Rhiannon Voyages: Key Biscayne to Long Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 2016-2017

Key Biscayne to Long Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 2016-2017

Saturday, December 3, 2016. Heavy rain overnight. Sunny and windy this morning. Wind N@15-20. Lisa and I walked to the beach and look for sea beans, but find none. Lots of trash on the beach from all the storms. In the afternoon, Lisa does laundry and I work on that starboard side jerry can board and fixing the outboard motor lift. Now that I have it all apart, we will have to fix it and get it back together before we depart for Bimini. Right now it looks like maybe Tuesday will be a good day weather-wise to try that.

Stars and Stripes Americas Cup Contender

Several local boats show up during the day. This is a favorite party spot, but there is one 50 foot motor yacht with his stereo going so loud you could probably hear it in Fort Lauderdale. Finally, another local tied up next to him says something about it, so the loud boat leaves. Nice!

Sunday, December 4, 2016. A few more boats have come in to anchor. We finally complete and install the starboard jerry can board and get it installed. We met quite a few boaters who are here to cross. Mario and Carmen on La Madam Oceane are having outboard issues. It will run for a while and then it dies. He has tried cleaning everything, even replacing the fuel pump, but so far nothing helps. I took a look, but it looks to me like there is an issue in the carburetor as he is getting fuel to it, but the engine runs out of gas. Eventually, we discover that it is the float inside the carburetor that is sticking. Voila!

Again today, there are lots of local boaters. 50 foot motor yachts are tied together at the wall with loud music. There are at least 40 people on the boats and they have chairs and tables set up ashore. Dancing and partying until sunset. By 5:30 they are all gone.

There is a pot luck in one of the pavilions on shore for those folks crossing to the Bahamas. Included are:

La Madame Oceane (Mario and Carmen)

So Far, So Good (Dave and Jane)

Cantabile (Greg)

Off Duty (Dave, his wife, crew Al)

Ratatouille (Pat, Kadaka, Peter)

R-Luv (Richard and Judi)

Chasseur (Richard and June)

Rhiannon (Us)

Monday, December 5, 2016. Greg (Cantabile) has rented a car, so I go with him to run a bunch of errands. First stop is a marine where Greg has to pick up fuel filters for his engine. Mike (owner) is supposed to be an A-1 mechanic on just about anything. Next is a metal fab shop, where Greg picks up some stainless to support his davits. Mike has called here ahead of time so Greg gets a really good price! Third stop is Walgreen,s, where all of us pile out to stock up on necessities for the trip. The next stop is Crook and Crook (marine Supply). Greg and I are both looking for some stainless parts and pieces (me – for the outboard lift). I also talked to their fishing shop about a rig to troll with on this trip. By the time the guy was finished, the tab was going to be over $1,000. I decide to try another route – not sure which one, but certainly one less expensive considering how much this equipment will actually get used. We then stopped at Home Depot, but like many Home Depot stops, we did not find what we needed. Next was the grocery, where everyone loaded up on stuff for the Bahamas. Good to do when you have access to a car. The last stop was at Atlantic Postal Services to pick up a package from Amazon. Back to the boat by 4:00pm. Lisa met me on the dock with our dingy as we had a full load with just our stuff.

Dinner on board So Far, So Good with Dave and Jane and Greg (Contabile). Nice evening. Tomorrow does not look like the ideal crossing day – winds still NE 10-15 and the seas have not had a chance to lay down after 5 days of strong northerlies.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016. Partly Cloudy, humid, wind still out of the NE at 10-16, but supposed to go into the SE by noon. Some boats leave, most do not.

3:00pm, we have a chart meeting at the pavilion to discuss the crossing and the Bahamas in general. Only a couple of boats of the 10 present have been before, so there are a lot of questions. Heavy rain overnight.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016. Pearl Harbor Day. Anchor up at 6:00am. Rain has stopped, but just. You can still see lightning flashes in the distance. There were 10 boats in No Name last night waiting to cross and 5 more sitting just outside the harbor. At least two boats left at 5:00am (La Madame Oceane and Endeavor).

6:30am Looks like a parade leaving Key Biscayne. Not sure how many boats are underway, but we can make out about a dozen. Beautiful sunrise, clear, wind N @ 5.

