This Blog is an overall of our sailing trip from late December 2013 through May 2014.

December 27, 2013

Middle of the night, Christmas Eve it started raining, so up we jumped to close the hatches. When I crawled back in bed and layed my head on my pillow, it hit something crunchy. After agreeing that we would NOT exchange Christmas gifts, Brian bought me two large bags of peanut M&M's (yum), so Christmas morning I baked him a pumpkin pie - made the dough from scratch without a food processor. The pie was delicious, though I'll have to dig out my "baking beans" and next time par-bake the crust so that the bottom isn't as soft. I had Brian take a nice warm piece over to our neighbor, Hank. Hank had throat cancer several years ago, so any soft food is greatly appreciated. Early afternoon, Barbara and Ted from Rosa came by so that we could travel together over to Dockside for a Christmas dinner and listen to music. I offered them a slice of pie each to "hold them over". On our dinghy ride over to Dockside we stopped by Wayne's boat and gave him a slice of the pumpkin pie as he wasn't sure if he was going to join us. We were able to snag the last table available. Dockside provided turkey, ham, potatoes and a few sides. Everyone else either contributed a side or a dessert and $5. There was a lot of great food and the music was wonderful. We all had a good time and Wayne was able to join us.

Well, our water maker was not working up to snuff, so Brian shipped it off to California for a refurbish - fortunately it is still under warranty. Thankfully, it bit the dust after the tanks were full. The last weather window was too short to head out anyways. We are hoping by the time the water maker gets back to us, we will have a lengthy weather window to leave Marathon.

This morning, we stopped by the office to check for mail and found our notice of our court hearing scheduled for May regarding our "Illegal stay in Florida" because our boat is not registered - again, can't be registered in Massachusetts, because it is Federally Documented in Massachusetts. We are still hoping that fine gets dropped - looks like Brian will be on the phone the first of the year to see if it in fact does. We really don't want this hanging over our heads when we leave here in a few weeks.

Reading: Brian: Ship of Gold - Journey Through History; book about the California
Gold Rush; The Discoverers by Daniel Borstin (about discoverers through
history); Paramour by Gerald Petievich

Lauren: Split Second by David Baldacci; Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch
(Jackie Brown movie); Lisa Jackson's Wicked Lies; Angle of Repose by
Wallace Stegner (winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

Brian and I started exercising; he does crunches and pushups and by hanging off of our companion way, he is able to do pull-ups. I haven't taken a yoga class since I was here in Marathon last year. So, I do a combo of yoga moves and lots of stretching along with pushups and crunches and squats. I am so out of shape, but it feels great exercising again. Practicing the yoga moves is working out pretty well, but when it comes to the yoga poses that you have to hold it can get a bit precarious on a boat, though I find I can actually hold the poses slightly better on a moving boat than on land - go figure.

December 31, 2013

Last night Wayne joined us for dinner; grilled steak with a sauce Wayne made of combined A-1 Sauce, Worcestershire and horseradish, boiled new potatoes then a quick sauté with butter and fresh oregano, broccoli and a store bought coconut cream pie. Before dinner I made an appetizer of smoked salmon on crackers with a dollop of horseradish cream and a tiny slice of red onion - wanted to also put on a slice of avocado, but it wasn't quite ready. Oh, and earlier I made Rocket Bread. Yesterday, I mixed 3 cups of flour, 2 tsps of salt, ¼ tsp of quick rise yeast and 1 & ½ cups of water - just mix and let rise between 12 and 24 hours loosely covered. Then the dough is turned out on a heavily floured parchment paper - sprinkle flour on top of dough and fold over parchment paper and turn package over and let rest about 2 hours. About ½ hour before baking I put my greased cast iron pot (without the lid) in the oven and set the oven for 475 degrees - actually, mine oven only goes to 450 degrees but runs about 10 degrees hotter. After ½ hour of warming the oven and pot, I very carefully plopped the dough out of the parchment paper into the cast iron pot, covered the pot and let it cook for 30 minutes. Then took off the cover to the pot and let the bread continue cooking for another 20 minutes. IT CAME OUT PERFECTLY AND WAS DELISHIOUS!! It was served with dinner and was great for mopping up the steak juices. A wonderful evening!

This morning we were lazy - actually slept in. We are usually up between 6:30 and 7:00 and try to exercise most mornings. This morning we didn't get up to a little after 8. Brian and I did stay up a bit after Wayne left. We sat out on our life raft and looked at the stars and just enjoyed the calm evening. Then we played a game of Rummikub. Sally and Conrad on Its About Time (we met them last year here in Marathon) taught us the game, but we only had played that one time, so we had to relearn it. We caught on pretty quickly and Brian is on a winning streak.

New Years Eve

We borrowed Wayne's jerry jugs for water and filled them up and dumped them into our water tank; I'm sure we will have to do that several times before our water maker is returned. Our plan for tonight was to order in some Tai food (rumor has it, there's a great place across from the marina) and open a bottle of Prosecco I found on the boat. BUT, our plans changed. Wayne drives cabs here in Marathon and one of the drivers that had a run to Key West called in sick. So Wayne recommended Brian to his boss. After getting clearance from the boss, Brian took the job. He left here at 6:00 to be brought to the cab company, pick up his vehicle, go to pick up the 6 people scheduled for the trip to KW, drive the two hours to KW and then hang around while the wench or transvestite is dropped into a red shoe - something like that. He is scheduled to bring the same 6 people back about 1:30a.m. So, he should be back on board by about 4:00 a.m.; don't think I'll be waiting up for him.

So while Brian was away playing chauffer, I did some house work, trimmed my hair, got my laundry ready in case I decide to get up before the crack of dawn to dinghy in to do that (every mooring ball has been taken and even the anchorage has quite a few boats - so during the day the laundry room is rather busy); had a bite to eat (a slice of Rocket Bread with a light spread of horseradish cream, a thin layer of smoked salmon and scant slices of red onion - yum!) and caught up on the blog. I think I may try to figure out how to set up the computer to watch a movie on our TV screen (that is only used for movies) - I'm just to tech savy - not!

WISHING EVERY ONE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!!!

PS: took me a few minutes, but I did figure out how to hook everything up and actually get a movie started on our monitor. I was so excited that I watched a second movie!!!

January 11, 2014

Today started out sunny, now it's pouring; housework and exercises already done, so catching up on blog, though not much to report.

