15. New Stamp in the Passport - Turks & Caicos

This week has been a whirlwind of activity.  Our days at Emerald Bay Marina were crammed full of projects in preparation for leaving the Bahamas.  

We moved to Georgetown because every respectable cruiser goes to Georgetown.  

It is a cruisers' haven where all paths cross; boats traveling north, south, jumping off to Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and beyond.  We looked forward to some down time to enjoy hanging with fellow cruisers at the infamous Chat & Chill Beach, a great beach across from the city that has volleyball courts, hammocks, swings, horseshoes; just a great place to “chat & chill”.  

    Chat & Chill Beach - Georgetown, Exumas. 4/4/2016

The kids loved our time here because there are lots of kid boats.  We met back up with the crew from Take Two and made new friends aboard Alley Cat, Neptune II, Singing Frog & Paisley.  

    That's my little monkey in the tree waiting for her turn to swing on the rope.

    Alley picked Paige up and off they went to a friend's boat.  Kind of like watching your baby drive away in a friend's car for the first time :)

Along with the fun, Andrew & I stayed busy every minute we were there.  He continued with boat projects.

Finished the hand sewing on our new main sail.  We were able to give away a few items onboard and the ladies stole me away for a massive provisioning run (Georgetown is the first proper grocery store we’ve seen since Nassau).  

Our new friends aboard Alley Cat are finishing up their two year journey & were happy to share all their tips of travel for the Caribbean islands to come.  I spent 5 hours taking notes and marking places of interest in my guide book. 

 It is so helpful to hear from someone who has already been there & done that.

Andrew did get to enjoy a hike to the top of Monument Hill.

    Sky & the Take Two guys.

Open mic night at St Francis Resort was a blast!  Lots of cruisers singing & playing instruments and, when the weather forced us to cram into the small dining room, it turned into a sing-along with the kids from Paisley leading with the ukulele on some oldies but goodies.  

For the first time ever, we saw bioluminescence along the shore as we launched our dinghy.  They look just like fireflies in the water.  If you scoop your hands slowly through the water, they stay on your skin until you dip it back into the water.  It was the perfect ending to a great stay in Georgetown.

Thursday morning we were all set to head out to Rum Cay.  The wind was light enough for us to get the new main sail switched out.

    Flying the new main for the first time.  Sewn entirely by the Abby Singer crew!

And Andrew re-calibrated the autopilot before getting underway.  

It was a great morning to be on the water!  We soon heard friends from other boats (Dream Catcher, MeNorah, Neptune II & Take Two) that were heading out as well, which always makes you feel like you made the right choice when reading the weather.  

    I am standing straight, the boat is heeling that much!  Makes lunchtime a challenge :)

We were about half way through our day sail to Rum Cay when Andrew said everything was looking good for us to continue on and bypass our original stop.  The weather was right and the boat was ready but I wasn't!  I had big plans on things I wanted done to make our first passage more comfortable, snacks prepared, easy meals, cabin secured.  I had planned on using the night at Rum Cay to do all those things but when the wind blows, you go.  

We spent 48hrs at sea (our longest passage ever) to make passage to Providenciales in the Caicos Islands.  The hours at sea seem to stand still and fly by all at the same time.  The rolling seas and heat of the sun make you wish for nightfall.  And when sitting night watch all alone with no one but the bioluminescence and millions of stars to keep you company, you wish for sunrise.  Before you know it 2 days have passed and you did it, you survived.  The cabin was a mess from the pallet on the floor for the girls who were trying to help with night watch, dirty dishes left in the sink until I finally bit the bullet and stayed below long enough to get caught up.  My bum is bruised from banging around the galley during meal prep and clean up, but proper planning and paper plates should eliminate this in the future :)  It is hard to imagine passages being second nature or spending weeks at sea during an ocean crossing but that will be the norm soon.  

Even though I had some frustrating moments because of our course change, it really was quite pleasant.  

We colored, read books and watched the big rollers come in, enjoyed the solitude of the evening sky and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

    Sunrise - 4/9/2016

    We are a baby boat in this Marina!

An unexpected reward for our great passage is a beautiful stay at the Blue Haven Marina & Resort. 

I'm working on this blog poolside while the girls explore.  We are just minutes from the third largest reef system in the world.  The sun is out and the breeze is blowing!  

    We love the crew on Dream Catcher, Dean & Kim, our travel buddies and great friends.

