Black Point to Marsh Harbor 2016

Black Point to Marsh Harbor 2016

Tuesday, April 12, 2016.  8am. Heavy clouds, looks like rain, 80 degrees, wind ENE 10-15.  We are still trying to find out why our outgoing email is not working.  We called BTC and talked to yet another person about the problem.  She was understanding and called technical support, who said that it was not a BTC issue if we can get online and if we receive email.  We called Metrocast again and finally reached someone who at least provided an explanation.  We send out a lot of email when we update the blog to let people know it has been updated.  When the Metrocast system sees those emails, it thinks they could be spam, and when those emails originate from an offshore IP address, the system labels that address as a spammer and will not allow any further emails to be sent.  So the solution is, when over here, I must get onto the wifi email for Metrocast in order to send out those bulk emails.  Not what I wanted to hear, but at least I know the answer.

10am.  We hear from Down Time, Saber Tooth and Greenstone.  They are in Cambridge Cay and will be there until Thursday.  We lift the anchor and head north.  As we turn into the south entrance of Cambridge Cay, the engine begins to bog down.  Time to change the fuel filters.  The primary filter is only 2 microns and the good news is it picks almost everything including water out of the fuel.  The bad news is it gets stopped up sooner than a filter with larger “holes” would.  2pm Jaz is already here and helps us onto the mooring.  Nice to have help in case the engine quits all together, but it does not. 8 boats here (including 2 mega yachts) and more come in before nightfall.  21.5 miles today.  24°18.17’N  076°32.40W

Lisa went to the beach with Jaz, Down Time (Roger and Connie), Saber Tooth and Greenstone and folks from the 2 mega yachts.  I am nursing this toe I messed up yesterday and stay aboard.  The cellular booster seems to be working as we have a good signal.  Jim and Judy Foster inquired about visiting us again this year.  We discussed some possible dates and will see if it works out.

Dinner on board and then cocktail hour at 6:30 aboard Jaz (Chris and Margaret) with Greenstone (Bob and Judy), Saber Tooth (John and Nora), Down Time (Roger and Connie) and Lisa and I.  Nice evening and early to bed.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016.  Sunny, 75 degrees, wind East 10-12, a few puffy clouds, a beautiful morning.  The wind is supposed to die off completely, but so far has not.  Lisa goes with Jaz in their dingy over to see the new Down Time.  It is a 1978 Irwin 52 that Connie and Roger bought over the summer.  Roger buys older boats and fixes them up and resells them.  This is another project, but he says they will keep this one.  Green Stone, Saber Tooth and Down Time have delayed their departure for Eleuthera until tomorrow, so we will get to spend a bit of time with them today.  I spent the bulk of the day changing the primary filter (Racor) and the filters on both the engine and the generator.  It has been about 150 hours since the last change and they are obviously due. 

Majestic Phoenix comes in about 3pm.  Nice to see Joanne and Phil again. Our cell phone booster seems to be working as we get “No Service” without it and 3 or 4 bars of service with it.  Nice.  Jaz comes over to make some phone calls using it.

Jim and Judy Foster called and they will not be able to come for a visit while we are in the Bahamas.  We will miss seeing them.  Maybe we will stop on the way to New Hampshire from Brunswick for a visit.

6:30pm cocktails and sunset on the beach, then back to the boat.  Down Time, Green Stone and Saber Tooth are heading to Eleuthera tomorrow morning early.  We hope to cross paths again in Spanish Wells in a couple of weeks. The solar lights on the stern are attracting small fish, which attracts larger fish and seagulls, which attracts sharks – all right off our stern! The smashed big toe is doing much better thanks to Nurse Lisa (she actually is a BSN,RN).  Hopefully it will be ok for a snorkel tomorrow.

Thursday, April 18, 2016.  7:30am wind E at 15.  Sunny, 70 degrees.  Greenstone, Saber Tooth and Down Time leave for Eleuthera. 9am, Lisa Chris and Phil snorkel around the small islands (One known as Bonsai Island as it has one small tree).  11:30am drop the mooring and head to the next cay to the south.  12:00pm, anchor down at Fowl Cay next to Rocky Dundas.  Wind SE at 5-10.  Some surge here from the ocean here.  It would not be a good spot for overnight, but ok for the exploration of the cave at Rocky Dundas.  Very neat coral outside of the caves.  There are stalactites and stalagmites in these caves, which shows that the caves were here before there was water here.  30,000 years ago all of the Bahama Bank was above water.  Both caves are very neat.  The southern one has a shelf, so at low tide you can actually around in it.  Both caves have holes in the roof allowing a lot of light inside.

There is a crashed twin-engine Aero-Commander on the beach of Fowl Cay, where there is also an airstrip.  As the story goes, the plane was on the way to Staniel Cay and had to declare an emergency as the cockpit filled with smoke. The pilot tried to land at Fowl Cay, but the runway was too short and the plane went off the end and into the ocean. It was drug back onto the beach, and there it sits. Fowl Cay, 2NM 24°16.48’N 076°32.24’W

1:30pm anchor up and headed 2 miles east to Compass Cay.  2:30pm anchor down at Compass Cay.  We took the dingy over to the ocean side of the island to Rachael’s Bubbles.  This is a pond that at high tide, the waves from the ocean breach the rocks and splash into the pool.  The pool about 100 feet in diameter and is connected by a creek to the other side of the island, so the water flows and is not stagnant.  Compass Cay, 2NM 24°16.34’N  076°31.50’W

3:30pm anchor up and we head north to Warderick Wells with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix.  5:50pm on mooring #13 at Warderick Wells.  Sunny, wind NE at 5.  80 degrees.  We saw another Adagio as we entered the mooring field.  We traveled with and Adagio for a time last year.  Dinner on board.  14NM  24° 23.70’N  076°37.95’W

Friday, April 16, 2016.  Lisa and Margaret (Jaz) go for a walk on the beach.  At 11am, we go for a snorkel at the Coral Garden by the ranger station.  We worked on the wiring for the cell phone booster and the wifi booster.  Jaz and Majestic Phoenix come for dinner.  Benny made Chicken Lillian.

Saturday, April 17, 2016.  High winds are predicted as another frontal passage is predicted.  Wind is ESE at 15-20+, sunny, 80 degrees.  Exuma Park is looking for some items like rope, glue, etc.  We go through the sores and come up with a dingy load of stuff we really don’t need to continue to carry around.  We finished the wiring project.  There is a sundowner-meet-and- greet sponsored by the park on the beach.

Sunday, April 18, 2016. Heavy rain overnight.  Cool, cloudy this morning, 50 degrees, wind NE 20+. We moved a bit north in the mooring field where the water is smooth.  We walked to the Blow Holes on the other side of the island. 

This afternoon four charter catamarans came in to the mooring area.  There is about a 2 knot current moving from north to south and they came in with that current.  A lack of experience on the part of the “captains”,  the current, and the narrow mooring field almost lead to disaster.  The four were very close to each other.  When the first cat turned toward it’s mooring, it was pinned against another boat.  The second cat in the line tried to avoid the first and almost went aground.  The third one almost rear-ended the second one.  We managed to warn off cat #4 and told them to go outside the mooring area and wait until the first three settled.  The park ranger was trying to give them directions from the park boat, but all the people aboard all four boats were Italian, who spoke little or no English.  We helped get two of the boats hooked up to their assigned moorings and finally all four were safely “hooked-up”.  Exciting afternoon, luckily only minimal damage and no one hurt.

Dinner on Majestic Phoenix.

Monday, April 19, 2016.  8:30am went to the Park Office with Jaz to check out.  Sun and clouds, wind NE at 15+, 75 degrees.  A huge cat (maybe 70 feet) comes in, but did not have a reservation and all the moorings were full.  He tried to go out of the mooring field through the south end, but he’s too wide and it is low tide.  Maybe if he consulted a chart????  The ranger tried to call on the radio, but he’s not answering.  He finally gives up and leaves.

10am off the mooring, wind still NE @ 15+.  Foresail out, making 5 knots. Nice sail north until we get to Hawksbill Cay and turn into the northeast wind to get to the anchorage. 

1:30pm on a park mooring at Hawksbill Cay. Sunny, 75 degrees, wind still NE at 15+.

Hiked across the island with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix to beach on the eastern side of the island, about 2 miles following a mangrove creek most of the way.  The trail is well marked with cairns (tapered piles of rocks).  Lisa and Chris (Jaz) hiked to the top of the hill on the south end of the island.  There is a very large cairn there used as a navigational aid.

Dinner on board – clean out the fridge of leftovers night.

Wind and heavy rain overnight as the front comes through.

 15 NM today. 24°28.03’N  076°46.15’N

Tuesday, April 20, 2016. Sunny, wind E at 15+, 75 degrees.  Jaz and Majestic Phoenix meet on Rhiannon to discuss plans for the next week’s travel.  Saturday looks like a good day for wind and weather to head toward Spanish Wells (Current Cut) (due north on the eastern end of Eleuthera).

11am Everyone goes for a sail on Jaz.  It’s a great sailing boat – 9 knots of speed in 15 knots of wind.  It’s a bit small for our taste for cruising, but great fun to sail.

12:30pm dropped the mooring, sailing north to Shroud Cay (also part of Exuma Park). Sunny, wind East at 15+, 75 degrees.

2:30pm anchor down at Shroud Cay.  Dream Catcher here.  We met them crossing Albemarle Sound in Virginia two years ago and had dinner with them at Coinjock.  They are headed to Nassau then home to the Chesapeake.

We went with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix exploring in the dinghies.  We traveled across the island in the southernmost mangrove river which is wide, but not very deep.  When we got to the east side of the island, we found that the crew of one of the anchored mega yachts had set up a beach party on the beach – lounge chairs, food, umbrellas, jet skis, paddle boards, and even drones to play with.  Sort of ruins the mood of paradise.

Dinner on Rhiannon with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix.  Lisa made eggplant ptarmigan and pasta.  Nice.

5NM today.  24°31.88’N  076°47.82’W

Wednesday, April 21, 2016.  Wind ENE 20-25.  Cloudy this morning, but clearing off later in the day.  Lazy day today.  Worked on the blog and started a batch of red beans and rice.  The 4 catamarans loaded with Italians come in, but here there is plenty of room and we are far away.  Jaz made a vegetarian dinner and we ate aboard Majestic Phoenix.

Thursday, April 22, 2016.  Sun and clouds, 78 degrees, wind East at 20+, saw gusts to 28 last night.  The wind is forecast to ease by tomorrow.  Cool overnight, we had to put the quilt back on the bed.  Worked on Jaz’s outboard’s fuel leak.  Looks to be the fuel pump.  We walked the beach and followed a trail along one of the creeks.  We had dinner on Rhiannon with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix – Jim Bade’s Red Beans and Rice.  Jim was Lisa and I’s Best Man and passed on 5 years ago.  We still miss him.

Jim Bade’s Red Beans & Rice

Ham bone

1 ½ pounds of ham

4 stalks of celery

3 - 4 cloves of garlic (more if you really like garlic)

2 large onions (Vidalia, red or other "sweet onion) - 3 cups

2 sprigs of fresh parsley

3 cups of pinto beans

pinch of baking soda

salt and pepper

4-5 tablespoons of ham or bacon fat

3 - 4 bay leaves

rice

1 cup chopped green onions

Place 3 cups (about 1 and 1/21bs) of pinto beans (dry beans) in 10-12 cups of water. Add a

pinch of baking soda (reduces acidity). Salt to taste - generally it is not necessary to add

salt if using ham - be careful not to over salt! Let stand at least 12 hours. You can also

use canned beans (GOYO pinto beans) - about 3 - 4 cans.

