Hello, Bahamas

The crew crossed over to the Bahamas on Friday. We had anchored at Rodriguez Key, pulling the anchor at sunrise to set off. The crossing was bumpier than we had planned but Dylan and Dee Dee proved yet again why they are the world's best crew members.

Each found their favorite spots and settled in. Dylan in front of the pilothouse door.

Dee Dee snuggled on the pilothouse settee.

We safely reached the Bahamas banks and settled into our first anchorage off Cat Cay. Dylan and Dee Dee kept a close watch but never did see any cats.

But they did spy some Bahamian dolphins the next day.

A couple more anchorages and the crew was checked in at Nassau, Bahamas. The three customs officials came to the boat, took one look at our ferocious crew, and asked the captain to come to the office instead.

Dylan and Dee Dee will be visiting new beaches, making new friends, and catching up with old buddies. They'll be visiting some remote places and working hard at having fun, so be patient. They will catch up their blog whenever they can.

Goodbye, Stock Island!

Everyone has been enjoying themselves here at Stock Island Marina Village. Mom and Dad have visited restaurants and bars downtown, walked the streets of Key West, and visited with friends and family.

But for the kids it's been mainly about the dog park. The marina built a lovely dog park right on the property that is watched over by Snoopy and Woodstock.

Dylan and Dee Dee have visited the park every day since we arrived, usually right after lunch. They know exactly when it's time to go.  It's a lovely park with small and large dog sections, benches, a kiddie pool and hose, and plenty of shade trees which also are good hiding places for the birds.

Some days there were lots of dogs.

Some days there were just a few.

Every day it was fun.

Tomorrow we throw off the lines and head back north to setup for a crossing to the Bahamas on Friday. We have many great memories of our time here at Stock Island and look forward to returning. So does the crew, but for Dylan and Dee Dee, it's all about the dog park.

 
Note:  Dylan and Dee Dee may not have good internet access in some of the more remote locations they will be visiting over the next few months in the Bahamas. They will give an update whenever they can.

A Rainbow!

Dylan and Dee Dee were greeted this afternoon by a beautiful 180 rainbow!

It was so big there was no way to get it all in one shot from the bow. The aCappella crew thinks this is a good omen for 2016!

Another New Year!

Dylan and Dee Dee have certainly been enjoying holiday time here at Stock Island Marina Village. Santa decided to drop off two toys for Christmas. We're not sure if it was one for Dylan and one for Dee Dee or if both were for Dylan (our good boy). Since Santa didn't leave any coal we gave Dee Dee the benefit of the doubt.

There was a long serpent that squeaks and a stuffed dolphin. Both were hits.

The serpent was perfect for tug-of-war.

While Dylan couldn't believe he was allowed to have his own dolphin onboard.

Of course, in the end Dee Dee ended up with both of them.

It's been a great year for the aCappella crew. Tonight we move into the new year. Dylan and Dee Dee look forward to more beaches, more dog parks, and many new adventures.

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

Dylan and Dee Dee are counting down to Christmas - there's less than 24 hours of being good. Dylan is hoping Dee Dee won't scare off Santa with a bark. Dee Dee is hoping Santa will give an allowance for being cute.

As for Mom and Dad, they think they have two of the best presents under their tree!

With Santa so near you'd think that being that good would come easy. You'd be wrong. That kind of good only comes from bribing with treats...

The entire crew of aCappella wishes you a very Merry Christmas!

Sans Kids

This morning we took the Stock Island Marina Village shuttle to downtown Key West - sans kids - for a day on our own. We walked Duval Street, looked in the shops, had lunch, and stopped at the Cuban coffee shop. There were two large cruise ships in port so the streets were bustling and all was decked out for a Key West Christmas.

The highlight for me was an early Christmas gift from Yours and Mayan, a free trade store that supports the Mayan Indians of Guatemala. I picked out two beautiful handcrafted birds - a chicken and a pelican.

They are smaller versions of a chicken I picked out ten years ago in Key West, the last time aCappella was here. Just to make it clear how much I loved the chicken, it was one of the few items that not only made the cut when we cleared the house, it actually made it onto the boat and rests on a ledge in the pilothouse. I think these two will go below in the stateroom to give cheer each morning and night.

As for the kids, they slept all day except for when they awoke at 4:00 pm starving until we returned just before 5:00. How do we know? Jeff set up a new webcam and we periodically peeked in on them. I'm pretty sure their sense of time is more accurate than an atomic clock.

Chill'n in Key West...

