Ok, So I dropped the ball.

Well I will admit the it is easier to post on Face Book but we had had friends request that we need to continue our blog. As I start this seasons out your probably all tucked in nice and warm. Well I am wrapped up in a dam sleeping bag setting in one hell of a messy boat. Hence Jeannie is not on-board. We got down to MutualFun just before Sandy arrived off the east coast of Florida. All we got was around 35 kts of wind for a couple of days straight and very little rain. Over the summer I had built a new hard bimini as our canvas one was getting to the point it was needing to be redone. So we took the frame work home in the spring and made a new hard bimini. It is on and so far we love it. When we arrived to the boat we had discovered that when the boat as stored for the summer they had positioned it so the bow was higher and not level. Well in doing that the water we get down our mast inside was not able to drain as it should have and we ended up with our main salon floor damaged and mold all over the main section of the boat. Black mold that was. Could of grew mushrooms the way it looked. So after a long day of a lot of bleach and washing, it all came out way better then we figured except the floor. As usual there is the standard projects and just getting the boat back in shape does take time. Our teak looked really good when we left in the spring but it sure sucks now. The sun takes it toll on it as we can not get at it for 6 months. Our plan this years is to try and get to down to the southern end of the islands this year and just hang out for a while. Our biggest issue will be water as we do not have a water maker. With what we carry we can last 3 weeks at least before we need to go resupply with water. I am also itching to get back in the water and go fishing as this year should prove to be better then last year for fishing. So we will see what happens as we splash on the 13th and then a few days for systems check then a depart from Green Cove Springs.

Crossing Over and Beyond

Ok we are doing the blog via Kindle maily this year until we get a good wifi connection then we will add pictures. After sitting in Lake Worth Fl. for a few days we decided to head further south as this year we wanted to to try and cross over from either Key Biscayne Fl. or the Miami area. The weather has been totally different this year then last year. Much more wind and around a steady 15 to 20kts out of he north. Which makes it impossible to jump out in the ocean. So once again we have went the route of the ICW. The good thing is we have covered all but 45 miles of the 1000 plus miles of it. Going down through Ft Lauderdale was something to see as we seen how the not so normal people live. Like the song Money. Where does it all come from.You can tell they do not play much as the yachts are setting out in front of their homes. It is almost like the Jones's. Who can out do each other. Mile after mile of mega yachts. Ok enough about that and onto the average Americian. Getting down to the inlet at Ft Lauderdale we deided to jump out and do a ocean run down to Ket Biscayne and into the national park. A place called No Name Harbor. We stayed 2 nights in the harbor as it is small but only 8boats were there so pleantly of room. As the guide books say it is party central on the weekend we decided to move outside Fridy morning and oh did it fill up. Saturday night it had to be emptyed as we got to see our 2nd xmas prade of boat lights It was interesting but nothing like Lake Worth's. After sitting there a few days and no weather window in sight we decided to head up up South Beac Miami and anchor right downtown in the harbor. I have to say that it is not a bad place to hang out waiting for a weather window. There is so much to see and do and water is easy to get. We ended up sitting there for a few more days as we met a few other crusers that we had heard on the SSB last year. After missing the last weather window to cross we finally have a 24 hour window once again and we are going. We moved over to the south side of Fisher Island along with It's About Time. About Time. Kismit and MutualFun. We had intended to go to Bimini but with hearing the weather forecast we decided head to Frazer Hog in the Berry Islands. Bimini is asmall set of islands and it is easy to get stuck in them while waiting for a weather window. We just did not care to go in there and be stuck at a marina for days. So after a 25 hour sail and some motor sailing we arrived in Frazer Hog Cay in the Berry Islands. This is where we spent xmas last year. Once we got there we found out that the club was closed down due to dealing with drugs. Oh well tis hard to make a living in the Bahamas mon. The mooring balls were still still in place from last year so we picked up one as well as the other we had crossed over with. Like everything else we backed down on it and dove on it to inspect the chain. Our first night of what I thought would be a long night of needed sleep. At about 3:30 am I hear a loud bang bang bang on the boat and then a call for help our mooring ball broke and we are washed up on shore in the strom we are riding out. S#$t like A fireman when the horn goes off I am in my clothes and in the dingy I go to start helping. No moon and dark as dark can be. Wavws a crashing we work to secure the grounded boat from going further ashore as we only had about 30 feet left from the iron shore of death. I had wwent back and got a couple of 3/4 inch anchor rodes and one of our anchors to help secure Sailaway which was aground and the tide tide going out. All we could do is to wait about 10hours till high tide again.As the tide went out all we could do is watch the boat slowly lay on its side and keel. They had removed a lot of things and stored them on our boat just incase it went bad. I kept telling Ken we are going to get you back floating as he was not to sure. As daylight came and other cruisers awoke to find one boat missing . Sally from It' About Time blew her air horn 5 times. I bolted up from our compainion way fully in rain gear and life vest. She thought dam now that was quick getting dressed untill she found out I had been up sense 3:30am. With the luck of Howard who is tending the closed down Berry Island Club,he had a 25ft whaler with a 225p on it. We ended up attaching a lin to the main halyard and as the tide was about high tide we leaned Sailaway back over and raised the keel off the rocks and away she went back floating. The only damage was a crack in the rudder . After getting our 2nd weather window to get to New Providence Island we left with everyone else as Kismit and MutualFun decided to head for West Bay as the rest went into Nassau to stay at a marina. After 2 nights in West Bay we moved on and to the Exumas. We spent a couple of rolly nights anchored there with a few walks a shore. This year we are waiting and sitting and waiting for the right wind and sail a whole lot more. What a year will do for experience. We left Normans and sailed all the way to Big Majors. In that day we had all type of wind from hang on to your ass to nota much wind. But hey we did sail. At Big Majors we hit is well on lobestors and a few fish. Stanel Cay which is around the cornner had a priate party which we heard one had to see. So MutualFun and Kismit went and ooh it was a sight to see. Must I say more. Jim and Randy loved it.One of the days we were at Big Majors which was around New Years I got to crew on Different Drummer in a cruising race. I will have to say it is the closet I have ever come to being hit at the start line. We were all screaming at the other boat Starboard but zi wonder if that is on the left as they drive on the left in the Bahamas. No damage done but I was in race mode and it killed our start. Good news is we beat tht boat that stalled us at the start line. After riding out a cold front in Big zmajors which brought 2 days of 20 plus kts of winds with tops to 35 kts we got to move and went on down to black point. There we met up with many other cruisers and had a few happy hours and dancing at scorpios bar. They laundy mat is adding on showers

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