Okay, so we admit we haven't been very good about keeping the blog up to date, but we have lots of good excuses....sailing, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, sightseeing and partying are our all-round best excuses but lack of internet access has been the main ongoing problem.
By the time I got back from visiting my new grandbaby in LA in early April, the weather had turned extremely hot, humid and buggy in Guatemala. This of course was not a big surprise, but our plans for travelling to the mountains for the summer or flying back to the states fell apart because we were unable to arrange transport for Max, our border collie.Thus, we decided to sail back to the states and travel up the east coast to North Carolina.
All in all, it has been a great trip! We checked out of Guatemala in Livingston on May 9 and started motoring out towards Belize. Within 5 miles, the engine lost all oil pressure so we had to raise and head back to Livingston. The customs agent we had used when checking out hooked us up with a great diesel mechanic who spoke English(!!!) and he quickly diagnosed the problem, had a tool and die maker in Puerto Barrios, the next harbor 25 miles away, fashion a replacement part, which he then installed in our boat the very next day-- less than 24 hours after we had returned to port.
We left Livingston at around 3 p.m. and arrived in Placencia 13 hours later at 4 a.m. after an uneventful but slow and rather rough sail. Since we were not yet checked into Belize, we couldn't linger in Placencia or even get off the boat, so we dropped anchor for just a couple of hours sleep. At first light we sailed to Dangriga, which we had heard was an easy and hassle-free place to check in. This indeed turned out to be the case -- not only did they not try to shake us down, they didn't ask for any money at all! We then had a great sail north, anchoring overnight at a small deserted island before reaching San Pedro the following afternoon. We stayed in San Pedro over the weekend so that we could avoid overtime fees when checking out. This time around San Pedro was quiet and peaceful as the tourist season was just about over.
From San Pedro we worked our way up the coast of Mexico, doing day hops only, and dropping the anchor at night at Bahia d'Ascension and Cozumel. We reached Isla Mujeres on the third day and stayed at the same marina we had enjoyed on our trip down. Diana, our daughter, flew into Cancun on May 25 and hopped the ferry over to Isal Mujeres to help us sail to key West.
We left Mexico on May 27th and had an uneventful trip with very light winds and calm seas. Luckily we were able to catch the gulfstream current and go fast despite the lack of wind. In boredom I put out a trolling line, not expecting to catch anything because we'd not had so much as a bit before, but a huge mahi-mahi bit the hook within a couple of hours. This one was so big he tore through the hook and jumped off the boat just as we after we had pulled him on board. A couple of hours later we were able to land a smaller one and enjoyed it very much that night for dinner. We arrived in Key West on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend after less than three days of sailing. Customs and Immigration was not available until the Sunday afternoon but had no concerns with us leaving the boat and in fact encouraged us to go out and enjoy ourselves. It was the most relaxed check in we have ever had -- they didn't want to see the boat and didn't even look at the paperwork on Max -- much less grueling than what we go through when flying. Key West was fun. We anchored close to the main section of town so it was a short dinghy ride to shore. We of course ate out a lot (!) and enjoyed walking around the old section of town.
After Diana flew home on June 1 we stayed in Key West for a couple more days then sailed to Marathon Key. The key is not much to speak of although it seems to be a very popular spot for cruisers. We only stayed one night then and then sailed up to Ft. Pierce which is about 50 miles or so north of Miami. On the way we caught another beautiful Mahi-mahi. I scoured our cookbooks and found just the right recipe to do this magnificent fish justice. We thought we were eating in a five star restaurant the fish was so good. While we were in Ft. Pierce Mark's aunt Bernice drove up from Del Rey and it was delightful to see her. Our next overnight sail got us to Fernandina Beach which is right at the border between Georgia and Florida and about 45 minutes from downtown Jacksonville. This is one of my favorite places in the world so we immediately hooked up with a realtor and looked at several houses. Found two very nice affordable places within walking distance to the beach, nature trails, shopping and the YMCA but slip fees for the boat are very expensive.
After staying in Fernandina for a little over a week, we did an overnight sail to Charleston and caught two beautiful Mackerel (which taste wonderful and not at all fishy or oily when fresh caught). We stayed in the downtown marina. We had a nice dinner out and a nice walk through the historic section, but we were eager to get moving so we left the next morning. Our most recent leg-from Charleston to Beaufort, NC -- was a rough downwind sail that caused the autopilot drive to fail. This meant we had to steer by hand all night (exhausting) so we decided to pull into the first safe inlet which turned out to be Cape Fear. On the up side, before the storm hit and we lost the autopilot, we caught a magnificent but unknown fish. We are searching books and pictures to determine what it was but it is definitely delicious. Right now we staying at a beautiful resort/marina on Bald Island. We leave tomorrow via the ICW for Wrightsville Beach so that Mark can pick up a cable for our other instruments from the West Marine there. From Wrightsville Beach we will head for New Bern and we expect to reach there before the week is out. We have reserved a slip at the Grand Marina in downtown New Bern and we expect to stay there for several months while we decide if it is the right place for us to settle full-time. Starting next week we will have full-time access to e-mail so would love to hear from anyone who has been following our (untimely) blog.
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