November 2013 to April 2014

Last winter was a short cruising season for us. We had some work done on our boat as a result of our collision with a sailboat in Feb. 2013 which led to a whole can of worms being opened up. In short, it cost more to repair the damage that was incurred to the boat from the association with this supposedly reputable repair yard, than the cost of the original repair! It took three and a half months in the work yard at our new home Indiantown Marina to complete all the repairs. We finally launched the boat in early Feb, 2014 and headed for the Bahamas. On the upside of being at Indiantown, we had the chance to get together with friends, Ian and Michelle a few times and have some fun.  By the way Ian, thanks again for the loan of your ladder and vacuum, they were a tremendous help!

Friends Ian & Michelle

Our friendly neighbour in the work yard

Our destination was Taino Beach Resort and Marina in Freeport Grand Bahama. We had reserved a slip ahead of time and remained there for a month. We certainly needed a vacation! When we arrived, company was waiting for us. Carole's cousin Lyne and her daughter Karen were at the resort next door. We had a chance to get together and have some fun. Karen seemed to really enjoy the party at the fish fry. We met some great people that work at the resort who graciously took us along for the evening...thanks guys!  Our friends from back home, Brad and Rebecca, flew down for the weekend to join us. It's always great to have friends to party with in the Bahamas. We had a chance to go out on the boat with Lyne, Karen, Brad and Rebecca as the ocean was fairly calm. Tried our hand at deep sea fishing without any luck but did some snorkeling...good time.

Lyne, Biscuit, Ashton, Karen, Roly

Roly the captain, Rebecca, Lyne, Karen & Brad enjoying a cruise

We said our goodbyes to our cousins and friends as we dropped them off at the airport to pick up Carole's parents.  Doug and Laurette joined us for a couple of weeks alternating between staying on the boat with us and using up an RCI at the Taino Beach Resort. Carole's sister Linda, Hal and Mitchel flew in a few days later and stayed at the resort as well. We all had a chance to go out deep sea fishing and spear fishing with some great results, two large Mahi Mahi, one big Wahoo and five lobsters. What a feast!

Carole's parents, Doug & Laurette Grant enjoying their vacation

Mom, Laurette Grant attracting the fish with her magic wand, lol

I think dad was a little intimidated while reeling in the biggest fish he ever caught, lol and he brought in a doozy 35lb mahi mahi!  Great job dad!

Dad, Doug Grant proud of his great catch!

Somebody's got to drive while everyone is bringing in their catch

Roly's big Mahi Mahi catch.

My nephew, Mitchell pulled in this beautiful Wahoo. Our bellies and freezer were full that night!

Roly showing off one of the lobster's that he caught.  Carole had a good eye for finding them, then Roly would spear them.

On a ferry ride to the Lucayan Market

Nephew Mitchell and Carole enjoying the Caribbean line dancing at the Lucayan Market

Carole's sister, Linda & Hal

Rol & C's docked at the Taino Beach Marina & Resort

Cockatoo enjoying himself on Carole's arm at the beautiful Lucayan Gardens

Roly returning from snorkeling

We dropped Carole's parents off at the airport and picked up our son Chris and his girlfriend Taylor.

It's nice that the flights come in and go out on the same plane.  Though we didn't have any luck at fishing, Chris got a chance to do some scuba diving on a shallow reef and got some great pictures to boot as you will see in most of the following pics!

Carole & Roly

Spotted Ray

Beautiful Taylor

Carole & Taylor

Huge lobster hiding under brain coral

 Taylor enjoying the warm water

Great having the kids there...good excuse to go partying! We enjoyed the fish fry, the Lucayan Market and a good night of dancing on the foredeck of the boat until 3? Carole was thrilled to have a dance partner...Taylor.

Crazy girls dancing at 3a.m.!

Our boat docked next to the Flamingo Hotel at Taino Beach

Our Son Chris takes the most beautiful shots!

It seemed that the kids just got there and they had to leave already!

Chris & Taylor enjoying the beach on their last day

Our original plan after one month at Taino Beach was to head for the Berry Islands for some adventure but we were still pretty tired from all the work we did on the boat, so we decided to put off that trip until the next season and head for Ocean Reef Resort where we stayed for a month last year. It was great to see some of the friends that we met there last year and make some new ones such as Gary and Lena on Rum Line. Boats at a marina are very close together, so it's great to have such nice people for neighbors.

We also got a chance to have a couple of meals with friends Jack and Darla. It was great to catch up with them and have a few laughs! Their new yacht is just awesome. What a treat is was to spend time on it with them.

Friends Jack & Darla

Carole made some new friends on her own with the karaoke crowd. Every Tuesday she would go to sing with the girls and give me a break...thank you!                      and Carole's response to that is..........

LOL

Carole's skipjack tuna that she reeled in on our way back to Florida

We bid goodbye to the Bahamas on April 23rd and crossed back over to Florida.  We headed to Indiantown Marina where we kept Rol & C's for the summer. It's a great marina with friendly and helpful people. There's not much in the little town that bears its name but we found some good spots to eat and get a beer. JR's Tuesday taco night is a favorite and they have the best BBQ around.

Alex, one of the Indiantown Marina's helpful staff

October 2014...As we're writing this, we're looking out the front window of our cottage at the beautiful colour of the leaves. A signal that it's time to head back to Florida and the boat.  Last fall we bought a cottage in the Silver Bay area of Port Colborne, ON.  It's a fixer upper but has a charm that attracted us to it. We completed a lot of the work that it needed this summer and plan on doing more next year. It kept us busy to say the least.

We'll try to keep our post updated this winter. Til the next time! :)