And we are off!

Starting our new adventure as MakCap&Co for the first time! We have been waiting all year to get back to our Sea Otter and are so blessed to be doing it as 3! We can't wait for all the adventure and experiences Isla will have sailing! Here we go!!!!

With one amazing baby, an old fashioned from my lady, and two sets of contaminated clothes (mine included), we arrived in The Beautiful Bahamas!

Took a drive to the boatyard in Marsh Harbour today to check on our baby Sea Otter and to introduce her to Isla! She is in the water and looking great! With the night winds and near hit of Hurricam Irma, we are so blessed that she is unharmed and just as we left her. We can't wait to get onboard and start living and sailing on her!

We had a great day today, running errands and getting provisions in Marsh Harbour! Loving the feeling and the pace of the islands - no stress, no rush!

When Isla had a little afternoon poop and there was nowhere to change her diaper, we made do and changed her in the trunk of our rental car! :)

While we wait for good weather to sail Sea Otter from Marsh Harbour to Treasure Cay and wait for Dane to put up the sails and do little things to prep our baby for the trip over, we are staying at Joy and Mike's condo in Treasure Cay. It's a great little place right beside the Marina and a close walk to everything in town!

Today, the electricity was out on the island for 10 HOURS!!! We hade to find ways to stay cool in the hot and humid temperatures. Thank God for cool baths and battery charged fans!

Put up the bimini, sans sunscreen. #dummy. But looks nice! (the boat, not my back)

Another day in paradise! Today, I took Isla for a swim in the pool at Mariner's Cove (where the condo is)! Isla LOVES to be outside, so we try to spend as much time outdoors as possible!

First bubble bath today! Can't believe we haven't done this yet! Love that Isla is big enough now to sit up on her own...makes the sink a perfect spot for bath time!

It's raining, it's pouring....what can we do in the house today?!

It's been raining quite a bit lately as it is hurricane season in the Caribbean. But we got Isla using up some energy by jumping in her Jolly Jumper!

Isla is getting so good at siting up by herself! Already 5 and a half months old and she is so independent and strong!

We had a great day today, going for walks and enjoying the beautiful sunshine after day of rain!

Today is the day we move into our Sea Otter!!

We had a busy day in Marsh Harbour, getting provisions for the boat so we're only able to move in the evening!

The boat was a little cluttered with provisions and from having her closed up for a year, so it was a little tight living, but still felt amazing to be back on our baby!!

Isla is getting used to her new home! It's fun finding ways to accommodate a baby onboard!

We are super pumped that we got these foam mats for the saloon so we don't have to worry as much when Isla topples over! She loves her little play area!

We had a great day today! Isla went swimming in the ocean for the FIRST TIME!!!! She loved it too! Was a little unsure about the cold water at first but she got used to it right away and was mesmerized by the waves!

I spy with my little 👁....

So hot her diaper might melt, but still all grins 🙌:

“Be there in half hour!”

Exploring the boat and finding new places to play peek-a-bo! \240

Ok so almost every morning, we go to Cafe Florence's for a coffee and we have the RESIST HARD not to also get one of these delicious cinnamon buns! Every now and then we cave and treat ourselves! How could we not, they have won Best Cinnamon Bun in the World!

Mmmmmmm! 😋

Monkey see, monkey do! 🐵

Isla loves to imitate many things we do and the newest thing is sticking her tongue in and out! The best is once she learns a new skill, she doesn't want to stop doing it!

So every day, when we show up at the local watering hole to get some work done and connect to wifi, Dane loves to teach Isla this little game! They have been practicing for the past few days and today, Isla did it!! 🏆

Wild from sleep deprivation (self inflicted, naturally), Isla decides to hijack the golf cart and make a run for the Milk Bar!

I unconvincingly infirm her that the Milk Bar she hears so much about is actually finally asleep on the boat, she’s determined to bag this ride nonetheless.

So as all good dads do, I jump aboard and give my 6-month old the wheel:

WE GOT A SIX MONTH OLD! 🎉

Happy 6 months Isla!! How has it been half a year already?!?!

