White Point to Vero Beach 2020

Monday, March 16, 2020 Cloudy, 75 degrees, looks like rain, wind ESE@10-15.
9:00am Some misty rain, then clouds, then clearing. Summer Flight is heading to Staniel Cay to fill up with fuel and water. All In left heading to George Town.
There are 2 large drawers under the master berth. These are built into a cabinet and then the whole unit is fitted into place. Apparently, one end of cabinet got wet at some point. The cabinet appears to be just regular plywood. Everything is dry now, but the plywood is coming delaminated and falling apart. The rails on the right side of the cabinet now have no support and have dropped, causing the binding that prevents the drawer from moving. Luckily, I have a skill saw, wood, hardware (screws, angle brackets, etc.), glue and clamps on board. I managed to rebuild the cabinet, re-attach the support rails and get everything back together using new wood (teak). The remaining plywood will be replaced with plastic wood when I get back to the US, so that is if gets wet again, it won’t matter. Lisa helped with the carpentry and then went to the beach with Saber Tooth.
5:30pm Sundowners aboard Summer of 42 with Saber Tooth. We saw a green flash at sunset! Beautiful evening. We all played Mexican Train. Nora brought some vegetable pancakes she had made that were yummy.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 Beautiful, sunny, wind E@10-12, puffy clouds. Summer of 42 departs for Staniel Cay for fuel. Saber Tooth departs for Bitter Guana Cay, which is just south of Staniel. This island is home to some unique iguanas. A small cruise ship comes in to the anchorage and anchors. It has 84 passengers and they are all headed to the beach. We’ve never seen something this large this far south. It looks like one of the small cruise ships you see on rivers or the ICW. Time to leave here.

10:00am Anchor up, sailing north to meet Saber Tooth at Bitter Guana Cay. Beautiful sail, wind E@10-15.
2:00pm Anchor down at Bitter Guana Cay. Saber Tooth and 3 other boats are here. Beautiful beach, lovely island.
8.1NM 24°08.56’N 076°25.12’W
Lisa inflated her kayak and went ashore with John, Nora and Nigel (Saber Tooth). Nigel swam the ¼ mile each way. They hiked to the top of the hill. This is a beautiful island and because of the iguanas, there are lots of visitors (and tour boats from Nassau and George Town). Lisa made shephard’s pie for dinner, yum!
6:30pm We went over to Saber Tooth for Mexican Train. Another beautiful sunset. 5 more boats come in and anchor. A brief rain shower overnight.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 Partly Cloudy, big puffy clouds, 80 degrees, wind ESE@10-15. A mega yacht came in and anchored during the night. Not sure how they managed to get in here without going aground. They have all the toys out (center cockpit run about, inflatable dinghy, jet skis, paddle boards, kayaks and a water slide from the third story of the boat). They also have an inflatable dock (maybe 30’x30’) off the back of the yacht where all the toys are moored.
9:30am Lisa went to visit Windward, who we have met before, and Bright Eyes, who just came in and anchored.

All In at White Point

Our son Jeff called from Utah. They had an earthquake this morning, 5.7 on the Richter Scale. There was little damage, but stuff was knocked off shelves and pictures came off the walls. Everyone is ok, but at the end of the call they were having an after shock.
11:30am We raised the anchor and headed north around Staniel Cay to Big Major Spot. 1:30pm Anchor down at Big Major Spot. Lots of boats and tour boats here. This is the sight of the famous “Pig Beach” where you can feed the pigs and watch them swim. I guess that’s an attraction.
7.3NM 24°11.18’N 076°27.52’W
4:00pm A rain shower comes through, but only lasts about ½ hour. It does considerably cool things off tho’ and the wind swings into the North.
5:50pm A pot luck dinner and to celebrate Connie’s 75th , Nora’s 60th and Ian’s (Mahini) birthdays. I took the red beans and rice. Lots of food there. I also took a gallon of Goombay Smash, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Nora made a big cake. Also present were Ian and Michelle (Summer Flight), another Ian and Michelle (Mahini), John and Nora (Saber Tooth), Walter and Connie (Summer of 42), Pat and Gillian (Scatterling) and us. We all agreed not to discuss the craziness or politics surrounding the coronavirus, but it is certainly on everyone’s mind. It is not at all clear what is going to happen here in the Bahamas or back in the US. It was a very nice evening. Overnight, the wind shifted more to the east and went to 15-20g25. This is a good anchorage for that wind direction and the water was nice and flat here.

Lisa, Connie and Nora aboard Summer Flight
for Connie's 75th birthday

Summer Flight at Big Major Spot

Thursday, March 19, 2020 A lovely morning, 75 degrees, wind E@20-25g30, partly cloudy, 75 degrees.

9:00am We head to town in the dinghy along with Summer of 42, Saber Tooth, Summer Flight and Mahini. We leave the dinghys on the little beach by the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and walk to the airport and then to the west end of the island. We also stopped at the Blue Store and bought a few groceries. The mail boat came in yesterday, so the shelves, refrigerators and freezers are full. Lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. We stopped at the yacht club and had lunch.
2:30pm We are back at the boat.
3:00pm There is another rain shower.
4:00pm The sun is back out.

Summer of 42 at Sunset Big Major Spot

Friday, March 20, 2020 Brother-in-law Robert’s Birthday
8:00am Cloudy with light showers, then clearing, 75 degrees, wind E@15-20.
10:00am We again went to shore on Staniel Cay with Mahini, Saber Tooth, Summer Flight and Summer of 42. This time we walked to the south side of the island where there is a beach. With the east wind the surf here is very high. We walked from the beach eastern end of the island around the point and over the rocky hill to the cut to the Sound between Little Majors Spot and Staniel Cay (aka Rocky Cut) and then back along the harbor to the club, about 3 miles. We stopped at Isles General Store and got a cold drink and another 5 gallon jerry can for gasoline. There is starting to be concern among the cruisers about whether the coronavirus is going to shut down the islands. If so, a bit more fuel on board may be a good thing.

View from the highest point on Staniel Cay looking North

Us

Lots of painted rocks along the waterfront in Staniel Cay

Cottages at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

1:00pm Back to Rhiannon, we raise the anchor and move 2 miles over to Staniel Cay and anchor just off the west end of the yacht club docks. We used the dinghy to go to the fuel dock and filled all the jerry cans with diesel (22 gallons), then used those to fill Rhiannon. We then made another trip to refill the diesel jerry cans (16 gallons), and a third trip to fill the water and gasoline (4 gallons) jerry cans. We dropped off the trash and bought a bag of ice. The yacht club is open, but they are moving toward take out only. There are still guests in the cottages and their deal includes 2 meals a day, so as long as there are guests here, the dining room is open. The Bahamian government has stopped all cruise ships from landing passengers as well as the tour boats that operate between Nassau and George Town and the Exumas, but the airlines are still operating, as are the hotels. There are still quite a few charter boats around and several mega yachts anchored, some have guests aboard. As night rolls in, the marina here is full. At sunset a 100 footer comes in with what looks like college age people on board, maybe 20 or more. They are in full party mode (it is spring break). Who charters a 100 foot yacht so their children can go to the Bahamas for the week? No social distancing going on aboard – or in the club as they drift ashore. The club is closing at 9:00pm these days, but then the party moves back to the boat and continues. The weather has been exceptional, maybe pay back for all the cold fronts that came through since we got here. 2NM 24°10.32’N 076°26.78’W

Saturday, March 21, 2020 Dad’s Birthday (he would be 105 today)
7:30am Lovely morning, light east wind, no clouds, 70 degrees. I take the dinghy to shore and get rid of the last of the trash. The party boat is very quiet this morning. Summer Flight leaves for Nassau and then on to the US. They keep the boat in Daytona during the summer, but they are Canadian and are concerned they might not be allowed entry into the US. Saber Tooth and others who are Canadian and keep their boats in Florida have the same concern.
8:00am We raise the anchor and head north toward Cambridge Cay. There are still lots of boats out and about, some heading north, some heading south. George Town is still open, but there are now restrictions on how many people are allowed in the stores at a time. Because of all the uncertainty, both here and in the US, many boats are heading home, unsure of what they will find when they get there.
11:00am We pick up a mooring at Cambridge Cay. Saber Tooth and 3 other boats here.
15.5NM 24°18.20’N 076°32.45’W 80 degrees, wind E@15, no clouds, flat water.

12:30pm We went snorkeling with Saber Tooth at the “Bonsai Islands”, small islands on the west side of the anchorage, one of them has small trees growing. The coral around these islands is full of sea life, fish, turtles, rays, etc. Afterward, we went to the coral reef on the south side of the anchorage. This one is beautiful also.
2:00pm Lunch and then we went to the beach at the south end of the anchorage where there is a “blue hole” (a very deep spot).
4:00pm Showers on the stern and then dinner on board. What a nice day. Rains squalls overnight.

