Today was a relax and recover day. We started out with bacon and eggs thanks to Chef Bob Sayle at 3:30 am. I cleared us through customs and immigration. Some activities during the day: church, beach, snorkeling, explored a shipwreck, Bob was almost eaten by a shark – oh wait, it was actually a rock, C.J.’s Deli, naps, explored island via golf cart or scooter, dinner of salmon and green beans and rice, played on phones, exploring the bay via dinghy. Looks like everyone is up for a good night’s sleep.

We survived the crossing to Bimini. Showers and wifi – what else does one need?

We made it to Key Largo and spent the night aboard Big Easy II.

Had a good drive east on I-10 to Lamont, FL, just east of Tallahassee. We pulled into a campground for the night at about 11:00. All is well.

Our next trip to the Bahamas will be over the Easter holidays – April 13-23, 2017. We’ll leave after school on Thursday April 13 and drive to Tallahassee. Friday will bring us to Key Largo, and Saturday we’ll set sail for the Bahamas. We’ll return home on Sunday April 23. Now is the time to act if you would like to go – we have only one spot left on our crew. Contact Captain Dan right away if you would like to go!

During the spring trip, we do a lot of fishing, island-hopping, and reef diving. The dolphin sighting high month is in April, so we will probably see a lot of them. Be sure to check out the Galleries to see what the spring trip looks like!

Well, we made it! What a great trip!!

Our last overnight was at Dove Rest RV Park in Marianna, FL. It was perfect for an overnight stay – quiet, clean, uncrowded, and the staff were quite funny. We’ll definitely go there again.

We unpacked and cleaned the RV and, sadly, everyone went home. Bonnie literally went the extra mile to drive Hugh to New Orleans to see his friend there. There are lots of stories to tell and pictures to view, so check out the gallery of photos from our trip!

Today, while traveling toward home, we visited Rainbow Springs State Park and ate at the 19/98 Grill. We are settled in for the night at a nice RV park in Marianna, FL called Dove Rest RV Park. We expect to return to Ocean Springs around noon tomorrow. All is well.

We had a great night at anchor at Rodriguez Key just off Key Largo. This morning we organized our belongings and cleaned things up. At about 10:00 am, we motored the short distance to Port Largo canal, refueled the boat, and then returned her to her dock. Then we began the labor of off-loading our gear from the boat and loading onto the RV. We were definitely not excited to be going home! We all discussed the idea of just going right on back to the Bahamas!

Reason prevailed and we began the road trip home with several hours consumed going into Miami to clear customs. They seemed particularly inefficient and it was around 6:00 pm before we got onto the Florida Turnpike headed north.

We stopped at our favorite overnight campground at Lake Panasoffkee for a good night’s sleep.

We had a beautiful return Gulf Stream crossing and are safely anchored at Rodriguez Key, just off Key Largo. We’re going to decompress, eat hearty, get some good rest, clean up, and organize while at anchor. Tomorrow morning, we’ll refuel the boat and return to port. After that, we’ll make our way to customs in Miami (by road), and then continue on to our overnight RV park- either Lake Panasoffkee or Blue Springs State Park. This has been a most amazing trip. Everything went as planned or better and we’ve had no mishaps or injuries. All the kids have gotten along well, contributed to the success of the group, and have been awesome. Lots more to post and many photos to come!

We’ve turned Hugh into a sailor! Hugh sailed back with us to the U.S. and will be visiting his friend in New Orleans.

We had a fantastic time at the Berry Islands and just returned to Weech’s Dock in Bimini. We explored Great Harbor Cay and met our friends, the Govatos/Willis/Nell family, at Hoffman’s Cay. We swam and jumped into the Blue Hole at Hoffman’s Cay. We made red beans and rice for everyone. We had a bonfire on the beach and roasted marshmallows. Suffice to say, we had a great time in the most incredible place. The sail there and back was smooth. We will depart Bimini to go back to the U.S. tomorrow morning. We’ll anchor tomorrow night at Rodriguez Key, just off Key Largo.