A New Toy on LUX

Rich did not bring Snickers with him. Instead, he brought something better. Look!

He brought two decks of cards with LUX on them! Cool, huh? And, of course, he had a plan. He really wanted to teach the crew to play Shanghai rummy! So, they have been playing for two days.

Rich claims he is losing. But, we have heard that one before.

Susan's Sunrise

Finally, the internet kicked in. Check out Susan's great picture.

Morning in Titusville

It is morning in Titusville. And, as usual, the internet hates Susan. She took a great picture of the sunrise. I asked her to email it to me. But, no, her phone would not connect to the marina wifi. So, here's my later in morning.

Plans have changed here. Today, we will do a long run past New Smyrna Beach and go on to Daytona Beach. Tomorrow morning, Susan and Tony leave LUX. Tony flies out from Daytona, and Susan leaves from Orlando. Because of that, it was decided that it would be easier all around to take them up to Daytona Beach. It is 50 miles, so it will be a full day's run. It looks to be a nice day for it.

On the down side- Peggy tried to get the lid off the teapot this morning. Oops. The knob on top popped off. We need a new teapot. Yesterday, we had to get a can opener. Today, a teapot. Hmmm.. We might tend up with a newly resupplied galley if we keep on with this!

Leaving Cape Canaveral

We had a wonderful start to our journey towards Titusville. Susan saw a turtle in the marina. We saw a pelican as we entered the lock.

We saw some manatees as we left the lock.

And, finally, two dolphins stuck their heads up to say goodbye.

As usual, most of the wildlife was faster than my camera! But, we enjoyed the sights!

We get Boarded

Well, it appears that Tony's passport says that he is a lawyer. So, when he presented it, Customs decided that they would need to come and see the boat. It appears that they emptied the office!

In accordance with the rules, we can't show you any of their faces. But, all seven did come to check out the boat! We gave the nickel tour to any who were interested. Some just wanted to watch us from the dock. All were friendly, respectful, and efficient. But, it was so funny that SEVEN of them came. It was just the perfect time for them to do some hands-on training. So, they used for practice. Very appropriate since we have so many teachers on board. The sad part is that the one guy in the office who REALLY wanted to come was the one guy who didn't get to come out and see the boat. Tony's theory is that he was the junior officer, so he got stuck manning the office.

By the way, we were this morning's entertainment here at the dock. You can imagine the looks on faces when SEVEN officers came for the inspection! It was quite the morning.

So, soon we'll be taking off for Titusville. And, yes, we passed our inspection.

2, 4, 6, 8... Who don't we appreciate!

Now that we are safe and sound, it's time for the true tale of our travails across the ocean. Our story starts with Terry doing the right thing. He called Chris Parker, the go-to weather guy, to ask about the best window for making the crossing to Florida. Now, I know what I mean when I say it's a good dy for passage. But, I do not think Chris Parker means the same thing that I mean. Yes, Chris told us that Sunday and Monday would be great days with a broad reach. Oh yes, there was a lot of wind. And waves. Big waves. Really big waves. At least to me. Terry, et al. kept saying they were only 4 to 6 feet. At one point, though, someone said they were 6 to 8 feet. And, when we looked around, we were the ONLY boat in all this blue expanse of water for most of the time. The Coast Guard did show up at one point, but they just looked us over to make sure someone was at the helm. Then, they went away. And, we were alone again. Except for the flying fish. There were large schools of them out enjoying the day.

As I kept saying- in my relationship, his fun begins when mine ends. The sailors were in seventh heaven. We sailed practically all the way to Florida. And, we averaged about 7 knots the whole way. Of course, when someone announced that we were hitting 12 knots, Terry did insist that we slow down somewhat. And, Peggy did ask, "What's the hull speed on this boat?" Since it's only 11, Terry did not think we needed to be surfing quite that fast. That wind and wave action made for a really bumpy ride. I must confess that this report is second hand. I spent most of my time in my cabin, making sure my eyelids did not let any light in when closed.

We knew we were in Cape Canaveral when the cruise ships started appearing. One was departing as we entered. I did leave my cabin just in time to watch it steam off majestically into the distance-- without me. This is the time on the boat when I really miss having someone else take care of the pesky details like food, cleaning the cabins, and making the beds. But, there are always more adventures to come. Stay tuned.

Early Morning in Cape Canaveral

Everyone was ready for bed really early last night. After all, it had been a long day on the ocean followed by an excellent meal. So, about 6 AM, people started to stir. It looks to be another beautiful day for us.

And,there is already drama on the dock. A smaller heron was checking out the fishing.

And, an osprey was on a tall mast nearby- hoping the heron would get lucky and the osprey would not have to work for breakfast. The osprey has been making lots of noise- that's what woke some of us. It could be that he was trying to encourage the heron to hurry up and get some fish!

To add to the drama, a large heron ( our Dockmaster from last night) came along to chase the smaller heron on down the dock. I did not get another picture, though. The no-seeums are out in force. I came back inside.

