HIT THE 4000th VIEW

I thought you would be interested to know that since I've created this Coyaba Blog (82 posts ago) we've had over 4,000 views on it. This is exciting that so many “viewers” are interested in our adventures on Coyaba. On the blogspot.com website I can look at stats as to where the views are coming from. I checked for the last month and here are the results:

271 from Canada (our home country makes sense)

109 U.S.A (we are here and have friends down here)

19 Russia

8 Germany (I have relatives there, I hope these views are from them)

4 France

4 U.K

1 Spain

Our blog is an “open” blog which means no invitation needed to read it. Anyone is welcome to make a comment and I post most. You are welcome to read the comment(s). These are posted at the end of each post. Anyone can “google” Coyaba and our blog should come up as a place to visit.

Paul and I are going out in Coyaba for about ½ hr tomorrow to test run the engines and see if everything is running smoothly. The wind is finally going to die down! We will leave on Saturday to head south to Stuart, FL. This will take a few days on the ICW. Let this next stage begin!

“Always do what you are afraid to do” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(psst... does this mean I should go ahead and swim with sharks? NOT!)

FLOATING TONIGHT

We were the very first boat to go into the water on Monday. There was a huge shrimper coming out of the water before us. It was a day with a tight schedule for the “travel lift” to put boats in and boats out because of the storm Sandy wrecked havoc on the schedule. We went in the water as per usual, all went well and Paul was raving about the engines! He had work done on the them and also the port prop was put on the starboard side and visa versa on purpose... much better steering. All this has paid off.

Two weeks ago we stayed in a motel because it was so hot to stay on the boat on the hard with a small air conditioner going. Now, this past couple of days it was so cold we had to put extra blanket on us! We are now plugged in with the “big yellow cord” and have heat throughout the boat. Weather changes rapidly here.

While in Daytona, there was a great pumpkin display in the lobby. I took a few pictures and thought I would share them. Our son is going to answer the door to the tricker treaters.... I told him what to buy as our house in Ottawa has a reputation of handing out full-size chocolate bars, not those one-biters!

This pumpkin drank too much?? Or ate too much, he is sick!

This girl pumpkin has a clay face mask on,
getting a pedicure and cukes for eyes!
Plus see the soothing river rock and candle.

This pumpkin loves to read something funny!

Boo to all, and eat some chocolate!

DAYTONA BEACH FOR WEEKEND

“Life is like a box of chocolates, You never know what you're gonna get”.

This is a line from a famous 1994 movie titled Forrest Gump. This is all fresh in our minds as we went to dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant on Saturday night in Daytona Beach. We headed there on Friday for a two night stay at the Hilton (hotwire.com... we love it, $59 a night!). We both needed a break and a dinner out. We stumbled onto this Bubba Gump restaurant and loved it!! I am sitting on a bench from the famous scene when Tom Hanks (Forrest) wears those funny shoes and has the box of chocolates and suitcase. If you haven't seen the movie, see it!! I don't even want to tell you who Bubba is, he is an important character in the movie. I actually have to buy the movie because Paul remembers nothing of it.

Remember those are NOT my shoes!

We took down all the canvas in the flybridge on Friday and closed up the boat tight, headed to Daytona. We had endless hot showers, cablevision and oceanview room. See below what we were looking at on Friday and Saturday.

We were on the 6th Floor, blowing and loud!

We came back to boat this morning and hosed down the boat, put canvas back up and the cushions too. We will be the very first boat to go into the water tomorrow morning … hopefully at slack tide. The lines are ready and we will get the fenders out too. They have many boats to go in because with the weather they are running behind.

Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

GO PRO FROM LAST FEBRUARY

I am experimenting tonight with some footage from son's GoPro Camera from last Feb., took a long time to upload but hope you enjoy it. We want to get this camera ourselves, but I can see there will be no uploading from Bahamas with the internet there!


see tonight's post below

HURRICANE SEASON IS NOT OVER

SANDY is such a beautiful name but not down here. This Sandy is wrecking havoc on so many people's plans. We wanted to go into the water late afternoon as everything is “a go” but way too windy. Some friends we met last May here on their sailboat are in North Carolina awaiting for Sandy to leave. We wanted to see them here again in St. Augustine. As all boaters know, we should have no schedule. We will meet with these guys in Bimini, Bahamas in January. They have bought a slip at Bimini Bay Yacht Club.

