Are we there yet??

 

 Imagine if you will, a light salty breeze gentle rocking the sailboat as the sails sing the old old song of the seas.... feet propped up, drink in hand..... well..... I dont know who those people are, but they were NOT on our sailing trip!!!! Don't get me wrong, Im in this for the long haul, but must the long haul be splashed with 6 foot waves, driven by 33 knots of wind??? Evidently!!!

  We set sail out of Punta Gorda on Sunday morning... okay, Sunday afternoon, but I had a LOT to do!! We waved to the girls and pointed NuTrix west towards Boca Grande cut. As soon as we got through the cut, the winds decided to pick up just a tad. We had all the sails up and out so NuTrix did what she does best..... went the heck over on her side and I did what I do best..... screamed bloody murder while hanging on for dear life. Will my  captain ever learn??? Apparently not!!! We reduced sails and still had a good run down the coast towards Sanibel Island. The sun was setting and we thought we would be in just in time for a yummy steak on the grill, potatoes and maybe even a salad. When we turned the corner to head east into the anchorage, the winds picked up to 25 and the tide was going out with a rampage.... of course it was!!! Needless to say, I could have WALKED the island four times when we finally SAILED into the anchorage. The sun had already laughed itself into the ocean, darkness had set in quickly, salt covered EVERYTHING including all four of us!!! Captain Ray finally dropped the anchor at 11:30 and we all had a stale donut before hitting the sheets, which were also salty!!! Im sure there is a Jimmy Buffet song in here somewhere??? Though it would be titled "Thank God for Rescue Remedy".... just sayin'....

Monday, dawned a new day and we pulled up anchor and made for the 10,000 islands. Captn Ray decided to only put out the headsail..(by george he did learn) and we were sailing nicely down the coast past Fort Myers Beach and Naples. I made the crew chicken salad sandwiches with sliced tomatoes and popped open some chips. We even watched a baby dolphin and its mother swim and jump by the boat!! Then we looked to the south. Dark clouds with obvious rain squalls were pounding Marco Island and guess where we were heading.... yep!!! Ray reduced our headsail, reduced again and finally pulled it all the way in as the winds picked up. I got out the foul weather gear and Andy and Ray put them on. Andy, by the way, has thought this was the best day of all??? I think he's been in the sun too long.... :)  The rain started pouring and Angie and I watched from below as Mother Nature got all the salt off of our boat and Ray and Andy.....haha   Now we are out of the wind and the waves with only four and a half hours before our next anchorage. We have decided that we are eating the steaks no matter what time we get in tonight!!! Hey, its dinner time somewhere, right!!!

                                                                      

Where are we gonna put this stuff????

Going sailing for the summer on our sailboat is going to be an amazing adventure!!! Two months of warm breezes, beautiful beaches, snorkeling, swimming, fishing and meeting new people in a different country!!! However, getting there requires us to carry all of the things that we need on our boat. We do not have a walk in pantry or a sub zero freezer... we have storage under the sitting areas and some behind our small stove. We have a refrigerator that has a small freezer which means lots of planning for what, when and where we're going to eat!!! We have a vacuum sealer for our freezer foods. Today, Ray packaged steaks, meatballs and chicken in servings of two. We are hopeful of catching most of our dinners but you have to be prepared!! On board we will also have peanut butter, jelly, sandwich rounds, bananas, apples, oatmeal, protein bars, packaged tuna, pasta, onions, eggs, bacon, green peppers, tomatoes, chips, pretzels, rice, potatoes, an assortment of frozen/canned veggies, bottled water and soft drinks... oh and lots of M&M's!!! Hey, the weather can get rough and I need something to keep me from killing the captain.... ;) The point is that we cant just head over to Publix and pick up something for dinner! The out islands are without any kind of supermarket!! We have to know what we need and get it here in the states before we head out. Nassau does have a nice grocery store but the prices are CRAZY high!!!! We just do not realize how easy we have it here in the United States until we go to a different country! When we were in Staniel Cay back in 2010, we had to wait for the mail boat to come in before we could get onions and tomatoes. I love it though. I'm ready for island time!!! All of the hurried preparations of the house, the boat and the bank account will fall into a slow rhythm of where to anchor, where to fish, where to swim and which book to read... or write!!!

getting ready

Today I purchased my new computer so that our adventure to the Bahamas can be followed by all of our family and friends. We are planning to leave on May 26th and sail south.... then east.... then south again!!! This year, we are starting our trip with my sister, Angie and brother-in-law, Andy. Angie has a GREAT camera and a LOT more knowledge of computering stuff than I do...... sooooo..... we're going to be able to upload pictures and videos of our entire trip!!!! Well not everything!!!! TMI and all...... :)

We are going to post all of our anchorages as well as the weather, things to do and all the yummy food that we cook aboard ship!!! Next week, I will have photos of our boat, NuTrix, our provisions, sleeping quarters, and basically everything to make you feel like you are along for the adventure!!!! I will be blogging about it all!!!! The good, the bad and the well how bad can it be aboard our boat in the Bahamas.....

The night before we leave, we're throwing a "Casting Off Party"...... hopefully all of our friend will show up and celebrate our throwing caution to the wind and sailing out into adventure.....

If we dont see you at the party, please follow us throughout our crazy trip!! It is sure to be wild, wonderful and mostly memorable!!!

As our friends Wes and Taz would say....."To adventure and those who seek it!!!"