INNTW adventures

Stats for May 1, 2019

Origin: New Smyrna Beach Free Wall

Destination: St. Augustine Mooring Field

Distance: 68.5 miles

Speed: 8 mph

Time on the Move: 8 hours an 34 minutes

Leaving New Smyrna, we thought we were heading to another free wall in Palm Coast, however, after we got there we saw there would be no way off of our boat and there were actually signs posted saying no mooring. It was more like a fishing pier. We were already tired of traveling, but we had to go 8 miles or so to get to a good anchorage, so we decided to go all the way (20 more miles) to St Augustine.

From what we’ve heard, the St Augustine marina can have a lot of current and sometimes boats even get swept into the bridge next to the marina due to the heavy current. That didn’t sound like anything we were interested in, so when we did the calculations to see when we would get there if we just kept going, we were relieved to see we would arrive right at slack tide. Moving another 20 miles (or 3 hours) wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do, but we would arrive at slack tide and be all set for a full day of exploring the next day, so we chose to continue on.

The current was still moving a little bit when we got there, but we didn’t have too much trouble docking at the fuel dock to take on water and then getting off the dock to head to our mooring ball. Hayley helped me catch the mooring ball like a boss, and we enjoyed our view of the beautiful (huge!) homes just north of St Augustine.

The next day we wanted to get out and explore St Augustine, so we decided to start with the hop on, hop off trolley to check out the town. We ended up spending a few hours right away at Castillo de San Marcos which was actually walking distance from the marina, so we skipped out early, planning on going back the next day. What a cool place to explore!!

Crossing a drawbridge (actually 2 of them!!) and a moat were new and exciting adventures for us!! How cool. We learned all about how the doors work, with heavy weights and gates counteracting the weight of the drawbridge. Also, the fort was built several times unsuccessfully with wood, but it was finally rebuilt with coquina, a local stone made of squished together coral that occurs naturally in this area.

The fort changed hands several times between Spain, Britain, the Confederacy, and the United States since it was built in the late 1600’s. Pirates were also a constant concern (including privateers, which are government sponsored pirates). There are even smaller forts at different inlets nearby that worked as lookouts or outposts for this one. It was interesting to think about enemies of all kinds sailing in and out of the harbor. Soldiers that worked at Castillo de San Marcos usually had 2nd jobs to support their families that they actually lived with in town. At night, just the night watchmen would be left behind and the rest of the soldiers would lock up the fort (pull up the drawbridges) and head home to their families.

Throughout the rooms there were etchings in the walls, sometimes covered by plaster, of ships, allegiances, and even the alphabet. A placard described how many soldiers didn’t know how to read or write, or they were just learning, so they would etch the alphabet in the wall. The kids got a kick out of that, especially since many of the letters were backwards. It was good perspective for them.

We didn’t want to spend all of our trolley time here, but it was so interesting, we promised to come back the next day.

Our next stop on the trolley took us past this 600 year old oak tree right in a hotel parking lot. It was huge and it was a tree.

Personally, I thought the tree covered streets were more picturesque with their Spanish moss hanging down. This street led us to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park which seemed like quite a racket. After visiting the fort, the displays here didn’t impress us much, and apparently there is no actual evidence that this is Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. It is just a park commemorating where Ponce de Leon landed in what is now Florida. A lady opened this tourist attraction in 1909 and started selling water out of a well dug in 1875 saying it was the Fountain of Youth. Apparently the ACTUAL Fountain of Youth is in Bimini, Bahamas and we totally missed it!! Bummer!! We were more impressed with the peacocks all over the property and this sneaky snake we found slithering past.

Our next stop was the St Augustine History Museum. This fun stop was very kid friendly and had all kinds of information from Native Americans through early settlers called Crackers, from pirates to slaves. The history of the area has many layers and you can tell we have learned about many of them time and again!! There were lots of cool artifacts and displays here that made it a fun stop…plus it was FREE!!

Our next stop was at a winery because when there is a winery on the hop on, hop off trolley you MUST hop off!! The kids were very patient sitting through way more talking than is necessary to taste wine.

Because we usually subscribe to the “something for you, something for me” theory of sightseeing, we headed to a playground after the tour ended. We passed this playground on the tour, but unfortunately it wasn’t a built in stop, so we had to hoof it back a ways to get to the playground. Luckily, we happened to pass by an ice cream and popsicle shop on the way, so of course we stopped there, too.

