Well, we made it home to PH. The boat is at Desmond Marine, downtown PH. It's cold here, but it's good to gradually catch up with family and friends. The drive home was hard, especially since we didn't trust Kay's mother's car, the 1994 Olds that the man at the shop in Florida said "Don't drive it too far..."
It made it, but with the truck, we drove 8 hours a day, most days, and on Friday, we drove from Hopkinsville, KY, where we had a nice visit with Barry's cousins, to Port Huron, arriving in about 8 or 9 pm. We have unpacked the car and truck, and soon, will unpack the boat. There's lots to do, to get it cleaned up to be a fresh water boat again. Barry plans to sell alot of what we won't need again, like the port-a-bote and the watermaker and the wind generator. The water up here is kind of hard, so we'll have to wait a bit to sail.
When Barry walks out the door at home, he says, "This isn't Paradise..." but it will start to be in a month or two...
In the meantime, hope you've enjoyed the trip with us, and happy sailing!

Today, we're hunkered down, at anchor still, patiently(?) waiting for tomorrow, to go into the marina, take the mast down, and get the boat hauled out. Time is crawling so slowly...Yesterday,we took quite a bit of the boat apart, then went to shop. On the way back to the boat, curiousity got the better of Barry. The river bottom is mud, which is exposed at low tide. It looks like dark brown sand, with lots of piles of razor clams that might tear up the dinghy bottom. It was low tide when we were on our way back out to the boat.
In the early morning, an eagle or large hawk, with big thick legs, anyway, had made a kill, and was eating it on a little hill, in the salt marsh, near our boat. When he(she) left, sea gulls came, and after them, vultures. Barry was really curious what the kill was.
We pulled up to the mud, near the little hill, and Barry hopped out. Instantly, he was knee deep in sticky mud, going down. He took a step, leaving his shoe in the hole he left, and sticking a foot with just a sock on it into the mud. He almost fell over, but grabbed the dinghy and pulled himself out. He rescued his shoes, which are the ones we started out with. They would have been no loss, but he likes them...
He had mud on his jacket, on his jeans, long underwear, socks and shoes, as well as all over the dinghy! There may be no such thing as quicksand, but this could be quick-mud! It was so sticky!
At least he was safe, but cold and wet!
Today is sunny, but very windy, and barely 50F outside. We're staying inside today, pretty much. Lots to get ready to travel in here. Brr...
Still afloat though. Barry and Kay

Today was our day ashore in Amelia Island. We took down the headsail yesterday, worked on the oil change. Today, it was 49F inside the boat when we woke up, but around 30 outside! Cold. I know, that's a heat wave at home, but here, on the boat,it's cold...We're at anchor in the Amelia River, just south of Fernadina, Fl, and near Amelia Island Yacht Basin. It's a pretty good anchorage, although the current is 2 to 3 knots. The bottom is black sandy mud, and seems to be good holding. We've been lucky so far, the forecast strong winds haven't come here. Last night, sleet and flurries were forecast, but the skies were clear, and the stars brilliant.
So today, we dinghied in a quarter mile to the yacht basin, took Mom's car, and did some shopping. This afternoon, we picked up Barry's truck at the dealer's. It has a nice top on the back. It really looks great. We also went dumpster diving for carpet remnants at a carpet shop, so we'll have carpet to pack things up to ship.
Barry used his metal detector on the ocean beach. found a penny and a nickel. At least he wasn't skunked!
It's getting close to time to haul the boat out of the water. Sad, and exciting at the same time.
Should be cold again tonight. Then a cold front comes through Saturday night. All the weather forecasting we learned is no help down here at all. The fronts form down here! Hard for a beginner to predict, to say the least. and they merge, and they turn around and go the opposite direction. We just pray alot!
Have a good day!

