Gratitude

The Pearl (Jennifer)

Ahoy Friends, Family and fellow Seafarers, 

We hope each of you had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Captain and I spent our day on Kluane and had a lovely dinner at the Marina.  It was the start of a perfect weekend.

With Thanksgiving still fresh in my mind (I know, even with the Commercial Christmas craziness in the air), I am grateful for all the friendly, fun and kind people that have crossed my path!  Folks that are unfailing kind, friendly and willing to lend a hand or a their knowledge.  Cruising has an amazing community of people.  AMAZING.  So if you asked me why I love it, one of my answers would be the PEOPLE.  Mary, Brenda, Jan, Kathy, Eliane, Shelly, Susan, Sheryl, Marsha, Lucy, Sally, Marlene, Mark, Morgan, Dan, Scott, George, Drew, Chris, Leann, Jason, Robert, Lori, Jo, Matt, Tanya, Jay, Sam, Mike, Tom, Jon, Dennis, Kirm, Art, Yves, Bob, Lory and many others.  Thank You for the kind smile in the morning after a rough night on the boat, for the quick wit and banter that only a sailor can understand, for your care and concern and most importantly, your friendship.  Sailors Rock! 

Buccaneer and I have a new way to track our movements.  Click on this link and when we are moving, you will see "pings" from our location every 10 mins.   The password is SailingAdventure.  

Landlubbers, the best way to contact us while we are moving is kluanesails@gmail.com.  When we have internet, we will check in on email. Sailors, we can be reached on SSB, channel 16.  We look forward seeing you all very soon!

My newest little friend, Spencer has asked for more photos, so I will do my best to accommodate his wishes.  

Captain and I have been busy getting Kluane ready to cross to the Bahamas.  

Kluane is ready.  

We are ready.

Fair winds!

Pearl

Sunset in Stuart, Florida

Mooring field at Sunset Bay

Happy Birthday Captain Bowling Party!  Look at Mary's form!

Friendly Trouble (& the cleanest Bowling Alley I have ever seen)

 Bowling shoes and capris, it's the new trend.  

Look closely, what is wrong with this photo? Hint, look at the ball.

The Birthday Bowling Crew (Cliff, Art, Tom, Brenda, Mary & Dennis)

Very happy guys!  Tom, Cliff & Dennis (the photo was staged).

Brenda tearing it up!

As the night progressed, our 7 balls grew to 9.
Interesting enough we all seemed to be using the same lucky ball.

Sunset Drum Circle, Shepard Park, Stuart, Fl

Musical Captain gets drumming

Safety, Comfort and Chile

The Pearl (Jennifer)

So you make rules to break them, right? I am posting so soon to share a few photos I forgot to add.  Much of the work we did over the last 2 months is evident in Kluane's warm, comfy cabin and safety features inside and out.  I won't get into all the things we did to keep safe and be comfy, but here are a few I consider very important.

Fair Winds,

The Pearl

Captain Cliff re-rigged Kluane at the slip in the Marina.
The rigging is all the stainless wire and attachments that keep the mast up.

Here is the inside of the killer winch, greased and ready to let genoa in an out.
Yves are you smiling?

This one is for Lori and Rob on Apogee.  They have ventured to Fiji and are suffering from green chile withdrawal.  This was the last of the fresh, frozen chile we had.  We brought it with us to Saleno Pizza and they happily made us INCREDIBLE pizza.  Thanks Aunt C and Uncle T!

Messing About In Boats

The Pearl (Jennifer)

Over the last few weeks I have realized how many songs have a reference to sailing.  There are the obvious Beach Boys songs (Kokomo, Sloop John B) and Jimmy Buffet (Changes in Latitudes, Margaritaville and Mother Ocean) and Joe Cocker (Sail Away).  Oh, and Lyle Lovette (If I had a boat), Loggins and Messina (Vahevala) and Peter Frampton (Sail Away).  And one of my personal favorites, David Gray (Sail Away). The list goes on and on. I am enjoying Sirius, a comfort addition to Kluane this year.

Today we left the marina are heading to Melbourne, Florida for a GAM.  A GAM is a social meeting of seafarers and whalers according to Webster. Arg, Matie -- will there be pirates? Ours will include 3 days of seminars on marine topics and a trade show.  I am excited to learn more about sailing and meet new friends!

We are at anchor, in an undisclosed location off the ICW, enjoying the free internet, full tummy from an awesome dinner and the sounds of being on the water.  Insert your song here.

More later,

Jennifer

Captain and his newly oiled Winch (check out the smile).
 He took this apart (lots of parts) and put it back together without a diagram!

Important provisioning item: Shark Bottle Opener.  Check.

Our neighbor at the marina.

Huge.

She is ready!  Check out the water reflection on the shiny hull!

Some of our marina friends - Drew and Kirm!

More marina friends - Art, Brenda and Terri.

Our Bahamian Flag from 2012.

Time Flies!

The Pearl (Jennifer)

It is cliche to say time flies, but it sure does!  It's been 16 months since my last blog entry.  I've decided to take a little pressure off myself and pick up a practice of a fellow cruiser --  you can expect one blog entry a month.  As Internet allows I will post photos, so you are able to "see" our adventures! 

So there is no time like the present to get started.  September started with a huge event for WRW, Bike MS and we raised over $75,000 as a team. No typo, we are awesome!  

We then headed to Florida with Airstream in tow.  

A very wise Captain made the decision to buy a last minute GPS.  Yes, it was a very wise decision. Nora Never Lost earned her keep and kept us sane and happy on unfamiliar roads.  Captain charted the course and we had lovely parks to stay at along the way.  Along the way we saw the Oklahoma Memorial, acres of wind generators, Cadillac Ranch, Martin Luther King Jrs home, stayed on the Mississippi and toured Elvis' home.

Then we arrived to the BEST RV Park ever.  

Hands down.  

We are ruined.  

Welcome to Fort Wilderness.

And we played like kids for days!

Looking back at this picture, I giggle.  Look at my hat, look at Minnie's.

Epcot.

My hero, Mary Poppins.  

A spoon full of sugar, helps the medicine go down. 

Disney was amazing.  

It exceeded all my expectations.  

Much to do, much to see.

Dare to dream!

Love Bugs. 

What happens when you take the toll road through the swampy middle of Florida.

The real deal.  

Captain Phillips lifeboat.  

Bullet holes.

Fort Pierce, Fl

For the mariners out there, new zinc on Kluane.  

This one is a big deal, long story! 

No more cluck, clunck.

As my 30's come to a close, I can't believe how quickly time passes.  I can't wait for what the next decade brings.  See you in October!

Love,
Pearl