What difference a year makes....

What a difference a year makes.

If you are a loyal reader of this blog (thank you, by the way) you will remember that I lost my heart last year to a little Cay in the Berrie Islands of the Bahamas. By accident, we ended up at a marina on Great Harbour Cay where we spend a couple of months and we absolutely loved it.

We loved it so much we couldn't stop talking about it and we told everyone that they should come to Great Harbour Cay.  And came they did….. Now, I can’t take all the credit (or responsibility) for all the people that are here this year but I can take some. Last year there were 2- 3- 4- boats here during the winter and this year the marina has had to turn boats away because they are full. Locals have told me they haven’t seen so many boats here in years.

This of course has its positive and negative points. The positive is that the Island and its people are benefiting greatly from the number of tourists who spend their money here now. The negative is that I now have to share MY Island paradise with a whole bunch of people… the thing is, it was never really mine to begin with, so I have to remember that and not be so selfish.

Look, if I make is sound bad, it isn't my intent; I have met some wonderful people who will be in my heart forever. So perhaps I haven’t lost anything, perhaps I have gained something.  All I know is that my heart has grown with all the love I have recently received.

A lot has happened this past month, since my last blog entry, lots of fun times which I hope to share with you in the pictures that I am posting. 

Cathy, me and Iren enjoying the wonderful beach on GHC

Fun in the sun

At the Winter-fest, me sporting a Junkanoo headpiece fitting for a Queen

At my 50th birthday party with Kim, Cap' and Sugar

The lovely Pat and Celine who worked so hard on my Birthday party

Local fauna and flora

Birthday party with Hans, Cathy and Vic.

GAry's good friend Rufus, who stops by every day to say hello

My birthday gift from Gary .A wooden plaque shaped like a book, signed by all my friends and family who were here for my birthday

Gary taking a picture of a shark right off the dock by our boat

A evening guest

The annual Wahoo tournament that is held on GHC was won by Sandy and his crew. One of the fishermen gave me apiece of Wahoo which I cut up and had with wasabi. Delish!!

Good friends -The Beautiful people on SV Carina - Tim and Cathy

A typical evening of docktails with new and old friends.

Full moon rising over Time& Tide

Fresh donuts delivered to us by a good friend  from Nassau

First time spear fishing he got these beauties.  I tried spearfishing but found myself unable to kill a living creature...in fact the older I get the harder it is for me to harvest conch and kill fish.  Gary feels the same way - seems like we are getting soft in our old age

Beach scene

Chilaxin

It is so beautiful here, I have no words to describe it

                                                                                                Pam and I .                                                                                                                                       Pam works as part of a crew on a 8 mil $ yacht.For my birthday I was invited for a glass of wine on board the yacht.Of course I said yes!! I was even treated to some carrot cake. 

Cushion Star

Ray

A week ago a fire broke out on the island.It is very dry here and the fire spread fast. The local fire department has worked for days now to put it out. The smoke was horrible as an easterly wind carried it right down to the marina where we were in our boats. The fire didn't cause any major damage , just burning brush and trees, among them the Poisonwood tree.The Poisonwood tree's sap ,leaves and bark is very dangerous and causes blister-like burns if it comes in contact with skin. The smoke from this tree is also very irritating if inhaled. Kudos to all who worked so hard to prevent the fire from spreading further

Left over after the fire

On Tuesday evenings we have DRIFT AND DRINK. We go out on our dinghies, tie them together and drift with the tide and winds.....and have a drink while watching the sunset.This is Iren and Vic in the foreground.

The crown I am wearing was made by a local lady It is made from palm leaves and shells. It is fitting for a queen And everyone made me feel like a queen.

So many people worked so hard to make my birthday party a success and it was the BEST!!!

A picture of the fire ( thank you Frenchie)

My favourite place in the world

Lately it has become more about the destination than the journey for us. Great Harbour Cay remains the highlight of all our travels and our favourite destination. I hope to come back here next year, but we shall see where the winds and the tides take us. For now we still have plenty of time ahead to enjoy this piece of heaven with the lovely people who live here.

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

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