Somes Sound to Camden, ME

Somes Sound turned out to be a very long stay. However, it was a very nice stay even though we had to solve our engine problem. Every day consisted of taking the LLBean bus to Southwest Harbor where there were all kinds of amenities, to try to find the right screw to close up the leak. Finally, we decided to bring the boat down to Southwest Harbor to have the diesel mechanic look at it. We were running dangerously low on water and we needed to get diesel too. On our last night at Somes Sound though, Ray and Helen from Rigamarole came into the Sound and we finally met up with them. They joined us on John Ray for dinner. We had chicken cacciatore a la Michele and dessert courtesy of Helen. Good fun was had by all. Even Ray was happy because he got to have meatballs too. Actually, he told me that my meatballs tasted like his Italian grandmother's meatballs. So I was quite pleased with my bad self.

We finally got the leak in the engine plugged up. After we finally found the right size set screw/plug or whatever you want to call it, it wouldn't fit in. Everyone we talked to at Yanmar and other diesel mechanics told us what it should be, but it just didn't want to work. So we travelled down to Southwest Harbor and had the diesel mechanic at Down East Diesel look at it. He had it fixed up in an hour. The problem was that the mechanic who did the install plugged it up with a metal screw and it had rotted out leaving pieces behind. Obviously, we couldn't fit the same screw in there when pieces of the old screw were still there. While Steve and the mechanic futzed around with the boat, Michele met Robb and Terri Lukens (and Eli and Casey) for lunch. Robb is a teacher at Michele's school and his wife teaches at Thayer Academy. It was very nice of them to drive down from their cottage to meet with us, and it was extremely nice of them to treat for lunch! Thanks guys.

So, with our boat in no danger of sinking, we headed to Swan Island and anchored at beautiful Mackerel Cove. The anchorage was very peaceful and scenic. The next day we reluctantly left Mackerel Cove and headed to Seal Harbor at Vinalhaven Island. We arrived fairly early in day, but the anchorage was already slightly crowded. There was still plenty of room for us though. We had the choice between Seal Harbor or Winter Harbor and chose seal. However, at high tide you're able to dinghy all the way around from Seal to Winter. Winter Harbor is where we saw the seals though. Both anchorages were beautiful. Again, very scenic and very peaceful. It was so peaceful that we decided to stay another day. We went ashore to a little island in the middle of the harbor and Steve collected a couple dozen muscles which he cooked up for dinner with garlic, butter and linguine. It was delicious!

This morning we left Vinalhaven and we arrived here at Camden Harbor this afternoon where we are doing much needed laundry. Domenic is meeting us here for a couple of days so we will be exploring the area around Camden.

Mt. Desert Island, ME

After leaving Cranberry Island, we headed over to Northeast Harbor on Mt. Desert Island. Even though it was only 3 or 4 miles, it took well over an hour trying to sail there without the engine and very light winds. You see, we got this new engine back in May, but it seems to have a slight problem. There is water coming in! Long story short, a set screw came out of a drain plug and we can't seem to find the right size to replace it. So whenever we run the engine, we take in water which really isn't such a good thing. We stayed at Northeast Harbor on a mooring for one night. While we were there, we took the free LLBean free bus to Bah Habah. Neither of us had been there before so it was a very nice take.

The next day, we sailed up Somes Sound, the only natural fjord in the contiguous United States. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. Alaska is the only other state that has one. Anyway, we have been here at Somes Sound since Sunday. We are planning to stay here another night as we are still trying to fix the engine.

We have been taking in the scenes of Somes Sound and Southwest Harbor since we've been here. Ray and Helen from Rigamarole will be joining us tonight for dinner as they just left Northeast Harbor. Nothing else is new. The time is going by very fast though. The end of our cruising is getting close!

The Cranberry Islands

We left McGlathery Island after one pleasant night. However, when we left the fog started to fill in heavily. Most of the 20 miles stretch to Great Cranberry was spent in heavy, heavy fog. It was an extremely stressful sail. We had the radar on the entire time, and it was nerve wracking to see huge objects in or near our path and not be able to see them. We passed islands as close as 1/4 mile away and couldn't even make out the shore or trees or anything. At one point, a very loud fog horn sounding like it belonged to a huge ship blew practically right next to us. We didn't see anything, but half expected a ship's hull to come crashing into us. We circled around and kept an eye on the radar. A few minutes later, the horn sounded again, but behind us this time. We made it through that, but still had another hour or so to get to our destination. At one point the fog just lifted, but it was very short lived - only for about 15 to 20 minutes before filling right back in. We finally made it to Great Cranberry Island and snagged a free town guest mooring. What a huge relief. That night we stayed put on the boat, but the next morning we went ashore for exploration. Since our Verizon Internet card is broken, we first went to the library to check email and update the blog. After that, we explored the tiny town and walked on a really cool trail behind the museum. The trail looked like we going through an enchanted forest. At the end we wound up on a pretty neat beach where we walked along the rocks and sat for a while to have a snack.

We had a quick lunch at the general store and chilled out overlooking the harbor. It was a great day. The next morning we took the dinghy to Little Cranberry Island or Isleford. We heard quite a bit about this island from our neighbor who raved about it. However, our expectations exceeded our experience. The island seemed much more populated with locals, summer residents and visitors. We walked one trail that was extremely buggy. The horseflies were huge! We walked all the way to the other end of the island to visit the Coast Guard Station, only to find out that it is a private residence - with no trespassing allowed. After much about the Dockside restaurant, we decided to try their lunch. The service was horrible and food was terrible, not to mention expensive. The portions were tiny as well. We discussed our experience with the manager, and she gave us break on the sandwiches. With just sodas and chowder, it still cost us $20.00. Oh well. The weather started picking up while we were at the restaurant with the winds coming right at us on the way back in the dinghy. It was a very uncomfortable, long ride back. So suffice it to say, we like Great Cranberry Island much better than Isleford!

McGlathery Island to Great Cranberry Island

On Tuesday morning we left Isle au Haut and headed northeast to McGlathery Island which is a favored spot in the Blue Hill Bay area. McGlathery Island is just south of Stonington on Deer Island. Getting to this anchorage was challenging since we got socked in with fog. Actually, it has been foggy up here since we arrived. Travelling in the fog is very stressful. There was only about an 1/8 of a mile visibility. While we almost at our anchorage, we ran into a couple of kids in a dinghy. They were following their own sailboat and ventured off to a beach when they got socked in and couldn't find their own boat. The girl was about 17 and the boy was only about 11. They had no radio or cell phone or any means of communication on them. After talking to them for a few minutes, we realized that their sailboat had just passed us going in the opposite direction. It was already lost in the fog. There was no way they would be able to find them. We couldn't leave them alone with no radio, charts, warm clothes or anything. We used our cell phone to call their crew. We informed them that we would tow the kids into the northern anchorage at McGlathery and they said they were going to the same place. Well, they didn't. They went to another anchorage on the western side of the island - we were at the northern anchorage. The kids had to dinghy to them, but at least the fog had lifted somewhat and they could follow the shore along to the other anchorage. Weird!


Our anchorage was quite nice. We went ashore, but it was difficult to find a trail to hike so we walked along the rocky shore - more exercise rock climbing! It was pretty neat though.

We had an excellent pork chop dinner and we were able to pick up the Red Sox game (too bad they can't seem to win at the Trop). On Wednesday, we planned to head out towards the Cranberry Islands which are south of Mount Dessert Island (and Bar Harbor). I'll post that part of the trip a little later.

Hingham, MA to Isle au Haut, ME

(Sorry it took so long to post. We haven't had Internet since we left. Our Verizon Internet card is not working and this is the first time we've had access to a library!)

On Saturday morning, we left the dock at Hingham Shipyard Marina. It’s been a while since we’ve been cruising, so it was exciting to be heading out again. We left at approximately 10:00 a.m. and motored sailed all day and into the night. During our travels on Saturday afternoon – WE SAW WHALES! Steve mentioned that there were reports of whale sightings around Stellwagon Ledge, so we started looking. After about a half hour or so, Michele spotted the spray shooting up from the water as the whales came up for air. They were at least a mile away from us, so we didn’t get too good of a look, but we did finally see them. We could see fins and tails coming up out of the water, but we weren’t close enough for a picture. Then they were gone. We spotted them again, but this time they were behind us. But at least we finally saw whales.

Michele took the first watch at 8:00 p.m. Although, Steve was below, he stayed awake reading until at least after 9:00 p.m. which would only give him 3 hours of sleep. Michele started a new book and was very much into it. The time passed quickly so she stayed up until 1:00 a.m. so that Steve could have close to 4 hours sleep. He then took the watch until almost 5:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m., Michele got to go back to sleep for another couple of hours.

The fog started rolling in around 8:00 a.m. and we were pretty socked in by the time Michele got back up around 10:00 a.m. Thank goodness for radar and chart plotters (GPS). We managed to avoid all the rocky ledges and get into our anchorage at Duck Harbor, Isle au Haut, okay despite the fog. We chilled out on the boat for the afternoon deciding to spend the next day going ashore to explore. And that we did!

When we rowed the dinghy ashore, we found a campground with trail maps. So we started off on an innocent hike. Well, 5 hours later, we were exhausted. We circled the entire island which was probably about 13 -15 miles. We enjoyed a nice hike through woods and trails, waterfalls, ocean views and then into town. The way back was mostly on paved and unpaved road - which was an 8 mile jaunt back to Duck Harbor where we wer anchored. Since we ran out of snacks and water, we sssooooooo happy to get back to the boat. Next morning we planned to leave to McGathery Island. More to come later.

