Treasure Cay

We arrived in Treasure Cay to find that we seemed to have transported ourselves back to Canada.  We were surrounded!  Not a bad thing to be sure, but it was interesting that all the Canadians seemed to have found a place to call home.  After being here for a couple of days, it seems the reasons are proximity to shopping, attractions, showers, laundry and pool all for a mere $10/day.  All Canadians love a good deal!

There Are 10 or More Canadian Boats at Anchor

The other main attraction is the beach.  Now I can't say I have been to a great number of beaches in my life.  And most of them are not particularly exotic (read Mooney's Bay) but this one is far better than the ones we have seen in Mexico and Spain.  White powder sand, crystal clear water, soft gradual slope, nice wave action - it's hard to do it justice with a picture.  You can just stare at it for hours!

This is on a Cloudy Day!

And thats what we are going to do - off to the beach!

Guana Cay

There is not a lot of room to swing on a mooring ball in the little bay that Guana Cay offers, but Revi just squeezed in with my back deck over looking a Moorings Catamaran.  It did not seem to bother the 7 people that were on the boat - it certainly did not bother the rather portly gentleman who took a swim alfresco and then wandered about the deck looking for his towel!  OUCH - Ocular Trauma!

No I Did NOT Take a Picture of Buddy!

Settled in, we hopped into the dingy and off we went to town to see the sights.  Our first stop was "Nippers", a local watering hole for the younger crowd.  We missed the Pig Roast in the afternoon, but there was still a good crowd when we arrived.  They were dancing and swimming in the two pools offered to keep everyone cool.

Nippers Overlooking the Atlantic Beach

 To get into Nippers you have to pass by a couple of trees.  One is known at the Poisonwood, and is reputed to be like poison Ivy, but on steroids.  Beside it was the Antidote Tree. I'm not sure how they work, but touching either did not seem like a good idea.

Poisonwood Tree - identified by its trademark camoflage trunk

Antidote Tree

It is not uncommon for a Cay like this to have a nearly 100% tourist trade.  If you are not selling booze, or food, running a marina, or renting a good time by way of fishing, diving or boating, you are likely not going to survive.  Towards this end, there are a lot of closed stores and old buildings that have been damaged or lost during storms and fires, or could not make an economic go of it, that never get rebuilt. The infrastructure is limited, utilities are expensive and they don't recycle so there is a lot of garbage around.  It's quite a mixed bag of beautiful scenary intermingled with a tinge of neglect.

Beautiful Vista of the Atlantic Beach from Nippers

When it Stops Working - Leave It.

Nice Resort near Grabbers - another popular site where you can watch the sunset

Little House in Town

Please don't get the wrong idea, it is lovely, but it would be inappropriate to focus on only the positive attributes offered in any place.  

We decided to move on to Treasure Cay, as we had seen the highlights at Guana in the first day.  We might have short changed it a bit, but we can always swing back another day.

Green Turtle Cay

I'm not sure how long I will have to be in the Bahamas before I will start to pronounce Cay - Key!  I'm not even sure why it's so hard since last I looked Cay is not even a word I've ever used before!  However, I'm not daunted and will just have to stay until I get it right!!

Green Turtle Club is a very nice little marina with very friendly people - and they all call me "Baby" as in "How you doi'n today Baby?", makes you feel young all over again!  They have a nice pool and beach and every night they make us a gourmet meal and deduct the cost from our dockage.  Man I love this place!

Lobster Thermadore and grilled Mahi Mahi

A Nice Shady Beach

79 Degree Pool to cool off in

Sue was determined to walk and as usual she death-marched me across the Cay to New Plymouth some 4 miles away in the hot sun.  I have to say that was a lot more fun than the cool 5 minute dingy ride right up to the main dock into the center of town ;-)  Thankfully, a nice Canadian couple stopped in their rental golf cart and offered us a ride just as I was about to succumb to heat stroke and exhaustion to save the day.  We rewarded them with cold drinks on the back deck.

It is a very nice little town with historic homes and quaint vistas.  New Plymouth was founded when Loyalists to Britain fled or were driven out during the US war of independence.

Loyalist Monument

Old Town Jail

Local Church

Welcoming Canadians to Plymouth

As the Flag in the picture implies, there are a lot of Canadians down here floating on a boat.  We have met couples from Montreal, Ottawa (x3), Vancouver and have seen many other boats as they pass on their way to and from various places.  It's a small world!

