We are well on our way! We have visited with family in Katy and Lubbock, and spent a day in Fredericksburg TX. You mostly think of Texas as a hardy, everything big, state. Quaint is not an adjective one conjures up until you arrive in the Texas hill country. Fredericksburg is the southwest’s version of a quaint little town. Great shopping, restaurants, music and a mix of German and Southwest vibe. Will certainly need to return with more time to spend. It was a beautiful wild flower drive through the hill country. It is currently blue bonnet season. We timed it perfect! Left Lubbock this morning heading to Santa Fe!

We are taking off on a new kind of adventure! We still plan to sail in the future, but as for 2019, we are heading west. We are trading in the seas for the roads, the beaches for the forests, and the dolphin for the bears. It's the same sky and the same guy, just a different vantage point. We are making a couple stops in Texas to see family. Then the itinerary is Santa Fe, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Dana Point on the California coast, Paso Robles wine country, Redwood forest, Oregon coast and Portland to see our son, Parker. We will spend a couple weeks in Mt. Hood and other Oregon countryside Parker is eager to share with us. If we still have it in us to keep going we will do Washington and Canada. So today the truck and Airstream are loaded down, Allie and Sully are loaded up and we are heading for our first stop in Katy to see my brother. I plan to continue with the blog and hope you all join us for the trip.

We are home! It feels really good to be here with Parker, Allie (our dog) and seeing family and friends. I waited a while to post our return as a very good friend had a surprise party and she didn't know I was back in town until that evening.

What are we enjoying at home?
*Family and friends
*Our shower! No water conservation! My bath tub!
*Washing clothes at home and not at the marina
*A big kitchen to cook in and a dishwasher
*Boiled crawfish
*Church at St. Johns Cathedral

What do we miss?
*The friends we made while in Hope Town
*Sound of the ocean when going to sleep and waking
*The stars in the sky at night
*The church bell chimes that played everyday at noon and 6:00
*Walks on the beach
*The adventure!

We will be home through the end of the year and planning to cruise again in January. Our boat will be in New Orleans for the season. I am having a double knee replacement end of August and will need several months to recuperate well enough to take off again. So our blog is on pause until the next adventure!

See you all next year when we take off for our next cruising adventure!

We left No Name Harbor outside of Miami Monday a week ago. It was a beautiful day, much better than the previous attempt with 7 foot seas. We sailed a full day through Hawk's Channel to Five Mile Channel and anchored for the evening. The next day we left there with intentions of anchoring at Shark River, but we were getting NOAA reports and warnings of terrible storms with 60 knot winds coming for Florida on Wednesday morning. We decided to make a mad dash for Fort Myers so we could get a mooring ball in a protected harbor. We arrived in Ft. Myers at 1:30 in the morning, just 3 hours before the winds were due to start picking up ahead of the storm. We made it safely and were glad to be there once those storms started coming through. We didn't see 60 knots but we were seeing gusts to 30 and 40 knots for sure. We planned to leave Ft. Myers Thursday, but the water was so high we could not get our mast under the bridge. Stuck another day. Friday, we traveled the waterway to Sarasota where we anchored off the downtown park and marina area. Great downtown area in Sarasota. Next time we will have to plan to stay longer. Finally made it to St. Petersburg on Saturday where we will spend the week. We love this city! It is progressive with a great community vibe. Lots of good spots to eat and play.
Along our travels home we saw an abundance of wildlife. Huge sea turtles in Biscayne Bay, tons of dolphins (see pics in the To St. Petersburg folder), manatee and a large bird population here not really prevalent in the Abacos. It was a good trip, but we are tired and it has gotten really hot. We are coming home this weekend by way of rental car. We will either come back later this month and get the boat or we will hire a captain to bring it across the Gulf to New Orleans. We are ready to be in our home sweet home for a while.

