Voyage 2022: Chapter 1

4 Jan 2022, Beginning of the New Year 2022, 34 06.15 N/ 077 55.368 W

Jule III is not happy. She is lonely on-the-hard with nearly a foot of snow on her deck. She was to be covered, but that did not work out as the cover was not ready. Jule III is accustomed to the warmer waters of Wilmington, NC, Florida, or the Caribbean. If Jule protests these conditions, we may have to winter further South We will head South in a few days to Florida by car and then by charter plane to Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas. It will be an adventure. We love Green Turtle by boat. We are sure we feel the same by plane. In March, we will come visit Jule and prepare her for the journey to Grand Manan. Until then!

10 Jan 2022, First Ten Days in Green Turtle Cay, 26 45.546 N/ 077 19.8 W

We arrived at St. Lucie International Airport at 0900 waiting for Brad from Island Tymes. The cat was packed and we were ready to go, with over a cubic yard of 'stuff', including cat essentials, clothes, medicine, and more medicine. We 'hopped' onto the Piper Aztec and we must have been a sight to see as we embarked. We decided not to drug the cat as this trip promised to be smooth and short. At 1000, wheels were up and soon after we were flying over the St. Lucie Inlet while we were chasing the leading edge of a dissipating cold front. Bob was in the front seat while Ann, Mattie, and the 'stuff' were in the rear 4 seats. (!picture#!) Bob fascinated with the gauges, meters, and nav stuff. Lots of expensive new equipment, like the all-in-one Garmin navigator, radar, radio, and transponder. Brad said that LeRoy the Lucky Chicken was with us to ensure a nice flight. He has their co-pilot for over 6 years. Hope he is at his best this trip.

Brad has been in the charter business for many a year. It turns out that his partner is 40 minutes ahead of us, also on the way to Treasure Cay airport on Great Abaco. The partner was confirming the best path and altitude to penetrate the decaying squall line. As we crossed the squall, it got a little rolly as our speed increased by 15-20 kts. Mattie was not impressed and bellowed out some meows. We see a distant Green Turtle Cay forward of our port wing. GTC has no airport so we will have to check into customs at Treasure, hire a cab, take the ferry to cross the Sea of Abaco, and take a golf cart to Rose Cottage.

And so we did. We landed in Treasure at 1100, 40 minutes behind the other Island Tymes Aztec. The airport did not fare well from Dorian. The Central Abacos was destroyed where all of the tall pines were destroyed as were the towns, resorts, and airport, Brad took charge of directing us to customs, fetching us a cab, and waiting for us to get processed. Customs and Integration were in a reclaimed but damaged RV. That was all that was left of the airport. Lucky, the cab driver took us to the BOLO ferry dock outside of Treasure, where he helped unload our 'stuff'. We were about 15 minutes early we (actually Capt Josh and his mate) loaded our 'stuff', the cat, Ann, and myself onto BOLO III. Fifteen minutes later, he had a half full BOLO headed for GTC. The 20- minute trip from the 'mainland' to New Plymouth was on nearly flat on calm Sea of Abaco. The BOLOs are the main people transportation on and off the island. Of the 4 vessels, only one was operable after Dorian. Now there are three. The 4th was sunk but was salvaged and is waiting in the boatyard for its restoration. Our cruising buddies Yvonne, Joe, Sandy, and John of SV Modaki and SV Sandy's Way were waiting for us at the BOLO dock as were our cottage host, Julie, and our golf cart providers (). With a minimum of fuss, we were installed in our new home, the Rose Cottage (1866 John Lowe House). Once alone, we opened a box of wine, sat on the porch, and were welcomed back to Green Turtle Cay.