BOAT has almost become a four-letter word here. We are most definitely going to go away Saturday morning somewhere! (I have to do laundry and sheets/towels tomorrow) We are tired of “camping” here on the boat on the hard. We have only gone out twice for a meal! And if I have to watch Hawkeye or Radar in another episode or another western black and white tv show (The Rifleman on MeTV) I will say a four letter word :-).... hahahah! We only have the one channel in English here on the boat. We actually got into one episode of House but lost the last five minutes... have no idea what disease this patient had. It reminded me of the old days when foil wrap was on the antennae.

Anyway, I've got a few pics but everything is boring for the blog, once again to West Marine to drop another $100 there, Home Depot and a Wal-Mart today. We wired the underwater lights, more fibreglass was done. We got the cat lifted to see under that diesel tank to see if any damage, a little, but all fixed today. .. so that companionway floor is back on.

This is one of two underwater lights which will be a blue

Paul prepared the area for the light to go, under the waterline

This is how it looks installed. Wiring is now done too.
Water here is murky, but will look great in the Exumas

This is a two year old aft hatch cover, sun everyday!

This is after we spent more money at West Marine,
brand new ones (2 hatch covers)

• Hurricanes have male and female names, but at one point only female names were used.
• Most hurricanes rage harmlessly in the sea.
• Australians call hurricanes, willy-willies.
• The New England Hurricane of 1938 is reported to have the fastest forward speed for a hurricane at 70 mph. The forward speed for an average hurricane is less than 20 mph.
• Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean runs from June 1 to November 30.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS (work wise)

When it rains it pours, we've all heard that before, that is what I mean when all the work is happening all on the same day.

Paul was smelling diesel around the starboard companionway for a day or so. We lifted the floor of it this morning and sure enough, an inch of diesel down there. We have size 6 (XL) diapers on board for this kind of occasion. I know when we bought them, the cashier asked if they were for our grandchild. I am so glad we did not buy Depends! So all you boaters or other out there.... diapers are great for absorbing spills of all sorts, we recommend every household should have a pack in the house/boat/camper or cottage. The diesel is gone and no damage to boat so the flowing stopped... so we will clean it up with some nice special boat cleanser and put down the wood floor again. What you see below the floor are 2 diesel tanks, one forward and one aft, 265 liters each.

No wood floor, it was lifted to see down below

Diapers are not just for babies! Great absorption!

The rub rail is now on! Our October 18^th post shows the “before” picture when the original is all removed. Now the new black one is on. We hired the yard staff here to do that as they have all the tools necessary. (psst... and Paul and I could not do that together and enjoy our time together). You know we now have a search engine on our blog. I updated a few things on this blog page and I can search for “rub rail” to find out when I posted the picture with the rail off. I have used that search engine a few times already. Also, just for laughs you can translate our blog into any language you like. We have Russians reading our blog. I know because there are stats on our blog as to what country has the most “viewership”... Canadians first, then Americans and surprise, Russians read our blog, and the list goes on. 

Half way completed on one side

Brand new rub rail, installed

Fluke
The portion of an anchor that digs securely into the bottom; also, any occasion when this happens on the first try.
Propeller
Underwater winch designed to wind up at high speeds any lines left hanging over the stern.
Radar
Extremely realistic kind of electronic game often found on larger sailboats. Players try to avoid colliding with “blips” which represent other sailboats, large container ships and oil tankers.

THIS IS FUNNY

INFLATABLE GOES IN THE WATER

We have a brand new inflatable. We brought down our 25Hp with us last time and brought home the 9.9Hp. The inflatable is heavier than the last one and plus our davit is not in a position good enough to lift it up with a building in the way. So, on Friday the Marine Center here put it in the water for us. I took pictures as you may be interested how they go about putting inflatables in and out of the water. Right after ours went in, one was sitting in the water to come out.