We will be hanging around the Green Turtle Club for a while longer and then work down through some of the  other Cays in the area on the way down to Marsh Harbour and Hope Town.  We had best enjoy the easy life for a while longer - because we will be swinging on the hook for a couple of weeks before Laurie comes in for a visit.

More to come!

Guest Entry - Claudia and Alastair (March 1 - 6, 2011)

To the Crew of the Reviresco


It was wonderful to see you both looking so tanned and relaxed when we joined you this March in Fort Lauderdale. I only wish we had taken a picture of your face, Scott, when you saw the amount of luggage piled on the dock (golf clubs, suitcases). We did not know that we would be travelling by dingy to the yacht. However, vacationing for three weeks at four different locations necessitated the luggage.

As Reviresco is the Maxwell clan motto, it seemed very fitting that at 4 p.m. each day, while we were enjoying cocktails on the deck, we were serenaded by bagpipes on the shore.

The number of truly immense yachts and homes that we saw while sailing on the intercoastal waterway to the shipyard was mind boggling.




Approaching Fort Lauderdale Downtown on New River



One afternoon while we were in the shipyard I watched as a large yacht was launched into the water from the dry dock. It brought back happy memories of times your Grandpa Maxwell took me to Canadian Vickers to see ships being launched there.


Shopping for yacht parts was not an easy or inexpensive task, considering it’s all done on foot over a large area. Suppliers just don’t seem to realize that the parts are stainless steel -- not gold. The words discount or budget don’t mean anything in yachting parlance, but we had fun trying.



Familiar walk for supplies on Marina Mile

 Bubba Gumps restaurant was a fun evening and Scott’s knowledge of obscure character’s names in the Forest Gump movie was impressive and surprising.

A nice, "light" chicken dinner at Bubba's



The picture of Sue sitting on the bench outside the restaurant would give you the impression that she is about twelve years old. However, the next day we saw her coming home with groceries in a very large pack sack on her back, which must have weighed about 40 pounds. Luckily, we benefited from the shopping with great meals on board. It is truly amazing what Sue can accomplish in a tiny kitchen.

All in all we had a great visit and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Ladies supervised...



...while others did some great cooking too - Scott, Andre and Alastair




Someone had a birthday too!



With thanks and love,

Mom and Dad

On To The Abacos

We set out from Old Bahama Bay for a quick stop over in Great Sale Cay (no you can't shop there).  Not much to see, just some low scrub and a little beach.  However it provides good holding and protection from North East winds and was a good location as a mid point to the Abacos.

Sunrise in Great Sale Cay

We continued on to Fox Town on the Little Abaco Island.  Once again, a quaint Bahamian town full of kind people.  We were poking our way into a few shops along the way to see if they had any fruit.  No fruit, but there was a small shop that had ice cream bars.  The shop owner was a lovely woman by the name of Ruth Wells who was putting some loaves of bread in the freezer to keep them fresh.  When we went to pay for the ice cream we realized we only had a $20 and she could not make change.

However, I would not be disappointed, she insisted I keep the bar saying "It says in the Bible it is better to give than receive - and that's true."  A lovely woman and I did not have the heart to argue with her or offend by putting it back, so I enjoyed it all the more.  On the way back to the boat I stopped in for a beer with some of the locals and asked that they give $5 to Ruth on my behalf.  One good turn deserves another!

We are off to Green Turtle Cay tomorrow.

At Anchor by Fox Town

Local Fishing Boat

Guest Book - Kyle (week of February 21, 2011)

Hey, my name is Kyle Kilbride and I am taking over the Reviresco! 

Rebecca and I had a fabulous time In Florida with our Uncle and Aunt! It was a very relaxing a refreshing experience that was well needed by both of us. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale to be greeted with open arms and enthusiasm as Aunt Sandra spotted us (I do not think it was hard since we were still wearing our winter getup, but that changed very quickly). We then hailed down the Uncle Bob taxi and were quickly on our way to the boat, which was an adventure in it self. 

The ride was quite comical. After the stress of leaving a busy sea of cars at the air port we quickly realized that the GPS conveniently ran out of batteries, and we were left with only "The hotel starts with a B....its Bahia something!" and "I know they said something about an H!" The great thing about these hunches is that they were both very correct, and somehow got us there almost flawlessly ;) ! (If you are reading this Aunt Sandra and Uncle Bob, again we are very thankful and it was wonderful seeing you guys again!) But finally, we arrived. 

It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud to be seen, the sun was beaming brightly, the beaches were sandy, and the water was wet. It was perfect. 

