News from Hope Town

Odyssey IV and her crew say hello from beautiful Marsh Harbour.



On February 20 we arrived in Marsh Harbour and spent a week at anchor.  We were having big problems with our outboard motor, enough problems that we were afraid to go exploring with our dinghy, she would for no reason stop and not start again.  The vote was unanimous, we need a new motor.  We are now the proud owners of a new 2 stroke 8 horsepower Mercury outboard.  :-)  Now we can go places and not worry!

We donated our old outboard to Every Child Counts, a wonderful organization that helps needy children.  We were told that it will get repaired and sold.

February 28 we head for Hope Town, the weather is going to get pretty nasty so at least we will be in a protected mooring field.  Hope Town is such a pretty town, not the worst place to be stuck.

Black Sound, Green Turtle Cay

Odyssey in Black Sound, Green Turtle Cay

Full moon, Marsh Harbour

Marsh Harbour anchorage

Odyssey IV and Flyer in the background, Marsh Harbour

Maxwell's grocery in Marsh Harbour.  Getting directions to the fish market!

Flyer on her way to Whale Passage...the colours are unreal!!

Entrance to the Whale Passage, Whale Cay, the water sure changed colour

Deb and Fred from Flyer, our travelling buddies

Guess who!

Garden in Hope Town...just beautiful

Hope Town lighthouse

Evening Hope Town lighthouse

Heritage Day in Hope Town



Heritage Day games

Ocean side, Hope Town

Sunset Hope Town

Will and the talking dog "Lucy"

Today we have a rest from the winds, one day is all we get, tomorrow it builds up again to 25 knots for another 24 hours.  I must say that this year the weather is very windy and sometimes cold, nothing like the weather we had last year, but look, who is complaining, at least I don't have to shovel snow.

Bye for now!

From Stuart, FL to Mangrove, Little Bahama Bank and onto Green Turtle Cay

Hello, Bonjour from the Abacos!

We left Stuart, FL on February 2, once again heading for Lake Worth and hoping to get a nice window to cross over to the Abacos.  Our first day was a very short one since it is our last time passing through here, we decided to go stay at Peck Lake and walk the beach. Next stop, North Palm Beach.  Bridges, more bridges is what we did on February 3 and we arrived early enough to go stock up on last minute groceries and of course one small stop at West Marine, we were reasonable, didn't spend all the much... :-)  We met up with our good friends Rudy and Jocelyne on Gipsiya, had a nice happy hour with them, but sad news since they have decided to stay in Florida this year.  So the next day, our last leg to Lake Worth, our good-byes to Gipsiya and off we go to wait for our crossing.

We left Lake Worth February 5 at 3:30 and had a super crossing, arriving at West End, Grand Bahamas at 15:30.  Cleared customs very quickly and watched all the boats come in.  Old Bahama Bay Marina was full, it was the first good window to cross the Gulf Stream, so you can imagine, we weren't the only ones to cross.  We actually had a hard time finding a spot to anchor in Lake Worth because of all the boats waiting!

Moon rise in Stuart, FL

Stuart, FL fishing with friends

Odyssey IV at Peck Lake, FL

Entrance to ocean side Peck Lake, FL

Awesome beach Peck Lake, FL

  

Peck Lake, FL

Little bird, Peck Lake, FL

  

Searching for treasures

The sunrise Gulf Stream February 5 2013

Pictures taken within 5 minutes, just beautiful

February 6, waited for high tide at Old Bahamas Bay so we could do the Indian Cay Passage which is only 5'5" at low tide.  During that time we watched all the boats leave the marina, some going to Memory Rock, some to Lucaya...all of us saying see you real soon!  Not many use the Indian Passage, one sailor couldn't get over that we were going to cross there, he is actually afraid of the passage.  All went super well!

Our first anchorage in the Bahamas, Mangrove Cay, Little Bahamas Bank

Helped out a sailor on Outward Bound, he was missing some coolant and in the middle of nowhere, that is not such a good thing.  Came along our boat and Pierre filled up his little bottle, he was so grateful.  Us it made us feel good to be able to help someone.

We left Mangrove at 7:20 heading for Great Sale Cay, winds on the nose10 to 15 Knots,  waves 2 to 4 feet, very bouncy.  Anchored at 11:30 and once again watched all the boats come in, we were 9 boats at the end of the day.

February 8, 6:40 departure from Great Sale Cay, great day of motor sailing 15+ winds, we averaged a speed of 6.7 Knots...great fun.  We actually shut down the motor because we had to wait for high tide to get into Black Sound...BUT...even so, we ran a ground at the entrance, tried to get some help from the locals but no one was out there.  Thankfully the tide was rising and with the motor full speed and me doing a dance on the bow, we were able to get free.  After almost 11 hours we pick up a mooring and relax.  It is so nice to be here once again. 

