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2 July 2008
Just a short note to let y'all know we are alive and well. My sons Ian and Matt and myself just finished the Coast Guard Captain's course (OUVP) and passed the exams yesterday...yahoo! Very good learning experience for all of us and I thought I knew it all. Well, maybe I did at one time but you know how it is when you get older, amongst other things the memory doesn't work as well as it once did. Cat and I are headed back to the mountains tomorrow and plan to spend most of the next three or four months there. "Carolina Breeze" is safely tucked in at the Brunswick Landing Marina and will remain there until the weather cools off a little again. We hope the summer is going well for all of you and hope to see you down the way somewhere. Your friends, Larry and Cat
6 May 08 Hi All, Well, the "Carolina Breeze" has found her home for the summer and it is the Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA. It is a very nice marina and is well protected should a stray storm decide to make an appearance. Statistics show that they haven't had a single hurricane hit the area (some minor brushes) in the last 60 years so hopefully that tradition will continue. Cat and I are now in Charleston visiting her brother Marty and his family again before heading up to Virginia tomorrow in a rental car to pick up our Tahoe which is in storage in Deltaville. The plan is to spend as much time as we can in the mountains this summer with trips to Florida and Georgia to visit friends and relatives and to Oregon for a friend's wedding. At this point we plan to sail back to the Bahama's after hurricane season (more central islands this time) and come back up through the Abaco's in the spring. We hope to hook up with a few cruiser friends we made this trip for next time and of course any of you cruisers out there who would like to come along are more than welcome to join the flotilla. We will leave you with a few parting pictures and a heart wish for a great summer. Larry and Cat
28 Apr 08 "Carolina Breeze" and crew are safely back in US waters and anchored off the marina at Fernandina Beach, FL. We made a 52 hour passage from Spanish Cay in the Abaco's (333 nautical miles) with two other buddy boats, "Sojourner" from Texas and "First Edition" from New Jersey. The trip was relatively uneventful except for "First Edition" losing engine power about 30 miles off Jacksonville in no wind (clogged fuel filter) and "Sojourner" getting a large plastic bag wrapped around her prop in about the same location (dove over and cut it off). We are happy to be back but miss the beautiful clear waters and green cays of the Bahamas. Our plan is to let a weather system pass over us today then set sail for Charleston, SC to spend a few days with Cats Brother Marty and his family before getting the boat settled in for the summer somewhere. Happy Spring to All, Crusin' Casey's 20 Apr 2008 Ahoy Friends, Well, the last of our visitors, Cats brother Marty, departed yesterday so we are now preparing to make our way back to the great US of A. We will meander back up the coast of Great Abaco stopping at some places of interest along the way and then plan to ride the Gulf Stream north as long as the weather and our desires will allow. If we can avoid the Florida Intracoastal Waterway it will save us a lot of time and motoring hours on the engine. We still aren't sure where we will berth the boat for the upcoming hurricane season but are considering places all the way from Georgia to Virginia again. We have had a great visit to the Abacos, seen some wonderful sights and met some fantastic people. We will definitely be cruising the Bahamas again and would love for some of our boater friends to join us. Keep that in mind. Love, Larry and Cat
31 March 2008 Ahoy Friends, We are still surviving our Bahamas adventure and have really had some great company over the past few weeks. Our friends Brad and Tosh Lawrence enjoyed the experience (we think) and seemed relaxed and tanned when they hit the airways back to Tucson last week. Cat and I had a couple of days to get the boat ready for more company and then Ian, Sara and the girls (Victoria and Emelie) arrived for their visit. The airline connections to Marsh Harbor seem to be on island time like most everything else here but their flight was only an hour late arriving as opposed to Brad and Tosh who arrived over three hours late. Good thing Cat and I had things to entertain ourselves while we waited. We have visited Great Guana Cay, Treasure Cay, Man-o-war Cay, Hope Town and are now in Little Harbor for a few days. Every place we have been has it’s own unique charms but personally I think that Little Harbor has been one of the most beautiful. There isn’t much here except a wonderfully protected harbor, a bar/restaurant/artist boutique (Pete’s Pub), beautiful beaches, ocean vistas and a few vacation homes. We have had exceptionally strong winds for a couple of days (20-30kts) but are riding well here in the harbor and the food and rum are good. We will probably head out on the tide in the morning and make our way up to Lubbers Quarter Cay and then maybe Hope Town again for a day or two. Life is good and the schedule is flexible. I will include a few more pictures for your enjoyment. We wish you all well and send our love. Larry, Cat and company
7 Mar 08
Hi ya'll,
Cat, myself, and the Carolina Breeze are now in Marsh Harbor, Abaco
to wait out a frontal passage scheduled for tomorrow evening with clocking
winds and possible storms with 40+ knot gusts. This will be the third one
of those we have seen since arriving in the islands and each one is an
adventure with shifting winds and boats that haven't anchored so well
dragging the harbor. The first we rode out at Great Sale Cay which is north
of Grand Bahama Island a few miles and on our course over to the northern
Abacos. We had some 40+ knot gusts in that one too and the worst of it came
out of the southwest. Interesting night to say the least. We have seen
some beautiful sights along the way with stops at Fox Town, Allans-Pensacola
Cay, Manjack Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Treasure Cay and now Marsh Harbor.
