mater and we have one of the finest sailing teams and facilities in the nation. ODU has been bestowed 90 All American honors on its sailors and won 17 National Championships!

I was in Virginia during the sailing season (September – November) and now I am back to Rincon until February when sailing begins again at ODU. While in VA I am living at my Mom’s house in Virginia Beach. It is tough being away from Jeff, but we are managing it well and he stays busy with work and our 3 dogs.

Yes, we have 3 dogs. Magic is our 2.5 year old black Dane/Lab mix. He is roughly 100 lbs and runs like a horse! BG (short for Baby Girl) is our Pit/Lab/Chow mix and she is a ball of energy. She is sweet, loyal; I call her my black shadow!

Ruby is newest member to the Sinclair Clan. She is a blond Sheppard/Chow mix that managed to find our house one day. She is our only blond dog and Ruby is short for Rubia, meaning blond in Spanish!

Massage has been great for Jeff. He is traveling with his table to guest houses, hotels, and client’s homes around the west coast. He manages to stay pretty busy and has earned a solid reputation as a great licensed massage therapist in Rincon. www.zenclair.com

Our home is coming along. We finally feel a bit more moved in. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home on 4 acres of farm land. We have a great orchard full of fruit trees, which seem to be harvesting all year long. We have Mangos, 3 types of Avacados, Grapefruits, Lemons, Limes, China Orange, Marmalade Orange, Guanabana, 5 different types of bananas, Plantains, Mame, Nonie, Canepé, Breadfruit, Starfruit, Coconut, Aceroles…. And so many more that I can even remember!

We have been building a 1 bedroom apartment on to the existing structure of our home. We are nearly finished with the project and it should be ready in the start of 2010. We have some finishing work to do, and it soon will be all together. We want all of you to have your special place to stay when you come for a visit! We'll post photos soon!

We hope you have wonderful holidays and hope to hear from all of you soon!

Jeanne & Jeff

FAST FORWARD 2 YEARS

After discussions, decisions, plans, packing, unpacking, storing, and putting away, Jeff and I have settled down in Rincon, Puerto Rico. Not only have we started our business, we started our family too. Ok, no human children yet, but canine children. We adopted our boy Magic in Fall of 2007. BG (short for Baby Girl) was adopted in March of 2008. Both are black Puerto Rican Mutts, and both were the runts of the litter. Magic weighs about 90lbs, BG is a solid 50lbs. Needless to say we love our little ones and they keep us happy. We are very thankful and feel blessed each day.

Where in the world...

Jeff and I are still in San Diego. We both have been working professionally in our respective professions! We are living in lovely Hillcrest. Jeanne is the Junior Sailing Director at the Coronado Yacht Club and Jeff has a consistent massage clientèle. My sister Jennifer is living next door and is attending the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. Her focus is acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. We have a great time being so close and getting to spend a lot of time together.

If you recall Jeff and I dropped into Rincon, Puerto Rico last year when we arrived in the Caribbean after crossing the Atlantic. Our love for the place brought us back for a few visits over the past 12 months and we decided to make an offer on a home on a hill. Our offer was accepted and we are working on getting the place together over the next few months, painting rooms, buying furniture, figuring out what to do with 3.65 acres with both an ocean and bay view! Enclosed are some photos! Enjoy.


Two Bedroom, Two Bath


Desecheo Island, Western Puerto Rico


View of Isla Verde in San Juan, PR.(eastern PR)

Latest & Greatest

Jeff and I departed from Quest and made our way back to mainland U.S. We visited Puerto Rico and spent a few lovely days with some friends in Rincon. We also had a stop over in New Jersey for a few days during a major snow storm. We drove to Virginia Beach to spend time with my mother and brother. After a week of discussion we convinced my mother to jump in the car and drive on to Texas to spend time with Jeff's family. We spent at least a week enjoying Rockwall County before we had to make the two day trek to San Diego. We are back on the west coast and are getting back to life on land, work, etc. Both of us are healthy and happy. We hope you enjoyed our sailing trip.

