I am sitting in our house in Tallahassee as I write this. The last week and a half went by in a blur as we moved almost every day along the same route we took back in April, but northbound this time. From Ft. Myers we stopped one evening along the Intracoastal (ICW) on our way to Sarasota. A great little anchorage in the middle of fancy neighborhood that sits right on the waterway. In Sarasota, we enjoyed the luxuries of having friends nearby again. Stacey loaned us her house for laundry and Norm and Beth (and Lila and Cooper) invited Kaylee to spend the night and go to gymnastics day camp the next day with them. She was so excited. And Stacey's mom once again fed the whole crew homemade pizza with enough to feed us for the next couple days. 

Leaving Sarasota, our friends Dan and Pam joined us for the day sail to St. Pete. We sailed early before the wind died and we motored to Egmont Key where we did a little swimming. Dan enjoyed a swim earlier off the back of the moving boat and Pam seemed to settle in to the cruising lifestyle without any guidance. 

We anchored again at Maximo Point and enjoyed dinner with Pam and Dan before they drove back to Sarasota to pick up the car. Ken, Kaylee and I continued on the next day to Clearwater and then Anclote Key.

The morning of Tuesday, the 23rd we pulled out of Anclote Key to make the 140 mile (30-36 hour) crossing back to Carrabelle, but about 10 miles out we saw the Gulf pop with storms all over. We decided it wasn't worth the risk and turned around to go back in to Tarpon Springs. The upside of the delay was Dan would now be able to join us again for the crossing the next day (Wednesday) when the weather would hopefully be better. The weather was better . . . to begin with. But as the day went on and the evening arrived, the storms started to pop up on the radar again. Thank goodness for Serius Weather Radar connected to our GPS, it shows us real time weather radar, storm intensity, direction and speed. Using this information, we weaved in front of and behind the bulk of the storms. For the most part we dodged all the bad weather, but not the high seas and wind. We were heeled over as far as I can recall on the entire trip. 

Kaylee got sick first and I followed a few hours later. I do not actually throw up, but am pretty much out of commission, and was for about 16 hours. Thankfully Dan was with us or Ken would not have slept at all throughout the night. Even though we didn't go through any storms directly we still encountered the wind, up to about 35 knots. This made for some stressful moments during the night trying to get the head sail rolled in. By mid morning Thursday things began to calm down and the storms dissipated. Kaylee started feeling better first and quickly bounced back to non-stop talking and eating. Ken was getting some much needed sleep and I was still incapacitated downstairs while Dan manned the helm and Kaylee's unending energy now that she felt better.

As the afternoon progressed the weather and seas continued to get better and better. We had resumed sailing once we knew we were clear of the storms and now the sailing was perfect in 15 knot winds and calming seas. By mid afternoon I was back up and functional. The night brought a nice sunset, beautiful stars with the Milky Way visible and then a rising almost full moon. A much better ending to our trip than previous 20 hours.

We decided to anchor off St. Teresa around 1am and get some sleep instead of pushing the final 3-4 hours to the Carrabelle River. The next morning there was not a breath of wind. The wind indicator actually measured 0.0 knots - I'd never see that before. We motored the final 15 miles and savored our last day living on the boat.

Something is only funny if it rings true, right? Well, I found this very funny when I saw it hanging on a wall in the Bahamas. I will end on this:

We left Ft. Myers twice this morning. First around 8, but the weather was looking a little iffy with storms to the east and we didn't want to stay inside on the intracoastal because of some tide issues in a particularly bad spot where the channel is narrow and current really strong. So we turned around and went back to the mooring ball for an hour or two. The rough weather to the east looked like it was dissipating, so we left for the second time on our originally planned route outside around Sanibel Island then north in to the Gulf right along the west coast. Our first couple hours the wind was right on our stern where we could not make good use of both sails, so Ken finally got to try going 'wing on wing'. This is where one sail is out to one side and the other sail out to the other side. It isn't something to do very often because it is only when the wind is right behind you and does not allow much room for steering error. If you turn one direction or the other a little too much, you can have an uncontrolled jibe. But we were able to sail like this for almost two hours and it sped us up considerably. We have now turned north and are running up the west side of Captiva Island. We will go back inside this afternoon through Boca Grande Pass.

