IN NASSAU FOR PICK UP

Paul and I enjoy a day of leisure on Rose Island, outside of Nassau harbour

Home made bread in Chub Cay Marina (we had power, used the oven)

We arrived for lunch right beside Daruma (Dave and Traci Lockhart's catamaran) at Rose Island on Sat. We had a wonderful day of travel from Chub Cay Marina to Nassau. It was a short 2 ½ hour crossing. We are so happy to have waited for the “weather window”. Nassau Harbour Control is called in advance before we entered and went right to the other side to continue. This Harbour is an extremely busy harbour and it is necessary to call and get permission to enter AND to leave again. There were 7 huge cruise ships in port and The Nassau Harbour Control may ask anyone entering (or leaving) to wait until a ship has passed. Bahamas is an English island so they all have strong accents which we are getting used to. Of course, we Canadians have such strong accents ourselves, we've been told!

Rose Island is a beautiful little anchourage that we picked because it is easy to just go back into Nassau to pick up guests. Rose Island offers a lovely beach, good snorkeling on a reef, great place to kayak and a cool sandbar that one can walk a couple of kilometres on. Traci and I went on a very long kayak ride along the shore and saw a Sting Ray. They are so shy, hard to get close to one. The four of us walked along the beach. Swimming and snorkeling sure beats snowblowing! On Wednesday we will come right back to Rose Island for two more nights with Ben and Sam. Friends of theirs arrive on Sat. and we will head to the Exumas on Sunday morning or later as the wind is not that great again. No one can have a schedule in the Bahamas! First stop will be Allen's Cay, where there are large Iguanas that come out of the bushes in hope you've saved scraps of lettuce and compost. We tear these in bite size pieces and they come to eat these. After this for an hour or so we will motor over to Norman's Cay for the night. Plans can be changed... so we will blog again when we can. It was 30 degrees C but with the wind chill it felt like only 29 degrees! Internet is scarce.

Coyaba from the water at Rose Island
Daruma in the background, our neighbours

Paul on the sandbar at low tide

We shopped in Nassau just at the grocery store to pick up produce. We came away happy! Prices not too bad either. But it was rush hour, and so many small cars with small horns, beep beep constantly, like all the small cars are talking to each other. We are provisioned for Ben and Sam and their friends.
Tomorrow we leave as soon as Ben and Sam arrive, we will tour around Friday afternoon again here as we wait for Tyler and Jalyn. We will pay for the internet again on Fri afternoon for the 24 hours. We will check our emails then.

One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. Helen Miller

NASSAU TOMORROW

We left Bimini for the Bahama Banks, it was rough going but we made it all the way to Chub Cay. We DID NOT want to anchor on the Banks, way too rough. We anchored in the harbour of Chub Cay along with other boats. We ventured out the next day but turned back to Chub after an hour or so, the winds were so fierce and the waves were coming in all directions. We came back to anchor. The Chub Cay Marina is very expensive here with big yachts and many a fishing boat (the big kind, for sports fishermen). We have been here in Chub Cay ever since. We ventured out to the big water again today but turned back. Tomorrow is the big day as the waves will be less than half of today and winds will be okay. We are now sitting in the Chub Cay Marina. ... getting the internet, doing laundry, filling up with water etc. and nice and calm in here. When we get to the Exumas, it will be so nice and calm!

When we were anchored out in the inlet there were about 20 starfish surrounding our boat. It was awesome, we tested out the kayak too and sure enjoyed that. We had been working to get to the Bahamas that we needed the time to relax. The staterooms are all cleaned up and ready for Wed. when Ben and Sam arrive and then on Sat. their friends Tyler and Jalyn.

This is our view from inside our salon

One of so many starfish, about 10 inches diameter, water shoes a must!

A Big Ship coming into Chub Cay, here for half day filling up
 their fuel tanks at the Texaco Station

The I-Pod touch that James and Matt gave us is coming in handy as I listen to our local radio station and enjoy that. We have our Satellite phone working and have gotten texts from Matt. It is great to have that in an emergency.