Sunset at Cambridge Cay

Sunday, March 22, 2020
7:00am Cloudy, lots of pink clouds a sunrise.
8:00am Clearing, 75 degrees, wind E@15+ We have talked with many friends over here, and in the US. Very little useful information is getting over here concerning what is going on in the US. Here in the Bahamas, the government says no public gatherings, restaurants and bars are closing, except for take out. Commercial passenger vessels large and small are restricted from moving passengers between islands. All the islands are supplied by ship. Fuel is especially important, as generators need diesel and the RO water makers on the islands are powered by electricity. We assume that food, fuel and water will remain available, but no one seems to know for sure. Many boats have left for home and just as many are still here trying to wait out the chaos. We went back and forth about whether to head back to the US or hunker down here. It is less likely that you would contract the virus over here, but if you needed health care services, there are few here, especially away from Nassau. So far there has been only 3 confirmed cases in the Bahamas – all in Nassau.
10:00am We walk to Honeymoon Beach on the southern end of Cambridge Cay with Summer of 42 and Saber Tooth. We did not find any treasures here, but an impromptu meeting was held, and we all decided to go to Shroud Cay tomorrow, then on the Highborne, Nassau and then back to the US. Thursday and Friday the wind and the wave forecast look fairly benign, so we will plan to use those days to cross back to Fort Pierce. We talked to Dalmatian, who is still in Vero Beach. They have been there all winter because of their generator, which has never gotten repaired (not for lack of trying). They are planning to head north to the Chesapeake, where they will leave the boat for the summer, then drive on to New Hampshire. It’s too soon to head north for us, 7 inches of snow in New Hampshire today! We talked to Fancy Free. Gail and Laura have decided to stay in Green Turtle Cay (Abacos) until all this craziness has settled down. By the afternoon, they have decided to head back to the US. Autumn Borne has also been in Vero all winter and have decided to “stay a while” to see how things play out.
5:00pm Cocktails and Mexican Train aboard Summer of 42 with Saber Tooth there too. Nice evening. No real sunset because of the gathering clouds.
7:00pm Back to Rhiannon. We lift the outboard and get the dinghy up on the davits in preparation for the trip to Shroud Cay tomorrow morning.

Monday, March 23, 2020 Rain squalls overnight. Partly Cloudy, 70 degrees, wind SE@15.
8:00am Anchor up. We depart Cambridge by the south entrance. We probably should have gone to the north. The SE wind and then tide moving out the Conch Cut (between Cambridge Cay and Compass Cay) has made this channel very rough. Although going out the north entrance puts you right is a cut as well….
9:00am Sailing north at a leisurely 5+ knots.
10:00am This area from Compass Cay north to Highborne Cay has almost no cell service. Cell service has been expanded to most of the Bahamas, but this area is still lacking. We managed to talk to friends and family, and so far everyone is OK.
1:00pm We pick up one of the 12 new moorings at Shroud Cay. A group of “Long Tails” come out to greet us, chirping up a storm.

White long-tail tern

It is mostly sunny, lots of big puffy clouds, 80 degrees, wind SE@10-15. It’s pretty flat where we are moored.
24.2NM 24°31.98’N 076°47.84’W
Summer of 42, Saber Tooth and 6 other boats here.
2:30pm We dinghy over to the sand bar between Elbow Cay, Little Pigeon Cay and Shroud Cay. At low tide this is almost dry, at an extreme low tide, it is dry and you can walk from one island to the next. There is a house on Little Pigeon Cay and potcakes live there (mongrel dogs common in the islands). They are named “potcakes” because the locals eat a lot of rice and peas and many time it sticks to the bottom of the pot making a “cake”. These are fed to the dogs, hence the name “pot cakes”. One of the potcakes comes running out to greet us and hangs out with us until we are ready to leave and then he heads back to the house. Most of these dogs are very friendly and very smart. Most also have “work” to do guarding property. One time when we were here three of these dogs had gotten stranded on Shroud Cay. While we were there, we feed them (chicken soup) and brought fresh water for them.
Afterwards, we explored the South River through the mangroves. It is low tide and we could not get very far. The tide is normally about 2+ feet, but it looks like it is more like 3+ feet with the current full moon. We also explored the rocky coast and the inlets all the way back to Rhiannon.

Sea Turtle in South River
Shroud Cay

John and Nora (Saber Tooth)
South River Shroud Cay

This is a beautiful island, lots of wildlife, it is part of Exuma Park and today we are the only people exploring it. Tomorrow, we will explore the mangrove rivers to the north at high tide (about 9:00am) and then we will head north to Highborne Cay. At Highborne, there is a cell tower and a marina for fuel and water. If the marina at Cape Eleuthera and the stores in Rock Sound and Governors' Harbour are open, we may head in that direction (east), instead of west to Nassau and the US. Without information, it is hard to make that decision. Many boats are staying in the Bahamas, including Mahina. Ian is a doctor with the CDC and is familiar with the whole pandemic issue and thinks everyone is safer over here than is the US. I made chicken Marsala for dinner. Dessert was cookies made by Nora (Saber Tooth).
7:00pm After days of a constant east wind, it has finally given up. A beautiful evening and sunset and a chorus of conch horns at sunset.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020 A perfect morning, blue sky, puffy clouds on the horizon, 75 degrees, wind SE@10.
9:00am Saber Tooth, Summer of 42 and us dinghy to the north river, through the mangroves to the beach on the other side (sound side) of the island. The river is full of sea life, turtles, fish, rays, sharks. The beach and the lagoon where this river meets the sound is one of the prettiest spots anywhere.

North River meets the ocean on the east side of Shroud Cay

Walter and Connie (Summer of 42)

North River meets the ocean

Us on the beach North River meets the ocean
Shroud Cay

We are the only people here. We saw one other dinghy as we came through the river. They were following some sea turtles going the other way. One the way back, we took on of the creeks that branch off this river. It leads to the middle river and then to the backside of another beach. However, when we got there, the middle river had been taken over by mangroves in the three years since we were last here and we had to retrace our steps to the north river. Lots of sea turtles here. We tried yet another creek and found that one a dead end also. These are always wonderful excursions. We saw a black tip shark, nurse sharks, rays, long tails, lots of other birds, turtles, fish, barracudas, and a crane with red legs.

North River Shroud Cay

One of the many sea turtles
Shroud Cay

When we got back to the boat, we had a visit from Scott and Patsy on Rum Tot. They just arrived in the Bahamas 2 weeks ago and plan to stay until June. They know Nick and Carolyn Wardle and have stayed with them. They are not anxious to turn around and head home, but like everyone else, they are not able to get good information to decide to stay in the Bahamas or leave. There is no information about what is going on in the rest of the Caribbean and very little about the US..

Rhiannon at Shroud Cay

12:30pm Anchor up, heading north to Highborne Cay where there is a cell tower and maybe we can find out more about what’s happening in the world and the weather forecast.
3:00pm Anchor down at Highborne Cay. Saber Tooth, Summer of 42, Synergy and 16 other boats are here, plus several on the docks in the marina. By nightfall, several other boats have come in.
3:30pm Elsie Mae comes in and anchors. Great to see them again. They are headed home, next stop for them is the Wardles’ dock. Irish Tango is still at Staniel Cay. We are able to get a weather forecast from Chris Parker. It looks questionable whether we could make it all the way from here to Nassau (approximately 8 hours), then on to Fort Pierce (maybe 36 hours) with the current weather window. We are going to meet with Summer of 42 and Saber Tooth at 5:00pm to discuss.
4:00pm Lisa and Nora go kayaking. I called and talked to Nick Wardle to see if they have room for us if we decide to follow Elsie Mae tomorrow, instead of heading to Nassau. He said there would be room for us.
5:00pm We went over to Summer of 42 to discuss what to do next. We are really at a “coin flip” moment – go east to Eleuthera or west toward the US. Saber Tooth and Summer of 42 are pretty sure they can get dockage at Nassau Harbour Club for tomorrow night or longer if the weather deteriorates. They stay there often and know the dockmaster (Peter) well. We have stayed there, but I’m sure he would not remember us. Overnight, the wind went to SW@10-15, which makes this anchorage very lumpy.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 
8:00am Sunny, big puffy clouds, 70 degrees, wind SSW@10-15 great for a downwind sale to Nassau or Coral Harbour – or over to Eleuthera. Saber Tooth and Summer of 42 depart for Nassau. Eleuthera lost the coin toss, so we are heading west to Coral Harbour with Elsie Mae. 8:15am We raise the anchor and have a beautiful down-wind sail to New Providence.
10:30am We saw what looks like an old rusty dive boat cross our path heading north.
11:00am We can see squalls on the horizon ahead and behind us and the sky is now completely overcast (not in the forecast).
12:10pm Wind has gone to West@8. Sails in and now motoring.
12:30pm Ranger (Nick Wardle) calls on the vhf and asks our position. We are about 2 hours from the entrance buoy to Coral Harbour. Nick tells us that the Defense Force Base in Coral Harbour (which you pass through on the way to their house/docks) is closed to all traffic coming or going. We can’t get to his house and the people who are staying at Nicks can’t get out.
1:00pm We change course to the North with Elsie Mae and are able to raise Saber Tooth on the cell phone. We ask him to ask Peter if there is dockage available for us along with fuel and water. The answer we received was that the marinas in Nassau could only supply necessities – fuel and water, no transient dockage. We could go in and fill up, then anchor somewhere. Because the harbor is a “controlled harbor” you have to get permission from Nassau Harbour Control to enter and to leave the harbor. While I am having this conversation, Elsie Mae called Palm Cay to see if they had any transient dockage, fuel, water, etc. They do and Elsie Mae made a reservation for both of us. Because they are a private marina and not in Nassau Harbor, they can still accommodate us. Elsie Mae has been in this marina before and the path to the entrance is strewn with coral heads, so we follow them in.
3:00pm We are on the dock at Palm Cay. Beautiful place. It is a development with condos, houses, a golf course and marina on the southeast corner of New Providence.

