Another Milestone

   Sun in our eyes as we enter the Atlantic.

Wow!  It is our fifth month of cruising.  What better way then to skip into another country?  We will leave the USA  to boat on the Atlantic Ocean and cross the Gulf Stream to reach Bahama.

Serious depth here.

We crossed from Riviera Beach, Florida to West End, Bahamas. It's only a 66 miles journey but it seemed a lot longer.

Bahamas is all islands, three main one and the rest are small to larger.  There are almost 700 islands. We will spend two months exploring it.

Another milestone for us, it's our first time boating on the Atlantic Ocean! We

were prepared for this voyage. Just as we neared the ocean and I spotted the waves my stomach lurched. Oh no! Seasickness is unusual for me but there is always a first time.  As we crossed those first waves the boat instantly started rocking and stuff that wasn't secured started sliding. It was the most rocking we have ever experienced.  We should have done a double check. Especially in the engine room. If anything isn't secured as we are pounded by those waves, it could be disastrous. The roughest seas we have seen up to now.

Lil Hide Away is also rocking. 

We travelled like this for a couple of hours. My stomach was still queezy but I wasn't sick. I even was able to sleep a bit. As we left the Gulf Stream which is a river on the ocean the waves calmed. It turned into slow swells. We saw an ocean tanker coming towards us and we thought we would have to adjust our route but no. It was going faster then us.  Luc and Sylvie our buddy boat had to avoid it. It pays to be slower sometimes.

Lil Hide Away adjusting her course

We arrived safely, no rain, no problem to the Old Bay Marina. It's a nice marina in the middle of nowhere. Our check-in at Customs was uneventful. Fill-in several forms, pay $300., and followed by a short boat inspection.

Time for "The Master" to crack open a beer.  That's what they call the captain at Customs here and Yvon loves it. Will let him enjoy it for a day or two.

Kalik beer for The Master

Meanwhile I'm cleaning-up the stuff that went sliding everywhere on the boat. So much for everything in it's place.  Then I noticed the front berth floor was wet. Oh no! Trying to find what spilled, I found a big problem.

As"The Master" come responsibilities. So much for relaxing!  The compartment under the floor was full of sea water and all the boat supplies stored in that hatch were floating or under water. So much for spare parts. Where is this water coming from?

Well it's from a bad design.  The two horns casing in the front broke and it left two holes the size of pop cans open on the bow.  This water filled the anchor well and spilled in the storage compartment.  What a mess!

Not supposed to see the sea.

Change of plan! We will go to the Ocean Reef Resort close to Freeport as we can go to a Marina, or hardware store and possibly fix this.  Meanwhile we did a Maciver fix, but it didn't last the thirty mile voyage to Freeport. Now some more serious fixing and more cleaning.

It's a messy cleanup but the we were not in danger. The boat is built with pumps to remove water.  We have three on ours. Nothing like a good backup. Everyone is very helpful here so we are fixing it ourselves.

We will stay here at Ocean Reef for three or four weeks so it will be busy. This marina and resort is 80% Canadian. They have a lot of activities, a beautiful beach and a daily shuttle to town or for shopping.

Yesterday we took the shuttle to the Lucaya Market. It's a nice stop with restaurants and boutiques. It is a bit touristy but worth the visit.

Moose Mobile. The door closes with a bungee cord.

Shopping for New flip flops.

Did I tell you that the water is a beautiful aqua blue, clear and the beach sand is white?  It is full of fish.  We saw bull sharks swimming at the first marina. At the second marina, Yvon slipped on the dock and fell in the water. As he reboarded the boat he said: "all he could think of was he hoped there were no sharks.' A few scratches but nothing broken. It's  part of the adventure.

Well this will be my post for now.  Will let to know where our next Bahamian adventure brings us.

Grace Hopper: “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”

Part 2. Resuming Our Adventure

Jan 9 as scheduled, we resumed our adventure.  As you can see above, the Caloosahatchee river is beautiful and calm. 

