Coral Harbour, NP to Saint Mary's GA

Sunday, March 31, 2019. There is a ship parked on the other of the canal named Ocean Breeze.  It is one of the tankers used to service the islands (like Staniel Cay).  It is being decommissioned and is going to be sunk to create a new reef. It is now owned by the local dive shop.  The folks working on it asked if we could move some boats around so they can get Ocean Breeze past Wardle’s as they are taking her out to her final resting place today. So at 7:00am we are out on the boats and docks with Moon Pie and moving boats (specifically Valda III that is sort of hanging out in the middle of the canal) so they can get Ocean Breeze out to sea and her final resting place.

7:45am We are off the dock along with Moon Pie starting our long crossing to the US.  The weather is supposed to be good for the next 36-48 hours.  65 degrees, mostly clear, wind S@5.

8:15am We turn north out of the channel to Coral Harbour heading to West Bay, NP.  We are motor sailing with the main up, easily making 6 knots.  We hear Summer of 42 on the VHF as he is leaving Nassau Harbour with Charlie Papa and Pea Pod.  We are able to talk to him and they are headed the same way we are, so we will keep in touch as we cross.

9:00am We pass the west end (West Bay) of New Providence Island headed to the Northwest Channel.  We are in deep water (7000+ feet deep) and we have two fishing lines out.  It would be nice to catch a nice Mahi or Wahoo while we are out here.

9:15am Lisa takes over the helm.

12:00noon Big gentle rollers as we cross the Tongue of the Ocean. 75 degrees, big puffy clouds on the horizon.  Still motor sailing at 6 knots. I made tuna-fish salad for lunch.  Moon Pie is having issues with their auto-pilot.  It seems to stop working sporadically.  They tried to re-calibrate it, re-boot it, but nothing seems to be helping.  I suggested in the short term, they change the ‘response” setting (which controls how much the unit allows the boat to stray off course before correcting).  This seems to have helped.

1:27pm Benny takes over at the helm.

2:00pm We talked to Summer of 42 again.  They are heading to North Rock at Bimini, then westward to find the Gulf Stream, then they will turn north to Lake Worth.  We have caught up to them, and are, in fact, only a couple of hundred yards behind them.  We plan to head farther north to Hens and Chickens and then across to Lake Worth.  I guess we will find out which strategy is the better (faster) one.  Summer of 42 actually has 12 miles farther to go than we do, but he will be faster, especially if he can stay in the Gulf Stream.

3:50pm We pass the NW Channel way point, completing the first leg of the crossing (49NM).  We saw Wabasi heading west.  We raised them on the VHF and they are headed to the Exumas after having to return to Florida to have a rudder repaired.  We met them in Bimini 2 years ago.

It is very flat, 82 degrees, wind N@5.  We are now “on the banks” and the water is about 15 feet deep, crystal clear, like a swimming pool.  You can see everything on the bottom.

4:30pm We pass NW Shoal waypoint, completing the second (and shortest) leg of the crossing (4.9NM). Three mega yachts passed heading west, all three throwing huge wakes.

5:10pm We passed Cape Express, a roll-on, roll-off ship carrying truck trailers.  This ship comes out of Fort Lauderdale and is the same type that came into Rock Sound at 3:00am.

5:30pm We saw a huge sea turtle surface multiple times almost right next to us.

8:45pm We pass Mackie Shoal waypoint.  Summer of 42 continues west to North Rock and we turn north toward Hens and Chickens. This completes the third leg of the crossing (24.8NM).

Summer of 42 headed for North Bimini

9:00pm we see and talk to a large tug (Champion) pulling a barge headed west along our course.  We alter course more to the north to give him plenty of sea room.

10:00pm  A large fishing boat passes to our north.

12:45am Monday, April 1, 2019. As we approach Hens and Chickens (really just a bunch of rocks on the edge of the Banks) we can see a couple of cruise ships heading south to Miami, a tanker that is anchored just north of Hens and Chickens, and a large freighter all lit up with mercury vapor lights also anchored in the same area.  Ships do this as they wait for a berth in Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Freeport.

2:00am We pass the Hens and Chickens waypoint, completing the fourth leg of the crossing (31.7NM). Lisa takes over the helm. A cruise ship passes our bow. Lots of vessels on radar.  We don’t have AIS (Automated (vessel) Information System) which receives information from an AIS transmitter giving information about the vessel, speed, course, etc. Moon Pie has an AIS receiver.  We have radar, which gives us all the same information except for the specifics about the vessel (name, size, etc.).  Between our two boats, we can pretty well determine all there is to know about a “target”, and there are plenty of “targets” out here.

The seas out here are confused, waves coming from all directions.  There is little wind, but there are tidal currents running on and off the banks, currents running north and south along the drop off to deep water and then the Gulf Stream itself.

5:00am Moon rise, but it is only a sliver. The seas have settled, the wind calm. I am back on the helm.

6:30am Sun rise.  Nice to have some visibility again.  The wind has picked up a bit, SE@10. Seas only a 2 foot chop.

9:00am Lisa on the helm.

12:00noon Benny on the helm.  Approaching Lake Worth.

12:45pm Lake Worth Inlet.  Apparently, there was a boat show in West Palm Beach over the week-end.  There is a parade of boats (all brand new) leaving the inlet at full speed, ignoring the slow speed signs.  There is a small boat right in the middle of the channel loaded with photographers and a film crew taking photos and videos of the boats as they come out.  It is very rough as the jetties on either side of the inlet reflect back these huge wakes being generated by the boats coming out at speed.  What a horror show! There is always something crazy going on at this inlet!

Leg 5 of the trip is complete (67.1NM). Partly cloudy, wind W@10-12, 72 degrees.

1:45pm Anchor down at North Lake Worth. This completes the 6^th and final leg of the crossing (5.7NM). Total for the crossing 184.2NM, 29.5 hours, average speed 6.25 knots, AICW MM 1014, 26°50.24’N  080°03.19’W

Nap Time!

4:00pm  We filled out all the information for the new US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ROAM App on our android phone.  This App is supposed to replace the Small Vessel Reporting System (SVRS) previously in place.  The SVRS system required you to fill out a bunch of forms, have a background check performed, and then physically go to a facility where they could verify all your information, plus make sure you were who your passport said you were.  The new ROAM App does this online and uses a video link so the Immigration Officer can see who you are. So we put in all the information and received a message saying it was being reviewed.  10 minutes later we received a message saying we were cleared to enter the USA.  Great, we are already here.  What happens if you don’t get approval?  What happens if you don’t “check in”.  There is no “check out” for US citizens, so how do they even know you were gone?

Dinner on board.  Leftover chicken and pear curry over mashed potatoes.  Easy and delicious.  Early to bed.  Rain and wind late and overnight.

Moon Pie, Summer of 42, Charlie Papa and 10 other boats here tonight. Tai Ann comes in and anchors right in front of us.  They are not 40 feet away.  We will never understand why people do that when there is acres of empty water in which to anchor.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

6:30am FOG, ¼ mile visibility, cool, 60 degrees.  We decide to delay departure.

7:30am fog clearing as the sun comes up. Summer of 42, Zafu, Charlie Papa and Moon Pie depart with us. One of the times we were at Cambridge Cay, Zafu was there.  He is single handling and had lost his dinghy.  One of the mega yachts sent their center cockpit tender to retrieve it for him.  Nice.

8:15am Parker Bridge – scheduled.

8:30am PGA Blvd Bridge – scheduled. The sun is out, big puffy clouds, 72 degrees, wind W@10, beautiful day.

9:00am Donald Ross Bridge – scheduled.

9:30am Indiantown Road Bridge – scheduled.

9:48am Jupiter Federal Bridge – on request.

10:00am 707 Bridge – on request.

11:10am Hobe Sound Bridge – on request.

11:40am Peck Lake.  8 boats anchored here.  Clouding over, 70 degrees, wind W@10, looks like rain.

2:30pm Rain and thunder, only lasts 30 minutes.  We were sailing before the rain, now there is no wind and it is very humid.  The squalls look like they are moving south and east away from us.

4:00pm Fort Pierce North Bridge – scheduled.