Hingham, MA

Home sweet home - well for some of us. Michele is excited to be home, but we're not so sure about Steve. We're still living on the boat in a slip at the Hingham Shipyard Marina. We've added a new crew member though, Chuey. He didn't seem to skip a beat going from Jessie back to us. She dropped him off at our house where we had already re-united with Junior. Junior will still stay at the house with the Papile's as he is way too big to be on the boat. (Boston Light) Junior was a little skeptical of us when he first saw us. He shied away at first, not sure who we were. Then once he realized who we were, he was very happy. Chuey just went right by me and into the house to sniff around his old digs. Then he came over to say hi to me. We're very grateful to the Papile's and Jessie for taking good care of the dogs while we were away. Without them the trip wouldn't have been possible.

We're staying on the boat because we're not quite ready to be land lubbers. The house needs some work and Steve just isn't ready to deal with it. We'll be here for at least a month and then head up to Maine sometime in July. If anyone wants to go out sailing, give us a call. :-) (father and son reunion)

Sandwich, MA - Almost Home!!!

Hi all. We finally left Sandy Hook, NJ yesterday at 0600. We motored sailed the entire way along the southern shore of Long Island Sound. Our first destination was going to be Block Island, but plan B was to go to Cutty Hunk - the Elizabeth Island chain near Martha's Vineyard. Plan C was Onset, and depending on time/current through the Cape Cod Canal to Sandwich, plan D. When we arrived at Block Island it was 0200, so we just kept going. When we were going by Newport, RI, it was 0500. Cutty Hunk was at 0800. We kept going and decided since the current was good to go through the canal, we went for it. Since the next anchorage after Sandwich would be Plymouth, which is a long way into the harbor, we decided to get a slip at the Sandwich Marina. We would have kept going all the way home (plan E), but tonight is supposed to get down into the 30's. The winds are also supposed to be blowing around 20 knots tonight. What the heck!!!

So here we are, hunkered down at a marina. Michele's parents are coming down to go to dinner with us. Tomorrow we'll head up to Hingham, and probably get a mooring at the Hingham Shipyard Marina (formerly Hewitt's Cove). We're very excited to be home, well almost home. Jessie is going to bring Chuey home on Tuesday and we'll go home to see Junior. We'll spend more time this summer cruising - if we can still get dog sitters - but that might be pushing it. This is not the end of the post yet. There will be more to come as we get home and continue cruising this summer. Michele doesn't need to be back to work until September!

Waiting for Weather

We are still in Sandy Hook waiting for the weather to clear up. It has been rainy, foggy, cold and sometimes very windy. We're not really having too much fun :-(. More to come later.

Sandy Hook, NJ

On Thursday we left Chesapeake, VA and had somewhat of an easy day. We went through the Elizabeth River to Norfolk, VA and anchored at Willoughby Bay which is right behind the Naval Air Station. For most of the day and into the evening we had a spectacular air show. Black Hawks and Chinooks were circling around the bay most of the day. At night, at around 8:30 P.M. an F18 jet decided to do some maneuvers right over our boat. Pretty cool stuff. We also watched war ships coming and going. At one point one of the new Marine amphibious vessels went zooming by us. It was quite the intersting stop. More pictures here: http://tinyurl.com/ICWend


The next morning we left at around 0800 to head out to sea. Our plan was to hop outside Cape Henry via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel and head northeast for two days to Sandy Hook, NJ. The wind was supposed to be from the east and then southeast, then south 10-15 knots. Although the wind was behind us, it was somewhat light and variable so that we had to motor sail for both days. Our new engine is sure getting plenty of use. We stayed in sight and radio contact for both days with the three Canadian boats that left Virginia at the same time. There was also a catamaran that was also on the same route. It was comforting to know that others were out with us. Being on watch at 2:00 a.m. in the cold isn't much fun. In fact, Michele disliked it so much that on the second night, she was supposed to relieve Steve for a watch at 4:00 a.m., but didn't get up until 6:00 a.m. Steve was very gracious and let me sleep. When I did get up, we were almost at Sandy Hook so Steve just stayed up until we anchored. When we arrived in the harbor, it was crazy busy with power/fishing boats. It was a long way into the anchorage, but we made it. On Saturday, we just chilled out on the boat and caught up on sleep.

On Sunday we went ashore and did the usual grocery store run, while checking out town. It was the first time we used the dinghy since Fernindina Beach, FL. We planned to leave Sandy Hook on Monday, Memorial Day, but had to leave early to catch the current right on the East River in New York. When we woke up, we were still quite tired and opted to stay put. We went ashore again and walked a pretty cool trail that runs along the bay for a couple of miles. Dinner was stuffed peppers and rice.

Today, Tuesday, we planned to leave Sandy Hook again. However, the wind is so strong that it wouldn't be a pleasant trip. It is blowing steadily from the east at 20 knots with gusts up 35 knots. The anchorage is protected on the north and south, but wide open to the east which is making for an uncomforable, rolly day. Michele is quite miserable today :(. She wants to be home already - or at least off the boat for the day! Steve takes it all in stride. Hopefully, the seas will lay down this afternoon and we'll be able to go ashore again. This is sure a lesson in patience and tolerance.

Brrrrrrrr!

This morning it was only 50^o when we got up. Luckily it's warming up pretty quickly as we plan to leave our free dock this morning. The three Canadian boats in front of us also left, which will make it easier for us to get off the dock without taking out the dinghy or outboard on the pilings. Docking is always a challenge, but when there are pilings that can snag things on the boat it's very stressful. When we turn the bow to starboard to leave, the stern obviously pivots to port. John Ray is a very heavy boat and difficult to push off, especially when you have to be at the helm and deal with the lines at the same time. Always a huge sigh of relief when all goes well.

http://tinyurl.com/chesapeakeVA

Our planned departure was at 8:00 to go through the 8:30 Great Bridge Locks. However, since we've been at the dock for three days with virtually no sun and winds occassionally, the batteries were way down and the engine wouldn't start. So we had to pull out the generator and charge the batteries for an hour before the engine would start. (Or at least we're hoping it starts.) Steve's thinking the new engine requires more starting amps to get going than the old one. AT some point, we need to install a new charger. We haven't had this problem since installing new batteries in Marathon. I guess it's always something.

If we do get going today, our plan is to head to Hampton Roads, fill our tanks (water and fuel) and anchor for the night while we wait for the winds to clock around from the North to the East. At that point we should be able to head offshore and sail up the coast of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware and make it to Cape May or Sandy Hook, New Jersey in two nights. Hopefully it won't be too cold at night offshore. So that's our plan.

Chesapeake, VA

This morning we arrived at Great Bridge bascule bridge just before the 9:00 a.m. opening. We tied up at Atlantic Yacht Basin thinking it might be the free dock. It wasn't. The free dock was on the other side of the canal and it was full. We decided to stay tied to Atlantic Yacht Basin dock since no one was around to kick us off. We waited there for the 10:00 a.m. opening of the bridge. The bridge opens in conjunction with a lock that is just beyond it. When we went through the 10:00 a.m. opening of the bridge, there were only 2 boats going through. The 9:00 opening had about 15 boats. As luck would have it, there was another free dock after the bridge which had one spot available just for us :). Our timing was impeccable. Just after we settled in at the dock, the rain came. We were so happy to get this spot (and it's FREE). If we hadn't stopped here, we would have been traveling in the pouring rain and anchoring at Hospital Point in Norfolk, VA - which isn't that great of an anchorage. The holding is supposed to be poor, and we are expecting 20 knot winds throughout the night. We plan to hang here until we get a decent weather window to head offshore to Cape May, NJ - skipping Chesapeake Bay altogether.


Just to backtrack for a minute . . . we left Oriental, NC on Thursday and we sailed and then motor sailed all day crossing Pamlico Sound and heading up Pamlico River. It was awesome to pass by Belhaven and not stop - especially after spending 10 days for boat repairs there in November. We anchored just before the Pungo River Alligator River Canal. It was a small anchorage up a little creek with just enough depth. Just before leaving in the morning, we saw a spectacular rainbow.

On Friday, we were up and out early (8:00 A.M) and put a very long day. We motored sailed most of the day as the winds were light behind us. We put in close to 60 miles until we crossed the Albermale Sound. Since leaving Hilton Head, we've traveled over 500 miles with about 600 or so more to go! We're trucking along and at this rate maybe we'll be back by Memorial Day!

Oriental, NC

http://tinyurl.com/orientalnc

We left Hilton Head as planned on Saturday morning. All went well as we motored up the ICW to Port Royal Sound. The engine ran perfectly, yeah! Once we got into Port Royal Sound we hoisted the sails and had a great 24 hours of southerly winds and following seas. After the first night, the wind started to slow and change directions. It was expected to come from the north, but not until Monday as far as our grib files were showing. However, that was not the case. So on Sunday morning, we had to start the engine back up. We knew we would have to motor for the next 24 hours if we decided to stay offshore. So, we had to decide if we wanted to keep going or pull into the ICW. Because we wouldn't arrive at a suitable inlet until later in the day and probably after dark, we decided we would just keep going. This meant that we would need to figure out how many hours the engine was going to be running and if we would need to have the 50 hour engine checkup sooner rather than later. Decisions, decisions! Since Michele is very anxious to get home, we decided to keep going for a second night out at sea. (We were traveling at least 35 miles offshore). On Monday morning the weather was starting to get a little nasty. The clouds were thickening and lightning was looming. We were expecting this, and wanted to get tucked in before it hit. Unfortunately, right as we were entering the Beaufort Inlet, the skies opened. We got a little wet, but not too bad. Beaufort Harbor was too crowded to anchor, so we kept going up Adams Creek and anchored at a little spot where we anchored on the way down in the fall at Cedar Creek.

