September 19-20. Getting ready to leave Crustacean for the winter

We’ve got Crustacean clean and stowed away for the winter.

Taking in all the cushions, flags and stowing fenders, as well as defrosting the refrigerator, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen and emptying the water tanks and polishing the stainless. Been busy.

Took time to go to lunch and poked around the small town of Brewerton. Found a replica blockhouse that originally built in 1742 and stood not far from the marina on the canal.

Walked in a park and discovered this church made of river stones.

We picked up the rental car and loaded it with all that needs to be carted back to Florida. Had to work around a few raindrops while loading. Also had some last minute chores to do.

We met a couple who came in the marina that live on Georgian Bay (a bay off Lake Huron in Ontario Province, Canada) and invited them over to our boat to share their knowledge. In return, we shared all the places we stopped on our voyage, as they are doing the loop and heading to Florida and the Bahamas this winter. Georgian Bay is one of the highlights of the Americas Great Loop. Was wonderful to get local knowledge. Will get to experience Georgian Bay in the next year of our cruise.

Thought you’d enjoy the lengths Bill will go to get grilled corn on the cob. He even grills on the rain!

We packed the car and it was full! Driving home will entail three stops. Our first is Roanoke,VA to visit Gary Hiler. We enjoyed the evening and had a nice dinner out.

The next day we took off and stopped in Greenville, SC to have lunch with my sister, Sue and then continued on to Atlanta to visit with my daughter, Cori and her family. We spent three days getting our grandkid fix.

We headed home September 25 and arrived around dinner time and unpacked the rental car just in time for hurricane Ian to head to the West Coast of Florida. The next day we returned the rental car and finished a few hurricane prep items at our house and went to our son’s house in town to help him get his home ready for the storm.

In the afternoon it was confirmed that we were to evacuate by 6:00 pm due to the storm. Once we finished at Kyle’s house we headed to Duane’s house in Deland to wait out the storm.

We returned home on September 29th and found our home in good shape except for downed palm fronds and small oak branches. Took us two hours of collecting debris- filled up 6 trash cans! Glad to have this storm behind us.

It is good to be home and have enjoyed catching up with friends and neighbors.

This will be my last entry in the blog for this cruising season. I will contact you towards the end of May, 2023 as we begin the next leg of our trip.

Enjoyed sharing our experiences with you as we traveled the waterways of our country and those of Canada. So much history and beauty in this country. So many wonderful people.

Side trip to the Bahamas- Preparations

As we prepare for our Bahamian Adventure, we are making lists upon lists of things to do and provisions to buy for our upcoming trip to the Bahamas. Bill has spent much time readying the boat for the cruise, checking engines, batteries and all the systems on the boat - electrical, plumbing, navigation, refrigeration and air conditioning. Sure kept Bill busy!!! We took the boat out to check all the systems and to get fuel. We had to re-remember all the navigation and auto pilot workings and surprisingly we did remember!! We have spent the last two days loading the boat with provisions- water, food, tools, clothes, toiletries and cleaning supplies, and our pantry and cabinets are full. We are sitting a bit heavier in the water now that we are fully loaded. Also Bill has finally gotten his TO DO list down to the few remaining items so he sees the light at the end of the tunnel!! We have researched the charts and guide books and have a tentative pla...

Day 24-25 April 15-16 On to Hopetown and Lay day in Hopetown. Miles 12.6. Total 460.6

Day 24 We had a change of plans. Our friends who we met cruising the Loop, Trisha and Mike, are traveling north through the Bahamas and are close, so we will join then in Hope Town. We will then back track a bit to visit Man-o-War Cay and Marsh Harbor after visiting with them. It is a bright sunny day with light winds as we weigh anchor to leave Great Guana. There is lots of freight and commercial traffic today- tugs and barges, large freighters and flat bed delivery boats. It takes all these to handle the shipping needs and construction on the islands. We trip today took along the north east side of Great Guana and then past Scotland Cay, which is all privately owned. Next we passed Fowl Cay which is a nature preserve known for its diving. Following Fowl Cay is Man-o-War Channel with its deep water access to the Atlantic and Man-o-War Cay, known for its ship building and maintenance. Sorry, pictures of the passes and islands did not turn out too well...

On to Allan's-Pensacola Cay. Day 12. April 3. Mile 35.2. Total mile

Day 12 We left our anchorage at sunrise to head out of Great Sale Cay Harbor. Turning west and then north, we will cruise around Great Sale Cay toward Abaco's barrier islands, eventually reaching the eastern edge of the Little Bahama Bank today. As we turn Northeast, we get some spray. Crustacean is quite salty now! Winds are out of the east 10-15 knots with waves at one foot. We cruise past Little Sale Cay we see a steady stream of sailboats going both east and west. I counted 15 total. Nice wind for sailing. Halfway through our trip, you begin to see the outer barrier islands on the horizon to the north. Five miles later you can see Little Abaco Island to our south. Here is a chart of the area we traveled from Great Sale to Allan's-Pensacola Cay today. The further we travel east, the Little Bahama Bank narrows, The winds pick up and seas run 1-2 feet. Crustacean got even saltier! As we approached Allan's-Pensacola the wind and sea...

Crustacean Travels

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