Hopetown, Bahamas, Dec 22, 2021

Retirement is interesting and frankly a bit scary.  Today is my last day of work…really.  I have gotten up everyday and had a defined place to go, defined something to do, and a required amount of money to make, no questions asked.  Now…I just don’t.  It was easy to blame any unhappiness on my job and the business of life that a job requires since it takes up 5 days a week, 8 hours a day.  So, what happens when you are unhappy when you aren’t working?  Do you just become a grumpy old person?  Does it mean you failed at retirement when you are outside of work, you have no idea what to do?  They say loneliness is worse than smoking or high blood pressure but does retirement cause loneliness?  I think this was certainly what happened during the pandemic for some folks who lived alone and couldn’t get out to see others.  Perhaps the key is to be a bit social, and not just try to cram so much stuff in a week that you don’t have the time and energy to question your own happiness.

I can’t say I am not afraid of failing at retirement but boy, I sure want to try!  Sailing and retirement have something in common, long stretches of quietness with moments of sheer terror.  I think once I get started, I will figure this out pretty quickly.  And tomorrow is like the first day of kindergarten.  It’s time to say goodbye to my old life – as U2 would say “It’s the End of the World as we Know It.”  I have made quite a few major changes to do that already but now I get to rip off the bandaid off some old habits too.  There just won’t be a place to hide any longer.

Ron and I simply got to a point of enough.  You know that place.  Where you could make more money but don’t need it, could get the next promotion but don’t want it, could spend more time at work but just can’t find the motivation to do so.  We were there and had just had enough.  We had enough of work, the politics, the conference calls, and we both believed our time is so much more valuable.  This is the one thing where we didn’t have enough.

In sailing affairs, Ron spent yesterday getting the generator running so we can attempt to make water again which will be nice.  Just for fun we want to check out the grocery store.  We need to break a $20 for tips anyway and I am sure we can buy a can of corn since we won’t be able to afford a candy bar or pop.  We have been on the boat working, fixing stuff (Ron), and doing laundry for the last few days.  It will be nice to get off and walk a bit.  We will see how bad the winds are to take the ferry to Marsh Harbor.  I need to ship back my computer but had a nice little storm pass through here last night.

Treasure Cay – Dec 16, 2021

Ron nearly figured out how to make our water heater with solar work and we both had a nice warm (not hot but hey) shower this morning.  This meant, things were just too good.  As my calls were spaced out enough, he wanted to get out to the water maker and make water for the first time.  Since he had already fixed the generator and two feet have rusted off, he was concerned about the corosion he had seen on the water maker a while back.  He brought it inside when we “hurricane proofed” the boat in an effort to keep it as good as possible.  The prior owner had stored it outside which exposed it to the salt water a bit too often.

Now, the motor was seized up on the water maker.  A nice and expensive $5K+ fix this could be.  Being that sailing hubby is incredibly capable and extremely mechanically inclined, he set to work on taking it apart to see what our choices were and we were crossing our fingers it was fixable.

In an attempt to get it running, he tried with the generator and had no luck, then tried with the inverter.  He nearly killed the inverter and now, while the inverter comes back on…only one half of the boat does…interesting.  That is a fix later thing now and our list of getting things fixed keeps going the wrong direction.  Glad I have a fully charged computer and phone at the moment.  It should last me through all my calls this afternoon and I was planning to have peanutbutter for lunch anyway.  

He has decided that while the engine has oil in it, it has to be the pump.  Now, I don’t know diddly about water makers but, I do know no pump equals no water.  I have decided the perplexed look he has on his face when looking at anything mechanical is not good.  He has now gone to the keeper of all knowledge, Father Google, to determine next steps.  And after some knowledge and a verbal beating of himself, sailing hubby was successful and we are making water!  It would not have been an end to our sailing season, just an expense of either fixing/buying another watermaker or buying water and interupting our long offshore anchors.  So this was excellent news!

On another note, we do have very cool solar outdoor lights for our evening regardless of if he fixes the power on the other side of the boat today or not.

Lots of stuff needed to make water.

This impeller explains the non functioning water maker.

The missing spare impeller needed to make water.   Sadly it took two days and 6 trips to my spare parts stash to find it.    I was ready to give up hope and only drink beer, who really needs water anway.

 Treasure Cay December 14, 2021

We kicked off our rip-roaring morning by greeting the washing machine.  Since I don’t really remember how to operate it, this will be an even more fun task for Ron to assist.  The boat didn’t come with one, so we picked up a cheap RV washing machine on Amazon to wash bathing suits, shorts, etc.  As I get started, clothing to wash – check, soap – check, drain hose – fail.  So, I asked where he had put it knowing on none of my daily projects would a drain hose come in handy.  That resulted in his small rant regarding my less than stellar memory.  Once found, I needed an extension cord for power.  Well, that was it, now we were full rant stomping and mumbling something about “50 first dates.”  Yes, I am aware I am no picnic but try and hold back. 