When we pulled into the anchorage, we noticed that Kristenly, was anchored there as well. Randy is single handling the boat home (with Rocky and Spike their two little dogs), while Nikki had to return to work (guidance counselor at a high school in Vermont.) Steve had originally talked with Randy a couple of years ago, via the IPHomeport website. Then we met him in Nassau, Bahamas where Nikki joined him. We hung out with them in the Exumas for a couple of weeks. Kristenly is also an IP38. Nikki had taken a leave of absense from her job for a couple of months, but had to return to Vermont. She'll join Randy and dogs in mid June when school gets out. We ended up going in different directions, as we headed here to Oriental and Randy headed to the Outer Banks (Cape Hatteras, Roanoke, and Kitty Hawk.) Maybe we'll bump into him again on the way up north.

So, even though we weren't quite at 50 hours on the new engine, we decided to go to Deaton Yacht Service anyway. They come highly recommended for Yanmar mechanics. If we didn't stop here, then we weren't sure how far north we'd have to go before finding another really good place for Yanmar service. We also wanted to have a reputable yard to check out the install that we had done in Hilton Head. It was a really good choice coming here. We even got free T-shirts and a hat. They're very nice here, and we love Oriental. We've been here a couple of times already by car.

We decided to stay another night here and head out first thing tomorrow morning. We'd like to go back offshore, but we won't have favorable conditions for a couple of days. So back up the ICW we will go and hopefully get to the Chesapeake by Friday. We're getting closer and closer to home sweet home.

Finally Leaving Hilton Head Island!

The boat was launched on Tuesday, May 5th, Cinco di Mayo. On Wednesday, Brooks, our Yanmar mechanic did his final magic touches and we went out for our sea trial. All went well! We were good to go, but had much to do before setting out, including paying the bill, ugh! Today Sue and Mike let us borrow their car again, and we did our final provisioning. We had a BBQ scheduled with them and their boys for dinner, so Michele made some teryaki chicken, sausage and kabobs along with corn on the cob. We had a great time at our farwell/thank you dinner.

Tomorrow morning, at high tide around 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. we will cut the lines and head out. We plan to head up the ICW for about 10 miles to Port Royal Inlet. We will head N/NE until we feel like stopping. At the minimum we will go as far as Bogue Inlet, Morehead City, NC, but would really like to make it up to Chesapeake Bay. If we have Internet we'll keep our position updated. We may be offshore for at least two nights. We'll keep you posted.

Still in HHI, SC

Waiting and waiting and waiting. We got hauled out on Monday since the new engine was to arrive the same day - which it did. Getting hauled out was quite the experience! When the tide is low, the slip where the travel lift pulls the boats has zero water (see picture to right). So we had to wait for high tide which was around noon. The boat was pulled in, bow to, which made getting the boat in the lift just right so the forestay wasn't hitting the lift a challenge. John Ray went up, and then down. The slings were moved. John Ray went up and then down again. The slings were moved. John Ray went up, and then down again. The slings were moved. I believe it was on the 4th or 5th try that they got the position right. I wasn't sure they were going to get it right before the tide started heading out again. It was a harrowing experience watching the boat being jostled and leaning first to starboard, then port. Then the bow was tilted down and the stern was up in the air. Then the stern was tilted down and the bow was up in the air. It was crazy, but they got the job done. Looking forward to doing it all again when we get put back in the water :) - which by the way, who knows when that will be. At least we're not stuck in Belhaven!!!!

So Monday afternoon, the boat was prepped to have workers going off and on. Some hoses were drained and that was about it for Monday. We probably could have stayed on the boat Monday night, but we got a hotel room for two nights. Oh, and by the way, we met a couple, Sue and Mike (and their youngest son Philip), on Adamo. We were docked next to them when we first arrived here last week. They recently got back from cruising and are now settling here to find jobs for a while. Their middle son, attends high school here at Hilton Head and lives with grandma. Their oldest is in college. Anyway, they have a car and a Jeep Sahara. They offered us the use of the Jeep while we are here (unless they need it). We were able to drive back and forth to the hotel which is approximately 3 miles away - probably a little more.

On Tuesday morning, we got to the marina bright and early to keep an eye on the hours that they spend working on the boat (something like $95/hr. for labor). In the morning, the everything was disconnected from the old engine. Then the boat sat idle for a large part of the day while the mechanic got called out to an emergency job. Very frustrating. We went off bike riding as there was nothing we could do. By the late afternoon, the mechanic was back and the old engine was lifted out with a crane. Check out pictures at: http://tinyurl.com/johnray-hiltonhead. When the engine was out, they realized that the raw water pump was different on the new engine so a new one had to be ordered and sent overnight. On Wednesday, Steve worked on the boat most of the day pulling all the old wiring to the control panel (saving some labor bucks :) and installing the new wiring. Michele worked on uploading pictures and dealing with her frustrating job situation - very long story.

Mike and Sue invited us over for drinks last night (Wed.) and we ended up being the guests that wouldn't leave (since we didn't have the hotel room anymore and the boat is in complete disarray - including no electricity.) By 9:00, they ended up feeding us dinner too. At midnight we finally headed over to our boat and slept there on the settees.

Today was another day of waiting as measurements were taken and new mounts had to be created so that the new engine would work in the old engine room without cutting any fiberglass. We went for a bike ride today, but spent most of the day just moseying around the Palmetto Bay pavillion. There's lots of activity with three restaurants, shops, the marina, and a tiki bar. The weather has been gorgeous, but this waiting is getting old. Michele wants to get home!

Hilton Head, SC

So for those of you who still read this blog (or did we lose all our followers?) . . .

Georgia was a long, but beautiful trip. We crossed a few sounds and travelled through many windy rivers and creeks. We passed some of the most beautiful houses that we've seen so far - even the Osprey's homes were incredible.

On Sunday afternoon, though we made our grand entrance into Hilton Head. Sunday started out to be just another beautiful day cruising up the ICW completing our last few miles in Georgia. When we realized we missed a turn and were heading up the Savanna River instead of continuing on the ICW to Charleston, we altered our course and headed back in the right direction. But then we realized, in horror, where we were supposed to go - Field's Cut. We read numerous reports about this section of the ICW being very shoaled and less than 4' in places during low tide. And what time did we get there? Low tide. Based on our history, what we should've done was drop the anchor and have lunch before even attempting this challenge, but we didn't. Skipper Bob told us to favor the green side and we'd be okay. Well, when our new depth sounder started beeping at us, this time we listened and immediately went into neutral. Then we tried to reverse, but the engine just made a bunch of crackling noises and didn't revers. Neutral again. Forward. Same thing. Steve quickly went below to check on the transmission - which we just had work done on twice already. Not good! The shaft seal that we replace in Palm Beach had completely backed off and all the oil was draining from the transmission. Very, very bad! We were stuck, not being able to motor forward or back, so we immediately dropped the hook and called Sea Tow. There was no way we could sail through such a narrow, shallow canal without an engine.

John Ray being towed by Sea Tow.

At this point we were 10-12 miles north of Savanna and about the same distance south of Hilton Head. We opted to be towed to Hilton Head. Now to figure out what was going on.

Steve and the Yanmar mechanic agreed that there is probably an internal problem with the transmission for the seal to have come off twice. Of course, there's no way to prove it without taking out the transmission. No problem, right? Wrong! Where the transmission is located, the entire engine would need to be moved around or completely removed - just to determine that we'd need a new transmission anyway. Then, with all that effort (and labor $$) why put a new transmission on a 20 year old engine - an engine which we don't know the history of? What if we spent all this money on a new transmission and the engine went anyway? After much contemplating and soul searching, we have decided to completely re-power John Ray. What does that mean? Well, it means a brand new transmission, engine, starter, alternator, control panel, etc., etc., etc. We're being hauled for the 3rd time on this trip. However, this time, we can not live on the boat while they work on her. We have to get a hotel room for a couple of days. (At least it's not Belhaven, NC.) We will keeping John Ray for many, many years to come.

On the bright side, we will be bringing the boat all the way back to New England. We were actually thinking of hauling it out in Oriental, NC and putting her on the hard for a while while we went back to work. Now, storing the boat is not going to be an option. A new engine needs to be run in order to be broken in. We also don't want to have a brand new engine sitting idle while the warranty runs out. So, we will have a boat to use all summer again, yeah! Another summer in Maine will be quite nice.

So for now, we are stuck in Hilton Head for at least a week (poor us :). It's too bad we don't golf. There are a couple of very elaborate mini-golf courses here as well, so maybe we'll take in 18 holes there. So that's all for now. There's never a dull moment in the life and times of John Ray.

Jekyll Island, GA

Here we are in Georgia now. No more Florida. This morning we left from Fernindina Beach, FL after filling up the water and fuel tanks. When we arrived at Fernindina yesterday, it was fairly early - 11:00 a.m. - as we only had to travel 10 or so miles from Alligator Creek. After not getting much sleep the night before with the high winds, we decided that an easy day was deserved. Despite the wind blowing like stink yesterday when we went to grab our mooring, we managed to have one of our best performances ever. The current, the noise and the smell from the paper mills in Fernindina make this anchorage a little less than desirable. Additionally, the grocery store is almost 2 miles away. However, we were very excited when we arrived at the mooring field and Norm and Linda, from Ariel (from NEB, RI) offered to drive us with their rental car. So of course, just picking up a few things ended up being over a hundred dollars worth of stuff. Gotta love it when you get those rides. We hadn't seen Norm and Linda since November when we bumped into them back in Deltaville, VA on our way down. (Well, we did see them just briefly as they were anchored in Daytona across from the restaurant where we met Ray and Helen for dinner last week.) They high-tailed it right to the Bahamas and got there before Christmas. They stayed over there all winter. Pretty funny how we keep bumping into the same people.

