April 25, 2010 26.1204N 80.1081W Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At the marina. Tied up. Safe and secure. Civilization!! Its already noon and the girls are not yet shopping! There is hope!
Actually the trip to the laundry is much more important. We are all out of clothes and we are beginning to offend the olfactory systems of our neighbors.... the marina manager was unsure if we were not in fact people who sleep under the adjacent bridge rather than true “yachties”. Since tomorrow we become civilized and smelling better, we shall rent a car and shop all day. Won't that be fun!

April 24, 2010 26.1202N 80.1082W Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Made it back to the US! And now we have five days to shop! What can be more exciting? Stores everywhere! And the view is great, see above!
The Gulf Stream crossing was just a great day of sailing, no motoring required. The navigating offset for the Gulf Stream was rather interesting but we ended up right where we wanted to be which is a much desired result after an all day sail, the alternative being rather disquieting. Tonight we grabbed the last mooring ball left in town and after tyeing up to it we discovered why it was the last free ball..... thus it is off to the marina in the morning to get a slip and begin trip recovery operations.

April 23, 2010 25.315N 79.1000W Cat Cay.
Last stop in the Bahamas. Next it's Ft. Lauderdale and a lot of time cleaning and fixing the ship. Today was another day of motor sailing as there has been no wind. We are hoping the same conditions continue for the Gulf Stream crossing tomorrow as wind from the wrong direction can make the crossing a bit of a mess. We are anchored just off the small airport here but it is not a busy place so sleep will be no problem. We are all looking forward to the jump over to Florida.

April 22, 2010 25.315N 78.1000W At sea.
We motored all day (no wind) and at the appropriate adult beverage time we stopped. Right in the middle of the ocean! (But... we are on the Great Bahama Bank so it is not very deep.) It is a rather strange thing to be spending the night, alone, in the middle of nothing but water, so we did the proper thing... a few drinks, bar-b-qued some steaks, watched the shuttle take off from Florida and then hit the sack for an early departure.
O.K. the shuttle thing (we think it was the shuttle) was spectacular and a fluke of timing .... it certainly was impressive even from a hundred miles away.... it was after all heading toward us! Watched the boosters blow off, the second stage blow off and follow them all the way to the sea. We hope the shuttle made it, we have no way of knowing out here.

April 21, 2010 25.0752N 77.3126W Nassau, Bahamas

Our big splurge of the trip! We went over to Paradise Island and tied up for the night at the huge Atlantis Hotel Marina right along with all the other 200 foot yachts.... Actually there are two of us 42 foot Manta's here...... see.......

With the nights tie up we get full reign of all the facilities here at the hotel. And do they have things to do.... a zillion pools and water slides and stuff .... biggest water park anywhere that I know of. We did manage not to break anything personal during the numerous near death experiences. Some of those suckers are tall and drop quick and sometimes go back up again! Nothing like getting airborne in an inner tube.... in a dark tunnel!
Good thing we are leaving tomorrow morning for Bimini and preparation for the big Gulf Stream crossing.... Don't know that us elder folks can handle all that terror.
Looks like we should make Lauderdale by this weekend, after Saturday the weather gets kinda bad for a crossing.

April 20, 2010 25.0748N 77.3126W Nassau, Bahamas

Checked into a marina, which will remain nameless, not to expensive and now we find out why. As most of the Bahamas seems to be the hotel and other amenities are defunct, broken, or non-exisitant. It is however located across the street from a big super market so its off to shopping we go!

April 19, 2010 24.7487N 76.8377W Allen Cays, Bahamas...

Iguanas. Lots and Lots of Iguanas. And not just regular Iguanas but huge “pre-historic” iguanas. Says so right here in the Bahamas Cruising Guide. See Iguana go after Mike.... See Mike run for the water (Guess what.... Iguanas swim!) Yea! Fun with Iguanas.

Just discovered: this is called a LOUNGE of Lizards!!!!

April 18, 2010 24.3981N 76.6337W Exuma National Park, Warderick Wells, Bahamas.....

Perfect sailing yesterday, twenty knot winds, semi-smooth seas, sun, killer day. Arrived at the park mid afternoon, grabbed our mooring and went ashore. It was great – no shopping! Hiked to the top of Boo-Boo mountain, all 60 feet of it. When global warming melts all the ice this country is toast.

