Back to the Exumas....yipeeeeeee!!!!!!!

And we couldn't be happier!  I fear Nassau is not our favourite spot and Paradise Island was experienced in rather poor weather, soooo, provisioned and maintained, we are off again!

I realize it has been a very long time since I have posted here and all I can say it that we have been very busy!  Having daughter Cait and her little buddy Mr Man on board has been such a delight!  From Old Bahamas Bay Resort in West End, Grand Bahama Island, we were off to Mangrove Cay and then Great Sale Cay then over to Foxtown.


As we were preparing to leave Great Sale Cay, we found all of our electronics were out!  WHAT!!!!  No depth sounder!!!  Eeeek!!!!  Fortunately, shortly into our transit we connected with another sailor who was happy to have us follow him through to Foxtown where we hope we would be able to figure out what the heck had gone wrong.  Well....no such luck so we "hitch hiked" with another yachtie and off we went to the next anchorage.  Whew, so far so good!  Feeling fairly confident, we headed out to Marsh Harbour and found a sailor who agreed to let us follow them in.  Talk about blessed!!!!  Three hops and three generous cruisers just happy to help a fellow cruiser out.  

Once in Marsh Harbour we had a number of issues to sort out and I will leave the details of these events to the Captain to share and exaggerate at will.  Suffice to say, poor Cait and I had to spend many hours at The Jib Room doing, uhhhh, laundry, ya that's it, and drinking Kalik Light, with lime by the pool or sitting at the bar, chatting with the locals and other cruisers.  Sooo much fun!!!!  And The Jib Room is a must stop for any of you cruisers out there.  Parties and dancing, pool, laundry, showers and the best bartenders (I mean you, Stephen and Jason) anyone could ever ask for.  In addition, we met so many wonderful people, out on the water, like we are, just having a grand time and slowing down the clock.  We spent much time with Billy and Eileen on a run to Guana Cay as their delightful son Erick was visiting.  Just to say what a great guy young Erick is, he even climbed a coconut tree so we could all have fresh coconut and try "putting da lime in da coconut" which was one of the many songs we were singing the night before on board Circe 2!

We have crossed from the Abacos to Eleuthra to the Exumas and finally to Nassau where we very tearfully put our Cait and her little "Mista Mon" on board a WestJet flight to Vancouver.  She and her little sidekick have brought us so much joy during our travels and we will miss them both very much although she has suggested she may come by while we are in the BVI's for a little visit.  I sure hope so as besides being one of the most cheerful people you could have aboard, she is extremely willing crew and and amazing galley cook!  Love and hugs to you, Miss Cait!

So, here we are in Nassau, excited to be moving to the Exumas in the morning and feeling very, very blessed to have this wonderful opportunity and to live the life we live.  I won't pretend it isn't without it's "broken parts and broken systems" but we have been truly privileged to peek into the lives of another culture and come away knowing how fortunate we are to have lived the lives we've lived and to grasp this adventure into our hearts and into our souls.  We have been blessed with good health and a little MacGuyver instinct (absolutely necessary if you are sailing)!

If ever I have felt the need to be thankful, it is surely now.  Love, hugs and prayers to my brother Gord, we're all pulling for you!!!  And love, hugs and prayers to all my babies, family and peeps!!!  We miss you!!!  Come and visit us any time, just tell the driver you will need to take a couple of turns and three boats to that little, secluded anchorage with the beautiful sunsets, pristine beaches and world class snorkelling....that is where you will find us, at least for now.

Love and hugs all around,
Shelley and Gregg

So how does it really feel when you lose your electronics in 8' of water??????

Seasons Greetings everyone and I must say, our adventure continues to provide us with much....ohhhhh, what's the word.....hmmmmmm, well anyway, probably shouldn't be using that kind of language in public. ;o)  We can now attest to the fact that losing your electronics, depth sounder, GPS, wind speed/direction is quite survivable (is this a word?) even when you carry a draft of 6' as long as you are of stout mind (or drinking stout) and body!  We can't quite believe our great good fortune at having the opportunity to basically repair or replace damn (it's true, I've been saying damn quite a bit lately) near every system on this floating bit of paradise....seriously though, things have been getting sooo crazy that I thought I would bring aboard a little travelling Buddha...you know, a sort of talisman to remind us to stay calm, appreciate this amazing life we are living (no seriously, amazing, amazing, amazing....some people say ohhhmmm, I think it has a lot to do with perspective) and remain grateful and humbled by the many blessings we have been granted along the way.  So we find our little travelling (he wears a knapsack and everything!) Buddha buddy here 