We left Hope Town and traveled around the south end heading for the Berry Islands. We wanted a route home different than when we arrived. We stopped in Schooner Bay (TND, resort style) and then went on to Great Harbor in the Berry Islands. It was uneventful as there was absolutely no wind. Steve caught a Mahi, yummy! Beautiful fish, see pick in the Leaving the Abacos photo gallery. We crossed some very deep water in the Northwest Providence Channel between the Abacos and the Berry Islands. We were seeing depths as much as 13,000 feet on our 50 mile crossing. Creepy feeling! We had a little passenger for part of our crossing. About midway a small bird landed on the boat and made himself at home. He stayed with us for about 2 hours. He hopped all over the cockpit, flew inside to investigate. He would hop back up the steps, sit at the top, check us out and turn around to go back down below. I tried getting him out of our bedroom at one point. I was actually in the bed with him trying to chase him out and he didn’t seem to mind me at all. He landed at one point on my shoulder and then hopped to my straw hat before finally flying back out to the cockpit. He landed on Steve’s knee, hopped around between our feet and all over the place. We started becoming quite fond of him and named him Warbel. He finally flew off when land was in sight. Hope Warbel likes his new home.

We spent a day in Great Harbor, Berry Islands. Took a dinghy excursion to check out the sights. Then we left the next morning for Cat Cay in the Bimini Islands. Next we were off for our Gulf Crossing to the states. We had a very mild crossing and arrived in Miami, Coconut Grove, Monday evening. We had a couple of great meals and some good wine. Wine in the Bahamas is really expensive. We have been drinking cheap stuff for too long, so that was a wonderful glass of wine. Last night we stationed ourselves in No Name Harbor at the tip of Cape Florida for an early morning departure. We attempted to leave this morning knowing we were going to have some dicey conditions, mostly wind and wave. We figured we could handle one tough day and then be on the inside of the keys for the next day. We were expecting some 5 foot waves, which is tolerable in order to get us along our way. We headed out at 6:00 a.m., made it out of the harbor, out of the channel, and encountered 7 foot seas almost immediately. We decided staying in Miami another couple of days sounded better than 12 hours of those kinds of seas. So, we turned around and are anchored in No Name Harbor again. We will go back to the marina in Coconut Grove for the weekend. It is a trendy, great area south of Miami. Should be fun! Maybe we will leave Monday.

We are finally leaving Hope Town. We had a great visit with our nephew Trent and his friend Anna. Now we are heading a south a bit further and rounding the tip of the Abaco Islands heading to the Berries and then Bimini. The next stop will be the Keys and back in the states heading for New Orleans. I am sad to leave, but excited to get home as well.

Check the photo album. I posted shots I took along the little paths of Hope Town.

We had our first visitors to the Bahamas! My brother Joey, my niece Julia and her friend Hailey (aka – adopted niece) came the first week in April. It was a great group which led to an awesome week. We picked them up in Marsh Harbor and started our adventures with a snorkeling trip to Mermaid’s Reef on our return to Hope Town. It is a great reef to snorkel as there are tons of brightly colored fish. They aren’t afraid at all. They come right up to you. The next day was our trip to Guana Cay for Nipper’s Sunday pig roast and party. I believe the trip was a hit with the whole gang. Rum punches, dancing and beautiful weather. The tolls of the Nippers trip required R&R on Monday so the girls hung out on the beach all day. Tuesday we took the paddle board to my favorite calm beach on the Sea of Abaco side for lessons on the paddle board and a search for starfish. Of course, the girls hopped right up on that board with no problems. Julia even tried her hand at yoga on the board. Check the pictures in the photo gallery entitled Joey and the Girls. We also found a couple of starfish as well. Later that day we went to the Hope Town Lighthouse for a climb to the top and spectacular views.
The hit of the whole trip was the bicycle pub crawl across the island. Everyone agreed this was the best day. The weather was gorgeous and cool making it a perfect day. Our friends Bill and Mo had family in as well so we were a group of 11. We biked out to Tahiti Beach on the other side of the island for a little Bocce ball and then it was off to the first stop for lunch, Sea Spray Resort and Marina. We hit quite a few spots along the route home and ended the evening with a great sunset meal on the boat. Joey and the girls couldn’t resist hitting the town for one more whirl of fun before they returned home. It might have been there most fun evening of all.
It was so much fun seeing the excitement and enthusiasm in all three of them. We had great conversation, loads of fun and a week of a life time. I love you all guys! You were awesome company!
Next was my step mother and sister, Wanda and Lisa. They just left this morning. I so enjoyed seeing them both and the week was spent doing many of the same things we did with Joey and girls. We skipped the pub crawl on bikes and took a golf cart ride around the island though. After a couple months, here it was great having family come to spend time with us. Next visitors come in a week. Can’t wait Trent!

