March 2017 - Jim on board

Crossing #5 to the Bahamas .... aka. a month with Jim on board.

Back on the boat January 25 in Green Cove Springs, with the usual list of boat maintenance projects (engine inspection, transmission work, boat wax, varnish, etc. etc). The good news was the prop shaft did not need to be replaced and the weather was unseasonably warm so we could workworkwork every day!

17 days later we were ready to launch. Exactly 47 days until James and Alma once again express their faith in us with plans to spend their Spring Break in the Bahamas!  This time, they booked an AirBnB house in Hopetown to share with another couple (yeah, a little insurance never hurts!), but we promised them we would make the Abacos by April 2.

Underway to Jacksonville.

However, based on past experience, we were not going to dilly-dally our way down the coast of FL. We started moving right away ... Feb. 18 into Jacksonville where we waited 3 days for a weather window to go offshore that never materialized, so we took to the ICW.  St. Augustine - Daytona Beach - Cocoa Beach -Vero Beach - Hobe Sound - North Palm Beach Marina. The boat is running great, and for the first time we were making 60nm in a day.  A long day, mind you, but being able to sustain 6.5+knots w/o overheating makes a huge difference.

We arrived at the North Palm Beach Marina on Feb 27. And Jim arrived on Feb 28! It sure is nice to have retired friends, who like the boating life, and who are spontaneous as hell!  The plan was to cross on March 1st, catching one of the last good weather windows to the Bahamas in the next few weeks (just our luck that a winter full of good crossing days was followed by a Spring with few crossing days in the forecast!).

To go ... or not to go.  It' one of the worst parts of cruising. The debate. The uncertainty. The endless repeated discussions about weather.  BAH!  In the end, we decided to wait. Had we crossed on the first, we would have a 5-day front on our heels, that would either overtake us in route (very bad) or keep us trapped in a marina north of the Whale Cay Passage for 5+ days (not great, but at least we are in the Bahamas).  Since we'd be waiting one place or the other, we opted to wait in Palm Beach, where we have a car and access to everything we could need to provision and finish up boat projects.

We crossed on March 9th. An absolutely beautiful day. No wind but flat seas, and we made record time to Great Sale Cay in 16 hrs. Wind for sailing would have been nice. But no complaints.

Arriving on the Bahama banks from the ocean is always a marvel. The depth goes from a couple thousand feet to 20 feet ... the the color changes from a deep dark beautiful blue to the aquamarine everyone loves.

Full Moon Crossing.  Ahhhh.....

We cleared Customs at Spanish Cay and then spent 5 days poking around the many lovely anchorages north of the Whale Cay Channel.

Crossing Whale Cay gets about as much talk and attention as the crossing from FL. Under the wrong conditions, it can be miserable, even deadly. To get to the protected Sea of Abaco, you basically have to cross thru the Whale to the Atlantic Ocean, pass the Cay, and then enter another cut leading to the Sea of Abaco.  As soon as the weather and seas settle, the talk on the VHF radio is all about the Whale. Who has crossed it? Who is waiting? What are your opinions?

We decided to sail up to the cut and check out the wave conditions.  We had just turned around when another boat announced that they had cleared the cut with 4 ft swells but no breakers.  Good enough for us.  Turn around again and head for it.  Not exactly a smooth passage, but nice to be on the other side.  Just in time to anchor at Great Guana Cay and catch the Barefoot Man Concert (an annual event; the Bahama's version of Jimmy Buffet!).

Sailing with autopilot leaves hands free for reading!

Next up was Hopetown followed by Treasure Cay .... two of our favorite places in the Abacos, albeit crowded this time to year. But Jim appears to be our good luck charm as we were able to snag a mooring at each place and the weather was perfect.  Nary a day of not doing what we want because of rain or squalls.

Everyone recognizes Hopetown by the lighthouse. It is the last, kerosene-powered, manually operated lighthouse in the world.

