Seems like the waving crabs is part of courtship for fiddler crabs. Never seen it before. And WTF is a goBoat??

The mission: get Caroline uncle, a 55 year old man with Down Syndrome who’s petrified of boats, out on the water. There were a lot of tears, a lot of encouragement and a successful ending. He was dancing by the end. Maybe cried again when it was time to get off but hey, hopefully a step towards him getting out more regularly.

Always nice when they start after sitting for 6 months! Prepared with the booster just in case. 🚤 + 💧 = Summer fun can officially begin.

Mahi are here in numbers. Tried to get out early with the kids before school and work. Assumed it was too bumpy out, but kids were begging and already awake. Got out Tilloo cut, but just too rough to get to the fishing grounds at any speed with tike to fish and and get back in the 23. Fished off the dock with coffees for a bit and found a greedy grouper to kiss and release. Hope it wasn’t our last chance offshore before heading to the states Thursday.

Full day and two tired boys. Fished this morning. Too rough out deep but trolled reefs. Mutton & Hog 🐠 for dinner. Stopped by to chat with peeps in the harbor before a big exit this week with the good weather. Fair winds everyone. MOW for some diving, pool for a quick beve, Jumping off the dock with Aarons kids to end a long day in the ☀️. I may be biased 😉 but these stays are fun. 8.5 hour day on the boat, about half that moving, 25 miles. Would have never guessed that.

Still waiting on diving weather on the outside. But always something to do in Abaco from any wind direction. The rocks in the far end of the bite of old Robinson have super healthy coral 🪸 for a fun swim with kids or beginners.

Wind coming up fast today. Had a very brief window and two excited boys. Got sharked on a Cero and never found the Mahi. No real bird action. Now for coffee ☕️

Beauty of a day. Kids chased fish for a long time in the morning down in the shallow lee of tilloo. Dove a couple wrecks in the Point Set channel and MOW channel. Headed to Scotland to warm up with plans to do Sunday Funday at Guana, but the hundreds of boats headed that changed our plans. Cruised back to Tahiti beach to meet some friends and finish the weekend. And a special surprise SeaPeople hat delivery to a SeaPeople PLUS user and new friend.

Tried to dive with the boys up N but it was too windy. Hit up some kid spots on the inside.

Little morning troll before school and work. Feels great to be settled into Hope Town. Boys woke up this morning pulling out Wahoo lures but too rough offshore. Found some hungry yellow tail, a little Nassau grouper, and a cuda along the inside. Everything is back home under water… today. 🫧

Alby spent the week at aquarium camp at Pine Knoll Shores, NC (highly recommend). We then spent the weekend hanging around the Crystal Coast: fishing, island hopping, minnow chasing, and enjoying every drop of sunshine.

Hours of running after minnows in the shallows should = a good night sleep for the boys tonight. ICW was a zoo today. Summer has arrived on the NC coast.

Yep, that average speed is correct. Felt like we crawled all the way up I-95. So much traffic. But also felt like the speed of light after doing the ICW the past few days 🤪 We put the boat to bed for the season and are headed to the mountains for some Spring/ Summer fun. Visited the MOSH in Jacksonville while it was raining one morning. Found an incredible playground in Avondale of Jacksonville (Boone Park). Hammocks Beach Marina in Palm Coast for our “Spring Break” stop of the ICW.

Paddled the boys to Tahiti Beach for a lunch break and swim. 💕

Kids are with grandparents so Logan and I went on a sunset test track date 😂 in other news…. Alby is an aspiring weather reporter :)

Boat full of kiddos bound for lunch at Pete’s pub. The fish at Pete’s is definitely some of the best you will have in the Abacos!

Saw the sunrise, the Moon fade, a whale’s tail and a blow, and landed a wahoo all before 8am. Sunday Funday starting strong 💪

Had some friends over for dinner last night and the evening light hit just right while I was cooking.

