Sun Spirit

Yes, the good news is that we received our certificate of registration from Transport Canada and had the name Sun Spirit approved - good thing otherwise I would have to change the name of this blog. The first task this week was to order vinyl letters and put the new name on the boat. It is a very easy process as long as you get the name straight - requires endless measuring if you are a perfectionist. The second order of business was to visit U.S. customs to get a cruising permit which allows us to cruise in U.S. waters. Hopefully this is all the paperwork we need for this year. Tomorrow it is grocery shopping, checking all fluids, filling up diesel fuel, propane and filling up jerrycans with extra fuel and water.  The plan is to leave here Monday morning, depending on weather, and start our trip. We have to head north first up the St. John’s river to Jacksonville and then turn into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to journey south towards Miami. The I...

While we continue to wait for our registration documents Gunter accomplishes the never-ending boat work. Boaters can relate to this - just when you think it is finished, something else doesn’t work. We are happy to be getting this done here however where there are lots of resources, stores and tradespeople. So far we have: Recharged the fridge and freezer - so important when there is no nearby grocery store Replaced parts on both heads (toilets) - requires no explanation! Tuned up the outboard motor for the dingy - our transportation when anchored Replaced the line (rope) that pulls the main sail out - before the old line breaks Repaired/patched some of the canvas - the fabric deteriorates gradually with exposure to salt spray and UV rays Finally, and hopefully lastly, we have to replace the starter battery (starts the engine when not plugged into shore power) and some electrical work. Whew - the Visa card is getting a bit of a workout this month. There is a fun store in St....

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  It is a cool and blustery day here in Green Cove Springs but we are not complaining since we see there is an extreme cold warning at home. Good day for boat projects. We are lucky with the facilities at Reynolds - nice boater’s lounge, full kitchen, laundry, computer station and showers. We have finished most of the work on the boat, with just a few more jobs to do as we wait for Transport Canada to approve the boat name and transfer the ownership. We took the old name off and as soon as we get the go ahead, we will order new graphics. We also plan to do a “practice” run and anchoring here in the river once the weather cooperates. When we get the go ahead from the government it will be a mad dash to stock up on as much fresh food as we can cram into the fridge/freezer. We drove up to Jacksonville a few days ago buy a few items and have never seen a Costco and IKEA store so empty. It is birthday week in our family. Happy Birthday to my...

Approximately 250 square feet, not including outdoor space - I actually measured it (don’t laugh, landscape friends). Here is where we are living for the next 3 months, for our non-boating friends! The Galley (kitchen): The Salon (living room/dining room): The Nav Station (home office & food storage): Aft Cabin (master bedroom): The Head (bathroom): The V-Berth (guest suite with private bathroom and shoe storage - I think we brought too many): The Cockpit (covered outdoor patio): The Dingy (vehicle when anchored): The Foredeck (lounge area/yoga studio): Solar panels & wind generator (power source): Garden (not really but I can’t resist a garden centre, even if it is the Home Depot): Thanks for reading!

We made it here Feb 3rd after towing a trailer full of boat stuff and canned/packaged food over 1800 km. Happy face send off from Bill and Julie! We were a bit worried about crossing the border - wondering whether they would want to inspect our goods but we were waved through. Hmm...snowbirds travelling to Florida - not a high risk apparently. Thank you to Rick and Doreen for trusting that we will look after their baby. It was a sad day for them to leave after 15 years of Bahamas cruising with this boat. The Reynolds Park Yacht Center is an interesting place with quite a history:  http://www.rpyc.info/about.html  There are some huge ships here getting work done. There are a few pleasure craft docked, but many boaters have already left on their trips.  Here is the view from our stern: The big overwhelming job now is to sort through all the stuff left by Rick and our stuff and figure out how we are ever going to fit everything in. ...