Wednesday, after buying provisions, we took the ferry to Hope Town where Ron, our chart rep, met us with his boat. He loaded our five bags and one cooler onto his boat mentioning that we had enough stuff for six people. He took us to Moon Doggy, the Maine Cat 30 we have chartered for the week.

He gave us an an hour to put away our “stuff” and then came back to give us a briefing on the boat systems. By that time it was four o'clock and we all agreed to put off the check out sail until the next morning,

We got into our dinghy and went to Capt. Jack's for dinner and drinks.

The next day, Thursday, we went for our check out sail. Ron is very thorough and even though we are experienced sailors we still learned some new tricks. We enjoyed our day of sailing and returned to Hope Town harbour that afternoon.

We did some sightseeing in Hope Town that afternoon and then returned to the boat to cook dinner….steaks, purple potatoes, snow peas and tomatoes….YUM! I have to admit that we are great cooks.

Sunset in the harbour was lovely.

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Maties, another sailing blog post blow'in your way!

We made it to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas with all our luggage.

On the way down on the airplane we traveled from Houston to Ft Lauderdale with Will Gullatt on the same flight. He is with a group from his work going for a retreat in Nassau we think.

Our flight from Ft L. was delayed for three hours so we hung at Chili's with drinks and potato soup until we heard an announcement with our names. When we checked the United terminal we discovered that they had been calling for us for a long time but we hadn't heard because of the crowded restaurant. Luckily we just made the other flight they had arranged and we soon arrive via puddle jumper to Treasure Cay, the substitute destination. They bought us a cab ride to Marsh Harbour where we were originally bound. It was great except for the old guy who kept whistling “Deck the Halls.” The cab took us to the ferry landing in Marsh Harbour.

The other folks in the cab, including Mr. Christmas, were taking the ferry to Hope Town like we will be tomorrow. From there the cab driver took us to Island Boy Tackle where we rented two fishing rods and a gaff. Then on to the Conch Inn for the night.

We made our way to the room and then the bar for rum and conch fritters.

Tomorrow we shop for provisions here in the morning and then take the ferry over to Hope Town, about a 10 mile trip,to meet Ron the charter rep. and board the boat. After a three hour checkout sail we will sleep on the boat and then sail away on Wednesday provided we pass the check out sail.

That's all for now. See you tomorrow with new adventures and more pictures.

Stephen and Franci

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Maties, another sailing blog post blow'in your way!

We made it to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas with all our luggage.

On the way down on the airplane we traveled from Houston to Ft Lauderdale with Will Gullatt on the same flight. He is with a group from his work going for a retreat in Nassau we think.

Our flight from Ft L. was delayed for three hours so we hung at Chili's with drinks and potato soup until we heard an announcement with our names. When we checked the United terminal we discovered that they had been calling for us for a long time but we hadn't heard because of the crowded restaurant. Luckily we just made the other flight they had arranged and we soon arrive via puddle jumper to Treasure Cay, the substitute destination. They bought us a cab ride to Marsh Harbour where we were originally bound. It was great except for the old guy who kept whistling “Deck the Halls.” The cab took us to the ferry landing in Marsh Harbour.

The other folks in the cab, including Mr. Christmas, were taking the ferry to Hope Town like we will be tomorrow. From there the cab driver took us to Island Boy Tackle where we rented two fishing rods and a gaff. Then on to the Conch Inn for the night.

We made our way to the room and then the bar for rum and conch fritters.

Tomorrow we shop for provisions here in the morning and then take the ferry over to Hope Town, about a 10 mile trip,to meet Ron the charter rep. and board the boat. After a three hour checkout sail we will sleep on the boat and then sail away on Wednesday provided we pass the check out sail.

That's all for now. See you tomorrow with new adventures and more pictures.

Stephen and Franci

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Ahoy Maties, a Dolce Vitaville blog post blowin' your way.

We are getting a sailboat for Lake Travis so we can join our friends Jim and Nancy, Will, and Allen who have boats there. This way we can sail more often than once every summer in the islands and take more friends sailing. It will be a Maine Cat 30 and look much like the boat shown in the header when complete. These days it looks like this:

It is being built in Bremen, Maine. When finished in late April we, with the help of a delivery skipper and his wife, plan to sail it from Maine to Galveston. That will take 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the weather. The google earth shot below is an approximation of the route we will take. We may hug the coast more and perhaps motor in the icw if the weather is bad.

In the mean time we have chartered a Maine Cat 30 in the Abacos in the Bahamas for 6 days to get an early feel for it. We leave for the Bahamas Jan. 21st and the blog will really begin there. We will try to post something about our adventures there and a photo or two every day or so. This will be Stephen's second salt water boat.

It was a one of a kind thing made of cypress plank and fiberglass over. The fiberglass was probably added later after the hull started to leek. It was 21' on deck and 27' over all due to the bow sprit and boomkin, a sprit on the stern. The jib was set on a club foot and was self trimming. It had a cuddy cabin below with only 4 feer of head clearance and could sleep two people or 3 hippies. He kept it a Watergate Marina on Galvston Bay from 1976 to 1978. It cost $1400, requiring a $700 loan against his car and the rest owner financed. What a deal. The Dolce Vitaville, the name for our new one, will cost substantially more.

So this is the first blog. We hope the next one will have pictures of the Bahamas. By the time the big trip comes around in May we hope to be slicker at this posting business. We will have internet in the Bahamas so feel free to email us at stephenandfranci@gmail.com.

That's all for now. Let us know what you think. And you are invited to go sailing this July when we getting in the lake!

Stehen and Franci

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