Time for the next adventure!

I know it's been a year since I've posted to the blog!! Call me lazy, a slacker, whatever!  We didn't go cruising this past winter, but stayed in New Smyrna Beach (NSB), where we keep the boat. We really did enjoy being there.  We didn't have to worry about our anchor dragging at night and looking for a place to hide out from the fronts.  It was so stinking easy being at the dock!  And it was a very warm winter as well. We had such good intentions of getting lots of 'projects' accomplished on the boat. And we did get some completed, just not nearly as many as we planned. I guess that's what next season is for!

On to the next adventure of the year!!! We are leaving in a few days for our Canada/Alaska trip. We are picking up a new class 'c' motor home at the Winnebago factory in Iowa and driving it across Canada and delivering it to Anchorage, Alaska. We have 3 weeks to get it there.  I know that's not much time, but we'll see and do what we can. We had thought we would fly out to Anchorage and rent an RV out there and tour for a few weeks, but then this opportunity came up and we decided this was a way to see NW Canada as well. After we drop off the RV we are flying down to Ketchikan and boarding a 60 passenger 'Un-Cruise' ship for a week long trip through the inside passage. We aren't cruise ship people, but this isn't your usual cruise ship. You can check it out at www.un-cruise.com . Then off to Seattle and Vancouver for a few more days before coming home. We are really excited about this trip, as it is something we've talked about doing for several years.  I hope this will be the first of many trips out that way. There is so much to see!!  Lions and tigers and bears, Oh My!!  Well......maybe it's more like goats and buffalo and bears, oh my!

Our Internet service will be sketchy at best, so we probably won't be able to post much either here or on Facebook, even though we would like to.  We'll do what we can.  And we'll definitely post when we get back home! 

Back in Florida!

Our last sunset as we were heading back to Florida

We are back in Florida again, having crossed back last Thursday (I think).

Sunrise coming across the Gulf Stream

It's always sad to leave and head for home, but it's also good to be back - does that make sense? We got back in time to call our granddaughter Kate and wish her a very happy 7th birthday. We will celebrate it with her when we get back to Tennessee and she gets back from Disney World.

The last couple of weeks we were in the Abacos it was very windy! That seemed to be the theme for this season. The pattern seemed to be for the forecast to show we would have some nice settled weather for 4 or 5 days and we would get excited just thinking about the fact that we could move around to some different islands, we'd pick up the anchor and move, have maybe two settled days and here come the strong winds again! We spent a week at Manjack Cay, which has another gorgeous beach for walking and scavenging. I had hoped to get in several days of kayaking and snorkeling, but that didn't happen since the wind piped up to 20 - 25 knots. Just getting from the boat into the dinghy in that much wind guarantees you getting wet. One of the small (uninhabited) islands bordering Manjack is Crab Cay and it has a small beach that was a shorter, drier ride to get to for a tiny bit of excercise. So one afternoon I loaded up the pups in the dinghy and took off, only to arrive at the beach to two pigs, a momma and a very young one, wading out in the water looking for me to feed them. We've been to this beach many times and never seen or heard of pigs here, so needless to say I was excited and so were the dogs. I hadn't anticipated them so didn't have anything for them.

These are the pigs on No Name Cay
picture from s/v Laughter

There is another island, No Name Cay (actually the name of it), that we heard now has 5 pigs. We didn't get to go there this time because of the wind. Tom & Jan on m/v Laughter stopped there and Jan got to feed them.

We left Manjack and headed a little farther north to Powell Cay, which is another uninhabited island with very nice beaches both on the Atlantic side and the Sea of Abaco side. Spent a good bit of time walking these. The first night we were there, there were 3 other boats in the anchorage. We had cocktail hour with everyone on the beach. We knew one couple, but this gave us an opportunity to meet two new couples. Turns out both couples (that we didn't know) had just recently arrived from Florida and were beginning their cruising season. All three boats left the following morning for other islands, so we had the place to ourselves - at least for a little while. The path leading to the Atlantic beach on the north end of the island is like walking through the jungle. Luckily people have hung various plastic jugs and other things on trees along the way to guide you. The path is about two feet wide and you've got to dodge the poison wood most of the way. Luckily neither of us broke out with blisters from it. We must have spent three hours walking this beach. We had the entire beach to ourselves, so.......... perfect opportunity to work on getting rid of those tan lines!!! Except after a couple of hours we look down the beach and we see two more people walking toward us! Where did they come from??? We'd left our bathing suits back at the edge of the path coming down to the beach. Busted!! We stayed at Powell for 2 1/2 days, which wasn't long enough, but the weather window was there to make our exit from the Abacos back to Florida, so we took it. Both days we were at Powell we counted numerous boats making their way farther north prepping to head back to the states. Lots of chatter on the radio between the boats about where and when they were leaving from and going to. We left Powell Cay at 11:30am Thursday and headed for Ft. Pierce. We saw numerous large ships in the gulfstream, but only once did we have to slow down and alter our course.