FIRST SUNSET IN BAHAMAS

Paul took this photo after I just published the last blog so here it is. It is worth posting! What do you all think? Feel free to post comments and/or read them.

Amazing!!

WE ARE IN BIMINI BAHAMAS (chocolate)!

We arrived in the Atlantic Ocean at 8am exactly this morning. The narrow canal along New River was better at this early morning. We want everyone to know we are happy and tomorrow we casually drive to the Bahama Banks to anchor for the night. I have a boneless leg of lamb to BBQ. We met a couple from Calgary here in Bimini and another from Montreal. Our hockey stick flying our flag is a conversation breaker.

This is the last bridge for us leaving Port Everglades (Ft.Lauderdale,
where 7 ships are docked)

arriving from the Gulf Stream to this blue water

Yes, if you have been following for a couple of weeks, you will note that I am eating chocolate tonight! But not too much as my Dad just emailed me and is concerned I may go overboard with it!

We will be anchoring tomorrow night, so no internet. We have our SAT phone. Safe travels for everyone this week.

CRUISED ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!

We left Lake Worth inlet along with so many fishermen through the cut to the Atlantic Ocean! The exit was the experience of a lifetime!! With all the waves from the boats and the currents coming and going, we were going sideways and fronts and backwards... but once finally out there (10 min. max).... we were totally fine and looked like seasoned travellers. It was not near as rough as when Paul test "drove" the catamaran on the Gulf side of Florida. BUT... we will lock shut the fridge tomorrow as the oil from pickled peppers flew out of the fridge along with the green relish. I am actually so glad the fridge was packed tightly with food as then nothing else moved around.

We were about 3 miles offshore with the shoreline in total sight, and we traveled about 50 miles from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale. When we entered Ft. Lauderdale, 7 huge cruise ships tied up there. I mean HUGE.... and I imagine all the people coming and going to crew and those traveling on them that are helping the commerce here in the great city of Ft Lauderdale. I saw the Oasis of Seas... the widest I've ever seen and I also wrote down the name of the Crown Princess... and 5 others that I could not see names of. Awesome!!

One of many megayachts here.

We traveled inland on a "canal" system to New River here in Ft. Lauderdale. We had a reservation on slip #3 at the municipal marina. It is a fantastic slip and the least expensive slip we've paid for. As we travelled up this canal we saw millions of dollars sitting on this one canal... megayachts and sleek boats. I haven't seen anything like this since 2009 in St. Maarten! The economy here is booming! We saw so much in this one day that I've only seen in movies and magazines. After we docked, we then see these megayachts travel by us, some are piloted by a tug because they are so huge and the canal is so narrow.

The back tug boat is helping to turn it

This is the front tugboat... helping to guide it through the tight canal. 

One Megayacht being towed through the canal

www. novascotia.com is seen here by Theodore the Tugboat... anyone who had children when we did would know who that is and he had many other cast members on that children's tv show. I actually thought Theordore was a fictitious character but no... an actual boat for promoting tourism.

There are so many manatee here in this canal !!

We are one day from Bimini and the exit to the Atlantic will be more gentle than at Lake Worth, as it is much wider inlet (hence the cruise ships) and the fishing boats will not give us a problem. The waves tomorrow are suppose to be only 2-3 ft instead of 4 sometimes today. We will be staying at The Big Game Club in Bimini. Again we should be there shortly after lunch. We will be checking into Customs there... getting the fishing license etc.

This is the last blog for awhile, but the marina tomorrow may have free wifi... otherwise we have our SAT phone and we can blog when we get to Nassau. So if there is no blog for a couple of days, no worries.