Started the day off with a nice little meal! Dad loves feeding Isla....he makes everything more fun!

She has successfully taken over:

Tropical Storm Philip came through the Abacos today! High winds but not too much rain. I was thinking of all the poor islands that got destroyed by Irma and Maria as they were hit by Category 4 & 5 hurricanes. I can't even imagine the forces of those winds and seas after thinking a little tropical storm was crazy.

Here's the only picture I got, when I stuck my head out of the boat at the end of the storm.....doesn't do it quite justice though!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from our little unicorn! 🦄

We just lost our minds at how cute Isla looked in her Halloween costume!

We took her to the Tipsy Seagull (local watering hole) where they were handing out candy. Joy and Mike met us there for a Halloween drink!

So I entered a a Kayak Challenge today! It was through a fundraiser called Friends of the Environment! I was able to raise $100 from the ladies at aerobics and aqua aerobics!

It was AMAZING!! 2 hours of paddle boarding through the mangroves in Little Harbour, meeting some awesome people, and taking in all the beauty!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!! 🎂👼🏻

She would have been 69 years young today and man, would she have loved her little Isla!!

Miss you and love you sweet Mama!!

Don't mess with me....I gotta ponytail and I mean business!

We have a mover....we not quite yet but she is starting to get the hang of it!

Good thing the boat is not too big and she has limited space to roam!

And we're off to get MARRIED!! Well not quite yet! We have a short week at home before we head out to Barbados to get hitched!

Wish us luck, we have 41 hours and 4 flights ahead of us before we get back to Winnipeg!

Waiting in Nassau for our flight to Fort Lauderdale!

Our first night layover was in Fort Lauderdale! So in the morning, we surprised our friends Linda and Nikki (we met them when we were living in Fort Lauderdale at the diner 'The Flo' where they work) for brekkie!!

Such a nice catch up! ❤️

Aaaand after an INCREDIBLE couple weeks getting hitched, we’re back on Sea Otter prepping for sea.

Here’s a pic from the big day:

One of my best buds, Mitch (AKA. Mon Oncle Michel, Nou Nou), gets into Marsh Harbour tonight! He’s hanging with us for the next month. Gonna be so fun.

Today I did some computer work and then go to boat work. Had to change a the spinnaker halyard, which got beat to shit while on the hard while we were home).

[There are no “ropes” on a boat. Instead, everything has a specific name.

A ‘halyard’ is the line that pulls your sails up.

A ‘sheet’ is a line that controls where your sails are in relation to the wind.

A ‘painter’ is what hooks to the bow of your dinghy and you tie off with. Etc., etc.]

We pretty much only use it for hoisting the dinghy onto the deck but crucial we have a good one in place.

Our first day with Mitch!

I had to run to the hardware store first thing in the AM and saw some guys trimming some palms. They were nice enough to give me a few when I asked:

We’re trying to make it to the Virgin Islands by beginning of February and, since you NEVER push it with weather, we need to hustle our asses off to get the boat ready to go by the Sunday or Monday.

So today was a work day: painted lengths on the anchor chain (so it’s easy to see how much is actually out), changed the primary fuel filter, a handful of other odds and ends, and topped it off by karate chopping our cutting board so it’s smaller and fits better 😂:

Peered ourt on this glass for a few mins over a hot cup of ☕️:

In and amongst getting prepped, I discovered two things today...

#1: Isla might have a shoe addiction:

We are ready to take off!!

After the crazy week of boat prep that Dane and Mitch have been doing (I’ve been on Isla care all week), we are ready to start our sail south!

Got the boat all set up and ready to go. Isla is even getting our charts ready for us:

Ok, so today’s the day! FOR REAL!

Started the morning off with a little ride into town for my last stop at Café Florence. They have the World’s Best Cinnamon Buns so if you are ever in Treasure Cay, you must stop for one!

I opted out of the treat and just grabbed myself a coffee

So today, we get to go explore HopeTown!

