What a great season we had!

Visiting with Cal

new deck and bench we built for our friend

Hooking up GPS and Radar for Roger

 We are back in New York trying to figure out how the season managed to slip away so quickly and

Fixing electrical problems and a fish finder for Dave

now getting things ready for next season.
We have been working for a few weeks and are very busy with residential jobs and service work on several boats, which is great to be on the water while working this summer.
Since its been awhile I figured I would try to recap a few things since the last post.

One of Blue's favorite beaches

1. 

Catch of the day

We had so much fun this season Fishing almost everyday either from our faithful dinghy or on Raymond's Power-cat. We managed to catch fish almost every time we went out.

Better luck next time

Raymond's new enclosure

We had a great time with Raymond fishing the whole south coast of Grand Bahamas and enjoyed all our dinners with him.We helped him with a new sunshade enclosure for his lower deck and Jon helped with some electrical and mechanical issues.

Gifts from other cruisers

Jon checking systems out

Hermit crab invasion

One day we spent with Duncan and Cathy on their Trawler "Two Scots" and traveled to Peterson Cay which is a Nation Park of the Bahamas. We jumped in the dink and went to shore for lunch, as soon as we opened the coolers and pulled out the sandwiches the hermit crabs started marching in from all direction for lunch.It was unbelievable how many there were. One managed to attach to my ear(don't ask) and man I will never try that again. It was a great day as always with out Scottish friends.



 

Jon chillin

Another day we went with our friend Tom on his cruiser to fuel up in Lucaya and explore the canal systems. As we cruised throw them we got some history of the houses and people there.

We brought our dive gear to the boat this year so we ended up doing a few dives and it was all worth bring our gear.
We saw eels,turtles,flounder,sharks and thousands of different fish in all sizes,shapes and colors. Once we ended up seeing two very large turtles mating and as they were preoccupied they ended up right under us.
It was breath taking to see these beautiful creatures right under us.

Some of our cruising friend (Hank and Diane) arranged a tour of the Sands Brewery so we went along on that. It was very interesting to see the plant and how all the bottles get ready for distribution. 

Tap room

Tapping at the tap room

When we got to the Tap Room the tour guide had us try all the different beers and told us what they did to make each different. I don't drink beer but I did end up liking Sands Light. After she was finished she told us she would have to leave us there and do another tour. What was she thinking!Leaving around 30 cruisers in the tap room to fend for ourselves. Forty five minutes later she arrived back to escort us to our taxis. This was one time I'm really glad no one was driving.

we gave gifts to all our friends

Jon trying to stop time

Now it was time to head back to the States, we ended up with a three or four day window so we departed at the crack of dawn on a high tide and managed to drop anchor just inside West Palm at sunset, the trip was smooth sailing all the way. The next morning we pulled anchor and traveled on the outside with another cruising couple "Jamie and Janice" to the St Lucie inlet which we have never done because they say you should have local knowledge to travel it.It was very easy and well marked. The only issue was having Border Patrol come up next to us as we were entering it but after a few questions and answers passed back and forth we were allowed to proceed. After entering the inlet Janice radioed to remind us it was low tide, the problem with low tide is at the cross roads which is where the ICW and the St Lucie river meet tends to shoal in and at six feet we bump whether its low or high and always depends when they dredged last. Well we bumped once backed off tried the other side bumped again backed off and the the center really did it, we were aground right in the miidle with many boats just flying by as if we were a marker instead of a boat stuck in the sand. we called Boat US and he said he could see us and would be there a two minutes. They sit right there because so many baots get stuck every day. Now thats a business that won't slow down anytime soon.
We finally got off and thanked him and of course our Boat US card. Off to Stuart to spend a week on the mooring ball before heading to Indiantown to put Kasidah away for the summer.
While in Indiantown we met up with our friends Jeff and Lana, they are the people we met in The Berry's the first year there when our engine blow. Jeff and Jon hit it off right away and have been friends since. They had a house in the Berry's but just recently sold it. We will miss them in our future visits to the Berry's. 
Getting Kasidah ready for the summer months went well and with no rain she went away nicely.
We hope the summer season goes by just as fast so we can return to Kasidah.