Day 20 & 21 - Enjoyment - the Only Word To Describe Our Lives

Alan, Spike and Mr. Mouse Enjoying a Movie

Saturday, Jan. 30, was not a big work day for us. I read my book most of the day and Alan worked around the boat putting on new drawer handles in the galley. We went to the marina for lunch and enjoyed Tucker's famous hamburgers.
Alan and our new friend Norman at Sampson Cay
Today, Sun. Jan. 31, Our friend Norman took Alan & me to Sampson Cay for provisions. We went in Norman's skiff (20 ft.). It's a nice island with a store that has lots of food and beverage options. It was the first time since we started our trip that we went shopping. It was quite enjoyable. We of course left Spike on the boat because it just wasn't feasible to take him with us. It took us around 2 hours round trip.

Jan on the way back from Sampson Cay

Also early this morning there was a 133 ft. boat that got stuck in the sand trying to leave Compass Cay. That was our big excitement for the morning. It took a good 30 minutes for the captain to get his boat out of the marina. We were at high tide and there shouldn't have been any problems but he made some type of error and he was definitely buried in the sand.

Day 19 - Here we are in Paradise

Alan working at his part-time job at Crescent Beach House.
Spike at the Low Tide Airport Well. Today we walked back to the bat cave to get more driftwood and other paraphernalia to make our sign for the display at Compass Cay. Many boaters that visit here leave a signature of their visit, mainly the name of their boat and the month and year of their visit. There are hundreds of signs around the marina and island. But Alan has an idea we are going to look for the best sign, copy it, take it down and replace it with ours. Just kidding, we are creating our own signature sign and it will be the best on the island!
Two of the girls that followed Alan around continuously during their visit here on the island! (Only in Alan's mind!) Another 125 ft charter boat came in late today.

Days 17 & 18 - Compass Cay Never Ending

View from Crescent Beach House - Where Alan is doing his new tile job! Not bad!
Well here we still are in Compass Cay and are still enjoying the scenery it's just beautiful here! Alan is now working on one of the cottages at Crescent Beach House.
Picture of the Crescent Beach House! Today the inspectors were here from the government of the Bahamas. There were around 10 agents. Alan was not to be working when they came to inspect the island. I was on the beach with Spike and Alan was at the cottage at Crescent Beach. There were 3 of them that came to the beach looking for us because they wanted to check our paperwork. When they found me, Spike and I were playing with his toy at the beach. So Spike brought the inspector his toy and they threw it. I came up and asked if they were staying on the island and they explained they were the government. The bottom line was that they wanted to know where we were going next. I explained that we were headed to George Town and they said that we would see them there. So on our next stop at George Town I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we see them. But that's OK because we have nothing to hide! All is well and we continue to have a great time here in the Bahamas!

Day 16 - Never Ending Paradise on Compass Cay

North Cliff - Spike and I walked to north cliff today, it took about 30 minutes to get there and we were going to continue however my shoes were covered in sand burs and I had a feeling that Spike was covered with them too so we headed back to the marina. Our goal is to get to Rachel's Bubble Bath but we were only half way there today. I'm going to have to pack water for both Spike and me before we try the trip again. Alan was busy finishing up the tile job in the laundry room today. Tucker, the marina owner, was very pleased with what Alan has done, so all is well with our barter system at Compass Cay!

Day 15 - The Waves Are Here & We Found The Bat Cave

The Waves Have Taken Over The Beaches! It was a beautiful day however the winds are now out of the Southwest and the waters have kicked up a notch! Spike and I went on a walk this afternoon in search of the Bat Cave and we found it. It was not exactly what we expected but we found it anyway!
We had two new boats coming into the marina today. One was a 54 ft. from St. Augustine and the other was a 65 ft. charter out of Paradise Island. The people on the charter were from Australia and including the people from Florida we had an enjoyable time at marina table. There is no marina bar there is only a marina table....so we met at the marina table.