Rhiannon at Palm Cay

Elsie Mae at Palm Cay

Many of the charter catamarans and other boats are headquartered here (Dream Charters, Moorings). Apparently, all the boats are back in and staying as there are 50 or more of them all lined up at the docks along the sea wall. It looks like to ban on tourists is taking affect quickly. We asked Miss Jolley (yes, that’s her real name, Janice Jolley), the office manager why we were welcomed here and not in Nassau or Coral Harbour. She said that they are a private marina and you don’t have to go through public waters to get here. Lovely to be at a dock and plugged into electric and water and have lots of wifi. Only about 6 boats here have people on board. One of them is a big charter cat that a couple had chartered for their honeymoon. They arrived the day all the boats were recalled. Because they had already paid for the boat, they are staying aboard in the marina and using all the facilities here. A lot of the condos are still occupied tho’.

The local "potcake" greeted us on arrival at Palm Cay

Docked charter boats at Palm Cay

The complex is very secure. It is all fenced and there is a big gate with security at the entrance. At night they put a chain across the entrance to the marina to keep boats from sneaking in or out. We are greeted at the dock by Demoro (dockmaster) and Leslie who help us tie up and get plugged in to the electric. The local potcake came by to say hello as well. Dinner on board, then hot showers ashore. Nice! Tomorrow, we will use one of the marina courtesy cars and get out and about a bit. There is a new Fresh Market only a couple of miles away.
We heard from Dan and Dawn Ritter (Gertie) who are in Marathon, FL, with Nelson and Mary (Last Boat), that they have been quarantined aboard their boat for the next two weeks. The chaos continues. 40.9 NM 25°01.25’N 077°16.44’W
The security here is very good. That would not keep someone who is really determined out, but it would be discouraging. Other areas would be easier targets. The bad news is that they place a chain across the harbor entrance at night and you can’t depart until it is removed, usually after 9:00am.

Thursday, March 26, 2020 Partly cloudy, cool, 65 degrees, no clouds, no wind. We used the fuel in the jerry cans to fill Rhiannon’s tank, the used a dock cart to take the cans to the fuel dock and refill them (16.1 gallons). We also got a bag of ice and refilled Rhiannon’s water tanks. We carried all our laundry to the machines behind the office. The washers and dryers take both US and Bahamian quarters. Valerie, John (Elsie Mae) and I used one of the marina courtesy cars and went to find the new Fresh Market. It is only a couple of miles away. When we got there, there was a line to get into the store. Everyone was standing 6 feet apart and there were two store employees spraying down each cart with disinfectant, the whole cart, not just the handle. There is a security guard at the door only allowing people entry when someone leaves, controlling the number of people in the store. The guard at the exit is checking your receipt as you exit. Several customers had masks and all the employees had masks and gloves. There was plenty of everything, but limits on what you could buy – 1 package of toilet paper, 10 lbs of each meat (hamburger, pork, chicken), 1 gallon of bleach, 1 carton of milk, 1 dozen eggs. We managed to get everything on our list. While in the produce isle, I was waiting for one lady (no mask or gloves) to choose tomatoes. I think she pretty much handled every one. I asked her if she found the ones she wanted and if she had washed her hands before handling every tomato. She huffed off and began going through all the Honey Crisp apples. The cashier was washing down the moving belt with disinfectant after every customer and both the bagger and the cashier had masks and gloves. There were marks on the floor so the customers knew where to stand and stay 6 feet apart. Pretty impressive set up. The store was very busy, but not crazy. Controlling how many people could be in the store at a time was certainly a good idea. Back to the boats and stowing everything. I helped Lisa fold all the laundry and then we used a dock cart to get it back to Rhiannon.
Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and fresh green beans for dinner.

Friday, March 27, 2020 Partly cloudy with big puffy clouds, 70 degrees, wind E@10-12.
9:00am We check out at the office and they lower the chain across the entrance.
9:30am Demoro helps us off the dock and we follow Elsie Mae out the channel. The waves are surprisingly big for the amount of wind. The south and east side of New Providence Island face the “Banks” and the water is shallow. The north and east side the water is very deep (The Tongue of the Ocean). The wind, differing water depths and tides always make this area interesting to navigate. 11:30am We are motor sailing around the south side of New Providence at 6.5 knots. We hear Irish Tango calling very faintly, but they are too far away to be able to communicate. Usually, channel 16 is very busy in this area. That is the channel you call Nassau Harbor Control and between the cruise ships, other ships and marine traffic, the chatter on that channel is constant. Today it is eerily quiet. 1:00pm We round the west end of New Providence and turn north towards Chub Cay. Mostly sunny. Wind E@11, 75 degrees. The seas are very choppy where the deep water meets the shallow water coming off the banks.
1:45pm Both sails out and trimmed. Making 7.5 knots over ground on a beam reach (wind coming at 90 degrees to the direction you are moving) in just 11 knots of wind. This is why we own a sailboat! We were able to sail like this until we reached Chub Cay!
6:15pm Anchor down just outside Chub Cay Marina. Elsie Mae and 4 other boats here. Dinner was left over chicken Marsala. Always better the second time around after it sits in the fridge a bit. Another spectacular sunset.

Sunset at Chub Cay

The Bahamian Government has closed all “non-essential” businesses. They are encouraging “social distancing” and the use of masks and gloves. They have told non-residents to leave or be ready to “self quarantine” for at least a month.
56NM today, 25°24.71’N 077°54.90’W

Saturday, March 28, 2020

6:45am Partly cloudy, wind E@10-12, 70 degrees. We lift anchor and head west towards Northwest Channel (between Andros Island and Chub Cay). We are planning to make it to Bimini today.
7:30am Beautiful sunrise. We are getting about a 3-4 knot push from the tide. We need all the help we can get. Lots of miles to go today and we are trying to make it back to the US without having to do an overnight sail.
9:00am Leg 1 Chub Cay to NW Channel Light 14.7NM 2.25hours
9:35am Leg 2 NW Channel Light to NW Shoal waypoint 4.7NM 40 minutes
10:15am Wind ESE210-15. Motor sailing with the main out. Wind directly astern. Making 7+knots. Sun peaking out, clouds dissipating.
1:15pm Leg 3 NW Shoal to Mackie Shoal waypoint 24.7NM 3hours45minutes average 6.5 knots 3:00pm Wind had died down to less than 10 knots. Our speed is also down to 6.5.
6:10pm Leg 4 Mackie Shoal to North Rock 33.7NM 4hours and 55 minutes
6:35pm Leg 5 North Rock to anchorage on NW shore of Bimini 2NM 25 minutes
79.8NM 25°46.35’N 075°16.19’W

Sunday, March 29, 2020 Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind ESE@12-15. Yesterday, the tachometer started acting peculiar, like there is a short or loose connection. It was jumping all over from zero to 4,000 to zero, then it would read ok, then nothing. I checked the connections on the engine at the sending unit and those all seemed tight. I will have to check the tach itself when we get somewhere I can. We replaced the sending unit not long ago.
6:45am We raise the anchor and head northwest toward Lake Worth Inlet. We encountered some pretty significant waves coming from two different directions as we head out. Not unusual, but considering the forecast unexpected.
8:45am We enter the Gulf Stream and are getting ½ knot push.
12:30pm The wind has picked up to ESE@10 and the seas have flattened out making the ride more comfortable. We see three big cargo ships heading south toward Miami. We see a cruise ship heading toward Hens and Chickens (the edge of the banks, its fairly shallow). Not sure why they are headed that direction unless it is to anchor. We are able to ride the Gulf Stream to within 2 miles of the Lake Worth Inlet, sometime making more than 9 knots over ground.

4:30pm Lake Worth Inlet – a lot of people out for boat rides and three large yachts anchored by Peanut Island with lots of people and music – party, party!
5:30pm Anchor down on the west side of North Lake Worth. The condos close by still have their pool open and lots of people enjoying it. The are many people walking the walkway along the edge of the lake. Sunny, wind ESE@10. No clouds, beautiful evening. We were told this anchorage was full, but there are only about 20 boats here. We have seen as many as 50 here at one time. We hear our names being called and see Irish Tango (Paul and Kris) on shore. They came in a bit before us and are in the Old Port Marine Marina.
78.1NM MM1015 26°50.08’N 080°03.34’W Average speed 7.1 knots

Monday, March 30, 2020 Beautiful morning. No Clouds. 72 degrees and no wind.
7:30am Anchor up. We were going to leave earlier but were still tired from the previous long days. I used the excuse that we needed more light to properly wash all the mud from the chain and anchor. 7:45am Parker Bridge – on schedule.
8:00am PGA Blvd. Bridge on schedule.
8:30am Donald Ross
9:30am Indiantown Blvd. – missed 9 am
9:45am Jupiter Federal – on request
9:55am 707 – on request. Extreme low tide. At the corner of Jupiter Inlet and Jupiter Sound. (Red 2) we touched bottom.
10:50am Hobe Sound – on request.
11:40am Peck Lake.
12:20pm St. Lucie Inlet Big puffy clouds, partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind SE@10
3:30pm Fort Pierce North Bridge - scheduled
5:30pm On mooring 17 rafted with Fancy Free. Everyone maintaining correct social distance. Sundowners with each couple on their own boats. John and Valerie (Elsie Mae) come by in their dinghy, Nightingale (Libby and Grant) in kayaks, Autumn Borne (Dean and Susan) in their dinghy – not all came at the same time. Lisa made some of the ¼ pound hot dogs we found in Nassau for dinner and shared with Fancy Free (Laura and Gail).
62SM  50.4NM  MM952  27°39.56'N  080°22.23'W  4 scheduled bridges, 3 on request.