Well, I did get up New Year's day before dawn and hauled the laundry in for cleaning. No problem managing the dinghy, but did pull a muscle flinging one of the bags of dirty laundry from the dinghy to the dock. Had the laundry room all to myself - nice! I swept the floor (couldn't help myself) and read. The laundry was just about done in the dryers before anyone else showed up.

A couple of days ago we had high winds (in the 30's) and a cold front come through and it was cold - in the 50's! We were wearing long pants, fleece and slippers on the boat and then sweatshirts - didn't want to turn on the heat. The locals were going nuts. Brian's brother, Wayne put on the yellow knit ski cap and a winter jacket. My mother-in-law made and mailed to Wayne and Brian the yellow hats figuring they would wear them while sailing and if they fell overboard, they would be easy to spot. Wayne came to our boat for breakfast; pancakes with fresh fruit mixed in (mine on the side) with real maple syrup, bacon, coffee and tea.

Lunch was soup and home made Rocket Bread with butter and dinner was pasta with marinara sauce and hot Italian sausages

Brian and I did not get off the boat that day, but the next day it was slightly warmer and we ventured across the street for breakfast - it was still long pants and shirts and jacket weather. We weren't complaining especially knowing what the weather was like up north. I still can't get use to the humidity, though - I just drip.

Reading: Brian: Get Your Captain's License - A Complete Study Guide; The Barefoot
Navigator by Jack Lagan; Modern Marine Weather, Weather Workbook and
Radar for Mariners

Lauren: Elmore Leonard's Cuba Libre (3rd book of his I read - enjoy them);
Pat Conroy's Beach Music (love his books!)

Most books Brian and I share especially anything to do with aspects of the sailing life. I don't care for Scifi, so don't read any of those. I still have on board the complete set of Harry Potter books from our kids - keep telling myself one of these days I am going to read them. If not, I'll most likely donate them to either a library or school on one of the islands we visit.

The Air Breeze Wind Generator that came with the boat and was not working correctly and was sent to SALT last year for refurbishing is still not working correctly (they couldn't find anything wrong with it - should have asked for our money back). This year Brian sent it to eMarine for them to check it out. We were told there are many issues with the generator and the cost of repair was just less than the cost of a new one. So, we ordered a new Air Breeze; received it and when Brian went to install it, it was missing a crucial part - that should be arriving today. Now just waiting on our refurbished water maker and we will be all set to leave Marathon. Today is the beginning of one of the first lengthy weather windows since we've been here to leave for the Bahamas, but very, very light winds. We are hoping by end of next week, we will be able to leave.

Recently, we met up with Louise and Terry on "Lucy", Pat and Doug on "Sanctuary" all from Canada and Sue and Mick on "Jenny" from England. We met these wonderful people last year - Brian can get them laughing - we enjoy their company. We all sat together last Sunday at a jam session at Dockside; Terry asked what I was drinking (Scotch). He was surprised. He thought I would like a Rusty Nail which is Scotch and Drambuie and went off to get me one. Thankfully, Dockside did not have Drambuie - sounds like a Rusty Nail would have me under the table. Everyone else was drinking either wine or beer - seem to be the drinks of choice til they get to the Bahamas, then its Rum Punches - too sweet for me unless they are mixed with grapefruit juice.

Yesterday we walked up and down the drag doing errands and stopped to watch the Wounded Warriors ride by on bicycles. It was great to see all the people that came out waving flags and cheering them on and thanking them for their service.

Tonight the Patriots are playing - we may go to the Hurricane to watch and have .25 wings. The last Patriots game we watched at the Hurricane made for an interesting evening. The Hurricane is a sports bar - lots of TV's, so there were many football games on for all the snowbirds and locals to enjoy. We snagged the last two chairs in front of a screen featuring the Pats and sat with Walt from a neighboring boat. There was a family sitting right behind us and the wife was yelling and screaming at the TV screen. We both thought it was the husband. My head hurt so bad by the time we left. Everyone kept stealing glimpses at her, but no one would say anything to her. Geesh! I so wanted to say something, but have to say I was a bit fearful of any reprisals. Not one word was heard from the husband (can you blame him?) Listening to the daughter was interesting - her language was rather obnoxious, though she wasn't loud like her mother. Here's hoping the Hurricane has at least two screens featuring the Pats game tonight.


Reading: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN (18TH)

January 23, 2014

Still here in Marathon. The weather has been very cold; 50's and 60's. I know, I know - at least we are not up north. Not complaining (too much) just stating the facts. This morning I actually wore the yellow knit hat my mother-in-law made for me. On land it was a tad warmer, but still cold. Some of the locals were wearing winter jackets, ski caps and gloves.

Have been battling allergies for over a month now. Don't know what's blooming down here, but it's wreaking havoc on my sinuses and exacerbating my asthma - not fun.

We may finally have a decent weather window to head over to the Bahamas this coming Sunday or Monday. We've been looking for a 3-day window, but that hasn't happened yet and the winds have been strong and from the north which we don't want - we would be battling winds and the Gulf Stream which travels north, so the winds and waves would be opposing each other - would not make for a comfortable sail.

While out doing errands this morning we saw the blimp. The blimp is used to spy on illegal immigrants and drug boats. Also, here in Marathon there are several radio towers that are used as The Voice of America - spouts U.S. propaganda towards Cuba.

February 2, 2014

Finally left Marathon on January 26th along with Dawn and Roger on "Two Tickets" and Barb and Ted on "Rosa dos Ventos". It was our first decent 3-day window to travel to the Bahamas though not good winds. Decided to just go or we would never get out of Marathon. Left Marathon 7 a.m. and arrived in Morgan's Bluff to anchor next day a little after 1 p.m. An uneventful travel except for one small section before the banks where all boats were bucking quite a bit - difficult to sleep when your body doesn't stay on the bed. We saw quite a few flying fish and man-o-war jelly fish. When we arrived in Morgan's Bluff, we were greeted by dolphins.

Next day, after an easy check in (the guys sat at a picnic table under a tree to do the paperwork) and a restful night, we headed to Nassau. Two Tickets and us anchored while Rosa reserved a slip. Everyone met on land to take care of cell phones, stop for a coffee and chat. Late afternoon, we took a walk over the bridge that goes to Atlantis. Under the bridge are numerous shacks that feature Bahamian food. First we checked to see if Ali was nearby cleaning conch and he was. We met Ali last year. Ted from Rosa bought limes, hot peppers and onion; Ali showed us how to clean the conch and added the additional ingredients. We all shared the dish - just wonderful. Then we sat at one of the shacks (same one as last year) and we all feasted on red snapper - delicious!

