Marsh Harbour to Cocoa
Sunday, May 22, 2016. We left the house at 4:00am to catch a
6:45 flight, the first of three, as
we flew back to Marsh Harbour from Manchester, NH. Jeff and Carly are with us.
While we were home, we attended Jeff’s graduation, went to Carly’s graduation
dinner (she is Jeff’s girl friend and also graduated from Emmanuel
College). We did a bunch of yard work at
the house and erected two pergolas on the patio. We got back to the boat at
about 5pm. We had dinner at Snappa’s
(next door to the Harbor View Marina http://www.harbourviewmarina.com/#
where the boat is docked) and early to bed.
Monday, May 23, 2016. Lisa worked on getting the boat ready for
sea. Jeff, Carly and I went to the bank,
the Chemist (drug store), and to Maxwell’s Supermarket to provision. We had lunch at the Family Café and Carly and
Jeff had their first Goombay Punch (softdrink) and their first Bahamian Mac and
Cheese (more like a casserole than what we have become used to in the
States). We took a cab back to the boat
and we had a full load of provisions.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016. This morning a diver arrived to clean the
bottom and check the zincs. The bottom
was in surprisingly good shape after sitting for almost three weeks. We took on a full load of water and fuel (11
gallons). At 2:20pm (high tide), we left
the dock. It is sunny, 80 degrees, wind
NE@15+. Carly took her first turn
steering as we rounded Matt Lowes Cay and headed for Tahiti Beach at the south
end of Elbow Cay.
4:15pm, anchor down at Tahiti Beach. 9NM today.
26°30.26’N, 076°59.13’W
Jeff and Carly made dinner, vegetarian tacos, very nice. After dinner a game of rummy and exploration
of a bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans.
Wednesday, May 25,
2016. Changed out the VHF radio with the new one we brought with us. Then listened to the 8:15am Cruiser’s Net (a
local VHF broadcast of news, weather, coming events, stuff for sale,
etc.). Clouds this morning, 80 degrees,
wind NE. We all went to the beach. We did some shelling and looking for sea
beans (found none). Lisa, Carly and Jeff
went snorkeling. Lunch on board. 1:00pm anchor up. 2:30pm on a mooring (one of Truman’s) in
Hopetown. 8NM 26°32.26’N 076°57.64’W
Dinner at Capt. Jack’s on the harbor. More info on Capt Jack’s click on this http://capnjackshopetown.com/
Thursday, May 26,
2016. Sunny, wind NE 15-20, 80 degrees.
We tried to rent a golf cart to go exploring, but were told there were
none available until July 5. We tried
every vendor, same story. A business
opportunity is available here. We walked
to the park that has medicinal plants, very interesting. Then we walked the beach south from
Hopetown. Here we did find a few
interesting shells and some sea beans (sea pearls and golf balls). We had lunch at the Hopetown Harbour Lodge http://www.hopetownlodge.com/ , which
is very nice and then went over to the Hopetown Inn and Marina http://www.hopetownmarina.com/ for
showers and dinner, also very nice.
After dinner, more rummy and searching for favorite jelly bean flavors.
Friday, May 27, 2016. Wind SW@15-20. Murky, very humid, rain on and off all
day. Lazy day. Everyone slept in, read, played games. Lisa made Vegie lasagna. After dinner, we went to Vernon’s Grocery and
bought a key lime pie – ummmm. Played
Mexican Train (dominoe game). Ran the
generator for 2 hours and ran the a/c too to help dry out the boat.
Saturday 28,
2016. Sunny, 80 degrees, wind SE @
5-10, puffy clouds. We visited the Elbow
Cay Lighthouse and climbed to 102 steps to the top. We went into town and did some shopping at
Iggy Biggy and Da Crazy Crab. At 12:45
we are off the mooring (high tide). At
2:30pm the anchor is down at Fowl Cay.
It is cloudy with rain on the horizon, but it passes us by. We snorkeled the south side of Fowl Cay and
then took the dingy to the north side where the reefs are. There are also moorings there and we tied the
dingy to it and explored the reef. This
is some of the best diving/snorkeling anywhere, beautiful, lots of fish. Someone on another boat said it is as good as
the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It
is certainly as nice as anywhere we have been.
We took the dingy over to the north side of the reef to a mooring there. The north side of this reef had a drop off of
maybe 100 feet. It was getting late in
the day and the shadows were getting long which means the predators are
out. We saw 8 sharks along this reef and
decided it was time to call it a day.