Today we start the trip to Nassau, a three day island hopping adventure. We do not know what the weather is going to do, it does not look promising this morning, but press on we must as we have discovered this AM that we are out of eggs and other essential life sustaining objects. We much reach Nassau soon so we can .... you betcha' ..... go shopping!

April 16, 2010 24.1852N 76.4585 Big Majors, (near Staniel Cay), Bahamas....

As you can see from the coordinates we have not moved far... about 6 miles further north. An easy morning sail, don't want to over do it. It is still rough on the ocean side of the islands and a bit windy but not so bad on the “inside” (wes... ourt) side. We are going to anchor here before jumping back into the ocean tomorrow when the wind and seas are supposed to subside a bit more. Not much to do here but relax and read and of course watch the beach pigs. They do get excited when a dingy gets close to the beach. Do not believe we will be going to the beach to lay in the sun today. Just noticed.... These pigs swim! Before your dingy gets to the beach the pigs are swimming out to (Greet? Attack?) you. These are very fat pigs... how many cruisers are missing in this area? What about those loose dingies that are found?
We have decided to have an early dinner and get out of here early in the morning.

April 15, 2010 24.1007N 76.4031 Black Point, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas....

Big day today! Trash dump followed by home made pizza at a house/restaurant/internet (picked up the special bread we ordered yesterday at Lorraines but seems Lorraine forgot to pay the internet bill so we went off to find another “hot spot”...... and lunch). Bought a bag of ice and it was back to the boat for more rest. What a day: Garbage, Pizza and Ice. We are exhausted.

April 14......  24.1007N  76.4031  Black Point, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas....
  A fun sail to Black Point with winds in the mid twenties, we were at times over eleven knots boat speed.... and bashing in another washing machine (large seas from the starboard side). The wind is still howling like crazy and is forecast to get worse, so we may be stuck here for a few days. At long last we have found a small "settlement" of interest... perhaps the best (and cleanest) "laundermat" (thats how they spell it), in all the islands so far and what a view!. And of course "Lorraines  reseraunt and wifi"! Unlimited and free internet access.... where we made our return flight reservations, paid the Visa bill and otherwise surfed to our hearts content. Not a bad cheeseburger either! It is still blowing like mad out there so we are thinking of hanging around this anchorage rather than venture out into the raging sea tomorrow. 

April 12, 2010 23.29.000 75.48.0000 Georgetown, Bahamas.......
Shopping day! Pulled anchor, and moved over closer to Georgetown to go ashore and stock up on essentials at the Exuma Market (they have a dingy dock... most helpful). The town was busy but again was a bit less than what the guide books lead you to believe. This coming week is the big local sailing regatta and the folks of Georgetown are very busy in preparation .... the liquor store was quite active. A lot of cruisers are arriving here for the event. The local winds are supposed to start picking up tomorrow and get worse for the next few days so we shall take off tomorrow morning for Black Point, about 36 mile further north, to camp out while the front moves through.

April 11, 2010 23.29.000 75.48.0000 Georgetown, Bahamas

A few interesting days traveling here from Provo, here they are...

April 7, ..... Left very early to check in with Bahamas Customs at Mayaguana Island, however we had rather high winds and seas which means under sail we were moving.... at times over 11 knots. Now to power boaters such as us 11 knots is just a quick troll but to sailboaters thats really quick! We were having so much fun we decided to skip that island and go on to Matthes town to check in, which meant another over night sail.

April 8, ..... In the middle of the night, as we sailed on, we witnessed a helicopter rescue by the coast guard of a patient from a large ship all via the VHF radio. Way off in the distance we could see a cruise ship (they are hard to miss, a huge mountain of light) and we assume that is where the action was. We arrived mid day and John went in to see about customs, which apparently has to drive down here from the main airport. Even with the less than helpful attitude of the marina here we did arrange to clear in, which we did late afternoon. We then walked into town for a bit of (yes!) shopping. Alas, the town seems to be closed up rather permanently. Wonderful, once again we get to save money (except of course for the bar at the marina... we do not consider that a form of shopping)!

