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

2012-04-02 - Treasure Cay

2012-04-01 to 06 - in Treasure Cay



2012-03-31 - to Treasure Cay (via Great Guana Cay)

We woke up and Connor wanted to get to shore to see if we could find Geocache #2.  We dinghied to shore and after a short hike we found that the Geocache was hidden in a very colourful tractor on the way to Nippers.  It was a tough find.  We checked every crevice looking for a small container   After about 15 minutes...there it was.   We quickly took the box to a log and opened it up.  We ended up leaving the Travel Bug from the first Geocache and picking up another one.  This travel bug was attached to a singing pig (singing 'Born to be Wild').  We ended up heading back to Treasure Cay early afternoon.

2012-03-31 - to Great Guana Cay (via Fowl Cay)



Connor chats with Nana while in school!



We had a busy day planned.  We pulled away from the dock early and quickly got into our schoolwork while Kerry drove us to Fowl Cay - an  ecological park.   We anchored on the leeward side and took the dingy to the Ocean side to tie onto the mooring balls provided by the park.   This is one of the best snorkeling sites so far on the trip.  However, Kerry did give a higher rating to Thunderball Cove in Staniel Cay, Exumas. Both were outstanding.  Kerry and Connor went first.  I hung out with Dylan in the dingy to watch the fish swarm to the boat.  They must get fed a lot.  When they hear the engines of

A barracuda in the distance checks out Connor

boats...they come swimming!   I jumped in with Connor and was impressed by the structure of the coral.  There was a large crevice in the middle and I so wished that we were scuba diving so that we could descend into it.  We did see three barracudas and the biggest Parrot fish that we have ever seen. (see pic below).  Connor and I watched it for about a minute until it slipped away inot a dark crevice.  We all were back in the dinghy and were going to check out another coral head.  We stopped and it was my job to drop the anchor.  Well the line for the anchor was somewhat twisted and, for some reason, the clip to the anchor got pushed in

 by the twisted line.  This caused the anchor to slip off of the clip and go (very quickly) to the bottom.   Oh no!  We were in about 25 feet of water.  I quickly slipped my fins back on and jumped in.  I had to give it a try to see if I could retrieve it.  I did a quick dive to see what I was dealing with.  I hadn't done free diving this deep before.  It took two tries to assess and the third dive did the trick.  I retrieved the anchor!  We did a bit more snorkeling and went 

This is a GIANT parrot fish.  I have never seen something this big.  I would
estimate that it was 3-4 feet long.  Connor and I just stopped to watch it in
amazement!

back to the boat.  We had anchored in a few feet of water so Kerry took the opportunity to finally change the zincs on our motors.  It's great when you can get into shallow enough water that you can stand up. 

On our way home we got through the cut to the ocean to see if we could do some fishing.  No bites, unfortunately, but it is always fun to try.  We decided to pull into Great Guana Cay for the evening, instead of making it all of the way back to Treasure Cay, as we were all tuckered out and the day was getting on.  In the morning we wanted to check out a Geocache site on Great Guana Cay, so this was perfect!

Connor describes a fish that he saw!

Two thumbs up for this site!

Happy little boater! 

2012-03-29 - in Treasure Cay

Connor holds on with gloved hands and great focus to a crab he caught. 

2012-03-28 - in Treasure Cay

The boys were trying to catch this Unicorn File fish all week at the dock.  What got them to try once more was I was fishing with Dylan.  I tied his soft chair to the side of the boat and let him hold the pole.  The boys had already run off to do something else and Dylan and I were alone with the fish.  Well, to our surprise we were the first ones to get one of the file fish!  Dylan was thrilled and loved all of the splashing and excitement.  We do have a picture of Dylan with his fish but it is on Ethan's (middle boy) dad's camera....so, we will post it later.  Once the fish was caught we lifted it gently in the net and brought him to the boat for a quick photo and back he went in the water.  Once the boys heard of this, they all came running and continued their quest.  This one was actually caught with a net and bait - no hook was used.  They were all working together and finally had their prize.  Once this picture was snapped, this big guy went back into the water.   This is the boys last day here in Treasure Cay.  Connor is so going to miss them.  They are all great kids.  In the evening we all went to the weekly drive in movie.  Great day! 