I don’t actually have any pictures of the playground because I spent most of the “playtime” walking Hayley to the bathroom that was quite far away. Then, by the time we got back to the playground, it started pouring so we walked all the way BACK to the bathrooms where we bounced a tennis ball back and forth with each other for an hour under cover from the rain. Ya just can’t make stuff like this up. Luckily everyone was a good sport.

Eventually the rain stopped and we made it back to the marina. What a day!! This egret was waiting on the dinghy dock to welcome us back.

The next morning we hoped to see our friends from Livin the Dream, but it was supposed to storm for a good part of the day, so plans were up in the air. Eventually, we decided to make the most of it and made plans to meet back at the fort mid-morning. The kids were excited to see their friends again and do some more exploring, and so were we!!

Being at the fort with friends was amazing. The adults stood around and discussed boating and life and future plans and the kids roamed and explored. I love this free roaming community of learners I have found (or created?!).

We all found our way out of the moat, but Tobin, marching to his own beat, missed that step and couldn’t figure out how to get out. It was so cute hearing him yell “Hey!! How do I get out of this moat?!” That is learning through real life experiences, right there!! Boat school for the win!

Finally we got Tobin out of the moat and took one last picture of the fort. What an amazing place!

Next up was a delicious lunch and wandering around the nearby shops until the thunder got so loud that we were sure the sky would open up and dump buckets on us. It didn’t though. We made it all the way back to the boat surrounded by thunder, with barely a drop.

As it worked out, I wished we would have stayed out longer because we had to say “goodbye for now” to the Zeeffs. They finished their loop and are moving on to a slower pace of travel while we still have a few thousand miles to go in the next few months. These kiddos met each other just about 10 days into our loop and have traveled the Great Lakes, the rivers, around Florida, through the Bahamas, and back around Florida together. We have created lifelong friends with many unique shared experiences. Goodbye hugs are always bittersweet.

The next morning we were set to leave St. Augustine heading north, but we sure loved our time in this city. There was so much to see and do and so many amazing things to learn about the area.

EDITED TO ADD: Remember the rocket that was supposed to take off eaaarrly in the morning on Friday, May 3rd?? Well I set an alarm to get us up in time to see the 3:44am launch. Sure enough, we were all up on the flybridge, watching the countdown clock, looking in the sky, but we saw NOTHING. After a few minutes of looking at the dark sky and wondering, I searched for something updated regarding the launch and found that they delayed it with just 14 minutes to go before liftoff. Apparently the drone ship in the ocean where the booster was supposed to land had a problem with it’s stabilizers, so they went ahead and delayed.

Fast forward 23 hours and we were all up AGAIN at 2:48am on Saturday, May 4th watching a live feed from SpaceX on my phone. We heard all the pre-liftoff chatter, watched the final countdown, and saw that baby streak right through the sky with our very own eyes. We got to watch the rocket take off, watch the booster break off, and then watch as the booster came back down and land on that unmanned drone ship located 12 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean (that would be a wild sight headed back from the Bahamas!!!).

Now we didn’t see much more than some streaks in the sky, but we got to hear all about what we were seeing on the live feed and then watch a recap of it after it was over. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. Everyone was awake for it, everyone saw it, and everyone was excited. I call that a major win!! If you want to see the launch, check it out here:

Thanks for following our adventures!! On to the next one.

Stats for April 30, 2019

Origin: Titusville Anchorage

Destination: New Smyrna Beach

Distance: 32.9 miles

Speed: 7.8 mph

Time on the Move: 4 hours and 12 minutes

We left Titusville in a rush after hearing the rocket launch was delayed and headed north to New Smyrna Beach.

I mention the ICW so much, let me give you some info. The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000 mile protected path along the coast from Brownsville, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts. Some areas are narrow and some areas are very wide–this obviously also impacts the amount of protection we have along the way. Lots of the ICW is shallow and winding which can be a challenge to navigate. Shoaling is always changing, so markers are moved, maps are updated, depth sounders are your best friend, and dredging is always happening somewhere along the route. It has been a valuable path since the early years of our country to increase trade and simplify shipping traffic, but was essential during World War II as a way to protect trade ships from German U boats and allow goods to move easier throughout the country. Between the currents, tides, and varying depths, it can be your best friend or your nemesis. Fascinating, isn’t it?!

