Everglades

Drove to the Everglades Holiday Park and took an airboat ride. Very informative, we slowly went round and saw alligators, even two together which is unusual, and several times, hooned along the canals, skimming along really fast runs bends, across the reeds. Great ride.

Lion Safari Park, Loxahatchee

Headed up the east coast stopping at a Lion Safari Park, where you drive through and the animals are right next to the car. Camping next to the park we could hear the lions roar at night and in the morning.

3 of the rhinos, flamingoes and plants at the Lion Safari Park

USA

Reached ft Lauderdale and berthed amongst the rich and famous. Picked up our 30ft RV and left the yacht at Fort Lauderdale to  be loaded onto a ship to be sent back to Australia. 

We have  endeavored to update our blog site and photos with limited success. But with the limited internet connections we have been experiencing it is painfully slow and frustrating.

Bimini

Headed for Bimini, small island and last stop in the Bahamas before heading for the USA. Maybe we'll get better reception there. Arrived late, like 9 pm, so anchored offshore to be safe, then headed in early next day. Lucky we did, as next day we saw there was another boat which had come in late but had run aground. It's an interesting little island, quite poor I think. We came into a marina, so had a good spot, and then had to go through the Customs thing to LEAVE the Bahamas. Very time consuming.

Hired a golf cart and drove around the island. It's left hand drive car driving on the left hand side of the road. Very confusing. Had lunch at a resort down the road and used their Wifi.

Came cross a parade in the Main Street- couldn't tell if it was a wedding or a funeral. They were all wearing black and/or white, and singing, so it was hard to tell what the occasion was.

Fun signs

You see some fun signs when away from home. In Staniel Cay, they must have some dumb residents or think the tourists are dumb as a sign next to the very small airport reads 'Please do not drive on the runway'. Somewhere else on our travels requested that people 'do not camp at the end of the runway'.

We didn't.

We needed cash and ice and had to walk at least a kilometre in the blistering heat. Small island, small general store, not enough cash for more than one of us to get cash out - and no point getting ice. But it was worth the walk. 

We had a well-deserved cold drink at the bar then dinghied back to the boat.

Staniel Cay - beautiful

Off to an early start and made our way to Staniel Cay, Exumas. What a top spot! The water around Staniel Cay is so beautiful, many shades of blue and turquoise. Again, shallow coming in but found our way in amongst many big boats, heaps of Canadians flags flying.

Went ashore by dinghy, only to see a lot of sharks under the dinghy when we got out. We were told "they are nurses, they're all right". Turned me off swimming. They were being fed by fishermen and there were at least 20.

Allan's Cay, Exumas - iguanas

Headed for Nassau and stopped at Allan's Cay for lunch. Shallow, hidden lagoon, refuge of the Bahamas iguana. Welcoming party came down to greet us as we approached in the dinghy. Dozens of them, small to large, lizardy things. This is the last remaining colony of these amazing creatures who are very curious of us.

Continued on to Nassau. Got there after dark, shallow and too dangerous to even consider going further.

Mayaguana, Bahamas and overnight to Rocky Point.

Still no Wifi or 3G reception, felt a little alone out here. Left early next morning headed for Mayaguana, Bahamas, arriving after 5 pm and as it was so shallow, anchoring a fair way off shore. We have to report to Customs in every countries so rang Customs but were to.d we would have to wait till the next morning. Pity, we couldn't risk continuing without clearing Customs for Bahamas or they may have chased us and fine us or impound boat, so it meant a late start.

David and Barry went ashore early but by the time they had filled out a stack of forms and handed over $300 it was nearly 11 am. So we got under way headed for the Exumas. Seas were pretty rough for most of the day, with water sloshing in the cockpit once (gave the floor a good wash) but less rocky at night. We took turns on watch all night but only saw one other vessel on the radar, a fishing vessel.

By morning we were all pretty tired and had naps on and off all day. We had done over 200 nautical miles but still only reached a secluded, sheltered, shallow spot for the night. Nobody anywhere around. Again no Wifi or 3G. There were a few frustrated people by now.

Providenciales

Left Grand Turks 6am headed for Providenciales, also Turks and Caicos. Seas still fairly rough and very shallow, most of the way it was below 13 feet, down to as little as 7 feet. Luckily we have a draft of 5'7" so no problems. Tricky finding a place to anchor for the night, couldn't see channel markers, and only one other yacht moored there.

Next morning found our way into the marina. After finding the tiny red and green marker buoys to pass between (and one which was both red and green) we entered a narrow channel which opened into a big marina with boats of all sizes. It was only about 8 feet in the centre and 2 feet at the sides so had to go slowly.

Cruiser coming in shallow channel

By the time we had finished with Customs, getting ice, a few groceries etc we decided to stay for the day. Had a good day wandering around chatting to other boaties and getting info for our future reference on best way to go.

The island had a deep sea fishing comp and we saw the weigh in. 

The biggest fish was a 70 pound wahu. It was obviously a big event on the islands with a marquee, food and drink, auction of the fish caught. Later it poured with rain but they still had a good time.

Lovely people there and a much more prosperous island than the Grand Turks.

Puerto Rico to Turks and Caicos

Left San Juan with the forecast of good weather and perfect winds. It was rough getting out of the harbour as we expected but we thought it would improve once we got further out. We were wrong. It never improved, but got worse when we were hit by a sudden squall, so spent much of the next two days below deck. Most of us felt quite seasick, and one of us fed the fish later that night. We finally arrived at the island, Grand Turks, Turks and Caicos, and were taken on a 4 hour guided taxi tour, with a stop for lunch. Very interesting, and hot. Badly hit by Hurricane Ike 4 years ago, many wrecked houses amongst other big, beautiful ones. The water is beautiful, clear and blue.

Leaving Virgin Islands

After a few days floating around sailing, snorkelling and trying to get some phone and internet working, we left Virgin Islands and headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's a pain in the neck with the boat captain having to present at Customs every time you get to a new country or group of islands. The rest of us have to stay on board until we are cleared, so we wasted a bit of time in San Juan, and were eventually were told to come in and fill out forms etc but by then it was late afternoon.
So next day we went shopping then visited the old forts. Fabulous day.