April 4 - April 30, 2018 St Augustine, FL to Rock Hall, MD

April 4- April 30, 2018. St Augustine, FL to Rock Hall, MD

We started the trek up the ICW!  Many new breweries have sprung up along here and Bob enjoys sampling the brews!

   

   


We meet new cruisers along the way, and get together in the evenings. Cookout at Bucksport Marina along the Wacamaw River, NC, with Sue and Al on Gelato and David and Cherie on Blue Sky.



Liv and Magnus on Nanny sailed their boat across the Atlantic from Sweden!



Dinner out with fellow travelers in Portsmouth, VA



Anchored at Camp LeJuene, NC with osprey helicopters landing and taking off.



Buying shrimp local! NC



Pepromenon on The Dismal Swamp, NC.  Anchored overnight with 4 other boats as the lock was not working. Had a "swamp party"!

  Bos

We always finish our trip with a couple of days in Annapolis.  Chilly day up at Rams Head, wisteria in bloom!
Its been almost 3000 miles this season round trip!



We have learned cruising has a language all its own!  Here are some samples.

1."skinny water"- "Its pretty skinny in the anchorage." ( Translation - shallow water)
2. "sundowner"- "Come over for a sundowner." (Translation- cocktail)
3. "outside" - "Lets go outside today." (Translation- into the ocean)
4. "conserve propane"- "Lets conserve propane tonight." (Translation- eat out)
5. "admiral"- "What did the admiral decide?" (Translation- Boss, ie. woman/wife on board)

Thanks for reading our blog! Carol and Bob

March 15- April 3, 2017 Great Abaco, Bahamas to St Augustine, FL

March 15- April 3, 2017

We said goodbye to our home for 3 1/2 months at The Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbor Marina!

    

Our return plan- Great Abaco Island to Fort Pierce, FL.

 

First sailed to Allens-Pennsacola Cay. Dinghied in to hike the island.

Then onto Mangrove Cay. Here the water was so crystal clear, you could see your anchor!
And a sleeping turtle.
    

And on to West End, Grand Bahama.
From West End, we embarked on an 82 mile ocean crossing to Fort Pierce inlet, Florida.  We left at 3am in the dark and headed into the ocean. It was another difficult crossing, with short, confused waves. Both if us had some seasickness. Finally, the last 3 hours, the wind died and the ocean was as calm as a lake. It was a 15 hour trip.
Glad to be back in the USA!

Next day we motored up to Vero Beach where we spent several days riding the free city bus to restock the boat.  Lots of fellow cruisers here just returning from the Bahamas and The Florida Keys. The prices of groceries are way cheaper in the US than the Bahamas!

From Vero, we headed up the ICW highway. In Melbourne, we were lucky to see the USAF Thunderbirds practicing for the weekend airshow.

 

Then to South Daytona. The marina had the funniest resident pelicans! They arrived daily with the fishing boats!

         

And onto St Augustine where we partied with friends, Lynne and Gene, who were there on vacation.

         

Feb 22- March 15, 2018

Feb 22- March 15, 2018

Our Yacht Club held its Commodore Ball with a surf and turf dinner and dancing.  Here we are with Cheri and David on buddy boat Blue Sky.



Bob continues to practice the tradition of blowing the conch shell at sunset.  He has really improved!



And he is also quite the lobster slayer with the pole spear!  Yum!!

    

Dana and Charlie came to visit!  We took the ferry to Hopetown, Elbow Cay one day. Very windy day at the top and Charlie loved it!

    

We played on the beach and in the pool, and relaxed in the hammocks.

    

Charlie tried out the conch.  And went kayaking with Dana.

    

So great to have them!



Then Carol flew home for a quick trip to see Mark and Amanda's new baby!  Sophia Josephine was born 3/11/18, weight 8lbs 7 oz.  Mom, Dad,  and baby doing well!  She is a cutie!

Back to Marsh Harbor for a few days. Always a party here! Margarita Madness with games and a bonfire on the beach, then the annual Bocce tournament.

The time has come to cross back to Florida.  There is a favorable weather window. We will miss the Bahama islands!

January 23- February 21, 2018. Abacos, Bahamas

January 23- February 21, 2018. Abacos, Bahamas

Our friends from North Carolina, Liz and Ray, came to visit.  We took the ferry to Hopetown for a day and climbed the lighthouse again.  Very breezy! Played some Pickleball, did a snorkel trip,  and played marathon Mexican Train Dominoes one rainy day.  We enjoyed our company!



Carol entered the Limbo Contest at the yacht club's Steak Night and WON a bottle of champagne!



Then the professional limbo guy showed his stuff!



We did some more scuba diving.



Our yacht club had a Super Bowl party under the tent. What a game! Yay Eagles!



Then we headed out to a deserted island with fellow cruisers and had a bonfire and hotdog roast on the beach!



Bob and I got out for a trip around the island chain by ourselves.

    


And Lynne and Gene from Delaware, our longtime friends, came to visit.  The Songwriters in Paradise Music Festival was going on. The performers are the songwriters who write the hits for the country stars! It was wonderful! The weather was nice enough to sail to the different venues.

    

                    

Carol and Lynne have been friends since the 5th grade! Great to have them visit!

Dec 23, 2017 to Jan 22, 2018 Abaco Island, Bahamas

Dec 23, 2017 to Jan 22, 2018
Home for the Holidays and back to Abacos, Bahamas

We flew home for the holidays and visited with the kids and our mothers and some friends.  Great to see everyone, but Brrrrr!
Back to our marina in Marsh Harbor for celebrating the new year with fireworks on the beach!

We are liking our arrangement here at Abaco Inn and Beach Resort/ Boat Harbor Marina.  When its nice, we go out sailing and anchor overnight at different islands. We are in the water every chance we get!
Then when fronts come through with rain, and HIGH wind, we are comfortable at the dock.  There is yoga, pickle ball, bocce ball, and movie nights to keep us busy.

      

We have done some snorkeling and scuba diving!

 


Caught one more lobster, then we ran out of luck. :(
So, we decided to try conching!  Conch shells are all over the sandy bottom. First you have to drill the shell to loosen the suction.   Then this big, ugly snail comes out.  Then the black gooey exoskeleton must be removed.  Then pounded. Way too much work!  But we tried, and made cracked (fried) conch.  Once and done!  Easier to buy!

      

Took a sail down to Little Harbor.  There is an interesting story about a college professor who took his family of 5 there by sailboat in the 1940's to escape civilization and pursue art.  They lived a Robinson Crusoe type of life.  The youngest son remains and runs a beach pub, Pete's Pub, and an art studio.

   

Enjoying coffee in the hammock



This is my world!  Why is it low tide every time we pull our dinghy into a dock?



A walk on the beach in Hopetown.