We finally got our wayward watermaker fixed (knock on wood!). We only had to replace every major component (except the Clark pump) to get it working properly. Thank you Spectra watermakers for your sterling support and to Danny Martin from Wilmington, NC, as well. They were great wtih this frustrating problem.

However, the time we spent in Stuart and Beaufort, as well as the time we need to get some work done in the Chesapeake has ended our plans for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Although we were really looking forward to sailing up north this summer, it will simply have to wait while we prepare the boat and ourselves for our circumnavigation that starts in November of this year.

Getting our maintenance lists together and acquiring the spare parts we may need while away from services is quite daunting. Gary has put together a great spreadsheet and we are working diligently to get everything needed on board before we shove off.

Our trip from Beaufort was uneventful. We spent three days getting to Norfolk, VA, on the ICW. As beautiful as the scenery is, I think we'll spend more time on the "outside" when we sail down this fall. My favorite area on the ICW - Coastal SC and Georgia. I love the salt marshes and grasses where you can see for miles. There are creeks that lead off into the grass, and you can see masts far in the distance from boats that have pulled off to anchor. Not much protection from winds in these areas, but it is pretty! Great for kayaking!

We have taken a mooring in Spa Creek in Annapolis proper. So far we like it very much. There is a pump out boat and we are able to make water, so we don't have to move the boat very often.

It is here that we will haul the boat and repaint the bottom. It was tough to find a haulout facility for catamarans around here (surprising, I think), but we did. After that, we'll continue our outfitting, go to the boat show and head down south mid- to late October.

In the meantime, there will be visits wtih our children and our grandchild. Pictures to materialize in our albums on this site as they are taken!

*****

We spent a month in Stuart, FL, getting some of our boat issues taken care of. We thought our watermaker was fixed, but found out it wasn't...so we have stopped in Beaufort, NC, to get it done -- for good, this time, we hope!

We sailed from Stuart to Fernandina Beach, Fl, where we spent a day at Cumberland Island. Very n ice.

After taking on fuel, we went outside again and sailed up the coast to Winyah Inlet in NC. Then we took the ICW up to Beaufort. Knowing we would be here for a couple of weeks (at least), we were able to get a slip at Beaufort Docks for a monthly rate that was very reasonable.

On our way here, our engine started to blow smoke, so we had to get that looked into also.

Engine was a temperature problem. No damage done and easily fixed. The watermaker was supposed to be just an adjustment (like we did in Stuart that didn't work), but it turns out that the pump is bad. We ordered it and will have it installed some time the middle of June.

Our plans for going to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are on hold. We're just too late and still have lots to do in the Chesapeake.

I am looking forward to seeing our family there and having some summer fun on the boat in the Chesapeake. We missed that last year due to our late return from Whitby.

***

The Berry's were very nice. We anchored behind Devil's Cay and were all by ourselves for a day or so. Then two other boats came in. The harbor has great protection for a front, and we were expecting one (and got it. A good one, too!).

On our way to this anchorage, Gary trolled (as usual). About half way to the islands, I noticed a bunch of flying fish just off our starboard bow. I told Gary that if he was going to catch a fish, those fish were probably being chased by something. And sure enough, not 5 seconds later, our fishing line just took off. We had to stop the boat, and still it took the two of us over 20 minutes to land a great Mahi-Mahi. We got seven bags full of meat for our freezer!

Our plans had been to go to Lucaya, but we took advantage of a great weather window that had not been forecast to cross the Gulf Stream on the 4th of April. Took us about 30 hours. We had good winds and the Stream really pushed us along! Our first landfall in the US was at Ft. Pierce Inlet. We then proceeded south to the St. Lucie River. We are currently in Stuart, Florida.

After some boat work, we intend to move on North to the Chesapeake.

****

After a long winter of warm weather and not so gentle breezes we are preparing to return to Florida.

Visits from David, Heather and Tyler, as well as Brian and Noelle have made our stay in the Bahamas one of sun, fun and good times. Thanks for visiting us, you guys. Pictures of the visits have been added to the photo gallery.

So...Sunday (Easter) we'll head off to the Berry Islands, just northwest of Nassau. After a couple of days there, we are off to Lucaya in the Abacos. This is just east of Freeport. We plan to stay there a couple of nights and then head off to Ft. Pierce, Florida. There are still some things that need to be taken care of on the boat, and that will be done in Stuart, Florida.

Our plans after the work is done is to head north to the Chesapeake and then head north to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes June, July and August. We'll be back in the Chesapeake for the October Boat Show.

I hope to keep this site a bit more updated this summer, because we will have constant access to internet. That was not something we had in the Bahamas without spending an arm and a leg!

Next installment -- when we get to Maryland. I'll let you know how our offshore romp up to Norfolk from Florida went!

BY THE WAY...WE'VE ADDED A LINK IN THE BOATING LINK CATEGORY THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO SEE WHERE WE ARE IN THE WORLD. CHECK IT OUT.

We arrived in Nassau Tuesday, the 23rd of January after sailing overnight through the flats. Customs and Immigration went smoothly and we got our first stamp in our passports.

Since we are expecting company over the next couple of months, we are doing some exploring. Went to Allen's Cay. There are Allen's iguanas here that are found nowhere else in the world. There are pictures on the site if you want to see them. The beaches here are nice, but not as nice as the one at Rose Island. The anchorage at Allen's Cay is much nicer than the one at Rose Island. Go figure! Then we spent some time at Spanish Wells and Harbor Island. Harbor Island is where Dunmore Town is. There are spectacular pink sand beaches here. We took the ferry from Spanish Wells rather than taking our boat due to the many, many coral reefs that between Spanish Wells and Dunmore Town.

