We are back

December 1, 2011 Well we are back for year #2! Some people thought I would never make it the 1st year(did anyone win any bets?) Mutual Fun was stored in Green Cove Springs, FL all summer, so being she was already going to be in Florida, made it an easy decision for me to reup for another year. GCS is an accommodating place and Leslie & Josh only live a “20 minute” drive to St Augustine. Our daughter says they live 20 minutes away from any place when I inquire about the distance. She is almost always right. Thank you L&J for the 3 weeks we stayed! Josh did very well having his in-laws there for that long! Buster & Lucy(grand dogs) we will see you in the spring. Mutual Fun traveled the ICW for 4 days, reaching Velcro Beach on Thanksgiving day. Yours truly made her 1st pie ever(Randy is the pie maker not me) On Turkey day while under way on very choppy waters on the ICW. We arrive our destination and Tom of Polar Pacer told me not to bring the pie that there were plenty of desserts still left. We had arrived well after the 2pm dinner. Hey Tom the pie was actually very good, so I guess it was your loss. It was great to see Tom & Chris again if only to say hi and see ya later as they were departing VB the next morning. Hopefully we will catch up to them at Lake Worth. We went to Jensen Beach at Nettles Island to visit parents of our friends in Texas on the 29th and had a great time! Our next stop was Peck Lake for a night where we were able to meet new friends Kevin & Jean from the UK. We also hooked up with Polar Pacer again which was fun. We all walked the ocean beach and met a couple from Annapolis, MD. At walks end we all had cocktails and snacks there on the beach as the sand flies were biting. That evening we received a picture from Bill K and showed us the amount of snow Lansing, MI has! Apparently most schools were closed that day. It was so cool realizing I did not have to be there and drive to work! Mutual fun spent 3 days in Lake Worth leaving Amocura and Polar Pacer on The am of the the 4th. We all enjoyed the Christmas Parade on the ICW. Today we are in Fort Lauderdale and will be heading to Miami on the 6th. The next posting will be somewhere in the Bahamas!!! Love to our families and our friends. Merry Christmas!! Jeannie & Randy on S/V Mutual Fun

U.P. Color Tour

One of the great things about living in Michigan is that we can go over the bridge or under it. As we live under the bridge as we are commonly called a troll. The Upper Peninsula has so much to offer that it is actually hard to leave once up there as living in Michigan we all understand that. It is often called Gods country as well. Not a lot up there but woods and water, ah yes a few towns to boot. We took off for a 4 day tour and used Munising for our base of 3 nights. We stayed at the Alger Motel on 28 and would recommended it to anyone. We went up there with Marv and Roni. She is always a great tour guide as she had it all planed out and what a great job she did. Marvin did the driving. As it rained all the way up it gave us time to make changes to what was planned. The first day we did many water falls in the area as we had to check in first to the motel.

Being that they just received over 3 of rain it was a added plus for the water falls. Just within about 10 miles there were many falls as all are free but we found one that you had to pay, Naaa we all said. it was only 3 $3.50 but it was the idea we had to pay, we are frugal remember.

Back in the early days of the U.P. being settled it all was mostly Indians that lived in the area. Then came the fur traders and the explores from the European countries. Much of the area is still the same today as it was back then only the towns are a little bigger. Mining use to play a big part in the 40s thru the 60s. Some of the mines are starting to come back to life we were reading this past weekend but now they have the Indians to deal with over land rights and sacred rights.

Day 2 we take off to see some of the Picture Rocks National Lake shore. Some of shore your able to see from the platforms that have been built but the only way to see it is by a boat tour which we did on the 3 day. We had to wait actually for Lake Superior to lay down as the first 2 days were very ruff.

After doing some of the lake shore we headed to what is called the big spring. This spring as been flowing ever sense the Indians found it and is still flowing at the same rate we are told. It is a self guided tour where you board a raft which you then spin a large wheel which moves the raft you are on out over the huge springs. The is built to where it is almost like a glass bottom. Or as we know it as a lookie bucket. After seeing the spring we headed to the Lake Michigan side to see Fayette State park. The park is an old ghost town that dates back to 1867 to 1891. It was a town that had nearly 500 residents—many immigrating from Canada, the British Isles, and northern Europe— they lived in and near the town that existed to make pig iron and produce Charcoal.

Just seeing the town and trying to imagine what they went through especially the winters in the U.P. makes you realize how hardy these people were. In one of the plaques that we read it noted that over half of the towns people were under 17. That has to tell you it was long winters. Day 3 we went to a few more falls and then a visit to see Miners Castle from shore.

It is a formation out of the rock that has been penned that name. After seeing a few things in the morning it was time to head to the Pictured Rocks Boat tour. As a kid growing up in Michigan I have always heard of it but never went on it. Now 50 some years later we do it, Go figure. But as I looked around wholey moley, it was all old people, dang where has the time gone. The 4 of us boarded one of the 4 boats they use for the tours that day as we were told they had over 300 people signed up. Lake Superior was flat as a pancake and temps was in the 60's. A perfect day for a boat ride. Other then having your own boat this is the only way to see the rock formations

and the shoreline. The trip was some 30 miles round trip and a 3 hour tour. All I needed was the music from Gilligan's Island and it would have been complete.