One of the ships we encountered during the crossing - we gave him plenty of room!!

 It was a decent crossing and uneventful until just before we headed into the Ft. Pierce inlet. We see this boat flying out our way, perhaps a 30' - 35' center console boat with four very large outboards. I commented to Jeff that they were really in a hurry to get somewhere and they were bouncing all over the place throwing up huge sprays of water. They went past us and then promptyly turned around and headed over to us. Customs & Border Patrol came out to greet us!! Not really to greet us. They pulled alongside and asked a few questions and then let us go and said they would be back. Took off towards our friends on 'Makani' and for whatever reason, boarded them. They checked out their refrigerator and basically all their food and liquor, as well as their passports and ship's papers, then said their goodbyes. Very strange! Other friends were boarded by the Coast Guard as they were approaching Lake Worth inlet. In any case, we arrived at Ft. Pierce by noon on Friday and were tied to our mooring at Vero Beach by 3:00pm. We were exhausted! Neither of us can sleep much coming across, even though we take turns at the helm, so we were in bed and asleep by 8:00pm.

This fellow hitched a ride with us for the last 10 miles into Ft. Pierce.

We had a couple of restful, although very hot days at Vero. Thought we were going to melt yesterday! It's 15 degrees warmer here than the Abacos. And in the Abacos we'd just get in the water if we were hot. I'm not getting in this brown water!!! But I did get in a couple of good kayaking days! We left Vero Beach in this morning and expect to be back in NSB on Wednesday afternoon, if we don't lolly gag.  Funny how you look forward to having access to certain things when you get back.  Mine is fresh boiled peanuts at the farmer's market in NSB and Blue Moon draft beer at Malony's.

I'll try to make one more post with miscellanous pictures of our trip.

We're on the downhill slide - not much time left here!

Our time here is quickly winding down.  We only have a few weeks left before we will be heading back to Florida.  It's been a short cruising season for us this year since we didn't get over here til after the first of February and we haven't gotten to spend nearly as much time in the places we like and with the people we enjoy so well.  But.....we always find time to meet new people and we've met many new friends this season!  We always love to hear their stories of where they've been and where they're going, as well as what they've done on their boats to manage energy, water consumption, and other things we all must deal with in one form or other.

We haven't done much for the last few weeks, but then we really don't do much the entire time we're down here.  But, I think that's the whole point!  We've done a little snorkeling, swimming, beach walking and scavenging, although we're not finding much worth picking up this year.  I think Kathi on s/v 'Makani' beat us to all the treasures!!  Especially the sea glass! 

We see these Rays often, some are really huge and some are the spotted kind



A school of Blue Tangs - picture is courtesy of s/v 'Scarmouche'
Ours don't ever seem to turn out right.



Beach time!

We spent the better part of a week in Hopetown because of the weather.  I think we finally were there long enough to see what a lot of cruisers like about it.  We're not ready to spend the entire season in there, but we really did enjoy our stay.  Once a month (usually on full moon evening) they have a 'dinghy drift'.  We've heard of this and even been part of a small one, with maybe 3 or 4 dinghies, but nothing of this size.  It was the coolest thing!!!  There were about 30 - 35 dinghies rafted together and the Hopetown harbour is not that big, and there were boats on moorings all over the place.  The idea is you bring your drinks and a snack, appetizer, etc. to share, dinghies are tied together, you pass food around until the plate, bowl, whatever, is empty and float around the anchorage, trying not to hit boats at anchor or moored, while you move from one boat to the other meeting and talking to other cruisers. Believe it or not, we did not hit another boat!!!  Bob from s/v 'Scaramouche' was in the middle and choreographed the entire event perfectly.  He'd point to someone on the outside of the drift and tell them to start their engine and steer a particular direction.  Incredible!

