Homeward Bound

The big girl is lifted and ready to be taken to her summer home...life on the hard.

The boatyard crew of Stafford,Craig and Phillip feel like our Bahamian family. Of course the Abaco Yacht Services is Celebrian's home away from home.


Lynn and Peter will be life long friends. Perhaps our wakes will cross again in the Caribbean?

Having the cottage is a real blessing on the last night in the boatyard.


I am sitting in air conditioned comfort writing this blog update in the cottage that we rent the last night at the boat yard. We stayed here last year and it really makes life easier especially when the weather is hot. The captain is putting on Celebrian's cover which we call the circus tent. I am ever so grateful that I was able to get all the below deck work done before he started to put the tarp on. I have been suffering with swollen legs in the heat so I am more than grateful to be out from underneath the cover. The weather has been a scorcher and the boat yard is almost unbearable. We have never had to work in such heat before but by the looks of the weather in Ontario we won't be complaining about being hot for long.
After our exciting time in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay we headed back to Manjack Cay for a couple of days. Lynn and Peter sent us off with a farewell dinner to die for.....steak, LFPs (their friend Len's favourite potatoes), broccoli, and apple pie with vanilla icecream. And just when you think Lynn can't spoil us anymore she gives us a loaf of homemade cinammon bread along with a beautiful card about friendship. We will miss our dear friends next year more than words can say. The weather has been quite lovely and we hated to head back to Green Turtle and Abaco Yacht Services to haul out. Last year The Bahamas had one of the worst winters in forty years; however this year we have been blessed with great weather.
We came into the dock on Friday afternoon at high tide and since then we have been working long days to get Celebrian "summerized." If it wasn't for salt water things would be much easier; however we have to clean everything on the boat in order to keep from getting mildew. That means a lot of laundry at $4.00 a wash and $4.00 a dry. In addition we have to de-salt all our gear whether it is dive gear, comfy seats,life jackets or paddles. In addition we have to deal with all the food....some of which we give away and things like canned food and dry goods if they haven't been open we leave on board. All the engines have to be serviced ...Mr. Yan, our diesel, Mr. Johnston, our outboard and Harry Junior, our Honda generator. In fact Harry had major surgery after his 300 hundred hours of service. In addition there is the pickling of the water maker which is critical. There is a reason sailors call living on a boat in a yard ....living on the hard! All in all things have gone very well this year and it makes us feel good to know that Celebrian has been put away in good order. We always worry during hurricane season but we know she is in good hands at this boat yard.Goldberrry is ready to be hoisted up on deck. The cabin is beginning to fill up and it is getting increasingly difficult to move around below decks. Celebrian's circus tent begins to take shape. Mr. Johnston gets taken for a last spin.The admiral baking muffins for the trip home...as if it wasn't hot enough??

We are now sharing our cottage with another couple from Ontario. Christine came down with heat stroke and her husband couldn't wake her up this morning. Their boat was tied up at the dock. The boat yard found a local medic and they took her to Marsh Harbour where she was rehydrated and released this afternoon. This cottage has two bedrooms so we volunteered to share with them so she could sleep in an air conditioned room and not on a very hot boat. Just a reminder to us all of how important it is to drink lots of fluids and stay hydrated.
I am now sitting in front of the gas fireplace in the condo putting this blog together. It always amazes me at how quickly we slide back into our life in Ontario. It takes us a few days to get through the mail and get caught up but after that things just fall into place. While I am busy getting the condo back into shape the captain has returned to the cottage and framing walls in the loft. When we are on the boat we are dreaming about the cottage and life in Bayfied and when we are at the cottage we are dreaming of sailing in the Caribbean.
We had an uneventful trip home and had both the Green Turtle Ferry and the Yellow Air Taxi all to ourselves. We have flown several times by ourselves in the 8 passenger Cessna. We are always happy that the plane isn't packed since our luggage is usually the equivalent weight of another passenger....this time we were about about 160 pounds. This year we flew our staysail home and plan on having a new one made. It provided good protection for the tree bonkers and looked particularly interesting in the x-ray machine as we came through U.S. customs in Fort Lauderdale. Spirit Air to Detroit was on time so that was a bonus. This year we arrived home to freezing temperatures and rain and it was a rude awakening; however we know better than to complain. Our new neighbours Paul and Jane welcomed us home with a cheerful note and some breakfast treats...very thoughtful and much appreciated.