Dave n Jess here

No blogging this week. dave n Jess

If I could say we were so busy that there was no time to blog I would but that would be lying.  I don’t have pictures to post with my blog so who wants to read words without those fabulous pictures? When I finally post the pictures you will not need any words.

The abridged version is… the winds have been 8-12 (perfect SW winds to get anywhere north, perfect accept to give them the “ride” that Dan and Chelsey got. This is regular sailing not strong wind sailing. The boat is actually not heeled over with weather helm.  She pretty much sails herself and we have had to assist with the engine to move us along to be “on time” for the airport on Wednesday.) We have had a night sail that was calm and sweet. It is fun to sail north and visit different places without having to be back at the same place in a short time. This crew is way into snorkeling and looking for Trrrreasurrrre.

Over the past months Ben and I have been able to witness the awakening or “spring” of the ocean.  One year in Mexico our host lady said that the best snorkeling is spring and summer when everything is blooming or bloomed. In February the coral was brown and it seemed to blend into the rocks. BUT in the last 2 weeks it was bloomed and is now so colorful.  It first started out with brown sprigs of finger sized shoots that look like baby catcuses. Then brown-like flower stuff grows and then falls off to leave the most beautiful colors to shine in the sun.  Now everywhere we look in the Thunderball cave (where we were at in the beginning of march) it is colored with yellow, red, purples of all shades and a brilliant blue! How did we miss them the first time? They just looked like parts of the rocks but they are not.

We have arrived! Arrived to blue clear water.  In the first 2 months the water was always churned up with wind/waves/sand and now on a calm day you can see miles underground.  You can also just sit on the boat and look down and you can see fish swimming under the boat.  Big and small fishes, all colors shapes and sizes.  Dave and I saw a baby lobster in its second form of life.  It looks like a spider – all legs.

We have tried to fish. We are not so good.  BUT we did get a bite… a big bite… a bite that ate my dad’s lure again! Sorry dad, I’ll have to get you another one for your birthday or something, ha ha. But that was exciting to see Ben grab the pole with eyes wide open! Pull and Pull, well first he let it have line just like dad had instructed us… then he pulled and pulled only to have the line go limp…  Awwwwwe we missed it! And now it has a lure in it’s mouth. Poor guy.

Speaking of “hunting for fish”. Dave, the hunter/gatherer has been waiting to hand grab a lobster.  But none has been to be found until yesterday when there were 5 lobsters in a protected area and he could not bring them into our pot to boil up for supper.  Poor dave, poor me cuz I want fresh lobster sometime from our own hands.  Our time will hopefully come.  We are going to another island the next day and hopefully that will be our last chance before we send them back to the arctic tundra. Jess hopes it will be “spring” when they get to MN.  We say they are Home right here with us!

Our highlights for the week have been camaraderie and amazingly clear snorkeling, excellent food from the galley (smurk), games – many hands of 500 mixed in with banana grams here and there and fish/coral in all it’s Glory! His Glory is all over the place!

I’m still not used to such shallow water but am getting better at de-stressing when we have to cross a shallow area.