The last day we were leaving we headed to Tahquamenon Falls state park to visit the largest falls in Michigan. There is a upper set of falls and a lower set of falls. Both have there beauty

Jeannie and I have to give thanks to our tour guide and our driver.

Gulf Of Mexico Crossing

Well I finally got to taste what it was like to do an off shore passage. Dean and Katie friends of ours called and asked if I would be interested in helping deliver there 1991 hunter 42 passage. So I had to ask the admiral and she gave me the go ahead nod. So the wheels were put in motion for me to fly to Tampa Fl to jump on their new boat. Rob was one of the other crew members who also flew in from Kemah Texas to join myself on My WayToo! Along with the 4 of us was Katie's dad who turned 71 on the trip with myself turning 54. Katie's dad who had never been on a sailboat ever in his life signed on for the whole trip as My Way Too! started from Fort Lauderdale. Our leg of the trip was 745 n/m. I will have to say that Al may have thought Rob and I were a little crazy at times during the delivery. I was the last to arrive as I did not get aboard till around 7 pm. Then shortly after that we pulled out of the marina they has just stayed in for the day and we motored out 25 miles just past the sunshine sky-way bridge and dropped the hook.

Morning came early, as usual not enough wind to carry us 4 kts. As that was our cut off point for the distance we had to cover as our weather window looked excellent for the next 4 to 5 days. As we got out about 45 miles the chatter on the VHF started. Now one would think that being out
that far and running a boat you would be prepared. Now mister sport fisherman that we just had pasted about 3 miles back called the coast guard and tells them he is out of 2 cycle oil for his motor. So naturally the coast guard ask if he was sinking or in distress. Nope Just out of oil. Well we do not deliver 2 cycle oil a and asked if he was a member of Tow Boat or any towing assistance and he replied nope. We all aboard My Way Too! said oh s+*t this is going to be some
expensive 2 cycle oil. As the conversation went on they asked if he had anyone he knew that would bring any oil. Now this is a time when you need friends and good ones you hope. Well he had none that would give him assistance so the next thing was they transferred him over to
Tow Boat. First thing they asked was if he had a credit card. Glad he did. The calculated cost was over $ 900 just to deliver the oil and over $2200 if towed. After hearing the cost he said he would try motoring slowly back towards Tampa. Now we are all thinking what the h#%l is he thinking. Is he going to do a insurance claim once he burns the motor up or what. So the last
message we heard was that he was slowly motoring towards Tampa. So our first full day we covered 146 n/m and then the wind switched to the west. Yep just what we did not want to see. West winds as we were heading west as they were light but we were just above the high and it
was in front of us. As we progressed I had asked if they have been fishing along the way and Al said yes but had not caught anything.
Checking over what bait the had I seen spied a few baits that should produce us a fish or 2 the distance we had to travel. Seeing what rods they had I thought oh we are a bit on the light side but we have to give it a try. With new baits on and and 2 poles out west we head. It was not even a half hour and our first hit sent the real a screaming as we landed our first fish. It was a Spanish mackerel. Al Agreed to clean it so knife in hand away he went to clean it. As soon as we got the fish unhooked back in the bait went in. Poor Al just a about got finished and away the reel went singing again. In comes a frigate tuna. During the next few hours we landed over 8 fish and lost 2. One we lost took the line out so fast we never knew what it was but it must have been the big one that defiantly got away. As we day went on we got all the fish cleaned and stored away for a few meals along the way. During one of my night watches on helm I had my iTunes and
head set going and I heard the blow of a dolphin and I looked over to our port side and there was a pod of around 8 to 10 dolphins. So with the full moon out and the boat on autopilot with flat seas Katie and I went up to the bow to watch the show. They stayed with us for about 10
min. As we pushed on we started to get into the oil platforms out in the gulf and what a mess that is. There are so many out there that one can not sail a straight line. With work boats and the rigs it was a very busy place especially at night. I had one work boat one night hail me on the radio just after he hit us with the spot lite. He told me he was trying to figure out what we was as they do not see many sailboats out in the rigs. As the nights turned into days the high pressure system that had been sitting right over top of us started to move on and started bringing us more wind and our only rain squall that we tacked around as we watched the lighting hitting the water all around us so we went into storm mode. Dropping all sails and getting the proper equipment on as I was the token lighting rod. Actually we wanted
to get some water as we were running a bit low but it never really rained that hard where we were at. Our forth day out and 3rd day with
out seeing land we were once again treated to a pod of dolphins leading the way for us in front if the bow. This was one of the highlights of the trip. They stayed with us once again for a long time
as you could hear them singing and blowing as well as coming out of the water.
As the day progressed on it started to get rougher and night was worse. It was so hot and ruff in the v berth I could not sleep so I wedged myself against the settee on the floor and went to sleep. Well Rob came below and went to pass me and the boat lurched one way and Rob missed grabbing a had hold and landed on top of my knees as I was in a dead sleep and we both screamed as I hurt both knees and he thought he had broken ribs or a kidney hit. It took us both a few days to get over what happened but no lasting damage just bruises. Pressing on as we had been sailing quite a lot as we had 2 good runs of over 24 hours with out hearing the motor. Getting closer to Galveston we could see the lights of many tankers anchored out awaiting entry into the harbor. We figured there had to be 50 to 75 anchored out as it was quite something to see as many were sitting high in the water. So do we really have an oil shortage if we are filling all those tankers with oil and sending the out. Makes one ponder that question. We sailed on
and up to Kemha and arrived in My Way Too! slip at 4:30 am with awaiting dock help and
much needed rum. Over all it was a great trip and everyone aboard was
ready for rest a long hot shower. Would I do it again, yep! So to top the trip off we went on a Saturday afternoon rum race in Galveston bay
on Robs boat. A 38 foot hunter as were in the cruising class and we managed to take a 2nd place (unofficial) for him which he was pleased. As the dang boat recorder never seen us pass the finish line. I just believe it was because we were a smokin going across the finish line and the recorder never seen us.

