Wednesday November 25

Boy time sure does fly. When I let this much time go by I know I forget a lot of things to post.
Last posting I was going to bed early so I would not miss the meteor shower. When I got in bed I looked up at the beautiful sky filled with beautiful stars. I tried opening the hatch over the bed a little wider. Paul said I was making too much noise. So, since the dinghy is down we have the whole back deck open -- what a good place to lay and look at the stars. I dug out my big foam mat I use to float on in the water. I got some sheets and a pillow and I was all set. My new bed was very comfortable with a nice cool breeze. The clouds started to roll in. I was not there more than 15 minutes until I could count a total of 4, yes four, stars. The sky was completely covered -- so much for the meteror shower.
Tuesday 11-17. Roger & Jeanie took us to the ferry dock. Paul & I took the ferry to Marsh Harbour. This is the first we have been on the ferry for a couple of years.
Susan picked us up at the ferry dock in Marsh.
We went to lunch at Jamies.
We went to Boat Harbour where Paul took off with Bob Williams to do his "bar tender
thing". Susan & I walked the docks. It sure was easy to visit everybody because there was only a half a dozen boats. Jim & Kathy Finn did come in while we were there. The boats are still just trickeling in.
Susan & I set the tables up for the Yacht Club social. Paul set his bar up.
We had a good turn out -- about 50 people. That is good for this time of year with so few boats here yet. It was mostly land people.
Susan, Paul & I tried playing a game of cards after we got back to her condo but we all -- including me, were too tired.
Wed. I went to Maxwells to do some grocery shopping.
Susan & I went to Ladies lunch at Wallys.
Paul took Susan's car to pick up Roger & Jeanie who came over with Coho then to the airport to pick up Robert & Mary who own Dragon Hill cottage here in Man O War.
They came back to Wally for lunch.
Paul took then all to the dock where Coho was then came back to Susans. Susan took Paul, me and all my groceries to Coho and we headed home to Man O War.
It took us a couple of days to recoup from the big trip to Marsh Harbour.
Thursday Roger had to take Coho to Hopetown to have a fuel shut off valve put on- a requirement for his Insurance. Jeanie & I went along for the beautiful ride. We had lunch at Hopetown Harbour Lodge. What a nice day.
Friday night Paul, Roger & Jeanie & I went to Dock & Dine for dinner.
Saturday Jeanie & I went to the fund raiser for the high school. It took about 5 minutes to see everything. The high school here is new. This is the second year for it and I think they are up to 3 students now.
Sunday I was going to Church but Judy Williams called and said they were taking a group on Shade Mor to Nippers so Paul & I took our dinghy from here - it was a beautiful day a a great dinghy ride up and back.
Several more boats have come in to Boat Harbour and it was good to see more of our friends.
Tuesday Roger, Jeanie, Mary,Robert, Paul & I took Coho to The Abaco Inn for lunch -- oh and how could I forget sweet little Sara. Great food, great company, great water trip. I will post the photos.
All for now.

Monday Nov 16

I went to Church yesterday.Discovered Jan & Jay -next door neighbors, go to the same Church.They gave me a ride including a ride in the golf cart from the dock to Church.
I love this little Church. The music is great. All the songs are done with a good beat. The "choir" is 4 older teens with really good voices. They are accompanied by drums, piano and organ. They have such a good beat and gets you into the music.
I worked on my Christmas tablecloth and napkins yesterday.
This morning after my run (good one) Roger, Jeanie, Paul & I took Coho to Sea Spray for lunch. It was such a beautiful day and great trip.
This afternoon, I forgot the shuttle launch -darn.
Paul, Roger & Jeanie went swimming/snorkeling off the front of Pappy's Land. I was the life guard.
Tomorrow we head to Marsh Harbour for the first Yacht Club social.
Got to get to bed early so I can get up to watch the meteor showers that are going to peak at 4AM

Sunday Nov 14

I ran 3 days in a row now. Yesterday was my best run. I ran a good pace and added some distance. I added more distance today but did not run as comfortable.
A cold front came through Thursday night. Temps got down to 69. I was cold but it helped a lot with my run.
Yesterday Paul, Roger, Jeanie, Charlie & I went to Hibiscus Cafe. I had the wonderful coconut conch. I missed it.
Charlie brought us some Key Limes. Jeanie used them to make a wonderful Key Lime pie that we all shared. ummm good!
Roger, Jeanie, Paul & I went next door to "Jay's" house. Jay is the local sailmaker. He was from New Jersey many years ago. He came here as a young man,loved it, fell in love and married a local girl. They have building this house for 10 years. It is one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. It is built on top of a hill and built to last MANY years. Granite counter tops and wood work like I have never seen. One of my favorites is a spiral staircase with lighthouse post. Fabulous views in every room. We were there over 2 hours then as if showing their beautiful house was not enough served us some nice snacks.
I am planning to go to Church tomorrow.
A couple more Yacht club boats arrived today but the crossing windows have not been there. I am so glad we are here.

