Rum and Island exploring..............

Sarah and Dave in front and Capt.Dave in back

Between yesterday and today it has been very interesting to say the least. We have been socializing with cruisers we've met along the way and new friends we've made here in GHC since we started coming three years ago.
New cruising friends Dave and Sarah left yesterday to go back to Halifax where they live, so we went to the Beach Bar which is perfectly planted right across the road from the airport to have some rum drinks and beer with them for a few hours while they waited for the plane. This was a great time just sitting and laughing about all the fun stuff we have done this past week with them. The view is just breathtaking and we pinch ourselves every time we stop there.

Today we got together with Jeff,Lana,Jim and Sue all homeowners here to dinghy to a remote island called Haines Cay and explore the beaches for treasures.




 We had to take the dinghy up into some mangroves and find a path that has been taken over by the mangroves, then once we found the dinghy spot we had to find the path to the top of a range which was very challenging but we found it and Jon marked all spots so we could find our way back to the dinghy later on.

While we were walking the far side of the island we noticed some kite-surfers rounding the Cay  and thought this was funny as hell because its such a far distance from anywhere. These guys surfed right up on the beach with in ten feet of me and sat down for a break. I said where the hell did you come from and they just laughed and said they flew into the airport on GHC and would go all the way around the Islands in this area and have a small boat pick them up on the backside to get them back to the airport to fly out later. Very Cool.........................    

Relaxing ....

Jeff coming to play with us.

Jon snorkeling

the catch of the day

Nice place to swim

Lots of hiding places

Lion fish-they get killed first thing.

Merry Christams 2012

We had a great Christmas Dinner at Jeff and Lana's house last night. Her table arrangement was beautiful and the food was outstanding. We are all blessed with what we have and we do know it......

Blue-Christmas eve

The Libby Family in Connecticut

Our kids- Jill,Jeremy and Amy

Christmas Day at Jeff and Lana's house

Just hanging

We have had a cold front go through so we have been doing some visiting and site seeing these past two days with friends on the island.






We were invited last night to a birthday party for Mark who owns and lives on this tugboat. Sara had two play mates for the day and Blue even got down to check things out for a bit. Marks tug is very cool and has lots of living room. We brought Haufmann hotdogs(a Syracuse hotdog) over and they were a huge hit, so much Mark is ordering 30lbs for the next party.







We went snorkeling yesterday on a plane wreck which was very interesting and reminded us of some of our trips to the Caribbean diving years ago.

The end of the world never came..........So I guess I can keep writing....

The marina had their Christmas Party last night and invited all of the cruisers to attend. The problem was it started after 8 pm and most of us were ready for bed before we even got there. We all had a fun time and hitched a ride back to the marina from Denise a landowner.


We have been to a few beaches and found that Sandy really made a mess of my favorite ones. While at the beach today Sara caught five crabs and only one got away.
 





We bought bikes in the states and have been riding around the island this week which is a lot of fun and good for our health, so this will be our means of transportation for now.

Jon has been having fun with his friends here working on motors and boats whenever he gets a chance.

Ya Baby............Bahamas and lovin it

Leaving Lake Worth

We left Stuart on the 15th and headed to Lake Worth with no issues and even the bridge tenders were pretty nice considering what we usually hear on the radio. When we travel we listen to three different weather forecasts before deciding to do the crossing, so it looked like the 16th and 17th would be the best over all, even Chris Parker our SSB guy said it was a perfect time.

Cuda

It was  our 7th time making this 30 hour crossing and this was quite a tough one. The boat worked great, it was the wind and sea prediction that was off. It was suppose to 10-15 mph winds and 2-4 Ft. It was easily 20 mph winds and the waves were 5 to  7 with the occasional 9 or 10 footer. With the wind nearly on on nose, as it always is when your trying for a destination, and bucking a 2 knot current our speed over ground was down to only 3 -4 knots at night with these conditions. There was no heading up or falling off the wind for more speed, the waves were just too big for that. I (Arline) said at least it was night time with the big waves coming over the bow, so we couldn't see them. The wind turned to south just before dawn with 8 hours left to go, which put the wind just forward of our starboard beam. This wind change also flatted the sea a bit because it was blowing across the Bahama bank and not the Atlantic  where it could build big waves. Our boat loves to see this wind, and with all sails out she started to act like a freight train running through snow. So now with better wind and seas at 3 ft we were screaming along at 7 knots to our paradise.

Almost there

With the bow of the boat under water most of the nigh any little leak found its way its way into the V-Birth which was not good because it ended up on our clothes and some bedding. We can deal with that after hearing stories of huge fishing boats taking on water and just trying to get here without calling in a mayday.

Sunrise

We are traveling with a couple Steve and Judy of S/V Hey Jude that we traveled with two years ago when our motor overheated and we ended up staying in GHC for a month, and at that time fell in love with the place.








Jon said to me that all good things come to those who wait and to look for that kind of thing on this trip over, I understand what he was talking about(maybe this is where we were suppose to be?).











We have been cleaning the boat and getting our Bahamian stuff  out to do some fishing,conching, lobstering and all that good stuff.

We may be here a month before moving on because of interests other than vacationing and we will let you know what that is later.

Great feeling

All I can say is life is good.......................  

Just waiting..............

This week has been very busy with all sorts of things.

First off: Jon flew back to New York to settle any last minute things and to totally remove our stuff from our RV that was at the marina we use to work at. He has been away since Friday.
Next, Sarah had to have more surgery to remove some very ugly spots and bumps off of her body. She is now recovering. I am still waiting for my test result to come back to find out if I have the okay to leave next week for the Bahamas.
When we first got here Jon landed jobs instantly to work on boats and motors. One of which he has already completed, he fixed an old Evinrude motor for a nice Canadian couple Don and Sue. He made enough for us to have a very nice dinner one night, drinks included. When he returns from New York he has arranged to install and work on some new gauges and electronics for Chris and Louise, who are also from Canada. He decided to decline on any of the other work for now, or we will never make it to the Bahamas.














 The weather here has been very warm and sunny, and the water in the morning is very calm. Almost every morning there have been dolphins swimming next to the boat. 

an afternoon storm

I can't wait for Jon to show back up so we can get on with our adventures!