7:00am We are experiencing a 1 knot push from the south. We are right on the edge of the Gulf Stream. Bimini is 84 degrees on the rhumb line (shortest course), we are steering at 155 degrees. We are actually moving at 96 degrees.

8:00am Wind N @ 7, foresail out, making 6.5 knots motor-sailing, seas 1-2 feet.

10:00am Partly cloudy, wind N @ 10. Making 6.8 knots. Seas 2-3 feet.

11:00am Sun peeking out

12 Noon out of the Gulf Stream – motor sailing making 7.5 knots – 8 miles to go. We are back on the rhumb line of 84 degrees. Bimini in sight.

2:00pm On the dock at Bluewater Marina. Eight other boats come in behind us. There is only one boat here when we arrive – Piece a’ Cake, a 65 foot Hatteras that is here 6 months at a time. No dock hands available, so Lisa and I direct boats to slips and help tie them off. David (dockmaster on duty) shows up as the last two boats arrive.

3:00pm, I walk down to Customs and get all the paperwork done. Then on to Immigration for more paperwork. We decide to wait until tomorrow to visit the BTC for a sim card for the phone.

One of the fisherman come around selling lobster and we buy a dozen and have lobster for dinner and freeze the remainder.

By 6:00pm, there are 13 boats here.

66SM 52.8NM 25.43.50'N 079.17.85'W

Thursday, December 8, 2016. Cloudy, wind NE @ 15. We walked to the BTC store and got a sim card for Jeff’s old iPhone, which will now be our Bahamas phone. We walked farther north and had lunch at Bob’s Conch Shack and had conch salad, which Lisa really enjoys. We stopped at Charlie’s for bread, but he is out for today. Maybe tomorrow. We walked the beach and found some nice shells, including a couple of helmet conchs, as well as a piece of one that shows the inside of the shell. We also found lots of other shells. On the way back to the south end of the beach, we found our first hamburger bean (sea bean) of the trip.

At 3:00 pm, we all met under the pavilion to go over charts for the next leg of the trip, the Berry Islands and the Exumas.

Dinner on board.

Friday, December 9, 2016. Very windy today. Wind still NE. Partly cloudy, but looks like rain. Today we visited the Louise MacDonald High School. We have been discussing with the Principal, Wesley Rolle, how we might assist with their needs for supplies and equipment. On our first visit to Bimini two years ago, we met two of the students on the beach. They invited us to see their school and the nature walk of medicinal plants they were developing. Last year we attended their career day event while we were here. There is a whole list of items needed which we will address separately. We brought with us supplies for the Cosmetology Class. Last year, Lisa arranged for a group from the marina to visit the class, have facials and their nails done. This classroom now has new hair dryers and seating for customers. Our visit today with Mr. Rolle and others will hopefully in some additional funds and supplies and equipment for the school.

Cosmotology Class at Louise MacDonald High School

Afterwards, we walked the beach. Several of the cruisers are at the pavilion after dinner with musical instruments, nice. One of the boats that just came in is trying to develop enough of a u-tube following to pay for her cruising. Interesting to listen to what she plans to do.

Saturday, December 10, 2016. Lots of wind and rain. In between the rain showers, we walked to the beach. It is amazing how much it changes in just a day. Yesterday, there were “cliffs” in the beach where the sea had eroded the sand away. Today, the sand is all back forming a nice sloped beach down to the water. We did not find many shells nor did we find any sea beans today. Even though we are on the leeward side of the island, the surf is substantial, as the waves are wrapping around the island.

Bimini Beach

Lisa made lobster chowder for the pot luck dinner tonight, but the wind has picked up and it is pouring, so the event is postponed. Instead, we have Don and Peg (Endeavor) over to help dispose of the chowder and played a few rounds of Mexican Train. Very nice evening.

Sunday, December 11, 2016. Still stormy today. Today spent working on the blog. We made a trip to the beach and found more shells. The shelling here is some of the best in the Bahamas. We had some of the lobster for dinner. We bought fuel and water. We used the jerry cans and put 22 gallons of fuel in Rhiannon's tank.
Lisa walked down to the liquor store and found the guy who does propane and got our one empty tank filled. Yea!