Success Is Not The Key to Happiness. Happiness Is The Key to Success. If You Love What You Are Doing, You Will Be Successful. (Albert Schweitzer)

ANCHORED IN LAKE WORTH, FL

We left Stuart this morning and had a wonderful farewell from 3 dolphins. Two swam along one bow and the other swam right in front of the other bow. This dolphin kept looking up at me and coming up for air many times. The water was like glass so we could see the 3 dolphins so well. A small day boat beside us had children on board and they were so excited taking pictures.
Before we left we filled up our catamaran with fuel so we are very low in the water. As we eat, drink and travel we will rise up a little. The fuel in Nassau is not as clean as here so we wanted to top up before we left. We are now anchored in Lake Worth, FL. We will go on the outside tomorrow from the inlet here to Port Everglades up to Ft. Lauderdale. We have a reservation at New River Downtown Marina there. It is the weekend and many boats are also awaiting to travel the Gulf right now. We needed a reservation for peace of mind.

The last stop for us yesterday was yet again another Home Depot... see my beautiful herb garden, basil, oregano and 2 kinds of parsley. My "pet" palm tree was lonely! The herbs will last as long as we don't eat too many of their leaves.

I took a photo of Paul at the bow checking the anchor ... this was taken on purpose so you see our view from above in our fly bridge.

And this photo are the giant Explorer Chartbooks we bought that was recommended before leaving. I put Paul's phone on the cover of one so you get perspective on our big they are..... (not bedtime reading!)

Yes, the radar is up and working along with all four solar panels, we are doing great!!
We Act As Though Comfort and Luxury Were The Chief Requirements In Life, When All We Need To Make Us Really Happy Is Something To Be Enthusiastic About. (Charles Kingsley)

GOOD NEW, MORE GOOD NEW AND EVEN BETTER NEWS

There was so much good happening to us in the last couple of days that now we can share our plans with you all. First of all, the weather is looking so positive for us to leave the United States of America for Bimini on Sunday. We plan on leaving Stuart on Friday morning and no rush either, a short day to Lake Worth, Florida where we will anchor. Paul is one up at dawn when leaving to go anywhere by boat, but not this time as we do not have a long distance to go. Saturday we plan to travel to Ft. Lauderdale and leave on the Sunday morning for Bimini. All weather for the next while is totally in our favour, God is watching over us for this wonderful journey!

Second... our experience at the Border Control... Homeland Security was a simple matter, our Officer there in Ft. Pierce, gave us an extension on our cruising permit and now we just leave, such a simple matter. We have not had good experiences with our cruising permits along the coastline over these months.

Third, Yahoo, the brand new radar that arrived today is working and Paul has a fantastic new experience when traveling. This is great and now we even feel more secure. It is nice sometimes when those fast motoryachts come from behind... we will see them on the radar. Our boat is always one cruisers like to come close by to see.

We are finally provisioned! Our BMO Mastercard will get a break finally. I do want to fly to Europe soon so those airmiles will boost us up to First Class... Paul does not know that part of the flying yet, but he will days from now when he reads this entry, wink wink!

Please see the wonderful "toys" that Paul bought for us and our guests. We sure look forward to everyone enjoying the Bahamas with us. Wal-Mart and West Marine's shares just went up with all our shopping.

We also got two underwater "slings" to "hunt" for fish or lobster... google that.

Paul has oil for 2 boat engine, big generator and the little generator. (we have the storage, maybe I had to sacrifice a bit and not buy as many boxes of white wine, hahahaha)

We have heard stories of boaters waiting to go to the Bahamas but are awaiting mail from there to give them permission to come with their dog... yes that is right, when you want to bring your dog to the Bahamas you must provide the proper papers in advance then they will mail you the proper permits. Now we do not have a dog and are not awaiting or "proper papers" but I do have a pet plant ... a Pony Tail Palm Tree, nice and small and low maintenance. There is no poop scooping or anything!

The brand new StainMaster Carpet fits 99% here in the saloon. We are content.

