Homeless because we sold our home when we went boating and haven’t settled down but are looking for a place in a smaller town. Hey, how hard can it be in such a small country, you may well ask!!!

Boatless, because after a year on the market, a buyer appeared, made an offer, we countered, he countered, we countered and stalled and then he walked away after we couldn’t agree on a price. Some time later he reappeared with a better offer which was acceptable and the deal was concluded and today everything was finalised.

There was an earlier “buyer” who just turned out to be a tyre kicking chancer!!

So there it is. Final! Kaput! Finis! Finito! The End! A smile on my face and a tear in my eye.

This blog started almost 2 years ago with a kaleidoscope of emotions, and to a certain extent has ended the same way. But although it is with a tinge of sadness that I say goodbye to Amanzi (and the growling rumble of my puppies, Apollo and Zeus), I do not regret anything. She gave us much joy and a wonderful, wonderful, unrepeatable adventure and those memories last forever. And, surprisingly, it’s amazing how some of the “not so good” memories (eg tornadoes in Georgia, anchors dragging, flat batteries and then some) have already faded into distant memories while only the memories of the good times remain.

So, my good friends, this blog will henceforth remain silent unless we happen upon some new adventure. But for now, it’s time to settle down, get back into some regular work and become “normal” and not “boat” people. How difficult can that be????

Sayonara friends, followers, bloggers and boaters.

Remember my favourite expression:

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DID SOMETHING FOR THE FIRST TIME?

All offers entertained.

See the menu link above or just click here.

Amanzi - our pride and joy

The end or the beginning? Going out or going in? Starting or finishing? Which is it? It’s a good question because that’s where we’re at right now. Ending and starting! It’s now been 2 months since we left Amanzi in Florida and slowly started resuming some aspects of our old lives.

So I thought I’d tell you about where we’re at and where we’re heading and then, mainly for any new people who might stumble upon this blog, give a summary of how we got here and the wonderful adventure we’ve had. This is really to “close” this blog – like the final chapter in a book. I know I’ve read many blogs that just seem to end without a decent conclusion and everything’s left hanging there and I’ve felt quite cheated!! I didn’t want our blog to be like that. The admiral has given a nice summary of what we’ve done since returning in the last blog so I’ll not mention any of that.

Admiral Mary and Captain Lance

Exit – arriving, going in. I am finally back at work (just finished my first week) and, to be honest, I’ve enjoyed getting back into the practice of medicine. I am doing locum work which is really “temping” for doctors who are wanting to take some annual leave etc. As part of the deal I get accommodation thrown in. So, because of this, we haven’t settled down and bought a new home as yet We are traveling around New Zealand from town to town as the need takes me and investigating which would be a nice town to settle in. We’ve decided not to return to the big cities as we like the quieter pace of life! Traveling down the ICW and in the Bahamas at 7 mph has spoilt us! Mary, the admiral, is a chartered accountant and does her work via the Internet – nice!!!

We’ll be in the town of Wanganui for the next 3-4 weeks and then move on someplace else. So, really, we are more or less continuing our “transient” boating lifestyle but on land Leaving our daughters in Christchurch we hired a camper van (RV) and spent the next 3 weeks traveling north to our old haunt of Auckland where we caught up with all our old friends and retold the story of our adventure a number of times.

Camper Van Trip

Following that we headed south again to Rotorua where I attended a medical conference and then moved further south to Wanganui.

RVing is very similar to cruising but without all the stresses and strains that go with running a boat!!!!! It’s very easy to “dock” – just drive in, climb out, connect the power and, voila!, you’re done. No need for dock hands, bow lines, stern lines, springs, connecting power and water, emptying the holding tank, filling the water tanks, checking tidal ranges, putting out fenders and the myriad of other little activities that need to be done to dock and ensure safety

Exit – leaving, going out. Yes, we are leaving behind 9 months of holiday/adventure/relaxation/stress and returning to a more “normal life.”

Here’s a short rundown of our trip with some of the ups and downs. Everything’s in the blog, so this is just a taster for new readers. Enjoy

It started years ago when I suggested I would like to do a circumnavigation. The admiral said, NO. So we bought a coastal cruiser and sailed locally for many years.

