Saturday, April 30, 2011

It's been a few days since I've been able to blog. We left Great Harbour Marina and went out to anchor at Big Stirrup Cay to wait for the proper time to cross to the Abacos. We thought Friday was supposed to be perfect. After hearing that the seas were to be 1 meter with 20 mph winds from the southeast, we decided to stick our nose out and if the waves were too big, we could turn around and come back. The waves started out being about 3 feet high, so we went on, hoping they would lay down after awhile. Instead, they got worse. We had 6 to 9 foot waves. We rocked and rolled so hard that the dinghy was jumping around on the hard top and one of the straps holding it down came unattached completely. We couldn't leave it like that or the dinghy would have worked its way off into the water. So, John (who doesn't like heights), put on his life jacket and went up on the top to resecure the dinghy. My job was to keep the boat from rocking as much as possible. That is the most scared I have been on this trip. The prayers were flying out of my mouth. Thank God, they were answered. John was able to secure the dinghy and return to the bridge safely. I kissed him hard when he was finished. We kept hoping that when we made out turn that it would get better, but it was worse. That's when John and I made the decision to turn around and head for Sandy Point to anchor. Once we turned completely around, it was a whole lot better. You should have seen the boat. It looked like a war zone. Between the things we laid down to keep them from falling and the things we never thought would fall, we had a mess. Norm and Sue opted to keep going. They were headed for Little Harbor.

Last night, while we were anchored at Sandy Point, we had thunderstorms all around us. There was lots of lightning and thunder, but not a lot of wind. John tells me it rained pretty steady, but I was so tired that I didn't hear a thing. This morning, we left there and came back to Great Harbour Cay Marina. We needed fuel and now the current plan is to wait for a weather window (hopefully better than the last one) and head to Port Lucaya (Freeport) for a few days. We are so glad to be able to relax here for awhile. Friday was rough.

Tuesday,April 26, 2011

Today we went to the little store at the marina in search of ice cream. Sue and I were craving ice cream; it's been so long since we've had any. They had a few pints of Haagendaz, but it cost $8 for a pint. We borrowed the Geo Tracker from the woman who rented it, to go to the grocery for eggs and ice cream. Neither of the stores had any eggs and only had strawberry ice cream which we didn't even ask the price.

There was a 60% chance of rain today, but we got no rain. John and Norm went fishing again this morning, but neither of them caught any fish. The weather report has changed and it now looks like we will be moving on tomorrow. The plan is to anchor out tomorrow night and then leave for the Abacos on Thursday morning. That means today is the last day of WIFI for awhile.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Today it rained briefly, but hard. We are expecting rain every day through Friday. John and Norm went fishing and Norm caught the only edible fish. They plan on going again in the morning if it's not raining. I spent a good part of the day reading cookbooks. I found so many recipes I want to try, but it will have to wait until we are back in the States because I don't seem to have the correct ingredients on hand and everything is so expensive here. If we are stuck inside tomorrow I can sew, read, or do genealogy research.

EASTER

Yesterday I was online a lot of the afternoon, doing genealogy research, with no problem. Last night when I tried to blog, I couldn't get connected. Go figure. Yesterday from 5:00 til 8:00, there was a little art show and a DJ at the pool bar here at the marina. Besides people from the marina, a lot of people from town (both residents and tourists) came to the art show. There were some really nice and different things, but no place to put more stuff in the boat. All we could do is look. The music entertained us long after we went back to our boat.

Happy Easter to everyone! Our Easter dinner is going to be surf and turf which we are preparing on the boat with Norm and Sue. Not your typical Easter, but it's nice to have their company. We miss you all.

ANOTHER CHANGE IN PLANS

We were ready to go out and anchor today, but when John went to pay for the last 3 days the dock master said he was sorry we were leaving. He gave us a deal on the moorage because the weather is supposed to get worse and the marina isn't full. So, we are still at Great Harbour Cay Marina where we have WIFI, probably until Thursday. At least that's what the weather forecast says currently.