This is my favourite place in the Abaco Islands. The homes are painted lots of fun, bright colour, the roads are narrow and windy and most people travel around by golf cart and there are the cutest shops, restaurants and stores.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SEA OTTER!!

It’s hard to believe it’s Christmas as we are not use to a green....or blue Christmas!

We are anchored to the west of Meek’s Patch, just before the entrance to Spanish Wells.

Had a great Christmas Eve on the boat with the crew! We couldn’t find any decorations in Hope Town or Little Harbour so we had to be creative with our Christmas Tree! And we found the perfect one...

Made it back to Nassau to provision, do laundry and get our feet ‘back on ground’.

Our awesome friends Dave and Patti let us stay and use their home, which is right in front of where our boat is moored (on Ken’s mooring ball). How lucky are we?!

What a perfect place to end 2017 - Shroud Cay, Exumas!

The water is so crystal clear here and the weather is perfect!

2017 was an amazing year! I got a baby and a hubby!

But also looking forward to what 2018 has in store for us and our adventures with Sea Otter!

WELCOME ABOARD ROG AND MONICA!!

We are so happy these two are joining us for the next month! Rog is the one who taught Dane how to sail so it’s pretty special to have them on our boat with us. Also will be a huge help to do the it crossings as I’m on full Mom duty with Isla. We plan on sailing all the way to the BVI’s with them!

Weighed anchor just after breakfast. Wind coming hard “on the nose” (right in our face, which you can’t sail into 😞), so we motored into it for a couple hours to Little Farmers Cay.

And holy shit... what a mooring! We decided to pick up a ball instead of anchoring because there wasn’t much room to anchor with high winds near a channel.

I’m at the helm when we do this, and Mak’s at the bow with the boat hook, ready to grab the loop attached to th \240morning ball that we tie to. She’s got Rog there with the line and we’re all set.

I’m steering into heavy winds and a pipin’ current and it’s taking them longer than normal to get ahold of the line on the ball...

Turns out the line has been chaffed to shit and unusable!

What a beautiful day for a sail out to Georgetown!

After spending 3 days in GeorgeTown, we are off to continue heading south!

GeorgeTown is also known as Chicken Harbour as many people who get there and plan to head further south have a hard time committing and end up spending months stuck there. They then take the plunge and head south or find other excuses and just head back where they came from. So, knowing this, I’m so happy that we have taken the ‘plunge’.

We left bright and early, just as the sun was rising! !

Spent the day today exploring Rum Cay!

We arrived to Crooked Island late last night after making a detour in our palm. We left Rum Cay in the hopes of heading straight for Mayaguana but the seas were so rough that we decided to go to Crooked Island instead! Was so happy that we made that decision, even if it meant that we would be arriving into Crooked Island after dark.

Spent the day today exploring Crooked Island, which has a beautiful, long beach and nice, friendly people. It is Saturday and everything is closed as most of the population are ‘7th Day Adventist’ and Saturday is their holy day. Looking forward to coming back tomorrow and getting some groceries and checking out the town a little more!

Today I hit the laptop hard most of the day, but managed to sneak in a good helping (although its never enough) of Isla time with Mak and went out for a spearfish and caught a gray snapper for dinner... with Rog as dinghy pilot:

And we’re off!!!!

So excited to finally have a little window to leave Crokked Island and head out! We planned on doing a 36 hour sail and heading to Turks and Caicos! We weighed anchor at 3am.

As we came out of the harbour and rounded the corner to head east, we were directly into the wind with 5-12 feet waves! NOT WHAT WE WERE EXPECTING! I was trying to catch a few more hours of sleep before Isla woke up and was sleeping down below when all of a sudden, I saw a gush of water come into the boat!!!! I yelled ‘WATER!!!!’ and at first thought ‘OMG we are sinking’!!!! But then when I gave my mind time to think rationally, I realized the the hatch in the V-Berth was open and as we bested into the waves, they crashed onto the deck and into the open hatch!

What a (wet) way to wake up...no chance I was going back to sleep after that! Haha! We hung all the damp clothes up and had a good laugh!