Vero Beach to Bimini, New Providence, White Point 2020

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Brother-in-law Dan once again drove us to Logan Airport.  This time at 6:30am in order to miss the morning commuter rush into Boston. We departed on time at 9:30am and arrived in Orlando at noon.  We were met by friends George and Bev.  We had an early dinner at Applebee,s and spent the night with them at their lovely home in Melbourne, FL.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

George and Bev drove us to Vero Beach. We had a very nice lunch at Mulligans and then they delivered us to the marina.  Back on Rhiannon and after sitting here alone without us for almost a month, all seems well.

Thursday, January 16 – Sunday, January 26, 2020

We spent these two weeks getting Rhiannon ready to depart. The weather was completely un- cooperative.  

When we installed the new evaporator unit for the forward refrigerator, we found out that the connections for the new unit are a different size than those on the old unit.  While this is advertised as "plug and play connections", you need to buy an adapter which the dealer in Fort Lauderdale forgot to mention.  That dealer did not have the adapters in stock, so we called defender and had a set sent to us. So, three days go by while we wait on the connectors.

Refrigeration Connector

Connectors

We also restocked our provisions and made trips to Walmart, Walmart Market, Publix, etc.

We visited with Autumn Borne when they arrived, as well as Last Boat.

On January 26, we had Pete go over the bottom and check the prop.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Heavy rain overnight.  Cloudy and murky, 50 degrees, no wind.

10:00am Finally off the mooring! Made it as far as the fuel dock, where we added 21 gallons of fuel, 6 gallons of gasoline, water, ice and had both holding tanks pumped out.

11:00am Underway south on the ICW.  Still overcast, wind NW@5.

1:00 Fort Pierce North Bridge. This bridge used to be “on request”, but now is scheduled openings on the hour and half hour. The sun is trying to break through the overcast. No wind.

3:30pm Jensen Beach Bridge.  Hoodless is anchored south of the bridge.  We are unable to raise them on the radio.

4:00pm St. Lucie inlet.  The tide is going out at 1 ½ knots.

5:00pm Anchor down in Peck Lake. 8 other boats here.

42SM 33.6NM  MM992  27°06.89’N  080°08.58’W

Very light wind from the NE. Partly sunny, high clouds, 72 degrees.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Today is a layover day. Only one other boat is still here. Sunny, no clouds, 61 degrees.

10:30am We dinghy ashore and walk across the short path to the beach on the ocean side. We walk the beach toward the south.

Beach on Lake Peck shore - path to the ocean

"Tunnel" through the Seagrapes to the ocean

Lots of sea beans found today.  No heart beans, but we did find ten golf balls (sea coconuts – related to betel nut palm).  There were lots on the beach and after a while we decided to leave the rest for someone else.  There were tons sea almonds (very common) as well. We also found 49 Bay Beans that come from the long vines that grow on the beach. We found 7 grey Sea Pearls (also called Nicker Nuts), one immature coconut (only an inch long), 1 Calabash Seed, 1 Laurelwood seed, 1 Tropical Walnut and two Hamburger Beans!  Quite a haul!

Beach treasures from Peck Lake

Bay Beans in the pod
Found on many beaches in Florida and the Bahamas

We helped five boats into the anchorage so they did not go aground in the shallows. The entrance is deep and there is a channel that runs from the green marker on the channel to the tower close to the shore.  The deep water spreads out in the shape of a martini glass as you get closer to shore, but you have to enter and exit through that “channel” between the marker and the tower.

The wind has built up from the north to 15-25.  After midnight, it dies down quite a bit.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Beautiful morning.  Puffy clouds and sun.  Wind SE@10. 65 degrees.

We elect to spend another day in the beautiful spot.

10:00am We again walk the beach. No one on the beach yet.  This time we walk towards the north.

We again find a lot of sea beans.  There must be hundreds of the sea almonds here. There are almost as many golf ball beans (Sea Coconut). We left all of these for other to collect.

We found 39 more of the Bay Beans.

There are literally thousands of Coin Vine Seeds.  These are flat and are about the size of a nickel. These are soft and fragile and disintegrate easily.  We also left all of these.

We found one blister pod and one bloodwood pod.  We found seven more grey Sea Pearls (Nicker Nuts), 2 antidote vine seeds, 2 Starnut Palm seeds.

There are lots of turtle egg shells on the beach, mostly dried out, very fragile.  These too, we left on the beach.

Beautiful sunset, then rain overnight, heavy at times.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

7:30am Cloudy and foggy, 65 degrees, wind N@10.

9:00am Fog clearing.

9:30am Anchor up, Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind N@10.

10:00am Hobe Sound Bridge (On request).

12:10pm 707 (Jupiter Island) Bridge (On Request).

12:20pm Jupiter Federal Bridge (On Request).
1:00pm Indiantown Road Bridge (Scheduled).

2:00pm Donald Ross Bridge (Scheduled).

2:30pm PGA Bridge (Scheduled).

2:45pm Parker Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

3:45pm Flagler Memorial Bridge (Scheduled) – the bridge to Trump’s Mara Lago.

4:00pm We try to anchor across from the Town Docks in West Palm Beach. Many boats here. We get yelled at by the boat closest to us because he has a lot of chain out and is swinging all over the place. The wind and the tide are opposed and is making it difficult to know which way to back down on the anchor to get it to set.  We give up and head through the next bridge (Royal Palm Blvd) at 4:15pm.  We anchor just beyond the bridge on the west shore of the ICW in 13 feet of water. Only one other boat here and plenty of room.  The wind is dying off. A few high thin clouds.  Turns out to be a lovely evening.

31SM 25NM MM1023  26°42.15’N  080°02.89’W

6 Scheduled bridges, 3 On Request bridges.

Friday, January 31, 2020

Lovely morning, calm, high clouds, 70 degrees.

8:20am Anchor up.  We keep hearing this loud annoying alarm on channel 16.  We find out that it is because Trump is coming to Mara Lago.  Glad we are past that.

8:45am Southern Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

9:22am Lake Ave. Bridge (On Request).

10:00am Lantana Blvd, Bridge (Scheduled).

11:00am Ocean Ave. Bridge (Scheduled).

11:10am SE 15^th Ave. Bridge (On Request).

The wind is North@10, the sky is clear and the sun is out, 75 degrees.  If you have to “run the bridges” you could not have picked a better day.

11:20am George Bush Bridge (On Request).

11:45am Atlantic Ave. Bridge (Scheduled) – made it through a bit late, but we were running ahead of a barge.  Bridges are supposed to open for all commercial traffic.

12:00noon Linton Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

12:30pm Spanish River Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

1:00pm Palmetto Park – south Lake Boca (Scheduled).

2:00pm Hillsboro Blvd (Scheduled).

2:45pm NE 14^th Street Bridge (Scheduled).

3:00pm Atlantic Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

3:30pm Commercial Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

3:45pm Oakland Park Bridge (Scheduled).

4:00pm Sunrise Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

4:15pm Las Olas Blvd. Bridge (Scheduled).

4:40pm Lake Sylvia – It took four tries to find a spot where the anchor would grab.  Lots of boats in here and empty spaces (where the anchor would not catch – probably why they were empty!).

5:06pm Finally got the anchor set, but we are very close to the little marina on the east side of the lake.

High thin clouds gathering.  Looks like rain coming. Wind S@10, 75 degrees.

41SM  33NM  MM1064.5  26°06.25’N  080°06.65’W

14 scheduled bridges  3 on request

Heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight, but not much wind.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

High overcast and partial sun this morning. 72 degrees.  Wind SW@5-10.  Some of the boats here have obviously been here quite a while.  At least three of them were anchored here when we were here last year.  While Fort Lauderdale has banned anchoring is some spots (e.g. Middle River), they let these derelict boats remain here.

During the night the wind changed and we swung very close to the entrance to the small marina on the east side of the “lake”.  While we have never seen any boats come from or go to that marina, we received a visit from a nice police officer asking us to move before they started receiving complaints.  He said the local residents get nervous when boats anchor close to the docks.  Obviously, they don’t seem to mind the derelict boats anchored in their front yards. A few boats have left this morning, so we move to the center of the lake and re-anchor.  The anchor set and held on the first try.
26°06.31’N  080°06.77’W

I made chicken Marsala for dinner.

It was supposed to rain all day with intermittent thunderstorms.  It threatened all day, but little rain fell and there were no thunderstorms.  There were threatening clouds all around us.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Ground Hog Day.  Punxutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so an early spring is predicted.  Also, it is Superbowl Sunday, although The Patriots are not in it, so we not sure we really care.  If we have to pick, it will be the Forty-Niners, because their QB, Jimmy Garapalo, was Brady’s backup before he went to the 49ers.

Clear the morning with wind from the NW gusting to 25.  NOAA says seas are 4-6’ along the coast, so we elect to wait another day.

Kansas City wins the Super Bowl in what turned out to be a very good game.

Monday, February 3, 2020

The wind is still out of the NW, but it has subsided quite a bit, now 10-15 and supposed to go lighter and to the SE by tonight.

7:15am Anchor up. Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind NW@10.  Many boats leaving this morning. Beautiful sunrise.