Place 4 - 5 tablespoons of ham or bacon fat in frying pan. Cut up ham into 2 inch cubes

and render (brown) in the fat. Also cut as much ham off the bone as possible. Place

rendered ham, ham bone, and beans in a large pot.

Dice 4 stalks of celery (including tops).

Chop garlic cloves.

Dice onions.

Chop parsley.

Sauté vegies in grease from rendering the ham until soft. Put vegies in with the beans. Add bay

leaves. Cover with water.

Cook over very low heat for 3 to 8 hours - stirring (especially the bottom of the pot!)

every 20 minutes. Add water as required to keep mix liquid.

Cook rice according to package directions.

When done, if gravy isn't thick enough, crush some of the beans on the side of the pot and mix in.

Add salt and pepper to taste (usually doesn't need any).

Serve over rice with French bread. Sprinkle chopped green onions over the serving.  Serve with Trappeys Hot Pepper Sauce (hot peppers in vinegar) or other hot sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

Friday, April 22, 2016. Anchor up at 8am. Partly cloudy, wind SE 10-12, 75 degrees.  Wind was very strong overnight, but eased about 4am, currently SE at 15-20, so the sail will be all downwind.  10:30am anchor down at Highborne Cay.  Wind still SE at 15-20.  Jaz and Majestic Phoenix already here.  11:30am, we dingy in to the marina for fuel and water (in jerry cans).  We visit the store for some groceries.  The marina, store and restaurant are very nice, but expensive.  Dockage is $2.75 a foot plus water and electric.  At 3pm, a seaplane lands in the anchorage with passengers for one of the mega yachts anchored here.  Dinner on board.  15 miles today,  24°43.01’N  076°49.84’N

Saturday, April 23, 2016. Anchor up at 8:30am.  Partly cloudy, 75 degrees.  Wind has gone South at 10.  The wind came up again at 10pm last night and another night of rocking and rolling in the anchorage, but it looks like the wind has finally let up. Both Shroud and Highnorne allow the waves and surge to “wrap around” the south end of the island, which means the waves come at you from the south and the wind is coming from the east.  The boat sits facing the into the wind (or the current) when on a mooring or at anchor, so we sat facing east with waves coming at us from the side (south), which makes for a very uncomfortable night with the boat rolling from side to side.

10:45am We are motor sailing with only 8 knots of wind from the south (right on our stern as we continue north).  We pass Beacon Cay and head north across the Banks (avoiding the many coral heads). We are out of the Exumas and headed to Current Cut on the east end of Eleuthera.  It is similar to going through the Annisquam River or Woods Hole – narrow cuts with a lot of current as the tide moves through – so, you try to time it so that you pass through at slack tide.  Ideal time today is about 5:30pm.

1:30pm Passing Finley’s Cay, which is a huge sand bar (called a sand boar in the Bahamas) south and west of Eleuthera. Sunny and a few cumulus clouds forming in the west.  Thunderstorms are predicted.  Wind South at 10, 80 degrees, sailing making 5 knots.  Heard Saber Tooth on the VHF, but couldn’t raise them.  Jaz caught a 3 foot barracuda, but released it. They also saw a porpoise, which are few in the Bahamas because there are few fish that they feed on.

2:30pm Heard Down Time on the VHF, they are going through current cut.  We are about 18 miles away.

2:50pm Wind down to less than 7 knots and we are only making 2 knots headway.  Sails in, motor on.  Hot today, 85 degrees.

5:30pm Current Cut more or less on schedule.

6:00pm Anchor down east of Current Cut (north side) with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix.  48NM today.  25°24.70’N  076°47.46’W

Saber Tooth, Greenstone and Down Time are anchored behind Meek’s Patch, an island just south of Spanish Wells).  We hope to see them tomorrow.  They have been cruising Eleuthera since we last saw them in Cambridge Cay.  Dinner on board.  Thunderstorms dissipated, but we did get some rain overnight.  Interestingly enough, the wind was from the south when we entered Current Cut and from the west on this side.

Sunday, April 24, 2016.  8:30am. Wind North@10, Sunny, puffy clouds.  It was rocky in the anchorage for a while last night, but the wind died off completely overnight.  Anchor up, heading north to Spanish Wells.

10:30am On the dock at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven.  They have almost completed the rebuilding of this facility, new docks, electrical, water, condos, restaurant, laundry, admin building, showers, nice!  Sunny, 80 degrees, wind NW at 10.  Jaz, Majestic Phoenix, Aurora (met in Warderick Wells) here along with several other boats. Aurora is leaving with a couple of other boats for Royal Island (10 miles east) and then Nassau and back to the US.  Leroy (Dockmaster) and his brother Treadwell are here to greet us and remember us from last year.  We met Dennis and Bart (Lighten Up – a 65 foot sportfish) and he gave everyone some Mahi, Nice!

12 NM today.  25°32.47’N  076°45.36’W

We walked with Jaz and Majestic Phoenix up to Budda’s for dinner.  Since last year they have added a floor (used to be gravel) and another covered seating area (also with a floor). It is 2 for 1 happy hour and some of the patrons a very happy! Click on this link for more info on Budda’s https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g5785959-d6725864-r241899648-Budda_Snack_Shack-Spanish_Wells_Eleuthera_Out_Islands_Bahamas.html

Greenstone, Saber Tooth and Down Time come in to the mooring filed at the east end of the island.

Monday, April 25, 2016. Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind NE 10-15. We rented a golf cart and go with Majestic Phoenix to Pinder’s Gas Station to get propane tanks refilled. They cannot refill them and we find out later that someone complained about safety concerns around the process Pinder’s uses to refill the tanks.  So, they have suspended operations.  That’s an issue, because most of the stoves on the Spanish Wells and neighboring Russell Island are propane.  We then went to Spanish Wells Marine to get fuel in the jerry cans and then to the grocery.  It’s a good thing we rented a 6 passenger cart, because we had us, Majestic Phoenix and Jaz and all our groceries to carry back to the boat.  We also visited Kathy’s bakery (acrtoss from the grocery) for Bahamian Bread and carrot cake.  Afterwards, we sat by the new pool for a bit and then Lisa, Majestic Phoenix and Jaz all went exploring in the cart.  I stayed behind and replaced a faulty 110 volt outlet in the cockpit.  Jaz had dinner on Majestic Phoenix and we went to The Shipyard to meet Greenstone, Down Time and Saber Tooth.  We also met John’s daughter Elise, who is visiting (Saber Tooth).Very nice evening.  We stopped at Pappa Scoops on the way back to the boat for ice cream.  Tonight’s flavors are Vanilla and Red Cream Sherbert.

Click here for more info on Papa Scoops https://www.facebook.com/Papas-Scoops-228516510493302/

Tuesday April 26, 2016.  Sunny 70 degrees, cool NE wind 15+.  Chores today (laundry, boat bath, interior cleaning).  Took the cart on a tour of Russell Island and went to lunch at The Sand Bar where Lisa and I met Jaz (Chris and Margaret), Majestic Phoenix (Phil and Joanne), Down Time (Roger and Connie along with Connie’s sister Carla, and parents Roy and Billie), Saber Tooth (Nora and John and John’s daughter Elise), and Greenstone (Bob and Judy). Quite a loud group.

After lunch we did some shopping on the island and stopped at Delroy Sweeting’s Ponderosa Shell Shop.  We met Delroy last year and since then he has gotten in to photography.  He is doing a Spanish Wells calendar, photos to frame and notecards, beautiful stuff, as is everything in his shop.  Well worth the stop if you are in Spanish Wells.  Click here for more info on Ponderosa Shell Shop   https://www.facebook.com/SpanishWellsPonderosaShellShop/

Dinner and a movie (Captain Ron) on board Majestic Phoenix.  Ice cream at Papa Scoops, which is only open in the evenings.  Tonight’s flavors are White Chocolate and Cherry. Ummmm!

Wednesday, April 27, 2016.  Sunny, cool, 70 degrees.  Wind NE at 10.  Majestic Phoenix headed to Nassau this morning, then back to the US.  Saber Tooth and Greenstone headed the same direction.  Elise (John’s daughter, Saber Tooth) is flying home from Nassau.  Down Time is staying in Spanish Wells for a few more days to visit with Connie’s parents.  Jaz and us are off the dock @ 8:30am headed for the Abacos.  Once we clear the headland , there are big ocean rollers and a chop on top of that.  Wind NE at 10 and we are motor sailing.

2pm Wind has gone into the east and the chop has subsided.  The rollers are probably 10 feet but widely spaced so the sail is more comfortable.  We are sailing at 6+ knots. 

4pm Little Harbor in the Abacos.  Can’t raise Pete’s Pub on the radio to see if there is any room inside the harbor and it is low tide anyway, so we can’t get in (only 4 feet at the harbor entrance at low tide. The anchorage outside the harbor is very rolly from the ocean waves and surge, so we head a couple of miles north to Laynard Cay.  As we approach the anchorage, 3 sailing charters come in.  They are milling about, weaving in and out of the anchored boats, trying to find a perfect spot.  There is 5 miles of beach here, so not sure why they are trying to anchor close to others.  They manage to cut us off twice, so we circle out and wait until they get settled. 

5pm, anchor down and we are in the Abacos. Many boats are here, but little wind and no waves, nice and flat. Jaz already here.  We met Pushkar, a nice young couple out cruising for the first time.  Providence and Carrie Mae are here.  We met them last trip.  56NM today.  26°21.43’N  076°59.14’W.  Dinner on board.

Thursday, April 28, 2016.  Sunny, wind SE at 10.  75 degrees. Perfect. We took the dingy over to Jaz and then took Jaz over to Little Harbor.  Lisa has been wanting to visit here because the sculptor Randolph Johnston, who worked primarily in bronze.  He set up his foundry and studio in the out-of-the-way spot.  His son Pete and grandson Greg are carrying on the art.  Click here for more information  http://www.petespub.com/

We walked across the island to the beach and found some sea beans.  Jaz found 2 hamburger beans and one purse bean and we sound a couple of golf ball beans and a hamburer bean.  The pub is a neat spot, but we opt to head back to the boat.  We lifted the anchor at 2pm and travel 10 miles north to the north end of Tiloo Island.  4pm anchor down.  10NM today.  26°28.23’N  076°59.54’W.  Dinner on board with Jaz.

Friday, April 29, 2016. Sunny, wind esat at 5-10. 75 degrees.  Another beautiful morning.  11am, anchor up and heading a few miles north to Hopetown.  Our VHF is acting up again.  For some reason it does not like channel 68, which is the primary channel used in the Abacos.  We have a new radio ordered, so when we come back to the boat after Jeff’s graduation, we will install it.

1pm, on one of Truman’s moorings in Hopetown.  Jaz is already here.  His outboard has completely given up.  Hopefully, he can get a new fuel pump for it.  We had lunch at Capt. Jack’s, went to the grocery.  Lisa and I went for a long walk on the beach – all the way around the north end of the island.  Didn’t realize it was 2 miles!  We found four more golf ball beans, but in tough shape, one hamburger bean, one Sea Pearl and one Beach Pea (aka Bay Bean).  We managed to hitch a ride with one of the locals (Mary) in her golf cart on the way back.

We found Pink Sands (aka Sands Grapefruit Radler) Beer at the local liquor store.  Bought a case.  We bought a buch of stone crab claws from a local fisherman and split them with Jaz for dinner.  Yum!

10NM today.  26°32.28’N  076°57.62’W

Saturday, April 30, 2016.  Cloudy, murky morning.  Wind south at 15.  Humid, 80 degrees.  Breakfast at Capt. Jack’s.  Reasonably good food and excellent wifi.  Walked the beach, paid bills, worked on the blog.  Walked the beach, then checked out some of the shops.  Tried to have dinner at the Abaco Inn, but they are closed because they are hosting a wedding.  Tried the Hopetown Inn and Marina, but they too are closed because of a private function (fishing tournament).  We wound up back at Capt. Jack’s.  Turns out this is the farewell dinner with Jaz.  They are leaving in the morning headed to Green Turtle and then back towards the US.  Showers overnight.