The Other Shore Club, Black Sound, Green Turtle Cay

We plan to stay here for atleast 1 week, maybe after that head North to visit some islands or South, not decided yet.

Hello from Stuart, FL

A friend, Vero Beach

Leaving Vero Beach, January 13, headed for Peck Lake

Fort Pierce, very windy day but beautiful blue water

Our travelling companions Stu & Lynn on Caladh, heading towards Lake Worth

We made it to Lake Worth and were about ready to cross, we had a small but good opportunity on the Wednesday, but we had some bad news from home, Pierre's dad, Marcel, was in the hospital.  So we said our good-byes to Caladh and headed back North to Stuart.  We have been in Stuart since January 17, we are moored at Sunset Bay Marina which is a beautiful place.  We will be here till Marcel gets better, he is now stable, but not out of the woods yet. One day at a time.  In the meantime we are doing our tourist things visiting the town, taking long walks, and enjoying our time here.

Captain Pierre

 Part of the River Walk Park, Stuart, FL

Mooring field, Stuart, FL

Cloudy day with sunshine...make for a super photo

St. Lucie River, Stuart, FL

 Care for a ride...

We enjoyed a super concert last Sunday, if anyone gets a chance listen to their music, they are The Nouveau Honkies, great blue grass music, had a great time...even some dancing moves...



That is it once again, will keep in touch!  A+

Finally some news

I have been neglecting my readers, I will try to be more vigilant!  We left Green Cove Springs on December 27.  After spending more than 2 months working very hard, for two years we had been putting off doing the deck, well now she is finally done.  We are presently in Vero Beach, arrived last Thursday January 3, we plan to stay for a few more days, problem with the injectors.  The injectors are now being overhauled.  We are still having a wonderful time on Odyssey IV, can't think of a better place to be.

Some pic`s from all our work

This is when we started to get her ready for the primer.  We had finished with the varnishing.

Almost ready for the primer, miles of blue tape. At this point we were still on the hard, we must have spent a couple of weeks to get her ready for the final coat which we did in the water

The final coat is finally on and here we are doing the non-skid

Pierre hard at work, we put kiwi grip on our deck, really does a nice job.

Dock at Green Cove Springs, where we were tied up for about 3 weeks

 Foggy day at Green Cove Springs

After over 2 months of hard work, Odyssey IV is looking real good

Our new deck

On our way to Vero Beach, navigating IFR

Since we have left the St. John River we have constantly been surrounded by these beautiful creature, just awesome

This poor fellow is in about 2 feet of water, must have been caught in a storm, we have had some very wicked weather.

Well folks that is it for now, be back real soon.

Bienvenue à Green Cove Springs Marina



Nous sommes arrivés à Green Cove Springs jeudi le 18 octobre et depuis nous travaillons sur Odyssey IV. L'intérieur du bateau était impeccable cette année, l'extérieur une autre histoire, elle était couverte de vert de gris, une bonne brosse et l'eau de javel à bien nettoyer. Nous vivons abord depuis le 19 octobre.
Hier, après 4 jours de sablage nous sommes enfin prêts pour mettre le vernis, ah que nous avons beaucoup de bois!

Début des travaux

Nous amis clandestin

Nous avons des grenouilles abord cette année, à date nous en avons trouvé 5.... Elle est mignonne n'est-cepas!



Nous voisin, des Russes à l'ouvre



Sandy a causé beaucoup de vent ici à Green Cove Springs mais rien de bien grave. Un seul bateau c'est détaché de son mouillage et un quai endommagé, un peu de dommage, mais personne de blessé. Par contre, une vraie tempête de sable pendant 2 jours.

À la prochaine,

Départ pour 2012-2013

DEPUIS NOTRE RETOUR AU QUÉBEC

Ca fait longtemps…. It has been a long time!

Nous sommes rendus à Portneuf (Québec) depuis la mi avril.  Odyssey IV est pour la deuxième année en storage à Green Cove Springs Marina, Green Cove Springs, FL.

Nous avons eu un printemps et un été exceptionnel, soleil, chaleur, un très bel été.  Des heures de bon temps à l’extérieur.  Nous sommes gâtés Pierre et moi hiver comme été,  que du bon et beau temps!

Plusieurs travaux de fait autour de la maison et Joanne a eu plusieurs semaines de contrats de travail.   Notre départ pour l’hiver 2012 – 2013 est le 17 octobre.  Encore cette année nous allons faire quelques travaux sur Odyssey IV, la rendre la plus sécuritaire et la plus belle,  avec un peu de chance, la météo va nous permettre d’avancer assez rapidement! J’aimerais vraiment qu’on puisse finir la peinture du pont et l’antidérapant pour ensuite prendre la route à la fin novembre…vers les Bahamas.

À plus