HUGE UPDATE On Building in the Bahamas AND the BOAT!

Dear Friends,

It's been FOREVAH! I haven't kept this blog up because I've been spending all of my energy on creating a couple of businesses. You can have it all, but you can't DO it all, you know?

So, here's the deal folks...

We are still aboard Puff, loving her as much as always, and yet... big changes are afoot. Puff is for SALE, and we plan to take a few years off of the cruising life.

We've been sailing into adventure since 2001, and now we're going to focus on getting that house built in the Bahamas and investigating land life for a couple of years so that we can rebuild our financial savings.

In our opinion, boats are only good when you're using them: sailing, cruising, exploring. We've put cruising on hold for now.

We've decided we need to get a bigger boat anyway, we're in our mid-thirties and it might be baby making time. We're planners, so we'd like to be ready for that, if and when it happens. So, here's the PLAN:

• Sell Puff (the best boat in the world)
• Complete our house in Long Island, Bahamas
• Live in a (gulp) house for a couple of years, to stabilize our finances
  
• Get another boat and go cruising all over again (the sea is a great place to raise a family)

If you've been following this blog and you wish you could live like us, now you can. You can stay tuned to this blog, I'm not abandoning it entirely.

I plan to publish a book on cruising before you retire, building in the Bahamas, and island life very soon - I'll let you know when that happens.

Wishing you all the best and loving life,
Jeannette and Brian

Finally... Latest Bahamas House Pics

Sorry this is sooooooo late in coming. We have been busy, busy, busy! We sailed back to the States from the Bahamas back in June. We arrived in Ft. Pierce, Florida the first week in June. Brian's dad, Pete, met us there and he jumped aboard Puff for the remainder offshore leg of the voyage to North Carolina. I took the cat and the dog with me, and we drove Pete's car straight through to Harker's Island to Brian's parents house. Brian's mom Dede was waiting for me, and we spent three days hanging out and doing some shopping before Brian and Pete surprised us by arriving a day sooner than we thought they would! They had a fast ride up the Gulf stream and caught some fantastic tuna and mahi mahi on the way! We were able to finish drying in our house in the Bahamas before we left. We didn't cut out any of the windows because it made more sense to keep it all closed up until we get back in December to finish it all out. Here are the final pics of our lovely Bahamas cottage.
Measuring the front door opening...

Random front door shot...

These are the only power tool Brian used. Such a purist! A jigsaw, cordless drill, and circular saw. A level and a hammer were the only other tools he needed to build this house all by himself! I am so proud of him!!!

Last view of the truck before we sold it...
The roof is almost finished here...

Painting the plywood roof with elastomeric paint.







This is how the windows look from the inside. They won't be cut out till next time...




Our driveway, with Charlie guarding the entrance...Our beach at the end of the road...




Brian enjoying the victory of constructing this house in less than 40 days for less than $10,000 all on his own!

Celebrating completion of the first phase of the Bahamas house project with a champagne toast! We will be back on Long Island in December to finish up!!!

Random Fun Times

Do you ever wonder what we do for fun here on Long Island (Bahamas), when we are not busy building our house? Here are some pics of island life and fun with all the great people we've met here. The photo above shows a rainbow after a thunderstorm. We took the pic from our boat in Thompson Bay anchorage.
There are wild chickens, roosters, and goats on the beach in our anchorage. Every morning at 4AM, we are serenaded by dueling roosters, surround sound crowing...
This is the beautiful church on the hill overlooking our favorite anchorage.
A daily scene for the last month. This excavator is working on expanding the government dock in the settlement of Salt Pond.
A space shuttle launch in April created this phenomenal cloud to the West of the island.
Our cat, Jack ,lounging under the solar panel back on the boat...
Pretty sunset, our ocean view from the boat.
Drinking games seem to be an international past time. This one included Bahamians, Mexicans, Kiwis, Americans, and Italians.

Awwwwww, we're color coordinated and everything!

The Italian free divers made us dinner, and it was so good!
Enjoying the sunshine and eating oranges with Brittany at the Vertical Blue 2010 Free Diving Competition.

Brian and Arthur gearing up for a spearing mission.
Charlie wants to go too.
Cleaning fish after a successful hunting/spearing trip.
At Midway for Happy Hour on Friday night, enjoying drinks with friends.
Yes, we know, we're matching again, pretty cheesy isn't it?
Kitty on the roof of a palapa...
Boys skipping rocks at sunset.
Kitties on the beach, watching the sunset.
Dogs taking a sunset swim...



Cinco de Mayo party!It was a costume party, here some folks are tearing into the pinata.
I have no idea why I look like this, no recollection at all. We look shocked!
Jeanie still hasn't gotten over the shocking scene before us... Most of this crew are our neighbors!
Yummy! I made the Mexican Mac 'n Cheese!
Festive dresses for all!
A Mayan queen and her king!

Zorro and Zorro-ette?
The host and hostess... he's a tasty margarita (that's a salt rim headband) and she's a lovely burrito!
More happy, festive ladies...
I think these guys are feeling the tequila jello shooters.
Nachos!
Ok, shifting gears to the shark feeding dive that Brian went on to safety dive for our mermaid friend, Linden Wolbert of Mermaids In Motion. They were shooting footage for a 20/20 segment called "Superhumans" that will be airing on June 1st. That is a bite taken out of the bucket!
Nice grey reef sharks!
Nice mermaid!

That's it for this blog post! Catcha later!