Hopetown Dinghy Drift

The people at Hopetown are pretty trusting!

At the moment Jeff is in Florida working for the week. He flew out Sunday morning and will be back Friday. The boat is in Green Turtle now, so to get to the airport in Treasure Cay, (which is on a different island), he had to take the Ferry across the Sea of Abaco. It's quite a different way of life down here. Lots of people live on one island and work on another, so they get back and forth by way of passenger ferry. They drop you off on the dock at the other end and if you're a regular traveler you might have a vehicle on the other side, or like most, you either walk or take a cab to your destination. Ferry's are part of everyday life here. And as one line in a Barefoot Man song says, 'you don't have to be gay to ride a ferry'!!

The bag is packed and Chloe doesn't want to get left behind!

Green Turtle Ferry

Speaking of phrases and sayings, here are a few we've picked up:

• If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot!
• A rum front came through - (meaning you may have had too much to drink last night)
• We are going to have a Chamber of Commerce day!!

We've been asked if we meet anybody famous or notorious while we're cruising and we always say no, we don't go to the places they go.  A couple of evenings ago I (cindy) had the occasion to have drinks and dinner with a number of other couples from other boats that I'd not met before - they all knew each other though.  I think they took pity on me since I was by myself. Lots of talking and swapping stories and sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the conversations since there are always several in a group like this.  But...............low and behold one of the guys is probably as famous or perhaps it's notorious as we'll run into.  He was one of the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3.  What hoot he is!!  The first three movies were filmed in Grand Bahama and he got the part because most of the Hollywood people they brought with them got seasick and they needed more pirates and this guy happens to keep his boat at Grand Bahama.  It was interesting to listen to him talk about how they did certain scenes.  So, there is my encounter with 'famous' people!

It's the time of year when lots of the cruisers we've seen while here are heading back to the states, but we are also starting to see boats arrive that come over for spring and summer.  There is a crossing window back to Florida that opened yesterday and goes through Thursday (hopefully) and the chatter on the radio is endless.

A waterspout very near our anchorage several days ago at Manjack Cay
Picture courtesy of m/v 'Dual Dreams'

I am in a marina while Jeff is gone and it pretty much emptied out yesterday morning with everyone wanting to get back to Florida.  They have a pretty good deal here.  They call it Dock & Dine.  What that means is that you get credit in the restaurant & bar for the amount of your dockage every day, not including electric and water.  So if your dockage is $50 you have $50 to spend eating & drinking at their place.  Pretty sweet, if you watch what your spending.  The first night we went over by $30 and that's really what they count on.

til the next time........................

Mindy & Carl's Visit

They hated to leave, but the real world was calling them back.  We had a great time and got them to places they didn't get to see last trip.  A week seems like a long time, but it passes by pretty fast!

Mindy & Carl flew in early Saturday morning of the Barefoot Man Weekend.  We took a long walk on the 'world famous' Treasure Cay beach, got them a frozen 'beverage' and then hotfooted it over to Guana Cay to see if we could shoehorn our way into the anchorage.  It wasn't soooo bad................ a number of boats left before we got there.  I guess they'd had enough barefootin'.  There were only about 35 - 40 boats left in the anchorage.  We had a date with 'The Barefoot Man' at 6:30 for dinner, drinkin' & dancin' (@ Nipper's) - which we did plenty of!!! 

Dancin' to Sea -n- B band



Nipper's

 A couple of posts ago I told you about the walk to Nipper's.  We walk everywhere we go down here, at least once we take a ride in the dinghy to shore, which can be quite a ways sometimes............. so we don't think too much about how far things are, within reason.  We walk to the grocery store and lug our groceries back the same way.  It's just part of the cruising life.  So, Mindy & Carl get out of the dinghy at Guana and we start the trip to Nipper's from there.  We got about half way to Nipper's and we started hearing commentary like 'how much farther is it??', 'are we almost there??'.  We did make it and we didn't have to drag them, at least not too far.  But, they were parched when we got there!!!  Had a great meal, and the concert was great!  The Saturday night concert is not a free one like Friday's concert, so not near as many people.  I think Mindy & Carl felt it was worth the trip to see this.  Went back in again on Sunday to do an afternoon of Grabber's and Nipper's.  Brown Tip was at Grabber's doing Rake & Scrape and The Sea n B band was at Nipper's.

