Friday, April 25, 2014

So behind With The Blog But I Wanted To Share Our Plans



Hello All 

As seems to be my style lately, that I have been tardy in keeping up with not only the blog, but emails, and personal writing. When we have internet, which is usually close to a town, laundry, groceries, restaurants, touristy stuff, there is so much to do that I don’t want to waste time on a laptop. Face Book is a draw too, because I can get wasted in seeing what family and friends have been up to, making me feel a much needed connection to everyone. Then when I have no internet, some great book, a hike,  a swim, or a snorkel can persuade me to get up and out instead of writing.  Not a bad thing

When we left Little Current, I had not been cruising before, and had visions of this life style being much different from what it really is, someways better, someways not. I really thought that it would be more like the North Channel, with lots of quiet anchorages that you could get lost in for weeks. This part of Mexico’s Caribbean Coast is full of tourists and a touristy lifestyle. I must be liking it though, because as I write this I see that we have been here for almost three months. We have enjoyed Isla Mujeres, and have used this wonderful Island near Cancun as our traveling hub, guest pick up, friend making, provisioning site. We made a quick visit to Isla Contoy, a nature reserve. Enjoyed a stay in Puerto Morelos Marina El Cid, that made me feel off the charts spoilt. Visited Ek Balam Mayan ruins and swam in a cenote.  We have petted a shark, stood at the most eastern tip of land in Mexico. We docked at Marina Puerto Aventuras, a large gated community centred around a dolphin training area for dolphin discoveries. We snorkelled the reefs at Hut point, enjoyed wondrous sunrises and sunsets anchored in Punta Allen, located in the Sian Ki Biosphere Reserve. For a couple that had no intentions of coming to Mexico this year we sure have had a lot of first and a great time. 

Our time here is almost done though. I am so excited as my nephew Adam will be visiting us at the end of the month, then when he leaves around May 7, we will be searching for the first weather window back to Florida. Yes, we are heading to Canada. The plan is to travel up Florida’s Eastern shore to Jacksonville, store the boat at Green Cove Springs Marina, hop on a plane to Toronto, and somehow make our way to Sudbury. The actual dates are still vague, depending on weather and travelling the coast. Our thoughts are somewhere around being in Jacksonville sometime in June but as always we are controlled by mother nature. Through the networking help of our friend Mike we have bought a used car to bomb around in for the summer, visiting family and friends. Other than that, our logistics for the summer are pretty loose.  We met a lovely lady from the UK, her and her husband have been cruising for over ten years, when we talked about our hopes, fears and anxiety about going home, without a base of our own for a visit, she shared that they house/pet sit when they go home so they are not under everyones feet, and can visit family and friends without smelling like three day old fish. Marc and I loved this idea so we joined trusted housesitters and have been combing through the ads looking for short or long term house sitting jobs. Funny though, we could go to the south of France or house sit a villa in Italy, but LOL Sudbury is not such a hot spot destination looking for pet/house sitters. We did find an ad for a prof from the university so we are hopeful. Of course, spending time with miss Olive, her mom, and uncle are at the top of the list for us, visiting Montreal enjoying Marc’s mom’s famous ragout and pecan pie, being introduced to Miss Dakota our new grand baby niece and I am longing for hugs all around. Perfect would be being able to see Jacob, Andrea and the boys or making a trip west. So, when’s the visit going to end? We are not sure. The rough plan is to stay until we a shoed away, probably in October, Thanksgiving with the kids would be heaven, head back to Jacksonville, replenish our boat and move on into the Eastern Caribbean. 

So, for our  sailing friends, we hope you are enjoying fair winds and calm seas. Next fall, we look forward to new adventures in the Caribbean and hope you are included. To family and friends at home, I am so excited at the possibility of seeing everyone. We can’t wait to catch up, share a glass of wine and hear what’s going on in your world. 

Much Love Linda 






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