As I write this, we are basking in the Florida sun while Rol & C’s is on the hard in Port Colborne,
ON Canada. Just because the boat couldn’t head for warmer water, doesn’t mean we couldn’t. Hurricane Irene damaged the NY barge system which blocked our
attempt at getting to the ocean.. We've rescheduled our attempt to head south for the summer of 2012.
Recent high winds in Port Colborne has damaged the shrink wrap to the point of rendering it useless. Thanks go out to some great friends, Jack and Keith Yarnell, for volunteering to remove the damaged wrap and reinstalling our canvas. A friend in need…
We’ve been having a great winter. We spent some time in Port Charlotte / Punta Gorda, Fort Myers Beach FL, George Town, Exuma, Bahamas and are now in Key Largo FL. Discovering local boating areas and activities in our RIB (rigid inflatable boat) took some of the sting away of not having our Hyatt 40 along. Western Florida has some great boating areas but the water is not very deep. We kissed bottom a few times, luckily it was sand in most of the areas we boated. The beaches are gorgeous, some of the nicest we've been to. Watching the dolphin play, day after day in Fort Myers Beach was a highlight.
The most beautiful place so far was without a doubt George Town, Bahama. I’ve heard the Bahamas called “a boater’s paradise” and now I know why. I’ve never seen water so clear with so many shades of blue. This was supposed to be our destination this winter with the boat.
We met some great people in George Town. Tam (Thomas) Flemming from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia and his crew Dana, along with a young sailor named Tommy. Tommy is an 18 year old who bought his 28 foot sail boat on E-bay for $3000. He learned to sail it alone on the way from Virginia to Florida where he picked up Adam, to crew along with him. We went out a couple of times with Tam on his 45′, 19th century design schooner which he built himself! It looks like a smaller version of Nova Scotia’s Blue Nose. For us, being power boaters, this sailing experience was quite alien but by the time our first day out was done, we were asking our selves if we should switch to a sail boat! The quiet way this beautiful vessel cut through the water was very impressive. All line handling is manual, no winches to crank, just a lot of elbow grease needed to sail this elegant craft. Our time in Exuma along with the locals we met and partied with, were unforgettable. The highlight being when our children came to visit. Sharing the experience of this paradise with them made our time there complete.
Having just arrived in Key Largo we haven’t had the time yet to explore, but we will.
Recent high winds in Port Colborne has damaged the shrink wrap to the point of rendering it useless. Thanks go out to some great friends, Jack and Keith Yarnell, for volunteering to remove the damaged wrap and reinstalling our canvas. A friend in need…
We’ve been having a great winter. We spent some time in Port Charlotte / Punta Gorda, Fort Myers Beach FL, George Town, Exuma, Bahamas and are now in Key Largo FL. Discovering local boating areas and activities in our RIB (rigid inflatable boat) took some of the sting away of not having our Hyatt 40 along. Western Florida has some great boating areas but the water is not very deep. We kissed bottom a few times, luckily it was sand in most of the areas we boated. The beaches are gorgeous, some of the nicest we've been to. Watching the dolphin play, day after day in Fort Myers Beach was a highlight.
The most beautiful place so far was without a doubt George Town, Bahama. I’ve heard the Bahamas called “a boater’s paradise” and now I know why. I’ve never seen water so clear with so many shades of blue. This was supposed to be our destination this winter with the boat.
We met some great people in George Town. Tam (Thomas) Flemming from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia and his crew Dana, along with a young sailor named Tommy. Tommy is an 18 year old who bought his 28 foot sail boat on E-bay for $3000. He learned to sail it alone on the way from Virginia to Florida where he picked up Adam, to crew along with him. We went out a couple of times with Tam on his 45′, 19th century design schooner which he built himself! It looks like a smaller version of Nova Scotia’s Blue Nose. For us, being power boaters, this sailing experience was quite alien but by the time our first day out was done, we were asking our selves if we should switch to a sail boat! The quiet way this beautiful vessel cut through the water was very impressive. All line handling is manual, no winches to crank, just a lot of elbow grease needed to sail this elegant craft. Our time in Exuma along with the locals we met and partied with, were unforgettable. The highlight being when our children came to visit. Sharing the experience of this paradise with them made our time there complete.
Having just arrived in Key Largo we haven’t had the time yet to explore, but we will.
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