Just so you know, cruising the Bahamas is not all about sailing, sunsets and pina coladas.  We also do a lot of beach walking.  Seems we tend to be driven to see "what's around the next corner" only to find another stretch of beautiful beach and another corner in the distance to wonder about....

But don't get me wrong, we do sample pina coladas at most bars we encounter.   Highly recommend the Hope Town Lodge ....

Our last island to visit with Jim was Treasure Cay and the sailing there and back was great.  Usually, the wind direction does not cooperate with the direction we want to go ... but like I said, Jim was good luck throughout this trip!

Treasure Cay ... one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. And yes, their pina coladas don't disappoint either!

As Jim just two days from departure back to FL, it was time to go swimming.

End of the line with Jim. Back to Marsh Harbour where squalls and high winds were predicted the morning of Jim's departure, so he treated us to several nights at the marina.  Ahh. Hot Showers.

Ahh. Good friends who come visit us on s/v Maja.

Life doesn't get any better.

2016 Year End Highlights

It has been a good year, marked by two wonderful highlights ....

This.


Finding out in January that Michelle is pregnant!


Finding out in May that it's going to be a boy.  And two people who couldn't be happier.


We arrived in Savannah in time for a baby shower with Michelle's Army wives.  We stayed long enough to help them prep for their next move, Ft Leavenworth KS where Craig will attend leadership school for a year that goes along with his promotion to Major.


Baby Boy Nelson is due in October. So we planned our departure from MN in late September to spend a week in Lake of the Ozarks and then on to Kansas .... just in time to be there when Michelle went into labor.  What a sleepless night that was!


Meet Maxwell Daniel Nelson. Healthy. Beautiful. 7.5 lbs. 19". Sheer perfection.

And this ...



Meet Alma Marquez. She said yes on July 4th. And the win is all ours. She is kind beyond words. She is a liberal democrat. She was a wonderful family who embrace James as well as the rest of us that come with the package. She adores our son. She is beautiful. She completes our family.

June 17, 2017. It's going to be a sunny, beautiful day.

Our family. Every one a blessing.

There was one remarkable note of sadness in this year and it was the passing of James' beloved family dog, Brody.  After 13 adventure-filled years, severe arthritis and other old-age ailments got the best of him. His final months were full of loving care. He is missed every day.

 

Summer fun in Minnesota

June - October

Besides the immeasurable joy of being surrounded by close family and friends again, the two summer highlights were getting to spend time with our beautiful, pregnant daughter and being there when James proposed to Alma! Best. News. Ever.

Happily almost married!

Happily almost parents!

As he always does, James opened his home in West Saint Paul to us, and in return, I cook and clean and Dan helps with James' latest home improvement project.  We consider ourselves very fortunate as we hear from a lot of fellow cruisers that they either would not or could not stay with their kids. And it is always a highlight of our time in Minnesota to hang again as a family with James.

And there is also the rest of our extended family that we move among.  Dan and Renee Devereaux have a spare room with our dressers in it, and they are usually hosting a BBQ or party with friends. Jim Garfunkel keeps our water bed intact in his extra bedroom, and he has a pool!. Robert Ewing is the one to keep our social calendar busy with movies, bocce, sailing on Lake Pepin, Twins baseball games. We visited family in Rochester and attended a family wedding in Duluth.

Nothing beats Minnesota in the summer!

Twins vs Kansas City Royals. 

In Kansas City, so a good time to see Craig and Michelle's new home.

We ended the summer with a week in Lake of the Ozarks. It provided a nice segue between our time in MN and our time as grandparents in Fort Leavenworth Kansas.

Our condo (middle) over looking the lake.

Vineyards in Missouri.  Who would have thought?

Our trip ended a day early a call from Michelle saying she was in labor.  We were just 3 hours away so we gladly said goodbye to the Ozarks and headed to Kansas. Two days later, Maxwell Daniel Nelson blessed us with a healthy birth.

This was another time when it was such a perk to be retired!  We stayed with Michelle, Craig and Max until Christmas. Cooking, cleaning, and racing each other for a chance to hold Max!

Ahh, life is good.