Bimini - Good times with friends

Maya, Sheli & DD

Another great day

Racing DD & Maya to breakfast 

Seize the day!

Steve & DD - project time!

Hanging out with Calypso
DD & Maya’s dog

Brown
Our dock neighbor/local fisherman 

Water taxi captain & first mate 

Best friends!!!

Bimini-The Berry’s-Cat Cay - Feb 4-9

During our stay in Bimini, most days were quite windy, however on Tuesday, Feb 4, the winds dropped, so we cruised 90 miles across the Great Bahama Bank to The Berry Islands. This is another chain of islands within the country of the Bahamas. We took a slip at Great Harbour Cay Marina and stayed for 4 nights. The marina had bikes we could use to explore. One stop was to visit the remains of the notorious clubhouse and golf course that was built in the 1960s when Great Harbour Cay was a tropical playground for the rich and famous. Cary Grant, The Rat Pack, Telly Savalas, Bridget Bardot & Ingrid Bergman, just to name a few who were known to vacation here and frequent The Club. It was kind of creepy walking through the dilapidated building thinking what it once was.

We soon realized there wasn’t  much to keep us here.  We were hoping to cruise around to the east side of the Berry’s to anchor out and explore their beautiful and secluded beaches & anchorages off some of their 30 islands, but the winter winds prevented us from doing this. We knew were attempting to do the Bahamas before prime cruising season (spring/summer).  We were hoping to catch an unusually calm February, but it was not meant to be. 

The winds were predicted to drop on Saturday and then pick up again, so we decided it was best for us to move on. We traveled 90 miles southwest to North Cat Cay and dropped the hook along a fabulous beach. North Cat Cay is a privately owned island with impressive beachfront homes and a yacht club. We totally enjoyed this anchorage with calm seas, turquoise waters and many sea turtles to entertain us. 

Sunday afternoon we cruised north 10 miles back to Bimini Cove on South Bimini Island. We love Bimini so have decided to hang here and relax.

Beautiful Berry’s east coast beach 

Fun day

Off to explore!

Remains of the Great Harbour Cay Clubhouse 

Entrance looks a little spooky now!

Where is everybody?

Oh if this bar could talk

Checking out Cat Cay

Anchorage at Cat Cay 

Ft Lauderdale -The Bimini Islands - Jan 22-Feb 9

On January 22 we left the balmy Michigan winter behind us and flew to Fort Lauderdale where PV2 was waiting for us at our friend Brian Keenan’s dock. By Friday we were provisioned and ready to go. That night we anchored out in Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale. The next morning we headed out to the Atlantic and traveled south to Haulover Inlet. Haulover Inlet is known to be one of Florida’s nastier inlets when the tide and winds oppose each other.  We had a relatively easy transit.  Conditions were in our favor but we still came in fairly hot to maintain control of the boat. We anchored out for 3 nights in a pretty bay off from Oleta River State Park. With weather in the mid 80’s and sunny it was perfect for enjoying the area including a 8 mile run up the ICW in the dinghy to Le Tub Restaurant for one of their famous burgers. 

Tuesday we headed south down the intracoastal, past Miami to Prime Marina in Coconut Grove where we were met by a smiling dockhand holding an Amazon package containing our new alternator.  An hour after we were docked, Captain Fix-It had the new alternator installed! After a walk to the local grocery store we were stocked and ready for the Bahamas. 

By 8am on Wednesday we were headed across the Gulf Stream with a destination of South Bimini, Bahamas. We had a smooth crossing and pulled into Bimini Cove Marina by noon. This was our home for the next 5 nights. We enjoyed the awesome beaches, amazing waters and local cuisine while here. One day we took PV2 south 10 miles to Honeymoon Harbour. This is a gorgeous cove where we spent time with the stingrays swimming right up to us looking for treats. All we had was some bread which was not to their liking. (They prefer squid) But it was sure fun petting them. The feel like silicone!

Captain interviewing for new crew.

Miami ready for Super Bowl 

PV2 docked at Bimini Cove

Fresh conch. Somebody had to pull it out of the shell!

Our Conch Chef

Captain Conch salad 

Stingrays lining up for the buffet

Wanted his back scratched 

Port Charlotte-Ft Lauderdale - Nov 23-Dec 14

In April, after an amazing time in the Abaco Islands, Bahamas, we crossed Lake Okeechobee to return to the west coast of Florida where we stored the Pura Vida at Safe Cove for the summer. Our hopes were to return to the Abaco Islands again this spring, but Hurricane Dorian hit hard in September, leaving total devastation in the Abacos.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the people who literally lost everything.

On November 21, Sheli flew to Orlando to visit her friend Karen who lives in The Villages.  Steve flew to Punta Gorda on November 23 to prep Pura Vida dos for launching.   Karen drove Sheli to Safe Cove on November 25 to join Steve where he had the boat launched and ready to go.  We spent 3 nights at Fisherman's Village Marina in Punta Gorda where we cleaned the boat and had some engine maintenance done.  Our friends Larry & Carole Poll came for an afternoon cruise where the dolphins gave us a fantastic show.

On Thanksgiving morning, we left the dock and cruised to Cayo Costa where we anchored out and enjoyed grilling a yummy steak dinner.  (no turkey this year!)  The next morning we cruised to Fort Myers Beach where we took a mooring ball for the night.  We were able to use the car of our friends Todd & Star to pick up needed parts for the generator.