On our way up the ICW in Georgia we went by Cumerland Island and saw wild horses just grazing down by the water. I din't take a picture because they were too far away to get a good shot. (Besides, I still have no way of downloading the pictures from camera.) We could see the horses okay from the boat, but we got a much better look at them through the binnoculas. There were a three horses hanging out together, then another horse a litte ways away from them. A 1/2 mile up we saw a couple more. They were all very good looking horses. None of them looked mal nourished or anything. It's pretty cool how they can live free out in the wild, and live off the land without anyone bothering them. I always feel bad for those horses pulling the buggies with tourists in them around cities. They always look so hot and sweaty and miserable. We saw that in St. Augustines,FL and we'll see it again in Charlestown, SC. Sometimes I have much more compassion for animals than people (oops, did I just say that!) Okay, well I guess I'm digressing.

Besides the water being really brown, Georgia's ICW route seems really beautiful. (Actually, the water has been really brown since we got into central Florida.) The wildlife so far is great. At least being back in the US we've seen tons of dolphins. We didn't see any in the Bahamas - although we did see many other cool fish, rays and sharks.

We will hopefully be in Charleston, SC by Saturday. We are now at latitude 31 and we need to get all the way up 42 - just 11 more degrees to go! But we also need to get another 10 degrees east on the longitude end. We're getting there :).

St. Augustine, FL for Easter

We arrived in St. Augustine Friday, April 10th after a long day traversing the ICW. After anchoring and setting up the dinghy, Michele went ashore and her sister. They went to the Ripley's Believe it Not museum (the kids really wanted to go) and then went out for pizza. At the hotel the kids went for a swim while Auntie had some alone time in the hotel having very long, hot shower (besides it was 9:00 p.m. - cruisers' midnight)! When the Miller family returned it was still an hour or so before we settled down for the night. By the time lights went out, it was 11:00 p.m.

The next morning (well closer to noon actually), we met Uncle Steve and toured St. Augustine's. First on the agenda was the Castillo de San Marcos. A picnic lunch was enjoyed by all under a shadey tree on the grounds of the castle. We went by the Fountain of Youth which we thought was just a park to walk through, but found out it cost way too much money and it probably wasn't worth it. We went to Flagler College, The Government House and the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine (the oldest continually active Catholic faith community in the continental US - founded on September 8, 1565.) Again, I would show you pictures, but my computer and camera are still fighting. I've tried to get them to work out their problems, but they refuse to speak to each other.

On Easter Sunday morning, there was a sunrise service at the fort that we could hear through load speakers. We did go ashore for fuel, water and showers to get our $10 worth of dinghy dock usage at the marina. We met several boats that we've heard on the radio a few times including Passport, Plumpuppet, Triple Star (well, TS we just met without previous radio knowledge, but they were on an IP anchored right near us and they are travelling up the east coast to Maine where they have a house).

Yesterday we left St. A's with weather warnings for the afternoon. You'd think we've learned a lesson from the day we left Vero with severe wind warnings. However, there were many boats doing the same, and we also thought that we could travel during the morning and anchor before the weather got too bad. As it turned out, we had a southerly wind behind us most of the day with following seas. We had the current with us as well. We had a tentative plan to stay at the Palm Cove Marina at Jacksonville. However, when we arrived in Jacksonville, it was only 11:30 a.m. and the weather was still holding out. We decided to continue on (as did Celtic Cross a boat a couple of miles ahead of us that we'd seen at Vero Beach.) At about 3:30 (and 50 miles into the trip) we followed Celtic Cross into Alligator Creek - about 10 miles (or another 2 hours) south of Fernandina Beach. The wind picked up considerably so it was nice to get the anchor set and relax to wait out the impending storm and Tornado warnings. Thunder storms started around 7:00 p.m. and continued until at least midnight. After the thunderstorms, came the heavy winds. From about 1:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. the wind gusted from 25 - 35 with gusts as high as 45. At around 5:00 a.m. the snubber line on the anchor chain snapped. Steve replaced it with another one, but the wind settled down shortly after. Gotta love this cruising thing!

Mosquito Lagoon to Daytona, FL

When we anchored in the Mosquito Lagoon, the scene was beautiful. The sun was near setting and the huge, full moon was also out. The space shuttle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Station could be seen way off in the distance. A fire way off to west brought the smell of fire which made it feel like we were camping in the wilderness. The water was calm and it was a very relaxing evening. The morning was even more spectacular. The water was as smooth as glass with the exception of the dolphins coming up for air. There were numerous fishing boats off in the distance and just a very slight fog. The mangroves looked as if they had a frost on them, but it was probably just white from the salt. Every now and then a boat would go by and create a ripple across the water which made the scene even more splendid. (I was going to add a picture, but my camera is not being recognized by windows, ugh! - sorry. I better call tech support - oh wait, that's me :).


Yesterday we got to Daytona around 3:00 p.m. Although the weather reported 70's the day felt very chilly motoring up the ICW. We just couldn't get the chill out. Michele even put a scarf on (thanks to Nathan's Christmas present last December). Since the sun was behind us all day, the cockpit remained in shade making it even harder to warm up. The wind was usually blowing around 10 knots. When we arrived in Daytona and it was time to anchor, however, the winds decided to pick up to 18 to 20. It just loves doing that! Even though we didn't have a plan B on where to go, Steve wanted to just keep on going. We passed up two anchorages (including the one we were in last December). After continuing on past all the bridges in Daytona, we decided on a spot to drop the hook. We were happy we did too.


At around 5:30 we met Ray and Helen, Rigamarole, at Carribbean Jack's for dinner and drinks. Since we hadn't seen them since Maryland last year, we had a lot to catch up on. Originally they had planned to go to the Bahamas this winter, but circumstances kept them land locked (except for a weekend cruise to Nassau over Valentine's). They will also be heading back up north within a couple of weeks, so we hope they catch up to us and we can travel together up the east coast. It was really fun to hang out with them again.


When we were dinghying ashore to go to dinner, we noticed another Island Packet anchored before the last bridge (where we were going to anchor). Michele thought the name was Ariel, but couldn't see it well enough to be sure. On the way bag to the boat from dinner, we could clearly make out the name and low and behold, it was Ariel. We know Norm and Linda from NEB in Rhode Island and ran into them at Deltaville back in Virginia. As they hurried down the east coast, they made it to Bahamas back in the fall and stayed there all winter. It seems that their pace up the coast might be quicker than ours, but maybe we'll catch up to them in Fernandina. This cruising stuff is pretty funny how you just keep running into people you know.


This morning we started the engine at 7:30 and were back in the ICW by 7:45. We are on our way to St. Augustine's which is approximately 50 miles. Yes, a one hour car ride will take us 10 hours at 5 knts./hour. If the current isn't against us, we may do 6 knots and arrive in maybe 8 hours. It still remains to be seen how long we will stay in St. Augustine's and if the Millers will join us for a day or two. Happy Good Friday to all the Christians.

On the Move

We left Vero Beach on Tuesday with a wind advisory. A wind advisory means that there are 20 knot winds steadily with gusts into the 30s and 40s. Sometimes we are just stupid. Okay, well maybe, sometimes we just don't make good decisions. In the morning the wind was blowing 20 knots steady on the nose. By mid morning they started to increase to 30. We were in the ICW so it wasn't a huge deal. However, it was freezing out and the waves were washing over the the boat like crazy. The boat got covered in salt. We ended up anchoring at Eau Gallie bridge - which is the same as Melbourne, FL. Steve was very annoyed that we decided to leave today, but felt just a little pressured by Michele because she wanted to meet her sister in St. Augustine by Thursday - which isn't going to happen anyway. By the time we anchored last night the wind calmed down, and we had a very relaxing evening. In addition to trying to make it to St. Augustines, we also thought that we needed to be above Cape Hatteras by May 1st. Turns out it isn't until June 1st. We have plenty of time - except we have to get our dogs (well, correction - Michele has to get her dog Chuey).

This morning we left Melbourne and did about 50 miles to the Mosquito Lagoon. Michele thought that today was Tuesday and that we still had plenty of time to make it to St. Augustines by Thursday. However, it is already Wednesday and there is no possible way that we would make it there by Thursday. In addition, after talking to Beth, she wouldn't be able to get to St. Augustine's by Thursday either (as Nathan, Michele's nephew, is in a baseball tournament until Friday). So now we can take our time to get to St. As. The kids are on spring break anyway and after Easter, Beth can drive to St. As and meet us there whenever. There is no longer a huge rush. Tonight we are anchored just out of the channel of the ICW in 7 feet of water. Today was a beautiful day - especially compared to yesterday. We went past Cape Canaveral and Titusville - where we spent a week and a half last December. Well, actually the boat spent that much time in Titusville while we went to the West Coast of Florida. December in Titusville was also the last time we saw our friends Dennis and Trudy from Rapscallion II. After leaving Titusville, they went straight to Miami, then to Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and now they are in the Spanish Carribean Island of Calebra. (They are on a 4-year cruising plan.)