I then mooted the idea of cruising the Bahamas where the trips would be short from island to island, no overnights, and, mostly, within sight of land. The admiral said YES!!! I jumped with joy and the planning started in earnest.

I read many blogs and trip reports. I read about the Gulf Stream. I read about the currents. I read about the weather. I read about provisioning. I read about preparation. I read about many many things and stored the information.

There seemed to be many obstacles. Most cruisers bought their boat and spent a few years getting to know it and preparing it for a voyage. We lived in New Zealand and didn’t have the luxury of time to “adequately” prepare ourselves or the boat.

But still I researched.

Initially I was going to buy a sailing catamaran but eventually chose a power vessel. Why? From my research, it seemed few cruisers actually ever got to SAIL in the Bahamas as the winds were always contrary. So, if we would be motoring a lot it seemed to make sense to buy a motor vessel.

So we did – via the Internet. A stressful but successful process See my early blogs about this.

We got rid of a lot of our stuff, packed up the rest, sold our home and flew from NZ to Baltimore where we collected our boat, a 1985 38′ Bayliner. We stayed in Baltimore for 3 weeks “preparing” her and ourselves. In this time, for various reasons, we only managed to take her out of her berth on ONE occasion before we departed and this was on the day before we actually left!!! Seems crazy now but that’s the way it was.

From A, Baltimore to B, Miami to C, Nassau to D, Georgetown and then back to Florida

Leaving Baltimore on October 23, 2011, the weather was great with clear blue skies and very calm seas. We were ecstatic!!! Seventh heaven.

We spent 3 days travelling down the Chesapeake stopping overnight at various marinas. We were totally blown away by the size of the Chesapeake. Intellectually we knew it was about 130 miles but the reality was way way different to the mental image.

The next 1089 miles of the IntraCoastal Waterway ( ICW) suddenly seemed very daunting!!!

It was bright and early when we slipped our lines and ghosted out of Tidewater Marina in Norfolk and passed milemarker 1 to get to our very first early morning bridge opening.

First opening bridge!!

Suddenly there were dozens of boats jostling to get in line for the bridge to open. And then it did, our first bridge opening!!! And like a race, the boats were off!!! First the faster powerboats, then the sailboats. All trying to make sure that they got to the next bridge in time for the opening or they would be delayed.

The race is on !!!

Imagine a race, a marathon, with hundreds of athletes jostling each other! Well, that’s what it seemed like to us. Pandemonium!!

Well, we managed that without incident and embarked on the next 1089 miles to Miami. There were many “events” of note. They’re all described in the blogs but I’ll mention a few. Anchoring in narrow tidal creeks.Rafting up as the only power vessel with ~12 other sailboats in the Dismal Swamp.

Rafting up at the Dismal Swamp Centre

So picturesque!!

Dismal Swamp Canal - sheer beauty

Negotiating the locks.

Dismal Swamp Lock

Being caught at anchor in a storm. Having flat batteries because the charger was not up to scratch. Finding out that the previous owner had the start and engine batteries wired in parallel. So a tow was needed from Mile Hammock Bay to Wrightsville.

Mary’s brother and wife had joined us for a few days and declared that they had signed up for the full package – and they got it.

Christina and Robert

First, some boats dragging onto us, then taking 2 hour turns on anchor watch as the storm raged, taking bearings every 10 minutes to make sure we weren’t dragging. No time for my sister-in-law to experience her usual sea sickness. And then, hauling the slimy, mud caked anchor aboard before our tow – no battery or engine power, remember. So yes, they got the full boating package in the space of a few days

Meeting some wonderful people along the way. Both cruisers and shore people. Enjoying the friendliness of small towns.

Dragging anchor in the middle of the night!! And not being able to reset it by moonlight in a 50m wide creek with the tide running. Staying up all night on anchor watch.

Worrying about channels and channel markers.

Red on the right (opposite to New Zealand) but sometimes on the left when you left the ICW and headed up river!!!!!

Seeing other boats aground, calling for assistance.

Enduring the wettest weekend in recorded history in St Augustine but offset by meeting new friends. Anchored alone in a small creek north of Savannah and hearing that there was a TORNADO warning for our area.

Tornado Watch

Sitting, scared out of our wits – I would say shitless but that’s not the way I speak – with the generator running and watching the storm’s progress on our TV and radar. Thankfully it passed north of us and we could finally go to sleep.