Dave and Traci have arrived in the Bahamas safely and are awaiting us to come. We will meet them near the island of Rose Island. They do not blog as often, so I know their family reads ours (hi Cardinal, Ontario).

We are warm and toasty here and I know from B.C. to Ontario it is snowing badly!

We will blog soon again, stay posted.

JUST A FEW MORE DAYS

We are just a few days away and the weather looks great for us to travel. We bought and picked up the kayak this morning after going to Home Depot once again. I almost know the aisles off by heart now. I actually told Paul where some electrical and hardware was. We've carted down the dock hundreds of pounds of provisions and we are not fully stocked on the beer yet! Beer in Nassau is $55 for a 24, does this sound like Ontario? A 24 of beer cans at Wal-Mart is $16 so you can see why we will cart and store as much beer as possible. Today I carted wine and a whole pile of chip related items. See photo below. When I went through the cash all I had was the wine and "chips" and so I must have looked pretty funny. I remember in 2009 with Dave and Traci buying a bag of Tostillos for $7 U.S. so I don't want to spend that kind of money in Nassau ++ Paul reminded me that whatever we do buy in Nassau we are walking there and back from the grocery store, so get what we want now.

Paul worked on our toilet, wasn't working but the good news, it took no time at all. Things happen for a reason, it malfunctioned on purpose so we can go to Home Depot and buy the necessary tools so now we are set any time a toilet malfunctions. Our toilets are special ones with push buttons, not like at home. I always say there is a small "training course" to learn how to use them BUT no handle pumping like the majority of boats out there!

Paul got the dinghy up on the davit. See that photo. This has to be snug and cozy when we go offshore. In the Bahamas, no problem, we can just tow behind us sometimes, so calm.

We are days away from leaving. Our plan is to leave Stuart, Fl on Thursday or Friday. The weather is in our favour. We will travel on the Intra Coastal Waterway to Lake Worth. From there we may travel on the outside to Miami. From Miami where we anchor we will leave on Sunday or Monday to Bimini. We check into customs there. From there we go to the Bahama Banks, which will be about 10ft of water with no land in sight. This will be an experience. The next day we will travel to Nassau. This is our tentative schedule. I know people have been asking. Of course all can change, but the long range of weather is in our favour and other boaters will be planning around the latest forecast.

Our kayak comes with 2 back rests, which will be stored right now.

Please know that we think of our Canadian friends and family and email anytime.

May You Always Have a Shell In Your Pocket & Sand In Your Shoes.
from a sign from my friend Betty Ann

BRRRRRrrrrr

We heard how bad the weather has been in Ottawa... and here I had to wear a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt and a jacket! But I never put on gloves or my Ugg boots that I see locals wearing, brrrr for here. Today was sunny though! Paul and I went shopping in the morning together and bought a great kayak. This is a Mantra that seats one, two or even three people. This is fantastic for what we want it for. We will put on the roof of the rental car tomorrow morning. I will then take a pic. I'm sure it will get lots of use. The store Sport Authority is like a Sport Chek in Canada. The kayak did not "break the bank" as we were afraid of, so we are smiling. We did a Home Depot, West Marine, JCPenny, Macy's and a Kohls.... we are looking for flavors for our Soda Stream... and stores are lacking so we are running around to these stores to their "home department". My first time in a Macy's and did not look and anything else except Soda Stream.

We bought a "ditch box" which was a $8 tool box at Home Depot. This is a box we grab in case of an emergency and have to leave our boat in a hurry. Every boat should have one. I will load it with bottled water, protein bars, flares, the sat phone will go in, whistle, flashlight, glow sticks etc. We are always about safety on the boat. We are in calm waters in the Bahamas this year and probably next (maybe venture to the Turks and Caicos next winter).