Back Home

Ok so we do have people that read our Blog. Yea I know we kind of dropped the ball once we got back to our home in Michigan. After we got into Green Cove Springs marina which I would call it more of a work yard then anything. There is a slip or maybe 2 if your lucky. Most of the slips are taken up by liveaboards that I would dare say have not moved in years. We had to wait about a week to get pulled and put into the work yard so we could do a few maintenance projects before going into the long term storage yard. In the work yard your able to live on the boat with power and water but once it goes into the long term storage yard your done with the boat. Going back and taking snap shot of our voyage from leaving Whitehall Mi up through the north channel and then down Lake Huron, up Lake Erie to Buffalo NY. That is where all the water runs out of the great lakes as it is almost like a sucking sound as your flying down the Niagara river onto the connection of the Erie Canal. The canal is a trip all in its self. All the towns along the canal were very boater friendly and willing to help in what ever you needed. The last lock you go out of to get into the Hudson River is called the Federal lock. Once those gates open up to send you on your way down the Hudson it kind of hit us. Wow! We are actually doing this and not looking back. Oh sure we looked back many times only when tugs and barges were bearing down on us just to move out of there way. Just to show you how naive we were or should you say Randy was. Once your below the Federal Lock your now in a tidal flow of the ocean. Well we went the whole dam way down the Hudson not even thinking about having the current to help us out. Sure I knew there was a tide but you would think I would have put 2 and 2 together and figured that we need to look at the current as well to give us a boost. It was not till the Delaware River that we figured that out. There we were with Simple Pleasure and we nailed the current and rode it all the way up to the C& D canal. It gave us a boost of a couple of knots. The C&D canal is a barge canal as it lets commercial boat traffic from the Delaware River go to the Chesapeake bay with out going out in the ocean. The C&D is not that wide as you need to call ahead to traffic control on the VHF to get clearance to pass through. As Mutual Fun is only 11’10” wide we a watched a few of the super barges pass as we sat a day in Chesapeake city and no way in hell would I want to meet one of them. We would have been shoved off to the side for sure. Now mind ya that we have sailed all out lives in the Great Lakes and took on some nasty water at times. I never had none come up our stern until we were sailing down the Chesapeake Bay. If we had been smart we would have sat that day out but noooo . We had a dead line to make, That is what gets one into trouble. Deadlines on a boat.

The Chesapeake is a place you could spend all summer in. But we understand it gets very buggy and no wind. We were blessed with wind going down most of it. We had many of different air shows provided by the military during a fee of the days and even got to see some bombs being dropped. Wha! Hooooo. To this point of the trip we had only seen a few people so far going south and we were wondering if we were to late in our timing or to early in it. But once we got in Norfolk that is where it kind of all started for us seeing the great migration south of the snow birds. (boats) I remember coming into a anchorage at Hospital point and asking a boat called Star if those balls out in the water were mooring balls as we slowly passed by them and Gale replied back no they are crab pots so hit everyone you can. We just laughed. Now this is where the ICW actually starts and ends in Miami. But for the next month to month and a half we seen and met so many great people along the way. Only to actually see a lot of them in the Bahamas. As we motored most of the way down the ICW we were kind of gauging our time as we were still in huricane season but yet wanted to get as far south as we could to get warm weather. During that time of year the weather does determine what your going to do a lot as many cold fronts are coming down from the north. Not having heaters onboard as we took them off to make way for more storage of things we thought we would need.

Oh what we have learned. We remember being told oh via some of the boats we were cruising with, oh yea tonight we are coming over to your boat for pot luck. We thought oh @~!# we do not have a big table onboard. So I told them hey we only have a table for 2 and was told well we are still coming so figure something out. From then on we knew we were part of the cruising community as that is what made it so fun for us. Meeting people like that. As we made or way down the ICW Jeannie and I resorted to well we will be the last boat in a pack if we are traveling as everyone was passing us as we cruised at 5 kts. We never gave thought to all the can goods we had stored in every nook and cranny. If we were smart we would have shopped in lake worth or closer to where we crossed over for the major can goods. But nooo, once again we had them all along with us from Michigan. Only to get more in places we stopped. Once we crossed over to the Bahamas it was like wow we are finally here. Now we had to figure out where do we want to go. Like everyone’s first time in the Bahamas we had to go thru a learning curve in reading the water color to help us navigate thru different places. All the time we were there we never felt threatened or in need to lock things up. I guess it is as close to heaven as one can get as we were very blessed for being able to do the whole trip with very few problems. In all we traveled over 4000 nautical miles since leaving Michigan. Lost a few pair of sunglasses and towels overboard. Got our anchor stuck once. In all what we learned is that you can not be in a hurry or a time schedule and you pay attention to the weather a lot more. Unlike weather in Michigan where it pops up faster. Weather in the Bahamas you know well in advanced that fronts are coming. All in all is if Mutual Fun can do it you can also. Just stick to your dreams as dreams do come true. Lastly I want to say thank you to my loving wife Jeannie for putting up with my drive to do this as it opened up a new chapter in our life. We will be returning to our boat in Florida in late October to do it all over again.