Having ice on the decks in the early morning and later sunning ourselves in the warm sun.

Spotting dolphins regularly.

Dolphin - very difficult to photograph

Never ever seeing a Manatee Hearing a Securite message from the US Coastguard a 1000 times about the Atlantic Right Wales!!!

Meeting up with friends along the way south!!

Using our trip down the ICW as our “shakedown” cruise and stopping off for repairs and further modification and installations. Enduring the frustration of waiting in marinas for things to get done and finally getting on our way again. Having a leak in our brand new, never been used, dinghy (Mercury) – what a performance to get it repaired!!

Provisioning,

provisioning, and more provisioning.

This was one of our biggest challenges. Remember, we came from New Zealand so we didn’t know the shops, we didn’t know the products, we didn’t know the brands, and we didn’t have transport for the most part. But we muddled through it all. We used Publix, Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly, various Dollar Stores and then some.

Of course, we also dropped a fortune at West Marine but were thankful to get huge discounts via friendly people.

We braved the rudeness, arrogance and selfishness of the boaters in Florida!!! To the extent that the admiral was known to hail boaters on the VHF telling them to slow down when passing us!! For the most part they didn’t care that their massive wakes caused all other boats to rock and roll like drunken teenagers. They must be the worst mannered people in the USA. So different from all the kind and gentle folks we met in the Carolina’s and Georgia.

Finally, arriving in Miami

Miami

Puts our little boat to shame

Then waiting for the weather window to make the dreaded crossing across the Gulf Stream to our first stop in the Bahamas, Alicetown in Bimini.

Exit:- to go out, to leave, to depart. Also to go in, enter.

So the morning of 23 December arrives. It’s been exactly 2 months since we slipped our lines in Baltimore and have travelled some 1300 miles!! We’re pretty experienced by now.

The forecast was for southerlies and the sea state for 1-2′ seas – ideal for a Gulf Stream crossing!!

We had anchored just inside Government Cut, so, as dawn was breaking, I weighed anchor and we stuck our nose out into the great Atlantic Ocean for the first time! As we headed east into the rising sun, we entered the Gulf Stream and watched the Miami skyline slowly disappear into the western horizon.

The Gulf Stream, our nemesis, our greatest fear, our biggest nightmare, turned out to be little more than a tame puppy! Almost a huge disappointment after all the hype that is written about crossing to Bimini.

So, exit the USA and enter the Bahamas!! A whole new adventure! We had arrived!

Traveling down the ICW was, apart from the times that were we’re stuck waiting for weather or repairs, more or less a delivery trip for us. Up at daybreak, check the weather, up anchor, travel 50-60 miles, drop anchor or tie up at a marina, have dinner, plan the next day’s route and stopover and then collapse into bed. It mostly passed in a big blur of travel.

But now we were in the Bahamas!!

Leisurely days, great weather, small hops from anchorage to anchorage. Balmy days. Great colored waters, lazy times and leisurely swimming. Sun-drenched beaches. Sundowners and fishing. Lobster and conch for the taking. Ahhh, sheer bliss!

Delusions!! How deluded we were! How misinformed! All those wonderful photos of the Bahamas? Only on the good days. Weather???? Yeah right!

Weather forecasts? There were none after Bimini. We had to get an SSB receiver flown in. Weather ranged from perfect to pretty miserable with big winds. The cold fronts started in Canada and travelled all the way south into the Bahamas causing us many a headache!! When to travel? Where to go? What to do when the wind clocked around from N to NE to E to SE to S, SW, W, NW and back to North!!! We were stunned!

There's bad weather a-comin'

Then the anchorages. The first one was scoured out so couldn’t get the anchor to set (E of Cat Cay) so had to find another one late in the day. STRESS!! The wind changed in the night and the boat was like a hobby horse, bouncing up and down in the wind driven swell. And this onto a lee shore! Morning couldn’t come fast enough but at least I had a great anchoring system which held perfectly. Some wise decision I made there…

Then the currents while at anchor. I first experienced this on the Bahama Banks when swimming near the wreck of the Sapona.

