Sometimes you miss……..sometimes you get it!

Remember our last post where we got a little wind and missed the t-storm by just a little ways?  Well the next night the weather gods made sure we didn't get missed on that afternoon.  Osprey Marina, 25 miles away only got a little wind.  Nati on the other hand got nailed with a ton of wind whipped rain and we are now officially power washed (or were since we have been back in the ocean and got more salt water on us).  I'm still trying to figure out how down download videos again.  Just doesn't seem to work.  We saw 48kts of wind on our beam and the noise was pretty fearsome.  I started to wonder if we were seeing a tornado since the roar was as load as I can ever remember hearing wind!

Still, we had our storm and before the sun set we had some blue sky and all was well once again.

From Butler Island we motored up to Osprey Marina to get diesel and water along with seeing "sv Jasmine Ann".  Roy is tearing up the main cabin of her and redoing a 100% remodel.  We have now seen the "empty" bridge deck.  Can't wait to see the finished end.  For dinner we had to have our favorite "shot" and that consisted of two rounds of oyster shooters!  They are the best!!!  Oh yes, on the way to Osprey Marina we had to motor past our 1st "Drag Boat" race.  Yes, the whole boating community was out in force.  We didn't see Miss Budwieser though…..

Heading into confusion

Even camping

Boats everywhere

Bud Lite rules here!

There is going to be a lot of sunburn today!

Lots of noise ….not much speed

More "ford tough" men in boats

Along with another sailboat, sv Wandering Star"  we started back up the ICW towards Wrightsville Beach.  We stopped for the night at Calabash (actually near Bird Island) and the next morning we motored out to go up the coast to Cape Fear and ride the tide up the Cape Fear River.  We made excellent time and for once we got the weather and tides correct.

A new bridge going up near Osprey Marina

Wrightsville Beach is a nice hang out and we will spend a few days here.  We have yet to get off Nati since it's so hot and even thinking of going out into the sun makes us run right back under the bimini.  Maybe today….

Our evening sunset after a T-storm

Living on the hook

Everyone knows that living the normal way involves having the security of being in your home when it is not too nice out.  It gets cold and snowy…….stay in and maybe light the fireplace.  If its rainy…watch a game on TV.  Either way the "home" concept is for the most part comfortable and reassuring.  On Nati (our home) there are times when it get a little dicey and we just can't turn on the ball game and sit back.  With a moving, floating home, when it gets a little windy, stormy or inclimate you can't just go away.  The opposite is actually what takes place.

Here it comes

Note, we are right at the edge

Check out the shelf cloud

The above clouds came through Myrtle Beach last night and at our anchorage we got a birds eye view of the storm going right past us.  Granted we closed everything up and even had the instruments running along with the engines when the storm line came at us.  But……….just 25kts of wind for a few minutes and NO rain!  We were ready but this time we were spared.

So what else is there to do but watch a sunset,  cook our shrimp and enjoy a good bottle of Bordeaux courtesy of the Chief and Millie.  Thanks guys!

Nati is on the move……..again!

After getting back to Melbourne and saying our goodbyes to Tom & Jean we had the bottom cleaned and headed north.  An easy run up to Cape Canaveral was uneventful and we had a nice quiet night right near the lock.

What was I thinking??

From there we decided to run up the coast and see what happened.  What developed was a 177nm trip up the coast to Cumberland Island.  We flew the spinnaker for 15 hours although is was light air.  Nati got there too late to see Kathy and Phil but they still managed to have a cocktail at the oldest pub in Florida, the Palace.  Still, it would have been good to see them again…….next fall!

Sunset looking towards the Florida coast

Can we say dolphins!!??  We saw many on the was north!

Since it was so hot we decided not to go to shore at Cumberland and just continue outside north.  The winds were not great but we still managed another leg of 165nm and turned left to go in at Charleston.  We probably should have continued but we do need fuel and Osprey Marina is by far the least expensive so on the inside we went.  The fishing wasn't too good but still as you can see I netted a lunker on the swim platform.  We also got two more flying fish on the front nets and the hand lines did produce a "remora" along with a "tuni".  Neither was going to be eaten so back to the water they went. Who ever heard of catching a remora?  Not us……

Nati's catch

The heat is unbelievable……it's a good argument for air conditioning!  Thank goodness we have a breeze today.

Read the heat index

It has sure been a strange long trip for the last two months…….

Nati is once again at anchor (right where we like her) and we happen to be 100 yards from the Cape Canaveral lock.  We will go through the lock tomorrow and head north again but today was the first time we got to move her in 50 days!

To recap:

• Anne departed Nati in the Abacos on April 7th and went right to Syracuse.  A month and a few days later we laid her Mother to rest.  It was difficult on the whole family and we look forward to moving on two another chapter in our life.  

Stan's equator crossing certificate

T&E hanging at "204"

• After wrapping up a number of loose ends in Syracuse we took the long way south via Honeoye Falls and Annapolis.  We were able to see Teagan in her school environment  (haven't been to pre-school in a long, long time!) and also enjoyed to down time with Bob & Steph.  From there we headed to Annapolis and worked on Amy & Evan's home.  It's a good thing Evan is such a handyman.  He made small work of the front steps (sorry Matt,  credit comes and goes so easy!)

Waiting for the school bus in the rain!

• From Annapolis we drove the "Kahuna" down I95 and stopped in Savannah for a couple of nights just for R&R.  Had a great time!

Savannah from the east shore

Having fun in "town"

Evan and Teagan would stay here all day!

• From Savannah it is just a few hours to Melbourne and after a few days getting Nati ready and saying our goodbyes to Tom & Jean we dropped the dock lines and north-bound we go…..  It sure feels good to be back on board!

