Howard

Howard And The Remoras

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November 30th

We again have acquired a school (?) of remoras under our boat. One is yellow…wait for it…ICK!! These things really creep me out, with their flat, suction heads and upside down-like mouths. Howard has somehow caught sight of them, and is now incredibly intrigued. He sits out on the swim platform gazing down off of the side and through the slats, hoping to catch a glimpse.

I insist on Howard being supervised when on these viewing missions. I’m terrified he’ll try and jump in after one if they are spotted. You may think that there’s no way a cat would willingly jump into the water, but you would be wrong here.

At our slip in Baltimore, Howard jumped from our bow…onto a duck…that was in the water! He landed squarely onto the duck, which would have been a victory had the attack happened on dry land. In this case, the duck rolled and Howard followed…into the harbor! I wasn’t so terrified that he’d gone into the water, but that he may grow a second tail from being in that “icky” water. Unfortunately, the Baltimore harbor, as you may expect, is far from clean.

Scott put his arm into the water, and Howard “climbed” it to get out (not pleasant for Scott). He careened into the boat, looking like a cartoon character, soaking wet with legs flying in all directions. He then proceeded to lick the ick off of him, and thankfully still only has one tail! He has fallen in twice since then, more by accident, but it the last has been almost a year ago. I’m worried that he has forgotten that we sit on water.

Back to the remoras. What scares me about Howard falling into the water here is the remoras sucking onto him. I don’t know their preferences..would they suck onto fur? I have visions of fishing Howard out of the water with a big bald spot on him. Yeesh.

Scott spends his supervising time educating Howard about the remoras, as they watch the water together.

Scott points out the remoras when they surface.

Scott then explains to Howard that they are in the water, and are “sucky.”

Howard seems to get it, although he hangs over the edge of the swim platform way to far for my comfort. I’m happier when he just hangs out in the cockpit, waiting for a glimpse.

His boat skills continue to develop!

Don’t forget to check the link to Howard’s photos here. We’re always updating it!

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

 

 

At Anchor In The Exumas

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We are enjoying life, anchored in this gorgeous blue water.

Scott has been snorkeling and exploring since we dropped anchor here. Some of that being under our boat! First, check out the clarity under there!

We’ve seen stingrays and hermit crabs hanging out under us, and what we thought were small sharks are actually two remoras, or suckerfish..ick! They’re two feet long..double ick!! I think I’d rather have small sharks under there. Whenever I get into the water, I’m panicked that they’re going to suck onto me. That’s a spa treatment that I’ll pass on, thank you.  As I mentioned in my previous post, A Rainy, Squall-ly Day, we’re boat bound today, so here is what we did (we’re beginners, so bear with us, we’ll get better)!

On one of his excursions, Scott went ashore and climbed to the highest point on one of the nearby cays for some photos. The path up was overgrown, and Scott had to tramp through to get his “money shots.”

On the way down, he realized that he had grabbed onto, and brushed by poisonwood on his route. He was so zeroed in on getting to the top, and to his photo site, that he hadn’t paid close attention going up.

Poisonwood is a tree similar to poison sumac, and it’s very commonly found in the Bahamas. Not good. Scott hustled back down to the Aluminum Princess, stripped down and jumped in the saltwater to rinse off. He then rinsed out his clothes and put his swim suit on to high-tail it back to the boat, where he again stripped down and showered in fresh water with soap. So far, no itchy rash, so it appears that we’re in the clear and the risk was worth the pictures!

Right near us is Pirate Island. Years ago, a cruising couple who were here on their boat (named Pirate) “developed” the beach here for cruisers to come ashore and enjoy. There are benches and tables, a bean bag toss game, lounge chairs, fire pit and a charcoal grill stocked with charcoal.

Throughout the years, those who visit maintain it, keeping the beach swept and the charcoal supply full. When you’re onboard for extended periods of time, it’s nice to have a place to go to, and be able to stretch you legs and have a cookout. In the winter months, when there are many more people here, the cruisers meet here for pot lucks and happy hours.

We are “around the corner” from Staniel Cay, and Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Their adorable cottages have been on my vacation radar for years, so I had Scott do a drive-by for me. They’re soo cute!

As usual, Howard is enjoying his happy hour stints on the pulpit.

He’s getting more and more comfortable out there, yeesh.