Left Nassau the next morning and traveled to Allen's Cay - arrived about 4:30 p.m. We all got together on "Rosa" for a dinner we all contributed to. Next morning, "Rosa" left us. "Two Tickets" and us decided to hang here for a couple of days. Celebrated my birthday by doing laundry by hand (boy do I know how to have fun), cooking and we all went snorkeling. It's the first time I've worn my wet suit that I've had for years (still fits). The wetsuit helped me float (I cannot float) and was able to stay in the water much longer than I usually would. When I'm snorkeling, all you see of me sticking out of the water is the back of my head with the snorkel sticking up and my butt.

Yesterday we sailed to Norman's Cay - it was a great sail for most of the way - had to motor in the last two hours. We walked some of the island (not much here) and today we dingyied around looking for coral heads to snorkel around - enjoyed that. We were able to pick up some mature conch. Roger made Manhattan-style chowder (never cared for that kind of chowder) - it was delicious. I brought along home made bread fresh from the oven.

Reading: John Grisham's Playing For Pizza; Louis L'Amour's The High Graders; Dale
Brown's Dreamland; Iris Johansen's Long After Midnight; Rick Reed's The
Cruelest Cut; Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love

February 10, 2014

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY THIS MONTH TO: ROSE, BONN

Left Norman's Cay after spending several days snorkeling and traipsing around the island. There is a landing strip for small planes on the south end and the north end of the island is private. Cheryl and Jack on Zig Zag arrived and anchored near us. We all went snorkeling for conch. Got enough to have a cookout on the beach; the guys cleaned the conch, Dawn used her tenderizer and smashed the meat and Roger breaded it and deep-fried the conch - yum. I contributed a marinara sauce and brownies. Cheryl also brought brownies and a warm potato salad.

We are at the moment anchored near Emerald Rock at Warderick Wells. Last year, we took a mooring ball on the inside cove of Warderick Wells. This year we opted to try the anchorage area. A fairly short dinghy ride over to the mooring area to snorkel around the coral outcroppings looking for lobster (cray fish down here), a variety of fish, the sea fans, etc. Did not see any sharks until we were heading back to our boat - by then we were already in our dinghy - just as well. There are several remoras hanging out underneath our boat - sucker fish - we always see them hanging off sharks, but apparently our boat works just as well for them.

Yesterday, before snorkeling, we took Dawn and Roger on a hike up to Boo Boo Hill, checked out the blow hole (not much activity), oohed and ahhed over the view both the bay side and Atlantic side; from Boo Boo Hill traipsed down Hootia path to Butterfly Beach - cooled off and had a picnic lunch and then hiked back to our dinghies. When we arrived at the dinghy, there was another couple just arriving on the beach - they looked familiar. Brian, at first thought they were Paddy and John from New Moon, but at a glance I knew they weren't. As they got closer, we exchanged "hellos" and realized it was Sarah and George that we met in Fort Lauderdale. They bought our catamaran, Red Leopard from Dr. Zigoran who bought it from us several years ago. What a small world.

Last night Two Tickets invited us to dinner; Cottage Pie (similar to Shepard's Pie, but with hamburger instead of lamb); I brought along home made bread and home made cornbread.

Listened to our weather guru, Chris Parker at 6:30 this morning and he announced we have some north and west winds up to 40 knots arriving by Wednesday. We could try to get a mooring ball on the inside here or head further south another 6 miles and anchor in a fairly secure cove or continue on an additional 6 miles to Big Majors and tuck into the north side of the cove - it's a bit open here, but the anchorage is very good. Since we have a 73 lb anchor and 300 feet of heavy chain - we will be fine. Two Tickets will be fine too as long as their anchor is set well.

Today, I'm skipping the snorkeling (ear bothering me) and rearrange a few cubbies and check some of the inventory.

February 15, 2014

Two nights ago and during next day we sustained up 30 knot winds with gusts up to 40 knots along with heavy downpours and lightening. Glad we decided to take a mooring ball in the protective cove of Warderick Wells.

Yesterday we motor-sailed from our Warderick Wells to a small anchorage at Fowl Cay. Spent part of the afternoon snorkeling around some coral heads. We are just outside the Exhumas Park, so Brian was able to spear a few squirrel fish - they looked a tad bigger under water. They are a small fish, bug-eyed, lots of bones, not much meat, but still delicious. It was an absolutely beautiful evening. Only four boats in the anchorage, so nice and quiet. The moon was full, so we sat out on our deck on top of the life raft and just took in the evening - so peaceful!

Today it's a bit bouncy here, but not uncomfortable. We may just stay the day and do more snorkeling or head over to Big Majors. This morning Brian got up at 6:30 to listen to the weather channel on the SSB (single side ban), but this was the second day in a row that Brian was unable to receive a weather forecast from our weather guru, Chris Parker. Brian called out for a radio check and was answered, so we know the SSB (single side ban) was working.

I baked oatmeal raisin cookies with walnuts - takes several hours, but yum! While I was baking cookies, Brian let out a yelp and went running out to the cockpit; I followed not knowing what was going on. One of the boats here in the anchorage had dragged its anchor and was within only a couple of feet of hitting us. Brian kept shouting out their boat name and up popped a head from the forward hatch - (reminded me of that game at the arcades - Wack a Mole - lol). They jumped right on getting their motor started just in the nick of time and backed off. The captain only had 20 feet of chain out - we are in about 15 feet of water. Brian told him he didn't have enough chain out. The captain said that is all they were given - must be a charter boat, but geesh! Do these companies think that cruisers only anchor in shallow water? We put out a scope of 5 or 6 to 1 which means if we are in 15 feet of water we would put out at least 75 feet of chain. Even if the captain only had 20 feet of chain, there should be line that he could attach to the chain so that he could let out the appropriate scope. Just glad there wasn't a collision.

Ok, getting a little rocky and rolly here - have to stop typing - feeling a tad nauseous - I'll go out and sit in the cockpit and breathe some fresh air.