Dylan and Dee Dee have reached another milestone in their cruising adventures. They are now the farthest south they have ever been.

Dylan had previously been in Marathon but Dee Dee had only been as far south as Miami Beach last year where we waited for our Bahamas crossing.

Back in 2010, Dylan was in Marathon with Dyna. They had a great time swimming at Sombrero Beach every day. They romped with lots of other dogs including old friends Godiva and Cassie from September Song. Godiva has now joined Dyna in the huge dog park in the sky but Cassie and her people are currently docked kitty-corner to us here in Key West

We had a good run down with a combination of offshore days when it was nice and slipping along inside when it wasn't. The crew performed exemplary.

Daddy helped them spy dolphins and we had lots of them. Frankly, Daddy looks as excited as the crew...

Dee Dee loved being up on the flybridge offshore. It's something we haven't done too much with her because, well, it's a long jump down.

As the most seasoned crew member, Dylan helped show her the ropes.

For now we're safely tucked into Stock Island Marina Village in Key West. There's a dog park on site, dog friends nearby, and even some special dog treats from the staff. Dylan and Dee Dee think they're gonna like Key West just fine.

We plan to go even further south this winter as we travel to some of the southern Bahamas islands in the Exuma island chain ending up in George Town.

Seeing Triple!

Leaving Brunswick Landing we took advantage of a weather window to go offshore overnight to Jensen Beach and drop the hook. Our hope was to be able to quickly skip along outside until we got to Key West but mother nature had other ideas. So as a front came through with high winds and rain, we ducked into one of our favorite marinas, Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach.

It's a beautiful marina with exceptional amenities. We love to walk the dogs along the docks to gawk at the mega-yachts docked there. It's the part of Florida where aCappella begins to looks rather modest, to put a finer point on it. We always enjoy being here.

This time was extra special though. Today Dylan and Dee Dee got to play with Mellow!

Mellow is Dee Dee's half-sister. They share Sarge as their papa. So that makes Dylan Mellow's great-step-uncle or great-half-uncle or - oh, it gets complicated.

We loaded them into Ken and Trudy's car (Ken and Trudy are Mellow's people) and headed off to a nearby dog park.

So did they have a good time? You can decide for yourself.

As for which dog is which, well, we were there and had a hard time telling.

I'm sure many of you are tiring of seeing pictures of the same yellow Labs. This is where I would usually show a picture of Dylan and Dee Dee exhausted after their afternoon romp.  But I've decide to mix it up a bit and finish with with something completely different.

Mellow dreaming of Dylan and Dee Dee...

Turkey Trot

Dylan and Dee Dee had a fine time visiting family Thanksgiving week. The highlight was the annual Johnson City Turkey Trot, a 5K walk/run that takes place at 8:30 am Thanksgiving morning. They were predicting about 5,000 participants. And the best part... dogs can participate.

It was a beautiful morning with just a slight chill in the air. We lined up with the other dogs and stroller participants for the walk while my brother and his family went off for the run. The kids had a ball.

We crossed the finish line and the kids received a Turkey Trot medal! Well, actually, everyone who crossed the finish line got the medal but don't tell them that.

But the real prize - bananas! Dee Dee LOVES bananas. Dylan thinks their pretty good too.

Back to Grandma's to show off their awards.

The crew is back onboard helping get ready to head further south. It's interesting being in new places but for Dylan and Dee Dee there's no place like home.

Over The River...

Dylan and Dee Dee crossed several rivers and even climbed over the mountains through the woods in yet another rental car. They're spending Thanksgiving week at Grandma's house. It's been people and parks and walks. Both kids have been terrific. Yes, really, both kids.

But Dee Dee's favorite thing has been having her crate back! It's been 8 months since that fateful day at Great Harbour Cay when we took her crate down and reclaimed the salon. Since then the crate has been in the lazarette taking up some pretty valuable real estate.

However, Grandma's house has an abundance of "Dee Dee, No!" places. So we brought the crate to use when she can't be supervised.

Dylan on the other hand is a good boy and not in need of confinement. How could anyone not trust that handsome face?

We wondered what Dee Dee would do after all those months. Would we need to bribe her into the crate with a treat like we used to with Dylan?

Hardly. I was barely able to put the cushion in before she climbed in with a toy and settled down.

Now when we look around and say, "Where's Dee Dee?" We just look in the crate. She even settles in at bedtime.

Dylan thought the extra space in the double bed in Grandma's guest bedroom was great.

Of course, morning found the same two wet noses staring into my face. Am I lucky or what?