Monday, December 12, 2016. The weather has improved, the wind is down to NE10-15. Several boats leave this morning, but we elect to wait another day. We took dirty clothes to the laundry. They do “wash and fold” here primarily because they get better usage of the machines if they do the laundry. They charge a $4 service charge over an above the cost of the coin machines – a bit more if they supply the soap. Well worth it for us. Lisa and I and Chasseur (Richard and June) went to the beach. June found a nice helmet conch shell. We went to CJ’s on the beach for lunch – conch fritters – good!

Showers, a visit to the liquor store (which was crowded because the cruise ship is in). Lisa and Richard and June and Greg (Cantabile) went to visit the Dolphin House. Lisa met Ashley Saunders (builder, curator, etc.) on our first visit here. It is amazing how much more building he has done in the past three years! More info: https://www.facebook.com/Dolphin-House-Bimini-132740360135441/

I picked up our clothes at the laundry, then went to the bank to see if my ATM card is working (which it is – after 3 calls to the bank!). Lisa and I had drinks by the pool with Promise (Dale and Christine), then went to the Big Game Club (next door) for dinner. I had a steak (the first in a long time) and Lisa had Cracked Conch. Excellent!

Bull Sharks visit the marina looking for scraps

Tuesday, December 13, 2016. We are off the dock at 6:45am. Clear, wind SE@5-10. Tide almost high, so there are no issues getting out of the slip. 7:10am, we are out the channel and headed north to North Rock. Cantabile, So Far, So Good, Promise and Chasseur are headed toward North Rock also.

8:10am We turn east at North Rock. Chasseur continues on north headed toward Great Harbor in the Berry Islands. Seas 1-2’. Wind S @ 5-10. Clear 75 degrees. Main up. We are motorsailing at 6+ knots against the tide.

9:00am Clear, seas calm, wind SE@5. On course 108T to Mackie Shoal. 27 nautical miles to go, then 24 more to the anchorage west of Chubb Cay. The water is turquoise and 20 feet deep as we cross the Grand Banks – the water is beautiful and clear all the way to the bottom.

10:00am Porpoises sleeping on the surface. Quite a few of them, more than we have seen in the Bahamas. The only time we have seen this many was when we crossed over from Eleuthera to Warderick Wells on our first Bahamas trip two years ago.

11:00am Wind South @5. Seas calm, beautiful.

12:40pm Seas calm, Making 7+knots with the current (motoring). No wind, partly cloudy. So Far, So Good caught what they think is a Yellow Jack.

2:00pm Passing Mackie Shoal Light. Promise about an hour behind us. Cantible and So Far, So Good still close by. Still motoring at 7+ knots.

5:30pm Anchor down west of Chubb Cay. Beautiful.

Dinner on board. Also here are So Far, So Good, Promise, Cantible, and 4 other boats.

We put 11 gallons of fuel in from the jerry cans. 70.4 NM today. 25°31.01’N 078°10.36’W

Sunset on The Banks

Wednesday, December 14, 2016. 7:00am, anchor up. 72 degrees, mostly clear, wind east @ 5-10. The full moon is setting in the west as the sun is rising in the east. No way to capture this in a photograph.

8:10am Northwest Channel Marker/Light.

9:10am Puffy clouds, wind South @ 5.

11:00am Saw purposes “sleeping” on the surface, lots of them. They follow us for a while as we disturbe their slumbers. We haven’t seen this many purposes in the Bahamas since we crossed from Eleuthera to Warderick Wells (Exumas) in 2013.

11:50am Passed Dessert First. Took some nice pictures of them and the boat. We are now experiencing big rollers coming from the northeast, but the seas are flat otherwise.

12:10am Passed Promise – also headed to West Bay.

3:00pm Anchor down in West Bay, New Providence. No issues coming in to the bay. Saw no less than 8 feet at the shallowest point.

We dive on the anchor to check that it set, but this is all sand so no problem. Lots of shells on the bottom, sea biscuits, conch. Lisa went out in the kayak to visit other boats. Water temp 80 degrees. Also here are L’Attitude, So Far, So Good, Promise, Cantible, Dessert First, Wild Cat and Nautica (who we met in Vero), Endeavor (who we met in Bimini) and about 10 other boats.