When we arrived, there were four other boats. There are now sixteen other boats. We attribute this to the winter season approaching, when people bring their boats here and stay for months. There is also  a strong cold front coming through, with big winds. This anchorage is pretty protected from most of it, so we’re guessing some are here to wait it out.

There are boats here with cruisers from the UK, Germany and France. The French like to bath “au natural” on their swim platform, so that’s entertaining. The “Germs,” as Scott has taken to calling them (they have a generator on their bow, and the noise annoys Scott, go figure), are getting great use of Pirate Beach. Excuse the blurry photo, but Scott could not get over how big their fire was. He was convinced that they were burning one of the tables, or had thrown their dingy onto the fire.

That’s it in a nutshell so far. Signing off with the sunset and the rest of our photos.

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Hoffman’s Cay

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Tropical Storm Kate passed to our east on Monday evening with no issue, as planned. We left our slip at Great Harbour Cay Marina the next morning, and continued on to an anchorage off of Hoffman’s Cay, on the Atlantic side of the Berry Islands. Our trip there was perfect, with big, gentle swells. After a five hour trip, we dropped anchor in gorgeous blue shaded water. We were surrounded by beautiful small islands. Each one with a beach, and each uniquely different.

One had a rocky, cliff-like shoreline

One was lined with coconut palms

One was lined with scraggly pine-like trees

And one even had a blue hole

At lower tides, the rocky shorelines seemed to float over the water

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to explore any of these islands. While we were enjoying our meal at the marina restaurant, the no-see-ums had a meal of their own. It turns out that I’m very allergic to their bites. I’d just started to recover from being eaten alive at our private beach excursion, and this time they hit me twice as hard. The normal Off spray didn’t have much effect on them, and I am covered in big, red, crazy itchy welts. Like chicken pox on steroids. The bite are SOO itchy, I want to scratch the skin from my body!

I have spent the last few day hiding inside the boat, giving the irritated bites time to ease a bit before I spread more repellent on them. I’ve been doing small painting and varnishing projects, watching movies and admiring our beautiful surroundings.

Scott, on the other hand, was like a kid on summer vacation. He’d take off early in the morning, exploring on the Aluminum Princess….come in for lunch (Which usually consisted of lobster that he’d caught. We’re still working on fish)….go back out for an afternoon run…come in for a snack and a nap….and then go out again before dusk.

The water around us was full of life. Stingrays and schools of fish swam by the boat, and there were at least three sea turtles who lives near us. We watched their heads break the surface regularly, as they came up for air.  And, we again had a resident barracuda under us. When Scott would get into the water the barracuda would come check out what was going on, and then retreat back to the shade of the boat. It was unnerving, but we learned to coexist.

We were anchored right near a coral head that was full of lobster and various fish. If Scott was near the boat, this is where I’d find him..

Howard keeps a close eye on Scott when he  gets in the water. I don’t know if he’s concerned, or jealous…

During his explorations, Scott found some coconuts, and we enjoyed fresh coconut water.

We enjoyed two days here, having the whole area to ourselves. It was completely quiet, except for the sound of the waves breaking on the rocky shoreline of the surrounding islands. However, with the forecast calling for the winds to build, we decided to continue south, and keep from getting stuck in one place for the next 8-9 days.

I took a quick video of the view from our anchorage.

Here are more photos of the waters around our beautiful anchorage, and Scott’s exploration.

Catch of the day: Lobster

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Waiting On Kate

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So the tropical wave became a tropical depression, which quickly became Tropical Storm Kate. The forecast still had her staying east, with no immediate threat, but as the winds changed directions we would be too exposed at our anchorage. Erring on the side of caution, and not needing or wanting to take any risks this early in the game, we opted to head into Great Harbour and get a slip at Great Harbour Cay Marina.

The harbor is well protected, accessed by a cut in the island.

The marina is at the back of the harbor, surrounded by condominiums on one side, almost sitting in it’s own harbor.

The staff were more than friendly, and so were our slip neighbors who are settled here for the winter.

Once we were tied up, and the air conditioning was on (YAY!), we headed to the pool bar for a drink. The plan was to get something to eat there, but the prices were terrifically high! We had our one beer and then went to the small restaurant at the other end of the marina, about fifty steps from the boat.

Along the way, we passed many of these lines hanging in the water, loaded with live conch in their shells. We guessed that they were like the live boxes that crabbers on the Chesapeake Bay use. Hanging them in the water keeps the conch alive, but close and convenient when you want to use (aka eat) them.