I was at a CVS Drug Store yesterday and got three $10 gift cards. She gave me one of those store cards similar to Shopper's except no info is given .... so I took the card and the cashier said what happens is once in a while a random $10 gift card will be issued right on the spot (what are the odds of that?). I said okay, so she prints out my receipt, and I thought she was going to go crazy!!! You just got three $10 gift cards on your receipt. I HAVE WORKED HERE FOR 4 YEARS AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED. She was so excited for me it was like I won at the slot machine and the people behind me were open mouthed. I took the 3 cards once the supervisor came over and signed off on these cards and went back today to get Paul those expensive Mach3 razors.... which I needed help as it was some complicated secure system in the aisle to retrieve these expensive razors.

Paul is getting his fishing rods tomorrow at Wal-Mart and other final things like gas cans for the dinghy. We will be doing our last provisioning (like Tostillos and Chips.... take up so much room in a cart). We will load up the fridge too as we tentatively want to leave Stuart on Friday morning. Seems far away but so close for us.... maybe Thursday. Right now the open waters are calling for a small craft warning so we will see if we actually go out to the Atlantic to go to Miami... it would save so much time and give us some more experience. Going the ICW to Miami is slow as there are so many bridges to wait for openings or have scheduled openings. I remember waiting 3 hours in Kingston, Ontario on the St. Lawrence River waiting to enter the Rideau Canal .... with 3 young boys that were bored to death!

When I bought the blades of Paul I impulsed and bought 3 bottles of wine for $10... where in Canada can one do that???

We love hearing from everyone by comments or by email. We don't have "friends" yet down here. We hope you are all well where you are reading this from... Ottawa, Cranbrook, Victoria, Chemainus, Bahamas, Prescott, Huntsville, Toronto area, Duncan, Arizona, and Germany!

When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you can have more happiness
Nicole Kidman

GAVE UP ON RADAR

This morning I drove to the UPS to send back the Radar, a new one is being shipped as I type this. I did get lost finding UPS. You know they are in a plaza and there are plazas everywhere and as a driver I cannot see the teeny weeny numbers. No, it was not in the Tom Tom (I want to throw that out, as it never says what side when "you've reached your destination"... when it is a 8 lane roadway!). The splendid news is Paul had a successful day with the pump installed in the water maker, the small back-up generator is working mighty fine and the "D" rings went on the dinghy. Two solar panels are working just great, we will hook up the other two when/if we install the radar, we need the roof space to maneuver.

Yesterday we had the P.O.O.P. boat come by and take care of us... what is this? Yes that is right the Pump Out Operation Program run by the Martin County. They go from boat to boat to pump out you know what. We have two holding tanks, but boy, within minutes we are emptied! We give a big tip and we smile again.

We are charging up our battery for the Satellite Phone. This is another learning experience ... It only works offshore (15 miles) so we can't even test it yet. I am not high tech but I have a good teacher. I will have Paul read the "literature" and I will then read my "literature" by my fave author right now Lee Child. Paul can explain it all to me, wink wink.

I did provision again, load after load down this dock... we are 2nd to last boat! From All Bran buds to Velveeta cheese dips to cans of clams and mussels to cocoa. I have put everything in a spot writing on a  paper telling where everything is.
I did not take pictures today as nothing really exciting to take. I sure look forward to sending pics from the Bahamas.

On my posting of Jan. 2nd I mentioned No Chocolate Until Bimini..... I want everyone to know that I have not had any chocolate.... but the Caltrate Vitamin D chews are delicious. I have set a personal record. Yes, I only have 1 chew a day, I don't go crazy! ahahahahah!

Our son Matt had an awesome birthday, the best one yet he says! The weather at home is pretty bad as our lads did not drive into the city for school. It will be cool tonight here,

B.O.A.T......  Bring Out Another Thousand!

RADAR IS NOT WORKING!