Reading: Dales Brown's Dreamland - Nerve Center; Dr. Death by Jonathan Kellerman; A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott; Robert Ludlum's The Ambler Warning

February 20, 2014

Left Fowl Cay anchorage a couple of days ago - just rockin' and rollin' - uncomfortable. We motored out of the cut and then set sail and cut the engine. We sailed the whole distance to Big Majors. We actually sailed right up to the spot we decided to drop anchor - it went very smoothly. Normally after the anchor is down and "set", I put the boat in reverse for a bit to make sure the anchor is truly "set". We didn't this time and the anchor grabbed bottom just fine. It's been several days of fairly high winds and we haven't dragged once.

While here we visited the swimming pigs, snorkeled, walked around Stanley Cay (very tiny island), bought minutes for our cell phone, filled up the gas jugs and checked out another beach that has several games for cruisers to use. We were going to have lunch at the Stanley Cay restaurant, but I had a bad reaction to the bougainvillea that was in vases on all the tables; could barely breathe, my nose wouldn't stop running and I couldn't stop sneezing.

One day we took a dinghy ride all around to check out the area with Dawn and Roger of Two Tickets. We stopped by the Thunderball Cave thinking we could snorkel in the cave, but the currant was too strong. As a matter of fact, there were two couples from Canada clinging to the rocks. After starting to go by, we realized that they seemed to be having some difficulties, so Two Tickets and us swung our dinghies around to them and rescued them. They never even made it into the cave to check out the fish. All of them were wearing life vests which were okay if they were just floating out and about, but they never would have been able to swim under the rock into the cave with the life vests on. They were very grateful for the rescue. Last year when we were visiting the same area with Nina and Adrian from Dolphin, we all rescued several couples that were from Germany. That currant can run pretty fast - have to visit Thunderball Cave at slack tide.

Tomorrow we leave here and head to Black Point. Looking forward to walking the island, doing some laundry (sheets and towels) at the laundry matt, checking out the blow hole and beach for sea glass, having a burger at Lorraine's and maybe stop in at Scorpios for a rum punch (the owner makes them with grapefruit juice).

February 28, 2014

Wow, hard to believe we've been anchored at Black Point for a week now - the time just flew by. One of the first orders of business was to get to the laundry matt, but I waited til the following Monday and got there about 5 minutes after they opened. By the time I got my three loads in and bought my tokens, the place was mobbed with cruisers. It was good to get the bath towels and sheets done. I had wedged a glass jar of bleach in a bag and snugged it in my canvass bag along with the whites. Somehow the jar fell over and unbeknownst to me all of the bleach leaked out. It ate through a brand new shirt, two dish towels, a bath towel and left a baseball-sized hole in the bottom of the canvass bag. Guess its time to look for dry bleach.

We found a wonderful place to snorkel. Brian saw a large nurse shark as soon as he got in the water. I was reluctant to go in, but Brian said the shark was just laying on the bottom a good 15 feet down. I went in and glimpsed the shark and swam in the opposite direction. This is the biggest section of coral we've come across - so many fish. We are getting better about identifying the fish. There were big schools of snapper - several varieties. We saw a porcupine fish with a young one in tow, some good-sized barracuda - they are inquisitive and won't bother you unless you spear a fish, then they'll come right at you and the fish - nasty looking with all those teeth. Oh, and the sharks will most likely hone in you if you spear a fish, though that hasn't happened - yet. There are so many varieties of colorful coral eaters; spotted, yellows, blues, greens, browns, striped , etc.

The second time we snorkeled this area, we came across a trap sitting on the bottom with two very large grouper and a huge nurse shark standing guard - I'm sure he was trying to figure out how to get at those grouper. The shark had to be at least 7 feet long - I stayed far away. Two nights ago, Brian and I decided to go fishing and we dinghied to the same area. I had a blast - I really enjoy fishing. The water was a little choppy, but we were able to catch several snapper and one Porgy. We gave the Porgy to Two Tickets - Dawn said it tasted a bit like crab - they enjoyed it.

That same night the winds started up and we spent the night bouncing around. Actually, I have to say it was a pleasant springy feeling while laying in bed and very comfortable, but I just couldn't sleep. By morning, it got even windier and the waves were really choppy - rather uncomfortable. We got off the boat for a few hours; we couldn't even take our dinghy to the dock it was so rough, so we beached it. After spending some time on land, we headed back to the boat and had an awkward time getting from the dinghy onto the boat. The boat was thrashing around, the dinghy was doing the same, but they were never in sinc, so.... Don't want to fall off and land between the two in weather like that. Back on the boat, we spent most of the early evening sitting out in the cockpit, then we sat on the bow of the boat and watched the sunset and the bow of boat going up and down; the bow never went under, but came pretty darn close. Our boat was about the only one in the whole anchorage that was not thrashing about - maybe because it's a heavy boat. Some of the boats were see-sawing, plus rocking side to side - I'm sure there were a few cruisers feeling a bit queasy or worse. During the night the winds died right down, but before sunrise, the winds whipped back up again and the waves were still crashing into the bay, though the waves were small they were from the south west and this bay is open to the west, so again a rough morning. Most boats left yesterday and we only had one boat near us, so Brian let another 20 feet of chain out and what a difference that made - seemed to be a smoother rocking motion. We sat out in the cockpit this morning and read. I must be getting use to the movement of the boat as I could never have picked up a book to read - even out in the cockpit.

Today we met up with Roger and Dawn on Two Tickets for a pizza lunch (eh). I only had two slices, but felt like I just had a Thanksgiving dinner. We walked it off on a beach looking for sea glass. The skies got black again, so we made a beeline for the boats. It is raining, but the winds have died down considerably and are coming out of the NNW which makes it more comfortable sitting here at anchor.

We did get to Scorpios one night and had our rum punches during happier hour as they would say. Chivago, the owner of Scorpios, made my rum punch with grapefruit juice - it was yummy, but one was my limit. There was an older white gentleman behind the bar helping Chivago and Brian and I remembered him from last year. Last year, during our stay here at Black Point we moved our boat down the coast here on Great Guana Cay to Hetty's Land for a change of scenery. While anchored there, we had taken a walk back to Black Point with Nina and Adrian from Dolphin for one of those rum punches - it was no less than a two mile walk. On the way back, this gentleman was coming along driving a front loader and offered us all a ride back to our anchorage. I still smile thinking about it; us standing on the sides of the front loader and bouncing down the road.


