Last Post from Neverland? Probably...

We left the Bahamas about a week ago, traveling from Great Sale to Cape Canaveral in about 26 hours. It was a pretty easy crossing of the Gulf Stream, with wind directly behind us the whole way. Before leaving the Bahamas we were in Man O'War Cay for a day waiting for calm enough weather to get around a sticky place called "The Whale" which can be nasty in high wind. I was sitting outside a store waiting for Jim and a cute little cat walked right up, jumped in my lap and settled down for a quick nap.  Dogs usually like me, cats usually not so much, but this one was clearly an exception...





















Once in Florida, we spent a couple of days in Cape Canaveral getting groceries, doing laundry, catching up on sleep, etc. One morning the boat started to shake and then there was a tremendous explosion. We heard no emergency vehicles, but thought something horrific had happened nearby. Then realized - we're in CAPE CANAVERAL. Yup - a launch and sonic boom. Duh. No attack yet by a foreign power pissed off with us :-)


We spent another couple of days further north in New Smyrna Beach over the Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby weekend and had a super fun time. Below are some photos from NSB. First, Jim outside a crazy store where one of the items was a little ancient model VW bus with a top that opened into a cooler.

The boat below was at the City Marina where we stayed. I took the photo because the little sailing dinghy on the bow was so beautiful in the sunshine.

We spent some time in the museum in New Smyrna Beach, a place originally settled by Greek immigrants. Lots of interesting history. I took this photo to send to my son Jake - the Ladies Bicycling Club, circa 1890. Imagine biking in Florida heat in long cotton skirts, petticoats, high necked blouses and leather boots. Ugh.

Unfortunately I only have one photo from Cinco de Mayo, which was a big deal in NSM. The entire main drag became a venue for tequila and taco tasting competitions with music everywhere and lots of people taking the whole thing very seriously! This guy was about 5'1" but his hat and fake mustache made up for his height.

The next day was the Kentucky Derby. Before the actual race, which was shown on a large screen TV, there were hat decorating contests and a race on Canal Street between the riders of two wooden horses on casters. This little girl and her dad were among the first competitors.The competition was fierce and the casters sometimes spun unexpectedly, flinging the horses and riders around. More than one rider finished a race being dragged backwards, and a couple of times, riders were dismounted by a falling horse. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no parked cars or spectators were hit! Look at the expression of the rider below - she's terrified...

The little girl was pretty worried about the competing team from a local pizza place - Panheads (absolutely EXCELLENT pizza if you're ever in town).

Panheads staff -- rider chilling, "pushers" grimacing, before a start....

And of course Panheads won the final match, much to the vocal dismay of the little blond rider on the sidelines. It is to be noted also that Panheads owner's kids were also armed with water balloons and Super Soakers with which they blasted the competing teams. 

Hmmmm - a random sunset. Who can resist posting a sunset??

A pretty garden on the main street in New Smyrna Beach.

One evening we had drinks and appetizers at a great little restaurant called Riverside Terrace. It used to be the private home of a local potter. It's still owned by her and her studio is next door, across the garden. We had a long chat with her about sailing, traveling and how her life has evolved in recent years now that the house is leased out as a wonderful restaurant.

We tried the fish tacos appetizer - yummy.

And another excellent one was bruschetta with goat cheese, strawberries, balsamic vinegar and basil. 

This last photo was taken at "Pancakes in the Park", an event that took place the same morning as the outdoor market in the park. This machine rotated slowly while one guy poured batter and another couple of guys flipped pancakes. They sold about 1,800 pancakes that day to raise money for the museum.  

And that's it for New Smyrna Beach, a great little seaside town. Lots of art galleries, fun events, good food, an excellent marina and very, very friendly people.

We're now in St Augustine and should reach Neverland's final destination  this year - Brunswick Georgia - within a week. I doubt there will be any more posts for this trip. Many thanks for following along! I've really enjoyed the comments I've gotten back.  I think the next blog will be about tent camping in the Maritime Provinces in Canada this summer.

Still in Hope Town

Ok, here are a couple of dozen photos with a few words thrown in for good measure. Here's the beach in Hope Town. Yup, they all look quite a bit alike after a while, don't they?

Someone works hard to maintain this colorful garden

A private island you pass as you enter the channel into Hope Town Harbor

Don't you love the look of the sea at the end of a little grassy lane with a picket fence???

Not all homes have "No Tresspassing!!" signs. Some are ever so slightly more subtle. "Mi casa no es su casa".