Sunday, May 1, 2016.  May Day. Jaz is still here.  Decided to wait until the tide is high this afternoon to try the harbor entrance.  Many of the harbors in the Abacos have very shallow entrances and this is one of them.  We have breakfast with Jaz at Harbor View.  Last time we ate here, the food was just ok and the prices very high.  At least for breakfast, the prices are reasonable and the food was very good.  Jaz shared sous chicken (a kind of chicken stew) and we had sausage and grits (yellow grits).  Both dishes were excellent.  Jaz went off to church and we walked the town, had an ice cream and met them after the church service.  We said our farewells again, and then watched them sail away.  Such is the nature of cruising.  Hopefully, we will cross paths with them again.

Dinner on board.  Mahi from Dennis (Lighten Up) in Spanish Wells.

Monday, May 2, 2016. Another murky morning, but clears later. Wind SW @ 15-20. Heard from Down Time.  They are headed to Treasure Cay. There is supposed to be a weather front coming through on Wednesday and they are headed to a safe harbor.  Boat chores today.  Changed the oil and filter on the engine and the generator, changed the primary fuel filter (RACOR), checked and cleaned the sea strainers for the sea water on both units, put 12 gallons of fuel in the tank from jerry cans.  The propane has run out, so we swapped that tank for a full one (we carry two). Engine hours 2035.  Generator hours 1013.  Propane changed.

Dinner on board.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Dropped the mooring at 9:30am.  Beautiful day, partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind SE at 15-20.  We are headed to Marsh Harbour, only eight miles and downwind all the way.  Very skinny water as we leave the harbor as it is just past mid-tide and falling.  11:30am Passed Jaz headed in the opposite direction.  They are headed to Treasure Cay, a very protected anchorage and marina, to wait out this next storm, due tonight.  12:00 noon, we are tied up in slip 28 at Harbor View Marina.  We will leave the boat here while we fly home for a couple of week’s for Jeff’s graduation from Emmanuel College in Boston.  The marina next door (Mangoes Marina) has quite a few boats in it (presumably for the coming storm), as does this one.  However, Mangoes is shallow and at low tide a couple of the sail boats are leaning over at what must be an uncomfortable angle.

Lisa and I walked to the hardware store and then across the street to the marine supply store looking for filters for the drinking water (hardware store had them) and the holding tank vent filters (no one has them).  We had dinner at Snappa’s at the foot of our dock and then walked to Jamie’s for ice cream.

Click here for a map of Marsh Harbour  https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1PJyLU3uR9Q97weOaJComvdlfDSU&hl=en

8NM today  26°32.81’N  077°03.21’W

Wednesday, May 4, 2016.  Today was spent doing laundry, cleaning the boat (inside and out) and stowing items out of the way, making room for Jeff and Carly when they arrive.  I walked down to the marine store to get chemicals for the head.  We had dinner on board.

Thursday, May 5, 2016.  Today is a travel day.  A taxi picked us up to go to the airport.  The flight (Silver Airways) to Fort Lauderdale was late, but we had plenty of time to change planes.  Fort Lauderdale International has grown a lot (now four terminals).  It took forever to get through US Customs and Immigration, mainly because there were very few officers working.  Then we had to catch the shuttle bus from Terminal 4 (International) to Terminal 1 (Southwest).  The shuttle let us off at the garage instead of the terminal, so we still had quite a walk.  Once we got to Terminal 1, we had to go through security again, which was very crowded.  Nothing about flying is fun anymore.  Both Southwest flights were on time, but as always the flights were absolutely full.  Our flight arrived in Manchester, NH, at 11:50.  Our son James picked us up and we were home in bed at 2am – long day.

We will be traveling back to Marsh Harbour on May 22.

Click on this link to see pictures of Black Point to Marsh Harbor 2016

Click on this link for more pictures of Current Cut to Marsh Harbor

Click on this link to see some great underwater shots by Phil on Majestic Phoenix.

Black Point to Georgetown to Black Point

Black Point to Georgetown to Black Point

Wednesday, March 30, 2016.  Partly Cloudy, 80 degrees at 8am. Wind NE @ 20. We walked to the beach on the Sound side of the island with Jaz and Stella Maris, looking for sea beans and shells.  Sea Beans are actually beans that fell from a pod in South or Central America, found their way to a river and out to sea, where the currents carry them along to far away places.  They have a very hard shell and are light so you tend to fid them in the flotsam at the top of the tide mark.  The most collectable are hamburger, purse and heart beans. All of these are dark brown. Hamburger and purse beans are about an inch in diameter, with a dark stripe in the middle so they look a bit like a hamburger.  The purse beans look the same, but are fatter.  The heart beans are generally shaped like a heart and about 1-2 inches across.  It is good luck to find one and if one is kept on the boat, it is supposed to keep the boat from sinking.  Janet (Stella Maris) found a heart bean right away (her first sea bean), but no one else found any on this beach. 

We all had lunch at DeShamons.  Before our sandwiches arrived, we had to hurry back to the boats to close them up as they sky got very dark and you could see lightening and hear thunder.  We made it back to the restaurant just in time for the food to arrive, but it never did rain.  In the afternoon, we visited “The Garden of Eden” and were given a tour by Willie.  He finds pieces and decides what they look like, then displays them in on his property.  It takes some imagination (and maybe some rum) to be able to see what Willie sees in his “statuary”.  He also does “pot hole farming”.  The land is basically rock, and wherever there is a pot hole to collect water, he has something planted.  Quite an amazing garden.

Jaz came by after an early dinner for a game of Mexican Train.

Thursday, March 31, 2016. Wind still howling.  From the east today 20+.  Sunny, 85 degrees.  Lisa spent the better part of the day cleaning and cooking.  I went into town to use the wifi at the laundry to make some plane reservations.  We plan to fly home from Marsh Harbor (in the Abacos) for Jeff’s graduation, then fly back with Jeff and (girlfriend) Carly afterwards.  We will spend a couple of weeks in the Abacos, then bring the boat back to Brunswick, GA, where she will spend the summer.  The internet at the laundromat was not working, so I walked down to Larraine’s café.  Lorraine has remodeled the inside of the café (very nicely done) and added a big deck outside.  Lots of people here doing the same thing, so it is slow going. 

When I went back to the laundry to get the dingy, Miss Ida was in a panic because one of the pipes on her reverse osmosis water system had burst.  It was spraying water everywhere and she did not know how to shut it off.  I helped her close valves and turn off pumps and we finally got it stopped.  Both of us were soaking wet.  Her husband is going to come by this evening and replace the broken plumbing.

We met lots of people at Scorpios for happy hour and then had dinner at Lorraine’s.

Friday, April 1, 2016.  We spent the morning updating our float plan with US Customs and Border Patrol so we can get back into the US with Jeff and Carly aboard. Not an easy web site to navigate.

Anchor up at 11:40am.  Sunny, 80 degrees, wind SE at 10-15.  Stella Maris left at 10am headed to Lee Stocking Island.  They are trying to meet up with some German friends who are leaving Georgetown headed north. Arrive at Little Farmer’s Cay at 3pm and pick up a mooring on the east side of the harbor.  Very protected here, but the moorings are sketchy.  Jaz here also.  Visited Ocean Cabin (restaurant) to pay for Jaz’s mooring and met Terry (one of the owners).  He spent 9 years working in Liberia (oil field work) and came home to by this restaurant with wife Earnestine (who prepares the food).  We walked up the road to JR’s.  He’s a wood carver and has some beautiful pieces, but they are pricey.  He is actually the nephew of Willie (Garden of Eden on Black Point) and also does “pot hole farming”.  He, too, has an extensive garden with all manner of fruit trees.  The “dillys”  (sapodilla) are ripening now and are very sweet, like a sweet fig.  Click here for more information on the sapodilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manilkara_zapota 

The tamarind trees are everywhere and also their fruit is ripening. Click here for more information on tamarind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarind

We had dinner at the Ocean Cabin (conch chowder and grilled grouper).  The food was the best we have had on the trip so far. 

Click here for more information on Ocean Cabin http://www.oceancbn.com/default.cfm

When we got back to the boats, Jaz was aground on the sandbar just west of the moorings.  The deepest part of Jaz is her rudder and that is what’s stuck.  Luckily no damage and the tide is on the way in.  Chris and Margaret move everything they could forward and the rudder popped out of the sand.  Only 8 NM today.  23°57.86’N  076°19.09’W

Saturday, April 2, 2016. 8am. Sunny 80 degrees. Showers occasionally.  Chris and I check the depth on the other moorings and then moved Jaz to another mooring in deeper water.  We heard from Greenstone and Saber Tooth.  They are anchored on the west side of Little Farmers!  We pick up Jaz in our dingy and head around the northern tip of Little Farmers to Ty’s Grill on the western shore where we met Bob and Judy (Greenstone), their guests Dave and Janet, and John and Nora (Saber Tooth).  Lisa presented Judy with a throw she had crocheted for her as a remembrance of best friend who has recently passed on. Very nice lunch and great to see old friends.

3pm, off the moorings and Jaz and us head south to Rudder Cut Cay.  It is a very circuitous route dodging the coral and sand bars.  Both Musha Cay and Rudder Cut Cay are private and owned by the magician David Copperfield.  He has turned Musha Cay into a resort.  You can stay there for $37,000 per night, including dinner.  I don’t know if that includes a magic show.  It is a beautiful area.  David even commissioned a statue of a mermaid and a grand piano and had them sunk off shore so his guests would have something special to see. Nice.  It’s not like there’s not enough beautiful things to see here!  There are security cameras everywhere, so it’s not very inviting to go ashore on these two islands.  As we pull into the anchorage, Outbound is here (Steve and Deb).  They spent the summer in the slip across from us in Brunswick. Outbound and Jaz came for cocktails and we had a gorgeous sunset – then the mosquitos came out in force.  Most of these island have little fresh water to breed mosquitos, but this one must have a pond.

8.2 NM today.  23°52.26’N  076°14.32’W

Sunday, April 3, 2016. 7:30am, pc, 75 degrees, wind SW@10.  We awoke to the sound of Outbound hauling his anchor.  The wind/current/?  had shifted during the night and we were very close to Outbound.  A short time later, Jaz is also underway.  The wind has gone a bit west and it is very rough in the anchorage.  It is 80 degrees, wind SSW at 10-15.  We stow the dingy motor (it has a mount on the rear rail when not in use), raise the dingy, put 11 gallons of fuel in the diesel tank and at 8:45am we are under way heading south to Georgetown.  At 9:15 we are through Rudder Cut and into Exuma Sound.  There is what’s called a “standing wave” at the cut.  When the wind is blowing one direction and the tide is moving in the opposite direction, rip currents build up and the waves seem to stand still and keep growing larger over time.  The one today was only a couple of feet.  At the “whale” in the Abacos, there have been standing waves reported of over 10 feet – a wall of water!  As we turn south, the fore sail is out and we are making 6 knots.

Noon – we are motor sailing, wind has slackened to 4 knots. We are also charging the batteries, which got quite low last night.  Puffy clouds, 82 degrees, almost flat seas.  At 3:15pm, we have the anchor down at Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island, Georgetown.  It is partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind NW @ 6. Still lots of boats here, maybe 150 or so, but nothing like at the peak of the season when they had almost 400.  There were two big storms here this winter, one of them with straight-line winds of over 90 mph.  Over 100 boats drug their anchors and went aground.  Many way up the beach.  The big mega yacht with the “super slide” off the 4^th deck is here.  We saw him a couple of times last year and once this year in Nassau.