Saturday morning, with the generator back in action, we headed south to Marco Island. The day on the Gulf was so beautiful that we stopped on the way, dropped the anchor and enjoyed lunch and a swim before continuing on to the harbor of Marco Island where we anchored out for the night. It had to happen sooner or later, after 10,000 miles of cruising, we ran over our first crab pot float. Captain Snorkel went off the back of the boat with his mask and a knife to cut the line off the propeller.

December 1 was a big travel day. The weather was predicted to get windy over the next few days so we traveled 100 miles to Marathon Key where we took a slip for 2 nights at the Marathon Marina.  The winds did pick up, so we were very happy to be at this marina which gave us good protection.

On December 3, the winds died down allowing us to cruise 30 miles to Islamorada where we anchored out for 5 nights.  We spent 3 nights in Barely Basin and 2 nights in Snake Creek. The name Snake Creek may sound nasty, however it was a beautiful location with no snakes, just manatee and dolphins! Our days were filled with many dinghy explorations of the beautiful waters in the area.  A highlight of our stay was meeting up with Kyle Bradley who Sheli works with at Ironwood Golf Course.  Kyle was in Islamorada participating in a sailfish fishing tournament.  We were able to join the crew on the Challenger as they arrived back in the harbor after a day of fishing.

As much as we hated to leave Islamorada, it was time to begin working our way north. On December 8, we cruised 70 miles to Prime Marina in Coconut Grove. This is the same location we stayed when we did the Great Loop however the marina itself is new as the old marina was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The next morning we cruised across the bay to the Marine Stadium Anchorage.  This is an amazing anchorage offering spectacular views of downtown Miami.

The next 3 nights we spent at Bill Bird Marina near Haulover Pass just north of Miami. The night we arrived,  we enjoyed dinner in the adjoining park at "Food Truck Tuesday." Every Tuesday local food trucks offer a variety of tasty foods in the park.  On Thursday we took the bus to explore the sights and sounds of South Beach Miami. We saw many Art Deco hotels, walked the huge beach, checked out the fancy shops and had a yummy Cuban lunch.

On Friday, we traveled 20 miles up the ICW to Fort Lauderdale.  We docked the Pura Vida at Brian Keenan's home where we will leave the boat while we fly home for the holidays.

We had a wonderful 3 weeks of hot and sunny weather.  Awesome!

Fisherman’s Village with Karen

Larry, Sheli & Carole on dolphin duty

Captain fix it! New impeller needed on the generator.

Dinghy parking for lunch at Hog Heaven

Islamorada sunset

Captain Adorable 

The Challenger - our friend’s fishing boat

Sheli & Kyle

Hello down there!  (View from Tuna Tower)

Sunset at Snake Creek anchorage 

Hello Miami!

Beautiful evening overlooking Miami

The stadium at Marine Stadium anchorage 

Miami sites

Bill Bird Marina - Art Deco style

Day off for the Captain. Taking bus to South Beach

Merry Christmas from South Beach!

Treasure Cay-USA - Apr 21-24

By sunrise Easter Sunday,  the winds had calmed down. The winds were predicted to remain low for the next 4 days before picking up again. So, we decided this will have to be our weather window to work our way back to southern Florida. We departed Treasure Cay and once again made our way around “The Whale.”  Twenty two miles later we set the anchor off Manjack Cay. The popular anchor spot was not up to the Captain’s standards for wind protection so we did some recon on the dinghy and found a spot in the next bay over. Here we could drop the anchor 100 yards off a stone cliff which blocked the winds. Perfect. 

Monday was our last “Bahamas vacation” day before our long hard push back to the States. We traveled a short 8 miles to Powell Cay. We spent the day enjoying a beautiful beach and swimming in the amazing Bahamian waters. 

Tuesday the real journey began. The winds remained low, we set the autopilot and cruised all day long in clear, 10 foot deep water. We traveled 72 miles to Mangrove Cay, a small island off the north coast of Grand Bahama Island. After a short, restless night the captain pulled up the anchor by 7:00am. We set a waypoint for St Lucie Inlet near Stuart, Florida, 96 mile distant.  We “crabbed” our way across the 1/2 mile deep Gulf Stream where we recorded one of our highest water temperatures of the trip. Crazy.

Bahamas ....everything we expected and more.  So much more to explore.  We’ll be back! ❤️😎

Another pretty day on the Sea of Abaco

Manjack Cay sunset

Powell Cay local

Mangrove Cay - last night in Bahamian waters.

Tilloo Cay-Treasure Cay - Apr 18-21

Thursday morning we traveled 6 miles north and dropped the anchor off Tahiti Beach on the south end of Elbow Cay. 

Once again, we were greeted by a shark. Argh! We took the dinghy to the point on Tahiti Beach, where we enjoyed the beach and lunch from the Thirsty Cuda - a floating “food truck.”  Fun!  We had another great evening with multiple ray and turtle sightings. It just never gets old. 

On Friday the winds were forecasted to pick up for a couple days, so we opted to head for a marina.  We cruised 25 miles back across the Sea of Abaco to Treasure Cay Marina located on Great Abaco Island.  As predicted, the winds were whipping and docking the PV2 was challenging. In a marina, sometimes you watch the show, sometimes you are the show! It was our turn to be the show. After a couple attempts and nearly losing the first mate overboard, we were secure in our slip. 

Whew.  The winds continued thru the night and brought in a good hard rain. (Free boat wash!) The award winning Treasure Cay Beach is located on the north side of this peninsula which was protected from the southern winds. Wow, wow, wow....beautiful!

Tahiti Beach 

Lunch from the Thirsty Cuda 

View from Cracker P’s

The beach at Treasure Cay

Sometimes you’re the big boat, but not this time!

Goodnight Treasure Cay