8:00am 17^th Street Bridge (scheduled). Many boats heading out to sea.  We stay about 1 mile off shore and have a relatively smooth sail down to Maimi.

2:00pm Government Cut.  We have to give way to a container ship heading in to port.

3:00pm Crandon Park Marine Fuel Dock.  We fill with fuel (22 gallons), gasoline (4 gallons) and water.

3:30pm Off the dock headed to No Name Harbor.

4:30pm Anchor down in No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne.

Pretty sunset.

34.5NM 25’40.61’N  080°09.80’W

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

6:30am Anchor up and we are headed east toward Bimini as the sun rises.  The wind is SE and the tide is going out, so it is a bit rough headed out the channel.

PC, 65 degrees, wind SE@10-12.

Sunrise as we leave Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne Lighthouse

8:00am We hear this huge BANG and the whole boat shudders, then another big BANG.  It felt like we hit something very solid.  The last time we heard and felt something like this was when we hit an uncharted rock coming out of Rockport, MA.  We are in the channel and the chart shows clear water.  We then realize that the foresail (which is wrapped (furled) around the head stay (the big wire that goes from the top of the mast to the bow) is swinging around.  Something up there on the bow has broken.  We manage to use the sheets (roped that control the head sail) to secure the flopping sail/head stay and turn around and head back to No Name. 

10:00am When we get back in the harbor, we tie up to the wall (almost no boats here today), and try to figure out what happened and the damage. It looks like the head stay has broken.  After the adrenaline rush settles down, we get on the phone to several people ( Pete in Vero, Peter in Salem, MA, Jamel in Stuart) to ask what we should do. All said to use any free halyards (roped used to raise and lower sails) to secure the mast.  Jamel, who Lisa met in Vero at a rope splicing class, is a rigger.  He said he was on his way to Fort Myers for a job, but would stop and assess the damage and see what it would take to fix it.

You can see the roller furled sail
no longer attached to the top of the mast

11:30am Jamel shows up and goes up the mast in his own bosun’s chair rig and between the three of us, we get the fore stay, roller furling and foresail down on the ground.  Once the sail is off the furler and the furler taken apart, we see that the shackle on the lower turnbuckle (at the deck level) has shattered.  This is covered up by the furler and so there is no way to do a check on this piece without taking the furler apart. Even tho’ we recently had a rig inspection, this was missed because it was inside the furling system. Luckily, nothing else was broken.  Jamel said there was a rigging supply place nearby and he would be back in a couple of hours.

Tied to the wall at No Name Harbor

 1:00pm Jamel returns with a new shackle and turnbuckle, a    retainer, and some StaSet rope to make a new out haul for     the main.  We had to remove the main sail so Jamel could   get up the mast.

     

Fore stay, roller furling on the ground

There is a retainer available that keeps the halyard (rope used to raise the foresail on the furler) from twisting around the stay, which causes the stay to kink, which weakens it.  Jamel said that is the number one cause of fore stay failure (although not in our case). The fore stay is 3/8 inch stainless steel cable.

The culprit - broken shackle on the lower fore stay turnbuckle.
The new one next to it for comparison.

Jamel at work

Jamel putting it all back together

4:00pm Jamel has everything back together, the new out haul for the main spliced into place (took him about 5 minutes), the ties (stainless steel wire) at the end of the spreaders on the mast replaced and the rig inspected and tuned (tightened the wires holding the mast in place).  Wow! We discovered during our conversations with Jamel that he grew up on a boat (one of those boat kids that you meet cruising). He never did well with "traditional education".  After high school, he worked for North Sales for eight years before striking out on his own.

So, if you ever need a rigger, we highly recommend this guy – Jamel Lister 772/349-1619.

After he finished, we had a beer with Jamel and then dinner, we collapse.

12NM 25°40.56’N 080°09.75’W

Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

Sunny, breezy, wind N@15+.  Not a direction wanted to cross the Gulf Stream. 

We move Rhiannon off the wall and anchor at the west end of the harbor. A good day to just veg out.

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Wind blowing SE@15-20g(gusting)30. 75 degrees, clear.  Lisa repainted the registration numbers on the dinghy so they a legible and put on the new registration stickers that we got while we were at home over the holidays. We also put the 2020 Customs and Immigration (DTOPS) decal on Rhiannon.

The hot water faucet in the aft head has little water pressure. After checking the strainer on the faucet, I pulled off the water lines and found the hot water line clogged with hardened minerals. After cleaning out the line, there is now plenty of volume and pressure.

Lisa cleaned the deck and is waiting on the coming rain to rinse it.

I loaded the Harry Potter books (8) on a flash drive along with a bunch of movies for children (adults like them too, Avatar, Shrek, etc.) for Sienna, but they left this morning.

Mojo came back into the anchorage after leaving this morning trying to cross the Gulf Stream.  Too rough they said. They are a catamaran and the trampoline on the bow broke loose.  The dinghy was on the bow and also broke loose damaging one of the windows on the front of the cabin. Not good.

Very windy over night.

Friday, February 7, 2020

7:30am Cloudy, wind SW@15-20g30, 65 degrees, rain and gusty wind.

There was a Hunter 36 anchored next to us last night.  His anchor broke loose in the squall and he was headed for the seawall.  After several boats (us included) were blowing horns, the captain finally came out of the cabin and figured out he had a problem. While he was scooting across the harbor, his anchor snagged our anchor and suddenly we were also scooting across the harbor.  We were lucky that the two anchors did not get tangled up. Lisa was out in the rain in her pjs getting our anchor up.  We managed to re-anchor successfully and the other boat got settled along the seawall.  Several other boats in the anchorage were moving around also.  Fun morning.

The bottom in No Name Harbor is mud and shell and is only marginal holding to begin with.  Because of all the boats that anchor here, it is really “plowed up” and the holding is marginal at best, especially in a squall.  Many of our friends will not anchor in here except on calm days, preferring to anchor outside where there is a sand bottom.

Sunset at No Name Harbor

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Sunny, wind SE@15+. Many boats from Miami come in to party.  Large and small power boats line the wall.  Each with lots of people and loud music. We count 20 boats anchored and almost that many more rafted 2 or 3 deep on the seawall.  The good news is that the music quit and the noise died down at 11:00pm.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Beautiful morning, wind SE@10-15.  Many boats leave and more come in.  It is cool, so not as many boats out to party as in our previous visits.

Monday, February 10, 2020

PC, 70 degrees, wind S@15.  Quite a few boats left this morning, but we elect to wait one more day and let the seas settle a bit before we attempt to cross the Gulf Stream. We walk to town and make stops at the post office to mail some books to Lisa’s Dad and to Jeff.  Then the hardware store, drug store and then Winn-Dixie.  The Winn-Dixie is the only major grocery on Key Biscayne and because this is such an upscale area, it is the nicest Winn-Dixie we have ever been in.

We Uber back to the boat and prepare to leave for Bimini tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 – Wednesday, February 12, 2020

The weather is not co-operating. It looks like the next opportunity to cross will be Friday. We took a walk to the beach on the east side of the island with All In (Bob and Alicen).

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Today, we made “final” stops at CVS, post office, hardware and grocery store with Lovely Lady and All In.  Loaded up, we took and Uber back to the boats. Everyone gathered on shore for a group picture prior to departure tomorrow.  In the afternoon, we moved Rhiannon outside the harbor and anchored in preparation for an early departure tomorrow morning.

25°40.50’N  080°09.92’W

Large group of folks departing for Bimini or the Keys tomorrow

Friday, February 14, 2020 Valentines Day

7:00am Partly cloudy, wind S@10, 65 degrees, tide on the way out.

In addition to the usual candy and a card we gave each other, I gave Lisa a set of shorts and a top I bought for her while we were in Vero Beach.

Anchor up, as we depart the Biscayne Channel, we are getting pushed north by a strong current right off the coast – the tide.  We haven’t experienced this before coming out of Key Biscayne and we wind up a lot farther north than we usually are.

Last marker heading out of
Biscayne Channel at Sunrise

We are able to motor-sail for most of the crossing. No issues with the rigging.

3:00pm Most of the entrance buoys to the channel into North Bimini are gone or moved off station. If you line up with the pink condos on shore, that is the entrance channel.

The large red buoy that used to mark the entrance is north by the south end of North Bimini where the reef is. There is a large sport fishing boat sitting on the bottom next to the buoy.
3:30pm On the dock at Bimini Blue Water Marina.  The  marina is full. It is good that we called for a reservation!  After checking in with Customs and Immigration, I head  back to the boat. The new cruising permits are only good for three months instead of the previous six months. The price for a boat our size is the same ($300). The immigration folks were a bit surly today and only gave us visas for 3 months, saying we could come back an renew them at no cost (which has always been true). I can see where these new time limits are not going to be very popular.  It’s not like every island has a Customs and Immigration office. In the Exumas, there is only one and that is all the way south in George Town.

Office at Bimini Blue Water Marina

4:40pm All In comes in to the slip next to us. The last one that you could get a sail boat of any size into. Lovely Lady, Hoapili, Makarios here also.

We walked to the beach for sunset and had conch fritters and a beer for dinner. Very nice!

CJ's on the beach

Beach at Bimini

50.1NM 25°43.51’N  79°17.84’W

Saturday, February 15, 2020
Sunny and windy, 80 degrees.  We walked the beach and Lisa found some nice shells (this is one of the best beaches in the Bahamas for shells) and I found a couple of sea beans including one hamburger bean – very unusual to find them here.