6:40pm on mooring 22 at Vero Beach City Marina.  Moon Pie, Summer of 42 here.  Altoona and Albertross, who we met at Wardle’s, here too.  Also, 5 and Dime, Gabrial, Compass Rose and Flying Pig are here.

62SM 50NM 27.39.56'N  080.22.23'W  MM952
Dinner on board and early to bed.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Cloudy, 65 degrees, wind NE@15. Albertross and several other boats depart.  We checked in at the Marina office.  Tim, harbormaster, is gone and has been replaced. We picked up mail and packages that were waiting for us.

We called Hertz and made arrangement for a car rental to drive home.  They have a program in the spring which allows you to rent a car for $8 a day is you drive it north and drop it off.  Nice.

We dinghied over to Manatee’s with Moon Pie and Summer of 42 for dinner.  Afterward, we walked to the beach to get orange ice cream, but it was closed (closes at 7 during the week), so we went to Cravings instead.  Cravings is the only ice cream shop I have ever been to that weighs your ice cream to determine the cost.

Thursday, April 4, 2019. Lovely morning, but cool, 65 degrees.  Almost no wind. Clear. Moon Pie and several other boats, including Summer of 42, depart heading north.

I spent the day typing (trying to catch up), Lisa did laundry.

Nightingale comes in.  Great to see them again.

4:00pm Coctails at the tiki hut.  Stan and Judy came by.  Not a lot of people at the event. We went to dinner with them to Mulligan’s on the beach.  We had to wait 30 minutes for a table, even tho’ there were 8 empty.  The hostess said they were being held for reservations.  6 were still empty when we left.  I ordered a flat bread pizza, which came out cold.  I sent it back and they re-heated it.  It tasted like re-heated pizza. Not the best meal we have ever had there.

Friday, April 5, 2019. Cloudy and cool. No wind, 65 degrees. It rained most of the afternoon, sometimes heavily.  We opened the water tank and hopefully filled them.  Boat chores, worked on the blog, Lisa worked on baskets. Dinner on board.

Saturday, April 6, 2019 – Saturday, April 13, 2019 There is a family of porpoises that live in the lagoon where the marina is located.  They will “push” fish up against the seawall by the condos north of the marina to feed.  The adults teach the young ones how to do this.  Now a couple of pelicans have taken to fishing when the porpoises are feeding. When the porpoises are playing they will bump into the floating pelicans.  Fun to watch.

On Saturday, we had an early dinner with Bev and George (Lisa’s uncle) at Mulligans.  The service and food was still not very good.

George and Bev at Mulligan's

We found that the generator was overheating and then shutting down (like it is supposed to do).  When we took the raw water pump apart, we found the rubber impeller had disintegrated. We replaced the impeller and the genset overheated again.  When we checked the impeller, the new one was disintegrated as well.  This time the pump was leaking water out of the body of the pump.

On Sunday, we were going to replace the pump with the old pump we kept as a spare.  You may remember that in 2013, we had to replace this pump, as the pulley fell apart.  We repaired the pulley using epoxy and a couple of nuts and bolts and kept it as a spare.  We checked the impeller on this pump before we installed it and found that the impeller had dried out.  The center of the impeller is metal and it had seized to the shaft. Bummer.

Genset raw water pump and what's left of the impeller

We went to an estate auction.  There are lots of these in Florida.  Lisa found a pair of earrings that match her ring which she bought at an auction here in Vero in the fall.

On Monday, we called Whiticar Marine to get a new pump. They said they could have one tomorrow.  In the meantime, we went to NAPA (Pete lent us his car) and got new hoses and more antifreeze.  We replaced both the input and output hoses to the pump and took the heat exchanger off and cleaned it out by running water through it in the opposite direction.  Lots of pieces of rubber came out.

On Tuesday, (Grant and I) drove down to Fort Pierce and picked up the new pump.  We also stopped by Marine Liquidators, always a fun place to visit and see what you can find.

Wednesday, we re-assembled everything, and the genset overheated again! This time, we took the whole raw water system apart.  We removed and cleaned the intake hose which goes from outside the hull to the raw water strainer.  We cleaned out the sea water strainer and the hose from the strainer to the genset case.  The new hose from the genset case to the raw (sea) water pump is full of what looks like powdered rubber.  We cleaned that out. The impeller in the pump is also chewed up. We replaced that. The hose from the pump to the heat exchanger is plugged. We cleaned that out.  We removed the heat exchanger.  We forced water through it with a high pressure hose and got still more junk out of it.  Then we poured muriatic acid through it (both the sea water and the fresh water sides).  More junk came out.  We did this three times until nothing else came out of the exchanger.  The heat exchanger has a zinc in it. We removed that and and cleaned out any pieces of zinc in the exchanger. We checked the hose that goes from the heat exchanger to the exhaust and it was clear.

The genset heat exchanger

Thursday, we put everything back together and the water now flows freely through the whole system and the genset runs without overheating.  However, the new pump is making a lot of noise.  It sounds like we may have burnt up a bearing! 

Working on the genset (it's under the cockpit floor)

I called Whiticar and ordered another pump.  They will ship it to River’s Edge in Saint Augustine and we will pick it up there on our way to Saint Mary’s.

Friday, we changed the oil, oil filter and fuel filter on the main engine.  While we were doing this, we noticed that the pulley on the alternator is “wobbling” and you can hear a “ching,ching,ching”. We called Mike Gianotti, who installed our new electrical system a couple of years ago.  Once we haul out we will remove the alternator and Mike will see about getting it rebuilt or replaced.

Sunday, April 14, 2019. We had a very nice dinner with Nightingale (Grant and Libby) and Pete and Dee. Lovely evening. After dinner, we get Rhiannon ready to depart tomorrow morning.  When we lifted the dinghy onto the davits, we were amazed at the marine growth on the bottom, in just under two weeks!  The motor also had a lot of small barnacles.  We were able to clean most of them off, but both the motor and the engine will get a good cleaning when we haul out.

Monday, April 15, 2019. Tax Day. No clouds, 75 degrees, wind NW@10-15.  Heavy rain overnight.

7:30am Dropped the mooring and headed over to the fuel dock. 34 gallons of diesel, 100 gallons of water. We paid the bill and checked out.

8:00am We head out of the marina along with Nightingale (who is hauling out at St. Mary’s on the same day we are). There are 6 other boats heading north also.  There is strong wind and current on our nose and keeps our speed below 6 knots.

2:40pm Pinelas Causeway Bridge, MM909, no clouds, wind NW@15-20.

6:30pm Anchor down on the SE side of the Addison Point Bridge (aka NASA Causeway).  Nightingale here too.  One other boat. 67SM, 54NM today, MM885, 28°31.48’N  080°45.23’W

Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Clear, cool 60 degrees, wind N@10-15.

7:45am Anchor up.

8:00am Addison Point Bridge with Nightingale and Mojo. Less wind and current today.  Most of the current (and tide) in the Indian River is “wind driven”.  When the wind blow hard out of the north, it pushes the water south creating a current and a tide as the water builds up in the southern part of the river.  The opposite is true with a strong south wind.

Motoring at 6+ knots.

9:00am Titusville

9:20am The Railroad bridge to Cape Canaveral.

10:30am Haulover Canal Bridge

10:40am Wind NE@10-15, foresail out, motorsailing@6 knots up Mosquito Lagoon.

3:00pm We see Hine Rhune and say hello as we pass Marineland.

Hine Rhune (L to R: Hazel, Cate and Chris)

4:15pm Main Street Bridge (Daytona) – on request.

4:45pm Anchor down north of the Sea Breeze Bridge, Daytona.

56SM, 45NM, MM829, 29°14.04’N  081°01.42’W

Nightingale (anchored near by) came to dinner. Pork chops (chicken for Libby), fresh green beans, fresh Brussel sprouts, fried plantains. Nightingale brought a nice salad.  Some TOFKA Toffee Vodka after dinner, then early to bed.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019.  Clear, puffy clouds, dry, wind calm, 75 degrees.

7:50am Anchor up, underway north with Nightingale. Saw Blue Moon, from Annapolis, a Pearson 424 that looks like brand new.  Thought it might be Thunder Gust, owned by Pam and Jerry. They sold Thunder Gust last year.

We are motoring with a following current @ 6.8 knots @ 2500 RPM. The current is giving us at least an additional knot of speed this morning.