May we suggest the Dr Bird loaf from Vernon’s grocery, when in HopeTown. Serve it with a beautiful sunrise and you are sure to have a good day 🌅

Homeschooling life lately. Field trips up the lighthouse, art class in the cockpit, snack time from Mr Vernon’s, and photography lessons ashore. We do sit down for about an hour a day to focus on numbers, reading, writing, and/or motor skills, but overall life school has been fulfilling for me and the kids.

Happy Valentines Day. Enjoying some crepes with my valentines amidst a beautiful sunrise in HopeTown🌅 ♥️ Feeling the love this AM.

Too breezy for much of anything today but got the bike out and loaded up the kids this evening.

Floatchella FOMO up here!!!! So having our own version. What an awesome day. Enjoy it everyone ☀️

Boat friends are the best friends. These three kids are in their element. Took the boys and Millie Breeze for some sunset beach fun at On Da Beach…. And this sunset just keeps getting better.

Put a lure out on a hand-line, while we were rigging up the rods for some wahoo fishing, and caught a grouper before we could get the rods out.

Meeting the crew outside of HT

Picked up a crew and headed south towards Little Harbour. Stopped by Charlie’s beach on Lynyard and Logan made some delish conch salad. And if you were there, you know the excitement we had with Banks the dog (just a case of paraphimosis 🤦‍♀️). Never a dull moment with this brood of boys! But so much fun had on the water, with friends.

The boys got to go on a “field trip” for home school and ride on Mr.Bens tractor. It was an amazing experience and definitely makes Ansens new tractor sand toy seem not so cool 😂

Took the boys to town beach for some sunshine and “body surfing”. And got to enjoy a morning with Conor and Taylor before they head back stateside 😭 will miss them but so glad they made it to the Bahamas this year!

Now onto HopeTown and hopefully sunshine! Had a blast with Sailing Vinyasa celebrating Ansens third Birthday in Green Turtle Cay! We dug at the beach, swam in the pool, played ball in the grass, ate chocolate cake (most importantly) and danced way past bedtime at the Green Turtle Clubs rake n scrape!

Left West Palm this morning around 6:30am. Wind really picked up around 7:30 and got us rocking and rolling out there. Poor Ansen couldn’t hold his breakfast down. While in the Gulf Stream, we lost steering. Logan’s been on the emergency tiller all day. Someone have a cold, stiff drinking ready for him 😂 Hoping we can get to Green Turtle before dark to tuck in with the clocking winds tonight🤞 *BUT* we just rounded crab cay, enjoying the calm water of the lee, racing Vinyasa to GTC, with smiles on our faces because we are in the Bahamas 🇧🇸

Still waiting on weather to cross. So we are staying in Ft Pierce for another day (at least) to grocery shop, catch up with a college friend, and hang with Vinyasa and Live Wire!

Made it to Fort Pierce in hopes of a crossing window in the next few days 🤞 Abaco Bound! The boys enjoying the pool in 65 degree F weather while dad fuels up on “cheap” diesel at Safe Harbor Harbortown.

Gross day in the ditch— driving rain for most of the day. Had a clearing once we arrived to hit up the waterfront playground and head to the River Deck to watch for dolphins and have a daiquiri.

First stop, popsicles at HYPPO, always! Then to the fort, dinner on board and a YCA burgee spotting in the wild!

Provisioned, got some energy out, and met with some cruising friends yesterday. Ran final errands this morning before leaving the slip and heading south. Flat calm out here today— wishing we could make it over to the Bahamas with this window, but planning to stop in St Augustine (the boys favorite “pirate town”) for the night!

Loaded up the vehicle with two kids, a dog and freshly upholstered cushions, and some big smiles, bound for a winter of cruising! Woohoo!

Flat call morning.

Not sure where my start pin went….

Send help. Be here on the double.

Glad to be out of the vehicle. Now, let’s get this party started.

Annual trip with childhood friends and their babies to the coast of NC.