A Change of Plans

A change of plans, yes, nothing new with us. I am learning that one of the things I needed to learn on this adventure is that plans change all the time and that is ok.

We have some changes in our boating plans.  It has been evolving and changing ever since we left for our boating adventure.  Let me explain… after all, everything is a big, long story with me.

We have been thinking about our boat plans since this past fall.  We have loved some aspects of our new life: the ocean, seeing new places, meeting new people, learning new skills, the great sea creatures, the sailing (Paul and I really liked) but we haven't loved some other things like: heat and humidity in the Florida summer, stressful and frequent boat repairs, scary lightning storms, sailing-kids don’t love it as much as Paul and I).  Then, in October when we were listening to General Conference and the new changes were announced for missionary ages ,that also brought on some potential changes as Jack is getting ready to serve an LDS mission. We talked a lot and prayed a lot.  We decided that we would probably just do the boat thing until the spring so that we could still go out to the places we were excited to see, but  then come back to get Jack off on his mission a little sooner because our whole family is really excited about  this upcoming adventure for him.  After deciding this, we decided that maybe we should think about selling the boat sooner than later because if we waited until spring or early summer that is not such a good time to sell a boat when hurricane season is coming on.  We were concerned that we would get stuck with the boat for many months and have to pay to keep it in a marina (expensive) during another hurricane season (stressful because of the storms). So, we decided to list the boat for sale and to see how much interest there was in the boat, and if we did get a contract maybe we could arrange with a potential buyer to finish our few more months sailing before completing a possible boat sale.  So that was the latest plan as we left the US for the Bahamas.  At this time, the weather and the boat were not being cooperative. Then we got a full price, cash offer to sell the boat.  We had a very hard decision to make. We were not loving the boat at the moment, and a few other things had come up back in Utah as well.  This was a great offer and possibly a great answer to not have to worry about holding onto the boat during the upcoming hurricane season, but the buyer really wanted the boat by the beginning of February which was a couple of months sooner than we wanted to give it up. We talked to the kids about their thoughts too. That would mean that we would have about 2 more months to enjoy the Bahamas. They said that they were all fine with it either way.  So we decided to accept the offer after much deliberation and prayer. 

After that, the boat and weather started working great for us and we were really having a great time in the Bahamas. Paul and I sometimes thought that maybe the buyer might change his mind (he could do that anytime until the survey-inspection was done the end of January).  At this point, we were kind of wishing that we could do this longer, but a few of the kids were more excited at the idea of coming home. The last 2 months of great weather and great sailing flew by  and we had a fabulous time. We felt some anxiety just wondering how it would all work out- would we be selling the boat or staying on it longer.  We made our way back to Florida and just enjoyed and experienced everything we could as we went and just trusted that it would work out  the right way for our family.

So now the latest. The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind.  We made it back to Florida, the buyer did not change his mind, and we have sold the boat. We have had mixed emotions and will miss many things. But we are excited to come home and get back to family and whatever our next adventure in life will be. I feel so very thankful that we were able to have this experience. Even though it was 8 months instead of a year, I don’t regret it for a minute. It was the hardest and most challenging experience of my life  and at the same time the funnest and most exciting experience of my life.  And the coolest thing has been seeing how great it has been for my family. We were able to visit some of the most beautiful, amazing places on earth, that can only be accessed by private boat, along with some more popular cruising locations.  We met and made many new and interesting friends along the way.  We loved seeing how it has brought us closer as a family and helped us to appreciate our many blessings and to learn the things that are most important to us. My hope is that we can get back into the business of life but not forget the lessons and experiences we have had and not let life's distractions get in the way of what is most important to us.
So, that is the latest. Now that we are back in the country, maybe I can start  uploading all of our pictures we took in the Bahamas that I couldn't load when we were out there, so I will start working on that while we get settled back into the winter life here. :)

And the most exciting new news!! Jack just received his mission call!!  He has been called to serve in the California, Oakland/San Francisco mission.  We are super excited for him.

Alders Cay, Chub Cay 1/19-1/22

A beautiful sunset soon after we anchored at Alders Cay

 

 

 

 This floating concrete dock we found reminded us of a scene from National Treasure - good balancing huh?

 

 

Miracle of miracles! I got a few pictures to upload!  First time in forever!  That makes me happy. 
Anyway, this is Alders Cay.  We had to stop here since it is my mom's maiden name. :)  It is a small cay and didn't look like much coming to it from the ocean side, but we came around the cut and it was a wonderful find! 
It had a great beach with super soft sand and cool shells. It had big palm trees with ripe coconuts (we snagged a few and they were yummy! We walked around and explored and found a beautiful lagoon with a couple of docks. It has been fixed up really nice by someone, but we didn't find any people or any resorts.