We use the term weekend very loosely around here. Anything you might do on the weekend is very likely done during the week as well. However, one thing reserved for kicking off the weekend usually begins on Friday evening at a little place called Wine Down and Sip Sip. Here, everyone gathers to get the weekend started in true party style. The restaurant is packed, tables all full and everyone standing around to mingle with fellow SOTs. Yes, you join a club called the SOTs. This is a group of ole sailor friends. ‘SOT’ is a reference to an ‘ole salty dog’. New members are cheered in by the entire restaurant. Quite fun.
If the winds are light, you might find a Dinghy Drift occurring at sundown. This is a group of cruisers who all gather and tie up their dinghies. Check the picture in the photo gallery entitled Weekend Activities. There were 20-30 dinghies tied together, having cocktails and appetizers while drifting slowly through the harbor. Once the drift was done, the dinghy races commenced. Probably not the best activity for a bunch of intoxicated cruisers.
Every weekend we have the little kids doing their sailing regattas. Some weekends we have adult races as well. They are always fun to watch. You might see a painter on the edge of the harbor with canvas and paints. There are Bocce ball games on the beach. Pub crawls on bikes across the island. One of the bars on route, Sea Spray Marina’s bar, might call for a game of giant Jinga. Evenings might end with a game of Forkel on someone’s boat. We have reverted back to kids. In the photo gallery, there is a picture of one of our friends playing Bocce ball. His shirt says “Growing older, but never up.” Our new moto to live by. Even Steve Oubre has been playing games. He has been notorious for hating games, but he seems to be enjoying them and having fun.
Reserved for the weekend though is Sunday Mass in the beautiful outdoors. The benches under the shade of the cork tree with a breeze from the harbor is just a perfect setting. Time to thank God for our many blessings and this wonderful opportunity.

Our mooring ball we hang on in Hope Town harbor is the first line of mooring balls right across from the harbor’s edge of the little village of Hope Town. We are the center of the activity and see all the coming and going of life in Hope Town. There is the community of people who call Hope Town their home throughout the year. Then there are those of us who call it home for just the winter. There is a whole other group who come and go for their week’s vacation. The transportation system keeps everything clicking along and is the life blood of the community. I created a photo album in the gallery entitled transportation to give you an idea of various comings and goings on an average day in Hope Town .
There are many forms of transportation for getting around this little Cay. The majority is water based transportation. Once on land most people walk to their destination, ride bikes are use golf carts. Those of us who stay on the mooring balls depend heavily on our dinghies to get back and forth to land. It is our car while we live on the boat. The dinghies are our means of meeting one another often. You just pull up alongside another boat and say hello. Look for a boat in the harbor to have several dinghies hooked on around sunset for an impromptu cocktail party. Then we have the Hope Town shuttle services hopping between the resorts on separate sides of the harbor and the village docks. It is basically the bus system, but open air with a much better view and pretty much on call. There is one guy who has a taxi type service bringing people back and forth in his little aluminum boat. The ferries come from Marsh Harbor on Abaco Island. They bring the tourist to and from the main island where they fly into, but they also provide service to people who come from Marsh Harbor to work in Hope Town and vice versa. They come back and forth all day and into the evening. There is a special ferry that arrives each morning to pick up the kids who go to school in Marsh Harbor. It is the school bus service as most of the small islands have no schools or as in the case of Hope Town only a grade school. Note in the photo gallery the young girls sitting on the back of the ferry and her shadow on the back of the ferry wall. She is on her cell phone. Some things are the same, no matter where you are in the world.
Then we have the working group. There are those who own mooring balls and run through the harbor checking the mooring balls for hold and to collect the fee from those occupying their mooring. One of them is the deacon who assists the priest with mass each week. His name is Truman. He and his wife adopted two special needs children, twins. Today the boys were taking a ride with Dad to check the mooring balls. They are sweet boys who can’t really communicate too well, but they are always very happy and smiling. Then we have the fishing guides who gear up each morning and pick up their charter guests. One is Local Boy, and you can buy fresh fish off the dock sometimes when he returns. He also plays in the band on Saturday nights at the Harbor’s Edge restaurant turned bar at 9:00 p.m. Tables are cleared and it becomes a harbor’s edge dance floor. You learn quickly that many of the residents have duel functions or jobs around town. Froggies Dive shop comes through periodically with a group who went out snorkeling, diving or over to Guana Cay for Nipper’s Sunday Pig Roast. About 3 to 4 times a week the large freight barge roars through with delivery of produce for the grocery stores and resorts along with other necessities for the businesses on the islands. It would be the equivalent of an eighteen wheeler barreling down the interstate. There are other worker types as well.
The most fun to watch is the parade of recreational boats coming through the harbor. There are plenty of charter boats and owned boats coming through each day looking to pick up a mooring. There are the mega yachts who pull into the marina across the harbor. Plenty of people on paddle boards and kayaks. Most fun of all is the Yacht Clubs youth group who launch their little sail boats off the harbor’s edge right across from our boat. They are soooo cute to watch. Last week they were holding a mini-regatta for them right in front of our boat. One was complaining because she couldn’t get wind while simultaneously a little boy was certain he was about to capsize his boat. He was yelling and panicking. The adults in separate boats coached him through his ordeal and when his boat took off in the right direction you could just see him burst with achievement and concurring of his fears.
All and all, it is a busy little harbor, bustling with all sorts of boat traffic. We love being at the center of all the action. We have a front row seat!