Mike did some research and found that there was a free wall right in New Smyrna, walking distance from a brewery. The brewery didn’t serve food, but they allowed you to bring your own food in. Luckily, there was a Papa John’s close by, so pizza delivery and a brewery helped to save the day after the disappointment of the delayed launch. I’m not sure why, but the breweries we go to always seem to have a TV on Chive TV where people do all kinds of crazy tricks and stunts. It is so entertaining (crazy, dumb, silly, awesome) that all of us end up glued to the tv. Plus there was a cute puppy there that we got to pet.

The next morning Mike headed out on a bike ride. He made it all the way to the actual beach at New Smyrna Beach and even got to ride in the car lanes along the sand. He said it was cool to ride on the hard packed sand.

Next, we visited the playground right next to the free wall to help the kids get out some energy before we continued on. Sometimes I feel like we are on a big tour of America’s playgrounds and ice cream shops. Okay, and breweries…something for everyone!!

Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!!

Stats for April 29, 2019

Origin: Melbourne Beach

Destination: Titusville Anchorage

Distance: 41.4 miles

Speed: 8.2 mph

Time on the Move: 5 hours and 2 minutes

We left Melbourne Beach mid-day heading for Titusville which is close to the Kennedy Space Center. There was a rocket launch scheduled for the early hours of May 1st, so we found a perfect anchorage from which to see the 4 am launch.

Heading in to the anchorage, we could see the rocket all set up at the launch pad and the large buildings where they build the rockets. The kids were excited to see the rocket with their own eyes. Colin whipped up a similar rocket out of legos and Tobin drew a “Rocket Creation.” I was glad they were so excited about seeing the launch. When hearing that we were planning on seeing the launch if possible, several people asked if our kids are really into space, which they aren’t. Space isn’t a main interest of anyone on the boat, but after an experience like seeing a rocket launch, who knows?! It seems like a great event to expose them to. I have seen 2 launches in the past, one in elementary school and one in high school and I still can picture both of them in my mind.

Since we didn’t travel until the afternoon, we dropped anchor shortly before the sunset. So the next morning we were anxious to go exploring and learn more about space travel before the launch early the next morning. First of all, we weren’t quite sure where to land the dinghy. We headed to a park nearby that had a dinghy dock listed, but reviews said the dock had been taken out by a hurricane a few years ago. Sure enough, after driving the dinghy around in circles for a while, there was no dinghy dock.

There were some nice docks at a condo complex right by our anchorage, so we thought maybe we could just use those. In the process, we found this “manatee antennae” that is used to track manatees. We followed him or her around for a short bit, but due to the cloudiness of the water, we never got a good look. I wonder how they like swimming around with that big antennae?! After that we realized the condo dock was secured with a locking gate, so we couldn’t trespass very easily on their docks.

Next we headed to the other side of our anchorage where there was a restaurant right on the water. But not before we ran into an underground pile of bricks that made our dinghy prop go CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK. Yikes!! Mike had to row us off the pile of bricks, and luckily it seems we didn’t suffer any damage. We’ll call it Mike’s exercise for the day. Heading to the dock at the restaurant, we tied up and told them we’d be back later for a beer. Sure enough, it is a county dock, so we don’t even have to patronize the restaurant to leave our dinghy there. Would have been easier if we would have known that to begin with. This is what I mean when I say everything is harder living on a boat.

We saw a playground close to the dock, so made the obligatory stop there, first. After a while, we headed toward Space View Park where there are plaques and monuments dedicated to the history of space travel. We walked around and read about missions to space and put our hands in the bronze-casted handprints of famous astronauts. The kids noticed how small many of the astronauts’ hands are, which was interesting.

After a quick lunch (and air conditioning break) at Burger King, we walked down to the American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame. (It wasn’t Kennedy Space Center, but it was walking distance and only $20 compared to hundreds we would spend ubering and getting in to Kennedy.) The museum had a lot of memorabilia and information about the history of space travel through the current day rocket launches. Mike had a very detailed tour while I followed the kids around in hopes they wouldn’t break anything. Eventually, we gave up listening to the tour and just sat and played at the hands on areas. I don’t think they gained a whole lot of knowledge, but they did get excited about launches and space travel, so I call that a win!!

Just as we were getting really excited about rockets and launches, we heard a rumor spreading through the museum that the launch had just been delayed for another 2 days. What a BUMMER!! So as we’re sitting in the museum, getting all stoked for the launch, we hear this and decide to head out of Titusville ASAP. We really didn’t want to wait 2 more days to see the launch and hoped that maybe we would still be able to see it, just from further away. We were all pretty disappointed, but luckily there were no tears.