We took out T/T (Tender To Coyaba) out for a “test drive”. Unfortunately water was leaking through the hole at the back of the boat where the water was suppose to exit.... called the drain hole/thru hull. This was easily fixed by Paul, of course. We have it on a sea doo ramp locked up at the dock right now. Once we get Coyaba in the water, we will use the davit to lift it out of the water.

No pictures, but we did put a brand new winch on for the davit (from Princess Auto). This is so much quieter. I felt like all eyes were on us in an anchorage when we lowered our dingy or raised it up. The radars, radios and alarms are all working as Paul tested everything out today.

The Customs and Border Protection has their school here as I've mentioned before. I took a picture of the boat you cannot outrun. This weekend they had about 7 in the water here at the marina. I have not seen one woman in training here, all men.... good looking too in full uniform but I'm sure they are sweating with all that equipment and guns attached to their bodies. It is funny to hear their teacher telling them how to park these boats. I hear them yell "back up, back up" , "slow down" etc. ... which I am sure would be the same for me if Paul was telling me how to park this catamaran!

Four motors 225Hp each, a very fast ride indeed!

OPERATION MAYONNAISE

A typical Canadian (and American) would go to their favourite grocery store about once a week and fill the cart full of produce, dairy and canned goods. This practice is especially the norm if you live outside the city limits and do not work in the city. Now in Europe, one usually goes to pick up a few things at a time each and every day as their fridge is small and who there has a freezer? It uses too much electricity. Now, when we venture to the Bahamas I must have everything on board BEFORE we leave the United States. Last year I did provision a bit more in Nassau but this year we are only in Nassau once on the way to the Exumas and once on the way back. This means I have to plan exactly how many mayonnaises I actually need along with olive oil, pepper, salt, paper towels, kleenix and believe me one needs enough toilet paper on board! This requires a bit of planning (who am I fooling, a lot of planning!!).

I have a detailed list from last year and know what is left over so I will actually buy less of those items, but we ran out of kleenix halfway through our trip last year, so I need to buy double of that. AND if we have the room, Paul would like to store extra beer on board. That means when I get to Stuart in November I will be venturing to the Wal-Mart maybe twice a day. I would rather pay $1.45 for a can of mushrooms now than down in Staniel Cay, $4.50.

After I buy each item, I get rid of all cardboard and put things in ziplocks. Getting rid of garbage is $5 a bag in the Bahamas. I write down where exactly I am putting that item, ie: in guest shower cupboard, bottom shelf. I lost a 12 pack of pepsi for a week once! I have totes with numbers on them and keep track when an item is removed from its spot. This saves so much time in the Bahamas, if I need another jar of mayonnaise, I know exactly which tote or shelf it is on.

So I shop for a 14 week holiday... so our BMO Mastercard will be getting a big workout in the next coming weeks. I love the airmiles so we can visit my parents on Vancouver Island … or our sons can take that trip too.

Enjoy your weekend, Monday will be a blog with pictures of action here on Coyaba.

Did You Know: That here in Florida, 24 of beer could cost as low at $18, in Ontario it is about $34, and then in Staniel Cay, Exumas..... $65!!

STILL WORKING

Hello everyone. We finished painting the bottom of the hulls, 4 gallons of paint and many hours of work (for Paul). We saved a lot of money doing it ourselves. Last year we had no time and paid to have it done. There is scaffolding in the way of my photo because the brand new rub rail is in and it is getting installed on Monday. This morning we washed the whole outside of the boat down as all the sanding left a black dust film all over it. It is a very humid day today, the weather changes from one day to the next in the feel of the temperature.

Please note that there is no rub rail. I will post
a picture next week with the new black one on.