34NM today.  23°30.86’N  075°44.71’W.  This is a far south and east as we will go on this trip.  We are about ½ mile north of the Tropic of Cancer, 133 NM south of Miami, 305 miles east of Miami.  We are due south of Trenton, NJ.

Jaz came to dinner.  Lisa made cheese raviolis with homemade sauce and salad.  Yummy.  After dark, the fish a jumping where the solar lights in the cockpit cast light on the water.  The night is crystal clear, no ambient light and there are a million stars domed overhead.  The sky is like this in Vermont, where we used to go to ski in the winter.  There is a glow on the horizon to the south.  Aliens have landed???

The wind is supposed to pipe up to 25 out of the north, then northeast tonight. A lot of boats are moving here because it is protected from those directions.  One of the boats is Last Boat (Nelson and Ondra).  We met them in Marathon 3 years ago. You might remember that Nelson and Lisa rescued a pelican tangled in fishing line and with a lure stuck into its beak and chest.  They did a great job removing all that and then the pelican rescue folks came and got the bird.  He recovered and was released. Nice story. Last Boat is traveling with 4 other boats from New Bern, NC. 

Monday, April 4, 2016.  We went over and visited with Nelson and Ondra (Last Boat). It is sunny and 82 degrees and the wind is East at 15-20.  We went to town (a one mile dingy ride across the harbor (but with the wind).  The dingy dock is inside a lake called Lake Victoria and you must negotiate a narrow bridge with a current running to get there.  There is a gas station there for fuel, a liquor store, restaurants, a grocery and most everything you would need.  Tranee’s Hair Salon has fresh fish.  There are stands selling local fruit and vegies. Submit (with granddaughter), Windsome, and Aftermath at the dingy dock.  We also met Capt. Sugar, a local fisherman, who told us the fish we are seeing under the lights at night are Jacks, that are chasing “fry” (little fish) that are attracted to the light.  He said you could probably catch the jacks with a net with a net.

We had lunch at the Red Boone Café.  The burgers were excellent, the internet works, and the ambiance “rustic”.

There are two major breweries  in the Bahamas, Sands and Kalik (pronounced Kă – lick).  Each of them has come out with a “Radler”, which is similar to a “Shandy”, in that they have fruit juice mixed in with the beer.  Kalik’s has lemon juice, Sands has grapefruit juice.  The sands is “Pink Sands”, like “pink sands on the beach”, and is yummy.  Click here for more information on Sands Brewery www.bahamianbrewery.com

Lisa and Margaret (Jaz) walk the beach in the afternoon.  Dinner on board Jaz with Outbound.  Coconut curry fish, BBQ chicken, Caprese Salad (Fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil (sometimes onion), with olive oil, balsamic reduction, salt, pepper (sometimes on toast points).  We had actually found fresh mozzarella at the Exuma Market (grocery), but it (and all the other cheeses) were unlabeled.

We battened down everything for the big wind that is predicted for tonight.  More boats arrive to hide next to this beach.  Wind is supposed to come NE and E.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016.  Beautiful morning in paradise.  Wind N @10, cool and dry.  70 degrees, sunny.  Wind now predicted to build during the course of the day.  At noon, we met Last Boat, Jaz, Outbound and two other boats on the beach for a walk.  Saw a cave where someone had left mementos and built a fire pit (for those cold winter nights?).  We followed a trail across the island to a beach the sound side and looked for sea beans and shells. We then followed another trail along the ridge line east to another beach. No sea beans, but a beautiful walk.  The wind has built to 20 from the NE.

Dinner on board Outbound, with Jaz.  Deb made baked pasta, very nice.  We brought a salad made from fresh spinach, red bell pepper, onion, cucumber, tomato (nice to have fresh vegies from the grocery when the mail/supply boat comes in).  We added purslane to the salad, which grows wild on the beach and is a bit sour and salty. 

Click here for more info on ‘Sea Purslane”

http://www.eattheweeds.com/sesuvium-portulacastrum-maritime-munch-2/

Wind howling 20-25 NE.  Flat where we are.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016.  Sunny, 70 degrees, wind E @ 20+.  Outbound and Jaz come to Rhiannon to discuss travel thoughts.  Outbound is here until April 28, when Deb flies home and crew flies in.  They would like to go to Long Island, Rum Cay, and Conception Island before Deb leaves – if the wind changes direction.  Also, the Family Regatta is here the last week in April and they want to be here for that.  We can’t stay that long as we have to catch a flight out of Marsh Harbor (north of here in the Abacos) on May 5 and we would like to catch up with Down Time, who is currently with Greenstone and Saber Tooth currently in Cambridge Cay (also north of here).  Nothing is really decided, but at least everyone’s priorities are known.  The Family Regatta is a huge event.  The boats have to be built of wood, canvas sails, and owned and captained by Bahamians.  Sometimes you can get a place as crew if you know the right people. Maybe next year we will plan to be here for that.  There is also a Cruising Regatta in late February that the cruising boats can be a part of.  Click here for information on the Family Regatta

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/04/28/photos-national-family-island-regatta-2015/

            We are still smelling an odor from the forward head.  When we check the air vent and the                               charcoal filter, we find it is full of water.  We dismantle the forward berth to check the holding tank beneath and find the tank expanded significantly.  The Y-valve which controls whether you pump he tank out overboard through the macerator or whether it gets pumped out through the deck (to a pump out facility or pump-out boat) is not functioning correctly, which means we were not actually emptying the tank when we thought we were (which may be why the macerator pump had to be replaced).  We got the Y-valve in the position so we can pump out through the macerator.  It will have to be replace d when we can find a new one.  Cleaned everything again…………….

            At 5, we dingied with Jaz over to the St. Francis Yacht Club for dinner and the weekly jam session. The place was packed, but we managed to find a table.  I guess you need to get there a couple of hours early to get a prime table.  The entertainment was good, some excellent.  There was even a “rake and scrape” band playing saws, washboards and the like.  Lisa had a Caesar salad with grilled shrimp, Margaret had the largest BLT we have ever seen and Chris and I had conch chowder and wings.  The wings were just OK and the conch chowder tasted and looked like Campbell’s Minestrone with some conch cut up in it.  The conch chowder we had at Ocean Cabin on Little Farmers was far superior and Ernestine even told us how to make it. 

            We saw some folks we met in Bimini (Abby Singer, Windsome, Southern Cross) as well as Manana (who we met in Brunswick).

           

            Afterward, we stopped at the famous Chat & Chill Grill.  It is on the same little harbor on Stocking Island.  This place was a disappointment.  I am sure some of the issue is the two storms that came through here a couple of months ago.  They had 90 mph straight line winds and over 100 boats went aground.  They were closing at sundown today because everyone went to St. Francis.  The building looks like it is on its last legs and was incredibly dirty – even for a rustic beach bar.  Their location is great tho’ facing the sunset on the beach.

            The temperature is only 70 degrees and the wind and occasional rain make it chilly.  We got back to the boat just as it started.

            Thursday, April 7, 2016. Sunny, 80 degrees, wind S @ 10.  At 10am, we lifted the anchor and moved across the bay to anchor close to Georgetown (about 1 ½ miles). We took the laundry to The Corner Laundry and dropped it off.  They have a wash and fold service that is very inexpensive. We talked to BTC about the fact that we cannot send email via Benny’s email account.  They referred the issue to technical support and are supposed to call us back.  We also called Metrocast in the US and they checked everything from their end and said it was OK.  We refilled the water cans with jerry cans filled at the dingy dock and refilled the diesel from jerry cans filled at the local Shell station.  There is a marina here, but you never know if they will have gas or diesel and the docks are reputed to be “shaky”. 

At 4:30 we met Windsome (Gary and Janet), Southern Cross (Steve), Jaz (Margaret and Chris), Manana (Tom and Ginny) and Outbound (Steve and Deb) at Peace and Plenty for a BBQ buffet and a Rake and Scrape band.  Peace and Plenty is a nice hotel and restaurant facing the harbor in Georgetown.  The BBQ did not start until 7 and the band (which was not a Rake and Scrape) did not start until 8:30.  We left at nine (aka boater’s midnight).  The wind had died completely and the Elizabeth Harbor was like a pond.  The food was good and the company was great!

1.5 miles today 23°30.32’N  075°45.86’W

Friday, April 8, 2016. Anchor up at 8:00am.  Sunny, 80 degrees, wind SSE @ 5.  Jaz has already left and Outbound is staying.  We probably won’t see them again until Brunswick, GA.  Last Boat left yesterday for Nassau, then home to North Carolina. Our batteries are very low.  The solar panel does a good job of keeping up with demand during the day, but we are running two refrigerators and they deplete the house batteries overnight.  The VHF is even complaining.  The chart plotter also will not boot up, but a call to Raymarine and they told us how to reboot the unit.  Working fine now.  They did suggest that we not turn items on until the engine was running, especially when the power is low, so we do not create a power surge. 

8:45am, out of Georgetown (Elizabeth Harbor) and heading north.  Wind SW@5, seas flat.  We left at the same time as a Catalina 47 (High Priority) which has a dark blue hull.  Very pretty.

Noon – sunny, wind NNW@5.  3:30pm – Farmers Cut, by Little Farmers Cay, and we cross from Exuma Sound (very deep water) to Exuma Banks (shallow water).  We take the southern route around Little Farmers.  It is low tide and in some spots on 6 ½ feet of water (we need at least 5).  This is common in the Bahamas. We talked to Stella Maris.  They are still in Black Point and finally met up with their German friends.  They are leaving tomorrow for Black Point, then on to Bermuda (directly) and then the Chesapeake.

5pm, anchor down at Hetty’s Land about 5 miles south of Black Point (Great Guana Cay).  Jaz is here and we are the only 2 boats except for a couple of kayakers.  49.2 miles today. 

24°01.61’N  075°21.61’W

Saturday, April 9, 2016. Sunny 70 degrees at 8am.  Wind went calm overnight.  We walked across the island to the Sound (east) side with Margaret (Jaz).  Chris went snorkeling.  We trekked about a mile through a mangrove pond, and up and over some large rock formations to reach a spot on the other side where flotsam collects.  We’re not sure why, but certain formations of the shore tend to collect large quantities of stuff.  We hope to find some sea beans here, we did last year.  Sure enough, Margaret found two heart shaped ones and I found another.  Legend has it that if you have one of these on board, your boat will not sink.  We saw Stella Maris sail by on their way to Georgetown and were able to raise them on the handheld VHF to say “sayonara”.

Jaz left at noon for Black Point, trying to sail, but the wind out of the north on the nose making it challenging.  The wind is supposed to pick up to 20+ out of the NE tonight and Black point will be an ok anchorage in the wind.

We had lunch and a swim.  We talked to High Priority as he passed by on his way to Black Point. At 2pm, we raised the anchor and headed the 8 miles to Black Point.  Sunny, 80 degrees, wind North at 5.  3:30pm, anchor down at Black Point not too far east of the Government dock.  Chris and I made a run into town to deposit trash, get bread at Lorraine’s mom’s and ice from DeShammon’s restaurant.  We had a couple of those Pink Sands while waiting for the ice machine to fill the bags.

Dinner on board Jaz.  Margaret made vegetarian chili with  sweet potatoes. We made another of the salads like we did on Tuesday, using the last of the purslane.  Plenty more on the beach.  Glorious sunset tonight – more spectacular than usual.

8 miles today. 24°06.01’N 076°24.14’W

The wind came up overnight.  Waves sneaking around the point make the anchorage rocky and rolly.  Wind constant 15-20 from the northeast.  Not very comfortable for sleeping.

For some reason, our VHF is acting up again.  We can transmit 20 miles, but have trouble receiving.