Green Cove Springs

The night before we pulled anchor to leave Marsh Harbor we went into
the Jib Room and had dinner with Lee Ann, Simple Pleasure and Dawn
Treader. After dinner they had a rake and scrape music session which
added to the pleasure of being down here. During the music Desmond who
sets up limbo stand and gets others to join in with him. Well Desmond
is about 6 feet tall as I was sizing him up compared to my height. As
the limbo went on many people dropped out but Desmond continued. To
everyone amazement he ended up going under the dam bar that was only 24 inches tall and lighting a cig while the bar was on fire. It was very impressive to say the
least. As things were winding down a few came into the dance area from
spring break and do I need to say more. We stayed and observed!!!

The morning of the 10th we started saying our good byes over the VHF
to Fine Lion , Sapphire and Rhapsody. We have been blessed with
meeting so many great people and now look forward to seeing them this
fall back down here in the Bahamas. As we motored out of Marsh Harbor
the winds were very light less then 5 kts.
April 11th
Our original plans for crossing over was to go to Jacksonville from
Great Sale cay. As we listened to Chris Parkers weather forecast we
changed our plans and head to Ft Pierce. Going to Ft Pierce added 4
days onto our plans for arriving to Green Cove Springs. Arriving in Ft
Pierce some 18 hours latter as we departed Great Sale Cay at 10pm.We had
under a small front that was passing us and we watched for hours as many
water spouts formed and even touched down at different times. On
the way over to the Bahamas I never really gave it much thought about
how strong the gulf stream was. As I was following 2 other boats who I
thought knew what they were doing. Well they were first timers also. So
on the way back we had set out for Port St Lucie. Which is south of Ft Pierce.
I had figured that was about right for the set and drift of the current.
Our heading in the compass was reading 270 degrees and once well into
the stream the gps was reading 298. That was telling me that we were
in the stream and we watched our position climb higher then what we
wanted to get into Ft Pierce. So we had to keep compensating to arrive
at Ft Pierce. The closer we got to Florida the compass and gps started
reading the same direction as that told us we were out of the stream
finally. We only spent the one night in Ft Pierce as the next day we
headed up the icw as the wind was out of the north for the next
several days. We stopped what was to be one night in Vero Beach but
many cruisers know it as Velcro beach. The city marina there has made it
very nice for cruisers as so many stay for many nights or the whole
winter. After 2 days there we pushed on to Coco Beach where we met up
with friends Greg and Kathy from Michigan. We ended up going out to a
local sports bar and catching up on old times and sucking a few cold
ones down. After leaving Coco beach we pressed on the next couple of
days onto St Augustine where we were pushing to make the 4:30 bridge
as we stayed in the north mooring field. Once settled in Simple
Pleasure and Mutual Fun went in to have pizza and beer and to
celebrate our graduation from freshman on to becoming sophomores in the
Bahamas for next season. We had planed on staying 2 nights but when we
woke up and listened to the weather for the next few days both boats
decided it was best we move on. So we moved up to Pablo creek just
south of the St Johns river and Simple Pleasure went on as they are
going further north for the summer. We had to wait out the current
till the next morning and ride the incoming tide as we had a 40 mile
run up the St Johns river. So we needed all the boost we could get.

