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May 26th, 2008  We are working our way back north in the DITCH.    The Intracoastal Waterway through South Carolina is wonderful.  Unlike portions of the waterway in North Florida and Georgia, in the Carolinas it is wide and deep.  Going into Fernandina, Florida last week we had a soft grounding in the canal just a fourth of a mile from the anchorage.  We were able to back off and find a very narrow path through.  We met up with Madcap and Sapphire in Fernandina and went out for guess what, dinner. 

Forgot about our stay in Daytona Beach.  I'm doing this in the morning and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.  We met up with friends Tom and Connie and Wayne and Eloise.  Guess what Wayne and Nancy are talking about.    Don't they look serious.  I don't see a sign above them that says FAA, but they thought they were in the office.

Leaving Fernandina, FL we passed Fort Clinch that protected the entrance to St. Mary's River.    After that Sapphire and Solitaire set out on a overnight voyage to Charleston South Carolina.  It was the best overnight we have ever had.  It got a little rough for about 1 hour but the rest was great.  We stayed at the Maritime Center in Charleston and had a great time as it was the start of the Spoleto Festival (17 days of entertainment with everything having to do with the arts).  The opening ceremony was held at the Center and we had front row seats.  We ended up coordinating the sea arrival of the performers from Italy.  The city manager and I did all the grunt work (line handling, helping people off the boats, etc.) and I used our handheld marine radio to make sure the boats arrived on music cue (bagpiper) and the audience walked down the docks to greet the arrival of the boats.  One of our fellow cruisers also took out his sail boat and lit up his sails, serving as a backdrop for the arrival.  Wonderful evening display.

A replica of the Amistad sail boat was also docked next to us.  It has sailed from North America to Europe to Africa and back with a young volunteer crew.  The Amistad was a cargo vessel that carried some slaves who rebelled and killed the cook and the Captain.  The U.S. Supreme Court found them innocent (self defense) and determined that they were free blacks.  All were released and they caught the first ship  back to Africa.  One young girl later came back to the US for college.  This is one of the story tellers and crew aboard the vessel.    Nancy was enthralled with the history.    The ship was in very good condition compared to some of the 2 and 3 masted vessels that we had seen.   

May 12th, 2008  We are back in Florida.  Before we left the Bahamas, we stopped at two more Cays.  The first was Manjack Cay.  It has about 3 homes on it with 2 more being built.  The first residents of the Cay were cruisers like us who decided to buy some land and build  (they said that their boat was collecting too many things and they needed a larger place).  So 16 years ago they moved ashore.  They have a nice little cove and have made it all available to cruisers.  They built a Tiki bar out from the beach in the water, that cruisers could tie their dinghies to and socialize.  They have also put in a WiFi that reaches out into the harbor so the cruisers can get internet from their anchorage.  They have made a trail that goes to the other side of the Cay - the ocean-side.  Now a trail to the ocean is pretty common but this one was so well-kept. They had also placed decorative touches - such as little shells along the way.  The shells were in trees, stumps, along the path and even hanging from branches like wind chimes.  When we got to the ocean side of the Cay we saw garbage bags filled and waiting to be picked up.  They had cleaned the beach that doesn't even belong to them.   Well maybe they did own it.  The last day there we did a tour of the mangroves.  What a treat.    We slowly cruised up into the mangroves in our dinghy and coasted back out on the outgoing tide.  Going up, we were treated to the sight of a giant turtle swimming next to us.    We had noticed Conch and Nancy decided to get a few.    This one was too small and was released back into the water.  Some were just the right size.    Nancy couldn't wait to make Conch Fritters,  Conch Salad, Conch Chowder and Cracked Conch.  Well in order to do that they have to be cleaned.    She started out trying to use a cutting board but found out later that it was easier to do it like the natives, in the water. 

We had been traveling with friends Mike and Kathy    from Sapphire (who showed Nancy how to clean a Conch) and  Jim and Beth   from Madcap.  All of them are just wonderful and caring folks to travel with.  That afternoon Jim and Beth left for another Cay to meet up with some folks and the next day Sapphire and Solitaire went on to Allen-Pensacola.  This is a deserted Cay that once had a U.S. missile tracking station on it.  Not much left of the tracking station but a old parking lot and a blown down metal building.  It also has a "signing tree".  We couldn't believe it.  Not only one tree but the beach was filled with trees with boat names written on everything.    Nancy found another Poison Wood tree.     The next morning, Sapphire and Solitaire said our goodbyes to Madcap and sailed west into the setting sun.     The crossing back into the U.S. took us about 28 hours.  It started out smooth but a little after sunset the wind changed to the south and later west and increased in velocity.  It ended up being what I called our 4th roughest open water passage.  We got into Ft. Pierce about 10:00 am and motored up the Intracoastal waterway to Vero Beach.  We got a mooring ball at the city marina ( $11.83/day ).  The city has free bus service that picked us up today and we went shopping.  We got Nancy a new computer since hers died about two days ago and the Geek Squad is busy retrieving data from her old one.  Tomorrow, hopefully she will be up and running again.