and there around the boat and we appreciate that he is taking care of things as best he can for a little guy so you can imagine how saddened I was one day to find him standing in the corner with his back turned!  I mean really, if that doesn't tell you things have become a bit too much I truly don't know what would.  I mean, I admit it's a heck of a lot to ask of such a little guy even if he is still smiling!  The good news is, Mr. C Moose continues to drink and party like there's no

tomorrow...perhaps he also believes this is too much to be true?  Perhaps he is behaving like a true sailor and has decided this show will go on and intends to make the most of it!  I know one thing is for sure, you can sail in the Bahamas without electronics (and, as it turns out, a number of other systems) provided you have charts and a willing bow ornament with all seeing eyes, (on this occasion, it was the Admiral) watching the sea for anything that might cause damage to the hull and while it is rather a tricky and unnerving prospect, the Captain and crew of Simplicity II have survived the experience and fully intend to embellish our tale to greater and greater effect each time it is told.....stay tuned!

In other news, we are finding the idea of Christmas in the sunshine with coconut palm trees and beaches a bit out of sync and may start avoiding the businesses who insist on playing Christmas music....call it denial but Christmas means making snow angels and cold weather and a sweet smelling tree decorated with memories of years gone by and big turkey dinners with all the trimmings.....yup, pretty sure it's denial.

Still....Happy Holidays to all with special hugs and kisses to our family and friends wherever they are.

Love and hugs all around,
Shelley and Gregg
Cait and Mr Man
Travelling Buddha and Mr C Moose
xoxoxo

Whoo hooooooo! We're Back in the Bahamas!!!!!

Our newest permanent crew!

Well, dear reader, I am back on Simplicity II after 2 months in Victoria, BC, the details of which I shan't bore you with.  Suffice to say, all is well and I couldn't be happier to be back in the Bahamas enjoying our life afloat!  Daughter Caitlin and her little dog Mr Man have joined us for the next while and we couldn't be happier to have them aboard.  :o)

The Market at Port Lucaya

We flew into Freeport where Gregg met up with us after dropping our dear friend, Tom Cook,(who had joined him in Wrightsville Beach, NC,) and headed to Port Lucaya as our girl was docked in front of the marketplace.  As we were the second slip in from the market, we enjoyed music from dawn till the wee hours of the morning and lots of shopping for everyone!  Next day, we met a delightful couple of sailors from North Carolina (Cassie and Chris) who were docked next to us and even enjoyed an impromptu "unplugged" concert courtesy of Chris! Such a fun pair and both nurses!  With a little luck, we hope to meet up with these two in January in the Exumas....yup, life is good!  A day at the beach for some snorkeling and a "fish fry" night filled with dancing and much laughter (maybe a little rum on the side) and we were on our way to the West End and Old Bahamas Bay Resort.  We had a small weather window so with an average of 6 - 7 knots we made great time and even got out the snorkel gear on arrival!  We are currently one of three transient vessels here in the resort so we have all of the on-site amenities to ourselves, makes it kind of hard to come up with any excuses for not using the work-out facilities!



Cait and Mr Man underway  :o)

Last night found us in gale force 8 winds with the highest speed measured from the top of our mast being 41+ knots!  We were ever so grateful to be well tethered in on the dock as the whistling and howling suggested great strength in those winds.  We will be here for the next few days until the storm blows over and it looks like a couple of days worth of weather window to get us to Grand Cay, Walker Cay and Double Breasted Cay.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep you all posted, but this remains to be seen!  We'll have to wait and see where I am able to find cell coverage and internet, ha!



Cait and Gregg after snorkelling

Well, I'm off for a little stroll...hopefully the wind won't pick me up and take me away!

Until next time.....

Love and hugs,
Shelley and Gregg

PS...Just want to say thanks again, Tom, for joining Gregg while I was away.  Hope you enjoyed the adventure and we hope to see you and your lovely wife Lydia in the spring! xoxo

It's Been Awhile....