Finally after going through downtown Jacksonville and past the Navel
air station we arrived at our final destination. Green Cove Springs
Marina where we will haul out and store for the summer months while
returning back to Michigan for the summer. When we left Michigan back
on June 26th we had no idea what to expect over the next 10 months of
being on the boat day in and day out. Sure at times we had our
differences but we also shared many great times with each other.
Living each day so close to each other only brought us closer to each
other. Seeing the stars at night and watching the moon rise over the
waters traveled. Relearning history that we hated in school to now see
it first hand as we moved down the ICW. Meeting many new friends along
the way that have played a big part of our adventure and knowing that
many will be there again next year or the year after. Many touched us
in a way we never imagined would happen as there are truly some very
genuine people out there cruising and they made our trip very
enjoyable. Setting below at nights playing domino's on a make shift
table as we never realized we needed our big table below. Having as
many couples you can get below on the cold nights just to warm your
boat up so they had to go back to a cold boat. Oh just what a matter of
time does teaches one. Getting up early in the fall to make way as the tide
is up and the fog is heavy. Wishing it was warm. Now we are preparing the
boat for storage and wishing it was cooler as it has been in the 90s. When
we left the great lakes we were loaded with so much food as one thing
we have learned is that there are stores along the way and even in the
Bahamas. So after living aboard for 10 months here is a list of what
food we had left. We could have stayed out for another year and now we
know why everyone was passing us on the way down on the ICW.
28 -12 oz cans of chicken
14 - 5 oz cans of tuna
18 - 14 oz cans of carrots
2 - 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
9 - 15 oz cans of peaches
1 - 2.5 oz jar of salad seasoning
1 - 16 oz bottle of popcorn oil
23 packages of assorted muffin mixes
2 - 4 oz bottles of bacon bits
14 - 10 oz cans of mushroom soup
13 - 14 oz cans of green beans
11 - 14 oz cans of fruit cocktail
10 - 15 oz cans of peas
3 - cans of evaporated milk
5 - cans of sweet n condensed milk
2 - 24 oz jars of parmesan cheese
1 - 8 oz jar of parmesan cheese
6 - 45 oz jars of spaghetti sauce
1 - 4 oz bottle of bitters
2 - 16 oz bottles of mustard
2 - cans of apple pie filling
1 - 26 oz bottle of relish
4 - 32 oz bottle of bbq sauce
2 - 15 oz bottle of Worcestershire sauce
1 - 36 oz bottle of ketchup
22 envelopes of yeast
4 - 12 oz cans of baking powder
1 - 2 lb package of powder sugar
1 - 2.5 oz jar of butter buds
4 -lbs of flour
5 - 6 oz cans of crab meat
8 packages of shake and bake
1 box of garlic biscuit mix
1 - 48 oz bottle of apple sauce
5 - 64 oz bottles of bloody mary mix
9 packages of chicken and rice mix
1 - 12 oz bottle of marinade
6 -24 oz packages of instant potatoes
9 - 20 oz cans of pineapple
12 packages of assorted jello
2 - 15 o cans of baby corn
1 - 64 oz bottle of cranberry juice
1 - 3.2 oz bottle of popcorn salt
2 - 21 oz cans of cherry pie filling
1 - 16 oz can of minestrone soup
75 feet of freezer wrap
1 - 7 oz package of coconut
1 - 2.6 oz jar of old bay seasoning
2 - 16 oz bottle of sun dried vinaigrette
1 - 16 oz bottle of caesar vinaigrette
1 -18 oz jar of miracle whip
8 - 4 oz cans of mushrooms
1 - 9 oz can of bamboo shoots
4 - 10 oz cans of chicken soup
2 - 26 oz cans of pasta sauce
4 - 10 oz cans of tomato soup
8 - 13 oz packages of wheat spaghetti
17 packages of onion soup mix
3 - 6 oz packages of croutons
4 - packages of stove top stuffing
3 - 12 oz spray cans of cooking oil
1 - 32 oz jar of strawberry jam
1 - 10 oz of strawberry jelly
2 - 12 oz cans of corn beef
1 - 7 oz can of turkey breast
3 - 12 oz packages of chocolate chips
I box of dry milk
1 package of pizza crust mix
1 - 24 oz jar of dill pickles
5 packages of top ramen noodles
1 - 8 oz tin of Hershey’s coco
1 - 5 oz packages of teriyaki noodles
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 - 16 oz box of club crackers
2 - 8 oz box of toasteds
1 - 24 oz package of fried onions
2 - 10 oz tortilla chips
6 - 15 oz cans of corn
3 - boxes of jiffy muffin mix
2 - 11 oz boxes of quick barley
4 boxes of mac n cheese
3 - 8 oz packages of walnuts
1 box of nilla wafers
1 - 12 oz bottle of horseradish sauce
3 - 20 oz bottles of ranch dressing
1 - 12 oz bottle of orange bbq sauce
1 - 8 oz package of pecans
2 - 16 oz bottle of French dressing
4 -18 oz cans of select harvest soup
1 -16 oz jar of salsa mix
1 -12 oz teriyaki sauce
1 - 68 oz of olive oil
1 - 32 oz package of brown sugar
1 - 10 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 - 10 oz can cream of celery soup
1 - can cream of coconut
1 - 15 oz can of fried apples
1 -12 oz bottle of sweet n sour mix
2 -8 oz can of pineapple chunks
1 - 15 oz stir fry veggies
5 - 8 oz cans of water chestnuts
6 - 16 oz cans of bush beans
2 - 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 - 8 oz can of tomato sauce
3 - 14 oz cans of stewed tomato’s
1 - 15 oz can of beets
1 4 lb package of yellow popcorn
1 -4 oz bottle of garlic stir fry
6 quarts of parmalat milk
3 - 32 oz boxes of chicken broth
7 packages of brownie mix

Pigs, Fish and Sharks and More

Ah we now heading back north and have taken some time to see a few places that we passed by so fast on the way down. Working up the Exuma chain of cays we have taken our time in exploring a few areas that we have either read about or heard about by past cruisers, some we have even discovered on our own.
What a few months will do in teaching one. It is the great migration back north now as we seen going south. But now we know so many more cruisers then we did coming down and it is much more fun. We have been with Skip and Carol on Rhapsody now for a few weeks as they have a 1995 Catalina 36 also. During our trip Carol found a spot on their boat that she loved riding on as I would say it is a real life figured head for their boat. Skip is one that is well lets say older then I am but young in heart and mind. Between the 2 of us we have been fishing and snorkeling so much that we are now living on fish and lobster the last few week. Our spearing skills are growing but still have much to learn. Jeannie and Carol go along at times with us but to watch and float around while the hunters hunt. Grunts are a smaller fish but go a couple of pounds if you look for the bigger ones. After getting a few of them around the cuts of Big Majors I was cleaning them on the swim platform and happen to look down and oh yes. Sharks. But Nurse sharks, so I was not to worried but yet just a little concerned. I did take a few steps up the swim ladder so I was not all legs in he water. So I had to tell Rhapsody about the sharks. On the next day we got a couple of nice groupers up around Big Majors area again. That afternoon Skip said lets try it again with the groupers. So we both clean a grouper and as Skip was cleaning his I said ah we have company again. Sure enough. One shark,then 2 nurse sharks show up each around 5 to 6 feet long. So what we ended up doing is taking a 1/4 nylon line and running it through one of the groupers gills and tied it off and back in it went to the sharks. This went on for about 25 min and what a show we had with the sharks. Finally we gave in and untied the line but not till after they about jerked our arms off feeling the real power of the sharks.