With conch on the brain, we ordered conch fritters…that were awesome! Seriously, the restaurant is open for breakfast, and I was tempted to go and ask them to make me some! They didn’t offer alcohol, so Scott walked to the boat and brought back two cold beers for us to have with our conch.

Once our bellies were full, we went back to give Howard some outside time. It was his first experience with sand.

He had a ball, and eventually tried to take off across the street to get to the thicker trees and shrubs before we reigned him in. He vented his frustration with us by hissing and batting us with his paws (claws in) as we walked him  back to the boat. There was also a lot of stressful, open-mouthed panting. He really liked his taste of sandy soil.

This morning, we left the marina, and are now making a go for the Atlantic side of the Berry Islands. We’re hoping that since Kate stayed off to the east, the waves won’t be too terrible for our trip today. Fingers and paws crossed!

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Tropial Weather Comes Knocking

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If you follow our Delorme tracker path, on our Where Are We Now page, you already know that we are still at anchor here off of Bullocks Harbor on Great Harbour Cay. (If you zoom out on that page, you can see our original path in, and out attempt to move on Wednesday, when we turned around. You can also see our trip through the mangroves. We took the tracker with us)

We’ve had a close eye on a tropical wave in the area, that has developed into a low pressure system.  The wave now has a closed off eye wall, and is beginning to strengthen. A tropical wave can become a low pressure system, the low pressure can become a tropical depression, an onward to hurricane status.  Here is the current path of the system:

Chances are very very good, that we could have gone ahead as planned, and anchored on the Atlantic side of the islands. This thing won’t even be a tropical storm as it passes. We are on the far edge of the projected path, and it’s very likely that we’ll get little effect from it. However, not knowing how good the area is for holding our anchor in big wind at the next location, we decided that it’s not worth the risk for blue water.

The National Hurricane Center finally has an eye on this and keeps moving it more and more west, which is not good for us, so we’re keeping an eye on today’s development. The hope is that it stays to our east, in which case we’ll just stay here at anchor and wait it out. If it does keep moving farther west, we’ll go into Great Harbour and get a slip at the marina tomorrow morning. So…here we sit.

Aside from all of that drama, things are good. Howard keeps nightly watch out on the pulpit….all the way out onto the pulpit.

It makes me so nervous, but he loves the smells.

We also enjoyed another beautiful sunset, that Scott captured along the way.

For those of you looking for something to do on a Sunday morning, check out the updated link to Howard’s many photos here

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

On To The Berry Islands

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October 31st

We woke to another day of clear, glassy water. Scott says its like boating in your friend’s infinity pool. With today being much calmer than yesterday, we can see the bottom very clearly. This video was taken in 20 feet of water!

Not your neighbor’s infinity pool (of course we wouldn’t really know for sure, having never been in an infinity pool)!!

Scott spent most of the day walking back and forth, staring in the water and remarking how calm it was and how he could still see the bottom. When he wasn’t walking back and forth, he spent time sitting out on the pulpit (his new favorite viewing spot).

We have had two fishing rods out each day, testing our luck. Late in the morning, we heard the whir of something on the line. Scott started to reel it in, and there was definitely resistance on the line…yay!…dinner! Alas, it was a barracuda. A big barracuda. Unfortunately, we weren’t going to take a chance on eating it. Barracuda usually carry a large amount of ciguatera, a toxin found in fish that feed along coral reefs. The fish cannot rid themselves of the toxin, and it accumulates gradually in the fish with age. It was a big guy. The lure in this video is nine inches!

So…we didn’t want to eat it, but also didn’t want to cut the line and lose our lure (not having an arsenal of these things). Scott did not want to get close to that mouth, so he used several long handled tools to get it off of the hook. It was quite a fight, as the thing was nasty and mad, but he came away with the lure! We called it a day, and brought the poles in.

We noticed that our little castaway birds were still with us, and later in the afternoon our stowaway numbers grew. A seagull decided to take a break and perch himself at the end of our paravane. Soon enough, there were five of them fighting for space. I roused Howard up from his travel sleep, and showed him what was going on. It was quite the sensory overload, and I was worried he might have a stroke. He settled into the port side pilot house window, to take it all in.