Sunny on the beach

We rented bikes and road about 12 miles one day to Tahiti Beach

Sunny in the sun

Rebecca climbing in a tree festooned with old fishing lines at Tahiti Beach

This was actually at Marsh Harbor, the day Billy bought a new outboard engine. Rebecca got first crack at driving the dinghy with the new engine, which she started right up like an old pro.

On the ride back from Tahiti Beach we saw three guys trying to surf. Trying was the operative word.

The lighthouse from Hope Town Harbor

 The quieter of two pools at the marina. The other one was chock full of hollering little kids

All of us at a little memorial garden in Hope Town

Pretty colors. Pretty shadows.

Last night a couple who met 4 years ago here got married at Hope Town Lodge. We heard music, hopped in the dinghy, and went ashore, not knowing it was for a private event.  This is the bride and groom's decorated golf cart.

We happened upon the mother of the groom. She told us that she had pink shoes to go with the dress, but preferred to wear her cowboy boots :-)

A sunset across the harbor facing the lighthouse as we walked back to our dinghy

Took these last few earlier today. Best seats in the house...

 Hope Town is crisscrossed with pretty lanes like this

 A cottage on the sea

 Another quiet laneway with Jim taking a photo up ahead

 Flowering shrubs everywhere

 Very blue shutters

And that's it for now. Tonight and for the next 2 days we expect squalls and quite a bit of wind and rain. Hope to leave here right after that for Green Turtle Cay, then one long day's sail to Great Sale Cay the day after that.  So far, weather looks favorable for crossing back to the US by midweek. We'll keep you posted!

New Crew in Hope Town :-)

Our friend Sunny Wilson joined us for a few days in the Abacos, arriving in Marsh Harbor just in time for the mad Easter influx of tourists. We picked Sunny up, spent about 24 hours in Marsh Harbor where there is not much to see or do except buy groceries and other provisions, and then motored over to Hope Town which is a couple of hours away. Hope Town's first-come-first-served mooring field is so crowded for the holidays that we reserved a slip for a couple of nights at the Hope Town Inn and Marina just to be sure to have a place to stay (it's too small a harbor to just drop an anchor). Here's a couple of photos of the Inn and Marina, a far cry from the remote and undeveloped beaches in the Exumas. It's been very windy and squally again with NE winds in the 30s, so most cruisers who make it into the harbor are not budging until the weather improves.

Although the marina is very upscale, as you walk around the perimeter you see (and hear!!) chickens and roosters, which is sort of charming!

This is the lighthouse in Hope Town - the last remaining Bahamian lighthouse which is tended by a lighthouse keeper rather than being automatic. It is lit with kerosene and the keeper is at work every couple of hours from dusk to dawn to keep the light lit. The lighthouse is open to the public and the photo below shows the spiral staircase. At present, volunteers from the cruising community are working to both raise money and provide labor to repair the lighthouse windows. 

From the top, this is the view to the Atlantic side of the island, with wild breakers over the reefs just off shore.

Looking west, it's obvious from the pale aqua water that it's very shallow as you approach the narrow channel leading in to the harbor. As the 3' tide drops, the entry channel seen in these photos becomes impassable for many boats with a medium to deep keel until the tide rises again 6 hours later.

In town, most of the pristine pastel-painted houses are for rent. 

There are lots of brilliantly colored flowers and well-tended gardens.

 The yellow shutters are on the arched side windows of the Methodist church.

 Pink house, pink garden.

We went to take a look at the ocean, wondering how many days it will be until the seas settle down. Billy and Rebecca are here too on Moonlight Serenade. This is Jim and Billy talking sea state.

 Here's Sunny on the beach, hair blowing like crazy in the wind!!

The poor tourists who came here expecting to snorkel and hang out at the beach for a week or two are braving pretty cool and wildly windy conditions....

On our walk today, Rebecca paused to take photos of a dad and two kids trying to snorkel right off the beach. You can see the massive rollers on the reef in the left background, where I imagine snorkeling is more interesting and more successful when conditions are calm. The temperatures have remained in the 70s in the daytime and the water is about 73 degrees. Quite cool for here at this time of the year.

In the Abacos there are palms of every description.  These must be fan palms - pale green, sort of different.

We walked through the cemetery today and this was my favorite grave stone, which reads at the bottom "I am fine". Except in my head Mary was saying loudly, repeatedly and in caps:
"Dammit, I'm FINE!!!"