Monica and Rog left us yesterday and we were sad to see them go. They decided to leave a little earlier as we have been waiting out weather for so long and they have lots of things to get done at home.

A few hours after they left, our friends on Windbird told us that the weather window opened up an extra 4 hours and that today would be a great time to cross over to Turks & Caicos!

So at 11am we weighed anchor and are off!!

FAREWELL BAHAMAS, it’s been an amazing time!!!!

After a surprise welcome from the police boat, we dropped anchor in Sapodilla Bay and hit the sack, hard.

Woke up to our alarm clock (she doesn’t seem to care if we just went to bed 🤣) and hung out on the boat until checking iinto customs that afternoon. Had to dinghy up to this beach filled with wrecked boats. I’m assuming this was Hurricane Irma. Bummer. 😞

First thing I did today was drop the quarantine flag and fly the Turks courtesy flag:

Today I worked on apps, then worked to fix a clog in our main fuel feed line (the cause of the passage gone slow-mo when we were originally heading to Turks).

Good news:

Got the fuel line fixed, which comes with mandatory cold beer and treat celebration (EVERY boat fix does... #cheatyear 😂)...

AND discovered a new addiction in the process:

As always, started the day off with coffee, app work, dancing with Isla, then hit the beach! 🏖

Today is our pal Dawn’s 40th Birthday! 🎂

We chilled at the boat during the day, tinkering around on boat stuff, playing with Isla, getting some app work done.

BUT THEN HAPPY HOUR ARRIVED! And we were off to Windbird for drinks prior to all7 of us going out for an awesome bday dinner.

We love you Dawn!

We know we’re running low on water (no water maker aboard), and expecting the taps to run dry any minute, so decided to use the light winds and head into Southside Marina and top up.

The real cap, Isla, directed us safely there:

I did something today that is completely embarrassing, and absolutely hilarious...

Let me set the stage:

I’m off yesterday afternoon with Sam (our homeslice from Windbird) to borrow their rental car for a couple days so we can go explore Provo.

I park it back at Sapodilla Bay beach, and am about to launch the dinghy when our new friend Anna, who sells Conch shells on the beach, stops me to ask if I can relay a message to another boat in the anchorage.

The problem was that she didn’t know which boat they were on. No biggie, there were only three other boats anyways.

First boat I try is this stunningly beautiful tank of a sailboat called Pearl (a brand new Garcia 48, I believe... an aluminum expedition boat that’ll make any seasoned sailor salivate 🤤).

A woman is in the cockpit doing laundry, so I pull up beside. Turns out the message was not for them, but we get chatting...

Her name’s Tracy, she’s with her husband Pete, and they’re a British couple who’ve \240just recently crossed the Atlantic and are heading through The Bahamas and then to Miami to meet their daughter.

So they ask if I’d be willing to show them nice spots in The Bahamas to drop the hook. Of course I’d be happy to and I leave with plans for the three of us have coffee aboard Pearl tomorrow morning and go over The Bahamas charts.

So this morning we head over. They’re enamoured with Isla (naturally 😉), and Pete gives us the grand tour... holy shit. This thing was made to smash through icebergs in the artic, with style.

In the aft cabin, I see two identical books in a shelf. At first I think, “do these guys read the same books, but separate copies?!” Half the cover is blocked but It looks nautical and I think the authors first name was Pete. “Did this guy write that book? What are the chances.” And I forget about it, for now.

Then he’s showing me the berth he turned into a storage closet. And we’re going through some of his new stuff like kids at Christmas. He’s asking me questions about some of it, noting that he’s “new to cruising. Most of my experience is in racing.” Plenty of people crew on boats for fun, hardening lines and easing sheets at the whim of the cap. So I forget about that for now too.

Then he makes us all coffee and we hit the cockpit with the charts. 🗺

He’s pencils ‘em up as Mak and I point and describe all our favourite spots.

Like I said earlier, they’re on a timeline to meet his daughter in Miami, so he non-chalantly mentioned just overnighting it from Chub Cay across The Gulf Stream into Florida.