It became quite a loud, shrieking show, but the gulls finally left as we approached land. However, Howard started to look at the roof of the pilot house, thinking that they must have settled up there. God knows what will ensue when he goes out once we anchor. He’s likely to spend the rest of the night searching for them.

It was an enjoyable and eventful eight hour day, and we are now anchored in Bullock Harbour, off of Great Harbour Cay.

We plan to spend a few days here. Scott wants to snorkel near a submerged plane wreckage, and jump into a blue hole; both are right near us. There is a beach on the east side of the island that we want to check out, as well as a beach bar or two. Plenty to keep us occupied!

Catch of the day: Barracuda!

Here are photos from today’s journey. By the way…Happy Halloween!

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Hel-LO Bahamas!!

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After two frustrating, patient-testing weeks, we are in the Bahamas! We left our anchorage in Key Biscayne at 4:30 am yesterday. Waiting and delaying paid off. The winds and waters for our trip over were good, and we were lucky to dodge the many squalls that were in sight all around us as we crossed. A pretty sunrise greeted us in the gulf stream.

The day was mostly cloudy, but as we approached Bimini, the sun came out to welcome us!

We traveled through waters that were 2,600 feet deep! That’s approximately half a mile, and some of the deepest water we’ll travel in over the next few years.  And, I watched NBC tv , clear as a bell,all the way to the channel!

It wasn’t dead calm, and with the possibility of having to pass through a squall line, we put the paravanes out as a proactive measure. Here’s what I’ve learned about the paravanes: they are great at keeping our roll down when we’re in bigger seas that I’m not comfortable with. However, to put them out or bring them in, you have to bring the boat to idle speed. So now your “in neutral” in the same waters that made you want to use the paravanes! It’s a race for Scott to get them in as fast as he can, while we roll and flop.

We always try to put them out before conditions get too bad, and ideally we pull them in when we’re already in a harbor, or when the waters have already calmed. That’s not always possible though. We need a certain amount of water depth to put them in or out, and sometimes there is too much boat traffic in a harbor or an entrance channel is too narrow. Overall though, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I’m so glad that we have them!

So back to yesterday. We put the paravanes out ahead of wind and squalls. The squalls missed us, but because they were in the area the winds and water picked up (winds also tend to pick up in the afternoon). We were rolling pretty good, and glad that we had the paravanes out, but the options for pulling them in were low. The harbor in Bimini had the room, but not the depth. So I had to do my best to keep the boat into the waves (to avoid flop and roll) while Scott brought the birds in. As the wind and waves pushed us sideways, I had to put the boat in gear and “goose” the gas.

Once that was done, we entered the channel while the current came out and the winds blew in. When the two oppose each other, it creates a washing machine effect. So we had to work a bit to get to the finish line, but it was worth it!

Scott put a line in the water as we traveled, hoping to catch us some dinner. He had me on watch, so he could keep an eye on the line, and be able to hear it if something caught. I went to see how things were going, and here’s what I found…

Seriously?!? This is fishing? Now I realize that Howard is an avid fisherman..

No luck yesterday, which is good for me, since I’m the one who has to clean and fillet it (still have to learn that)!

After tying up in our slip at Brown’s Marina, we unloaded our bikes and peddled to immigration, followed by customs. They both went off without a hitch, and we now have a 60 day permit for the Bahamas. After that, we headed to Batelco (Bahamas Telephone Company) to get a sim card for my phone, so we could use it for internet data. Turns out, can’t use my phone, so we  bought a cheap one and put data on it. We can use this one now, as we travel to other countries.

Lastly, we went to the liquor store. There is a brand of rum here that you cannot get in the states, and Scott loves it. He bought two cases. Leaving only one bottle in stock between two stores; it took two trips on the bike. He purchased containers to bring with us, to act as rum tanks. They hold eleven bottles worth, needing far less storage! Now he’s set for his stay here. After that, back to mango rum withdrawal.

At our second stop for rum, I noticed a bottle opener tied to the checkout counter. The man in front of us bought two single bottles of beer, paid for them, opened them at the counter and headed out the door. As Scott was checking out, I decided that I too would like to take a single beer with me. I walked toward the refrigerated cases, but the woman behind the counter called out to me to get one out of the freezer. Freezer?! It was the size of a mini van, and full of beer. God bless her! My teeth hurt it was so cold! I was so happy, that I went back this morning, to get another before we left…and to get some pictures!