9:40am L B Knox Bridge (on request).  High thin clouds, no wind, 75 degrees, the current is now neutral.

1:00pm Crescent Beach Bridge (on request). Clouding over, looks like rain.

3:00pm On the dock at Rivers Edge Marina, St. Augustine.  Paul is there to catch our lines, great to see him again.  There are Rosette Spoonbills looking for food along the shore across from the marina.  This is the first time we have ever seen them here.

6:00pm Rain, heavy at times.  Dinner on board.

49SM, 39NM, MM780, 29°53.14’N  081°19.36’W

Lots of new docks as we came up the San Sebastian River. English Landing Marina (just south of Rivers Edge) is all new.

Thursday, April 18, 2019. Clear, cool, wind E@15.  Beautiful morning. Lisa cleaned the stainless on the boat and did laundry.  Libby and Grant (Nightingale) came by.  They are on a mooring at City Marina. Grant and I walked to Sailor’s Exchange (always an interesting place to browse), then to TPH Auto Parts to get some antifreeze. Grant headed back downtown, and I headed back to Rhiannon.

We had lunch at Hurricane Patty’s with Nightingale and Fragile Magic (Tom and Trish).

Dinner on board.

Paul broke his arm this afternoon.  He was helping a boat onto the dock and the boat was coming in way too fast and Paul managed to get his arm pinned between the boat and a piling.  Ouch!  Off to the hospital for x-rays, setting and a cast.  He will be ok.

Friday, April 19, 2019. We walked into town. Partly cloudy and cool this morning.  We met Nightingale at Harry’s for a wonderful lunch.  This is one of our favorite restaurants here. 

Grant and Libby (Nightingale) and Lisa and I

As we left the restaurant, it started to rain.  We ducked in and out of shops for about an hour, then bought an umbrella and walked back to the boat in the rain.  The rain stopped about 6:00pm and we had a light dinner at Hurricane Patty’s with Fragile Magic.

Tom and Trish (Fragile Magic)

 Saturday, April 20, 2019. Clear, cool, wind W@15-25, 55 degrees!  Lisa filled Rhiannon’s water tanks and worked on getting a bunch of aphids off the dessert rose we brought home from the Bahamas (don’t tell the Customs folks). We have sprayed it with Neem, and we think most of the critters are dead, but she washed them off the plant.

I walked across the street (US1) to the Hair Loft to get a needed haircut.  Usually, they are great, but this time I would only give them a “C”. Then next door to West Marine for cleaner wax, then next door once again to Winn Dixie for a few needed grocery items.

Lisa had her investment club meeting at 4:00pm via skype.

Dinner on board, fresh shrimp and a salad.

Sunday, April 21, 2019.  Easter. Clear, cool, 55 degrees, wind W@15. The wind is supposed to go east, but it has not.

9:15am Off the dock at 9:15am with Fragile Magic, heading north.

10:00am Bridge of Lyons (scheduled on the hour and half hour).

Once in the Tolmato River north of the harbor, there are lots of small power boats out for an Easter Sunday ride.

3:00pm St. John’s River. Lots of current heading out to sea, we are making on 3 knots as we cross the river!  Lots of traffic also.  We had to dodge a huge dredge working in the river and a barge under tow.

3:30pm Sister’s Creek dock.  No room.  The boats are spaced wide apart and there is a barge tied up there as well.  It is very windy (gusts from the west at 25), so trying to get in there and be able to maneuver into the dock would be very difficult.

4:30pm Anchor down in the St. George River by Kingsley Plantation. Fragile Magic also here.

Dinner on board, pork chops, shrimp, asparagus and carrots.

Lots of porpoises here.

47SM  38NM  MM735   30°26.61’N  081°26.46’W

Monday, April 22, 2019. Clear, cool 50 degrees this morning.  No wind.

Anchor up at 8:45am.  It is half tide and rising, so there should be no issues leaving the St. George River or heading north towards Fernandina. We expected the tide to be with us, but it is not.  The inflow from Nassau Sound (to the north) must be greater than the inflow from the St. John’s River, even tho’ it is closer. Strange how that works sometimes.

Fragile Magic is with us.

11:30 The infamous Green #1 marker south of Fernandina.  They dredged this a couple of years ago and created a new channel west of the old one, which was right along the east shore.  We see a trawler make the corner at Green #1 and immediately head toward the old channel.  Interesting.  We decide to follow the old channel and had no issues (it is also high tide).  Tried to raise the trawler on the radio to find out why he altered course to the old channel, but were unable to.  Maybe we will explore this a bit more in the fall. No notes on Active Captain, but then Garmin isn’t doing updates to it any more.

12:00 noon Fernandina Beach.  There are still a few boats sunk or up on the shore from hurricane Matthew.  The equipment used to break up these wrecks is still in place.  The marina looks like repairs to the north side are done.  The south side of the marina is totally gone except for a few pilings.  Several barges are in place.  Looks like they are now working on replacing those docks.  The main dock is also gone on the south side.  The fuel dock is in place, but no pumps and the dock house if not open. There are still sunken boats in the mooring field. The container terminal is back in operation and one of the giant cranes has been replaced.  The fiber board plant and the paper mill are going full blast.

1:40pm Anchor down at Cumberland Island (by the north dock, which looks like it has been rebuilt since Matthew).  Last time we were through here, all the docks were wrecked.  The Sea Camp dock (a bit farther north) looks new.  The dock and sea wall at the south end of the island are under repair.  Lots of people here as it is Easter Week and the school are out. Nightingale, Fragile Magic and 14 other boats are here.

Wind E@10-15, sunny, no clouds, a cool 70 degrees.

30SM 24NM MM711 30°46.01’N  081°28.33’W

Fragile Magic came to dinner.  Lisa made a chicken stew (clean out the refrigerator) and we have some fresh bread.  Lisa presented Tom and Trish with one of her baskets, and I gave them a heart bean (for good luck – if you have one on board, the ancient mariners believed your boat would not sink).

This is Tom and Trish’s first trip south.  They came down in the fall with the “Sail to the Sun Rally”, a group of 17 boats (mostly first timers, led by Wally Moran).  Wally would plan out each day for the group, including the route, anchorages and marinas.  According to Tom, Wally never explained why they did certain things, only what they needed to do.  Anyway, each member is on their own to get home. So, we spent considerable time this evening going over our notes and charts with them.  We gave them a set of our spreadsheet log for the last 6 years which shows start and stops each day of the trip, mileage, anchorages, marinas, and other notes.  We also gave them our charts for the trip north on the ICW to use.  Tom said he would send them back when they got home.  We are basically done travelling this season, only going 8 more miles to St. Mary’s, GA, so we will not need them for a while.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Very cool, 55 degrees, clear, wind NE@10-15.  If it is this cool here, we shudder (shiver) to think how cold it will be when we get home to New Hampshire!

Lisa and I walked the island.  You have to land at the south dock and the trek around the south end of the island is 4.5 miles. As we said previously, it is Easter Week and there are lots of people coming over on the shuttle boats from St. Mary’s and all the campsites are full.  We saw lots of wildlife, birds, raccoons, armadillos, horses (including a couple of brand new folds).  We walked the beach too.  We found a few shells, not many, and no sea beans.

One of the trails on Cumberland Island

Mare and fold on the beach at Cumberland Island

We talked to Terry and Rocky about our scheduled haul out tomorrow.  Rocky hauled a big catamaran today, which took the whole tide cycle, so he did not get to haul the other boat that was scheduled. When he hauls a big cat, he uses a large crane, and it takes a lot of work to get it hooked up, hauled and blocked.

We heard from Fragile Magic (they left this morning).  They made it to Jekyll Island Marina today, where they will wait on the tide to get around Jekyll Island.

Adventure anchored near us and came for a visit.  We first me Dick and Leigh in 2014 at Vero Beach. Nice to see them again.

Nightingale came to dinner. Lisa made steak, the last of the tuna that Moon Pie caught on the way to Eleuthera, mixed vegetables and salad.  Very nice evening.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Sunny, some high thin clouds, wind S@10, cool 60 degrees.

9:45am We raise the anchor and head west to St. Mary’s.  Nightingale is ahead of us and will be hauled out first.