A manatee came into the harbor this morning. The poor thing had healed marks on her back and a piece of her tail missing. Apparently the injuries are from long ago propeller strikes. We went for a dinghy ride and then we watched a man clean conch and then he made me a conch salad. I liked the conch fritters, conch chowder, and cracked conch, but the conch salad was too spicy. Live and learn.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bad news, the dock master's contact didn't have the part. So, we won't be getting the pump that way. Tomorrow morning we are leaving the marina and moving just outside to anchor because it's too expensive to keep staying here. We will wait for the weather to improve before we move on to the Abacos. Today we rented a Geo Tracker. The car had 83,000 miles on it, but it looked like it had 383,000 miles on it. It was really rough! But, we got to see the island. We went to a bar called Hot Shotts for a drink and then went back there for dinner. Paula the cook (owner) was very nice to us. Some young people came there while we were there and were dancing. It was extremely entertaining. They were having a great time. We enjoyed ourselves and were glad that we rented the "car". Because we are going out to anchor tomorrow, we probably won't have Internet service until we reach the next marina, whenever that is. So, til then...

ONE LONG DAY

Wednesday John spent all day (7:30 til 4:30) in the engine room working on the generator. He replaced the impeller which was only slightly damaged. That wasn't the problem because it still wasn't working properly. He decided that it's a water pump that is leaking causing the trouble. So, the weather is not conducive to moving on in the foreseeable future (7 days), so John is going to try to order the pump and have it sent here ($$$$$$). The dock master told John that because it's Easter weekend coming up, there is a real good chance he could have the part by Friday. Planes will be going back and forth because of the holiday. We've got our fingers crossed. We can't anchor out for very long without the generator. By the way, John bought gas for the dinghy and the Honda generator. It was $6 a gallon. Yikes! At this rate we may be back in the States sooner than we thought.

ON THE MOVE

We are currently in a harbor with WIFI. It's been several days since we've been able to post.

We left Bimini Friday morning knowing that we would have to anchor out in the Great Bahama Bank. John fished as we cruised along. He caught his first fish right before lunch. Unfortunately it was a barracuda. The seas were rough all day. We stopped at 5:00 P.M. and anchored in 19 feet of water. We traveled 63 miles on Friday with 35 more to go on Saturday. Friday night was one long night. You had to hold on to something when you walked around in the boat. The waves rocked us so bad all night long. Laying in bed listening to the waves crash into the swim platform made us think the swim platform was going to rip right off of the boat. It was not pleasant. On top of that, our generator is acting up again. It shuts off after running an hour or so. That makes anchoring a whole lot more difficult. The good thing is we have the Honda generator we can use to charge the batteries.

On Saturday morning, it was still very rough and we pulled up our anchor at 6:30 A.M. because we were all awake and there was no reason to just sit there and rock and roll. I was on the front of the boat manning the anchor. Because the water was so rough, I fell onto the T shaped pipe just behind the anchor. That wasn't fun, but I'm glad it was only bruises and not broken bones or a cut that required stitches. Saturday's trip was only 5 hours. The seas stayed rough all day. Everything has a coating of salt on it. We arrived at the Berry Islands Club on Frazer Hog Cay. All we wanted when we reached the harbor was a dock to tie to, a shower, and to sleep, in that order. John and I went up to the shower house. Nothing came out of the faucet when you turned it on. So, we had to get showers on our boat. That is the first shower we've taken on our boat since we left Florida because you have to buy water here for 40 to 60 cents a gallon. We are trying really hard to conserve our water. Our showers have been taken in the shower houses of the marinas. This marina has no Internet service.

Sunday morning we were awakened at 6:30 A.M. by a guy who works for the marina. He wanted us to move our boat to an inside dock because their fuel barge had arrived and needed to dock where we were. (It was the same fuel barge that delivered fuel in Bimini while we were there Tropic Breeze from Belize). We left Frazers Hog Cay in warm, breezy, and partly cloudy weather. A few days ago, I was impressed by water that was 2500 feet deep. Sunday we saw water that was over 5000 feet deep. Sunday's cruise was only two and one half hours long. We anchored behind Cabbage Cay. After we got situated, John and I wanted to go swimming behind the boat. I got in and right back out because I thought the water was too cold. John got in, put his goggles on to look at the bottom of the boat when he saw a shark swim toward him. He moved out of the way, but the shark kept following him. I never saw John move so fast. He scampered up the ladder and stood on it while the shark swam in circles around his feet. It would go under the boat and when John would try to get back in the water, it would come right back out. So much for swimming.