Anyway, I got the washer successfully running which will follow with my second favorite task, emptying the washer by holding down the bilge drain (same as the shower) until it empties completely which is another 20 minutes I will never get back.  I am also a bit annoyed that since my sheets had a warmer shower than I did.  Why is it the water is not the same temperature on both sides?

Sailing hubby was thrilled that, after he came in all sweaty from messing with the mooring lines and ready for a break, that I had found another project for him.  He loves our little impromptu projects.  The bilge pump on the other side of the boat where the washer is, doesn’t work.  After determining that it had no power, he attempted to find a new fuse with no success.  So, like any stellar redneck, he came back with a small piece of tin foil for an improvised fix.   Gotta love a resourceful man.  I was now truly embracing my 1950’s housewife hanging sheets on the line and feeling all environmentally friendly.

We had decided to stay in Treasure Cay for a week to tick off another week’s work.  We had good WIFI and were here all by ourselves.  Why not?  The additional upside is Ron could hang his fishing pole over the boat and catch an 18” terrapin if he was that desperate for sustenance.  We only have so many can of O’s and Toe’s. 

It ended up being a great afternoon of snorkeling around the island it’s exciting since it was our first of the trip in over 4 years.  The last time we were in BVI visiting The Baths.  It was a bit rough but had more sea anemone’s than we have seen in a long time with schools of fish everywhere.  4 hours later we were sunburned (me) and exhausted.  Beer was calling and Ron was starved. 

Hmmm edible? Nope

Lion fish are tasty

 December 11, 2021

One very choppy morning sail later, we had moved ourselves down to Treasure Cay.  We didn’t want to stay at Green Turtle Cay as the snorkeling isn’t that great and there is nothing to do on land.  My review of green turtle is there is really no need to get off the boat at all as you just spend money with very little in return and with the bugs and green water, why bother?  They have a nice beach or two and that’s it.  It was a good stop over, but I am glad we left.  Surprisingly, there were very few people there.  It’s great the Bahamas wasn’t as crowded as I thought they would be. 

Tell me though, why is it when are sailing a not so nice stretch of water, do half the paper towels come off the roll?  There are things about a boat I am not sure I will ever understand.  Now, mind you, I am glad that is ALL that happened since I had to take a seasick med and lay down while Ron handled the boat but really – half the roll?  I guess with the wind kicking up to 20mph, what do I expect.  OK, another pet peeve.  What is with the starboard and port?  Hello, right and left people.  I have yet to get those straight.

I picked up a mooring ball without much drama for the next few days and we were set to wait out the weather.  We went ashore to check in at the marina and low and behold…there is no marina.  Treasure Cay has been completely wiped out by the pandemic and hurricanes.  There is NOTHING here.  It is creepy in a post-apocalyptic way.  We walked and found Treasure Cay beach and next to Cow Wreck beach, it is the most beautiful I have ever seen and completely deserted.  Tomorrow we wanted to visit an inlet close by with turtles and baby stingray, so we settled in for a quiet night.

Ron has added a new twist to his quasi-keto diet.  He now has SpaghettiOs with weird little hotdogs in it.  I like to refer to it as O’s and Toe’s.  He really has to start eating less canned meat.  Good thing on land we found an excellent bakery who also serves the best pizza either of us have had in a long time!!  Fresh mozzerella with HUGE chocolate chip cookies.  Can’t go wrong there.

Cow Wreck beach’s Twin

$3 Bahamian cookie

It might be deserted but the views are still incredible

 Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas Dec 12^th, 2021

Ron and I took off in our golf cart rental last night to head down to Pineapple’s bar and grill for food and a cocktail.  The roads were a flashback to Costa Rica except for the one main road down the center of the island which must has been redone after the hurricane.  The effects of the hurricane were still in plain sight regardless of the fact it happened two years ago.  Apparently, it was the most intense tropical storm ever recorded and this was a mere 2 years after the most intense hurricane hit here, hurricane Irma.  It’s funny in that all the telephone poles were new, the road was paved, and roughly half of the houses were brand new.  Those that weren’t were either boarded up or there were people living in complete squalor.  The palm trees were half uprooted and leaning at a 30-degree angle.  There was a considerable amount of poverty on full display.  It was a bit sad to see this as we drive through the small part of the island we saw on our way and was vaguely reminiscent of Jamaica.

Pineapples was a bit of a bust.  We tried our first Sands beer, from a Bahamian Brewery, and Ron likes it better that Miller Lite.  That is something I thought I would never hear.  Then we hit round two for a “Pirate’s Punch.”  It was a pineapple rum concoction which was quite lovely but only one of those for each of us.  Even though the place was empty and the only vegetarian thing on the menu was French fries, we shared a basket, and watched the lovely sunset on that side of the island.  Besides the blood drive had continued so we headed back to the boat for a cheap beer and cheese puffs for dinner.  Classy I know.  

