Ahoy Maties,

Rain was anticipated but it did not happen. It was a lovely sunrise.

This was to be our last full day on Moon Doggy and we were looking forward to a nice sail to Sugar Loaf Cay where we intended to spend the night. As it turned out we went around Set Point to Matt Lowe Cay since It provided protection from the SSE winds of the day.

Lyse got in a little helm time

Stephen tried a little fishing but got his line caught in the rudder and had to cut it. Later when we had anchored he would get into the water to find that the line had freed itself and all was fine.

Here's a little note of interest, especially to the guys. The ceiling above the potty is somewhat low making it seem difficult to relieve oneself standing up. Jay here has worked that problem out.

Lyse and Franci made chicken salad for lunch with last night's left over chicken. It was delicious.

Later we moved to anchor on the other side of the power boat to give him some more room.

That afternoon Jay took a nap, Franci blogged and all enjoyed a little quiet time.

For dinner the challenge was to eat as many of the leftover food as possible. We still had shrimp cocktail to go along with chicken salad, tuna salad, fruit, frozen vegetables and other miscellaneous leftover items.

Wednesday morning we would turn in the boat by noon. It would be the end of a grand adventure. Stephen got a little helm time on the way back to Hope Harbor.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Stephen and Franci

If you are following this blog and get email notice of each new post remember to click on Dolce Vitaville at the top or put the link in you browser. Other wise you may only get the text and not the pictures

Ahoy Maties,

To begin, a word of advice to any of who are following and are not seeing photos with this blog. If you click on the title, Dolce Vitaville Blog #19, all the pictures will come up.

Sunday night we had happy hour and a great dinner. We listened to Sister Jane on the laptop and had a really, really good time!

Monday morning we all slept late. The sun had already come up when we finally arose. There was a lot of moaning. We may have had a little too much fun at happy hour the evening before. Stephen had a few miscellaneous pains, perhaps a little sore from his snorkel experience the day before.

The snorkelers reported an okay snorkel. Lyse was pleased to see some new coral growth, although she said she got a little cold toward the end. They saw a barracuda, a grouper guarding his home near some cinder blocks, a small lobster, a giant starfish, lots of small tropical fish, a HUGE starfish.and the BIGGEST sea cucumber they have ever seen. They also saw a barbeque pit and some random garbage. Stephen caught two small yellowtail snapper which he intends to use for cut bait.

After lunch, we anchored by White Sound where we took the dinghy to Sea Spray Marina for ice.

That night we anchored at Tahiti Beach. We dinghied ashore at low tide and found lots of living sea life.

Jelly Fish

Starfish

Sand Dollars

Octopus

We saw a baby conch as well but the camera had run out of batteries by then. It was a very cool tour. Magic!

For dinner we had grilled chicken, green beans, potatoes and salad.

Jay did a little evening fishing.

We expected a thunderstorm in the night so we put down the eisenglass protection all around. Just before retiring, a large moth flew into the cockpit and startled us. It was actually quite lovely.

The sunset was great an we could not resist one more group hoot.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Stephen and Franci

If you are following this blog and get email notice of each new post remember to click on Dolce Vitaville at the top or put the link in you browser. Other wise you may only get the text and not the pictures

Maties, another Dolce Vitaville sailing blog post blowin' your way!

Sunday morning we were up before sunrise. We generally get up before sunrise because dawn is so beautiful on the water.

Lyse did her morning exercises in preparation for snorkeling today

Stephen did the daily job of emptying water from the ice chest. We use the water for the solar sun shower and 2 gallon sprayer.

At 10 a.m. we left Little Harbor but not before taking a short cruise around the harbor to get a better look at the caves.

Stephen made a nice video of the tour,

This man with his dog are out perhaps looking for conch. He supplied conch for a big conch salad at the restaurant last night. He also brought flowers for each of the ladies in the restaurant. Stephen gave him a tip and he got a flower, too.

Here's an interesting two masted boat we saw in the harbor

It was a short motor ride to our destination, Lynard Cay. There were six foot swells along the way and we were rocking and rolling. Our drinks rested nicely on the table. We love catamarans. We love this boat!

We anchored at Lynyard Cay and Lyse, Jay and Stephen put on their snorkeling gear and took off on their adventure. Franci stayed behind and prepared tuna fish for lunch. She also boiled water for the 2 gallon sprayer so that warm showers would be ready for them on their return.