March 4, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: NANA, POLLY, PAM, LINDSEY, LAUREN M., SAMM

Reading: Crisis by Robert Cook; Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship; Black Boy by Richard Wright; Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich; The Years by Virginia Wolf; The Boys of 67 - Charley's Company War in Vietnam by Andrew Weist

Yesterday we left Black Point and sailed albeit a really, really slow sail back around the bend to Big Majors (the swimming pigs). The last 2 miles we were directly into the wind, so we motored which I was happy about as it gave us hot water for our shower later that day. Brian and I snorkeled an area and saw a sea turtle, coral fish and a huge school of snappers. Later that evening, we went back to the same spot to fish, but all we caught was bites from the noseeums - nasty critters! Next time I'll have to remember to bring the bug spray.

We enjoyed our stay in Black Point, combing the beaches for sea glass and just walking about the island. We were here last year, so we played tour guide to Two Tickets. Hopefully Elusive will be here either today or tomorrow with our pumps for our head. We've been doing fine without them, but once back in the states......

The last day and a half we had a cold front come through - overall, it wasn't too bad being on the boat - the winds were out of the south and ever so slowly clocking around to the north (this morning). Yesterday morning I was able to get some laundry done (nice brisk winds for drying), made a pasta salad, did some housework and Brian and I played a game of Rummikub in the cockpit. As the day progressed, the winds whipped up into the high 20 knots; we are in a bay that is exposed to the west winds, so not great for when a front comes through. The waves varied from about 1 foot to occasionally about 3 feet. About 3pm I started feeling the effects from the rocking and rolling - not fun. By about 8am, the winds started to die down and our boat had turned into the winds which finally clocked around to the north - much calmer.

Brian has been unsuccessful in getting a hold of Elusive - they have our parts for our head. Last Brian talked to Susan of Elusive, they were in Warderick Wells, so they are not that far from us - just frustrating that we are still in Black Point/Big Majors area. We will give it another day or two here before moving on. Hopefully, we will hear from Elusive. I had recently made a batch of banana bread thinking we were meeting up with Elusive days ago; I put one aside for them keeping it in the freezer.

Brian recently made home made cinnamon rolls - yum! Today, we will get off the boat and dingy over to Staniel Yacht Club and take a walk to the Batelco Office to get minutes on our phone - being Saturday, I'm going to assume they are not open, but we'll get a walk in.

March 11, 2014

Reading: Michael Crighton's Disclosure; Michael Crighton's State of Fear; The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Louis Leveen; John Lescroart's The Suspect; Sandra Brown's White Hot; Honor In The Dust - Theodore Roosevelt - War In The Philippines by Gregg Jones

Several days ago, another front came through while anchored at Staniel Cay - this one was a bit rockier than the last one we went through. I did fine til about mid afternoon and then had to sit out in the cockpit for a while sucking on saltines - felt a bit queasy, but never got sick.

We finally met up with Susan and Robert and their children Quinn and Amelia of Elusive - they had our parts for our head - yeah! Brian started that afternoon working on the head and, of course, had a few problems. After sleeping on the problem, he figured out that there was an airlock in the line to the head. He used our shop vac to force air into the line and voila problem solved! Brian and I along with Two Tickets took a dinghy ride about a mile and half from the Staniel Cay anchorage and went snorkeling. Saw quite a few snapper. If we were staying in the area, we would have gone back and fished the coral head. Made a pumpkin pie and this time I blind-baked the crust (placed dried beans in foil layed on top of the crust and wrapped the crust edges with foil and partially baked it). This worked out beautifully - after making the filling, baking the pie and having sit all day til dinner, the bottom crust was still crisp - not soggy - a success! Used a different recipe for the pie filling and had some of the evaporated milk left, so decided to make some white bread and used the left over milk in that. Bread came out great too!

Found out from our weather guru that another front was coming through and was going to be worse than the last two. Check our charts and plotted our next course for a more protected area. Yesterday we left Staniel Cay and motor-sailed 6 ½ hours to a pretty protective cove between Lee Stocking Island and Leaf Cay. Two Tickets joined us here this afternoon. Brian and I took the dinghy out earlier and snorkeled a couple of coral heads. The first area was about 20 feet deep - Brian swims down with his fishing spear and tries to get grouper, snapper or squirrel fish - all good eating. The second area we snorkeled wasn't as deep and Brian was able to spear several glasseyed snappers; they are all prepped and waiting to be cooked.

March 13, 2014

Yesterday Brian and I dinghied over to the area that we snorkeled yesterday and tried our hand at fishing. I snagged a Red Hind Grouper and Brian caught a snapper. Have to say I enjoy fishing, though after several hours of sitting in a rocking dinghy, my back was hurting. May have to invest in a stadium chair.

March 19, 2014

Said "good bye" to Dawn and Roger of Two Tickets a couple of days ago and started heading north. We had traveled from Marathon, FL with them and gone as far as Lee Stocking Island with them and spent a couple of days there, snorkeling, fishing and walking the island. Two nights before we left Lee Stocking, we all went fishing - I caught two decent sized snappers. The next evening we had dinner on our boat eating the fish we caught, rice pilaf and lemon bars for dessert.

Our first stop on our way north was at Black Point on Great Guana Cay so I could get several loads of laundry done. Left there the next morning and proceeded to Staniel Cay on Big Majors; arrived and anchor down at 9:00 a.m. - bought a phone card and filled up the four diesel cans and back on board and anchor up by 10:30 a.m. We motored sailed for a bit then actually was able to sail most of the way to Emerald Rock anchorage outside of Warderick Wells. Tomorrow we will head to Allen's Cay and the day after that we should be in Nassau.


March 24, 2014

Reading: The Tin Roof Blow Down by James Lee Burke; Christine McGuire's Until We Meet Again

On the 21st we left Allen's Cay and sailed the full 30+ miles to Nassau - a wonderful sail! We stayed in Nassau for only two overnights. Stocked up on a fresh produce and took a walk the bridge to the area of Atlantis and walked around.

After we arrived in Nassau, we received an email from Roger of Two Tickets. He said that a cruiser had jumped in the water at Lee Stocking Island and was attacked by a large barracuda. He was seriously injured and they had to evac him off the island. From what we read, the barracudas are curious, but will not attack unless you spear a fish and don't get it out of the water right away - they will come after it and you. Apparently, the locals will wear black socks if they don't have fins for their feet when they snorkel or dive because the barracuda see the bottoms of their feet and think FISH! We will have to remember that next time we decide to venture into the water for a quick dip.