9NM, Fowl Cay National Preserve, 26°37.92’N 077°03.11’W
For more information click here http://www.bnt.bs/The-National-Parks-of-The-Bahamas/Fowl-Cays-National-Park
It was 5:30pm when we headed back to the boat. Anchor up at 6:30pm. Beautiful evening, 80 degrees, wind SE@10,
blue sky, puffy clouds. While underway,
Jeff and Carly made dinner, burgers and pasta with peas, mushrooms and alfredo
sauce. 7:30pm anchor down at Great Guana
Cay. 5NM 26°40.08’N 077°07.14’W
Music from Grabbers on the beach – karaoke night – music is
actually pretty good. Nice night for
listening in the cockpit.
Sunday, May 29, 2016. We all walked over to the other side of the
island to Nippers http://www.nippersbar.com/
Today they have their famous pig
roast. We did not eat, but did each have
a rum punch. It is a beautiful day, 80
degrees, wind NE@10, blue sky with pig puff clouds that may contain some rain
later in the day. Afterwards, we went to
Grabbers on the beach on the other side of the island, had lunch and more rum
punch http://www.grabbersatsunset.com/cam.cfm
We listened to the music for a bit and then headed back to
the boat. At 2:30pm we raised the anchor
and headed north to Spoil Cay. Anchor down just off the beach at 3:30pm. We spent a couple of hours shelling. This is land has loads of shells as it sits
right in the Whale Cay Cut to the Atlantic.
5:30pm anchor up. 7:30pm we are
tied to the dock at Treasure Cay Marina.
What a nice day! More information on Treasure Cay click on this link http://treasurecay.com/
Spoil Cay 2.5NM 26°04.11’N
077°10.43N
Treasure Cay Marina 8NM 26°40.40’N 077°16.80’W
Monday, May 30, 2016. Memorial Day. Beautiful morning, wind N@10,
sunny, puffy clouds, 82 degrees. We
walked to the laundry to drop off our dirty clothes (it is a wash and fold
service here), the grocery (they have a nice one), hardware store and bakery
(Key Lime Pie and the world’s best sticky buns). We washed the boat, checked in at the Marina
office (closed when we arrived yesterday).
We took the dingy to the creek just south of the complex. It was high tide. This creek goes back a couple of miles to a
lake and there are lots of sea turtles here.
As the tide started to ebb, we drifted all the way to the mouth of the creek
seeing lots of sealife. We found a bunch
of shells, sand dollars and sea urchins that were not alive along the way, so
our collections grew. Lots of live ones
also, but we don’t collect those. Saw
lots of fish too. We all took showers
and then walked over to the beach for dinner at Coco’s. Beautiful sunset. When we returned to the boat, we played rummy
and had some of the Key Lime Pie.
Another very nice day. We can see
thunderstorms building on the horizon and we can hear thunder. We get a few rain drops and then it clears.
Tuesday, May 31,
2016. Sunny, puffy clouds, wind
N@10, 82 degrees. We walked over to the
laundry and picked up our “wash and fold”, then checked out of the marina. Everyone went for a walk on the Treasure Cay
Beach and found a few interesting shells.
This beach is supposed to be one of the 10 beat in the world. We are off the dock at 12:30pm and there are
thunderstorms building on the horizon.
Jeff is managing the boat as we head out to Whale Cay Cut and then north
to Green Turtle Cay. The thunderstorms
seem to be following us, but by 5:30pm, the time we are tied to the dock at
Green Turtle Club, the storms have dissipated. We managed to burst our last
piling fender while docking. These are
very large fenders that go between the boat and the pilings on the dock. In the Bahamas, almost all the docks are
fixed (not floating), wood with exposed pilings. We lost 2 of these fenders, but they are 4
years old, have seen a lot of use, and are out in the sun all the time. 17NM today, 26°46.88’N 077°20.19’W
The GTC facility is very nice. New docks, pool, beach hotel, but lots of
no-seeums coming out of the mangroves here.
One of the fisherman told us the “club” has gone very upscale in recent
years. Previously, it was primarily for
sports fishermen.
Wednesday, June 1,
2016. Sunny, 82 degrees, wind NE
5-10. We rented a golf cart and went
island exploring. We went to New
Plymouth for Carly and Jeff to see the memorial to the Loyalists. These are people who left the United States
after the “civil war” with England and who were supporters of the King. Their history sounds quite a bit different
than the history we were taught. For
more information on the Loyalists click on this link http://www.redcoat.me.uk/bahamas.htm
We had lunch at Harvey’s, new, good food, reasonable. We drove to the other end of the island,
stopping to walk a couple of beaches along the way. We had a beer at the Tranquil Turtle (beach
bar at the Bluff House Resort) and played some bean bag toss. Back at the marina at 3pm. Bought 12 gallons of fuel. Met Dan and Sue on board Scarlet Lady. They are just
coming over to the Abacos and will spend the summer here. We had drinks at the
pool bar (2 for 1) and then dinner on board.
A game of rummy to finish off a very nice day.
