Hopetown here we come!

Today the sun is shining and we are outta here, Hopetown here we come.  The is expected to be good until Sun/Mon, then a storm is coming through again.  So our plan is to go out exploring for the next couple of days then back to Marsh Harbour to be tucked in for the storm Sun-Tues.  If the weather cooperates after that we may head to Little Harbour on our way to Eleuthra.  We will wait there for another weather window to do the crossing to Eleuthra.  Hope to be there by Feb 1st, then we will plan to stay on that island for the month of Feb exploring all the different harbours and islands.  The plan as of today is to be in the Exumas for the months of March, April and part of May, then back to somewhere to be determined at the end of the season.

Options:
1)  Ft. Lauderdale to put on solar and a water maker, then return to the Abacos Marsh Harbour for storage until next season.

2)  St. Augustine for work and storage.

3) Marsh Harbour for storage, no solar or water maker

4) Georgetown for storage, no solar or water maker

5) Ft. Lauderdale to sell boat; if repairs are too much and or if we do not have a good time here, then we may decide to sell the boat and just charter in the future.

Boating in the Bahamas or any international location has it's pluses and minuses.  Repairs are expensive, help is limited.  You must be very self sufficient in your ablities to repair things on the fly without the proper equipment and or parts.  Boating is also stressful at times, I know people think we are just sitting around here sipping Pina colada's but in reality we are working, especially the Captain.  He has a tremendous amout of responisiblity to not only make sure the boat is in good working condition but also to insure safe passages for it's guest.  Weather is king here, your plans are not God's plans really means something here. We can plan to do this and that and then a storm comes and all bets are off. We are expecting Gale force winds on Sun-Mon and that is intense 30+nm. Should be an interesting ride.  So we shall see how we fair this season to see where we go or what we will do in the future.  If we stay in the Bahamas we may decide to come in Feb instead of Jan due to the weather, Bahamas gets Northerner storms for the East coast every 1-2 weeks, so you can expect a storm every other week or so at least in Jan, now in Feb that lessens a bit, but there are still storms.  March, April, May are primetime for boating the the Bahamas, so if we go by that then we will only be boating for 3 months a year and that is an expensive hobby to have. Now we can move the boat to the BVI's and Eastern Caribbean and reduce the storm potential during this time of the year but that requires a long cruise and bigger crossings, that I am not very interested in doing.  Possibily we will hire someone to help Brad take the boat over to the Caribbean and I can join him in Puerto Rico, we shall see how it works out.  Brad would like the boat to be in Antigua or St Martin and then go up and down the chain for a couple of years, storing it in Antigua and Grenada.  It is beautiful over there, that is where we started sailing with the charters Sun Sail, so we do know what to expect, it is just getting the boat there, that I have a problem with.  I don't enjoy long passages, in fact crossing the Gulf was as far as I want to go, but maybe if we can do the thornless passage, that would work.  That basically means island hopping but at night due to the winds etc.  I also don't like sailing at night due to limited vision and possibility of hitting some submerged item.  Obvisously I am a bit of a nervous boater, always trying to be safe.  I do know that in order to get to where we would like to go that I will have to step out of my comfort zone.  But really how many people do you know that would live on there boats for 4 months a year, anywhere.  I think my comfort zone has expanded quit a bit.  Anyway, I know this is a long post but these are the things that have been heavy on our minds lately so I thought I would share them with you.  But I had better go now, I need to get ready to go to Maxwell's for last minute shopping and then off to Hopetown for an adventure.  We will probably stay there on a mooring for 2-3 days and then return here for the storm.  See ya on the water...