Day 13 & 14 - Another Day In Paradise

Spike and Jan playing at the beach! We worked around the boat in the morning and then headed for the beach in the afternoon. We watched a diver spear a couple of Lion fish near the back of our boat. The reason they kill them is because they are bad fish and they eat all the good fish. The are not indigenous to the area and have no natural predators so divers kill them to get rid of them.
Another charter boat came in yesterday (around 90 fee in length) and wouldn't you know, the people chartering the boat are from New York.

Day 12 - Compass Cay Continues

Just a joke, it wasn't Jack Nickleson at all, just a bunch of Canadians! And who wants to take a picture with them? But in all fairness they did put on a fireworks show with rockets provided by the marina owner. When we first saw the fireworks, we thought they came from Iran. The size of these rockets, needed a 4 inch PVC pipe for launching. But what happens in Compass Cay stays in Compass Cay. Anyway, today I continued with my interior decorating and installed one of the new according type shades, it sounds easy but when the directions are in Arabic it is truly a little more difficult than expected. Tomorrow Tucker, the owner of the marina plans on diving for some conch and preparing conch fritters for everyone here at the marina. As you can tell we have been kept very busy!

Day 10 & 11 - Paradise Continues

Guess Who Came to Visit Us at Compass Cay? This 125 ft Yacht came in today with a celebrity on board, Jack Nickelson! We could not take any picture but he was very pleasant to talk to. Yesterday was a rather quite day and nothing to write about however today, Thursday, January 21st, was just a bit more exciting! We went from only 6 - 7 people on the island to 30 people on the island. The crowds are enormous! It's hard to get a drink at the marina bar. We came all the way to Compass Cay to get away from the crowds and here we are in the same position that we were in at Satellite Beach! The temperature is in the low 80's, no rain. Believe it or not, most people we meet are from Canada.

Day 9 - Another Busy Day at Compass Cay

Alan at Work; Spike and Jan at Play! Here we are another day in paradise! What more is there to say! We cancelled all of our meetings and decided to go to the beach. When you're on a beach 3/4 of a mile long and you can't find anyone to take your picture you know you are in paradise. The mail boat comes in tomorrow so we will get to see a couple of new faces. Besides Alan and I there are only 6 or 7 other people on the island. The marina gets a lunch crowd from other islands and anchored boats. They come in via their dinghy. Tucker, the owner of the marina enjoys cooking his hamburgers and hot dogs for the lunch crowd. Spike is enjoying himself because he seldom needs his lease.

Day 8 - Compass Cay

Alan outside the shower facility that he is tiling. You can't see the tile but believe me he worked all day.
Here we are in beautiful downtown Compass Cay. I worked around the boat today doing miscellaneous things while Alan did his tile work. I went on an hour long walk at the beach with Spike and the following pictures are a couple of views of the beach.

Day 7 - Compass Cay Our New Home!

Another busy day, Alan spent time trying to tame the red stallion! Then he finally figured out that he thought he was putting gasoline in the tank but it was actually 2-cycle mix for the outboard motor!
We are at our new home in Compass Cay. We moved the boat to a prime location at the marina and we don't have to walk as far. With our busy schedules this is very important. It was nice not going anywhere today! The weather was picture perfect. I did 2 loads of wash and it only cost me $40, not bad. Each token was $10, I had 2 loads so do the math, what's a person to do! We did a few things around the boat. Spike and I went to the beach for awhile today. What a beautiful beach it is. Alan worked around the boat and of course was very happy. The beach is just as beautiful as last year.

Day 6 - Here we are in Compass Cay

Arriving at Compass Cay Marina! Yeah! We have reach our intended destination and it only took us 6 days this year versus 17 days last year. Quite an improvement I must say! We departed Nassau at 8:30 a.m. and traveled a total of 81 miles to our slip here at Compass Cay. We arrived at 1:30 p.m. Our view looking out from our starboard side. It's just beautiful here!

Day 5 - Nassau Here We Come!

