March 28-May 3,2018

It’s been awhile since I last posted – so just a heads up – this is a lengthy posting.  The condensed version is that we noodled around the islands to the north of Marsh Harbour until April 3, then flew to Fort Lauderdale for our niece’s wedding held on April 7.  Bob hand delivered one of the original exhaust elbow parts to DeAngelo Marine in Fort Lauderdale.  Since our boat is so old, replacement parts didn’t exist.  But with the old part, this Marine shop was able to create two new elbows.  We expected to be back in business by April 23. Nope, the delivery process was a week longer than expected and when the mechanic tried to put the new parts in, they were off by 1/4 of an inch.  Doesn’t seem like a big deal but it was like putting a square peg into a round hole.  They simply didn’t fit.  Long story short, we are now awaiting new parts….again…And so it goes….it’s a boat!

 

The grocery store here in Marsh Harbour is about a mile away.  Along the way there are a few patches of trees and bushes that attract hummingbirds.  On one of my walks I saw nearly 2 dozen.  I’m gathering it was a migration phenomenon since I haven’t seen any as of late.

This is one of four boats making multiple trips back and forth to the Baker’s Bay Resort, an exclusive Golf Club and Resort for the rich and famous.

And every once in a while some dolphin pass by.  We’ve also had turtles and rays at our stern.

We spent Easter Weekend in Guana Cay.

Some of the scenery and signage along a back road.

These ladies were definitely in the Easter spirit.  They organized a morning full of activities for the local and visiting kids including an Easter Egg Hunt and sack races.

The owner of the local road side restaurant, Edmund Pindar, came over to show us his lobster haul for the day.

Needless to say, we put in an order for dinner later in the day.

Back to the Orchid Bay Marina, there was a weekly farmer’s market going on.  Nice to get some fresh vegetables!  Local artists also sell their art work and jewelry.

I put out my painted sea biscuits/shells and actually sold quite a few.  The proceeds along the ones that didn’t get sold were later donated to the ECC (Every Child Counts) gift shop.  Most of the items for sale at the gift shop are made by the kids, buy many people contribute items to be sold as well.

March’s Blue Moon as seen from Nipper’s Bar.

Next day we went to Treasure Cay and took another dinghy ride up the nearby creek.  This time we saw a baby hammerhead shark which at first looked like a torpedo.

Then we crossed back over to an anchorage near Baker’s Bay on Guana to meet up with friends Pam and Graham.  The last time we had our two boats together was in 2013.  So great to see them again. We originally met them at our marina in Clayton. We returned to Marsh Harbour since I flew to Fort Lauderdale on April 3.  Bob came along on April 5 after he and our mechanic Andy pulled off the exhaust elbows.

Scenes from nearby nature preserves in Florida.  So many birds were nesting!

Reptiles too!

When we left the reserve it was quite a few hours later and the sun was directly overhead.  All the wood storks were shielding their offspring.

So here are the bird nerds:  my sister Denise, cousin Jeannie and me.  The bride and groom to be joined us for dinner too which was delightful.

The bride to be, our niece Riva and our daughter Stephanie.  The girls had quite a list of errands to run ahead of the rehearsal dinner.

Meanwhile there was beach time for our son-in-law Adam and grandson Clark.

Me and the Groom to be, Tom Frezza.

The mother of the bride, my sister Debbie, flanked by her man friend Jim and best friend from elementary school, Claire.

Discussion between Jeannie and Adam.

No question about lineage!  Riva and her mom, Debbie.

Our daughter Jessi.

Niece Claire and Stephanie.

Wedding Day.  Since the wedding wasn’t until 5pm, there was plenty of pool time for Clark and Gramma.

And walking time with Grandpa.

Our lovely daughters.

The Officiant happily announces Mr. and Mrs. Frezza.

Three sets of cousins and siblings.

The Bride and Groom still looking great at the end of the wedding, seated on the wedding trolley back to the hotel.

Mrs. Frezza at brunch the next day.

And a little more pool time for Riva’s twin sister Rose and Clark.  Many of us hung out at Riva and Tom’s home while awaiting planes and trains to various destinations.  Riva and Tom flew off to their honeymoon in Mexico the next day.

And we returned to Marsh Harbour.  Since our boat was now out of a commission I took some time to explore other areas around the marina.  The above picture is the former castle home of a doctor who practiced in the area in the 50s.

Being retired on a boat that’s  not moving gave me ample time to do some art work and to start writing some novels, something I’ve always wanted to do.  I painted this drift wood plank to represent our journey.  To the left are the 1000 islands, then the rivers/ocean leading to the Bahamas, then the Abaco Islands.  I used coins to represent the 3 countries we passed through and all the states we went by in the river systems. (And all the money we spent along the way!).

And it’s not all pretty.  The leaks in the exhaust elbows made quite a sooty mess in the engine room.  We finally cleaned it up.

And then there are the endless boat jumbies.   For no apparent reason, after our boat had been sitting still for 2 weeks, the ground to the toilet’s flush switch decided to come undone.  A simple fix but difficult to get to.

Confirming that yup – once again, it’s always a bad ground!

Fixed!  (And quite thankful the problem was discovered before a contribution was made to the toilet!!!).

Almost daily, friends started heading north to make the long trek back home to various ports along the Atlantic Inter-Coastal Waterway.  Here we say good bye to Dave and Camilla.

This classic Abaco Dinghy is owned and operated by the captain of a 100+foot Cheoy Lee Motor Yacht in our marina.

And just like the time we were stuck in Charleston for weeks back in 2014, we’ve begun to name the sea gulls.  Frank and Lola are visiting today.

We’ve had lots of wind and storms blow through the month of April.  Off in the distance is a water spout.  Fortunately it fizzled!

On my way to the grocery store I noticed one of the few stop signs had been run over and then hung back up.

On closer inspection it turns out that a very ragged electrical line was used to hang it up.  And it remains in this state a week later.

More friends leaving for their journey north, Robert and Corrine aboard Happy Heart. Gloomy start but the sun came out about an hour later.

April’s full moon makes a nice mast head light.

And back drop for a sea gull.

On April 29 we took a ferry over to Guana Cay and were met by Quinn Sale.  I had made arrangements for her to make a necklace out of some sea glass I found and it was finally ready.  She took us on a great golf cart tour of the island and then had us over to her beautiful house her husband built.

Heading north as far as we can go before being confronted by the guarded gate for Baker’s Bay Resort.

When the resort bought more property on the island they were obligated to build a public beach access.

The basketball court they built has a twelve inch concrete slab which doubles as a helicopter landing pad.

Scenes of the beach looking west, north and south.

And then opposite, we took a small road leading to the ocean side.  Interesting bench addition!

Hurricane damaged ocean side homes. Still not repaired after a decade or so.

A new spin on lawn ornaments.

Quinn dropped us off at Grabber’s Beach Bar.  We noticed a mega yacht in the nearby anchorage.

Heading back on the ferry.

Back at the marina, the Sport Fisher owner next door to us let me climb up his tuna tower.  And then he gave us enough Mahi Mahi that he caught that day to feed four people!

Great views of the full moon from atop the tower.

Bob looking up.

And so here are the infamous exhaust elbows that don’t fit.  It’s been quite an adventure in learning patience as we await the new ones.

And happy 4th birthday to our little Sophie (photo courtesy of Stephanie) on May 3!