April 9, .... Lifted anchor after breakfast and headed north to Rum Cay an easy sail for the day. Arrived mid afternoon and once again foiled in any attempt at shopping. It is beginning to seem as though all these islands are being abandoned. Very strange. The is supposed to be a new marina/resort complex being built just west of where we are anchored however there is zero activity there, and little evidence of any work. Once again we save a ton of money by being unable to shop! Tomorrow we shall head out to Georgetown where we assured by most folks that we will be quickly separated from our cash.

April 10........... Off early to Georgetown, it is a one day sail.

April 11 ........ and a easy sail it was, since half of it was by the “Iron Jenny”, motoring that is. Georgetown is a very crowded place particularly compared to where we have been in the outer Bahamas. It is a bit like going from Roylite Nev. to New York NY! I am sure when we get to Ft. Lauderdale it will be a major shock for us. We are currently sitting at the St. Francis Marina across from Georgetown having a few beers, lunch and allowing John to watch the end of the masters on the cable TV. We will post this and update everything and post we hope tomorrow to get everything up to date. Once we leave here we will not be able to get back online for some days.

April 6, 2010 21.7607N 72.2240W South Side Marina, “Provo”, Turks & Caicos Islands.
Have spend the night and most of yesterday here at a very pleasant marina with more than helpful, friendly hosts: Simon and Charlyn Anderson. Many thanks for the tour and transportation to a real “dining out” lunch and to the grocery. There is a very big grocery store here and we knocked ourselves out provisioning for the next six days. The store was just like being back in the states, and had the best selection of goods since leaving St. Thomas. Major shopping spree! The ladies are most pleased.

Mike at lunch in Provo

It was interesting to see all the big new condo/resort developments on the north shore of the island many of which, like Miami, are empty. The real estate bust hit here just as hard as it did in Florida. The situation with the government, or lack there of, is not helping the situation. Seems all of the politicians got caught with their hands deep in the cookie jar and Britain is sort of taking back control. Seems the kids took the tax money itself... wrong way.... you have to do it the U.S. way: take the money from the corporations you give the tax money to. More happy people that way!

Fatdash resting at the South Side Marina, "Provo".

We are going to hang around here while we wait for the propane and to check out with customs for an early departure tomorrow for the Bahamas. We will be out of range of the net for perhaps a week, so as Simon might say: tootles for now!

April 2, 2010  21.1948N  71.252W  Big Sandi Cay, Turks & Cacos Islands
We have sailed from Frejardo Puerto Rico direct to Big Sand Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands in one shot. Seventy Nine hours non-stop, a total of 408.5 Naut. Mi. a great portion of it sailing in what seemed to be the inside of a washing machine which aptly demonstrates the fact that you can not walk about a small vessel in such seas, you are in fact simply hurled from place to place at the whim of the waves. You can only hope to be hurled in the general direction in which you wish to go. Another lesson learned is that being terrorized over and over again can become boring.

Our last rest in Puerto Rico before heading north!

April 3, 2010   21.2950N  71.3200W  CockBurn Harbor, Turks & Cacos Islands
We arrived at Cockburn Harbor on South Caicos and checked into customs then immigration (separate steps) both completed with very nice people in the apparently only grocery store on the island. The guide books tell of a marina here where diesel is available, however the marina is no longer. This was also the case along the west side of Puerto Rico. We must find fuel soon as we are having to motor over the shallow banks which now extend for thirty miles or more. We will spend the night here and leave for “Provo” on the northwest side of Caicos Bank. We hope to find fuel and groceries there.... maybe even WiFi to send this to the web site and check the Email.

Checked in at the store on left. What is left of the marina are the two gas pumps at the next building.

April 4 2010 21.7421N 72.2904W Provo, Turks and Caicos
Arrived mid-afternoon after an interesting (and bumpy) cruise through the shallow flats of the Caicos Bank, dodging coral heads as we went. One nice thing to be said about this area from Puerto Rico to Provo is that there is no shopping! What were supposed to be towns with marinas and stuff were in fact, so far, not much of anything. We are saving tons of money! The girls have high hopes for Provo and another rather long list. Tomorrow we shall go to the marina (we are assured it exists) to fuel up, buy supplies, wi-fi and check out with the government (if it exists.... we understand the government here resigned the other day ...)

