Happy birthday Liam!

Spooky has decided she is happy to stop here.

Jon and Janice arrived yesterday for a quick weekend visit.  Here we are catching up over a glass of wine.

We went to Citrus Grill for supper last night and Mulligan's for lunch today

Jon's latest lease is his best yet.  A CLS550. Very nice indeed!

We are only two and a half hours apart now so we will see each other more often.

In Vero Beach

This what happens when you poke your fingers into the air conditioning raw water strainer before you realise there are barnacles in there!  It had healed a bit when I took this photo in North Palm Beach.

Here's a couple of pictures of Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach.  We really liked the marina but they won't let you stay when there's a hurricane so no dice.

I didn't take picture of the restaurant but it was the best food I had had since leaving Florida some months ago.

We motored north to Vero Beach.  Loggerhead marina is in a gated housing development.  Very quiet and nice.  We will see if it is as convenient as we need.

Tomorrow we set about getting Jo into a clinic to see about her leg.

Air conditioning again!

So we changed the raw water pump and we had air to sleep last night.  Today the lines were well and truly cleaned out and we have more raw water flow than we have ever had. 

Tomorrow we head to Vero Beach where we hope to stay for the remainder of the summer.

Back in the US of A

We left Hope Town Friday morning and are now in North Palm Beach at Old Port Cove Marina.

The run to Spanish Cay was uneventful.  Only 47 miles.  The marina was expensive for what it delivered but it was a pretty spot with entertaining guests.

The welcoming committee graded our docking at 9.8 which I thought was a bit generous.

The main attraction was the sharks.

We were told these are Lemon Sharks.  Here's a short movie:

The next day was a very long one.  

Spanish Cay to West End is 100 miles and 11 hours at our trawl speed of 9 mph.  We started out at 6am.  

It was also very boring as there's nothing to see but crystal clear waters with almost no sea life save for the occasional dolphin and a few cormorants.  But you still have to keep a watch and monitor instruments.

Jo kept watch from time to time while I stretched my legs.

The air conditional raw water system failed en route which made it rather warm below decks.  We arrived at West End late afternoon.

Even though the engines were still hot we positioned a fan and I went down to check the a/c raw water strainer.  It was clogged with sea grass.  However, when it was cleaned out we still had a raw water pressure problem.  I checked for a through hull blockage but all seemed ok. I checked the main engine and generator strainers to be safe. So we had no a/c for the night and next day.  We slept above decks to get what little breeze there was available.

We headed out for Riviera Beach around 7am.

It was a bit of a rolly trip with 2 to 3 foot swells coming from the South.  Spooky found a way to cope.

With the Lake Worth inlet in sight we looked forward to docking.

So we are currently docked and have had technicians look over the air conditioning this morning.  The raw water pump is not working properly so it will be replaced hopefully this afternoon and we should have a/c again.  The lines appear to be clear but will be flushed tomorrow.  Looks like we are here for a couple of days.  Aside from delaying Jo's visit to the doctor in Vero it is no big sacrifice.  It's nice here!

On our way to Vero Beach

We left Hope Town at 10 am this morning after a fairly sleepless night.  I will fill you in on that later.

The boat ran well and we are in Spanish Cay Marina which charges too much for too little and we are currently running on our generator because their generator is not working.

Tomorrow we will have a long run of 100 miles to West End.

I will post pics when we get back on decent internet.  This post is via my phone.

Last days

So we set out for Spanish Cay tomorrow and I have a reservation there for a rich $2.75 a foot plus power and water!  It had better be good.

The last couple of days we have been checking out our systems, running engines and generator, updating charts, plotting routes and provisioning for heading back to the USA.

Jo's leg, hereafter called a haematoma we think, is under control but in need of inspection.

We also made last visits to our friends, Greg and Katie at Captain Jack's, and Gary at The Lodge.  And of course it rained during all of this in between being blisteringly hot and humid.

We met these two folks who just bought a piece of property on the north end of Elbow Cay, at The Lodge so we celebrated together.

Gary orchestrated and we had an iPad music trivia session as well.

Did I mention it rained?

Back to our marina for cocktails with Tristan.  While we were away this Horizon 60' cat came in.

I can't imagine being in bad seas with that bow profile.  I would rather be in this Offshore monohull I think.

Today we did some grocery shopping and I got my hair cut at Monica's.  Then we met at Captain Jack's for lunch.  Of course it rained so Katie had to close up the screens.

When we got back to our marina the barge was arriving and I realised I haven't shown you how supplies get to the out islands here. An ex US Army landing craft is the supply barge for pretty well everything except fuel.  It comes in every week day from Marsh Harbour with building supplies and groceries for everyone on Elbow Cay.

The system works and we know when the grocery store has fresh fruit and vegetables because it comes on the barge on Thursday and is on the shelves by Saturday.

So, tomorrow we head out.  It will be good to get back to "civilization" where we can can get radio and TV over the air or on-line, goods bought on line in a day or two and power that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  But we will miss this oasis on the planet.

We made many friends who passed through here and many more who live here.  I have a feeling we will be back.

Here's the sky tonight:

..sailor's delight?

Time to Leave

Jo had to visit the Doctor again today as the swelling is getting worse.  She's waiting in Marsh Harbour for the ferry to return to Hope Town as I type.  The swelling needs a drain and we have to head back to Florida for treatment.  So we will be casting off in the next few days.

Monsoon Season

It seems as though we can't remember the last day we didn't hear thunder , see lightning and.or get a heavy rain shower.  Today has been worse than most with constant thunder and torrential rain.  I took a couple of short videos to show the approach and then the rain.

Meanwhile, with all this rain and slick surfaces, Jo managed to miss her step and fell between the boat and the dock.  She banged her leg badly on the way down.

A few days later the swelling was not going down.

So we cashed in some more of those free ferry tickets we got and went to the Doctor in Marsh Harbour.  So the doc emptied two and a half cups of fluid from Jo and strapped her up and we headed "home" after a bit shopping and lunch at Snappas.  Joseph, as usual, looked after our transportation.

These are first class ferries which connect the Abaco islands.

The ferry terminals are first class as well but it all works like clockwork.  A round trip from Hope Town to Marsh Harbour is $27.

Then it rained some more.

Then the sun came out so we could show off our big-assed Canadian flag some more.

This nice Sunseeker has been here for the last week or so.

Then it rained some more.  This time with a rainbow so I took a panorama to capture it.

Yesterday our marina hosted the Abaco Regatta party.  This was concurrent with the annihilation of Brazil by Germany.  The morning was, you guessed it, torrential rain but then it cleared up to just grey. We watched the game at the bar and then spent another hour so at the party.  It was very well attended as are most events that offer free booze even if only for an hour.  They came on the Marina Shuttle..

...they came by catamaran...

...and they came by dinghy and small boat...

...and unlike the yahoos from southeast Florida they had a good time without making a spectacle of themselves.

Our dock-master, Robert, managed to get everyone in safe and sound and to get them safely away.

We watched from our bow as folks tried to find and then board their dinghies after a few too many beverages but, remarkably and somewhat disappointingly, none fell in.

Our shuttle was maxed out on many of its trips returning folks to Hope Town and boats at moorings.