Bahamas!

It has been a long time since we last updated you on our big adventure. We spent December, January and February at Longboat Key in Sarasota. It is a lovely Marina but you do need a car to get around. The Marina has a shuttle to a very nice shopping area St. Armand’s Circle. There were also some good restaurants, one that we liked in particular was Cha Cha Coconuts. Great coconut shrimp and chicken wings!

Christmas was spent with Fred and Liz in St. Pete’s Beach. Sandy’s sister had arrived from London so it was quite a party. We had Christmas crackers after dinner which had whistles and song sheets included. There were lots of laughs as Jennifer tried to conduct us!!

New Year’s was spent with Fred and Liz joining us on the boat for a quiet celebration.

Bill was able to enjoy quite a few games of golf with the Zick’s ,while Jennifer,Sandy and Lesley enjoyed some shopping.

We all flew back to Canada Jan. 12, Lesley and Jennifer to Toronto and us to Montreal.  Lesley then travelled on to visit with their brother while Jennifer had to go back to work after a 3 month Sabbatical cruise.

After a hectic week of Doctors and Dentist appointments and a lovely dinner hosted by Betty Thompson allowing us to see everyone, we returned to Sarasota.  Shortly after, we were joined by Bill’s sister from Vancouver. 

The Picture

Yes Carter I did anchor

As Chuck was planning on doing a shakedown cruise on C’est La Vie before our trip to the Bahamas, we took the opportunity to give Marilyn a cruise down to Pelican bay on Cayo Costa where we had anchored earlier.  A good trip with the exception that in trying to take a better picture of the Osprey nest on one of the channel markers, the draft of the boat exceeded the depth of the water.  Our membership with Boat US paid off and two hours later we were back underway.  Now we were in a rush as we wanted to get back to the marina before dark.  Would you want to back in a 17’wide boat into a 19’ slip in the dark?  All’s well that ends well.

SUNKEN BOAT ON WAY

During this period, Patsy and Stu Taylor were visiting with Fred and Liz.  We were able to get together and even played a game of golf with Stu while Sandy, Patsy and Marilyn did some shopping.  Dinner that evening at Mattison’s in downtown Sarasota which is a great place.  Good food and good  music.

Lise and Ian joined us on board for 2 nights. It was good to see them and needless to say after about 6 months, there was a lot to catch up with!! Lots of giggles too!!

We also had been invited to Chuck’s in Naples for a visit so Sandy and I piled into Fred’s car and off we went.  A relaxing time for two evenings with good wine, good home cooked food and Sambuca.  Monday am we were on the road as Chuck had a trade show to go to.

Fast forward to the end of February.  We left Longboat Key and took the Intracoastal back to Pelican Bay anchorage.  We had arranged to meet with Jeannie and Rusty Thompson but that was in jeopardy as he was having problems with his generator and the boat was for sale.  Everything worked out as all of their company checked out that morning so we had a lovely evening and a leisurely morning as I had to wait for a higher tide to get out,

We then progressed to Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers where we met up with C’est La Vie.

The next day was a  5 hour run to River Forest on the Caloosahatchee river.  We were up early the next morning for the long run to Stuart.  The wind was blowing 20 with gust to 25 so it was not a smooth run across Lake Okeechobee .  We finally arrived in Stuart back at the Sunset Bay marina.  We had scheduled to be there a maximum of 3 days to allow for acceptable crossing conditions.  Unfortunately, that turned into 5 days as the wind howled from the north, not conditions to cross the Gulf Stream.

The weather finally broke on Wednesday and off we went.  We made good time crossing to West End at 20 Kn.  The admiral would have liked a smoother ride but you cannot always get what you want.  After checking through customs, we elected to proceed to Spanish Cay to try to get back on our schedule.  Smooth cruising across the Abaco sea and we made the marina by 5:30.  Altogether a 160 Kn ride.  A long way!!

We are currently in Green Turtle Cay at a lovely resort.  This afternoon we will be renting a golf cart to explore the Island then off to Treasure Cay tomorrow.

ROWERS PRACTICING WHEN I NEEDED TO MAKE SPEED

RESTAURANT ON WAY TO FORT MYERS

We will try to make the blog more frequent so that Carter stops bugging Chuck but doubt that it will be as frequent as the trip south.  Short one crew there is more work to do and less time to compose.

We hope this finds everyone well and healthy. Spring is just around the corner so better weather is coming.