Many things happening next week: fibreglass work done on the inside of the platform steps down below in the engine room, the rub rail, water pump for the watermaker installation, and the list goes on. We want the boat to go into the water as soon as possible as we check out of the motel tomorrow. We have a counter air conditioner in the galley and we are anxious to get in the water to use the boat's air conditioner. Then the whole boat is air conditioned. I use the bar countertop preparing food as the galley is occupied.... but down here an air conditioner is a must!!! What did people do in the “olden” days? The molds alone would have kept the housewives very busy.

When we came back last August our two very favourite Canada pillows were full of mold spots all over. I did spend the money washing them in a large machine at the laundromat this week BUT to no avail. I had to throw them out. BUT this July I did get another one on sale, after the holiday. So I took a picture of it. I know, you are thinking, jeez Shannon, you are desparate for a blog post aren't you. Yup, I am.

Our new centrepiece, changed from a wooden dish to
this unique boat shaped dish

The brand new Canada pillow bought after July 1st holiday

Please stay tuned for the next blog,... Operation Mayonnaise! Yes, that post will be a good one.

There are more than 30,000 lakes and over 1000 golf courses located in Florida.

PREPARATION BOTTOM

When a boat is “on the hard” (out of the water), it is normal to paint the bottom of the boat. This special paint is to prevent barnacles and other creatures enjoying a free ride around … and the bottom becomes a “buffet” for other critters. Paul was sanding the bottom of the boat today to get ready to paint tomorrow. Just to get ready to paint is the laying of 6 mil polyethlene (which is the same thing as the vapor barrier when insulating the house). This is laid down under the two hulls so the paint does not seep into the ground. The St. Augustine Marine Center is a very tidy environmentally friendly boatyard. This took about 1 ½ hours this morning with me helping with scissors and duct tape.

All ready to start sanding and painting

Paul is the only one who sanded because there is a special broom handle involved and sandpaper, suit and mask... please see the photo. I was inside doing other stuff … not worth blogging about.

Paul sanding one of the two hulls

Paul during the adventure of sanding

Here at the motel we meet so many interesting people at the pool. We arrive at the pool around 4pm with our cocktail in hand. We've met Americans from Texas, New Hampshire and Cape Cod. The couple from Cape Cod boat in the 1,000 Islands in the summer. What a small world as we've boated there many times. The conversations that the Americans love to have with us is our health care, taxes and their politics.... and the great dollar we have right now!

We have not gone out for dinner since last Thursday so tonight we are heading to a quaint family run restaurant called the Purple Olive. This restaurant has won many awards. We will keep you posted.

1845... Florida is admitted to the Union as the 27^th state.

A PUMPKIN DAY

Today is Sunday and we were blessed to have both engines running smoothly and the generator also. Paul and I went to Wal-Mart, Home Depot and a West Marine this morning to gather things we needed to test engines and generator. This is important before we are in the water. Wow! Is what I can say when everything went “tickety boo” as Paul would say. Last year we were “babying” the generator because of a water leak and also the engines because of a vibration, well all seems pretty good now. I now know how engines are started and how the generator is started “just in case” I seem to need to do those specific things.... yes I will learn how to drive the boat this year!

I have always loved the First United Methodist Church we always drive by here in downtown St. Augustine on our way to the Marine Center. AND every October they have hundreds of pumpkins for sale everyday as a fundraiser (we know what that is like with our three boys in Christian schools in Ontario that get no funds from the Province of Ontario). Today I took a picture of the pumpkins. Many children were there too to pick out the perfect pumpkin for their stoop or porch. We are not home until end of November so there will be no pumpkins for our house. It is surprising what a pumpkin on our porch or stoop means to us … memories, fall harvest, a Halloween adventure or just a great food item. I remember the days when we pulled out all the newspaper and got the carving tools out … what we did for our children! Remember toasting the pumpkin seeds after seasoning them? I actually have an already carved out pumpkin with a light inside that I plug in. I will mention to our adult boys at home to bring out on October 31. They can hand out the chocolate bars that are remembered at our house as they are full size! Even in Florida Halloween signs are everywhere. 