Thursday, June 2, 2016.
Checked out of the marina and then off the dock at 7:45am. Lots of biting bugs out this morning. We don’t remember having this issue when we
stayed at the Leeward Yacht Club last season.
It is on Black Sound at the other end of the island. Sunny, 80 degrees, wind East@10. Big puffy clouds with the chance of
thunderstorms later.
10:15am Carly
managing the boat. We set up and
calibrated the new knot meter.
11:15am we pass by Crab Cay.
12:15pm Lisa on watch.
1:15pm the engine has begun surging and bogging down again.
Sails out and slowed the engine and are making good headway.
4:00pm Girl Jane Cut south of Great Sale Cay, we turn up
into the wind for the last 2 miles to the anchorage. The engine is barely running.
5:30pm Anchor down at West Harbor, Great Sale Cay. Sunny, wind east 10-15, puffy clouds. We can see rain to the south over Great
Bahama Island 10 miles away. Dinner on board.
56.8NM today 26°58.67’N 078°12.99’W
Friday, June 3, 2016. Sunny, 80 degrees, wind SE@5-10. Changed both the Racor and the engine fuel
filters. The generator seems to not have
this issue, but it uses much less fuel than the engine. It’s fuel filter is clean. Put 12 gallons of fuel in the tank from the
jerry cans and cleaned the floors and the rugs.
Lisa, Jeff and Carly went for a swim.
The water here is a nice color blue, nut always seems stirred up – lots
of sand mixed in. Jeff and Carly made
tacos for dinner.
Carly and Jeff have been learning to blow the horns made
from conch shells. We gave them one when
they came on board, and we have three others as well. The tradition is that it is blown when the
sun sets. In many anchorages and
marinas, you will hear these at sunset.
At 8:00pm, we serenade the sunset, raise the anchor and head
for Fort Pierce. It is 82 degrees, wind
SE@10, clouds and rain building to the south.
We are motoring west toward the USA.
11:30pm Thunderstorms in the distance, Jeff and Carly on
watch. We are doing 2 hour shifts on the
wheel, 2 hours in the cockpit, then 4 hours off.
Saturday, June 4,
2016.12:30am The engine begins bogging down again, but we now have good
wind and are making 6-7 knots sailing, so we elect to continue.
3:30am We pass Memory Rock and we are off the banks. We can see ambient light from Florida and
from Freeport in the distance.
4:30am Memory Rock West waypoint. The wind has died down to 4-5 knots. We turn the engine back on, but can only make
4-5 knots.
8:30am We are halfway across the Gulf Stream and the engine
dies completely, won’t restart. Called TowBoatUS. Sails up, making 2-3 knots.
12:15pm Sunny, 85 degrees, no wind. We are just bobbing around in the Gulf
Stream. TowBoatUS arrives and we get towed 40 miles to Ft. Pierce and then
north in the ICW to Vero Beach. We had
talked to the marina and they were able to put us on a facedock. Glad we paid for unlimited towing!
8:00pm and we are safely on the dock.
We called Customs and Immigration to check in. We are members of the Local Boaters and have
filed a float plan, so the phone call should have done it for checking in. We even had Jeff and Carly added to the Float
Plan. Turns out that Jeff and Carly are
not members of the Local Boaters Option, so they will physically have to go to
the Fort Pierce Airport and check in.
Dinner on board and then early to bed. 136.8NM today
27°39.44’N 080°22.20’W
Sunday, June 5, 2016.
Murky and humid, 80 degrees. We
called Hazel and she is going to drive here from Boca for a visit. She arrived with her sister Rose and we all
went to Mulligan’s for a late lunch.
Great to see her. Talked to Pete
Brocker, who lives here at the marina.
He dives and does various service on boats here. He is a good diesel mechanic, and he agreed
to come by tomorrow and see if he can figure out our issue with the engine.
Jeff and I checked all the lines to make sure we do not have a leak that could
be sucking air into the engine and then changed the Racor fuel filter and the
filter on the engine – again. No water
or significant residue in either filter.
We went to Cravings for ice cream.
Monday, June 6, 2016.
Rain over night. Murky and drizzle this morning. We picked up a rental car and took Jeff and
Carly to Fort Pierce Airport to check in with Customs and Immigration. I took a copy of the Float Plan and the whole
process took 5 minutes.
When we returned to the boat, I checked all the fuel lines
and pulled the inspection ports on the fuel tank. When I opened the inspection ports, there was
a bunch of hard black pieces of junk on top of the fuel tank, and in it as
well, blocking the fuel intake. We had
this issue 3 years ago and Sailcraft in Oriental, NC, fixed it by cleaning the
fuel, the tank, the lines and putting two new large inspection ports in the
tank (the tank has 2 compartments). The gasket sealer they used on these new
inspection ports had hardened since then and was flaking apart. That is what was in the tank and on top as
well. Pete cleaned the junk out of the
tank and the lines and primed everything and the engine started and ran. Great!