We still had the golf cart rental for a few more hours the next morning so we went and checked out the north end of the island.  The paved road stopped and if you put your feet in one of the ruts or potholes you would be about ankle deep   That was fun but we were rewarded by a beautiful beach and have found out new anchorage for the night.  We are getting the heck out of the marina to attempt to escape from the bugs and the wind of being offshore certainly helped.  We are going to stay put for a few days til the storm passes, as we are in a protected anchorage, which should be through end of next week.  No worries though, we are ready for the break and will use this time to finish another week off out jobs.  We have just enough WIFI to do video calls and email.  

The map of the island was a simple cell phone photo.

Bahamian highway

Bahamian main road

Best part of Pineapples was the view and a dog that chased sharks in the water

 12-10-21, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

We made it to Green Turtle Cay and Ron checked up is.  Customs is interesting – always so much paperwork.  I guess they believe the world has way too many trees?  

Anyway, I was worried that in my new retirement I would not find my purpose and find myself being bored and needing work to entertain myself once again.  Well, I now know this not to be true.  I have found my new purpose.  I am going to single-handedly get a grant from the Gates Foundation to eradicate the no-see-ums from my boat permanently.  A lofty goal but one I think is well worth pursuing since Ron and I participated in an involuntary blood drive last night while sitting outside.  They are just like mosquitos being small flying, biting nuisances.  Now I have not yet worked in the part about the carrying disease that kills people part but am still working on that.  Stay tuned.

Ron has decided, they are specifically targeting him and him alone.  Picture this, when I come out of the shower this morning, I find Ron hunkered down under the kitchen table waving a small yellow plastic butterfly.  Explanation is needed here in that the butterfly is a sticky gnat trapping device we bought in the apartment when we had an issue with drain flies due to the water damage. It seems as if they have driven him to a state of paranoia and somehow, he believes hiding under the table will save him from these little buggers.  Now mind you he is wearing a bright orange, floral Hawaiian shirt.  I am certain they are not after that and they would much rather the small yellow butterfly – right?  Well he was not 100% successful in his WWII mission of the flies but he made a respectable first showing. 

During our blood drive last night, we got to listen to the Green Turtle Cay Singer from the club house while sitting on our deck which was lovely and why we stayed out.  This provided enough entertainment that I knocked two items off my bucket list already.  #1) I have now heard the Reggae version of “Stairway to Heaven”.  Now how many folks can say that?  2) Reggae Polka – check.  Man, at this pace – I won’t have a list left after the first two weeks here.  We hope to explore a bit of the island today so I can hardly wait.

The last noteworthy items was people here actually say phrases like “smack the donkey.”  So, we are barely here in green turtle cay and already I have heard a multitude of firsts for me like Somehow “smack the donkey” that one is going to stick.  Boy this travel thing is going to be quite an education for me.

For the record, putting barbecue sauce on burnt vegetables is not the same as jerk or Cajun.  Ron’s still learning the temperature gage on our new grill.

Crystal clear water

Tree?

No see um terminator Mariposa

 December 8, 2021

We got early again today around 6am to get started off to Green Turtle Cay.  We will need to check into the Bahamas customs office before just dropping anchor anywhere we want for very long.  It’s too bad though since Ron & I both decided that we would give strong consideration to just staying put where we were last night as it was so beautiful and quiet.  We were the only boat in sight, there is zero light pollution, and the stars are amazing, The gentle hum of the fridge is about the only thing you can hear.  I am not sure if it was the weather or not since it was the calmest I have ever seen the water in all of our trips.  

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and with a storm headed our way and the fact we have not checked in means we are off again.  We plan to stay in Green Turtle Marina for the next few days to rest and recover as well as have some consistent WIFI the rest of the week.  I have constant calls, some video, tomorrow and WIFI isn’t strong enough or reliable enough out here just yet.

We arrived to a lovely surprise of a small cay in a crazy rich island town where houses in the  $1M range.  Funny as no one here seems to have a job since the marina club house was full and dance music is on full volume.  It’s 4:00.  I love island time.  Customs has departed for the day and we check in tomorrow.  The marina is also cheaper and WAY nicer than any FL.  How can we go wrong?

Unicorn water.

No words

First Bahamian Sunrise

En Route to Sail Cay – Dec 7, 2021

Our life has changed a lot over the last 18 months.  We have become empty nesters after raising 4 daughters, sold our suburbia homestead, bought a boat & lived on it for 6 weeks, downsized storage units once, Moved ourselves or our kids 8 times, quit our jobs after 30 years, and now we are back on the boat having left the country.  When you make this many changes in a short amount of time you tend to misplace a few things.  Trust me on this one.