Arrived!

We finally departed Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. We spent three days shy of one month at the Porto de Las Palmas. It is not a bad place to spend your time waiting to cross the Atlantic. For instance it is the major city of the island so everything or item one may need is possible to be found of which Jeff and I were very pleased. We did end up meeting some wonderful people and are grateful for getting to know them while in town.

Our original departure date was pushed back more than three times. Originally we planned to leave right after the New Year, January 4, 2006, but due to weather delays we postponed. We expected to depart the following Monday, January 9, but also weather postponed us. At the same time the little head cold that was floating from boat to boat on the dock made it aboard the crew of Quest. Jeff and I were under the weather for a while, Jeff’s cold lasted two weeks and mine just a few days. But needless to say one should not depart for a 3 week excursion across the high seas whilst under the weather. We geared up to depart again after the weather had passed on Thursday, January 12, 2006. We actually untied the dock lines, put the engine in reverse and wouldn’t you know we had the mooring line wrap the starboard propeller. Jeff was dressed in his swim trunks and mask in less than two minutes and jumped in to unravel the line.

He showered off and we were back to getting underway. We got the boat off the dock and motored to the fuel dock for the last top off on the diesel tanks. While we were heading over Chris was noticing that the starboard engine was not engaging to forward nor reverse. When we reached the fuel dock Jeff redressed in his swim trunks and mask, jumped back into the water to see if the sail drive was damaged when the line wrapped the propeller. Once the realization had hit us that the engine had some damage, Jeff showered with the hose at the fuel dock; we motored with the port engine back to our berth on pontoon 18. So many things were going through our heads as to what type of damage, what type of repair might be necessary to get the engine going again. Would we need to haul out and have Quest up on the hard for it to be repaired? What time frame were we looking at? Something that could take a week, a month, depending on the yard, do they have space for us, when could we get underway? Needless to say we were stressing especially since we were really excited to get underway across the Atlantic and on with our next step in our lives. Jeff and I went and called our folks that night to let them know we were unsure as to what was happening, but not to worry, we’d keep them posted. After a restless night of sleep Jeff and Chris went to speak to the Marina Yard. He recommended a mechanic and sent him to the boat at 1130am. When he arrived, he spoke only Spanish; Jeff did a great job explaining the problem with the engine not engaging. The mechanic asked Chris to start the engine and started to diagnose the problem. Come to find out we had not damaged the sail drive, we were not going to need a haul out, and with just two locking nuts the mechanic reconnected the throttle cable to the handle. For a mere half an hour and 50Euros later we were repaired and able to get underway that afternoon. What a relief!

On Friday, January 13, 2006 at 1530 we released the dock lines and started our trip across the Atlantic.

Days 1 - 7

We moved north around the island of Las Palmas as the sun was setting in the distance. Our first night out was pleasurable; we had some nice winds getting us north and west around the islands. In the morning we passed Tenerife with its view of a snow covered volcano and eventually we passed the western most islands in the Canary Islands named Gomera and Hierro.

Our first few days seemed full of wind from the east and we were moving along at 170 nautical miles a day. We were visited by a pod of dolphins.

Even though it seemed encouraging, the breeze did not maintain its velocity and we began to experience doldrums. We kept moving with the breeze but it brought us south and not west. The prayer from each of the crew when crossing the Atlantic is for the wind to take the boat west and gradually south! The afternoon of day six we actually had some great breeze and we were moving west. With a reef in the sail we were moving around 8 knots an hour. Chris decided to tighten the reefed outhaul on the boom, with all the tension and it snapped. With all of us harnessed up on the deck we had to feed a new outhaul through the boom and retie the reefed clew at the end of the boom. With that repaired we returned to our afternoon watch and relaxing.