Meanwhile, Tony has decided that we probably already miss all that wave action. He keeps moving around on deck  so that the boat rocks. He keeps telling us he is happiest on a boat. I guess he means a boat that is moving.

Our Last Dinner in the Bahamas

We ate dinner at Spinnaker's -- enjoying our last night here in the Bahamas.

We Are in Cape Canaveral

Well, we survived another crossing. Unfortunately for the guest crew, it was not the best of times. It was cloudy for most of the days and the one night. That meant that Susan did not get to see a full sky of stars. The seas were rather feisty, so Gee only got to see the inside of her cabin.

But, we arrived safely here in Cape Canaveral. We are currently tied up safely in a marina. Terry and Mike went off to check out the facilities. Tomorrow- Rich, Susan and Tony must go to customs to check in. Once that is done, we will head out to Titusville.

We are staying in a nice marina called Ocean Club. The evening Dockmaster is a cutie.

He was busy slapping around a fish he caught. He would throw it on the dock, chew on it, throw it on the dock.... Finally, he got it into shape so he could swallow it down.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed the show.

For dinner, we called in an order to the local pizza/spaghetti restaurant. It was delivered in a timely fashion, and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner on the patio.

After dinner, we made an effort at looking at schedules. Currently, we will leave here, go to Titusville, head to New Smyrna Beach, and then on to St. Augustine. But, first, we must take the aliens to customs to get them back to being Americans. So, they will take off walking tomorrow morning for Customs- unless it's raining. Then, Susan is taking a taxi.

On the Ocean

Rain is off to the starboard side. Lucky for us, it is going parallel. And, we get the cooling effect.

Sunday Morning- We Are Off

It is a beautiful day in Treasure Cay already.

Too bad we have to leave. But, preparations were underway at 5:30 AM for an immediate departure. 

As we pulled away, we had another harbinger of good luck.

Yes, another rainbow. It's now 8:10, and we are past the Whale. Sails are up. Motor is running. We are moving right along. To everyone following our blog, we will be in touch when we get to Florida.

Saturday- Early Afternoon

We are all busily preparing for tomorrow. Yes, it's departure day. Our time in the Bahamas is almost over. Mike has worked on an engine. Terry and Tony worked on getting the jack lines up. We've been to the grocery and the laundry. The watch schedule is up.

The ditch bag is being prepared.

Terry is giving mini-seminars.

The current talk is on safety for lines that hook to the jack lines. Terry shared that the older models can be hazardous in that they do not release quickly with the clips on them. After the talk, some crew members went back to working on their PDFs.

Hopefully, we'll all be ready tomorrow morning by 6 AM. We hope to be long gone by then. So, dear readers, no messages for a while after early tomorrow.

Man Overboard Drill

While we were underway, Susan was kind enough to make us pancakes once again. She also made apple compote.

And, yes, they were very yummy.

Then, as we approached Treasure Cay, Terry announced that it was the perfect time for a man overboard drill. 

As you can see, we had great spotters, great boat hook users, and excellent pilots. No one ran over Skipperina ( our MOB bottle), and she was rescued each time she went out.

Saturday Morning

It's an incredibly beautiful morning here in Baker's Bay. The sun is shining. The breeze is blowing. And...the fisher folk are on the move!

Wow! That is some fleet coming out of that resort. They just kept coming....at high speed...churning up the waves. We started to rock and roll. Terry called for hoisting the anchor NOW! And, we were off to try to not rock and roll so much.

Meanwhile, looking around, we spied an incredible rainbow. It was so gorgeous, and you could see it from end to end.

And, on our port side, there was an incredible yacht.

I took this picture so that I could tell everyone what I found at the end of my rainbow. But, even better, look at all the toys on this boat. It even has a slide!

Friday Afternoon

It's been a fun- and action-packed day for the crew of LUX. Our beautiful clouds over Hopetown ended with a rainstorm. After the rain, we took off for Fowl Cay. Those who wanted to snorkel took off in the dinghy. They had a great time.

Mike stayed at the boat. He snorkeled around, looking for stuff to clean off the bottom and the props. During his boat bottom survey, he saw a big manta ray. It was right on top of the anchor.

The other interesting thing of the day was terns. We kept seeing an incredibly green/teal colored bird flying around. Carol thought it was a parrot. We eventually discovered that it was just terns! Their bodies and wings were reflecting the color of the water. It was truly amazing to see them. We probably would never had figured out that they were terns had one not flown right by the boat before turning green!

After snorkeling, we moved to Baker's Bay. Terry wanted to try it out as an anchorage. The most interesting unknown about this bay is that it is home to a marina frequented by LARGE fishing boats. Although, to be fair, there were some smaller boats as well. In fact, it was just like a boat parade. And all of them were in a hurry to make it back by whatever time they thought they all had to be in. So, they went barreling by. And, just now, the helicopter was arriving as well. There must be a really great happy hour in there at 5:30! Not a mast in sight, though. So, it is probably not the place for sailors. We'll just be hoping they all don't feel the need to go fishing at 5:30 AM!