Had been watching the weather - suppose to have two fronts come through, so we thought we would be anchored at Nassau for about a week; decided last minute to head to Bimini. Left Nassau at 9:15 a.m. yesterday and arrived here in Bimini at the Bimini Blue Water Marina and tied off in the slip by 12 noon. An exhausting 27-hour motor. The winds were higher than predicted and, of course, on the nose, so a rather rough ride. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep. So as soon as I fixed lunch and made a pot of coffee so I can have my afternoon ice coffee treat, we both took a much needed nap. We will check weather tomorrow morning. It certainly is a treat being tied at a slip - just walk off the boat onto land - no dealing with putting dinghy up and down.

March 28, 2014

Well, this marina is on the small side and it's been wonderful meeting cruisers from this marina and nearby marinas. The winds have been in the 20 and 30 knot range with gusts in the 40's. So glad we are in a slip. We took a stroll the beach on the Atlantic side of the island a couple of days ago and were mesmerized by the waves crashing into the rocks and beach - nobody has the left the marina for a few days. There are several boats wanting to head east to other Bahamian Islands, but the weather has just not been favorable - no sense in beating themselves up in lousy weather. We, are in the minority and heading West to Florida as soon as we get a three-day weather window - looks like next Tuesday is a go if the weather pattern holds.

The last several days, we've been watching a Bahamian woman sort, wash and repack beer bottles WHILE a couple of Bahamian men sit and shoot the s__t. This is a typical site on all the islands - the women work, the men sit. If she comes across a plastic bottle, she just throws it in with the branches and leaves that have been swept up and dumped at the waters edge. Geesh - you would think they would at least throw the plastics in the garbage cans that are everywhere. That's another thing that just bugs the heck out of me about the people and these islands. Just doesn't faze them about throwing garbage everywhere except in the receptacles that are place outside the houses, businesses and along the roads. I just don't get it!! In this same area that the bottles are being sorted is a broken down gas truck - it seems to be a handy outdoor port-a-john and we get to watch that every day. They guys just don't seem to care that we are sitting out in our cockpit and they are the entertainment - at least they keep their backs to us.

Last night we joined a few other cruisers and headed down the street to the "End of the World" bar. The floor was sand; there were about 5 bar stools and the walls were covered with graffiti from cruisers from all over the world - Brian wrote our boat name on the ceiling. Today we visited the Dolphin House - it's a building that was built by hand and is made of concrete with every color of tile you can think of. Ashley Saunders, the owner started the project in the about 1983. He has imbedded mosaic pieces depicting the sea life throughout the inside and on the outside of the building. Ashley scours the island for all of his building material - abandon buildings, the beach, the trash, etc.; he's got quite the imagination and where-with-all to pull it off.

We have bull sharks that swim by our boat every day - at first we thought they might be the nurse sharks, but we were set straight on that - good thing we don't have to get in the water to check an anchor.

Reading: Aesop's Fables retold by Ann McGovern; James Lee Burke's Swan Peak; Castaway Boats by Victor Slocum; Patricia Cornwell's At Risk


March 31, 2014

7:00 this morning, about 7 boats left heading to the Exhumas. Last night we all got together for a cruisers' pot luck - great food. We, along with at least two other boats will be heading to Fort Pierce, FL tomorrow morning. Looks like we will have a good week of great weather for traveling to the states. Our trip will cover 123 miles; we will leave by 9:00 a.m. and arrive in Fort Pierce by mid morning. If we arrive in Fort Pierce earlier than 9, we may just continue up the ICW to Melbourne - where we will be looking at a Catamaran. If we can cruise up the ICW at about 6 knots, then it will take us about 7 hours to get to Melbourne. We may want to just stay put in Fort Pierce for the day and start out the next day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: MEGHAN, WAYNE, PETE,

April 4, 2014

Well, we left Bimini on April 1st. We discussed how to back the boat out of the slip the night before as the water behind our boat was rather shallow and we certainly didn't want to go aground. The port bow line and our starboard spring line were taken aboard. Another cruiser held our starboard bow line until I had the boat backed about half way out of the slip then threw it on board. Another cruiser held our starboard aft line and played it out as I finished backing out - this allowed the bow of our boat to start swinging to port - once the bow the cleared the piling; our aft line was let go as I put the boat into forward gear and off we went. We were rather proud of ourselves as the whole process went very smoothly and without any mishaps and go enthusiastic thumbs ups from the volunteer dock hands.

Other than motoring away from our slip and out through the channel, we actually sailed to the next channel getting into Lake Worth. We were heading towards Ft. Pierce, but the winds started dieing and then we were fighting the current - wasn't comfortable. We decided to head into Lake Worth even though it was dark, but we've gone into this anchorage before in the dark, so we were familiar with it. Anchor was down about 9:15 p.m. - 13 and a half hours of travel. It was good to stop.

The next morning we left Lake Worth at 7:00 a.m. and motor-sailed to Ft. Pierce and anchor down by 3:40 p.m. Brian trolled and caught a Little Tunny or False Albacore - the meat was ok. Next morning we left our anchorage a little before 7:00 a.m. and motor-sailed to Cocoa, FL. We had just the genoa sail up, but boy did it boost our speed - winds peaked at 20 knots and we hit a speed of a 7.8 knots tops. Took us about 9 and a half hours to get to Cocoa. We stopped here last year for an overnight stay - had a Mother's Day breakfast and then went on our way. This year we are here to look at a Catamaran and maybe spend a day or two exploring the town. Before we met the broker, we had breakfast out and went to a hardware store - The S F Travis Company. The building consists of 30,000 square feet of everything you could possibly want or need for projects. Pretty impressive! Met with the broker this morning and got back to our boat about 5:00 p.m.

April 7, 2014

Reading: Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle; Surviving the Storm by Steve and Linda Dashew

Well we made an offer on the Cat in Cocoa, but it was not accepted. The owner is asking way too much for it with all the work it needs. Left Cocoa mid afternoon on the 5th and anchored outside of Titusville on the Jay Jay RR Causeway River. After getting situated, we noticed a small pleasure craft with five people on it paddling and getting nowhere. Put the binoculars on them - looked like they were having engine problems. We put our dinghy in the water and Brian went to see if they needed help. Saw Brian tying up to them and then started towing them back towards Titusville - a mile and a half away. Dinghies are not made for towing, so it was slow going, but apparently the five people on the pleasure craft were thrilled they were getting help. When Brian deposited them near a boat ramp, they wanted to give him money - he, of course, refused, but they still dug into their pockets and gave him a few dollars. We felt pretty good being able to help them out. They would have never made it to the ramp by just paddling against the current and they didn't have any radio or phones with them (not good).