Regardless, we had a great time learning about space and about the mission we hoped to see take off. Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!!

Stats for April 28, 2019.

Origin: Fort Pierce City Marina

Destination: Melbourne Beach

Distance: 46.9 miles

Speed: 8mph

Time on the Move: 5 hours and 50 minutes

We really didn’t feel like we were in Fort Pierce very long because we actually weren’t. Between having friends to keep us busy and traveling all over the state and the country, we were only on the boat in Fort Pierce 3 nights, 2 of which were whirlwinds, packing and unpacking. I was hoping for a leisurely departure in the morning, however with the tide situation, we either needed to leave at 7am or 1pm. 1 was a little late, so the captain said 7 am it is.

We were out of the marina and headed down the ICW, enjoying the soft colors of the morning sky, even though we were exhausted from all the running around the day before. It felt good to be traveling. Except for those low bridges. I am not a fan of the bridges that are **close** to our height, where we actually have to read the chart off to the side showing the actual depth to know whether we need to have them open or not. We usually know ahead of time, but sometimes it is close.

We just passed the bridge shown above when Mike suddenly noticed his port engine was overheating, so he put the boat in neutral and turned off the port side. We found an anchorage just about a quarter mile ahead of our current location, pulled off the ICW, and dropped anchor. Hmmm….so we left at 7 am and were anchored again around 7:30 am.

Mike got to work in the engine room right away. Mike changed the impeller on that port side while we were in Fort Pierce as “preventative maintenance.” Well it was a pain in the rear end actually. The impeller is extremely difficult to get to and so after hours of sweating it out and battling the impeller, Mike decided to take the water pump out of place so he would have easier access to the impeller. It still was not an easy task, but finally it was completed. Mike questioned the replacement impeller he had, but put it in anyway, figuring it had to be the right one.

After the overheating incident, Mike pulled the impeller AGAIN and put an old one back in AGAIN. He wasn’t sure that this was the answer, but it was his best guess, so we went with it. 3 hours later, we were back on our way up the ICW. Not exactly how we wanted to start our travels, but overall, we certainly can’t complain.

A little later on during our travels for the day, Tobin kept us entertained drawing who knows what in a very snazzy outfit–heartbreaker undies, life jacket, and triceratops bike helmet. Things are rarely boring around here!!

The travel day was quite busy. Being it was a Sunday, the ICW was full of boats, and we realized why loopers rarely travel on the weekends in south Florida. It was a great boat parade and helped pass the time until we go to our destination.

We anchored off of a fishing pier in Melbourne Beach that also has a dinghy dock. There was a playground and a park right there as well. As soon as we dropped anchor, we headed for the playground and to check out town. There were tons of kids at the playground since it was a Sunday and our kids loved all the playmates. After they played for a while, we continued on through town.

We made it to the beach for some frisbee and sand castle building.

The next day we went back to town with the intention of letting the kids burn off some energy at the playground before we moved for the day. We got in some scooter riding, fishing, and used book buying at the library, too!!

We had a great time in Melbourne beach. What a convenient stop for our family with the playground and community center right there by the dinghy dock. Thank you Florida towns that cater to cruisers!! We’re off on our next adventure…

Thanks for reading and following along!!

Stats for April 22, 2019

Origin: Fort Pierce Anchorage

Destination: Fort Pierce City Marina

Distance: 3.7 miles

Speed: 5 mph

Time on the Move: 40 minutes ish

After sleeping like a rock all night, it was weird to wake to up an anchorage surrounded by tall condos and the smell of Florida (not bad, it just always seems to have a particular smell to me). It was also a bit chillier or maybe just less humid than the Bahamas. It definitely felt different.

We were ready for a marina and some land and some food and some playgrounds so we headed for the marina right across the ICW from our anchorage. Our friends on Livin the Dream just happened to be there which was an amazing twist of fate and would help all of us enjoy our reintroduction to society even more.

The run to the marina was easy, but the entrance to the marina was kind of weird. We had to follow an awkward path through a deeper dredged channel in and watch for the current. Apparently there is a lot of current here and they only recommend you come in at slack tide. Great. Mike did a good job of getting us to the fuel dock and we were thrilled to find diesel for $3/gallon. In the Bahamas we were paying in the $4.50-$5 range, though friends of ours paid over $6 at one point!! Backing into our slip we had a little run in with a center pile and twisted our grill mount on the port side pretty good. Thank goodness we didn’t lose the grill. We hope re-acclimating to civilization isn’t always going to be that tough.

