We'd rather be in the Bahamas

Winter is quickly passing along and with the coming of April everyone is starting about getting the boats ready for launching.
Personally we'd both rather be back in the Bahamas.



                                        In January, we had a wonderful trip from Jacksonville, Fla. down to Miami with Peter and France aboard their Mainship 39 power boat. Unfortunately the gulf stream didn't cooperate for a safe crossing so we had to go with Plan B and leave them in Miami. It was a great three weeks in the sun with good friends. In March it was time for some house renovations with the installation of new windows and now we're busy putting in a newly renovated kitchen.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - "BARBADOS"

November came and went but we couldn't let it go until we journeyed off on our yearly trek to Barbados. As usual the weather was perfect, but a little hotter than normal, which made for a very relaxing vacation. The usual gang had arrived and this year my sisters Kathy & Deb, niece Tracy and Brother in Law Bob also joined us. As you can see, although the complex was sold out, there still didn't seem to be many people there.

This year was special as the Barbados Tourism Association as well as our favourite hotel, Rostrevor Hotel where we always stay recognized us for making over 25 visits to the island. The BTA took us and two other couples out for a delicious lunch and presented us with beautiful plaques and certificates.

It was great to see longtime friends Wallie & Helen who have been visiting Barbados for 49 years and Norm & Betty who arrived after missing last year.

On our last day in Barbados, Robin, the manager surprised us with having Freddie place our name over our door in commemoration of our 25th year of visiting with them. Jan was so overjoyed she burst out yelling then crying in joy. This was a very special moment for us.

So, with our bags packed and our storage boxes loaded to remain there until next year we set off for home to prepare for Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE" !!

Our next journey takes back to the Bahamas on Jan 8th, 2013 when we fly down to West Palm Beach to join Peter & Franz in taking their 40 foot trawler "CASTELLO" to the Abacos, in the Bahamas. Man, this retirement thing is terrible! We're all really looking forward to seeing them again.

All the best in the new year....... if the world doesn't end today!

NOW IT'S OVER !!

Our trip to the Bahamas is over. We arrived at our home yacht club, Dartmouth Yacht Club at the end of July and WIND WARRIOR is resting in her berth. Like I keep saying to people..... We had an awesome trip down the US east Coast to the Bahamas and back. It was really very easy as we took it one step at a time. When you look at the fact that we put over 5,500 nautical miles under our keel in less than a year it looks like a lot, but when you break it down into short legs and take it a day at a time, the next thing you know is that your goal has been accomplished. During this trip, not only were the scenery and the beaches fantastic, but it was the friendly people and the friends we made that will never be forgotten. When you set out you feel like you're alone, but it doesn't take long before you meet other cruisers who are in the same boat, so to speak, and everyone has the same goals. When someone needs help or gets in trouble, the first responders are other cruisers, and usually someone you don't even know. Relationships in the relatively small enclosed space of a boat can be strained at times, but iver time Jan & I became a close knit team who watched for each other and worked out any problems together. We are a lot closer now. We both hope that by keeping up this blog and with all the emails we sent, that you too had the pleasure of enjoying our trip as we progressed. A trip south to the Bahamas can be very easily done and with the right preparation and attitude it can be a very fun and rewarding experience....... and one that we will never forget. To everyone who supported us along the way...... Thank you. Like I said..... Now it's over.... and this winter we'll be preparing the boat and our lifestyles for out next adventures when we plan to do it all over again in 2013.

July 10th - Yarmouth to Mahone Bay, NS

The Nova Scotia Palm Tree .....
This native tree has been prized by Nova Scotians since the beginning of time. It has no large nuts to land on your head .... no large leaves which shade you from the hot sun ..... and it's fallen branches make for excellent beach fires.
This fine specimen can be found at the head of the beach on Backman's Island in Mahone Bay. (Can you tell we've been gone too long?)

We departed Yarmouth last week and started working our way back home. The trip down through the Tusket Islands and around Cape Sable Island was a blast. The 4 knot outgoing tide from the Bay of Fundy ran us through at an amazing 12.4 knots. However, at the end of every rainbow there is not always a pot of gold. Here the swift currents met the Atlantic Ocean and created huge waves, similar to the rages we experienced in the Bahamas.

These seas built quickly to about 11 feet, but they were over as fast as they began.

One of our favourite yacht clubs on the southwestern shore has always been the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club. Darlene, Jason and the rest of the staff have always treated us well and accommodated our every need over the past number of years. We stopped there and lane & Tina drove down for a visit. After a couple days they offered us a ride back to Halifax for a few days of well deserved rest while we left Wind Warrior on a mooring ball. After a weeks rest at home Don & Heather offered us a drive back to Shelburne where we continued our trip up the coast stopping at Liverpool, NS at the Brooklyn Marina, then on to our own cruising grounds in Mahone Bay.
It's been some four years since we cruised Mahone Bay so we're spending some time here. Here we're anchored at Backman's Island.