Monday we went by dinghy to lunch at Flo's. Flo passed away a couple of months ago, but her son Chester and his wife are still running the restaurant. You have to make a reservation 3 to 4 hours ahead of time. When we arrived, we were asked what we wanted to drink - beer, soda, or rum runner. That was the only choice. The meal was served family style - coleslaw, rice, and fried grouper. Delicious!

Today we left our anchorage behind Cabbage Cay and took off, unsure of where we were headed. It depended on the direction of the waves and wind. We ended up at Great Harbour
Cay Marina. We saw a Norwegian Cruise Line ship just outside of this Cay. Because water is so expensive in the Bahamas, laundry is also expensive. It costs $5 a load to wash and $5 a load to dry. These are just regular size loads. It took $10 to dry the load of towels. Holy mackerel! I think I'll just live in my bathing suit from now on. We had dinner at the pool bar here at the marina. It is so nice to have Internet service. Tomorrow morning John and Norm are going to take another stab at fixing the generator. Keep your fingers crossed. Til then....

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Well, we got up this morning at 6:00 A.M. in order to get ready to leave. However, it was raining and the wind was blowing us around at the dock. So, we opted to stay put today and try again tomorrow. I spent the day sewing. We went across the street to a restaurant called Capt. Bob's for lunch. Later in the afternoon, we went swimming again and then had Happy Hour. There were a few boats that arrived here this morning who were out in the ocean during the night. They had a rough ride. One of the sailboats got grounded on their way in the channel. So much for the 10% chance of rain and 5 mph winds. What do the weathermen know? A 108 foot boot arrived late this afternoon. They were French and had a crew of about 6 people. They came for fuel. The fuel ship was here filling the marina's tanks when the large boat arrived. It is now 8:30 P.M. and the large boat has been filling their fuel tanks since about 5:30. When they are underway, they use 1200 liters an hour. That's about $1600 worth of fuel in one hour. Can you believe that? Apparently the owner of the boat has another boat almost as large at home. Where do people get that kind of money? I think I'd rather keep our little boat that the two of us can handle without a crew. Well, if you don't see a posting tomorrow, you'll know that we were successful in leaving here.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Today we went for a dinghy ride to explore more of the island and surrounding waters. Then we went swimming again. We are having a great time here in Bimini, but, as long as the weather is as good as predicted, we are going to leave here tomorrow. We are headed for Chub Cay. We will probably anchor out instead of staying in a marina which means no Internet service. Therefore, this may be my last blog for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing new sights.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

This picture was taken from the roof of the Dolphin House across the street from the marina we are staying in. You can see "Runaround Sue" in the front, and "Seas 2 Day" next to her.

Ashley Saunders

The front of the Dolphin House.

One of the murals inside made out of pieces of recycled tiles, bottles, marbles, and whatever Ashley thought would look good.

This morning, Norm, Sue. and I toured the Dolphin House. Ashley Saunders built this house by himself with scraps of things he found on the island over a period of 28 years, and he's still working on it. It is structurally very sturdy and quite attractive to look at. He is creative with his designs and use of materials. He has a small museum, a gift shop, and his living quarters on the first floor. He rents out the second floor (2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, and kitchen) for $200 a night. There are stairs that go up to the roof. What a remarkable view from up there. You can see the water on both sides of the island and all of the houses in between. Too cool.

Then Sue and I went back to Charlie's house for more bread. Today we bought coconut bread and coconut rolls. It is so yummy! The rest of the day I tried to hide from the sun because my bottom lip got sunburned yesterday. By about 3:00 P.M. I couldn't stand it anymore and I had to get in the swimming pool. John and I swam until Happy Hour at 5:00 P.M. We have new boat neighbors next to us today Carol and Russ. Norm and Sue have a new boat neighbor next to them as well. His name is David. We are starting to think about moving on. Tomorrow we will check the weather and make our plans.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Carol beside the ocean.

See how well you can see this sunken boat?

Aren't they pretty?

Last night we had Happy Hour with Bob and Sally ("Wyndsum Lasse") and Joe and Johnny ("About Time"), and of course, Norm and Sue. We all had a really good time. After Happy Hour, Norm, Sue, John, and I went back to Star Tiki for dinner. However, when we got there, Aaron was no where to be found. So, we went back to our boats and made dinner.

This morning, Bob and Sally walked us to Charlie's. This man bakes bread in his house and sells it to people. We knocked on his door and traipsed through his living and dining rooms to talk to him. We were looking for coconut bread because we had heard so much about it, but all he had left was raisin bread. Each couple bought a loaf of raisin bread. It is delicious.