The kids had breakfast while Mike washed the boat and then we were ready to get off of sweet INNTW. She is an amazing boat that has kept us safe and carried us to awesome adventures on great, faraway lands, but we had been on her for 90 hours at that point (the longest time onboard of our whole loop!) and we were ready to stretch our legs. (90 hours on a 500ish square foot boat. Together…the whole time. That’s still crazy to me!)

We roamed around town and checked out the park area near the marina. We were disappointed to find out there was no playground within walking distance, but the kids skipped through the park and threw plenty of pennies into the fountain.

A place called Taco Dive was all we kept hearing about from our friends who had been in the area previously, so we headed straight there. Lunch was amazing–so many choices, cold draft IPA, so many people, and such great service. Definitely a pleasant change from the Bahamas. And we got away with only spending $60 on lunch. In the Bahamas every meal out seemed to cost at least $100.

After the Zeeffs were done with boat school, we visited their boat for a bit and headed to a cider place. We got the flight of ciders which is a lot more cider than you might think!! It was a beautiful night to relax outside. We went over the stories of our crossings, remembered great times we had in the Bahamas, and shared our journey with some teachers who were sitting nearby. I love how the teachers we meet are always so supportive of this alternative way to live and learn. The kids played in the big courtyard, climbing trees, exploring the plants, and even finding a few leftover Easter eggs from the egg hunt over the weekend.

Interestingly enough, our crossing day was actually Easter but somehow our kids thought Easter was in a few days, so we totally went with it and deemed Tuesday Easter. They were totally clueless and it gave us a chance to stock up on some goodies and avoid answering lots of questions from inquisitive minds. The kids on Livin the Dream somehow also thought Tuesday was Easter. I love it when a plan comes together!!

The next morning, the kids were up at 4 am, anxious to see what the Easter Bunny brought. It was waaaaay to early, but you can only delay excitement like that for so long before it becomes pointless. About 6, Mike and I finally gave in to the excitement. Here are the kids with their goodies and their sweet little bunny faces. This Easter loot was in no way what they are used to, but thankfully, we didn’t hear much complaining (only a little–from the middle bunny). It seems they have started to forget the “want, want, want” mindset and instead are happy with what would have been “just a little” before.

After the Easter excitement of the morning and loads and loads of candy, we headed to the Manatee Center right next to the marina. It was a great hands on museum focusing on animals in the area. It was kind of ironic because many of the animals we read about there we had seen plenty of times in the Bahamas, and we actually knew more about than what they shared at the museum. It just goes to show how this trip provides so many great experiences for all of us. We have seen firsthand many things that most people only see on TV.

A little later in the day we saw a mama manatee nursing her baby in the fairway of the marina. It was neat to see them wild in nature. I wish they were easier to get pictures of!!

Next we headed out to a nice Easter lunch at the Sailfish Brewing Company. It was great to drink good beer and eat delicious pizza!! Plus, the Zeeffs brought dollar store toys to keep the kids occupied and that turned out to be the perfect entertainment. How did a brewery not make our list of things we were excited for in the states?! YUM!!

After a little more play on the Zeeff’s boat, we said “see ya later” to their crew again. I’m sure we’ll see them soon, but the next day the INNTW crew was headed on an adventure, so it was goodbye for now.

We received some bad news a week or so prior that our dog, Madie, who was in Michigan with Mike’s parents, had developed cancer and wasn’t doing well. Mike really felt the need to fly home to see her again before she would have to be put to sleep. The kids each got to choose if they wanted to fly home to see her also. The boys both decided they really wanted to go visit Madie. Hayley didn’t really feel a need to go back home and say goodbye to Madie, so her and I decided to head to Sarasota, Florida to pick up a bunch of stuff we left at my mom’s place in December before we went to the Bahamas. Divide and conquer!!