 Marinaland, FL Dec 6, 2021

You supposeded to learn new things in retirement and taking on this lifestyle has allowed me no exception.  So, let me enlighten you on my new skills thus far.  

• I am starting to refer to the sailing gear as something other than “that thingy over there.”  This makes sailing husband very happy.  
• I can now stand upright and walk around without falling down…sober mind you.
• I am fully capable of operating (not emptying) a composting toilet.  This includes feminine cycles which is a whole other treat.
• I can now shave my legs fully while standing on one foot and holding the shower drain.  For those of you who have never showered on a boat, allow me to explain this one.  When you shower, the water doesn’t automatically just fall down the drain.  No, you have to hold the button which operates the bilge pump to flush it out.  This is triple tasking if you ask me.
• I can now wash my body in 4 minutes flat including this balancing shave my legs move.  Pretty fancy huh?  If I include washing my hair, I can now shower in cold water as well.  It’s a new skill I have yet to perfect but am trying.
• I can sleep in 40 degree weather.  Once again, my lovely wool blanket has saved the day again.  
• I can hold the teapot on the stove and boil water without getting burnt most the time (still sometimes but again, it’s a process).
• I know now when the stove or lights doesn’t turn on to actually turn on the breaker and try again.  I am also aware that I cannot run the stovetop and oven at the same time or they blow the breaker and turn off – making sailing hubby upset.
• To expect on overnight sails to get very little sleep and not be grumpy but grateful

• I am pretty good at buying only enough food to fit in a college sized fridge.  This also requires new skills such as ninja arranging to make it all fit and thoughtful consideration of how many condiments you can have open at once.  Don’t get me wrong, we are not roughing it.  We can have ketchup, mustard, and barbeque sauce open at the same time, but the addition of wing sauce and soy require you to question yourself.  Each additional condiment requires you to sacrifice from beer, wine and diet coke space.  There are just  big questions to ponder out here?

See…all kinds of new or multi-tasking skills.

 Lake Worth – December 6, 2021

As the alarm went off at 11 pm, we knew it was time to cross.  On deck the wind was 10-15 from the northwest, which was not great but doable. It would not be the flat Gulf stream crossing we were hoping for.  That might also explain why were were the only ones up.  

The anchor came up clean and no issue!  Bonus, since I spent much of the evening wonder what “obstruction” I anchored over accidently.   Another rookie mistake!   Next up it was pitch black, no moon, no stars nothing, no city lights, nothing however the instrument panel and chart plotter glowed like the sun in the pitch black.  So much for night vision.  Another rookie mistake that made navigating out of the anchorage a bit stressful.  Then to add to the pitch black navigational issues, my chart plotted orientation on the iPad reversed, and I did not catch it.   This orientation is all too important when you are using it to navigate a set channel full of ships and barges and basically all things you want to stay away from.   It all came to a critical moment as we were heading for a large barge in the dead of night!  I somehow spotted it and reversed before we slammed straight into it.  OOPS!  We were perhaps 20 feet away which is um, TOO CLOSE.

Finding the flashing green and red lights, which lit our path to the open ocean was a huge relief.  Confidence was however at a low point in this critical stage of the crossing. Do we go back and anchor or suck it up and continue?   This would be the first time we had our new boat, out in the open ocean, and well the first time out of the Lake Worth inlet all in absolute darkness. Seems reasonable, so lets go.    As each minute went by, I watched our path on the TWO chart plotters, verified with the blinking range lights and the sound of the crashing waves on the inlet.  It was hard to not think this was completely nuts doing this blindly.   Minute after minute, light after light,wave crash after wave crash when would it all just fall apart?   Then finally the last range marker and GPS showed that I made it to open water and out of the dangers that lurked in the darkness of that inlet.  I am sure the dangers were all in my mind, but those are the demons we all tend to fight.  

The next 7 hours of complete darkness was an exercise of watching the GPS, radar, and AIS.  The lights on the horizon I would assume were another cruiser making the jump, but was wrong, they were still safely in the harbor waiting for a better weather window, instethe lights were cargo ships running the channels delivering whatever filled the containers.  Sally slept in the kitchen berth, since she wanted to be close in case I needed something, and I wanted her close in case we needed to jump from a sinking ship.  Funny how each of our priorities were so different.   Sally has no fear, she has complete faith in me, which is well, is great and also stressful, There is no phone a friend in the middle of the ocean so if I screwed it up I needed to be able to fix whatever we had to deal with.  

We had to deal with two things, first the northwest winds against the north running gulf stream made for an choppy crossing, and then the lightning storms that lit the sky in front of me.   I envisioned sailing right into one of these storms, but thankfully that never happened.   Sally slept most of the crossing and I played tricks to stay awake until daylight.  At this point I had been awake for 36 hours, it was an interesting night, but each mile a bit more confidence in myself, and our boat.   To be honest I loved every second of that long night, I finally felt alive and that was something that growing older tends to supress.   The sunrise was incredible and in a sense a rebirth to a new life, one that I have dreamt about for most of my life.