On the other side of the beach was the ocean

They reported that it was an invigorating snorkel. They found fun things along the way.

A star fish.

A conch.

A sea biscuit.

After their adventure, they put the snorkel gear back on and returned to the boat, happy and satisfied.

After lunch, we set sail for Tilloo Cay where there is also good fishing and snorkeling. Jay wanted to troll along the way and took a day off from being at the helm. Franci got to sail the boat that day. Everybody is getting their wish list buttons punched. Life is good.

Here's Lyse helping Jay straighten out his trolling line, a lovely assistant she can be.

We arrived at our destination on Tilloo Cay at 5 p.m. We anchored by what they call the fish hotel. Our neighbors at anchor were fishing. Stephen watched them through the binoculars hoping to see them catch a fish. He attracted their curiosity and they came by to say hello.

Sunset was gorgeous as always.

At the moment the sun went down we enjoyed a group hoot together in honor of Lilly, Lyse's chimpanzee she raised back in the 70's.

For dinner we had Mahi Mahi grilled with zucchinis and served with rice and beans. For hor'derves we had leftovers from last night's dinner at Little Harbor.

Stephen and Jay tried a little fishing off the boat in the evening. In the morning it would be snorkeling.

If you are following this blog and get email notice of each new post remember to click on Dolce Vitaville at the top or put the link in you browser. Other wise you may only get the text and not the pictures

Saturday morning we were up early. Lyse started the coffee water at 5:30 a.m. At 8 a.m. we left Guana Cay headed for Hope Town, our home harbor.

As always here in the Abacos it was a beautiful day for sailing and we had a lovely two hour sail to Hope Town. There we were able to get rid of the garbage which was beginning to stink up Jay's bedroom since the best place to store it seems to be under his bed, the settee. We also bought more beverages, food and lots of ice. The plan was to sail south all the way to Little Harbor and there are no stores south of Hope Town

It was an exciting three hour sail to Little Harbor. Captain Jay was again at the helm. Lyse was first mate.

We arrived in Little Harbor at 3:30 p.m. Little Harbor is an art community and we were excited about seeing the gallery with all the very fine sculpture. Little Harbor was settled in the 1950's by a sculptor named Randolph Johnston, his wife and son, Pete. Pete also is a sculptor and the specialty is bronze. The gallery closes each day at 4 p.m. so we hurried ashore

We found this wonderful bottle opener and gave it to Jay for his birthday and for being such a great host. Jay and Lyse hosted this week's charter. Jay is also responsible for finding the Maine Cat 30 and telling us he thought this was the boat of our dreams. He was so right. We love this boat!

This pier has seen better days.

That night we had dinner at Pete's Pub. They have marvelous food that's served on outdoor picnic tables.

The fish was good, too.

At 6 p.m. a big boat arrived with forty folks all dressed in white…….quite a sight! It turned out to be a wedding party. The bride and groom were from France and there were folks from Germany, Istanbul, the US and no telling where else. They were a very international bunch and after their two hour stay at Pete's Pub they boarded the big boat and headed back to Hope Town, a three hour boat ride. FUN!

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stephen

Fair winds maties, Stephen and Franci

Ahoy Maties,

On Friday we sailed to Guana Cay for a little snorkeling and fishing. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze. Lyse raised the sails and Franci worked the jib. It took only a short sail to get to Guana Cay so we sailed around just for fun for awhile before anchoring close to Delia Cay.

Jay and Lyse put on their wetsuits and went out for a little snorkeling. They reported that they did not find a good spot for snorkeling but they had a lot of fun chasing a turtle with the dinghy instead.

It was a relaxing afternoon. Franci worked on the blog and caught up with email messages. There was good Internet service. Here we are relaxing in our berths.

Jay and Stephen tried a little fishing. After being successful fishing off the back of the boat, they took the dinghy to another good spot.

Lyse and Franci tried out the two gallon garden sprayer with the shower nozzle. It already had about a gallon of water in it. We added a pot of boiling water to it. It was enough for two people to have a nice warm shower

The fishing trip was a total success. Stephen cleaned the 10 grunts and one porgy that they had caught. It was a big job but he was a happy man.

After that he needed a good shower.

For dinner we had fresh fish, boiled potatoes and a green salad.

This is all that was left when we were through eating.

As always it was a beautiful sunset.

Life is good!

Fair winds,

Stephen and Franci

Fair winds maties, Stephen and Franci