12:00noon We are in the North River orbiting around waiting on our turn to be hauled.  It is high tide and Nightingale is out of the water.

2:00pm Our turn in the slings.  When Rhiannon is out of the water, we see that the bottom paint held up really well.  There are two blisters that were repaired last year that the “patch” has broken loose and will have to be redone.  We lost half our line cutter on this trip.  We caught two ropes in it during the trip, one was the fiasco when the anchor broke loose in Georgetown.  The other we are unsure of as when Rhiannon was hauled, there was the remnants of a nylon rope hanging from the propeller and what is left of the line cutter.

Rhiannon being hauled

4:00pm Enterprise shows up with our rental car.  We are again going to rent a Hertz car to drive north.  They have a deal this year for $8 a day, unlimited mileage if you drive a car one way from Florida to somewhere north of New Jersey.  You can keep the car for up to two weeks.  The only catch is that we have to rent a car to drive back down to Vero to pick up the Hertz car.

Dinner with Nightingale at Riverside Café.  The cuisine in mostly Greek and delicious.

We checked in to the Cumberland Inn and Suited for this evening.

8SM 6.5NM MM711 30°74.41’N  081°52.45’W

Thursday, April 25, 2019. Cool and clear, 50 degrees this morning.  When we get to the boat, it is very wet with morning dew.

8:00am We meet with Rhonda to go over the work we would like her to do before we launch in the fall (bottom, clean and wax everywhere, stainless, compound out the stern, etc.)

9:00am We meet with Terry to discuss the new dodger we want and other changes to the canvas.

11:00am We leave to drive to Vero Beach to pick up the Hertz rental car.  We spent the night with our friends Stan and Judy (Rhumb Runner).  They are now “CLODS”, Cruisers Living On Dirt.  We have known them for over 30 years and were members of the same yacht club when we both lived in Beverly, MA.  The made 8 trips south from Massachusetts to Florida and The Bahamas while they were cruising.

Dinner was hamburgers on the grill. Nice evening.

Friday, April 26, 2019. We drove over to Vero Beach City Marina and dropped off the alternator for Mike,  who is going to have it checked out and (hopefully) repaired.  We picked up the Hertz car and began the drive back to St. Mary’s.  It rained heavily off and on all the way to the Georgia border.  We dropped off the Enterprise car and headed to the hotel.

Saturday, April 27, 2019 – Monday, April 29, 2019.  These days were spent unloading and cleaning the boat and getting it ready for her summer lay-up. On Saturday, Terry came by and said she was not going to be able to do our canvas work, she has too much already on her plate. On Monday, we were able to reach Top Stitch Canvas in Fernandina.  They will have someone come by Tuesday (morning hopefully) to look at what we want done.  We also called Stitches in Darien, who have done work for us previously, when the boat was laid up in Brunswick.  The said if we could get to Brunswick, they would be able to do it, but St. Mary’s was just too far away.

Fancy Free (Gail and Laura) was hauled today.

Sunday night we had dinner at Saigon Tokyo with Nightingale.
Monday Lisa arranged a cook out at the boat yard, using up some of the food still in the fridge.  Attendees included Nightingale, Fancy Free, John (who works at the yard) and a couple of other boats we had not really met.  Nice get together.

We heard from Fragile Magic and they seem to be making good progress on their trip north.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the boat yard.  We completed loading the car (Camry) and it is full!  It seems everyone is leaving today.  Nightingale had a Lift pick them up for the trip the Jacksonville airport.  Fancy Free is driving home a rental also and they stopped by to say good-bye until the fall.

The canvas guys finally showed up at 2:00pm.  The took lots of notes and said Amy would be getting back to us with estimates (she is the only one allowed to talk prices, but she stays in the office).

4:00pm We are finally underway for the long drive home. Lots of traffic (especially trucks) on I95.  A traffic accident closed I95 and we creeped along for more than an hour.  We didn’t miss any of this while in the Bahamas! We stopped for the night in Walterboro, SC.  Dinner at Cracker Barrel and stayed at the Days Inn next door.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019. May Day. Today we drove to our friends Pam and Jerry’s house in Easton, MD.  Another long day. Google Maps sometimes loses its way and sends you off in a direction only it understands.  It tried that a couple of times today, but we have driven this route several times and knew when it was doing that. Lots of traffic on I92 again today, but better once we were on the non-interstate highways.

We arrived about 7:00pm to dinner waiting and a beautiful sunset.  A nice evening.

Thursday, May 2, 2019. Jerry made us a nice breakfast and we are on the road at 11:00am. We cross the Bay Bridge and arrive at Jim and Judy’s (Tug-a-Long) in Pasadena, MD, at 1:00pm. We had dinner at The Bridge.  Crab dishes, always good and huge chocolate covered nutty cones for dessert.

Friday, May 3, 2019. We are up early, but despite best intentions, we don’t get away until 8:30am.  Nice breakfast and conversation delayed our departure. The traffic today is actually not too bad as we circle around New York City on the Garden State Parkway. We cross the Hudson on the new Tappan Zee Bridge.  They are dismantling the old one. We are home at 6:00pm.  The dogs (Lulu and Jake (our foster, now owned officially by our house sitter Brett)) are ecstatic to see us.  What a nice welcome home!

Saturday, May 4, 2019. Back in the car and headed to Billerica, MA, for Lisa’s sister’s garden wedding.  It was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but with rain predicted, they elected to have it today.  This event is why we are home this early in May. A very nice affair, mostly family and a few very good friends.  We are back at home by 6:00pm and soon to bed.

Lisa

Lind and Dan

George Town, Exumas to Coral Harbour, New Providence

Thursday, February 28, 2019. The wind dies off somewhat during the night.

6:45am. Partly cloudy, wind S@10-15, 75 degrees.

7:30am Anchor up, Heading north, motor sailing to charge the batteries at 6 knots. 6 boats heading north, several boats left heading south.

9:15am wind SSE@10-15, Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, passing Emerald Bay.

12noon Wind s@10-12, clear, but puffy clouds here and there like bits of cotton. Passing Bock Cay.

1:00pm wind S@9. Passing Cave Cay Cut.  We got a text message from Saber Tooth, they are at Black Point.

3:20pm Dotham Cut, the wind has died almost completely off.

4:00pm Anchor down at Black Point in front of the Rockledge laundry.  Saber tooth, Greenstone, Summer of 42 along with 42 other boats are here.

53NM today. 24°05.89”N  076°24.26’W

Walter (Summer of 42) came by to say hello and ask if wanted to go in to Scorpio’s at 4:30pm.  He offered to ferry us in and back out so we don’t have to drop the dinghy right away. At 4:30, he and Connie came by to give us a ride to shore.  Scorpios is crowded, Saber Tooth, Greenstone and many others are also there. 2 rum punches for $7 and good food are hard to beat. 

Anchorage at Black Point

Friday, March 1, 2019. Clear, wind E@10, 78 degrees, marvelous.

We spent most of the day at Rockledge laundry.  Very busy place with cruisers coming and going all day. Lots of people with lots of laundry.

I put a new painter (bow rope) on the dinghy. The old one was in pretty rough shape, almost worn through where it was attached to the bow.

While waiting on the clothes to dry, we had pizza at DeShamon’s.  The quality of their pizza has improved dramatically over the last two years – but the length of time to actually get one after it is ordered has not.  Lisa walked over and ordered it while the first loads of clothes were washing, then when those clothes finished, we put them in dryers and went back to the restaurant. By the time we got the pizza, the clothes were done.  You just have to time it right.

There are many more “tour boats” in the Exumas than ever before.  Many come down loaded with tourists from Nassau.  Still others come north from George Town.  Black Point has become the stop of choice for lunch for these boats. There are new docks for these boats and each restaurant gets at least one tour boat a day.  Certainly good for business. All four restaurants have remodeled and “spruced up” both their facilities and their menus. We finished our pizza just as 3 of these tours arrived.

Leftover pizza for dinner.

Sunset at Black Point

 Saturday, March 2, 2019. Clear, wind SE@10, 78 degrees, a few high thin clouds.

10:00am, we rented a golf cart from Mr. Lawrence Adderley and drove to the north end of the island.  We walked three beaches – about 2 miles each way.  You would think because these beaches are somewhat remote, that there might be a few sea beans, not so.  Lisa found one hamburger bean, and I found one Machineel bean and one Laurelwood. There were many nice shells tho’, especially the black and white welk shells.