I know he just crossed the Atlantic to get here. So he knows what he’s doing. I know his boat is a from a Bond film. And I also know that the Gulf Stream crossing needs to be properly timed. So I stop him...

“Pete, sounds like a good plan but make sure you have favourable weather to cross the gulf...”

I then go on for a minute talking about how dangerous it can be If you have any heavy winds with a North component.

He listens intently, nods with appreciation, and says he’ll for sure pick a great day to cross.

Mak gets their contact info from Tracy, and head off to explore the island.

On the dinghy ride to the beach, Mak tells me that Tracy said he’s kind of a public speaker. 🤔

I ask if she got their last name. She pulls out the paper and it reads Goss. 🤔

I can’t help but think that name sounds familiar. 🤔

We get to the car and I can’t drive without googling this guy. This is what I find:

I never would have thought I’d care about cute baby clothes until I had a little girl.

I really don’t think I’d care remotely as much if we had a boy but I get a kick out of picking Isla’s clothes on the mornings I get up with her so Mak can catch a few more 💤s (welllll deserved since she’s up at night if Isla needs something).

I’m usually biased in her wardrobe (“daddy is my anchor,” stuff that doesn’t restrict her crawling and climbing, etc), but this morning Mak woke up to this one from her bridesmaids:

And we are off!!!!

After 2 weeks of waiting in beautiful Turks and Caicos for a weather window to open, we are able to leave this morning at 7am!

Feeling a little nervous as we are still expecting some rough seas. Also super duper grateful that Dawn is crewing on our boat so that her and Dane can do shifts over the next few days while I tend to Isla. Sam’s friend Brad has flown in to help crew on Windbird so that Dawn can be with us....how amazing is that?!?!?

We weighed anchor this morning at 7am and had a beautiful sail through the bank.

Had a pretty good (much needed) sleep last night! We decided to take off this morning at 11am for Luperón, Dominican Republic! SO EXCITING!!!!

Expecting the same amount of seas, but just gotta push through and get there!

So far, we are loving Luperon! There is a great little cruiser’s community and everyone is so friendly. Love how the locals barely speak any English, really makes me feel immersed in a new culture.

One thing I love about cruising is HAPPY HOUR!! ⛵️🍻🍹. Today we had 3 other boats come join us on Sea Otter for some drinks, good laughs and company. We had Dawn and Sam from S/V Windbird, Natalie and her dad Yves from S/V Ubi, and Joanna and David from S/V Oceananigans over. Everyone has been so great at accommodating us with Isla, as happy hour usually end up on our boat, seeing as Isla goes to bed usually right before happy hour begins!

WHAM!

It’s 5am and the boat lists hard to port, as if she was body checked by something huge.

We wake up immediately. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? 👀

I jump out the v-berth and up into the cockpit. It’s mid-squall, heavy gusts and absolutely pouring.

I quickly scan around the boat, thinking we’ve dragged or we’ve been hit by another boat, but we’re still on our mooring and all the boats I see are our neighbors at the same distance as before.

Relieved, I go back down below and jump into bed. Mak and I are still so damn confused...

How could we have rocked that much by a gust of wind? We’re talking through the possibilities when I realize I gotta go help sea levels rise.

This is only about 10 minutes after we thought we got hit. I’m in the cockpit, the rain coming down much lighter, about to go take a leak, when I notice another boat positioned perpendicular to our neighbour’s boat on our east... only a foot away from it if they weren’t actually touching.

So I head to the bow to get a better look...

Shit! That boat is dragging! And he’s about to head right for us!

I run to the stern to grab a fender to brace the impact but he’s moving too fast and I can’t get it untied quick enough...

So I yell down below to Mak that I need her help and run back to the bow with the plan of Heman-ing this boat off of Sea Otter.

I blink and it’s right at our bow - another 40ish foot sailboat, who’s mooring line snapped off the block and are now caught up on ours!