After dinner Jeff and Chris went to jibe the sail from starboard to port, all was going smoothly when mainsail was being let out on the port side and the wind spiked enough to explode the mainsail and send a tear like a lightening bolt from the head of the sail to the leech. The jagged tear did nothing to lift our spirits since we knew that attempting a repair like this would be tough. Many sailboats have additional sails, Quest does not. The inventory for Quest is one genoa, one asymmetrical spinnaker, a storm jib, and now an exploded mainsail. We were left to sail the remainder of our journey on the jibs alone. Thankfully the genoa is a beefy sail and with strong winds of 13 – 20 knots we could really make some time. The asymmetrical spinnaker sails well in 8 – 15 knots, and the storm jib is only good for 25 knots and up. But again we are sailing, wind is the hot commodity and we were in need of some.

Jeff started to troll with his hand real and we were lucky to have a yellow fin tuna for lunch and dinner. We had sashimi for lunch. Dinner we had two types of tuna. Asian style tuna pan seared with ginger, soy, wasabi and vinegar dressing. We also had twist of “Cat Fish” style tuna with a spicy breading lightly fried in olive oil. Both were served with white rice and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. It was brilliant!

I baked some bread too!

Days 8 – 15

While sailing across the Atlantic and other oceans boat usually have an “SSB” (Single Side Band) radio aboard. The SSB is a great way for a vessel to keep in touch with other boats that are heading in the same direction. The group is called a “Net.” The “Net” decides on a frequency and time of day usually every 12 hours to check in and communicate. In our “Net” we had total of 5 boats. Calypso, Argentaria, and Altalia had departed 48 hours ahead of us. Gilana had departed 24 hours ahead. The “net” is very helpful with discussing upcoming weather information, passing on well wishes and just important information like latitude and longitude positions so in case anything happens like an EPIRB is set off there is a record of where you last checked in. The boats 2 days ahead are closer than one 6 days off.

During our morning “Net” the boat furthest west Argentaria told our group about an EPIRB that the Portuguese Airforce was responding to. While sailing the night before the Portuguese Airforce plane had circled above Argentaria and notified them by VHF (Very High Frequency) radio of the position of the EPIRB signal and asked Argentaria to divert their course to the area of the EPIRB and provide assistance. Argentaria did not know what type of vessel was in distress, but as a group we all changed our direction to head for this EPIRB to assist. Argentaria was the first vessel to arrive and pulled a life raft alongside and inside were two weary Atlantic Row Boat Crossing competitors. Just a few weeks earlier the Atlantic Row Boat Crossing Regatta began from Las Palmas. This vessel had been rolled by a rouge wave and began to sink. The rowers were able to get to their EPIRB, but their life raft went down with the vessel. The Portuguese Airforce had dropped a life raft for these two guys and they managed to get into it. Argentaria got them aboard. In a few hours a super tanker showed up to collect the rowers. One of the rowers refused to return to the life raft when the tanker deployed their rescue pod to collect them. The skipper of Argentaria had to physically force the rower back in the life raft since he was racked with fear.

With the rescue taken care of we were able to get back on our original course.

On the evening of the 10^th day out to sea Jeff had the 2000 – 2300 shift. It was an exceptionally dark night, no moon and still as a lake in the middle of the Atlantic. Jeff had his head out of the pilot house and he saw a green flair to the north of us that arced out across the sky. Distress flairs are red in color, however this was green and he said it lit up the whole sky. We did divert our course and motored 10 miles to the north and made communication on the VHF radio if any other vessels in the area either saw or may have deployed it and need assistance. After no response and checking the line of sight area we decided to call it chance or perhaps a meteor, but we went back to our course.

A few days later Calypso spoke on the morning “Net” about seeing a similar arcing green flair that lit up the whole sky. It was not determined what it was, but it was seen a second time on another night. Hummm….makes one wonder.

