Finally left the dock in Bullocks Harbour, spent the first night on the anchor just outside of the harbour, such a good feeling to be away from a dock! We left early the next morning and headed down the Berrys making it as far as Frozen Cay. It is a private island with a Bone Fishing camp on it, luckily no one was around so we picked up Ken and Merydie and headed in for a swim and walk on the beach. The water was beautiful and the beach was loaded with live Conch, a lot of them were out of the water so we tossed them back in deeper.... Nothing smells worse than a rotting conch...except maybe the water in Riverside Marina;(.     After our swim, walk and a tour around in the dinghy we headed back to the boat, Richard hit the sack at 820... That's a record for him!
       We left early this morning for Nassau... 730 is early by our standards, Quick Sticks had a good jump on us as they were gone by 540 but we caught up to them just as they were entering Nassau Harbour! Saw four large cruise ships in the harbour, two we had seen in our travels. We took on some fuel then headed out to the anchorage, after securing everything we headed into town to pick up another gas can and an impeller for the outboard. Our new dinghy and motor are wonderful and Richard loves to get it up on a plane but it sure goes through fuel fast!
      Nassau is known for its high crime rate so for the first time we will be locking ourselves in our boat tonight, usually we sleep with just a bug net over the hatch and companionway but we will latch the hatch and put the boards in tonight. We also have ensured the motor is locked and dinghy is up on the Davits and cable locked to the boat...don't like feeling this insecure in a spot:( but there have been lots of reported of break ins...
    Tomorrow we hope to head for Allen's Cay and get some swimming in, bad weather is headed our way so need to get to some shelter in a few days...

It's been hard to keep the blog up with poor internet service:(  We made it to Lake Worth then Fort Lauderdale via the outside, stayed at Lake Sylvia to wait for a window to head outside again for Dinner Cay, just south of Miami.
    On the 11th the weather looked favourable so we decided to take the plunge and head straight to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale. It was motor sailing the entire way but the seas were only 2-3 feet at most and light winds. Saw a few squalls but thankfully they were not near us, also some lightening in the distance. Made it into Great Harbour Cay at 8am after a 22 hour crossing. We do not do assigned shifts on overnight passages, but put a cockpit cushion on the floor and sleep in the cockpit taking turns as required. We are both light sleepers, a skill we developed from years of sleeping on the job;)
    Surprisingly I got a bit seasick on this trip but Richard had no problems at all, I was below cooking supper a little too long:( felt fine after some fresh air and a nap!
     We cleared customs in Great Harbour Cay after tying up to the dock. The marina here is lovely, Hans is the manager and keeps it spotless and well organized. After we tied up a fellow came over to talk to the boat next to us and looked at Richard and recognized him right away.... Turns out they played hockey together in Greenwood.. Small world! Ken and Merydie from Quick Sticks arrived around 2pm so that night we shared a yummy pizza with them. The next day the four of us took a walk over to the beach which is about a mile away, it's nice to get off the boat and stretch our legs! That night there was a meal put on by the marina so we headed up to that, it was a great turn out and we met lots of people.
    Yesterday the four of us walked into town to the grocery store, it's a couple miles away and we managed to get caught in a downpour on the way home, at least it cooled us down:) We picked up a cabbage and red pepper at one store for $6 and at the next one picked up a dozen eggs for $4.50. Last night we went to a pot luck and jam session at the marina. Roy and Val from Valkyria brought their keyboard and guitars( they are on a huge motor yacht) and played, they are amazing musicians and singers. We had sat with them the previous night and they are such a delightful couple, they own a restaurant 'the oarhouse' in Pensecola Florida, both got their pilots licences about 7 years ago and have their own plane so go back and forth to Florida, lots of fun!

Dec 2 2015

       We are experiencing some technical difficulties with getting pictures on the blog from my ipad so I guess I'll have to use the laptop, any suggestions would be appreciated!

       We had planned on taking the dinghy to shore to do some exploring this morning but the noseeums were driving us batty and would have been worse in the mangroves so we decided to move on! As we were preparing to go the boat beside us started to head out only to become firmly grounded on a shoal so we stayed around to offer assistance. He was finally able to get off by dinghying an anchor out off his stern and with the help of a rising tide, this technique is called kedging.

       Our destination was Peanut Island Anchorage in Lake Worth a distance of 25 miles, we do an average of about 6 knots  motoring so it would be an easy day. One of the frustrating things about the ICW (other than the possibility of running aground in the narrow channels or the inconsiderate big motor yachts that like to throw us a wake) is the numerous bridges, our mast is 53 feet so we can get under alot of the fixed bridges that are usually 65 feet, which is great. Today we had to go through 8 bridges, only 1 was a fixed bridge, three were on request so as we approached we asked for an opening, and the other 4 were restricted which means they are on a schedule usually every half hour so that usually means going full out to try to make it in time, we did great today except for one bridge... we were about a 1/4 mile back as it opened and he wouldn't keep it open for us :(  so we ended up having to wait 30 minutes for the next opening.

    Lot's of huge houses and boats along the way today, a fair share of derelict boats as well. Passed by a large nest in a tree, it looked like the tree would topple with the weight of it.

The lighthouse is Jupiter Inlet Light built in 1850, over 500 tons of material had to be brought in to build it. Since the inlet was too shallow for navigation, supplies had to be unloaded from larger sailing vessels and then ferried up river using shallow draft boats which was done in 50 trips, all while fending off insects and Indian raids. When the lighthouse was complete someone stole the lens, supposedly Confederate raiders hid the Fresnel lens as an attempt to confuse blockading Union ships. At the end of the Civil War the lighthouse keeper conveniently found the lens, buried in Juniper Creek…. Such interesting history!

  As we passed through Lake Worth Inlet we were hit by a squall with heavy rain and limited visability, thankfully it was short lived and was over by the time we entered our anchorage:)

  Ken and Merydie from Quick Sticks out of LaHave Yacht Club were already here so we got together on our boat after we were settled in, lots of other boats in the anchorage as well.

Dec 1st 2015

    It was a busy morning doing last minute errands, our daily trip to the bank for withdrawal as ATMs are few and far between in the Bahamas and pick up more pop even though we don't drink much of it I refuse to pay $48 for a case. While I was gone Richard was busy getting the boat ready for departure, stowing fenders and ropes, checking fluids and instruments and getting charts ready. As soon as I got back he took the car to get more rope and parts he needed as I stowed everything down below and gave the boat a quick wash down. After spending 9 months on board together last year we have our routine down pat. Richard dropped the car off at the storage facility and we finally pulled out from the dock at 130pm. It's nerve wracking getting out of marinas especially when you have a new propellor on and are unsure of how it will handle but Richard did an awesome job and we didn't even run into anybody this time;)
   It felt good to be back on the water and it wasn't long before Richard spotted the first dolphin playing off our bow! We planned a short day down the inter coastal waterway(ICW) to Peck Lake (around Stuart) about 20 nm. The weather was beautiful but since the ICW is narrow we motor most of the time.
      As I steered us into the anchorage Richard was busy getting the anchor ready, it was 5pm and there were 4 other boats already anchored. It was a little scary as I saw depths of 1 foot 2 inches under our keel but we set the anchor and put up the riding sail just before the heavens poured down!
     We are looking forward to our first night on the hook in seven months. We are well protected behind some mangroves but can hear the ocean breaking on the other side of them. The wind is picking up so we will undoubtably be lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat:)