Thursday Nov 12

Roger, Jeanie, Charlie & I took COHO, Roger & Jeanie's boat to Marsh Harbour yesterday.
Jeanie & I went to Ladies Lunch at Wally's. I was surprised to see I think it was 21 Ladies for lunch. The count has been low because there are not a lot of people here yet but we sure had a crowd yesterday. It was nice to see everyone.
I went to run today. First time in a couple of months. I ran 30 minutes and felt good. I had visions of having to lay down on my fat rolls and roll back but I felt good all the way. I will never learn that I cannot eat the same when I am running and when I am not running. It is so much harder to run carrying all those extra pounds.
It has turned a little chilly so I baked this evening - bread, biscuits and cookies.
Gosh now I will have to run even more.
We are all going to Hibiscus for lunch tomorrow. I will run in the morning.
I am addicted to my farm on Facebook. I am spending(wasting) too much time with it.
I have not finished my Christmas tablecloth yet.
All for now

Sunday Nov 8

Roger & Jeanie came in yesterday. I invited them to have dinner with us last night. I tried to talk Paul into going out to get lobsters but he would not. I usually think of my self as a pretty decent cook. I made a roast, mashed potatoes,( Wink I am getting in practice for your arrival) gravy, cauliflower, salad and Artisan Bread -- so far so good. Then I mad a simple batch of brownies ( Jonathan I was thinking of you). After their normal cooking time they were still very runny -- no problem let them cook a little longer --5 minutes -- still very runny, check to be sure gas is still on --normal, check temperature -normal. So another 10 minutes--remember they are very runny. 10 minutes still runny -- then on comes the old light bulb(is my light bulb getting too old?) I forgot to put the eggs in. I have this nice batch of pecan brownies. I beat 2 eggs and stirred them into the batter 15 minutes later I had an "experiment". Duly warned Roger, Jeanie, Paul and I dug in-to my surprise they were fine.
I have been working on another tablecloth -- that makes number 8, everybody needs 8 tablecloths right? This is a Christmas one. I am almost done with the tablecloth and now need to make the matching napkins. With Roger & Jeanie now occupying their house I have to sew on the boat -not nearly as convenient.
I have heard from a lot of people who are waiting in West Palm for a crossing window. I don't see any very soon. I am glad we came when we did.
Time to watch the NASCAR race - at this point I just want the season to be over and hope for a MUCH better next year.
All for now.