This adventure took some coordinating, let me tell you!! I took an early morning cab ride to the rental car place (where of course they didn’t have my minivan ready and didn’t actually have minivans…or even have record of my reservation!!) and finally picked up an Expedition. Then, Hayley and I drove the boys to the Orlando airport for a flight to Detroit. Just because nothing can be “easy” Mike got a text exactly 2 hours before his flight was scheduled to take off that it had actually been cancelled. That led to a quick scramble to look up comparable flights and book 3 seats asap. Luckily, they rebooked a similar flight, with an extra stop, on a different airline. Kelly and Hay drove to Sarasota to visit Grandma Hays while the boys flew to Detroit, then rented a car and drove an extra 4 hours up north to visit Grandma and Grandpa Herbon and our sweet Mad dog. Whew. Talk about trains, planes, and automobiles!! Mike and the boys didn’t get to Hubbard Lake until 10 pm or so, after leaving Fort Pierce at 9 am. It was quite a day!!

Hayley and I really enjoyed a relaxing few days with Grandma Hays, visiting some of her friends, taking care of errands, playing shuffleboard, going to pool exercises, and packing up all the stuff we left at her house. I certainly didn’t remember leaving quite so much at her house, but thank goodness for MOM, right?! I’m also thankful we ended up with an Expedition and not a minivan!! There was barely any spare room after we loaded 5 bikes, groceries, our winter coats/hats/gloves, Christmas decorations, boxes of books, 6 loads of fresh laundry, and other who knows what. When I say we couldn’t have fit another thing, I totally mean it.

The boys did a lot of traveling, a lot of visiting, some playing, and some sightseeing. Their first day consisted of all travel. The next day they had great weather, so they played outside, caught some toads, took Madie in for a check up with the vet, and made it out for pizza night. The next day was blustery, so they went to a shipwreck museum and spent lots of time cuddling with Madie. The next morning they had to get things together to drive back to Detroit to catch an early afternoon flight. It was a whirlwind visit, but they loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa and they were glad they got some Madie cuddles in, too.

We had a late night picking up the boys in Orlando after unloading that mess of a vehicle, getting groceries, and then driving to the airport. We unloaded the Expedition (again) and Mike took it back while I got the kids in bed. We decided to leave early the next morning and get moving up the ICW. New adventures await!!

Thank you for reading and following along on our adventures!!

Stats for April 21, 2019

Origin: Little Sale Cay

Destination: Fort Pierce Anchorage

Distance: 140 miles

Speed: 9.2mph

Time on the Move: 15 hours and 19 minutes

Mike and I woke up at 4 am to attempt our trip back to Florida. After moving to Little Sale Cay the evening before, we had no cell signal so we weren’t able to see updated weather or wave predictions. There was no way we were heading across the Gulf Stream without updated predictions, so we planned to head towards Grand Cay, which is northwest of Little Sale (and only slightly out of the way), until we got signal and could update our apps.

We hoped to have a signal and make a decision about our plan by 7 am. At that point, we would either continue west and cross back to Florida, or head to either Grand Cay or West End as a waiting spot if the predictions had changed and the weather looked worse. Sure enough, it only took 5 minutes of scanning our trusted weather apps to see that the forecast hadn’t changed, so we might as well head for Florida. In all honesty, the weather didn’t look PERFECT, but it looked DOABLE and we were ready to accept doable. The sun was rising as we sent messages to our moms and buddy boats, letting them know the details of our crossing.

This was our planned route. We were headed due west across the shallow banks (blue on the map below) and then we would get a push north from the Gulf Stream through the deep deep water (the white below) to arrive at the Fort Pierce inlet. We thought we’d we able to anchor just before sunset.

This was the wave prediction for our crossing in the gulf stream. We were expecting 2 foot waves, with a fairly short period so they would be a bit choppy, coming out of the north. The winds were expected to be out of the north at around 10 mph. The rule for crossing is never cross in winds from the north over 10. You can see we cut it a bit close on that one. That might have come back to bite us later.

Our day started with choppy 1-2 foot waves on the bow and that continued the whole way across the banks. I was thankful these waves weren’t on the beam, rocking us side to side, as the bow is the area I’d prefer to take waves. We saw only about 5 boats along the banks. It felt like we were the only people out there in a whole lot of water.

We played games to help pass the time and keep our minds distracted from the bouncing. The waves on the bow weren’t uncomfortable, just lots of little bumps. And a 15 hour day is a LOOOONG day…

We knew we could change course and head to West End if the waves got worse before we got off the banks. We could see some waves on the horizon, but they didn’t seem to be any worse than the ones we were bouncing through already. I was nervous the waves would increase as we went on and they didn’t right away, but they did add in a 2 foot swell coming from the north, so it rocked us on the beam in addition to the bouncing waves.