Big Majors is known for the pigs on the island and it is a draw for tourist as well as cruisers. It is a place you can take your food scraps and feed the pigs. Well if your all wondering how salt pork is made we finally figured it out, they drink and swim in the salt water thus making them salty. Yea Right Uh! Well it is my story. The pigs are very friendly but we do respect that they are wild pigs as we have heard of stories of people being bitten.
Leaf Cay down by Lee Stocking island has a few iguanas on it and there you can do the same with your food scraps, well we did.
As it was not long and out they came, about 3 feet long. Up and down the Exumas there are a few islands that have iguanas on them. There is so much to learn about the Bahama's as there is so much history about them and what took place around each cay. After reading a book called the Out Island Doctor which is rare for me to be reading. It puts a lot of things into perspective in what we are seeing. The area around pipe creek use to be used by the US military for military tracking. There is still buildings standing that you can rummage around in. A few years before we came down I met a cruiser online that their boat is called Veranda. Well he took a picture that captivated me and I had to seek it out, well long behold we found it and added our own twist to it from what all the other boats have added over the years. Then during the drug days of the 70s Carlos Lehder ruled on Normans Cay. Many buildings are still standing as some still have bullet holes with in them. weather wise it is starting to get warmer as we have had a lot of high 70's to 80's days and very few clouds, something we seem to always seem to have in Michigan, Clouds that is. As we move up the Exuma Islands you can start seeing the change in land formation and as the cays seen to get much more thinner and less land mass. While we stopped up around Little Sail Cay for a night I figured as soon as the anchor went down it was time to go get diner. So off we went and a few hours later we had a few nice catches. Well Spearing. When we crossed over to the Abaco's it was a 52 mile ocean run for us and it was a motor sail day as we wanted to be in by dark. The seas were rather flat and more like doing a lake Michigan crossing. Jeannie is getting better at bigger water so we chose to go a day sooner as if we had waited we could have sailed more. Arriving at Lynyard Cay we noticed off in the distance we could see smoke in quite a few places. It has been very dry on Great Abaco island and they were just letting it burn out.
Not sure how long this has been burning but we saw it for 3 days..Then we moved up to Hope Town as it is a small and well protected harbor as we had a cold front coming and were told winds of 50 kts with it. So we took a mooring ball. Well a day later we had that front and we saw 47 kts on the knot meter. Hope Town is very small and quaint but a tourist town. It has a actual working light house that we had toured and went up inside.All 101 steps up to the top.There is nothing that is automated about it as it is all original. It is like a old cuckoo clock where the weight is wound up to the top and as it revolves the weight slowly drops over the night It was very interesting as each night you can see the keeper lighting it if you look though the binoculars.



After leaving Hope Town we had a long ride to Marsh Harbor, 9 miles. Wha hoo. What we have noticed about the Abacos is . It is like being back in a big city. Boats galore and people everyplace. Something we are not use to and we have actually got to the point we like being away from it all. Hard to believe I know. One of our walking trips we came across this sign here in the Abacos that we had to get a picture of it.

We are planning on crossing back over in the next couple of weeks and doing a run to Jacksonville Fl if we get a good weather window. So we will post once we get back to the states and let you know how the crossing went.

Endless Summer

After spending around a month in Georgetown it was time to move on. Georgetown is a nice place for services and what ever you need, but way to many boats for us. The weather has been great as it is always sunny and I believe we had one day of rain for a few hours during our stay there. Do not get me wrong if you like structured events and certain times to do things then Georgetown is your place to be. They have crafts , volleyball, different seminars on cruising topics, and poker ect. On one of the morning vhf Georgetown nets it was talking about the poker night prior and it sounded like it got rather heated. It would have been just as fun to set and drink beer and watch the adults piss and moan because they could not get in to play poker. But it is way to structured for us. Last count we heard was over 350 boats in the harbor. While Jeannie was gone back to the states I had no trouble staying busy. Georgetown is like the catch all. It where everyone you have met along the way seems to end up. Jeannie arrived back on the 15 of February and was glad to be back in the warmth and sun. I think she finally figured out that the snow is not in her vocabulary. As getting snowed in a few times and the cars stuck while at home was not fun. During Jeannie’s time away I had dinner with Lori and Clint on Escort a few times along with a few on Polar Pacer. Just about everyday I was out snorkeling trying to hone my spearing skills to provide us with a few seafood dinners. A lot of time was spent with Steve and on Hey Jude and Clint and Lori on Escort out in the Sound of the Exumas as that is where the fish and lobster hang out. My trouble is that not knowing what to eat as I am at a point I do not shoot unless I plan on eating the fish. But shooting and hitting the fish is a skill also. So now that is a double whammy on my half. Well thankfully we have met up with Sapphire and Barry on Night Hawk. Between these 2 guys the have taught me some of the in and out of spearing. One of the first was I was passing up way to many fish that were great eating. So getting that down pat now we are having some fish for dinners. Lobster, well that is a different story. They hide out in totally different places then fish as one needs to think like a lobster and where would you want to hide. Down under the ledges and under the rocks down deeper. With that down now I working on honing those skills as well. I can say now that we have had 5 lobsters but a couple were on the small side. Fish, well they are easier to get at times. But you can tell the ones that have been shot at before. They are more elusive and harder to get.