As we approached the boat the first thing I saw was the big Canadian flag and knew instantly that that Canadian flag was attached to my new home for a week (that and I was also thinking "holy crap thats a big boat!). Again we were greeted by hugs from Aunt Sue and A custom handshake from Uncle Scott.  

The first night was composed of picking our rooms, AKA getting whichever Rebecca did not claim instantly, learning the rules, getting a tour of the boat, and then relaxing! I am telling you guys, being a teenager and all I can stay up until the sun wakes, but after the very first day in Florida with the sun cooking me slowly it was a struggle to make it to 10pm the first night. After a swim, a bite to eat and a well needed sleep, we woke up bright and early and started our first adventure!  

We left the Bahia Mar Marina in the early morning to start our long haul towards 

Boca Chita (roughly 6 hours from Fort Lauderdale by yacht). Now let me tell you something, I could smell the money coming out of Fort Lauderdale! As we were leaving through the inter-coastal all I could see from left to right was mansion after mansion. Not only did these people have enormous houses, but parked outside they would have their hundred foot yacht, no big deal. I would love to have a floating house parked outside my house, or my castle in some cases. These houses were truly mindblowing and beautiful. From that point on the ride was relaxing. 

In the 6 hours it took us to reach the Florida Keys Sue and Scott quickly learned something. We love to eat. They were clearly only used to having to feed themselves a certain amount of food when they realised how quickly it started disappearing! They adapted quicklyJ. We docked at Boca Chita, it was a beautiful little island with a cute little beach, a cute little lighthouse, and a beautiful view of the other keys and Miami in the distance. The view of the island was stunning from the top of the lighthouse. It looked like a post card you would send someone to make them jealous of how nice and warm you were in Florida while they froze their butts off in Ottawa. But they did not have any post cards so I took a picture and sent it out instead, and they were indeed jealous. One thing that I learned in Boca Chita is that I hate mosquitoes, even in Florida. I did not get bitten so badly, but Rebecca got eaten alive the poor girl! 

After Boca Chita we traveled to Miami. Miami is quite the place. We docked in a small Marina called Palm Bay. The Marinawas run by the nicest people in Florida, Bill and Suzan. We loved the place so much we decided to stay a few nights. The place was very well kept and had a pool, a hot tub, wifi, and a Starbucks near by. I was set; this was definitely the place to be. While we stayed in Miami we met some fellow Canadians docked in Palm Bay, went to Miami Beach and walked the whole South Beach area, attempted to catch a Miami Heat game, ate lots of food (surprising I know), drank plenty of Starbucks, watched plenty of Rocky and relaxed like it was nobodies business! Oh, and we walked a lot (apparently it’s Aunt Sues favourit thing to do [haha] )   

Miami Beach was everything I expected it to be. It was beautiful sandy beaches as far as the eye could see north and south. The water was an amazing shade of blue, and there was definitely no shortage of beautiful woman! It was so nice to walk along the shoreline and just take in the sun and feel the breeze come off the water and cool you down as your feet would sink into the warm sand with each step. I have been to many beaches in my short life, but nothing could be compared to this one. 

After getting a quick bite to eat, we walked down Miami Beach to the very southern point to South Point Park. As we were walking down the boardwalk we got to watch some of the cruise ships go out to sea from the port. You really never really grasped the actual size of those beasts until you are only a few hundred feet away from them. They are incredible! It was hilarious to see the police boats escort the ships out with their mounted machine guns on the front of each boat (kind of scary too). 

Trying to stay on schedule we walked out to a main road and flagged down a taxi to the American Airlines Arena were we would hopefully see a scalper or two and catch a Miami Heat game. Unfortunately we were unable due to the absence of scalpers and lack of tickets (completely sold out). I was not disappointed because the adventure was worth it in it self, and outside the stadium there was a public school band performance. I am in a band myself and I am telling you these kids impressed me to no end. They had to be 10-12 years old and they were covering Metallica, Nirvana, Green Day and all sorts of other bands extremely well. I swear the kid singing is going to be the next Justin Bieber! After watching them in awe for a good forty five minutes we decided to make our journey back home. This time instead of taking a taxi we grabbed a local bus. This is where on of the most terrifying moments of my life happened. 

