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| Sunset Bay sunset |
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| It was all worth it!!! |
It's 11am on Saturday morning May 21st 2011. Kris and I thought we'd better get the "blog" updated as we're told the world will end around supper time today. We better write fast! Seriously, this is really the first time we've had a chance to do a detailed post since our last one on 3/1/11. Where to begin? Our last two months in Florida were a flurry of activity. We purchased our appliances for the kitchen and laundry. Additionally, we bought our living room and bedroom furnishings, plumbing fixtures, interior and exterior lighting. We took our time thoroughly researching each purchase and caught a couple of really good deals. We kept everything in a 10x10x10 storage unit in Stuart.
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| 10x10x10 All Packed |
On March 17th Kris flew to Denver Co. to meet Collin's fiancee (Whitney's) mother and father. She very much enjoyed her conversation with Mike over breakfast and touring the wedding facilities with Anna. Kris and I both look forward to the wedding and reuniting with our family and friends.
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| All you can eat Crab Legs-Casino style |
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| Kris in Colorado |
We were pleasantly surprised when we received a phone call from Rob and Sue. Family matters had delayed their return from N.Y. after the holidays. Their boat "Mandate" had been on the hard in Titusville but they were now back on the water heading to Stuart. We were very excited they would be staying a couple of weeks at Sunset Bay Marina and enjoyed several evenings with them over cocktails and dinner during their stay. Sunset Bay Marina hosted a Bon Voyage party on March 26th.
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| Locking thru St Lucie lock |
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| 34th and last lock of the journey |
This occassion marks the departure of many boats, some heading north, with others leaving for the late season in the Bahamas. The "conch" calls were numerous that evening and Rob gave us a crash course in how to blow a conch shell. Rob and Sue departed on the morning of April 15th and we were very sad to see them go. One of the basic lessons we've learned about the cruising life is you're constantly saying hello or goodbye. The goodbyes are always sad but the hellos are always joyous. I guess it's just another example of the equillibrium of life. After Rob and Sue's departure the final push was on to get things wrapped up in the states and ship ourselves and our belongings to Belize. We took Dalliance down the St. Lucie canal to Indiantown on April 20th. We were suppose to go down on the 19th but we waited in Stuart an extra day to receive delivery of our washer and dryer. Once at Indiantown we had only one day to prepare Dalliance to be pulled out of the water.
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| Dalliance on the hard |
Kris worked below decks packing those belongings being shipped to Belize. I took responsibilty for preparations on deck. We worked along at a steady pace on the 20th and were ready by mid afternoon on the 21st to be hauled out. The haul out went smoothly and it was obvious the Travel Lift crew had worked together for sometime. The teamwork was impressive! One final item of business was yacht insurance which would cover Dalliance while she was laid up in Florida. We had a price qoute from Seaworthy Insurance Co. but we needed to get an out of water survey completed to establish fair market value on Dalliance. The survey was conducted by Brian Galley on the 22nd. It was sent electronically to the insurance company and we have a new policy ready to take effect on June 15th the expiration date of our current coverage. It's not cheap but our boat is covered in the event of named storms by NOAA or damage while on the hard from uninsured boats. It's worth the peace of mind.
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| 4 moves down, two to go!! |
Our plan was to stay at the home of our son Marc and his landlord John and wife Kristi. All was going well until we took our truck to Port Everglades for shipment to Belize. We had repeatedly been in contact with our shipping agent from Hyde Shipping to be sure all our paperwork was in order. We questioned him several times on regulation regarding the shipment of our vehicle. He repeatedly told us all we would need was the title. However, on the day we delivered the truck for shipping the agent noticed we had a lien on the vehicle with Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation. He said it should be a simple matter to obtain written permission from them to ship the truck to Belize. Our initial request left us optimistic we would receive written permission in a day or two. After a couple of days the shipping agent contacted us and said he had still not received the authorization. We called NMAC to check and were told Belize was not on the list of countries they allow vehicles to be shipped to. We later found out it has to do with extradition from Belize. Apparently it's almost impossible to get someone extradited back to the United States from Belize. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was for us in this particular circumstance. We now had less than a week to pay off the truck, obtain the lien release and fly to Belize on May 1st. The rest of our personal possessions were shipped out of Miami on April 28th and were scheduled to arrive in Belize on May 2nd. The last few days at Marc's home were very stressful to say the least. Without getting into detail the truck quickly was paid off. The lien release has been received by Hyde Shipping. Our paperwork was approved by US Customs and our truck is scheduled to arrive in Belize City on Monday the 23rd.
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| Moving Day |
Then the fun begins with Belize Customs who have already tried to charge us duty when we received our personal belongings. We established our residency in Belize under a program called QRP. Qualified Retired Persons. One of the benefits of the program is the ability to bring your personal possessions into the country for one year duty free. Has anyone told Belize Customs? This hasn't been the fun part of moving to Belize if you get our drift. Kris and I both want to thank our sons Collin and Marc who both played major roles in helping us to resolve this problem. We love you both very much!
Moving to a new country with a very different and unique culture is exciting but also a bit scary. Because we have been visiting and doing business with a number of people in Belize for the past nine years we are fortunate to have a basic support structure in place. This has proved to be very important. Our contractor Frederic Descurninges had our home finished to a point where we could move in. Over the past two weeks we have worked together every day to put on the finishing touches.
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| The Veranda |
The upstairs living area is almost completed with recessed lighting installation and painting left to complete.
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| Living room with a view |
Frederic worked closely with Ravey Gongora who did all the woodworking on the home. The cedar ceiling he installed is absolutely beautiful.
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| Landscaping Anyone?? |
We owe a lot to these honest and hardworking men who made our home a reality. We arrived in Belize when the country is at it's most beautiful. Corozal Bay is an aquamarine color the likes of which I have seen no where else in the world. Suffice it to say it's breathtaking. Being springtime all the floral and fauna native to Belize is in full bloom. The orchids are beautiful and we're beginning to learn the name of a wide variety of indigenous flowering plants. Wild life abounds with parrots, toucans and kingfishers nesting on or near our seaside property.
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| Social Flycatcher "outside our doorstep" |
Exotic reptiles such as iguana, geckos and anolies are common on the grounds of our development.
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| Spiny-tailed Iguana |
Mammals such as the coatimundie, white tailed deer and paca can be found in abundance in our immediate area. We can walk off our beach into the sea and have done so many mornings since our arrival.
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| View from our beach looking South |
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| View from our beach looking North to Chetumal, Mexico |
At night we enjoy happy hour on the veranda pinching ourselves to think our dream has come true. I apologize if this posting is too long, but so much has happened over the past two and a half months that we felt important to share. We're happy, we're adjusting and we still have a lot of work to do. If anyone would like to call us or write our cell phone # is 011-501-625-7948. Our address is PO Box 282 Corozal Town, Belize Central America. Please remember you can also leave comments on our blog or email us at
srtilbe@gmail.com.
I'd like to end this posting remembering a few special friends who helped us on our journey to Belize. Ed Vaughn and Mike Korn took us under their wing on Oneida Lake teaching us much about sailing, boats and life. Fair winds Ed and Mike. Last but certainly not least, God bless you Arnold Laurent wherever you may be.
