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May 6, 2022- The end of a wonderful trip

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May 6, 2022 7:30am- After breakfast, we went back to the boat and made sure all the boat floor boards were lifted and we sprayed First Defence in case there are any bugs.  We locked her up and paid Sally the boat storage and lift out fee and left.  GaYa will be resting for another year.  We went to drop off our Certificate of Registry at US Customs as we always did however we no longe r have to do that. We have to wait until next December to get another cruising permit since the one we have expires December 6, 2023. It is not an easy lifestyle travelling on the boat but it brings you back to the simple life and it makes you appreciate the things you have at home such as running hot water, hot showers, dishwashers,  laundry machines and  all accessibilities  and conveniences of living on land.  We truly enjoy it and realize it is not for everyone. This blog was meant to share our daily life living on the boat for 5 months.  Thanks for reading my blog and we hope  we are able to do this
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May 3-5, 2022 - GaYa is out.

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May 3, 2022 12:90pm- Our GaYa is out of the water.  Steve ran fresh water through the engine before they lifted her out.  John and Terry from s/v Primera Vista, came to the yard to see how they haul our boat out since their boat will be coming out on the 13th. They were kind enough to drive us to our truck which was at the marina.  We did our last load of wash which was all the bedding.  As we got back to the boat, they already cleaned the bottom and were bringing it where they put her on stands.  4:00pm- We we’re hoping to go to our grandson’s piano recital however we never got there. Our truck sensor kept coming on. We ended up at the Ford truck dealer in Fort Pierce. They did a quick diagnosis and figure  the throttle body valve could be stuck. Might be because the truck sat so long without being used.  We will be bringing it in tomorrow morning and will have to rent a truck since we need to get our dinghy to the storage bin.  May 4, 2022  We rented a hotel for 3 days until the truc
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April 27 - May 2, 2022- Haul-out time

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April 27 - 29, 2022 7:00am- Before our coffee, we said goodbye to Sue and Gunter as they leave for Jacksonville to haul out their boat there. It felt very surreal.  Now the work begins. First called our landscaper back home because apparently our lawn needs cutting.  After breakfast, we took an Uber to pick up our truck which was in storage. After removing the cover, we knew she needed a good wash.  We then went to Storage King USA to reserve a climate control storage unit. According to Riverside Marina, they will not be able to haul us out until next week.  April 27-29,  2022 Our new hats which we got at the Fort Pierce City Marina.  Things we have done so far to start putting the boat away  -Steve filled the boat up with fuel and emptied the Jerry can in order to store them in the storage bin  -We brought the kayak and a few fenders also to storage along with other things which we will no longer need such as life jackets.  -Steve thoroughly cleaned the top side and the deck  -We remo
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April 26, 2022 - Back to Fort Pierce, Fla

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April 26, 2022 1:00am- I got woken up from a deep sleep when we heard two guys talking on the VHF radio about passing Mangrove. We left the VHF radio on all night in case we needed to communicate with Sun Spirit. Right now we have no cell connection whatsoever to communicate. 2:00am- Made coffee in preparation for our departure from Mangrove to Fort Pierce.  2:45am-Anchors up and off we go. For some reason, I always get excited when we leave in the dark. Wish I could take a photo of the sky. We can see the Milky Way. So beautiful. There is something special about leaving in the dark. Sun Spirit is right behind us.   You can see the lights illuminating the sky from Freeport.  3:45am-we put our radar on since we can see a bright light in the distance. One ship is going adjacent to us on our starboard and one is 5 miles ahead of us going to our starboard. Glad we have an AIS and radar.  So far I have seen 2 falling stars.  4:00am- As the approach the ship, we see on our AIS that the ships
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April 25, 2022- Mangrove Cay

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April 25, 2022 6:15am-  Got up early to enjoy the quiet morning and the sunrise.  I made homemade blueberry pancakes and enjoyed our coffee before our 7:30am departure  from Great Sale to Mangrove Cay. It won’t be as long of a day as yesterday.  Looks like we will be motor sailing today since  there is light dead down winds. We are going at a speed of 6 knots to prevent the boat rolling back and forth.  10:00am-  Finally we were able to shut the engine and sail with our head sail. We are going over 5 knots which is nice. We only hear the waves hitting against GaYa’s sides.  11:45am- We arrived and anchored at Mangrove Cay. Upon arrival, we made water. It will be the last time to make water because once we are in the US, we will be able to fill up at the marina and you really don’t want to make water in those waters.  I changed my phone cell chip from Bahamian to US since we are presently no longer connected until we cross the US border 3:00pm- Steve changes the Bahamian courtesy flag t
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April 24, 2022- Great Sale Cay

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April 24, 2022  6:40am- Up to see the sunrise. Not many left for me to see before we leave the Bahamas. Wish we could spend more time in Manjack Cay but we have to move on since the winds are in favour.  Enjoying the last of our coconut with the blueberries which Gunter and Sue brought us yesterday.  .  8:30am- Both sails are up as we leave Manjack and sail on to Great Sale Cay.  9:30am-  Can’t help noticing all the Abaco pines trees along Great Abaco which were stripped by Dorian. It might take a while for them to recover.  9:30am-  The perfect sail. We are reaching up to 8.8 knots with winds of 15 apparent at 120 degrees. .  10:00am-  In preparation for the gulf crossing, while  my bread is rising, I made pizza dough in order to have pizza for when we plan to cross. I also made tuna salad and pancake mix for tomorrow’s breakfast,  while under sail.  I made sure to wash all my sea urchins and sea biscuits after they soaked in bleach overnight. I then carefully packed them in plastic
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April 23, 2022- Manjack (Nunjack) Cay

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April 23, 2022 Still windy this morning however we have to wait until the tides go down before leaving  White Sound at Green  Turtle.  Sue and Gunter were kind enough to bring us blueberries (they went grocery shopping yesterday) and got rid of our garbage since they were going to town.  I painted and practiced ukulele while Steve read.   12:30pm-  After having our lunch,  the tides were high enough to finally leave. We disconnected our buoy and headed to Manajack.  We were able to sail the whole way even if it was only 45 minutes away.  1:45pm- Steve made sure our anchor was well planted and briefly looked to sea of there was any sea urchins or sea biscuits. Last time we anchored here, we got plenty. No luck on this swim.  2:30pm- We went for a walk on Manjaxk Cay to the ocean side. Glad to see the air plants made it through Dorian.  Steve found ‘sand doo’ on the beach to ride.  I found another trail which was the art trail.  We then went for a dinghy ride in the mangroves  with Sue a
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