A good life.

January – February 2015

Yes we are back in the swing of things.

We left Green Cove Springs on the last day of 2014 for our shake-down run.  We find some minor things but Gary sorted those out lickety-split!

We spent the night on a free dock at The Outback Crab Shack on a little creek off the St Johns River. After a great meal of deep fried everything (fish, shrimp, clams, scallops and calamari) we enjoyed the fireworks from our fly bridge.

A lot of food at the Outback Crab Shack

The following day it was on to Jacksonville, where we found ourselves in the midst of a football rally. Being from Canada and not knowing a thing about football we kept a low profile just in case we offended anyone.

Go Orange!

The weather had turned cool as we headed down the St Johns River. Another night at a free dock and we continued on past St Augustine to anchor at Fort Matanzas.

Tied to the free dock at Three Sisters

Cool foggy mornings

We got buzzed by a little Ultra Light Float plane

Slowing down means you see things like this on the side of the waterway

Snuggles while we travel

So the trip from Green Cove Springs to St Augustine took 3 days.  Being back on the boat forces you to SLOW down. We were used to travelling by car and getting where ever we wanted to be, fast, now we are back to travelling 7 mph.  Lots of time to think and talk.

After a great visit with the crew from MV Wild Goose, we were hit with bad news. Otto, our autopilot died. To replace him cost us a pretty penny. We spent a week in Dania beach waiting for the new autohelm to be installed and for a new pump to arrive from Canada.

Those are people , in big bubbles....

Dania Beach

Jacob is getting very old :(

My  nerves started to kick in as we were waiting for a crossing window to the Bahamas. We anchored in No Name Harbour in Biscayne Bay and set off early the morning of the 21st.

This is how I like to cross the Gulf, oblivious. Our poor bench took a hard knock over the summer , so we have since had it recovered.

We had a great crossing and when we got to the banks we could see the fish in the water from the fly bridge. The waters remained flat calm till about 20 miles from Great Harbour. The winds picked up and soon we had waves crashing and spraying over our 17' high fly bridge. White knuckled, holding on for dear life I was so happy to see the cut into Great Harbour. We had left Miami in the dark and

arrived in the dark. The captain did an excellent job and backed us into our slip smooth as butter. Here we were met by my brother Vic and sister in law, Iren. 

They left Nova Scotia on their sailboat Solveig in August and we finally caught up to them.

Vic and Iren

Gary's surprise birthday party - We also celebrated Ruthann's birthday

Cleaning conch

Making conch salad. Look at Lexie, posing  :)

Chillin

Great Harbour Cay

Pat , Celine and Lexie

Manatee in GHC

We were back in paradise. This place feels like home to me. So good to see all the friendly faces and beautiful familiar spots.This year there is a larger amount of boats here. The marina is almost full , where as last year there were fewer boats. It is understandable that a gem like this place would not long go undiscovered by today's pleasure cruiser. 

We have been here for almost 3 weeks and yet every day is  magical, even the cold blustery one, of which we have had a few.

Iren has been taking lots of pictures thanks to her for sharing them with me for this blog update.

..............to be continued

Back on Time & Tide

We are back on our floating home!!

While I was back in South Africa visiting my family, Gary and our friend, Wayne drove the 5th wheel down to Green Cove Spring, Florida where we kept the boat for the summer.

I spent some time with my ailing mother and visited my sisters and family.

Here are some pics I took while in South Africa

My sister Marlene and her husband live on a plot near Bethlehem and this donkey is a frequent visitor

Antelope

The three sisters, Joey, Marlene and me

Not an actual family member but rather one of the monkeys that
hang around my sister, Joey's neighborhood.

The City Hall in Pietermaritzburg,  my old home town

Vossie is my brother in law.  

Marlene and her daughter Yolandie

Joey and her daughters Renel and Karin

Only in South Africa

The view from Van Reenen's pass

Blou Wildebeeste - Blue Wildebeest 

Zebra

My mother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers 

My last day in SA was spent with good friends and Andre took me around to show me the new Mandela
statue at the Union Buildings in Pretoria

Madiba

Andre and me

MEANWHILE..............................

Gary arrived at the boat finding it covered in mold. Never one to back down from a challenge he set about cleaning the whole boat and fixing things....Thank you to Wayne who helped!!!

Things that worked perfectly well when she was put away on the hard, now inexplicably needed fixing:
Both engines wouldn't start,the water-maker developed a leak, the macerater pump was seized , the on board water pump needed fixing, Gary's head flusher had to be replaced, bath drain pump stopped working, fuel drain for SB engine was just plain broken off.

Gary also installed a new solar panel, a new engine start battery, a new heat exchanger on the SB engine and new new zincs throughout.

All of this he did in two weeks. The man is a machine!!

So, as we are getting ready to head out tomorrow, I must say both of us are a little nervous. Our confidence in the boat is a little shaky, to say the least. Last year we had so many issues and even though we have tested and retested everything, it will probably be a while before I will relax completely not always expecting that unforeseen thing to happen that will throw a wrench into the works.

But for now, I am just going to trust that things are ok and will be ok.

Sunset at Green Cove 

Ready Set.....

May I just end by saying thank you to all of you who read our blog and follow our little life's adventure. I am constantly surprised by how many of you there are and how many of you I have not even met yet. Thank you for reading.

....................to be continued