After getting back from our trip to town, John and I went out in the dinghy to explore our surroundings. The water is so clear that you can see everything in the water. We saw probably 3 dozen very large stingrays and some large starfish. Then we picked up conch shells on the beach. Then we went back to the marina and went swimming until Happy Hour. We had a delicious lobster dinner on Norm and Sue's boat. All in all, this has been another great day in Alice Town, Bimini.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

What a beautiful, laid back place. We walked all over town this morning. We found the Catholic Church, but Mass was already over. Once we got back to the harbor, we signed up for the WIFI, took care of yesterday's blog and then went swimming. At first, it was just John and me. Later, Sue came out and 2 other ladies sat down and visited with us. Every person we have met here has been so nice and friendly. It almost seems like a dream. Everything is so beautiful. I feel so spoiled. It's almost time for Happy Hour. We have invited 3 other couples who are also here on their boats to come to Happy Hour.

WE MADE IT!

The colors of the water are stunning.

A sign in Aaron's outdoor restaurant.

John's message left on a post at Star Tiki.

Carol's message on the bar at Star Tiki.

What an absolute perfect day! We pulled up our anchor at 7:00 A.M. from Biscayne Bay right outside of No Name Harbor. The waves were 3 to 4 feet high when we first got underway, but once we reached the really deep water ( as deep as 2800 feet), we had 1 to 2 feet waves. The temperature was in the upper 80s, sunny, and a nice breeze - PERFECT! The deep water is navy blue in color and when we got close to shore, the water became aqua. It is so clean, you can see right down to the bottom, including the sand, fish, and plants. It is breathtaking.

J.R., who works at the Bimini Blue Water Resort, helped us get tied up. Then he brought us our immigration papers to fill out. John and Norm then walked to the Immigration / Customs offices. Sue and I weren't allowed off of the boats until they had cleared customs. Once they returned, the four of us walked through the town (Alice Town, Bimini). We went to the straw market,, the liquor store, the beach, and Big John's Bar. While the men went into a second liquor store, Sue and I stayed outside and talked to a man named Aaron. He said we should eat at a restaurant down the road called the Star Tiki. He said for $10 a plate you get conch, lobster, and fish. We said that's just what we would do and we started walking in that direction. He walked with us and, as it turned out, he was the owner/cook. We had Gumbay Smashes to drink. He made scrumptious conch fritters with a dipping sauce for an appetizer. Then he made lobster, fried conch, and baked potato. It was wonderful! When we were finished eating, he gave us markers and told us to write whatever and wherever we wanted and to put our boat name on it. When we left, he walked back down the street with us. We felt like we had been invited to his home. He opened his restaurant just for us. My last post said I wasn't sure about Internet service being readily available here. At this marina, you pay $10 for service and you can use it the whole time you are here. So, I shall post daily until we leave here. We are having a blast! Wish you all could be with us.

READY TO GO!

Cape Florida Lighthouse. (I can't figure out how to rotate this picture)

We anchored out in Biscayne Bay just outside of No Name Harbor.

This is the Coral Castle mentioned in blog a couple of days ago.

This was called "Repentance Corner". Today it would be called "Time Out" Corner.

Mom and Dad spent the night with us last night. They left this morning to go back to Venice. (Boo hoo!) We tried to talk them into going to the Bahamas with us, but we were unsuccessful. We certainly enjoyed their visit. We filled our water tank and unhitched our lines from the dock and headed for No Name Harbor. Our trip today was only 21 miles and took 2 hours and 50 minutes and now we are ready, finally, to go to the Bahamas. We are leaving in the morning and going to Bimini for a few days before going on to the Abacos.

We don't know how the Internet service will be, so I may not be able to blog as often as I've been blogging. Our current Internet device would cost $2.99 per minute, so that isn't going to happen. We are hoping to find WIFI service from time to time. I understand there is like a $10, or so, fee per day when you can find it. If that's the case, the rough plan is to blog once a week.

We are so ready to get going on the next leg of our big adventure!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

It was another beautiful day in sunny Florida. John's parents arrived around noon. We went back to Alabama Jack's for lunch and the spent an enjoyable afternoon visiting. Norm and Sue joined us for Happy Hour on our back sundeck. John whipped up some frozen Orange Dreamsicles for our liquid refreshment. When we were all mellow, we grilled out and shared dinner before the bugs ran us all indoors. We are both so glad that Mom and Dad decided to come here to visit us before we head out. We'll have some time tomorrow with them before they have to go back to Venice (we wish they could go to the Bahamas with us).