Another gathering w/ friends from s/v 'Gail Force' and s/v 'Sojourner'

Let's see...................where did we go next?  Hopetown, Tahiti Beach, Lubbers Quarters and Man o War.

@ Hopetown

Relaxing & rehydrating @ Abaco Inn after a long walk on the beach

Man O War path

Carl got in quite a bit of fishing while he was here, but the only thing big enough to keep was a Cero Mackerel, which we had for dinner along with the Mahi Mahi that I caught on the way across the gulf stream and had been saving in the freezer.  The fish was excellent!!!!  I want more!  Carl caught numerous barracudas, but we weren't feeling that daring, even though they were small.

Carl's Cero Mackerel - we got two good sized filets from it!

We did some beach walking, although didn't find many shells or very much sea glass.  Mindy decided she could relax quite well in the hammock we have on the front of the boat.

Curly Tail Lizard -- they are everywhere!!!!!

Does she look relaxed?

And then it was time to go into the dreaded Marsh Harbour to meet their taxi to the airport.

Last night in the Abacos @ Curly Tails, appropriately named for the curly tail lizards that are everywhere!

Just after sunset in Marsh Harbour

And the Wind, She did blow, and blow and blow!!

We had about a week of high winds. Took refuge in Marsh Harbour. We actually got there before the winds piped up and got a good spot. For the second time this season, another boat came in late and anchored too close. Needless to say, it was not pleasant dealing with the other boat owner ---- he knew it all and wouldn't listen until almost too late. Justice was done however; he later ran aground and thinking it was low tide when in fact was high tide, did not take appropriate action. Angels watch over these folks; a power boat came to his rescue.

After the blow we eased over to Man-O-War Cay and hooked up with Mike and Harriet of m/v Dual Dreams. We first met Mike and Harriet four years ago on our first cruise to the Abacos. In the summer of 2010, Dual Dreams visited  Chattanooga by water -- we met them on the waterfront downtown and also at  Island Cove Marina. Unfortunately, Island Cove Marina was damaged by the same storm that recently drove the high winds here in the Bahamas. We walked the Atlantic beach on Man-o-War with Mike, Harriet, and their new puppy Bama Belle -- later had lunch with them at Dock and Dine Restuarant on the Man-O-War harbour.     

Mike, Harriet & Bama Belle of
m/v Dual Dreams

At Marsh Harbour and then at Man-O-War, we met Tom and Jan on m/v Laughter. We rafted the dinghys up at low tide and enjoyed the afternoon.

After several days at Man O War Cay and having had quite a nice time there, we moved on to Elbow Cay where we met up with Rick & Linda on s/v 'Sojourner', Lynn & Beth on s/v 'Coyote', Bob & Lorraine on s/v 'Scarmouche', Jerry on s/v 'Free Spirit' and Alan & Geri of s/v 'Civil Twilight'.  Although Civil Twilight only cruises every other year (because they take their boat back to Maine and God knows it's a long way up there), they were aboard 'Free Spirit as guests.  Had a great time with everyone.

This weekend is Barefoot Man weekend on Guana Cay.  Today was the first concert, which we opted out on.  Barefoot Man is the Bahamian version of Jimmy Buffett.  Wild time to be had by all!!  Nipper's Bar hosts this weekend event.  We are picking up my sister Mindy and Jeff's brother Carl, early tomorrow morning in Treasure Cay and will head over to Guana for the evening concert, along with Rake & Scrape, by Brown Tip & the Boys @ Grabber's.  Then we will do what's know as 'The Abaco Shuffle', where you move practically everyday to a new location, so you can show off the Abacos to your guests and make sure they see as much as they can.  That is provided the weather and wind cooperates, which is always iffy.

The view from the front of our boat @ Man O War Cay -
That little piece of land is the only thing between us and the great
Atlantic Ocean - at high tide we can se the spray from the
waves breaking over it!