The bus costs us 2 dollars per person per ride. None of us had any small bills or change so I just used a ten dollar bill sacrificing the two dollars, no big deal. Just out of curiosity I asked the driver if she gave change and she firmly denied me. Then about halfway in to the bus ride she starts yelling to someone on the bus. “YOUNG MAN! YOUNG MAN! (OTHER THINGS THAT I COULD NOT MAKE OUT BECAUSE I WAS NOT REALLY PAYING ATTENTION)!” I remember thinking to myself “what is this crazy lady going on about?” And then I hear “YOUNG MAN WHO GAVE ME THE TEN DOLLAR BILLPLEASE COME TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS!” my heart sank; I though I was getting kicked off! Uncle Scott jumped up to the rescue and went to talk to her. Turns out she only wanted to give me some change she obtained from other riders that paid in cash, what a sweet lady. I was relieved to hear this but still a little embarrassed and shaky from the whole experience. 

We then arrived back to the boat safely and watched some more Rocky (they had the box set). The other days were spent relaxing, talking, drinking cocktails, visiting, eating (I mentioned we like to eat right?), meeting new people, and generally have the greatest time ever. It was really an amazing trip and I am sad that I can not tell you guys about everything that happened but this is pretty long as it stands. I am extremely fortunate to have had these experiences and thank you Uncle Scott and Aunt Sue for making it happen, if it was not for you guys we would never have been able to do something like this any time soon.

Cheers to the good times!

Kyle Kilbride

BAHAMAS!!!!!!!

Have you ever had a thought, perhaps a vision, of something that seemed so simple and yet nearly unobtainable?  Perhaps, something completely routine and yet daunting?  Familiar and somehow new?

As we sat in Fort Lauderdale the simple vision of floating in crystal clear blue water in the Bahamas was calling, yes it was a ways East by North East, but if you can imagine it, you can do it - right?  To get there all you have to do is point the boat 76 degrees at 11.5 mph and you arrive in 7 hours - something we have done a dozen times, but not across an ocean and the Gulf Stream and not 35 miles from shore in any direction.

And so, with a narrow weather window we screwed up our courage and set out.  The conditions were not perfect, and we had to rock and roll along for a solid 5 hours in 3-5 foot seas, but Reviresco shook it off like any other day and kept our confidence up.  Sue was a real champ, calm and collected the whole time and although nervous about the conditions to start, she quickly grew accustomed and was game to continue on.  For my part, I was hoping for an easier crossing, but everything is a compromise, and while it was not the most comfortable, it was in no way unsafe.

When there is nothing in front of you, and nothing behind, having the CATs running smoothly was a real confidence booster.  I was really pleased that all the maintenance I did before leaving worked perfectly and we had no leaks or issues of any kind.  There is always the risk that when you change something just before you set out that you have made a mistake that will not reveal itself for a few hours.

We finished the last two hours of our run in calm seas with a nice easy 2 foot swell.

The fish were flying in all directions as we moved along.  They are a little tough to capture on film as they are only about 5 inches long and quick!  They shoot along about two inches above the surface and can go about 100 yards in the air before dipping back into the ocean.

As we got closer to the Bahamas the water turned an incredible Electric Blue colour.  Sue described it as "Blueberry with a touch of cream".  For my part, it looked like Blue Gatorade.  How you would describe the colour?

Sun Streaks Going Down 30 Feet

Yes!

Holding on For Dear Life!

Land Fall!

Bahama Poster Kids!

There have been innumerable lessons learned along the way, but 4186KM later we've arrived!

We will stick around Grand Bahama Island for a few days and then head over to the Great Abaco Island to stop in at Green Turtle Cay for a few more days.

Ever Forward!

Nooks and Crannies!

Over the last week I have been busy getting some maintenance and repairs done before we head over to the Bahamas.  By reputation, it is very difficult to get anything done there due to parts availability.  Many have said that it is much better to just fly back to FLA with your cruising permit and buy what you need and retun with it rather than ship and pay duty.  Towards that end, I have been working very hard to make sure everything is ship shape.

That said, you need to be a chinese acrobat to work on the boat - my flexibility was never very good, but it improves with every repair.

A Quick Warm Up Stretch

Hanging off the Roof

Love that Sump Pump

Out Back of STBD CAT

This CAT is no Cradle!

The Electrical Panel is Where?

I'm Exhausted just getting to it

Aft Quarter Cleat Bolts in Closet

Sue makes this small kitchen look luxurious!

On to the next project and then the Bahamas!!

Guest Book - Rebecca (week of Feb 21, 2011)

My experience in sunny Florida was a lot of fun. My three main highlights there are many though. Firstly was all the wild life I got to see. Secondly was the walking around downtown and going to south beach. Finely just having the experience of living on a boat for a week, and getting to spend time with my aunt and uncle.


