Friday, January 12, 2007

West Palm Beach, Florida



This location is a fair anchorage, the dinghy landing is tricky. It is a high theft area so you can't have enough locks. The worst part of this area are the bridges. They are on a restricted time frame (swing or lift on the hour or half hour) and about nine in total.
There is about fifty boats anchored here, approximately half are Canadians. Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, St. Andrews, Lunenburg and Dartmouth to name a few locations. Most will cross the Gulf Stream early this week, as there is a one and half day window. While we will wait for a three day window. At this point in time the Gulf Stream is sixty miles wide.
Two out of three of our chart kits arrived today, and we just learned that Bahama's requires a permit for pets, which we will have to apply for. This may or may not require a updated Health Certificate that we have for Topaz. However, once I make the phone inquiry tomorrow, I will learn whether we need to make a vet appointment....Topaz will be impressed. This is a new regulation, as when I was doing our homework, the only country that required advanced permission was Bermuda. The rest only needed Health Certificates....just another unexpected expense.
Bahama's also requires a $150 cruising permanent for our size boat (27 ft.). Thirty-six feet plus is $300. This permanent includes your fishing liciense.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Vero Beach, FL a.k.a Velcro Beach




Appropriately named Velcro Beach as so many cruisers don't leave....there are a number of them that have been there for a month, five years and more.....It's a lovely spot...feasible and easy access to shopping but most of all..it had the most protection we had seen since Nova Scotia. In fact we had met up with some formilar Dartmouth Yacht Club Members....see if you recognize this couple?

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Highlights of 2006








Happy New Year everyone….our New Year was spent in Halifax Harbour, Daytona, Florida. We had a very nice anchorage where fireworks started at 6:30 p.m.. At 11:30 p.m. we received a lovely phone call with a round table New Years wish from many of our closest friends. Thank you Wendy & Bill, Sue & Patrick and Danny & Debbie; you all started our year off with a big bang.

2006, was a challenging and yet a very exciting and memorable year. The biggest challenge for me (Pat) was the farewell wishes, when we departed Halifax, in May for our first journey.…our first passage to Bermuda. We have traveled a total log of 3,761.4 nautical miles. From the Bras D’Or Lakes in Cape Breton; south to Shelburne, NS; approximately 450 miles across the Gulf Stream and about 600 back; crossed the Gulf of Maine and through 14 states. During this time we had anchored 64 places, 19 Dockages / Marina’s and 640.7 engine hours…..I’m afraid to calculate the dollar value in fuel (almost two litres per hour).

For the first time, in both our lives, we spent our birthday’s in warm climate….sitting in the cockpit with new friends having birthday cheers. Ted spent his in North Carolina (South Harbour Marina, South Port) and I, in West Palm Beach, FL where we sit this evening.