Wreck of Sapona, South of Bimini

Current pulling me backwards

At anchor, I jumped into the perfectly still and clear water off the back of the boat and surfaced some 4m away next to the dinghy. In that short space of time the current had carried me away. Thankfully I had been towing the dinghy so was able to grab on and pull myself back to the boat. And that wasn’t the last time we had strong tidal currents at anchor.

Crossing the Banks from Bimini to Chub Cay and further to Fraser Hog Cay was a nightmare. Hampered without decent weather forecasts we were beset with bad winds and heavy seas. The same occurred between Chub Cay and Nassau. And we had been expecting the worst crossing the Gulf stream!!!!! This was many times worse.

But the anchorage at Chub Cay was idyllic – all that we had dreamed about. Hot and balmy. Windless. Water so clear you couldn’t tell where it started.

Chub Cay - what the Bahamas is all about

Chub Cay - what the Bahamas is all about

Anchor chain visible in crystal clear water

Chub Cay - New Year's Eve Fireworks - Grandstand view from Amanzi

Depth was impossible to tell by looking. We had to learn to rely on the depth sounder. But it was faulty But I eventually fixed it This, a new one!! There were other breakdowns too: the anchor winch packed up, never to work again on our trip; the GPS pulled a hissy fit but, with help from fellow cruisers, I got it sorted; I dunked my iPad in the sea and it died with all my charts which I was using for navigation since Baltimore.

As a cruiser we met in Bimini asked “when does the fun begin?”

But we learned – and there were many lessons!!

Eventually our SSB arrived with our daughter who had flown from NZ with her 2 young boys to join us.

Luther, Zeke and Leanne

So we could get the weather. But, it took us a week to figure out on what frequency and time!!

From then on, it was up at 6.30 each morning to listen to the forecast and plan the day. The holiday, which had never really begun, was over. No more lazing in bed till the sun was up, enjoying a lazy breakfast, choosing a destination and making a leisurely trip further south to the Exumas.

Cruising had taken on a new twist. When was the fun going to start?

We learned our lessons. We learned the meaning of the forecasts. A high pressure north of us meant very strong winds – different to NZ where we had learned to respect the forces associated with low pressure systems!!! A front meant that the winds would lessen for a while and we could travel. Then they would clock and blow our brains away We learned to choose our anchorages with this in mind. When the weather was great and ideal for the pleasures of lazing, swimming, strolling on the beach, we learned to travel to the next anchorage.

In short, we learned about the weather. We had to. It dominated our lives and everything we did. There was no getting away from it. We learned to respect it.

We also learned patience. Oh yes, how we learned to be patient. Waiting for the weather to improve took patience. Immense patience!! But we learned. We chose our anchorages as best we could so that we could still get off the boat even when the weather was bad. With 2 little boys on board who had boundless energy, we learned well.

Occasionally, we entered marinas to escape the weather and give our grandsons the opportunity to run ashore and work off that excess energy. Even if it occasionally cost us a fortune in a marina, it was worth it for us (Highbourne Cay Marina was $60 per night JUST for the power and $9 for a quart of fresh milk!!!)

Highbourne Cay Marina

But we were learning to have fun:)

Lazing on the beach

Enjoying ourselves!

Suntanning on the foredeck at anchor

We enjoyed crystal clear waters.

Clear waters of Warderick Wells

We walked on pristine beaches where ours were the only footprints. We swam and snorkelled. We dinghied around headlands exploring coast lines.

Sanctuary Creek in Shroud Cay

We harvested Conch.

Conch

We learned how to extract and cook them.

We fished and actually caught fish.

Catching fish

Small coral fish on the banks and big Mahi Mahi in the Exuma Sound.

We caught lobster with the Hawaiian sling we had bought in Bimini.

Lobster dinner and home made bread

And when we couldn’t catch them, we bought them cheaply from the locals. We later sold the sling to another boater who was traveling south and we were heading home

We observed a State funeral of a former Governor General.

State funeral in Nassau

State funeral

We enjoyed visiting Atlantis in Nassau.

Atlantis, Nassau

We enjoyed talking politics with the Terry, the owner of Ocean Cabin Restaurant Bar and on Little Farmers Cay.

Ocean Cabin, Little Farmers Cay

Lobster for sale

Little Farmers Cay

We braved the standing waves in the cut from Little Farmers into the Exuma Sound. We had learned to choose our weather and sea state to make travel in the Sound pleasurable. We learned to minimize the discomfort by making better choices. Oh, we learned!!!!