 

 

Paul and Emily went spearfishing and Paul was successful! He caught a snapper and it was super yummy!. If you know me very well, you might know that I don't love lots of kinds of fish, but this one was very mild and tender and I loved it!  Lucy and Noah snorkeled around here too and we saw 2 sharks near the lagoon.

The kids were very entertaining to watch as they tried to get coconuts from the tall tree. They tried throwing old coconuts from the ground to knock down the good ripe ones, but that didn't work. Then Noah sat on Jack's shoulders and was able to reach up and grab and twist off a couple. They were successful! It's weird.  My kids don't like any desserts with coconut but they really liked the real, fresh coconuts and we ate them up fast.

At the end of the island we noticed what looked like a cave so we dinghied over and checked it out. It was a cave and we went in it and it was really fun to go through it. It even went to the other side of the island where waves would crash into it. It was a great find.  Overall we loved this place!

Next stop was Chub Cay -just a few hours away from Alders. On the way over, Paul and the kids had just put out the fishing pole and they got a bite. It was very exciting. They have had bites here and there, but no real luck lately. Today was the lucky day!  It was quite a battle that lasted forever it seemed and ended with Paul pulling up a huge silver fish. He guesses it was about 40 pounds. We checked all the charts and pictures we have and are still trying to figure out what it is. We do know that it is huge and it was so exciting!

Chub Cay had tons of big starfish on the ground all around the anchorage, so the girls jumped in and started rounding up all the starfish they could into one big group for a picture. They ended up with at least 30!  They are each about a foot in diameter and are really cool. They are bright red and yellow. It is funny how you don't really notice starfish moving and they seem to move really slow until you are trying to group them together for a picture and then they just won't stay where you put them. The girls had quite a workout with them.

We found a nice beach at Chub too that also had some of the finest sand ever. It felt like walking in flour- not that I've walked in flour before-but I think that is what it would feel like.  We found lots of cute little hermit crabs at the beach and the kids decided to have crab races.  They were naming them and cheering for their favorites and it was a ton of fun. I'm glad that they always think of new things to do at the beaches.

 

 

 

Noah loves the dinghy rides. This is his favorite spot to ride and warn us about "incoming waves!"

 

 

Emily and I have been practising our cooking skills. Here we are making homemade tortillas. Yes, I am using a can of cannola spray as my rolling pin. We have to be creative sometimes.

Highborne, Allen's Cay, Rose Island 1/15-1/18

Some of these cays may sound familiar. Yes, we have stopped at Allen's and Highborne before, but since we have been headed north again, we came upon them again. We had nice sails on the banks side to get here.
At Highborne we found some new snorkel spots that we missed the first time and they were some of the most colorful reefs we have seen.

 

At Allen's we snorkeled and played with all the iguanas again. We were going to pass Allen's and anchor at Ship Channel Cay, but as we were passing the island and saw all the iguanas, Noah got all excited and wanted to go see them again, so we anchored there instead and spent a fun afternoon visiting iguanas, snorkeling, swimming and burying Noah in the sand at the beach. It was a nice afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't she the tropical island princess? :)

 

The next day we we continued north to Rose Island. There wasn't enough wind to sail so we motored. The water was really cool looking today. It looked emerald green and was really pretty and without many waves, it was so clear.

 

 

Rose Island didn't have any exciting snorkeling that we could find, but we checked out a few trails on the island and found a deserted resort area where Lucy got scared by an awesome pot bellied pig. He was funny. I collected a few more palm fronds for my basket weaving and accidently poked a palm frond up my nose. Don't ask me how I am that talented, but I got a fun nose bleed out of that. Didn't know palm fronds were so sharp on the end. Thankful that besides that and the occasional cuts and scrapes on the feet and legs, we have been very blessed to be safe and healthy. Thankful for that.

Cave, Sampson, Pipe, and Shroud Cays 1/12-1/15

We decided to move on and explore some new places. Since the winds have not been good for going south and were not forcasted to improve for that direction, we went North and decided to check out a bunch of the cays we skipped when we were going south the first time.

On 1/12 we sailed to Cave Cay. The waves were forcasted to be kind of big (5-7) feet because of the recent windiness, so we weren't looking forward to that, but it actually went quite well. The waves were that big, but since we were going North/northwest, it didn't feel like we were fighting the waves or ploughing right into them. That really makes all the difference. Sadly sometimes you have to go against the stuff and it is not so pleasant. So anyway, we had a good sail and made excellent time -7-9 knots per hour. We got to Cave Cay early afternoon and dinghied around and took a few pictures. We had only been there an hour or two and decided that we might move on a little more. So we sailed on the banks side -much calmer- a few more hours and anchored at Sampson Cay. It was a really good sailing day.