Day 11 brought us whales! We spent the morning setting the asymmetrical spinnaker with the pole. Of course it was a beautiful day, light breeze, sunshine and whales everywhere. We tried to take photos of them with the still camera, but they are shy and would only get caught in the video footage. We also noticed what looked like small algae floating by when all of a sudden we were smack in the middle of a huge ocean current. The current was at least to boat widths wide. We could tell it was current with all the stuff floating in it, especially the plastic netting which seemed to be all over the water. It was a sad sight to see plastic bags, a shoe, just downright junk in the middle of the Atlantic.

Each day we are out here we see a bird. It is white with a longer tail. After speaking to Gilana we found out the bird’s name is the Tropic Bird. We are thousands of miles from land and this bird just floats over head like land is right around the corner!

We had the pleasure of seeing the flying fish out here in the Atlantic. It is a sight to see what one might think is a bird with wings flying so close to the water, but it is not, it is a fish with wings sailing through the water away from its prey. We check the deck daily for flying fish that did not make it passed Quest. We have returned at least 6 stiff ones that fly themselves on the deck or get washed on by the waves and are unable to return to their watery homes.

Okay, we told everyone that our trip across the Atlantic should take about 18 days when the trade winds are really working. Well this January is not typical in the statistic books for Mid Atlantic trade winds. We have had everything but. Day 14 gave us flat calm and we had to motor for 24 hours. Day 15 began with little breeze and a lot of sun. Jeff and I took advantage and gave ourselves a salt water wash on deck with a bucket. One would think the middle of the Atlantic might be chilly, not the southern Mid Atlantic. The water is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Low pressure systems were to the west of us, right where we want to go. Having a low pressure pushing down on us causes the wind to shut off until we sail in the middle of it and we reap the benefits of the wind but also the havoc the seas. We ended up getting some serious waves of 15 – 18 feet and winds from 18 – 30 knots. Originally we battened down all the hatches and lashed as much as we could down. Unfortunately we took for granted a key piece of equipment: the biminy (sunshade). We had been in strong winds before, but these were different, they were from the Northwest and they came with a vengeance. We watched as the shade slowly ripped from the starboard side to them middle with the 30 knot gusts. Chris wanted to just cut it all down so that we would not lose the stainless frame with the wind. So we harnessed up and went out with sharp knives and cut the whole thing down. It was a shame we forgot to close up the whole frame in the first place, it was a great biminy and gave Jeff and I many days of cool shade!

The waves took their toll on Quest that evening. When we surveyed the damage in the morning light we had lost a 5 gallon jury jug of water. It was strapped to the stern of the cockpit. The waves were strong enough to break through two lines and a Velcro strap for the jug.

Needless to say that being on the open ocean is not for everyone. Face it, sea sickness can really make a not so nice time even worse. Thankfully we have only had one of our crew, Louise, afflicted with the tormenting likes of this problem. We managed to change meal preparation tasks to help out our mate and keep her out of the hot kitchen which makes her feel even worse. The sickness happens to Louise when the seas are rolling and she has a hard time keeping her eyes on the horizon.

Days 16 – 20

We finally got wind along with big seas, but over the last few days it smoothed over and we were sailing 7 knots toward Antigua. The last few days seemed to take forever until we finally saw land! It was like a grey outline on the horizon. As we arrived closer we got to see the beauty of the island. Green hills, beautiful rock formations, blue green water, it was truly a sight. The island was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and was named after the church of Santa Maria la Antigua in Seville, Spain. The Spanish abandoned it because it has no water source and the English began their occupation in 1632. The abolition of slavery in 1834 led to the break up of the land. Today Antigua is an independent island.

We spotted land at 0800. Jeff and I spent most of the morning outside in anticipation of land fall. We arrived in English Harbor on the south side of the island. It is an old historical port hosting the former Nelson’s Dockyard. Currently it is a National Park. The Pillars of Hercules boarder the port entrance, they are a prime example of the history of the island. We arrived at anchorage at 1335, a total of 20 days and 2 hours to the minute!