We plan to be in Daytona by tomorrow. Here we need to fuel up and get water. We are also hoping to hook up with Ray and Helen from Rigamarole. We met them on the way down in the fall. They are friends of David and Barbara Frost (from NEB in RI) who told us to look out for them. We ended up seeing them several times before actually talking to them in Solomons in the Chesapeake. They winter in Daytona and are also heading back north at the end of April. Hopefully, we can meet up with them while in Daytona. Well that's it for now. Hope all is well with our friends and family and fellow cruisers.

Vero Beach, FL

We arrived in Vero Beach on Saturday [correction -arrived on Friday]. We are rafted on a mooring with Smiles, Betsy and Jim Smiley, a couple from Charleston, SC. The weather was atrocious on Saturday [Friday]- rained buckets, so we stayed on the boat. Yesterday, we did some errands (laundry, perscriptions, shopping, etc.) and today we'll probably just go to the beach. There is another cold front with some weather (more thunderstorms) expected Monday into tomorrow. Steve wants to leave tomorrow, but Michele wants to leave today. Today would be a good weather day, but the ICW is very, very busy on weekends - with powerboats whizzing by every few seconds. Personally, I'd rather deal with power boaters than weather, but we'll see. We could always stay put until Wednesday. Why deal with weather or power boats? It is expected to go down to the 40's in the next couple of days. We'll have to break out the sweaters again. Well, that's it for now. I'm afraid my posts have become just a little boring lately, sigh. Being back on the same track as the way down is a little less exotic than being in the Bahamas.

Stuart, FL

We left Cracker Boy Boat Yard this morning, and I wish I could say that it was uneventful... but noooooo! There's always a story. We were supposed to go into the water at 10:00, but it turned out to be closer to 11:00. That was no big deal though. When we walked down to the water alongside the boat in the lift, the first thing we noticed was the current and the chop in the water. When the boat was lowered, thankfully there were no problems/leaks. So we proceeded. The guys working the lift instructed us that they would walk us out of the slip and that we were to gun it in reverse when we were ready to go. We needed to clear a barge that was parked the next slip over. Well, with the current, wind and prop wash all pushing us to starboard towards the barge, we hit, and there was nothing we could have done to stop it. We got a gash in the side of the boat, but luckily it is just in the gel coat. The gash is fairly high above the water line, so we shouldn't have any issues with water getting in. Unbelievable! Every #$&!? time we go in or out of a dock there seems to be a problem. Just another issue to deal with - and more money $$$.

So, now we're heading back up north. It officially feels like cruising is over - at least for this year. Although I'm happy to be heading home, I already miss all the friends we've met along the way. We still have many miles before getting home, but the excitement of going to new places has worn off. We'll have to make it a point to stop at anchorages that we missed on the way down to make it feel like we're still cruisers. Hopefully, we'll meet new people along the way too.

Today we travelled about 40 miles from Riviera Beach to Jensen Beach. We are anchored just north of the Causeway Bridge. Jensen beach is about 4 miles from Stuart, FL and the St. Lucie Inlet. Tomorrow, we hope to get to Vero Beach and pick up a couple of supplies that we forgot while provisioning in Palm Beach. After that, continue northward. We'll be home before you know it.

Cracker Boy Boat Yard, FL

On the way to get the boat hauled out, we ran into quite the convoy of power boats from the West Palm Beach Boat show that just ended. They had no quams about passing us on all sides. I guess 4 knots in a no wake manatee zone was just a little too slow for them.


The boat was hauled out on Monday as planned, what wasn't planned was that we were still on it as it was being lifted out of the water. They did finally let us off once the bow was even with the dock. We got to work right away. Steve was having a bear of a time trying to back off the nut for the triducer. Michele tried to help from the outside of the boat, but it proved quite difficult as the sizes of the wrenches we were using were crazy big! Michele could barely hold up the wrench she had (never mind lifting it over her head and readjusting it every time Steve turned the nut from inside). Steve's situation was even worse as his wrench was 10x heavier/larger, and he had to squeeze both arms along with the wrench into a small rectangular hole to access the bildge area, whew! The hot, humid weather didn't help either . . . sweat was dripping off in buckets (yah, yah, people up north have no sympathy for that, but 90 humid degrees is as bad as 20 freezing degrees.) Michele decided she would be more helpful collecting the 4 loads of laundry and walking over to the Riveria Beach marina to start the washing - not an easy task either, luggging 4 large bags of clothes 1/2 of a mile - in the 90^o temperature. You think cruising is easy. Well, let me tell you . . . IT"S NOT! And, we still had to worry about reprovisioning and there isn't a grocery for miles.


In addition to the work we were doing, the Yanmar mechanic came from Jas Marine. After checking out the transmission situation, he proclaimed that we needed an additional part that he had to order as it wasn't in stock. It was looking like we would be settling in at the boat yard for a few days.

On Monday evening - even though we were both exhausted from a full day's hard labor, we still HAD to celebrate Michele's birthday - oh yes, I did mention in an earlier post that Monday was Michele's birthday, and oh what a day she was having!! No rest for the weary. After showering off the day's grime, we went to the tiki bar/restaurant next door. As we waited for the Murray's to join us, Michele enjoyed a most delicious marguerita and Steve a frosty brew while munching on fried calamarie. When the Murray's arrived, we all ordered and chowed down (Michele, Steve and Cameron all got prime rib! Leighia had a fish something or other as she doesn't eat meat and kids had pasta). A most delicious chocholate cake complete with a birthday candle and happy birthday song was enjoyed by all - especially the kids who ran around for quite some time afterward from the sugar rush). Since our bed was covered with all kinds of junk from the garage (the back berth which needed to be cleaned out while working on the engine), and the clean sheets had not been added yet, we crashed in the salon for the night. Another busy day tomorrow.

On Tuesday, we got to work straight away -although not quite early enough for Mr. Papile as Michele didn't get up until 8:30-ish. After discussing the situation with Cameron the night before, Steve thought of trying to use one of the boat stands to hold the transducer in place on the outside of the boat (because frankly, Michele was somewhat useless) while he turned from the inside. Alas, the nut came off. Now the real fun began for Steve. He had to rewire the new unit which meant disassembling the helm. Michele was relieved when Leighia called. She had access to a car all day and picked Michele up for a major reprovisioning. The Murray's are leaving for the Bahamas on Thursday so a trip to Costco was first. We didn't really need to buy too much in bulk at Costco, but still managed to spend over $100. Over $200 more at Publix, but hopefully we'll be provisioned well enough to get us home without having to buy too much along the way. However, since we'll be at least another month, we'll definitely be needing fresh produce and stuff along the way. It was a harried day and Michele managed to lose the $70 cash back that she got at the store. Very depressing! Steve handled it much better than expected. Michele can't seem to let it go though.

Yesterday we also had our main halyard picked up by Florida rigging. While we weathered the storms crossing the Gulf Stream, the line became chaffed and was nearly all the way worn through. So another $300 on that! When we got the line back today, it wasn't the same size either. The size is supposed to be 7/16", but they did 9/16". It's a little thick, but hopefully it will be okay as we have no way (or time) to get the line back to Florida rigging and replaced.

While Michele was out shopping yesterday, Jas Marine received the part for the transmission and got all that taken care of. The price on that is still out... but probably at least $600. This has been a very pricey stop for us (and I didn't even mention the price of the triducer or the haulout). But hey, which one hasn't been? So cruising is VERY expensive and a LOT of work. Michele's longing to be back in the Bahamas because at least we got to go swimming and snorkeling.

Okay, well break is over. Time to get back to work. We're splashing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Still much to do!

Working on the Boat

It's been a week since we pulled into Palm Beach, and we've been busy working on the boat. Steve started sanding all the teak while Michele taped all the edges. After the first coat of teak, we both sanded again, and then again, and then another coat of teak. Once more around with both, and we'll be ready to pull off all the blue tape.

The parts have all been ordered to fix the triducer which keeps track of our depth and hull speed. We are also ready to have the transmission leak fixed. The boat gets hauled out on Monday at noon (Michele's birthday - oh what fun). I hear there's a cute tiki bar right next to the boat yard though. Also, Maya and Fynn (the Murray kids) are looking forward to having cake and ice cream with us. So other than boat work and doing errands - shopping, laundry, taxes, etc. - there's really not much else to report.

The weather has been very windy and sometimes cold, sometimes a little more mild. Since being back in the States though, it really feels like our trip is coming to a close - even though we're still 1500 miles from home (at 5 knts/hour that's only 300 hours left of travelling). We could be home in 12 1/2 days if we went straight through :) !

Oh yes, we did go to the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea on Sunday morning. On Friday evening, we attended a happy hour at the Palm Beach Sailing Club (where we joined for a week for use of their dinghy dock and showers). When we inquired about where the church was, we were hooked up with the Commodore's husband who happens to be a deacon there. Clay picked us up on Sunday morning and brought us to mass while also giving us some history of the church. Donald Trump was married there and still attends service there a couple of times a year. Everyone was dressed up in suits as going to church on a Sunday morning on "The Island" is very hoiytie toitie. So even though we were dressed in our boat Sunday best, we were still a little conspicuous. His wife, Commodore Jackie, brought us back to the club after we attended a forum and breakfast after mass.

So not sure what we'll do for the next 4 days while waiting to be hauled out. Guess we could see if there's somewhere to go diving around here and other places we could explore. We'll have to check with the Murrays as this is their home base.