Getting out of Georgetown was nice as getting over to Long Island was like leaving a huge city of people and moving to the country. They have about the same number of stores and as well stocked as Georgetown does. But way less people and boats. We counted 34 one day and that was the high that we have seen so far. Local people here are very friendly and always glad to speak to you or to help you in any way they can. Long Island Breeze is a local resort that caters to the cruisers as Mike and Jackie are a couple that run it and Mike does a morning net on the vhf radio at 8:30 to give you some news, weather and local info. Long Island will be our furthest point south that we will go as we wanted to actually get in the tropics to say we had Mutual Fun in the tropics. Some of our days include long walks out on the beaches on the Atlantic side of the island looking at all the trash and finding what one might be able to use. Then snorkeling at low tide amongst the coral heads and elk coral searching for food and fish searching for us, Sharks yep we’ve see them off and on while snorkeling. 2 of the days on Long Island we took and shared a rental car with Rhapsody which is also a Catalina 36. Skip and Carol had already been at Long Island once before this year so they were our tour guides and all of us had so much fun. The first day we toured the southern end of Long Island down all the way to Clarence town. There we toured one of the older churches which up in the one of the towers it gave us a remarkable view of the area. One of our stops was to Max’s conch bar which is a road side bar and was very cool and great people there. Day 2 of the car rental we went to the north end of Long Island and walked up to a monument the that talked about Columbus landing on the north side of Long Island. What a view that was as well. The road getting their was not what we all call a road. But we made it thanks to Skips great driving.On the way we dropped our laundry off to be done which was new to us but would do it again. One of the places that we went to we passed a house that Skip and Carol had met the couple from the states that own it so we had to stop by. After an hour meeting Bernie & Karen and getting a tour of their place. What is interesting is to see how they grow their own produce. It is what is called pot hole gardening. They make a hole in the coral then fill the holes with soil and plant their plants. After seeing them we were off exploring once again. Going about a half mile we went to a vacant home that Carol had been to which gave us beach access where we had lunch. Just down the beach from where we were was the home where Elizabeth Taylor and Senator John Warner got married at. Then on the way back we had to stop at Stella Maris Inn for a bite to eat and a few drinks. Once again we meet a couple from Margareta and their friends from the Island. Penny was a local and loved her wine, Jeannie got along well with her especially she loved her top she had on. It said O to naked in 1 ½ bottles. Penny lives in a home that over looks Thompson Bay and will often hale cruising boats in the bay just to meet them. After we leave Long Island we are not sure what way we will start our journey back to Florida but we will be in the Abaco’s sometime in early April as we have some friends that we are wanting to meet up with that we came down the ICW with last fall. Weather plays an important part in our plans as we have we have learned more about the fronts and when to move and when to sit. We usually try and look out at a 3 day weather window as that gives us enough time to run and hide if we need to. I will say we have been very luck in our weather so far as not have one of those oh god days. One thing we both have learned is not to be in a hurry and there is always tomorrow.
NOTE due to band with we can not download pictures at this time, We will update this part when we have better wifi.