Treasures from the beach

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Very windy, SE@20+, which is the direction we must go when we leave here. We bought a dozen lobsters from CJ and invited Bob and Alicen (All In) to dinner. Very nice evening.

Monday, February 17, 2020

The wind dies down a bit overnight, now SE@10-15. All In and five other boats leave heading to Morgan’s Bluff at the north end of Andros Island. We opt to wait another day and let the wind and seas calm a bit more. We walked to Joe’s Conch Shack for fresh conch salad, yum!

We picked six nice conch shells to be future conch horns from the huge pile behind Joe’s.

Lisa made a bean and sausage soup for dinner.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Lisa has been wanting to visit the shark institute on South Bimini, so today we decided to go over.  There is a ferry that runs between the island every ½ hour, so we walk to the south end of North Bimini to the ferry dock. Lisa has a friend whose daughter works at the institute, and we are looking forward to touring the facility. When we got off the ferry, we were told that the facility is closed on Tuesdays.  It would have been nice to know this ahead of time.  We were also told that you have to call ahead and make an appointment for a tour.

We spent the rest of the day getting ready for a departure tomorrow morning. We filled the boat with fuel, water, ice and made a trip to the grocery. Lisa visited Ashley Saunders at the Dolphin House.  Ashley has been building this unique B&B forever.  Lisa visits there each time we come to Bimini.  Ashley's brother Thomas, who we had met several times died this past winter. Thomas was a house painter and painter Nixon's house on South Bimini. Ashley's other brother Aubury, is a boat builder, was a friend of Martin Luther King and Ernest Hemingway.

Dolphin House

Dolphin House interior

Ashley Saunders working on yet another addition

We had dinner at CJ’s on the beach at sunset (conch fritters and chicken wings).  We then walked to the Bimini Blue Water Resort and had key lime pie for dessert.  The resort and marina were originally built as a house by Michael Lerner (Lerner Shops).  It is now owned by two local women.  It was built in the 1930’s and is that vintage, but very clean and well kept.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Sunny, a few puffy clouds, 70 degrees, wind SE@5-10.  The wind is supposed to die off during the course of the day.

7:00am Willie helps us out of the slip.  He takes care of a large sport fishing boat that lives in the marina and belongs to a guy from Miami.  We have seen him on every visit and he has helped us numerous times showing us where to get ice, propane, fresh fish and lobster, etc.

Elsie Mae and Irish Tango depart with us.  Motoring at 6 knots dead into the wind.  Beautiful day on the water.

8:00am North Rock

2:00pm Wind SE@5, still motoring.

4:40pm  We pass Greenstone heading the opposite direction.  They were in Nassau.  Judy woke up one morning to find that Bob had passed in the night. They had him cremated, but the ashes have to be shipped home, they cannot carry them with them on the boat.  They were traveling with Saber Tooth. Down Time (Roger and Connie) flew to Nassau, and they all are bringing Greenstone home. We had planned on meeting this group in Nassau, but the timing did not work out.  Nice to see them from a distance anyway.

Greenstone heading west.
L to R: Judy, Nora, Roger, Connie, John

6:30pm Anchor down at the anchorage west of Chub Cay with Elsie Mae and Irish Tango.

Sunset off Chub Cay

The wind and waves did not die completely overnight.  Kind of a rolly night at anchor.

70.4NM  84.5SM  25°31.42’N 078°12.69’W

Thursday, February 20, 2020

7:00am Anchor up. It turned out to be pretty bouncy last night. Partly cloudy, big puffy clouds on the horizon, 70 degrees, wind E@10+.  We head SE towards New Providence island with Elsie Mae andIrish Tango.

Sunrise off Chub Cay

7:30am We hear Summer of 42 (Walter and Connie) on the vhf.  They left Lake Worth yesterday morning and are headed to Nassau.  They, too, passed Greenstone going the other way.

The wind and waves are again right on our nose as we head down the Northwest Channel.

8:00am Northwest Channel “Light” – no light there, but a big pole sticking out of a rock pile.

8:20am On heading 131T to West Bay (western end of New Providence). Wind, current and waves all on our nose. Wind SE@10-15+.  Forecast was for “light and variable”.  It’s going to be a long, slow day punching into the wind, waves and current.

9:00am only averaging 5 knots over the ground.  There are two speed measurements.  One is speed through the water, the other is speed over ground.  The knot meter measures speed through the water and is affected by current either going with or against your direction. If you are moving forward at 5 knots and the current against you is 1 knot, the knot meter will register 6 knots.  If the 1 knot current is with you, the knot meter will register 4 knots. The GPS measures speed over ground regardless of current.  The difference between the two readings tells you how fast the current is flowing.  If the two readings are the same, there is no current.

12:00noon The current has let up some, now making 5.5-5.7 knots. The wind has let up to 10-12 knots.

1:45pm Wind now SE@10.  ½ knot of negative current, still only making 5.5. Sunny, big puffy clouds, confused seas, waves coming from two different directions.

4:30pm Entrance marker at channel to Coral Harbour.

5:00pm On the dock at Nick and Carolyn Wardle’s. Elsie Mae and Irish Tango here also.

We are just in time for Rum o’clock.

Dinner on board  - breakfast.

56.1 NM  24°58.94’N  077°27.70’W

Friday, February 21, 2020

Partly cloudy, wind NE@15-20g30.  There are now 10 boats here and another is due in today. John (Elsie Mae) and I went to Virgo Car Rental and rented a car for a week. The one we got was certainly in better shape than the one we got last time (2 flat tires and a dead battery).  This one has a bald front right tire, which Virgo changed out for a new one, so we were go to go. Dinner on board.

 Saturday, February 22, 2020

 Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind N@20+.  We walked down to the beach and found a few nice shells.  We were going to stop at the Coral Harbour Resort Beach Bar for some conch and a beer, but it is closed and for sale.

We drove into Nassau, providing a guided tour for John and Valarie (Elsie Mae) and Paul and Kris (Irish Tango).  We stopped at a church fair next to The Fish Fry (a group of restaurants serving typical Bahamian fare along the waterfront).  Lots of music, local food (conch fritters, cracked conch, mac and cheese, peas and rice) plus hamburgers, hot dogs and even steak was available.  Lots of baked goods (Bahamian bread, coconut cake, apple cake, pineapple cake, etc.)  A squall came through and sent everyone scurrying for shelter and their cars.  We all did manage to eat our fill tho’.

We stopped at Harbour Marine, then the new Jimmy’s Liquors right next door.  Sands Beer Brewery was destroyed and their water source (wells) in Freeport corrupted by Dorian. Sands Brewery and Jimmy’s Liquors are owned by Jimmy Sands.  We were told that they hope to be back to producing beer by June.

We stopped at Budget Foods on Coral Harbour Road, not far from Nick and Carolyn’s to get some fresh Bahamian bread to take back to the boat.

6:00pm Dinner at The Cricket Club.  There are now 13 boats at Nick and Carolyn’s and 17 people joined us for dinner. Lisa and I both had the seafood pie and it was great as usual. Last time we were here Connie (chef and owner’s (Chris) wife) gave us her recipe.  Not exact measurements for anything, because she makes it “to taste”.  We will have to try and replicate it.

Cool and showers overnight.

Saturday, February 23, 2020

65 degrees this morning. Wind NE@10-20g25, Puffy clouds.  2 of the Canadian boats leave.  It’s going to be bumpy out there.

We talked to Summer of 42. John and Nora (Saber Tooth) are back after helping deliver Greenstone to Florida. Greenstone is headed to St. Augustine, where it will be hauled and then put up for sale.

Lisa is cleaning bilges. Somehow, the vented loop sprayed sea water and stuff from the holding tank all over.  We took everything apart and cleaned it, but we may have to replace that loop.  The vented loop is supposed to keep things like drains from syphoning water up while the boat is moving.

5:00pm Rum o’clock.  A large gathering because so many boats are here.  Nick played the washboard for us.  He used to play in a Dixieland Jazz band and had a couple of their cds that he played along with.  He said when he decided to start playing many years ago, he went to a haberdashery and got 10 thimbles, one for each finger, and that’s how he “strums” the washboard.  He’s very good at it.  An enjoyable time was had by all, especially Nick.

Nick playing the wash board

Rum O'clock - a good time had by all

Monday, February 24, 2020

Lisa finished cleaning the bilges and we went for a walk on the beach.  Wind now E@20+.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Today the wind is still strong out of the east.  We all piled in the rental and went shopping (grocery, bank, hardware store and three different liquor stores).  First a Jimmy’s to get Kalik beer that was on sale, then Liquid Courage, a chain of stores that carries the Tofka vodka that we like, then we stopped at a 700 Liquors to get a specific brand of Rum requested by  one of the boats. Finally, a stop at Budget Foods for fresh eggs.

Elsie Mae, Irish Tango and Lisa and I went to Compass Point for cocktails at sunset and dinner.  Compass Point is located on the northwest corner of the island with a spectacular view of the ocean, the reef and the sunset.  It is a small resort and restaurant and is one of our favorite spots on the island. Nice evening.

L to R: Paul and Kris (Irish Tango),
John (Elsie Mae), Lisa, Valerie (Elsie Mae)
and Benny (seated)
at Compass Point

View from the deck at Compass Point

Nick, Carolyn and Yeager

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Today, we cleaned Rhiannon’s interior and finished re-varnishing one of the mahogany boards that secure the jerry cans on deck.  We made a couple of trips to the gas station to buy gasoline and diesel (11 gallons diesel, 5 gallons of gasoline).