Yep, that is right, with hours spending putting wires through the small black loom and pulling the fridge and wiring the radar to the panel here in the saloon, IT IS NOT WORKING! After many phone calls and trouble shooting with staff Paul will have an update tomorrow. I am glad that he can read the manuals and instructions see the photo below

Now, I was mistaken yesterday, radar is not a necessity unless we travel at night.... WHICH we will not in the Bahamas. So we can still be on schedule if we have too. I was up at Fort Pierce (45 min drive) to get the mount to put the new radar on. I ordered an area rug, all bound around the edges at a local place. When I got back I helped Paul with wiring the horn for the boat, loud and good. It was the hottest day yet. I then went to Walmart while Paul was trouble shooting. The experience at Walmart is WONDERFUL... see my sarcasm here.... but the prices can't be beat when provisioning. I did another 3 aisles... now if you have not read previous posts..... let me tell you that here in Stuart it is like a long weekend everyday... so Walmart is packed and hunting for a parking spot every time.

Anyway suffice it to say that I did get more provisions (like salsa, and cheese dip etc. when boys come.)

Now if you are a dedicated follower, you would have remembered I was going to tell you why this area is called "The Treasure Coast".... well, it is because in the late 1700's and for about 100 years many a ship got stranded and wrecked here on the coast. Just last year there was a coin found minted in the 1650's in Mexico. Treasures are found all the time here.

Tomorrow is another day, and we have the new watermaker pump to install. We will pump up the inflatible and put the "D" rings on for the davit. stay tuned..... I know you are all interested???

Three grand essentials to HAPPINESS in this life are Something to Do, Something to Love, and Something to Hope For.

Happy Birthday to our Matthew as 21 years ago we had him in a snow storm! (in a hospital, but the drive was in a snow storm to the hospital and Paul's parents drove 1 hour to get to our house to look after our first born )

ps... I did finally read the comments and post them, I am sorry I forgot to look at that feature on our website. So I will be more up to date on the comments. They are posted now and love them. We feel connected to you all.

HELPING THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

Our BMO Mastercard is getting exerise down here. No chip capability so lots of signing! I did some provisioning of non-food items ie: poker chips, shampoos, body washes etc. Stuff that if you buy too much it is still okay, but who wants to spend $8 for body wash in Nassau?? Anyways we are plugging along with installation of the radar's wiring and the solar panel's wiring. Matt can relate as he helped one time thread these thick wires into a small black loom! Many frustrations but the old radar is off ... see photo and hopefully the new one gets mounted tomorrow. This is a brand new "toy" that is a necessity! The old one did not work properly. The new radar is so much bigger that we have other jobs to do because of it, ie: move the running light higher, move the barometer, and it goes on. You can see why I did not blog because it is just tedious work. Our workspace is small so not much room to maneuver.

Tools everywhere, but this is nothing compared in the interior of the saloon right now. 

You can see where we removed the old radar (10 years old) and the new much bigger one will go there

I did go to a local carpet place and will take charge and replace the area rug in the boat, this will improve the look on the inside so much. What we have now is so ugly! 

Today was "sweater" weather (for me) but that means warm coats and turtlenecks for the locals. I was in Target and there are the scarves and mitts AND... yes, those hotpads to put in the mitts!! Too funny. Today in Target a man right in front of me at the cash gave the cashier a counterfeit $100 ... she called her supervisor on the phone and he verbally told her that it is a policy they have to accept it. Even from where I was I could tell it was fake, off centre in the "Photocopying" and not the green it should be. He gets change of $80... and walks out. I'm not saying he was guilty of making the money, but he could have been snookered himself. I told her that I could tell that money was fake too... but what can you do. I told Paul maybe they have a policy because if you confront the man, he might get angry and a weapon might come out???

Dave and Traci of Daruma left early this morning after some engine problems. We hope their day was an awesome one. Our day will come!!
Thanks for following and we had the highest amount of people viewing our blog yesterday.