Left our anchorage next morning and motor-sailed 84.5 miles to an anchorage on the Mantanza River just off the Mantanza Fort - long day - 12 hours. Reading about this anchorage made me a tad nervous about getting to it, but we had no difficulties at all and it was a really nice quiet anchorage.

At the moment we are on a mooring ball in St. Augustine. Lousy weather coming in later today and staying with us through Wednesday. If weather permits, we will leave Thursday morning and head out to the ocean and sail up the coast doing an overnight to Charleston.

April 12, 2014

Reading: Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth Davis; The Gate House by Nelson DeMille; State of Wonder by Anne Patchett; John Sanford's Rough Country

We enjoyed our stay in St. Augustine. The day before we left, there was a pod of dolphins churning up the water near our boat - they were mating - one dolphin kept jumping clear out of the water - he must have been the lucky one. Left St. Augustine this past Thursday at 6:45 a.m. and motor sailed all day and into the overnight. Our destination was Charleston, but the winds picked up and we were moving along rather nicely, so we decided why not continue for another overnight onto Beaufort, NC? I even did well with my overnight watches. Though on my second watch, there were quite a number of freighters I really had to keep my eye on. Only one of them made me rather nervous, so I woke Brian and he stayed up with me and contacted the pilot of the freighter to make sure we wouldn't collide (I think I can handle that next time). Brian offered to alter our course, but the pilot told us to stay on course and he would alter course and he did. Other than that it was an uneventful night sail. It was great having the moonlight and the seas were pretty settled. Unfortunately, the next afternoon, we heard a strange noise coming from the engine compartment. Brian discovered one of the motor mounts had broken, so we significantly dropped the RPMs and limped our way into Charleston. Once we hit the harbor entrance, the winds just whipped up to 23 knots, so we had a fast sail to the Cooper River Marina. We called ahead to see where we could get in, but it is race weekend here, so most marinas were full. This marina was several miles in from the entrance, but it has all the amenities, a clean facility and the staff is friendly and accommodating. The downside would be that it is far removed from downtown Charleston. But, if the staff isn't too busy, they will give you a ride to the downtown which we did today. We spent a good part of the day walking around Charleston.

Cooper River Marina use to be a degaussing station for submarines. Degaussing is a form of demagnetizing. The Navy turned the facility and land over to the county for Parks and Recreation and now it is a nice little marina for recreational and transient boaters. We are not in a slip but on the inside of a face dock. We get to watch sailboats, pleasure crafts, tug boats, barges and freighters go by. It's rather intimidating when you see a freighter up close, but when it's packed with containers front to back about 5 containers high, it's downright thrilling and scary as all get out - you wonder how they freighters actually stay upright with all those containers on it.

Our new motor mount won't be in til Tuesday, so this delays our trip north a bit, but we could certainly be in worse places. Think I'll catch up on laundry when they work on the mount.

Yesterday we took a walk off the marina property down the road a piece. Brian brought his camera and tripod; we found a couple of alligators and birds for him to take pictures of. Today, the weather has turned - it's rather chilly, overcast and it just started raining.

April 27, 2014

Started to leave Cooper River Marina on the 23rd, but when we started up the engine, again there was a racket coming from the engine compartment. We just replaced one of the engine mounts and now discovered another one broken. Thankfully, the mechanic was able to replace the mount and the next morning about 7:30, Brian and I smoothly pulled away from the dock and headed towards the outlet of Charleston.

Brian check 4 different weather sights before determining it was good to travel on the outside instead of the ICW. It was suppose to be 10 - 15 knot winds coming from the NE and then turning SE and the waves were suppose to be between 1 to 3 foot. Well, it was choppy getting out of the channel as the winds were on the nose and the waves were against us. We were ok with that knowing once we were out the channel and make our turn, the waves would lay down a bit. Well, the winds were sustained at 25 knots from the NE (all day) and the waves averaged 6 to 8 feet with occasional 10 footers. Needless to say, it was awful - uncomfortable and we were layered to the hilt 'cause it was very cold. We made hardly any headway and about 6 pm decided to skip the overnight to Beaufort, SC. I was feeling nauseated most of the day and Brian didn't want to crash around in the night. We headed to St. George Inlet. We came in at night still fighting the waves in the channel which was several miles long. On the upside, there were plenty of navigational lights to guide us through the channel, though when you are looking at constantly blinking red, green and white lights in pitch black on a meandering channel - your depth perception is all off. Thankfully, our nav chart easily guided us along. Finally put down the anchor a little after 11:30 p.m. We were totally exhausted! The next morning our boat glistened with the sea salt from the waves that we had been crashing through.

From St. George Inlet, we decided to continue on the ICW and had an uneventful motoring day. Anchored in Little River; the anchorage description lead us to believe it would tricky getting into, but we had no problem and a nice quiet night.

Left anchorage at Little River and traveled 97 (yep) miles up the ICW - we sailed and motored - a really, really long day. We anchored at Mile Hammock - an anchorage we've used before. We were surprised at how many boats were already there. We came in just as it got dark, but were able to get our anchor down without incident. Except, as Brian was working the anchor, one of boaters next to us was pointing a flashlight at us. We thought there were helping us because it was pitch black. But after the anchor was down and everything was settled, our neighbor still continued to use her flashlight on us. Brian finally yelled over to call us on the VHF. They did - they thought we were anchored a bit too close to them. We were anchored in 15 feet of very calm water (and not expected winds over 10 knots during the night), so Brian put the usual scope of 7 to 1 plus a bit extra. This guy had out 125 feet of chain which is overkill. If one was anchoring in inclement weather, then yes, you would want to put out quite a bit extra. Anywho, Brian relayed that we had a heavy duty anchor and all chain out and that our boat wouldn't be swinging about or dragging. Our neighbor sounded skeptical and resigned that we were not going to move. All went well during the night - no mishaps of any kind.

This morning we were actually going to sleep in a bit (right), but we were up and on the ICW before 7 am. We stopped in Moorehead City for diesel and to have a mechanic to look at our port tank looked at - he seems to think we may have a small leak in the fuel tank - gosh hope not.

Reading: Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Revenge; Sue Grafton's I for Innocent and J for Judgment. (actually I scored her I - S series minus the N book); Rainwater by Sandra Brown; James W. Hall's Red Sky At Night

April 29, 2014 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEG!!