Afterward we drove around the island. There are lots of new homes being built (Mr. Adderley says over 20).  These are nice homes, but not large ostentatious ones.

We stopped at Lorraine’s mom’s (Peermon) and bought a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, yum!

Moon Pie was at the laundry, so we stopped to say hello again.  We may see them at Cambridge Cay on Tuesday.

2:45pm We raised the anchor and headed 3 miles south to White Point to meet Saber Tooth and Greenstone.

4:00pm Anchor down at White Point. The boats are here but no people.  Turns out they were on the other side of the point on the beach.

Summer of 42 has guests who arrived yesterday (son, daughter, grandson and girlfriend).  They left this morning for Warderick Wells.

Dinner on board.  Lisa made steak, apple sauce and broccoli. Nora’s (Saber Tooth) homemade ginger snaps for dessert!

4NM today 24°02.16’N  076°22.34’W

Sunday, March 3, 2019. 2:00am A squall come through, wind goes SSE and heavy rain. The rain only lasted ½ hour while the wind peaked at 26 knots.

7:00am Wind SSE@20.  There are 3 and 4 foot breakers coming into the anchorage. Very rough.

8:30am Anchor up, heading toward Staniel Cay. Saber Tooth, Greenstone, Summer Flight (Ian and Michelle) all moving. Talked to Moon Pie, they are headed north also.

11:30am Anchor down just west of the docks at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  Even tho’ the wind is still SSE@15+, it is calm where we are anchored.  The skies have cleared and the day is very nice.

Moon Pie is continuing north toward Cambridge Cay. Saber Tooth, Greenstone and Summer Flight anchor at Big Major Spot (Pig Beach, where the swimming pigs are).

12.5NM today  24°10.31’N  076°26.80’W

2:00pm Dropped off the empty propane tank at Isles General Store to be refilled.  They are not open, but the practice is you leave it on the front porch, then come back the next day and it will probably be filled, if Burkie is working that day and if he has any propane.

We then went to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (SCYC), tied the dinghy to the breakwater   wall and walked to the Blue Store.  Ivy is now running the store.  Her mom, Miss Eloise, is not able to run the store any longer, but she is still around and doing well according to Ivy. The store is packed floor to ceiling with merchandise, including almost anything you would want in the way of produce.  Others tell us that the other two stores are also full.  Apparently, the mail/supply boat came in yesterday, great timing on our part! 

John (Saber Tooth) then gave me and Bob (Greenstone) a ride back to the boats with groceries, then picked me up for the ride back to SCYC.  We met the ladies there as well as Ian and Michelle (Summer Flight).    

6:00pm Saber Tooth, Greenstone and Lisa and I went over to The Purple Restaurant for dinner.  They open at 6:00pm this evening, and even tho’ we are a few minutes early, we are admitted and find a table for 6.  This place has never been open when we have been in Staniel Cay and we have heard and read that it is supposed to be good. By 6:30pm the place is full with locals, people from the resorts and boaters.  The food took over an hour to arrive and was just ok.  The prices were reasonable tho’.  We had Key Lime Pie (that their cooks make at home) for dessert and that was excellent!  It was 9:00pm by the time we got back to the boat and as calm as could be.

Monday, March 4, 2019. Our son James 30^th Birthday. Clear, 80 degrees, wind SW@10, beautiful.

11:00am We head over to Thunderball Grotto (The movie Thunderball was filmed here) to see the marine life.  There were lots of people and tour boats, too many!

1:00pm We went to Isles’ General Store and picked up our filled propane tank and had an ice cream (a nice treat).

We thought about taking Rhiannon to the fuel dock for fuel and water, but there has been a steady line of boats there all day.

Dinner on board. Lisa made French toast (using Peermon’s Cinnamon Raisin Bread), sausage, eggs, and bacon. Yum!  Calm here overnight.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Clear, 78 degrees, wind SW@5-10, small puffy clouds.

8:30am No one on the fuel dock, so we raise the anchor and move over there. We went in to the dock the wrong way (with the tidal current, instead of against it) and although we did get a bow line tied to the dock the current caught us and swung the stern away from the dock. So, we let that go and started over, this time against the current and the docking went much easier.  While filing with water, Lisa dropped on of the lids for the jerry cans overboard, so she jumped in and retrieved it – an unplanned early morning swim. We put on 21 gallons of fuel, 99 gallons of water, ice and dropped off the garbage.

9:30am, we are off the fuel dock and heading north to Cambridge Cay to meet Moon Pie and to ride out the passage of the coming cold front.  The wind is supposed to go into the North in the 20s tomorrow, then east in the 20s.  Cambridge Cay is a good place to be in those conditions.

Saber Tooth is picking up guests late today at Staniel Cay and then hoping to make it up to Cambridge.

We talked to Sea Hawk (Burry and Wendy) on the VHF.  They are at Sampson Cay (just north of Staniel Cay).  While we have talked to them this trip, we have not yet seen them.

11:50pm Anchor down south of the mooring field (which is full) at Cambridge Cay.  Sunny, puffy clouds, 80 degrees, wind SW@10.  Lovely.

15NM today.  24°18.02’N  076°32.34”W

1:30pm  We met Moon Pie (Greg and Jodi) at the small islands just west of the mooring field for some snorkeling.  These three little islands have a great variety of coral and sea life and today is no disappointment.

5:00pm We go to Moon Pie for dinner.  We brought a salad, rum drinks (Goombay Smash) and a conch horn for them.  Rum drinks and the blowing of the conch horn at sunset. Greg made lemon chicken with capers over linguine.  Very good. Lovely evening.  It was 10:00pm by the time we got back to the boat.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Cloudy, wind NW@20-25+ this morning.  Wind and tide are opposed, so it is somewhat rolly here.  It is worse at the north end of the mooring field, where Moon Pie is moored.

2:00pm We met Moon Pie at the shore and walked across the island to the beach.  We only found one sea bean, a Starnut Palm.  Although there were a few nice shells, this is part of Exuma Land and Sea Park, so you are supposed to leave everything as is.

Skies are threatening as we head back to the boats. Dinner on board.  Lisa made tacos.  The first time we have had that in a long time.

Thursday, March 7, 2019. Cloudy, wind NE@20+, 72 degrees.

9:30am Lisa went kayaking with Jodi (Moon Pie).

11:00am We walked the beach by Bell Rock with Moon Pie.

2:00pm We went to the beach by the blue hole with Saber Tooth, Greenstone, Moon Pie, Southern Flight, Orion and J&P.

5:30pm Moon Pie came over for cocktails and dinner.  Many conch horns at sunset.  Moon Pie brought cracked pepper-corn jelly on wheat thins for an appetizer.  Lisa made spaghetti squash with marinara sauce topped with fresh broccoli and asparagus. Mexican Train afterward. Nice evening, but late for us – 10:00pm.

Wind now east at 15-20+.  There is a lot of tidal current here and while there are not a lot of waves, the boats shift directions with the tide and what waves there are, some of the boats are doing circles.  Boats on the moorings have double lines to the mooring and those get really twisted badly with all the motion of the boats – untangling them can be a chore.

Friday, March 8, 2019. Hazel’s 61^st Birthday.  International Day of Women.

Still very windy overnight and this morning, clear, 75 degrees, wind SE@15-25.

9:00am Allure goes aground leaving Cambridge anchorage by the south entrance.  They were way east of the channel and luckily it was in sand.  The Park Warden (Brett) was able to pull them free with the new Park boat.  Shortly thereafter, another boat coming in that same south entrance was way out of the channel, but Brett was able to get to them in time to keep them from going aground.

Moon Pie left via the north entrance and are headed to Staniel Cay.

9:30am We lift the anchor and say “so long for now” to Saber Tooth and Green Stone, who are headed north to Warderick Wells.

1:30pm Anchor down at Black Point.  Providence, Gabriel and 30 other boats are here.

21NM today. 24°06.09’N  076°24.11’W

2:00pm We walked the beach closest to town and found 3 Machineel sea beans, but no sea hearts or hamburger beans.