After we crossed into the deeper water, we started dodging tankers and cargo freighters. Also, the waves on the bow and on the beam seemed to pick up a bit. When we hit an intersection where both directions peaked, we took a pretty good dip down into the troughs. We started rolling a bit more in the confused seas. It felt like we still had FOREVER to go, but I was actually able to read a bit without feeling sick, so that helped pass some time.

We needed a distraction, so we started making a list of things we were looking forward to when we got back to Florida. It was interesting to see that most of what we were excited for was food. Where some of these ideas came from, I have no idea.

Tobin started to feel sick, maybe, or just sleepy, so he cuddled up. I was just wishing away minutes, wishing the rocking would stop, and wondering how much you can actually rock on a boat before you tip over. I don’t think we were anywhere near that close, but it was definitely a test of the comfort level. We still had 40-50 miles left at this point and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t just 10. I wished I could sleep like Tobin. I hadn’t slept well the 2 previous nights due to the storms that came through in Angelfish Point and the wind and waves and desolation at Little Sale Cay. I just couldn’t wait to drop the anchor and be “home” (home–as I have referred to Florida for weeks now, though it is actually far from our real home. This can be confusing to children, I’ve learned. )

There was a point here where the rocking was so intense that I made everyone sit down. The kids played with Froogz (suction cup building toys) on the sundeck table and that kept them occupied. Or maybe they were more occupied crawling around on the floor chasing the rogue Froogz that went rolling with the seas. I felt like I would go crazy if the rocking didn’t stop. Mike did some tacking back and forth to lessen the rocking, but he knew he didn’t want to delay our arrival much later because it would be completely dark.

FINALLY we started to see land, started to get intermittent cell signals, and started to feel like we would actually get there someday. Then, all of a sudden, just as we crossed the territorial sea line (the imaginary line that means we’re back in the US), the rocking stopped. The rocking STOPPED!! I made pizza for dinner and Mike started the process of checking back in with immigration using an app on our phones. We had a quick Facetime interview with an officer and we were officially back in the USA. The water was calm and amazing and all the rocking was (almost) forgotten.

We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we neared land, and luckily we got in the inlet with no problems and headed for an anchorage nearby. We even had friends, Livin the Dream, at the nearby marina tell us we could come tie up by them, but we were too cheap to pay for a marina so close to bedtime. The anchor dropped just as it was getting dark dark out (what I affectionately call it when it’s so dark you can’t really see) and we were set for the night. WHEW!! Thank GOODNESS that day was over!!

That night, I was instantly aware of so many lights around us at the condos and nearby buildings, a train whistle off in the distance, a motorcycle accelerating on the bridge, the muddy brown water, and other drastic differences from the Bahamas. It was stunning to me, and equally refreshing and disappointing. We will never be able to recreate the amazing experiences we had in the Bahamas, and while we were eventually anxious to get back to the US, this was the definitive end to the amazing adventures we had there. It was bittersweet.

The next morning the kids wrote about our crossing. I think they did a great job capturing the trip. I should have had Tobin dictate his rendition to me, but he was excited to do math and I was busy helping Mike get tied up in a marina, so that one got away from me.

We have so many more adventures ahead, but a new chapter is definitely beginning here. Thank you for reading and following along!!

Stats for April 20, 2019

Origin: Angelfish Point

Destination: Little Sale Cay

Distance: 37.4 miles

Speed: 7.8 mph

Time on the Move: 4 hours and 49 minutes

After much debate, we decided to move ourselves closer to a good jumping off spot in case the weather held and gave us a good window to cross back to the states on Sunday. We were ready to be back, and Sunday looked like a possibility, though Thursday looked like an even better day. But Thursday was 5 days away. 5 DAYS!! That is forever when you’re ready to be somewhere. So we figured we’d head to Little Sale just in case we decided to leave. The Blessing stayed in Angelfish Point, so we said a temporary good-bye to them and pulled anchor.

At this point, we had been on the boat for about 40 hours straight, and we had a renewed sense of purpose, moving west. The kids were troopers and seem to just roll with being on the boat so long when they can tell getting off isn’t really an option.

We neared Little Sale shortly before sunset. There isn’t much protection there and it is literally just a rock island. It was not the most comforting feeling be so far out to sea, all by ourselves, and with no cell phone signal.

Luckily we were treated to this beautiful sunset. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight!! Just a little bitty bit of delight, tonight, it seems. Hmm…

Reading before bed on our 2nd full day on the boat.