April 5, 2010 21.7421N 72.2904W Provo, Turks and Caicos
Weather rather cool for the tropics, something is going on. In a little while we will head into Provo for shopping... oh joy. There goes all the cash we saved since Puerto Rico! We were on the hook here in Sapodilla Bay last night and shall be here tonight before jumping off for the Bahamas. We all slept in very late this morning (a delayed reaction to all those night shifts getting here) so will be getting a late start on the shopping. Sure hope the marina has diesel! Also hope we find Wi-Fi as we will be in the wilderness for five to six days after leaving Provo. Next posting will be from Georgetown in the Bahamas.

March 30 2010 18.2866N 65.6322W Puerto del Rey, Puerto Rico

Today we start the trip to the Bahamas, by sailing around the southern coast of Puerto Rico to Boqueron our jumping off place for the two to three day sail to the Turks and Caicos islands. Todays trip will take just a day and a night a good trial for the long sail to follow.
Yesterday in Fajardo we literally “shopped till we dropped” in provisioning the boat for the next several weeks. Food is quite affordable here in Puerto Rico (Econo Food Store) but the liquor prices are worse than in Washington (we did not think that was possible but it is!). We are plugged into the marinas water system here and so we are thus indulging in very long showers, and is that a treat!
Time to post this and say goodbye for a while, we will be away from the net for some time (perhaps one to two weeks ... unless there is WiFi in Boqueron) as we work our way up to the Bahamas.

March 28 2010  -  Finaly at a WiFi location, here are the posts from the last few days.....

March 22 2010 18.3426N 64.7884W Caneel Bay St. John Island.
Spent the night here on a National Park mooring (our Golden Eagle pass makes this very cheap) so we could all get on line and pay bills and check in with the world. Water maker is not working ... we will meet up with the water maker tech guy over at Christmas Cove later today.

March 23 2010 18.3112N 64.8316W Christmas Cove St. James Island
The water man came, he saw, he conquered! We are making water! We can shower! There is much joy.... temporarily, as there is a pump on the water maker about to go toast on us so he has ordered one from California to arrive and install Wednesday after which we are good to go north.... at last.
Today then, we really have nothing to do... except of course go ... yes indeed .... shopping! And take showers, glorious, wondrous showers! Water man, we love you!

March 24 2010 18.3112N 64.8316W Christmas Cove St. James Island
Bad news day ... The pump arrived too late to install today. The waterman will be here tomorrow morning. Otherwise it's laying in the sun, reading and not shopping. We have a boat anchored next to us which is inhabited by nudists... Unfortunately they are elder nudists... Hey folks, at some point you gotta give it up, It ain't cute no more!

Sunset at Christmas Cove

March 25 2010 18.3112N 64.8316W Christmas Cove St. James Island
The waterman is here! The pump is in by noon but there is an air leak somewhere and he and John are desperately trying to find the source and repair it. In any event it will be tomorrow or later before we can head north to Puerto Rico. In the meantime the shopping list grows.

March 25 2010 18.3112N 64.8316W Christmas Cove St. James Island
The sun set last night with the air leak continuing ... Chuck “the waterman” will be here shortly this morning to effect one last try at resolving the problem. We are proceeding to Culebra whether or not the air bubbles persist. We are able to make water (if not properly) and that is the main thing.
A major port is soon to be required as the empty space in the refrigerator grows as does the shopping list. Starvation rations are perhaps as near as three days away. O.K. maybe not starvation but we may have to drop the term “gourmet” from the menu. Horrors!
As usual it should be a good day to sail... everyday we have 15knot winds (trade winds), four foot seas, 85 degrees and the occasional light rain shower which lasts but a few minutes.

Mike & Sandi fight off the aft sunshade

March 27 2010 18.3127N 65.2322W S.W. Anchorage Isla Culebrita Puerto Rico
Yesterday we were able to repair the water maker as well as it is going to get. It is making water with gusto, but with a higher salinity level (600 ppm) than preferred. We then ran over to Charlette Amalie for the night and with hopes of getting online.... no luck there. We did however get to enjoy some very loud calypso music from a waterfront bar until late night.
Quite early this morning we set sail for Culebra where we arrived in time for lunch after checking in with customs and a bit of emergency (we ran out of wine) food shopping. With all the aircraft activity at Culebra we sailed further north to Isla Culebrita to spend the night. Being in clean sea water the water maker is running amuck and we are showering like crazy. (The longer you run the water maker the better the drinking water gets). Time now to relax and plan our trip along the south coast of Puerto Rico and to the Bahamas after provisioning in Fajardo on the east coast of Puerto Rico.