We are off to enjoy some Red Stripe Maahhn!

Ringing in 2006!

The Sinclairs - the Mountains - Gran Canaria

Hola! We had a great Christmas and New Year while staying in the port of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria! We had a great Christmas dinner with our friends from the sail boat Gilana. Laura and Mike and their 17 year old daughter Liz joined us for our four course meal.

We started with appetizers of shrimp with aioli sauce and fresh bread! Our second course included a “Jeanne-Dorf” salad with crumbled cheese and balsamic dressing; in addition we had an Asian style spicy cucumber salad. Our third course included cumin carrots, green beans with ham, cheesy broccoli and cauliflower, herbed potatoes and a roasted turkey. For desert we had palmeras “elephant ears,” Laura’s English Plum Pudding with custard, and chocolate pastry treats! Our bellies were full!

Christmas came to "Quest"

Jack, the dock angel from Gilana!

We rented a car for a few days and drove to the mountains to see the interior of the island of Gran Canaria. The day we traveled was windy and chilly. The mountain air was a refreshing change from the port town of Las Palmas.

While we were in the mountains we stopped for lunch and had the “Menu del Dia.” In Spain it is normal for people to have a great lunch with a glass of wine for about $7.00. We had a choice of soup or salad for starters. The main course we could have a steak of tuna or curry chicken. And for desert you always have a choice of flan but all of us chose to have chocolate mousse.

For the New Year we were invited to dinner aboard Gilana. Laura made some lovely appetizers of dates wrapped in bacon, garlic bread, and black olive spread. We had salad along with our main course Lasagna. For desert we had a chocolate orange mousse and a fire works show that lasted until 15 minutes after midnight.

Our harbor was going crazy with horns from the commercial and cruise ships in port. The sounds were really melodious. Jeff and I went to bed around 0100am but the party on the docks went until 0500am.

Quest & Gilana sharing New Years aboard Gilana!
Since we have been in port since the middle of December we have been spending some time in the local establishments. One that we have frequented is called “Cheers.” We have tried it for lunch and dinner however we like visiting in the evening most when Norm and Woody are present. We have a great time trying to communicate with the “Spanish Only” speaking employees. Jeff and I have been given nicknames of Jane & Tarzan from California. We in turn have given the bartender Octavio the nick name of Elvis. Alicia is the server and we have nick named the manager, Don Johnson. They are truly wonderful people who have welcomed us as locals. In turn we have burned them music cds and surpassed our eating out budget! It is not what you know, but who you know.

Alicia y "Elvis" Octavio - Cheers!

Jeff, Don Johnson, Alicia, Octavio, Jeanne, Chef

We’ll be departing this lovely port town in a few days. We’ll be crossing the Atlantic. It usually takes between 18 and 24 days depending on the trade winds. We are expecting landfall in Antigua around January 22 – 25. We hope all of you will enjoy tracking us via satellite. Drop us a note so we have something to read when we get to the other side!

Can You Hear Us Now!

While on our travels we have been without phone service. To make calls we could have purchased a cell phone and the country chip, however, each country chip is 5o Euros and the phone prices start at 75 Euros. Then we would have had to purchase some time: 30 minutes for 30 Euros.

Instead we were introduced to SKYPE. For those of you who have heard of it: Why didn't you tell us about it earlier? SKYPE is wonderful! For 15 Euros we have spoken to everyone around the world we know at .02 cents a minute!

Check out SKYPE.com

We love it!

Holiday Wishes!

Jeff and I are in Gran Canaria in the port of Las Palmas.
We'll be here through the New Year.
We hope all of you have Happy Holidays!
We love you all.

Pictures from Lanzarote

Jeff and I ready for a night out after fresh "cold" showers!












An old Taliyot structure in Lanzarote. The southwest side of the island.