We enjoyed the camaraderie of all the cruisers during Regatta Week at Georgetown, Great Exuma Island.

Regatta week, Georgetown, Exuma

We visited friends on their boats and they visited us on ours. We offered them hot showers on our boat as we had virtually unlimited fresh water with the water maker I had installed.

We drank rum and heaps of it.

Rum cocktail

Beer too but it was expensive. Run was cheap

We enjoyed the 1 mile dinghy rides from Little Stocking Island to Georgetown to get provisions – fresh fruit and veges, yumm!! We were joyous when we could get cans of coke at $1 each instead of $2 or more!!

When the wind changed we enjoyed up-anchoring and moved to a quiet secluded anchorage just north of Goat Cay in Elizabeth Harbour where it was too shallow for the sailboats.

Goat Cay, Elizabeth Harbour

Goat Cay - peaceful and mostly deserted

Here we enjoyed piggy backing on someone’s unsecured wireless with our wifi expander and so remained in touch with the world and our families. We could also update our blog

A lot of the time we just watched the comings and goings. Boats came, anchored, people dinghied ashore, returned and they left! These were some of the saddest times for me – saying goodbye to good friends knowing that the chances of ever seeing each other again was slim.

We watched people standing in their dinghies as they zoomed around. Obviously, well experienced! We never got that far as to be brave enough to emulate them, but then I didn’t have a tiller extension for my dinghy motor.

We heard of a boat that had been dismasted; a lady who capsized her dinghy the first time she went solo; a friend of ours who fell into the water as she was getting into her dinghy – she was 78 and her partner was 84 and they’d been doing the trip to Georgetown for the past 10 years!!!

There was always something happening.

We missed our daughter and grandsons who had left us at Staniel Cay to fly back to NZ. But, not before visiting the swimming pigs

Swimming pigs

and snorkeling, yes even the 3 year old, in Thunderball Grotto.

Thunderball Grotto

Thunderball Grotto

Thunderball Grotto

We enjoyed collecting my sister and brother in law in Georgetown after a long journey for them from the UK.

Estelle and Alastair

We still worried about the weather and it still affected us greatly. It pinned us down in Georgetown, Big Majors Spot, Nassau, and Bimini. It ruined our plans to return to the US via the Abacos because we ran out of time. We had a deadline to catch a flight back to NZ for our youngest daughter’s wedding.

We learned that having deadlines is a bad bad bad thing. With any deadline the best laid plans WILL go awry!!

So we retraced our steps. We were up before dawn for the weather forecasts, we caught fish, we met friends and made and lost new ones. We travelled on the good days and explored the islands on the bad. We enjoyed safe anchorages especially in Warderick Wells and revisited Boo Boo Hill via Banshee Creek.

Banshee Creek

To Boo Boo Hill - in the background

Boo Boo Hill - placing the boat's name - a long standing tradition

On the way we tapped the musical stones and saw the water spouts through the Blow Holes.

We took thousands of photos and hours of DVD but still haven’t had time to sit down and relive our memories. Maybe tonight…..

Finally. Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear reader, for accompanying us on this wonderful, exciting, exotic, stressful and sometimes frightening adventure. For that’s what it was – never a holiday but always a great great adventure.

If somehow, someway, somewhere, you are inspired by reading about our adventures, to do something similar, then just go for it. Don’t let your own fears hold you back!!!

Thank you and goodbye.

So, EXIT: go out of the old and into the new!!!

Capt. Lance and Admiral Mary

Goodbye Amanzi

Final PS

Amanzi is now to be sold as we are moving on to other adventures. Please see Mike Dickens, my broker, at Paradise Yacht Sales,  in Fernandina Beach for details.

Do you get my drift? I’m not sure you do! There are so many uncertainties and imponderables that certainty about anything is an uncertainty. Today, the one toilet stopped flushing and the water maker stopped making water!! Why, I ask? I’m not sure!! But down to diagnostics and I find that the water inlet hoses are blocked with seaweed! Hence no flushing and no water. Then the other loo blocks!! Why? You got it!! I’m not sure! Where’s our toilet plunger – do we have a toilet plunger?? I’m not sure!! Nope, no plunger on boat. On to plan B! What’s plan B? Here we go again – I’m not sure! Anyway, some magic effervescent sachet does the trick and we again have 2 functioning loos!