Sunday, April 10, 2016. Wind howling NE20-25+, sunny, 75 degrees.  Lisa’s back has been bothering her for a while, so today is a good day to lay low.  She is making flowers (ala Ember Stokes).  Margaret and Chris (Jaz) come to visit and Margaret makes some flowers also.  I am trying to figure out the VHF issue and work on this blog.  Dinner on board this evening.

Monday, April 11, 2016. 8am, wind still howling.  Gusts hit 30+ overnight.  Chris and I made another trash run, ice, milk, eggs and Miss Ida’s (Rockside Laundry) carrot cake.  Chris wanted a block of ice, so Miss Ida gave us a ride to her house in her golf cart to get the ice from the shed out back. Very nice house.

Anchor up at noon, wind ENE @15-25.  I managed to slam the anchor hatch on my big toe.  Ouch!  That’s why you are supposed to wear shoes on deck!  We head around to the south side of Black Point, close to the beach by the pink house and the Castle (or the house that looks like one).  The VHF seems to be working fine today. Go figure!  1 pm anchor down.

We talked to Saber Tooth today.  They have met up with Down Time (we traveled with them in the Abacos last year) and they are headed to Eleuthera with Greenstone.  They are currently at Cambridge Cay.  We hope to get there tomorrow and see all of them before they leave.  We also talked to Majestic Phoenix.  They are headed to Black Point to do laundry and then may meet us at Cambridge.  Lisle is also on their way to Black Point.  We may also meet them back at Cambridge.

The toe finally stopped bleeding and we kept ice on it all afternoon.  Chris and Margaret went exploring and found a secluded beach.  Margaret found her first hamburger bean.

We talked to Uniden and they could not figure out the issue with the ship’s vhf radio.  They do not repair the radio we have, but it would be nice to find a spare, because when it is working correctly, it has a strong signal and reception.  It also has wireless remote microphone, which we like a lot. Maybe ebay.  Uniden asked if we were running anything that might cause interference.  We did have the inverter on, but can’t remember if it was at the same time we were having the reception issue. We know that when talking to Greenstone at one point, he had his inverter on and we could not hear him. Have to experiment with that.

2.5 miles today  24°04.83’N  076°23.26’W

            By dusk, there were 13 boats anchored here out of the wind and the waves.  This is supposed to die down overnight.  Triumph, who was here, moved over to the north side Black Point, so boats are moving from one side to the other to find the best spot to get out of the wind.

Click here to see pictures of Black Point to Georgetown and Return

Bimini to Black Point, Exumas

Bimini to Black Point, Exumas

Monday, March 14, 2016. The time changed last night, so at 7am it is just getting light.  Off the dock with JR (dockmaster here) and Larry (Afterwards) helping.  Southern Cross and Windsome follow us out.  It is dead low tide and we touched bottom in the channel on the way out.  Jaz, First Borne, Bolero, Balemos and Hoodless left last night and spent the night at Honemoon Harbor.  They left from Gun Cay (south of Bimini) about an hour ahead of us. It is sunny and 70 degrees, wind S@10.

9:00am, we turn east at Triangle Rocks and hear Jaz and Bolero on the vhf.  Wind now SSE @ 10-15, sunny 75 degrees.  All sails up and we keep the motor on to keep our speed above 6 knots.  Just east of the Cat Key waypoint, we are in 4.5 feet of water and we need at least 5.  Hopefully the grass on the bottom is long.  We are finally through the skinny water at 10:40am and hear Jaz talking about stopping for the night at Russell Shoal to hunt for lobster.  The waves are still 2-3 feet, so anchoring there turned out to be not such a good idea.  At 4:00pm, sunny 80 degrees, wind SW@9.   6:00pm, anchor down north of Northwest Shoal “on the banks”.  The wind has died to about 5 knots and the seas are relatively flat.  Other boats here are Jaz and Bolero, Hoodless, Windsome, Southern Cross and First Borne. Luna Sea and Cygnet are also here, but not the ones we know.  They are headed west to the US after a winter of not great weather in Georgetown.  As we anchor, we see a pod of dolphins, which we take as a good omen.  74NM today, a near record for one day. 25°30.75’N  078°10.34’W

Tuesday, March 15, 2016.  The Ides of March. anchor Lisa – “Got up at 2am to check on the anchor.  The stars were incredible.  I woke Benny .  It reminded us of laying on the hill at Burke Mountain (VT).  The sky just domes over you.  There is no ambient light to block any of them out, and you think with all those stars there must be more beings out there”.

Anchor up at 7:20am. Sun just peeking over the horizon.  Wind West at 5-10.  Managed to get past the shallows of Northwest Shoal and back into the Northeast Channel at 8:10am.  We were down to 6 feet of water at one point.  Balemos is headed north to The Berry Islands Bolero is headed to Nassau.  Heard on the vhf Reggie on Submit.  They made it into Chubb Cay last night with Gusto, Stella Maris and Waterworld. 9:00am, sunny, a nice 80 degrees, wind SSW@5-10 – motor sailing. We see large fish jumping, flying fish, and lots of sea birds.  Jaz has the spinnaker out.

Noon – sunny, 80 degrees, wind west at 3, ocean flat, puffy clouds in the distance. Motoring across The Tongue of the Ocean.  Last night we anchored in 12 feet of water with no land in sight.  Today, the water is 8,000 feet deep.  The US Navy tests submarine communications here (and who knows what else).

After we left on this trip, we were told by our insurance company that they would no longer insure boats that ever go to Florida and/or boats over 20 years old.  So, because our boat turned 20 in December and we go to Florida, we had to find new insurance, which has been an interesting exercise since we are in the Bahamas.  However, our agent has been wonderful and called today to say we are all set. 

3pm anchor down in West Bay, New Providence, 10 miles west of Nassau.  Very nice bay.  It is high tide and we anchor in 12 feet of crystal clear water. Wind N@5-10.  49NM today. 

25°01.30’N  077°32.97’W  Two big cell towers in sight – nice!

Stella Maris, Southern Cross, Windsome, Jaz, First Borne, Hoodless, Bolero (thought they were going to Nassau), as well a 6 other boats here tonight.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016.  7am.  Beautiful sunrise.  Put two jerry cans of fuel in the tank.  Anchor up at 8am.  Jaz goes into Albany Marina to get ice and fuel. First Borne with us as we leave the south entrance to the bay. 80 degrees, no wind. 10am – still no wind and none is predicted.  Today’s issue is the holding tank in the forward head will not discharge.  There are no pump-out facilities in the Bahamas, so you must discharge your own tank, preferably when you are at least three miles off shore.  Not as problem today as we are 20 miles from the nearest land, but the pump doesn’t seem to want to do its job.  After dismantling the system and cleaning everything, it seems to be working.  Clearly the nastiest job on the boat – where is Mike Rowe when you need him?  While all this was happening, we were just drifting, so we have lost about two hours of travel time and are heading for Highborne Cay instead of Shroud Cay (about 10 miles farther south).

We got a message from Saber Tooth today saying they were in at Staniel Cay (farther south still) picking up guests.  Hopefully, we will catch up to them soon.  We also heard from Down Time.  They are still in Florida, hoping to head over in a week or so.  We hear Submit (Reggie and on the vhf asking for dockage at one of the marinas in Nassau.

4pm. Officially in the Exumas, Highborne Cay in sight.  5:30pm anchor down in 8 feet of water. There is good cell service here, so we will communicate with family.  Lots of boats.  Stella Maris, Jaz, First Borne plus 10 others plus 2 mega yachts. 

45.5NM today.  24°42.92’N  076°49.87’W

Thursday, March 17, 2016.  Today we swam, went to a couple of beautiful beaches, looked for shells and sea beans – a typical hi-stress, hi-activity day, which is why we do this.  Dinner aboard Jaz – a bar-b-que – bring-your-own-main-dish( to bar-b-que)-as-well-as-a-side-dish-to-share pot luck dinner – also known in the islands as a “pitch in”. A very nice end to a very nice first day in the Exumas.

Friday, March 18, 2016. 8am anchor up, sunny 75 degrees, no wind.  Heading 6 miles north to Allens and Leaf Cays.  There is channel between them to anchor.  Leaf has a population of unique iguanas.  9:30am anchor down at Allens/Leaf.  Jaz and Stella Maris follow us in and First Borne on their way also.  Snorkeling on the reef just south of Leaf Cay.  Beautiful, lots of colorful fish – and Chris (Jaz) gets his lobster – a monster!  Dinner!  Afterward, we went to the beach to see the iguanas, but we had to wait for the 100 or so tourists from Nassau to leave.  They bring them in boat loads – your basic excursion from your basic cruise ship – in high speed boats.  When they pull in, the guide says “you have 15 minutes to see the iguanas, take pictures, have a dip in the water, then back on board as we are heading to the next destination”.

2pm, anchor up, headed to Shroud Cay.  Sunny, 80 degrees, wind SW 5-10.  5pm anchor down at Shroud Cay.  80 degrees, no clouds, no wind – a perfect evening.  Dinner tonight on Rhiannon. We add the lobster we had in the freezer from Bimini to the curry dish Margaret (Jaz) is making.  We also prepare fresh steamed broccoli and Janet (Stella Maris) also brings a side dish to dinner.  First Borne has elected to stay at Allens for the night.  Nice end to another nice day.

Allens/Leaf  6NM  24°44.83’N  076°50.28’W

Shroud Cay 15NM  24°31.93’N  076°47.88’W

Saturday, March 19, 2016.  The days starts cloudy, but by 9am the sun is out.  The wind is south at 10. Lisa goes to the beach while I work on this blog.  By noon, the wind has picked up to 15.  Allen (Stella Maris), Chris(Jaz) and I meet on Rhiannon to discuss a storm on the horizon for Monday.  We call on the vhf to Exumas Park to see if we can get on a list for a mooring.  We decide to head south towards Warderick Wells (where the park office is located and where we think we want to weather out this front) tomorrow morning and listen at 9am for the day’s mooring assignments.  We have a couple of “plan B” choices, but want to wait until tomorrow to make that decision (if need be).

By 2pm, the wind has piped up to 20+ and it is really rough in this anchorage.  We consider heading to Warderick Wells today, but the weather folks say this is not the front, it will settle down tonight.  The afternoon dingy adventure through the mangrove rivers here is cancelled.  By 8pm, the wind is down to 10, but the waves have not settled and there is no protection in this anchorage from anything but an east wind. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

By 10pm, the wind is still blowing at 10-12 and has gone south and a bit southwest.  The anchorage is very uncomfortable with 3 foot waves crashing into the shore and then bouncing back, so you have waves from 2 different directions affecting the anchored boats.

Sunday, March 20, 2016.  Anchor up at 8:20am.  Cloudy, 75 degrees, wind still south at 15.  Very uncomfortable night (it’s all not glorious in paradise), although we told a couple of folks on the radio today “there’s no whining in paradise”.   The weather is supposed to deteriorate over the course of the day.  We talked to Triumph, and they suggest between Big Major and Little Major and Cambridge Cay as places to hide from a west wind.  They are in Norman’s Pond, but the entrance faces east (Exuma Sound) and that may be difficult to get out of when the wind goes east.  Norman’s Cay and between Allen’s and Leaf Cays may be alternatives as well.  Our first choice today is Warderick Wells, secure in all wind directions and strong mooring balls.  Margaret on Jaz prayed for some divine intervention for this alternative, and sure enough, we are able to secure moorings for all four boats.

11am wind still south-southwest @10-15, sun peeking through.  The big low pressure area to the north is sucking all the air out of the Bahamas. We hear Saber Tooth and Greenstone on the vhf.  They are at Cambridge Cay.  Nice to talk with them.

Noon – sunny, 80 degrees, wind S-SW 10-15.  On mooring number 8 at Warderick Wells Cay (Exuma Park).  Nice and flat here.  All four boats are secure.  Heard on the radio that Triumph has fresh water pump (on the engine) issue and staying at Norman’s.  By 3pm, the wind has died off and it a still night. 