March 22 2010 18.3426N 64.7884W Caneel Bay St. John Island.
Moved this morning to Caneel Bay to get on line and  post this update........

March 19, 2010 [ A.M. ] 18.5104N 64.3873W Leverick Bay
Laundry done yesterday while we lounged about the pool at the Leverick Bay Resort. By renting a mooring for last night we have free reign of the resort, very cool for $25. Met some other owners of the same make of boat as the one we are on... Mary Ann and Phil .... They and John and Sandi traded war stories about the boats and all the things that get fixed. An on going battle for all boat owners. Otherwise a quiet restful day.
Today we will be leaving to return to the US Virgins and will be away from the net for some days. May not be back on line until early next week .... we hope.

Mar 19 2010 [P.M. ] 18.3573N 64.5699W Deadman Bay Peter Island, BVI
Fantastic sailing all day to 4:00p where we arrived off Peter Island for the night.
Trouble with the water maker? It shows high salinity but it is making water though of suspect quality. Cards again tonight w/ Dale & Gary who have arrived in the same anchorage. This will be perhaps the last time we see them.

Mar 20 2010 18.3573N 64.5699W Deadman Bay Peter Island, BVI
Read all day. Very lazy day for all except John who worked on water maker all day. At the end, the water maker does not work. We will need professional help.

Mar 21 18.3638N 64.7463W Francis Bay St. John Island.
Water Rationing! We are down to one half tank.
Hiked over to the Peter Island resort... very nice, very strict dress code, without the proper clothes you can not eat, we would starve.
The afternoon we sailed on Jib only to Sopers Hole to check out of BVi and then on to St. Johns and the US Virgins where we hope tomorrow to get the water maker fixed so we can move on to the Spanish Virgins and Puerto Rico. We would be getting rather behind schedule, if we had one, but we don't so we aren't.

March 18, 2010  18.5105N 64.3873W Gorda Sound (NW anchorage)

Great day yesterday.... we basically did not much of anything. Did a late lunch at the Bitter End Resort(eliminating the need for dinner) and followed that up with a mercifully brief bit of shopping. For sundowners we popped over to “Sognare” and played a few rounds of a, new to us, game called Cribbage where those in the know seem to make up the rules as we went along.
We have a bit more shopping today at Leverick Bay (I see the ladies working on a list) and we will get the laundry done, all the while lounging around the pool and enjoying a pain killer or two. Going to be another tough day, I can see it coming. 

March 17, 2010 18.5107N 64.3633W Eustacia Sound Virgin Gorda

Yesterday was a long motor cruise to Eustacia Sound .... still no wind, very weird. Sandi and John did a bit of snorkeling while Mike read and Dick tended to the sunburn acquired while piloting the boat to Jost Van Dyke the other day. Ouch! Had a nice cocktail hour (or two) over on the “Sognare” where we learned about all the great places to visit in the Spanish Virgin Islands off Puerto Rico.
Last night the wind came back and so did the north swell so we were rocking and rolling all night long. This morning we pulled anchor early and ducked into Gorda Sound near Saba Rock (I'll be posting this from the Saba Rock Bar) to cook breakfast and get caught up with a few chores. There are three large resorts near us so today I expect more ..... Shopping!

March 16 2010 18.4433N 64.7515W Great Harbor Jost VanDyke (Foxys)

I was right.... we checked in yesterday in Sopers Hole and after, sure enough, we immediately went shopping! In two super markets! (and still did not find everything we needed for the larder).
We then headed over to Jost Van Dyke (by motor, there is no wind and it looks more like Lake Shasta than the sea). We popped into White Bay for a visit to the Soggy Doll or Bar. What a zoo! A cruse ship from Club Med was in the bay which filled the beach with “pod people”. There was a full time bikini alert, however let me be clear: Some of you people should not be wearing those things!! Particularly you guys!!
From the Soggy Dolor we headed over to Foxys in Great Harbor to spend the night (the harbor not the bar, though tempting). We said hi to Foxy and ...... went shopping!