Tonight, there was a potluck dinner.  John (Elsie Mae) grilled a bunch of chicken, Lisa made quinoa, and almost everyone brought something. I brought a rum cake for dessert and made a gallon of Goombay Smash for everyone to try. Lovely evening.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

It looks like tomorrow is departure day.  As much as we always enjoy our visits here, we are ready to move on to the Exumas.

Carolyn left for Eleuthera for a birding trip with a group of about a dozen.

We returned the rental car and on the way made a final stop at the hardware store.

We finished our varnishing project.

John had knocked my insulated cup off the dock last night.  Today he was diving checking his prop and looked for the cup with no success.

Friday, February 28, 2020

Cloudy, 65 degrees, wind N@10.

7:45am Off the dock with Elsie Mae and Irish Tango.  We planned on leaving sooner, but Nick’s internet is out and he borrowed Elsie Mae’s hotspot.  Nick does the weather every morning on single side-band and vhf as “Ranger”.  He has been doing this for over 30 years.  Ranger was the name of their second liv aboard boat, a motor sailer built by Aubry Brothers on Man of War Cay (who are still building boats).

8:05am We turn out of the Coral Harbour channel toward our first waypoint (Coral Harbour 2) heading to Warderick Wells.

9:00am We hear from Exuma Park via email that we have moorings there for tonight. Summer of 42 and Saber Tooth have left Nassau and are headed to Staniel Cay.

11:00am Irish Tango call on the vhf.  Their engine is overheating. Low on coolant.  After adding some, the engine seems to be working ok.

It is still cloudy, wind now on our stern NW@5-10.

12:00noon We hear from Exuma Park on the vhf that all three of us have mooring assignments in the North Field for tonight.

1:10pm Turned to waypoint Long Rock Bore. No wind, still overcast.

4:00pm Wind has gone NE@15+.  Foresail out.

5:00pm As we enter the channel where the moorings are located in the North field. We manage to run aground trying to pass behind a boat at the narrow part of the channel (by mooring #11).  It is low tide and an extreme one.  Joseph (the Park Administrator) happens to be passing by in the new Warden Boat and pulls us to safety.  The tide is coming in, so sooner or later we would have floated free, but we appreciate getting safely towed to deeper water. We’ve probably been through that piece of water a couple of dozen times and never had an issue.

5:45pm We are on mooring #14 by the park office.

Irish Tango gets a bit out of the channel also and is aground. Joseph hauls them to deeper water too.

The wind is NE@15-25 and the current is running in the same direction, so once stuck it is difficult to back off against the tide and the wind. Irish Tango is on mooring #8 and Elsie May is on #12.

Rhiannon moored at Warderick Wells

65NM 78SM  24°23’65’N  076°37.96’W

Jimmy Buffet is here with two boats, a 35’ sport fish and a 44’ custom sailboat, both painted turquoise.  He flew in on his seaplane, also painted turquoise.  He is here to spread the ashes of one of his fishing buddies.  Several folks actually talked to him, said he seemed like a “normal guy”.
They left a commemorative sign on the pile of driftwood signs at the top of Boo-Boo Hill.

Sign left by Jimmy Buffet on the pile of driftwood
signs atop Boo-Boo Hill

Saturday, February 29, 2020 Leap Year Day

Clear, strong wind from the NE@15-25 all day.

We went to the office, visited with Cherry, checked in, renewed our membership with the Park and purchased a couple of their new t-shirts.

Lisa climbed Boo-Boo hill with Valerie and John (Elsie Mae). She did not bring a screw driver so she could not retrieve Rhiannon's sign to put this year’s date on it.  You may remember that the tradition is that you put your name on a piece of driftwood and place it on the pile atop Boo-Boo Hill. This keeps the evil spirits that you hear on the wind (“Booooooo Boooooooo”) from settling on your boat.

View from Boo Boo Hill looking North

View from Boo Boo Hill looking West
Rhiannon's driftwood sign on the right

Atop Boo Boo Hill
L to R: Lisa, Valerie and John (Elsie Mae)
The bench is a memorial placed there in
 remembrance of one of the many cruisers
who visited and loved these islands

4:30pm Sundowners on the beach. Probably 50 people attended – Hoapili, All In, Santiago (Jack and Jackie who we met at Wardles), Elsie Mae, Irish Tango and lots of others. Nice get together.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Partly cloudy, wind still NE@15-25.

We saw two large eagle rays swim right under the boat, a large trigger fish and a small shark, a couple of large nurse sharks and two turtles swim by.

One of the large Dream Charter catamarans lost one of its propellers as it came in.  The wardens helped get them onto a mooring.  12 people on board.  They were lucky and managed to dive and find the propeller and put a marker buoy on it. They now are here until a mechanic can get whatever parts are needed and get here from Nassau.  According to a couple of the park wardens, Dream Charters has had more than the normal number of issues with their boats.

We climbed Boo-Boo Hill with Irish Tango and Elsie Mae.  We brought the wrong screw driver to remove out sign – we need a square head and we brought a phillips.

L to R: Paul and Kris (Irish Tango), Valerie and John (Elsie Mae)
on the beach at Warderick Wells

We saw Cherry again and gave her the fruit, salad makings and blood pressure cuff she asked us to bring.

Only 3 boats departed today because of the wind and rough seas.

Monday March 2, 2020

Lisa worked on some Park signs that needed repainting.  She does this volunteer effort on almost every trip here. She also climbed Boo-Boo Hill one more time and retrieved our sign. 

One of Lisa's signs

We had sundowners on Rhiannon with Elsie Mae, Irish Tango and Sandial.

We talked to Nicola, who is recovering from a collapsed lung.  Better now, but still recovering.

All In, Hoapili, Lovely Lady, Jade Moon leave for Black Point and then on to George Town.

Sea Turtle swims by

A Ray in the shallows

A perfect spot

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

We again walked up Boo-Boo Hill and placed our updated sign back on it’s “post”.

Lisa forgot to tie the dinghy to the boat when we came back from Boo-Boo Hill and the current took it away.  She dove in after it and managed to catch it on the sandbar behind us.

Elsie Mae and Irish Tango departed for Black Point. Sandial departed for the Wardles and then home to Deerfield Beach, FL.

We watched a half dozen big charter cats come in and try to pick up their assigned moorings.  Always entertaining.  There was a 50 foot charter (Moorings) power cat on one of the moorings that it was not assigned to.  The Wardens told him he had to move – and he did, but drove at speed right over the sand bar.  He then managed to power off the bar and as he passed us a huge stream of sand was coming out of both engines (water used to cool the engines is mixed with the exhaust to cool it – called a “wet exhaust”).  Sand pouring out of the exhaust indicates that the water pump sucked it up while he was aground – probably ruining the pumps on both engines.  Glad I don’t own that boat!

Dinner was Brussel sprouts, plantains and meat loaf.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 Our son James Birthday

Sunny, puffy clouds, 70 degrees, wind SE@10.

7:45am We are off the mooring.

8:15am We turn SE toward Black Point. The wind is directly on our nose, course 140°T

8:30am Lisa made French toast with the Bahamian raisin bread, plus eggs and bacon for breakfast, Very nice! Yum!

12:15pm Anchor down in front of Rockside Laundry.

26.7NM  24°85.05’N  076°24.25’W

Elsie Mae, Irish Tango, Saber Tooth, Summer of 42 and Lilliputian are already here along with about 20 other boats.  John and Nora (Saber Tooth) and Debbie (Lilliputian) come by in the dinghys to say hello.

2:15pm Lisa went snorkeling with John and Nora on the north end of the island (Great Guana Cay).

5:00pm Dinner at Lorraine’s Restaurant (on the deck), all you can eat buffet with chicken, fish, hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, French fries.  Also all you can drink rum punch and hard lemonade.

Lots of people turned out including Summer of 42 (Walter and Connie), Southern Flight (Ian and Michelle), Saber Tooth (John and Nora), Lillipution (Dave and Debbie) and many others.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Today was laundry day.  We met another boat called MOJO, as well as Cricket.

After lunch, we went up the creek on the north end of the island.  At high tide the creek goes all the way to the Sound on the east side of the island. I managed to find a heart bean, the only one we found today. We will send it along to Judy so that she knows we are thinking of her and Bob and missing them both. Showers aboard, clean sheets – it doesn’t get much better than this.

Friday, March 6, 2020

8:00am All In stopped by on the way to do laundry. We went in to get some groceries.  We walked first to the cemetery and picked some silver palm fronds so Lisa can do some basket weaving.  The silver palm is the fronds the locals use and is stronger and does not tear. You pick the ones just emerging from the main stalk and it does not damage the plant.

We then stopped at Adderley’s store.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Adderley are now gone and the three children are taking turns manning the store.  Suzette was here today.  She gave us a memorial t-shirt from Mr. Adderley’s funeral.

We visited Miss Sharon who taught Lisa how to weave.  We saw Miss Francis, her granddaughter (Ruth Stephanie) is now 1 year and 7 months.

12:00noon Anchor up headed north to Big Major to hide from the cold front due in tonight. Sunny, 80 degrees, high thin clouds, wind SW@8-12.  Sailing with the foresail only making 4-5 knots dragging the dinghy.

