January 16 – Day 23 Underway

We woke up Wednesday to a weather shift in Lucaya that made it clear we weren’t going anywhere. Since leaving was off the table, I figured it was the perfect day to go shopping! I especially wanted to be sure I had tennis sneakers on hand—just in case this opportunity presented itself again. I headed out while Steve stayed behind working on… you guessed it… more boat projects.

Thursday was very cold here in Florida—though nothing like what’s happening up north. The wind generator was absolutely going crazy!

Today we ventured out again to pick up a few more supplies, as we’re now thinking tomorrow may be our departure day for Lucaya. A good weather window appears to be opening, and as luck would have it, we’ve secured a new reservation at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club.

Nine out of the twenty-three boats left Wednesday for the Berries, and everyone arrived safely. Thursday’s weather turned out just as rough as predicted, which made us very glad we stayed put. We really don’t need any more “character-building” situations!

Since the crossing will take about 20 hours, I decided some homemade muffins or banana bread would be good comfort food. It turns out we seriously overbought carrots, so carrot muffins it was! I had just put the bread in the oven when—out of the blue—it hit me: I forgot two ingredients. So out came the loaf, into a bowl it went, ingredients added, back into the pan, and back into the oven. Ridiculous… but hopefully still edible!

We were able to watch this yacht enter the marina this morning, and the photo really doesn’t do it justice.

We decided to head out on another boat tour in our dinghy. I went to grab my phone and couldn’t find it anywhere, so I assumed I must have left it on the boat—especially since I wanted to take some good photos of the superyachts. Turns out, my phone had fallen out of my pocket and was sitting in the dinghy the whole time. UGH! 

I also forgot to mention that while we were in Vero Beach, we met a man from Britain who is doing the Great Loop Great Loop - Wikipedia in a kayak—for charity! His name is Steve Chard, 61-Year-Old Kayaker Paddling the Great Loop | PropTalk and he casually said, “The alligators haven’t got me yet.” That alone makes it sound like one incredibly challenging (and brave) adventure.

As of now, the plan is to get underway tomorrow before noon. It looks like there will be seven or eight other boats heading out along the same route.

Another adventure awaits!

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