 

On 1/13 after our church service we decided to go explore the area in the dinghy. We went up through a really pretty area called Pipe Creek. It is a shallow area with lots of small cays and rocks and is perfect for the dinghy. We did some of the best snorkeling we have found anywhere here and then we found a new favorite beach. It was at Pipe Cay and had a a big beautiful shallow area and we found tons of beautiful conch shells as well as lots of live conch. We took a few to cook up. We had a nice day.

another amazing sunset... soon after anchoring at shroud cay

 

 

 

camp driftwood

1/14 We sailed up to Shroud Cay and had good sailing weather again. Nice to have wind with a broad reach lately and have even been able to use the spinaker again -for the first time since being in Georgia.  All this time since Georgia we have had winds at a close reach.  We spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday checking out Shroud Cay.  It has many creeks with mangroves that are fun to explore by dinghy. We also hiked up the trail to camp driftwood and it was a pretty point.It is called camp driftwood because people have made things out of trash and driftwood that has floated to the beach. There were a couple of driftwood -statues and they were funny. The little beach there also had the softest, finest sand we have ever felt. That was nice.

Georgetown, Great Exuma 1/3-1/11/13

Look at us stay still for more than a couple of days.  It has been fun to stay put and relax a little. This is a really fun place. There are tons of cruisers that just stay here in George Town for the cruising season we hear. It is a good size town with good grocery selection and prices, plus it is still really pretty with lots to do too.  It was so nice to have some fresh produce and to buy bread again. I have been baking bread a lot since it has been crazy expensive at the little stores on the smaller cays.

the Chat'n chill  (sorry my finger snuck in the picture)

 

 could he get any more particles of sand on himself?

Hanging out with the stingrays.

working on the volleyball skills.

The cruising community is so nice here. There are lots of activities and things to do. It has been fun for the kids to meet a few other kids and make a few new friends. There is a fun beach -hang out spot called volleyball beach that has a little hamburger restaurant/bar (Chat'n Chill). We decided since we haven't eaten out at all since we were in Utah, we would get a hamburger and it was heavenly. Volleyball beach also has a big shady area with tables where people come hang out in the afternoons to play volleyball, visit, play at the beach or in the water, swing from the trees, play their guitars, or even weave baskets. Some sting rays hang out at this beach too -they must get fed a lot- so the kids like to wade out and pet the stingrays too. There are lots of trails and pretty beaches all around too.

In the mornings, we get school work done, work on boat projects, laundry, etc, and then enjoy the sunshine and such in the afternoon. It has been a nice routine lately.
On Sunday, we went to Beach Church (along with doing our own family meeting later) and that was pretty cool. It was a very different, unique experience for church and we had fun. The people here are just so very nice and welcoming. I even learned how to weave a basket with the cute retired ladies and it was pretty fun. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be sitting here, in the Bahamas, living on a boat, weaving baskets, I would have laughed hard!

kind of far...but this is the bagpiper doing his nightly performance.

Another cool thing here, even though there are lots of boats in the anchorages and so it is a little less peaceful and private, there are some fun things with all the people around. Like when someone starts blowing a conch shell and many others start chiming in, or, the boat right next to us has a guy who stands at his bow every evening and plays his bagpipe for about 10 minutes. I don't think I have ever been much of a bagpipe music fan, but when he is doing it there and it is quiet and nice scenery and such, it is just really cool.

 

 sorry for the fogging on the camera.

 

We did some snorkeling, but the water has been a bit cloudy due to the higher winds so not as great for snorkeling. But the beaches and hiking the trails and other stuff is still really nice. Sometimes we hike over to the ocean side of the island and play in the breaking waves too.

 

 

Our last day here we had a fun surprise. We looked out and saw a dolphin by our boat. We haven't seen dolphins as much out in the Bahamas so we were excited. Paul, Jack, and Lucy were gone in the dinghy-lobster hunting, but Em and Noah quickly jumped in the water. We didn't think the dolphin would stick around, but he did and Em and Noah swam around with him for awhile. He would let them get within about 5-6 feet of him. It was really exciting to get to swim with dolphins. He hung around for about a half hour. That will be a great memory.
Another great memory for Noah today was he finally got a coconut to crack. It has been his wish and desire for awhile. A guy from town we met at the dinghy dock had a few he was selling when we went to get groceries this morning (1/11) and we were excited to find coconuts. $3 for two coconuts was a great bargain to make our Noah's day!

Noah loves his coconut boats!