Here we are in St. Augustine, on a beautiful, sunny, warm afternoon, soaking all the warmth up we can! We had hoped to get a bit farther north, but the Bridge of Lions is being worked on, so it will only open between 6 am and 8am, and between 6pm and 8pm. I don't know who dreamed up those times, but it's dark until 7am, and gets dark at 6:30 pm, so it wasn't a boater. So we're stuck here, until tomorrow or the next day. It's supposed to be warm tomorrow, still, but rainy. Then comes another cold front, with highs in the 50's, lows even down into the 20's. Wonderful boating weather! but we can't complain, because we've only had one other cold front since we got here, when the temperatures were less than 65.
And there are only a few more days. The man who would take down the mast and haul the boat out is going to be gone until Sunday, so we'll do that next week Monday, and Tuesday put the boat on the truck. So we should only have to stand the cold down here a few days...
Of course, then we have to stand it up north, but hopefully, not for too long.
We had a nice sail today, and the current was with us the whole day! That never happens. We were going 7 to 8 knots over ground! Beautiful weather and scenery as well.
Saw dolphins, lots of birds, including a bald eagle.
and we're eating all the canned food now, so we don't have to worry it will freeze on the boat. Of course, if it was tasty canned food, we would have eaten it by now. Luckily, there isn't much left...
that's all for today. Barry and Kay

This has been a busy week. We rented a car in Titusville, Fl, on Monday, and drove to Kay's mother's condo in Leesburg. There, we got her car somewhat fixed, as cheaply as possible, and drove it to Amelia Island Yacht Basin, north of Jacksonville, where we will take down the mast, and put the boat on a truck, on February 19! It's getting so close!
We did see Mike and Sue Hoffman while we were there. They're doing so well! and have such a nice place. It was really good to see them!
Then we came back to the boat Thursday night. Friday, we played tourist, going to the Kennedy Space Center and to the New Smyrna Beach Speedway, to see late models and IMC modifieds race. It was noisy and fun. And definitely closer to the boat than to Leesburg.
Saturday, we took the car back, and are planning to begin traveling north first thing tomorrow morning. We hope to make Daytona tomorrow, and St. Augustine Monday. Another front is supposed to develop in the gulf, and come across Florida Monday night to Tuesday morning. Until then, the wind should be light north tomorrow, and then south until the front comes through.
It has been in the 60's or low 70's here, for highs, with lows in the high 40's or 50's. Much better than what we'll find in Michigan, I'm sure, but we do look forward to seeing everyone. Right now, Brooke, my sister and her husband, my mother, and for a while, Brett and his girlfriend Melanie, were staying at the house! When we called, Jackie and Gary King were also there! Look at all the fun we're missing!
Tonight we're going to watch the Budweiser shootout on television at the marina. We haven't seen TV much, and don't really miss it as we did the first trip down, but there are some things we do enjoy watching. We hope to stay OUT of the TV habit when we get home! Sorry we didn't get to connect with Dale and Kathy or with the Bostons. Time to get moving...
No worries. Barry and Kay

Hello! Here we are at Dragon Point, north wind, hi's around 60F, lows in the 40'sfor temps, and misty rain. We stayed on the boat all day yesterday, when it rained hard, and still was windy. The tornadoes and severe storms passed north of us. We only had wind in the 30mph range. We had planned to go on to Titusville today, but it still rained, and the north wind was pretty strong this morning. It's less now. Tomorrow is supposed to be stronger north wind, but sunny. sunny carries more points, in our decision making process.
Monday, we plan to rent a car, and go over to Mom's in Wildwood. Her car is there. If we can get it running, and in reasonable shape, we'll use that to go north in, after we haul the boat to truck it home. If not, we'll have a plan B or C in operation. We hope to take a week or less. THat hopefully will coincide with the time it takes the next cold front to get out of here!
We went shopping here today. One of the most encouraging things was there was only one rack of long pants for men in the whole store, along with over 20 racks of shorts...and the home and garden spring plant sale is scheduled for February 24th... Spring is coming down here!!! Now if it will just start to work it's way north, we'll be thrilled!
In the meantime, hope it warms up here! Barry and Kay