Ok - you are up to date now.  No complaining.

Catching up with old friends!

Well.....here it is the last day of February and I've not kept you in the know!! Shame, shame on me!!

We've just been enjoying the sunshine and warmth, as well as catching up with friends we haven't seen since last year. We spent 10 days being lazy in Treasure Cay and never picked our anchor up - just enjoyed the sea turtles and dolphins swimming around the boat, as well as walking the gorgeous beach.

 Actually, a couple of nights before we left there was a dolphin that came in and 'played' with a fish. He could have caught it so easily, but just chased it around the boat in front of us for the longest time - over, under, around, and on and on and on! We don't know if he ever decided on that one for dinner or just moved on, but he did entertain us for quite awhile. We did finally decide it was time to move on and leave Treasure Cay, but only because someone came in and anchored on top of us. They just didn't get it!! One of us was gonna have to move and it was pretty obvious they felt they were in the right, although for the life of me I didn't understand that.

So..... we moved on to Guana Cay, which is not too far - approximately 9 miles - but, it was blowing 23 - 29 mph, and right on the nose!! We just bashed through and arrived with a very salt crusted boat - yuk! Had a couple of very enjoyable days there, as well as two evenings with Jerry from 'Free Spirit', Bill from 'Skylark', and Gayle & John from 'Siren's Call'. What a crazy group!!! And what a lot of good food we seemed to be able to put together for the evening. When we visit Guana Cay we anchor in Fisher's Bay and it is a long dinghy ride to the beach to 'Grabber's', where we must stop to quench our thirst before setting off on the trek to 'Nipper's'.

 On the walk we have to pass the Guana Cay Cemetery, where the people that don't make it to Nipper's are buried. After that we must crawl up the hill and on the way try to stay clear of the 'Poisionwood Trees' on the way, as they are way worse than poision ivy (so we've been told).

But......it's so worth it to make the trek! Whata place!! And whata view!!!
What a crowd Nipper's draws! AND the music is great as well! It was Sunday when we finally got there and Sunday is the Pig Roast!! I know --- you're thinking pig in the ground, apple in the pig's mouth, the whole thing - not happening! That's what we thought the first time we ever went too. It's just pork pig BBQ in a pan, with & without the sauce, along with all kinds of fixin's - Bahamian mac & cheese, coleslaw that is a cross with chow-chow, potato salad, corn, peas 'n rice, fruit & cake. But it was good! But it ought to be for $20/person! Plus $30 for drinks!! Paradise ain't cheap! After several hours at Nipper's and being fully fed & hydrated, we decided we needed to make our way back in the direction of the anchorage ..........

so we roll down the hill, being ever so careful to again stay clear of the poisionwood and continue on til we get sidetracked at 'Milo's Produce & Shell Jewelry stand, where we purchase 3 tomatoes for $4.

We eventually make it to Grabber's, where we need more hydration before we can make it to the beach and the dinghy and then onto the boat, where we rested for a while before getting back together with Jerry, Bill, Gayle & John, for more sustenance and nourishment, as well as more laughs! Back to 'Salty Dog' for a well deserved night of sleep! The dog's were absolutely worn out!!! Now you know what our days consist of. This is a hard life that we are living here - don't ever question that! It's ok though - we think we can make it a few more months. I guess it depends on how many more 'treks' we have to make to Nipper's. 

We had a restful day today and sailed down to 'Tahiti Beach'. Don't you love the name? We are the only boat here. There are several other sailboats within site, but nobody else right here. Tahiti Beach is really only attractive at low tide - otherwise it's just a little piece of land sticking out in the water, but at low tide there is all kinds of sand and 'island' to roam - kinda like Dissappearing Island in NSB. The pups had a wonderful time running all over the place. We'll probably stay here for a couple of days or until the wind shifts again and makes it uncomfortable to be here. I guess we'll have to make another decision about where to go then. All these decisions ......

Salty Dog's Dogs are Surely Salty!!