So we left Bimini a few days ago and visited the wreck of the Sapona, a concrete ship sunk in 1929 by a hurricane. Amazingly, a lot of the structure is still visible above the water. We dinghied in close but wimped out at attaching ourselves and snorkelling around the wreck.

So I swam off the boat. Astonishingly the current was so powerful!! I essentially jumped off the swim platform and when I surfaced I was abreast the dinghy about 20 feet behind the boat!! Without flippers or anything to hold on to, I’m not sure if I’d have been able to swim back to the boat! Scary thought and something to take note of.

After that, we headed off to anchor off Cat Cay but found the anchorage had been scoured making it next to impossible to set my anchor although new friends seemed to anchor successfully there for the night.

So we scooted off to another anchorage a few miles further north and found beautiful sand with great holding.

Well, the wind switched and we spent a very rolly and noisy night on the hook. At times it felt like I was suspended above my bed as the bow would lift to the waves and then drop away. Anyway, the anchor held well but our friends dragged their anchor all through the night.

Next day we were away early as we had not slept much and were awake and so headed off to the Berry Islands, intending to anchor on the great Bahama Banks in the middle of nowhere. This would have broken our journey into 2 short trips but the water was so bumpy that we decided to push on all the way to the Berry islands (80nm).

So the throttle was opened, diesel was drunk rapidly but we entered our chosen anchorage at Fraser Hog Cay at about 4.30 fully intending to pick up a mooring ball at the club. As we were doing this, another boater (Benno and Marlene on Diesel Duck) came on the radio and informed us that the club had closed in May this year (no wonder they didn’t answer our radio calls!!!) and that another boat had ended up on the bank, mooring ball and all!!

So off we toddled to the designated anchorage where there were 3 other boats only to find that we could not find good holding. So back to the mooring field where we managed to set our anchor on the first go!

Stayed there for a relaxing day yesterday and, with an imminent wind shift expected, moved to Chub Cay anchorage this morning and have managed to tap into some free wifi!

In 30 something years of sailing I have never had an anchor drag!! and that includes riding out a cyclone on a 28 ft sailboat with my wife and 3 young children. A record to be proud of, wouldn’t you agree?

Of course, there’s always a twist. Never say never and, another aphorism, records are meant to be broken!!

A beautiful creek, anchored snugly for the night, a sailboat in front of us, a power cat behind us and a sailboat and trawler rafted together for the night. Mmmm. remember our last experience with rafted boats. Stay away from them – they drag anchors!! Should we call them up on the VHF and ask them to break the raft for the night? Forecast for 25kn winds but we are all in the windshadow of a large copse of trees.

We’ll be Ok. Yeah right….

1.10am beep-beep…..beep-beep…..beep-beep Wha… Wha’s that? The anchor alarm!!!! Tide must have swung us around. Stumble half asleep to the chartplotter and reset anchor alarm.

That sailboat that was in front of us seems awful close behind us now! Ah well, maybe we just had more rode (anchor line) out than him. But, let me pull on some warm clothes and take a closer look.

Now he seems even closer. MARY!!!! we’re dragging our anchor, START ENGINES. We gotta move NOW!!!!!

Uplift anchor and power away. Luckily there’s a full moon so can see somewhat. Try the, recently fixed, spotlight. NO, turn it off, now completely blinded!!

Move the boat forward and drop anchor behind catamaran. Anchor drags, not setting!! Up again. Motor around in dark. Current pushing us one way, wind the other, which way to set anchor? Beep-Beep….Beep-beep. Oh sh….t, what now? Depth alarm. Depth only reading 3 feet. Wind’s howling!! Close to opposite bank, power away. Use radar and depth sounder to find middle of channel.

Drop hook again. Yeah it sets

Set anchor alarm and find new feature on radar. It can set a range and distance line on another object. So I set one on the sailboat behind us. He must have been worried as he had also been on deck checking his chain!! Wonder if he was as worried as me?

Sit back and relax and discuss events with the Admiral who, although shaking with adrenalin, handled the boat with great aplomb:) Keep a wary eye on the radar.