Nov 3 Pappy's Land

I can't believe it has been so long -- guess I will try to bring everything up to date.
Last post we were still in Georgia. We finally got out of Brunswick GA on Monday Oct 19. Doug & Leslie,Happy Clamz, met us in Brunswick and after a fun evening with them, Wayne & Leslie, Easy Duet, Teresa & Jerry, Shalala at Longhorn steak House we we ready to leave Brunswick.
We had to wait until Monday because the fuel place was not open on the weekend and by waiting the cost of fuel went up 30 cents. Off to a good start!
We did get underway. We anchored at King George River in Florida.
Tuesday we said so long for now to Doug & Leslie. They are going home to Gainesville for a few weeks then coming to join us in The Bahamas.
We anchored at Fort Mantanzas, a favorite of ours. This is the first place we had water clear enough for Paul to dive on the props for an inspection before we head across the Gulf Stream. Lots of current by clear water.
This is a nice place to hear the ocean and enjoy the stars.
Next day we stopped in Daytona to pick up some decorations for the commodores ball in February.
We anchored near Titusville.
We passed Melbourne Beach and gave Paul & Connie a call. They came out on the balcony to wave as we went by.
It was so great to be traveling again. I never get tired of watching the dolphins and still get a thrill watching them in our bow wake. We saw a few Manatees and a couple of Bald Eagles, lots of Osprey and several groups of White Ibis.
Not a lot of boat traffic--guess we are a little early.
We anchored by Hutchinson Island.
The trip from there on down to West Palm still keeps me in awe with all the beautiful obviously EXPENSIVE homes. Where does all the money come from? Sure passed us by.
We decided to go into North Palm Beach Marina for one night which turned into 2 nights.
Our friend Susan was very generous with her car for us to run all of our last minute errands.
Paul has been using my old Dell laptop for our satellite weather. We saw that Best Buy had a great deal on a new Toshiba with the new Windows 7 so he got one to replace my old Dell that took forever to boot up. We took a look at TVs while we were there and decided to Finally replace our at least 15 year old TV. We did get a flat screen but cannot get a digital because it will not work with our expensive KVH satellite receiver. But at least I have a great new TV, 26in, to watch my NASCAR races.
We had dinner at Susan's both nights.
We watched all the weather reports and decided to leave Sunday morning.
Our crossing was not our best but not our worst by far. We had some rollers from the north that had us bobbing around like a cork every so often but I could still go downstairs whenever I wanted. We also had a Verizon signal for the first 2 hours so I played on the Internet until I lost the signal.
Once we got on the Bahama Bank it was flat calm and a beautiful trip. My satellite phone that only works every blue moon always seems to give me a signal long enough to call back to the states to say we have arrived safe & sound. We probably should have stopped at Mangrove but Paul wanted to push on to Great Sale. He was pretty tired when we got there well after dark. But it was so beautiful with the stars so bright -- same stars as in the US but out in the middle of nowhere with no lights and no pollutions there are millions of brilliant stars. Paul & I both are still impressed with the beautiful water.
After a peaceful night at Great sale we headed on to Spanish Cay. We have cleared customs there the last 3 years and Paul wanted to clear there again. They are now charging $50 if you just pull in and clear customs but nothing if you spend the night in the marina and pay the marina fees so we decided to spend the night-- it was OK but then we had to pay $20 for electric also. They would not let us run our generator. We were going to go swimming in the pool but the mosquitoes were too bad.
The next day I went shelling on the beach while Paul cleared customs then we left.
I had checked my email at Spanish. I had one from Bob & Judy Williams. They sent there SPOT tracking numbers so I was able to track their trip the previous day from Ft Lauderdale to Great Sale. By the time we finally got away from Spanish they were close behind us and did pass us near Green Turtle Cay.
We came on to Tahiti Beach to anchor. It was as beautiful as I remembered. We sat on the bow and enjoyed a beautiful evening -- the only boat in the anchorage.
Low tide was a little after 9AM so Paul put the dinghy down and I went shelling on Tahiti Beach. Those of you who have visited us here know that is a favorite place for me. The shelling was not all that great but I enjoyed every minute.
We headed on into Marsh Harbour and in the Conch Inn Marina.
Susan had arrived( by airplane) at noon with her new dog Charlie. We had dinner with Susan & Charlie.
Paul washed the boat then we left about noon. The tide was still low when we got to Man O War so we anchored in front of Pappy's Land and went swimming. The water was FANTASTIC!! This one of the many reason we wanted to come early. The water temperature was 81 and the air much warmer and humid so it felt great.
When the tide came in we upped anchor and headed "home" to Pappy's Land. We are so appreciative of Roger & Jeanie letting us tie up at their dock because we love it here. It is like coming home. Annie at the Sail Shop saw us coming and came out to give us a big wave.
Charlie Corkum arrived on Saturday. He had traveled all day so we invited him for dinner. Paul has gone over to his house several times to help him get settled.
Bob & Judy Williams,who went to Boat Harbour, called Sat to invite us to join them at Nippers on Sunday at the pig roast. We took our dinghy so we could come home in time to watch the end of the NASCAR race on our new TV. In hind sight we should have stayed at Nippers -- not a very good race.
Monday was a gorgeous day. Susan suggested I come to Marsh Harbour to go to Stitch & Bitch. The water was flat calm and we just flew across the Sea of Abaco in the dinghy. I really enjoyed the trip.
Mid afternoon the clouds looked a little dark. I talked to Paul at 3 and planned to meet him at friends house on Eastern Shore at 4. By the time Susan & I got ready to leave for Eastern Shore it had started to rain. By the time we got to Eastern Shore it was really raining and the wind was blowing. We waited at Nancy & Rusty's dock for 15 or 20 minutes then headed out. It was pretty rough and we could not go fast. Paul had rain coats for both of us but we both got soaked to the bone. Also it had not started to rain when Paul left so he did not close the boat up. SOOO I spent today drying everything -- I do mean everything.
I did get my sewing machine out and started some sewing. I made a cover for Paul's new computer and got a complete set of napkins cut out and ready to sew. They match a table cloth I made in the spring.
I think that about catches us up and my typing is getting really bad.