I will send out more pictures to view soon. If you haven't done so already, there is a link in the Warderick Wells blog to many pictures that I've posted, but didn't send out an email about. Hope all is well at home.

West Palm Beach, FL

After 5 weeks in the Bahamas, we just spent 5 days returning to Florida. We left Black Point on Saturday and had a great sail, on a run at about 5 knots all day to Norman's Cay.

(on a run - sails wing to wing)

Our destination was actually Highbourne Cay, but just outside of Norman's Cay we landed on an unmarked shoal. And boy was this grounding a good one. We could stand up in sand on the port side of the boat while the starboard side, was 6 feet. This was the first time we went aground while sailing. We had to quickly drop all the sails and start the engine. After several attempts to back out of it, we had to drop the dinghy. Steve rode the anchor out 50 feet or so to starboard and then we waited. The theory was that as the tide got higher the wind would point us towards our anchor and the stern would fall back, then we'd be able to just motor our way out. So after about an hour and 1/2, we were able to finally move on. Since the sun had just set, we had enough light to get anchored. While we were aground, Michele breaded and fried some chicken, so we had chicken parmigian for dinner before going to bed. The wind was pretty strong and our anchorage was rolly, but we managed to get a good night sleep.

The next day, we headed across the Yellow Banks towards Nassau. We sailed for most of the day, again on a run (wind behind us). We decided to skip the Nassau harbor madness and anchored at Rose Island just outside of Nassau. This anchorage was also a little rolly, so we wasted no time in getting up and out to head to Chub Cay. We were able to sail most of the morning, but the wind was very light and variable, so we had to start the engine. We got to Chub before sunset and grabbed a mooring outside the Berry Island Club. We chatted with another boat there, Endaxi, who were doing the same passage as us so we planned to leave with them the next morning.

The plan was to head to Mackie Shoal and anchor out on the Bahama Banks for the night, or possibly just keep going to to Hens and Chickens or North Rock at the tip of Bimini. From there we would decide to anchor or keep going across the Gulf Stream. When we got to Mackie Shoal around 5:00 p.m. after a beautiful, sunny sail all day, and decided to keep going on to the North Rock anchorage We would see what the weather was like there before deciding to cross the Gulf Stream. At 8:00 P.M. Michele went below for a nap,


(sunset on the Bahama Banks - the quiet before the storm)


so she could do the next watch at midnight - if we decided to continue on. When Michele got up at 11:00 P.M. we were just outside of the North Rock and we decided to keep going since it was dark. The wind had kicked up quite a bit, we we thought it would be better to moving through the weather instead of getting beaten at an unprotected anchorage. We didn't been in radio contact with Endaxi since 7 p.m., and didn't see anyone anchored at North Rock, so we guessed that they kept going too. Once we got out into the Atlantic, and the sails were set, Steve went below to get some rest, while Michele stood watch. The wind picked up even more and the waves started increasing as well. At 3:00 P.M., Michele woke Steve up as she was getting naseuous. It was a good thing too, because at that point we got hit with a huge squall. Michele went below and started her hellish night of being seasick, thus rendering her comepletely useless as a crew member. The captain was on his own to battle the violent seas and weather. The night was completely black as no stars or moon lighted the way. We had our running lights and foredeck light on, so that Steve could see the sails. All night long, he fought a the northeasterly wind pushing the seas south, and the Gulf Stream trying to push the seas north. He reports waves as high as 16 feet. Michele was up and down all night throwing up and getting cold sweats, praying for the nightmare to end. The captain did a great job getting us from the Bahamas to Florida. When we were just south oof the Lake Worth Inlet, Steve decided it was too rough to try to make it in, so he hove too, and the boat settled right down - even though the seas were still violent. Hove too, means that you steer the boat into the wind until the headsail back winds. Once that happens, you turn the wheel the opposite way so that the rudder acts as a brake. The boat sits pointed into the wind and drifts just slightly, about a half knot an hour. Michele immediately felt better, and Steve was able to come below and sleep for a couple of hours. However, since the boat was drifting towards a lee shore, our hove too had to come to an end and we were on the move again - and so was Michele's stomach. At this point it was 11:00 A.M. We had to beat into it for a few more hours, but Steve was able to get us safely to the Lake Worth inlet and anchored at West Palm Beach! Finally, after 10 hours, the nightmare was over.

When we arrived at the anchorage, Michele was delighted to see that Tranquility was still here - Leighia and Cameron and the kids. Tranquility is rafted up between two Island Packets - as Cameron works on their boats. Since West Palm Beach is their home port, they are very familiar with the area and will be our tour guides while we're here. We hope to get the transmission and the depth sounder fixed before continuing on any further. Privisions are also at an all time low! We haven't had wine for over two weeks now. The refridgerator is also quite bare. We also need to clean up the boat after our rough crossing. Anything that wasn't nailed down, ended up on the floor. Everything that was in the cockpit got soaked too! This was our roughest passage ever, but John Ray handled the weather perfectly. With an excellent, durable vessel and a well seasoned captain, we are safe and sound!

Staniel Cay (Big Major) to Guana Cay (Black Pt. Settlement)

We had a great time at Staniel Cay. We met up with a couple from a boat that we met in Boot Key Harbor, FL., Hello Texas. Richard and Nicki are from Houston, Texas, but they kept their boat at Galveston. The boat sustained some damages during hurricane Ike back in September. However, they were lucky enough to make the necessary repairs and get under way in December. Michele met Nicki during the long wait for laundry at the Marathon City Marina in Boot Key back in February. They left Boot Key Harbor three weeks before we did. They went to West Palm Beach where they spent a month. That's why we were able to catch up with them here in the Bahamas. We had a great time hanging out with them, Celeste and Gary from Sol Surfin and Randy and Nikki from Kristenly.


While anchored at Big Major, we visited Pig Beach. Apparently, natives maroon pigs and the cruisers go ashore and feed them scraps. They didn't look under nourished, but of course, Michele felt bad for them wondering how they get their water and regular meals when there are no cruisers around. She was wondering if they really are marooned or if someone takes care of them. We went ashore with some cabbage and carrot scraps. When we got there, the big momma pig was the only one we saw. We were skeptical of getting out of the dinghy so we just threw the scraps onto the beach. When everything was almost gone, a bunch of smaller, cuter pigs came running over to the dinghy crying for some food. So, Michele felt bad and went back to the boat to get more scraps of apples and saltines. Of course, she didn't feel like that was enough, but we had to leave it at that - as our own provisions are dwindling down and the prices over here are outrageous. There are three grocery stores on Staniel Cay, but we weren't expecting to pay $6.00 for a loaf of bread! But, we had to suck it up and buy milk, bread, eggs, cheese and some veggies. When the credit card machine wasn't working and the guy kept swiping our card, we knew it was going to be a problem. As it turned out we got charged three times for the charge. This ought to be interesting!


The other fun things we did at Staniel Cay were snorkeling at Thunderball Caves. We have lots of pictures to show you, so be sure to check them out. It was a strong current - even though it was supposed to be slack tide, but we managed okay. We went with the three other couples that were mentioned previously. After snorkeling the caves, we dinghyed out to the cut between Big Major and Little Major Cay. Here the currents were crazy! So we decided it would be a good place to drift dive. We all got out of the dinghies and drifted down with the current back to our boats - well back to the other couple's boats since we were anchored at Big Major and not directly at Staniel Cay. The othere boats moved over to Staniel Cay marina because it was a pretty long dinghy ride from Big Major. Since our depth sounder is acting hoopy, we decided to stay where we knew there was plenty of water. It seemed a little calmer without the strong current over by Staniel as well. Most of the cruisers anchor at Big Major (near the pigs). We also dinghyed around Big Major and checked out some of the caves along the shore. The weather has been beautiful and it has been a great time.

On Wednesday, we all left Staniel/Big Major. Kristenly, Sol Surfin, and John Ray headed to Guana Cay to the Blackpoint Settlement while Hello Texas continued on to Little Farmer's Cay before heading down to Georgetown.

Steve and I sailed off our anchor (yup, no engine required!) and had a great sail all the way to Blackpoint. Steve also wanted to sail right into the anchorage at Black Point, but Michele was too nervous with all the other boats around. So we motored into the anchorage. We immediately packed up the laundry as there is a coin operated laundromat on the island - and it is amazing. They actually had hot water (unlike Marathon) to wash the whites. Lorraine's Cafe also has free Internet (donation is asked). So, we settled in for the afternoon onshore. While we haning out at Lorraine's, Butch from Lucidity walked in. We haven't seen them since Nassau so we were very excited to see them again (as they were one of the reasons that got us to finally come to the Bahamas). We've been in radio contact with them for the past three weeks, but on different cruising schedules. We were surprised they showed up as we didn't expect them for another couple of days. Gretchen and Reese came over to join us, as Reese was playing with some other cruiser's children outside. We decided to join them for dinner at Lorraine's Cafe. The food was very good and reasonably priced, but we waited for an hour and a half for it :). We are on "Island Time" now.

Yesterday, we said our goodbyes to Sol Surfin as they headed off to Little Farmer's Cay. They have to be in Georgetown by next week to pick up friends that are coming in to visit with them.

We had an Island Packet Rendezvous on Lucidity. Except for Lena Bea (which is an IP 445), the other three IPs are 38's (Lucidity, John Ray and Kristenly). We had drinks and appetizers while waiting for the sunset. Michele had her first succesful experience blowing the horn of a conch shell (which is a tradition with cruisers at sunset).