As we hit the Bahama bank at first light, we had another 8 hours to the Great Sail Cay which was to be our first anchorage.   The water was crystal clear and the most beautiful blue you have ever seen.  Hour after hour, the engines sang along with a bit of sail out to help make our way there.    Great Sale Cay is usually the first spot to stop for cruisers so I was certain it would be packed much like Lake Worth, however when we arrive not a soul to be seen.   I guess no one else made the jump that night, so we had it to ourselves and it was a perfect way to end our first crossing!        

Enough light to start a crossing? Sure

Leaving Lake Worth at midnight.

Bahama Sunrise

Welcome to the Bahamas water

 Jupiter Beach, FL 12-5-21

Sally’s View

As usual, nothing goes to plan.  It started pouring rain as we untied and headed to the fuel dock and then down to Lake Worth.  We left about 3:30 in the afternoon with a plan to sail overnight to get through the Gulf Stream.  In theory this will not be an issue.  The good news is the rain is supposed to stop about 7:30 and all will be well.  And if that isn’t enough, we start off and now the GPS isn’t working.  Well after we got through the intercoastal (where you need it most), it finally started to work.  The curse of the finder has continued for us.  Now we are going to Lake Worth to and anchor and wait til we leave at midnight.

Ron spent all day renting a car again to drive down to Fort Lauderdale.  He worked on trying to get the Satellite phone to work last night and again this morning, with no luck.  The Fort Lauderdale store was the ONLY one that had the battery in stock.  Well thank goodness he found one but he said traffic was a nightmare since someone in front of him hit an orange barrel and traffic freaked out.  But it’s done and we are on our way.  Funny, a $30 battery cost us $150 with car rental.  I wish it had broken yesterday when we still had a rental car but oh well. 

More tomorrow on how our plan worked.  We spent the night at Sail Cay, which was beautiful, and we had it to ourselves.  Since Ron had a stressful day looking for the battery, we hit the hay.

Ron’s View:

We quickly realized as we got south in the ICW it was a train wreck and once we hit Stuart, Florida all the cool cruisers were replaced with the asshole sport fisherman.   They would pass so close and fast that the wake they generated would knock everything inside across the room.   I imagined using the flair gun to discourage this behavior, but I would of ran out of flairs in the first 5 minutes.  

I always imagined bringing the boat to West Palm Beach.  I love that place and how cool would it really be?   Well to answer that it sucked worse than I could of imagined.   Just imagine navigating all these asshole boaters that have more money than brains.   Each bridge was on a time schedule, so you had to time it to make the opening and then some bridges only open on one side.   With the 63′ mast we had to go through the high side, which most often resulted in a game of chicken with one of the asshole boats.    Let’s just say there was a lot of new words created during these events, and I was perfectly happy sinking one of those boats then rip my mast off.  

Our time at West Palm was quick.  We spent two days to finish provisioning, and a last minute panic trip to Fort Lauderdale for another iridium go battery (my cheap replacement was well shit).   We need the iridium Go to work since that is our only means to get weather and communicate with the outside world when there is no cell coverage.    Zero chance we could cross to the Bahamas with a nonfunctioning unit since there no way to fix once we arrived in the Bahamas.  There is not much there these days after Hurricane Dorian.  

We left Loggerhead marina at 3 pm on a Monday to stage at Lake Worth for our jump.   It was dry all day but at 3pm, the sky opened and the hardest rain we have been in started.   Fun, going down the ICW in the rain, but bonus, no asshole boaters.  

Once in Lake Worth we saw at least 100 boats waiting to make the jump, The weather window was about to open, and you only want to cross when it is nice, and the wind was right.    Chris Parker’s weather report mentioned that Monday night could be a good crossing night, but Tuesday might be better.  We decided we are not getting younger, and let’s go.  If we waited it was just another wasted night and we were as ready as we would be.    

We anchored in a very crowded anchorage, sadly I picked a spot that after we anchored put us right over a possible obstruction under water.    Not a big deal until you pull your anchor, and it is tangled in whatever is on the bottom.   I envisioned pulling my scuba gear and untangling the chain if needed.  Worst case we just leave a day later.  With this idea in the back of my mind, and the added drama of the day resulted in zero sleep.   We planned to leave at 11pm and I hoped to get at least a few hours of sleep.   Nope!  

Our rental for the day!   No not really

Most boats here spend more money on fuel then our boat is worth

Southern Florida Bridge dance.

