Where is Nat Manning and the Elise II?

Ahoy Nat!
(a hoy is a nautical thing-a-magiggy, usually rust in color with three holes and one snap, but can also mean HELLO in the nautical world)
For the fine folks keeping up with the travels of Mr. Manning, I’ll submit this report for your review…

22 Jan 09
The intrepid crew of Elice II has made it through our first night. I’m pretty sure we are in the Bering Sea even though we just passed Boca Grande Pass about an hour ago. The winds are light and we are motor-sailing. Everyone is still speaking. Hope you are all doing as well as we are. Love and hugs all around……. Elice II

23 Jan 09
Hey everybody! We are safely tied up for the night at the Marco River Marina. Tomorrow we leave for Little Shark River on the edge of the Everglades where we will experience our first real loss of cell phone coverage so, if you wanna talk to us by phone, tonight is the last night till we get within range of Marathon the following day. Having a great time and everyone is still speaking. Hope everyone is getting along well. Hugs to all from Elice II.

24 Jan 09
We’re leaving Marco Island for Little Shark River. After a great night’s sleep, the weather is beautiful. Wish you were all here! Hope we can get another letter out tonight, but with the connections I’ve been getting at night, don’t worry if you don’t hear from us. Have met several other boats heading there today, so we will have friends and lots of help if needed. Fair Winds…Elice II

We made it!!! We are safely anchored in Little Shark River with about 12 other boats. We had a great motor sail with perfect weather arriving at 6:00 pm. No phone coverage here but we send out all our love. We should be back in cell range tomorrow afternoon. We are all still speaking but the Skipper and Admiral have staked out some of the same territory. I should be capable arbitrating and keeping them separated. Tonight our thoughts are with you all as we settle in here in the Florida Everglades. Elice II

— No mail, apparently the Elise II is crossing the Gulf Stream towards the Bahamas—

27 Jan 09
We have arrived safely and are all still speaking. No internet connection yet, we are hopeful. If not we leave here tomorrow and travel the 8 miles to Bimini and will try again. Love and hugs from Elice II
28 Jan 09
Hello Folks! We have made it to Bimini and are at the Bimini Blue Water Marina. We had a beautiful sail up from Cat Cay, the water is beautiful beyond description. Yes, they have internet wifi here. It’s down until Batelco gets back online. The most definite answer that we got on getting it fixed is “try again later mon.” As we and more importantly they, are on island time, I don’t know when we will have real internet. We are planning on staying here about 5 more days. I hope everything is well with you all and we will keep in touch. Also for those that keep pestering us, our danged latitude is 25 43.5 and longitude is 79 16.5. We are having a great time and are still speaking at the time of this transmission. Love to all…. Elice II.

http://marinas.com/view/marina/9545
29 Jan 09
Hey LA!!! I’ve been so busy underway or so exhausted from a passage that I’ve not had much time for anything but navigation. We are going to be here in Bimini for a few days for a frontal passage so I will catch up and get you an email. It’s pretty as usual over here and water, indescribable. I think about you often. Give Sheree a big hug for me and as soon as Batelco gets internet back on the island I will send you something. Love,,, Nat

http://www.geographia.com/bahamas/bsciin01.htm
1 Feb 09
Everybody knows we’re sitting here in Bimini drinking rum and waiting for weather. Life is rough here in paradise. Well, gotta run, Skipper wants to go eat again…. Nat
3 Feb 09
News Flash! We are underway. We liked what we saw in the latest weather forecasts and left the dock at 0800. It was pretty rough outside Bimini but as soon as we crossed onto the banks at Turtle Rocks it calmed out to almost no waves. We are sailing East at 6 to 7 kts and it looks like a lake out here. The Skipper is hungry again, so I’m going to fix him up something. 5 boats are leaving behind us so we will have plenty of company if they can catch us. Hugs to all… Elice II
Editors note:
Nat’s emails are coming to me via a ham radio link which requires them to be short, and without photos. Believe me, I’ve made all the standard threats concerning lots of photos of this adventure, and will post them when I get them. He needs to be at a location that has a normal internet connection before he can include them in an email.
And last but not least, I’m jealous as hell! Nothing beats a great adventure in beautiful pristine waters-

Filed Under: Nat's slip • Travels

Tags: Bahamas • Nat's slip • travel