Day 23-24. 2nd year. June 12-13. Lay day at Lovesick and on to Buckhorn Lock 31. Miles 5.2. Total 3078 miles

Woke to a cloudy and off and on rainy day. Really more rain than not. Stayed at the lock wall in Lovesick. No sense moving on and have it not be fun.

After Bill and I traced down and fixed a small window leak, I spent my day catching up on paperwork and computer work and relaxing. Bill made marina reservations and trouble shot an inverter question. Was nice to have a more relaxing day.

Day 24 2nd year. June 13. On to Buckhorn

Woke to a beautiful sunny day with a gaggle of geese grazing just outside our boat. It is amazing how quickly the goslings grow!

Lovesick really is a beautiful location, remote, quiet and spectacular scenery.

Leaving Lovesick, we headed around the small granite islands of Lower Buckhorn Lake. We will travel the lake’s 5 mile length to Lock 31 at Buckhorn. Another short travel day today!

Lower Buckhorn Lake is filled with small island and it’s shores are filled with summer cottages and boathouses.

As we approach the lock, the lake narrows and we make our way through the channel to Lock 31 and the town of Buckhorn.

We tied to the lock wall and were greeted by the Harbor Host for Buckhorn, Dave Cronier. He provided us with local information and helped find the most reasonable diesel in the area. Dave will begin his own Great Loop soon on his Mainship 34, Ramble On II. Thanks, Dave. We will see you on the Loop! Buckhorn is named for the first settler, John Hall, to set up the grist and saw mills in the area in the 1830s, harnessing the power of the rapids here. He was an avid hunter and would put the deer antlers on the wall of his mill - thus Buckhorn.

Was busy at the lock with houseboats, many negotiating tying up to a wall and locking for the first time. We helped out a few and Bill could provide his sage advice and direction. In between locking, Andy, one of the Lockmasters, serenaded us with a special song on his guitar. Was a busy morning!!

After a quick lunch we headed out to the post office and to pick up some odds and ends at the grocery as these were within a five minute walk from the lock. Upon returning, we had a knock on our door and found Andy and Twyla whom we met two days ago. They offered us the use of their rental car. We took them up on that offer as resupplying drinks is a heavy proposition. Thanks Andy and Twyla.

Once we got our purchases stowed , we walked to the General store and partook of the infamous Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream. Canadians rave about this ice cream and I can see why! The Moose Tracks as the best!

Walking back through the canal waterfront park, we met a local couple who shared some tips on our next stop, Bobcaygeon. Assisting a cruiser to get tied up on the wall, allowed us to meet Garrett and May. So many nice boaters in Canada.

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

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