We are Not on the Water right now. We have flown over the ocean to spend ten days in Spain and nineteen in Portugal. I set up another blog for that.
Www.2023ontheroad.blogspot.com
This blog is more a diary for us as it can get overwhelming when, what, where were we etc in a month after we get back. We are back on Time Out early November!
We have had beautiful weather this year! We said our good-byes to Cyndi and Sheldon on C-Shel but we will meet again in Canada.
Our last few days here in the Exumas were spent on the ocean side (Exuma Sound). This is an extremely rare opportunity to enjoy places we don't anchor. One such place is Ship Channel Cay. This Cay is full of sea creatures from sharks, rays, fish and turtles. The bonus is there are many reefs to snorkel on. The drone came out and captured the beauty here on the ocean side.
We travelled south to Lee Stocking Island then on our way back anchored at Musha Cay (David Copperfield's expensive Airbnb Island). We love the beaches, sand bars, blue waters and the shore caves.
A remora (shark sucker fish) was hanging around off the back of the boat. I did get some video. We waited until he carried on before jumping into the water.
We anchor our boat in as calm waters as we can. So when the winds and waves are coming from the east, we want to be behind a big land mass (and vice versa). We are anchored at Lee Stocking Island in a little cay called William's Cay. There is a beautiful look out here that is very popular. This place is so popular that tour boats come in every day with 5-20 people on board to walk up there and get their lovely photos. We went up and captured some awesome scenic photos and video. They are special if the waves are high and crashing.
Paul's birthday was awesome as we could go out in the deep blue waters and fish. It was flat and calm out there. We caught two female mahi and stopped fishing after that. Once we were in Prime Cay we cleaned the two mahi and gave some away to Sheldon on C-Shel.
After boating in the St. Lawrence River for many years and now here in Florida and the Bahamas.... we have a perspective we can share.
Anchoring is more peaceful and beautiful than docking.
You have to like your spouse/partner that you are boating with.
You need to handle being away from loved ones for long stretches.
Internet is a great friend on board our boat.
Boating is a large community but small town atmosphere. We all help each other out.
You need to have extra parts for everything on board, especially the toilet parts.
A boater has everything they need on board and if not on board then we don't need it.
Hang all the wet towels right away and if you are in salt water, must rinse your body with fresh water. Don't waste water though. One must buy it or make it.
Set your watch to Beach Time. We eat when we get hungry. Relax
No shoes, leave them behind. Flip Flops on land.
Boats are not considered an investment, but it is an investment in your health and happiness. You can't put a price on that.
Boats come in different sizes and boaters come from all socioeconomic backgrounds, we share the same backyards of the waters we boat in.
Mother Nature dictates when and where to travel for the day.
An anchor is not permanent, if you don't like your neighbours, pull anchor and move. Be flexible.
Plans are like writing them in the sand at low tide. They change often.
Skinny Dip as much as you can.
Always bring extra sunglasses and sun screen.
Happiness comes in waves.
We had guests on board for eight fun filled days! We love sharing the ribbons of blues and the red skies with friends and family. We have many photos to share so just browse.
Remember to check the Time Line 2023 post for more up to date information on what is happening with us.
Great week with friends. Ribbons of blue and sand beaches with laughter, fun and friendship.
We are anchored here at Staniel Cay as tomorrow we pick up good friends. We love sharing the Exumas.
A couple of days ago the boat beside us were feeding the nurse sharks so yesterday they expected food if we were in the water.
Our friend Sheldon thought we should rename our boat Power Plant 😆
So peaceful here. We look forward to hosting friends for a week!
We are anchored near friends with Star Link. These photos got uploaded in just a few minutes. We pull anchor today and won't have their Star Link for awhile. We spent the afternoon together at a beautiful beach all to ourselves! Aah, those blue waters of the Exumas.
We Have Arrived! We are officially in the Exumas after leaving Florida last Sunday. We travelled to Bimini, anchored on the Banks and spent time in New Providence (Nassau area). We bought 130 gallons of diesel and shopped for produce. We are good for quite awhile anchored out here in the blue, blue waters. Easter is next weekend and we can see many mega yachts anchored near Norman's Cay. We all share the same backyard and same sights whether in a mega yacht or a small sail boat. We are all here for the same reasons. We want to see, swim, snorkel and visit the Exumas.
We have made it again. We are right now anchored in the Nassau area in West Bay. This is on the west end of the island and away from the city itself. We had a good crossing from Key Biscayne except the last hour because we had to turn off the stabilizers. An issue of overheating happened. We spent two nights in Bimini and one night on the Banks on our way here. We have a buddy boat with Star Link so we were able to log into their internet and have service that night. The most beautiful sunset! Our friends' first time anchored on the Banks, no land, no towers, nothing. It is special but some boats find it scary and don't anchor out there.
What? Ten times? Once we arrive into Exumas it will be the tenth time! Amazing how time flies and amazing we are not tired of this life we lead in the Winter/Spring. We visited Exumas two times on our catamaran Coyaba. If you view this blog in full web page form you will notice a link to Coyaba on the right (and other pages to link to). We were newbies when coming over on our catamaran. We were young too! Now, we are the older ones and the newbies are coming with children. Covid changed everyone's look on life and lifestyle. We know many boaters still working but from their boat and not an "office".