 Marineland, FL, Nov 30, 2021

So, we had a great Thanksgiving and for the holiday we took off and spent time with family.  Before we left, Ron flipped off the DC power.  The Rookie Mistake was…we accidently left our refrigerator with no power.  Uh Whoops!  Well good news is we had unseasonable chilly weather, did not start provisioning, and only loss what was in the freezer.  Not too bad for what could have been a very bad moment. 

Ron has still been knocking projects off his list and now that we have been provisioning, I had a few full days of organizing the groceries, ensuring all fits in the fridge/freezer/pantry and trying to get rid of as much packaging as possible.  I now have a complete list of everything we bought, how much we spent, and where the heck I put it so we can determine what worked and didn’t for next time.  All in all, we ended making 6 trips so far hitting ALDI, Walmart twice, and Publix.  This led us to spend a total of ~$2000, including an unnamed number of cases of beer, and I doubt that will be enough.  I guess people eat and drink in Bahamas too and we will fix any mistakes when we get there.

First privisoning trip, only to be told it was not enough and repeat six more times.

I am going to do our laundry today for the last time til we get to another marina as we are all set to head out of here in the morning.  Ron had a first as well he got to empty the compost toilet and said it really wasn’t too bad.  Well that’s good since we are a bit committed to it now.

We are officially carless since Carvana showed up and agreed to purchase our car.  Whew!  At least it didn’t break down before we got that done.

Ron has our voyage all planned.  How far we are going, where we will anchor/marina stop along the way, and we hope to head to the Bahamas before the end of the month if we are lucky and get the weather window and internet opportunity.  He found a marina in Green Turtle Cay for $400 a month!  Why are we not there?  In the news it has been released there is now a new COVID variant “Omnicron.”  Many of the countries are starting to ban travel from Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, where it has been found.  I do hope we can get to the Bahamas before we run into any trouble like this.  We have been triple vaccinated and have our Flu shot so I really need our COVID tests to come back negative so we can get over to the islands.  A little more Intercoastal channel fun for the next few days first.  It will be a chilly few days at that.  We will be unplugging from the heat and it is going to be lows of 40 degrees!  We will be sleeping with very bundled up til get to West Palm Beach!

More solar, cause you can never have enough.

New induction stove and oven

Composting toilet allows for more closet space

Something broke again

It is not all work.

 November 15, 2021, St. Augustine, Florida

Our shakedown cruise ended in May and the good news is, we don’t hate this lifestyle or living on the boat.  We have internet (so far) and only have a few loose ends to tie up before taking off.  

First off, we rented an apartment for the next 6 months til hurricane season is over in November.  During that time we had attended three graduations, moved or helped move 4 more times, put everything we own either in storage, packed to bring to the boat, or sold it and in our spare time we hosted Thanksgiving, tried to solidify our end of work plan (quitting our jobs), and enjoyed the pool.    

At that point, we could take off for round two — cruising the Bahamas for the winter.  Once we splashed the boat, sold the car, visited family, and navigated the intercoastal again, we could jump.  As of today, we are not only back on the boat but splashed the boat and took our first trip down the intercoastal.  Make no mistake, I toughed it out two hard nights (45 degrees) and let me tell you heat is not overrated!  My only saving grace was we had hot water and hot coffee.  Whew! 

Ron was a champ, and not only did we take off in strong cross current from the launching pit by ourselves, but he docked at the new marina without hittting anything or creating new curse words.   We are here for the next two weeks finishing up the remaining boat projects and provisoning.  It’s funny.  My docking duties are when he pulls up to the dock ensure he doesn’t hit the dock or another expensive boat.  This means I’m kinda like Flo.  I just run up and down the side of the boat with a bumper in my hand mumbling something about insurance.  Definitely a treat.  Anyway, we plan to stay here, then head straight south and wait for our perfect time to cross to the Bahamas.  The farther south the better after the two chilly nights I just had.  At least we’re at the marina now, I get heat!    Please let it warm up!!  Regardless, damn it’s SO nice to be back!!

Most of our summer was spent as a pool day. Our annual adult pumkin carving drink night.

Looks like we are the first to launch.

 St. Augustine to Marineland – November 15, 2021

What a difference 6 months make.    When we first launched Mariposa, my days, hours, and minutes were filled with a level of anxiety that I have never really felt before and I have had a rather lively, adventurous life these past 52 years.   I spent my younger years learning to drive at age 5, my teenage years driving bulldozers, and bashing through the woods at speeds that make everything look blurry. 

Then you have triathlons, which allowed me to explore the depths of human discomfort.  I was never fast, but if my younger years taught me anything it was how to out suffer the typical person.  Marathons, Ironmans, then multi day stage races all pushed me to the limit of what I could endure, yet the simple task of launching and traveling the ICW had me almost paralyzed with fear.   I was not sure what I was afraid of.  I guess it was the “What Ifs.”    Perhaps it was different since Sally was right here along for the adventure.  I felt a huge amount of responsibility to keep her safe and not to sink the boat.   I have blogged about this trip before, but thought it was important to explain the difference between the first trip and how this time around I had no anxiety whatsoever.  I had some level of confidence, and not ignorant bliss, which got me through the first trip.  