SOLAR PANEL DAY

Today was the day we woke to the sun shining and birds singing! However, work has to be done. Today was the day we install our solar panels, well, as many of the four as we can. I won't get into details but after 7 hours it was time to quit and do the other 2 tomorrow. These are very awkward and so much preparation to do to actually put on the roof of our flybridge.

We need solar panels, as I won't compromise on the "dream boater's fridge" that sucks our power. We don't want to be a slave to the generator. We will be this small self sufficient boat.

We are at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart and so many tourists come by. Today was Quebec City and Thunder Bay. Everyone loves our hockey stick flag pole and "how did you come all the way from Edmonton" is the question... our catamaran is registered in Edmonton because the paperwork was faster than if we registered it in Ottawa.
I've included 3 pictures, one is Paul installing unit #1 at the front of the flybridge. The 2nd is a very very large pelican and then the 3rd is the pelican flying away... which I thought was a cool pic.

Our friends Dave and Tracy on Duruma, (see their blog link on side) left Naples area for Key West area and will await to go to Bahamas any day. I understand they are to update their blog soon. We are on skype with them on occasion. We will meet them outside of Nassau later in the month.

ARRIVED IN FLORIDA

We are in balmy Florida. It is cooler here for Floridians but us Ottawans it is sure nice and warm... I don't mind having to wear a long sleeve shirt, no boots or parkas. We met a couple from Alaska at the check-out in Publix grocery store, so they came from cold brrr weather too.

We were able to pick up our Solar Panels and our Satellite Phone in Miami on our way to Stuart. Miami traffic is crazy as we were well aware of from two years ago. We always joke that the speed limit is 70mph but I think after midnight you might be able to actually drive that limit. Every minute is rush hour with a volume of traffic.

We will email family with our new SAT phone number which we can use off shore. Texting is reasonable but you phoning us will cost you big bucks. This is a great way to communicate if we are not near the internet.

We did shopping today and organizing the boat, as weather was not warm enough to bring out the hose and clean the boat. There is so much still to do and ordering of supplies. The boys will be happy as I will buy those Poker Chips and the Pina Coloda Mix as that goes with the cheap rum in Bahamas! Our boys come down next month and I will have missed everyone. (of course I will miss our daughter-in-law Sam too). We are “newbies” of being away and so far for such a long time.

I have not had chocolate yet but I won't deny I may have 1 chocolate martini this weekend. I consider that an alchohic drink, not actual chocolate. I wrote in the blog no Chocolate until Bimini so now I must honour it and I sure need too.

Just to let you Canadian followers know that gas here is about .90 cents a litre …... wow!!! If the Americans only knew how much we paid.

Our internet is faster as we are using an aircard with Virgin Mobile through cellphone instead of the slow internet of the marina. We are too far away from their office. Because it is faster I may post some pictures...... especially of the installation of the solar panels, the biggest job since the davit. These panels are going on the roof of the flybridge, so safety is a priority and of course, couple communication!

Stay tuned.  

NO CHOCOLATE UNTIL BIMINI

I am so "chocolated-out" that I have vowed not to eat another morsel of chocolate until we get to Bimini. Eat, and ate some more over the holidays! Back to our reality of getting our cat Coyaba "Bahama Ready" is our mission now. We leave Ottawa very early Wednesday January 4th to Miami Florida. We plan to pick up our solar panels and head to Stuart for the work to begin. It will be warmer down there compared to Ottawa but it has been up and down weather-wise here. We leave the boots behind and winter parkas, pack the last of our shorts and t's + flip flops!

We do plan to head to Miami by boat to head off-coast to Bimini the middle of January. Then onto Nassau as our first round of company arrive, son Ben and wife Sam along with another couple on Feb. 1. We look forward to sharing our adventure with others. I will blog as much as I can to give everyone a taste of what we are up to. Internet connection may be sporadic but we will do our best.

I see people have been to our blog and probably have been wondering what our plans are, so I thought I would update today. Stay tuned for more later in the week. Florida and Bahamas .. here we come, we are so blessed!