2012-04-12 - In Cape Canaveral, FL

Connor had an opportunity to head out with a captain today on his fishing charter.  Connor was asking so many questions to him the night before that he offered to take him on the charter that he had planned for the day.  He had a great day overall - they caught 4 king mackerel - Connor was so excited about it. 

After he left to go on the charter we headed down the dock to jump back into the van to do some other errands.   To our surprise we saw a very large manatee floating on his back licking the drops from a hose on the docks.  We had seen manatee from a distance, but never like this.  Later, after we shopped and returned the van, we had three manatees all gently taking turns with each other at the hose. It was truly special to see.

Connor heading out fishing.  (he's on the right seat up on top!)

...so cute!

2012-04-11 - In Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

2012-04-10 and 11 - to Cape Canaveral, Florida

We pulled away from our anchorage at Great Sale Cay at 9:15am.  We had to time it so that we entered the inlet at Cape Canaveral, we would have light.  The anchorage was surreal, with no difference between the sea and sky.  We coasted across the banks most of the day.  It was again, very calm and the water was so clear that you could see straight to the bottom.  I lay on the trampoline between the bows and watched the grassy floor of the bank go by – seeing the occasional starfish and sea cucumber.  At one point a dolphin came and was swimming between the hulls as Connor and I watched.  By the time I could let Kerry know he took one turn, went down and out of sight.  We took turns taking rests as we were going to go straight to Florida and would need to be alert during the night.  As we were making our way over the banks we had another surprising guest - a ‘hawk’ of some sort landed on our boat in a state of exhaustion.  His wings remained drooped beside his body.  He remained with us for over 3 hours – occasionally flying around the boat and landing back in his original position.  The last time he took flight he didn’t return.  Not a bit of land was to be seen so we hope that he made it safely to wherever he was going.  Another magical find on the water was a floating red object that we safely retrieved.  It was a perfect Mickey shaped balloon from Walt Disney World.  Dylan loved that and hung onto his find for several hours until he went to bed.  So, on we went.  Mantanilla point was our first waypoint that we were shooting for.  This point is located on the edge of the bank and the Florida Straight.   It is where ocean meets bank and the sea floor drops off from 20 feet to 1000’s of feet.   The transition from bank to ocean was surprisingly seamless, not even a swell.  It was so calm that we

decided to stop the boat and do some bottom fishing.  We stopped at 130 feet and drifted to over 200 feet.  We had never done this type of fishing but learned so much listening and asking questions to fellow boaters and fishermen over the trip.  We waited about 5 minutes. Connor got a bit discouraged and said that he longed for his dock at Treasure Cay where you can pretty much count on the bite of a little fish.  Just then, we got a bite and hauled up a strawberry grouper.  We ended up staying an hour and got 3 ocean triggers and 3 groupers – and lots of other bites/escapes!  The last ocean trigger was returned back to the sea but the others came with us.  As we looked into the water that was already indigo blue, we could see large ocean triggers floating 20 feet below the surface, being illuminated just enough from the sunlight above to see them. They were plentiful and so beautiful to watch.  We decided to make tracks again just as the sun was beginning to set.  We were going to be in complete darkness until 12:15am when the moon would finally rise.  Just as we started the engines and began to pull away lots of dolphins, too many to count, came to play all

around our boat.  Two dolphins were at the bow swimming with the boat and several leaped out of the water beside us.  We all watched in absolute amazement.  What a magical way to start our Gulf Stream crossing.   After that we gave the kids gravol and got them ready for bed.  Kerry and I had to focus on taking rests so that we would make it through the night.  On queue they were both down at 8:00pm and we were in darkness.  The first big ship that crossed our path was a confusing one.  It was a cruise ship and, from all of the lights, it was difficult to find their navigation lights (the red and green lights) that let you