May 3^rd, 2008   We had a great time in Marsh Harbor.  We decided to go into a marina so we could have easy access to shore.  The marina we chose was not a public marina and had locked gates.  The staff was the best we had encountered and the marina was one of the best we had stayed at.    The charge was $1.25 per foot and $10.00 per day for unlimited water.  This gave us a chance to really wash the boat after months at sea and get all of our big laundry done (bed spreads and beach towels).  The local boaters group is really promoting boating and had Sunfish class races the weekend we were there.    One of the evenings we joined a group of friends and went out for dinner.    Lets see that's Beth, far left, then Jim on Madcap,  closest are Steve and Carol from Restless, furthest, Jim and Nancy from Solitaire, and far right are Mike and Kathy from Sapphire.  I over did it that evening. 

We wanted to go to the other side of the harbor and see the marina that friends Hugh and Myona (from Lake Texoma) on Kachina, lived for a few years.  On our walking trip to the other side of the harbor, we couldn't believe the sign we ran across.    It confirmed to me that we were too far north.  We got to the marina and said "Hi" to the folks that were there who remembered Kachina. As we walked the docks, we ran into some other friends whom we had met along the way in the Bahamas.   

We left Marsh Harbor for Great Guana Cay.  We were met the next day by Madcap and the four of us did a little beach walking and ended up at "Nippers" a local seaside pub.      Since we had approached from the beach, as we left, we saw the signs that lead the way from town.    Nancy was trying to figure out what to do.  I had already figured it out.    We also ran across a very poisonous tree along the way.  It is 10 times more powerful than Poison Ivy and needs to be avoided.  Like Poison Ivy some people are very vulnerable and some are not.  We had already encountered the tree in the Land and Sea Park and accidently, Nancy found out that it didn't bother her  (she moved a branch to read the sign that said Poisonous ).  So one more time she had to test her immune system.  Didn't do a thing to her. 

We then went to Baker's Bay and found an Island off the bay that was filled with shells.  We hated to walk because we could be stepping on something great.  The next morning Madcap and Sapphire joined us in the bay and Solitaire pulled anchor and left for Green Turtle Cay.  To get to the Cay we had to make a short trip back out into the Atlantic.  It is called the Whale Cut and is famous for being very rough.  We decided that it was time to try the cut because the forecast was better that day and not that good for the next 2 days with rising sea swells.  We made it through with some rolling and not much else.  The cats didn't get sick and that is a sign of a OK passage.    We pulled into Green Turtle Cay and Nancy dove the anchor,    I had held off putting the anchor down because the bay is filled with large gold and red Starfish.  I had to make sure that I didn't drop the anchor on one.

The reason we were here is because we heard that there was going to be a Heritage Festival over the weekend.   Thanks to Sam Baker (Sam's wife Norma was my boss at West Marine) who had been forwarding Nancy's newsletter to his sister Laurie.  Laurie emailed us and told us about the celebration and that she would be there.

We went ashore and toured town.  Well kept settlement.  The heritage of the Cay comes from England and the United States.  The settlement flies the flags of many countries and one flag that is not a country.    This flag is from the Conch Republic.  Green Turtle Cay and Key West are sister Islands.  Families from here moved there ( including disassembling their homes and rebuilding them in Key West) when the sponges were killed out by disease.  We also have the Conch Republic flag onboard and fly it on special occasions.

A very well kept Memorial Garden gives tribute to the early settlers.      I believe that the walks in the garden are laid out and colored to pay tribute to the British Flag.

We were met by Madcap and Sapphire the day after we got here and one afternoon we dinghied over to "Pineapples" a local pub that has WiFi.   

The next day the festivities began.      We met Laurie at the Heritage tent and said our hello's.    She was a wealth of information about the Baker family ties to the Island.  Wonderful stories.

Next to arrive was Queen Victoria and her troupe.    They are actually from Florida. We had toured the museum with some of them the day before.

During an afternoon break we continued our tour of the Cay along with MadCap and Sapphire.  This is the Customs Office on the main street.      Pretty flower (I think that line was used in a movie).     Local billboard.    I still haven't seen the place.    We did stop in at the "Blue Bee Bar" and had the world famous Goombay Smash.    Two of those is about all that a person could take.

We got back to the festivities in time to watch the Police Marching Band come in to put on a concert.     The next to arrive was the Prime Minister of the Bahamas.  We had been waiting for him to arrive and kept looking for a group of official looking cars.  Well, he just drove himself in on a golf cart and parked beside us.  We looked over to the golf cart and said  "the Prime Minister????"    Nancy wanted to get a picture with him so here it is.    I shook his hand and spoke to him but I don't have a picture of the two of us together (I have the camera).  Later Nancy met him.     He is a very gracious person and it appeared that he is well-liked by the towns people. 

We watched a May Pole dance and it was something I have never seen before.  Weaving and unweaving the ribbons on the pole, all done with music.       The evening brought rake n' scrape music and fire dancing.  We left before the fire dance but could watch it from our boat. 

We will be moving west along the Island chain and will be getting into uninhabited areas.  This will probably be our last web update until we get back to the states.  We will still be able to get email through our SSB.