    The guys eyeing the 80'+ catamaran that is anchored in our bay.

I think I could stay here forever or at least longer than our week long cruising permit will allow but there is more out there to be seen and I have to find out if we can ace this passage thing :)

Things learned this week aboard:

Expect the unexpected!  Whether it's the surprise gift of a guide book being passed on, fishing tips from a pro accompanied by a new lure, or a weather window opening (or closing) among your best laid plans; expect the unexpected and be flexible.  Just because something doesn't go the way you planned, doesn't mean it didn't work out for the best.  And who wants to be so rigid and locked into the way things are "supposed to be" that you miss an unexpected adventure waiting around the corner!

My PaigeE Paige has been missing her friends back home.  We are thankful for wifi so she could chat with her besties!  We love and miss you Maggie, Mia, & Olivia.  Thanks for making my girl's week!

Up next: another long passage. Will we make it?  We can hardly wait to find out ;)

16. Vacation Week in Turks & Caicos

7. Jacksonville, Farewell For Now

    Pulling away from Jax with the last load of "must haves".

We aren't headed to the islands just yet but it’s all good!  

We’ve had an amazing last week in Jacksonville.  The girls both got to take their favorite dance classes and they were lucky enough to have lots of friend time.

    Why can't I just get a sweet smile?!

    Paige missed seeing one of her besties who was away at a cheer comp - love you, Olivia

Andrew & I had a red letter week!  It started the morning after we arrived with a phone call from St. Brennan's Isle (our mail service) that our Coast Guard Reinstatement of Documentation had arrived after only 6 days when they told us they had a 6 month backlog!  

The sewing of the sail was long and tedious but we got it done.  It wasn't particularly difficult, just a pain to wrestle with as it got bigger and bigger.  

    I get this close to the end of the last long interior stitch and run out of bobbin!

Now to attach all the hardware and see if she flies.  

One of the main reasons for our return was to liquidate most of Andrew’s tools and shop stuff which I thought would take all weekend, many Craigslist ads, and moving it a few items at a time.  We were lucky enough to have a one-check buyer come in early in the week and take it all, so that took that off our plate!  (Don't mention it to Andrew yet, it still a bit painful to see it all go)  Everything else had been listed previously with no interest but we were able to find a happy home for our remaining kite surfing gear that wouldn’t fit on the boat, extra parts we never installed, even an old flatbed truck that had been sitting in the driveway for 5 years. 

    Bye Big Red.

It was exactly what we needed!  And if that wasn't enough, we got a 2 year tenant on one of our properties that I had just listed while the current tenant is still in it!  AMAZING!  It seemed all the loose ends were coming together in perfect timing, we are truly blessed.  

So with all that going on, the week flew by.  Now we are all packed in and returning to our Abby in south FL.

    

    Too much stuff!

Things learned this week:

It is hard to downsize!  The struggle is real.  We are constantly torn between patting ourselves on the back with how little we are living with and complaining about where we will store all the crap we are bringing on board.  I’ll argue with Andrew about why he needs another screw driver but if it is my vacuum sealer, there is plenty of room :)

Even really excitingly awesome change is difficult sometimes.  I am surprisingly emotional as I walk through my house for presumably the last time for quite a while.  The beds all have sheets over them to keep the dust off, cabinets & shelves are empty, refrigerator cleaned out, trash emptied.  We are ready.  As I walk down the hall with all my favorite pictures up, where I stop at least once daily to admire my babies and have a moment of thankfulness, 

it seems to hit me hard that we are really doing it.  We are really leaving, everything is changing.  We are so excited, we've waited for this moment for years.  But I’d be lying if I said I haven't shed a few tears and Andrew woke up from a dream that the boat sank at the dock last night so I guess we are both manifesting in different ways.  But nothing could keep us from this adventure.  And when the girls can’t wait to get back to the boat, it just confirms we are doing the right thing for our family.

The lists of things to complete is getting shorter and shorter.  We’ll see what we can get done this week.

    Our wall of "to do"s at our home, luckily most items moved into the completed column.

A quick update on our friends from the last blog:  

After many hard days of mourning for the lose of their dog and an amazing, heartfelt tribute from Matt about how empty their boat felt without Goose, they decided to search for their next “baby”.

Sometimes one just isn't enough!  

    Meet Oyster & Pearl.  

Their cuteness is making it really hard for my girls to want to leave this marina :)

8. Work Hard, Play Hard