The long wait is over!!!  We've finally crossed over 'to the other side'!  We had a crappy crossing, as usual, but we're no worse for the wear.  We left Government Cut in Miami @ 5am and got anchored at Great Sale Cay @ midnight thirty - long day!!  Then on to Manjack Cay the following day when our engine turned over 5000 hours (we both knocked on wood that the 32 year old Perkins will keep on keepin' on - stills runs great). Finally into Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay on Friday morning, which is where we will sit until Tuesday when the wind slacks off and goes to a more favorable direction, at which time we'll move back to Manjack Cay.  When we went ashore to pay for our mooring ball (@Donnie's Boat Rentals), Donnie asked if we wanted our tomatoes now or later.  What?!  Didn't know we got tomatoes with that!!  He went up to the house and picked them and brought them back down to us - wow, what a treat!

We took the pups on a beach walk yesterday afternoon and I believe I heard both of them say, at least once, that it was worth 2 days of rough riding to get on the beach.  Man-O-Man did they get sandy and salty!!  They're deck dogs now! Bad news for them - today is not a beach day - the wind is blowing 22knots (25+ mph) and chilly.  And it's going to feel like winter here for the next couple days - only 64* for a high.  Salty Dog is sailing all over the harbour with these winds, but so are all the other boats, and as long as we all swing together we'll be fine.

We're looking forward to meeting up some of our cruising friends from years past and have already run into several.  They are our family down here and we are theirs - a nice feeling. But not for a week or two since we are staying North of the Whale to take in Manjack.

We will endeavor to meet expectations on the blogging front, but don't keep your hopes up too high - you know from last year that we are 'slackers'.

Beyond NSB



Met this guy on our way out of Ft. Lauderdale.
English Rose in front of us.



We finally managed to pull ourselves away from New Smyrna Beach on January 19.  Headed down to Palm Beach for our exit to the Abacos on Monday, but that weather window deteriorated faster than it appeared!  We had a good trip down to Palm Beach, although we had to fight our way through the weekend idiots on the waterway between Vero Beach and Palm Beach.  Shortly after anchoring in Palm Beach 'English Rose' pulled in.  We met Bob & Janet four years ago and saw them again last year.  They are such a delightful couple to spend time with.  Janet is from England and has that beautiful english accent that I could listen to forever - they have been cruising for about 7 years.  Bob is very sensible and like Jeff, does all his own work on their boat and he and Jeff have lots to talk about.  Bob and Janet are planning to go the Exumas and were planning to leave on the day we were leaving for the Abacos, so were stuck in Palm Beach as well.  The four of us decided to head down the inside passage and slug through 22 draw bridges to get to Ft. Lauderdale and then went outside to get to Miami.  I thought Palm Beach was the land of the rich and famous, but it only gets richer and famouser the farther south you go!!!  The whole way to Ft. Lauderdale I was oohing and aahing over houses and boats.  The trip on the outside to Miami was pretty bumpy - things came out of their place that have never moved before - books jumped out of the bookcase behind our bed and food jumped out of closed cabinets!  We surfed through the inlet to Miami with opposing tide.  WOW! What a ride!!

We've never been to Miami before and were excited to see what everyone talks about.  Miami harbour was obviously dredged and perfectly shaped islands were made and built on years ago when that was allowed - very interesting.  There is a road with little bridged connecting all these islands.  We are anchored with 'English Rose' between Palm Island and Hibiscus Island.  We are the only two boats anchored in here and it is very protected, at least so far.  But, we are definately fishes in a bowl here!  The first afternoon we were here we went over to Monument Island to meet up with some other cruisers we had met in previous years, Jesse & Ginny on 'Wind Dust', and Mike & Barb on 'Goose Bumps', as well as some other cruisers we hadn't met before.  There are many places to anchor in this area and boats everywhere, but Monument Island is pretty much in the middle of the area.

Bob & Janet took us ashore yesterday to see South Beach and the surrounding area, as they've been here many times before and are old hat at finding the hot spots.  Sad to say, we were unimpressed with South Beach itself - not as pretty a beach as we expected at all, especially since it is such a famous beach.  The road that runs along the beach is totally consumed with restaurants/bars/hotels.  I've never seen so many restaurants!!!  And you must walk through each one as the sidewalk runs right through them.  And every one has at least one or two people hussling you to stop for drinks, lunch or breakfast.  Unbelievable!  We did stop at one for lunch and promptly left when we found out the 'happy hour' 2 for 1drinks were going to cost us $12 each.  They flash you cards showing $9 and $10 for lunch, but don't tell you how high the drinks are.  We ate at a place on Lincoln Ave, which is an area leading up to South Beach that is closed off to traffic and just one store and restaurant after the other.  Quite interesting.  In the middle of what at one time was the street, there was a raised beautiful grassy area and Quaker parakeets would fly down out of the palm trees to pick up tidbits that passersby would throw out there.