Yes, it's been awhile since I have posted on this site and I hope you will all forgive me!  I had to make a trip back home to Victoria and now that I am booked with a return flight, daughter Caitlin and grandpuppy Mr. Man in tow, I feel I am ready to think about our journey once again.

In the meantime, Gregg has been taking care of "our girl".  The generator is now fixed and the head's have been maintained and she is working her way back down the east coast of the USA to the point where launch will be made back across the Gulf Stream and into the Bahamas.

When thinking about the idea of me coming home on my own and Gregg staying with the boat it seemed like "no big deal" as Gregg was becoming quite competent in terms of single handing anyway and who knew how much longer it would be before our Gennie was completely repaired?  It may be just a couple of weeks hanging "on the hook" in Wrightsville Beach so no worries, mon!

Of course, as situations develop, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and life aboard can become pretty lonesome when you're all alone.  The good news, though, is that our friend, Tom Cook, who many of you  know, kindly offered to join the Captain and has been crewing alongside Gregg for a while now!

Thanks so much, Tom, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys in Freeport in a couple of weeks!

Until next time...

Love and hugs,
Shelley

Our Genie Girl LOVES Wrightsville Beach And So Do We!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Well, we’re pretty sure we will never leave Wrightsville Beach and truthfully, as far as places to break down go, this is THE PRIMO location to have to sit and wait!  It’s true that it took several days to figure out was wrong with our dear, dear Genie (it’s important that she not know she was on the brink of walking the plank)…..normally, she performs beautifully, providing us with AC and water from our water maker and charges up our battery bank not to mention the myriad of other treats and excesses that make a cruisers life considerably more palatable.  The thing is, one day, while running along like the sweet thing she is, she just up and shut down!  Just like that!!!  No more anything!!!!  Uh Oh…is this payback for the days we spent at the beach????   Hmmmm….   Well, as seasoned cruisers know, a day at the marina can often turn into many days at the marina and sadly, we’ve had our share!  The thing is…it’s a boat, and granted, we consider her “our girl” but she hasn’t really gotten to love us yet, and we…..clearly…..haven’t gotten to know her well enough to know that she decides.  Everything.  If she wants to go to the marina, all she has to do is stop something from working and off we go….in search of an engineer who will purr and postulate and in the end, declare….”she’s a boat”!.. Like that somehow entitles her to spend oodles and oodles of her owner’s money and dictate where said owner will stop and for how long and how much it will cost them, thereby determining how long they will actually remain the owner.  I think, perhaps,  she has not yet decided to allow us to own her.  I have an idea that we have a few experiences to go through yet before we will have proven ourselves worthy of her good graces.  Call it a trial by fire.  And so, we continue along, marching to her very specific tune, as and when she desires because, you know, at the end of the day...she always teaches us something valuable or exposes us to a wonderful world that we hadn’t planned to slow down long enough to enjoy.  Now, if she would just stop being such a princess with the spending, we could certainly find a nice yin and yang….right?  Everybody just having a good time on a very loose timeline….ahhhhh….the journey.  :o)

 

Oh, by the way, did I mention Customs and Border Patrol came by today…I think our girl was winking at their boy all the way across the bay.  At any rate, they came along side us and, after finding out (we are such honest Canadians) that we had NEVER been boarded in the USA, they very politely asked if they could come aboard and have a little look around….but that’s another story for another time.

 

We’re having Kalik (Bahamian Beer) and lime flavoured taco chips for dinner tonight…..who says we don’t know how to live the high life!!!!

Until next time….

Love and hugs,

Shelley and Gregg

PS..I am sitting in an awesome, surfer inspired internet cafe/clothing store/surfer art place working on this blog and loving the music!  The staff are really great and if you get to Wrightsville Beach, check out the Annex, you won't be disappointed!

 

It's Raining Again......

Note:  This is an older post from about a week ago...internet access is rather limited out here although I am working on a solution!  Stay tuned. :o)

As we transit from Charleston to Georgetown we are, once again, caught in a thunder and lightning storm that, on a scale of one to ten is about a seven meaning the rain is not torrential but the thunder and lightning are seriously making their presence known.  We released the dock lines around 7:00am and enjoyed a lovely sky right up until 1:00pm and then the fun started…for the next half hour we reduced our speed in order to stay enough behind the storm to allow us a decent amount of visibility.  It is now 2:30pm, we have seen one other boat and it was heading in the opposite direction (perhaps they know something we don’t?) and we have about another three hours to go before we reach our preferred anchorage.  The good news is that there is a rated anchorage about every five miles so we can pull off the ICW should we determine it is prudent.  We are keen to push on as the temperatures in Chesapeake Bay (our eventual destination) sound wonderful compared to the heat we have been enduring here in the south but we will make the decision to anchor, or not as we near each of the available options.