Alan at the helm! At this point in time we had calm seas and we were on auto pilot, a couple of hours later it was a much different story.
We departed Bimini at 8:40 a.m. this morning and headed towards Chub Cay, however, early on in our trip we decided that we could make Nassau. So after careful consideration we changed our destination to Nassau. The first leg of the trip was very smooth and easy going, however, when we set our sites on Nassau the seas decided to kick up and we were in 3 - 5 feet seas for over 2 hours. We arrived in Nassau Harbor at 4:00 and was in our slip at 4:30 p.m. Overall it was a good trip. We traveled 140 miles today. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be going to Compass Cay.

Day 4 - We've arrived in the Bahamas

Here we are in beautiful downtown Bimini, Bahamas, and look Alan doesn't have a sweatshirt on! Yeah! We are finally in warmer weather! We left West Palm Beach today around 8:10 a.m. and really got going out of the inlet at 8:25 a.m. arriving in Bimini at 1:00 p.m. We traveled a total of 95 miles today. We were in 2 - 3 feet seas and half way through the Gulf Stream we got a little bouncy but overall it was a good trip and we made it to the other side. Tomorrow we are headed next to Chub Cay. This trip has been sooooo much better than the last trip, even with the cold weather we have had a much smoother trip and less incidents! We will catch up with you tomorrow.

Day 3 - Palm Beach Shores Sailfish Marina

Spike checking out the West Palm Beach Inlet that we will be departing out of tomorrow.
We spent the day at Sailfish Marina preparing for our crossing to Bimini, Bahamas tomorrow. Spike and I went to the inlet, which is just around the bend from the marina and took a couple of pictures. Alan spend time on the boat working in the engine room, changing the oil filters and doing things he likes to do. The weather is definitely improving and we exact to have a smooth crossing tomorrow.

Day 2 - Trip to the Exumas

Alan Fueling the Boat at Hutchinson Island Marriott Marina
We left the marina this morning at 11:10 a.m. Just like yesterday morning so I think I need to play the numbers 11 10, they seems to be our lucky numbers. We headed for West Palm Beach, Sailfish Marina and we made it without any incidents! Well almost no incidents. We actually were stopped by the Jupiter Island Marine Police for speeding. It wasn't Alan's fault, I was trying to read the signs with the binoculars and I read the part able boats larger than 35 feet but I didn't see the part about running at idle speed, they have that information in much smaller print! Oh well, the policeman lectured me about causing a wake and that the wake was our responsibility, etc. and let us go without a ticket.
The good news is that Alan was thanked on several occasions by other boaters for easy passings.
Here we are in Sailfish Marina! We arrived at approximately 3:00 p.m. and traveled a total of 33 miles today. We may be staying here an extra day because it looks like we are not going to be able to cross to Bimini until Thursday. Alan and Spike are listening to the weather channel right now but we will make our decision tomorrow morning. I can't believe how cold it is in West Palm Beach this evening, they are saying it's going down into the 30's tonight. This is just unbelievable! But it's warming up over then next couple of days. Well that's it for today, I'll be back with you tomorrow for yet another update!

Day 1 of The Trip

Leaving Satellite Beach Behind Us!
It's official! We departed Satellite Beach today, January 11, 2010 at 11:10 a.m. and arrived in Jensen Beach at 4:30 p.m. We had cold but beautiful weather traveling here. We are staying at one of our favorite marinas, Hutchinson Island Marriott Marina! Spike is currently sleeping since he was awake the whole day, he isn't used to not having his naps during the day. We'll make our decision to continue on down to West Palm or to head directly for the Bahamas tomorrow morning once we hear the weather forecast. Here we are again at Hutchinson Island Marriott Marina!

One Day Delay

With the cold and wind yesterday was just too difficult to begin our trip. However, today is a different story. We are planning on departing Satellite Beach around 10:00 a.m. our planned destination is West Palm. It should take us 5 - 6 hours. So we shall see where we end up tonight. Let's hope that we can get out of this cold weather ASAP!