4:00pm  We stopped at the blue store and visited with Miss Sharon (Taylor).  We hope to find out how to identify the correct “silver palm) to use for basket making.  She took us over to the Black Point Cemetery, where there are a lot of these silver palms and showed us how to identify them from the “Brickel Palms”, which are not desired for weaving because the fronds will split.  She and Lisa then spent some time working on “technique” for making the baskets.

7:00pm We met Miss Sharon at Lorraine’s Café for dinner (our thank you for her time and sharing her knowledge).  She was born and has lived her whole life at Black Point, except for two trips to Nassau.  She works at the elementary school.  Her children are grown and both live and work in Nassau (her son is a policeman). Her husband works on Leaf Cay as a caretaker/maintenance man. Of course, she knows everyone on the island, so we got to meet many people as they came and went to Lorraine’s.

 

Lisa's basket weave

Lisa's Bottle Basket

Saturday, March 9, 2019. Rain squalls overnight and this morning, 78 degrees, wind SE@20+.

We plugged scuppers so we could gather water into the fresh water tanks from all this rain.

12noon It has begun to clear, so we loaded the dinghy and went to the laundry.  Later in the day Lisa worked on baskets and I worked on some conch horns.

We had dinner on board (pork chops, zucchini, fresh tomatoes and mashed potatoes).

8:00pm Lisa went land crab hunting with Miss Ida and her cousin Delwood.  They captured a whole 5 gallon bucket full. I turned on every light on the outside of the boat so Lisa could find her way home.  It is very dark and windy out, but she made it back safely.

Sunday, March 10, 2019. Time Change. Remember to set your clocks?  Change the batteries in your smoke alarm?

Clear, 78 degrees, wind SE@15-20.  The wind is supposed to ease by Tuesday, then three more days of wind (another cold front), then some more moderate weather, but that’s too far in the future to have any confidence that it will actually happen that way.

We went to the government dock and walked the road toward O’Briens Landing (the area with the pink house where we had anchored before).  Lisa came this way looking for land crabs and saw more of the vines with sea pearls, so we are hunting them in the daylight.  We found a bunch of the vines growing beside the road.  This time we also found some on the ground.  The reference book we have says the seed/beans come in three colors, brown, yellow and grey.  Well, it turns out they all start out brown, then as they are exposed to the sun, they lighten to orange, then yellow, then grey.  The more sunlight they are exposed to the lighter they become. We found them in all colors.

Sea Pearls - all colors from the same plant - not different species

We looked at lots of palms, found some of the correct silver palms and were able to gather some fronds. The only fronds gathered are the newest ones that are not yet open.  This does not damage the plant and it soon has grown another.

Sea Hawk (Burry and Wendy) came in to the anchorage and came by in their dinghy for a visit.

We got a call on the VHF from Rockside Laundry wanting us to come in to shore.  Miss Ida had made Sunday dinner for us (Bar-b-que chicken, fish, cold slaw, peas and rice with the crab from last night).  What a great meal!

We talked to Summer of 42.  One set of guests departed and another has arrived, but they are staying at a cottage at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, which provides more flexibility than if they stayed on the boat.  Besides, Walter’s dinghy engine is not running right, so he has rented a small outboard boat to use to ferry his guests around the area.

We stopped at Adderley’s store.  Mr. Lawrence has gone to Nassau to visit his wife (Miss Lillian) and daughters and grandchildren.

Monday, March 11, 2019. Clear overnight and this morning, 72 degrees, wind ESE@10.

We dinghied into town to deliver thank you notes Lisa has hand written to Miss Sharon and to Miss Ida and Delwood (who everyone calls Boo-Boo). We dropped off the trash and then Miss Sharon drove by so we were able to say thank-you in person and got a nice hug in return. Then Miss Ida drove by and we got to say good-bye and thank you to her – and receive a hug as well.

We got ice at Deshamons’ and headed back to the boat.  On the dock were bundles and bundles of palm fronds that were being unloaded from a boat for the local weavers.

9:30am Anchor up – 76 degrees, wind SE@12, puffy clouds all around.

12:00noon Anchor down at southeast tip of Pipe Cay.

12NM today, 24°14.07’N  076°30.24’W

12:30pm Moon Pie comes in and anchors nearby.

12:45pm A tour boat comes in and drives up on the sand bar nearby, 20 people get off and mill around for 15 minutes, then the tour boat roars off to another sight seeing spot. Another tour boat roars through the “creek” heading north.  We have only been traveling here for five years and five years ago there were very few of these 40-50 foot high speed boats carring folks from either Nassau or George Town.  Last year one of these caught fire and six people died and many were injured.  Neither the boats or the captain and crew are not licensed or regulated, so you are literally risking your life on one of these high speed tours. We understand why the tour boats come here.  This has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the Bahamas.

2:00pm Along with Moon Pie, we go dinghy exploring.  Over in Pipe Creek proper, we find Providence anchored.  We pull along side and have a beer with Bill.  There are three boats anchored in what is called “The Mice” (a very narrow area just west of “The Creek”) and two more farther north from Bill.  The area is protected from every wind direction and is a good place to hide from a storm, but you have to know how to get in oud out.  The “creek” is actually a narrow channel between islands that runs for about two miles.  Pipe Cay is on the west side, hence the name.  We went all the way north to the southern end of Compass Cay, where Compass Cay Marina is located. Pipe Cay is covered in the silver palms.  We stopped at Little Hattie Cay.  It is covered with both new and old conch shells.  We gathered a few to use to make conch horns.

4:00pm Back at Rhiannon. Lisa and Jodi go kayaking around Little Pipe Cay.  I showered and worked on cleaning the diesel residue off the stern.

6:00pm Cocktails and dinner at Moon Pie. We brought Goombay Smash. Dinner was smoked sausage, baked beans and cold slaw.  Mexican Train to complete a lovely day.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind E@5 (coming off the island). No-see-ums are out in force this morning. We could not hear Exuma Park on the VHF at 9:00am this morning, but Moon Pie could.  It sounds like we may have a mooring assignment in the north mooring field for tonight.

9:45am Anchor up, motoring north, seas flat.

11:30am Anchor down at Fowl Cay by Rocky Dundas.

8NM 24°16.44’N  076°32.29’W

12:00noon We visit Rachael’s Bubbles.  This is where the waves break over rocks into a pool.  A lovely spot and one of our favorites. We met a group of folks which included cadets from the Naval Academy.  Moon Pie’s youngest graduated from there in 2016 and is now at helicopter flight training in Pensacola.  This group is on a private captained charter (aka charter my boat and me).  The boat is from the US and I am pretty sure this is not legal in the Bahamas.  The guests told us it was a “charter” and the captain said it was not…….

2:00pm Anchor up, we go outside (through Exuma Sound, aka the Ocean) to Warderick Wells.  There are big rollers out here, but with a lot of time in between..  Very nice ride north.

5:00pm On mooring #9 at Warderick Wells, Exuma Park.  We lashed the big metal thimble on the 1 ¼” pennant to the forward cleats so it will not scratch the gelcoat on the bow. Moon Pie is on mooring #8.

12NM 24°23.81’N  076°37.93’W

Dinner on board.  Lisa made a “Red’s Everything Omelet”. Reds is a “sandwich shop” in Salem, MA, where we went often for breakfast, maybe the best breakfast ever.  One of their specialties is the “Everything Omelet”, which has literally everything you can imagine in it.  Yummy!

Wind is NW@5110, skies clear, lovely evening.

Lisa now working on her 4^th basket.  Each one is better than the one before.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Rain squalls overnight. 

8:00am Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind now E@15-25+.  No waves in the mooring field.  At high tide you can see the tops of the waves and spray as it breaks over the island. Impressive.  We spent the day doing boat chores.  Lisa made another basket.  She also made eggplant parmigiana for dinner tonight.

Moon Pie came for dinner.  We had Lisa’s parmigiana and cold slaw Greg made for dinner.  Moon Pie also brought Mojitos. After dinner we played Pigs and Jacks (aka Jacks and Jokers).  We learned the game from our neighbors Diane and Mike over the summer.  It is very similar to Parcheesi, but using cards instead of dice.

Thursday, March 14, 2019. Partly cloudy, wind E@20+, 80 degrees.