NOTICE…..NOTICE…….NOTICE……!!!!!!!!!!

We are finally back on Nati!  Hooray for us as the last couple of months have been trying to say the least.  Better times are coming our way!!!!

Right now we are getting Nati ship-shape for our travels back north.  We had a diver clean the bottom and props so now we can move her.  Now all we have to do is put some water on board (water-maker is pickled for now) and finish up provisioning.  Seeing we were not offshore very long we have a bunch of provisions to use up but the wine locker must be full!!

More updates forthcoming soon.  This is just a quick note to tell you all that:

 "WE'RE BACK!"

Tax day has come & left again for another year……

OK, so it's a strange statement for a time of an update.  But, the last post was in early April, and right after BS&T left for parts much colder than the Bahamas we haven't done too much.  Actually Anne left 2 days after they departed and she continues to be up north.  We weren't too certain how long she would be gone but eventually it proved impossible to continue to stay in the Bahamas so off she flew.

After a couple of weeks we then decided it would be best if I got Nati back to the states to make the logistics easier for the coming few months.  We aren't sure what is in store for us but only time can address that.

We will wrap up the final days in the Abacos in this manner:

• Once we decided that it would be best to slowly head west I took Nati across the Whale Passage to Green Turtle Cay.  The mooring in Black Sound are secure and I spent 6 nights there, first of all trying to find a good window to cross the Gulf Stream and secondly to check out the cay since it has been 4 years since we last stopped.  It was almost like old home week as many of our friends over the years were also doing the same thing so I got to see s/v Old Sam, s/v Sangaris, s/v One with the Wind, s/v Windward and s/v Maluka.  Some of us left earlier than others and I was trying to find a quiet window to cross as it was the first time I crossed by singlehanded.
• One of the highlights of the stay was to have my lunch one day at the Cay's elementary school.  Susan (Old Sam) was subbing for the 4th grade teacher for two weeks so Don & I went over to Two Shorty's takeout and picked up our lunch and went to school.  It was fun to meet a number of the kids and see the insides of the classroom.  One computer for the whole room!  (sorry for now pictures….camera battery was dead)

s/v Maluka

Shorty's take out

Black Sound looking west

Black Sound looking east

• On the 21st of April after debating pros and cons I dropped the mooring at 0740 and headed west.  I had motor sailing weather and elected not to put the mainsail up since there were squalls all around and I didn't want any fire drills.  I got to sail 20+ NM and then the wind (forecasted to turn west at 5kts) did in fact turn to the west.  Only now, with a good, big squall just to the south of me had wind out of the west at 25-28kts, straight on the nose!  Go figure!
• After about 3 hours of that stuff it did lay down and the motor past "Center of the world" rock was uneventful.

Here comes the rain

Getting close

Washing Nati off good!

Center of the world rock

• We were pass Great Sale Cay when the sun went down and it was a dark night.  Being on the Little Bahama Bank at night is not too bad.  Boat traffic is almost non existent and the water is an almost constant 15 feet deep.  If you touch bottom out there you have done something bad.

Sunset on the Bank

• By 0300 the next morning Nati went off the bank and into the deep water of the Gulf Stream.  The forecasted wind was for NE going to SE at 10-12kts so I was looking forward to putting the sail back up.  NOT!  The wind stayed north and fortunately stayed light so the "stream" was only  bouncy and not unmanageable.  With about 20nm to go the breeze came up to 11kts and I finally got the sail up again and coming into the Ft Pierce inlet was calm, sunny and warm.

Ft Pierce in the distant

• In summary……173nm in 29 hours.  Only had the sails up for 30-40 miles but the bottom line is Nati is now in a safe harbor and our logistics of getting back and forth from Syracuse are much easier.

When we know what is going on next I will, once again do an update.  For now we will take a couple of weeks off and deal with our short term future.  Thanks all……

A good week for the whole gang….

We are now one day post "the O'Connor" vacation in the Abacos and Nati is looking barren with no toys in the main cabin.  "T" came equipped with her entertainment and for a 6 year old, she can  keep all 4 of us jumping that is for sure.

Two pirates……

Our full moon before the ellipse that we missed

After Tahiti beach we motored over to Hope Town and grabbed a mooring in the harbor.  They make it much easier to get to shore and Teagan had decided that it was time for ice cream! It wasn't for us to say no!  One of the things she also wanted to do is swim in the nice pool at the Abaco Inn & Marina along with visiting the "Cat-in-the-hat" lighthouse.  We were able to do both and really enjoyed the pool.  We could sit there and take turns in the pool with her and when not doing that, there was always a Kalik beer or conch fritter to gobble down.

The first of 5 conch fritter going down!

Bobo…..big hat!

Getting ready to head up 101 steps to the top

Looking to the west

Looking out

Nati is front and center

The "Gang" outside the top if the Lighthouse

We had a lot of "firsts" during the week for Teagan:

• conch fritters
• mustard
• look buckets
• swimming off Nati
• climbing all the way up and down the lighthouse by herself
• fast dingh-go rides with Bob
• face in the water

No wonder she went to bed fast and quick each night!

Swimming at Matt Lowe Cay

We stayed in Hope Town for 2 nights and then it was time to head back to Marsh Harbour.  We decided not to go directly there as the day was too perfect so we had an afternoon anchor stop in Matt Lowe Cay.  It is a lovely spot for a swim and to make fresh water so we didn't pull into the marina until 5pm.  From there it was a good last dinner at Wally's and an early night to hit the sack.

Sunday morning brought us another beautiful day but first we had to find all the notes the Easter Bunny left for Teagan.  At the end of the trail, look what she found ---

Thanks bunny!

We had a very great week!  Thanks for coming, Team O'Connor!!