Still My Cin: April 2009

Sunset In The Bahamas. We are anchored out at Great Sale Cay - our last stop before we head to West End on Grand Bahama Island to make our crossing. We tried to make one attempt to cross and it was way to rough. We ended up staying five days at the Grand Bahama Island cruising from West End to Freeport and back to West End to cross. We enjoyed seeing all the island chains but the "fronts" that kept blowing in got very old. We are so ready to get back to Texas. It's been a great two year adventure but it is time to go home. You can double click on any of the pictures to see them better.

April 15, 2009...we made our crossing from the Bahamas to Lake Worth, Florida. The crossing was PERFECT. Very flat and no swells. As we were approaching the Florida coastline, a storm was heading toward us. The sun went down behind the storm clouds and this was the reflection on the clouds behind us. The storm wasn't bad...a free boat wash from mother-nature.

We are cruising the ICW thru West Palm Beach, Florida. The homes on both sides of the ICW are incredible, huge and rich. The two pictures below are just a sample of the many pictures I took.

We are entering the Okeechobee Lake from the east side of the waterway. The lake level was down so we were able to just cruise right thru the lock. The crossing is about 25 miles long and the lake was very calm that day. If there is a strong wind, the lake can be nasty.

This is Roland Martin's Marina just off the Okeechobee Lake. He is the famous fishing guide and has a TV show. Very neat marina with a great restaurant, band and the most incredible marine store I have ever seen at a marina since we have been on this trip. As you can see this channel is very narrow and Capt. Still had to back the boat in all the way to the end. By the end of the day, the whole dock was full with boats. The dock master told us it would be easier to leave the dock this way. Unfortunately, when we left the next the day, the wind had picked up and was blowing us into the dock. It took us about five times but we made it. Capt. Still is the best.

This alligator was at the end of our dock at the Roland Martin's Marina.

We are on the west side of the Okeechobee Lake cruising the waterway to Ft. Myers. This old boy was either yawning at us or letting us know he was hungry.

One of the many cuts to the Gulf of Mexico off the ICW. We were between Venice and Sarasota.

Edith and Ned Farrar, our good friends from Corpus Christi, flew to Ft. Myers and traveled with us to St. Petersburg. We had a great week of weather and cruising.

Everyone would ask us if we ever encountered "pirates" in the Bahamas. Never a problem. Here are pirates cruising the ICW in Florida!

We are cruising past Clearwater, Florida and there are these wonderful "little oasis" along the ICW. We are currently in Tarpon Springs waiting for our "Gulf of Mexico window crossing". Once we make that, haulin' our ship back home to Port Aransas, where we have rented a slip at Island Moorings. More to come later down the road.

Georgetown...we spent a week in Georgetown and this is the last Cay in the Exumas that we visited. The next six pictures are of the area in Georgetown and heading back north to make our way to the Eleuthera Islands. We had a wonderful time in the Exumas even though the weather was not that great (alot of cold fronts and high winds). As you can see in the pictures, the water is just incredible here.

Cool lagoon at Musha Cay, Exumas.

We are passing Musha Cay in the Exumas (making our way north to Eleuthera Islands). As I mentioned before, Musha Cay is privately owned and visits to ashore are invitation only. This big boy was invited.

This is how the Bahamas looks when the weather is perfect. We are crossing the Bight of Eleuthera. It was an incredible day. We cranked up the tunes and beverage of choice and had a wonderful crossing.