On to Georgetown Exuma

Now that we have finally reached the Exumas it is so different. This is the Bahamas’ mon! After we left the S/W side of Providence Island we headed down the banks of the Exuma islands. Anchoring on the s/w side of New Providence Island was like anchoring on stone. Well limestone more less. It was just the weight of the anchor and 70 ft of chain that held us that first night. But we knew it was going to be no winds so that is why we went there. The water is so dang clear it is scary. We are now sailing in mostly 10 to 15 ft of water all the time or even less. Just like everyone else it was a learning curve for us both sailing in such shallow water. But it is heaven trust me, Standing up on the bow watching starfish and rays go by as we pass over them.
Yes and sharks now and then. Fishing on the banks is not very productive as it is on the ocean side where we usually run the drop offs and that is where the fish are. Our first stop from New Providence Island to the Exumas was Normans Cay. It was our really first time doing what is called VPR. Visual Piloting Rules. Gauging the depth of the water by color. Blue blue sail on thru, Green green mighty lean, Brown brown run aground. The tide is mainly around 2 ½ to 3 ft all up and down the Exuma chain of islands. So running with our friends on Polar Pacer which is a cat and draws 3 feet. We push the limit to where we can get into but only on a rising tide. As some places have a little hole to anchor in but you need to get over a sand bar to get in them. So naturally going into Normans Cay we done just that. We had to back up and turn around a few times as we hit sand. As we were picking our way into the anchorage the clouds would cover the sun and then the whole water would turn black and we could not tell where we were headed by the water color. Only by depth. With my butt pucker up we edged in and then slowed to a stop. Back her up and move over and try again. The good thing is now we have our depth gauge adjusted so we know when we are out of water That is the good thing mostly down here. It is sand. But there are coral heads which appear as a black spots in the water and are very visible. If we are picking our way into a spot we have our head sets on and Jeannie is at the helm and I am on the bow looking where to go as she is reading the depths as we inch in to places. Once we got into Normans we had to go in and have a few beers as they were only $6 each. Drink slow we have learned oh and as for cheap rum, We have not found any yet. It was cheaper in the states as I did not stock up as we had heard it was cheap over here. So the hunt is on for cheap rum. We only stayed one night at Normans Cay as we wanted to get down to Warderick Wells as we had a cold front approaching and was looking for cover. Warderick Wells is a Land and sea Park that is one stop that is a must, We ended up staying 10 days there. It has so much to see and do there and most places you need to stay on a mooring ball which for our boat was $15 a day. One of the things that is a must do for first time cruisers is to go up on Boo Boo hill. It is a place where everyone leaves ta board with there boat name on it and there are piles of boards from the past.
Now if you want to work there and do what ever they have that needs fixing they will comp your mooring ball fee, So for 5 days I worked for $15 a day, yes, $15 day. From 9am to 12 then 1 to 4pm. What I ended up doing with Tom from Polar Pacer was we ended up painting one of their park boats with a 2 part epoxy paint. It was not the best job in my eyes but you have to make do with what you have on hand. Some of the paint I think was like 3 yrs old and we did it on the beach. So there you have it, But they were tickled pink. In that time frame of doing all the work I got the chance to meet and make many new friends that will last a life time. Andrew. Chris and Henry who all work for the park are such great people and what job they have. We have learned how simple it is to live and enjoy life, As I know it is so easy to get caught up in needing STUFF. .We had a few dinners with them up at the ranger station that over looked the park and what a view. As it came time to move on we only went like 15 miles down to Pipe Creek and stayed just off one of the old DECA stations. We had learned that the US had set up these stations for WWII.
It took the place for radar I surmise in intercepting the enemy. Actually there are a few around the Bahamas we have noticed. One of the things we never thought of was how much we use our dingy and the need for fuel, We have a 6 gallon tank for the dink and a extra 2 ½ gallon tank we carry for extra fuel. Ah that is not enough we have found out. So once in Georgetown we will be scoping out a extra 5 gallon jerry can for gas. Only spending one night in Pipe Creek due to low dingy gas we headed off to Big Majors to see the swimming pigs. Yea they come out to greet you when come ashore as they are looking for food that the cruisers leave them. Now these pigs are not small by no means, I would guess 400 or 500 lbs. Not knowing what they would do to you we never got that close to them. But later we learned and watched a tour boat bring in people who swam with them. Well we now know how they make salt pork. Now they are braver then I am. As one cruiser said oh yea you can go up on the beach and pet them. Not this dude no way. The one night we decided to attend an AA (alcohol awareness) meeting on the beach we had the smaller piglets join us just as the sun was setting. Now they were only like 100 lbs but they would keep their distance from us. Not all boats that we have seen in the Exumas are small. One called Mimi came in and spent a few days anchoring amongst the cruisers as well. Listening to Chris Parker on the ssb in the mornings @ 6:30 we learned of a new cold front approaching once again and we figured that with a few good days ahead of us before it comes in we had better leave Big Majors and head for Georgetown as Jeannie has a flight to catch on the 28th to fly back home for a few weeks.
So our stop over to Georgetown was at Cave Cay which is private. Now that it is just Jeannie and I for a while she decided she better learn how to run the dingy. So dingy lesson 101 we had. I will have to say she did better then I had figured. Getting the steering down and learning how the twist throttle works to go fast and slow. So we putted around where we were anchored for a bit going along the shore looking things over. They are still in the process of building a new marina in Cave Cay so we went in there and checked it out. It was not till we came out that she had to make a big turn. Well it all went well till she saw the rock wall and it was like a magnet. Twist the grip full throttle and here comes the dam wall at us faster then I could have jumped out of the dingy to save my life. I actually had to grab the kill switch and give it a yank to stop the motor. Dang almost did us in hun I told Jeannie, She said I am done and no more.

Well you know me, Nope, get back over there and lets do it again. So back to the boat we head as she runs the dink up on plane and back down a few times and doing great. Then once again a big object out in front of her. You guessed it the boat, so what does she do. Twist the throttle to full and freezes as we head right for the side of our boat. Once again I pull the kill switch as I tell her you trying to kill us or what. But it was all in fun an she finally had to laugh. After leaving Cave Cay we headed out to deep water on the sound for a run to Georgetown. A mere 35 miles. Coming into Georgetown one has to do a few zigs and zags getting into the harbor as in spots it is shallow.
Once into the harbor one realizes how big it is as it did not take us long to figure out what is called the Georgetown shuffle. It depends on which way the wind is blowing and how hard to which side you go for protection. Kidd cove is the place that is close to town as that was our first stop fof a few nights. Here in Georgetown Exuma Market provides free R/O water as it is a drive up service and you bring your water jugs and fill them in your dingy and take them back to your boat. At times there is a long line of dinks waiting for water unless your like me and hit it way early in the morning before sun up. We will be here now till the mid February as Jeannie has went home to see our new grandson and family. Then it is our slow trek back north thru the Exumas and onto the Abaco Islands.