We've been moving for past 3-4 days steady, working our way north and toward home. We left Marathon Sunday and anchored near Shark River, just west of the Everglades Sunday evening. Monday we sailed to Marco Island, had a great dinner at a little Tiki Hut with very nice folks who are full time live-a-boards. And Kaylee found some kids to play with.

Tuesday we sailed and motored while dodging rain and storms to Ft. Myers. We were going to eat dinner on the boat, but noticed a restaurant on the east bank that looked interesting. Pulling out the binoculars, we saw the name was Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill. It just so happens Ken just finished and I am half way through a book by Randy Wayne White where Doc Ford is the main character and the story takes place on Sanibel Island. The author, a local who used to be a fishing guide in the area, has a series of Doc Ford novels and owns this restaurant. We couldn't pass it up, so we headed ashore. Glad we did. The place was very nice and great food.

As I finish writing this, we are pulling in the sails. The weather we saw this morning looks like it is finally going to catch us. So the motor is on and the sails are down. Since leaving Miami about a week ago we have had fantastic sailing weather though. We have only had to motor as weather approached and in and out of channels.

Tomorrow will be a mostly motor day up the ICW to Sarasota. Then to St. Pete, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs and home to Carrabelle. See everybody soon!

Today we got about 5 miles of walking in while we ran all over creation in Miami. First on our list was to make it to Customs and Border Patrol to 'check-back-in' to the US. We called last evening, as we were supposed to, to report our return and give all our vessel and passport information, but they still require you to show up in person within 24 hours. It's always an adventure navigating a big city with no vehicle, but we cobbled together the bus and metro system with a significant amount of walking in between. Once we finally made it to the sea port and found CPB, they glanced at our passports and said, 'thank you, that's it'. It's nice that is was so easy, but I'm not sure why we had to go all the way down there when they already had all the information. Next we decided to go grab the Marlins game since it was an afternoon game and relatively close by. Kaylee had never been to a professional baseball game. The Marlins beat the Braves, so the home crowd was happy.

After the game, we metro'd it back to Coconut Grove, another mile walk back down to the water, a little grocery shopping and back to the boat. That pretty much took up the whole day. We are cooking dinner now and checking on this little tropical storm. Looks like we should still be able to leave in the morning for Rodriguez Key and then on to Marathon Friday.

We entered US waters about an hour or two ago after a good easy crossing from Bimini today. Not much wind, a few showers (no lightning), so we motored the whole day. We will be moored back in Coconut Grove for a couple days and depending on Chantal's track, moving in to the Keys later this week.

5:30pm update: we changed course to get a better wind direction and are going to Bimini. Should be in a dock by 7pm. If weather holds we will cross to Miami tomorrow.

7:45am: We successfully left the marina this morning in 12 knot winds. Hope to be in West Palm early evening.

It's hard to complain about sitting here in the Bahamas, but we are itching to get moving again. The wind and thunderstorms just keep blowing. The marina we are in is nice enough, but a little over two miles from Lucaya (the tourist area) and three miles the other direction from Freeport proper, so we feel a little trapped without transportation. Ken and I would happily walk the miles, but it is a little much to ask Kaylee to do in the heat of the day. We have used our time to catch up on about everything we can . . . 
- laundry
- grocery run
- a couple minor repairs
- cleaned the boat (outside and inside)
- wiped down the windows
- cleaned the bathroom
- polished the stainless
- wiped the ceiling of all mildew
- cleaned the bottom of the dinghy (you know we were getting desperate for something to do!)

So we broke down and rented our first car of the trip for two days. We used it to do a little grocery shopping, eat out one night and to explore the island. We drove the 50 or so miles to the east end of the island, including a visit to the Lucayan National Park where we saw caves, bats and examples of all the different habitats on Grand Bahama. 

That evening we used the car to go back in to Lucaya for the 4th of July. Yes, in the Bahamas they celebrate the 4th with/for us. Americans are the majority of their tourists and they are happy to encourage a party atmosphere for any reason. Their Independence Day is July 10 so July 4-10 is a big long celebration. This year is their 40th anniversary of independence from Britain. They had a nice firework show, live music and lots of dancing. Kaylee had a blast! The marina where we are docked is part of a resort that is mostly time-shares where the guests are here Saturday to Saturday. Kaylee scoped out the kids pretty quickly at the pool and played with a few consistently throughout the week. Almost the whole resort was in Lucaya for the 4th celebration and Kaylee found her buddies to dance with. When the band took a break, a DJ played music. All the kids under about 12 took over the stage and danced like maniacs.