We went to the office and paid until Saturday when we hope to be able to cross to Eleuthera. We were able to make a couple of phone calls, one to our boat insurance agent about our upcoming renewal.  Because of the losses due to the hurricanes last year, all the companies want more money, even if the boat is not in Florida during the hurricane season. We were also able to download our email and latest weather forecasts.

With Moon Pie, we walked the Causeway Trail to the Hutia Highway to the beach on the other side of the island.  We found almost no shells and there were no sea beans,  Then we walked up to Boo-Boo Hill and then back to the anchorage.

2:00pm  Lisa and Jodi go for a swim at slack tide.  Then Lisa scrapped a few barnacles off our bottom.  There were very few.

Dinner on board.  I made pork chops, corn, mashed potatoes and cold slaw.

Friday, March 15, 2019. The Ides of March. Still very windy out of the E@15-20, partly cloudy, 80 degrees.

We went dinghy exploring with Moon Pie around the south end of Warderick Wells Cay to Hog Cay (aka Pirates Lair).  This is an anchorage on the east side of Warderick Wells Cay between Warderick and Hog Cay.  The story is that pirates would sneak in here to hide from the British.  You cannot distinguish the two islands from even ¼ mile at sea, and the pirates would hide between the two islands.  It is another beautiful spot and not many people visit.

Moon Pie worked on cleaning their bottom.  Lisa went ashore and put our updated piece of Rhiannon driftwood on the pile atop Boo-Boo Hill, as well as some of the signs she had re-done for the Park.

We stopped by the office to say our good-byes – maybe the last of this season.

We had dinner on Moon Pie.  Greg made gumbo.  We made Lisa’s carrot, onion and cucumber salad.

Saturday, March 16, 2019. Clear, a few puffy clouds, 80 degrees, wind E@10-15.

9:00am We dropped the mooring and headed out to the sound – east out of Warderick Wells Cut.  Head sail out making 5.5 knots, 2 fishing lines out.  Moon Pie caught a nice size Yellow Fin Tuna.  We did not have a strike.

2:30pm We ran the 100’ depth line alone the western Cape Eleuthera coast, but still did not have a fish take one of our lures.

3:30pm On the fuel dock at Cape Eleuthera Marina.  25 gallons of diesel, 5 gallons of gasoline.

4:00pm Tied up in slip 113. 82 degrees, clear, wind NE@10.

6:00pm Dinner at the marina restaurant with Moon Pie. Lisa had chicken fettuccini and I had shrimp in garlic sauce. Both were good, but not exceptional.  We all shared a huge chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  The dessert was exceptional.

35NM today.  24°50.12’N 076°20.59’W

Sunday, March 17, 2019. Clear, wind SE@10, high thin clouds. Lisa filled the water tanks and gave Rhiannon a bath.  I did laundry.  We checked out at 1:00pm and are off the dock and headed to Rock Sound. The wind, little that there is, is on our nose, so we are motoring.

3:30pm We poked around the north side of the harbor looking for deep water, and while the comments on Active Captain say you can go all the way up to the northwest corner of the harbor, the boat that wrote that must draw very little water because it started getting shallow half-way there.

4:00pm Anchor down on the south side of the harbor just north of the government dock.

12NM  24°52.08’N  076°09.96’W

More boats come in and by nightfall there are 14 anchored here.

Dinner on board.  Cloudy and dead calm overnight.

Monday, March 18, 2019.  And cloudy this morning.  With Moon Pie, we dinghied over to the airport to renew visas only to find there was no immigration officer present, even tho’ we had called and were told someone would be there all day.  Oh, well, it is the Bahamas, mon! They said to call later in the day to check if any of the immigration officers had returned.

We dinghied to town and walked almost across the island looking for the beaches and Rosie’s place – to no avail. We walked a total of about 4 miles and finally stopped at Hall’s grocery to get something to drink.  It was well stocked, but not much produce.  We were told it had more than the Market Place store, which is closer to the harbor. We saw the Ocean Hole that is supposed to be 680 feet deep.  It is full of fish – not sure whether they were put there or they find their way in from the ocean – the water in the hole is salty.  There was a local crafter there selling her wares and Lisa and Jodi bought some ear rings.

Another call to immigration – no one has returned, but they are supposed to be there tomorrow.

Dinner on Moon Pie.  Greg grilled some of the tuna they caught.  We brought mashed potatoes, zucchini, white wine and the TOFKA. Mexican train after dinner.  Still very calm and cloudy.  The forecast is for big winds and rain north of us. Dalmatian in Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, and Nightingale in Great Harbour, Berry Islands, are bracing for gale force winds. There are about 40 boats anchored in the harbor now.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019. 3:00am The mail/supply boat arrives. We awoke to the very loud blast of air horns and yelling as this relatively small ship is trying to get to the government dock.  Many of the newly arrived boats are anchored in its way and/or in the channel.  They are having to move their boats – about 10 had to move and re-anchor out of the way.  Do Not Anchor means just that.

8:00am cloudy, 75 degrees, wind S@10-15.  Not a great direction for this harbor.

10:00am We dinghied to town and tied us a Frigate’s Restaurant. A short walk to the Market Place (we would call it a strip mall).  The grocery is very well stocked with all perishables and hard goods.  Lots of dairy products, meats and produce.  The prices are reasonable for the Bahamas.  Outside is a teen selling peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and other fresh local produce. Moon Pie called the Immigration Office at the airport and was told there would be an officer available after lunch.

2:00pm We dinghied back to the airport (it is at the head of the harbor, about a 1 mile ride).  Moon Pie was able to renew their visa as their current one expires on March 24.  Ours does not expire until April 5, and we were told that date was too far off to renew now.  It probably is no big thing because we are headed back to the US before then anyway.

We spent the afternoon looking at weather forecasts for this area, which by the way, no two are the same.  A pretty hefty cold front is headed through the Bahamas, but no one knows if it will get this far east and south.  We also began to do some route planning to get us back to the US.  The wind is currently SSW@10-15, which is probably the worst direction for this harbor – the only direction not protected by land.  It was supposed to rain all day, but so far it has not.

Dinner on board.  Pork chops, plantains and broccoli.

10:00pm A squall comes through.  Wind NE@20-25 and heavy rain, but it only lasts about 30 minutes.

We heard from Salty Paws (Jim and Bentley).  They are anchored just south of Spanish Wells.  The wind there was up as high as 50 knots and rain so heavy that visibility was down to 50 feet.  Glad that went north of us.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019.  Robert’s Birthday (brother-in-law). Cloudy and humid. Wind SW@10-15. Partly cloudy, 80 degrees.

10:00am Went ashore with Moon Pie.  Jodi went for a run and Greg and I went to the hardware store.  It is one of the better ones we have found in the islands. I was looking for bleach and holding tank chemicals and found both items.

We began the conversation about heading back to the US.  We have to be back in time for Lisa’s sister’s wedding (Linda) on May 5.  We have also been able to secure a haul out date of April 24 at St. Mary’s Boat Services.  So, while it is a bit early to head home, the way the weather has been this winter, if we get a chance to head that way, we will take advantage of it.

We heard from Nightingale and they have a haul out date of April 23, so we will see them there. They are currently in Great Harbour in the Berry Islands.

5:00pm Moon Pie came to dinner. I made chicken marsala and a huge salad.

After they departed, we lifted the dingy onto the davits and stowed the outboard in preparation for a departure early tomorrow for Coral Harbour (nick and Carolyn Wardle’s Dock), where we will wait out the next frontal passage.

Thursday, March 21, 2019. Dad’s Birthday (he would have been 104!), Spring Equinox.

Clear and calm overnight.

6:07am Anchor up, 72 degrees, heading west, still dark, but there is a big moon.

6:35am First light, wind NE@5-10.

7:20am The sun is fully up, skies are clear here, but lots of clouds on the northern horizon.

11:00am Partly cloudy now with big puffy clouds, 85 degrees, wind NE@5.  We are motoring across Exuma Sound with 2 fishing lines out.

5:40pm Rain clouds closing in, starting to shower, no wind, 10 miles to go to the Coral Harbour entrance channel.

8:07pm On the dock at Wardle’s.  Several boaters here to help us get tied up. Moon Pie comes in and is rafted to us.

