Season 3 has started
We left Carlsbad on Sat morning to fly to Dullas airport in Washington, DC, we ended up having a 4 hour delay at the airport before flying on to Ft Lauderdale for the night. On Friday night as you probably have heard, Ft. Lauderdale airport had a massive shooting in the baggage claim area, leaving 5 dead and 8 more injured. So needless to say, we were not exactly excited to be arriving in Ft Lauderdale the day after the shooting. However, all went well, no crazy people here today. We stayed in a local hotel and then flew over to Marsh Harbour this morning. The weather of course is not on our side right now, there is a big north easternly storm passing through the East Coast in fact it was 20 degrees in Washington. The Bahamas, are currently having winds of 20 + which will continue probably for the rest of the week. Right now we are cozy in our hotel the Conch Inn in Marsh Harbour. Hopefully the weather will calm down in the next couple of days so we can get our boat in the water at the Boat Yard. In the meantime we are going to be hanging in Marsh Harbour. Tomorrow we will go check on the boat, the Boat yard is officially closed for a holiday but hopefully we can get in to inspect the boat anyway.
Brad and I were just talking about how boating is dominated by weather, if you recognize that and go with it, it will make life a little easier. However if you are an agenda type person and you have things to do regardless of the weather, you may be beating your head against the wall, making things harder in the long run. Next season we may decide to come here at the end of Jan and stay until June 1st to have a better weather window, we shall see.
So far we do have internet capability but is is slow. We have 2 international phone plans one with Verizon and one with AT&T, plus we are going to have a Bahamas phone hooked up with a sim card and all. Just figuring out which device and plan to use to text or call is a challenge. My phone can send text for free but to recieve a text it cost $1.99, so I probably won't be using that much. Brad's phone plan comes Brad with 100 free text and unlimited text received. So I will probably be communicating on Brad's phone for the most part to talk to family. So, girls remember to text me on Brad's phone. Phone calls are best done on skype for free but if needed they can also be done using the Bahamas phone. I will give you the number at the end of this post.
Now for data usage, I will have 300 mb from AT&T with a 20 cent overage cost. Verizon only has 100mb with a 25 cent overage.
When we have real wifi I can blog and do photos but if we are out there with no wifi and have to use the phone for hotspots then I will probably be limited on how much internet surfing I can do. Luckily I downloaded a bunch of books and things on my devices, that I can use without wifi.
So, that is basically it for now, see ya on the water, hopefully in the next couple of days.
Brad and I were just talking about how boating is dominated by weather, if you recognize that and go with it, it will make life a little easier. However if you are an agenda type person and you have things to do regardless of the weather, you may be beating your head against the wall, making things harder in the long run. Next season we may decide to come here at the end of Jan and stay until June 1st to have a better weather window, we shall see.
So far we do have internet capability but is is slow. We have 2 international phone plans one with Verizon and one with AT&T, plus we are going to have a Bahamas phone hooked up with a sim card and all. Just figuring out which device and plan to use to text or call is a challenge. My phone can send text for free but to recieve a text it cost $1.99, so I probably won't be using that much. Brad's phone plan comes Brad with 100 free text and unlimited text received. So I will probably be communicating on Brad's phone for the most part to talk to family. So, girls remember to text me on Brad's phone. Phone calls are best done on skype for free but if needed they can also be done using the Bahamas phone. I will give you the number at the end of this post.
Now for data usage, I will have 300 mb from AT&T with a 20 cent overage cost. Verizon only has 100mb with a 25 cent overage.
When we have real wifi I can blog and do photos but if we are out there with no wifi and have to use the phone for hotspots then I will probably be limited on how much internet surfing I can do. Luckily I downloaded a bunch of books and things on my devices, that I can use without wifi.
So, that is basically it for now, see ya on the water, hopefully in the next couple of days.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017
Today was a blistery day here in Marsh Harbour
Windy and rainy with lots of clouds. But we are here safe and sound so it's a good day. We rode our bikes over to the boat for a work day. Putting things back where they belong, the SUP boards and all the boat goodies. The engines and batteries both needed to be checked and all is well, thank goodness, so far so good. We also had to check for mold and wiped all the items on the boat with vinegar, my job of course. The boat is starting to look good again. Tomorrow we plan to put her in the water and then possibly come over to Mangoes, if the weather cooperates. After we bring the boat around to the harbour then we will be able to finally be able to unpack and move onto the boat for the season. Hopetown here we come. Not sure how long we will be in the Abacos but it should be fun to check out our favorite old haunts: Man O War, Nippers and of course Hopetown my fav! Then on to Little Harbour to prepare for our crossing to Eleuthra then the Exumas.
Sail La Vie is in the Water!
We put the boat in the water one hour ago and we had our first challenge of the season. The bilge pump on port was going off, which meant that we had water coming into the boat from somewhere. So we hand pumped the water out and thought maybe it was just residual rain water. Then we waited to see if anymore water accumulated in the bilge, and it did, so we had a problem to deduce. Where was this water coming from? The forward thru hole was leaking, the plug was not put in appropriately. Luckily Capt Brad figured this out quickly and was able to take the plug out and re secure it. Thank God we have a liscened Capt on board to take care of these problems. Now he is working on getting the toilets working, another job for the Capt. Well the challenges begin, Capt Brad is going for assistance right now. Not exactly an easy start to our cruising adventure. Hopefully there will be less work on the boat this season and more fun, otherwise we will sell Sail La Vie and go back to chartering. C'est La Vie, what will be will be.
Mangoes!
We arrived at Mangoes after a 1 hour cruise, the weather gave us a break and now we are in our spot. Ray is still here thank goodness, he helps us a lot docking etc. The boat did well, engines started right up, batteries are good. One bathroom is working and the guess bath will be a project for the Capt. No more water in the boat, so all is well on Sail La Vie. Wifi is good tonight so Brad caught up with his work. We just got good news from Stacy, she & Eric just bought a house in Westminister. Congrats Stacy & Eric!! So grown up, our first kid to buy their own house. Just yesterday she was little Miss Sunshine, at least that's what Brad tells me. And look at her today, Bank Manager and new home owner. Way to go Stacy & Eric!
Tomorrow more projects, provisioning in the next couple of days. Then away to Hopetown, let the adventure begin.
Abacos a year in review 2016 Collage
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