The largest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches 
long (5.3 meters)

OUR NEW INFLATABLE

Inflatable deflated and packaged in a huge zippered bag

Pumped up and looks awesome!

Day one of getting our catamaran water-ready. Paul washed the outside of the boat and I was inside cleaning and putting some provisions away that we brought down in the car. We did open the crated brand new Mercury inflatable. It looks awesome and many people commented on it as they walked by. It has a hard floor bottom as opposed to the soft floor bottom of the last one. It also has a fibreglass bottom compared to the last one. This will zoom along just fine. We brought down our 25hp motor so we will put this dinghy in the water and test drive it next week. Inflatables are taxis for boats at anchor. No boat in the Bahamas travels without one.

Now that I have provisioned for the Bahamas once before I know which products I can only buy in Canada to bring down. Here is a sampling of products that we use at home all the time and I am unable to purchase here in Florida.

Uncle Ben's Rice … the 12 portion size, Natural Select Olive Oil, Roasted Garlic (only instant individual servings of this rice here)

Quinoa at Costco (a fraction of the price than here)

Smoked Oysters, mussels and escargot.... few and far between, but I can buy canned Squid which looks real bad but the boys loved it on a cracker

Knorr Pasta Sauce mix... ie: Parma Rosa, Three Cheese

Mott's Garden Cocktail

Soda Stream Flavours only available in Canada –

Orange/Mango and Orange/Grapefruit at Home Outfitters

Peak Freans No Sugar Added Cookies … any kind.

So these above products I brought down with me, as we fly down again end of December with just carry-ons, no liquid or heavy items allowed.

Paul and I walked the beach tonight just for a change. Down here I forget that you can drive on the beach in the daylight hours. So different. There is a specific laneway so no worries of cars just going crazy driving all over the place. The surf was loud and so beautiful. I will bring our camera next time.

How can you tell the length of an alligator?

Each inch from its eyes to the tip of nose equals one foot!

A MEMORABLE WELCOME CENTER

We have traveled 2,140 km in three days and had great weather and not too much construction. Of course we went directly to St. Augustine Marine Center as our brand new inflatable arrived just before we did inside a damaged crate. We wanted to check out the crate as soon as possible to make sure the boat inside was not damaged. It looks pretty good but we do have ten days to notify the supplier and return it. So, tomorrow is a day of inflating the new dinghy … I'm sure I will upload a picture or two.

We are staying in St. Augustine at America's Inn with a coupon ($39 for the night). A great room with a microwave and mini fridge. This Inn has an outdoor pool and the heat is not super hot like in August. This will be good working weather.

We always stop at the Florida Welcome Center right after we leave Georgia to get the coupon books, stretch our legs and use the washrooms as do many tourists. Today was an experience. As I was walking back to our car I passed the driver's side of a white suburban truck and saw money on the ground. I looked inside the truck, saw no one so proceeded to pick up all the money. Initially I thought this was all play money as there was so much. I quickly picked it all up and continued back to our car. I showed Paul and counted the money and then waited for the owners of the truck to come back. Paul went to the driver as soon as he arrived and then asked him if he lost any money. … and asked how much and sure enough it was him that lost $1,200 dollars. Yes, my hands were shaking when I was counting all that cash as I felt that someone's holiday money is sitting in my hands. The gentleman was so grateful that wanted to reward Paul but no way was Paul going to take anything. (I was standing further away at our car) This gentleman owns a fishing lure company and we are to send him our address so he can mail some lures to us. We will send him the address here... the St. Augustine Marine Centre as we have stuff arriving every day for the next while. A few lures will come in handy in the salt water... as we are beginners!

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, 

but small ones surround us every day". - Sally Koch

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Happy Thanksgiving today from Canada as it is our Thanksgiving here. We ate, celebrated God's goodness and then ate some more as I am sure most of us do on special occasions. Today we are preparing to drive down to Florida once more to work on Coyaba. This time we are down until middle of November. The boat will go in the water after the bottom is painted and final touches are completed. So let my blogging begin once more. (or as I say to Paul, my "diary" begins again).

looking out to our backyard