B-Bye Stuart

 Those Northern winds are just not cutting us a break at all.  The few days this month that they've shifted away from the North, they have been too strong to consider a safe and pleasant crossing.  Some boats, especially sailboats who are designed for such conditions, have gone across but, in all honestly, we're just not interested in banging around out there for nine or ten hours.  There's plenty to see here while we wait.  Usually things start to settle down in mid-February and we'll get our smooth and pleasant trip across the gulf stream and our Bahamas fix.

We've decided to move on from Stuart though and just cruise around in Florida, maybe work our way to the Keys, we'll see.  It's been a great month here in Stuart.

Here are a few highlights:

Tour of the renos they are completing

Reno tour

A Visit Home

View out the kitchen window of my
daughter and her husband's home.

I zipped home to Penetanguishene for a very short but sweet visit only to shock my newly developed Floridian blood with the coldest snap of the Canadian winter.  Yowzers!  They were calling it the arctic vortex.  I had forgotten how that first breath of really cold air shakes up the lungs.  I spent the weekend curled up in front of the fire, chatting and visiting with my daughter, her husband and my two granddaughters.  I needed that!

Daily Living

We've enjoyed lots of downtime just puttering, long walks, reading, hanging at the pool, happy hours, dinners with friends etc. I've been swimming about a km in the pool several times a week.  I sewed up some covers for our old mis-matched fenders, which looks a little tidier.  Jeff painted all the black trim on the boat which freshened things up.  The gran vida continues.  It's a great life!!

Our good buddies Joe and Connie (M/V Chesapeake) stopped in for a few days on their way through the Okeechobee waterway.  It was great to have a visit, even if it did piss-pour rain almost the whole time they were here.

 Dinner on M/V Chesapeake,  Joe and Connie's beautiful Kadey Krogan Manatee
L to R:  Cindy, Grant, Connie, Joe

We've seen quite a bit of wildlife:  Manatees, dolphins visit often, rays.
On the very top of the tuna tower on a sports fisher boat docked here in the marina,
the osprey have decided to build a nest. 
The owner cleans if off regularly but by the next morning they have
built it again.  Funny.  We think there are now babies in there!

Sewing in the Cockpit

New fender covers.  Tidier.

B-bye Crow Boat

I've written about our friends, Grant and Cindy's (M/V As The Crow Flies) and their engine trouble.  They'd just put new tanks into their boat, provisioned and prepared for a winter in the Bahamas when they discovered a small engine problem that morphed into a major one.  

Grant had accepted a position in Halifax which was to start in the spring.  Considering all, they made the difficult decision to list their boat for sale and head home early.  They've been busy packing and showing the boat and we've tried to do whatever we could to be helpful and supportive during this transition.  

Yesterday they had the boat towed to Indiantown for an engine rebuild and storage.  It was a sad day watching the sick Crowboat being towed away by Tow Boat US.

TowBoatUS, towing As the Crow Flies out of the marina
on "the hip".  They towed them nearly 25 km, through one lock.
She'll get all fixed up with a new engine and hopefully sell quickly.

It's been a good run, Stuart, but we can't sit still any longer.  After a quick oil change, we will pull out of our slip here at Harbourage Marina later today and see where hook drops tonight. Plenty of options.  It's been a great stay!