Well, the cold fronts come right through FLorida. We have cold weather, even if the sun is warm.. The winds were strongest from the SW and W, before the front this weekend. So around 5am Sunday morning, the anchor dragged while we were in the middle of a bunch of boats in Lake Worth. Luckily, Barry woke up. We reset the anchor, and set down another...Later, Larry, who went over to the Bahamas with us, to get his own boat shipped back to FLorida,came and picked us up. He made a super dinner at his home for us..he's a great cook! and made all our favorite foods! Wow! and we met his wife, Pat. We had heard alot about her, so it was great to meet her. She has the patience of a saint, I think!
When we got back to the boat, just at sunset, it was right where we left it. However, most of the boats around us had moved away from us. Figure that out...
Today, we've moved north 20 miles to Peck Lake, near Stuart, Fl. It's a short dinghy ride to the shore, and a short walk across the dunes to the ocean beach. Barry used his metal detector, and found $1.10! Not enough for new batteries, but fun to find, anyway.
and you can't walk the sandy beach in the warm sun in Michigan right now...
We have a frost/freeze warning for tonight, but then it should warm up the rest of the week, before the next front on the weekend.
For those who asked: Kay's mother is home in Port Huron, and we need to get home to help take care of her. We promised we'd try to make it by the end of February, so that's what we're aiming for. The boat should be shipped the week of February 19th. Barry couldn't face motoring any of that way, and we don't know how soon we could come back down to work on the boat... so we'll work on it this spring, in Michigan. We're hoping for an early spring...
See you all before too long!

We miss alot of staying in the Bahamas.
1. This is our first day of all day rain since we left Florida the last time!
2. The Cruiser's Net. Have to tell you about that.
At 8:15 everymorning, on VHF 68, the locals do a Cruisers' NEt. Before that time, you can hear the various people from restaurants and places to go/things to do, calling in to get their spot on the net. They tease each other, etc. One person is the designated anchor each day, who calls on people to talk, comments on everything, keeps it flowing. Skipper Bob's wife used to help out, from Marsh Harbour Marina.
First, Patti from barometerbob.com gives the local weather, and weather for the passage to FLorida. Then, someone gives the headline news, stock market reports, etc. Someone gives the Sports news. There is a trivia question, for everyone to guess, usually related to the Bahamas or sailing. "Use your noodle, not your google..."
Someone gives an eyeball assessment of the state of the Sea of Abaco. 4" ripples on the water, a small boat will get wet, or if really rough, which is nothing compared to Lake Huron, it's an "Albury Ferry" day... meaning let take the ferry, instead of your own boat...
The inlets from the Sea to the Ocean get nasty. If the waves break all the way across, with alot of force, it's a "rage." so people call in with the condition of each inlet: the Whale, Man-o-War north and south, Tilloo cut, and North Bar/Little Harbor.
Then restaurants, dive shopes, etc advertise what they have going on that day, and upcoming events. This section is called invitations and community events. New arrivals introduce themselves, and people who are leaving say goodby to all their friends, and if flying back, they say if they can carry open, flat, stamped mail, including where to leave it, and their cut-off time. Then, at the open mike session, you can guess the answer to the trivia question. If you get it right, you get a bucket of sea water, taken at high tide, of course, or a dose of sunshine... Also, people call in with questions: who do I contact to get this fixed, or where to go for this or that, or if you have something you don't need, does someone else want it..Then Patti recaps the weather, and you're done.
If there was emergency email for someone, they'd let you know then, if they hadn't found you before that.
It was a lot better than listening to NOAA for the weather! If you were in your cockpit, or on the dock, you could hear the net coming to you from all over the harbour!
Ah well, those were the days in Paradise!!

