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.