We had no buddy boats and no cell signal to check the latest weather forecasts. We made a plan to get up super early (4 am) and head northwest towards a cay where we knew there was service just to get just close enough to get signal, check all the weather apps, send the necessary messages, and head to the US if everything was a go. It wasn’t an easy plan, but it was the best one we could think of, so that’s what we went with.

Thank you for following our adventures!!

Stats for April 18, 2019

Origin: Powell Cay

Destination: Angelfish Point

Distance: 9.9 miles

Speed: 7.7 mph

Time on the Move: 1 hour and 18 minutes

We headed for Angelfish Point mid morning because there were some big winds and waves coming along with a cold front the next day. The wind was already building and only supposed to get worse. We were with our buddies The Blessing, so they took this picture of us heading to find a safe anchorage to ride out the front.

After a few hours of whipping around in the wind and playing plenty of games, we decided we had to get off the boat while we could. So, we took to shore.

The next day was a LONG day. The winds were strong all day, though it was mostly sunny out all day. We were just waiting for the squalls to arrive. They ripped through Florida in the afternoon and we scheduled to get to us early in the morning. Of course!! Everything is worse in the dark!

Sure enough, right around 1:30 I felt us swing around the anchor, so I moved to the couch. I was up most of the rest of the night as 3 lines of squalls came through, even messaging with our buddy boat during the night to make sure everything was okay with them.

A little later I woke Mike up because we appeared to be dragging anchor a bit. We both watched it for a while, but I was thankful it would be light in a few more hours. The biggest winds were supposed to hit around 7-8 am.

It turns out that everything quieted down after 7 am or so. The Blessing called to tell us our bridle (extra hook on the anchor line that takes the stress off the windlass and lowers the pivot point of the anchor closer to the water) fell off in the night, but sure enough, it actually broke all to bits. The wind must have been too much for the line and it just shredded. That’s why we suddenly had a little bit more scope to our swing line around 4 am. It was a relief to know we didn’t drag, but surprising to see our bridle in two pieces.

The day seemed to settle down late morning and it was forecasted to continue to settle throughout the day. Mike had his eye on a potential crossing window, though, and we were too far from the US to cross from here, so we needed to get a bit closer to the US. After a grueling couple of hours filled with “go/no-go” discussions, we finally pulled anchor and decided to head west once again in hopes that we could cross back to the US soon.

Thanks for reading all about our adventures and following along!!

Stats for April 17, 2019

Origin: Manjack Cay

Destination: Powell Cay

Distance: 8.8 miles

Speed: 7.3 mph

Time on the Move: 1 hour and 11 minutes

We had a bit of a wavy trip from Manjack to Powell. Though it wasn’t far, we passed by some pretty wide cuts in the outer islands and cays that allowed 3-5 foot waves sneak in from the ocean. Most of them hit us right on the beam, so we were rolling pretty good for a while. We were thankful it was a short trip!!

As soon as we dropped anchor, we fired up the trusty watermaker for what we think will be our last round of making our own fresh water from salt water. It has been so nice to have the watermaker on board and not have to worry about how much water we have or where we will fill our tanks.

After the watermaker was in business, we headed to shore for a hike over to the Atlantic side. This trail ended up having a lot of low branches, so we really had to watch our heads. It was also very clearly marked, which was appreciated. We met up with the crew of The Blessing on the beach and enjoyed the afternoon.

That night we were treated to a beautiful almost full moon. What a sight!

Thanks so much for reading and following along on our whirlwind tour of the Abacos!!

Stats for April 16, 2019

Origin: Green Turtle Cay

Destination: Manjack Cay

Distance: 7.5 miles

Speed: 6.2 mph

Time on the Move: 1 hour and 13 minutes

Manjack Cay was recommended to us by several other kid boats as a great place to enjoy nature and see animals. Sure enough, we enjoyed nature and saw lots of animals!!

After anchoring, we headed to the beach in the dinghy and went exploring. We found an area where people were feeding sharks and rays. There was a lot going on, and we weren’t used to seeing lemon sharks, so that was a little creepy and a little cool.

After playing with sharks and rays, we headed over to another beach where we played and made forts for a while.

Later we headed to a swampy area in the middle of the cay that is known for the sea turtles that live and swim there.

We loved seeing all the animals around Manjack!! Thanks for following our adventures!!