The island is formed by volcanoes. There is a lack of vegitation because of the climate. The original lava formations are easy to see at the edge of the water.

Lovely Rita

The trip to the Canary Islands took us from Tuesday morning to Sunday morning. We arrived to the island of Lanzarote, the largest eastern island. We chose to anchor in Puerto de Nao. We are directly next to the commercial shipping docks and surrounded by reefs. We arrived at 0430am and slept until 0900. Once up, Jeff and I decided to take a trip in the inflatable dingy to the closest beach. We were hanging out playing backgammon and talking when we were approached by some crazy talking African. He was half in the bag and kept spewing frontier gibberish. We thought he was just asking us for some Euros, but we said we didn’t have any with us. Thinking that might finish the conversation, we were wrong. He ended up talking to us but we were hard pressed to understand a word the guy said except for “You know what I am saying” which he said after everything.

After the African took off we were approached by a guy in a Speedo banana hammock. Jeff and I were thinking this was just our day for talking to random people. Come to find out after a few minutes of questions and answers, his name was Vladimir and his friend’s name was Stas. Both are working on a freighter named Rita in the commercial dock next to our anchorage. Vladimir is Russian and is the 2^nd Officer. Stas is Estonian and is the 2^nd Engineer. Rita is a mid-size freighter that has a crew of ten aboard. We spent two hours talking about stuff and drinking a few beers. Stas needed to get back to the ship and Jeff and I offered them a ride back in the inflatable. They were happy to get a ride and we took them around the harbor wall and they climbed up the ladder. They invited us aboard and said to come back to the boat in 20 minutes so they could get the boat ladder over the side for us to climb aboard. We went back to Quest grabbed our camera and a warm layer of clothing. When we came around the ladder was in place. Climbing up the side of a freighter is not the easiest thing to do with the dingy constantly moving and trying to get a solid footing on a rope ladder was very exciting. I know I said my prayers that I could keep my feet underneath me and use my legs not my arms to get up the ladder. Notice the small line going into the water along the side of the hull on the port (or left side) of the boat. It is the ladder we climbed up.

We met most the crew including the Captain, 1^st Officer, Cook, Chief Engineer, 3^rd Mate, come to think of it must have been everyone. The crew is made up of men from Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Philippines, or Germany. After a few beers we took a tour of Rita’s superstructure and engine room. Both were impressive. The vessel is German owned, built in 1995, and is very ship shape. We spent about two hours aboard and enjoyed our new friends.

Gibraltar Exit

We had a chance to check out Gibraltar before we left port. When walking from the Spanish side to the British side we had to cross a working airfield. Luckily the time we decided to walk about was right time for a take off. We were stopped behind the line and had a chance to hear and see the happenings of the takeoff.

After the gates were opened we took a walk up the hill to visit the Gibraltar monkeys. The monkeys are called Barbary Apes, but everyone seems to just call them the monkeys. There is a urban legend that Prime Minister Churchill said that the day there are no monkeys in Gibraltar is the day when Spain will regain control of the land.

Lunch Time!

While up the hill we took these shots of the port.

We departed on Tuesday, December 6 from the port enroute to the Canary Islands. Gibraltar port has a reputation for being one of the busiest ports in the world. We had at least 5 larger than life tankers both moving in or out of port and had to dodge the hydrofoil commuter ferries that cruise at least 15 – 20 knots from Africa to Spain on an hourly basis.

Thankfully we had nice winds and the current was not its usually ripping. We were able to put up the sails and work our way through the Straits. Once through the Straits we had to cross from north to south across the Traffic Separation Scheme. Traffic Separation Schemes are similar to highways in the middle of channels or along the coasts. The Traffic Separation Schemes are used by large vessels to navigate the safest route from one destination to another. Our vessel, the sailboat, does not have any right of way in these Schemes. We avoided getting in the way of any of vessels by crossing the flow of traffic at a right angle.