THANK YOU MOM

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

"Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking it's life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"You will simply call her, 'Mom.'"
- Unknown

SIT OUTSIDE OR TABLE INSIDE?

When you live in Ottawa, Canada (or mostly anywhere in Canada), one gets about 90 days of warm summer weather.... of those days maybe if you're lucky, you get 60 that you can eat out on a patio for lunch. We are here in Stuart, FL and realize that today at lunch we had the opposite “problem”. It was so so hot here that we opted to eat inside the restaurant instead of on the patio!! It was in the 90's F (high 30's C) today with a humidity of over 90%.... but there was a sidewalk sale in historical downtown here and we were going! After a 20 minute walk in these high temps, it was lunch time and a beer was needed. We knew we made the right decision.

Walking around historical Stuart, one sees some wonderful sights!

This house loves dogs as this is their mailbox!

One of a few murals here in Stuart

We are heading to St. Augustine with our car on Monday and leaving the car there. We will rent a car to get back to Stuart. We leave Stuart Tues or Wed on Coyaba heading north on the ICW to St. Augustine. This is a nice trip on the waterway and we do enjoy it. We always see dolphins and other boats heading north. Hurricane season begins June 1 and most insurance companies want your boat out of the water if you are not nearby to move it in case a named storm wants to visit.

There have been over 480 tropical or subtropical cyclones (hurricanes) that have hit Florida since the 1800's. 

MOVING COYABA IN MAY

We are home with family and friends until next month when we head back down to Florida. Hurricane season means the boat is moved up to St. Augustine, taken out of the water and put "on the hard" (up on blocks). Our insurance company does not like Coyaba in the water during hurricane season unless we are with her all the time. I will not blog again until around May 8th when we get down there. We try to make it a holiday as we venture north on the ICW for about 3 nights. St. Augustine is the oldest city in America. We love it there. Thanks for following our adventures this year and stay tuned next month.

The last major hurricane to hit St. Augustine was Doria in 1964! This is why we have chosen the safest city we know on the east side of Florida. Keep our fingers crossed.

GREENERY SCENERY

This is a tree that was cut down on purpose. This Elm tree
died many years ago. We now have some firewood
for the fall. Bring out the chainsaw!

The only greenery are the evergreen trees in the backyard! Snow is not agreeable to a tanned person. I had put my boots away in December before we left, this morning I needed the boots but I was rushed and could not find my boots. I wore old sneakers with a good grip in freezing rain. I had a commitment that I did not want to miss. The snow scraper was in the car thank goodness!

All this will be melted in a few hours, but unpleasant when you have to wear gloves to fill up with gas at the self-serve station.

 



PREPARATIONS TO LEAVE

What does a boater do before one leaves it for awhile?

Salt water is our enemy down south so we:

Flush port and starboard engines with fresh water (I have to help and start the engines while Paul is flushing them with the hose)

Flush the generator same thing (yes, I am starting the generator, lots of buttons!)

Flush the outboard engine with the fresh water and drain the fuel.

We pickle the watermaker. (This does not mean edible pickles... hahhaha)

Fill the freshwater tanks with water to the top so no air are in the tanks.

Change the engine oil on the generator AND the port and starboard engine.

Hose down all the lines (ropes) and stuff in forward hatches with fresh water. When we travel salt water enters those compartments sometimes. Let all this dry big time in the sun then put away again. Anything with salt on it does not dry, period!! We have boated in fresh water all these years so we are on a learning curve.

I washed all the insides and outsides of the canvas windows in the flybridge, looks good up there.

Remove all the electronics from the flybridge and put away.

Make sure the bilges are all bone dry (running the air conditioner with the engine rooms open).

Toilets use salt water to flush, we will be flushing a few times with fresh water before we leave.

Tie up the boat with numerous lines as if a hurricane is coming so we can sleep at night in Canada.

Usually get pumped out but the P.O.O.P boat (Pump Out Operation Program) comes on Thursdays, so no go. We will get pumped out as as soon as we come back. We fly home on Wednesday because we want to spend time with our middle son before he leaves on military employment for rest of summer. He leaves April 15^th.

We give frozen food and some fridge food away. There is a bachelor living on this boat right in front of us. We gave him some food last year too. We won't be back until about May 7, power could go out and food could go bad!... smelly!

We go out for lunch, JCP, dinner, drink up some more wine, sunbathe, buy 2 pairs of jeans for Paul, drink some more wine, shop at Kohls, another lunch, walk the docks, read a book, shop at Sam's Club (as there is no club in Ottawa), book flights, book rental car to get to airport, store our car in a storage unit for our return, another lunch out. Do a Wal-Mart trip (yes, I can't believe it either) and then wear clothes conducive to Ottawa weather on the way home... running shoes, pants and yes a JACKET. James picks us up and hug him asap!

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." --Lin Yutang

SEXY WINE BOMB!

Paul likes to shop for a wine based on the
creativity of the label maker and
the label Name!!

This Mail Boat is the connection to the outside world
for many settlement islands in the Bahamas. This boat
fills up with goods from Nassau and carries on

Paul walking the beach near Samson Cay, Exumas

Matt with a huge, giant spider... YES it is dead
how else could he not be afraid!

Huge blooms at Bimini Sands Marina. I look forward
to Spring time at home!

Paul and blue waters in Bimini

This is the ferry from Ft Lauderdale to Bimini
every Friday (weather permitting)

A cool old boat that we saw at Lake Worth

Paul loves wigs and wanted to be a pirate!
Yes he likes his rum too.

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop" -- Mother Teresa

EXUMAS TO OUR LIFE

When you have been “away” from the amenities you are used to, it is funny the things you miss. Boaters that are following this blog may relate and non-boaters may have some understanding.

FROM-------TO

a dinghy for transportation .......our car

showering at night after the hot sun........showering and BLOWDRYING my hair in morning

rationing water........ no charge water here at the marina and home

mopping the boat after a rain ............lawn mowers and leaf blowers

cash ..........credit card most of the time

no make-up ..........putting on make-up again (for me), yes, I must!

flip flops .........sandals and running shoes!

From a 400 square foot store ...........Big Box Stores with parking issues

blue sparkling waters ...........green grass that grows like crazy!

Toe rings and anklets......... rings on fingers and bracelets

a wallet .............an actual purse with “stuff in it”

a small bbq on board .............our patio big bbq on the back deck

two small lawn chairs.............. our patio furniture with cushions

commuting on water to town............... driving with hundreds of others

no television ..............endless selection and now commercials

rationing your romaine lettuce .........endless supply of produce, I hugged a zuchinni!

Mahi Mahi..........hamburgers, steak, pork and lamb!

We are loving being back and enjoy the many amenities we have missed. Driving our car again took a few minutes (I forgot where the volume was for the stereo!). We will book our flights home to Ottawa soon but need to decompress a bit. We have been blessed with the news that we will be grandparents for the first time end of October AND that means I had to shop in a baby department today!! What a great year 2013 will bring. We all hope your year will be a great one too.

I will keep posting until end of May.

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humour, comfort, lessons in life. And most importantly, COOKIES!