Florida to Georgetown, Bahamas
The crossing from Miami to the Bahamas was a good one. Traversing the Gulf Stream which is called the largest river in the world is a challenge. A fun challenge. We buddy boated across with a Canadian boat, Bikini. We would end up spending the next 6 weeks with them having a ball. The Bahamas have amazing turquoise water, numerous rainbows and fluffy white beaches. As we sailed the 200 miles we would stop at different bays to anchor for the night.
Each anchorage has different qualities. On Allens Cay the endangered Exuma Iguana reigns. We could feed them grapes from short sticks. Staniel Cay has some wild pigs that like to swim out to boats for a free hand out. We anchored outside an island owned by David Copperfield. We kept waiting for him to make us disappear, which luckily didn’t happen.
     Our friends have some fun toys aboard like water skis and SCUBA gear. I did three dives with John and had a blast each time. The underwater world is a glorious place to see. An octopus, which I consider my spirit animal, was my favorite. The snorkeling is fantastic.  Lobster hunting has proven to be exhilarating and tasty afterwards. Ella went snorkeling into a cave that was featured in a 007 film. Our little girl impresses us daily.
I am learning to be a fisherman too. Trolling is definitely my speed – throw the hook in and then come back when a fish is on. Chase has only caught one fish, which was exciting. I was less excited when I realized it was a two-foot shark!
Georgetown, Bahamas is a bit of a cruising mecca. At present there campfires on the beachare 100 boats here and soon that will increase to 400. We play volleyball often, snorkel or use the SUP boards. Sadly there isn’t much culture here with Bahamians. The other cruisers are the culture. They are fun to share tales and dreams with.  The organization is intense.  Cruisers net @ 8am, Yoga @ 8:45, Volleyball @ 2pm, happy hours at different beaches @ 5pm.  As one cruiser put it ‘if I wanted this much organization, I’d be working 9 to 5.”  While we do enjoy the place, it seems as though we have moved to a more athletic retirement home.  Prettier than Gateway Terrace in Florida, but a old folks home just the same.  Great people and we shall miss them.

        Chase and Ella are both doing great.  They play make believe daily after school, build sand castles or go exploring with us.  Chase now insists on being called ‘Turtle.”  Apparently, Gram called him this before and he likes the name.  Even in death, Gram has the ability to enrich our taking Ella to school – not uphill both ways at least    lives and make us smile.

Christmas was a fun event with the best tree ever.  At least Charlie Brown would think so.  The kids made ornaments from shells and sea fans then adorned the top with a starfish.  Certainly my favorite tree ever.  Lindsey’s mom, Kay, made the trip down for a week so we had fun showing her the islands.  We rented a car a cruised the coast.  The few restaurants we found were closed but I did find a nice place with one table inside.  Conch Snack, Chicken wings and hamburgers were all fantastic.  We think it may have been a brothel, but at 1pm luckily nothing was happening.
The winds have been howling keeping us here. Tomorrow the winds should abate and we will make a run for the Turks and Caicos. As excited as we are to continue our journey, it is difficult to leave our new friends that we have bonded so well with.