I’m shitting my pants thinking that now with double the weight it’s gonna pull us loose from our mooring and we’re going to tag-team pinball our way through the whole goddamn anchorage.

Thank God the squall passed and the winds abate because his boat’s stern swings to starboard and now he’s alongside Sea Otter. He had a few fenders that kept the boats from hurting each other, but our mooring lines are still tangled.

With everything I got (I think dad strength FINALLY kicked in 💪), I’m pushing his boat forward so another guy in a dinghy can untangle our lines and set this boat free from ours.

Now don’t get me wrong... I’m EXTREMELY grateful for the guy in the dinghy (I think he was hit before us and jumped in to help), but it’s as if he’s taking his sweet-ass time undoing the lines one at a time. I cant hold this dragging boat into the wind much longer to relieve tension on the mooring lines so I yell at Mak to grab a knife cause I’m about to cut them loose if he can’t get us free.

I yell at the guy to start his engine but to make matters worse for this poor salt, HIS ENGINE IS BROKEN. 🙈

Then just as Mak hands me the rigging knife, the guy in the dinghy gets the lines untangled. Thank God for that because he’s now floating away and we’re still holding well on our mooring.

So I jump in my dinghy to help and use it to push this runaway sloop from other boats it’s about to hit, all the while rapping on their hulls to wake them and get them to put fenders out in case we get too close.

Luckily, we get him to somewhat of an empty spot in this packed anchorage without hitting any more boats and he drops his anchor (which he had just got unstuck). He’s got about 40 feet out but can’t let out more because his chain is stuck again...

“Can I come come aboard and help?” I ask.

“YES PLEASE!”

“At the stern?”

“YESSSS PLEASE!” 😆 Poor guys having just a horrible time.

I head to the bow and get his chain loose and pull out another 20-30 feet. It sets well and we both sigh with relief that the madness is over.

Then I realize I’m standing on a strangers boat, wet from the rain, in nothing but my underwear, under his foredeck light, while all the surrounding boats are staring at us. 🤣

He thanks me profusely. I tell him not to thank me yet because I’ve got to check out if he’s damaged our Sea Otter (she was fine though). Then I introduce myself, head home and jump back in our warm, dry bed with Mak.

Holy shit! Did all that just happen? Lying there, we begin to laugh our asses off at the whole thing, naturally highlighted by my dad-bod showcase for our new neighbours here in Luperon. Quite the eventful night!

FRESH VEGGIES!!!!!! 🍅🥦🥒🥕🥔

After being in the Bahamas, where veggies are sparse, it’s so nice to get local, fresh, garden veggies! And they are so cheap too! Thanks you Dominican!!

***NAKED BABY ALERT***

Up early to weigh anchor at first light and cruise over from Long Bay in St. Thomas to just outside Cruz Bay in St. John.

Turned out to be quite the pummeling once at sea on the south side of St. Thomas but we finally got some lee from a few islands to calm things down...

Until the block for the mizzen clewline blew to shit and the sail fell apart (not literally fell apart, just didn’t hold its shape anymore).

But we dropped it quick and went on our merry way.

Hung around the boat all morning doing some cleaning. Dropped the mooring ball around 11 to head to Gorda Sound on Virgin Gorda.

Squally day, and when rounding the NW point of Virgin Gorda got hit by a squall that nearly put our rails in the water and we were already under a reefed main!

[“Reefing” your sail means you let less of it out, essentially depowering it. It’s a safety precaution so you don’t get yourself into trouble.]

We thought wasn’t so fun when all of the sudden we got hit by an even bigger gust... I’m assuming close to 30kts!

So then I decided to drop the main quick, which didn’t go as smooth as I hoped, but messily dropped it to wait out the rest of the squall.

Made it out unscathed and dropped anchor an hour later beside our friends on Windbird, and our new friends on Squalls Deep (yes, amazing name 😂) in Leverick Bay.

Soon enough we were followed by pals on Rondo and Carpe Ventum and we all went up to Hog Heaven restaurant atop the hill for incredible ribs and this view of our anchorage: