BACK IN HOME PORT

Arrived back to Hilton Head May 19th. Our trip North was uneventful after Ft. Pierce, but we were always feeling a bit gun shy after what happened in Vero Beach. We have been gone 5 months and put 2500 miles on the boat. We are ready to be home for a while. We need a few adventure free weeks :-)

We will go come back to the boat in the Fall for a week or two, just to check on things and enjoy Hilton Head. 

18 DAYS ON THE HARD

Not the most fun thing to do, but hey, it's boating ! This is part of the adventure. We have heard many fellow boaters tell their tales of woe, and this was our turn. We returned to the boat on May 8. There was still more welding, powder coating , sandblasting and assembly to be done. We decided to rent a motel room for the few days ahead. We pretty much know Ft. Pierce very well by now and have eaten at many of the restaurants, including Chucks, On the Edge, Harbour Cove, Cobbs Landing and McDonalds. Finally, after a lot of chasing down parts for the contractor and orchestrating the repairs, we were able to be splashed yesterday, Friday. We stayed across the creek last night at Harbourtowne Marina. It was fantastic to be floating once again. Really liked this marina, too. 

THE THRILL OF BEING SPLASHED WAS BEING ABOARD KNOTUGAL WHILE IN THE SLING AS THE LIFT MOVED US TO THE WATER. SCARY !!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we finally left Ft. Pierce and had a great ride to Eau Gallie Yacht Basin. Everthing worked and nothing leaked.....a good day.....sigh of relief :-))

THE SAGA CONTINUES :-(((((

After several days living on the hard with no AC, we decided to take the damaged prop over to Bradenton (3 hours away) ourselves, hoping to get it done faster. They will try to fix the bent prop, but this will take a few days.  Fortunately, they had a new replacement prop that we were able to buy, and  we drove it back to Cracker Boy Boat Works the next day.

The  bright side of spending the night in Bradenton is that we stayed in a gorgeous Hampton Inn in the historic district. It was one of the nicest hotels we have ever stayed in. That includes 5 star diamond rated hotels. Because we are Hilton Honors members, they even upgraded us to a corner suite with a view. That evening we walked to O Bricks, a very pleasant bistro, and enjoyed a nice dinner.....a good reprieve from being on the hot boat in the boatyard.

OUR SPANKING NEW PROP

Upon returning to Ft. Pierce, the contractor working on the prop had us take another look at the running gear. Turns out we now have to not only replace the prop, but need to weld the rudder shoe, the rudder, the drive shaft and replace the dripless. Since I am the one writing this, I probably am not explaining this very well, but bottom line is that all of this will take much more time and $$$$$$.

The weather has been hitting the low 90's during the day and our holding tank is filling up. This means we need to find a place to stay during all the repairs. So....we jumped on a plane in Orlando and flew back to Texas yesterday ! We will enjoy the comforts of home for a few days .

We have had a couple of chuckles. Not only is the boat yard called Cracker Boy, but we traveled the Cracker Trail to cross Florida to Bradenton. I googled Cracker, and it is a derogatory word for white people.....HMMM....doesn't seem right to me that that word is still being widely used....just sayin'.

BOATS US SAVES THE DAY

It finally happened. We were happily cruising north on the ICW headed for our marina (Loggerhead Vero Beach). We had had a wonderful sunny day with little boat traffic. We entered the marina's entrance channel about 5PM all set for a relaxing evening onboard. As we were approaching the marina, a rowing team consisting of 3 boats crossed in front of us . We had to slow way down to avoid collision. The winds were very strong coming from the NW and pushed us out of the channel a bit. Unbeknownst to us, there was a submerged concrete day mark (belonging to the marina) which we hit. We were hard aground and heard some screeching noises. We called Boats US, and wonderful Eric arrived in about 45 minutes. He was a master at pulling us out and back to the ICW channel. We were unable to use the rudder, and it was determined that we would have to tow KNOTUGAL back to Ft. Pierce, a 3 and a half hour trip in the dark. We arrived at the Harbourtowne Marina about 10 PM. We are TOTALLY impressed with the very capable Eric!