Today, Michele went to the local school to volunteer tutor. A retired cruising couple, organizes cruiser volunteers to work with the children. It was a great opportunity and Michele jumped at the chance. She worked on math and language arts (reading and phonics) with a fourth grader, Michael (MJ) from 9 to 12. Steve came ashore later and did some Internet stuff while waiting for Michele. We had a great lunch at Lorraine's and plan to attend happy hour at Scorpios. Tomorrow morning begins our trek back up north. We plan to leave early morning go until we get tired landing at the most northern Exuma Island that we have enough daylight for. We will update our location at the next Internet location which may not be for a couple of days. Hope everyone is doing well.

Warderick Wells, Cambridge Cay and Staniel Cay

Pictures for this leg of the trip: http://tinyurl.com/warderick

Wow, what a great stop! Warderick Wells is home to the headquarters of the Exuma Cays, Land and Sea Park. The park covers 176 square miles, from Wax Cay south 22 miles to Conch Cut extending out 4 nautical miles on either side of the cays. It is a no take zone – nothing living or dead can be removed from the park. What you bring into the park, must be taken back out with you. Apart from the natural beauty of the islands, we have had a great time meeting and hanging out with other cruisers. We have been snorkeling and hiking and having beach parties and gatherings with other boaters. We have also enjoyed a secure place to wait out a cold front with 30-40 knots winds. This is probably one of the best stops on our trip so far. Steve has relaxed quite a bit since we stopped here, after being stressed out quite a bit since we’ve come to the Bahamas.

We arrived in Warderwick Wells on Friday, February 27th. Catching the mooring was a bit of challenge as the wind and current were working against us and there is virtually no room for error. On one side of the mooring channel there is a huge sand bar, and the other is rock. It was very stressful and we put on quite the show for the other boats – luckily only a couple of boats there at the time and no one seemed to have noticed. When all was set, we both breathed a sigh of relief and kissed and made up. We spent 4 nights in Warderwick. The first morning we got up and went snorkeling in two different places. The first place had quite a bit of current, so we moved on to Emerald Rock which was a smaller coral reef, but we saw quite a bit of fish. In the afternoon, we went for a long hike through the limestone rock trail, through mangrove nurseries, thatch palm groves, and finally along some amazing cliffs. Saturday evening on the beach at 5:30 there is a happy hour where you bring what you want to drink and an appetizer to share. Well, we had such a great time. Celeste and Gary, from Sol Surfin’ brought there guitar and drum and played music by the campfire until the evening hours. We met lots of new cruisers and some that we had met previously, including Randy and Nikki, from Kristenly – an IP 38 just like John Ray. We had met Randy previously in Nassau where his girlfriend Nikki joined him for the next two months. Nikki is on leave for a few months as a high school counselor up in Vermont.

On Sunday, Steve and I went to first snorkeling site where we had too much current the previous day. This time we went at slack tide and the snorkeling was great. We have been snorkeling instead of diving since the water is shallow and there is no need to waste the air in our tanks. It was a little frustrating when I saw a huge lobster inside a rock and I couldn’t dive down and get his picture because I was too buoyant in my wetsuit. I did eventually get an okay picture when he decided to come out of the little cave he was hiding in. Believe it or not, it has been quite chilly in the Bahamas, and we have to wear our wetsuits to snorkel. Right now, as I type this blog, the wind is blowing 18-25 knots. The water temperature is 68°F. Swimming for the fun of it hasn’t even been an option.

On Sunday evening we went to Sol Surfin, along with Randy and Nikki, for dinner and drinks - another fun night. The next day, we left our mooring to head a little more south to Cambridge Cay which is still part of the Exuma Park area. Here we caught another mooring. After arriving on Monday, we took a long dinghy ride to “The Aquarium” site for a snorkel. It was a great little place, but we didn’t stay in the water too long as it was freezing (even with wet suits).

On Tuesday, Steve and I took the dinghy to a little beach and walked a path to the Exuma sound side of the island. From there we walked along a cliff trail which was even more amazing than the cliffs at Warderick Wells. The rock formations were incredible. I hope you can appreciate how spectacular they were from the pictures, but it was simply incredible to see such beauty on this planet.

Sol Surfin and Kristenly joined our anchorage on Tuesday afternoon. We got together again on Sol Surfin for games. We had such a blast playing this game (guys against the girls – girls lost, but only because of bad luck. We definitely outplayed the guys J.) On Wednesday, we decided to stay put at Cambridge Cay since the winds were blowing like stink again! We did venture out for a long dinghy ride across Conch Cut to the Rocky Dundas – a cave snorkeling site. However, after an insane, wet dingy ride, we decided not to even attempt this site as the water was way too rough. We rode the dinghy all the way back to our anchorage and snorkeled at a site directly behind our boats. It was incredible. Two of the highlights were a huge barracuda that went swimming right by me and then a stingray that was under our dinghy when we returned after snorkeling. The current was pretty strong but we got a great workout. We’ve headed out of Cambridge Cay, stopped one night at Sampson Cay. Today we left Sampson Cay and we are anchored off of Staniel Cay at Big Major Cay – Staniel Cay is the place to go ashore and provision and get Internet though. We’ll stay here for a couple of days before starting our trek back up north towards Eleuthra and the Abacos islands.

Exuma Islands, Bahamas

Well hello everyone. So sorry for the long silence, but we have not had an Internet connection since we left Nassau on Sunday, February 22. We originally planned to leave Nassau on Monday or Tuesday; however, it was such a horrible anchorage that we high tailed it out of there on Sunday after a miserable, windy, scary night on the anchor in the harbor. We had an excellent sail from Nassau across the Yellow Bank to Allen Cay in the northern part of the Exuma Islands. When we arrived, we stayed on the boat and chilled out in gorgeous, calm weather. From the boat we watched people go onto the little beach and get surrounded by Iguanas. They are used to tour boats coming in from Nassau and feeding them (which the cruising guide specifically says not to do). Some of the poor little guys were pretty chubby. We figured we’d go ashore in the morning and check out. During the night though, a strong northerly wind come through and our depth decreased significantly. When we anchored, we were in 11 feet of water. During low tide and with the wind draining the water, the chop was making the boat bounce up and down slapping into a sandy bottom (another nerve wracking night). The next morning we drove around the little harbor area looking for some deeper water to anchor, but couldn’t find a spot with 12 feet that wasn’t too close to other boats. So, we ended up leaving there on Monday.

After leaving Allen Cay, we headed to Highborne Cay which was only 5 miles south. We anchored there in 15 feet on the western shore. In the northerly wind, it was a rolly, bouncy anchorage. We went ashore and walked around. There was a marina there, with very large power vessels - a little too posh for us. But the grounds were really nice. We walked along the pier and at the end of the pier there were about 10 to 12 huge nurse sharks just hanging out. I guess you can swim with them and they don’t seem to mind. However, it’s been quite cold here and we haven’t been able to swim yet!!! The cold fronts just keep coming down from New England and we can’t get away from them.

On Tuesday, we stayed on the boat as it was very windy and cold. The anchorage was lousy and we just read our books all day.

Wednesday, we pulled up the anchor and headed only a few miles south to Shroud Cay. We were on a run with winds behind us at 15 to 20 knots and following seas. It was a great couple of hour sail. When we got to Shroud Cay, caught a mooring, and went ashore to a little beach to walk around for a while. When we got back to the dinghy, it was aground as the tide had gone out quite a bit in only ¾ of an hour. We waited around for a little while, but it was getting cold and starting to rain. Steve got some help from a fellow cruiser in the same situation. The guys carried both dinghies into deeper water and we headed back to the boat. On Thursday morning, we went on another excursion at Shroud Cay. We had to battle a pretty big chop in the dinghy to get to the northern end of the island to find a mangrove creek that cut through the island and came out to a beach on the northeastern shore. Once we braved the ½ hour dinghy ride and dried out, the trip was well worth it. The creek was beautiful. It was much calmer and warmer going through the creek than it had been on the outside of the island. When we reached the other end and came out to the beach, the surf was crazy! It looked like Nantasket Beach during a nor’easter! It was pretty cool (and cold too). The guy that we met the previous day at the first beach, was also on this same excursion and told us that 2 weeks ago when he was there it was extremely calm and warm. The water was like glass and they hung out at the beach and swam. Not so on this day. We did hike up a little hill and found spectacular views at the top. Because we had to enter the creek on a high tide, we didn’t want to stay too long and get stranded. When we got back to the boat it was only 10:30 A.M. (high tide was at 8:00 a.m. so we had an early start.) We decided to hop down to the next island (and not have to pay for the mooring for another night - although it was very nice there). After preparing the boat we headed just a few more miles south to Hawksbill Cay. After setting the anchor, we put the dinghy down again and headed ashore to do some hiking and check out the Russell Family Plantation Ruins – an establishment of about 10 houses on this small island back in 1785 to 1830. After the hike, Michele went for a swim and snorkeled around some small coral heads with quite a few fish. The winds were whipping again last night (it seems that they have been the whole time we’ve been in the Bahamas.) Steve is NOT having a good time here. He’s very stressed out. And there is yet another front coming through on Sunday.

This morning we left Hawksbill and had a great sail heading even more south to Warderick Wells. We are on a mooring and will probably stay here for three days to wait out the front that’s coming through on Sunday. We’ll post again before we leave here. But we are safe and doing well. We’ll try to make some phone contacts on Skype while we have Internet.

Nassau until Monday or Tuesday??

We are in Nassau still and will probably be here until the beginning of the week. We will stock up on provisions as much as possible here and try to make it through the Bahamas without having to provision again for another month or so. Right now I'm at Starbucks with a free wifi connection, but Internet is going to be difficult. Also, the phone isn't an option either. If we do have a Verizon connection, the cost is about $4 a minute! Sorry folks, we'll have to keep you updated by the blog and facebook (If you have a facebook page, let me know and I can add you as a friend). We also just subscribed for one month to Skype for long distance calls. However, this also requires an Internet connection. So, if we have Internet, then we can call anwhere in the US for the next 30 days.

Our anchorage here is dreadful. The holding is terrible and the space is crowded. It is also a very, very busy harbor. The harbor police will pull over a dinghy for making a wake, but I guess it's okay for a huge power cat going out for a booze cruise to make all the anchored boats go flying! There are also sirens being heard from shore every 1/2 hour or so.

We plan to go out to the Aqaurium at Atlantis tomorrow, but otherwise, we won't really miss Nassau when it's time to leave. So, we'll keep you posted as much as possible. We're still waiting for warm weather to go swimming!

Nassau, Bahamas

We are anchored in Nassau - see current location on blog for a map of our position. I'll update our trip in more detail later because I'm borrowing Butch's Internet connection on his boat and we're heading out to lunch soon. Yesterday our trip here was kind of miserable - well not kind of. It really was a long miserable day through rough water and wind on the nose across the Tongue of the Ocean. The water was like a washing machine and Michele got seasick - but not too, too bad. We left Chub Cay at 5:30 a.m. We finally made it into Nassau around 4:00 p.m (4 hours later than we anticipated). We plan to stay in Nassau for a couple of days before heading to the Exumas. Everything is okay today and we plan to do some sightseeing. Bye for now!

Heading to Nassau

After arriving at Chub Cay (well officially we are anchored off of Frazier's Hog Cay) Michele went ashore - thus the last post and brought back 5 lobster tails for $10.00. Yum. Of course, these lobsters arent' Maine lobster, but they were very tasty sauteed in garlic and butter and served up with linguine and clam sauce.



While ashore though, she was quite disappointed to learn that the fisherman had a green sea turtle in his cooler (yes, the endangered turtles that we learned about at the turtle hospital). When turtles are captured, they are stored on upside down on their shells until they are killed. This poor little guy was upside down in the cooler waiting for his demise :(. The fisherman says that he got hit with the boat and that is why they caught it - to put it out of it's misery. I'm not sure if the turtle was injured or not. It may not be obvious, but when a turtle comes up for air and gets hit by a boat, the breath that they were taking get pushed back down and gets trapped inside the bottom of the turtle, thus deforming the shell. It's actually called a bubble-butt - don't laugh it's fatal. Once the turtle gets this huge bubble stuck in their rear, they become too buoyant to dive and catch food. Another situation that caused Michele distress was the two dogs that were tied up to the tree outside the Berry Island Club. It seems these dogs are tied there all day, every day. Apparently, if they are untied, they take off to Chub Cay where they are not supposed to be running around without leashes (and it's about 5 miles away). They didn't even have any water in their bowls and one of them was really skinny. Both dogs are golden retrievers. The skinny dog was really friendly, but the other one acted friendly until you approached it and then wanted to attack. So of course, Michele is obsessing about the plight of these poor dogs. So today, despite Steve's protests (because the wind was blowing pretty hard and the seas were very choppy so it was a wet dinghy ride), we went ashore with some cooked hamburger to feed the dogs. Now both dogs are my best friends. But alas, I have to leave them as we are heading out in the morning for Nassau.



Yesterday, Butch, Gretchen and Reese from Lucidity joined us for lunch on our boat - they have the exact same boat as us - an IP 38. Luckily, they were on board when the winds kicked up and our anchor started to drag (couldn't believe it was actually daylight when it happened this time). So Gretchen, Michele and Reese stayed below while Steve and Butch dealt with the situation above. They tried about 50 times to reset the anchor, but the bottom was just to grassy for the anchor to set. So, we motored closer to where Lucidity was anchored which had a much sandier bottom and the anchor caught fine. Today was Reese's 5th birthday, so we went over to their boat for lunch - complete with a Tommy the Train cake. We've had a great time hanging out with them because their story is very identical to ours and we even have the same taste in boats!



So tomorrow morning, we hope to leave and head over to Nassau. We are hoping to leave by 5:00 a.m. since the winds will be shifting from the northeast to the south and be right on the nose by 11:00 a.m. Hopefully, we can beat the wind change and be able to sail with light seas. If the wind picks up to the south, then we'll be beating into the wind and seas - you know the usual. We heard a great quote the other day. "The only problem with cruising is getting from point A to point B." Ah, well - such is the life. As you'll be able to see from the pictures, it's still just a tad chilly. (Another reason why Steve was cranky about going ashore. He hates being cold.)

Chub Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas

Hi All,

We arrived in Bimini the day before last - Friday, around 11:00 a.m. after sailing all day Thursday and through Thursday night. Since we got a late start on Thursday, we did not stop at Rodriquez Key like the other boats that left early Thursday morning. So we beat them all in! We had a great sail most of the day and night. We did have to motor sail for a while, but we mostly sailed. On Friday, we toured Bimini abd retired early. The next morning we left with at around 10:00 a.m. with Lucidity, however, we got grounded for approximately an hour. A nice gentleman in a powerboat finally pulled us off. The chart showed 6 ft, but that turned out not to be true. Our most frustrating grounded so far. Yikes! By the time we got back under way, Lucidity was well ahead of us, so we hooked onto another caravan of 4 boats heading the same way - to Russel Beacon, which is in the middle of the Bahama Banks - no land in sight. But it was only 15 feet deep. It was a calm anchorage, and we got up and out early this morning to head to Chub Cay. This time, Lucidity and Johh Ray stayed close. We arrived here about 3:00 and Michele is ashore now with a free Internet connection just to keep you all posted. We plan to stay here until Wednesday and head over to Nassau next. We will update the position as soon as possible - as Michele forgot to check the GPS coordinates before leaving the boat. Anyway, that's it for now. It is at least 80 degrees in the sun while I'm typing this blog and getting bitten alive by no see ums! More to come later. Sorry no phone or Internet on this leg of the trip. Verizon doesn't work here - or if it does it's mucho deneiros! Adios.

Heading to Bahamas

We left Boot Key Harbor today, a little later than we wanted (by 4 hours). However, we did finally make it out of the harbor and are now under way. We will aim for Rodriquez Key and try to catch up to our buddy boats tonight. If it is too late to anchor in Rodriquez, we may just keep going to Bimini and then have our buddy boats catch up to us! We will keep everyone updated as long as we can get an Internet connection. We loved Marathon, but are so happy to be on our way to the Bahamas! Stay tuned as we will have more frequent updates now that we are on the move!

Guitars and Tiki Bars

I don't know how, but weeks have gone by without any word from the John Ray. Since our last post, we have done quite a bit of tourist stuff. First, we went to the Crane Point Museum and Nature Center. This nature preserve was purchased by the Florida Land and Sea Trust to protect the tropical woodlands, or hammocks, which contain both unique hardwood species such as Lignum Vitae and Jamaica Dogwood along with native thatch palms that grow nowhere else in the United States. Sheltered amidst its tropical forest are numerous rare and endangered species as well as unique archaeological and historical riches. The 63 acres is home to a large thatch palm hammock, a hardwood hammock, a mangrove forest, tidal lagoons, wetland ponds and the fauna that is associated with these various ecosystems.

Crane Point harbors evidence of human use dating back well over seven hundred years. The first documented permanent settlers to this particular property were George and Olivia Adderley, who lived here from 1902 until 1949. To learn more about them and about Crane Point, please click on the link - which is where I got the above information: (http://www.cranepoint.net/about.html).



The next thing we did was visit the Turtle Hospital. http://www.turtlehospital.org/ The Turtle Hospital is a non-profit organization dedicated solely to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of one of our most endangered marine creatures. We thought it was going to be totally depressing to see wounded turtles, but it was actually very interesting and encouraging. You should definitely take a look at their website to learn more about it. Unfortunately, my camera's memory card was unreadable and my pictures from the Turtle Hospital, Crane Point and our visit to Key West (most) were lost forever!

Oh yes, we took the bus to Key West. It was a great day, albeit long! We caught the 8:30 a.m. bus which took us to the Sears Shopping Center. When we got there we had to take another bus to downtown/historic Key West. We walked around for a while, checking out Duval Street and the Waterfront before meeting Jenni for lunch at Dante's where her daughter works. We had a great lunch and visit. (Joanne made excellent margaritas too!) After lunch Steve and I took the Conch train tour around Key West (compliments of Jenni- thank you so much a $60 savings). The bus ride home was interesting as a drunk peed on the floor of the bus and got kicked off. His two friends weren't happy about it and left the bus too.

The last week there wasn't anything else new. We walked Route 1 a bunch more times, had $5.00 lunches and a couple of parties on friend's boats. We played tennis with our friends from Ileanous, Jovette and Robert. We rollerbladed and Michele did Yoga and ran a couple more times.

Our mooring is paid up until Thursday this week. We planned to renew for a while longer. Steve wanted to sign up for another month, but Michele had visions of spending her cruising life in more exotic locations. When some friends from another IP 38, Butch and Gretchen (and their 5 yr. old son Reese) showed back up after leaving last week, we starting talking about heading to the Bahamas with them. There are now quite a few boats that are planning to leave together on Thursday heading to Rodriquez Key and then hopping over the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Steve and I will be joining the convoy! Stay tuned for more details to follow.

But we are off the Bahamas!!!!