We spent two very cold nights on the hard which was made possible with our new composting toilet and the ability to produce hot water for at least a hot shower.  This was the line of discomfort we could tolerate.  What we did not have is heat.  We need to be floating for the heater to work and well, let’s just say there were two very cold days!  

We spent those days loading what would fit from the car to the boat, moved a pile of shit from one place to another and we quickly realized we still have too much stuff and I was growing tired of constantly moving things.  

Launch day came and as the boat splashed.  We felt a huge sigh of relief knowing

we will at least have heat.   We just needed to travel down the ICW to Marineland Marina where we had a dock space for the next two weeks.  This was critical since it gave us power and a place to park our car while we provisioned for the next 6 months.   I had a few last-minute boat projects that I wanted to finish as well, since I had a car.

Ever wonder what a composting toilet is? It basically removes all the unplesant issues with marine toilets.   No smell, no holding tank pump out and no maintenance.  Oh and bonus added closet space

One last dance with the launch pit from Hell

Hilliard, OH – Oct 10, 2021

Ron resigned yesterday.  He is incredibly relieved and I don’t blame him.  I am definitely quitting too since it has become too difficult to navigate weather windows around my conference calls.  Internet or not, it isn’t working.  I will quit by the end of the year.  I may be eating cat food but I sure want to try this anyway.  I read a review of a book called “Die with $0.”  I sure hope we can manage to be close.  Essentially, it says any money left when you die is time wasted you could have been living instead of working.  I agree with that.

But let me ask you this, would you live on half your retirement to do this now?  One of the first things Ron asked me when we started dating was “Do you Dream?”  Not in the sleep way but in the do with the rest of your life way.  He said I don’t see you dream.  It has not occurred to me since I got married very young and had been told my entire adult life what to do.  I had been so busy my first couple of years post-divorce just keeping the wheels on the bus, I guess I had not gotten to that part yet.  Well now that I am well past that and this is the dream.  I am astounded at the gift this is.

We are lucky.  Make no mistake we worked for this, saved for this for 10 years, and prepared for this but, we are lucky.  At the end of the day, I am not afraid to be poor.  I can eat on $25 per week, I have done it.  We can easily live with one car.  We have done it.  Things that may be a sacrifice for others don’t seem to be for us.  Our kids are nearly independent, and we have already saved enough for their college time.  This feels like the right time to jump. 

Worse case we sell the boat and buy a floaty

No turning back now.

 St Augustine, May 7, 2021

The time has come to end this leg of our journey.   Hurricane season is quickly approaching and we have to get back to Ohio for adulting.   Afterall we have two careers to navigate, two graduations, perhaps a new apartment and another move to endure.  

First thing first we have to prepare the boat for hurricane season.  We opted to have her hauled out and strapped down to the ground.   Seems like the logical choice since we will be over one thousand miles away and can not check on her for the next six months.    How does one prepare for a boat for a hurricane?   Honestly we really do not know, seems smart to remove everything that can get blown off.  We randomly removed items from the deck in an effort to keep them safe in the event of a hurricane.   

The biggest issue we have been told was to combat mold and insects.   A quick trip to the store allowed us to purchase as much vinegar, damprid and roach traps that we could carry.  This prepared us for the next two days of 100 degree tourture.    Apparently, mold is worse then a hurricane, it leaves you with a black gross mess while a hurricane just removes the boat from existence and you get a nice insurance check in the end.  The next two days we just spent cleaning and then covering every surface of the boat with vinegar.  If you want to experience this level of torture take a huge cardboard box, place it in the middle of the yard in direct sun  on a 100 degree day.  Next crawl inside said box with a spray bottle full of vinegar and a rag and randomly spray the sides until you can no longer see, smell or taste anything other then vinegar.   Do this process over and over from sunrise to sunset for two days.    

We orginally planned to stay on the boat on the hard each night after working all day.   That idea sounded less appealing after the first day so we opted to get a hotel instead.  It was after all located right beside our favorite taco place.  As luck would have it our hotel only provided a hot water shower.   After taking cold showers most of the last two months a hot water only shower was not so appealing after spending the day in 100 degree heat killing ourself.  Yeah – true story.  So, after two scalding showers, we were off to grab our tacos only to realize it was closed.  Our lives really are insane.  Anyway, most couples spent a week doing what we crammed into 2 days.  It has taken us a couple days to recover.  We are hoping this is enough to keep the mold at bay through the season and if not we can always hope for a hurricane.  

Back to the haul out pit from Hell

Hope it is here when we come back.

All secured until November!