Time Out is officially off grid now. We can run anything we want (except our oven) with our solar and lithium batteries. We haven't any need to run the generator. We can run our convection/microwave, washing machine, water maker and anything we want including my blow dryer, yippee!
I wasn't going to post on our blog this year but Paul wants me to. So, my posts may not be as numerous however, I plan to keep up with the Timeline 2023. I started this in 2020 after Covid as the world was changing and we go back to it to see where and when we were at various places.
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| At Hawksbill Cay, just another sunny day |
Tuesday, May 16 We spent one night at Hawksbill Cay as we head slowly back to Florida. The weather is glorious.
We had one last meal out at Staniel Cay Yacht Club and bought some groceries too before we pulled anchor.
Sunday, May 14 We had clouds and wavy weather for two days. We are now in Staniel Cay, Big Majors anchorage. Nice and calm. Off to shops and a lunch out tomorrow.
Thursday, May 11
Need I write anything? 😆
Feeling blessed!
Wednesday, May 10 We pulled anchor and now at Musha Cay. David Copperfield owns an island here that he has on Airbnb. It is a very private and expensive place. There is a sunken piano to see and many sandbars.
Beautiful scenery!
Monday, May 8 We are exploring the area including a lunch in Barraterre, 5 miles away on Saturday. We dinghied over with friends. French Fries taste delicious if you haven't had them for weeks! High winds out east so just anchored here behind the island.
Friday, May 5 All is well anchored in William's Cay. Beautiful and enjoying the scenery.
Tuesday, May 2 Paul had a fantastic birthday. One to remember because we caught 2 female Mahi and had Cyndi and Sheldon over for pizza on the grill.
Monday, May 1 Time Out and many other boats were anchored last couple of days because of the winds. Tomorrow we travel out in the big blue waters (ocean, Exuma Sound) and fish. We are heading south about 30 miles. New places to see.
Friday, April 28 We have two engines working again. We had Sheldon and Cyndi over to celebrate! We are travelling south early next week since we are provisioned again.
Cool photos from our friends that flew home.
Wednesday, April 26 Paul flew to Nassau to get something welded. We have been using one engine and he missed the flight back so he spent the night in Nassau. I was on anchor in Staniel Cay with C-Shel close by. Great friends!
Tuesday, April 25 Goodbye friends. A fantastic week.
Monday, April 24 Took our friends to see the local sharks!
Sunday, April 23 We had a tasty lunch out at Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Our friends J&L took us out as they depart on Tuesday morning. We love to share Time Out and Exumas with them.
We share all the same sights, blue waters, the restaurants and islands. This Yacht near us.
Saturday, April 22 We have guests on board for the week. We are enjoying the ribbons of blues with them.
Sunday, April 16 Yesterday we went out for a fantastic lunch with friends at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. We also bought produce at two shops. We have guests arriving Monday for 8 fun days. We expect prices to be high but if you are curious here is our receipt from the Blue Store.
Thursday, April 13 We are anchored at Big Majors near Staniel Cay. We have guests arriving on Monday. We will get produce at the shops and a lunch out.
Monday, April 10 We are now anchored between Compass Cay and Decca Centre. The water is flat and calm. Amazing! See our anchor chain and the ripples it leaves in the sand.
Saturday, April 8 We enjoyed a day at Shroud Cay. This is a gorgeous Cay! We will be back.
Wednesday, April 5 This morning a tiny rain shower and I captured a photo of our friend's boat C-Shel.
Tuesday!
Monday, April 3 officially in the Exumas!
Sunday, April 2 We bought 130 gallons of diesel and some produce in Nassau. We are now anchored at Rose Island. We plan to head to Norman's Cay, Exumas tomorrow. Five cruise ships in Harbour as we went by.
Wednesday, March 29 We are anchored at Clifton Bay, West Bay, Nassau for the next few nights. We had a wonderful night anchored the the banks last night.
Tuesday, March 28 We have departed Bimini for a night on the banks on our way to Nassau.
Sunday, March 26 We have arrived in Bimini! The first 5 hours were awesome but the last hour ugh! We had to turn our stabilizers off. One compressor needs fixing. We were supposed to have 1-2 foot waves, we never once saw a one footer! All 2-3 feet or more.
March 25 We plan to leave anchorage tomorrow morning for Bimini. The Gulf Stream is in our favour and C-Shel will be with us for the crossing.
March 23 Cyndi and Sheldon are here in the anchorage as we wait for the day to cross to Bimini. Our water maker is working. We are officially OFF GRID. We have not ran a generator since we left the dock. We run our convection oven, washing machine, water maker etc. Our solar is amazing (and lithium batteries)... and Paul getting this all working together nicely.
March 21 We went to a nearby marina and got a pump out and topped up with water. We then headed to Key Biscayne near Hurricane Harbor.
March 19 We took our dinghy to a nearby anchorage and visited Cyndi and Sheldon on C-Shel. It is so good to reconnect with friends! This is not their boat, hahaha.
We left the marina March 16! Yippee
Today we are in Miami as Key Biscayne is not accessible to us right now. A bridge south of Miami is not working so therefore we headed back north to a Miami anchorage. We may try again tomorrow after we find out the status of that bridge. There is no weather window for a crossing to Bimini any time soon anyway.