We spent 6 weeks in Florida with a short trip to Ottawa. When we arrived in Fort Myers, I promised not to go boating for a month.  It didn't take long to break my promise.  We went boating twice but not in our boat. We went with friends and we explored our park and surroundings by dinghy. What a pleasure not to do any navigation or planning.

This boat has been there for a while.

We also met up with friends we've made in the loop. Friends we will meet up with again.  Maria and Howard were engaged while doing the loop.




We flew to Ottawa for Christmas and returned here for New Year.  We visited with Dave's parents. They welcomed us into their home for Christmas.  It was nice to finally meet after 18 years.  They had so many question on our adventures, at times we felt like celebrities.  Thank you for the warm welcome. We saw a beautiful corner of Canada in Sherbrooke, Québec. We also saw some family and friends.  Didn't have time to see everyone and I apologize if we missed you.

We left the dock on January 9th as planned.  We traveled the 67 miles Caloosahatchee River, crossed Lake Okeechobee and the 7 miles on St. Lucie River to reach the Intercoastal Waterway and the east coast of Florida.  It was nice to travel without sharing the water with those barges. From there we will cross to the Bahamas. The first day we had a late start but we reached our destination at Labelle city dock. They have some nice docks. Some include free hydro. Library and park are across the street. Free WiFi and place to walk.  The downtown has a few good restaurants. We tried the Coffee Shop and they have delicious cookies and sandwiches.  Foley Grill had the best lasagna.  Yvon sister delivered us a parcel there.  It's always fun to see family along the way.

The next  day we had another late start and we spent the night in Moore Haven.  There is a nice city dock.  Priced reasonably.  There isn't much around but walking is nice.

Sunset in Moore Haven

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Crossing Okeechobee

Sunset at Anchorage at 4 Rivers

We had a beautiful crossing of Lake Okeechobee.  It is the biggest fresh water lake in Florida. Our third night we spent anchored at 4 rivers. Watched a beautiful sunset and woke up to an alligator next to our boat. Four rivers is 5 miles from Stuart but they have a funny rule there. We can only stay three days consecutively at the only marina where we could get a slip.

No more big barges

So we arrived early the next morning at Harbor Inn at Britt Point.  Fun for us since our marina is in Britt, Ontario. Not the same but some sense of semblance.  We had a full day to relax and clean the boat. Turns out the afternoon had showers on and off. Too bad for the boat show next door. Funny to think it took three days to get across.  It's a two hour car ride.  Nice to be able to go across inland instead of around by the keys.

Well we went to the Stuart Boat Show Saturday and Sunday. We found our next boat but we need a bigger bank account.  We attended a seminar on crossing to the Bahamas.  It was a bit reassuring.  I'm almost excited now.

We had Yvon's cousin and his wife visit us in Stuart. Then we visited them when we arrived at Riviera Beach. They have a beautiful winter place in West Palm Beach. Isabelle took me shopping for provisions for our Bahama adventure. I also purchased an Instant Pot after talking to a fellow boater. I managed to fill the back of their corvette. The captain thinks I'm going to sink our boat.




On our last day in Stuart, we were reunited with Sylvie and Luc.  It was different to be without them. It took three days before we got to spend time with them. At Riviera Beach they were docked beside Emotions. Carole Duval wrote "The Great Loop with Emotions".  We purchased the book before starting on our loop.  I missed my chance to get my book autographed.

Sunset at Riviera Beach Marina

Viking Boats

Tonight we visited with Yvon's cousin again.  We went to the best place in West Palm Beach.  City Place. It's a vibrant place to eat, shop and see some expensive cars. We ate some Japanese food, did some window shopping and saw some serious wheels. Lamborghini, Bentley but best of all we rode in a new Corvette and a new Mustang.

Well we have been at Riviera Beach City Marina since Monday.  We are waiting for a window to cross to Bahamas. It's been too windy and those North winds are to be avoided.

Ferry to the Bahamas is moored close to us.  Would be easier to cross.

We are ready to leave tomorrow but we may not leave until Tuesday. I'm posting my blog because once we get to Bahamas my online access may be limited so if you don't hear from me I'm having too much fun or I don't have any internet.














Thank you for following us. Here's our journey so far.  We are celebrating five months on our journey today.