Well, here we are, back in Lake Worth, anchored in peace and quiet before this rip-snortin cold front comes thru. It hasn't been cold here yet, evidently, but things are about to change. We'll see...
We spent 3 days in Treasure Cay, walking the beach, waiting for the wind to die down enough that we could go through the Dont Rock passage. We tried once, but the wind was so strong, waves were breaking all across the inside passage, as well as out in the Whale Passage in the ocean. They call that a rage here... so we made it through, and went to Green Turtle Cay. We took a mooring ball, and explored ashore. New Plymouth is a super little town, with lots of little shops and restaurants all packed together, laced with bouganvilleae and all kinds of flowers. Then we walked to the beach on the south bay, took pix of school kids, found sand dollars, and generally had a good beachcombing afternoon. The weather was still good, so we sailed to Great Sale Cay the next day. Got in just at dark and anchored. It was a good thing we did that when we did, because the night was pitch black. If it wasn't for the anchoring light on the boat next to us, which was the only other boat there, there would have been nothing to see but stars!
Then we motor sailed to West End. We could have just sailed, but wouldn't have been able to make it over the reef at Indian Cay Passage at low tide. As it was, we had a 3.4 reading, which is 5.2 feet. We draw 5 feet, so that was pretty close...
In West End, we stayed again at Old Bahama Bay Marina. Did the wash cheaply, for a change. Usually it cost us $3 or $3.50 for each washer load, and the same for a dryer. Here, it's only $1.50. Nice surprise. The no seeums were terrible here. My ankles look like I have a rash, and still make me crazy when the bites start itching! Had a nice happy hour tho, with Andre and Louise Babe from Montreal. He's an avid iceboater and raced Kirby's for a while, too. Knows the Boston family, and says Hello!
Left early on Sunday for the Lake Worth Inlet. Supposed to be south wind, anywhere from 10 to 25 knots, depending which forecast you believed, but all said 4 to 6 ft waves in the Gulf Stream. The wind was 15 to 20. We double reefed the main, and finally rolled up all but a quarter of the jib, our #1. The waves were so big, and from several directions, that we couldn't have gotten that jib down and another up very safely, with just the two of us. So we had a beam reach, averaged 7.5 mph, and made the trip in 8.5 hours! Whew! What a sail!
and then,the Coast Guard hailed us, as we were heading toward the inlet. Wanted all our information, and then wanted to know the last time we were boarded. Barry told them 27 years ago, and under his breath, told them not to even think about it now! It was ebb tide, and with the current against all the waves from the ocean, the inlet was full of 10-20 ft breaking seas from all directions. It was only awful for about 200 yards, but whew! The Coast Guard told us to enjoy our trip thru the inlet, and they'd be standing by in case we needed them!
Barry was saying wahoo! etc, as we came in, but I just decided not to look at anything and I'd be fine... and we made it in safely. As we did, other boats saw us, and had heard the conversation with the CG. They kept radioing us, asking what it was like in the Gulf Stream. Turns out, a huge number of boats were going across, leaving at midnight, when things supposedly would have calmed down. Neither Barry nor I would have liked to go thru those waves in the dark, when you couldn't see them coming.
We anchored up in the north end of Lake Worth. It has taken us a couple days to get everything dried back out and put back where it belongs. It will take all year to get desalted. My hair was crisp with salt! Today we got haircuts, and they washed our hair. Feels more human.
We saw Larry's boat, and Larry yesterday, when we had to go down to the Port to go thru customs. HE's done alot of work, but has a lot to do yet. At least it's here, safe and sound!
We went by Cracker Boy's Marina. Alot of the 70 footers from the Key West race are here, on the hard. It was neat to look at them. And Defender, an old 12 meter boat, is there.
Barry is looking to buy a truck, so we went to the Chevy dealer here. He's looking for what Barry wants.
and we've contacted the trucking people. They can take the boat north the week of February 19, from Fernandina Beach, so that's our timeline to get back north. We have to finish up a few things here, and then we'll head on up.

Brett left for home yesterday. It was somewhat easier when Brooke left, because we knew Brett was coming, but this time, we have to go back to the two of us. Now before you all sign up to come on down, the boat is pretty small with more than two of us. Just ask the kids. So we're happy to be just two again, but sad, too. We went alot of places with Brett: Great Guana Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Treasure Cay, and Hopetown, besides Marsh Harbour. It was fun. He got to snorkel here at Mermaid Reef, then at the reefs off Great Guana and Green Turtle Cays. Swimming out into the ocean to a reef, from shore, is pretty exciting. The reef itself comes up to the surface, but its really deep around them, and the fish are BIG! A norther came through Monday night, so we'll have cooler temps (high 60's, lower 70's) for the rest of the week, I guess. Barry's ears are plugged up, so he can't hear much. Today, he's working on the engine, looking for the source of a leak. Got to go back to work! Barry and Kay