We gave Howard a chance to stretch his legs. He was anxious to get off the boat, once he realized that there was a pier next to us. I think he was eyeballing the boat next to us, and planning a boarding. He is now restricted to supervised outings with a leash, after his escape onto the 3 million dollar boat

By this time, we were starved. Big John’s was right next to our marina, so we walked over. Our dinner was terrific! Scott had grilled lobster sandwich, and I had fried snapper. Delicious!

We woke up to a beautiful Bimini sunrise.Today we’ll continue east, toward the Berry Islands.

Internet is great here, as we’re right ear a Batelco tower. I’ll post as I can, when I can get a good signal. A few photos

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Yacht Invasion!

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Little did we know that the area where we are anchored is a popular spot for yachts on the weekend. A very popular spot…for lots of yachts..

Including some very big yachts…

They came loaded with people and toys: jet skis, big inflatable slides and in-water trampolines. It was quite a sight to see them stream in and anchor, and then launch their passengers into the water for various activities.

Scott is finally getting some in-water time, despite his new nemesis, the moon jellyfish. They are the size of dinner plates! (I grabbed a photo off of the internet)

We’ve read that they give a “mild” sting, but he’s not planning on finding out for sure, scanning the waters around us thoroughly before jumping in.

Scott’s scuba fins have seen better days, but there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with duct tape and zip ties! At least until we get to Key West and purchase new ones.

Howard is enjoying naps in his latest favorite box, after thoroughly scratching up the back wall.

He’s also investigating the water more, spending time on the swim platform where the view is better.

We are enjoying our views of Miami’s skyline, both day and night.

The weather is good, and winds are finally, finally changing direction. Our current plan is to travel to the Bahamas on Wednesday.

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

In Sight Of The Bahamas, But Waiting On The Wind

/ kk42sealife / 4 Comments

Our hope was to leave Fort Lauderdale on Friday or Saturday, and make our way to Bimimi, in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has a different plan. Here is the forecast:

NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS INCREASING TO 20 TO 25
KNOTS LATE THIS EVENING. SEAS 6 TO 8 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO
10 FEET BUILDING TO 11 TO 13 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 17 FEET
AFTER MIDNIGHT. DOMINANT PERIOD 6 SECONDS. INTRACOASTAL WATERS
ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS. SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS.
MONDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 25 KNOTS. SEAS 11 TO 13 FEET
WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 17 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 8 SECONDS.
INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS. ISOLATED SHOWERS.
MONDAY NIGHT
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 9 TO
11 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 14 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 8
SECONDS. INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS.
TUESDAY
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 7 TO 9 FEET
WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 11 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 8 SECONDS.
INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS. ISOLATED SHOWERS IN
THE AFTERNOON.
TUESDAY NIGHT
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 5 TO
7 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 9 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS
CHOPPY IN EXPOSED AREAS. ISOLATED SHOWERS.
WEDNESDAY
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO
6 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 8 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS
CHOPPY IN EXPOSED AREAS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS
5 TO 7 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 9 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS
CHOPPY IN EXPOSED AREAS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 15 KNOTS.
SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS TO 8 FEET. INTRACOASTAL
WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS
Now the boat could more than handle this…me, not so much. Northeast puts us right into the waves, which means UP……and DOWN, and repeat, repeat, repeat for seven or so hours. ICK!
This isn’t anything tropical, but the result of a high pressure system being wedged in close proximity to a low pressure system. The winds squeezed in between become pretty fierce. On shore, we’re having 25 mph winds, with much bigger gusts, and in the Gulf Stream, it’s much worse.
The winds have blown the sand onto and across the street.
In some areas it’s worse that this, covering the entire street. There are still people on the beach. It has to be painful. The breaking waves go out as far as you can see.
It really picked up last evening, with winds howling all around us and constant noises from one thing or another being shuffled around by the big gusts. Currently here in our slip, things are pretty bumpy. It’s also affecting our large neighbors. When the big boats are moving around, you know it’s windy!

It appears that our next chance of getting out of Florida is the middle of next week…sigh. To keep from busting our budget here at Las Olas Marina, much as we’ve enjoyed our stay, we’re going to leave here in a day or so and head further south along the Intracoastal (yay, more narrow channels and bridge openings!!). The plan is to anchor in the Key Biscane area. We can anchor there for the next week, and head out to the ocean from there once things settle down.

