Ready To Launch....

Getting closer to splash!  Engine, Genset, Sat phone, Radar, Hull, Decks, Canvas, Sails, and more, all set to go.  Waiting for  "Island Time" to catch up with us....things never happen when you expect them to down here!  Makes life interesting, though :)  We have prepped, cleaned, polished, and buffed everything we can think of.  Fortunately, we did such a good job getting her ready to come out of the water, Mañana was easy to get ready to go back in-a nice surprise for our first effort. *Patting selves on back*  The only really difficult part about being delayed these extra days?  Living on the boat on the "hard" means climbing a 14 foot ladder just to board the boat.  And climbing down that ladder every time you need anything.  We have water, but cannot use the heads, fridge, or freezer. 

No Explanation Needed....

 

Ryan & Morgan arrive this evening, and we plan to head up to St. George's first thing in the morning. Our plan is to anchor in the outer bay for a few days, so we can do some sightseeing with the kids.  I will also be doing our provisioning there...finally, food on the boat! 

Grenada Bound

We watched San Francisco disappear into the fog as we lifted off on our way back to Grenada and Mañana, although it took us two days to get there!  Our one night stopover in Miami was a good transition from the chill of California to the warmth of the Caribbean. We arrived in Grenada on a slightly rainy, very humid evening...welcome back!  

Could not wait to get to the boatyard to check on our girl.  When we arrived at Grenada Marine in the morning, we were not especially surprised to find that a fair number of items on the "to do" list that we contracted for had not been completed. (Or even started!)  Things work very differently down here.  We were able to get some of the items done, but a few will have to wait until we make our back up through the Islands. Such is life.

We made the most of our extra days, enjoying La Sagesse, the resort we stayed at, while waiting for our "splash" date.  The staff were super pleasant & friendly, and I was able to get my cat fix in....the resort mascot enjoyed hanging on the chair just outside our room.  

Our Feline Companion

 Of course, I could not ignore the dog, either :)

Our Canine Companion

 
Grenada is really a beautiful island, and La Sagesse Bay was an great spot to spend a few days, so no great hardship as we waited! Snapped a few pictures around the Resort:

La Sagesse Bay

La Sagesse Gardens

The Jungle Takes Over

Orchid Growing on Palm

Making the Move

Literally & figuratively!  I must confess...it has been months since I last posted a blog, and even then I had to apologize for my lack of follow through! *holding hand out for a slap*  The last year has been a steep learning curve, and learn we did!  We learned how the boat works inside & out, what she is capable of handling, what WE are capable of handling, and what we needed to call in the troops for. We sailed from Annapolis, MD, all the way to St. George, Grenada, in ten months...by the time we arrived there, after visiting more than eight countries, and many more islands in those countries, we were tired!  We had been through some pretty heavy weather, high seas, and many repairs.  We had also been shaken down, shaken up, and learned that beer makes a great "Boat Boy" bribe. We discovered that we can live together in close quarters, without killing each other-handy, that!  And we discovered that Laurie has a mental block when it comes to tying knots: sometimes she ties them no problem, and sometimes brain farts are involved.  Go figure.

Out She Comes

We had visits from Dick & Kay (Bill's mom & dad), Jack & Donna (Laurie's dad & his lovely wife), Ryan, Morgan & Vickie (our two demon spawn & a girlfriend), Steve & Yolanda (Carmel friends), and Bruce & Abbie (more Carmel friends).

After a very short debate, we decided that it had taken us so long to get this far, with such a short time to really enjoy it, that we were not quite ready to leave the area without exploring it more.  Hence our decision to head for Grenada, and put Mañana up for Hurricane season. This allowed us to head home for a few months & finalize the sale of our house in Carmel, visit family & friends, and have a break from boat life for a bit.  We flew to Wisconsin in late July, spent a couple of weeks there, then headed back to Carmel.  During our time in Carmel, we managed to finally close on the house, sold all of our remaining furniture and miscellaneous items, and unloaded the truck at a used car lot, pretty much on the way to the airport.

Front Entry

A bittersweet moment when we closed and locked the door for the last time.  We spent ten years in that house, and put our hearts into the remodel that made it so much a part of us...it was almost like leaving a family member behind, albeit a silent one!  If the walls could talk.....

Life goes on, and so do we ♥

Crossing the Gulf Stream

Also known as the Florida Current ☺ We actually made it up & out of the marina at 4am, as planned, to take advantage of a perfect weather window for our Gulf Stream Crossing.  Of course, every other boat in the harbor was doing the same thing, so the first hour or so of our passage was quite interesting!  City lights, boat lights, harbor lights, various navigation lights, and the line of boats ahead of and behind us all competed with each other, making our trip out of the Harbor quite a challenge!

Sailboat ahead, leaving West Palm

We had a perfect crossing; wind & seas cooperated nicely and we enjoyed a smooth ride over. If we didn't know better, we'd wonder what all the fuss was about!  This was no horror story; the seas were really like glass...or a lake!

This is the North Atlantic Ocean??

We did see a couple of squalls off in the distance, but nothing ever came close enough to sprinkle on us.  

Squall off to Starboard

 We even "caught" our first fish!

Poor fish!

He must been washed onto the deck by a wave, or taken a bad "bounce" off of one-it was a flying fish, and they are total crack up; they sort of skitter across the surface, flying for an amazing distance without ever touching, and then they just barely tag the top of a wave & get some serious lift off it! . Unfortunately for the fish, we didn't see him until it was too late :( Since he was too small and way too dead for sushi, we tossed him back. Hopefully some other critter was able to make a snack of him...

Can not begin to tell how you how excited we were when we sighted land, and it was finally official: we had reached our first foreign (warm!) port!  West End, Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas.  

Land Ho!

Clearing customs was a breeze (once I signed my passport-oops!)and we were soon docked & enjoying a celebratory cocktail.

Customs Dock, West End, Grand Bahama

We spent few days at Old Bahama Bay Resort & Marina, waiting for a weather window to open for our next jump to Great Harbour Island, in the Berry Islands.  Bullocks Harbour, here we come....

Tamarind Tree, Old Bahama Bay Resort