March 15 2010 18.3660N 64.7230W Waterlemon Bay, St. John Island.

As you can see from the GPS co-ordinates we did not move very far yesterday. And I was quite right in that we were once again dragged ashore for a little two mile hike, only a bit uphill to, incredibly enough, not go shopping! Yes I know, it's unbelievable, no shopping yesterday! After an exhausting hike, as we did the day before, we went snorkeling around a small island so that by the end of the afternoon we are totally done in. At this rate, we will soon be considering the murder of the activities director. The day ended on a high note as we fixed Dan's meat candy which was as usual fantastic. You would think 800 pounds of meat would be enough for four but when it's meat candy you would be wrong.
Shopping Alert: Today we are going over to Sopers Hole to clear into the British Virgins and I am sure the girls have another shopping list going. After shopping we will head over to Foxys on Jost van Dyke for the night. Perhaps our most strenuous exercise will be the swim over to the Soggy Dollar Bar, let us hope so.

March 14 2010 18.3638N 64.7463W Francis Bay St. John Island.

Boy.. I was certainly wrong about yesterday. Instead of doing nothing we popped over to an “Eco” resort located on the bay [ The “Eco” part, seems to me, to be a code word for tent cabins... get this... without bath rooms! ]. From the beach we hiked for miles up a stairway (the resort is located on a vertical slope, must be part of that “Eco” thing). <pix> The purpose of this strenuous, muscle destroying assent? You are not going to believe this.... the purpose was to go shopping!!! Seems we mis-calculated our egg count. We needed more eggs and for this we have to hike up the side of a vertical mountain! Two lessons learned, one: count your eggs more than once, two: beware of “Eco”.
Today we plan to move on up the coast for one night before going to the BVI. I do hope it's less mountainous as I am sure we will be dragged ashore once again. Probably for more shopping!

March 13 2010 18.3638N 64.7463W Francis Bay St. John Island.

Yesterday morning it was up early and off for a lengthy dingy trip Cruz Bay. After a visit to U.S. customs to obtain our “in & out” card and a visit to the V.I. National Park museum followed by a rather nice lunch at a local deli it was off to the ferry dock .... but first, a visit to “Bob's Rum Hut” was required....

Then off to Red Hook by ferry, followed by a strenuous hike up the hill and (are you ready for this folks?) we went shopping! All sorts of trial and trouble to go shopping.... again! All this followed by another ferry ride and long wet dingy trip back to the boat.The highlight of the day was when Sandi demonstrated for us the proper way to macerate and most importantly to do so only at an unobtrusive time! This was immediately followed by cocktails. Yes indeed a good day overall!
Today we plan on even more fun! That is we plan to do absolutely nothing except soak up the heat and perhaps a swim to cool off as we await the time for sundowners.

March 12 2010 18.3426N 64.7884W Caneel Bay St. John Island.

Two days of shopping is not enough! We have to do more! We already have enough food on board for the rest of the year, the freezer is full, the refrigerator is full, but still we forgot things we need... not an uncommon event for us these days. Weather is of course wonderful even the middle of the night rain which smacks you in the face, in bed, through the hatch. The conundrum is close hatch, hot and stuffy cabin; open hatch, cool and wet cabin ... open, close, open, close.....
We had the pleasure of meeting a local charter boat Capt. and Mate, Gary and Dale Miller of the cat “Sognare” who joined us for sundowners and stories last night. We will be meeting up with them again to learn about the Spanish Virgins (islands people, islands!) where we will be heading in a week or so on the way to Puerto Rico (Where we plan to shop for even more food!).
Time to start another warm tropical day in paradise .... to those of you back in Seattle: “Na, Na, Na!

It was an uneventful flight (the best kind) but very tiring ... a red-eye always is. Six in the morning in New York is never a lot of fun, especially when the Starbucks is closed. Somehow we managed to survive and proceed to the flight to St. Thomas.
Post baggage claim in Charlotte Amalie we immediately set off to provision the boat, spending the rest of the day shopping, shopping, shopping. This morning we will again be shopping, shopping, shopping. We may have enough food on-board to last normal people to the end of the year. Not being normal we just may make it to the next island (Bear in mind that a major food component is adult beverages).
It is going to take us at least a day or two to settle in, get organized and back on line. We will be up-dating this space then.