Backman's has many NS Palm trees lining its shores. The many islands and clear relatively warm waters, along with the many beaches make this a cruising destination not to be missed. We've been cruising here with friends for years.

As you approach the village of Chester, the shores are lined with some fine homes situated to overlook the bay.

You can see why Backman's is one of our favourite anchorages. It's always so pristine.

Our kids spent many hours on this point when they were young flying their kites.
The south has their pelicans that you have to watch out for. We have our own version.

The sunsets here are as beautiful as anywhere.

This weekend "Wind Warrior" is securely and peacefully sitting on a mooring that Mike lent us in Gold River.
We've gone home for the weekend.

June 21st - Cape Cod to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Our trip up through Cape Cod Canal was uneventful but also exciting as we had the 4 knot current on our stern for the entire way. After leaving the canal, it was a slight turn to port and off we went up to Gloucester, Mass. Gloucester is a very historic fishing town and it's very full of boats of all sorts.
The trip up was relatively calm for the first 2/3rds and it was hot, so it was time for a long overdue shower. No boats around ..... off we go to the foredeck and hang up the sun shower .... Jan's turn....

We didn't take any pictures in Gloucester. We were too busy rounding everyone up and heading into town for supper.
The next morning it was up again early for the 60 mile run up to Cape Porpoise Harbor. We finally made it to Maine. Land of the lobster traps. Cape Porpoise Harbor is a small harbor that is absolutely full of boats. Most are fishing boats for, you guessed it .... lobster.

We managed to make our way in through the trap buoys and anchor in some prime real estate right beside this floating palace .... I mean outhouse! What a novel idea ... No showers though!

Next morning it was up and at'm again early. Boy are we making time or what? Not seeing much, just putting those miles under the keel. The next stop was Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Did I mention busy? Man, there were double the amount of boats in here, and TEN TIMES the amount of lobster traps. One guy at the fuel dock was boasting that he had 1600 traps set and the Fed's hadn't caught him yet. There were even traps all through the mooring field. This is nuts!
Try navigating your way through this main channel in the dark or in the fog!

We arrived in Boothbay Harbor just before supper, fueled up and headed out to our mooring. Stop the boat Jan ..... OK ..... what the hell is that?
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP! "I think the shaft broke or something!" Oh well, time for a dive with the knife. Yup ...... another lobster trap line, only this time wrapped around the shaft and the knots were making a thumping noise every time they hit the skeg. I'm glad the water is still relatively warm. Fifteen minutes later the line was cut away and all was well again. Time for supper and an early night.

These places are very pretty, as is the Maine coast. We have to stay longer and see the place next time.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!!! You guessed it. The alarm clock. Time to go again. Only one last stop in Maine before we make our crossing back to Nova Scotia on Sunday June 24th. The reason we've been hurrying is that a cold front is coming up the coast and the forecast is for bad weather for a week.
Off we go again through the myriad of brightly coloured lobster pots and further up the coast to Swan Island in Penobscot Bay where we found this lovely little harbor completely covered with ... you guessed it .... more brightly coloured lobster traps! They are everywhere .... and you can walk ashore by stepping on them.

..... and what would lobster traps be without lobster fishermen .... up at the crack of dawn to start harvesting the catch.

Time to get going again. The NOAA forcast is SW winds 5-10 knots diminishing to light and variable winds. We didn't know that NOAA really doesn't care what happens outside the 3 mile limit!
The run to Yarmouth, N.S. was only 114 nautical miles. Piece of cake as we've aready logged 5,240 nautical miles this trip since Aug 31st. Well, as we passed the 3 mile limit, the wind rose to 20 knots and the seas quickly built to 5-6 feet, but they were on our stern so it was just a bit uncomfortable. Nothing we couldn't easily handle.
"LAND HO" !!! There she was, dead ahead ..... Nova Scotia! Land of many rocks and few lobster trapss. Coast Guard voices that we could finally understand when making their broadcasts. Ahhhhh, Home Sweet Home!

We made it. We're docked in Yarmouth.

Yesterday, we received an email from Randy Sherman and Susan Brown inviting us to their home in Lake Annis, about 25 minutes outside of Yarmouth. They are friends from Dartmouth Yacht Club who made the trip to the Bahamas and down into the Caribbean for the past 7 years. They figured we could use a good meal, hot shower, and a warm bed for the night.
Thank you so much guys! We'll take you up on that one.