50 NM today. 25°01.32’N 077°32.96’W

Thursday, December 15, 2016. Swimming. Lisa went snorkeling with Dessert First on the south shore around the corner towards Coral Bay. There are many dive sites. They saw statues that have been placed at one site, caves and lots of fish. When she got back we diagnosed the issue with the forward head not pumping out and found the macerator pump had stopped pumping. It made noise like it was pumping, but actually did not pump. We have two spares on board (for just such an occasion) and changed out the pump. Messy job – where is Mike Rowe when you need him.

Dessert First was kind enough to share some Mahi they had caught, which made a real nice dinner.

The Northeast wind has picked up considerable and waves are starting to wrap around the point to the north of the bay, so we raised the anchor and tuck in close to the north shore of the bay. Much calmer here. 25°01.64’N 077°32.92’W

Friday, December 16, 2016. 9:00am, sunny, wind East @ 15-20 and building. It was somewhat rolly overnight, but not uncomfortable. West Bay is not as comfortable an anchorage as we thought it would be in a Northeast wind. Of the 15 boats that were here yesterday, 5 have already left and more are leaving. Paillard and Waxy (who we met in Bimini) come by in their dingy to visit. They are headed to shore and then getting a cab to Nassau to get an oil pump for Paillard.

Anchor up at 9:45am. Once we are out of the bay headed east, the wind is 20+ in our face.

11:20am, we turn north at the flashing light and head into Coral Bay, now the Defense Force Base. This was at one time a marina and they started to build a high rise condo and they whole project went bust. The government took over the area and now use it as their Defense Force Base. Other building have been completed, but the skeleton of the high rise remains marking the entrance to the harbor. Althouigh not on the chart, the channel into Coral Bay is clearly marked with lighted red and green buoy’s. We are headed to Nick and Caroline Wardle’s dock on one of the canals. These too built by a developer, but many of the lots still vacant. Wardle’s Dock is an SCCA cruising station and this is where we will leave the boat while we fly home for the holidays.

12 Noon We are rafted to another sailboat at Wardle’s. There are 5 other boats here and we are rafted 3 deep from the dock. 6 Percent is here. She is a 65 foot Bluewater. We met her owners at Big Major 2 years ago on our first trip to the Bahamas. 6 Percent was here for Hurricane Mathew and the winds came in from the south here during that storm. A sailboat in front of her broke loose and did some damage to 6 Percent. Air Born is also here (Dennis and Patti). We had not met them previously, but they know Steve and Deb on Outbound, who we have traveled with on and off the past two years.

Nick and Carolyn's dog is Yeager (female). She is what is know as a "potcake" in the Bahamas. They are local mongrel dogs that (in the past) where fed the residue left in the pot from cooking dinner - a "potcake" for the dog.

Nick, Carolyn and Yeager

9.8 NM today. 24°58.94’N 077°27.70’W

For more images of Key Biscayne to Coral Bay click here

Saturday, December 17, 2016. We checked the airline to confirm our flights on Tuesday. It rained quite a bit overnight and it still squally today. At 5:00pm, we had cocktails with Nick.

Sunday, December 18, 2016. We rode into Nassau with Caroline, who was picking up clients to go birding. She does guided tours for people interested in the local birds, as well as kayaking tours. We walked around Nassau sight seeing, had breakfast at Jimmy’s Take Away, where the locals eat (lots of breakfast and lunch choices), then to John Watlings Distellery rum and other spirits). It is on the highest point of land in Nassau and has quite the view. A scene from the 2007 version of James Bond’s Casino Royal was filmed here and the exterior of the original distillery was used as the Nambutu Embasay. Then on to the Straw Market and the Marketplace for some Christmas shopping. Lunch at the Via Café (by the cruise ships) where we shared a table with Hilde and Christian, who are from Oslo, Norway and were off one of the cruise ships. They are headed to New Orleans next so we said we would email them Benny’s “Things To See and Do in New Orleans” (his hometown). Afterwards, we met Caroline for the ride back to her house and our boat. Very nice day. Lovely city once you get away from the crush of the people off the cruise ships.

