Tortugas and Key West

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May 1st Already?

It's been a month since we last posted? Wow. Time certainly has taken on a new dimension for us. Seriously, what day is it? Lol 

While we are still keeping notes and log books and expense charts regularly, the days seems to be blurring into weeks and so on. It's a good thing we are writing things down, even just for our own sanity. The hustle and bustle of our first six months was so packed with adventure we couldn't help but share things with you as often as possible. Since returning from the Abaco Islands in March the pace has definitely slowed down. We've been working on finding a happy medium between hustle bustle and bored silly. We haven't been bored, but the possibility does exist I guess. Living aboard is not just fun and games all the time ya know. We have chores and maintenance, and we still haven't run out of self inflicted home improvement projects. :0) We also want to keep discovering all those places we read about.

So, we left Stuart FL April 9 and SAILED to Lake Worth. With a plan for just a few days there we of course got busy and ended up staying almost a week. Jim snorkeled under the boat to scrub off the slim and growth while I scoured and scrubbed from the water line to the rail. The water there was very clear which made it so much easier to see the results of our work. This effort has to be repeated at least monthly to keep the scum off and to keep the boat moving quickly through the water. Mission accomplished. In between dives we explored Peanut Island and found that to be quite nice. We snorkeled there and even observed a manatee from an observation bridge. We included some pics from Peanut Island as well as the sites right around the island. You may find an interesting business endeavor, too.

Our next stop was an anchorage in the ICW near Delray Beach, and then on to Ft. Lauderdale. Lake Sylvia is a popular anchorage there, especially for all the local boaters in the weekends. See pics of AQUAJET. It was the craziest, funniest thing we've seen in a long time. This self contained water propulsion system was hilarious! We stayed two nights in Ft. Lauderdale before headed further south to Miami. We SAILED again believe it our not, from inlet to inlet. It was glorious. We anchored in “marine stadium” for a night and observed the local crew boats practicing. The young adults were working very hard. The younger students, not so much. Fun to watch though. The second night we moved to Dinner Key/Coconut Grove just to revisit the scene of the original crime (read on). On Thursday morning (4/19) we sailed in Biscayne Bay, tacking back and forth with no apparent forward progress. Oh well, for once we didn't care! It didn't matter where we went or when we got there. Finally!! SAILING!!!! We arrived at Pumpkin Key about 330p and settled in. 

Now, whether it was just complete exhaustion or if it was the actual calm conditions there, it was the best night sleep we've both had in a long time. The wind was calm, the water was flat, and there were no strange noises floating in through the open hatches. We woke up to the sound of snorts coming from a pod of porpoise playing around the boat. “Now that's what I'm talking about!”

The Pumpkin Key anchorage, and the day before in Miami, mark the moment of our dream having come full circle (the scene of the original crime). For those of you that did not know this, Jim and I chartered a sailboat from Moorings for our honeymoon trip in 2000. We flew to Miami and remembered Pumpkin Key as a favorite stop on that trip. The sailing/cruising bug gave us both full blown infections! We've been working towards getting back here (Pumpkin) ever since. It's real now. We're really doing this. And we're loving it!!

OK, enough of that. We're moving through the Florida keys now headed for Key West and Margaritaville and the Dry Tortuga by the end of the week (if the thunderstorms subside). Don't forget to check out the latest batch of pics. We're over 700 now. Might need a back up and/or another camera card soon!

JLM

S/V Y-Knot 3

2012-04-20

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Safe Crossing and Welcome Back to the USA!

After two glorious months in the Bahamas, we crossed back to the U.S.A. on March 8-9, arriving in Lake Worth on Friday afternoon.  The weather was calm so we took advantage of the opportunity to sail and motor straight through. It was a full moon night and the winds were almost nonexistent. The waters were flat and calm and the motor took us through the night without any problems. We did some star gazing and took turns at the helm while the other one tried to rest/sleep. It was 28 hours and 169 miles from Treasure Cay in the Abacos to Lake Worth inlet, Florida. 

We've since returned to Sunset Bay Marina to visit with the kids and grandkids again, celebrate their birthdays, visit with our Erie friends “The Gunther's” who were touring Florida all month, attend Linda's niece Nicole's baby shower, and to be here for the arrival of Linda's son Louis who just moved down, too. 

It's April now and the boat traffic seems to consists mostly of all those preparing to have their boats lifted for the summer and head home somewhere. There are several boat yards in this area that are equipped to pull and store the thousands of snowbird boats. We're already home so we just need to get back out there and resume exploring the Florida coast. We'll be heading south again soon and look forward to telling you all about it! 

Key West here we come!

Conching in the Sea of Abaco

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The Sea of Abaco

Well, we've been very busy since we last posted an update for you all. The internet signals in the islands are weak and inconsistant, particularly when you move around as much as we do. To catch you up on our latest adventures we need to start by telling you about Conch. This is a variety of seafood that is very popular and available here in the islands. There are conch fishermen, conch menu items, conch shell collectors, and the ceremonious conch horn blowers!  We've been anxious to find a shell of our own on the beaches and avoid having to purchase one as a souvenir. Our wish came true in Marsh Harbour a few days ago. As we talked to a local street vendor selling “fresh conch salad”. We managed to scarf up a few of his empties, in addition to a healthy portion of the famous salad. The salad is a mixture of finely chopped fresh vegetables, raw conch, and lemon and lime juice. Definitely something requiring an aquired taste. Anyway, we have re-harvested the conch shells by cleaning them up and repairing the hole made while extracting the little tasty animal inside with a small, thick batch of apoxy, and sawing off a small piece from the pointed end to create the mouth piece. We are now the proud owners of our very own Conch Horns. We will be practicing every night until we can force a sound out of them and look forward to sharing this new talent with all of you !! :) (LM: After all the music lessons I've had I'm sure my parents are very proud of me at this moment lol) Each night at sunset those that have a horn sound a note to signal the setting of the sun. It's quite fun to listen to in a remote are with all other boats anchored with you for the night. We're told there are actual contests among these souls to see who can sound their horns for the longest duration. Our good friend John on MYSTIC has an impressive record at 42 seconds, but still got 2^nd place that year.

We also had a perfect opportunity a few weeks ago to pull that other sail out of the bag. You know the one, the spinnaker! (see pics, taken as actual evidence that we remembered how, lol) We had a nice light breeze that carried us out of Green Turtle so we went with it. After a few hours we doused the chute and headed into the protection of Manjack and Rat Cays. Our travels have also included the gorgeous beaches of Treasure Cay, sightseeing and potluck dinner on Great Guana Cay, an layover in Hopetown on Elbow Cay, and a few nights in Marsh Harbour. Right now, as the back to back cold fronts and gale force winds move through the area, we find ourselves back inside the canals in Treasure Cay for the duration.

We've included several pictures from, and of, the Lighthouse on Elbow Cay in Hopetown. This is one of just three of the last remaining lights of it's kind. We've traveled almost all the way around the Sea of Abaco and are starting to retrace our steps towards West End. We'll be looking for an opportunity to cross the Gulf Stream back to Florida sometime in the next 10 days to 2 weeks.

Green Turtle Cay and Starfish through the "Lookie Bucket"

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