Pete also checked all the fuel lines, the lift pump and the high pressure
pump. He cleaned out the tank. Dinner on board and then Mexican Train.
Tuesday, June 7,
2016. I went to AutoZone and bought
gasket material and Permatex 2 sealer.
Pete came by and made new gaskets for the tanks and reassembled
everything. We bled the fuel lines and
started the engine and it runs fine. We
started and ran the generator.
Hopefully, this fixed the problem.
We had dinner at Taki, a sushi and Thai restaurant. The food was very good. Pete and Carol joined us. A game of Mexican Train followed. A very nice
evening.
Wednesday, June 8,
2016. Up early. Left the boat at 7am
to take Lisa to the airport in Orlando.
She is flying home to relieve our son James of house/dog sitting
duty. Out house sitter we had for the
winter is leaving for a visit to her native Japan. Back to the boat by noon and Jeff, Carly and
I went to the Southern Comfort Grill for a late breakfast. Good food and reasonable prices. Rain off and
on all day, heavy in the afternoon. Some boat chores and a game of rummy. An
early evening.
Thursday, June 9,
2016. Nice morning, 80 degrees,
sunny, few clouds, wind SE@10. Rain
predicted for later in the day. Filled the boat with water and fuel. Made a trip to Sturgis Lumber and filled our
spare propane tank. We made a last run
to West Marine (replacement cabin fans) and to Home Depot (to replace
flashlights that died) and to the grocery.
Returned the rental car and made the boat ready for an early
departure. Carly made tortellini for
dinner.
For more information on Vero Beach click on this link http://www.verobeach.com/
For more information on Vero Beach City Marina click on this
link http://www.waterwayguide.com/wg/featured-marina/vero-beach-city-marina
Friday, June 10,
2016. 6:45am off the dock. 75 degrees, partly cloudy, wind south@5-10.
Making almost 7 knots going with the tide.
8:15am clearing, wind now NW@5-10, a nice dry wind. I think we just passed through the front that
has been lingering and causing all the unsettled weather.
9:45am MM930, there
are dolphins swimming alongside the boat, very cool. They continue to follow is for at least a
mile.
10:45am the engine is surging and bogging down again. Same symptoms we have experienced three or
four times on this trip, even after all the checking and cleaning. I talked to a guy named Ron at Anchorage
Yacht Basin (at the south end of Merritt Island – the closest place with a
mechanic) and he said the best guy around to deal with this would be Frank at
MarinePro in Cocoa. That’s another 20
miles. I called Frank and talked to him
at length. He agreed to meet us on the
dock at Cocoa Village Marina if we make it that far. I called the marina and they have room for
us.
1:15pm the engine dies and will not start. We drift to the side of the channel and drop
anchor.
We called TowBoatUs again.
While waiting, a Coast Guard small boat showed up to lend assistance. Not much they could do. I finally managed to get the engine started
and we limped into Cocoa Village Marina.
In the meantime, I had talked to a guy named Frank at MarinePro. He actually met us on the dock. He checked everything again. What we found was about a teaspoon of those
black pieces from the tank in the top of the Racor filter housing. Apparently there is a check valve in there to
keep the fuel from flowing back towards the tank and larger pieces of junk can
get wedged there before the fuel actually flows through the filter! Who would have guessed? While all this is
going on, we discover a broken engine mount.
Frank is coming back on Monday to replace all four mounts and re-align
everything. Jeff and Carly walked over
to Cocoa Village a returned with a Pizza from Ryan’s. When Jeff was traveling with us in 2012, he
ordered a large pizza from Ryan’s and when he went to pick it up it was a 36
inch pizza! This time he only got an 18
incher (they actually do not make the 36 inch one any more).
Saturday, June 11,
2016. Carly and Jeff go to the beach
with Carly’s godmother, Tiffany, who drove over from Orlando. I spent the day working on this blog. We had dinner at the Americana Pub in the
Village. The food was good, but not
great. Ice cream at Ossorio completed
the day.
Sunday, June 12,
2016. George Major drove down from
Melbourne to visit. His wife Bev could
not come as her brother is in the hospital and she went to see him. We went to Walmart to pick up some charging
cords for the phones – first time in one of those in 5 months – didn’t miss the
crowds. We made a stop at Ron Jon Surf
Shop (the original) to replenish our wardrobe and then went to Ryan’s for
pizza. Nice afternoon. Great to see George. Back to the boat and a game of rummy before
bed.
For More information on Cocoa Village click on this link http://www.destinationmainstreets.com/florida/cocoa-village.php
