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It's Sunday morning and we have to say goodbye to Bill.  It's time for him to go home for the Christmas holidays.  He's been a great shipmate and we've really enjoyed having him aboard.  We drove him to the AMTRAK station at Okeechobee, FL where he decided to board the train for the trip to Richmond.  While aboard Apolonia he continued as a good friend and helper.  He made a new handle for the brow, helped with all the chores on the boat and became a real part of the Apolonia crew.  The weather stopped us from making the trip across to the Bahamas before he had to leave.  We're all sorry about that.  Carey and I are still at Ft Pierce and will make our way south starting tomorrow, after a session with a boat yard to try to fix the real cause of the trim tab problem.   Below are two pictures of the AMTRAK station at Okeechobee.   After returning to the boat Carey and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a local restaurant, then returned to boat and got ready for the next day. 

Such an easy day.  We stayed put at the anchorage, relaxed, read, and did a few chores.  A glorious day.  Tomorrow, we'll do the same.

Still at the anchorage in Manatee Pocket, we are relaxing.  Tom Scanlin drove down today and we enjoyed a long and easy lunch with him, while Bonnie is up North visiting her mother.  The weather forecast for the last two days says a crossing is possible this Saturday, so tomorrow we're moving to a Lake Worth Marina (West Palm Beach) where we'll fuel, fill the water tanks, and do laundry.  Then we'll go to bed hoping the forecast is good.  If so, we'll cross to West End Bahamas this Saturday, just in time to celebrate Christmas in the Bahamas.  Carey has the white Christmas tree ready to decorate.  One of these days I'll start taking pictures again.  A bit of excitement today when one of the sailboats near us started dragging its anchor.  Two fellow boaters and I boarded the boat, as the owners were away, and set a second anchor before it landed in a nearby marina.  Luckily all turned out fine.  

Still not taking pictures.  Dinghy ride this morning and underway at 9:00 am for Lake Worth.  Wind still blowing 15+ knots, so we pulled into Sailfish Marina just next to Lake Worth Inlet, the starting gate for the trip to the Bahamas.  The weather forecast indicates we have a chance for crossing Sunday, but we're happy to spend the Christmas holidays here if the wind continues to blow.  It's 80 degrees and except for the fact the high wind is stopping us from going to the Bahamas we're enjoying the mild weather.  We ate at the resort restaurant and are back onboard for a relaxing evening.

Windy start to the day at this marina with dozens of big sport fishing boats.  Carey pulled out the white plastic Christmas tree and was ready to start decorating the boat.  However, we believe there is a weather window early tomorrow to move to the Bahamas so we're going to stick our nose out at 6 am and see, decorating the boat after the trip.  The winds are predicted to be less than 10 knots and seas less than 2 feet.  The locals say we'll see 3-5 foot seas.  We'll hope the forecast is correct.  Sophie is ready, we think.  We'll be traveling with two other power boats who have been waiting at the marina with us for a window to cross.  Hopefully we'll send the next update from West End.  

Christmas in the Bahamas.  We made it.  Left Palm Beach at 6:30 am and entered the Atlantic at 7 am.  We made the 52 nm trip to West End in 4 hours, arriving at 11 am.  Two foot seas were the worst we saw.  A great crossing.  It's a different and beautiful place and we now know why we came back.  Carey put up the Christmas Tree and stung the lights.  We enjoyed a rum drink on the beach and are now relaxing.

We wish everyone a very Happy Christmas Holiday.

Up early to catch Santa.  We missed him, but he left some great gifts that we enjoyed along with a great special brunch prepared by Carey.  Easy afternoon with walks on the beach.  We're about to have Christmas dinner then down to the beach to enjoy a Junkanoo Festival that starts at 7 pm.  We'll probably stay here tomorrow as the seas are at the 5-7 foot level.  Our trip across on Christmas eve day was a short weather window.  We're lucky to have moved then. 

Old Bahamas Resort is one of our favorite places so we don't mind spending another day.  Reading, relaxing, walking.  A great time.  Winds are high on the ocean and seas are a bit stiff to move out.  It's only a short distance to the cut across the bank toward the Abacos and we could have made the transit, but we decided to stay and enjoy.  Maybe we'll leave tomorrow.

Late morning with two pots of coffee and a nice walk to the ocean to watch the waves crash on shore from the 25 knot winds.  Relaxing again.  What a great time.  We're the only boat here with a Christmas tree on the back deck and people stop to look, whether from the water side resort hotel rooms or the boats.  It appears the weather is great for some boating tomorrow so we'll be off around the upper portion of the Grand Bahamas Island. 

Underway at 10 am for a large cay, Great Sale, on the northern bank above Grand Bahama Island.  An easy 45 miles, with 7 other boats, we made the trip and anchored early afternoon.  The dinghy ride for Sophie was problematic as there was no great place to take her ashore, but we managed, and returned for a relaxing evening on the boat.

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