Our best guess for the next possibility for departure is Monday. We'll keep everyone posted on whether that works out or not. It's going to be time to do that whole list above again soon if we don't get moving.

We tried to go out this morning to Bimini, but we could pretty much tell as soon as we entered the channel that it was too rough. We still had to go all the way out to be able to turn around though. It confirmed what we saw. Very rough. Kaylee was up, but I told her to stay on her bed until we got through the rough stuff. As soon as we hit the first big wave, I heard her scream. I thought, 'oh no, she hit her head' and rushed back down below. She was sitting on her bed . . . soaked. I had missed one side window when I closed hatches earlier. Other than a wet bed and clothes everything was fine. We turned around and went straight back to the dock.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy. We got some boat chores done and watched a movie or two. A nice relaxed birthday for me. Thank you for all the birthday wishes I received today. I apologize for not being able to respond to all. Connection to the Internet is still pretty frustrating. Here is my card from Kaylee:

Since we didn't make it out today, our schedule is much iffier. The wind is forecast to be high for the foreseeable future and the dock prices and availability at Bimini are crazy because of the holiday weekend. So now it's looking like next week before we are on the move again.

I have pictures in so many places (my phone, my big camera and my little camera that can go underwater), it is hard for me to get them all in one spot and organized to put in to my posts. Anyway, here are a few more from the little camera.

It has been a few weeks since I had a good internet connection. Since leaving Hope Town for the second time, we visited Great Guana Cay and Green Turtle Cay again. We visited Nippers Beach Bar on Great Guana on a Sunday afternoon for the Pig Roast and party. Mostly we just watched and played in the waves on the beach.

Next, we travelled north again towards Green Turtle so we would be close as it got nearer to when my parents and Molly would arrive for a four day visit. We had about three days so went to the north end of Manjack Cay where we found one of the most perfect anchorages. It was deep right up close to the beach, well protected and beautiful. We spent all three days there swimming, snorkeling and playing on the beach. It is also a popular spot with the local guides who bring small groups for day picnics where they grill fish and feed the stingrays. The stingrays, turtles and sharks are so used to this routine, they come right up to you. We were able to pet the stingrays!

June 20th we left Manjack and docked back at the Green Turtle Club to welcome my parents and Molly. Molly had a late flight (and delayed) and wasn't going to be able to make the last scheduled ferry to Green Turtle. We were scrambling to set up a charter boat when we got the message from Molly that she had met someone else going to Green Turtle and she would be able to hitch a ride with her on their boat. Whew!

We had a great few days snorkeling, eating out, and sailing back up to Manjack on a day trip. Molly has lots of great pictures I'm hoping to get a hold of soon. The lionfish roundup was also during the visit. Molly hitched a ride out to look for some, but the weather wasn't great. We did get to taste lots of lionfish later in the day, prepared multiple ways. Yummy!

The 24th we said good-bye to all our visitors and started getting serious about our decisions on where to go next and how long to stay. We have been torn about staying in the Abacos a little longer versus having plenty of time to get the boat all the way back up to Carrabelle. We really wanted to stay and experience the beginning of the Regatta in Abaco, but it was still 10 days away, so we decided to start heading back. We spent one night at Powell Cay and then two long sailing days, one to Mangrove and the next to Freeport. 

We live our lives by the weather, the wind and the tides. We knew we had to leave Mangrove early in the morning so we would get to a particular spot that we had to go through at high tide. We made that, but then by the time we got around West End to Freeport and close the marina we were hoping to stay, it was getting close to low tide and the marina said we couldn't get in their channel until midnight. Not wanting to do that, we found another place close by with a little deeper channel. That is where we are now, Ocean Reef Yacht Club. It sounds fancy, but it is not. It is nice enough though and has a pool, which Kaylee loves, and is cheap, so it is great place to be while we wait for good weather to make our next jump. As of today our plan is to leave early tomorrow for Bimini, then on to Miami the next day. Wind and weather forecasts may change and so may our plans.

Look forward to seeing and talking to everyone soon!