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| Connor making lentil burgers! His specialty!! |
Thursday, December 31, 2015
2015-12-31 - to No Name Harbor, FL
What a rocky night in the anchorage. The boat behind us, we found out, were all sick in the evening and ready to get to shore. We all actually enjoyed the swaying and slept like 'babies'.
Kerry headed to shore to do some work using the internet. The water taxi picked him up - it was all hands on deck on the taxi to hold the boat still while passengers got in. Risky business...the boys and I stayed inside playing card games and singing away to Taylor Swift to help ease the bounciness. He returned and we released ourselves from the mooring ball and headed only an hour to No Name Harbour where we would have our last moments on US soil. We spent the afternoon tying things down, putting our hammocks and accessories away and getting ready for the crossing in the morning. The window has opened and there are a lot of boats staging here for the crossing. Our plans are a minimum of 8-10 to Bimini or, if we are all feeling fine, heading over to Nassau which is a 30hour trek.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
2015-12-29 - to Miami, FL (South Beach)
We are heading out to get closer to Miami Beach today. After a little swim and paddle board, we were off. We have been watching the forecasts and it looks like Friday will be our crossing. We plan to leave from No Name Harbour to Bimini or...if weather permits, maybe go all of the way to Nassau,
Monday, December 28, 2015
2015-12-28 - in Miami, FL (Bakers Haulover Inlet)
We have heard that cruising can be defined as 'boat maintenance in exotic places'...this was that day. Kerry had a suspicion that the batteries were probably due for a change. He had decided the night before that his suspicions were correct and that we needed to replace the batteries. In the morning we did a quick internet search and phoning, pulled out of the anchorage at the park and moved over to an anchorage outside a marina. We then managed to remove all of our batteries and load them into the dinghy. Kerry took them, got a taxi, and then returned with 4 fresh batteries a couple of hours later. We worked hard all afternoon filing down the connections and terminals until all was wired up and, when we switched back on...all was ready to go. We fired up the engines and headed back to the anchorage from last night...anchored...and headed to the shore to have a bit of fun! Dylan enjoyed the paddle board and Connor and Kerry raced swimming across the little bay.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
2015-12-27 - to Miami, FL (Bakers Haulover Inlet)
We finally broke free of Ft. Lauderdale today. It was fun, but it was great to be moving again to new places. Port Everglades was full of cruise ships - quite impressive. We managed to squeeze through the, again, many bridges from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami. We ended up in Bakers Haulover Inlet where we had stayed 10 years ago. It was a great spot for Connor, especially. After we anchored we blew up our new paddleboards and took the to the beach. At first, he was sceptical of the surroundings as it seemed the age group was between 3 and 5 years old. Within minutes he was surrounded by kids all wanting to climb aboard the paddle boards and share the experience. Half of the kids did not speak English but all seem to understand each other and get on really will. It was a nice way to end the day.
2015-12-26 - in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Headed to the beach again for some fun. With the east winds the waves are large and the riptides were present. Also, the lifeguards had flagged for dangerous marine life a.k.a jellyfish. There were several scattered along the waters edge and floating in the water. Connor was not thrilled about getting in the water...we all ended up playing Frisbee. Dylan was a giggling spectator!
2015-12-25 - in Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! We walked the strip at Ft. Lauderdale. Lots of Santas out in their hats. A special treat was a large SUV that Santa and his few elves were drving. When they saw the kids, they jumped out and gave both boys a little gift. It was such a magical surprise and the boys really enjoyed that. As they drove off they called our the boys names and said, 'goodbye'. A while later antother Santa stopped by off of his motorcycle and gave the boys candy canes. Special day!
2015-12-23 - to Ft. Lauderdale, FL
We made it through the many bridges leading up to Ft. Lauderdale. The rush to each bridge is always a tense endeavour. Each bridge has it's own opening schedule - some on the hour and half hour and the others quarter hours. They are well timed for a faster boat to make it to the next bridge. We are well loaded down and slower than most sport fish or motor yachts that seems to effortlessly make it for each opening. At one bridge, they were kind enough to leave it open for an extra minute (but what feels like several when you are racing to make it) while we were full throttle to get through. The last bridge was the Las Olas Bridge and it was the most exciting. As we were about to head through one of our engines turned off. Luckily, Kerry noticed and rushed to get it started again. There is always a swift current thought these bridges, so you need to have good steering ability. He ended up getting it going but when we stopped in the mooring field just after the bridge, we discovered that there was a large, industrial strength garbage bag tightly wrapped around the prop. We managed to get to shore after to check into the marina and make our way to the beach. We have a new beach wheelchair for Dylan now with big wheels that make going to the beach a breeze. We could easily push him to the shoreline. It was also great for standing him up with as we balanced on the two front wheels so that he could experience the sand and the waves on his legs.
2015-12-21 - Ft. Pierce, FL to Jupiter Island, FL
We have spent the last few days getting the boat packed up and ready to leave. We have both felt a little more relaxed about this next adventure. We know that paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, etc) are at a premium in the Bahamas. It is not uncommon to find a larger package (normally found in our supermarkets for $6-$10) running up to $30 for the same SKU. We now have a sizable cache on board. Pop is another culprit...we have a bit of that as well. We also have a 'silos worth' of lentils, beans and other legumes ready for the pressurized cooker. I don't have any familiar recipes but I am sure I can get creative once we break loose from the US.
So, after running from store to store we are finally ready and provisioned to leave the docks at Ft. Pierce. The last thing to do was to park our van at a storage facility and all would be complete. We managed to pull away from the dock at 11:30am, finally saying goodbye to all of the hard work behind us...ready to enjoy the next few months.
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