80NM, exactly 14 hours, average 5.7 knots.  Lots of current against us most of the day.

24°58.95’N  077°27.70’W

Friday, March 22, 2019. Breezy, wind NE@15+, clear, cool, 70 degrees. We got picked up by Virgo Car Rental at 10:00am, so we now have a rental car to us during our stay.

Greg and I filled both boats with diesel from the jerry cans and then drove to the gas station and refilled the jerry cans. Lisa and Jodi walked the beach.  Lisa met a bunch of Nick and Carolyn’s neighbors.

5:00pm Rum o’clock with Nick and Carolyn, Greg and Jodi (Moon Pie), Greg (Ondine) and Juan and Alison (Guajira, pronounced gwahita).

Dinner on board.

Saturday, March 23, 2019. Ondine and Guajira leave at 8:00am headed to Chub Cay, then Bimini, Marathon and (Guajira) home to New Orleans.

Sunny, wind light out of the north@5-10. Cool, 70 degrees.

Greg, Jodi and I head to Nassau to run a bunch of errands (Harbourside Marine for holding tank chemicals, Liquid Courage for TOFKA toffee vodka, Jimmy’s Liquors for Sands Pink (Jimmy’s liquors owned by Jimmy Sands, Sands per only $24/case), grocery store, bank and back in time for Rum O’clock with Nick and Carolyn, Moon Pie, Albertross (just arrived) (Lynne and Jerry).

6:00pm We all head to the Cricket Club for dinner.  Lisa, Jodi, Lynne and I had the seafood pie, Jerry had steak and mushroom pie, Carolyn had conch chowder and a Caesar salad, Greg had fish and chips, Nick and cracked conch.  All of it was wonderful.  We asked our waitress (Dominique) if it would possible to get the recipe for the seafood pie – she said she would ask.  A bit later, Connie came out of the kitchen.  Connie is married to Chris, who owns the club.  Dominique is their daughter. Chris is English, Connie is Bahamian.  Connie explained how she makes the dish, but like many chefs, the recipe isn’t written down, so some experimentation is going to be required.  A wonderful evening.

Dinner at The Cricket Club
L to R: Nick, Lisa, Greg (Moon Pie), Lynne (Albertross)
Me, Carolyn, Jerry (Albertross), Jodi (Moon Pie)

Click on the link for more information about The Cricket Club

Sunday, March 24, 2019. Very breezy, partly cloudy, wind NE@15-25+, cool 70 degrees.

Lisa found some silver palms, so she now has some fronds to continue making baskets.

I cleaned up our fishing gear, sorted everything out and stowed it for the next time we are in deep water. We had breakfast on Moon Pie, banana pancakes and bacon and we brought some real maple syrup.

Rum o’clock with Nick and Carolyn, Moon Pie and Albertross.

Dinner on Moon Pie.  We pooled the last of the lobster and Gregg made lobster in garlic and butter sauce.  We brought white wine and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

Monday, March 25, 2019. Lovely morning, a bit overcast, but no significant wind (as forecast).  Boat chores today.  It clouded over about noon and has looked like rain all afternoon. A few sprinkles.  Wind E@15+.

I took Jerry and Lynne to the grocery store and the bank.

Valda III (Joel and Diana) comes in about 5:00pm.

Rum o’clock. A pot luck dinner with Traveler (Bjorn, Michelle, Lucas and Markus), Albertross (Lynne and Jerry), Moon Pie, Balance, us and Nick and Carolyn. Very Nice.

Rum O'clock L to R: Jodi (Moon Pie), Me and Lisa, Kerstin (Balance)
Carolyn, Steffan (Balance), Nick, Greg (Moon Pie), Wendy and Ralph (Altoona II),
Jerry (Albertross)

 Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Very nice this morning.  It is supposed to be windy with rain, but it is just the opposite.

8:00am A mother and baby manatee show up. We gave them a bit of cabbage and fresh water (which they love).  They stuck around for more than an hour. Yeager (Nick and Carolyn’s potcake) and the kids on Traveler were especially intrigued.

Mom Manatee and calf

We took the car into Nassau to Bahama Art and Handicraft, a shop that only sells item made in the Bahamas.  Many of the items we have seen in our travels around the Bahamas, plus a lot more. We bought some items to take home as presents.  This shop is well worth the visit if you are in Nassau.

Bahama Art and Handicraft

Jodi (Moon Pie)

We stopped at Jim Whitehead Florist to get some flowers for Connie at the Cricket Club, as a thank you for the time she spent with us and for the recipe. We had a late lunch at the Cricket Club, but Connie had left for the day. We left the flowers for her.  We were hoping to get some more details about the recipe, but we’ll figure out the “missing” parts. 

We are back by Rum O’clock with Moon Pie and Traveler and Nick. Afterwards, Jodi and went to the local grocery and bought some ice cream (vanilla, chocolate and coconut) which we shared with everyone.

Valda III flew home today.

We gave Traveler a conch horn, and the smallest boy (Lucas) really sounded a blast!  All of them were able to make some sort of noise with it. Bjorn was able to make so much noise with it that it roused Nick from in front of the TV to see what was going on!

Lucas (Traveller)

 Wednesday, March 27, 2019. The forecast is for clouds and 80% chance of showers, but it is sunny and 75 degrees, wind W@10-15.  It did shower earlier (about 5:30am) for about 10 minutes.

Traveler flew home this morning.  They will be back in about 2 weeks, but we hope to be across by then.

The mother and baby manatee came back for a visit.

Thursday, March 28, 2019. Partly cloudy, wind NE@15-20+.  Moon Pie, Albertross and us went to visit The Primeval Forrest.  This is a section of land that still has all the original growth plants and trees.  It is only 7.5 acres and was saved from construction and it now managed by the Bahamas National Trust (the same folks that manage Exuma Land and Sea Park).  Kristof, one of the rangers, gave us a very informative tour. For more information go to this link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147416-d4866520-Reviews-Primeval_Forest_National_Park-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

We met a couple there from South Africa who are backpacking their way across the Bahamas, and then plan to back pack across the US.

Afterwards, we went to Compass Point on the northwest corner of the island for lunch.  Our waiter, Victor, explained that many people in the Bahamas eat the barracuda and that they are really quite good.  We did not have that for lunch.

We stopped at the grocery, liquor store and bank on the way back for Rum o’clock.

Friday, March 29, 2019. Clear, wind NE@15+, partly cloudy.  Lisa and I went to a commercial nursery.  I bought a Desert Rose and Lisa bought a Bromolaide.  Google says the Desert Rose can be a house plant in northern climates. It likes a lot of sun and not a lot of water.  We stopped on the way back to the boat and pick some silver palm fronds for Lisa’s basket weaving.  When making the baskets, you only use the brand new fronds.  Ideally you want them full sized, but not yet open.  Picking these in no way damages the plant as it soon grows another new frond.

Rum o’clock and yet another pot luck dinner.  Jerry brought a pina colada rum cake as it is Lynne’s birthday. Afterwards, a debate about the weather and whether or not tomorrow is a good day to begin the crossing to the us.  From here is about 180NM and about 30 hours, so a good weather window of at least 2 or 3 days is needed.

Saturday, March 30, 2019. Cloudy, cool, 70 degrees.  The wind is still NE@15-20+ and according to forecaster Chris Parker, the seas are 4-6 feet going to 5-7 feet this afternoon.  Albertross, Balance and Altoona depart.  We later hear from them that is very rough crossing to Chub Cay, but the wind on the stern is making for a fast crossing.  We are glad we waited until tomorrow for both the wind and the waves to settle down.

We returned the rental car, filled Rhiannon with water and emptied all the trash.  Lisa spent the rest of the day working on baskets and I worked on this blog. It rained all afternoon, but cleared at Rum O’clock.

Plumeria Frangipani Tree

We made George Barlow’s Chicken, Pear Curry for dinner. Moon Pie came to dinner, afterward, we prepared the boats to cross.

Click here for many more pictures. 

If you need a place to leave the boat in the Bahamas (or if you want to visit New Providence), consider Nick and Carolyn Wardle's place (aka Wardle's Dock).  It is an SSCA Cruising Station and is safe and secure - and reasonably priced.  It is 10 minutes from Nassau International Airport. Rental Cars can be arranged if you want to tour the island.