Bahamas in the Rear View Mirror

Hello virtual crew members and fellow adventurers!

We get to welcome two new virtual crew members this week: loofah3 and vickeysare.  Welcome Aboard!

Summary of Week

The skipper is mourning the slow death of his computer.  It will hardly take a charge to stay alive.  Then when it does come on, it rarely responds to the keyboard.  I will try and get this weeks blog out using the Ipad, but most of the pictures are on the non-functioning computer along with the video clips.

The skipper said that the computer would not even make a good anchor, and then muttered something about float testing the thing.  I do not think the computer is long for this world if it does not get its act together.

The crew continued to lounge and enjoy the Ocean Reef Yacht Club while they waited for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream back to Florida. They moved to West End on Friday and then launched across the Big Pond on Saturday to Stuart.

At the Box Office

This weeks video of Still Waters II crossing back to Florida.

To see past videos, click on the link to the Still Waters II Vimeo site.

Tuesday/ Thursday

The crew managed to win a couple of more matches of Bocce Ball with the help of Gwen and Nancy.  They will be leaving the islands as the undefeated World Champions.  Gwen managed to twist the arm of the Resort, so to speak, to give all of the Bocce Ball players a toast.  The resort mixed up some Bahama Mama’s and served them in the VIP room.

Way to go Gwen!

Wednesday, March 14

The skipper rode his bike out and back to the Garden of the Groves this morning. While taking a quick break at the Gardens, two vehicles drove up and parked. The occupants looked like they were dressed up as aliens.

Upon closer examination, they were protective suits to prevent bee stings. The group was in the process of relocating two swarms of bees that they had captured.

 

Reminded the skipper of the time he and his Dad captured their first swarm of bees. The skipper was raising bees in the backyard of his childhood home. One of the bee hives swarmed into the neighbor’s pear tree.

The plan was for the skipper to stand on a 6-foot step ladder holding a Styrofoam ice chest a top of his head. The skipper’s Dad was to hit the limb the bees were on and the bees would fall into the ice chest.

The scene was set-up and the plan was progressing just fine. Except when the limb was knocked by Dear-ole-Dad, the bees did not fall. Dad smacked the limb twice more and the bees did not budge. Well, except a bunch of them that started flying around.

About this time the skipper lowered the ice chest to his side to see what the problem was. He was also providing some coaching to his Dad. About the time the skipper said: “Hit the limb harder.” His Dad clobbered the limb and all the bees fell atop the skipper. He was coated in bees from his head down to about his knees.

The skipper slowly made it down the ladder, then scooped the bees off of him and into the ice chest. He placed the lid on the ice chest, then cut a small hole in the side. The bees that were flying around eventually went into the ice chest thru the hole.

Later that evening the skipper moved the bees to a new brood box he had built. The whole process was accomplished without a single bee sting. And that is how you capture swarming bees in Texas my friend.

Friday, March 16, 2018

The crew made way back to the Old Bahama Bay Marina where they first entered the country.  This allowed them to take on enough fuel to get back stateside and stage for the trip back to Florida.  An added bonus to the stop was running into the crew of Hydrophilic, the first Looper friends our crew made back in 2014.  After docking, the four spent some time  over at the pool cooling off, and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the local restaurant.

Is John rocking that shirt or what?

Saturday, March 17

The crew rose early to get off the dock at sunrise, but they were not the first to leave.  Sometime in the middle of the night, the crew of Hydrophilic slipped out into the dark on their way to Lake Worth.

Our  crew managed to slide out of the marina just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.  Our crew then set a heading of 282 degrees magnetic on the auto pilot and started their eight hour cruise across the Gulf Stream.

The trip across was uneventful, but when they arrived at the Stuart Inlet they were reminded why some people refuse to cruise on the weekend.  It was more than busy and crowded coming into the inlet.  They continued to get waked by both large and small fishing vessels for the first several miles.

When they got to the crossroads with the ICW, the crew headed north and the boat traffic began to thin.  They traveled north on the ICW to Jensen Beach where they anchored for the evening.

After getting settled, the skipper called Customs to check back into the USA.  The individual took tons of information and then told the skipper he would need to go to the nearest Customs Office for a face-to-face meeting within 24 hours.

While the crew mulled that bit of information over, they launched the dinghy and headed to Conchy Joe’s to celebrate a successful Gulf Crossing and Bahamas trip.

Hope you had a good St Patrick’s Day!

Sunday, March 18

The crew travelled a short 15 miles to Ft Pierce City Marina.  From the marina, the crew took a taxi to the Treasure Coast International Airport.  They entered the Customs Office to complete the check in process and were greeted by an empty chair.  There was a button on the counter that read ‘Push for Service.’  Since this was a government operation, the skipper was not expecting much service and he was not disappointed.

The first ring of the buzzer summoned nothing but silence.  The crew could hear people talking and joking around, but no one showed up at the counter.  Two minutes later the automatic lights turned off.  They had come on when the crew first passed thru the door.

The skipper took the lights out as a clue that it was time to push the so called service button again.  This time the skipper held the button down for a pro wrestling ten count.  Amazing enough, a person appeared around the corner and said that they would be right there.  A man then came to the counter, asked why the crew was there.  The Admiral started to answer his question, but once she mentioned the word boat, he cut her off and said: “Let me see your passport.”

He glanced at both passports and handed them back thru the opening in the glass window.  He then dismissed the crew with a: “that will be all.”  The skipper then asked the man if he needed the Arrival Number he was given yesterday because the guy on the phone said that Customs would neeeeed the number.  The man behind the glass then said: “We already have the number.” He then turned and walked away.  The whole evolution took less than five minutes, and half of that was waiting for someone to show up at the window.

I am pretty sure I heard the skipper mumble something like “that is an hour of my life I will never get back.”  I usually hear this from him when something happens that he judges to be a complete and total waste of time.

Boat Name of the Week:

. Calm

pronounced ‘dot Calm’

The skipper saw this boat while taking on fuel at Ft Pierce.

Next Week

The crew will start north back to Jacksonville where they will meet family for the Easter weekend.

Loop On – Where the road ends, the water begins.  The water goes on forever, and the adventure never ends.

Eric the Red