Left Moorehead City yesterday morning about 7 a.m. Getting off the dock was rather tricky. We had both the current and the wind pushing us against the dock. We were actually on an L shaped fuel dock. Another boat was on the dock perpendicular to us and their boat stuck out a bit impeding us from getting the boat away from the dock. Brian unhooked the bow and spring lines and kept the stern line in place. I put the boat in gear and gently brought it forward bringing the bow towards the dock so that the stern would pop away from the dock. It worked, but when I started to back the boat up the back end kept swinging back into the dock. We waited a few minutes and the other people from the boat on the same dock helped us out. We actually gently ran into the back end of their boat, but between the wife pushing our boat away and Brian pushing off from their boat, we safely made it off the dock - boy, that was a bit nerve wracking.

Traveled the ICW til about 5 p.m. - a short day for us. While traveling the ICW, the Coast Guard came along side of us with their blue lights flashing and boarded us. We didn't even have to stop, though I slowed to a crawl while they did their safety inspection - they were very pleasant and we passed with flying colors. We found a lovely, quiet anchorage on Upper Pungo River North of Belhaven.

Up this morning at 6 a.m. and anchor up and on our way 6:20. It was overcast and chilly and sprinkled on and off. Traveled through Alligator River and again this year did not see one alligator. Uneventful travel on the ICW for the most part until we hit the Albemarl Sound (about 11 miles long). All of a sudden the winds whipped up with a peak of 33 knots. So up went our head sail and we booked right across that sound in no time flat, though it was cold and damp. Glad to get out of it. Found a small anchorage behind Buck Island. We may be anchored here for a couple of days as the weather will be most unsuitable for traveling, unless you have a trawler and are in an enclosure where it's dry and warm. It's suppose to rain and have high winds in this area. We'll just hunker down. Looking forward to the break.

April 30, 2014

Undecided if we should leave this morning because of the weather forecast - decided last minute to just go for it and see how far we get. We pulled anchor just before 7 a.m. and had an uneventful day traveling the ICW until we had to start timing the bascule bridges before we arrived at the Great Bridge Lock. There were several yachts and sailboats vying to get through. On top of that, a barge arrived and had priority getting into the Lock. So the majority of the boats had to jockey around in a fairly confined area for an hour waiting for the Lock to reopen for the rest of us. When it was our turn, we started to get in line, but the "captain" of the sailboat, Aliva yelled at us - "What's your hurry?" We were just getting in line in the order we arrived to enter the Lock. Just before the lock is another bascule bridge that is timed with the Lock system. As we were going through the bridge, the "captain" of Aliva yelled at us again - "Que Sera Sera, get going!" Apparently we weren't moving fast enough for him this time and then he started passing us (unbelievable!) as we were going through the bridge - brother! We tied our boat off on the opposite side of the Lock from Aliva and when it was time to untie our lines and leave the Lock, I asked the Lock tender to have Aliva go before us. I didn't want to listen to the "captain" harass us again. I was a tad worried about getting off the Lock wall as the wind was pushing us against it. When it was our turn, I ran forward and took in the bow line, ran back and grabbed the stern line and held it while I manned the wheel. I put the boat in gear and gently moved forward and slightly turned the boat to port (left) while at the same time letting the bow line feed out. Brian stood towards the middle starboard (right) side of the boat ready to push holds off the wall so we didn't scrape. We also had to watch that our arch system that holds our solar panels and our dinghy did not catch on the concrete pillars (that would have been a catastrophe!) and cause major damage. As we started forward I then turned the boat slightly starboard so that the back end would pull out a bit, then turned the boat slightly port again - did this a few times and we got off the wall and out of the lock with no problems - yes, I was rather proud of myself, especially when you have several boats behind you watching your every move. Whew!!!

Rest of the trip went smoothly and all of the boats that were traveling our way turned off into marinas. We kept going heading for an anchorage by Fort Monroe. About 4 p.m. it started raining, some lightening and thunder. Dropped anchor about 6 p.m. and then it poured. We were the only boat in the anchorage - nice quiet night.

Reading: Tom Clancy's Locked On; Vince Flynn's Extreme Measure; Steven King's Bag of Bones; Mario Puzo's The Fortunate Pilgrim; found Sue Grafton's W for Wasted, but don't want to read it before I can get my hands on her T, U & V books; Dean Koontz' Face of Fear; Tim Dorsey's Florida Road Kill - looking for the sequel - Hammerhead Ranch Motel

MAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY - LISA, KELLY

May 1, 2014 Again, undecided if we should leave our anchorage because of inclement weather. Why not - left about 6:45 a.m. and had long day on the ICW. Dropped anchor about 9 p.m. on the Pax River NAS. We were the only boat anchored and it was dead quiet. The next morning we pulled anchor and arrived a little after 1 p.m. at Pier 7 Marina in Edgewater, MD. We will try to sell our boat here and are looking for a catamaran. Met up with Michele and Sid (our broker) on El Camino. Getting into our slip was rather precarious. Sid wanted us to back in - our boat doesn't back up well. It backs up, it just doesn't go in the direction you would like it to go. We pulled into our slip (it's a finger slip) which was at an angle. Between the 20 knot winds and current I ended up snagging our dinghy on the dolphin (pole sticking out of the water to tie up to). One of the straps holding the dinghy snapped - thankfully, that was the only damage and mishap. The only way to get off of our boat is from the bow onto the finger pier (really short) and when the tied is up it's a bit of a drop to jump down to. It could always be worse. The day after we got here, the marina changed hands, so we are not sure where Sail Away Catamarans will be relocated. The new owners sell a different brand of Cats then Sail Away Catamarans does and Sid and Michele are pretty sure they will have to move their Cat from here as they are live-a-boards and the new company will want the dock space for their boats.

May 21, 2014

This will be my last entry til we most likely head out again in the Fall with Brian's brother, Wayne as our guest for a couple of years. We've looked at a few Catamarans here in the marina and have made an offer on one. The owner wants way too much for it and of course, it needs work. Brian and I have been walking a lot - grocery store, West Marine (always), plenty of places to choose from for eating out, though it's a treat as we still eat 90% of meals on board. Yesterday we walked three miles to the Cinema; haven't been to a theater in quite a while. The other day we walked to K-Mart - a five mile round trip - we did that twice in one day. We may actually have someone interested in our boat - should know in about a weeks time. We will be heading up North beginning of June to see family and friends and again in August for appointments and our niece's wedding.