We are still having issues pumping the forward holding tank.  When we check the macerator pump, we find it is leaking.

18.5NM today.  24°23.83’N  076°37.94’W

Monday, March 21, 2016. Partly Cloudy, 80 degrees, wind south @ 10.  Today we cleaned the cabin and Lisa re-organized the “storage room” aka rear cabin.  We went ashore at 11am and registered in the park office.  They charge for the mooring here and you have to be on one as they do not allow you to anchor.  The anchorage south of here (Emerald Rock) allows both.  Lisa and Jaz went for a walk up Boo Boo Hill and she was able to find one of our signs from last year.  The tradition is that you make a sign out of driftwood with your boat name and the year and place it in the pile at the top of Boo Boo Hill.  The spirits that haunt the place then do not bother you on your travels (get it? Ghosts say BOO).  I did not make this stuff up! There are also musical rocks here (they are hollow) and you can play them with sticks or stones!

While out and about Lisa met Ralph and Laura on Hye Won.  They are from Bay St. Louis, Miss. And live about 5 miles from my 2 sisters (Patricia and Liz).  They keep their boat in the new marina in Bay St. Louis.  We were there last year and there are pictures of the marina in the blog. You may remember that it is the one with the sound devices that keep the seagulls and pelicans away. Ralph and Laura also have a Catalina 42.  They even have a spare macerator pump (the exact one we need) so we can replace ours that leaks.  What about a small world!

I spent the rest of the day changing out the macerator (another Mike Rowe job).

Later in the day it clouded over and rained.  We had Ralph and Laura over for cocktails another thank-you for the pump.  We will add one of these to the spares on board.

Rained heavily overnight.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Clear and cool, 65 degrees, wind NE 15-25. Today we cleaned the bilge and changed another non-working pump.  This time the forward shower sump pump (the one that pumps water from the shower overboard). Lisa baked a birthday cake for Marina (First Borne) and Jaz, First Borne and Stella Maris came to eat cake and sing Marina Happy Birthday at 7.  Very nice day.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Cloudy, 80 degrees, wind east 15-25.  Weather says this wind won’t die down until the week-end.  Met Gary and Linda (Aurora) on the beach and went for a walk with Jaz. Checked on the weather at the ranger station.  We stopped by Hye Won for a visit. Jaz came over for shrimp and brought stir-fry.  First Borne stopped by a bit later.  Nice evening.

Thursday, March 24, 2016. Partly Cloudy, 80 degrees, lots of wind overnight. The boat is covered with salt spray.  Wind east at 15+.  Lisa worked on the driftwood for Boo Boo Hill, adding this year’s date and refurbishing the paint, which was mostly worn off after just one year.  We hooked up the wifi booster and are have no problem reaching the office from the mooring, Nice!  We also hooked up the cell phone booster and are able to make and receive calls, where before, we got “no service”.  We took the refurbished driftwood back up Boo Boo Hill and placed it with Saber Tooth’s and Greenstone’s. We have been able to hear them on the radio and will hopefully catch up with them soon.

At 4pm, everyone went to the “coral garden” by the ranger station for some snorkeling.  The current really rips through here, so you have to go a slack tide.  Afterward, we walked the sand bars.  Benny and Chris (Jaz) helped Diego (First Borne) get his head sail back up the furling system after Diego had performed some repairs on the sail.  Not easy in this wind!

At sundown, there was cocktails and appetizers on the beach and 9 or 10 boats showed up.  Nice end to the day.

Friday, March 25, 2016. Off the mooring at 9am. Cloudy, 70 degrees, wind SE @ 15.  As we leave Warderick Wells, there is a significant rip tide with 4 foot waves at the entrance, as there is a cut to the ocean (Exuma Sound) here.  We are able to sail until we make the turn south.  By this time, the wind has gone into the south and we are motoring into 3 foot waves all the way to  Staniel Cay.  There are a lot of boats heading north, and they are having a much easier ride, riding along with the wind and the waves.

2pm, we are on the fuel dock at Staniel Cay Yacht Club and fill with fuel (31 gallons) and water (51 gallons).  This is the first we have taken on since Bimini.

3pm, anchor down 1 mile north at Big Major Spot.  Lots of boats here.  Last year, the mega yachts stayed pretty far out in deeper water.  For some reason, there are a few close to the beach among the smaller boats.  Makes an interesting anchoring situation, when one of the big ones swings down on you.

Isles General Store announced that they have lots of fresh produce, as the mail/supply boat came in today.  I take the dingy in and buy some fresh fruit and vegies and some other items we need and drop off the spare propane tank to be filled. We broke out the grill and grilled some chicken for dinner.

21NM today.  24°11.07’N  076°27.56’W

Saturday, March 26, 2016.  Sunny, 70 degrees.  Very humid over night.  Wind SE-10-15. This morning we went in to the beach early to feed the pigs.  They are supposed to be wild, but they know where the food comes from.  They will climb into your dingy if you try to feed them from the boat. One of the local guides told us that the local folks bring out barrels of scraps from the restaurants on Staniel Cay and make sure they are fed.  However, by noon, boat loads of people are showing up (like seeing the iguanas on Leaf Cay).  They are coming from the charter yachts, the resorts, etc.  Someone said that because the weather has not been great all week, a lot of people are coming today.

At 9am I go back into Isles to pick our our propane tank.  The bay is choppy and not a comfortable ride.  At noon, there is a cook-out at the public beach to raise money for the local school.  Chicken, fish, mac and cheese, salad. $10 each.  Great feed.  Everyone had planned to go to Thunderball Grotto for some snorkeling at 4:30 (low slack tide), but the bay was rough and everyone just chilled out.

Sunday, March 28, 2016. Easter.  Sunny and still breezy out of the south.  80 degrees.  It was pretty bumpy on the dingy ride from Big Major Spot, where we are anchored, over to Staniel Cay yesterday.  The ladies have asked that we move the boats closer to Staniel do that they do not get soaked on the way to church today.  So, at 9 am we moved approximately 2 miles to a spot close to Thunderball Groto and directly across from Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  At 10:30am, we went ashore at the Yacht Club and walked west to Mount Olivet Baptist Church.  The minister is Berkie Rolle, who along with his wife, Miss Vivian, own Isles General Store.  The first part of the service, in fact the bulk of the service, was music and singing led by Miss Vivian and a man and woman who also help lead the singing.  Lots of “Halleluiahs” and “Praise the Lord, He is Risen”.  The sermon was short and inspirational.  A very nice Easter service.  Lots of people of all nationalities and races attended.  Hand-shakes among the men and hugs among the women at the conclusion.

After church, a very nice lunch in the new dining room at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club attended by Chris and Margaret (Jaz), Alan and Janet (Stella Maris), Ralph and Laura (Hye Won), Diego and Marina (First Borne) and us.

At 4pm, Stella Maris, Jaz and us went to Thunderball Grotto to snorkel through the cave at low slack tide.  We loved this last year and amazingly, it was not crowded when we went. There are lots of fish and the sun comes in holes at the top of the cave sending patterns of light through the water in the cave.  Lovely.

Afterward, Lisa and went to the Yacht Club in our wet swimwear and sat at the bar and had rum punch (Benny) and pina colada (Lisa) and great conch fritters.  Nice end to the day.  Somewhat bouncy here overnight, but OK for sleeping. 2NM today.  24°11.07’N  076°27.56’W

Monday, March 29, 2016.  Today is also a holiday in the Bahamas.  Seas calm.  Some wind from the SE at 10.  80 degrees.  Talked to Majestic Phoenix today.  They are at Black Point, so it will be good to see them – we are headed there today.  Also, talked to Saber Tooth (John and Nora).  They are in Black Point and headed across the Cat Cay today.  We have been chasing them since they left Vero.  You might remember, we left St. Augustine with them and Greenstone.  John also said he had heard from Roger and Connie (Down Time) and they are still in Florida “working out mechanical issues” with the “new” boat they boat over the summer.  Diego and Marina (First Borne) are headed north toward the US today and we are sad to see them go and wish them calm seas and fair winds!

We had a final lunch with Chris and Margaret (Jaz) at the Yacht Club (very nice).  At 1:15 we lifted the anchor and headed the 8 miles south the Black Point.  Wind on our nose all the way.  Dropped the anchor opposite Rockside Laundromat at 3:45pm.  Rockside is not only a laundromat, Miss Ida Patton does haircuts, there is a small store there, she makes cakes and conch fritters – and has showers!  She will do your laundry for you if you want to just drop it off and pick it up later. You can order Bahama Bread (white, wheat, coconut or cinnamon) from Corene there.  We prefer to go next door and get bread from Loraine’s mom (Peermon).  Loraine owns the restaurant (Lorraine’s) and rental cottages.  Her mom lives behind the restaurant in a nice house by the water.  A dip and dinner aboard. 

8 NM today.  24°05.89’N  076°24.19’W

Tuesday, March 29, 2016.  We took our laundry in this morning before it got really busy.  Jaz, Stella Maris and a bunch of other people from boats in the harbor showed up to – as well as Phil from Majestic Phoenix, we haven't seen him since the Abacos last year! Lisa and Margaret (Jaz) walked down to Adderley’s Grocery to deliver the material Lisa brought Miss Lillian (Adderley).  Lisa bought a woven straw purse from her last year and at the time, Miss Lillian had little material to line the inside, so Lisa brought her several yard, 3 different colors and patterns.  We walked to Lorraine’s Mom’s house and bought a loaf of freshly made (still warm) cinnamon raisin bread.  Yum.  We bought an ice cream at Adderley’s (a rare treat in the Exumas) and had conch fritters at the laundromat (freshly made by Miss Ida.  A very nice day – and clean laundry and linens too!

At 5:30pm, there is a pot luck dinner at the laundromat gazebo, so gotta run and get our dish ready for that.

Click here for lots of pictures of Bimini to Black Point

Bimini 2016

Bimini 2016

Saturday, March 5, 2016. Cloudy this morning.  75 degrees.  In the afternoon, sunny.  Wind constant NE at 15+.  Went to visit Mr. Thomas Sanders, who we met on the beach yesterday.  He house is on Queens Road, which faces the beach and is next door to his brother’s house – Ashley Sanders’ Dolphin House (see last year’s blog (Bimini)).  We walked the beach – lots of shells large and small.  This is one of the best beaches for shells we have ever found.   Each evening at 5:30, the folks staying in the marina get together for cocktails by the pool. It is a nice get together because it only lasts an hour and you still have time for supper.  Some of these “sundowners” get a bit long and then one may drink a bit much with no dinner – not a good combination.

Dinner on board, Benny made chicken curry. Janet and Alan (Stella Maris) came to dinner and brought some delicious Bimini bread (heavy and sweet).  Nice evening.  Wind still howling.

Sunday, March 6, 2016.  Sunny, 70 degrees, wind still NE at 15+.  Walked the beach again.  Protected from the wind on this side.  Janet and Gary and King Tut (the dog) (Windsome), Linda and Bob (Patience) came along.  Sundowner at 5:30.  Nice day.  Wind now East @15+.

The marina is full and everyone is waiting for the weather to proceed on their journeys.

Jaz (the trimaran) – Chris and Margaret (on the dock next to us).