May 3, 2021, St. Augustine Municipal Marina Moorning

We have had a great time so far on this trip and I have learned to tie us off to a cleat, catch a mooring ball, and I am now the Vanna White of anchoring.  However, I have failed since I have yet to drive the boat.  The currents and tides have been insane in Georgia & northern Florida so Ron has literrally taken the helm for all of this.  We have traversed the intercoastal north to Jekyll Island, stayed and hiked Cumberland Island, stayed in Fernandina Beach, then worked our way back to haul out the boat.  

I am grateful we have done well since when we saw a boat came in last night they were completely de-masted.  From what I now know, when you get demasted, you must cut the mast off and let it go into the water, remove the sail first and try to save that, and apparently, we own the tool to do that in case it happens to us.  I cannot imagine but I know Ron was very afraid of this as we traversed the intercoastal bridges since we were VERY close on a few.  In fact, one we scrapped our antennae!  It is a $30K-$50K repair and they had a 42 foot Lagoon.  I felt so bad for them…until…they took the only place we could have taken our boat this evening to get our haul out done tomorrow.  Ugh.  Of course.

Ron is very stressed about the haul out and frankly, I don’t blame him.  Guess we will just see how it goes.

Demasting sucks I bet.

We ran out of beer and made a sign

 April 28^th?  St. Augustine Municipal Marina Mooring

That was the big question yesterday.  That is perhaps one of the best things about this trip is we have seen SO many dolphins.  They usually come in groups of 2-3 and play during happy hour.  We would sit at anchor mostly and see them.  It is the coolest thing.  I may end up being a dolphin aficionado.  That would be something cool to add to my resume 😊. 

Our trip down to St. Augustine was good at only a few hours since we did not have a mooring available last night but anchored instead.  I love being at anchor for the record.  Anyway, Ron and I took a few lumps on this trip.  He slipped on the steps and badly bruised his knee and I ripped the skin off my thumb picking up the mooring.  Oh well – it just makes the beer taste good and I won’t think about it till I shower tomorrow.

For the record, dolphins sleep with one eye open and only ½ of their brain sleeps at a time called unihemispheric sleep.  I know so much useless information there is just no room for important stuff.

Last anchorage before St Augustine

Sunsets never get old.

 April 22nd^, Fernandina Beach, FL

I swear it will never happen.  Just when you think things can’t get any weirder, we sat next to a gentleman when having dinner at “The Salty Pelican” the first day we got here (Tuesday).  He was sitting closer to Ron, wore a brand-new white t-shirt, smelled of baby powder, and preceded to order a cup of hot water.  He had two very large bags with him and got out his own tea, opened a brand-new bag of sugar, then get out a plastic spoon to measure it out for his tea.  He interrupted our conversation twice.  The first time, he asked for directions and asked if we were new to this place.  When we said we had just gotten here, he then told us of three restaurants close by we had to try.  So…if he needed directions was, he now from here?  One of the restaurants was closed due to COVID and do they all just serve him water?  If he has not eaten there, how can he recommend?  So many questions.

Then the kicker to top off all top offs was he started clipping his nails at the table!!!!  I thought Ron was going to lose it.  Needless to say, we got the check and high tailed it out of there.  We prayed he was not following us.  Flash forward to today as we were sitting in the boat working, Ron saw him on the docks.  Yikes!  Well it good to know, there is always someone weirder than you!!

The Salty Pelican has some incredible views

April 21^s, Fernandina Beach, FL

It’s been a long couple of weeks on the boat and not quite what I expected.  Post-shakedown cruise, we’ve decided to go to a studio or one bedroom in Columbus for hurricane season.

As far as sailing goes, I now know how to help anchor and grab a mooring, wrap the dock lines, and tie off to the cleats.  That’s it.  I just spent a bunch of money on a boat I have not even driven.  The tides are a mess, current is horrible, and frankly I don’t know how Sailing Hubby is doing such a fantastic job.  He is at least getting some good docking practice.  I really need to start doing stuff but don’t think this may be the place to start.

In Columbus, we still don’t know where we will live when we get back after we haul out on May 4th.  If we stay, we have no plan for the summer.  With Ron’s company being bought out, he needs to talk to the new owners to see if he can continue to be remote or what his role will be exactly moving forward.  Because, hey, why not have both of us try to hold down a fulltime job while doing the rest too. It really is easy to see why we drink, I swear. 

I guess life requires some level of being uncomfortable for you to improve, change, or generally, exist.  Because, let’s face it, change is the only real constant.  I don’t want fear to hold me back.  In the past, in order to change locations, I never had to be uncomfortable…at all.  I just drove around with the air conditioning on.  Man, I am very out of practice.  This is only step one and I have a lot to learn and a lot of practice at being uncomfortable again.  It’s way harder than I thought it would be to start but I want to get to the point where I start to enjoy it more.

Expert level at mooring!