The wild life was amazing mainly because I had never seen some of these animals before. We saw dolphins, manatees, flamingos, and pelicans. It was weird to see a flamingo that was white not pink. I wish I could have swum with the dolphins. But I don’t think they would have liked that….kid over board. Haha!

We had a plane, trains and automobiles type day. When aunt sue says it’s a short walk never believe her. According to her a 59 minute walk is a short one. So we ended up taking a cab the rest of the way. But before we even started to walk we took a public transit bus. But we could not take the bus again because we did not have the exact change to get on the bus. We took all the types of transits we could. Once we got to south beach it really is so long. There are a lot of different people. We saw one guy with a metal detector walking down the beach searching of metals. I think it was cool to see all the different types of people. And how they act and their mannerisms compared to back home in Ottawa.

Finally, living on the boat was a very different experience for me. But I enjoyed it a lot. It was good to see my aunt and uncle. Probably good for Auntie Sue because it gave someone new for Uncle Scott to pick on. But it is all good because majority was aimed at Kyle and his pants that are tighter than mine. :P It was good to see them all nice and tan. By the end of the week the comparison from them to me and Kyle was not as bad as it was when we first got there. We were so pasty.

In the end I was sad to leave Uncle Scott and Auntie Sue and the warm sun but happy to go home and see the fam. I’ll never forget the experience I had there. It was a lot of fun. It was great food as well. My wraps were amazing for almost every meal of the day.

Rebecca the Wrap Queen

Pretty water bird which may be a white flamigo

Catching some rays at Boca Chita Beach (BEFORE our leisurely walk)

Planes, Trains, …but NO automobiles!

This second week in March, we’re busily trying to prepare for our trip to The Bahamas. We felt the best way to do this was to take “Reviresco” to the Cable Marine West Yard in Ft Lauderdale for some needed repairs and maintenance before the trip. This no frills boatyard was recommended by locals as a DIY haven with easy access to the right experts, as required. So on Thursday, March 3, we cast off our mooring lines from Las Olas Marina and slowly cruised our way through some cool, and really narrow stretches of canal, weaving our way past the Ft Lauderdale downtown area and some nearby megayachts docked feet away.

Other than non-responding bridge tenders, securite calls from the “Island Adventures” cruisers coming towards us, and the occasional wavy current that spun out our back end, the trip was interesting and mostly uneventful. Any safe landing you walk away from…What a time for the battery to conk out on the camera, though.

The boatyard was as advertised. No frills and no amenities nearby except for the bus station, train station and the Ft Lauderdale International Airport (we happened to be on the north end of the landing strip – no joke!). So, I went about trying to get our groceries and other provisions. Scott went about losing what’s left of his sanity trying to sort out several mechanical issues, including that darn dinghy winch (aka WENCH!). Renting a car seemed like a good plan as everything was the standard 2-5 miles away. However, the rental rates varied greatly from $45-90/day for an economy car, if they were available. On principle alone, we declined. We decided walking would kill two birds with one stone – exercise and errands. Mostly, we killed our patience trying to get things done. Thankfully, visiting friends came to the rescue with their cars. I was never so happy to see a vehicle with 4 wheels and massive trunk space.

Did we mention that Scott’s parents were with us this whole time?! The “Good Sports of the Year Award” definitely does to this easy-going couple. Swinging on a mooring ball feet away from the Las Olas Bridge and hanging out in a boatyard were taken in good stride. They definitely experienced the less glamorous side of boating. We were grateful they didn’t hurt themselves rushing to join Sandra and Bob in their CAR for some adventures of their own next week: sunning by the pool, shopping and golfing. Pure LUXURY!

Despite the minimalist week, we still had a great time visiting together.

PS – Did I mention that I was carded at the grocery store when I bought a case of beer?! Poor young cashier was a tad embarrassed when she saw my driver’s license. Not me!

Lovely dinner at Bubba Gump

...and a little silliness



Nice spot for a tree-house

Picture doesn't do this property justice - there's a beautiful infinity pool right next to this gorgeous fountain/gazebo

Neat lift right next to our slip - got to see some nice boats coming and going

Our kind chauffeurs, Sandra, Bob with the Ford Taurus - look at that fabulous trunk space



Claudia and Alastair with their rescuers!

 Could be under 21 years old, no?!  Don't look too close though!