ERIC THE RED....A  MASTER !!!!!!

WE WILL BE ON THE HARD FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG. WE ARE STAYING ONBOARD . EVERYTHING WORKS EXCEPT THE AC

A COUPLE OF THE BLADES ARE RUMPLED. IT TOOK 2 HOURS TO GET THE PROP OFF. THEY ARE SENDING IT OUT TO POUND OUT THE RUMPLES.

BACK TO THE USA !

After 15 days on Great Harbour Cay, we finally got a weather window and crossed the NW Providence Channel to Port Lucaya on Great Bahama Island on April 18. We did it alone and it turned out to be just fine. Seas were from behind. On the 21st we got another fairly good window and crossed the Gulf Stream back to the good ole USA !!! We entered the Lake Worth Inlet, and were docked by 4PM. Yes, I had a martini that evening at the restaurant in Old Port Cove marina. We had hoped to head North on the 23rd, but we woke up to severe storms and heavy rain. We will delay until tomorrow.

While on Great Harbour we enjoyed the company of Barb, Jim, Ellen and Jim. Did happy hours, bike rides and dinners out at the Carrieearl. They are headed to the Exumas.

OUR GREAT BOAT NEIGHBORS, LOUEY AND KIM , WITH THEIR CATCH

TANKER IN THE NARROW ENTRANCE TO GREAT HARBOUR DELIVERING FUEL TO THE ISLAND

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW

STAYED AT THE GRAND BAHAMA YACHT CLUB IN PORT LUCAYA....VERY NICE, BUT THE WHOLE ISLAND WAS STILL RECOVERING FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW. WE ENJOYED HAVING THE MANY RESTAURANT CHOICES THERE, ESPECIALLY AFTER GREAT HARBOUR CAY. 

ON OUR ATLANTIC CROSSING, IT WAS JUST US AND THE DISNEY SHIP OUT THERE

Much to our surprise, Bill and Ginny Pettinati were in Jupiter, FL on their motor home. We spent the afternoon with them sightseeing and catching up.


ADDITIONAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:
Great Harbour Cay had gorgeous beaches
Very small Island (350 residents)
GHC people were very friendly
Probably should not have drunk the water....we both had diarrhea issues for a few days
Flies and Gnats were plentiful
Internet worked fairly well
We are proud of ourselves and our boat. We lost a lot of sleep along the way, said a few prayers, did lots of planning and boat maintenance, and this trip exceeded our expectations. We learned so much.

TRIP TO GREAT HARBOUR CAY

Our boat buddies intend to go to the Exumas. Since there was some weather coming in, it was decided to leave Bimini for Great Harbour Cay on April 3. We all watched the forecast and decided we could handle the upcoming 10 hour trip over the Bahama Banks. Well, wouldn't you know, the wind and waves were worse than predicted , so it turned into a 12 hour trip with 4-6' waves about 4 seconds apart. We bounced all day long. All three boats handled the condition very well. It was just very tedious for the people on board. We arrived tired but safe to a really fantastic island. For more information, google Great Harbour Cay.

BOAT BUDDIES, JOHN AND SUZIE

 Met some friends of our boat buddies on the dock at GHC. They invited us all over for a pot luck on top of their Tollycraft yacht. Fun evening with lots of stories exchanged.

BAHAMAS BOUND!!!!!

Yup. It finally happened. We dropped the lines at 7AM and headed for the Bahamas on April 1. We found 2 "buddy boats" on our dock a couple of days ago. We were blessed with 2 lovely, congenial couples with vast experience. We have been smiling since April 1. Our crossing the Gulf Stream was uneventful and just great. We landed in Bimini about 2PM. That evening we got together at the Big Game Club Resort for dinner.

BYE BYE MIAMI

HELLO, BIMINI

The next day we spent exploring Alicetown and the beautiful beach. Our boat buddies, Lynne and Earl, delivered a loaf of the world famous Bahama Bread to our boat. This will become a daily staple of our diet....yum!

STOPPED ALONG THE WAY FOR A COUPLE OF SHERRIE'S PINA COLADAS. WENT BACK TO THE BOAT AND HAD A DELIGHTFUL NAP TO THE SOUNDS OF WATER LAPPING ON THE HULL....AHHHHH :-)

TRIAL RUN

FERRY MIAMI TO BIMINI

AFTERNOON ADULT BEVERAGE

Last Sunday we got up early to take the Ferry from Miami to Bimini. The ride took 2 hours to get across. It was way rougher than we would have chosen to go in our own boat, but we were able to see what the Gulf Stream was all about. We spent the day walking around scouting marinas and did the return trip at 6PM. This will help us with the "pucker factor". 

NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN

Last night we ubered to Miami Beach to the Faena Hotel. We did not stay there, but attended the cabaret show C'est Rouge.

We started out the evening at the elegant "Living Room " bar in the hotel. Drinks are REALLY expensive, but the people watching is exceptional! The show was great. It was like a mini Cirque du Soleil. 

One of the things we very much enjoy by coming to Miami in the Winter is the proximity to a big city and being able to take advantage of all it has to offer. 

CHARLIE AND GEORGIE COME TO VISIT

 Last week we had the pleasure of Keri and her family come to Coconut Grove for a few days, and then we all went over to Marco Island. Great Fun!!!

LOCAL IGUANA 

DOCK CART RIDE DOWN THE LONG PIER

LOG ROLLING IN THE PARK

CAPTAIN CHARLIE

CROCODILE IN THE GROVE

JUNGLE ISLAND

MENCHIES AT MARCO

HOBIE ACTION WITH DADDY, TOMMY

AIRBOAT RIDE IN THE EVERGLADES 

DANCIN' WITH HIS MAMA

RAINY DAY FUN

We had a real rainy day this past Wednesday. Good day to fix a nagging leak we have had under the sink. It was an exasperating experience to say the least. John was trying to work with Flex Pex....a type of tube pipe. After spending several hours to no avail, John finally looked at You Tube and discovered what it took to work with that pipe.Happy to say that it is now fixed  !!!!

SUCH FUN WORKING IN A SMALL SPACE UNDER THE SINK

NEW DINGHY

As part of our preparations for going to the Bahamas in a few weeks, we decided we needed a bigger dingy with a bigger motor. John did a lot of research, and we ended up with a 10' 6"  AB brand. The new motor won't be in for a couple more weeks. It is a 25hp Yamaha. The newer motor will have an electric start and weighs a lot less than the older models.

SEMINOLE HARD ROCK CONCERT

We saw in the Miami Herald last week that the 3 Dog Night and AMERICA  were performing up in Ft. Lauderdale. We treated ourselves and drove up and spent the night. It was a sold out concert so we spent the BIG $$$$ and bought tickets from the scalpers. To us, it was well worth it. 3 Dog Night is the album John had me come back to his apartment to  listen to the night we met 46 years ago. We had never seen them live. This was truly a very special evening. We have always considered JOY TO THE WORLD (Jeremiah was a Bullfrog) "our song".

To round out our weekend, on the way home we stopped in Miami for the Carole King Musical BEAUTIFUL  at the Adrienne Arsht Center. It was FABULOUS !!!!!

WE SAT IN THE THIRD ROW CENTER...GREAT SEATS!

VALENTINES DAY

I dragged John to the  famous Fairchild Botanical Gardens near here. We put on our walking shoes on this gorgeous day and walked the entire property.

EGYPTIAN GEESE

CACTUS GARDEN

ENDED THE DAY AT JAGUARS....OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT