Stuart FL

Dinner on Grant and Cindy's lovely Albin Trawler.

The big wait begins.  The "big wait" being the wait for the right weather conditions to head out into the Atlantic on our older coastal cruiser and cross to the Bahamas.

We are here on the East coast of Florida, fully provisioned and ready to go.  Only King Neptune is not cooperating yet. The preferred time to cross to the Bahamas is in the spring.  But, like many snowbirds, the time we have is now.  Winter.  So we wait.  And wait.  For just the perfect combination of weather factors to make our trip out onto the big blue ocean not only safe, but pleasurable.  Ten hours of uncomfortable bouncing is NOT on my bucket list.

Early morning swim.
Best way to start the day!

Jeff bought me a new
hat for my birthday!

We intended to stay here at Harborage Marina for one night only.  Our boating buddies Grant and Cindy (M/V As The Crow Flies) are here preparing their boat for sale. We just wanted to visit for a day and then head out to anchor. The marina offered us such a good deal we thought, what the heck, and signed on for a week.

Our week has come and gone with no weather window in sight.  The marina offered us an even better deal for a month long stay, so here we sit.  It's a great place to wait, with an awesome pool, hot tub and a nice, easy walk into town for shopping.

It's been sunny and warm and we're managing to fill our time. Jeff's completed a few more projects on the boat.  A new horn has been installed and it's good and loud!  A new depth sounder/transponder is set up.  We've been having tons of fun with Grant and Cindy, managing to find various happy hours around town etc.  My birthday was celebrated by taking in the Stuart Boat Show which was conveniently located right outside the entrance to the marina.

The guys have enjoyed some fishing but they got "crabby" when they didn't catch any fish.  They did catch yet another frog on the boat though.  We thought we had gotten rid of them all from winter storage, but alas, one little critter was found in the pedestal of our captain's chair.  The poor little guy was white as could be.  What a testament to resilience.  Jeff and Grant "floated" him up to the top of the pedestal and threw him in the water, where he promptly started to swim back.  Days later, another frog was found in the dinghy (not sure if it was the same one).  He was taken farther from the boat and set "free".  Always an adventure!

Surf fishing.  Waiting for those rods to dance.

There are no weather windows opening up in the foreseeable future, so here we'll wait for the month of January or until the winds change, whichever comes first.  In the meantime, I've booked a quick visit home for my Nana fix.  Winter, here I come!

Gran Vida and As the Crow Flies, across from each other wisely placed alone at the end of the dock.