So, I guess this nearly closes the book on our trip to the Bahamas 2011-2012. We're back in NS and intend to cruise our local waters until we arrive back at Dartmouth Yacht Club on August 1st. It ain't over 'til it's over!
The totals: 5,350 nautical miles travelled in 248 days.
Yes Guys, we're back. You can go ashore now!! IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

Ron, Jan, Pancho, Timmy, Grumpy, Suzie and Val (the Bear) aboard s/v Wind Warrior I

June 18th - Port Washington to Maine

Over the entire length of our trip we've seen some spectacular sunsets. I thought I'd try to balance this one into the scenario ... hehehe.

On the way to Cape Cod we stopped for a night in Port Jefferson, on Long Island. This port is very well protected from the elements by a huge breakwater at its entrance. We didn't get ashore here because we were late arriving and tomorrow will be a long 12 hour day up to Point Judith. We re-fueled and watered up before going to anchor in the harbour. We thought we might get a marina for the night but on hearing $4.50 per foot at one marina and $12.00 per hour for the night we decided that anchoring wouldn't break the bank.
Did I say protected? Yeah right ..... I forgot about the ferry that runs half the night with it's respective large wake. No sleep for Ron last night.
We had a nice run up to Point Judith. There is a port of refuge behind a large breakwater there, but a lot of the rocks have been washed away and the sea could penetrate it making for a rolly night so we decided to go inside the port and find a spot. You never know what you'll find until you arrive. The port is named Galilee and the town across the river is Jerusalem. We tied up on the end of an old stinky fishing dock loaded with old dead fish. You never know where we'll tie up until we get there.

The cruising guide says that a long time ago before the villages had a name, a fisherman was standing on the dock when a stranger asked him what the name of this place was. He paused, then said "Galilee". When asked what the name of the place across the river was he said "Jerusalem". The names have stuck to this day.
By the way, the guy I bought the lobster from tonight was named Joshua.
I think we'll be safe in here tonight!!

This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. We decided to head to Onset at the southern entrance to the Cape Cod Canal and catch the 4 knot current through the canal in the morning enroute to Gloucester, Mass. Enroute, we pulled into New Bedford, Mass where we got our original new engine and I ran in to pick up some new fuel filters. It was nice to only pay $9.95 each (I bought 4) instead of the $45 that Liftow charges in Dartmouth. I also got to drop in on Marty who owns the yard that replaced our engine. It was good to see him again.

Today, June 20th is supposed to be very hot at 100 degrees F. We stayed at the Pt. Independence Yacht Club in Onset last night. While at the mooring, I was trying to find a young man who towed us in last September and helped us a great deal. His name was John Finney and he had a lot of family in Halifax. He even offered us his home where we could take showers.
I was very saddened when I learned that he'd been killed in a sailboat accident earlier this summer. His wife had just had a baby in September.
We've made the decision to make our way up into Maine before making the crossing to Nova Scotia on Friday because it cuts the distance to less than half that from Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod.

SEE YOU SOON

June 16th - New York City

June 16th saw Jan & I taking the train back into NYC from Port Washington. Now that we understand the layout of the city and the streets this is really pretty easy.
What is a visit to New York without taking in a broadway musical. That's right, she finally got me to go to one, and not just any one. This had to be the longest running musical on Broadway .... THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! I have to admit, it was extremely good ... the acting, the singing and all the backdrops were extremely professional.
Our show was at the Majestic Theater on W44th and Broadway.

Jan was in her glory. She finally got to make her life complete .... and I thought that meant just being married to me. All kidding aside, this show was definitely worth seeing

After the show we enjoyed a nice dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp ... hehehe, had a few drinks while looking out over Times Square then after one last photo op and it was time to leave.

We took the train back to Port Washington and got an early night in as we're headed off to Port Jefferson, Long Island, in the morning then up to Pt. Judith at the entrance to Newport, RI.

We had a great time visiting New York City. We only touched on the highlights but we got a flavour of the city. New York is not just a huge city, it is an experience that you quickly learn to love. It's nnot only about the lights and the traffic around Times Square, or the shows on Broadway. It's about the diversity of the people, the food and overall feeling you get while there. Like Jan says "It's a living, breathing entity with it's own heartbeat. You can feel it". Man, I wouldn't have thought of that.
While cruising we met a wonderful couple, Chuck & Maryanne, who live in Glen Cove, NY which is only a few miles from Port Washington. It's too bad they're still back in the Chesapeake Bay on their way home. It would have been fun doing all this with them on their own turf.
We'll have to do this again!!