Art Museum in Nassau

For more images of Nassau click here

Monday, December 19, 2016. Today was spent getting the boat cleaned and ready for the holidays. We packed and got ourselves ready for the flight tomorrow. We made our cheese ball, and cocktails on the porch with Caroline and Nick. Jeff, his wife and their daughter (a violinist prodigy) on Boundless joined us as well. Lisa shared her vegetable lasagna with everyone. Nice evening.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016 – Sunday, December 25, 2016. We caught the 2:40pm United flight to Chicago, then connected to another United flight to Salt Lake City. We will visit with our youngest son, Jeff and his girlfriend Carly as well as our oldest son Jacob and his wife Betsy until Christmas. The visit was very nice. We had dinner out one evening and got to visit with our dogs (Costis and Precious), now Jeff and Carly’s dogs. The weather was gray and snowy most of the time, but company was great.

Snowy Salt Lake City

Snowy NH

Jeff's Birthday in Salt Lake City

Sunday, December 25, 2016 – Tuesday, January 10, 2016. The trip to New Hampshire was a disaster from the word go. At 9:00am on December 25, United sent us a text saying our 3pm flight out of Salt Lake City would be delayed 3 hours. How do they know that 6 hours before departure time? We called United and they were kind enough to rebook us on a Delta flight leaving at 2:00pm. We would have to connect in Atlanta, but would arrive in Manchester, NH at about the same time as the original Untied Flight – Great! Everything went well until it was time for the flight to actually depart the gate. It was snowing and it was Christmas Day, and apparently not a lot of Delta folks decided to come to work. They could not find any ground crew to close the cargo doors! We sat on the plane at the gate for two hours while the pilot tried to get someone to come close the doors. By the time we took off, it was clear that we would miss the connection in Atlanta. So, we wound up at a hotel at the Atlanta airport overnight (compliments of Delta) and on a 6:00am flight to Detroit with connection to a flight to Manchester. This is one of the busiest days for the airlines and these were the only seats available to Manchester from Atlanta. We arrived at noon on the 26^th. Ugh!

When we got home, we found out that the company we had contracted with to rent one of our rentals had indeed found a tenant – good news. The bad news is that they sent us a whole list of items that needed to be fixed, repaired, etc. before the tenants moved in. The worse news was that they were supposed to do all this work, and instead closed for the New Years holiday! So, Lisa and I, our son James and his fiancée Laura spent three days cleaning, repairing and painting an apartment. It all got done, and the tenant moved in, but no what we planned for the holidays!

We were able to have cocktails and appetizers with Kathy and Ken Durward and Karen Durward at Elacoya one evening. Nice. We also had dinner at Judy Nelson’s, which was also very nice. We had “Christmas” with Laura and James on New Years and spent a couple of days in Massachusetts with Lisa’s Parents. We got to shovel snow twice while home – enough of that. We also got to watch a lot of football.

Our flight back to Nassau was at 6:00am on January 10, which means we were up at 3:00am, on the road by 4:00am to get to Manchester in time for the flight and the process of checking in, getting verified as people, and getting thoroughly searched. Strangely enough, the “pre-check” line was longer and slower than the regular line. We arrived in Nassau at 1:25pm, were met by Nick Wardle and were back on the boat by 3:00pm. We collapsed.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 – Friday, January 13, 2017. We spent these days getting the boat ready to head south from here. The wind has been howling, so everyone is pretty much staying put. Rain squalls too. We spent one day at the beach, and another cleaning the boat. We went to Compass Point with Dennis, Craig and Nancy on Wednesday. Beautiful spot on the northwest corner of the island. The “hotel” has multi-colored cabins and a great beach and restaurant. It took the rest of the day to store everything! Dennis’ wife Patti flew in on Friday, so we got to meet her. We borrowed Dennis (Air Borne) rental car and we went shopping for provisions with Craig and Nancy (Sognare). We bought 4 jerry cans of fuel (18gallons) from the local gas station and put the fuel in the tank.

This has been a nice stay and a safe place to leave the boat while we were away. You may have heard "Ranger” broadcasting the New Providence weather at 7:15 in the mornings. That’s Nick Wardle. If in the area, you can call him on VHF 72.

Saturday, January 14, 2017. Wind has abated somewhat. Sognare leaves. Spent some time working on the blog, but not enough. Lisa and I walked to the beach. Found some shells, but nothing like the last time we were here. The tide was very low. We put many small starfish back in the water and covered others with seaweed. Too much sun and they die. Kenny (6 Percent) came to dinner. He is here working on his boat, trying to get the generator running. He will take the boat back to Fort Lauderdale in a couple of weeks to have the damage from Hurricane Mathew repaired. We actually met Kenny and his wife Pam at Big Major 2 years ago.