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Our day began with a diver who came to scrape the bottom of the boat. It must have been worse than the previous time we had it scraped because he worked on it for a longer time. Maybe he was more thorough. We are hoping this will get us a little more speed when we are cruising. Next we got a phone call from John's parents. They are coming to visit us here before we leave for the Bahamas. We are so looking forward to seeing them. Happy Hour was really comfortable tonight. It was a little cooler and we weren't bothered by no-see-ums like the last two nights. After Norm and Sue went back to their boat, we had a visitor. Paul has his boat on B Dock (we are on A Dock) and he came over and offered to drive us to a store or whatever. He was very friendly. He left, and came back with 2 fishing lures that he gave to John. Wasn't that nice? All in all it was a really good day.

Tuesday. April 5, 2011

We are in a cell phone dead zone. We keep trying to use our phones, only to have the calls dropped or never get through in the first place. That also means that the Internet service is SOOOO slow. Last night I tried to add some pictures to the post, but the service was too slow and they wouldn't load. I will try a couple tonight and see what happens. This morning Norm, Sue, John, and I went to Coral Castle. One Russian man 5 feet tall and weighing only 100 pounds built this castle and the surrounding sculptures from coral by himself using only handmade tools. When he was 26 years old, he was engaged to a 16 year old woman named Agnes. The night before the scheduled wedding, she canceled the wedding saying he was too old for her. He was heartbroken. He came to the United States and he built this castle and the surrounding sculptures as a testament of his love for Agnes. She has never seen it, but was aware of its existence. It was pretty neat to see, but I wouldn't want to live there. It doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable living there. After lunch, we took the car back and now we are without wheels again. It looks like we will not have a weather window soon, at least not until after Saturday sometime. So, we wait.

Monday, April 4, 2011

I'm sorry that I didn't post anything yesterday. During Happy Hour my back began to hurt. By the time Happy Hour was over, it hurt bad enough that I took Ibuprofen, skipped dinner, and went to bed with a heating pad. This morning I felt a lot better. Yesterday we went to Church at St. Martin de Porres. The Mass was late starting by 13 minutes and the priest wasn't feeling well. Spanish was the primary language of 90% of the people, including the priest. It was interesting. After Mass, we picked up Norm and Sue and went to Alabama Jack's for lunch. A couple from our current dock had recommended Alabama Jack's. It was really tasty. Then we went to Biscayne National Forest and saw a movie about the plant, fish, and coral that live under the water within the park. We learned a lot and the park is quite picturesque. Today we went into Homestead again and ran a bunch of errands. Then we went to Mario's Latin Restaurant for lunch. I had an Elena Ruz which is turkey with cream cheese and strawberry jelly on bread. It sounds really different, but it was good.

Saturday. April 2, 2011

This boat made us think of Tom and Audrey back home in Cincinnati. Their boat is also named Family Affair.

Sue and I walked this morning and discovered that there is a beach here with lifeguards from 9:00 until 4:45. We were happy to find that out because it was humid and 88 degrees today. However, we decided to rent a car from Enterprise because they would come and pick us up. They were supposed to get here between 11:00 and 12:00, but it was about 2:15 before they arrived. So, we have wheels until Wednesday noonish. We get to see what there is to see here. The no-see-ums are horrible here. You only have to be outside about 5 minutes to be so fed up with them that you give up and go inside.

APRIL ALREADY

This morning we pulled up our anchor, coated with a bunch of gunk, and left our breezy anchorage. We had gray skies, warm temperatures, and 28 mph winds. Then we had rain. Our original destination had space for us, but we would not have been allowed to stay on the boat. We thought that was rather odd. So, we called Homestead Bayside Park and Marina. We only traveled 33.6 miles today, so we got here fairly early. There doesn't appear to be much to do around here. We were told that there isn't a town or anything close. It is nice to have real electric, water at our boat, and to be able to get off of the boat and walk anytime you want to walk. We enjoyed Happy Hour more than usual. I wonder what that means? Maybe it means we drank more at Happy Hour than usual. We will be here for a couple of days waiting until it is favorable to cross the open water to Bimini.