Jana – Greg and Jana

Afterwards – Bill, Larry and Terry and 2 dogs

Submit – Reggie and Barbara

Hemera – Don and Michelle

Journey – Wendy and Bob

Gusto – Ray and Anita

Lost Puppy – Ian and Jennifer

Piece of Cake – Dan, spouse and a golden

Princess Di – Willie, caretaker

Stella Maris – Alan and Janet

Southern Cross – Steve and Kathryn

Kismet – Jim and Laurie

Bailemos – Dan and Jackie

Patience – Bob and Linda

Whisper – Vic and Marilyn

First Borne – Diego and Marina

Windsome – Gary and Janet and dog (king Tut)

Monday, March 7, 2016. Cloudy in the morning.  70 degrees.  Wind east at 20+.  Walked the beach and found a hamburger sea bean.  Although we have been told that people find them here, this is our first.  There is a tall ship anchored just south of the harbor entrance.  We had lunch at CJ’s deli on the beach.  We met a mom and her daughter.  The mom has been coming to Bimini since she was a little girl.  She came with her family – her dad was a sport fisherman. We hear that spring break is coming to Bimini.  Should be interesting.  1500 college students taking over the reswort on the north end of the island. 

Dinner at Stella Maris (Alan and Janet).  Alan made spaghetti and we brought salad.  Nice evening.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Sunny, wind east 20+.  Today is haircut day.  Marilyn (Whisper) and Reggie (Submit) are the “hair dressers”.  Also, today they are doing manicures at the high school. Lisa, Janet (Windsome), Janet (Stella Maris), Kathryn (Southern Cross) have their nails done.

2 new boats came in today, Hoodlless (Larry and Barbara).  They had been anchored south of Bimini and it was very rough.  They broke some of their ground tackle and then ran aground trying to get into the marina – and had to wait for the water to come back.  Now safe and sound in a slip.  Bolero ( a large catamaran) came in also, with three generation on board.

Joe’s Conch Shack for a late lunch with Stella Maris (Alan and Janet) and then the sundowner at 5:30.  The wind is cold, so the evening’s festivities are cut short.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016.  The morning is spent making fender boards for Jaz, the trimaran next to us.  They are on the outside of the dock and continually get pushed against the dock.  The fender board is placed between the boat fender (bumper) and the piling on the dock.  Because Jaz is relatively “flat-sided” like a power boat (as opposed to curved like most sail boats), multiple fenders and a very long fender board is needed.  This will keep the boat away from the dock and the fender board must be long enough to cover at least two pilings.  Vic (Whisper) and Chris (Jaz) find some long boards and everyone contributes fender and helps construct the rig.

More haircuts today. Yoga. After luch a group goes shelling on the “flats” opposite the marina. Wind is consistent and overnight hits 30+.  The tides here are normally range about 2 feet from high to low, but with this constatnt wind and a new moon, they are running about 4 feet.

Thursday, March 10, 2016. Very bouncy overnight. Sunny, 80 degrees and the wind refuses to give up. Still blowing at least 15 from the SE.  Yoga has become a morning ritual for the ladies. Lisa and a group of ladies went to the high school today for pedicures.  I started to clean and service the port side primary winch (the large one for the main sheet).  When I got the drum off and started to disassemble the winch, I ran into an issue.  When the winch was mounted (probably at the factory), it was put on “backwards”.  The result is that you cannot remove the gears as the opening to do that is jammed against the coaming (the hull).  If mounted correctly, the gear opening faces the outside toward the rail, not inside toward the cockpit.  Obviously, this winch has never been serviced by anyone, even tho’ we paid a couple of yards to do so.  To compound the problem, there is no access to the underside of the winch.  Taking the winch off and remounting it with the correct orientation is the solution, but first I have to borrow a saber saw (Bob on Patience had one) and cut a hole in the top of the pantry cabinet to gain access to the winch.  Now this winch has probably been in place for the life of the boat, so removing it, even after taking the bolts out is no easy task.  The bedding compound is like glue.  Once the winch housing is removed and turned 180 degrees, we discover the holes are not symmetrical, so we have to re-drill them.  No problem, except we have every drill bit known to mankind, except a 5/32.  So, off again to find someone on the docks that has one. Finally at n4:30pm, we have the winch correctly mounted. The cleaning and servicing will be tomorrow’s task. So, what should have been about a two hour job, turned in to an all-day affair.

Dinner this evening with Jaz, Windsome, Southern Comfort, Whisper and Sella Maris at the Big Game Club.  Tonight is bar-b-que night.  The food was good and they had 2-for-$5-rum-punch, but the wait for the food was long.

Friday, March 11, 2016. Sunny, 80 degrees, wind east at 15+. Marina (First Borne) instructs yoga this morning. Men can attend, but they have to be in the front row (none do). We finished taking the port primary winch (the big one) apart, cleaned everything, replaced a couple of prawls (the things that go into the gears to stop the winch from turning) and the springs, greased it and put it back together.  We took the drum off the starboard primary (it was completely cleaned and service 2 years ago), cleaned where needed and lightly greased that one.

Diego (First Borne) was working on his also, but got the starboard one together incorrectly and it would not work.  Once the gears where put it right side up, it works great.  He also put way too much grease in it – a common mistake – more is not better, because the grease get full of dirt and salt and turns to a solid.

We filled the boat with fuel and then used the wheel barrow to carry the cans over to the fuel pumps and back to the boat.  Much easier than moving the boat, especially in this wind.  We took the dirty clothes to the laundry (a drop off and pick up service here), went to Charlies’ for a loaf of cinnamon bread, stopped at Roberts’ grocery for some fresh fruit and vegies (the mail (supply) boat came yesterday so the groceries are stocked full today).

Lisa and I had dinner at the Anchorage restaurant overlooking the beach, but it was cloudy and no sunset to see.  Very nice place – part of this marina/resort.  Ernest Hemingway used to stay here back in the day (he stayed a lot of places in the keys and Bahamas).

It is spring break in the states and the new resort on the north end of the island is full of college students.  There is a party next door and we are sure you can hear the “music” in Miami.

Saturday, March 12, 2016. Yoga for the ladies again this morning.  After lunch (at high tide) a flotilla for dingys led by a center cockpit made their way across the harbor to the mangroves and through a mangrove river to a monument in the middle of the mangroves to Martin Luther King.  Apparently, he (like Hemingway) used to come here often to fish.  He became friends with Ansel Sanders (brother of Thomas Sanders, who we met on the beach) and Ashley Sanders, who we met last year (and owns the Dolphin House, see last year’s Bimini blog).  MLK apparently wrote his last speech here and told Ashley on their last fishing trips that he (MLK) was sure this was his last trip as he was going to be killed soon.  Vic and Marilyn (Whisper) made a recording of the “I Have a Dream speech” (not MLK’s last) and played it while everyone was at the monument.  Very moving.

Tomorrow is the opening of a weather window (finally) and many boats will be leaving.  At 3pm, there is a captain’s meeting on Rhiannon to discuss plans to head east. Tonight, there is a pot luck dinner at the cabana, and it may be the last time some of the people here see each other as they go their separate ways (some east to Nassau, Exumas, Eluthera, some west to the US, some north the Berry Islands, Grand Bahama or the Abacos). A very nice event.

The college crowd has another party next door tonight, but the band does not seem as loud.  Maybe we are getting used to it.  You can feel the base vibrating through the water to the boat.  The good news is they stop at 12pm.

Sunday, March 13, 2016.  Several boats leave, but we elect to wait one more day for the seas to settle a bit more from this week of constantly howling east winds.  The wind subsides, but it takes a day of so for the seas to calm down.  We have a beautiful day on the beach with Bob and Linda (Patience) and Vic and Marilyn (Whisper).  They are both leaving on Tuesday, Patience to the US and Whisper to Lucaya on Grand Bahama.

At 3pm, 2 catamarans full of college students arrive from Miami.  They crossed the Gulf Stream in 8 foot waves!  Fun way to start your spring break!  The party tonight is over on the beach on the other side of the island, can just barley feel the vibrations.

Click on this link to see Bimini pictures.

Vero Beach to Bimini

Friday, February 26, 2016.  Clear and cold this morning – 47 degrees.  Lisa has crocheted a baby blanket for Ruthie (Dean and Susan’s daughter due in April).  Susan is leaving to go to the baby showers ( 3 of them) and Lisa takes the blanket over to Autumn Borne before we leave.  We have never met Ruthie, but feel we know here.

10:45am we are finally off the mooring and headed south.  60 degrees, mostly sunny, wind NNW 10-15.  At 1:05pm, we see Yume headed south.  We were on a mooring next to them in Marathon 2 years ago.  They are headed north to help put on a golf tournament to help with providing service dogs for vets returning from Afghanistan.  They had left Marathon 4 days before and said there are 60 boats waiting for a mooring there.

4:10pm anchor down in Peck Lake, just south of the St. Lucie inlet.  6 other boats here.  40 SM, 32 NM today.  MM 992. 1 on-request bridge.  27°06.87’N  080°08.58’W

Benny made dinner on board.  Catfish (from the market in Brunswick), rice and vegies.  The catfist was baked in butter and Italian bread crumbs.  The pan drippings spread over the rice.  MMMMM good.

Saturday, February 27, 2016.  Anchor up at 11:30am.  Sunny and 60 degrees.  Wind N @ 15+.  We considered walking the beach before we left, but it is just too cold and windy.  12:05pm Hobe Sound Bridge.  We have a favorable wind and tide today, just wish it was warmer.  &)& Bridge at 12:50pm.  Jupiter Federal Bridge at 1:10pm and Indian Road Bridge at 1:30pm.  Sunny, wind NNE 8-10, clear, 65 degrees.  Donald Ross Bridge at 2pm, PGA bridge at 2:30pm, and Parker Bridge at 2:45pm.  Anchor down in North Lake Worth at 3:15pm.

Troika and Seeker are at Peck Lake tonight.  Kachina is at No Name Harbor with a broken throttle cable. 

22SM, 17NM today.  14 bridges.  MM 1014.  26°50.26’N  080°31.17’W

Dinner on board. Routy Canadians next door.  Lots of boats here tonight.

Sunday, February 28, 2016.  7:25am anchor up.  Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind N @ 5-10.  Flagler bridge at 9:15am.  They are building a new bridge, but it will not be a high one, so we will still have to deal with timed openings.  During construction, it only opens at 15 minutes past the hour.  We allowed an hour and 45 minutes to go 8 statute miles from the anchorage to the bridge, and are 20 minutes early.

Royal Park Bridge 9;30AM

Southern Blvd Bridge 9:45am Cloudy and the current is with us. 70 degrees.

Lake Ave. Bridge (on request) 10:20am

Lantana Bridge 10:30am

Ocean Ave. Bridge 11:00am

SE 15^th St. Bridge (on request) 11:20am

George Bush Blvd. Bridge (on request) 11:50am

Atlantic Ave. Bridge 12:15pm

Linton Blvd. Bridge 1:00pm

Spanish River Blvd. Bridge 1:30pm

Palmetto Park Bridge 2:00pm

We are on the dock at Lighthouse Point Yacht Club (Pompano Beach) at 3:00pm.  We meet Leslie, Jan and Bailey (a golden retriever) on the dock.  We are probably the smallest boat here.  The Club rents members slips to transients while the member is away.  Nice.  We get use of all the facilities (restaurant, pool, bar, tennis) for $1.50 a foot.  Best deal in this part of Florida. Field, the dockhand has a family place on Georgian Bay, which is where we purchased Rhiannon.

We give the boat a bath, ourselves showers and our friend Hazel comes by for dinner.  Lisa made spaghetti. She winters in Boca with her sister and brother.  We first met Hazel in Salem, MA, in 1988. Very nice visit.

38SM, 28NM today.  MM1052.  12 bridges today.  26°17.09’N  080°05.30’W

Monday, February 29, 2016.  Leap Day.  Off the dock @ 8:35am.  65 degrees, partly cloudy, no wind, dead low tide (although it is less than 2 feet here).  Even though it is President’s Day (a holiday) there are no boats out and about.

NE 14^th St. Bridge 9:15am

Atlantic Blvd. Bridge 9:30am  The sun is now fully out.  Beautiful day.

