Remember the old Pennsylvania Dutch expression: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get"? Well we're working on a corollary of that, something like: "The less we do, the less we do-dee-do-dee-do". Hmmmmm? That's catchy. Maybe there's a song in that. See what I mean...? Since we've taken to indulging ourselves as dock-huggers at the Grand Bahamas Yacht Club, we have had more time to do what we do most willingly... hanging out in good company. So we find ourselves relaxing as we had hoped to do, when we started the boat project years ago. There are no worries about dragging anchor or being mowed under by a mega-yacht although we do have our big red fender balls out to prevent being shoved up against the dock by wind and wakes. Ultimately, finding company can be ... read more

This was taken March 24th, enroute from Lake Worth, FL to West End, Grand Bahama Island. The water is at least 2000' deep. We had a nice, easy crossing, motoring with 3 panels of the mainsail up. The total trip was less than 9 hours in daylight. These videos are tricky for us to download, so we waited. You survived the killer conch, so this will be more serene. ... read more

We had no idea what we were getting into when friends took us to have conch salad in West End. This video just happened as we waited for the tasty, innocent looking conch salad to be prepared by the very skillful seaside chef. The rest of the day was relatively normal and enjoyable. Time to venture out of our safe, luxury cocoon and see the how things are going outside the resort. ... read more

If you're saying 'finally' bite your tongue. Time to celebrate and say thanks again to the loyal folks who helped us over the years, so we could get here! After turning back from the crossing Wednesday night, due to extra choppy seas, last Thursday we left Lake Worth at 7 a.m. and aimed south west to cross the Gulf Stream. It was a sunny, relatively peaceful crossing. Beginners need this kind of good luck to keep them going. We got to West End, the nearest north western port in the Bahama chain of 700 islands and scooted into the marina before 4 p.m., for an @ 9 hour crossing. Once we passed the midpoint we seemed to pick up speed as the Gulf Stream gave us a boost. Note to Pat and John... we were startled ... read more

Still hanging in West Palm, alternating between Riviera Beach City Marina and Palm Beach Sailing Club, for our shore-based needs, laundry, showers, food and visiting. The weather is generally great and the moorings are free. Landing on shore is a customary $10. fee per day, with an even better weekly rate at the sailing club. Most boaters don't find the need to go ashore everyday, unless they literally need to walk the dog,so the cost gets even more reasonable. An unusual event for us this month was being caught in the middle of a local, plum loco race. Three boats of cruising friends had stopped by for the day, on our recommendation that this was a great, safe anchorage. Soon we were made liars as we were dive-bombed by high-end sailboats filled with squealing groupees, delighted ... read more

Meandering down the stream, a couple of days here, 2 or 3 weeks there. The weather is a bit like fall at home, cold at night with "Indian Summer' days. Technically we're waiting for a 'weather window' to skip, hop or jump across the gulf stream. Since we are new at this we are probably looking for a window the size of football stadium. We have been able to gather enough facts, opinions, theories, advice and cruising guides to fill the same stadium. We have enjoyed stays at Vero Beach, Jensen Beach, Peck Lake, North, South and middle Lake Worth and Riviera Beach. In these places we have been able to cook up some hoppin good social times. We're always glad that we built a 9x12 saloon in the centre of our boat, to accommodate the ... read more