On a Howard note: he went walkabout yesterday, jumping off of the boat and exploring other peoples’ (this was his “M-O” at our marina in Baltimore). I had to get him off our “neighbor” across the way, who is listed for sale at 3.3 million dollars! Scott was having a heart attack as I climbed on board to get him. Howard is now on lock-down!

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”

Keeping Busy In Fort Lauderdale

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Forgive the delay in posting. It has been a busy week, and I am just catching up. We have spent the week here as usual, visiting friends, running errands and provisioning and doing boat projects (yuck). We rented a car, to do our usual Home Depot, West Marine, grocery store, etc. stops, in addition to some pre Bahamas appointments.

First up…an International Health Certificate for Howard. We went to a local vet, who listened to his heart, and deemed him healthy. Either that, or Howard’s hissing and open-mouthed panting deterred him from further examination. Either way, we have certificate in hand, and are good to go!

Next, we went to our “appointment” with Customs and Homeland Security here. There is a “Local Boater Option” that you can apply for, allowing you to call into customs when arriving back into the country, versus physically going to an office. This would give us more options of where to come back into Florida. We could enter the keys without stopping to find a customs office, or having to come into Miami or Fort Lauderdale first.

Finding the building was the first challenge. They do a terrific job of hiding it, no number or sign on the building, and no signage leading up to it, along the road. We did pretty well, only having to do one u-turn. Once inside, we were told that each of us had to have an online application, something that I did NOT find on the site, and I searched and searched. Applications can only be done online, of course, so I got out my phone, and started searching for the form.

The agent was nice enough to wait for me to complete the form and get a confirmation number, so that we could still both be approved. We were expecting our “appointment,” with some kind of interview. Instead, once the agent saw my online confirmation, he handed us each a card with our name and a number. Done. Now when we’re back in U.S. waters, we just have to call a number on the card and give them our name and the number that was assigned to us. We expected it to be a bit more thorough, but are glad that it went so quickly, and that we are now “cleared.”

Now it was onto the usual stops….Our West Marine visit was like a sightseeing tour! Scott had been to the Fort Lauderdale location when he was here buying Sea Life, and was anxious for me to see it. It is HUGE…like a Sam’s Club!

The departments here are so large, and the amount of in-store stock amazes Scott. Very little is actually kept on the shelves at locations in the Baltimore area. More often than not, Scott has to have whatever part or supply we need brought into the store for pick up. I couldn’t believe the things that were here, that are not offered in any of our stores at home. Not even the “larger”ones. I am now even more sad for our Canton location in Baltimore.

We also hit Sailorman, another marine consignment store (or as the sign says, a “new and used marine emporium”). Scott plundered around inside, again lamenting that he didn’t have access to a place like this while doing our refit.

I was again amazed at all of the stuff..

While I did a run of Walmart, Target, Petsmart, etc., Scott surprised me by painting the decks himself. A small area against the pier still needs to be painted, but we can do that at anchor, when we don’t need to get on and off on that side. The paint needs several days to cure, so we need to keep foot traffic to a minimum. What is done looks sooo clean and nice!

We met Mark at Outdoor world, where he helped Scott choose some fishing rods. (we hope to catch a lot of free dinner over the next few years!). Afterward, we went to his house, where Shannon grilled us up some great food while Mark and Scott put new line on the reels.

Mark also passed along some of his older fishing equipment to Scott, and purchased some lures for him. We now have a good start toward catching our dinner. I’m sure that Mark, the fishing guru, will be on speed dial for emergency help and questions. Thanks SOO much to him, for all of his time and help!!

We also caught up with our friend, Mike Efford. When we traveled south in 2008, Mike was living on a really cool tugboat named Mi-T-Mo. He traveled back and forth between Baltimore and Hollywood Florida, spending winters down here and summers in up north. He was a great host to us when we were last here, and we have kept in touch since. Mike is a retired Maryland pilot (Marine, not airline. They come aboard large ships, and navigate them into the harbor) and a wealth of knowledge. We have enjoyed spending time with him over the years.

Mike picked us up and drove us to a great Irish bar for dinner. After a meal and extensive boat chat, we went with him to meet one of his boating groups. They were having a meeting at a nearby restaurant, and we got there just as it was ending…perfect timing! We had a few drinks and met some of the group, and then Mike chauffeured us back to our boat.

Here are some photos from the past week, including more of both West Marine and Sailorman!

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”