There are lots of cruisers around now, most of them making their way slowly
back to the north from the central and southern Bahamas as the weather
warms. Lots of smart Canadians too, they get out of that cold grey weather
as often as they can. We plan to stay here for a couple of days then
probably head over to Great Guana Cay and maybe Man-O-War before coming back
here next Thursday to pick up our friends from Arizona, Tosh and Brad
Lawrence. They will be with us for about 10-12 days so we will see what
kind of mischief we can get into with them. I am attaching a few more
photos, enjoy.
24 Feb 08
Hi All,
We finally made it over to the promised land of clear warm water and
sunshine. We crossed from Lake Worth inlet yesterday and had a good
crossing with 10-18 kt SW winds giving us a good push and 4-5 foot seas.
Made it into West End anchorage about 3PM and with a little help from a
fellow cruiser found a nice sandy spot to set the hook. A lot of tidal
current here so the bottom is pretty well scoured and you have to look for
pockets of sand that will hold the hook with enough swinging room around to
not bump into anything when the tide changes. We plan to clear customs
today and head out tomorrow for another anchorage on the way to the Abacos.
There is a strong from forecast to pass through on Wednesday and Thursday so
we want to be in a secure anchorage then.
We had a nice suprise when we were anchored in Lake Worth Saturday evening.
We had only been there an hour or so when Cat sees a boat cuming in under
sail across the harbor and says " I think thats Maverick. We
grabbed the binocks and sure enough it was Maverick
(aka the old Erin Star) with Bob and Pat Hutchison aboard. They
were just crossing back over from the Bahamas after spending a few months
crusing there. After they go anchored they dinked over and had drinks and
dinner with us and filled our heads with info on their Bahamas experience.
Very nice! They are headed back to Niceville via the Keys.
We are looking forward to cruising the islands for a while and having a few
friends and relatives join us on occasion. We will continue to communicate
when possible.
2 Feb 08
Hi all,
Cat and I have spent an enjoyable couple of days with her brother Marty
and his family in Charleston and plan to be on our way south again soon. So
far the trip down from Virginia has been mostly routine, a little cold, a
little too much wind from the wrong direction at times, and a fair amount of
sun. Unfortunately most of our time underway has been under power although
we have had a couple of nice days sailing the sounds of North Carolina and
one offshore run from Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach, NC. It is nice to be
getting to warmer weather. We had a first while passing through Norfolk, a
Coast Guard crew boarded us for a safety check while we were making our way
up the ship channel. There weren't many recreational boat out so we figured
that they were a little bored and needed some training for the young
boarding crew. They were very courteous and did a thorough job of checking
us out. We passed with flying colors of course.
We have spent the majority of our nights at anchor in various creeks
and harbors but are now tied up at the Charleston City Marina because of
its' convenience. We probably won't make any more marina visits except for
fuel until we get to Melbourne, Florida area. Will probably spend a day or
two there going shopping for groceries and maybe visiting friends. We are
looking forward to heading out again and maybe catching up with some other
cruising friends along the way in Florida or the Bahamas. I am sending
along a couple of pictures of a sunset in Wrightsville Beach, NC, and the
harbor at Georgetown, SC.
21 Jan 08
Hi friends,
Cat and I arrived back at the boat in Deltaville last week and have been
preparing her for our trip south. We are about there and plan to depart
either today or tomorrow depending on how we feel. The weather here has
been everything from nice in the 50's to cold and snowing in the 20's.
Today its 22 this morning and clear as a bell. I've had a first this trip,
shoveling snow off the decks!! It was unique but not an experience I plan
to repeat too often. I will try to send along a couple of pictures.
Larry and Cat
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