That yellow blob representing the sailboat is now inside the previously set circle range! Dragging?? Not again!!

Engines on, up anchor, move forward, drop anchor, wait for it to set – we’re getting a lot of practice doing this at night!!! Set radar and anchor alarm. Start generator, have a cup of strong coffee, this is going to be one loooooonnnnnggggg night!

My eyes are glued to the radar and Mary’s on the sailboat behind us. Fortunately the anchor holds and no further dramas. Since we’re awake anyway, it’s a daybreak start.

Now, we all know what an oasis is, right? I call it a marina

Lessons learnt: don’t use a Fortress anchor in mud and NEVER use a Fortress (or Danforth type) anchor in a swinging tide. It won’t hold and it won’t reset.

Now we’re in Fernandina Beach where my broker, Mike Dickens of Paradise Yacht Sales is located, and I will be able to have the boat’s bow modified to carry my Manson Supreme anchor – an anchor I bought in Baltimore but, for various reasons, couldn’t fit.

Last lesson re-learnt – Never say Never!!

So now we’re back on shore power and free wi-fi. It’s also a really good price per night – only a $35 flat fee including power. Most other marinas charge somewhere between $1.50 and $2.00 per ft per night plus a flat charge of about $8 to $10 for power. So with our 38ft boat it all starts to mount up.

However, Lance has been working on the anchor this afternoon and has managed to get it working so that’s all good. That means that we can anchor out more often.

Yesterday we went out for breakfast with Linda and Steve and two other couples and then we went to visit the museum. It was very interesting. This was the place where the Wright brothers made their inaugural flight.

Linda and Steve came over for dinner last night and this morning we walked back across the bridge (Linda followed on her bicycle) hoping to go to the Farmers’ Market. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to the weather, so out for breakfast again – Steve was determined to have scrambled eggs and pork brains – supposedly a delicacy in the area. He enjoyed them but for our purposes it just looked like scrambled eggs with chopped ham. We finished up with a visit to the cupcake shop!

Yummy - just what the doctor ordered for a cold windy day

We enjoyed the company of Dave (Mary Lee), Steve and Linda (Yesterday’s Dream) and Chris and Kate (who are renovating a 30′ sailboat). Mary performed the ceremony on the bow – just pouring the champagne over the bow – none of this breaking the bottle – and then we all proceeded to share the rest with Neptune.

After that we enjoyed a great BBQ with Steve providing some great tasting pork ribs; Dave some more supplicant to the Gods and Linda and us providing different side dishes. All in all it was a great evening as we enjoyed great company, good food and a beautiful autumn evening.

It seemed to take the most part of the day what with washing and cleaning the fibreglass in preparation for the graphics. Then, place the graphic for positioning and mark the spot. Then apply soapy water to the area as well as to the graphic. Finally peel the graphic from the cover, apply soapy water and then place graphic onto boat. Lastly wait for it to dry and painstakingly remove the backing while ensuring that all bubbles are removed from underneath the vinyl graphic.

Last thing is to stand back and admire it. then repeat whole process fro two more graphics.

In between all this, chat with Dave for a while, have lunch and chill.

At the end of the day, sit back on the deck with a beer in hand and watch the big cruise ship leave port!

Next will be to have the official “naming” ceremony.

Now its time for her to embark on new adventures under new owners and a new name.

First however is the de-naming ceremony which entails removing the name from the boat, then appeasing Neptune, then applying the new name followed by a naming ceremony.

First, the removal of the name:

PS
How do you remove a name that’s been painted on a boat without damaging the underlying gelcoat? With difficulty, it seems – but there is a fairly easy way!! First, forget about paint strippers and the like as they will eat into the gelcoat. So, how? Well, I used a tip I picked up from the Cruiser’s forums – Spray the old painted name with heavy duty oven cleaner – yes, that’s right, oven cleaner. I used Easy Off. Spray it on, let it dry, use a nylon kitchen scourer to wipe what you can off. Then repeat 2-3 times and it will all, almost magically, come off. Just need to use a bit of old fashioned elbow grease for a few stubborn spots.

Be warned that the oven cleaner will discolour the gelcoat yellowish. Then, I used Chlorox bleach to bleach the yellow and, voila – a name easily removed!