Commercial Blvd. Bridge 10:00am (We are now in Fort Lauderdale)

Oakland Park Bridge (10:15am)

Sunrise Blvd. Bridge (10:30am)

Las Olas Blvd. Bridge (10:45am).  There are empty slips and moorings at Las Olas Marina – a sure sign that many boats have moved farther south.

SE 17^th St. Bridge 11:00am and we are done with bridges for a while.

Into the Atlantic @ 11:15am.  Waves are 3 feet from the SE.  Wind NE 5-10.  Rolly. 

12:15pm Heard the Coast Guard talking to someone about a capsized boat, but never did get a location.  1:25pm saw large manta ray jumping out of the water twice.  Quite a sight.  2pm wind East @ 5-10.  Foresail out, but motorsailing.  2:40pm, entering Government Cut in Miami.  Lots of ship traffic.  4:40pm Crandon Park Marina on Key Biscayne for fuel – 17 gallons.

5:30pm anchor down in No Name Harbor.  18 boats are here and 7 more outside.  54SM, 43NM today. MM1096. 25°40.62’N  080°09.80’W  This is as far as we will go down the ICW.  The next move is eastward toward the Bahamas.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016.  Sunny and bright.  60 degrees.  Wind North 15+.  Changed the primary Racor fuel filter.  Just a precaution as we are heading across an ocean passage.  Even though it is only 50 miles to Bimini, it is four days (about 200 miles) Checked all the connections on the instruments. Even though we replaced the knot meter control head, it is still going bland intermittently, annoying.  We walked to the Winn-Dixie (about a mile away in Key Biscayne) and then took and Uber car back.  Our first time using Uber.  Pretty painless and the car was a new SUV and clean.

In the afternoon, Kintale (Deb and Tim) came in.  They are headed for Key West.  We last saw them in Vero and before that in Bimini last year.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016.  6am, anchor up.  It is just starting to show some light in the eastern sky.  Cool and very damp.  Everything is wet from the dew.  60 degrees, wind NW@5.  Listened to the Coast Guard talk to a boat 60 miles south, someone with a heart issue, they are sending a helicopter.  6:40 beautiful sunrise as Miami gets smaller off our stern.  3 other boats that we can see headed east. One mast just visible on the horizon.  8am wind NW@3, waves 1 foot, depth 1000 feet.  Motoring.  Feeling the sideways push of the Gulf Stream.  9am 20 miles out of Miami, really feeling the Gulf Stream now.  Water temp 85 degrees. We have been watching a lot of flying fish.  Saw a whale spouting at 10am, but then he sounded.  Large black flukes.  Looked like a Right Whale.

11am flat seas – no wind.  12:30pm beautiful, 80 degrees, puffy clouds.  Bimini on the horizon.  We are seeing a lot of Man-o-War floating.  1pm 2.5 miles out.  2:30pm on the dock at Bimini Bluewater Marina after a not to graceful landing.  The dock hands were not much help and the current bounced us off a couple of pilings – ugh.

Whisper is here (Vic and Marilyn from New Foundland).  We met them here last year.  By nightfall, the marina is full of boats who crossed today.  We met Bob and Wendy on Quescense (another Catalina 42) from Washington state, headed to the Abacos.  We walked to Customs and got our cruising permit (lots of repetitive paperwork and $300 later) and then to Immigration for Visas, then to BTC for a new sim card for the phone.  Nice to be legal and in communication again. 

50NM today.  25°43.50’N  079°17.85’W

Thursday, March 3, 2016.  Beautiful day in Bimini.  We got the wi-fi booster working, but the wifi itself is relatively slow and unreliable.  BTC’s cellular data service is much better.  Cost is $50 for 5GB. Not unreasonable.   We walked the beach and found a lot of shells.  We had a nice dinner on board, and there was a wine-down as well.  Showers and to bed.

Friday, March 4, 2016.  Our son James Birthday.  Walked to the laundry.  Here you can leave the laundry and it comes back all clean and folded.  Lisa visited the high school again this trip and today was “Vocation Day”.  They had some inspirational speakers as well as people from different vocations speak and demonstrate.  This is the first time something like this has been done and it was done very well.  We got to talk briefly with Mr. James Pinder, the principal.  Lisa met and talked to some of the speakers and teachers.  Shadine and Coleman came by the boat to visit after school.  We met them on our trip last year (they are both in the 11^th grade this year) and Lisa had a present for each of them. Nice visit.  Shadine want to go to nursing school and eventually become a doctor.

We walked the beach and collected more conch shells.  Many are small.  The larger ones have holes in them where the fishermen have removed the conch.  Lisa is looking for another Queen Conch.  She found one here last year and then gave it away.  We met a guy beach combing and he gave Lisa a Queen Conch shell.  Turns out he is Thomas Sanders, brother of Ashley Sanders, who built the Dolphin House and who Lisa met last year.  He invited us to come by his house (next door to the Dolphin House) tomorrow to see some of his art.  He is a house painter by trade and has painted houses for Richard Nixon, Joe Kennedy (Sr), Gerald Ford.  He does his edging freehand, and while working on Nixon’s house, the (then former) president came in and asked Thomas why he did not use tape to make a straight edge.  Thomas replied “Isn’t tape what got you into all that trouble?”

Met more boaters next to the pool and then dinner on board.

Click here for pictures from Vero to Bimini

Vero Beach

Vero Beach

Tuesday, February 16, 2016.  The weather to cross the gulf stream has been uncooperative. We have decided to wait here for a few days rather than head down to Miami and have to sit in crowded No-Name Harbor waiting on appropriate weather.  It rained last night and is still raining this morning, but by noon it clears.  It is cool, about 50 degrees.

Troika sent us some pictures of Lisa’s trip up the mast last Friday, so those are included with this post.

Earl (Seeker) came over (we are rafted with Seeker) and gave lessons in splicing double braid rope.  We have purchased quite a bit of rope (sailing term is line) to replace aging running rigging (the ropes that control the sails), and splices are much stronger than knots.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016.  Cool again this morning, but the wind has slackened. By evening it dies completely. Summer of 42 left with Saber Tooth and Greenstone to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas, but they are back!  They had generator problems and Connie has managed to break a toe, so they are headed back to Jacksonville and then home.  Short season.

More splicing today, but this time older rope.  Much more difficult than new rope.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres aboard Summer of 42 and then goodbye to Walter and Connie until next winter.

Thursday, February 18, 2016. Nice morning, but still very cool, especially considering where we are! Lisa went for a long walk through the park to the beach with Troika and Seeker.  I started replacing the old lines with the new ones we spliced eyes into.  We heard from Jason (Silent Running).  We traveled with him a bit last year.  You may remember that he was single-handing to Florida.

Lisa went in to do some laundry and who drives up but our friends Jim and Judy Foster (Tug-a-Long).  We traveled with them quite a bit on our first trip and they stayed with us on the boat both in Marathon and the Abacos.  They were showing some friends around (they have a house in St. Lucie). Great to see them!

Also, while doing laundry, Mike and Fran from October Moon wander in.  We originally met them here in Vero and then last year in Hope Town.  We wound up going to dinner with Mike and Fran.  The first place we went (Riverside Café) said it was an hour wait, even tho’ there were empty tables.  The second place (Mulligans) said the wait was an hour and a half, even tho’ there was no one else waiting.  The third place (Waldos) said a 30 minute wait unless we had six people (???????) So, Lisa recruits the couple in line in front of us to join us to make six – and we were seated.  The couple joining us was Mike and Loraine from Connecticut, in Vero on vacation.  Nice folks.  Food was good, the band was mediocre, but loud.

Friday, February 19, 2016. Today is perfect. Sun, 70s, a bit of a breeze.  Lisa repeated the walk of yesterday with Troika and Seeker. We installed the new main sheet (the line that controls the main sail) and a new furling line for the main (the line that rolls the main sail in and out).  We lubricated all the blocks (pulleys).  While working on the traveler (the mechanism that allows you to move the main sail side to side), we managed to lose all the ball bearings! Ugh!  A call to Catalina revealed that Casey (in parts) had this same issue “the other day” and robbed parts from another unit.  They do not have any ball bearings, or replacement traveler car in stock, so she gave the number for Garhauer, who makes this gear.  I talked to Doug Garhauer in California and they are making a kit to upgrade the traveler system we have, but he does not have one in stock.  He Hasid they will make one up over the week-end and ship it overnight to us on Monday.  How’s that for customer service!

We had cocktails on board Seeker (with Autumn Borne).  Benny then cooked dinner on board.

Saturday, February 20, 2016. We walked to the farmers’ market with Troika, Autumn Borne and Seeker and had breakfast at Cravings.  Cool this morning, but the sun is trying to break through.  We met Peter at the farmers market.  We met him here in Vero a couple of years ago.  He lives in Oxford, MD, and is friends with Jerry and Pam, whom we have known for years.  Another instance of how small the world is.  We bought some banana nut bread to bring back to the boat.  We continued to work on replacing running rigging and Lisa worked on replacing solar rope lights around the cockpit.

Sunday, February 21, 2016. Absolutely perfect weather this morning.  We replaced the outhaul (the line that pulls the furled (rolled up) mainsail out of the mast and the topping lift (the line that adjusts the height of the boom).  We also replaced the sheaves (wheels in the pulleys) in the boom for these lines.

After lunch, we walked into town to the beach (Hummiston Park) to “Art in the Park”, where local artisans sell their works.  Then a walk back to the marina and a dingy ride around the mooring field.  We stopped at Elle and I and asked them to dinner.  Ellaine and Lawrence are from Williamstown, MA, and know our long time friends Kate and Shawn Burdick (more small world).  Lisa made chicken and vegetables and Ellaine brought and great asparagus salad.  Nice evening.

Monday, February 22, 2016.  Calm morning, sun trying to break through clouds.  We hear from Flying Pig that they have made it across to Great Sail Cay in the Abacos.  Outbound sent us a message saying they were leaving this morning for Bimini.  Hopefully our traveler parts and mail from home arrive tomorrow and we can head south on Wednesday and then across.

Lisa went to Deb’s (River House) yoga class this morning.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016.  Another beautiful morning.  Lisa went walking with Troika and Seeker. The traveler parts arrived and we began the task of disassembling the old one and rebuilding it with the parts to upgrade it.  The good news is that these parts are more substantial than the old one.  The bad news is that there are no directions.  Dean came over from Autumn Borne and we figured it out.  Maybe him being a mechanical engineer helped.  I also replaced all the control lines for the traveler. Lisa is getting very good at making splices in double braid rope and made three more today for the lines on the traveler. One more upgrade now completed.  Heavy rain all afternoon. Clearing and cooler in the evenein.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016.  There is a very good reason they call this “Velcro Beach”.  Once here, it is easy to become “stuck”.  There is lots to do, friends, stores, the beach……………

Lisa went to Yoga with Deb (formerly River House) this morning.  We refilled fuel and water in anticipation of leaving.  Tonight is $5 Hamburger night at Mr. Manatees and about 20 people show up.  Good food, good friends, good price……………..nice evening.

Thursday, February 25, 2016.  Lisa went walking this morning with Trioka and Seeker.  They had big wooden tops on strings that you throw at the ground to make them spin.  Today there was a CCC (Conservative Cruising Committee) meeting.  CCC consists of the “admirals” on each boat and they decide when to leave, where to go and when.  The admirals tend to be the women on board (depending on the make-up of the couple, obviously).  It was decided that Rhiannon was leaving on Friday, on the inside because of the wind) and headed to Miami for a crossing to Bimini.  Seeker and Troika and going to leave on Saturday and head south towards Fort Lauderdale.

We had cocktails and dinner aboard Seeker (Troika present also).  Everyone brought leftovers.  Nice evening and good food and company.

Click here for more pictures of Vero Beach