Quaker Parakeets



Chart of the Miami area - see the perfectly shaped islands?!



The video below is us coming into Miami.

Till next time!!

Happy New Year!!

I know, I know, I’m a really bad blogger!!! I haven’t posted a single thing since we left home Nov. 20th and I’m not going to try and fool you into thinking I’ll do better in 2012 because you wouldn’t believe me anyway.

Some of the boats in our marina dressed up for Christmas



Salty Dog



Downtown New Smyrna Beach

We are in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where we left the boat for the summer. We do so love it here! The Christmas decorations were beautiful, on the water as well as downtown.

Waiting for the Christmas Parade to start - can you tell it was a chilly day?

Jeff finished the watermaker for the boat – yippee!!! We are really excited to try it out, but have to wait until we are in a place where we can see the bottom – you’re not supposed to use it in dirty water. The basic principle of a watermaker is that it takes clean salt water and takes the salt out and cleans it up and makes fresh water – it works by reverse osmosis. We should be able to make about 16 gallons an hour when the generator is running and that is most mornings for about one hour to top off the charge on our batteries. Since we use about 12 gallons a day we will have a few extra gallons a day to spare. And when you have to carry your water with you on the boat you learn to be very frugal with it.  Here in the USA it's not a big deal to fill your water tanks when you stop to get diesel fuel - it's free, BUT in the Bahamas it is anywhere from 20 - 50 cents a gallon! Think about how often you turn the faucet on at home and how long you leave it on and the amount of water that is coming out each time. Do you think you use more than 6 gallons per person? That includes showering every day and washing dishes. I bet I wash my hands a dozen times a day under a trickle of water, but then everything is done under a trickle!!

On a humorous note – we brought our RV down here to stay in for the first few weeks since we had some projects going on that made it hard to get around inside the boat. We parked the RV at a campground 3 miles from the marina, which was quite convenient. We had extremely hard rain all evening and night one particular day while we were staying there and when we woke the following morning and looked out the windows we thought we were on the boat! We were totally surrounded by water - some places were 8 inches deep. We were storing our empty gas jugs (for the dinghy) under the RV. They were floating all over the campground. Luckily the campground has pumps that are set up to drain the water away pretty quick, so by the end of the day we didn’t have to wade to the door.


This was after the water had receded some.

We drove back to Alabama to spend Christmas with Brian, Melanie, Kate & John. I am so glad we went!! We so enjoyed watching their excitement. And when we arrived we learned that Santa now sends an Elf to each house with children. The elf sits on a shelf (or somewhere else) and he/she watches the children for Santa by day and flies to the North Pole at night to report in, then back to the childrens houses before morning. But not before he gets into some kind of mischief at the house. And he always seems to be in a different place each morning. It is quite magical! And the mischief Kate & John’s elf got into was funny. One night he rolled the Christmas tree in toilet paper and was sitting in the tree; another night he dressed up in Kate’s Barbie clothes and was found in the bathroom reading a book to three of her Barbies. I guess the elf must have reported that Kate & John were pretty good, because they sure did haul in the presents on Christmas!!! I’ve never seen anything like it! They sure did enjoy themselves. As did the rest of us just watching them.


The New Year is here and we need to get ourselves in gear, finish up some small projects, and get moving farther south. The weather here has been wonderful. It is New Year’s Day and we took a dinghy ride in bathing suits! We have tried to enjoy every bit of it because we know it’s going to get really cold tomorrow night – 34* with a high of 50* on Tuesday - bbbrrrrrrrrr!! But it will be back in the low 70’s by the end of the week. The cold comes and goes.  Since the marina we’re in is right on the ICW we get to watch the parade of boats heading south. We thought we would be the very last one heading out, but I guess not.



She was instructed to stand guard while I went to get the next load!



HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!  May 2012 be a wonderful year!