Our communications plan was to get a GMDS phone so that we could buy a SIM card in the various countries we visit. This way we can make local calls on a local phone number. So, we trot over to Batelco and buy the card and buy some time and insert the card and unlock the phone. Great. I now have a Bahamian telephone number. So when we were at Rose Island and Allen's Cay, we were connected and I could make phone calls. I still haven't figured out how to make a call to the US, though. But when we got to Spanish Wells, we were suddenly nowhere. Even though there was a Batelco tower on the island right next to our marina! When we went to the Batelco office on Spanish Wells to ask about this phenomenon, the guy simply shrugged his shoulders and said that he'd heard of this happening before. We're in the islands now!

Can't wait for our family and friends to visit. I'll update the site again after that.

NEWSFLASH! The Woodwards are famous! At least for one month. Cruising World was at the PDQ U course in Whitby this summer and took pictures so they could write about the fantastic course that PDQ offers its boat owners. Well, that story is now in print. CRUISING WORLD JANUARY ISSUE. On page 40 is the story complete with pictures. http://www.cruisingworld.com/index.jsp I don't think you can read or see the article here, but most any bookstore will have the magazine so you can take a look!

After Christmas, we continued on our way down the ICW. Each day seemed warmer and more inviting. We had some rainy days, but it was not cold. We spent a few nights in marinas as the wind was very strong (in the 20 knot range), but most of the time we anchored out in some very scenic spots.

The ICW winds around the rivers and cut canals very close to the ocean and the barrier islands in NC, SC and Georgia. Most nights at anchor we could hear the surf. The terrain was rice fields and marshes. Very flat. At anchor off the ICW, one can look across the plain of grass and see a mast or top of a power boat that just looks like it is sailing in the grass.

North and South Carolina is a kayakers paradise. There are many, many small creeks and inlets that wind through the marsh grass and rice fields. I think it would be easy to get lost within the marsh.

Once in Florida, we decided to make up some time and sail out St. Mary's Inlet and down the coast to Ft. Lauderdale where we intend to buy a bigger anchor for the primary anchor on the boat. It was a rough trip. Sharon forgot to bring the seasick pills. That was a BIG MISTAKE. Her trip was miserable for the first 24 hours. Then we found the MotionEaze and it was a little better for the remainder of the trip. The wind was on our front almost all the way down except for a period of about four hours. That made for a rough trip.

This was the first time we'd had to set up watches to cover the boat on a 24 hour cycle. Gary and I each took 6 hour watches during the daylight hours and then 4 hours each for the night. It worked well.

We experienced our first thunder and lightning storm in the boat. At sea and at night. It was a little intimidating. I was concerned that the lightning would hit the mast, but that did not happen.

We were paced by porpoises several times on our way down. They would ride the bow waves for a while and then go their own way. We also saw a sea turtle just lounging on the surface in the sun.

We have one more small hop to Miami that we'll make later this week. That should only be a short day's sail. Then we'll anchor in a large anchorage site off Government Cut waiting until after the Ohio State match with Florida on the 8th. After that, we'll be waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. It's so close now, I am really getting excited!

Christmas: We spent our firt Christmas away from our family in Georgetown, South Carolina. We were a little lonely -- well, a lot lonely and melancholy -- but thanks to the cell phone, we were able to talk with everyone on Christmas Day. We still wish we had been there!

Christmas Day dawned with a storm approaching -- thus the reason we are tied at a dock instead of anchored out. The forecast was for heavy rain and high winds gusting into gale force. Sure enough, about 10:00 a.m., we had some big weather. We had to re-tie our lines and set some more fenders to keep us on the dock, as the water rose over the docking. But, the tide is reducing, and the wind has dminished. We'll be back on our way tomorrow morning. there will be more news and, hopefully some new pictures, the next time we have internet -- probably in Fort Lauderdale.

November and Early December.

The wedding was beautiful! Brian and Noelle were married on November 11, 2006. We'll have pictures on our site in the next month or so.

After a wonderful early Thanksgiving with David and Heather we left Annapolis on Tuesday, November 21, just in time for a great sail to Solomon's Island where we had to hole up for two days for a huge Thanksgiving storm where we clocked winds in our "hole" of over 30 knots for a while. We slipped our anchor twice until we finally got smart and set two. After that it was just waiting for the storm to pass.

Finally on Friday November 24, we began the trek down the Chesapeake to Norfolk and the Dismal Canal. The Canal was lovely. There were times we thought we'd bring some branches down! Once we were through there, we were mostly in rivers down to Elizabeth City, Virginia, where we found a free dock and a very nice town. Moving on, we finally made it to Beaufort, NC, where we docked at the Beaufort Docks.

We left our boat for a two-week visit with Gary's parents in Columbus, Ohio. We had a great time there with them!

Back in Beaufort (it's now December 16th -- how time flies!) we did some boat chores and finally took off for Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday, December 21.

Right now we're in the South Harbor Village on the ICW just past Cape Fear River Inlet in NC at the fuel dock overnight waiting for this storm to pass. We hope that the storm will be waning tomorrow morning so we can continue our trip.

This is a quick update, so we haven't added any new pictures. But we hope we'll have a chance to do that when we get to Ft. Lauderdale where we will stay in a marina for a couple of days while we get some more boat chores done.