Will Miss these Blues

January was an excellent month of exploring mostly the Exumas of the Bahamas. There are many places we didn’t have time to visit and hope to explore on future sails.

Addy started her second semester at Cal Poly Humboldt and began gearing up for the spring onslaught of rowing races.

On February 1 we said goodbye to SV Sparkle Motion and sailed to the southern end of Cat Island to stage our sail the next day back to Georgetown. We will miss Emily and Greg but look forward to hearing about their European adventures once their vessel is shipped to Spain in May! We waved goodbye and spent some of our sail working on this puzzle which has taken SO long. I also spent some time working on our “sailing card” to pass out to new friends or those interested in our time on the boat. Most live aboards have a card to share will others to help communicate with one another and also keep up with each when a boat inevitably moves onto to their location. My sister in law Karlyn is helping me create a card and will bring them to the boat when she visits later in the month with my brother.

Josephine’s laptop has become a decorated in so many memories of places visited and is a colorful work of art.

We were the only ones at our anchorage and we enjoyed a beach walk. These last few days in the Bahamas were a bit sad knowing that we would be back in the states soon and the Bahamas felt like such a huge milestone. The remaining months seems like the down slope of our live aboard time and I am not ready for this adventure to be over.

The Rollez Beach Villas was near this anchorage so Nate and I went to get a drink at their honesty fridge in the dining room. They have a fridge of cold drinks, a pad of paper to write your drink down and a basket to leave money. The resort dog “Girlie” kept us company while we read on the beach chairs. If she didn’t have a home there, I truly think she would have come home with us. She was cute, friendly and had dug several holes along the waterline.

Sunsets just don’t get old out here.

On February 2nd we sailed back to Georgetown as Josephine and I would be flying to California in three days. I tried to soak up all the blues of the ocean and spent as much time on deck as possible. We were back with many boats but that also meant many friends. Josephine got to hook up with several boat kids who she had been in contact with online. We loved watching her jet off in the dinghy with friends to craft, play cards and build beach bonfires. I wish they had all connected sooner but she took advantage of the few days and many invitations.

I used my last full day in Bahamas to do beach yoga, walk with Kristen from SV Spicy Nugget and checkout the Coconut Club which won my heart with free postcards and free postage! We read in the beach chairs and the club even had water bowls for boat dogs. The club was busy with floats, beach games and foosball.

On February 5th, Josephine and I said our goodbyes to Bahamas. I am so thankful we got to spend so much time in this stunning corner of the world. The locals and tourists are some of the friendliest we have met in the Caribbean with Puerto Rico being a close second. Nate took us to the dinghy dock where we said our goodbyes and hopped in a taxi. At the dock I placed a bottle of red nail polish for friend Kristen to find for a project. I ran out of time to drop it off at her boat. Our driver was a great lady who’s son had a scholarship to the University of Tennessee. She told us all about her aversion to snow. Nate said he saw our plane leave the island overhead as he began his solo sail with Queso. His goal was to only sail and use zero motor and his second mission was to eat only items from the boat (no grocery shopping).

Josephine and I landed in Miami to spend the night before heading to Addy in California the next day.