know which way the ship is heading.  Kerry got on the radio and called the ship to ask them.   The captain on the ‘Disney Dream’ was quick to call back, let us know that he was watching us and then flash a high powered spot light in the direction that he was going.  “Thank you very much ‘Disney Dream’, Hi-5 back to 1-6”.   This wasn’t the only ship that we encountered that night.  We had about 6 cargo ships and another cruise ship to contend with.  We first spot them on our radar about 10-15 miles out.  At that point, you make out faint lights in the distance.  Then it is a matter of tracking their position to see if you are on a collision course.  We adjust our speed and direction, if this is the case as you don’t want to cross the path of these large vessels.  It seemed as if we were dealing with these ships one after another.  At 12:15, and right on time, there appeared an orange glow in the S-SE horizon.  It looked as if it was a smoke flare that was let off.  But after a minute or two the moon took shape and rose.  Finally, a bit of light!  Once it was higher in the sky we got to see the water around us.  It was a little more comforting seeing the ships approaching.

After the moon rose, the wind picked up significantly to about 20 knots.  Our calm conditions had

this little guy greeted Kerry on our way into the inlet. 
It sat on his leg and then flitted away.

changed.  We had both sails up and going about 9-10 knots on average.   These conditions continued until about 4 hours from Canaveral.  Then, the winds died down but so did our speed.   As the sun came up we could see the skyline of Florida.  We made it.  We entered the channel and

took a slip at Cape Marina, just opposite the cruise ship port.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t just call it a day. 

We still had to check in with customs.  Normally, a phone call to the customs office has to be made within 15 minutes of landing.  Then, you make your way to the office.  We decided to rent a car to get us to the customs office and to find the local Publix grocery store.  Within an hour of being up over 24 hours, we had a van delivered.  We then visited the customs office, filled the van with groceries (yeah), and made it back to the boat.  Unloading a van of groceries, not an easy feat when you are at the end of a dock in a marina, was quickly taken care of in about an hour!  We put in a few loads of laundry and then made it finally to bed.  A busy day indeed!

2012-04-09 - to Great Sale Cay

We finally pulled away from the docks at Treasure Cay.  We spent the last month here and got to meet so many great people both on the docks and in the homes adjacent.  It was a calm clear day and we used all of it to make it to Great Sale Cay – an anchorage where we spent our last night in the Bahamas.  Tomorrow we will leave to make the crossing to Florida.

2012-04-08 - Treasure Cay

Kim gives Dylan one last 'dip' before she goes!

Connor joins in in a batting game with some of the local children.

 Easter Bunny found us today!  Last night he must have come and placed little hershey kisses all over the boat.  Each kiss was labelled with the kids intials to keep it good and even.  Tamasio and Connor woke up at 5:50am to start the hunt and had a blast finding treats inside and outside of the boat. We were heading over at 6:30am for Sunrise Service at the Coco Beach Bar with the other families...so this time wasn't too bad. Tamasio's mom was going to pick him up after the service though. :(

Kim dropped by to say good-bye.  She and Leon were visiting another wonderful couple, Frank and Marilyn, at the marina.  We first met at the beginning of her vacation when I joined them in a little snorkle/lobster hunt/lionfish expedition.  I was quick to learn that she is a speech pathologist working with kids in a school.  Also, she worked with kids, like Dylan, in the home during the preschool years.  She was awesome with Dylan and I could tell that she loves what she does and the kids that she works with must love her!  We will miss her but hope to stay in touch.

After Tamasio left we decided that we would head to the beach and have a meal together for probably the last time is the Bahamas.  Kerry has been keeping an eye on the weather hoping for a window that would enable us to cross over to Florida.  We have already put bikes away, stowed unecessary things just to be prepared.  We could be leaving as soon as tomorrow.

2012-04-07 - Treasure Cay

We were introduced (by a family in the condos) to a great young lad called Tamasio.  Tamasio's mom works at the Coco Beach Bar and lives in the neighbouring town.   He and Connor got along great and were have a blast doing pretty much all the games that young boys seems to get themselves into....  Nerf  guns, tag, hide and seek and, of course, fishing. In the afternoon we hopped on our bikes with the other family, including Tamasio, and headed to the point where, at low tide, you can wade over to another very small island.   Tamasio ended up having a sleep over on our boat - he was so excited. 

...more fishing

. 

Dylan also sticks a bit of bait on the hook and waits.....

Beach walk