We have been back in the Bahamas for two weeks now and we still haven’t brought ourselves to leave Hope Town in the Abacos. Of course, we arrived on a beautiful day and the wind started roaring the very next. It blew pretty hard for a good week. It hasn’t stopped the on-land fun though. We went to Wine Down and Sip Sip for the Cruisers night, met new friends. Our boat neighbors had family come in and we have spent some time with them. Had a pot luck dinner with a couple we met at the Cruiser’s night at their house they are renting for a month overlooking the Abaco Sea. Fabulous view. Left there and went dancing at the Harbor’s Edge. Can’t tell you the last time we danced till midnight. We spent another day at Fire Fly’s, resort in the middle of the island. Had cocktails on the beach overlooking the Abaco Sea and then lunch. Yes, cocktails before lunch, please don’t judge us. We are in the islands. There was a heritage festival in the center of town on Wednesday as the winds were too strong on Saturday to have the festival. This tells you the gravity of the winds here. They canceled the festival, not due to storms or rain, just wind. Great little festival with food, crafts, opened the heritage museum for the day, music and entertainment from some of the school kids. So, though we have not had much water fun, land fun is still in plentiful supply.
The past week has been quite as we had a bit of a scare with Steve and have been letting him recover. He woke me at about 5:00 in the morning and had been up all night with severe stomach pain. I thought he was having an appendicitis attack. Talked to an on-call doctor on a neighboring island, as Hope Town has no doctor, only a clinic with a nurse. After a few questions, she was concerned as well and said he needed to be seen sooner rather than later. She gave me the number for the Hope Town Fire and Rescue and we had them take us to Marsh Harbor. They contacted a doctor to meet us at the clinic there. Thankfully, it was not an appendicitis attack as there is no hospital on that island. We likely would have had to have him air transported to the states or Nassau. Long story short, he is fine, likely a kidney stone he passed that morning and an irritated gall bladder. The whole ordeal does make you realize how remote you are here. The closest island with a clinic that has a doctor is a 10 minute emergency boat ride (after you get the volunteer crew assembled and to you), a 20 minute ferry ride (ferry only comes every 2-3 hours during the day) or an hour and half ride for our sail boat (we can only leave the harbor at high tide twice a day). Once you get to the island you then get the paramedic cab driver to pick you up at the docks and get you to the clinic. Yes, the paramedic they called for us is a cab driver as well. He picks you up in his cab. Though not what we have in the states, everyone was so pleasant and helpful. I thank God they were there for us that morning as I was a bit scared. Steve is feeling fine now. Day in and day out this little island and the town of Hope Town doesn’t feel that remote, but when an emergency arises you realize how far removed you are from quality medical care.
Heading to town to the coffee shop for the internet to update the blog. Then off to the little grocery store. I need a few items to bake homemade bread this afternoon. Going to head to the beach later for a late afternoon walk. Fresh fish on the grill for dinner and another beautiful sunset across the harbor.
From the islands, we miss you all!