Sunday, January 15, 2017. We departed Wardle’s’ Dock at 8:15am. Kenny (6 Percent) helped us out of the raft we were attached to. 72 degrees, partly cloudy, wind East @ 5 at the dock. Once outside Coral Bay, the wind is blowing East 10-15.

9:00am Wind SE 13-16 – right on our nose. Motor sailing at 6.5 knots.

10:00am Wind East at 15 – motor sailing at 7+ knots. Rain in the distance – seas 3 feet plus a 1 foot chop off the forward port quarter. Bumpy.

12 noon. Wind East at 15+. Chop has turned to white caps. Haven’t seen another boat out yet today. We began the day headed toward Galleon Point, but are now headed 15 degrees farther south toward Norman’s Stake. We are trying to keep some wind in the sail to make the ride more comfortable and not head directly into the waves. Lisa wanted to turn back when we were an hour out and we probably should have. The ride has become very rough and a “salty” ride.

1:40pm We tack off towards the north. The wind and the current keep pushing us south and if that continues, we will have an issue with a large shoal.

2:25pm We tack back to the south to 130 degree course. Wind now East at 18-20, waves 4-5 with a 2 foot chop. We are making an easy 7 knots.

4:40pm Sails down, wind ENE at 20-25.

5:30pm Anchor down at SW Norman’s Cay anchorage. Nice sunset. About 12 boats here hiding from the wind – although you can hear it howling through the rigging. Anchorage a bit choppy, but relatively flat.

57NM today including one long tack to the north. 24°36.17’N 076°49.29’W

Monday, January 16, 2017. Martin Luther King Day. Sunny, 75 degrees, wind East 20-25. We had a nice breakfast, then at 10:20am (high tide), raised the anchor and staying close to the protection of the shore, moved north 5 miles to Long Cay. We anchored very close to shore. Sognore is here. The water in the anchorage is flat, but the wind continues to howl. We can see waves breaking on the east side of the island, some spraying 30 feet in the air! We talked to Phil and Joanne on Majestic Phoenix. We met them in Bimini two years ago. They are anchored in the Pond at Norman’s Cay. Well protected, but they will have to wait until the seas calm way down to get out of there as the only entrance is east onto the sound – the wind is howling from the east! There are boats anchored in the lee of every island.

5NM today. 24°39.96’N 076°48.76’W

Lisa made chicken stew/soup with quinoa for dinner.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017. Sunny, 75 degrees at 8:00am. Wind still howling out of the East at 15-20. It is supposed to calm down by tomorrow. We talked to Majestic Phoenix again. They are looking for a vet to take a look at Cricket (their Yorkshire Terrier). She has an issue with one her eyes. Craig on Sognare is a vet! We gave each of them the others contact information. They will hook up tomorrow, if Majestic Phoenix can get out of the pond.

Lisa and I went to a small beach on the west side of Long Cay. From there you could walk over and see how angry the Sound is (East side of the island). We walked the beach and found hundreds of small conch on the beach. We threw them back in the water for over and hour. Many of the shells were empty and we kept some of the best ones. They are, in fact, perfect specimens of a conch shell, in miniature.

On the way back to the boat we snorkeled next to the small islands where we are anchored. Some of the underwater coral formation had lots of beautiful fish – all colors. Nice calm snorkeling out of the wind.

Showers, dinner (pork chops), glorious sunset.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017. Cloudy this morning. The wind continued all night, but at daybreak, it began to lessen. We decide to stay here another day. Rain showers off and on all morning, but not enough rain to get all the salt off the boat. It is covered from the crossing on Sunday.

We worked on cleaning the bottom of the boat. It hasn’t been done since Vero Beach, and while “stuff” grows very slowly here, the bottom was due. Lisa got most all of her side done, but I did not – ran out of steam. Maybe we will work on it tomorrow.

Majestic Phoenix came in and dropped anchor. It was great to see them again. They also took Cricket to see Craig (Vet on Sognare). We haven’t heard the results of that yet.