Juneau Alaska was Anastasia's first taste of snow,we think she enjoyed it,even when she fell over in it!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Anastasia and her first snow!!
Juneau Alaska was Anastasia's first taste of snow,we think she enjoyed it,even when she fell over in it!
Biscayne Bay Field Trip
Well after many months of bleating we managed to get Garry to leave the boat for several weeks while we headed off to take advantage of the amazing travel bargains. Thanks to a secure marina and some great people to look out for the boat, we headed off on a belated honeymoon for seven days on the Norwegian Star, for a cruise through the inner passage of Alaska. What an amazing place and experience. We got waited on hand and foot; no cooking, dishes, navigating or winching. Bliss!!! The children got to experience snow for the first time and loved the unlimited choice of food. We managed to keep their schooling going, much to their annoyance, even if it was only a token effort at times. We spent sometime in Vancouver and Seattle and then drove to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. We caught the ferry for a two hour trip to Duke Point, Nainamo to visit Garry's Uncle Ray and Aunty Hilary. The children felt immediately at home and enjoyed their warm hospitality. We were totally spoilt and enjoyed the many stunning sights of this lovely part of the world. Anastasia and Lisa went horse-riding through the forests with Ray and this will be one part of our trip that will always be remembered. Garry met his cousins, Natalie and Clarke for the first time and had not seen his uncle and aunt since he was eight years old. So this was a special trip for all concerned and we were sorry to say goodbye. We hope that the children may be inspired to make the journey back in years to come.
We drove back to Seattle and then flew to New York for four days of playing tourist. We braved the subway and caught the train from JFK airport to Manhattan Island. What the hotel lacked in glamour it made up for in location. We could walk outside the foyer and see the Empire State building. We spent the next few days walking throughout New York and would limp back to the hotel late at night. What an amazing and crazy city, so many people, but so much pollution! The beautiful weather followed us everywhere and it was quite warm in each place we visited. We saw the Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Madison Square Gardens and the Natural History Museum (which was a special favourite of the children). We visited the Seaport Maritime Museum where we toured "the Peking", which is a four-masted barque built in 1911 and was one of the last steel sail boats in service. Garry and I had both read the story of her voyages and so that was quite a meaningful experience for us. They also had the lighthouse ship "Ambrose" available for touring, again this was an amazing piece of history. We enjoyed a horse-carriage ride through Central Park and would walk through Time Square each night and found a great little deli where we would eat "New York" pizza. We managed to squeeze everything on our "wish list" into the four days we had, then caught the train down the East coast of the USA back to Florida. We passed through Baltimore and Washington DC and saw some of the landmarks. We travelled by Chesapeake Bay and saw many of the southern states. Amazing we crossed from one side of the country to the other and have now visited each corner. A fantastic and tiring trip and now we go back to preparing the boat for her sail home.
We drove back to Seattle and then flew to New York for four days of playing tourist. We braved the subway and caught the train from JFK airport to Manhattan Island. What the hotel lacked in glamour it made up for in location. We could walk outside the foyer and see the Empire State building. We spent the next few days walking throughout New York and would limp back to the hotel late at night. What an amazing and crazy city, so many people, but so much pollution! The beautiful weather followed us everywhere and it was quite warm in each place we visited. We saw the Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Madison Square Gardens and the Natural History Museum (which was a special favourite of the children). We visited the Seaport Maritime Museum where we toured "the Peking", which is a four-masted barque built in 1911 and was one of the last steel sail boats in service. Garry and I had both read the story of her voyages and so that was quite a meaningful experience for us. They also had the lighthouse ship "Ambrose" available for touring, again this was an amazing piece of history. We enjoyed a horse-carriage ride through Central Park and would walk through Time Square each night and found a great little deli where we would eat "New York" pizza. We managed to squeeze everything on our "wish list" into the four days we had, then caught the train down the East coast of the USA back to Florida. We passed through Baltimore and Washington DC and saw some of the landmarks. We travelled by Chesapeake Bay and saw many of the southern states. Amazing we crossed from one side of the country to the other and have now visited each corner. A fantastic and tiring trip and now we go back to preparing the boat for her sail home.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Cape Canaveral, USA
We made it back to the USA after the most amazing night sail, with a near full moon and the gulf stream behind us we managed a speed of 9.5 knots for most of the night. We covered 190nM in 23 hours. Somehow, I do not think we should get used to such speeds! Despite dodging the many cruise ships, tankers and fishing trawlers we made it to Cape Canaveral at sunrise and here we are back in the US and A! The kids have settled into marina life after so many months on the anchor and are reluctant to leave all the wonderful friends we have made. The highlight has been the space shuttle launch and an invite to family day at the space centre by Kent and Terry (who is the nurse for the astronauts when they return from their missions). Everyone has been so generous and lent us their cars, tools, time and entertained us over the months. Lisa's highlight was an invite by our neighbours Hank and Annette to see Fleetwood Mac in concert in Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, her first night away from the family in 8 months. The wonderful people here have included Bob and Nancy who loaned us no end of equipment, Cathy and Steve for their car and hamster sitting abilities, Milt for his entertainment and chauffeur talents too; Tammy and Jim the wild and crazy guys with no end of specialist tools and RUM!!! We have managed to get our precious "Bays" bottom painted and repaired the stuffing box, a first for Garry, but as usual always completed to perfection. We said goodbye to the " Rebellers", our lovely Canadian family in Titusville as they headed North back home for the summer. We had a lovely visit from Jon from "Cattitude" our sailing buddy from the Bahamas and our friends from Dania , Bob and Bear (Francesca) from "MV Tiger Cat". They decided to move their boat to Harborside Marina with us and we spent several weeks enjoying their company before they returned to the UK and France. Well we were all packed and stocked ready to head south to Panama. We decided that the original plans to head North were not going to be feasible with regards to time and finances, but as usual we got side tracked and ended up in Alaska. We decided to do some sight-seeing around the USA and booked a cruise to Alaska. It all happened very quickly! The bookings were completed on Thursday and we had to be in Vancouver on Saturday! Well we managed to get there after a frenzy of packing and arrangements.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Bahamas
With intermittent Internet maintaining the Blog and updating it has been a challenge. We are now in Treasure Cay in the Abacos en route back to the USA. We decided to head back to the States as we have some work to do on the boat and we still have not seen any of the sights. We have met lots of fantastic people throughout our three months in the Bahamas and have been sailing in company ever since we left No Name Harbour in Key Biscayne. We are thinking of heading north to Chesapeake Bay to visit Washington DC, Baltimore, Newport and New York. We may even manage to make a trip to Canada. We have seen some amazing places in the Bahamas like Bimini, the Berry's, Nassau, Exumas, Royal Island in Eleuthera and now the Abacos. We are enjoying the Abacos like many other places we have been to, but are ready to experience some other cultures and sights. The children have enjoyed the challenges of fishing and have had a couple of fish on their line, but have never been able to bring them on board before they escape or snap the line. We are looking forward to heading north and seeing what challenges come our way.
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