 

 

We said our good-byes to our friends Chris and Leigh last night after a fabulous Italian meal with light jazz playing in the background and hope to see them again in the Chesapeake if not before.  One of the great gifts of a cruisers lifestyle are the wonderful friendships made along the way and we have been amazingly blessed once again to have shared some highly memorable evenings with these delightful Kiwi’s.  Whether on the dock, on the deck or in one of the many pubs and restaurants along the way, these friendships are true and, I believe, lasting!  No doubt you will one day find Gregg and I, enjoying the evening on our deck at home and many (I hope) years from now, reliving these times with “remember when” stories and feeling grateful for the privilege of having lived the cruising life with our fellow adventurers!

On a side note, I recently read the August 2013 issue of Pacific Yachting and while I enjoyed the entire issue from cover to cover (Including the letter to the editor from our neighbour back home, Hu Wallis) I was very happy to read the submission by Michael Robertson, a former Southern California boater who compared blue water cruising down south to boating in BC.  Michael says he has become a more competent boater after just one year of sailing in BC and says “Indeed, sailing in the open ocean, and especially in these northern latitudes, demands preparation and respect.  But it’s hard to imagine a group of sailors better prepared to head out there and experience any of the world’s cruising grounds, a group who should approach it with less trepidation, than folks who’ve spent time behind the helm on these waters.’  While it’s true we have only been out for four months, and the majority of our time has been spent along the AICW, we have crossed the Gulf Stream twice, sailed some of the northern Bahamas and made a few jumps north up the eastern US “on the outside” only to find we are considerably more adaptable than we had, at first, imagined and that our home sailing grounds of the Pacific Northwest were a grand classroom for our current adventures.

As of August 15, the Captain and the Admiral are in deep discussions regarding a miss on Georgetown in favour of an overnight passage between Minim Creek, SC and Cape Fear, NC….stay tuned!  ;o)

Until next time....

Love and hugs,

Shelley and Gregg

Doin The Charleston!

We have now been to Beaufort and various stops in between before finding a lovely marina here in Charleston.  The staff are amazing and there is a shuttle bus to West Marine and Teeter Harris grocery store!  Perfect!!  We have also had the pleasure of meeting a delightful Kiwi couple (Chris and Leigh aboard MV Ividius) who are running the ICW north, as are we for the most part, and have enjoyed many nights sharing great stories, laughter, good food and good wine so despite the heat,  we have found enough diversions to keep us all entertained.

 

Gregg relaxing in the shade in Beaufort, SC



Historic Beaufort is everything you would imagine the old south to be with beautiful big old houses lining the streets and a lovely waterfront park offering boutique shops and restaurants on one side and a view of the river on the other....a very relaxing and enjoyable stop along the way.

Typical architecture

 

While there are many picturesque sights to see as we mostly motor our way along, I have to be honest that the insects, heat and humidity are truly a challenge. I simply cannot express how suffocating this heat is! The most frustrating bit of nature being noseeums as it is almost impossible to protect yourself against these nasty little micro sized biters who must feel they need to inflict your body with a toxin of some sort creating the most intense itch and lasting for weeks!  They are small but mighty little warriors and I dream of lazy days in Bahamian breezes, playing in the water.  Sigh.... 

 

Chris and Leigh in front of Hanks

 
We have been out to dinner at Hanks, with Chris and Leigh, here in Charleston, an amazing little restaurant downtown where we met another couple at the community table, a grand long table in the centre of the room allowing those of us who haven't made reservations to join other to a lovely meal with bar height chairs and good company.  Leigh and I spent the next day shopping and generally enjoying the downtown area while Chris and Gregg toured the aircraft carrier Yorktown which I understand was very interesting though lacking in air conditioning!  Yikes!
We're off again for a little dinner and jazz then up and away in the morning.

Until next time.....

Love and hugs,
Shelley and Gregg