2:20pm Anchor down at Big Major. Sunny, high thin clouds, 80 degrees, wind SW@10-15.  A bit bumpy in the anchorage as the wind and waves are coming from the unprotected direction.  The wind is supposed to go to the North tonight which is more protected direction. It is then supposed to build to 20-30 and clock around to the NE and then E.

Hoapili and Lovely Lady are anchored on the north side of Fowl Cay. Jade Moon, Summer of 42, Saber Tooth, Summer Flight and about 30 other boats are anchored here. 1 large motor yacht, 2 mega yachts are anchored here and one mega is anchored out by Sandy Cay. There are about 20 other boats anchored by the small island as Thunderball Grotto.

8:00pm The wind is still SW, very lumpy here, and humid.

8.5NM  24°11.09’N  076°27.53’W

The forward refrigerator has quit cooling again.  Not sure of the problem this time, but it is only cooling the freezer to about 40 degrees.  This is the refrigerator with the new evaporator unit, so maybe it’s a leak in a connection. I have spare electronic control units for it, so maybe we’ll try replacing one of those.

Saturday March 7, 2020

Partly cloudy, the wind went North overnight so there is more protection, not great, but better.

John and Nora (Saber Tooth) came by in the their dinghy and are headed to town (Staniel Cay).  It’s going to be a very wet dinghy ride of over a mile, so we pass on the opportunity.

Lisa made lasagna and I worked on the blog.  John and Nora came to dinner. Nora brought cookies.  Afterward, we played Mexican Train.  Nice evening.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Sunny, some clouds, wind NE 20-30, 70 degrees. Today was spent on boat chores, blog typing and reading.

Monday March 9, 2020

 Partly cloudy, wind E@25+g38. 70 degrees. Not much wave action here, but plenty of wind. A couple of the big yachts drug their anchors and left.  It is not safe to go out in the dinghy.  Rain showers off and on in the afternoon.  It is a good day for typing on the blog and reading a book.  I put some pinto beans on to soak.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Partly cloudy, wind ENE@15-20g25. 70 degrees.  We rode into town with Walter and Connie (Summer of 42).  They have a much larger dinghy than we do.  Ian and Michelle (Summer Flight) and John and Nora (Saber Tooth) were there also. We walked to Isles General Store and dropped off our propane tank to be refilled.  We chatted with Burkie and Miss Vivian a bit.  Burkie is also the pastor of one of the churches on the island and a couple of years ago we attended Easter services there.  Quite the experience.

We all walked to the west end of the island.  On the way back, we stopped at the Blue Store for some groceries and then at Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch (grouper fingers and onion rings) and a beer.

2:30pm We are back at the boat.

Dinner on board. I made Jim Bade’s Red Beans and rice.

5:30pm Sundowners on Summer of 42.

On the way back to Rhiannon, the outboard died and we could not get it to start.  John gave us a tow home.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Wind has calmed a bit, now ENE@15-20. Partly cloudy, 72 degrees.

Walter (Summer of 42) went into town and while he was there, he picked up our filled propane tank.

I checked everything on the outboard to find out why it wasn’t running.  I found that no gas was getting to the engine from the (separate 3 gallon) fuel tank.  The pick up tube on the inside of the tank had fallen off.  It looks like it is attached with just a friction fitting, and after all this time the vibration and bouncing around of the dinghy worked it loose.  I managed to retrieve it out of the tank and re-attach it.  Then I put a hose clamp on it to make sure it doesn’t come off again.  I guess Yamaha saved 10 cents by not putting a hose clamp on it in the first place.

It rained at noon and Lisa washed down the decks with the natural fresh water.  We also changed the filters on the holding tank vents.

We tried heating the evaporator coil on the refrigerator that isn’t working to see if that might free up a potential ice clog (caused by moisture in the lines). No luck.

4:40pm We went to Summer Flight for sundowners.

The outboard engine on the dinghy worked flawlessly this evening.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Partly cloudy, wind ENE@15, 72 degrees.  Summer of 42 left headed south to Black Point. John and Nora came by to discuss the possibility of going east to Cat Island.  It looks like the wind will be from the East for the next 10 days, so getting to Cat might be a tough trip.  We will wait until we see a change in the wind and have the discussion again.

Summer Flight, Mahini, Saber Tooth, Maikarios, Lovely Lady, Hoapili leave headed to Black Point.

12:30pm  We raise the anchor and head over to the fuel dock at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  On the way there, we hear on the vhf that there is a large yacht on the fuel dock and two other boats waiting in line.  We change our plan and head south to Black Point.  We have enough fuel and water to last at least a few more days.

 3:00pm Anchor down at Black Point in front of Rockside Laundry. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get a haircut from Miss Ida.

 We decide to forego Happy Hour at Scorpios and Lisa makes chicken tarragon and vegies for dinner.  Very good!

Because of the coronavirus in the US, the stock market is tanking.  Lisa spent the afternoon reviewing her investments to see what she should sell.  There has been little to no effect from the virus here in the Bahamas, 3 cases in Nassau.

I finished a Greg Isles book today.  The first of his I have read – Natchez Burning.  Very good book, but a little hard to get into initially.  This is the first of a trilogy, so I will have to find the others.  I have a P D James book to read next – I have never read any of her mysteries either.

Friday, March 13, 2020.

Sunny, wind E@10-15g20, puffy clouds.  We walked to the beach on the north side of the island by the cottages.  There are a bunch of sea almonds here.  These are very common and deteriorate rapidly, but they usually indicate there are other sea beans on the beach as well. We also found one heart bean and one grey sea pearl.  This is the island where we found the plant that produces these sea pearls.  It is a vine and the seed pods are thorny. On the way back to town we stopped at Miss Sharon’s to visit.  She is the person who showed us which palm fronds to use for weaving.  Miss Eulisa was also there.  She had shown Lisa which coconuts to choose to eat.  Both work at the elementary school on the island.  Miss Sharon owns the Little Blue Store.  We treated ourselves to some strawberry ice cream from her freezer.

We stopped at the Laundry and saw Miss Ida.  I was able to get a haircut.  There was a line of people waiting for haircuts! Lisa went to DeShamone’s Restaurant and got a bag of ice and was able to visit with Miss Francis.

After we got back to the boat, John, Nora and Nigel (John’s brother, who had just flown in the Staniel Cay) came by. We gave them some of the red beans and rice for their dinner.  That’s also what we had for dinner. 

Lovely Sunset and dinner.
10NM  24°05.82’N  076°24.18’W

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Sunny, big puffy clouds, wind E@10-15, 75 degrees.

11:00am We went to the creek at the north end of the island – it’s high tide, so the time to go.  All In, Jade Moon and Makarios went also. We only found one heart bean, but many nice shells.  When we got back, we went to the Laundry and had one of Ida’s foot long all beef Kosher hot dogs.  We also picked up a block of ice she makes.

2:30pm Anchor up, heading south to White Point.

3:30pm Anchor down at White Point.  Saber Tooth came alongside and rafted to us and we transferred 120 gallons of water to our boat.  Saber Tooth has a significant water making capacity on board.  We then both (separately) moved closed to chore to get out of the rolling swell coming from the south.

Lovely, puffy clouds, 80 degrees wind ESE@10-15, 80 degrees.

5.7 NM  24°02.10’N  076°22.25’W

No boats are here but us and Saber Tooth.

6:30pm  John, Nora and Nigel came over to play Mexican Train. Very nice evening.

John, Nora, Benny, Lisa

We hear from Autumn Borne (Dean and Susan), who is still in Vero Beach, that they went to Costco, no toilet paper, paper towels, eggs or milk.  People are going crazy and hoarding.  Glad we are where we are.

Sunday, March 15, 2020. The Ides of March

Lovely morning, partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind E@10-15.

10:30am All In and Summer of 42 arrive and anchor.

11:00am Summer Flight comes in and anchors.

11:30am We all dinghy south 1 mile to Hetty’s Land, originally settled by the Hetty family, hence the name.  We walk across the island to the east shore (on the sound).  There is a small beach and a rocky shore where debris likes to collect, including quite a few sea beans that have been found in previous expeditions here.  I have always said that enough stuff washes ashore here that you could build a house! We found some interesting stuff here, a huge fishing lure, floats for nets, some huge, a plastic heart.  I did find one small heart bean and Lisa found a large one and a hamburger bean!

Bob and Alicen (All In)

L to R: Nore (Saber Tooth), Lisa,
Alicen (All In), Connie (Summer of 42)

Ian and Michelle (Summer Flight)

Ian (Summer Flight) and
Walter (Summer of 42)
with beach treasure

On the walk back across the island, you can see what is left of the original stone house and buildings of the Hetty Farm. 

There are silver palms here, and we gather more of the palm fronds.

By the time we got back to the dinghys, everyone else has left, nut we are in no hurry.  The water is beautiful and we have a nice swim.

We found a pair of sandals ashore so we brought them with us.  Turns out they belong to Michelle (Summer Flight). She was glad to get them back.

3:30pm a “float” at the beach, where everyone brings a floaty and a drink.  Beautiful day and beautiful place for the event.

5:00pm Dinner on board, leftover boiled dinner.  Always better the second day.

6:00pm 80 degrees, puffy clouds, wind E@10 – pretty much perfect.

When I opened the drawer under the master berth, it was stuck and would not come out!

Sunset at White Point

Us

A hamburger bean washed ashore

A heart bean washed ashore

 

A sea bean found!