SUNSETS TO SNOW

We are flying home tomorrow and to cold temperatures that require socks, shoes and coats! But last night was a beauty!

Paul worked away on the front of boat polishing and waxing!

Hang on tight there!! Very awkward place to work, Paul rigged up a rope tied to the helm chair in flybridge to hang on to. I supervised and pass stuff to him (and took a picture or two).

We will enjoy our Christmas with our children and grandchildren. Enjoy your Christmas and may Santa be good to you all,

WAX, WATER, WINE

Paul is a busy "Captain" compounding and waxing the boat. We have a lot of fiberglass on our boat, inside the back cockpit and bow plus outside on the hull and then not to mention the flybridge (okay, I mentioned it).

SUPER SHINY!

SEE THE YELLOW CORD REFLECTION

The huge moon last week caused high tides but not normal high tides, the super kind!! So I took a picture of our side dock basically under water. This is what we step on to get to the our car in the parking lot.

The title of this post is wax, water and wine. At the end of our day we have a glass of wine with dinner! Because a meal without wine is called Breakfast!

TIME OUT IS FLOATING AGAIN

Our boat started almost at the very end, way way down there. It was out of the water since May. We like to be strapped down for hurricane season. The hurricane Matthew hit us but not hard, no damage.

Paul walking behind the lift. Hot, sunny day here in Stuart, Florida. In May Paul burnt the top of his head, I reminded him and hence he is wearing a hat our son gave him. It was a very hot day in May putting the boat "away" for summer.

The engines started, the first mate had the lines ready, the horn did not have a wasp nest in it like last year and the bow thruster is working great! All set to head to our marina half a mile away. We are in a marina here in Florida and enjoying the sunshine, friends and boat. Let another season begin!!

TIME OUT IS OVER

Our season is over, goodbye Bahamas, goodbye Florida, goodbye the high temperatures. Trade the goodbyes for Hellos to family, grandchildren, friends. From paddleboarding to biking on Thurs nights, from palm trees to Canadian maple leaf trees, from flybridge barbequing to patio furniture and firepits. We welcome our Canadian summer, from no-see-ums to mosquitos! Will take it all!

Please pray for our Canadians in Alberta as they struggle with the wildfires.

 

BY THE NUMBERS FOR 2016

HERE IS A LIST FOR
THIS YEAR IF INTERESTED

I put our blog every year into a book at the end with Blurb. And I try to have interesting numbers at the end of our trip.

Will blog a few more times before our season is over.

54
Nights in the Bahamas!

12
Nights in marinas (all in Bimini before and after Exumas)

550
Gallons of diesel used this year

10
Days waiting in Key Biscayne to cross the Gulf to Bimini

3
Pounds of extra old cheddar cheese (actually needed more, rationed)

0
Nights of overnight guests :-(

1
Fish caught! A Mutton Snapper (see previous post about it), Delice

7
Meals eaten at a restaurant (7 meals Shannon did not think about!)

3
Days of Rain! One was a storm with a lot of rain.

173
Generator hours

1
Turkey Dinner at Easter with 2 couples we invited, one from Nova Scotia, one from Denver

42
Nights at anchor

128
Engine hours

5
Novels read by Shannon, new favourite author.... John Sanford!... will be buying more of his books

0
Times Paul had to fix a toilet (head) onboard!! :-)

25
Gallons of gas used for the outboard motor on our dinghy, very fuel efficient!

GOOD-BYE EXUMAS!

We are in Florida getting boat ready for hurricane season, out of water and strapped down. Then home to Spring time weather with family and friends.

CRAB SHELL

We are staying at Bimini Sands, in south Bimini. This is a gated community with marina. We are leaving to cross Gulf tomorrow. Found this small crab shell, all intact, amazing. I took a great picture of a jellyfish floating by our swim platform. The infinity pool is great here but the seagulls love drinking from it. I don't mind but they are noisy about it, chit chatting with all their friends.

We are anxious to be back. Soon the boat will be put on the hard and driving home.

BIMINI EXCURSIONS

While waiting to cross Gulf we are walking and taking our dinghy around. The pictures are not self explanatory. One is a mountain of conch shells. Once the conch is removed the shell gets thrown into the pile. I went close to take pics but should not have.....the stink was unbearable. Note that this pile is next to the local basketball slab. Poor people playing there, the shell smell would be overwhelming.

There is an infinity pool at Bimini Bay Resort World. We took a long walk to there.

There is a great place called the Dolphin House. Combination hotel, museum and gift shop. For $3 donation one gets a tour of the house. This house is built by Ashley Saunders. He collects junk, garbage and old things to create the house. Absolutely amazing. He is very artistic.

DEAD END

While walking yesterday we came upon a dead end, loved the sign so took a picture. There is a great picture of Paul below, see if you can spot the words carved next to his shoulder. Windy and wavy here in Bimini but happy to be at a marina.

CALM? NOT

We did leave Norman's Cay for Nassau then next day travelled the Tongue of Ocean to Chub Cay and left again next day (yesterday) for Bimini. The weather was going to turn windy and the water not nice. We rather be "stranded or stuck" in Bimini than Chub or Nassau. So now we are tourists this week waiting for the Gulf to calm down. The 8 to 9 ft waves means the marinas here are pretty busy. We are excited to be plugged into shore power. The air conditioners are on, I can use oven whenever, do laundry as I please. No generator noise.

The pics below are the Gulf which looks so calm, but it is NOT. I also took a pic of a very "top heavy" cruise ship in Nassau. It has a square back so from directly behind it doesn't look like a ship.

CALM? NOT

We did leave Norman's Cay for Nassau then next day travelled the Tongue of Ocean to Chub Cay and left again next day (yesterday) for Bimini. The weather was going to turn windy and the water not nice. We rather be "stranded or stuck" in Bimini than Chub or Nassau. So now we are tourists this week waiting for the Gulf to calm down. The 8 to 9 ft waves means the marinas here are pretty busy. We are excited to be plugged into shore power. The air conditioners are on, I can use oven whenever, do laundry as I please. No generator noise.

The pics below are the Gulf which looks so calm, but it is NOT. I also took a pic of a very "top heavy" cruise ship in Nassau. It has a square back so from directly behind it doesn't look like a ship.

OOPS!

Oops! Hahahaha

EXUMA LAND AND SEA PARK

We left Staniel and headed north, one night at Hog Cay on a mooring ball there and three nights at north mooring field; all part of Exuma Park. Beautiful there. We did hiking and socializing. Many boats not travelling because of high winds. If sailing south then good. We hiked up to Boo Boo Hill and left a sign like most boaters do. See all the pics below.

We are now anchored at Skipjack, Norman's Cay. We will explore, snorkel and enjoy our last few days in Exuma. We will hit civilization soon!