2012-03-27 - in Treasure Cay

Great gals from British Columbia.  The moms slipped away for a brief moment to the Coco Beach Bar across the street from the marina while all the boys watched 'Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus'.  It was a fun night!

2012-03-26 - in Treasure Cay

Today Connor and I tried our very first Geocaching hunt.   If you don't know what Geocaching is - it is

 'a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.'

 Sometimes there are puzzles to do beforehand to help you with the search. Connor had to do a word puzzle that gave us additional clues as to where to find the geocache. You can search for closest geocaches at www. geocaching.com.  For this one we had to bike about 2 miles (each way), walk along a beach and then through a brushy path to the tip of a small point of land.  It was tricky, and we had to wade in waist height water... but we eventually found the stash of goodies. 

And, to add to the drama, as we were removing the stones to unveil the geocache, we were swarmed with small red ants.  After a brief dance and swatting at ants, we uncovered our very first geocache.  In the large black plastic bottle there were instructions about geocaching and a number of small trinkets that were left by other geocachers.  We ended up leaving a couple small trinkets and taking a 'travel bug'.  This was exciting.  A travel bug is a small tag attached to an item that has a number on it and is traceable. People can purchase these tags and then monitor them as it goes from Geocache to Geocache.  We will then take it to another geocache (on another outing) and leave it there.  The owner with the tag can follow it online to see where it has been.   It's quite fun.  We had a blast trying to find it.  There are a few more Geocaches on some of the islands that we will visit next.  We will definitely do this again!

a view from the top of the hill that we climbed to find this Geocache

We finally made our very own Conch Horn.  The reason we have one is at sundown you blow on it to say 'goodbye' to the sun.  You cut/chisel off the top of the shell and then blow into it like a trumpet.  Ours is smaller and has a higher pitch.  You can even change notes by sliding your hand in and out of the shell.  I can now play ''mary had a little lamb!'

2012-03-25 - in Treasure Cay

2012-03-24 - in Treasure Cay

fishing, fishing and more fishing!

We all hopped in the dinghy to explore Dead Mans Island (a 10 minute dinghy ride from the marina).  Dylan enjoyed playing in the sand and playing with the cute dog (see right of the pic) on the beach that belonged to fellow boaters.   Their names were Jan and John and they were retired principals. 

Having a great time at the pool with his new friends

2012-03-23 - in Treasure Cay

Just when you thought that the boys couldn't fish anymore....we took them out to the big blue water.  We tried to find the big ones out there.  There were lots of great weed lines and we followed all that we could see...but all we caught were two very large barracuda.  Connor caught the first one and I the second.  Ethan was at the ready when they came in and followed through with pulling all extra lines in once we get a bite..so that the lines don't tangle as discussed.  When the big barracuda came on board (the first one got away at the boat) both boys were wide eyed and kept out of the way as we set it free.  We stopped and tried our hand at still fishing at 150-200 feet, but it was bobbing out there a bit and the boys were feeling a little bit queazy.  We ended up pulling out early and heading back to the marina.  Afterall, they said, they had more luck at the dock. As we crossed back into the sea of Abaco from the deeper water, things calmed down and the boys sprung up and had enough energy to play hide and seek on the boat. 

2012-03-22 - in Treasure Cay

Connor did more fishing on the dock today with Ethan (visiting from British Columbia). 

In the evening they have pizza night at the Tipsy Seagull (the bar at the marina) that all locals, boaters, vacationers, etc. seem to find themselves at.  A local singer also entertains the crowd.  This is the stuff that makes Dylan happy!  Bands, songs, dancing...he loves it!